Chapter Coffee House

The Wittinagemot of the Chapter Coffee-House. The Chapter Coffee-house, at the corner of Chapterhouse Court, on the south side of Paternoster-row, was, in the last century, noted as the resort of men of letters, and was famous for its punch, pamphlets, and good supply of newspapers. It was closed as a coffee-house in 1854, and then altered to a tavern. Its celebrity, however, lay in the last century. In the Connoisseur, January 31, 1754, we read: "The Chapter Coffee-house is frequented by those encouragers of literature, and (as they are styled by an eminent critic) 'not the worst judges of merit,' the booksellers. The conversation here naturally turns upon the newest publications; but their criticisms are somewhat singular. When they say a good book, they do not mean to praise the style or sentiment, but the quick and extensive sale of it. That book is best which sells most; and if the demand for Quarles should be greater than for Pope, he would have the highest place on the rubric-post." The house was much frequented by Chatterton, who writes to his mother: "I am quite familiar at the Chapter Coffee-house, and know all the geniuses there;" and to Mr. Mason: "Send me whatever you would have published, and direct for me, to be left at the Chapter Coffee-house, Paternoster-row."  And, writing from "King's Bench for the present," May 14th, 1770, Chatterton says: "A gentleman who knows me at the Chapter, as an author, would have introduced me as a companion to the young Duke of Northumberland, in his intended general tour. But, alas! I spake no tongue but my own." Forster relates an anecdote of Oliver Goldsmith being paymaster at the Chapter, for Churchill's friend, Lloyd, who, in his careless way, without a shilling to pay for the entertainment, had invited him to sup with some friends of Grub-street. The Club celebrity of the Chapter was, however, the Wittinagemot, as the box in the north-east corner of the coffee-room was designated. Among its frequenters was Alexander Stevens, editor of the Annual Biography and Obituary , who died in 1824, and who left among his papers, printed in the Monthly Magazine , as "Stephensiana," his recollections of the Chapter, which he frequented in 1797 to 1805, where, he tells us, he always met with intelligent company. We give his reminiscences almost in his own words. Early in the morning it was occupied by neighbours, who were designated the Wet Paper Club , as it was their practice to open the papers when brought in by the newsmen, and read them before they were dried by the waiter; a dry paper they viewed as a stale commodity. In the afternoon, another party enjoyed the wet evening papers; and (says Stephens) it was these whom I met. Dr. Buchan, author of Domestic Medicine , generally held a seat in this box; and though he was a Tory, he heard the freest discussion with good humour, and commonly acted as a moderator. His fine physiognomy, and his white hairs, qualified him for this office. But the fixture in the box was a Mr. Hammond, a Coventry manufacturer, who, evening after evening, for nearly forty-five years, was always to be found in his place, and during the entire period was much distinguished for his severe and often able strictures on the events of the day. He had thus debated through the days of Wilkes, of the American war, and of the French war, and being on the side of liberty, was constantly in opposition. His mode of arguing was Socratic, and he generally applied to his adversary the reductio ad absurdum , creating bursts of laughter. The registrar or chronicler of the box was a Mr. Murray, an episcopal Scotch minister, who generally sat in one place from nine in the morning till nine at night; and was famous for having read, at least once through, every morning and evening paper published in London during the last thirty years. His memory being good, he was appealed to whenever any point of fact within the memory of man happened to be disputed. It was often remarked, however, that such incessant daily reading did not tend to clear his views. Among those from whom I constantly profited was Dr. Berdmore, the Master of the Charterhouse; Walker, the rhetorician; and Dr. Towers, the political and historical writer. Dr. B. abounded in anecdote; Walker, (the Dictionary-maker,) to the finest enunciation united the most intelligent head I ever met with; and Towers, over his half-pint of Lisbon, was sarcastic and lively, though never deep. Among our constant visitors was the celebrated Dr. George Fordyce, who, having much fashionable practice, brought news which had not generally transpired. He had not the appearance of a man of genius, nor did he debate, but he possessed sound information on all subjects. He came to the Chapter after taking his wine, and stayed about an hour, or while he sipped a glass of brandy-and-water; it was then his habit to take another glass at the London Coffee-house, and a third at the Oxford, before he returned to his house in Essex-street, Strand. Dr. Gower, the urbane and able physician of the Middlesex, was another pretty constant visitor. It was gratifying to hear such men as Fordyce, Gower, and Buchan in familiar chat. On subjects of medicine they seldom agreed, and when such were started, they generally laughed at one another's opinions. They seemed to consider Chapter punch, or brandy-and-water, as aqua vitæ ; and, to the credit of the house, better punch could not be found in London. If any one complained of being indisposed, the elder Buchan exclaimed, "Now let me prescribe for you without a fee. Here, John or Isaac, bring a glass of punch for Mr. —, unless he likes brandy-and-water better. Take that, Sir, and I'll warrant you you'll soon be well. You're a peg too low; you want stimulus, and if one glass won't do, call for a second." There was a growling man of the name of Dobson, who, when his asthma permitted, vented his spleen upon both sides; and a lover of absurd paradoxes, author of some works of merit, but so devoid of principle, that, deserted by his friends, he would have died for want, if Dr. Garthshore had not placed him as a patient in the empty Fever Institution. Robinson, the king of the booksellers, was frequently of the party, as well as his brother John, a man of some talent; and Joseph Johnson, the friend of Priestley, and Paine, and Cowper, and Fuseli, came from St. Paul's Churchyard. Phillips, then commencing his Monthly Magazine , was also on a keen look-out for recruits, and with his waistcoat pocket full of guineas, to slip his enlistment money into their hand. Phillips, in the winter of 1795–6, lodged and boarded at the Chapter, and not only knew the characters referred to by Mr. Stephens, but many others equally original, from the voracious glutton in politics, who waited for the wet papers in the morning twilight, to the comfortless bachelor, who sat till the fire was raked out at half-past twelve at night, all of whom took their successive stations, like figures in a magic lantern. Alexander Chalmers, the workman of the Robinsons, and through their introduction editor of many large books, also enlivened the box by many sallies of wit and humour. He always took much pains to be distinguished from his namesake George, who, he used to say, carried, "the leaden mace," and he was much provoked whenever he happened to be mistaken for his namesake. Cahusac, a teacher of the classics; M'Leod, a writer in the newspapers; the two Parrys, of the Courier , the organ of Jacobinism; and Captain Skinner, a man of elegant manners, who personated our nation in the procession of Anacharsis Clootz, at Paris, in 1793, were also in constant attendance. One Baker, once a Spitalfields manufacturer, a great talker, and not less remarkable as an eater, was constant; but, having shot himself at his lodgings in Kirby-street, it was discovered that, for some years, he had had no other meal per day besides the supper which he took at the Chapter, where there being a choice of viands at the fixed price of one shilling, this, with a pint of porter, constituted his daily subsistence, till, his last resources failing, he put an end to himself. Lowndes, the celebrated electrician, was another of our set, and a facetious man. Buchan the younger, a son of the Doctor, generally came with Lowndes; and though somewhat dogmatical, yet he added to the variety and good intelligence of our discussions, which, from the mixture of company, were as various as the contents of the newspapers. Dr. Busby, the musician, and an ingenious man, often obtained a hearing, and was earnest in disputing with the Tories. And Macfarlane, the author of the History of George the Third , was generally admired for the soundness of his views; but this worthy man was killed by the pole of a coach, during an election procession of Sir Francis Burdett, from Brentford. Mr. W. Cooke, author of Conversation , constantly exemplified his own rules in his gentlemanly manners and well-timed anecdotes. Kelly, an Irish school-master, and a man of polished manners, kept up warm debates by his equivocating politics, and was often roughly handled by Hammond and others, though he bore his defeats with constant good humour. There was a young man named Wilson, who acquired the distinction of Long-bow, from the number of extraordinary secrets of the haut ton , which he used to retail by the hour. He was an amusing person, who seemed likely to prove an acquisition to the Wittinagemot; but, having run up a score of thirty or forty pounds, he suddenly absented himself. Miss Brun, the keeper of the Chapter, begged me, if I met with Wilson, to tell him she would give him a receipt for the past, and further credit to any amount, if he would only return to the house; "for," said she, "if he never paid us, he was one of the best customers we ever had, contriving, by his stories and conversation, to keep a couple of boxes crowded the whole night, by which we made more punch and more brandy-and-water, than from any other single cause whatever." Jacob, afterwards an alderman and M.P., was a frequent visitor, and then as remarkable for his heretical, as he was subsequently for his orthodox, opinions in his speeches and writings. Waithman, the active and eloquent Common Councilman, often mixed with us, and was always clear-headed and agreeable. One James, who had made a large fortune by vending tea, contributed many good anecdotes of the age of Wilkes. Several stockbrokers visited us; and among others of that description was Mr. Blake, the banker, of Lombard-street, a remarkably intelligent old gentleman; and there was a Mr. Paterson, a North Briton, a long-headed speculator, who taught mathematics to Pitt. Some young men of talent came among us from time to time; as Lovett, a militia officer; Hennell, a coal merchant, and some others; and these seemed likely to keep up the party. But all things have an end: Dr. Buchan died; some young sparks affronted our Nestor, Hammond, on which he absented himself, after nearly fifty years' attendance; and the noisy box of the Wittinagemot was, for some years previously to 1820, remarkable for its silence and dulness. The two or three last times I was at the Chapter, I heard no voice above a whisper; and I almost shed a tear on thinking of men, habits, and times gone by for ever! We shall have more to say of the Chapter Coffee-house in Vol. II.

The Chapter Coffee-House.

In our first volume, pp. 179–186, we described this as a literary place of resort in Paternoster Row, more especially in connection with the Wittinagemot of the last century.

A very interesting account of the Chapter, at a later period, (1848,) is given by Mrs. Gaskell. The Coffee-house is thus described:—

"Paternoster Row was for many years sacred to publishers. It is a narrow flagged street, lying under the shadow of St. Paul's; at each end there are posts placed, so as to prevent the passage of carriages, and thus preserve a solemn silence for the deliberations of the 'fathers of the Row.' The dull warehouses on each side are mostly occupied at present by wholesale stationers; if they be publishers' shops, they show no attractive front to the dark and narrow street. Halfway up on the left-hand side is the Chapter Coffee-house. I visited it last June. It was then unoccupied; it had the appearance of a dwelling-house two hundred years old or so, such as one sometimes sees in ancient country towns; the ceilings of the small rooms were low, and had heavy beams running across them; the walls were wainscoted breast-high; the staircase was shallow, broad, and dark, taking up much space in the centre of the house. This then was the Chapter Coffee-house, which, a century ago, was the resort of all the booksellers and publishers, and where the literary hacks, the critics, and even the wits used to go in search of ideas or employment. This was the place about which Chatterton wrote, in those delusive letters he sent to his mother at Bristol, while he was starving in London.

"Years later it became the tavern frequented by university men, and country clergymen, who were up in London for a few days, and, having no private friends or access into society, were glad to learn what was going on in the world of letters, from the conversation which they were sure to hear in the coffee-room. It was a place solely frequented by men; I believe there was but one female servant in the house. Few people slept there: some of the stated meetings of the trade were held in it, as they had been for more than a century; and occasionally country booksellers, with now and then a clergyman, resorted to it. In the long, low, dingy room upstairs, the meetings of the trade were held. The high narrow windows looked into the gloomy Row; nothing of motion or of change could be seen in the grim dark houses opposite, so near and close, although the whole breadth of the Row was between. The mighty roar of London was round, like the sound of an unseen ocean, yet every foot-fall on the pavement below might be heard distinctly, in that unfrequented street."

Goldsmith frequented the Chapter, and always occupied one place, which, for many years after was the seat of literary honour there.

There are Leather Tokens of the Chapter Coffee-house in existence.

The "Chapter Coffee House," at the corner of Chapter House Court, was in the last century famous for its punch, its pamphlets, and its newspapers. As lawyers and authors frequented the Fleet Street taverns, so booksellers haunted the "Chapter." Bonnell Thornton, in the Connoisseur, Jan., 1754, says:—"The conversation here naturally turns upon the newest publications, but their criticisms are somewhat singular. When they say a good book they do not mean to praise the style or sentiment, but the quick and extensive sale of it. That book is best which sells most."

In 1770 Chatterton, in one of those apparently hopeful letters he wrote home while in reality his proud heart was breaking, says:— "I am quite familiar at the 'Chapter Coffee House,' and know all the geniuses there." He desires a friend to send him whatever he has published, to be left at the "Chapter." So, again, writing from the King's Bench, he says a gentleman whom he met at the "Chapter" had promised to introduce him as a travelling tutor to the young Duke of Northumberland; "but, alas! I spoke no tongue but my own."

Perhaps that very day Chatterton came, half starved, and listened with eager ears to great authors talking. Oliver Goldsmith dined there, with Lloyd, that reckless friend of still more reckless Churchill, and some Grub Street cronies, and had to pay for the lot, Lloyd having quite forgotten the important fact that he was moneyless. Goldsmith's favourite seat at the "Chapter" became a seat of honour, and was pointed out to visitors. Leather tokens of the coffee-house are still in existence.

Mrs. Gaskell has sketched the "Chapter" in 1848, with its low heavy-beamed ceilings, wainscoted rooms, and its broad, dark, shallow staircase. She describes it as formerly frequented by university men, country clergymen, and country booksellers, who, friendless in London, liked to hear the literary chat. Few persons slept there, and in a long, low, dingy room up-stairs the periodical meetings of the trade were held. "The high, narrow windows looked into the gloomy Row." Nothing of motion or of change could be seen in the grim, dark houses opposite, so near and close, although the whole width of the Row was between. The mighty roar of London ran round like the sound of an unseen ocean, yet every footfall on the pavement below might be heard distinctly in that unfrequented street.

The frequenters of the "Chapter Coffee House" (1797–1805) have been carefully described by Sir Richard Phillips. Alexander Stevens, editor of the "Annual Biography and Obituary," was one of the choice spirits who met nightly in the "Wittinagemot," as it was called, or the north-east corner box in the coffee-room. The neighbours, who dropped in directly the morning papers arrived, and before they were dried by the waiter, were called the Wet Paper Club, and another set intercepted the wet evening papers. Dr. Buchan, author of that murderous book, "Domestic Medicine," which teaches a man how to kill himself and family cheaply, generally acted as moderator. He was a handsome, white-haired man, a Tory, a good-humoured companion, and a bon vivant. If any one began to complain, or appear hypochondriacal, he used to say—

"Now let me prescribe for you, without a fee. Here, John, bring a glass of punch for Mr.— unless he likes brandy and water better. Now, take that, sir, and I'll warrant you'll soon be well. You're a peg too low; you want stimulus; and if one glass won't do, call for a second."

Dr. Gower, the urbane and able physician of the Middlesex Hospital, was another frequent visitor, as also that great eater and worker, Dr. Fordyce, whose balance no potations could disturb. Fordyce had fashionable practice, and brought rare news and much sound information on general subjects. He came to the "Chapter" from his wine, stayed about an hour, and sipped a glass of brandy and water. He then took another glass at the "London Coffee House," and a third at the "Oxford," then wound home to his house in Essex Street, Strand. The three doctors seldom agreed on medical subjects, and laughed loudly at each other's theories. They all, however, agreed in regarding the "Chapter" punch as an infallible and safe remedy for all ills.

The standing men in the box were Hammond and Murray. Hammond, a Coventry manufacturer, had scarcely missed an evening at the "Chapter" for forty-five years. His strictures on the events of the day were thought severe but able, and as a friend of liberty he had argued all through the times of Wilkes and the French and American wars. His Socratic arguments were very amusing. Mr. Murray, the great referee of the Wittinagemot, was a Scotch minister, who generally sat at the "Chapter" reading papers from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. He was known to have read straight through every morning and evening paper published in London for thirty years. His memory was so good that he was always appealed to for dates and matters of fact, but his mind was not remarkable for general lucidity. Other friends of Stevens's were Dr. Birdmore, the Master of the Charterhouse, who abounded in anecdote; Walker, the rhetorician and dictionary-maker, a most intelligent man, with a fine enunciation, and Dr. Towers, a political writer, who over his half-pint of Lisbon grew sarcastic and lively. Also a grumbling man named Dobson, who between asthmatic paroxysms vented his spleen on all sides. Dobson was an author and paradox-monger, but so devoid of principle that he was deserted by all his friends, and would have died from want, if Dr. Garthshore had not placed him as a patient in an empty fever hospital. Robinson, "the king of booksellers," and his sensible brother John were also frequenters of the "Chapter," as well as Joseph Johnson, the friend of Priestley, Paine, Cowper, and Fuseli, from St. Paul's Churchyard. Phillips, the speculative bookseller, then commencing his Monthly Magazine, came to the "Chapter" to look out for recruits, and with his pockets well lined with guineas to enlist them. He used to describe all the odd characters at this coffee-house, from the glutton in politics, who waited at daylight for the morning papers, to the moping and disconsolate bachelor, who sat till the fire was raked out by the sleepy waiter at half-past twelve at night. These strange figures succeeded each other regularly, like the figures in a magic lantern.

Alexander Chalmers, editor of many works, enlivened the Wittinagemot by many sallies of wit and humour. He took great pains not to be mistaken for a namesake of his, who, he used to say, carried "the leaden mace." Other habitués were the two Parrys, of the Courier and Jacobite papers, and Captain Skinner, a man of elegant manners, who represented England in the absurd procession of all nations, devised by that German revolutionary fanatic, Anacharsis Clootz, in Paris in 1793. Baker, an ex-Spitalfields manufacturer, a great talker and eater, joined the coterie regularly, till he shot himself at his lodgings in Kirby Street. It was discovered that his only meal in the day had been the nightly supper at the "Chapter," at the fixed price of a shilling, with a supplementary pint of porter. When the shilling could no longer be found for the supper, he killed himself.

Among other members of these pleasant coteries were Lowndes, the electrician; Dr. Busby, the musician; Cooke, the well-bred writer of conversation; and Macfarlane, the author of "The History of George III.," who was eventually killed by a blow from the pole of a coach during an election procession of Sir Francis Burdett at Brentford. Another celebrity was a young man named Wilson, called Langton, from his stories of the haut ton. He ran up a score of £40, and then disappeared, to the vexation of Mrs. Brown, the landlady, who would willingly have welcomed him, even though he never paid, as a means of amusing and detaining customers. Waithman, the Common Councilman, was always clear-headed and agreeable. There was also Mr. Paterson, a long-headed, speculative North Briton, who had taught Pitt mathematics. But such coteries are like empires; they have their rise and their fall. Dr. Buchan died; some pert young sparks offended the Nestor, Hammond, who gave up the place, after forty-five years' attendance, and before 1820 the "Chapter" grew silent and dull.

The fourth edition of Dr.—ell's "Antient and Modern Geography," says Nicholls, was published by an association of respectable booksellers, who about the year 1719 entered into an especial partnership, for the purpose of printing some expensive works, and styled themselves "the Printing Conger." The term "Conger" was supposed to have been at first applied to them invidiously, alluding to the conger eel, which is said to swallow the smaller fry; or it may possibly have been taken from congeries. The "Conger" met at the "Chapter."

The "Chapter" closed as a coffee-house in 1854, and was altered into a tavern.

1. Chapter Coffee House, described as Paternoster Row by Burn and others. There are two distinct houses and the location of the early one is very uncertain. It is lumped-together with the later Chapter Coffee House, known in Paternoster Row from about 1715 to 1853, at No. 50.
        The early Chapter Coffee House issued three undated Tokens, struck on leather bearing traces of having been gilded. Burn No. 764, described as a leather groat bears a figure 4. Ukers illustrates one bearing a figure 3, and the other, from the collection of M. C. Tutet is described by Burn as similar, but with a figure 2, or halfgroat:

Burn No. 764: CHAPTER . COFFEE . HOVSE . 4—A Mitre. Reverse side is blank. Ukers, p. 58. CHAPTER . COFFE . HOUSE . 3—A Mitre. Reverse side is blank.

c. 1660–66

There is nothing on the Tokens to indicate Paternoster Row; nor do I find any contemporary mention in support. By inference and for various reasons, these Tokens were issued before the Fire in 1666, probably between 1660 and 1666, and the complete lack of contemporary mention of the Chapter Coffee House between 1666 and 1715, a period of 49 years is too long to ignore. In fact, it is highly improbable if the two Chapter Coffee-houses had any connexion. It seems that the appearance of the Chapter Coffee House in Paternoster Row many years later, induced Burn (writing in 1853) to label the Tokens incorrectly.
     Paternoster Row itself was consumed in the Fire, and the rebuilding plans envisaged a width described as 'Pater-noster Rowe Forty foote'.
     The Tokens bear the Sign of the Mitre, and contrary to everything I have noted in print, it seems highly probable that the early Chapter Coffee House was housed in The Mitre in St. Paul's Churchyard; from which it derived its Sign.
     According to Dr. Kenneth Rogers writing in 1928, the Mitre, St. Paul's Churchyard was not an ancient tavern, for it was in one of the houses built shortly before the Fire on part of the ground belonging to the Palace of the Bishops of London. William Paget is known here in 1662, and it appears to have been one of the first music-houses in London. As a Sign, the Mitre is found in use on land belonging to a bishop or abbot.
     After the Fire, the Mitre was rebuilt as a Tavern, for 'the Mitter' is the only Tavern in St. Paul's Churchyard in the 1691–8 list. (Harl. MS. 4716). Some ten years later the Goose and Gridiron occupied the site of the Mitre, and remained many years. William Paget appears to have gone to Fleet Street during or after the Fire, where he is credited with a Token: 'AT . THE . MITER . IN . FLEET . STREET.'
     There is no mention of the Chapter Coffee House in Ashton's list of coffee-houses in the reign of Queen Anne 1702–14. Nor by Hatton 1708. Neither does it come to light in contemporary press, documents, &c. examined.

1715–19

The Chapter Coffee House in Paternoster Row first comes to notice in the shape of undocumented references to meetings of the 'Conger'. This was an association formed in 1715 (some writers mention 1719) by five Booksellers 'for the purpose of diminishing their individual risk in publications of an expensive character … by dividing the venture into shares …

1722–24

The earliest press mention noted of Chapter Coffee House, is the 'Daily Courant' 31 Jan. 1722, and 'Daily Journal' 5 Dec. 1724.

1727

The earliest contemporary document in my collection, is a Lost- Reward Notice, Numb. 11587, dated 30 August, 1727, issued by the Beadle at Goldsmiths-Hall: LOST this day two Bank Notes, one No. 38, payable to Benjamin Cater for 428 l. 18s. 6d. dated the 11th July 1727, of which is indorsed 121 l. 19s. 2d. the other No. 53. payable to Henry Collet for 25 l. dated the 17th of February 1726. 5 l. indorsed.
     If offer'd in Payment, Discount, or otherwise, you are desired to stop them, and give Notice to Mr. James Chelsum at the Chapter Coffee-house; or at the Bar of the said Coffee-house, and you shall have Twenty Guineas Reward: Or whoever will bring them to the above-said Place, shall receive Twenty Guineas Reward, and no Questions ask'd. John Bodington, Beadle.

1746

'London Evening Post' 22–25 March 1746, advertises: Wanted for an Apothecary of undeniable character and good an apprentice or a turnover. Enquire at the Chapter Coffee House Paternoster Row where you may be further informed.
     The Chapter Coffee House had a long and interesting history, and many anecdotes and references covering the 18th century are to be found. It is on record that the house was frequented by the booksellers, writers, and 'men of letters'; was noted for its punch, pamphlets, and good supply of newspapers &c. 'Chap books' derive their name here. The house frequently figures in press advertisements and notices which indicate the wide variety of activity centred in the Chapter.

1754

An amusing account of the house appears in No. 1 'Connoisseur' 31 January, 1754.

1762

A pathetic notice appears in Faulkner's 'Dublin Journal' in February 1762, wherein a son is endeavouring to trace his mother: 'WHEREAS a lady who called herself a native of Ireland was in England in the year 1740, and resided some time at a certain village near Bath, where she was delivered of a son, whom she left with a sum of money under the care of a person in the same parish, and promised to fetch him at a certain age, but has not since been heard of; now this is to desire the lady, if living, and this should be so fortunate as to be seen by her, to send a letter, directed to T. E. to be left at the Chapter Coffee house, St. Paul's Churchyard, London, wherein she is desired to give an account of herself, and her reasons for concealing this affair. … N.B. This advertisement is published by the person himself, not from motives of necessity … but with a real desire to know his origin …' (Sampson-History of Advertising.)

1766–70

Mention is made of the Chapter in various letters. In 1766, Baretti to Collison, and in 1770, 6th May, Chatterton to his Mother.

1772–73

The 'Public Advertiser' 26 Mar. 1772 draws attention to a Subscription for reducing the price of provisions; over £500 were subscribed at the Chapter Coffee House by 25 Feb., and by 25 March £8000 had been raised there and at Lloyd's Coffee House. In the following year, James Boswell was directed to the Chapter in his search for files of the 'Public Advertiser'.

1775–77

Dr. Thomas Campbell remarks in 1775 'that the Chapter was remarkable for a large collection of books and a reading society'. At a meeting of Booksellers at the Chapter early in 1777, an edition of the British Poets was decided upon for which Johnson was to be invited to write. On 11th July the same year, Wilkes records: 'Dined at Mr. Walker's the Chapter Coffee House in Paternoster Row.'

1781

The 'Morning Herald' 22 Sep. 1781, carries an illuminating advertisement: 'A GENTLEMEN of Character who wishes for some Employ under Government merely for the sake of Amusement, would be willing to advance any Nobleman or Gentleman the sum of Three Thousand Pounds, upon Mortgage, upon legal Interest, provided the Mortgager will, thro' his Interest, procure a place in any genteel Department. … A line addressed to S.X. to be left at the bar of the Chapter Coffee-house, St. Paul's, will be attended to. Secrecy may be depended upon. No Broker will be treated with.'      In the same year, Professor John Playfair was introduced by Mr. B. Vaughan 'to a chemical society, which meets in the Chapter Coffee-House'. Here he met 'Mr. Whitehurst … author of An Inquiry into the Formation of the Earth, Dr. Keir, Dr. Crauford, and several others. The conversation was purely chemical, and turned on Bergmann's experiments on iron.' (Weld—History of the Royal Society.)

1793–1805

The Chapter is mentioned in Roach's handbook, 1793.      The house is described as the resort of literary men. Alexander Stevens, who frequented the house from 1797 to 1805, mentions among the company; Dr. Birdmore, Master of Charterhouse; Walker, the compiler of dictionary; Robinson, the Bookseller; Phillips of the Monthly Magazine; Dr. Busby, the musician; Joseph Johnson, and others.

1798

William Sloman is Proprietor in 1798. The Chapter is described as a 'coffee house from situation and good accommodation is much frequented by the merchants, principal booksellers, clergy, &c. Here all the London and country newspapers are taken in and carefully preserved; and files of papers may be seen from the year 1762 to the present time; also an excellent library supported by subscriptions.'

1799 1799–1805

Listed in directories as No. 50, Paternoster Row. The house is shewn on Horwood's map, 1799, on the corner of Pauls Alley on the south side of Paternoster Row. Frequenters of the house at the end of the 18th century are mentioned by Sir Richard Phillips. Alexander Stevens, editor of 'Annual Biography & Obituary' met nightly in the so-called 'Wittenagemot', or the box in the north-east corner of the coffee-room. Timbs gives a list of frequenters in his 'Curiosities of London'.

1800–03

Early in the new century, the house is described in 'Picture of London' 'frequented chiefly by the clergy and literary characters. All the London and Country newspapers are taken in, with the French newspapers and an excellent library for the accommodation of sub- scribers. Dinners regularly dressed, and good beds made up or procured.'

1802

Mention is made of 'John the Waiter at the Chapter Coffee House' in the trial of Governor Wall in 1802. Joseph Wall (1737–1802) was condemned and executed 'for brutality to his soldiers.' (D.N.B.).

1800–40 1809-11 1822–25

The Chapter is regularly listed in directories from 1800 to 1840 as No. 50, Paternoster Row. In 1809–11 the Proprietress is Maria Brunn, altered in 1822–23 to Maria Hoddinott. Tavern Anecdotes, 1825, describes the Chapter in Chapter-house-court: '.… has also an entrance from Paternoster-row … much frequented by literary characters, and the accommodations are good in every respect.'

1826–51

In 1826, the Proprietor is James or J. Ellis (at times given as Ells); 1833–34 as James Ellis, changed in 1838–40 to Ellis & Faithful. An advertisement of 1851 bears only the name of Faithfull.

 

1827

'The Globe' 9 Nov. 1827, advertises a Sale of Books & Prints at the Auction Mart. Catalogues from the Chapter Coffee House. The items for sale included the 'Public Ledger' from 1813 to 1815.

 

1848

Mrs. Gaskell leaves an interesting description of Paternoster Row and the Chapter Coffee House; mentioned here as 'unoccupied'.

 

1853–54

According to Timbs 1853, others say 1854, the year the Chapter was closed 'having been for a century and more the resort of authors, actors, booksellers, and politicians.' Welch (1896) says the Chapter was closed as a coffee-house in 1853 and gives an illustration of the house bearing the sign 'CHAPTER Coffee House. FAITHFULL'; Timbs says the house was 'then altered to a tavern'.

 

1887–91

The author of 'Old English Coffee Houses' says the house was pulled down in 1887. Wheatly says in 1891 'the Chapter Coffee House is now an ordinary City tavern; the club-house is used as a public dining-room.'     'Reminiscences of the old Chapter Coffee House Paternoster Row' will be found in an article published in 'The Leisure Hour'.

234 Chapter Coffee-house c1660–66 or 1672, bore the sign of The Mitre see No. 10533.

Chapter Coffee-house in Paternoster Row c1715–50s.

Chapter Coffee-house "St. Pauls Church yard" 1762–1781.

Chapter Coffee-house No. 50 Paternoster Row 1790s–1848; "unoccupied" 1848, "closed" 1853–4, "pulled down" 1887; 1891 "now an ordinary City Tavern."

Chapter Coffee House Paternoster Row. From its earliest days, in about 1715, this was the haunt of booksellers, writers and men of letters. It was famous for its punch. Meetings of the Congers, an association of booksellers 'for the purpose of diminishing their individual risk in publications of an expensive character ... by dividing the venture into shares' were held here. It was noted for its plentiful supply of books, pamphlets and newspapers. In 1773 James Boswell was directed to the Chapter in his search for files of the Public Advertiser. Charlotte and Anne Brontë stayed here on their first visit to London. The house was turned into a tavern in the 1880s.

Chapter Coffee House, Paternoster Row.

The Annual Feast of the Sons of the Clergy will be held at Merchant-Taylors Hall in Threadneedle-street, on Thursday the 5th Day of December next. Tickets may be had at … the Chapter Coffee-House and Child's Coffee-House in S. Paul's Church-yard …
—Post Boy 4421, November 26–28, 1717

Mr. READ,                 Westminster, November 21st 1718.
Being Sensible of the Multiplicity of Matter which comes daily to your Hands from your many Correspondents both at home and abroad, I shall be a concise as I can, to have this inserted in your next. It is about Goodman Mist, descended (I suppose from the seven Sleepers, who flying from Dioclesian's Persecution of the Christians into a Cave, fell there asleep and took a short Nap of about 208 Years. For certainly he was sleeping (as usual at the Chapter Coffee House by St. Paul's especially when he's to fight Duels) and so dreamt that a Gentleman shot at him at a Tavern in Utopia or Terra incognita, for I aver, that if it was matter of Fact, his ostentatious superb Humour would name where the Tavern was situated, but I know it is as grand a Lie, as ever Daniel Foe writ, and he printed; and furthermore I declare, he can no more write, tho' he pretends to it in his last Week's Paper. Than he durst to fight: and the Foundation of the Story of his being assaulted, only arose from a certain Gentleman's severely caneing him for his Impudence, as he will do again whenever he meets him. So hoping he'll no more belie the Gentleman's Civility of soundly threshing his Hide, for his Jacobite villanous printing, nor stuff with more Bombast Saturday's Post, which he himself truly calls a lying and scandalous Paper, as consisting of nothing else but most notorious Lies, Blunders, and Scandal, I rest your humble Servant.          E. R.
—Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer, Saturday, Nov. 29, 1718

At the Writing-School in Pater-Noster-Row next the Chapter Coffee-house, Youth are taught and Boarded, and qualified for any Imployment, with great Expedition. NB. for the more Advantage of such Persons whose Business will not permit 'em to come there in School Hours, may be taught every Evening from 6 to 7, except Thursdays and Saturdays. By P. Pickering, Writing Master.
—Daily Courant 5368, Monday, January 5, 1719