The Blind Beggar is a pub located on Whitechapel Road in East London, known for its chequered past.
Last year, I backpacked the Cart & Horses in Stratford, which is considered to be the Birthplace of Iron Maiden, the legendary British heavy metal band. It’s where they first gigged.
Months later, I sat in the Piano Bar of the Europa Hotel in Belfast, the most bombed hotel in Europe, if not the world.
So I was definitely up for a visit to The Blind Beggar on Whitechapel Road in East London.
Having backpacked Bethnal Green in the morning (my Grandmother was born on Tyrell Street, which ran parallel to Bethnal Green Road, near St. Matthew’s), I walked the short distance to Whitechapel.
The Legend of Henry de Montfort
The 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. Nursed to health by a baroness, he later became the “Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green” as he used to beg at the crossroads.
William Booth and the Salvation Army
William Booth, along with his wife, Catherine founded The Salvation Army and preached his first sermon outside the Beggar.
There is a bust of William Booth on Whitechapel Road just along from the Blind Beggar:
Bulldog Wallace
In 1904, ‘Bulldog’ Wallace, a member of The Blind Beggar Gang of pickpockets who frequented the pub, stabbed another man in the eye with an umbrella.
Ronnie Kray and the murder of Georgie Cornell
Ronnie Kray, along with his brother Reggie, were London’s most feared gangsters during the 1950s and 60s. They specialised in armed robberies, arson, protection rackets, assaults, and murder.
On 9 March 1966, Georgie Cornell and his friend Albie Woods sat in Blind Beggar pub, with a few beers.
At around 8:30 pm, in walked Ronnie Kray and his associate, Ian Barrie.
Upon seeing him, Cornell smiled and said sardonically, “Well, just look who’s here”.
Barrie fired two shots into the ceiling, as a warning to the barmaid while Ronnie Kray walked towards Cornell and shot him in the forehead with a Luger 9mm.
Ronnie Kray was later sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in Broadmoor in 1995.
Enjoying a few pints of Beggars Belief at the Blind Beggar:
Location of the Blind Beggar
337 Whitechapel Road, London E1 1BU
Read more about The Blind Beggar Pub on their website.