In 1851 James Young was landlord of the Jenny Lind. Up at the Speech House fete in 1855 there was a Yeoman Cavalry Review. He was charged with selling beer without being duly licenced and fined £5 with costs. Also George White, Royal Oak, was convicted of the same offence. By 1856 the premises is listed as the Jenny Lind Hotel. In 1871 James Young had died and the licence was taken on by his wife Elizabeth. In 1872 the licence was transferred from Elizabeth to Richard Roberts. The chairman of the bench said that Roberts should he should be careful and considerate as there being many houses in the area.
Spout Lane is a small cul-de-sac to the north of Bank Street behind the Kings Head Hotel. The Queens Head is recorded there in 1856 and 1858. It was located at the end of the lane.
The Queens Head was apparently affectionately known as the ‘Jenny Lind’, but the reasons behind the alternative name has yet to be determined. Jenny Lind was born in Sweden and was a famous soprano singer. She was known as the Swedish Nightingale and achieved worldwide fame before settling in England. She died in 1887.
The license of the Queens Head was refused at the Coleford Petty Sessions in August 1882 (owned by Harrry Clarke) on the ground of non-occupation.
The Spout was a natural spring that once supplied most of Coleford town water supply. A small brewery was established at the Spout. In 1864 Henry Salmon was running the Coleford Brewery there and he was advertising ‘Bright and Sparkling Ales. Old Beer and Porter. Warranted pure and brewed from the finest malt and hops.’ Henry Salmon still owned the brewery in 1851 but the brewer was recorded as Thomas Steel. It seems logical, therefore, that the brew house (Coleford Brewery) at the Spout supplied its ales to the Queens Head. The Coleford Brewery had closed by 1889, it has been suggested that a contributing factor of its demise was pollution of the water course.
Landlords at the Queens Head include:
1856 T. Young
1858 Richard Underwood
