No. 30: Wenn Townsend Accountants
No. 30 St Giles was built in the early seventeenth century, and has two eighteenth-century panelled rooms and fireplaces on the ground floor. It is Grade II listed (ref. 1485/535) and belongs to St John’s College.
It is first recorded as a pub in 1792, when it was leased by Hall’s Brewery, and remained a pub until 1956, when it was converted into offices. It has been occupied since 1958 by Wenn Townsend Accountants.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, it was divided into two separate units, with the pub occupying only the left-hand side, which was numbered 30½ or 30A. At the time of the 1851 census, Harriet Morton, a widow of 65, is a tea & coffee dealer at No. 30, where she lived with her two dressmaker daughters and two lodgers. Next door the victualler at the Pheasant Inn (erroneously numbered 31) is Matthew Neave, who lived there with his wife and four children. Three guests were staying at the inn on census night.
At the time of the 1861 census, when she was 75, Harriet Morton was still keeping a shop at No. 30, accompanied by just one daughter; while William Spencer, the victualler of the Pheasant is at No. 30½ with his wife, 11-year-old daughter, two lodgers, and a servant.
The inn appears to have taken over the whole premises after Harriet’s death. At the time of the 1881 census, the Pheasant at No. 30 was occupied by Albert Beckley and his wife and their four children, plus a general servant, an ostler, and two “bath-chair lads” aged respectively 19 and 17.
| Occupants of 30 St Giles’ Street listed in censuses and directories | ||
| Date | 30 | 30A |
| 1823 & 1830 | Probably James E. Morton by 1830 | Pheasant William Forty (also livery stable keeper) |
| 1839 | Pheasant John Mead |
|
| 1841–51 | James E. Morton Shoemaker |
Pheasant Matthew Neave |
| 1851–71 | Harriet Morton Stationer & fancy warehouse and tea & coffee agent |
The Pheasant William Spencer |
| 1872–6 | Pheasant Inn Mrs Spencer William Spencer, cab & fly proprietor |
|
| 1880–1915 | Pheasant Inn Albert Beckley (1880–1910) Cab & fly proprietor, livery stables Henry Edward Beckley (1911–1914) Mrs Ada Louisa Beckley (1915) |
|
| 1916–27 | Pheasant P.H. Victor Drewe (1916–1927) |
|
| 1927–56 | Pheasant P.H. Richard Charles John Jarvis (1928–1937) Mrs Lily Jarvis (1939–1956) |
|
| 1958–present | Wenn Townsend Accountants | |