ࡱ > 0 2 / 5@ 0 bjbj22 4 X X | | | | | | | t t t t 2 c e e e e e e R D v e | e | | z | | c c | | nd t c 0 | | | | | L , N e e t t WHO PUT THE ROYAL IN THE RED GATE? By Peter Lee Old pub names sometimes yield clues about the history of the building and its location but the original meaning is often lost on modern generations. This is almost the case today for the Royal Red Gate Inn which lies on the Leicestershire/Warwickshire border on the Watling Street where it crosses the A444 Nuneaton-Burton on Trent road. I say almost, because we seem to know who the royal personage was that gave the famous pub its name. Queen Adelaide is accepted by generations of local historians as the famous person in question. We do not know what her connection was with the old pub or what she was doing in this part of the Midlands at that time but speculation has it that she was en-route between Warwick Castle and Gopsall Hall and stopped at the Red Gate for a pee. Whether she did this just once or it was her favourite watering hole we may never know. But that is how the pub got its Royal appendage. Queen Adelaide was the German born consort of King William IV (1765-1837) and was born on 13 August 1792. By the time of his marriage to this noble lady, half his age, William had already fathered ten illegitimate children by his liaison with an Irish actress, Dorothea Bland (better known from her stage name: Mrs. Jordan). Adelheid was the daughter of George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Louise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Her title was H.S.H. Adelheid Luise Therese Caroline Amalie, Princess of Saxe-Meiningen. She married the future king on 10, July 1818 at Kew Palace, Richmond, Surrey. Their marriage was extremely sad as of their seven children five were born stillborn. Only two survived to be named but of those only one lived a few months. When William's older brother, King George IV died without surviving issue in 1830, the crown passed to him as the oldest brother and on 26th June 1830 he was crowned King. In many aspects William and his wife Queen Adelaide brought a different dimension to the monarchy than his extravagant brother. Queen Adelaide received a great deal of sympathy from the people knowing her inability to have surviving children. She travelled about the country extensively. During the whole of the 1830's she made her visits into Warwickshire and Leicestershire. We know for example that during the period 1832/3 she travelled on at least one occasion on the road between Coventry and Nuneaton. George Eliot's father (Robert Evans) was a leading townsman in Nuneaton at that time, and he recorded one of her journeys in those years, when he accompanied her coach on its journey from Warwick Castle to Gopsall. His journey on horseback was a hard gallop in order to keep up with the speeding royal carriage. Could it be she needed the loo and the remoteness of the Red Gate gave her the privacy she needed? Its a nice story and if true wondered whether the Red Gate had still got the Royal po. Complete with her coat of arms emblazoned on it, it would make a nice talking point in the pub. Maybe on the odd occasion it could be filled with beer and a wager drawn on who could down the contents the quickest! Former landlords at the Red Gate were: before 1846 after 1861 - Thomas Freeman (b. 1786- ?) maltster and farmer c. 1863 - George Crane, brewer and victualler c. 1870 - Joseph Alcock, victualler c. 1875/76 - John Bailey, victualler c. 1880/81 - Thomas Smith, victualler c. 1896 - Arthur Weston, cottager and victualler c. 1900 Thomas Andrew Wright c. 1904-1912 - Mrs. Julia Wright c. 1916- 1922John James Jackson c. 1925- 1932Harry Alibut h- h CJ ^J aJ h CJ ^J aJ h- hV OJ QJ h- hBY OJ QJ 2 3 4 5 6 7 g h 2 3 Z [ C t gdBY gdV gdV 2 1h:pV . A!"#$% D @ D N o r m a l CJ _HaJ mH nHsH tH D A D D e f a u l t P a r a g r a p h F o n t R i R T a b l e N o r m a l 4 l 4 a ( k ( N o L i s t D Z@ D V P l a i n T e x t CJ OJ QJ ^J aJ 2 3 4 5 6 7 g h 2 3 Z [ C t 0 @ 0 p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9P! :P! ;P!