India Inn

In 1829, when Gregory Northey was most likely the landlord of the India Inn in Cornwall Street, Devonport, there was a major burglary of the premises. The landlord was apparently away from the place, when the leader of the notorious Robinson gang, who had for some time frequented the place, made his way upstairs. Armed with a jemmy he proceded to relieve a wooden box of a hundred guineas and a ‘lucky shilling’ that had been given to the landlord’s daughter by a ‘hardy tar’.

Subsequently apprehended by an officer of the peace at the Richmond Inn, Robinson and his gang were found in possession of ‘abundant gold and silver’ and the ‘lucky shilling’. The gang members were sentenced to transportation for life.

One of the older hostelries of Devonport, the India was pulled down prior to the redevelopment of Cornwall Street in the 1920s.