Lower Town Pubs

This document is a Statutory Declaration prepared in 1907 as a statement by Hugh Davies, Gentleman of Tower Hill as to what he understood to be the ownership of two public houses in Lower Town,  namely the Ship Inn and the Sailors Arms.

The document is interesting in that it gives details of the ownership and tenancies going back to the 1860s. The Ship Inn of course, is still in business and the main bar of which has probably little changed over the ensuing years. The Sailors Inn however no longer exists but was originally just a few doors along from the Ship Inn on the same side of the street.

This is a summary of the information in the statutory declaration.

1867   –   Thomas Davies, Draper of Railway House, Fishguard purchased the public house                        by the name of the  Newport Arms and renamed it the Sailors Arms                      1867   –    around the same time Thomas Davies obtained a licence for the Ship Inn which at                     the time was still a private house occupied by Thomas James.                                        1879   –   Thomas Davies died and both public houses were left to his son, John Clement                          Davies                                                                                                                                        1879  –   Ship Inn occupied (tenanted) by  Martha Harries and the Sailors Arms by James                          Jones                                                                                                                                                1889 –    John Clement Davies died and left both properties to Catherine Maurice Davies                          then of Tressissillt in St Nicholas                                                                                        1889  –    Sailors Arms occupied by Enoch Evans and the Ship Inn by Herbert Evans          1899  –    Catherine Maurice Davies died and left the inns to her husband, James Davies of                        Penfeidr, Mathry

1907    –  Statutory Declaration stated that the above information was believed to be correct                    and the legal owner by virtue of his wife’s will was James Davies of Penfeidr.

What is interesting is that in 1867 Thomas Davies lived in a property in West Street, Fishguard which was called Railway House – and yet the railway did not arrive in Fishguard and Goodwick for a further 32 years!