It is possible that the Rutland Inn Hotel was the forerunner to the Royal Hotel, although the exact location cannot yet be placed with certainty.
In early June 1825, an auction was held at the house of William Chamberlyne, Rutland Hotel Horsefair Street, and also in June 1825, William Wadds, a fishmonger, entered into a contract to buy the Rutland Arms Hotel, as well as the warehouse and adjoining buildings. Unfortunately, Wadds died intestate before completion, leaving his son – also William – subject to his father’s debts. Son William was, therefore, declared insolvent.
In 1842, Martha Haywood, a char at the inn, was sentenced to three months hard labour for stealing eight chairs from the inn. She had sold them to a broker in Church Gate at various intervals. Victuallar Isaac Townsend had noticed he was missing chairs at odd times.
The Rutland seemed to be one of the main auction premises throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. Numerous auctions covered everything from fencing to furniture, as well as property: the Nags Head, Oxford St was sold from here.
In 1856, a notice appeared in the local press announcing the death of Richard Johnson, victualler, with his wife intending to carry on the business. The notice thanked the patrons for supporting them for the previous thirty years. This seems strange as the inn was up for auction in 1846 and Richard Johnson only became victular in 1851 after Isaac Townsend. (Perhaps it seemed like thirty years to his wife).
In 1865, the Rutland Hotel was sold, eventually to be bought by the county magistrates for £2750. Mrs Johnson held a sale of f&f and house furniture. At the end of the year the building materials were sold off.
Within the next few years the Royal Hotel was erected, so we may deduce that the Rutland may have stood on the site.