Licensing (Alehouses)
The following source list was originally available only on paper in one of the West Yorkshire Archive Service offices. It may have been compiled many years ago and could be out of date. It was designed to act as a signpost to records of interest on a particular historical subject, but may relate only to one West Yorkshire district, or be an incomplete list of sources available.
An Act of 1552 required alehouse-keepers to be licensed annually by two justices and to enter into recognisances 'against the using of unlawful games, as also for the using and maintenence of good order and rule'. Very few of these licensing or 'brewster' sessions have survived (for records of the brewster sessions see ref QE32). In an Act of 1753 the responsibility of keeping a register or calendar of these recognisances fell to the clerk of the peace. In 1828 licensing laws were revised and consolidated in an Act that made the taking of recognisances redundant. The involvement of the quarter sessions in licensing then lapsed until the Licensing Act of 1872.
Following the Licensing Act of 1872 it became necessary for the quarter sessions to set up a county licensing committee to confirm licenses for the sale of alcohol in areas outside boroughs with their own commission of the peace (for records of the Licensing Committee see reference QC11). Amendments to the 1872 Act in 1904 introduced a system of compensation in instances where licenses were not renewed. Records relating to the closure of premises under the 1904 Act can also be found in the Clerk of the Peace collection (reference QD1/417-441), and in the West Riding Treasurer's Compensation Accounts (reference QD2/185).
The Licensing Committee was retitled the West Riding County Confirming and Compensation Committee from January 1952, and the West Riding County Compensation Committee from November 1961.
Records of alehouse licensing include:
| Description | Dates | Reference | Repository |
| Batley Borough Court: registers of licensed alehouses | 1872-1893 | P11/123-125 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Batley Borough Court: registers of grants of renewal of alehouse licenses | 1876-1887 | P11/130-134 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Bradford City Court: registers of licensed alehouses (includes off-licenses for some dates) | c1899-1969 | P16/6/4-6 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Bradford City Court: registers of licenses transferred | 1922-1964 | P16/6/7-9 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Bradford City Court: registers of applications to the licensing authority | 1951-1964 | P16/6/10-12 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Bradford City Court: register of alterations to licensed premises (indexed) | 1886-1955 | P16/6/13 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Bradford City Court: register of plans submitted to licensing justices | 1955-1972 | P16/6/14 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Bradford City Court: West Riding Licensing Authority (includes records on Dewsbury, Halifax and Wakefield) | 1905-1974 | P16/9-12 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Bradford Police: registers of licenses | 1858-1930s | WYP/BR/A124/109-118 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Bradford Police: registers of licenses | 1930s-1975 | WYP/BR | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Bradford Police: alphabetical index to registers of inns | nd | WYP/BR/A124/120-126 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Calder Petty Session Division (formerly West Morley): registers of licensed alehouses | 1895-1945 | P22/41,44 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Calder Petty Session Division (formerly West Morley): registers of beer off-licenses | 1895-1902 | P22/42-43 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Calder Petty Session Division (formerly West Morley): register of beer houses | 1902-1945 | P22/45 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Calder Petty Session Division (formerly West Morley): register of miscellaneous premises | 1902-1945 | P22/46 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Calder Petty Session Division (formerly West Morley): registers of licenses (with index) | 1931-1963 | P22/47-48 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Dewsbury Borough Court: register of licensed alehouses (indexed) | c1958-c1974 | P17/44 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Dewsbury Petty Session Division: registers of licensed alehouses (indexed) | 1873-1939 | P18/46-48 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Doncaster Quarter Sessions: petition against an unruly alehouse, Pontefract | 1702/1703 | QS1/42/3 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield Borough Court: List of new Licensees | 1877-1880 | P33/5/1 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield Borough Court: Borough of Huddersfield registers of Licenses (5 volumes) | 1880s | P33/5/2-6 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield Borough Court: register of licenses extinguished | 1906-1965 | P33/5/10 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield Borough Court: applications for certificates under Section 3 of the Licensing Act 1921 | 1921-1930 | P33/5/11 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield Borough Court: Borough Licensing Committee Minute books (4 volumes) | 1930-1969 | P33/5/12-15 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield Borough Court: plans approved by the justices | 1930-1974 | P33/5/16 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield (Upper Agbrigg Court): register of licenses | 1879-1897 | P34/4/1 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield (Upper Agbrigg Court): Licensing Act 1872 register | 1897-1922 | P34/4/2 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield (Upper Agbrigg Court): registers of licenses (offences and transfers) | 1903-1944 | P34/4/3-4 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield (Upper Agbrigg Court): registers of licenses | 1944-1974 | P34/4/5-6 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield (Upper Agbrigg Court): registration of licensed premises | 1973-1974 | P34/4/10 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Huddersfield Police: register of establishments | c1913-1957 | WYP/HU/A366/36/1-60 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Keighley Division Petty Sessions: register of licenses under the Act of 1902 | 1903-1930 | P3/2 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Keighley Division Petty Sessions: alehouse plans, parish of Haworth | 1903-1936 | P3/3/1 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Keighley Division Petty Sessions: alehouse plans, parish of Oakworth, Oxenhope and Stanbury | 1903-1938 | P3/3/2 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Keighley Division Petty Sessions: alehouse plans, parish of Steeton with Eastburn | 1903-1947 | P3/4 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Keighley Division Petty Sessions: alehouse plans, parish of Sutton | 1903-1938 | P3/5 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Keighley Petty Sessions (Court at Bingley): registers of licensed alehouses (5 volumes) | 1872-1923 | P2/5/2-6 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Keighley Petty Sessions (Court at Bingley): register of alehouses licenses in force under 1902 Act | 1901-1939 | P2/5/7 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Keighley Petty Sessions (Court at Bingley): register of alehouses licenses in force under 1910 Act | c1910-1964 | P2/5/8 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Keighley Petty Sessions (Court at Bingley): alehouse plans | 1889-1965 | P2/5/9 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Keighley Magistrates' Court: Licensing court registers | 1975-1983 | P29/4/1-4 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Leeds Police: A Division register of licenses | 1889-1952 | WYP/LE/A90/240-241 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Leeds Police: D Division register of licenses | 1874-1972 | WYP/LE/A137/285-289 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Leeds Police: register of beersellers | c1860-c1890 | WYP/LE/A90/188 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Leeds Police: register of licensed premises | 1861-c1913 | WYP/LE/A90/189 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Leeds Police: register of licences (by name of premises) | 1852-1889 | WYP/LE/A147/33 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Leeds Police: register and index of licensed premises, Centrak, Hunslet and Holbeck | 1852-1898 | WYP/LE/A160/159-160 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Leeds Police: register of public houses and licenses | 1949-1973 | WYP/LE/A238/42 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Lower Agbrigg Petty Sessions: registers of licensed alehouses (indexed - not a complete series) | 1903-1956 | P7/102-105 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Lower Agbrigg Petty Sessions: alehouse plans for Rising Sun Inn, Bottomboat; New Wheel Inn, Wrenthorpe; Black Swan Inn, Overton; Wheatsheaf Inn, Stanley; Cricketer's Arms, Horbury; Forester's Arms, Crigglestone; Shepherd's Arms, Horbury; Cherry Tree Inn, Horbury | 1960 | P7/107 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Morley Borough Court: register of licensed alehouses | c1893-1959 | P12/87 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Morley (East) Petty Sessions: register of licensed alehouses etc | 1929-1955 | P1/31 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Ossett Borough Petty Sessions: registers of licensed alehouses (indexed) | 1894-1972 | P9/31-33 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Ossett Borough Petty Sessions: alehouse plans (index available) | c1905-1974 | P9/34 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Otley Petty Sessions: registers of licensed alehouses (9 volumes) | 1872-1962 | P5/52-60 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Pontefract Borough Court: registers of licensed alehouses (some indexed) | 1905-1974 | P25/4/3-5 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Pontefract Quarter Sessions: register of alehouse-keepers for Selby, 9 Mar 1693 | April 1693 | QS1/32/4 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Pontefract, Garside & Pennington Architects (includes a number of plans of Pontefract pubs) | c1894-c1940 | C981 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Ripon: Alehouse-keeper's recognisances and brewster session calendars | 1770-1828 | QT1/6 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Rotherham Quarter Sessions: printed licenses for alehouse-keeping in the reign of James II (1685-1688) | July 1680 | QS1/19/6 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Sandal St Helen's Church: Parish Constable licensing records of inns and innkeepers | 1790-1914 | WDP20/8/5 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Skipton Quarter Sessions: list of alehouse-keepers brewing without a license | July 1669 | QS1/8/4 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Skyrack Petty Session Division: registers of alehouse licenses (indexed) | 1902-1972 | P13/51-55 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Todmorden Petty Session Division: registers of licensed alehouses (indexed) | 1936-1962 | P20/24-25 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Upper Barkston Ash Petty Session Division: registers of licensed alehouses (indexed) | 1904-1955 | P15/10-11 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Upper Osgoldcross (Pontefract) Petty Sessions: registers of licensed alehouses (indexed) | 1896-1963 | P19/43-44 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Wakefield Borough Alehouse Licenses | 1845-1890 | WYW1427 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Wakefield Borough Court: registers of licensed alehouses (indexed - not a complete series) | 1872-1967 | P8/181-184/2 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Wakefield Quarter Sessions: petition to rescind a license of a Castleford publican | 1705 | QS1/44/9 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| West Riding: Brewster session papers | 1693-1777 | QE32/1-6 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| West Riding: Brewster calendars | 1771-1821 | QE32/7-64 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| West Riding: Original recognisances (note this is not a complete series. Later recognisances included in Petty Sessions by area court) | 1752-1828 | QE32/65-98 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| West Riding: Beerhouse Licensing (contains applications for licenses and certificates of rating) | 1842-1863 | QT3/4/64,QT3/4/65 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| West Riding: Licensing Committee minutes | 1872-1973 | QC11/1-7 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| West Riding: Licensing Committee reports | 1904-1972 | QC11/8-86 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| West Riding: Licensing Committee relating to the closure of premises under the 1904 Act | 1905-1968 | QD1/417-441 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| West Riding: Licensing Acts compensation account | 1905-1948 | QD2/185 | WYAS: Wakefield |
| Wetherby Petty Session Division: registers of alehouse licenses (some indexed) | 1875-1971 | P14/21-27 | WYAS: Wakefield |
See also Beer/Brewing.
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