In 2019 Norwich and Norfolk CAMRA’s tasting panel selected their top beers of the year from a wide-ranging field of 82 brews. The overall gold winner that year was from Chalk Hill Brewery’s ‘Black Anna’. But this is no random name, this was a real person whose compassion and talent made her a local celebrity. Black Anna was the nickname given to Antoinette Hannent, a Norwich jazz singer of Italian descent and licensee of The Jolly Butchers.
Anna was particularly well loved in the gay community who she always made welcome and showed consideration. Especially in a period of history when homosexuality was still outlawed. The Jolly Butcher’s became the place to be for visiting celebrities and jazz fans keen to hear her unique jazz voice.
Her nickname was possibly a result of her habitual style of dressing – always black, or perhaps her strong personality, she was well known to be a force to be reckoned with. She was born in Norwich in 1905 to a family of Italians who had originally walked from Medina to Norwich. Her mother, Elisabetta, was known as the ‘queen of the organs’, after her love of and skill at playing musical instruments. After a ballroom career Anna married Kenneth Hannent and the two of them took over Ber Street’s Jolly Butchers pub in 1935. The pub was well known for also containing a dosshouse, for rough sleepers and who habitually drank too much. Even though Anna was teetotaller she always supported the dosshouse up until her death in 1976. During the Second World War the pub became known as a cheap place to stay, especially for GI servicemen who also brought with them jazz and blues songs. These well suited Annas strong voice and her singing became legendary and very popular, making the pub the place to be.
Even though Kenneth died not long after the war Anna took over the pub licence, but still found time to entertain her regulars with her charismatic voice, she even went on tour and performed at festivals with some of the greats. She was once asked what she thought about the English jazz scene musicians, she responded by saying: “they’re good but too perfect – no feeling, they don’t miss a note, they’re dead from the neck up.” Although the Jolly Butchers may be no more there is a plaque to find which marks the story of this remarkable woman.
