The Blind Beggar is a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Whitechapel Road Whitechapel Road is a major arterial road in Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It is named after a small chapel of ease dedicated to St Mary and connects Whitechapel High Street to the west with Mile End Road to the east. ...

in the East End of London,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Due to its location close to Whitechapel Station, the pub is generally described as being in Whitechapel; it is however located just on the

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

side of the historic boundary between Bethnal Green and Whitechapel. The pub takes its name from the ballad and legend ''The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green''. In some versions of the ballad, the beggar was an impoverished noble

Henry de Montfort Sir Henry de Montfort (November 1238 – 4 August 1265) was the son of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and with his father played an important role in the struggle of the barons against King Henry III. Henry's mother was Princess ...

. It is where Ronnie Kray murdered

George Cornell George Cornell (13 November 1927 – 10 March 1966) was an English criminal and member of The Richardsons, who were scrap metal dealers and criminals from South London. Cornell was shot and killed by Ronnie Kray at The Blind Beggar public hou ...

in front of witnesses. It is also the location of William Booth's first sermon, which led to the creation of the Salvation Army. It was the nearest outlet (or brewery tap) for the Manns Albion brewery, where the first modern Brown Ale was brewed. The pub was built in 1894 on the site of an inn which had been established before 1654.

History

The pub was built in 1894 on the site of an inn which had been established before 1654, and named after the legend of

, a son of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort. In 1865, William Booth preached his first open-air sermon outside the Blind Beggar, which led to the establishment of the East London Christian Mission, later to become the Salvation Army. William Booth is commemorated by a nearby statue. The Blind Beggar is notorious for its connection to East End of London, East End gangsters the Kray twins. On 9 March 1966, Ronnie Kray shot and murdered

, an associate of a rival gang, the The Richardson Gang, Richardsons, as he was sitting at the bar. The murder took place in the then saloon bar. The pub is also a popular starting point for the Pub crawl#United Kingdom, Monopoly pub crawl, despite being located on the board's third space. The pub was frequented by Harry Redknapp and was owned by Bobby Moore at one stage.

Henry de Montfort legend

In the Blind Beggar legend, de Montfort was wounded and lost his sight in the Battle of Evesham in 1265 and nursed to health by a baroness, and together they had a child named ''Besse''. He became the "Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green" and used to beg at the crossroads. The story of how he went from landed gentry to poor beggar became popular in the Tudor era, and was revived by Thomas Percy (Bishop of Dromore), Percy's ''Reliques of Ancient English Poetry'', published in 1765. The legend came to be adopted in the arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green in 1900.

References

Citations Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blind Beggar, The The Salvation Army Commercial buildings completed in 1894 Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Brewery taps Pubs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Whitechapel