Formby's brewing families (part two)

Now it's time to look at the Rimmers. Of whom there were loads living in and around Formby.

But we're going to kick off with Richard Tyrer. He was married twice and weirdly both his wives were called Alice. His second wife, who was a widow, was born Alice Rimmer. It's all very confusing. And you'll never guess what Richard Tyrer's mother's maiden name was - Blundell.

Getting back to the Rimmers, Thomas Rimmer was running the Royal Hotel in 1871 and was described as a common brewer. But here's something that threw a spammer in the works. His father John Rimmer was also living at the Royal Hotel and was also described as a brewer. Hang on. The John Rimmer who owned the Old Brewery died in 1866. So the John Rimmer who was a trustee after wasn't Richard Tyrer's son-in-law. Who the fuck was he then? And why was he a trustee and then owner of the brewery? This is so confusing. Was he a relative of Alice Tyrer? He could have been her brother.

It looks like Thomas Rimmer served an apprenticeship with his grandfather at the Old Brewery and then moved on to brew at the Royal Hotel sometime between 1861 and 1871. While his father, John Rimmer, went from fisherman to farmer to brewer between 1851 and 1871. Did he sell up his farm and buy the pub and brewery for his son? It's quite possible that Thomas Rimmer was already brewing at the Royal Hotel when the brewery-owning John Rimmer dies in 1866. My head is starting to melt.

There's another alternative to one of Alice Tyrer's relatives. As Richard Tyrer's sister, Catherine, was married to a man called John Rimmer. Oh, it can't be him, as he was still alive in 1881, when he's swapped from being a farmer to an Innkeeper. With an address on Massam Lane. Meaning he must have been the licensee of the Freshfield Hotel. Obviously, he also had a son called John.

We haven't even got to the John Rimmer who was a licensee of the Royal Hotel in 1911. He doesn't seem to have been directly related to Thomas Rimmer. This John Rimmer had yet another fucking John Rimmer as his father. Who was another farmer.

It seems like half the population of Formby was called Rimmer and every family had one or two John Rimmers. Fucking nightmare.