The Blind Beggar Pub. A Historic and Legendary Pub in Whitechapel

The Blind Beggar is one of the most famous pubs in the East End of London, if not in London itself, although some of its history is more infamous than famous. For some, it is most associated with local gangsters, the Kray twins, who audaciously murdered a criminal in its saloon bar.

Historic East End Pubs – The Blind Beggar

The Blind Beggar Pub, Whitechapel
The Blind Beggar Pub, Whitechapel

However, the pub also has links with a Norman knight, brown ale, the Salvation Army and the Monopoly board game. The Blind Beggar is located on Whitechapel Road, in Whitechapel.

How the Blind Beggar Got Its Name

The Blind Beggar was built in 1894. It is thought that it is located on the site of an old inn, which was built in the early 1600s. Its name comes from a local connection with a knight, Henry de Montfort, who lived in a grand manor house in the area. Legend has it that de Montfort was wounded and blinded at the Battle of Evesham and was left wandering with no memory.

He was found by a nobleman’s daughter, who married him. Their child, Besse, could not find a husband as her father had no status, as he was the blind beggar of Bethnal Green. When Besse finally found a suitor who loved her for herself, he was rewarded by Henry’s father.

The Home of Modern Brown Ale

During the 19th century, the Blind Beggar was located next to and was part of, the Mann, Crosman and Paulin’s brewery. This was the ninth-largest brewery in the country at this time. In 1902, the brewery’s head brewer, Thomas Wells Thorpe, devised a recipe for a new type of bottled brown ale. He described this as the “sweetest beer” in London – most other brown beers then were darker and sourer than modern brown ales. It is thought that this brown ale was the granddaddy of the brown ale we now drink. It was marketed as “The Original Brown Ale”.

Manns Albion Brewery

Manns Albion Brewery was a large and influential brewery located next to The Blind Beggar Pub on Whitechapel Road. The brewery was founded in 1808 by Richard Ivory, who advertised it to improve the public’s beverage and reduce the price. The brewery was later taken over by James Mann, who formed a partnership with Crossman and Paulin in 1846. The brewery was rebuilt and expanded several times in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, becoming one of the most advanced and productive breweries of its time. It was famous for brewing the first modern brown ale, popular among the working class.

Mann, Crossman and Paulin former brewery.
Mann, Crossman and Paulin former brewery.
Copyright Holder

The brewery is closely connected with The Blind Beggar pub, which served as its taproom and outlet. The pub also benefited from the brewery’s facilities and services, such as the stables, the cooperage, and the bottling plant. The pub and the brewery shared a common history and clientele, especially in the 1960s, when they were both frequented by the notorious Kray twins and their associates.

The brewery merged with Watney Combe & Reid in 1958 to form Watney Mann Ltd, but it continued to operate until 1979 when it was closed down due to economic reasons. The brewery buildings were mostly demolished or converted to other uses, such as flats and a supermarket. Only a few remnants of the brewery remain today, such as the gates, the chimney, and some of the malt stores.

The Blind Beggar pub still stands as a witness to the brewery’s legacy and a reminder of its former glory.

William Booth and the Salvation Army

The Blind Beggar is held to be the place where William Booth started the Salvation Army. Booth did a lot of good work in the area and also had open-air preaching sessions. He held his first independent sermon outside the Blind Beggar pub just before he started the East London Christian Mission, which evolved into the Salvation Army. You can see a statue commemorating Booth’s work close to the pub.

Ronnie Kray and George Cornell

The Blind Beggar is a must-visit pub for people interested in criminal London due to its connection with the Kray twins. The Krays were notorious local gangsters who ruled most of the East End in the 1950s and 1960s. The pub was a regular haunt for the twins, their gang members and other local criminals.

On the 9th March 1966, Ronnie Kray entered the pub and shot dead George Cornell at the saloon bar. Cornell was a member of a rival group of gangsters, and he had spent some time winding Ronnie up by calling him a “big fat poof”. This may have been why Ronnie shot him, although some sources think he did it to send a message to Cornell’s bosses, the Richardson Brothers, who were in dispute with the Krays.

The Kray twins. Copyright David Bailey.
The Kray twins. Copyright David Bailey.

In either case, Cornell could not control himself and started mocking the mentally unstable Ronnie when he entered the pub. Ronnie calmly took out a gun and shot him in the head; he died later that night in hospital. Kray’s companion shot his gun at the ceiling a few times to distract the people sitting in the pub and, it is thought, to give them the message that they should not talk to the police about the shooting.

Although a few witnesses at the scene told police that Ronnie Kray had definitely been the shooter, all of them were too scared to testify. It took police until 1969 before they could charge Ronnie with George Cornell’s murder.

The Blind Beggar and Monopoly

The Monopoly pub tour is quite popular with Londoners and visitors, although you do need some stamina to complete it successfully! The tour aims to visit all of the London properties on a Monopoly board in one day – you have to have a drink at a pub in each location. The favoured pub for the Whitechapel stop is the Blind Beggar.

Finally, if you take a guided Jack the Ripper walk, you may end up in the Blind Beggar during the tour. There is no evidence connecting the Ripper with the pub built after the last murder. However, given its location and the fact that Jack the Ripper was never caught, he may have stepped in for a glass or two.

Explore This Historic London Pub

  • The Blind Beggar is a historic pub and a popular venue for live music, comedy, and sports events. You can enjoy a range of entertainment options, from acoustic nights and open mic sessions to karaoke and quiz nights. The pub also hosts regular screenings of football, rugby, cricket, and other sports on its large screens. Whether you are looking for a relaxing drink, a lively night out, or a place to cheer on your favourite team, The Blind Beggar has something for everyone.
  • If you are feeling hungry, you can also sample some of the delicious food on offer at The Blind Beggar. The pub serves a variety of dishes, from traditional pub classics like fish and chips and burgers to more exotic options like Thai curry and Moroccan tagine. You can also enjoy a hearty roast on Sundays, with a choice of meats and vegetarian options. The pub also caters for special occasions and events, with a range of buffet menus and platters available to suit your needs.
  • The Blind Beggar is not only a place to drink and dine, but also a place to learn and explore. The pub offers guided tours that take you through its fascinating history and legends, from the story of Henry de Montfort and his daughter Besse to the murder of George Cornell by Ronnie Kray, to the birthplace of the Salvation Army. You can also visit the nearby Booth House, a men’s resettlement centre named after William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. The tours are led by knowledgeable and friendly staff who will make your visit memorable and enjoyable.

3 thoughts on “The Blind Beggar Pub. A Historic and Legendary Pub in Whitechapel”

  1. Yes, I was born and grew up in Stepney, so did my parents and grand parents, and we all went hop picking in Kent every year. We travelled there on the back of a lorry with the pots, pans and bits and pieces we needed. When we arrived we had to collect straw to stuff into covers for the mattresses, and faggots (small bundles of wood) for the open fires made outside the huts in the open that everyone cooked on. There was a covered communal cookhouse open at one end, like a very small barn, that was used to cook in if it was raining. Our hut was made of tin, and we had paraffin lamps to light it (no electricity or plumbing), there was a a cold tap in a field for water. Our dads were working, in the docks actually, so only came down at weekends, in their suits! We were woken around 6am, maybe slightly later, by the farmer walking through the rows of huts ringing a hand bell (the same as the ones used at school). We loved it! Hard work but such freedom. If hop picking hadn’t been mechanised and changed the way it did I would have taken my own children. The farm was Tanyard if anyone else hop picked there.

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  2. can anyone remember going hoppicking in kent namely goudhurst my wife whent with her parents when she was a baby as she got older she not only did hoppicking on the bins but the rest of the year she did potato picking pea picking,she came from a family of seven and they all did some sort of field work going to school was not a choice as money was short they all had to work they wernt gippos just a famely from canning town

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