Listed in 1845, closed circa 1969. A home brew pub up until 1906, when All Saints Brewery first leased and then bought the pub.
Billy Banister who was landlord of the pub from the mid 1930s until he died circa 1942. Billy played for Leicester Fosse in the early 1900s, being transferred from Arsenal for a then record fee of £300. He played 149 times for Leicester. As a centre half he captained the Fosse and also represented England.
April 2003
Many Inquests were heard at the Woolcombers, Being close to the canal, numerous suicides and drowning were to take place in Victorian Leicester. Most bodies that were found were taken to the nearby Woolcombers for identification and examination. The inquests would follow here.
Some sad cases were reported. For example, in 1864 the body of sixteen year old William Upton was found in the canal. Suicide was first suspected, but on examination severe wounds were found on his body and head. Witnesses reported that the boy was malnourished, often found pleading for a slice of bread from his mother and father.
His father was arrested for William’s murder and the inquest at the Woolcombers was adjourned to the Hat & Beaver near the Goal. The short distance to take the prisoner was accompanied by a hostile crowd outside in Church Gate.
The father commented that the boy was ‘hard work’ and he had thought sending him to the workhouse as they couldn’t afford to keep him. Eventually the father was found Not Guilty as there was insufficient evidence to prove otherwise.
Another tragic case occurred in 1881, when a mother and child were found drowned in the canal. They too were taken to the Woolcombers. The inquest heard the mother was destitute, having being turned out of her lodgings after her husband had vanished some weeks previous. Poor Mary Grundy, thirty-four, with her eight-month old daughter had apparently walked into the canal distressed and drowned.
The inquest was told a letter was found on Mary from her husband, in which he said he had gone away to look for work to get money, concluding with his love for her.
The coroner directed the jury by telling them nothing could be gained by giving a ‘verdict of murder and suicide as the memory of the women was entitled to be benefit of it.’ The jury duly returned a verdict of ‘FOUND DROWNED’
In September 1864, a body of a new born female child was found in the canal, wrapped in a sack cloth with a brick tied to her to weight her down.
The verdict at inquest in the Woolcombers was ‘unknown child found drowned’.
There were many others cases of drowning near the Woolcombers, but two non-drowning cases from the 1870s are notable.
In 1875, Fred Shaw, a bobbin turner who was addicted to drink was found in the Woolcombers brew house by landlord, Mr. Cooper. He appeared to be seriously ill so Mr. Cooper assisted him to his room in the yard where he expired.
In June 1877, James Twigg, framework knitter, aged fifty-eight, drank himself to death in the Woolcombers.