Folkestone Herald
17-1-1920
Local News
At the Folkestone Police Court on Tuesday the licence of the
Mechanics Arms was temporarily transferred from Mr. Johnny Lawrence to Mr.
George Vickery Drysdale.
Folkestone Express
14-2-1920
Annual Licensing Sessions
Wednesday, February 11th: Before The Mayor, Mr.
E.T. Ward, Mr. G.I. Swoffer, Councillor G. Boyd, Mr. J.H. Blamey, Councillor A.
Stace, Col. Owen, Rev. Epworth Thompson, Councillor Hollands, Councillor
Morrison, and Mr. L.G.A. Collins.
The licence of the Mechanics Arms was transferred from Mr.
J. Lawrence to Mr. Drysdale.
Folkestone Herald
21-2-1920
Annual Licensing Sessions
The annual licensing sessions for Folkestone were held at
the Police Court, the Mayor presiding.
The licence of the Mechanics Arms was transferred from Mr.
J. Lawrence to Mr. Drysdale.
Folkestone Express
16-4-1921
Local News
The Folkestone Magistrates on Wednesday granted an extension
of one hour of the licence of the Mechanics Arms on the occasion of the Annual
Dinner of the Buffaloes` Lodge.
Folkestone Herald
16-4-1921
Local News
At the Folkestone Police Court on Wednesday, the Justices
granted Mr. Drummond (sic) of the Mechanics Arms, St. John`s Street, an
extension of one hour on Wednesday next on the occasion of the annual dinner of
the Folkestone Lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes.
Folkestone Express
25-3-1922
Local News
George John Lawrence, pork pie manufacturer, of Ash Tree
Road, Folkestone, appeared for his public examination at the East Kent
ankruptcy Court at Canterbury on Saturday. The liabilities were returned at
£651, with a deficiency of £376.
Debtor, in examination, stated that he carried on the
business of a licensed victualler at the Mechanics Arms from August, 1900,
until the early part of 1920. He had no capital when he started. At the
commencement the trade was about 18 barrels a week, but at the finish it was
only from 4 to 5 barrels. After he had been at the house some time, the then
brewers (Messrs. Phillips and Co.) offered to sell him the fixtures in the
premises for £250. As he had no money at the time they allowed him to treat the
matter as a loan at 5 percent interest. He stated that he had paid £237 in
interest alone. When he came ot of the house Mr. Gardener made the valuation on
both sides. At the time his indebtedness to the brewers (then Messrs. Gardner
and Co.) amounted to £675, and after allowing for the valuation his net
liability to them was £375. Debtor had since reduced this debt to about £50,
and a further debt of £275 which he owed to a firm of wine and spirit merchants
he had reduced to £67.
The Official Receiver pointed out that when Lawrence left
the Mechanics Arms he owed £645 and was apparently insolvent.
Debtor denied this, saying that if all his property had been
sold he thought he would have been solvent. He started his pork pie business at
the Mechanics Arms in 1916, his wife assisting him. Subsequently he transferred
the business to Ash Tree Road, and carried it on up to the time he filed his
petition. The trade was very largely with the troops going abroad, and he was
successful up to the time of the Armistice. Formerly his takings averaged from
£20 to £50 a week, but these gradually declined to £4 or £5 a week. He
explained that the War Office changed the route of the troops going overseas,
taking them from Dover to Calais, instead of from Folkestone.
Bankrupt was questioned at considerable length regarding a
catering contract which he undertook for a boys` camp at Littlestone Aerodrome,
New Romney. He alleged that he expected to cater for 600 or 800 boys, the
contract price being 2s. per head per day. The first week he started with 75;
this number increased to 120, but for some time after the camp was practically
vacant. When he made representation on the matter to Major Hyne, he was told
that big numbers were coming, and that he would be able to recoup himself. The
number, however, did not come up to expectations, otherwise he thought he would
have made the business pay. At the end of July he had about 450 boys at the
camp, and he was allowed 6d. per head extra for supplying breakfasts. Instead
of college boys and factory boys coming down, they were mostly heads of firms and
managers who came. Most of them ranged in age from 17 up to 30, 40, and 50
years of age.
The Official Receiver: I suppose they were largely boys? –
No, they were not.
I have communicated with Major Hyne, and he says there were
about 400 boys, and about 30 others.
Debtor: Have you got a photograph of the camp, sir?
The Official Receiver: I have not.
Debtor: Major Coates came down and said that Major Hyne was
going to take over the camp for the Duke of York`s party, and do away with
class.....
The Registrar: I don`t think we need to go into this.
The Official Receiver: Surely there must have been a great
many boys there, otherwise it could not have been exactly a camp? – I told
Major Hyne that they were not boys of 14 years of age, but were grown-up people.
He said “You do them well. We will see you right”.
How many boys were there? – I would say not more than 40 or
50.
Debtor said the week`s camp was a heavy loss to him. If the
lads were over 16 he was to receive 3s. a day, and if over 20, 5s. a day per
head. He estimated his loss at £413 for that one week. Instead of being paid
5s. per day per head, they paid him 2s. per day per head.
The Official Receiver: I believe you allege that the loss on
this week is the main cause of your failure? – Yes, sir, it is.
It was elicited from debtor that Mr. Watts lent him £100 to
start the catering at the camp, and when he received payments from Major Hyne
he took the money to Mr. Watts in repayment of the £100.
Mr. Watts did not press him for repayment.
He attributed his insolvency to “failure of licensed
victualler`s business; depletion of profits from pork pie business; paying off
old liabilities in respect of former business; and loss sustained in catering
contract”.
The Official Receiver said he noticed that debtor paid into
the bank £2,273 in 1920, and £1,719 in 1921 – nearly £4,000 in two years –
giving an average of £80 a week – a very large turnover.
Debtor agreed. He stated that the sums paid into the bank
included rents from properties he had. He had never prepared a balance sheet to
see how he stood with his creditors. He was not aware of his insolvency until
he sustained the loss on the catering contract at Littlestone Camp. Debtor
admitted he had been sued by many of his creditors.
The Official Receiver: I think you have been doing some
gambling? Never in my life.
Any betting? - No.
I am told you have.
Debtor (dramatically): I salute you, gentlemen. I say I have
not. It is a wicked accusation to make.
How did you get the money to buy the property you have? – By
working for it.
Mr. C.A. Gardner (for the petitioning creditors) suggested
that debtor might have paid off the loan for the fixtures to the brewers
instead of buying property.
Debtor replied that he was never asked to pay for them.
Mr. Gardner next inquired, in regard to the Littlestone
Camp, if the debtor suggested that persons over 18 would eat more than boys.
Debtor: Yes.
That is your experience? – Yes.
Mr. Gardner: I can understand why you lost over the
catering, if you understand as little about it as that. Did you give them more
than they were entitled to? – Yes.
Mr. Gardner: Then that was your look out.
Both the Official Receiver and Mr. Gardner intimated that
they did not wish the examination to be kept open, and it was accordingly
closed.
Folkestone Herald
25-3-1922
Local News
At the East Kent Bankruptcy Court on Saturday, Mr, George
John Lawrence, Ash Tree Road, Princess Street, Folkestone, pork pie
manufacturer, appeared for public examination.
In reply to the Acting Official Receiver (Mr. F.P. Lamb),
debtor said his liabilities were returned at £651 1s. 8d., and his assets at
£274 17s. 3d., leaving a deficiency of £376 4s. 5d. For 20 years – from 1900 to
1920 – he was the licensee of the Mechanics Arms, St. John`s Street,
Folkestone. He had no capital when he started, and the valuation, which was
only £2 (sic), was paid by his father. He was tied for beer to the brewers. His
takings came to about £30 or £40 a week. About 1901 the brewers offered to sell
him the fixtures for £250, and as he had not the money they agreed to treat it
as a loan; he had to pay five percent per annum as interest. He had paid about
£237 in interest. When he came out of the house in 1920 the valuation came to
about £300. He was then owing the brewers altogether £675, but had since
reduced that to £50. He was also owing £270 to his wine and spirit merchant
when he left the house, but this had now reduced to £67. In 1916 he started a
pork pie business, in which he was assisted by his wife. He carried on this
business until he filed his petition and traded largely with the troops
stationed in the district. The business was successful until the signing of the
Armistice in 1918, and then the stoppage of troops going abroad greatly
affected his takings. He had provided troops going over to the other side, and
his takings were often £30, £40, or £50 a week. These takings gradually
declined after the Armistice till they amounted to only about £4 or £5 a week.
The fact that the War Office changed the route to Dover (for Calais) also
affected his trade very much.
Mr. Lawrence stated that about June, 1921, he started to do
catering, and contracted to supply meals to the Boys` Brigade Camp at
Littlestone Aerodrome, New Romney. He also contracted to supply Boy Scouts`
Camps at the rate of 2s. per head per day for boys of twelve to fourteen years
of age. He understood that the camp would consist of some 400 to 800 boys, but
they did not come in any great numbers at all. Then, owing to the coal strike,
for three weeks he had none. He made representations about the matter to the
Major of the Boy Scouts with whom he had contracted, and he was assured there
were some big numbers coming down. Then on one special occasion some 450 came
down, but they were not the boys he had expected of twelve to fourteen years of
age, but people of ages ranging from sixteen and seventeen to forty, fifty, and
sixty years of age. He should think there were not more than fifty boys of
twelve and fourteen in the whole camp, and the result was that he sustained a
very heavy loss of some £413 on that contract, and it had been the main cause
of his failure.
Debtor also alleged as contributory causes to his failure
“losses sustained in carrying out the pork pie business”, and also losses at
the Mechanics Arms. He realised that he was insolvent when he finished up the
catering business in Auguust.
The Official Receiver: But you had been sued by creditors
over and over again? – Yes.
Replying further to the the Official Receiver, debtor said
that three of his sons were claiming certain articles of furniture. His own
furniture had been sold for £100.
The Official Receiver: Have you been doing any gambling? –
Never in my life.
Any betting? – Never.
I heard you had. – I salute you and say no.
Never lost any money that way at all? – It is a wicked
accusation.
Debtor said he purchased some property in 1915-16 and 17,
and raised mortgages on it.
Mr. C.A. Gardner, for the petitioning creditor, asked debtor
how he managed to buy property while at the Mechanics Arms, while he was owing
money for the fixtures and paying interest on the loan.
Mr. Lawrence said he was never asked to pay up the
principal.
Mr. Gardner said he was curious to know how debtor claimed
that his loss was so great because the people at the camp were grown up and not
boys. Did he mean that grown-ups ate more than the boys.
Debtor replied in the affirmative.
Mr. Gardner (who is a Major in a Boys` Brigade), expressed
surprise, and said it was not his own experience at all.
The public examination was closed.
Folkestone Express
10-2-1923
Local News
On Tuesday morning the Magistrates heard applications for
the extensions of licences for various functions, and the Clerk called
attention to the supplying of refreshments to outsiders.
Mr. Drysdale (Mechanics Arms) was granted an extension until
11 p.m. on the 12th February for the purpose of the Journeymen
Butchers` and Slaughtermen`s smoking concert.
The Clerk said that with regard to a matter arising out of
the recent granting of some of these extensions of hours for the purpose of a
ball, it had been brought to the knowledge of the Licensing Justices that the
letter and spirit of the Act of Parliament, which enabled the Magistrates to
grant these exemptions from ordinary closing hours, had been transgressed.
Precise information had been brought to the Licensing Justices in one or two
instances of gentlemen who were not patrons of the ball driving up to a certain
hotel in the town, and they went in, and were supplied with refreshments for a
considerable time. The Magistrates desired him to point out to the licence
holders that that was a distinct infringement of the Act of Parliament, and the
conditions on which they granted the extension of hours. He need not tell them
that the Act o Parliament merely allowed the Magistrates to grant them for the
accommodation of people attending the hotel on special occasions, and not for
outsiders to go and get a drink after hours.
Folkestone Herald
10-2-1923
Local News
At the Folkestone Police Court on Tuesday (Mr. G.I. Swoffer
in the chair), the Bench granted an application by Mr. Drysdale, of the
Mechanics Arms, till 11 o`clock on the 12th instant for a smoking
concert in connection with the local journeymen butchers.
The Magistrates` Clerk (Mr. J. Andrew) said the Justices
wished him to explain a matter arising out of these recent applications for
extensions of hours for balls. It had been brought to the knowledge of the
Licensing Justices that the letter and spirit of the Act of Parliament which
enabled them to grant these orders of exemption from the ordinary closing hours
had been transgressed. Precise information had been brought to the notice of
the Justices that in one or two recent instances gentlemen who were not patrons
of the ball, and who had not ball tickets, had driven up to a certain hotel in
the town, gone in, and had been supplied with refreshments for a considerable
time. The Bench desired him to point out to licence holders that the
Magistrates granted these extensions solely that those taking part in the ball
could obtain drinks, and outsiders should not be supplied with drinks after
hours.
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