Duke of York

At the lower end of Burgess Street, among terrace housing, was the Duke of York. Established at the beginning of the 19th Century (in 1826, the licence was with a Mr Samuel Plumtree), the Duke of York remained in operation until the late 1950s, when much of the street was cleared. The pub stood behind the Bluebell Inn on Victoria Street close to Alexandra Dock in an area notorious for drunkenness and bad behaviour.

A 1930s photograph of the pub shows the front of the building mainly rendered with a central entrance leading to a bar or function room on the right and a part timbered shop front leading to the main bar on the left. Displayed across the parapet at the top was the name of the pub in large letters and below this a bind window advertising the local brewer.

In 1831 the Duke of York was the scene of the murder of Edward Button by William Hall, who stabbed his victim to death. A complete account of the murder was written up in the press, and Hall was sentenced to death and hung at Lincoln castle.