Seven Stars () is an historic

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

on Thomas Lane,

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

; it was built in the 17th century and is a grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. One of the earliest references to the pub is in the Bristol Record Office. It mentions Sir John Hawkins who, whilst buying what was to become the Georges Brewery, acquired the lease in 1694 from the Saunders family brewing dynasty "...a half tenement, the sign of the Seven Stars, St Thomas Lane". "Michael Jaine, victualler" held "The Starrs" "in accordance with his father's will" in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Michael Jayne was the son of William Jayne of St. Thomas, innholder, who died in 1666. Abraham Sanders married Margaret Jayne, daughter of William Jayne, and Abraham Sanders was the administrator of William's will. Michael Jayne, innholder of St. Thomas, was deceased by 1672, when an inventory of his estate was taken. There has been no record found as to how the property transferred to Abraham Saunders after Michael's death. Abraham Saunders "late of the city of Bristol" died in 1690 and his son Anthony transferred the property to John Hawkins in 1694. It is now noted for its association with the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

Thomas Clarkson Thomas Clarkson (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846) was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (also known ...

, who visited in 1787 and used the pub and its sympathetic landlord, William Thompson, as a base for his researches into Bristol's "honourable trade" of slavery.

References

{{Culture in Bristol Commercial buildings completed in the 18th century Grade II listed pubs in Bristol