Robin Hood and Little John (Westminster): Difference between revisions

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<p id="byline">By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-12-18. Revised by {{#realname:{{REVISIONUSER}}}}, {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}. Additional information from David Rodgers</p><div class="no-img">
<p id="byline">By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-12-18. Revised by {{#realname:{{REVISIONUSER}}}}, {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}. Additional information from David Rodgers</p><div class="no-img">
'Robin Hood and Little John' was the name of a tavern located on the corner of Duke Street (no longer existing) and Charles Street (now King Charles Street) in Westminster from 1780 or earlier to the late 19th or very early 20th century. It was one of a good handful of pubs and taverns in this vicinity that had to make way for the government offices, whose east wing was completed in 1908, while the western half followed in 1917.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Offices_Great_George_Street Wikipedia: Government Offices Great George Street.]</ref>
'Robin Hood and Little John' was the name of a tavern located on the corner of Duke Street (no longer existing) and Charles Street (now King Charles Street) in Westminster from 1780 or earlier to the late 19th or very early 20th century. It was one of a good handful of pubs and taverns in this vicinity that had to make way for the government offices, whose east wing was completed in 1908, while the western half followed in 1917.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Offices_Great_George_Street Wikipedia: Government Offices Great George Street.]</ref>
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=== Military houses and a buxom widow ===
=== Military houses and a buxom widow ===

Revision as of 08:41, 24 September 2020

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The site of Robin Hood and Little John.

[[File:|thumb|right|500px|Ascend the stairs and after a few meters you have the site of the Robin Hood and Little John on your right hand / Google Earth Street View.]]

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-12-18. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2020-09-24. Additional information from David Rodgers

'Robin Hood and Little John' was the name of a tavern located on the corner of Duke Street (no longer existing) and Charles Street (now King Charles Street) in Westminster from 1780 or earlier to the late 19th or very early 20th century. It was one of a good handful of pubs and taverns in this vicinity that had to make way for the government offices, whose east wing was completed in 1908, while the western half followed in 1917.[1]

Military houses and a buxom widow

In an interesting note on the Essex Serpent and other vanished taverns in this neighbourhood published in 1909, W.E. Harland-Oxley noted that

[i]n this street [i.e. Charles Street] were some other well-known licensed houses, notably at the corner of Duke Street, being "The Robin Hood and Little John," a strange sign for a London public-house. This was kept by a Mrs. Sizer, the buxom widow of one of the old Bow Street Runners. This was not one of the military houses, but was largely patronized by the Government and other clerks of the locality, and was always considered one of the most reputable in the street.[2]

The mention of 'military houses' refers to the fact that some inns in the area, in addition to their catering to the public at large, served as recruitment centres for various army regiments. Some of these establishments, like the Essex Serpent, were at times required to provide accommodation and daily meals for a couple of hundred recruits, in some cases in canteens that were off limits to members of the public. The Robin Hood and Little John, in contrast, seems to have provided a haven for those who enjoyed a quiet pint and – this is of course pure speculation – a chat with a busty bar person.

Chronology

David Rogers has kindly informed me that his great-great-great-great-grandfather, Richard Rogers, is recorded as the landlord of the Robin Hood and Little John in Westminster Poll Books (National Archives) dating from 1780 to 1796. On 14 Feb. 1785 the pub hosted the City of Westminster Coroners' Inquests into Suspicious Deaths, and Richard Rogers was among those listed as present. David Rogers notes that the pub was then known as 'Robin Hood' tout court.[3] This was also the case in 1825 and 1839 according to case summaries in the Proceedings of the Old Bailey (see Records section below). Pigot's Directory of London for the latter year lists the pub at 1 Duke Street, Westminster, with William Paul Sizer as publican; so also directories for 1841 and 1842, while the London Post Office Directory for 1856 lists the publican as Mrs J. Sizer.[4]

It is not clear from Harland-Oxley's note when Mrs Sizer served her very last drink at the Robin Hood and Little John. Duke Street and its southern extension, Delahay Street, together connected Great George Street and (King) Charles Street, running parallel with Parliament Street and what is now Horse Guards Road, c. 50 meters east of the latter. In 1878, G.W. Thornbury noted in Old and New London that "Duke Street, which ran in a line with Delahay Street and is now absorbed into it, was a poor and narrow thoroughfare at its best.[5] The change in street layout and nomenclature is duly reflected in the O.S. maps: only the earliest 25" map listed below (see Maps section) has Duke and Delahay streets separately labelled. Subsequently only the latter appears or, which is more often the case, the street is shown with no indication of its name. Harland-Oxley was himself a resident of Westminster and was able to draw on information from an acquaintance who had lived there at some earlier period. His account leaves no doubt he and his informant knew the area well, When Harland-Oxley refers to the street as Duke Street this might suggest that the tavern was connected in his mind with the time when the street was known under the old name and that it had therefore gone out of existence long before the street on which it was situated, but he could equally well just be using the old street name out of habit. In all events he makes it clear that the Robin Hood and Little John, like the other pubs he mentions, was gone by 1909.

Exact location

The maps show that Charles Street and most of the houses along its south side did not yet exist in 1869 and were probably only built some time after 1873, though certainly before 1893. With the pub located on the corner of Charles and Duke streets according to Harland-Oxley, and at 1 Duke Street according to the trade and street directories, we can conclude that the pub is the building shown on the earliest of the 25" maps at the western side of Duke Street at this street's northern end. On the eastern side of the northern end of Duke Street no building existed when the trade directory entries were made. This means the pub was located a few meters east of the stairs that lead from the present Horse Guards Road to King Charles Street (see photo). It cannot have been far from the Churchill War Rooms. David Rogers believes the land was owned by the East India Company.[3] As is generally the case with public houses in urban areas, the name of the Robin Hood and Little John is not included on the O.S. maps.Template:PnItemQry

Gazetteers

Sources

Maps

Background

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Notes


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