AN OXFORD pub sold not only beer, but bred dogs and, it appears, rats. The unusual combination of trades took place at the Old Dog Tray pub at 6 Gloucester Street, more recently the home of the Annabelinda fashion shop.

Memory Lane reader David Brown, of Jordan Hill, Oxford, uncovered the intriguing mixture when he recently acquired a letter, the heading of which is reproduced here.

The letter, dated December 19, 1862, and measuring just 18cm by 12cm, had a simple message: “Sir, I have sent the Bottle of Mixture to the Adress (sic) you mentioned in your letter. I am Sir your Obt Servt, W Luker.”

Memory Lane this week

Mr Luker classed himself as a “dealer in fancy spaniels and all kinds of dogs”, offering to keep gentlemen’s dogs on moderate terms and “neatly crop them”. Customers were assured that rats were “always on hand”.

From the illustrations and phrases on the unusual letter heading, it would appear that pub was more interested in its animals than its beer!

However, there may be an explanation – two William Lukers lived at the pub, father and son. It is possible that Mr Luker senior ran the pub, while his son, then aged 18, dealt with the animals.

But as Mr Brown says: “I am puzzled why a dog dealer would also keep and breed rats.”

According to the 1861 Census, William Luker senior was the 38-year-old publican and head of the household.

He was living with his 35-year-old wife Elizabeth, who was born at Wolvercote, their five sons and two daughters and his 60-year-old mother Ann.

William senior died in 1867 aged 44, and the 1871 Census reveals that his widow had become a licensed victualler, now living at the White Hart, a public house at 11 Cornmarket.

Four sons, William, possibly the dog dealer, Isaac, Walter and John, daughters Louisa and Fanny, grand-daughter Elizabeth and mother in law Ann were also listed at the address.

A fifth son, Albert, who would have been 11, is absent from the 1871 records.

The Old Dog Tray, whose address is given in Mr Luker’s letter as Red Lion Square, was one of many pubs established in the Gloucester Green area in the second half of the 19th century.

According to Derek Honey, author of ‘An Encyclopaedia of Oxford Pubs, Inns and Taverns’, it was often confused with another ‘animal’ pub opposite, the Blue Pig.

The landlord of the Old Dog Tray was Mr TE Powell in 1880 and Mr W Couling in 1890. It is not known when it closed.

In the 1950s, it became Burton’s Milk Bar and from 1970 until 2012, it housed the Annabelinda dress shop.It is now a tea shop.


Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.