It was the scene of one of the most notorious murders in 1960s gangland and marked the end of the Kray Twins’ reign of terror in London. But long before Ronnie Kray walked into The Blind Beggar on the Whitechapel Road and shot George Cornell at point-blank range, this East End boozer already had something of a colourful and fascinating history.
Cornell, a nasty piece of work from the rival Richardson gang from south of the river, was murdered by Kray on March 9, 1966. Kray walked towards Cornell, took out a 9mm Luger, and calmly shot him once in the forehead, just above his right eye before he turned and departed to a waiting car on the street. Kray was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder three years later and remained in Broadmoor Hospital until his death in 1995.
The event, in combination with the murder of Jack “The Hat” McVitie by Reggie, has gone down in history as one of the most prolific gangland incidents in criminal history and the pub still stands today as an East End tour attraction because of it. But the Blind Beggar was no stranger to controversy and intrigue hundreds of years before the Krays propped up its legendary bar.
It is also notable as the former brewery tap of the Manns Albion brewery, where the first ever modern Brown Ale was brewed. Converted to housing now, the former Albion Brewery stands next door towering over the pub that served as its tap room, until it closed in 1979. In 1808, it was the enterprising landlord of The Blind Beggar who bought the small brewery next door and named it the Albion Brewery, which grew to be the third largest in Britain by 1880 and, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the first Brown Ale was brewed here by Thomas Wells Thorpe.
The original pub was built in 1894 on the site of an inn which had been established before 1654, and takes its name from the legend of Henry de Montfort. In The Legend Of The Blind Beggar Henry de Montfort was wounded and lost his sight in the Battle of Evesham in 1265, and was nursed to health by a baroness, and together they had a child named Besse.
He became the “Blind Beggar of Bednal 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 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.
Next there was William Booth (1829 to 1912). Booth was the founder of The Salvation Army and preached his first sermon outside the Beggar. William and Catherine Booth opened the “Whitechapel Mission”. Booth House (a mens’ resettlement centre), now stands in Whitechapel Road and a statue of him also stands close by. The pub is a common tourist attraction for Salvationists.
And long before the Krays’ criminal operations in London there was The Blind Beggar Gang of pickpockets who frequented the pub. In 1904, one of the members of the gang, ‘Bulldog’ Wallace, stabbed another man in the eye with an umbrella.
David Dobson is the founder and director of The Blind Beggar Pub Company established in 2005 and has made sure the pub is much more than just a macrabre tourist attraction.
He said: “The Blind Beggar is more than just a pub, it’s a home away from home.We are a wet-led pub.
“At The Blind Beggar we have many different styles of beer – from crisp and refreshing lagers to complex craft ales. To make sure you are getting a great beer we focus on beverages, particularly alcoholic drinks only. We currently don’t serve food.”
The pub also boasts an award-winning garden with decked pergola and has been awarded ‘Best Outdoor/Smoking Area In London’ with more plans to improve the garden this spring. They have regular DJ spots and live music events and you can even get married in the garden as it is licensed for weddings.
But if its the gangster connection that intrigues you T Krays Gangster London Tour offers you the unique opportunity to have a fun afternoon with Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels actor, Vas Blackwood. Vas Blackwood, an actor known for playing many roles on film and TV including Rory Breaker in Guy Ritchie’s classic gangster movie, will share anecdotes at each location.
Vas will take you around the Whitechapel and Bethnal Green areas and show you the locations of real-life gangster events and film locations from Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels plus many others and the two hour tour starts out at the Blind Beggar pub. For more information visit theblindbeggar.com