Two long gone Huddersfield pubs, The Poets Corner and The Shakespeare Hotel, were linked by the Bard himself. But not as we know him.

Chris Marsden, chairman of the Huddersfield Civic Society, is involved in a town centre history project about old pubs.

He asked if anyone had photographs of The Poet’s Corner, that had been on Chapel Hill, and The Shakespeare, on Northgate.

Reader Raphael Morris was able to supply a picture of The Shakespeare but no-one has unearthed one of Poet’s Corner.

However, Susan Brant adds an unexpected connection between the two.

”My great great grandfather, Henry Hirst, was landlord of The Poets Corner in the late 1800s and then the The Shakespeare Hotel.

“He was a man so obsessed by Shakespeare that he named his son - my great-grandfather - Shakespeare Hirst.

”My great grandfather took over the running of the Shakespeare Hotel and was also much influenced by the Bard, so much so that he named his children after Shakespearean characters.

“My grandmother was Ophelia, her sisters were Cordelia and Miranda and her brothers were Henry and Elsheimer.

“He held recitals at the Hotel and himself played in several Shakespeare plays. It seems he was a rather colourful and controversial character.

”Wikipedia records that Shakespeare Hirst toured the country with his own company as a young man performing the works of his namesake.

“He inherited the pub from his father in 1880 and gave hour-long recitals every Sunday night, during which no drinks were served.

“He had a collection of artefacts and art, including what he claimed was a portrait of the world’s most famous playwright painted by the German artist Elsheimer in Rome in 1608.

“Unfortunately, he had no proof of its provenance but the Wikipedia entry says he named one of his sons Shakespeare Elsheimer after the bard and the artist.”

Shakespeare Hirst died of a heart attack in 1907, aged 66, after a very full and colourful life. His art collection was sold but raised only £1,000 because he had no documents of authenticity.

Susan says: “I have a catalogue of the art sale which includes a Turner, Reynolds and Titian to name but a few.

“I have often wondered who bought what and where they are now and whether any were genuine.”

Does anyone has a Titian in their attic?