Old Slaughter's Coffee House was a

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...

St Martin's Lane St Martin's Lane is a street in the City of Westminster, which runs from the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, after which it is named, near Trafalgar Square northwards to Long Acre. At its northern end, it becomes Monmouth Street. St Martin ...

in London. Opened in 1692 by Thomas Slaughter, it was the haunt of many of the important personages of the period. The building was demolished in 1843 when Cranbourn Street was constructed.

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. It was patronised by players of games including chess, draughts and

whist Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play. History Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' ...

. Notable players included

Abraham de Moivre Abraham de Moivre FRS (; 26 May 166727 November 1754) was a French mathematician known for de Moivre's formula, a formula that links complex numbers and trigonometry, and for his work on the normal distribution and probability theory. He moved ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

and

Philidor Philidor (''Filidor'') or Danican Philidor was a family of musicians that served as court musicians to the French kings. The original name of the family was Danican (D'Anican) and was of Scottish origin (Duncan). Philidor was a later addition to t ...

. It was also popular with artists of all kinds – architects, painters, poets, sculptors, etc. This artistic community included Dryden, Gainsborough, Hogarth, and Roubiliac. Foreigners such as Frenchmen were often there, and Boswell reports Dr Johnson's comment on this around 1780: 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 Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

while bringing it and excused this by saying that he had spilled it. Thereafter, Sock was also known as the "Punch Spiller". It was used as a meeting house, and the

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the RSPCA, which was founded in England in 1824. SPCA organizations operate i ...

, which subsequently became the RSPCA, was founded there in 1824. The meeting was organised by the

Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

Arthur Broome Arthur MacLoughlin Broome (18 February 1779 – 16 July 1837) was an English clergyman and campaigner for animal welfare. He was one of a group of creators of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in 1824. Broome was ...

and chaired by Sir Fowell Buxton. There were eight other gentlemen attending, including "Humanity Dick" – aka Colonel Richard Martin – who had successfully campaigned for the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act in 1822 but whose latest bill for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had been defeated in the Lords that day. Other MPs attending included

Sir James Mackintosh Sir James Mackintosh Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish jurist, Whig (British political party), Whig politician and Whig history, Whig historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. ...

and

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

. The premises were demolished in the winter of 1843 when Cranbourn Street was constructed.

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* * * * * * * * * * {{Use British English, date=May 2016 1692 establishments in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1843 Coffeehouses and cafés in London Demolished buildings and structures in London Former buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Restaurants established in the 17th century Companies established in 1692

History

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