While my parents still ran the Fir Tree Hotel in 1989, I was asked by my then girlfriend how old the pub was, so I said I’d try to find out*.
Looking into the history of this pub is the reason that I began researching old Woburn Sands. I found it was the story of a public house with three different names, in two different locations, with one family involved for over 115 years. Above are links to what I have been able to find out so far, split into four chapters to keep the page size reasonable.
I would be interested to hear if you are related to one of the past landlords, or have any old photos of the pub, particularly from the period 1920 to 1970.
| From: | To: | Licensee: | Notes: |
| 1753 | 5th Feb. 1779 | Francis Lee1 | 1753 is the first reference to the Shoulder of Mutton Inn on the Woburn Road site. The name changed to the Greyhound in 1773. |
| 5th Feb. 1779 | 1784 | Mary Lee (Widow of Francis Lee1) | |
| 1784 | 1788 | Martha Lee (Relationship to above unknown) | Name changed to the Fir Tree in 1786. |
| 1788 | 1810 | William Morris (Married to Martha Lee) | |
| 1810 | 1823 | Edward Lee (Son of Francis Lee1) | |
| 1823 | 12th Mar. 1852 | Francis Lee2 (Son of Edward Lee) | Transferred to the Aspley Hill corner site in 1838. |
| 12th Mar. 1852 | 27th Aug. 1860 | Mary Lee (Widow of Francis Lee2) | |
| 27th Aug. 1860 | Jan. 1868 | Francis Lee3 (Son of Francis Lee2) | Lee went bankrupt and sold the inn to Alfred Smith. |
| Dec. 1868 | 24th Sep. 1870 | John Litchfield | |
| 2nd Nov. 1871 | 1877 | Jesse Cooper | By 1872, Smith had leased it to Rogers & Bull’s brewery of Newport Pagnell. They sold out to Allfrey & Lovell in 1875, also of Newport Pagnell. The next year they bought the freehold outright. |
| 1878 | 1879 | Francis Farr | |
| 1881 | 1884 | David Giltrow | |
| 1885 | 18th Mar. 1887 | William George Cooper | |
| 18th Mar. 1887 | 14th Dec. 1888 | Charles Turnock | |
| 14th Dec. 1888 | 13th Dec. 1889 | Walter Bailey | The building we know was erected 1889. |
| 13th Dec. 1889 | 12th Sep. 1913 | Benjamin Garrett | Clubroom built in 1897. Allfrey & Lovell became Newport Pagnell Brewery Co. 1900. |
| 12th Sep. 1913 | 20th Apr. 1914 | Charles Henry Wynne | |
| 20th Apr. 1914 | 20th Jun. 1924 | George Alexander | Newport Pagnell Brewery Co. was bought out & absorbed by Charles Wells, of Bedford 1919. |
| 20th Jun. 1924 | 23rd Sep. 1927 | Francis Robert Beresford | |
| 23rd Sep. 1927 | 20th Apr. 1928 | Tom Saville | |
| 20th Apr. 1928 | 30th Nov. 1928 | William Donnelly | |
| 30th Nov. 1928 | 10th Jan. 1929 | John Henry Osborne King | |
| 10th Jan. 1929 | 9th Sep. 1938 | Harold Clements | |
| 9th Sep. 1938 | 1st Aug. 1951 | Sidney Hughes | |
| 1st Aug. 1951 | 19th Nov. 1969 | Albert Frederick Jenkins | |
| 19th Nov. 1969 | 31st Jul. 1970 | Ernest Dennis Hodson Lant | |
| 31st Jul. 1970 | 29th Oct. 1997 | John Harvey Cox | The clubroom was converted to hotel bedrooms in 1980. |
| 29th Oct. 1997 | 3rd May 1999 | Dean and Michael Readyhoff | Father and son, who also ran the Wheatsheaf in Bow Brickhill. |
| 3rd May 1999 | 20th Sep. 2021 | Kevin Brewer, followed by his son Dominic Brewer | Major internal and external refurbishment and remodelling completed in 1999. Further refurbishment and remodelling in 2014, renamed to Fir Tree Inn. |
| 20th Sep. 2021 | Emilie Geary | Refurbished and redecorated before reopening. |
* My girlfriend was obviously impressed with the efforts I made to find her an answer to her question. She married me!
Page last updated Mar. 2023.