The landlord in 1838 was William Ayling but by June 1841 James Windibank was here with his wife Eliza and son Joseph. James was still at the French Horn in September 1841 when Hawkins’ Alton Brewery was put up for sale. Along with the brewery there were 10 freehold inns and public houses including the French Horn - which had a skittle ground (not the present alley) and did good business on account of cricket matches being played on the Butts and of a ‘large annual Lamb Fair’ held there. The new owner of the brewery was Henry Hall from Ely.

Above: The Butts, Alton - Warney's Series Left: The Butts, Alton - unknown The 1851 census shows that James Windibank was still at the French Horn. It seems that the business may not have been enough to support James and his wife. Like many other publicans, he had another occupation which for him was cattle dealing. James and Eliza Windibank were still at the French Horn in 1861 together with a general servant, a hostler and a boarder. Sadly, James only lived another three years, dying in May 1864, aged 55.

The next landlord of the French Horn was Robert Law. He had been born in Fife in Scotland and married Mary Ann Howman from Cheltenham. The 1871 census shows Robert, Mary Ann and Mary Barbara at the French Horn together with a servant. They stayed about 13 years and, in 1877, the following advert appeared in the newspapers:- ‘The Butts, Alton, French Horn, sale of excellent vinery, etc .... the property of Mr Law, who is retiring from the above business, auction 26 September.’ This is the only mention of the vinery that has been found so far and there is no indication as to where it was. 

By 1878, Chawton Club had become known as the Chawton Friendly Society or the ‘Smock Frock Club’. That year about 100 sat down to dinner in the Club Room at the French Horn. The Club Room is the building now used for skittles, television and other get-togethers and seems to have been built as the Victorian equivalent of a ‘function room’. The next year, the 32nd anniversary of the Club, ‘the members met at nine o’clock, and after lunch formed a procession which visited the friends and supporters of the Club at Chawton. Dinner was well provided in a large marquee on the Butts by Host Knight of the French Horn Inn. About 120 sat down to dinner.’ 

Host Knight was the new landlord but he did not stay long. In February 1880, judgement was obtained against W C Knight and his wife, ‘who lately occupied the French Horn Inn ... Mr Brabazon, the present landlord ... had agreed to give the Knights £380 for the business but found this sum in excess of its value.’ Although the premises were sometimes called the ‘French Horn Inn’ and the landlords occasionally referred to themselves as ‘inn keepers’ it was never an inn.

Moulby Brabazon, an Irishman, had moved to Shoreditch by the time of the 1881 census. At the French Horn were William Hill, aged 39, from Oxfordshire and his family. It seems to be during William’s time at the pub that there was an Alton Butts Quoits Club - there was also an Alton Quoits Club that met at the Red Lion in Normandy Street.

In October 1887, a temporary transfer of the licence of the French Horn was granted to Thomas Ballard although he soon moved. The Hampshire Chronicle published an advert in August 1888 that read: ‘Genuine full-licensed Country Inn, stabling, nice gardens, quoit ground, etc. Expenses small, Rent £17. Good Brewer, French Horn, Alton’ and the license was transferred to George Abner Slade the following April.

Staff of Halls Brewery, Alton, 1888. Hampshire County Museum Service

The next landlord of the French Horn was John Christmas who applied for the licence in April 1892 but he can not have been there for long as, in April 1893, Charles William Cook was summoned for permitting drunkenness on his licensed premises at the French Horn.

Charles was still the publican when the Royal Artillery were billeted there in August that year but, in January 1895, he was said to be leaving and was selling a pony and phaeton. The license then went to Joseph Woolmington who had previously been at a pub in the Aldershot division. Again, he soon left and Thomas Clement Alldritt took over in August 1895.

Thomas was aged 50 in 1901 and came from Tamworth, Staffs. His wife and daughter were both Londoners. While Thomas was in residence there was a meeting at the French Horn to form the ‘Butts Football Club’. Thomas was still here in 1903 but, by August 1904, Frederick James Steer and his wife, Hilda, had taken over. This was about the time that Courage acquired Hall’s Brewery and their public houses, including the French Horn.

Hilda Roberts had married Frederick Steer in July 1903. Frederick was a decorator so did not have a background in pub keeping but Hilda’s family had been associated with the Bell, Star, Castle, Barley Mow and Kings Head - all in Alton - so taking the French Horn was probably her idea.

Just as Hilda and Frederick had settled into the business disaster struck. On 29 September 1906, the Alton Gazette reported the ‘death on the 23rd at the French Horn, Frederick James Steer, aged 30.’ The next week’s issue amended his age to 34. In mid-October, the license of the French Horn was transferred to Hilda Steer. She seems to have been able to run the pub although she was accused of permitting drunkenness on her premises in May 1907. The charge was dismissed and it was said that the bar was really part and parcel of the tap room. She also said that her brother assisted her with the management of the house. 

Hilda carried on being the landlady until 1909, when she married again. Her new husband was Ernest Bertram Seward, a widower aged 31. After the wedding, the license passed to Ernest and it was he who was granted an occasional licence for the Primrose League Fete at Chawton Park in July 1913. 

In March 1914, the French Horn was visited for the Inland Revenue Survey. The entry for the premises reads:
‘IR no.2196, French Horn Inn, The Butts. Extent 1 rood. RV £36 
Occupier Hilda Steer (now Hilda S. Seward) Owner Courage & Co.
Term quarterly from 1 Nov 1906 rent £18. Full licence.
Brick and tile. Bar parlour, tap room, kitchen, scullery, beer cellar and outhouse, 3 bedrooms and attic. Roof poor.
Brick timber and tile Clubroom 37 ft long and iron shed.
Brick and tile coal and wood house and 4 stall stable
Timber and slated workshop and coach house. Chicken house.’

After the end of the First World War, the Knight family of Chawton decided to sell part of its estate. The auction took place on 19 July 1921 and Lot 5 consisted of a terrace of three thatched cottages, brick built, facing The Butts with a total frontage of 280 feet and let to Messrs Goodyear, Braithwaite and Christmas. In a surviving Knight letter book is a comment about the ‘very bad financial conditions now prevailing’ and that they were ‘able to do a deal with Courage.’ In September that year, Alfred J Martin, land agent and auctioneer, was paid £2/2/- for ‘his journey to the French Horn, making a survey of the garden ground adjoining, part of which had been purchased from Col Knight, making a plan and sending it to Downie and Gadban, hiring a car to carry poles, etc.’ A month later, the sale of the drive to the French Horn but not the two gardens at the front was finalised between Lt Col Lionel Knight and Courage & Co.Ltd.

It was not until December 1923 that Lt Col Knight conveyed the three freehold cottages and land near the French Horn to Courage. This included the two gardens between the French Horn and the Butts and the three thatched cottages.

1932 saw a change in the address of the French Horn. Like the cottages nearby, it came into Alton Civil Parish - moving from the Rural District to the Urban District.

The Sewards stayed at the French Horn throughout the Second World War, retiring in 1947. Ernest died in Guildford in 1950, aged 71. His obituary in the Alton Gazette mentions that he had worked at Courage’s brewery until 1940 when he had become landlord of the French Horn - showing that Hilda had run the pub for over 30 years on her own and been there for 40 years when she left.

Later landlords include Ernest Clifford Meacock, Charles Rietzler, Gordon Smith, Rodney Ryan, John Campbell, Helen and Nigel Collins, Colin and Ginette Dennis, Mike West and, now, Debbie Fordham.

Ownership of the French Horn passed from Courage & Co to Courage & Barclay when they were formed in 1955. In 1962 they became Courage, Barclay & Simmons, reverting to Courage Ltd in 1970. Finally the pub was sold to Ushers Brewery of Trowbridge, Wilts; and thence onwards following the 1990’s ‘beer orders’.

In February 1978, the French Horn was granted a Section 68 Certificate which meant that it could serve meals and extend the licensing laws by one hour providing the alcohol was served to people eating a meal. In 1990, a further Section 68 Certificate was granted for serving suppers in the Skittle Alley.

Past Occupants and their first known dates:

For more history of our Club Room, click here.

History text © Jane Hurst, 82, The Butts, Alton, Hampshire. GU34 1RD. 01420 86701
We'd also like to express our thanks to other contributors: Hampshire Records Office Winchester, Hampshire Country Museum Service, North Hants Licensing Office Aldershot, Alton Museum, The Alton Papers, Alton Herald, Alton Gazette, Kellys Directory, Georgia Smith, Tom Slight, Mrs V G Hunt, Mrs L Croucher, Mr G Dye, Mr and Mrs J Campbell, Rita Watts.

Get in touch! If you have any material suitable for inclusion in our history section, please contact us. We'd be especially keen to see any old photos!