Frank Crocker notice of application for music and dancing licence 1897

Frank Crocker (bapt. 27 March 1863 – 24 October 1904) was a British publican, owner of the Crown Hotel in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

, London, renamed Crocker's Folly in 1987 in his honour.

Biography

Crocker was born in

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the So ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, the son of Francis Crocker, an innkeeper,''1881 England Census'' and Louisa Handford Crocker. The family moved first to Exeter, where his father ran the "Dolphin Inn" and then to London, where he purchased the "Volunteer" pub in Kilburn. Frank Crocker worked as a furniture salesman''1891 England Census'' before joining his father at the Volunteer, which he eventually owned. He married Agnes Cooper in 1893. Crocker was a popular and active member of the community. He was active in the Paddington and Marylebone Victuallers' Trade Protection Society and heavily lobbied for a road and footbridge between Aberdeen Place and Salisbury Street. He was also an active freemason and a member of the Paddington Cycling Club, whose headquarters met at his home. He died from complications of heart disease and bronchitis, aged 41, after six months of illness. His funeral brought out hundreds of mourners to see his

cortège Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Engl ...

procession, which was led with a carriage just for his flowers, followed by his coffin carriage and 19 private carriages taking mourners to the cemetery. His obituary in the '' Kilburn Times'' described the source of his popularity: "He was of a very affable and sociable disposition and geniality, and his genuine kind-heartedness gained him a host of friends.... To the poor he was always most kind, and his many charitable deeds will be remembered and sadly missed."

Crocker's Folly

Crocker's Folly is a Grade II* listed

public house 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 wa ...

at 23-24 Aberdeen Place,

, London. It was built in 1898, in a

Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps. From the last years of the 15th century, its Renaissance spread around Europe. Called the Northern Renaissance because it occurred north of the Italian Renais ...

style, and was previously called "The Crown". Brandwood and Jephcote describe it as "a truly magnificent pub-''cum''-hotel" with "superb fittings", including extensive use of marble. The architect was

Charles Worley Charles H Worley (1853–1906) was a British architect. Early life Allinson puts forward that Charles Worley was the son of the architect Robert James Worley (1850–1930), of the architectural practice Worley & Saunders, who was "involved ...

. In 1987, the pub's name was changed to Crocker's Folly. An urban legend spread that Frank Crocker built the pub to serve the new terminus of the

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

, but when the terminus was actually built, it was over half a mile away at

Marylebone Station Marylebone station ( ) is a Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern ter ...

, leading to Crocker's ruin, despair and eventual suicide. In reality, Crocker died of natural causes after a long period of illness. It has been claimed that Crocker's ghost haunts the pub.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Frank 1863 births 1904 deaths People from Newton Abbot British publicans 19th-century British businesspeople