Tabberers listed as no 99 High St in 1890, Haunch of Venison listed 99 High St 1900
Alexander Tabberer, a wine merchant and licensee of the Stag & Pheasant in Humberstone Gate, opened a new establishment in High Street, circa 1842. He moved all his business to High Street when his lease at the Stag & Pheasant came up for renewal. 1844, advertising Barclays stout, Allsops IPA, Burton & Scotch ales. The premises were next door or part of the Haunch of Venison building.
A court case in January 1842, reported that Elizabeth Gillespie – who kept ‘an establishment for young ladies of a certain stamp’- charged a youth, William Rolleston, with spitting and kicking her at Tabberer’s Wine & Spirit Shop. Mr Jelly, who served there, said that Elizabeth Gillespie was often tipsy, and often used shameful language. He saw her kick young William Rolleston first but Rolleston admitted kicking her back so was fined 5/-.
Alexander Tabberer died aged 55, in November 1845, and the business was put up for sale. The extensive property comprised cellars, dining rooms, gateway entrance, stables and saddle house with retail shop front kitted out with ale and spirit fountains.
Alexander’s brother, a surgeon, had died earlier that year aged 42. He was known for having submitted a piece for the medical journal. The Lancet, when he did an autopsy on a woman, Elizabeth Thorne, who had ‘dropsy’. Her body measured 8ft round when she died and when Mr Tabberer opened up the body, he took out the substance weighing 140 lbs, that filled a washing basket.
Alexander’s daughters took on the Wine Vaults, but tragedy struck when the youngest Emma died aged 26 in 1846.
Lucy Tabberer followed in 1848, dying suddenly from a ruptured blood vessel on the brain – she was only aged 29. This left Sarah Jane as the only surviving daughter. She married in 1852. Sarah Jane then sold the business to W N WALDRAM & Co. Mr Waldram had managed Tabberers Wine Vaults for Sarah Jane for the past few years, he changed the name to W N WALDRAM & Son from Co in 1867.
Nov 1871 CONCEALMENT OF BIRTH IN LEICESTER ran the headline in the Leices Chronicle. The body of a new born was concealed in a box. Mr Waldram went to Sarah King a servant girl who was unwell and had only recently been working at the wine vaults for a couple of weeks, outside her bedroom was a locked box with a dead newly born baby inside. “I gave birth standing up and the baby fell to the floor” Sarah told Mr Waldram., when presented with the baby Sarah uttered “poor little thing I wish it was alive” A postmortem and inquest was held, where it was reported that the baby had been a healthy boy, and was still warm when unlocked from the box, there was no doubt it would have survived if it had proper attention and assistance.
In Dec 1871 Sarah King 20 was brought before the court, CHILD MURDER IN LEICESTER was the headline. Sarah was subsequently committed to trial forthcoming assizes. There some mercy was shown as the landlady of the Saracens Head had referenced her previous good conduct. Sarah was given One months imprisonment with hard labour.
By the 1880,s the wine vaults had become Wm Markham Wine Merchants and 1890 Harry Earps Wine & Spirit Merchant, late 1890s George Harry Allens Wine & Spirit Merchant. No records after that.
See Haunch of Venison