Mitre Tavern

The Mitre, in Fleet-Street.

This was the true Johnsonian Mitre, so often referred to in Boswell's Life; but it has earlier fame. Here, in 1640, Lilly met Old Will Poole, the astrologer, then living in Ram-alley. The Royal Society Club dined at the Mitre from 1743 to 1750, the Society then meeting in Crane-court, nearly opposite. The Society of Antiquaries met some time at the Mitre. Dr. Macmichael, in The Gold-headed Cane, makes Dr. Radcliffe say:—"I never recollect to have spent a more delightful evening than that at the Mitre Tavern, in Fleet-street, where my good friend Billy Nutly, who was indeed the better half of me, had been prevailed upon to accept of a small temporary assistance, and joined our party, the Earl of Denbigh, Lords Colepeper and Stowel, and Mr. Blackmore."

The house has a token:

—WILLIAM PAGET AT THE. A mitre.
—℞. MITRE IN FLEET STREET. In the field, W.E.P.

Johnson's Mitre is commonly thought to be the tavern with that sign, which still exists in Mitre-court, over against Fetter-lane; where is shown a cast of Nollekens' bust of Johnson, in confirmation of this house being his resort. Such was not the case; Boswell distinctly states it to have been the Mitre Tavern in Fleet-street; and the records by Lilly and the Royal Society, alike specify "in Fleet-street," which Mr. Burn, in his excellent account of the Beaufoy Tokens, explains was the house, No. 39, Fleet-street, that Macklin opened, in 1788, as the Poet's Gallery; and lastly, Saunders's auction-rooms. It was taken down to enlarge the site for Messrs. Hoares' new banking-house. The now Mitre Tavern, in Mitre-court, was originally called Joe's Coffee-house; and on the shutting up of the old Mitre, in Fleet-street, took its name; this being four years after Johnson's death.

The Mitre was Dr. Johnson's favourite supper-house, the parties including Goldsmith, Percy, Hawkesworth, and Boswell; there was planned the tour to the Hebrides. Johnson had a strange nervous feeling, which made him uneasy if he had not touched every post between the Mitre and his own lodgings. Johnson took Goldsmith to the Mitre, where Boswell and the Doctor had supped together in the previous month, when Boswell spoke of Goldsmith's "very loose, odd, scrambling kind of life," and Johnson defended him as one of our first men as an author, and a very worthy man;—adding, "he has been loose in his principles, but he is coming right." Boswell was impatient of Goldsmith from the first hour of their acquaintance. Chamberlain Clarke, who died in 1831, aged 92, was the last surviving of Dr. Johnson's Mitre friends. Mr. William Scott, Lord Stowell, also frequented the Mitre.

Boswell has this remarkable passage respecting the house:—"We had a good supper, and port-wine, of which he (Johnson) sometimes drank a bottle. The orthodox high-church sound of The Mitre—the figure and manner of the celebrated Samuel Johnson—the extraordinary power and precision of his conversation, and the pride arising from finding myself admitted as his companion, produced a variety of sensations, and a pleasing elevation of mind, beyond what I had ever experienced."

Mitre Tavern. Next to Hoare's [No. 37 (Hoare's Bank), south] once stood the "Mitre Tavern," where some of the most interesting of the meetings between Dr. Johnson and Boswell took place. The old tavern was pulled down, in 1829, by the Messrs. Hoare, to extend their banking-house. The original "Mitre" was of Shakespeare's time. In some MS. poems by Richard Jackson, a contemporary of the great poet, are some verses beginning, "From the rich Lavinian shore," inscribed as "Shakespeare's rime, which he made at ye 'Mitre,' in Fleet Street." The balcony was set on flames during the Great Fire, and had to be pulled down. Here, in June, 1763, Boswell came by solemn appointment to meet Johnson, so long the god of his idolatry. They had first met at the shop of Davis, the actor and bookseller, and afterwards near an eating-house in Butcher Row. Boswell describes his feelings with delightful sincerity and, self-complacency. "We had," he says, "a good supper and port wine, of which Johnson then sometimes drank a bottle. The orthodox High Church sound of the Mitre, the figure and manner of the celebrated Samuel Johnson, the extraordinary power of his conversation, and the pride arising from finding myself admitted as his companion, produced a variety of sensations and a pleasing elevation of mind beyond what I had ever before experienced." That memorable evening Johnson ridiculed Colley Cibber's birthday odes and Paul Whitehead's "grand nonsense," and ran down Gray, who had declined his acquaintance. He talked of other poets, and praised poor Goldsmith as a worthy man and excellent author. Boswell fairly won the great man by his frank avowals and his adroit flattery. "Give me your hand," at last cried the great man to the small man: "I have taken a liking to you." They then finished a bottle of port each, and parted between one and two in the morning. As they shook hands, on their way to No. 1, Inner Temple Lane, where Johnson then lived, Johnson said, "Sir, I am glad we have met. I hope we shall pass many evenings, and mornings too, together." A few weeks after the Doctor and his young disciple met again at the "Mitre," and Goldsmith was present. The poet was full of love for Dr. Johnson, and speaking of some scapegrace, said tenderly, "He is now become miserable, and that insures the protection of Johnson." At another "Mitre" meeting, on a Scotch gentleman present praising Scotch scenery, Johnson uttered his bitter gibe, "Sir, let me tell you that the noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees is the high road that leads him to England." In the same month Johnson and Boswell met again at the "Mitre." The latter confessed his nerves were much shaken by the old port and the late tavern hours; and Johnson laughed at people who had accepted a pension from the house of Hanover abusing him as a Jacobite. It was at the "Mitre" that Johnson urged Boswell to publish his "Travels in Corsica;" and at the "Mitre" he said finely of London, "Sir, the happiness of London is not to be conceived but by those who have been in it. I will venture to say there is more learning and science within the circumference of ten miles from where we sit than in all the rest of the kingdom." It was here the famous "Tour to the Hebrides" was planned and laid out. Another time we find Goldsmith and Boswell going arm-in-arm to Bolt Court, to prevail on Johnson to go and sup at the "Mitre;" but he was indisposed. Goldsmith, since "the big man" could not go, would not venture at the "Mitre" with Boswell alone. At Boswell's last "Mitre" evening with Johnson, May, 1778, Johnson would not leave Mrs. Williams, the blind old lady who lived with him, till he had promised to send her over some little dainty from the tavern. This was very kindly and worthy of the man who had the coat but not the heart of a bear. From 1728 to 1753 the Society of Antiquaries met at the "Mitre," and discussed subjects then wrongly considered frivolous. The Royal Society had also conclaves at the same celebrated tavern; and here, in 1733, Thomas Topham, the strongest man of his day, in the presence of eight persons, rolled up with his iron fingers a large pewter dish. In 1788 the "Mitre" ceased to be a tavern, and became, first Macklin's Poet's Gallery, and then an auctionroom. The present spurious "Mitre Tavern," in Mitre Court, was originally known as "Joe's Coffee House."

Mitre Tavern, Mitre Court, Fleet Street, over against Fetter Lane, the Mitre of Dr. Johnson and James Boswell, where Johnson used to drink his bottle of port and keep late hours.

It must not, however, be confounded with the earlier "Mitre in Fleet Street," of Shakespeare's and Ben Jonson's days, the house in which is said to have been written From the Fair Lavinian Shore. Shakespeare's Rime made by him at the Mytre in Fleete Streete. That was farther west; after it ceased to be a tavern it served many purposes. It "was lastly Saunders's auction room, number 39, but was demolished by Messrs. Hoares to enlarge their banking house, and the western portion now occupies the ground."¹

Puntarvolo. Carlo shall bespeak supper at the Mitre, against we come back; where we will meet, and dimple our cheeks with laughter at the success.—Ben Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, Act iv. Sc 6.

Throat. Meet me straight
At the Mitre door in Fleet Street; away:
To get rich wives men must not use delay.
Ram Alley or Merrie Tricks, a Comedy, 4to, 1611.

In the year 1640 I met Dr. Percivall Willoughby of Derby; we were of old acquaintance, and he but by great chance lately come to town; we went to the Mitre Tavern in Fleet Street, where I sent for old Will Poole the astrologer, living then in Ram Alley.—Lilly's Life, ed. 1721, p. 35.

January 20, 1659–1660.—At the Mitre in Fleet Street, in our way calling on Mr. Fage, who told me how the City have some hopes of Monk.—Pepys.

Johnson's Mitre, in Mitre Court, was originally Joe's Coffee-House. The present name was adopted after the old Mitre was closed. Here some of the raciest of Johnson's sayings were uttered, and some of the brightest scenes in Boswell occurred. It was here that Johnson said to Ogilvie, in reply to his observation that Scotland had a great many noble prospects: "I believe, sir, you have a great many; Norway, too, has noble wild prospects, and Lapland is remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects; but, sir, let me tell you, the noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England." Here, strangely enough, if Johnson had remembered the saying, the tour to the Hebrides was first started; and here, at their old rendezvous, as Boswell calls it, Goldsmith often supped with Johnson and Boswell. Here Johnson entertained "young Col." when in London. In Johnson's time the landlord's name was Cole.² Succeeding landlords were far from insensible to the fame which Boswell has bestowed upon the house, and Johnson's warm corner, distinguished by a cast from Nollekens's bust of the great moralist, was proudly pointed out to inquiring strangers. But the accommodation becoming unsuited to altered habits the Mitre was closed in 1865. Passing into new hands the following year, it was "altered and improved," and a new dining-room built (Finch, Hill, and Paraire, architects), and made to look brighter and more cheerful—but no longer Johnson's and Boswell's Mitre.

Johnson ... agreed to meet me in the evening at the Mitre. I called on him, and he went thither at nine. We had a good supper, and port wine, of which he then sometimes drank a bottle. The orthodox high church sound of the Mitre—the figure and manner of the celebrated Samuel Johnson—the extraordinary power and precision of his conversation, and the pride arising from finding myself admitted as his companion, produced a variety of sensations, and a pleasing elevation of mind beyond what I had ever experienced.—Boswell by Croker, p. 136.

The Fellows of the Royal Society held their anniversary dinner at the Mitre in 1772, and afterwards at the Crown and Anchor until 1848, when they removed to Freemasons' Tavern.³ The Society of Antiquaries also had their dinners or meetings here.

Some Antiquarians, grave and loyal.
Incorporate by Charter Royal,
Last winter on a Thursday night were
Met in full senate at the Mitre.—Cawthorne.

It was to the Mitre that Hogarth invited his friend Mr. King to Eta Beta Py.⁴ Sarah Malcolm (painted by Hogarth) was executed opposite Mitre Court, Fleet Street, March 7, 1733, for murdering Mrs. Lydia Duncombe, Elizabeth Harrison, and Ann Price. On this occasion the crowd was so great that "a Mrs. Strangways who lived in Fleet Street, near Serjeants' Inn, crossed the street from her own house to Mrs. Coulthurst's on the opposite side of the way, over the heads and shoulders of the mob."⁵

---

¹ Burn's Tradesmen's Tokens p. 64.
² Boswell by Croker, p. 308.
³ Weld, History of the Royal Society, vol. ii. p. 137.
⁴ See title-page, Nichols's Anecdotes.
⁵ Nichols's Hogarth, 1783, p. 173, note.

827. Mitre Coffee House, Mitre Court near St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street.

     More than one house named the Mitre is known, usually bearing the description of Fleet Street. The original 'Mytre Tauerne in Fleetstreet' a 17th century house, stood 'between Mitre Court and Ram-Alley over against Fetter-lane' and had a back entrance to Ram-Alley.
     An 18th century house, the Mitre Tavern, also referred to as the Mitre Coffee-house, stood in the western arm of Mitre Court, and is so marked on Rocques map 1746.
     The site of the early Mitre Tavern was long in dispute by topographers, and variously placed on the site of the later-known No. 39, No. 44, and no. 46 Fleet Street, whilst others place the house in Mitre Court, and thus confuse with the later known Mitre. This difficulty in identifying a site is not uncommon in dealing with houses prior to numbering introduced about 1767, and in consequence great confusion between these several houses is to be found in many writings. Early errors are repeated, descriptions are enlarged and embroidered, and to get oneself thoroughly confused, one should try and reconcile the writings of Cunningham, 1849: Wheatley 'London Past & Present' 1891; Thornbury 'Old & New London' 1897; Noble 'Memorials of Temple Bar'; Bell 'Fleet Street in Seven Centuries' 1912; Rogers 'Mermaid & Mitre Taverns in Old London' 1928, and several others.

1603–1716

Mitre Tavern Fleet Street, as early as 1603 is mentioned in the Wardmote book of St. Dunstan's West: 'That there is a back door leading out of Ram Alley to the tenement or tavern called the Miter in Fleetstreete. ...' The house receives well-documented mention throughout the 17th century in the above-mentioned works of Mr. Bell and Dr. Rogers; particularly the latter. In 1699 at St. Paul's Cathedral: John Wats, vintner, at ye signe of ye Mytre near St. Dunstan's in ye West in flete street was married to Barbara Bold of ye same parish.' Rogers also mentions a deed of 1716 in the Hustings Rolls that refers to 'the Mitre Tavern in Fleet Street. ...'      From the beginning of the 18th century, documentation on the Mitre Tavern is poor and somewhat meagre; and the appearance of sundry mention to a Mitre Coffee House in Mitre Court Fleet Street, thoroughly tends to confuse. It seems probable that two houses with similar names were contemporary, but more research is needed to convert the various accounts already in print, into a convincing record. The discrepancies are so numerous. For instance Noble says of the Mitre that the house was 'very much demolished and decaied in severall parts, and the Balcony was on Fire and pulled downe' during the Fire in 1666; and later: 'the house ceased to be a tavern in 1788.'

1703

Mitre Coffee House in Mitre Court is listed by Aston, 1702–1714, and comes to notice in the 'Daily Courant' 6 Feb. 1703 'At the Mitre Coffee House in Mitre Court near St. Dunstan's Church Fleet Street will be sold by auction the goods of the late John Hill, Sword Cutler behind the Royal Exchange.'

1733

The items which follow in order of chronology are ascribed to the Mitre Fleet Street, or simply to the Mitre. In 1733, 'Thomas Topham, the strongest man of his day, in the presence of eight persons, rolled up with his iron fingers a large pewter dish.' (Thornbury, I. 51.)

1730s–77

Various writers place the meetings of the Society of Antiquaries at the Mitre from the 1730s to 1777, before the Society removed to apartments in Somerset House. (Thornbury says from 1728 to 1753.)

1746–80

The Royal Society Club, founded in 1743, celebrated at an annual dinner; at Pontack's until 1746, after which date at the Mitre until about 1780, and thereafter at the Crown and Anchor, Strand.

1765–79

The Mitre, Fleet Street, is listed in use for masonic lodge meetings in 1765, 1766, and 1769; as 'Mitre Tavern, Fleet Street' similarly used in 1778 and 1779. (Note—Two houses may be here concerned.)

1772–1773

James Boswell dined here with a Club in March, 1772, and records a visit with Dr. Johnson in April, 1773. In 1773, John Wilkes, in his list of dinner engagements records: 23 Dec. 1773 'At the Mitre in Fleet Street with the com. Council of Farringdon Without.'

1788

Noble remarks the house ceased to be a tavern in 1788, when 'probably used for other purposes'. Thornbury says it then 'became, first Macklin's Poet's Gallery, and then an auction-room'. Also: 'The old tavern was pulled down in 1829, by the Messrs: Hoare, to extend their banking-house.'

1826–40

I find no mention of the Mitre in Mitre Court or Fleet Street) in the editions of 'Picture of London' from 1803 to 1833, but another house comes to light in Pigot's directory 1826–27, listed as Mitre Tavern, Mitre Court, Fleet Street—Proprietor—Henry Willem Lawton; and later in 1840, as Mitre Tavern & Coffee House, at the same address, is Rich. Poole, Proprietor.

Thornbury writing in 'Old & New London' (1897) remarks that 'the present spurious "Mitre Tavern" in Mitre Court, was originally known as 'Joe's Coffee-House'; this is disputed by Mr. Bell, but none the less often repeated by other writers. Joe's Coffee House Mitre Court is known from 1744 to the 1830s. See Joe's Coffee House. No. 632.

Mitre Tavern • Mitre Court, Fleet Street. Formerly Joe's Coffee House, this was the inn most favoured by Samuel Johnson, who declared that a tavern chair was 'the throne of human felicity'. It was here that he arranged to meet Arthur Murphy to discuss with him the pension that Murphy had been deputed by the Government to offer him, and here that he had his first long conversation with James Boswell who, having been introduced to him in the parlour behind Thomas Davies's shop on 16 May 1763, came across him by chance a few days later at Temple Bar. Knowing the Mitre to be Johnson's favourite tavern, Boswell asked Johnson to accompany him there, but the latter said it was too late: 'They won’t let us in. But I'll go with you another night with all my heart.' The next Saturday they met again by chance at Clifford's Eating House in Butcher Row, where Boswell asked Johnson if he would go to the Mitre with him that evening. They did so, had a good supper, two bottles of port and sat talking until after one o’clock in the morning. They met again at the Mitre on 1 July, this time with Goldsmith; and on 6 July Boswell gave a supper party here. In Johnson's time the landlord of the tavern was Henry Cole. Subsequent landlords, naturally anxious to profit by the fame which Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson had bestowed upon the place, kept a cast of Nollekens's bust in the corner where Johnson had sat and proudly pointed out the great man's favourite chair.

The Fellows of the Royal Society held their anniversary dinner here in 1772 before moving to the Crown and Anchor. The Society of Antiquaries also held dinners here from 1728 to 1753. Hogarth was an occasional customer. Thomas Topham, the strong man of Islington, who could bend an iron poker to a right angle by striking it on his bare left arm, who could hold back a horse and cart despite all the driver's efforts to proceed, and who could support five men standing on his body while lying extended between two chairs, demonstrated his extraordinary powers in the tavern in 1733 by rolling up a pewter dish with his fingers. The place ceased to be a tavern in 1788, later became auction rooms and was demolished in 1829 for an extension of Hoare's Bank.