The Crown and Anchor, also written Crown & Anchor and earlier known as The Crown, was a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

in Arundel Street, off The Strand in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, famous for meetings of political (particularly the early 19th-century Radicals) and various other groups. It is no longer in existence. The first tavern built on the site sometime before 1710 accommodated the Academy of Vocal Music (1726), renamed (1731) The Academy of Ancient Music), and the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

premiered his first oratorio, ''

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

'', here in 1732, a significant moment in British musical life as it was the first oratorio in English (rather than the usual Italian).

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

and

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...

dined here during the 18th century. A second tavern was built in 1790, and both this and its earlier incarnation may have been called The Crown. Its rooms were large and able to accommodate 2,500 people, leading to its use as a venue for political meetings, particularly by the Radicals, including John Cam Hobhouse and

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British British Whig Party, Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centurie ...

. One meeting was addressed by the Irish leader and MP in the

United Kingdom Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

. On 11 November 1823, George Birkbeck made a speech at the Crown and Anchor, attended by over 2000 people including

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. 5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S.– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...

, Hobhouse and Henry Brougham, at which he proposed the foundation of an institution dedicated to educating the working-class inhabitants of London. This meeting led to the foundation of London

Mechanics' Institute Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult edu ...

on 2 December 1823, which would go on to become

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

. The Association for Preserving Liberty and Property against Republicans and Levellers, founded by John Reeves in 1792, were known as the Crown and Anchor Society or Association. During the late 20th century, the site housed offices and a branch of

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. It is today a residential development, 190 Strand, incorporating groundfloor retail units.

References

{{coords, 51.5128, -0.1142, display=title Former pubs in London Pubs in the City of Westminster British radicals Royal Society Strand, London 18th century in London