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Adjacent to the canal, the first “Swan” was a staging post for canal horses.  It was housed in the row of small cottages to the left of the present building, nearer to the canal bridge. Numbers 3 and 4 were the ale house.  A brick archway through the frontage has been bricked up, but can still be clearly seen.

The present day “Swan Hotel” was designed as a stop-over hotel, near a railway halt which may not ever have happened; the idea was it would be used by army personnel wishing to reach Whittington barracks.  Lower ranks would be marched the mile or so to the barracks, whilst officers would usually stay overnight and transfer by horse and carriage the following day.

1834 White’s Directory shows George Smith as a Bricklayer and a beerhouse proprietor, but does not specify “The Swan Inn”

1850 The Post Office Directory provides the first known mention of "The Swan Inn" and gives George Smith as landlord and bricklayer.

1851 White's Directory repeats George Smith as landlord and bricklayer.

1856 Thomas Smith and his wife, Emma, baptised their son, George Robert Smith, at St Giles Church on 26th February.  Thomas gave his occupation as "Innkeeper", but the inn was not named.  A link between George Smith and Thomas is yet to be established.

1858 Thomas Smith "Innkeeper" and wife, Emma, baptised a son, George Henry Smith on 26th February at St Giles, Whittington.

1860 Kelly’s Directory shows “The Swan” was being run by Thomas Smith, who was also a butcher.  Thomas and Emma baptised another child, Herbert Thomas Smith, on 24th April at St Giles. 

1861 The census shows Thomas Smith, aged 33, born in Whittington; his wife Emma, aged 28, came from Birmingham.  The family had a servant, Lucy Aston, aged 16, born in Lichfield.

1862 Thomas Smith and his wife, Emma, baptised two children, possibly twins, William and Emma, at St Giles on 25th May.  Thomas was cited as an "Innkeeper".

1863 Thomas and Emma returned to St Giles again, baptising two more children, twins, baptised Septimus and Emma, on 20th September.  Thomas was cited as an "Innkeeper".

1865 Thomas and Emma baptised Harriet on 10th December.  Thomas was still an "Innkeeper".

1868 Thomas gave his occupation as "Innkeeper", when registering the birth of his daughter, Clara Smith.

1870 “The Swan” was still being run by Thomas Smith and Emma.  Thomas was by now described as a victualler and coal merchant.

1871  The census shows:

Thomas Smith, head of household, age 43, Licensed Victualler & Farmer of 37 acres, born Whittington

Emma Smith, wife, age 38, born Birmingham

George Smith, son, age 13, born Whittington

Herbert Smith, son, age 11, born Whittington

Emma Smith, daughter, age 7, born Whittington

Harriet Smith, daughter, age 5, born Whittington

Clara Smith, daughter, age 3, born Whittington

John Astel, servant, age 17?, born Walton on Trent

1881  The census shows:

Thomas Smith, head of household, age 52, Licensed Victualler, born Whittington

"Ann" (a mistranscription of Emma?) Griffith Smith, wife, age 46, born Birmingham

Albert (a mistransciption of Herbert?) Smith, son, age 22, born Whittington

Emma Smith, daughter, age 17, born Whittington

Harriet Smith, daughter, age 15, born Whittington

Clara Smith, daughter, age 13, born Whittington

Ada Smith, daughter, age 3, born Whittington

Thomas Barnes, boarder, age 55, born Yarmouth, butcher

James Cunningham, boarder, age 36, born Birmingham, plumber

1882 A map of this date shows that the garden used to be much larger than it is now, extending to the rear of the row of "Swan Cottages", which were, of course, the original Swan Inn at this time.

1900 Still in the hands of Thomas Smith and wife, Emma, but he was now also described as a farmer.  It seems he liked a change of jobs, but he must have liked “The Swan”!

1901 Thomas was still Innkeeper in the census, but it shows he had a Charlotte Leadon from Leeds, aged 60, acting as manageress.  His daughter, Alice Smith, aged 27, of Whittington was a barmaid.

1902 Samuel Pownell retired from the army where he had served in the North Staffs Regiment.  He and his wife, Elizabeth, ran the "Swan Inn".

Elizabeth Pownell with her daughter under the pub sign, presumably in the first few years of 1900s

1904 Samuel died aged 43, leaving his wife and 5 children to run the pub without him.

1911 The new "Swan Hotel" was built and Elizabeth Pownell ran it single-handed.

1912 “The Swan Hotel” was still in the hands of Elizabeth Pownell.

1921 “The Swan Hotel” had another change of hands - to Mr Henry Merrison.

1922 Douglas James Renfree - with a last abode as "Swan Hotel" - was buried on 28th January.

1924 Electoral rolls show that Henry Beskeen Treglown and Bertha Treglown were resident at “The Swan Hotel”, but it does not say whether they were running the pub.

1931 The "Swan Hotel was now in the hand of Mr Horace John Clarke and Mary Clarke, his wife.  There is also a mention of a Mary Johnston at the Swan for that year; it may have been the maiden name of Horace John’s new wife or it could have been someone else.

1932 Horace John Clarke is still in charge according to Kelly's Directory.

1936 Electoral registers show Horace John Clarke and his wife, Mary, still at the Swan.

1936 John Vincent Leo Drury has taken over, helped by his wife, Dorothy Catherine Drury.  He was also a haulier of sewage sludge.  Some long-term Whittington residents remember Vincent Drury's fuel pumps to the right-hand side of the pub.

1938  Vincent and “Dolly” Drury still keeping the “Swan Hotel”.  Dolly played piano.

1939 Vincent Drury is still in charge according to Kelly's Directory.

1949 Ernest John Crompton was now the licensee.  His wife is named Edna.

1950 Stig's wife, Freda, from Aston, gave birth to Andrew Persson in the upstairs right bedroom of the "Swan Hotel" on 10th December.  Andrew was baptised on 21st January 1951.

1952 When Ernest John Crompton and his wife, Edna, baptised their son, Neil Edward Crompton, on 16th November, Ernest was described as "Publican" living at "The Swan".  There may be some incorrect dates.

1953  Mr Frederick Holbrooke, and his wife, Edith Alice were took over running the “Swan Hotel”.

1960 Fred and Edith Alice were still in charge of the "Swan Hotel".

1961 The Middleton’s, Arthur and Margaret, kept the pub.

The Midland Red bus service 822 used to terminate outside the "Swan Hotel" until the late 1960s.

1970 Following severe flooding, a large drain was installed to take surface rainwater from the roads surrounding the pub directly into the canal.  The land was divided and a large conifer hedge is now the boundary line.

1984  Their son, also named Arthur Middleton and his wife, Joyce, were in charge.  Another son, Ernie Middleton, assisted his mother, Margaret. Arthur Middleton again ran the “Swan Hotel” alone. Arthur’s daughter, Anita Booth nee Middleton, and Bob Booth then ran the pub for a while and later Anita Booth ran the pub alone.

Ernie Middleton was once asked by a group of boat people from the canal if he could recommend a suitable bottle of wine to accompany chicken.  He sold them the appropriate wine, only to find 2 chickens missing the following morning.

1990 Whittington Golf society formed, using the “Swan Hotel” as 19^th hole.

1992 David Michael Rees, and Anne K Rees, of West Bromwich were running the “Swan Hotel”.

1994 David Michael Rees and Anne K Rees were still resident at the Swan in mid November.

1998 Jennifer Hignall made an application for a license to run the Swan Hotel, but never continued with it, so there was an 8 day “limbo” period.

1998  Lavinia and John Godsell of Bristol ran the “Swan Hotel”.  The brwery at that time drew up quite an elaborate set of plans to modernise the pub, but the plans were never carried through, maybe due to the high cost involved.

1999  Alf Hood presented the “Swan Hotel” with his largest cucumber ever, which lasted for weeks and it cost the landlord more in free beer.

2000 David Leese had the “Swan Hotel” for just 3 months

2000 From March the landlords from Liverpool, Christine and Dave Callaway, are in charge of the "Swan Hotel".

2001 “The Swan Hotel”, had some minor revamping done, rooms were altered, and the former bottle store was made into part of the bar area.

Please contact Phil Wood on phil.norcis@ntlworld.com   if you can contribute any more information.