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Coordinates:51°30′49″N0°05′03″W/ 51.5137°N 0.0843°W/51.5137; -0.0843
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The London Tavern in 1809

TheCity of London TavernorLondon Tavernwas a notable meeting place inLondonduring the 18th and 19th centuries. A place of business where people gathered to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, thetavernwas situated inBishopsgatein theCity of London(the site today of Nos. 1–3 Bishopsgate). The original tavern was destroyed in a fire on 7 November 1765 and the new building was designed by William Jupp the elder (with support fromWilliam Newton,1765–1768) and opened in September 1768. In 1828, the proprietor was Charles Bleaden.[1]The building was demolished in 1876.[2]The tavern boasted a large and well-decorated dining room with Corinthian columns. It hosted numerous public and private meetings held to rally support to various political, charitable and other causes.[3][4]

In 1841,Charles Dickenspresided at a meeting for the benefit of the Sanatorium for Sick Authors and Artists, and in 1851 at the annual dinner for the General Theatrical Fund.[2]While he was attending a dinner at the London Tavern on 14 April 1851, Dickens learned of the death of his daughterDora Annie Dickens.

Notable meetings

[edit]
  • 1769 – TheSociety of Gentlemen Supporters of the Bill of Rightswas founded at the London Tavern on 20 February to supportJohn Wilkesafter he was expelled from the House of Commons.[5]
  • 1788 – The London Tavern hosted a meeting of theRevolution Societydiscussing the French Revolution.[6]
  • 1789 – In 1789, pro-slavery campaignerGeorge Hibbertspoke at a meeting of Merchants at the London Tavern, seeking to demolishWilliam Wilberforce’s speech onabolition of slaveryin a 40-minute address entitled 'The Slave Trade Indispensable…'.[7]
  • 1791 – On 4 November a Revolution Dinner was held at the London Tavern, withThomas Walker,Joseph Priestley,Tom Paine,andJérôme Pétion de Villeneuve.[8]
  • 1805 – On 23 May the London Tavern hosted a meeting chaired by SirFrancis Baringthat led to the formation of theLondon Institution.
  • 1808 – On 20 October, Members of the Restoration Committee ofSt George the Martyr, Southwarkmet to celebrate the completion of the internal and external restoration of the church in 1807-1808.[9]
  • 1818 - On 18 March, a public meeting took place at the City of London Tavern, under the chairmanship ofBenjamin Shaw MPwhen a new society known as the Port of London Society was formed to minister to the religious needs of seamen. The charity, which is based in Southampton is now calledSailors' Society.
  • 1822 – Supporters ofFrancisco Antonio Zeaand South American independence movements held a dinner on 10 July at the London Tavern to show support and raise money for Colombia.[10]
  • 1824 – On 18 FebMarc Brunel,William SmithMP and a provisional board of directors hosted the first public meeting for theThames Tunnelproject which culminated with the sale of 1,250 shares.[11]
  • 1824 – The National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (today theRoyal National Lifeboat Institution) was founded on 4 March 1824 at a meeting in the London Tavern.[12]
  • 1825 - On 14 June, the Language Institution, a society "in aid of the propagation of christianity throughout the world" held its first meeting.[13]
  • 1839 - Proprietors of Great Western Railway met to decide whether Brunel's broad gauge or Stephenson's narrow gauge should prevail.[14]
  • 1847 -Frederick Douglass's "Farewell address to the British people, London."London Morning Chronicle,31 March 1847.[15]
  • 1848 — Ninth reunion of theGeneral Theatrical Fund,chaired by SirEdward Bulwer-Lyttonand supported byCharles Dickens,at which the announcement was made of Queen Victoria's subscription of 100 guineas annually to the fund.[16]
  • 1851 – A March meeting of coffee merchants condemned the high price and the adulteration of coffee sold to "the lower class of consumer".[17]
  • 1852 – The first general meeting ofThe Marine and General Mutual Life Assurance Societywas held at the London Tavern.
  • 1853 - The Great meeting on the Eastern Question after Turkey declared war against Russia on October 4 1853, beginning theCrimean War[18]
  • 1858 - The first meeting of The Railway Benevolent Society took place at the London Tavern on Saturday 8 May. At this meeting, a resolution was carried unanimously, stating that the society should be called the Railway Benevolent Institution.George Glyn, 1st Baron Wolverton,was the first President of this institution.[19]
  • 1859 – The Britishacclimatisation societywas founded following a meeting held on 21 January at the London Tavern attended byRichard Owenand others.
  • 1863 – A 15 December meeting at the London Tavern agreed the formation ofMiddlesex County Cricket Club.
  • 1865 – The London Tavern is depicted in a paintingAn Infant Orphan Election at the London Tavern, "Polling"byGeorge Elgar Hicks.[3]

Fictional meetings

[edit]
  • In Dickens'sNicholas Nickleby,the London Tavern is the location for the public meeting held "to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning Parliament in favour of the United Metropolitan Improved Hot Muffin and Crumpet Baking and Punctual Delivery Company."

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Licensed Victuallers".Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle.11 May 1828. p. 2 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ab"The London Tavern".The Worshipful Company of Bowyers.Worshipful Company of Bowyers.Retrieved26 July2015.
  3. ^ab"An Infant Orphan Election at the London Tavern, 'Polling' by George Elgar Hicks".Artfund.Retrieved26 July2015.
  4. ^Callow, Edward (1899).Old London Taverns.London: Downey and Co. pp. 77–81.
  5. ^Cash, Arthur H. (2006)John Wilkes. The Scandalous Father of Civil Liberty(New Haven: Yale University Press), p. 249.
  6. ^An abstract of the history and proceedings of the Revolution SocietyLondon, England 1789 "At a Meeting of the Committee of the Revolution Society, Friday 19th Dec 1788, at the London Tavern.... who shall be desirous of being admitted a Member of this Society, shall be sent to the Secretary, signed by two Members."
  7. ^"George Hibbert (1757–1837)".George Hibbert.com.Retrieved26 July2015.
  8. ^Stephen Gill; Stephen Charles Gill (12 June 2003).The Cambridge Companion to Wordsworth.Cambridge University Press. p. 204.ISBN978-0-521-64681-9.
  9. ^https://www.borough.church/sanctuary-and-lady-chapel-1-1-1
  10. ^Walker, Alexander (1822)."Chapter III, Section: Public Dinner to Don F A Zea".Colombia.London: Baldwin, Cradock, & Joy. pp. 728–747.OCLC3042177.Retrieved6 June2009.
  11. ^Clements, Paul (2006).Marc Isambard Brunel.p. 98.ISBN1860774008.
  12. ^"1824: Our foundation".RNLI.Archived fromthe originalon 12 April 2016.Retrieved12 August2015.
  13. ^Morrison, Eliza (1839). Memoirs of the Life and Labours of Robert Morrison, Volume 2.
  14. ^Vaughan, Adrian. "Isambard Kingdom Brunel: Engineering Knight-Errant. London: John Murray, 1991, p117
  15. ^Cited by Hannah Rose Murray in www.frederickdouglassinbritian.com and "Frederick Douglass, Profit of Freedom" by David W. Blight 2018 (chapter 10).
  16. ^"General Theatrical Fund".The Sydney Daily Advertiser.No. 82. New South Wales, Australia. 4 September 1848. p. 2.Retrieved17 September2022– via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^"The adulteration of coffee",The Times,Tuesday, 11 March 1851
  18. ^Kingsley Martin, 'The Triumph of Lord Palmerston' 1963, p. 163-4;Illustrated London News,15 October 1853.
  19. ^"The Railway Benevolent Society".The Westmorland Gazette And Kendal Advertiser,Saturday 15 May 1858, p.6. Via the British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 30 May 2019.(Subscription required.)

51°30′49″N0°05′03″W/ 51.5137°N 0.0843°W/51.5137; -0.0843

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