Empire Cinema

Captain Pritchard was in fact born an ‘Elias’, quite a well known name around the area I live. The story goes that his brother moved to South London and founded a small chain of shops. Because of anti-semitic feeling at the time, although not Jewish, the brother adopted the name Pritchard to prevent any of this feeling affecting his stores. Captain Pritchard ( a Merchant navy title, not an army one) changed his name also, although there no record of anti-semiticism in North Wales. He retired from the sea in 1909 and lived in a house he purchased in Criccieth.