Why the Cricketers pub is so important in Southend’s history

Since the year 2000 the UK has lost a quarter of its watering holes. Just last year alone 500 pubs across the UK closed.

So when the landlords of one of Southend’s most historic pubs announced they were stepping down last year, it was feared The Cricketers’ Inn based in London Road, Westcliff, would be heading the same way.

However, new licensees took over and the pub has recently reopened following a major refurbishment. All is well and history buffs in the area can breathe a collective sigh or relief.

“A lot of people don’t realise just how important the Cricketers is to our local history,” says Southend historian and author, Marion Pearce.

Marion, who wrote the book, “Milton, Chalkwell and the Crowstone” has carried out a lot of research into the pub which dates back to Victorian times.

“The Inn has enjoyed an eventful past and played an important part in the story of the development of the town.

“It not only housed one of the town’s first fire services but the son of the landlord went on to be Southend’s youngest ever mayor.”

Southend Fire Brigade pictured in 1891, with their horse-drawn fire engine, just like the one that would have been based at the Cricketers’ Inn in Westcliff (Image: Provided)

Marion explained: “The earliest record of the London Road site is from March 25, 1870 when Rebecca Olley, who wanted to erect and run her own inn, started negotiations for a mortgage of £100 from George Wood to finance her dream venture.

“On September 23, 1870, in anticipation of her forthcoming wedding to William Brown, the negotiations were finalised.

“Rebecca and William were married on September 24, 1874.”

However, as Marion found out problems arose when Rebecca’s benefactor, George Wood, died in November of 1877.

Thus was the Cricketers’ Inn born, the name coming from the frequent  cricket matches played on the playing fields then opposite the tavern

“The mortgage was still outstanding,” said Marion.

“It was discovered that,‘... no legal mortgage of the said hereditaments and premises to which the muniments of title referred ... was ever executed’.

“It appeared that the mortgage was no longer valid and Rebecca was in danger of losing the inn that she had worked so hard for.

“The problem was resolved by the offer of Walter Gray to purchase the land and house for £1,700.

“George Olley (Rebecca’s father), William Brown and Rebecca considered the proposal and declared that it was an ‘advantageous offer’.

“It was a chance they could not turn down and they arranged for the mortgage to be repaid out of it.

“Thus was the Cricketers’ Inn born, the name coming from the frequent cricket matches played on the playing fields then opposite the tavern.”

Mayor- Alex Hemsley White JP, was mayor of Southend from 1935-1936. He was the son of the landlord at the Cricketers and would have grown up at the pub. He wore the chain at the ago of 38, making him the youngest ever mayor at the time. (Image: Provided)

Marion continued: “The publican of the Cricketers’ Inn in the earlier 1900’s- Alec White, Senior- was second-in-command of what was then known as the Southend Volunteer Fire Brigade, the forerunner of the town’s present fire service.

“The horse-drawn fire engine was housed in the yard at the rear of the inn, with the horse’s harness suspended over the horse for a quick getaway.

“It was said, with pride, by the firemen, that they could be away to fight a fire in less than a minute.

“Jennie, the name that the men gave the horse that pulled the fire engine, was a small Shetland pony.

‘She was small but, by George, she was a goer’, remembered his son, Alec, many years later.”

Marion has discovered how fighting fires in those formative years was thirsty work.

“The firemen would meet after tackling blazes at the bar of the Cricketers’ for a well-earned drink,” she explained.

“In 1908 the volunteer firemen won a trophy at the National Union Competitions in Scarborough.

“It was a great event for the town and there was much excitement as the championship firemen were welcomed home. “They were met at Southend Central Railway Station by a packed crowd. “The atmosphere was described by a contemporary local newspaper as: ‘deafening cheers and ecstatic excitement’.

“They firemen rode through the town in a decorated horse-drawn carriage and were escorted by a torchlight procession.

“There were fireworks and a brass band played. The atmosphere was electric with the enthusiastic crowds waving banners with ‘Welcome, Champion Firemen of England’.

“At the bandstand, the musicians of the Oxford Light Infantry played ‘See the Conquering Hero Come’”.

Music Hall star- Fred Barnes spent his final months singing at the Cricketers (Image: Provided)

Marion stressed: “There had never been so much excitement in the town as people were pleased to welcome home their well-deserved heroes after their spectacular win.

“When Alec White, senior, died in 1912, as a mark of respect to a great man, the Fire Brigade put his coffin on the horse-drawn fire-engine which was used as a hearse.

“It was the end of an era.”

It certainly was, but the pub would continue serving pints, meals and offering travellers a bed for the night when it operated as a hotel.

The son of Alec White Senior was Alex Hemsley White. He went on to be mayor of Southend from 1935-1936.

In 1938 the pub made headlines across the country following the strange death of a one time famous music hall artist Newspapers went wild with the news that Frederick Barnes had been found dead at his lodgings in St Anne’s Road, Southend.

Fred was aged 53 and had come to Southend 18 months earlier to sing and perform at the Cricketers’ Inn.

The openly gay singer had been a huge star in the early part of the century and was known for his flamboyant style, his alcohol addiction and for regularly appearing in the gossip columns.

When he came to Southend he was suffering from tuberculosis and had been given just six months to live by doctors.

Fred, whose biggest hit was ‘The Black Sheep of the Family’ was living with the threat of death daily. His downfall from in-demand celebrity to singing at the Cricketers for pennies, combined with his illness, seemed to be too much to bear.

He was found in his room, having been poisoned by coal gas. Despite many people saying he had threatened to take his own life, there was not enough evidence to know for sure that he poisoned himself on purpose.

Death was put down to the absorption of coal gas.

There were many lighter moments at the venue too.

In war-torn Southend- January of 1943- an amusing incident occurred when two policemen were stood talking outside the Cricketers, when a soldier in a hurry to get to his billet snatched a bicycle from the kerb- right in front of their eyes- and began to pedal off.

“That’s your bike, Sarge,” cried the constable, leaping on to his own bike to follow the man.

He caught up with him after a 300 yards race.

At Southend Police Court the following day the soldier admitted the theft, and was handed over to a military escort.