X00307: White Bear Hotel

In the 1841 census as well as some of his children's birth and baptism records show Thomas Williams as being the publican of the White Bear Hotel on Dale Street in Liverpool.

I was doing some research on the history of the hotel and found out that Herman Melville stayed at the hotel on 8 November 1856, according to his diaries.

I was trying to determine the time period in which he would have owned the hotel. I first found this article [D06804] from the Liverpool Mercury, 22 September 1837 and mentions that Thomas Williams just took over the operations:



Then I found this article [D06806], also from the Liverpool Mercury, dated 3 May 1871 that mentions that the hotel has remained under the same ownership for 30 years.



So that gives us a range of 1837 to 1841 in which Thomas Williams ran the hotel.

Next, I'd like to find out more about the history of the Inn - when it was founded and when it went out of business. It no longer exists.

Update on X00303: Who is Martha Williams

An update on X00303:

According to this article posted on the Grey Roots website, John Frost's wife Mary Williams was of Welsh descent whereas the Thomas Williams family originated from around Bristol in England, so that doesn't appear to be the connection.

Also, when I was at Greenwood Cemetery in the summery, I wasn't able to find the stone.