Ann Udy Beswarrick (this is the most used spelling of her last name) was baptised in Lostwithiel on March 17, 1833.

Her parents were Thomas, a woolcomber, and Betsy, maiden name Udy. Ann grew up with six sisters and five brothers, but not unusual for the times, only six reached adulthoods. Ann left home as soon as she was able, but not too far away from her family; at 18 years old she a domestic servant in the home of shop keeper Richard Talling in Fore Street, Lostwithiel.

Ann returned to her parents’ home, they had moved to St Austell, and in March 1861 gave birth to a son who she named George Beswarrick. Ann left home for a second time, leaving young George with his grandparents, and found work as a Waitress in the elegant Webb’s Hotel on the Parade in Liskeard. Probably a coincidence, but the hotel was opened in 1833, the same year as Ann’s baptism. Or perhaps she was drawn by seeing her birth year on Webb’s datestone (it’s still visible today).

In Stoke Damerel, Devon, on January 29, 1874, 41-year-old Ann married the 56-year-old widowed landlord of the Railway Inn, Barn Street, Liskeard, William Quiller. In some ancestry records William is listed as George Beswarrick’s father. William and Ann had only three years of marriage as William died in 1877. Ann became the landlady in Barn Street, changed the name of the hostelry to the Railway Hotel, and employed her son George as the Hotel Manager. Lodging in the Railway Hotel in 1891 was a 55-year-old unmarried butcher named James George.

1901 was a landmark year for Ann Udy Quiller; she retired at the age of 68 and on March 5 she signed a conveyance which granted the Redruth Brewery a 500-year lease on the Railway Hotel. In return, she received an immediate payment of £500 and £100 a year until her death. On October 10, 1901, Ann married her former Lodger James George; they lived together at 4 Carwinion Terrace, Station Road, for ten years until Ann died on March 6, 1911, after a full life spanning 78 years.

By Brian Oldham, Liskeard Museum volunteer and Bard of the Gorsedh Kernow