Introduction – Christie Connections with Loughborough
As you know from last a recent post, I recently finished the challenge of reading all the Agatha Christie novels, and had been surprised at how many references there were within her books to Loughborough-related things, or, at least, things that connected in some way with Loughborough.
“Hickory Dickory Dock”
Today’s post is prompted by something I read in Hickory Dickory Dock, on p300.
Written in 1955, unlike Sleeping Murder which featured Miss Marple, HDD is a Poirot affair, a synopsis of which can be found elsewhere. In short, a number of items go missing from a student hostel, then come the murders …
One of the characters in the novel, Mrs Christina Nicoletis, is the eccentric and volatile owner of the student accommodation, and in the reference we’re interested in, she is in conversation with Mrs Hubbard, who is the warden of the accommodation, and incidentally just happens to be the sister of Poirot’s secretary, Miss Lemon. Here’s what’s said, when Mrs Nicoletis flew into one of her tempers:
“Ah, you do not think I have cause for anxiety? You know best as usual! You know everything! You are so wonderful: you cater, you manage, you spend money like water on food so that the students are fond of you, and now you want to manage my affairs! But that, no! I keep my affairs to myself and nobody shall pry into them, do you hear? No, Mrs What-do-you-call-it Paul Pry.”
The Loughborough Connection
Back in March 2022 I posted an article entitled ‘So Who Was Paul Pry?’
This post gave a detailed description of the character of ‘Paul Pry’ – a do-gooding, nosey busybody – as he appeared in a play written in 1825 by the writer John Poole (1786-1872). And it is this character that is referenced in Hickory Dickory Dock, in which, essentially, Mrs Nicoletis is telling Mrs Hubbard to mind her own business!
Apparently, according to a report in the Leicestershire Mercury of October 1839, we had a Paul Pry in Church Gate, one John Hollingsworth, who knocked over William Smith, who he accused of catching him “playing the part of Paul Pry, by listening under [someone's] window, a practice of which he was frequently guilty.”
However, in my earlier post about Paul Pry, I focussed on the name as the name of a local beer-off premises, that according to a newspaper report (Leicester Evening Mail of 5th March 1930), was on Leicester Road, and was once the home of the Clemerson family, when it was known as the White House, and later was Maher’s Off-Licence. Since then, research has revealed that the George Moore referred to in that article, who was of the Paul Pry and who had been in court in 1832 for not looking after his apprentice, was listed in a trade directory of 1835 as a beer retailer on Wood Gate. Later, in 1841, a report of a gun being shot up the chimney of the Paul Pry gives no indication of who was running the business, nor where it was situated, although we are told that the perpetrator lives close to the Roman Catholic Chapel – presumably on Ashby Road.
A similar situation arises in 1846 when two shoemakers – Mr Rozzell and Mr Barker – have a bit of an argument. They were drinking in the Paul Pry – but where, is not stated!
Could the Paul Pry have been in Ward’s End?
By 1851 we find that there is a publican listed in Ward’s End, called Matthew Ward. On the 1841 census return he was in Ward’s End but listed as either a farrier or a farmer. I suspect the latter, as he also appears in a polling book as owning property in Ward’s End. In 1858, Matthew Ward of the Paul Pry beerhouse (no address given) was convicted of keeping his house open on Sunday 17 th January, for the sale of beer, and was fined £1 and costs. Matthew Ward died in 1859, aged 75, and is buried in Emmanuel churchyard.
In October 1923, a letter which appeared in the Leicester Daily Mercury mentioned that a farmer stopped off at “the tavern known as the Paul Pry, in Bedford Square”, I don’t know about you, but I can never quite work out where Bedford Square ends, and Ward’s End begins, but this could well be the same premises as mention in 1851.
In 1952, the Loughborough Echo published a piece quoting extracts from an account book that was about 100 years old. This account book belonged to Mr John Cooper, a maltster from Hathern and in it is recorded the sales he made, many of which were to Loughborough folk. The first entry in the book is for 1843, but the one of more interest here is an entry for 1852, which named the Paul Pry on Ward’s End as one of the customers.
So, was there a Paul Pry on Leicester Road, and on Ward’s End / Bedford Square? I can honestly say I really have no idea!!
But, just one more thing before I leave you in peace, in September 1891, the Loughborough cyclers indulged in a lantern parade, and the participants were decked out in gorgeous array, representing historical characters like "Ally Soper", "Paul Pry", and others!
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Dyer, Lynne (2025). Christie Connections – Paul Pry. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/03/christie-connections-paul-pry.html [Accessed 6 April 2025]
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