This is my fiftieth local history column for the newspaper.

Later today I will mark the occasion by enjoying a glass of Manns Brown Ale. (Yes, really…)

Manns' Brown Ale was first produced in 1902. Sadly for our predecessors this marginally sweet ale was not available in Sutton.

Most of the beer drunk in Sutton at this time was produced by the Lichfield Brewery Company or Ansells.

The Top Swan, situated next to Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, was one of the pubs in Sutton for which the Lichfield Brewery Company held the lease.

It was a very old pub, dating back to the sixteenth century. Situated on the road from Lichfield, it did a very profitable trade.

With its pianist, it must have been rather a jolly place to spend a Saturday evening.

The Top Swan, however, was also associated with tragedy.

In 1870 the licensee was William Deakin, married to Elizabeth and stepfather to her son William.

It, is clear that by this time the couple were not getting on.

Elizabeth was a heavy drinker. More than once, when she was drunk, a doctor was called to see her. A police constable reported that he once saw her lying on the pavement outside the inn and her husband 'refused to help get her in, saying that was the best place for her.’

Elizabeth clearly led an unhappy life. In March of that year she died at the Top Swan. On the day that she sustained the injuries that led to her death, Elizabeth claimed that her husband had struck her in the kitchen before leaving the premises. Customers reported that her face was swollen.

When Deakin returned, he found the body of his wife on the floor of the cellar and claimed that she must have fallen down the steps. Her son stated that his stepfather was not in the habit of striking her and that she had often injured herself when drunk.

A doctor believed that her death was caused by a fall down the steps.

At the inquest the jury could not say how Elizabeth had sustained the injuries that led to her death,

The coroner warned Deakin that he had narrowly escaped charges of murder or manslaughter.

As he left the inquest, he was jostled by an angry crowd.

• The Public Houses of Sutton Coldfield 1800-1914 by Stephen Roberts can be ordered from Amazon,
  £6.99.

Associate Professor
Stephen Roberts