There have been inns in the Market place for several hundred
years. There have been several historical references to the Unicorn
·
In 1611 the Unicorn is referred to as the house
of Edward Turner where Corporation meetings were held
·
Edward Turner married Margaret Allanson, who ran the Unicorn until her death in 1647
·
The inn passed to Margaret’s son Thomas,
who sold the inn on to Richard Porter
·
The Unicorn is mentioned in the Hearth Tax
return of 1672 and the Survey of Burgages in 1675
·
Richard Porter’s son, also called Richard,
inherited the Unicorn in 1676. Richard died in 1679 and the Unicorn passed to
Ellen Horner, Richard’s sister.
·
The Corporation is known to have paid rent for
use of the Unicorn in 1688
·
Following Ellen Horner’s death in the
1690s the ownership of the Unicorn becomes divided amongst other family
members.
·
Some of the shares were bought out in the early
1700s by Francis Cowling. Francis retired in 1729 passing his shre holding to his nephew, Cuthbert Cowling. Cuthbert
managed to buy out the other shareholders by 1744.
·
In 1745 Cuthbert Cowling sold the Unicorn to
William and Sarah Haddon. The Haddons remained
proprietors for many years, acquiring adjacent property to expand the Unicorn.
·
The Haddons died in
1769 and 1774, the ownership of the Unicorn passing to their son, John and his
wife Alice. John died in 1780. Alice retained ownership, but the innkeeper was
John Fairgray.
·
John Fairgray joined
Ripon Corporation in 1798 and by 1806 was mayor of Ripon. The Unicorn was used
for much civic business in this period.
·
Alice Haddon died in 1812 and ownership passed
to her nephew John Haddon Askwith. Askwith leased the Unicorn to Mr Haseldine
Sharpin and later sold the Unicorn to Miss Elizabeth
Lawrence of Studley Royal.
·
In the early 19th century the Unicorn
became a coaching inn
·
In 1848 the inns proprietors were John and Anne Cleminshaw, although ownership was still with Studley Royal.
·
The writer Lewis Carroll stayed at the Unicorn
in 1858.
·
In 1861 the Unicorn is run by the Hanby family, closely followed by the Collinsons.
Robert Collinson was later to become an alderman and
mayor from 1876 - 1880.
·
In 1863 the Prince &
Princess of Wales stayed at the Unicorn.
·
Robert Collinson died
in 1889 and is buried in Holy Trinity churchyard
The plaque reads:-
This ancient coaching inn was much used for meetings and
entertainments in Georgian times, and was later patronised by Edward VII when
Prince of Wales. One landlord, Robert Collinson, was
four times Mayor (1876-80).