Mardler June 2018 JS

Local History
Perhaps he got the idea of tavern keeping from his son
William, who became the licensee of the Lion in Thorpe
Abbotts, where he ran the pub with his wife, Mahala, until he
died in 1918. Mahala continued as licensee until 1923,
probably assisted by her youngest son, Victor William.
Samuel Elkanah Valiant also turned from watchmaking to pub
keeping in later life, becoming the licensee of the Hope Inn in
Harleston from 1900-25.
Samuel Valiant hosted dinners at the Dove for members of the
‘Accident Club’, a local self-help group where members
subscribed 2 shillings annually and could apply for financial
help after an accident. He was also a keen fisherman. One
day in 1868 a young Brockdish friend of his, 27 year old
farmer Edward Coleman, drowned in the Waveney at
Brockdish after tumbling in while Sam had just left him for 15
minutes. When he returned he found Edward’s rod tied up in
the sedges near the bank with a fish on the line. Sam plunged
in to drag him out but it was too late. The death of his
granddaughter Clara, just 4 years later, must have seemed
like a tragic echo of that day.
Arthur and Mary Ann Valiant’s grandson, Frederick Arthur
Valiant (1909-1988) established a building company in Bury St
Edmunds that flourishes still, working on historical renovations
and restorations. Their motto is ‘making sure our past has a
future’, which is surely a good motto for us too.
(Full list of references available from Elaine. The British
Newspaper Archives, Find My Past and Ancestry websites,
Norfolk Pub History website and The National Archives maps
were particularly useful sources of information).
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