The Definitive Guide to the History of
Pubs and Beerhouses in Coventry

Drinking in an Old English Town

Admiral Lord Rodney, 88 Short Street

Alternative Addresses:	88 Much Park Street
These premises have been known by different names during their history:	FROM	TO	NAME
	c1781	c1851	RODNEY'S HEAD
	c1851	1997	ADMIRAL LORD RODNEY
	1997	2018	RAINBOWS
	2018		GLAMOROUS
George Brydges, Lord Rodney (1719-92), had a distinguished naval career and is remembered especially for the victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782, in the West Indies, which led to better peace terms with the French after the American Revolution. The first mention we have found of the pub dates from 6th August 1781, when it is for sale. So it seems likely that it was established by a former naval person who served with Rodney. In 1983 it was described as 'a gem of a back-street local with waiter service in the lounge'. Part of the outside rendering fell off at this time, exposing the original timber frame of pre-1550. Restoration was undertaken and the frame was left visible on the end exterior wall. The licensee of the day also found part of the city wall in the cellar, and the Department of the Environment placed a preservation order on the place, making it Grade II listed. That didn't stop the owners painting it a garish red colour and renaming it RAINBOWS.
LICENSEES: 1840 - 1870 Dorothy Nightingale (widow of William) 1870 - 1891 Elizabeth Day Nightingale (daughter of Dorothy, died 29th June 1891) 1891 James Lenton (Jul to Oct - married Dorothy Nightingale's daughter, Ann Dorothy, in 1850) 1891 - 1896 George Bonnick 1897 William James Penn 1902 - 1905 Jesse Wright 1905 - 1919 Harry Freeman 1920 - 1940 George Nightingale 1940 Harry Hobbs 1952 -1962 Beatrice Anne Hobbs (1956 B. Gilmore & W. Mumford) 1974 - 1982 Richard Morrisey 1982 J. Bradley 1990 G. Ford & T. Lindsay
OWNERS: to 1812 William Bromfield, maltster, died 1812 from 1812 Sarah Bromfield, daughter of above 1874 Thomas Tibbits Bloxley of Burton on Trent 1898 Ebenezer Brown of Attleborough, Nuneaton. Let to Mitchells & Butler 1940 James Eadie of Burton-on-Trent taken over by Bass in 1933 from 1990 G. Ford & T. Lindsay