Old Mitre, 140 Much Park Street
| Alternative Addresses: | Misford Street | ||
| These premises have been known by different names during their history: | FROM | TO | NAME |
| 1734 | 1767 | STAR / OLD STAR | |
| 1822 | 1874 | OLD MITRE | |
| 1876 | 1959 | NEW STAR INN, NEW INN | |
As the New Star with Tom Brown in the 1920s.
This name is a reference to the deeply cleft hat worn by bishops and some abbots. It is a symbol of a bishop's office. It is a convenient visual symbol and has been used as an inn sign since the fifteenth century, especially in cathedral towns.
This was the OLD STAR until c1756 when Alderman Hewitt records two soldiers being billeted here. It was licensed by William Lloyd and William Hill, except for a period in the 1860s. In the 1861 census it is held by Mary Hands, a 39 year old ribbon dresser and wine merchant, and is described as a wine and sprit vaults. She was a widow with three sons and a daughter and appears to have resorted to other means to make a living, as in 1864 the then licensee, Barrinnger Hunt, was fined £2 for keeping a disorderly house, that is, for allowing prostitutes to assemble in his house. I imagine Barringer Hunt was employed as licensee to bring an aura of male respectibility to the 'disorderly house'.
From 1879 this was the NEW STAR in Much Park Street. | |||
LICENSEES:1822 - 1829 William Lloyd 1835 - 1851 William Hill 1861 Mary Hands 1864 Barringer Hunt 1871 - 1874 William Hill (again) | |||
 Street plan of 1851 | |||
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