Melbourne Hotel, 74-75 Spon Street
| These premises have been known by different names during their history: | FROM | TO | NAME |
| c1829 | 1868 | VICTORIA VAULTS | |
| 1868 | 1871 | BOARD | |
| 1874 | ? | SPOTTED DOG | |
| 1879 | 1907 | MELBOURNE HOTEL | |
| 1907 | 1909 | MELBOURNE GARDENS | |
| 1909 | 1910 | GRANBY ARMS | |
| 1910 | 2002 | BOWLING GREEN INN | |
| 2002 | 2010 | NEW BOWLER | |
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779 - 1848) was the prime minister who taught statecraft to the young Queen Victoria. Melbourne in Australia was named after him; it was earlier known as Dootigala. Melbourne was seperated from his wife, Caroline Lamb, who wrote minor novels of little interest to the public and had an affair with Lord Byron, which was of much more interest to the public. There is a Melbourne Road in Earlsdon.
This pub is said to have been built originally in c1829 as the Victoria Vaults, then becoming the Spotted Dog. The Board in 1868. It became the Melborne Hotel in 1879. Later named the Melbourne Gardens in 1907 (see below), the Granby Arms in 1909, and the Bowling Green in 1910. The bowling green was sold and the old people's accommodation called Wellington Gardens was erected on its site. The pub was demolished and replaced with a new building in 1959, later named the New Bowler in 2002.
In 1907 the police objected to the renewal of the license for the Melbourne Gardens. I don't know what the ground were for this objection, but the license was renewed by the justices in any way. The name changer to the GRANBY ARMS in 1909, perhaps as a result of the objection. | |||
LICENSEES:1879 Richard Leggett 1881 Willford and Greasley 1886 J. Nicholls 1890 - 1893 C. Hampton 1894 J. H. Smith 1896 James H. Tilley 1903 Henry Saunders 1905 T. Buckley | |||
 Street plan of 1851 | |||
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