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38 High Street
Broadstairs
01843 579650
https://whatpub.com/prince-albert
Above postcard, circa 1905, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe. Showing the
pub as a free house, advertising Walker's Gravesend Ales. Walker's
Wellington Brewery was taken over by Charrington's in 1905 and closed in
1928 after sustaining severe damage in a fire. |
Above photo 1908. |
Above postcard, circa 1910, kindly sent by Michael Mirams. |
Above picture, date unknown. |
Above photo, circa 1912. |
Above photo, 2023. |
 
Above sign left 1986. Sign right 1991.
With thanks from Brian Curtis
www.innsignsociety.com. |
The old "Prince Albert" building was demolished in 1910 and the new one
erected in 1912.
The 1900 licensee Mr. Baraschina from new South Wales, Australia,
was nicknamed the Boko Poet of Broadstairs.
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Kentish Gazette, Tuesday 24 October 1865.
BROADSTAIRS.—Suicide by Hanging.
On Monday, W. H. Payn, Esq., coroner for Dover and its liberties,
held an inquest at the "Prince Albert Inn,"
Broadstairs, on the body of Henry Birch, a labourer. His wife,
Harriet Birch, deposed that on Saturday last she
quitted her house at Lion-row, High-street, in the evening, leaving
her husband, who was unwell, in bed. On her
return in an hour, she went upstairs to see how her husband was
getting on, when on entering the bedroom
she saw him hanging from the top of the bed, his knees resting on
the floor. She immediately called for help,
and the deceased was cut down. The deceased was usually a steady
man; but he had last week given himself
up to drink. Deceased’s brother committed suicide three months ago,
and she did not think her husband had
been right ever since.
James Brazier deposed to having been called by the last witness, and
to cutting the rope by which the deceased
vas suspended from the bed-top.
Mr. W. G. Taylor, a surgeon practising at Broadstairs, stated that
he examined the body on the evening in
question soon after it was cut down, and found life extinct. There
were marks of a cord on the neck, and signs
of asphyxia with cerebral congestion, the deceased having died from
strangulation. The jury found a verdict
"That the deceased committed suicide while labouring under temporary
insanity."
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Canterbury Journal, Kentish Times and Farmers' Gazette, 15 May 1886.
Canterbury bankruptcy Court.
A sitting of the Canterbury Bankruptcy Court was held at the Guildhall
on Friday, the Registrar (Walter Foley, Esq.) presiding.
George Bradford.
The Official Receiver stated that the bankrupt had kept the "Prince
Albert Inn," Broadstairs. He commenced business in 1849 with a capital
of £300. According to his statement of affairs he owed £268 5s. His
assets consisted of stock in trade, £37; household furniture, £10; and
estimated surplus after sale of mortgage property, £866 5s.
The deptor, in question in answer to questions, said "I took the "Prince
Albert Inn," Broadstairs in 1849, and carried on it on till my
bankruptcy. A creditor filed a petition against me, and after it was
filed I disposed off the property. I did not communicate with the
Official Receiver on the subject. I hired the property of my brother,
and he sold it. The furniture was mine.
The Registrar here said it would be necessary first of all to see
whether the man was really insolvent or not.
The Official Receiver said that if the debtor's estimate was correct
there would be a dividend of 20s. in the £, but like a good many other
properties in the present day, it had been valued at a good deal more
than it will fetch by auction. Everything depended on the realisation of
his property.
Examination of the bankrupt was then resumed. He stated that his brother
was his landlord, and he distained about a fortnight or three weeks
ago, after the petition has been filed. The distance was for 6 years'
rent. There was no one in possession.
The Official Receiver:- Then how could he distrain?
The debtor:- I am sure I don't know how it was. I heard of the distress
being put in, and they even lotted the things to sell them; but I had no
notice of the distress. The things realised £22 17s., and they allowed
me £14 to go out. I owe Mr. Crawford, the wine merchant, £90. When I
dealt with Mr. Crawford in January this year I did not know I was
insolvent. In February this year I had a bill from Mr. Mercer,
solicitor, Ramsgate, for legal advice, but I do not know what the
business was about. I employed Mr. Mercer at different times. The
mortgage of my property has been transferred from Mr. Sankey, solicitor,
to the Rev. Mr. Pygott. It was for £900. Mr. Sankey used to lend me
money during the time I was building the houses, and then took a
mortgage for £900, which has since been transferred to Mr. Pygott. I
estimate the value of my property at £1,000. I'm now living with my
daughter at Broadstairs, Julia Mary Dixon, who claims £28 against me in
respect of wages. She has acted as my housekeeper, and the money is
rightly due to her.
The debtor was closely questioned by a solicitor representing Mr.
Crawford and another creditor, and in the result he was allowed to pass;
but it was intimated that an application will be made for a private
examination, and the solicitor for Mr. Crawford stated that the case
required considerable investigation, and that there was not a single
item in the debtor's statement of affairs which was correct.
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Thanet Advertiser 05 May 1888.
WANTED, a smart respectable LAD, about 17, who thoroughly understands
the general work in a public house.
Walsh, "Prince Albert," Broadstairs. - Apply Monday, from 12 till 2.
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From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday, 11 September, 1891. Price 1d.
DOVER LICENSING SESSIONS
ADJOURNED SITTING AT BROADSTAIRS
THE PRINCE ALBERT, BROADSTAIRS
Superintendent Kewell objected to the renewal of the license of the
“Prince Albert,” Broadstairs, on the ground that it had been closed
since the last licensing meeting in September, 1890, and was therefore
not needed.
Mr. Martin Mowll, on the behalf of the present tenant, Mr. Keen, applied
for the renewal of the license.
Superintendent Kewell proved that he had served notice of objection on
the owner by registered letter which he had himself posted, and it was
returned from the Post Office. The ground of objection stated in the
notice was “that the premises have for a long time past been closed and
not been open since the annual licensing meeting on the 10th of
September, 1890, and that the requirements of the neighbourhood are
sufficiently provided for without such license.”
It was proved that a similar notice had subsequently been served on Mr.
Keen, the present tenant.
Police-constable Foreman proved the serving of the notice on Mr. Keen;
he went to the house from August 26th every day till September 2nd, and
did not succeed in finding the occupier to serve the notice on him till
the latter date.
Superintendent Kewell said: I am Superintendent of Police for the
Wingham division. I know the “Prince Albert Inn.” I have passed it
several times since the 10th of September, 1890. I never found it open
for the sale of liquor. The house is still closed, and I consider that
it is not required in the neighbourhood, there being a public house, the
“Crown,” about thirty yards away on the other side of the road. The
“Prince Albert” is near the centre of Broadstairs about 300 yards from
here. The house was closed sometime before the last licensing meeting,
but I did not know it in time to oppose the renewal at that time. I
passed the house this morning and I could see that there was no
furniture in the bar.
Mr. Mowll: Is it not a fact that your reason for opposing the renewal of
this license is simply because it has not been used since the last
licensing day?
Superintendent Kewell: Yes, they circumstance gave me confidence to do
it.
In reply to further cross-examination, the witness said that the house
was in the main street leading to the station. There were two other
public houses in the road leading to the station, but they were both up
near the station. He had heard that the “Prince Albert” and the
adjoining house was let at £90 a year, but he did not think the property
worth so much.
Mr. Mowll then addressed the Bench on behalf of the tenant. He said that
the house in question had been in existence many years and that it was
let in 1888 on lease for 25 years at £90 a year to Mr. Greaves. He was
not able to make the business pay. He got in arrears of his rent, and
the landlord had had to levy a distress. In consequence, difficulties
were put in the way of getting another tenant in, and that was in short
the reason why the house had been a year without a tenant. He (Mr.
Mowll) urged that the Bench should not add to the misfortunes of the
owner by refusing to renew the license. The Bench had laid down the
principle at Dover that they would not thin the houses out this year,
and when they came to consider the question of accommodation next year
they might find the other house to be a tied house, and might prefer
closing that to this which was a free house.
Evidence was then given of the character of Keen, the proposed tenant,
and Mr. Walsh, the owner, was called to prove the statement of Mr. Mowll
as to why there had been delay in getting the license transferred. He
stated also that if the license was refused it would be a loss of
between £800 and £900 to him.
The Bench having deliberated announced that they had determined to
refuse the renewal of the license, but stated no reasons for their
decision.
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Thanet Advertiser, Tuesday 28 July 1936.
Publicans Loss.
Placed upon a shelf behind the saloon bar counter at the "Prince
Albert Inn," High Street, Broadstairs, at 9 o'clock on Tuesday
morning, a sum of £2 10s. in coppers was found to be missing at
12:15. A description of a man has been circulated to other publicans
in the district. |
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Thanet Times, Tuesday 12 January, 1965.
It's a real home from home.
The cat sleep on the hearth of the saloon bar of the "Prince Albert," in
Broadstairs High Street, is just one more example of the licences
proud boast that:- "This is more like a club than a pub, a real home
from home.
Percy Shailes, now very young 60, did not enter the licensed
trade until after the war, but can already claim to be Broadstairs'
oldest serving licensee. He has been at the "Prince Albert" for the
past 16 years.
A railway engineer at Swindon with the old Great Western Railway,
Percy had his first pub at Gravesend before coming to Thanet.
His first Thanet pub was the "Walmer Castle," Westgate, and then
he managed the "Ship," Margate, before taking over the "Prince
Albert."
Percy's long abiding interest, apart from his customers, has
always been cricket. A keen club player in his younger days, he is
still an enthusiastic supporter of the game.
His proudest possession is a bat autographed by the Australian
team which lost the Ashes in 1957. One of his customers was a
steward of the boat taking the team home and he got their autographs
for him.
A customer summed up the happy atmosphere of the "Prince Albert."
"If a regular is missing for a week or so, one of us goes round
to see him to find out if everything is all right or if he needs
anything," he said.
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Thanet Times, Tuesday 17 February 1976.
New landlord plans to make pub famous.
NEW LICENSEE of the "Prince Albert Inn," High Street, Broadstairs, is Mr.
Len Fillery, who until six months ago ran the "Swan" at Great Chart,
Ashford.
Mr. Flllery and his wife Yvonne have two daughters, Yvette (18) and
Annette (16).
Mr. and Mrs. Fillery are not strangers to Thanet. She once lived at
Broadstairs and he also has friends in the area Mrs. Fillery's brother,
Mr. Donald Dewar, is proprietor of "Holland House Hotel" at Cliftonvllle.
The couple were nearly five years at Great Chart, during which time the
"Swan" earned a reputation as a good eating house. It was Routier-rated
and also had a plaque identifying it as one of the best 300 pubs in
England.
Mrs. Flllery is the expert restaurateur, having trained in Switzerland
and managing restaurants in London.
Now she and her husband are planning to make the "Prince Albert" famous
for its food. They hope to open a restaurant and to provide varied bar
lunches.
"We shall not do it immediately," said Mr. Fillery. "You cannot just
come into a place and alter everything. We shall find out what people
want by introducing new dishes and seeing how they go."
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From an email received 31 January 2016.
Hi!
I am researching the medals given out to the rescuers of the American
ship the Northern Belle, which came to grief off Kingsgate in 1857. The
Margate and Broadstairs boatmen created quite a name for themselves for
this brave deed. I have a note that the Australian landlord of the
"Prince Albert Inn," Broadstairs, published a poem about the Broadstairs
boatmen and sold it for 1/2d a copy to raise funds.'
Looking at your photos, Albert A Barnaschina was selling
Australian beers in 1906, but it was a different landlord in 1857. Do
you have any information on either the correct landlord, or better still
a copy of the poem? (See "Captain
Digby.")
My husband's great grandfather was one of the rescuers, and I am
trying to locate the whereabouts of as many of the medals as I can.
Thank you,
Linda Wales.
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From the
https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Secret Drinker, 14 April 2023.
Secret Drinker reviews Craft Union's Prince Albert pub in Broadstairs High Street.
If you’d told me before I got there that I’d get a pint of Moretti and a
large Sauvignon Blanc for a tad over a tenner in a pub in Broadstairs
I’m not sure I’d have believed you.
Bargain Hunt was showing silently on one telly in the Prince Albert with
horse racing, followed by the dogs, on two other screens.
Having supplied her with wine I tried to persuade Mrs SD a game of giant
Jenga was in order as the blocks were already stacked in front of the
radiator. In the end she succumbed to a hand of dominoes but escaped
that as well when we realised how many bones were missing.
Instead, she reverted to type and immediately indulged in her favourite
pastime - people watching.
The big guy perched on a stool at the end of the bar was the landlady’s
dad and had a large cardboard box for company, but was also exchanging
pleasantries with other customers and his daughter. I thought the
landlady, who had a phone stuck to her face for the first 10 minutes,
was still wearing her dressing gown, but Mrs SD reckoned it could be a
long cardie.
The brown furniture and the patterns on the upholstery and carpet fit
right in with the feel of the place.
Once she’d finally finished on the phone she began munching hot cross
buns, which was slightly ironic, and put her one step ahead of her
customers, as she’d informed me this is a Craft Union house and they’ve
never served food.
Tim, the landlady’s fella, had already polished off his buns and mug of
tea so grabbed the pub puppy’s lead and took Albie out for a walk.
Landlady Em reckoned it was a good job as Albie stopped listening to
anything she says some time ago.
At this point a couple of ladies wearing wax jackets and sensible hats
wandered in off the street and took several steps towards the bar,
however, having looked around they turned on their sensible heels and
walked out again without uttering so much as a word.
They were followed through the front door by three girls, walking in
equally silently, who obviously only wanted to use the toilet and,
having taken advantage of the facilities, simply giggled to themselves
as they left.
Em, who’s been landlady here for four years, seemed nonplussed and when
another pair of young girls followed them in, again to take a wee
without so much as a by your leave, ignored them as well.
Despite the dark beams and interior woodwork, the large leaded windows
still let in plenty of light, even on an overcast day.
Tim, Em’s other half, took over her dad’s stool at the end of the bar
and spent several moments vaping and blowing some very impressive ‘smoke
rings’ (or should that be vape rings?).
Em took the opportunity to open up her box, which was full of other
boxes, all of which seemed to contain crisps and other assorted snacks,
which she squirrelled away behind the bar. There didn’t seem to be any
sweets in her box, which was a pity as the dispensing machine looked as
if it had been empty for a while.
She must have sensed my beady eye on her nuts and crisps as she said we
were welcome to pop out to buy a takeaway of our choice and bring it
back for consumption.
The toilets weren’t generally in bad nick but would benefit from a little TLC.
But my concentration was taken by two other people walking in. This time
they arrived from upstairs and informed anyone who would listen that the
plumbing was now fixed and as soon as they grabbed their tools they’d be
on their way.
There is Jenga and a few dominoes but there’s no pool table, darts or a
jukebox, although there was a stack of betting slips on the windowsill
should the urge take you.
The background music was managed from behind the bar and was pretty
dreadful – if you don’t believe me try listening to Hayseed Dixie’s
version of Walk This Way. There were two large electronic fruit machines
flashing away but no-one went near them.
The racing was showing on two screens so, for those who still like to
place their bets the old fashioned way, it makes sense to have slips
available in the pub.
I must say, having decided to visit Broadstairs, the Prince Albert
provided me with an experience I wasn’t really expecting. In general, as
well as being great value for money, the pub was refreshingly upbeat
and, at the same time, down-to-earth.
As we made our way back down the high street Mrs SD shared with me her
previous experience of Prince Albert. As a primary teacher she’d carried
out a project on Queen Victoria and her Prince Consort – the youngsters
had dutifully Googled Prince Albert but, despite the computer controls
she thought were in place, Mrs SD had to step in quickly to remove some
of the images their innocent searches pulled up!
She agreed this latest experience in the delightful seaside town of
Broadstairs was much less stressful and a good deal more enjoyable. |
LICENSEE LIST
LAWRENCE Richard 1841-47+
BRADFORD George 1849-May/86 (age 59 in 1871 )
WALSH Joseph 1888-90
GREAVES William 1890
Unoccupied 1891+
BARNASCHINA Albert A 1897-1911+ (age 49 in 1911)
SPRATLEY Henry William 1913-22+
GIBSON Arthur 1938-38+
SHAILES Percy 1949-65+
FILLERY Len Aug/1975+
GIROLAMI Crissi 2012-18
https://pubwiki.co.uk/PrinceAlbert.shtml
Census
From the Kelly's Directory 1903
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