Child's Coffee House

Child's Coffee-House,

In St. Paul's Churchyard, was one of the Spectator's houses. "Sometimes," he says, "I smoke a pipe at Child's, and whilst I seem attentive to nothing but the Postman, overhear the conversation of every table in the room." It was much frequented by the clergy; for the Spectator, No. 609, notices the mistake of a country gentleman in taking all persons in scarfs for Doctors of Divinity, since only a scarf of the first magnitude entitles him to "the appellation of Doctor from his landlady and the Boy at Child's."

Child's was the resort of Dr. Mead, and other professional men of eminence. The Fellows of the Royal Society came here. Whiston relates that Sir Hans Sloane, Dr. Halley, and he were once at Child's, when Dr. H., asked him, W., why he was not a member of the Royal Society? Whiston answered, because they durst not choose a heretic. Upon which Dr. H. said, if Sir Hans Sloane would propose him, W., he, Dr. H., would second it, which was done accordingly.

The propinquity of Child's to the Cathedral and Doctors' Commons, made it the resort of the clergy, and ecclesiastical loungers. In one respect, Child's was superseded by the Chapter, in Paternoster Row.

Child's Coffee House, in St. Paul's Churchyard, was a quiet place, much frequented by the clergy of Queen Anne's reign, and by proctors from Doctors' Commons. Addison used to look in there, to smoke a pipe and listen, behind his paper, to the conversation. In the Spectator, No. 609, he smiles at a country gentleman who mistook all persons in scarves for doctors of divinity. This was at a time when clergymen always wore their black gowns in public. "Only a scarf of the first magnitude," he says, "entitles one to the appellation of 'doctor' from the landlady and the boy at 'Child's.'"

"Child's" was the resort of Dr. Mead, and other professional men of eminence. The Fellows of the Royal Society came here. Whiston relates that Sir Hans Sloane, Dr. Halley, and he were once at "Child's," when Dr. Halley asked him (Whiston) why he was not a member of the Royal Society? Whiston answered, "Because they durst not choose a heretic." Upon which Dr. Halley said, if Sir Hans Sloane would propose him, he (Dr. Halley) would second it, which was done accordingly.

Child's Coffee-house, St. Paul's Churchyard.

Sometimes I smoke a pipe at Child's, and whilst I seem attentive to nothing but The Postman, overhear the conversation of every table in the room.—, No. 1; and see No. 609.

Sir Hans Sloane, Dr. Edmund Halley, and myself, were once together at Child's Coffee-house in St. Paul's Churchyard, when Dr. Halley asked me why I was not a member of the Royal Society? I answered, because they durst not choose a heretic. Upon which Dr. Halley said, that if Sir Hans Sloane would propose me, he would second it, which was done accordingly.—Whiston.

Dr. Radcliffe, when in apprehension of being "pulled to pieces" by the mob for refusing to attend at Queen Anne's deathbed, writes to "Dr. Mead, at Child's Coffee-house in St. Paul's Churchyard," August 3, 1714.

241. Child's Coffee House, 'near the College of Physicians' Warwick Lane, later described as St. Paul's Churchyard.

1698

Although some writers credit Child's Coffee House here, with the issue of a Token which must ante-date 1672, no contemporary mention is yet found to support the existence of the house before the closing years of the seventeenth century, when it is mentioned in Ward's 'London Spy' published in November 1698. Ward places Child's 'near the College of Physicians' and remarks the house 'drew much of its custom from doctors and clergymen ...' Child's Coffee-house is confused in some writings with the house 'At the West End of St. Paul's' where Luke Petley is believed to have issued a Token as early as 1662. Timothy Child issued an undated Token, probably before the Fire of 1666, 'At ye Coffe hovse in Rvssell Street' and used the sign of the Turk's Head, but I find nothing to connect Child's in Russell Street, or the Coffee-house at the West End of St. Paul's, with Child's 'near the College of Physicians'. Ward's description 'near the College' may be a very loose one; at the time he was writing, the College of Physicians had been located in Warwick Lane since 1689, and remained here until 1825. Some brief remarks on the College itself may be appropriate here. Founded early in the 16th century by Dr. Linacre, physician to Henry VIII, its meetings were held at Linacre's house in Knightrider Street until 1560, when the house was taken down and the College removed to Amen Corner to a building that 'abutted west on the town ditch and city wall and south on Stationers' Hall', remaining there until burnt out in the Fire in 1666. In 1674, the College purchased a site in Warwick-lane towards Newgate Street end, and a new building designed by Wren was completed and occupied in 1689. In 1825, the college removed to a building in Pall Mall East. There appears to be some doubt about the end of the college building in Warwick-lane; according to Harben it 'was demolished about 1831'; Wheatley says it was 'pulled down 1866' and according to a trade-card of J. Tylor & Sons, Brass Founders & Sanitary Engineers &c., it was 'destroyed by fire 3rd January, 1879' when Tylor's were burnt out of their factory.

1689–98

Assuming that Ward's description is accurate, the fore-going would appear to narrow the date when Child's Coffee House was located here, i.e., between 1689 and 1698. The site of the College in Warwick Lane is shewn on Rocques Map, 1746, also Horwood's 1799. The description 'near the College' would scarcely embrace St. Paul's Churchyard, where Child's is placed much earlier than 1689 by some writers.

1702–14

From 1702 however, Child's is consistently placed in St. Paul's Churchyard and contemporary accounts support this. The house is described as 'a quiet place much frequented by the clergy of Queen Anne's reign, and by proctors from Doctors' Commons'. The 'Dutch Prophet' a weekly paper published at the beginning of the century, described by Malcom as a 'a filthy publication', in which the author outlines each day in the week as employed by different persons, says on Wednesdays 'several Shop-keepers near St. Paul's will rise before six, be upon their knees at chapel a little after; promise God Almighty to live soberly and righteously before seven; take half a pint of Sack and a dash of Gentian before eight; tell fifty lies behind their counters by nine; and spend the rest of the morning over Tea and Tobacco at Child's Coffee-house'. (Malcolm—Manners & Customs.)

1710–11

No. 1, 'Spectator,' 1 March, 1710–11, Addison relates: '... sometimes I smoke a pipe at Child's, and while I seem attentive to nothing but the Postman, overhear the conversation of every table of the room ...'

1714

No. 609 dated 20 Oct. 1714 refers to the 'Boy at Child's'.

1714–16

Dr. Radcliffe, after refusing to attend at Queen Anne's deathbed, wrote to 'Dr. Mead at Child's Coffee-house in St. Paul's Churchyard' on 3rd August 1714. In September 1716, Dr. Mead figures in an artful stratagem whereby the Mistress of Child's Coffee-house was defrauded of a considerable sum of money when 'she received a note by the Penny-post, which appeared to come from Dr. Mead ... saying that a parcel would be sent there for him from Bristol, containing ... drugs, and begging her to pay ... the bearer ... the bundle was brought, the money paid; the Doctor declared his ignorance of the transaction, the parcel was opened, and the contents found to be rags.' (Malcolm—Manners & Customs.)

1720–21

Timbs mentions that 'Dr. Halley used to come on a Tuesday from Greenwich, the Royal Observatory, to Child's Coffee-house, where literary people met for conversation.' William Whiston records a meeting at Child's in St. Paul's Churchyard with Sir Hans Sloane and Dr. Edmund Halley, when Whiston was proposed and seconded for membership to the Royal Society; the proposal was defeated by Newton, who according to Whiston 'could not bear to be contradicted in his old age'.

1734

A dispute at Child's Coffee-house in 1734, between a Doctor and a Surgeon, found expression in the 'Daily Journal' of 22nd July.

1745

In 1745, the author of Don Manoel Gonzales Voyage to Britain, remarks on London physicians: '... you find them at Batson's or Child's Coffee-house usually in the morning, and they visit their patients in the afternoon ...'

1746

In 1746, John Freke, Surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, gave 'An Essay to shew the Cause of Electricity', at Child's.

1762–63

Child's was the favoured coffee-house of James Boswell and many references to his visits are to be found in 'London Journal 1762–1763' (Pottle, Heinemann). To record his Saturdays, he introduced into his Journal 'A Dialogue at Child's' where he visited to 'read the political papers' and 'chat with citizens' or to discuss politics and to read 'The North Briton' and so on in the leisured days of the mid-eighteenth century.

Timbs remarks that Child's was the resort of the clergy, and ecclesiastical loungers, and 'in one respect, Child's was superseded by the Chapter, in Paternoster Row.' The absence of any later contemporary mention than 1762–63 of Child's seems to confirm the end of its days.

241 Child’s Coffee-house "near the College of Physicians" Warwick Lane, later described as St. Pauls Churchyard 1672–1763.

Child's Coffeehouse, St. Paul's Churchyard. Lillywhite suggests that Child's was for a short period (between 1689 and 1698) located in Warwick Lane near the College of Physicians. This identification seems to be in error, however, as Lillywhite bases the claim on Ned Ward's London Spy, November 1698: "Ward places Child's 'near the College of Physicians' and remarks the house 'drew much of its custom from doctors and clergymen …'" However, Ward does not identify the coffee-house visited by the Spy and his Friend in that issue, and the language Lillywhite quotes does not appear in the London Spy. Further, the coffee-shop visited by the Spy and his Friend seems more likely to be close to Leadenhall Street, some distance away from the College of Physicians in Warwick Lane.

The text quoted by Lillywhite is actually from A History of Lloyd's from the Founding of Lloyd's Coffee House to the Present Day (1928), by Charles Wright and Charles Ernest Fayle, who write that "Child's, in St. Paul's Churchyard, near the College of Physicians, drew much of its custom from doctors and clergymen" (9). A footnote citing The London Spy on the same page is to a passage referring to Man's Coffee House in Charing Cross.

I can find no contemporary references to Child's address as "near the College of Physicians"; however, at a distance of under 200 meters away, the coffee house would have been readily accessible to that crowd.

The Buckingham-shire Feast will be kept at Stationers-Hall near Ludgate. The 5th, of December next: And Tickets may be had at the Bull-Head Tavern in Fleet-street. The Queens-Head-Tavern in Bishops-gate-street. And the Fleece-Tavern near Doctors Commons. At Garraways Coffee-House in Exchange Alley, & Mr Childs Coffee-House at the West End of St. Pauls.
—Observator in Dialogue 444, Monday, November 26, 1683

All Persons concern'd in the Million and half Lottery may certainly know in a Moment whither the Number of any of their Tickets is drawn or not, and whether Blank or Benefit, for 1 d. at Child's Coffee-house at the West-corner of St. Paul's Churchyard, and at Capt. Sanders's Shop, over-against the Crown Tavern in King-street near Guild-Hall, where the most Correct and Exact Numerical Tables are kept for that purpose.
—Daily Courant 2747, Saturday, August 12, 1710

I was to have been on Tuesday night at a Club of our faculty but the doctor who was to have introduced me, one of our college, was out of Town. I have been enquiring into the Meads and Cades, etc. Child's is the physicians' coffee house; but I have advanced no further than two or three steps in the politics of that place.—John Byrom, Doctor of Physic, in a letter to his brother July 17, 1718

Oysters
William Wood, Fishmonger, at the West-End of St. Paul's, near Child's Coffee House, continues selling daily …
—Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser 11201, Thursday, January 24, 1765