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was spotted by Mr. John Shakles of Redditch in the 'Bromsgrove, Droitwich and Redditch
Messenger' of July 10th, 1875: a paper we confess never to have seen. The details revealed in the sale notice sent us rushing to the Society's index of names to see what sort of man William Terrill was. He not only owned the 'Swan' but also acted as innkeeper from the 1840s until his death in 1875, when he was 76 years old. The'Swan' is Alcester's oldest inn, with 16th century documentation; by the 1840s it was the prime coaching inn in the town. In the 16th century we envisage it as a half-timbered building but by Terrill's time it had taken on a late 18th century aspect of brick and probably much enlarged. |
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The sale notice suggests that Terrill and his forebears were local capitalists who bought up property as it came on the market. 16 houses in central Alcester would bring in a steady income: our index suggests that it all started in Bleachfield Street, where Thomas Terrill, probably William's grandfather, lived in the 18th century and is variously described as a yeoman, a baker and a maltster. Another Terrill, Charles, and still another, John, were victuallers from 1816 at the 'White Lion'. The nucleus of the family's small empire was the Bleachfield St./Evesham St. area.
William Terrill must have been a person locally respected for we find him elected chairman of the Gas, Light and Coke Company in 1856 and in 1865 made High Constable of Barlichway Hundred; the latter being less a practical appointment, more a ceremonial one.
The town's pound was apparently still standing in 1875, although likely to have been defunct: this stood where today's garage now is, on Priory Road.
This sale by auction notice gives no indication of the place of auction: a local inn was a common site and, in this case, no doubt the 'Swan'.
