Old Slaughter's Coffee House
Old Slaughter's Coffee House | |
---|---|
Former names | Slaughter's Coffee House |
Alternative names | The Coffee-house on the Pavement |
General information | |
Status | Demolished |
Location | St Martin's Lane |
Address | 74–75 |
Coordinates | 51°30′42″N 0°07′40″W / 51.51160°N 0.12781°W |
Opened | 1692 |
Demolished | 1843 |
Old Slaughter's Coffee House was a
History
It was opened in 1692 by Thomas Slaughter and so was first known as Slaughter's or The Coffee-house on the Pavement, as not all London streets were paved at that time. It was at numbers 74–75; however, around 1760, after the original landlord had died, a rival New Slaughter's opened at number 82, and the first establishment then became known as Old Slaughter's.[1]
It was patronised by players of games that included chess, draughts and whist. Notable players included Abraham de Moivre, Benjamin Franklin and Philidor.[2][3] It was also popular with artists of all kinds, including architects, painters, poets, and sculptors. This artistic community included Dryden, Gainsborough, Hogarth, and Roubiliac.[1] Foreigners such as Frenchmen were often there, and Boswell reports Dr Johnson's comment on this around 1780:[4]
His unjust contempt for foreigners was, indeed, extreme. One evening, at Old Slaughter's Coffee-house, when a number of them were talking loud about little matters, he said 'Does not this confirm old Meynell's observation, For any thing I see, foreigners are fools?'
— James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.
Henry Fielding was a regular and nicknamed the head-waiter "Sock". Sock was said to be the out-of-wedlock son of a popular comedian, James Spiller, and had a similar talent for droll wit. On one occasion, he partook of a customer's punch while bringing it and excused this by saying that he had spilled it. Thereafter, Sock was also known as the "Punch Spiller".[5]
It was used as a meeting house, and the
The premises were demolished in the winter of 1843 when Cranbourn Street was constructed.[7]
See also
References
Citations
- ^ a b Timbs 1868, p. 270.
- ^ Price 2015, pp. 72–95.
- ^ Bellhouse 2011, p. 30.
- ^ Boswell 1833, p. 247.
- ^ Greybeard 1821, p. 542.
- ^ Phillips 2003, p. 179.
- ^ Wheatley 1891, p. 484.
Sources
- Bellhouse, David (2011), Abraham De Moivre: Setting the Stage for Classical Probability and Its Applications, CRC, ISBN 9781568813493
- Boswell, James (1833), John Croker (ed.), The life of Samuel Johnson LL. D., vol. 2, George Dearborn
- Dale, Andrew (2006), Most Honourable Remembrance: The Life and Work of Thomas Bayes, Springer, ISBN 9780387215617
- Greybeard, Cockney (25 August 1821), "Sketches of Society – Wine and Walnuts", The Literary Gazette and Journal of the Belles Lettres, 5 (240)
- Guard, Richard (2012), "Old Slaughter's Coffee House", Lost London, Michael O'Mara, ISBN 9781843178965
- Hibbert; Weinreb (2008), "Old Slaughter's Coffee House", The London Encyclopaedia, Pan Macmillan, ISBN 9781405049245
- Phillips, Peter (2003), Humanity Dick: The Eccentric Member for Galway, Parapress, ISBN 9781898594765
- Price, Bill (2015), "Coffee House Chess", The History of Chess in Fifty Moves, Apple, ISBN 9781845436094
- Timbs, John (1868), Curiosities of London, Longmans
- Wheatley, Henry (1891), London Past and Present, vol. 2, John Murray, ISBN 9781108028073