48 Botchergate, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA1 1QS
This is named after Woodrow Wilson, who became the 28th president of the United States in 1912. His mother, Janet, was born in Carlisle, in 1826, the fifth child of the Reverend Thomas Woodrow.
A print and text about The Woodrow Wilson.
The text reads: Following a visit to Carlisle in 1918 by Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the USA, a commemorative plaque was placed on the Lowther Street Congregational Church. This church had replaced the one on Annetwell Street, where the President’s grandfather had been minister in the 1820s.
The Reverend Thomas Woodrow preached on Carlisle for fifteen years before emigrating with his family to the ‘New World’. There his daughter Janet met and married Joseph Wilson, a Presbyterian pastor. Their son, Thomas, became successively a lawyer, a history professor, President of Princeton University, and Governor of New Jersey, before entering the White House as President in 1912.
Re-elected in 1916, Wilson was forced to declare war the following year, but he soon started work on his famous ‘Fourteen Points’. These were proposals for ending the war, and avoiding future disputes. Part of Wilson’s plan was the establishment of the League of Nations, the forerunner of the United Nations.
Whilst in Europe attending the Paris Peace Conference, Wilson was invited by the Carlisle Women Citizens Association to visit his mother’s birthplace. He arrived on the Royal Train, and was granted the Freedom of the City.
Above: President Wilson and his family, 1912.
A quote by Woodrow Wilson.
Prints and text about the Co-operative Movement.
The text reads: The ideals of the Co-operative Moment, inspired by the reformer Robert Owen, were put into practice by the Rochdale Pioneers, who opened their little store in 1844. All Co-ops were based on the principle of profit-sharing known as the ‘divi’ (or dividend). With each purchase, customers received tokens or tickets, which they could later exchange for cash or goods, the remaining profits being reinvested.
This building was once part of the Carlisle South End Co-op Society store, built in 1904. The Carlisle Co-op was set up by a group of London & North Western Railway workers, who held meetings to publicise their idea in the Deans Hall on Charles Street. Their first shop opened in June 1861.
The original store, on the opposite side of Botchergate, sold groceries and provisions. It opened twice a week, with committee members taking turns behind the counter. Overcoming initial financial problems, a drapery department opened three months later in the neighbouring building. After some years, success was such that the Co-op moved across Botchergate to larger premises. This is the building that you are now in, which opened in April 1869, when the celebrations included a tea-party and a ball.
Top: The Rochdale Pioneers
Left: Robert Owen.
External photograph of the building – main entrance.
Extract from Wetherspoon News Autumn 2018.
If you have information on the history of this pub, then we’d like you to share it with us. Please e-mail all information to: pubhistories@jdwetherspoon.co.uk