AJSAHistoryVol2Iss2 September 2017

…its message of the boundless, redeeming love of Christ will continue to have a lasting impact
in worship. Each generation will take the anthem as its own, but the inspiration that first brought
forth this compelling hymn will remain.51
The Song Book of The Salvation Army (1953)52

The Song Book of The Salvation Army, 1953.53
A new issue of the song book appeared now under the title; The Song Book of The Salvation Army,
issued at Easter 1953, under the direction of General Albert Orsborn, 6th general of The Salvation
Army.54 He was often referred to as the poet general for his song writing. Born 4 September 1886 to
pioneer officer parents, Albert Orsborn entered the International Training College in 1905. In 1946
he was elected as the general of The Salvation Army and served until his retirement in 1954. A
prolific songwriter; at the age of 16 he won a song competition run by the War Cry.

General Albert Orsborn55

51 Ronald W. Holz, “O boundless salvation”, (SACONNECTS, USA Eastern Territory of The Salvation Army, 2017), ¶
12, https://saconnects.org/o-boundless-salvation/ accessed on 25 July 2017.
52 The General (Orsborn), The Song Book of The Salvation Army, 1953.
53 Song Book from The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre, London. Photograph courtesy of Garth R.
Hentzschel.
54 Taylor, Companion to the Song Book, xvii.
55 Photograph courtesy of The Salvation Army Heritage Centre, Sydney.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 101

In the intervening years since the publication of Salvation Army Songs in 1930, there had been
a subtle shift by Salvation Army songwriters away from the more militaristic war songs to songs
that were more introspective and meditative. Predominant among these was Orsborn.

A prolific song writer Orsborn has written around 250 songs for Holiness meetings at the
Clapton Congress Hall.56 Thirty-eight of these could be found in 1953 song book.57 Perhaps
indicative of the deep spiritual nature of the man was song 79 in the 2015 Song Book of The
Salvation Army; I know thee who thou art.58

Written in a time of great sorrow when he suffered a severe bereavement, Orsborn was to
reach deep into his spiritual resources and in the midst of sorrows – was able to look up and see the
man who wore the crown and thorns for him. He recorded, “I’m happy to say that this particular
song has brought me many, many letters from all over the world, telling of people especially in
times of distress, finding comfort and strength in these words.” Giving personal testimony to the
song he recorded that the last verse of the song was often his personal prayer.59

Let nothing draw me back
Or turn my heart from Thee,

But by the Calvary track
Bring me at last to see
The courts of God, that city fair,
And find my name is written there.60
The Song Book of The Salvation Army (1986)61

The Song Book of The Salvation Army, 1986.62

56 Taylor, Companion to the Song Book, 382.
57 The General (Orsborn), The Song Book of The Salvation Army, 1953.
58 General of The Salvation Army, The Song Book of The Salvation Army, (2015), No. 79.
59 Audio recording of Albert Orsborn speaking about his songs.
60 The General (Orsborn), The Song Book of The Salvation Army, 1953, No. 42, 29.
61 The General (Jarl Wahlstrom), The Song Book of The Salvation Army, (London, UK: International Headquarters of
The Salvation Army, 1986).
62 Song Book from The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre, London. Photograph courtesy of Garth R.
Hentzschel.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 102

Arthur Arnott

Among the contributors to the 1986 song book was Australian, Arthur Smith Arnott, the son of the
legendary biscuit maker and pioneer Salvation Army officer. He was to forge for himself a
significant place in the history of The Salvation Army in the Western South Pacific. In a biography
of his life, Arthur S. Arnott: A Notable Australian Salvationist, author Adelaide Ah Kow caught
something of the man’s uniqueness and character when she wrote: “He had the soul of a poet and
the abiding wonder of a child.”63

Arnott was a multifaceted man. His love and use of music was to stamp him as one of the
leading Salvation Army composers of his day. His participation in arranging Young People’s
demonstrations over 30 years provided him with the platform necessary to demonstrate his great
song writing skills. Each year would see a batch of new songs written especially for the occasion,
and each year the demonstration would grow larger, until more than 1000 children took part.
Indicative of his contribution in this area was his song; We’re on the homeward trail.64 Its music
and theme was to be picked up by Australian composer Arthur Gullidge in his march; The Heaven-
bound Throng.

Harry Read

Another who contributed to the 1986 song book was Commissioner Harry Read. A returned
serviceman from World War 2, Read entered the training college in 1947 and served in a number of
corps and headquarters appointments before being appointed as the Territorial Commander in the
Australia Eastern Territory.65 A prolific writer of verse, he contributed two songs to this edition of
the song book, including a typical Salvation Army war song; God’s soldier marches as to war.66

Commissioner Harry Read67

63 Adelaide Ah Kow Arthur S. Arnott: A Notable Australian Salvationist, (Melbourne, Australia: The Salvation Army
Trade Department, n.d.).
64 The General (Wahlstrom), The Song Book of The Salvation Army, 1986, No. 903, 724.
65 Taylor, Companion to the Song Book, 396.
66 General of The Salvation Army, The Song Book of The Salvation Army, (2015), No. 954.
67 Photograph courtesy of The Salvation Army Heritage Centre, Sydney.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 103

John Gowans and John Larsson

The 1986 song book also saw the emergence of songs from Salvation Army musicals by Generals
John Gowans and John Larsson. The musicals ushered in the greatest change in Salvation Army
music since its beginning in 1865. The Salvation Army did not need to borrow the music from the
musical halls as at the beginning of the movement. Rather, here were Salvationists writing words
and music that would sit comfortably in the music halls of the modern era. The music and lyrics
from the musicals were to find their way into every dimension of Army life around the world. With
numerous arrangements for bands and songsters, many of these songs became part of the content for
the 1986 edition of the Song Book of The Salvation Army.68

General John Gowans69
From a historical perspective, it is noticeable that throughout the 10 musicals written by
Gowans and Larsson, are reflected Christian themes and philosophies that were intrinsically
Salvation Army, none more so than the musical, Blood of the Lamb.70 The musical alternated
between deep spiritual significance and the joyous enthusiasm which often exploded in true
Salvation Army style indicative in the words of There’s only one flag for me.71
Within many of the songs by Gowans are the concepts of worship, God’s love, joy, salvation,
evangelism, forgiveness, compassion, humour, redemption, tolerance, eternity and the fullness of
the Holy Spirit. Later Gowans took the opportunity to team with Salvationist, Ivor Bosanko, to
produce perhaps one of his most moving and deeply spiritual songs, His Provision.72
The song spoke from the very depths of the human spirit, with all its weaknesses and failings,
finding in the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the listener, the comforter and
the one who brings power in a time of despair and weakness.

68 General of The Salvation Army, The Song Book of The Salvation Army, (2015).
69 Photograph courtesy of The Salvation Army Heritage Centre, Sydney.
70 John Gowans and John Larsson, The Blood of the Lamb, A musical, (London, UK: Salvationist Publishing & Supplies
Ltd, 1979).
71 General of The Salvation Army, The Song Book of The Salvation Army, (2015), No. 1023.
72 General of The Salvation Army, The Song Book of The Salvation Army, (2015), No. 316.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 104

The Song Book of The Salvation Army (2015)73

The Song Book of The Salvation Army with New Testament and Psalms74
In 2009, General Shaw Clifton convened a Song Book Council to survey the material
available for a new edition of The Song Book of The Salvation Army. Traditionally, the song book
has been updated around every 25 years and the time seemed right to produce a new edition. “Our
song book has come to mean a great deal to me through the years as a spiritual help and source of
inspiration,” said General Clifton.75
Realising that we were now living in a very hi-tech age with many centres utilising the
availably of large screen projection, the Song Book Council felt that this technology should not
deprive The Salvation Army of a printed song book. The Council felt it was necessary to make the
new edition as user-friendly as possible. Arrangements for piano and brass music, along with guitar
chords are included with suggested introductions for every tune.
The new edition of the song book was released on Founders’ Day, 2 July 2015 during the
Boundless International Congress. In launching the new edition, General André Cox said:
Music has always played an enormous role in the worship of God’s people, … it touches the
soul in a unique way and can lift and inspire. God has gifted The Salvation Army with great
poets who have a unique ability to express in words some of our deepest emotions, desires,
devotion and love for God, which many of us would struggle to do without their special talents.
As well, The Song Book of The Salvation Army is a repository, containing much of our doctrinal
teaching, making it an essential tool for the development of our faith.76

Howard Davies

Song writers generally fall into two categories; those who write the music and those who write the
lyrics. A few, a very few, have the unique talent of being able to do both. Australian, Major Howard

73 General of The Salvation Army, The Song Book of The Salvation Army, (2015).
74 General of The Salvation Army, The Song Book of The Salvation Army, (2015). Photograph courtesy of The Salvation
Army Heritage Centre, Sydney.
75 “Music and Song”, The Salvationist, (London, UK, 7 July 2016), http://salvationist.ca/2015/05/new-salvation-army-
song-book/ accessed on 7 July, 2016.
76 “Music and Song”, The Salvationist, (London, UK, 7 July 2016), http://salvationist.ca/2015/05/new-salvation-army-
song-book/ accessed on 7 July 2016.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 105

Davies falls into the latter category; able to write beautiful music and moving lyrics. Howard wrote
about one of his songs:

Howard Davies77

The song The Wonder of His grace78 was written one clear, starlit night in April 1968. With my
wife Muriel, I was in my first corps appointment at Broadford in Northern Victoria
Division. The stars seemed so much brighter and clearer far away from the city of Melbourne.
The big question I pondered (not surprisingly!) was the question of eternity and never-ending
space.79

Davies continued:

In 1946 and as a child of 5, with the permission of my parents I slept on a blanket on the front
lawn of our tin-roofed 1940s house in Canterbury in Melbourne. It was impossible to sleep
inside the house. Lying on my back and looking up at the stars I wondered how far the stars
could go - and then, if there was an end to space? Trying to work it out as a five-year-old, I
thought perhaps the stars are all in some sort of giant box. But then another question came into
my young mind. Even as a 5 year old I wondered: “then what could be outside the box!?”80

Howard recalled that:

Twenty-two years later, on that clear, starlit night in the small country town of Broadford, I
found myself asking the very same question. Some poetry lines and melody came into my head
– “Higher than the stars that reach eternity - Broader than the boundaries of endless
space...” Sensing this might be a song - I walked into the Broadford Hall (right next to the
quarters) sat at the piano and wrote the first verse and chorus that night. The next day I added
two more verses. At first, I envisaged it as a vocal solo - George Beverly Shea in my mind! I
posted it off to Major Ray Steadman-Allen in the Music Editorial Department in London. It was
published for songsters nine months later in The Musical Salvationist.81

Reflecting a more contemporary approach to Salvation Army songs in the new edition is the
song; Wonderful counsellor, mighty God among us, by Chick Yuill, a noted Salvation Army
speaker and writer.82 Looking to the time of Christ’s return Chick wrote:

77 Photograph courtesy of The Salvation Army Heritage Centre, Sydney.
78 For an in-depth discussion on the development and history of the song see, Garth R. Hentzschel, with the assistance
of Howard Davies, “‘The wonder of His grace’ The development, motivation and impact of a modern Salvation Army
song”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, (Vol. 2, Iss. 1, 2017), 28-47.; General of The Salvation
Army, The Song Book of The Salvation Army, (2015), No. 876.
79 Email from Howard Davies to David Woodbury, (1 September 2016).
80 Email from Howard Davies to David Woodbury, (1 September 2016).
81 Email from Howard Davies to David Woodbury, (1 September 2016).
82 General of The Salvation Army, The Song Book of The Salvation Army, (2015), No. 133.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 106

King of kings, Lord of lords, Son of God exalted;
Name above ev’ry name, Lamb upon the throne.
This king will come again, the Father’s only Son;
No more a world in darkness, the Light will come.

In launching the new song book Cox also said: “I think in a world of shifting values, our song
book is more than relevant in reaffirming our beliefs and nurturing our faith.”83 Recognizing that
the Army song book is no longer so widely used in some places, the General went on, “There is
nothing wrong with using modern and new songs, but equally there is no reason to neglect the
richness of what we have. It is sad when we no longer know or use some of our great songs that are
taken up by other denominations.”84

Indicative of this was the discovery by Lex Loizides of William Booth’s great song, Thou
Christ of burning cleansing flame. Lex wrote about the music he set to this song and this now
appears as one of the tunes in the new tune book;

I was reading through an old hymnal in ‘93 or ‘94 and found what seemed to be a lost gem by
William Booth called Thou Christ of Burning, Cleansing Flame. At that time I hadn’t heard the
original melody, but got out my guitar and wrote this. It’s been amazing to me that setting (most
of) the old words to a new tune has restored this song to the church. ... I am, of course,
particularly pleased that The Salvation Army has adopted the new melody with such
enthusiasm. May Booth’s revived song characterise a new era of Christian service to a needy
world. I hope you enjoy it.85

Salvation Army music has added much to the Army’s rich history, the depth of spirituality
and the ambience of worship. The Army has lost something quite significant when corps no longer
utilise much of the richness of the Army’s unique music and rely predominantly on modern
“worship music”. However, the reality of mission is that while the Army must speak in the cultural
language of the day it must also speak with the unique spirit and character of The Salvation Army
missional music and verse. Traditional Salvation Army music, coming from a strong missional
background reaches out from the “god to me” link to embrace the missional character of the
movement, so succinctly put in Evangeline Booth’s song;

The world for God! The world for God!
I give my heart! I will do my part!86

The great sadness is that there seems to have developed an either/or mindset where The Song Book
of The Salvation Army is completely precluded, rather than combed in the richness of both styles of
music.

83 “Music and Song”, The Salvationist, (London, UK, 7 July 2016), http://salvationist.ca/2015/05/new-salvation-army-
song-book/ accessed on 7 July, 2016.
84 “Music and Song”, The Salvationist, (London, UK, 7 July 2016), http://salvationist.ca/2015/05/new-salvation-army-
song-book/ accessed on 7 July 2016.
85 Lex Loizides, O God of burning, cleansing flame (Send the fire), CCLI Song No 1075655,
https://soundcloud.com/lex-loizides/o-god-of-burning-cleansing accessed 14 November 2016.
86 The General (Wahlstrom), The Song Book of The Salvation Army, 1986, No. 830, 665.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 107

The current Eagle Tavern, opened in 1900 on the site of the original Eagle Tavern.1

1 Photograph courtesy of Garth R. Hentzschel.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 108

WILLIAM BOOTH OWNED A PUB:
AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORICAL NARRATIVE OF

THE SALVATION ARMY AND THE EAGLE TAVERN

Garth R. Hentzschel

Introduction

September 2017 marks 135 years since The Salvation Army first occupied the Eagle Tavern and
Grecian Theatre, London, UK. It was reported in Army publications as a major coup against the devil
and moral degradation of that part of London. The report on the first Sunday at the Grecian stated:

…before the enemy was well awake, this, his recent stronghold, was made to ring with the praises
of a rejoicing crowd, for the wonders wrought by a wonderful King.2

A later description and analysis of the event stated the following:

An event which marked an epoch in the history of The Salvation Army and gives an indication of
the moral state of England at the time (1882) was the opening of what afterwards became known
as the Grecian Corps.

A notorious public-house in London called “The Eagle,” to which gardens and the Grecian
Theatre were attached, was a meeting place for those who practised the most base and shameless
things in the London of those days.

Complaints about its challenging debauchery had been made again and again, but nothing
was done by any authority either to end or to abate the abominable disgrace.

The Founder [William Booth], learning the premises were for sale, made up his mind that
this scandal should be put a stop to.

He planned to purchase the underlease, and to convert the place into a Salvation Army Hall.
Thus he would destroy a work of the Devil, build a Temple to God, and publicly challenge
the conscience of London.3

Although parts of the narrative are known to Salvationists, there is surprisingly little written
about the Eagle Tavern’s time in the hands of the Army or of the court cases which plagued this
period. A number of these elements will be investigated in a series of papers relating to The Salvation
Army and the Eagle.4 The series will more fully unpack the narrative and investigate each element.

Reference citation of this paper
Garth R. Hentzschel, “William Booth owned a pub: An overview of the historical narrative of The Salvation
Army and the Eagle Tavern”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 2, 2, 2017, 108-130.
2 E. E. B. “Sunday at the ‘Grecian.’”, The War Cry, (London, Saturday 30 September 1882), 1.
3 Anon, Outlines of Salvation Army history, (London, UK: Salvationist Publishing & Supplies, 1927), 23. Some of the
words and ideas were taken straight from Begbie. Harold Begbie, Life of William Booth: The founder of The Salvation
Army (2 vols.), (London, UK: Macmillan and Co, 1920), 2:10.
4 Please note that the name “the Eagle” will often be used in this paper to describe the entire property. The author
acknowledges that the property was expansive with a number of buildings and a pleasure garden. Other authors have
used the whole or part of the name, William Booth sometimes affectionately called it “the bird” and other people used
name of specific buildings on the property, such as; the Eagle, Eagle Tavern, the Grecian, Grecian Saloon, Grecian
Theatre, Coronation Pleasure-Grounds, or Eagle Gardens. Once taken over by The Salvation Amy it was called; the
Eagle, the bird, the Eagle Fortress, the Eagle Hotel, the Eagle and Grecian Corps, the Eagle Corps, the Grecian Corps,
or the Old Grecian. See for example William Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, (London, UK: The Salvation Army Book
Stores, c1883), 86.; John Hollingshead, “The last of ‘Bravo Rouse’s’ Temple”, The Sketch, (London, 21 December
1898), 332.; Warwick Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, (London, UK: Elliot Stock, 1907).; The War
Cry, (London, Thursday 29 June 1882), 1.; The War Cry, (London, 30 September 1882), 1.; The War Cry, (London, 30
November 1882), 4.; “Eagle Corps”, The Little Soldier, (London, 9 August 1883), 264.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 109

This first paper will give a short review of Salvation Army literature and then an overview of
the historical narrative.

A review of Salvation Army literature about the Eagle

Although the Army’s occupation of the Eagle was described at the time as a major event in Salvation
Army history, it has been given comparatively little reference in published histories of the movement.

William Booth, under the title of “Capture of the ‘Eagle’” wrote:

If we had nothing else to say with regard to 1882 than that we had changed the “Bird,” so notorious
throughout the English world, from being one of the vilest haunts of vice into being a gate of
heaven for the common people, we should have reason to praise God for having lived through
such a year.5

A year later, Booth still saw the taking of the Eagle as “the greatest triumph”, but with the court
procedures he added that it was also a “dark hour – one of the darkest, undoubtedly, through which
the Army has had to pass”.6 It was also claimed at the time that “the purchase of the ‘Eagle’” had a
larger impact on the Army as it “… undoubtedly served to turn the scale in the opinion of a great
many.”7

Although the occupation of the Eagle was seen by Salvationists of the time as being very
important, some later published Army history8 and biographies of early leaders9 which covered the
period list nothing about the Eagle. Those who did include the narrative only gave a brief encounter,
which did not always show the scale of the achievement or the depth of sorrow that followed.

The works of a biographical nature, as would be expected place William Booth and other
Salvationists in good light. As biographies on Booth are plentiful, these are the source which
collectively carries the most information. Stead, in his biography of Booth only listed “The Grecian
Theatre captured” in a chronological list of events from 1865 to 1891.10 Carpenter gave a very brief
outline of the narrative and described The Salvation Army’s occupation of the Eagle as an

5 Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 86.
6 William Booth, The Salvation War 1883, (London, UK: The Salvation Army Book Depo., c.1884), 23, 25.
7 Booth, The Salvation War, 1883, 21.; Repeated in John F. Horsley, The Victorian Salvation War, 1883, (Melbourne,
Australia: Salvation Army Book Depot, c.1884), 22.
8 Coutts and Hill included nothing of the narrative although they cover this period of Army history. Frederick Coutts,
No discharge in the war – A one volume history of The Salvation Army, (London, UK: Hodder and Stoughton, 1975).;
Harold Hill, Saved to save and saved to serve: Perspectives on Salvation Army history, (Eugene, USA: Wipf and Stock
Publishers, 2017).
9 Barnes, Bateman, Bishop, Booth-Tucker, Collier, Railton, Railton et al., Winter and Yaxley and Venderwal included
nothing of the narrative although they wrote about William Booth. Cyril Barnes, William Booth and his army of peace,
Round the world histories no 36, (Amersham, UK: Hulton Educational Publication, 1975).; Charles T. Bateman,
Everybody’s life of general Booth, London, UK: Marshall Brothers, n.d.).; Edward Bishop, Blood and Fire! – The Story
of William Booth and the Salvation Army, (London, UK: Longmans, Green and Co., 1964).; F. Booth Tucker, William
Booth the general of The Salvation Army, (Honolulu, USA: University Press of the Pacific, 2001 reprinted from the
1898 edition),; Richard Collier, The General Next to God, (London, UK: Collins, 1965).; George S. Railton, General
Booth, (London, UK: The Salvation Army Book Department with Hodder and Stoughton, 1912).; George Scott Railton,
Hulda Friederichs, Frances Balfour, R. J. Campbell, F. S. Webster, et al., The life of general Booth, (London, UK: T.
Nelson & Sons, n.d.).; Jim Winter, Travel with William Booth, Founder and first general of The Salvation Army,
(Epsom, UK: Day One Publication, 2003).; Trevor Yaxley and Carolyn Vanderwal, Through blood and fire: The life of
general William Booth, (Auckland: New Zealand, Castle Publishing, 1999). Trevor Yaxley and Carolyn Vanderwal,
William & Catherine: The lie and legacy of the Booths, Founders of The Salvation Army, (Minneapolis, USA: Bethany
House, 2003).
10 W. T. Stead, General Booth, A biographical sketch, (London, UK: Isbister and Company, 1891), 71.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 110

“outstanding event” in Salvation Army history.11 Interestingly, Carpenter did not name the property.
Begbie gave four pages to the narrative, then later described how in Professor Huxley’s attack upon
Booth’s Darkest England Scheme he tried to argue that Booth “had deceived the judges as to his
purpose in getting hold” of the Eagle.12 Ervine, unlike other biographers of Booth, wrote little of the

actual events of the purchase or occupation of the Eagle; rather he focused on the supporters and those

in opposition to the occupancy. In this way, the court hearings were covered in greater depth than in
other biographies.13 Another difference between Ervine and other biographers was that he kept

revisiting the narrative of the Eagle as evidence for his arguments; for example, as a sign of the growth
of the Army in London,14 that a marriage of Salvationists should benefit the Kingdom of God,15 that
Salvationists were willing to pray in difficult times,16 and that it was a noted Army historical event
as it was used by others into the future.17 Benge and Benge only discussed the collection of money

for the Army to purchase the Eagle, which could be understandable as it was a biography written for
children.18 Bennett, in his biographies of Booth gave varying levels of prominence to the Eagle
narrative. In his smaller biographies, Bennett devoted a full chapter to the narrative,19 while in the

two-volume work only four pages were given to the narrative in comparison to two chapters on the
Maiden Tribute Affair.20 For the smaller biographies Bennett’s first preference for the name of the
book was “Up and down the City Road” in honour of the Eagle.21 In the larger biography, Bennett

explained and examined some of the claims made by other authors and referenced both primary and

secondary sources.

Biographies of four other prominent Salvationists carried some information on the narrative. In

his biography of Catherine Booth, Booth-Tucker only included a few lines about the Eagle, although
Catherine Booth spoke at the opening and also wrote to Queen Victoria about the events.22 In one of

the biographies about George Scott Railton, Watson gave two pages to the narrative which outlined
the cultural significance of the property, Railton’s early suggestion about the property and a brief
overview of the court cases.23 One surprising gap is that Railton led the first march to and the

dedication meeting of the Eagle, but this was not unpacked in this biography. The earlier biography

11 Minnie Lindsay Carpenter, William Booth, (London, UK: The Epworth Press, 1943, 2nd impression), 83.
12 Begbie, William Booth, 2:126.
13 St. John Ervine, God’s soldier: General William Booth, 2 volumes, (London, UK: William Heinemann, 1934), 1:548-
551.
14Ervine, God’s soldier, 1:576.
15 Bramwell and Florence Booth’s wedding ceremony had an entrance fee and collection, all of which went to the
purchase of the Eagle. Ervine, God’s soldier, 1:578,
16 Railton and others prayed in the courthouse during the Eagle court hearings. Ervine, God’s soldier, 2:625—626.
17 Professor Huxley used the Eagle case against Booth to try to argue that he was an untrustworthy man to give money
to as requested through the Darkest England Scheme. Ervine, God’s soldier, 2:725.
18 Janet Benge and Geoff Benge, William Booth, Soup, soap and salvation, Christian Heroes: Then & Now series,
(Seattle, USA: YWAM Publishing, 2002), 132.
19 See David Bennett, William Booth, Men of Faith series, (Minneapolis, USA: Bethany House Publishers, 1986), 89-
96.; David Malcolm Bennett, William Booth and his Salvation Army, (Capalaba, Australia: Even Before Publishing,
n.d.), 77-84.
20 David Malcolm Bennett, The General – William Booth, 2 volumes, (USA, Xulon Press, 2003), The soldier, 2:180-
184, Chapters 27 & 28, 207-250.
21 This was used as a subtitle on the UK edition, David Bennett, William Booth and The Salvation Army, Up and down
the City Road, Heroes of the cross series, (Basingstoke, UK: Marshall Pickering, 1987). Bennett wrote, “…my intended
title for my little book on William Booth (back in the mid-1980s), was “Up and Down the City Road”, as I regarded the
capture of the Eagle as a significant as well as a dramatic event. I had also worked for nine years in the City Road, which
gave it a kind of personal touch. That phrase was, in fact, used on the cover of the English edition, but only as a subtitle.”
Email, David Bennett to Garth Hentzschel (5 September 2017).
22 See F. de L. Booth-Tucker, The life of Catherine Booth, the mother of The Salvation Army, 3 volumes, (London, UK:
International Headquarters, n.d.), 3:172, 195.
23 Watson, Soldier saint, 34-36.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 111

of Railton, by Douglas and Duff had nothing of this narrative, and if not for one of Railton’s own
quotations, there would have been nothing to link him to the Eagle.24 In the only major biography of
William Bramwell Booth, Bramwell-Booth wrote of some of her father’s involvement in the Eagle
and The Salvation Army’s connection.25 Scott included the same story Ervine outlined of Bramwell
and Florene Booth’s wedding. They charged an entrance fee and took up a collection with all money
taken added to the Eagle fund.26 Cook’s biography on Richard Slater gave a somewhat negative view

of the narrative, as he claimed that Slater nearly left the Army due to his involvement in the Grecian
Corps.27

As would be expected, some official histories of the Army also gave an overview of the
narrative. Railton only gave two lines on the narrative,28 even though he was in charge of the march
to the property.29 Bramwell Booth only mentioned the Eagle twice, both in connection to how the

narrative linked the army with noteworthy people, Archbishop Tait and Sir Edward Clarke and
thereby gave little information about the narrative.30 Outlines of Salvation Army history, already

quoted in the introduction, gave about a page to the narrative, but in this only an evaluation of the
negative behaviour of Army enemies and open praise for William Booth.31 It therefore gave little
information on the actual events and the court cases which followed the purchase.32 Later editions of

this book not only had the title of the book changed, The Salvation Army its origin and development
but lost the polarisation of the two sides and became more factual.33 The final edition, Marching on!
The Salvation Army, Its origin and development focused more on the Army’s response to the

opposition and impact the Army had on the wider community. It stated that;

In this notorious place 1,800 persons sought salvation within the first three months of its
occupancy by the Army. Through the work there carried on the entire character of the
neighbourhood became changed.34

Barnes attempted to portray the history of the Army as fighting against evil, yet he only used an image

of the Eagle and an advertising poster of the period. No information was given about the narrative,

24 While Railton commented on the noise of a Zulu Chapel meeting in Natal he stated that the level of the noise was
“beyond anything I had heard since the roar of the crowd outside the Grecian on the opening day…” Eileen Douglas
and Mildred Duff, Commissioner Railton, (London, UK: The Salvationist Publishing and Supplies Ltd., n.d.), 107.
25 Catherine Bramwell Booth, Bramwell Booth 4th impression, (London, UK: Rich & Cowan, 1933), 169, 174-175.
26 Carolyn Scott, The heavenly witch: The story of the Maréchale, (London, UK: Hamish Hamilton, 1981), 67.
27 Gordon Cox, The musical Salvationist: The world of Richard Slater (1854-1939), (Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell
Press, 2011), 57.
28 George Scott Railton, Twenty-One years’ Salvation Army, (London, UK: International Headquarters of The Salvation
Army, c.1887), 74.
29 Bernard Watson, Soldier saint, George Scott Railton, William Booth’s first lieutenant, (London, UK: Hodder and
Stoughton, 1970), 35.
30 Bramwell Booth, Echoes and memories (2nd Ed.), (London, UK: Salvationist Publishing and Supplies, 1928), 71, 175
31 In fact, the book declared that Booth was the first to attempt such a venture:

Other men before William booth had attacked public evils, but it was his particular merit that he always roused the
National conscience, and gave fresh courage to the forces of religion. (attributed to Begbie’s William Booth, Vol.2 ,
pp. 261-2.).
Anon, Outlines of Salvation Army history, 24. It needs to be noted that the page numbers quoted of Begbie’s work were
incorrect. The quotation comes from Begbie, William Booth, 2:13.
32 Anon, Outlines of Salvation Army history, 23-24.
33 See for example Anon, The Salvation Army its origin and development, (London, UK: Salvationist Publishing and
Supplies, 1938), 27-28. The final and revised edition under the second title also had words changed, for example
“Salvationism” became “soul-saving”. Anon, The Salvation Army its origin and development (11th reprint, 3rd revision),
(London, UK: Salvationist Publishing and Supplies, 1938), 20.
34 Malcolm Bale (ed.), Marching on! The Salvation Army its origin and development, (11th reprint, 4th revision),
(London, UK: International Headquarters, 1990), 19.

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yet to have included such information would have been strong evidence for his book.35 In a later
work, Barnes gave a few paragraphs about the narrative, but from a defeatist point of view.36 Sandall

in both volume one and two of The history of The Salvation Army gave some space to the narrative.
The Eagle was given just over one page in volume one and a chapter of five pages in volume two.37

While much of this was factual, there were no references cited and elements of the narrative were
missing. The latest work found was Bovey’s work on the persecution received by the early Salvation
Army.38 As the study focused on the years 1878 to 1893 it covered some of the years in which the

Army occupied the Eagle. The Eagle is listed four times. Although the narrative of the Eagle was not

discussed, the information about the persecution was developed from primary sources and gave a rare
opportunity in Army history for the voice of the Army’s enemy to be heard. Alfred Charrington,
founder of the Skeleton Army wrote about his organisation’s aims and what they had done at the
Eagle.39

The narrative of the Eagle therefore needs to be more fully unpacked with a deeper investigation

of each of its elements.

An overview of the historical narrative of the Eagle Tavern and Grecian Theatre

It must firstly be stated that there were a number of Eagle Taverns in the United Kingdom,40 but the

Eagle Tavern under review was on City Road, London and described by the Stamford Mercury as a
“place well known in the environs of the metropolis”.41 The property had been known by a number
of different names and also had a long history before it was occupied by The Salvation Army.42

Named after the nearby paddock, it was first called the Shepherd and Shepherdess Tavern. Although

no date could be found for its origin, Wroth stated that the Shepherd and Shepherdess Tavern was an
18th century pleasure-garden.43 As early as 1806 it had become well known because of its “arbours,
skittle-ground, and small assembly-room”44 and was used as a land mark to direct people to nearby
events or places.45

35 The picture was of Salvationists outside the Eagle in 1882 and the poster stated that Herbert Booth would preach at
the Eagle. Cyril Barnes, God’s Army – Over a hundred years of war against poverty, sickness and evil: the illustrated
story of the salvation Army, (Berkhamsted, UK: Lion Publishing, 1978), 30, 34.
36 Cyril Barnes, With Booth in London, A London Guide, (London, UK: International Headquarters of The Salvation
Army, 1986), 39-40.
37 Robert Sandall, The history of The Salvation Army, Volume one, 1865-1878, (London, UK: Thomas Nelson and Sons,
1947), 223-224.; Robert Sandall, The history of The Salvation Army, Volume two, 1878-1886, (London, UK: Thomas
Nelson and Sons, 1950), 216-220.
38 Nigel Bovey, Blood on the flag, (London, UK: The Salvation Army United Kingdom Territory, 2015).
39 Bovey, Blood on the flag, 252-253.
40 Places in the United Kingdom which had an Eagle Tavern included: Cambridge, (England); Church Street, Galway
(Ireland), Cork-Hill (Ireland); Edinburgh (Scotland); Eustace Street, Galway (Ireland); Mile End Road, Whitechapel
(London, England). “Ireland”, Caledonian Mercury, (Midlothian, Scotland, Tuesday 9 September 1755), 2.; “Died”,
Hibernian Journal or Chronicle of Liberty, (Dublin, Friday 5 March 1773), 3.; “Samuel Strogne”, Saunders’s News-
Letter, (Dublin, Friday 9 July 1773), 2.; “Mile End Road”, Morning Chronicle, (London, Monday 4 April 1803), 3.;
“Corpus Christi College”, Cambridge Chronicle and Journal, (Cambridgeshire, Friday 4 July 1823), 3.; “Notice”, The
Scotsman, (Midlothianv, Wednesday 1 October 1828), 4.
41 Stamford Mercury, (Lincolnshire, Friday 6 July 1827), 4.
42 See footnote 4.
43 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 58.
44 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 58. Cunningham stated the property had been of note as early as
1790. Peter Cunningham, Handbook of London: Past and present, (London, UK: John Murray, 1850), 171.
45 See for example “Sales by auction”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Thursday 6 March 1806), 4.; “Wanted”, Morning
Advertiser, (London, Wednesday 30 March 1808), 1.; “Sales by Auction”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Monday 23
January 1809), 4.; “Sales by auction”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Wednesday 29 March 1826), 4.; “Building

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 113

Advertisement from 1806 for the sale of furniture at the
Shepherd and Shepherdess Tavern, City Road.46

The first identified change for the property was on 2 April 1816 when the trustees of the
Shepherd and Shepherdess Tavern called a meeting to “consider proposals from such Persons as may
be inclined to treat for the said Premises upon Lease…”.47 At this time it was described as a property
with about four acres and “valuable Erections thereon”.48

Sometime between April 1816 and June 1818 the Shepherd and Shepherdess Tavern became
the Eagle Tavern.

Advertisement from 1818 for a political meeting at the Eagle Tavern.
Note the change of name which indicated the notoriety of the previous name.49

A short time later, Tuesday 21 July 1818 the property was again advertised for lease. Although
it had halved in the size of the land, the number of buildings on the site had increased. The property
now included a “respectable Public House, with possessions, also House, Tenements, and large
Gardens adjoining.”50 The rest of the advertisement gave a clear overview of the extent of the property
at this time:

A substantial spacious genteel Public House, with a detached tap, known by the sign of the
EAGLE (late the Shepherd and Shepherdess), most advantageously and pleasantly situate [sic]
the corner of that immense thoroughfare, which leads direct from the centre of the City to
Islington, also in front of the City-road, with all the houses, tenements, and gardens adjoining,

Materials”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Tuesday 25 July 1826), 4.; Metropolitan Baths.”, Shoreditch Observer,
(London, Saturday 24 June 1882), 1.
46 “Sales by auction”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Thursday 6 March 1806), 4.
47 Morning Chronicle, (London, Friday 1 March 1816), 1.
48 Morning Chronicle, (1 March 1816), 1.
49 “Coventry Election”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Monday 8 June 1818), 1.
50 “Sales by Auction” Morning Advertiser, (Suffolk, Tuesday 21 July 1818), 4.

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forming a square about two acres, which are underlet so as to produce considerable improved
rents. These desirable premises present a singular eligible opportunity to a man of business with
only a moderate capital, as the improvements are obvious, the trade certain, and without risk –
held on lease for nearly twenty years – immediate possession may be had…51

As the Eagle had gained such notoriety under its previous name, the phrases “formerly” or “late” in
advertisements linked the Shepherd and Shepherdess with the new title, the Eagle Tavern well into
1820.52

In 1822, Thomas Rouse had acquired the lease and began to renovate the site.53 Rouse was a
business man, lover of the arts, lover of entertainment, and “indulged himself in saloons, pavilions,
and Cockney gardening.”54 He liked entertaining and being a business man, Rouse knew that to fund
this, he needed to develop the property for the masses. Rouse believed that entertainment should not
be restricted by time but given to the people when they wanted it. This was seen in 1823 at the inquiry
into closing times for public houses. Rouse outlined difficulties to fulfil the requirements of the
proposed early closing times. It was noted that he,

…enquired for the sake of information how he should conduct himself towards persons
frequenting his house. He was in the habit of having large dinner parties, and it was impossible
for him to force persons to leave exactly at eleven o’clock. It would be an extraordinary conduct
to take a man by the collar, because he was not willing to go precisely at that hour. He had also
gardens, where sometimes 1000 people assembled on a Sunday afternoon, and he wished to know
whether he was obliged to turn them out, for if he was, he would be obliged to do an
impossibility?55

Rouse also had a charitable side as he offered the Eagle Tavern for a concert and fireworks on
Tuesday 18 March 1828 to aid the widows, children and sufferers after the collapse of the Brunswick
Theatre.56 For this and his redevelopment of the Eagle he was celebrated in August of the same year.
A dinner was held to mark the sixth anniversary of Rouse’s renovations of the property. After the
dinner, soloists from the leading theatres of London performed for the guests. A toast was given to
Rouse as,

…in defiance of obstacles, by many considered insurmountable, [he] had spared neither property
or exertion, in bringing it to what they now witnessed – one of the most respectable and well-
attended places of public resort in or near the metropolis.57

On Thursday 23 October 1828, Rouse applied for a “musical license” but this was rejected.58
The musical licence would have allowed bands to play at the Eagle to entertain the people at “sporting
and other parties” and open up his plans for future developments of the site. Although a second
application was also rejected, the proposal received support from “churchwardens and other
gentlemen of the parish”.59 In spite of not receiving a licence, Rouse announced the opening of a

51 Morning Advertiser, (21 July 1818), 4.
52 See for example earlier footnotes and “London”, Morning Post, (London, 8 February 1820), 2.
53 “Eagle Tavern, City-Road”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Friday 15 August 1828), 3.
54 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 58.
55 “Police”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Monday 17 March 1823), 3.
56 “Brunswick Theatre”, London Evening Standard, (London, Tuesday 11 March 1828), 4.
57 “Eagle Tavern, City-Road”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Friday 15 August 1828), 3.
58 “Middlesex sessions. - Thursday”, Morning Advertiser, (London, 24 October 1828), 3.
59 “Middlesex Sessions, Oct. 23”, The Globe, (London, Friday 24 October 1828), 4. Another application was rejected in
October 1829, “New application”, The Globe, (London, Friday 30 October 1829), 4.

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concert room at the Eagle in January 1831.60 Rouse later organised performances of musicals and
other entertainment illegally and in breach of licenses. The same year also saw the erection of the
Grecian Saloon61 and the coronation gate.62

From 1832 to 1845 the Eagle and Grecian saw great development in music, dance, drama and
entertainment. Newspapers reported that there were 1,000 to 6,000 people on the property at any
given time.63 By 1 January 1838 the complex was fully developed and the footprint of the property
remained virtually unchanged until its closing.64 The Rotunda Hall in the garden had been made into
an additional theatre65 and a new saloon was opened. Other improvements included:

…the great tavern at the corner of the City Road was erected, and a ball-room was completed. The
Saloon was remodelled, with a pit—part of it railed off for smokers—and tiers of boxes. A new
organ was set up by Parsons of Bloomsbury, and the old organ and self-acting piano were
advertised for sale.66

In the 1840s, Rouse tried to improve the neighbourhood with ‘educated music’ and commenced
operas. His efforts, like that of Henry Higgins with Eliza Doolittle in Shaw’s Pygmalion,67 may have
looked theatrical but failed. The operas were said to have lost Rouse £2,000 a year, but it was money
he could afford as the tavern alone bought in £5,000 annually.68 The Christmas of 1844 saw Rouse
commence a pantomime, which was to bring more fame to the establishment.69 Rouse retired on 1
March 1851 and was succeeded by Benjamin Oliver Conquest.70

Conquest was an entertainer and used his wife and family in the shows he held at the Grecian
Theatre. Conquest continued and expanded upon the pantomime and added to these dramas in the
romance genre. By 1857 the manager’s son, George Conquest began to write, stage-manage and act
in the pantomimes and they became more elaborate. Conquest jun. would go on to write more than
21 dramas and took over the property as sole proprietor after the death of his father in July 1872. In
1877 he opened the new Grecian Theatre. This must have led to some notoriety as in the same year
George Scott Railton of The Christian Mission wrote to William Booth and in part stated:

But if I could set to and build up a concern [station] in some central spot, say near the Eagle, I
cannot see why in the course of years we might not build up a really big concern that would keep
a whole houseful of young chaps to be made real soldiers of…71

Railton later wrote:

I find that the Grecian theatre – next door to the Eagle, and one of the most notorious in London
– which I had coveted for eventual headquarters on Sundays, instead of holding only 800 has
been rebuilt and professes to hold 5,000. Still that shows how far ahead we must look.72

60 “Eagle Tavern, City Road”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Thursday 6 January 1831), 1.
61 Later called the Grecian Theatre.
62 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 59.
63 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 60.
64 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 61.
65 Hollingshead, “The last of ‘Bravo Rouse’s’ Temple”, 332.
66 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 62.
67 Bernbard Shaw, Pygmalion – A romance in five acts (8th reprint), (London, UK: Penguin Books, 1958).
68 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 62
69 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 63.
70 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 63.
71 Sandall, The history of The Salvation Army, 1:223.; Watson, Soldier Saint, 34 Note Watson can only attribute this
back to Sandall.
72 Cited in Watson, Soldier saint, 34-35.

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Railton believed that the area around the Eagle would be the perfect training ground for evangelists
of The Christian Mission as so many people passed by the location.73 But The Christian Mission
needed to turn into The Salvation Army before anything was done further about the Eagle. Booth
missed his opportunity two years later when Conquest sold the property to T. G. Clark in 1879.74

It was Clark who appeared to bring about the decline of the Eagle. It was said of him that he:
… had made money in the marine-store business, and would have been better qualified to
command the Channel Fleet than to manage the Eagle. He had, it is true, been for a short time the
lessee of the Adelphi, but he had no eye for theatrical business, and his new venture, chiefly in
the regions of melodrama, was once more disastrous to his pocket. Perhaps the failure was not
entirely his own fault. Tastes were changing, and the Eagle garden, with its public dancing …
seemed something like a scandal or an anachronism.75
Clark looked to retire after only two years of occupying the business76 and placed the lease on
the market.77 The “preliminary announcement” for the sale of the lease appeared in January 1882.78
The advertisement outlined the extent of the premises and in some ways oversold the property.

The “preliminary announcement” for the sale of the lease for the
Eagle Tavern and Grecian Theatre, 28 January 1882.79

The sale included the “EAGLE TAVERN, City-road, together with those valuable and largely-
patronised Properties, the GRECIAN THEATRE, ASSEMBLY ROOMS, and PLEASURE
GROUNDS”.80 The statement was also included, “The mere announcement that this property, so

73 Sandall, The history of The Salvation Army, 1:224.
74 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 65.
75 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 65. Some notifications had Mr. E. Clark which was incorrect, see
“Chit Chat”, The Stage, (London, UK: Friday 10 February 1882), 9.
76 “Chit Chat”, The Stage, (10 February 1882), 9.
77 “Theatrical Mems”, Bristol Mercury, (Bristol, UK: Thursday 2 February 1882), 6.
78 “Important preliminary announcement”, The Era, (London, UK: Saturday 28 January 1882), 11.
79 The Era, (28 January 1882), 11.
80 The Era, (28 January 1882), 11.

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well-known and thoroughly appreciated, so advantageously placed, and so notorious as an unlimited
mine of wealth.”81 Although this first announcement appeared in January it was stated that it would
not be put up for sale until Spring.82

At the time of the auction, the property was passed in and an officer of The Salvation Army,

incognito was there to observe these events. The officer reported back to William Booth and went on
to broker the deal.83 One reason it could have been passed in was that there appeared to have been a

downturn in the entertainment industry of the time. In the same newspaper which advertised the lease

of the Eagle there appeared for sale other properties and entertainment paraphernalia. These included:
the Prince’s Theatre and Star Music Hall, Bradford; the Theatre Royal, Wigan; animals from the Joel

and Son Circus; and the tent and circus paraphernalia from Cooke Brothers Circus were announced
for sale due to bankruptcy.84

Catherine Bramwell-Booth claimed that her father “was opposed to the scheme” and
encouraged William Booth to seek advice on how to close the property and not to purchase it.85

Despite this the unidentified officer began negotiations on behalf of The Salvation Army and an
agreement was reached. The Army purchased the property on 10 August 1882 for a 17-year lease.86

Sandall began his small chapter on the Eagle with the statement, “[s]ensation followed
sensation”. It is important to understand the context of this statement.87 Leading up to the occupation

of the Eagle, the Army had been announcing new corps openings, new countries invaded and had just

purchased the London Orphan Asylum for Clapton Congress Hall with a large hall, two acres of
ground and training facilities to accommodate 300 cadets.88 Ervine suggested that William Booth had
financially bled-dry his supporters.89 As marvellous and sensational as the purchase of these other

properties and achievements were, some newspapers thought the acquisition of the Eagle might
“eclipse all his [General Booth’s] former achievements…”90 Booth described the events leading to

the purchase:

We had barely completed the purchase of Clapton, and were busily engaged in the arrangements
for our great anniversary at the Alexandra Palace, when news was brought to us that an attempt
to sell this property by public auction had failed, and that it might be bought cheaply by private
treaty.

Of course, it would never have done for anyone to imagine that the Salvation Army was
after it, or we should not have got it at all, so inquiries were set on foot through an officer in

81 The Era, (28 January 1882), 11.
82 “Chit Chat”, The Stage, (London, UK: Friday 10 February 1882), 9.
83 Sandall, The history of The Salvation Army, Vol. 2., 216.
84 The Era, (28 January 1882), 11.
85 Bramwell Booth, Bramwell Booth, 174-175.
86 Sandall, The history of The Salvation Army, Vol. 2., 216. It must be stated here that this was not the first public house
to be purchased by William Booth. While still The Christian Mission, Booth approached the Evangelisation Society on
12 June 1867 to help him purchase the former beerhouse at 188 (later changed to 220) Whitechapel Road called The
Eastern Star. Booth stated “From a soul-ruining establishment of the very worst kind, we turned it into a house of God
and a gate to heaven”. Booth took up an 18-year lease for £120 on The Eastern Star. After £40 refurbishment, it became
the Mission’s Headquarters until the headquarters was moved to 101 Queen Victoria Street, London. Robert Sandall,
The history of The Salvation Army, Volume one, 1865-1878, (London, UK: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1947), 80, 81,
223. Bishop, Blood and Fire! 59. Wroth incorrectly stated that the Army had purchased the Eagle in June 1882. Wroth,
Cremorne and the later London gardens, 66.
87 Sandall, The history of The Salvation Army, 2:216.
88 “Opening of the Congress Hall at Clapton”, The War Cry, (London, 25 May 1882), 2.
89 Ervine, God’s soldier, 1:549.
90 “The Salvation Army and Mr. Bradlaugh”, North Devon Journal, (Devon, Thursday 6 July 1882), 6.; “The Salvation
Army and Mr. Bradlaugh”, Western Gazette, (Somerset, Friday 7 July 1882), 2.

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undress, who succeeded after a few days’ negotiation in getting an offer of the whole for
£16,750.91

After securing the support, “without hesitation” of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of
London, Booth moved ahead with the purchase.92 Booth wrote that he continued, “With such
promises, and other means of escape from any possible difficulty that could arise, we secured the
bargain, with three weeks’ time to pay for it.” 93

The announcement of the Army’s purchase of the Eagle appeared in newspapers weeks before
the Army took possession of the property. The reports first appeared in regional newspapers. Days
before the London papers; the Birmingham Daily Post got the scoop on 19 June 1882.94 While some
articles claimed the Army paid as much as £32,000,95 the correct purchasing price was £16,750.96
This is not the only discrepancy with finances as Sandall noted that it took an additional £6,000 for
alterations to the property where that balance sheet of the time stated only £1,991/3/2 for the needed
alterations.97 Yet from the time the price was settled to the payment date there were only three weeks
to raise the funds to secure the property.98

On Saturday 24 June 1882, the London papers reported that William Booth had written to the
newspapers. Booth’s letter stated that the purchase included “the Eagle Tavern”, “the Grecian
Theatre, dancing pavilion, and ground, dancing saloon and assembly rooms, capable of seating in all
10,000 people.”99 The letter pointed to the fact that the location would assist the Army in reaching
many they would not have been able to make contact with before and Booth hoped,

that a great many of those who have formerly been seen there seeking worldly pleasure will soon
be found on the same spot rejoicing in the Lord…100

He then requested financial assistance and reported that the Archbishop of Canterbury had given
support in the form of £5, while other leading citizens had already contributed. 101 Some papers
decided not to print the letter, but to comment, criticise, satirise or condemn. The Globe mocked the
Army for accepting money from the Archbishop of Canterbury, as after receiving the money “they
will feel indebted to him indeed.”102 Others mocked the church as being scared of the
“disestablishment looming” and that they were “patronizing” as the Army was “controlling an
immense mass of the public”.103 Reynolds’s Newspaper went on to say they believed the Army was
“the most powerful artisan religious movement we have seen in England since the time of John and
Charles Wesley and George Whitfield.”104

91 Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 86-87.
92 Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 87.
93 Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 87.
94 “Gleanings”, Birmingham Daily Post, (West Midlands, Monday 19 June 1882), 7.
95 “The Salvation Army”, Western Daily Press, (Bristol, Tuesday 20 June 1882), 7.
96 “The Primate and the Salvation Army”, Nottingham Evening Post, (Nottinghamshire, Saturday 24 June 1882), 3.;
“The Salvation Army”, Lichfield Mercury, (Staffordshire, Friday 30 June 1882), 6.
97 Compare Sandall, The history of The Salvation Army, 2:217 with The Salvation War, 1882, appendix, “The Eagle and
Grecian Theatre”. See discussion in fn 128.
98 “The Grecian Theatre.”, Pall Mall Gazette, (London, Monday 26 June 1882), 10.
99 “The Salvation Army”, London Daily News, (London, Saturday 24 June 1882), 3.
100 “The Salvation Army”, London Daily News, (London, Saturday 24 June 1882), 3.
101 “The Salvation Army”, London Daily News, (London, Saturday 24 June 1882), 3.
102 The Globe, (London, Saturday 24 June 1882), 2.
103 “Special notes”, Reynolds’s Newspaper, (London, Sunday 25 June 1882), 5.
104 Special notes”, Reynolds’s Newspaper, (London, Sunday 25 June 1882), 5.

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The public knew about The Salvation Army’s purchase of the Eagle Tavern four days before
Salvationists, as it was not until Thursday 29 June 1882 that The War Cry carried the first
announcement of the purchase.105

On the front page of the following week’s War Cry and in preparation of the occupation, Booth
informed Salvationists and friends as to why such a purchase was needed. This information included
a plan showing the extent of the property with; shops, Billiard Room, Bar, Grecian Theatre, Dancing
Room, Eagle Tavern, Stabling, Coach House, Stage Rooms, and Garden with the promenade,
Orchestra Pit and Dancing Platform.106

Plan of the Eagle Tavern and other buildings on the property107
Booth next went for a fund-raising campaign. Bennett identified the relationship of Booth and
money;
…it was not a case of Booth not praying to God for the money. He did that. But he also believed
that it was right and proper to ask human beings to make contributions to God’s work, and few
organizations have mastered the art of asking for funds better than the one that William Booth
founded. Booth was not ashamed to ask for money to support the work of God… 108

105 “Conversion of the Eagle”, The War Cry, (London, 29 June 1882), 1.
106 “Ground plan of the Eagle Tavern and Grecian Theatre”, The War Cry, (London, Thursday 6 July 1882), 1.
107 “Ground plan of the Eagle Tavern and Grecian Theatre”, The War Cry, (London, Thursday 6 July 1882), 1.
108 Bennett, The General – William Booth, 2:182.

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Booth placed advertisements in The War Cry,109 secular newspapers and held special meetings to
request funds. In addition to this, Salvation Army Corps held special meetings, both indoors and in
the open-air to collect money. At Newcastle-on-Tyne;

One brother told us in the open-air, how once he went to the “Eagle,” in London, and spent £15
in one night. Newastle [sic] 1st Corps has given £15, and North Corps, £6 12s. 7d. Brother Halliday
and others collected, £9, Making in the total, £30 12s. 7d.110

An advertisement from a secular newspaper requesting
money for the purchase of the Eagle, 29 June, 1882.111

The advertisement which appeared in the London War Cry
to collect money for the purchase of the Eagle 112

109 See for example, “The last week for subscriptions”, The War Cry, (London, Thursday 3 August 1882), 1.; “The
Eagle Tavern”, The War Cry, (London, Thursday 10 August 1882), 2.
110 “Grand review for the Eagle”, The War Cry, (London, Thursday 3 August 1882), 1.
111 “Purchase of the lease of the Eagle”, Morning Post, (London, Thursday 29 June 1882), 1.
112 “The last week for subscriptions”, The War Cry, (London, Thursday 3 August 1882), 1.

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It needs to be understood that many Salvationists were not wealthy people yet had been asked
to contribute to the growth of the Army time and time again.113 For example, the corps in Stockport
had contributed to three collections in a short amount of time;

Not long since forty pounds given for Clapton Congress Hall, and just recently ten or twelve
pounds to help Captain Barker with Australia, and now again with the greatest heartiness and
willingness they have done well for The “Eagle.”114
The War Cry acknowledged both individual contributions as well as those from corps which
participated in the “‘Eagle Sunday’ Collections” to raise funds for the purchase of the Eagle.115
Bennett put the sums of money into perspective, he stated;
To earn £100 a year at that time would have been considered a good wage. They needed to raise
the equivalent of about 230 years’ wages, probably around four million pounds in today’s [2003]
values.116
Although money came in, not enough was collected to pay the amount in full. With the donations and
a loan, the Army completed the purchase of the Eagle at 1:00pm on Thursday 10 August 1882.

The War Cry announcement of The Salvation Army’s
capture of the Eagle117

113 See for example the list of individual contributions made to the Clapton training home “New Training Homes”, The
War Cry, (London, 25 May 1882), 4.
114 “Stockport”, The War Cry, (London, Thursday 3 August 1882), 1.
115 See for example, “The Eagle and Grecian Theatre and Dancing Grounds” and “’Eagle Sunday’ Collections”, The
War Cry, (London, Thursday 3 August 1882), 2.; “The Eagle and Grecian Theatre and Dancing Grounds”, The War
Cry, (London, Thursday 10 August 1882), 4.
116 Bennett, The General – William Booth, 2:182.
117 “The ‘Eagle’ is captured”, The War Cry, (London, Thursday 17 August 1882), 1.

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Although Bennett claimed, “early on the day the purchase was completed a large contingent of
Salvation soldiers assembled in Finsbury Square, preparing to march on their new capture along City
Road”,118 this did not occur until two days later, at 6:00am on Saturday, 12 August the flag of The
Salvation Army was hoisted over the property and Salvationists marched on the Eagle.

Just short of two weeks after Booth wrote to newspapers announcing the lease of the Eagle, on
Thursday 6 July 1882 the first attempt to stop The Salvation Army from taking possession of the
Eagle was launched. An application for an interim injunction was made to the Chancery Division to
restrain Booth from using the Eagle as anything other than an “inn, tavern, or public-house”.119 There
were also those who worked to place seeds of doubt in the mind of the public and wrote to the papers
and stated that the site:

…contains a covenant to keep open the building as a licensed house, and not to do any act whereby
the licence may be forfeited, and to apply every year, and use best efforts to obtain the renewal
of that licence.120

Booth reported that strange pleas were put before the court, that the Army;

…were actually going to disgrace the premises in such a way, by collecting multitudes of the
worst people there, that the licences would be endangered from the assemblage of such disorderly
crowds… Well might Mr. Justice Kay inquire whether the worst of people had not been found on
the premises before!121
This first court case found in favour of the Army. After the case Booth wrote, “the movement that
was to have hindered our advance actually proved of the greatest possible assistance to us.”122
This court case allowed the Army to move forward with the occupation. Salvationists were
invited to be involved in the invasion of the Eagle. The Salvationists were to congregate from 5:00am
to 5:30am in Finsbury Square on Saturday 12 August 1882 and march to the Eagle. The distance was
about 0.8 miles (about 1.3 kilometres).

An advertisement from The War Cry requesting Salvationists
to join the march to the Eagle123

118 Bennett, The General – William Booth, 2:183.
119 “The Salvation Army and The Grecian Theatre”, Pall Mall Gazette, (London, Friday 7 July 1882), 10.
120 Thetford & Watton Times and People’s Weekly Journal, (Norfolk, Saturday 8 July 1882), 5.
121 Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 92.
122 Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 92.
123 “Capture of the ‘Eagle’”, The War Cry, (London, Thursday 10 August 1882), 1.

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Booth wrote about the march on the Eagle;
The scenes of that early morning when we formally entered upon the enjoyment of the premises
so amply demonstrated the need for our work there, and the sort of characters likely to be benefited
by it…124

The consecration of the Eagle - Commissioner Railton, “We will consecrate this building”125
Although the march to the Eagle and the meeting of consecration concluded without a major
issue, the enemy was about to launch their counter attack. As Salvationists left the Eagle and arrived
at Liverpool Street they were physically assaulted. The attackers then followed the Salvationists;
…in force into the Great Eastern Railway Station, where the few officials in attendance were
unable to keep them back, and where both men and women were beaten and pushed about as they
stood on the platform waiting for trains to take them homewards.126
Only one of the attackers were caught and fined ten shillings. One of William Booth’s biographers,
Begbie claimed that the crowds were so intent against the Army that Booth “was many times in grave
danger of his life”.127
After the sale of paraphernalia associated with the theatre and other buildings as well as
renovations which cost £1,991/3/2, the Eagle was reopened in true Salvation Army fashion.128 One
of the more interesting articles of the official opening of the new corps was a pictorial essay from the

124 Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 87.
125 Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 100a.
126 Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 92.
127 Begbie, William Booth, 2:12. Begbie even gave a specific example of one event.
128 The financial statement for 1882 clearly stated the cost for the alterations to the Eagle were £1,991/3/2 for
“Repairing, Altering, Seating and Furnishing, and Incidental Expenses incurred in the collection of the necessary funds
at Special and other Meetings”. While Sandall gave the sum as £6,000 without reference to what this expense was for or
his source. The larger cost may have included those items listed above as well as the initial court costs. Booth, The
Salvation War, 1882, appendix, “The Eagle and Grecian Theatre”.; Sandall, The history of The Salvation Army, 2:217.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 124

London Graphic entitled “The Salvation Army – ‘The capture of the Eagle’”.129 The line drawings
included; Salvationists talking with each other in the pleasure garden with a ‘Salvation tent’ in the
back ground, two of William and Catherine Booth’s daughters singing a duet, William Booth
preaching with Catherine seated next to him, a band of Hallelujah lasses, and the afternoon meeting
in the Grecian Theatre.130

The afternoon meeting in the Grecian Theatre131
The opening meeting saw 400 policemen keep the Salvationists safe from 30,000 people who had
gathered around the Eagle to protest against the Army’s purchase of the lease or to observe the events.
In spite of those protesting outside, thousands of people were admitted to the property by ticket.132

By the end of the year The Salvation Army and the Eagle were still making news. While the
fight against the occupation was still going on behind the scene, the Army focused on its main concern
of saving souls. From the opening to the end of 1882, just three months, the Grecian Corps had
recorded 1,800 seekers for salvation133 and could boast a “large corps of little Soldiers. At a meeting
the other evening there were present nearly 2,000 children…”134

Carpenter claimed that:
Law proceedings followed, with the purpose of compelling William Booth to sell strong drink,
according to the covenant of the public-house, or abandon all to the former lessee. Finally it was

129 “The Salvation Army – ‘The capture of the Eagle’”, The Graphic, (London, 30 September 1882), 333.
130 The Graphic, 333.
131 The Graphic, 333.
132 J.R. “Grand Opening of the Grecian Theatre.” The Little Soldier, (London, 5 October 1882), 3.
133 Booth-Tucker, The life of Catherine Booth, 3:172.
134 “The Eagle”, The Little Soldier, (London, 7 December 1882), 7.

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decided that the public-house part of the property must still sell liquor, but the spiritual work
carried on in the theatre…135

Crowds gather for a Salvation Army meeting in the converted Eagle Tavern complex,
East London, in 1882.136

Bennett stated that when Booth had leased the Eagle he was advised by his lawyers “that it would
only be necessary to renew the license, it would not be necessary for him to run the premises as a
public house or hotel.”137 To remain true to the terms of the licence that the lessee should keep an
“inn, tavern, or public house”, Booth reopened the Eagle as a temperance hotel with 70 beds and sold
non-alcoholic drinks.138 However on 6 July 1883, Judge Stephens declared the wording to mean ‘inn,
tavern and public house’ and the Army was forced to sell alcohol or give up the property. This could
have seen the loss of the Grecian Corps, its converts and the money raised to acquire the property.
Bennett stated;

135 Carpenter, William Booth, 83.
136 Barnes, God’s Army, 34.; the drawing first appeared in Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 86a
137 Bennett, The General – William Booth, 2:184.
138 Bennett, The General – William Booth, 2:184.

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…the idea of a building in Booth’s name, and used for Salvation Army purposes, selling alcohol
was too terrible to contemplate. He had always been against drinking alcohol for social
purposes…139

The emotion is clear in Booth’s account of these events and a touch of defeat can be read in his
reminiscence.

Our rejoicing in July, over the 18th anniversary, and especially over the fact that the Army had
been considerably more than doubled in almost every way during the last year of its history, were
somewhat checked by one of the saddest occurrences we have ever had to record. …We were
disappointed. The trustees, by their clerk, gave notice to the landlord immediately above us that
they held him firmly to the letter of the lease, which was undoubtedly capable of the interpretation
that the “Eagle” must remain a “public house” in the ordinary sense of the word. When it was
attempted, however, to restrain us by legal process from using the premises as we desired, the
empathic decision in our favour given in the Court of Chancery encouraged us to think that we
had been rightly advised and stood in no danger provided we could succeed in holding the drink
license without selling the drink….

On the other hand, thank God, holders of property in the immediate neighbourhood heartily
testified to the great change which took place in the course of a few months, streets which had
been made almost impassable till one o’clock in the morning for years previously, by the
assemblage of bad characters, having become perfectly quiet and orderly

But we had enemies, upon whose resistance we ought perhaps to have more seriously
counted. Unaided by the trustees, we were brought before the Court of Queen’s Bench, where we
were declared to have done wrong seeking, under the old lease, to carry on the new order of
things.140

Booth outlined that they tried to take the entire property from him and to smear his name, but the
Court stated that it had seen “nothing in the case as it came to Court to lead him to think that Mr.
Booth was wanting in good faith”.141 In spite of this the Army was:

…ordered, as a condition of our prosecuting that appeal, to open the house within a month for the
sale of intoxication drink, and to desist from the use of musical instruments which had been
complained of by neighbours, who had found no annoyance in the proceedings carried on on the
premises up to midnight in previous years.142

The case was all over one little word “or”. The licence read “the Eagle should be used as “an inn,
tavern or public house” as Booth was running the Eagle as a temperance hotel it was an inn and
therefore met the requirements of the licence. However, the court took the meaning of the word “or”
as “and” so Booth needed to run the inn and sell alcohol.143 If this were not bad enough Booth felt
the silence and then abuse of the church more difficult to comprehend;

But perhaps the most painful fact connected with the history of these transactions is that, whilst
no notice was taken by the religious newspapers of the effort that we made to wrest these premises
from the work of destruction, and nothing was written to assist us in the struggle, almost all joined
more or less in the hue and cry at our apparent defeat, and some for weeks bitterly pursued us in
every step of our endeavour to remedy the mischief.144

139 Bennett, The General – William Booth, 2:184.
140 Booth, The Salvation War, 1883, 22-24.
141 Cited in Booth, The Salvation War, 1883, 24.
142 Booth, The Salvation War, 1883, 24.
143 Barnes, With Booth in London, 40.
144 Booth, The Salvation War, 1883, 24-25.

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Booth also noted that they needed to comply, as to let the property go would have seen too great a
loss:

A corps of more than 500 had been raised in the theatres during the year, and we had no choice
but to comply with the order of the court, or else at once to forfeit the whole of the premises,
allowing them to become a curse to the neighbourhood, whilst these, our soldiers, were driven
out into the street without a place of meeting. One would have thought there could have been no
question as to the right way for us in such an emergency.145

With some note of triumph, Booth finished the section and outlined the work God was doing in the
Grecian Corps:

At any rate, we have had the most marked signs of God’s approval of that course we have taken,
in the fact that since the “Eagle” was turned into a public-house, instead of losing converts from
the Grecian, we have had as many as 80 on one day seeking salvation there, whilst the corps has
become stronger and better in every way.146

Booth appealed the decision of Judge Stephens, but for a few months Booth’s name was on the door
of the Tavern as the publican. The court battle continued until February 1884 and through these cases,
Booth had the Tavern part of the property sublet, so his name could be removed from the link to
selling alcohol.147

A point not picked up on in any of the published work reviewed is that the newly created
Salvation Army Auxiliary League, created by Herbert Booth, assisted with the matters of the Eagle,
from finances to support. William Booth wrote that the purchase, occupation and court cases
connected to the Eagle “brought out into striking prominence the value of …our Auxiliary League”.148
The League was:

…an association of our best friends, comprising many who have not only wealth, but leisure,
enabling them closely to study the Army and all its concerns, has proved again and again a
valuable moral as well as material support...149

The financial year ending 30 September 1883 had seen £10,374 14s. 9d. given for the “Eagle
and Grecian” and £964 16s. 7d. paid in expenditure.150 This cost did not include the cost of the court
cases, so again William Booth appealed to Salvationists for finances. An appeal notice, under the
heading of “The Eagle Costs” ran each week in the London War Cry through March and April 1884.
In part, the appeal notice stated;

Whilst we have all rejoiced at the defeat of the enemy’s cruel attempt to take this property from
The Army, and to turn its glorious Eagle Corps and congregation into the streets, and devote the
theatres and dancing ground once more to their former uses, all real lovers of justice and
righteousness must deeply sympathise with The General in having had suddenly thrown upon him
heavy additional costs in order to secure this victory. It may be better for many reasons for the
present to avoid expressing any opinion as to the decision that has been arrived at, and the conduct
of the various parties concerned which has led up to this result; but there is one way in which we
who are fully satisfied of the uprightness and benevolence of the course pursued by the General

145 Booth, The Salvation War 1883, 24.
146 Booth, The Salvation War, 1883, 25.
147 “Results of the Eagle Appeal”, The War Cry (London, 20 February 1884), 1.
148 Booth, The Salvation War, 1883, 25.
149 Booth, The Salvation War, 1883, 25.
150 Horsley, The Victorian Salvation War, 1883, appendix “English Summary for year ended 30th September, 1883”.

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throughout, can give our verdict on the question, and that is by assisting to bear the costs of this
successful appeal.151

The legal fee was not listed, the only hint of cost was, “a very large sum will be required to meet the
costs”. The appeal letter was signed “A London Solicitor” and each time the letter was published a
list of donations from individuals were recorded.152 For example in The War Cry of 26 April 1884
“First ‘Eagle’ Convert gave 10s”.153

While legal matters continued into 1884 the corps life moved into its patterns of meetings. At
first, the corps had trouble with its musical sections and although Richard Slater was made the
bandmaster, the work nearly saw him sever his relationship with the Army.154 The corps had many
of the usual sections, a singing company,155 a corps band,156 a songster brigade,157 and a timbrel
band.158 The corps needed to maintain and clean the property on a number of occasions and in
December 1886 the Grecian Corps was closed down for two weeks for it to be cleaned.159

The corps continued unchallenged until late 1898 when it was announced that the property was
to be demolished. Upon hearing of the demise, one journalist wrote something of an obituary which
outlined its history and told of its legacy. But alas, he stated on 21 December, the Eagle:

…has received its death-warrant. Like Astley’s,160 it has to fall under the sacrificial pickaxe of
the progressive builder. Not even the Salvation Army, it seems, could save it. In a few weeks it
will be nothing more than a London tradition; in a few years it will be a legend ...161

The London War Cry of August 1898 reported on the final meeting of the Grecian Corps in the Eagle,
where;

…[a] goodly number rose to testify that they had been saved or sanctified in the old building…
The curtain has dropped, and the scene has changed; but the Grecian Corps is girding itself to
greater and greater victories in the future, which will come up to, if not excel, those of the past.
“Forward!”162

It is at this point many authors stopped the narrative of the Army and the Eagle. This makes the
narrative appeared to be a total defeat for The Salvation Army. But it didn’t end with the destruction
of the property. Here the narrative splits in two: firstly, the continuation of the Grecian Corps: and
secondly, the redevelopment of the property.

151 See for example, “The Eagle Costs”, The War Cry, (London, 26 April 1884), 4.
152 See for example, “The Eagle Costs”, The War Cry, (London, 26 April 1884), 4.
153 “The Eagle Costs”, The War Cry, (London, 26 April 1884), 4.
154 Cox, The musical Salvationist, 57.
155 “The little soldiers’ singing brigade at the Grecian”, Little Soldier, (London, 16 April 1887), 8.
156 “Grecian”, The War Cry, (London, 5 May 1900), 10.
157 “Grecian”, The War Cry, (London, 21 July 1900), 10.
158 “Grecian”, The War Cry, (London, 8 January 1898), 10.
159 Happy Bob, “Grecian”, The Little Soldier, (London, 18 December 1886), 8.; A similar event took place in 1891 see
“Re-opening of the Grecian”, The War Cry, (London, 11 April 1891), 14.
160 Astley’s, also known as Astley’s Amphitheatre, Astley’s Royal Amphitheatre and Sanger’s Amphitheatre was
situated on Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth. It was opened in 1773 and the circus was 42ft (13m) which has become
the international standard of circuses since. The circus appeared in Jane Austen’s Emma, Charles Dickens’ Astley’s,
Sketches by Boz, The Old Curiosity Shop and Hard Times, The Beatles too included it in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts
Club Band. Astley’s closed in 1893 and was demolished in the same year.
161 Hollingshead, “The last of ‘Bravo Rouse’s’ Temple”, 332.
162 “Curtain drops for ever at the Grecian”, The War Cry, (London, 13 August 1898), 13.

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For a time, the Grecian Corps met in the open-air163 and by December 1898 the corps reports
were listed in the London War Cry under the heading of “London’s Open-air Corps.164 By 1900 the
corps still referred to themselves as the Grecian Corps with their new “barracks packed out”.165 The
Grecian Corps became the Hoxton Corps166 and is still in operation today.

The property had a different fate, in September 1899 the Eagle was in the hands of the “house-
breakers.”167 Wroth wrote the following of the Eagle’s demise;

… the huge Eagle tavern, surmounted by its proud stone bird, was demolished, and a smaller
public-house of neat red brick (opened August, 1900) now covers part of its site. On the site of
the theatre and its entrance, which faced Shepherdess Walk, and was adorned with two more stone
eagles, we have now a police-station. Though all the old buildings have been destroyed, much of
the garden space is still unoccupied, and in due season a solitary tree puts forth its leaves.168

The police station was opened on the former site of the Eagle on Monday 19 August 1901. At the
opening, it was stated that the station could sleep “thirty constables, one sergeant, and a resident
inspector”.169 The first day of operations saw similar issues in the community to when the Army
purchased the lease of the Eagle as the “first prisoner – James Taylor – who was conveyed to the
station on an ambulance, charged with being drunk and incapable.”170 Sadly for Taylor the remedy
for his drunkenness was now the law of the land, given by police rather than the love of Christ, offered
through the work of The Salvation Army.

Two papers of the series on the Eagle will appear in this issue171 while other papers will follow
in other issues of The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History. Each will further unpack
elements of the historical narrative relating to The Salvation Army and the Eagle. It is hoped that
these will assist to build a deeper understanding of the events surrounding the narrative and therefore
impact The Salvation Army’s understanding of the events and its own actions.

163 “Grecian”, The War Cry, (London, 27 August 1898), 10.
164 “London’s open-air corps”, The War Cry, (London, 10 December 1898), 10.
165 “Grecian”, The War Cry, (London, 3 March 1900), 10
166 “Have you Heard?”, The Local Officer, (London, April 1905), 324.
167 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 67.
168 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 67.
169 “New Police Station in City Road”, Shoreditch Observer, (London, Saturday 24 August 1901), 2.
170 “New Police Station in City Road”, Shoreditch Observer, (London, Saturday 24 August 1901), 2.
171 See Garth R. Hentzschel, “William Booth owned a pub: An analysis of historical statements, A case study on The
Salvation Army and the Eagle Tavern – Part 1”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 2, 2, 2017, 131-
150.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 130

WILLIAM BOOTH OWNED A PUB:
AN ANALYSIS OF HISTORICAL STATEMENTS
A CASE STUDY ON THE SALVATION ARMY AND THE EAGLE TAVERN

PART I

Garth R. Hentzschel

Introduction

The first paper in this series on The Salvation Army and the Eagle Tavern reviewed Salvation Army
literature on the Eagle1 and gave an overview of the history of the property. This paper, while sitting
in a wider series on the Eagle, will be the first of two papers that will analyse the claims made by
historians about the Eagle and its location.

This paper aims to analyse historical statements made by Salvationists and others about the
Eagle and its location. It will firstly outline the claims made about the Eagle by Salvation Army
authors. Next, claims made that Salvationists’ have misappropriated historical narratives will be
investigated. The paper will conclude by analysing historical data to ascertain if the statements made
by Salvationists and others against the property and its location have been accurate.

Claims made against the Eagle by Salvation Army authors

Salvationists made some strong claims against the Eagle and used these as a reason not only to
purchase the property but also to have people support their efforts. The report of the “Grand Opening
of the Grecian Theatre” in the Little Soldier of 5 October 1882 showed many of the claims the Army
made against the Eagle.2

The Eagle Tavern and the Grecian Theatre are now fully in the hands of the [sic] Salvation Army,
for which

Every Little Soldier,
and every lover of Jesus throughout the world must say “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise
the Lord!”

Praise God for enabling us to
Shut Up

such a noted place as this has been for all that is bad, and where so many young people have learnt
to drink, smoke, and fight, and serve the devil. Thank God, thank God a thousand times, for
shutting it up, and may the time speedily come when all

Similar Places
shall be served in the same way.

But praise God, praise God again and again, because, having shut it up, it is now
Reopened

under new management altogether, so that it will now soon become a place noted for making
thousands of

Bad Men Good.3

Reference citation of this paper; Garth R. Hentzschel, “William Booth owned a pub: An analysis of historical
statements, A case study on The Salvation Army and the Eagle Tavern – Part 1”, The Australasian Journal of
Salvation Army History, 2, 2, 2017, 131-150.
1 See Garth R. Hentzschel, William Booth owned a pub: An overview of the historical narrative of The Salvation Army
and the Eagle Tavern”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 2, 2, 2017, 108-130. Please note that as in
the first paper “the Eagle” will often be used to describe the entire property. The author acknowledges that the property
was expansive with a number of buildings and a pleasure garden.
2 J. R. “Grand Opening of the Grecian Theatre.” The Little Soldier, (London, 5 October 1882), 3.
3 J. R. “Grand Opening of the Grecian Theatre.”, 3.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 131

Waiting for the opening of the Grecian, 21 September.4

4 The War Cry, (London, Thursday 14 September 1882), 1.

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The condemnation of the Eagle and its location by Salvationists did not commence in 1882,
when it looked to purchase the lease, but started much earlier. While still The Christian Mission,
George Scott Railton wrote to William Booth in November 1877 looking for a place for a Mission
station and a training facility for the movement. Railton liked the location of the Eagle as it was well
located and in part stated:

There is a superbly central spot – the Eagle – with a splendid artisan neighbourhood E.[ast]; black
heathendom W.[est]; and a stream of the finest young fellows in the Kingdom passing continually.
Why not try to form a drill hall there?5

Heathendom was a hard word and this information has already been tested by Bennett, which will be
discussed later.6 But Railton also claimed that “the Eagle, … [is] one of the most notorious in
London.”7 From Railton’s writings, Watson commented that the Eagle’s;

…buildings were the headquarters for dubious characters of all sorts. There had been fights and
allegations of a ‘haunt of vice’, as Railton put it without originality.8

As the Army prepared to purchase the lease and also when later describing the motivation, the
rhetoric intensified. William Booth claimed that the Eagle was “notorious throughout the English
world” and that it was “one of the vilest haunts of vice”.9 In the same publication Booth wrote, “So
notorious had the premises been for many years that the mere mention of such a capture brought forth
a chorus of congratulation and thanksgiving from every part of the country.”10 A year later Booth
wrote that “the ‘Eagle’ and the adjoining premises”, were “centres of demoralisation”.11

When the Army was looking to purchase the lease of the Eagle, William Bramwell Booth wrote
that it was “a notorious amusement centre…which all manner of devilry went on.”12 Again at the
time, he wrote the Eagle was “a notorious thoroughfare to Hell”, but he warned that his father,
William Booth needed to “ascertain how much you can say without libelling the former possessors”.13
Years later William Bramwell Booth had not changed his mind of the events that took place at the
Eagle before the Army took it over, he wrote the Eagle was “then a notorious place of evil life and
corrupt influence in the north-east of London.”14

A small volume on the history of the Army, Outlines of Salvation Army history, accused the
Eagle of being a “notorious public-house” that “was a meeting place for those who practised the most
base and shameless things” which caused an “abominable disgrace”. In this way, the Army “would
destroy a work of the Devil, build a Temple to God, and publicly challenge the conscience of

5 Robert Sandall, The history of The Salvation Army, Volume one, 1865-1878, (London, UK: Thomas Nelson and Sons,
1947), 1:224.; also cited in Bernard Watson, Soldier saint, George Scott Railton, William Booth’s first lieutenant,
(London, UK: Hodder and Stoughton, 1970), 34. Watson attributes this quotation to “Railton papers”, but does not state
where these are to be found.
6 David Malcolm Bennett, The General – William Booth, 2 volumes, (USA, Xulon Press, 2003), The soldier, 2:189.
7 Watson, Soldier Saint, 34-35.
8 Watson, Soldier Saint, 35.
9 William Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, (London, UK: The Salvation Army Book Stores, c1883), 86.
10 Booth, The Salvation War, 1882, 87.
11 John F. Horsley, The Victorian Salvation War, 1883, (Melbourne, Australia: Salvation Army Book Depot, c.1884),
24.
12 Cited in Catherine Bramwell Booth, Bramwell Booth 4th impression, (London, UK: Rich & Cowan, 1933), 174
13 Bramwell Booth, Bramwell Booth, 175.
14 Bramwell Booth, Echoes and memories (2nd Ed.), (London, UK: Salvationist Publishing and Supplies, 1928), 71.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 133

London.”15 Later editions of this book toned down the rhetoric; merely calling the Eagle “notorious”,
but still showing it to be bad and the Army to be good.16

Carpenter, without listing the name, claimed the Eagle was “a notorious public-house” and then
wrote;

This place was a den of iniquity, drunkenness being the least of the vices openly indulged in
there.17

Each of the Salvation Army authors highlighted, to some extent the negative behaviours
exhibited in and around the Eagle, they each saw it as “notorious”. They did not express any of the
humanitarian actions shown by earlier managers of the property, nor the need for entertainment of
the masses. The Army’s view on the entertainment of the masses may have come from their
worldview, this matter will be discussed in another paper. In each of the accounts the Salvationists
and specifically William Booth were portrayed as the hero of the narrative, and during the court cases
that followed as a victim of an unjust system or enemies out to destroy the Army. For these reasons,
this narrative could be an example of Stuart Middleton’s theory that The Salvation Army manages its
reputation through its historical narrative.18

Arguments against The Salvation Army’s claims

Stuart Middleton, in “Reputation Management in the [sic] Salvation Army – A Narrative Study.”19
argued that The Salvation Army narrative is carefully managed and staged and is therefore often more
concerned with the management of its reputation than the truth. He claimed that the Army has created
a “narrative mirror” of stories to deflect the goodness of its narratives so that stakeholders cannot
look deeper. Of his own investigation, he stated that;

Management of the narrative presented in […my] study was no less fastidious from The Salvation
Army. There were two Salvationists overseeing the project. Interviewees were handpicked by the
Salvationists, and they carefully vetted interview questions. Newspaper articles often came from
Salvation Army press releases and books were authored by Salvationists. Opposing voices were
therefore extremely difficult to access. In the end, the narrative which I have constructed in the
research is the result of a carefully managed process from The Salvation Army, an organisation
that has consistently demonstrated a desire to symbolically control its message. The sources of
data used in the collection of the case material with its bias toward “friendly” Salvation Army
figures…..20

Middleton noted that Salvation Army historical narratives show Salvationists as the “real and
the good,” whereas others outside the movement become the “unreal and the bad”. Adding to this he
observed that “Salvationists in the narrative are truthful and righteous because they have chosen to
lead a virtuous life.”21 Middleton then went on to other sources and ‘uncovered’ people mistreated

15 Anon, Outlines of Salvation Army history, 23. Some of these words were taken from Begbie, William Booth, 2:10-11.
16 Anon, The Salvation Army its origin and development, 27-28.; Bale, Marching on!, 18-19.
17 Minnie Lindsay Carpenter, William Booth, (London, UK: The Epworth Press, 1943, 2nd impression), 83.
18 Stuart Middleton, “Reputation Management in the Salvation Army – A Narrative Study”, Journal of Management
Inquiry, (Vol. 18, No. 2, 6 February 2009), 145-157, http://jmi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/2/145, accessed 23
August 2017.
19 Middleton, “Reputation Management in the Salvation Army”.
20 Middleton, “Reputation Management in the Salvation Army”, 147.
21 Middleton, “Reputation Management in the Salvation Army”, 150.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 134

by Salvationists. He claimed that the Army deny these people a voice in its historical narrative as it
cannot:

Consider what happens if the damned nonbelievers are capable of doing good and being truthful,
and the saved believers are capable of evil deeds, neglect, and lying? What this does is to
undermine the legitimacy of The Salvation Army.22

So, Middleton claimed the Army manages propaganda, which hides or ignores failures. He then stated
that the censored narratives are fed back into the larger narrative, that is, “Stories that are judged to
have contributed to successful outcomes can then be fed back into the narrative in a managed process
so that The Salvation Army can ‘restory’ and keep its relevance.”23

Much earlier, and specifically related to the narrative of the Eagle was Wroth’s work. Wroth
stated that, although there were complaints about the clientele of the Eagle during the time of
Benjamin and George Conquests’ management (1851-1879)24;

Such charges are too often exaggerated, because they are often made by well-meaning people
who really know nothing at first hand of popular amusements, and who go to the garden or the
music-hall to collect evidence, as it were, for the prosecution.25

Wroth later wrote, “there is generally something in complaints of the kind” although managers were
never “quite the immaculate beings that their counsel represent them to be when licences come on
for renewal.”26 In spite of this do Wroth and Middleton have a warning for the readers of this
Salvation Army narrative? Did Booth and others misrepresent the characters of those who lived
around and visited the Eagle, while over emphasising the virtues of Salvationists of the time?

Investigation of Salvationist claims

Before the investigation into the claims of Salvationists are made, Middleton’s work should also be
analysed. As research into Army history is developing, many Salvationists know of history that is not
accurately portrayed in the movement. In addition to this, most Salvationists know comrades who
claim to be Salvationists but act contrary to the doctrines or Orders and Regulations of the movement.
If this knowledge is taken into account, Middleton may have a point and his theory may be correct.
However, his paper fell into a trap which early researchers make, that is to over generalise. Middleton
claimed both empirical generalisation27 and theoretical generalisation;28 therefore his claim and
theory should be true for all Salvation Army history.

22 Middleton, “Reputation Management in the Salvation Army”, 152.
23 Middleton, “Reputation Management in the Salvation Army”, 154.
24 Benjamin Conquest continued the development of entertainment at the Eagle commenced by Rouse. When Conquest
died he passed the ownership and management to his son, George Conquest. See Hentzschel, “William Booth owned a
pub: An overview of the historical narrative of The Salvation Army and the Eagle Tavern”, 116, 117.
25 Warwick Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, (London, UK: Elliot Stock, 1907), 65-66.
26 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 66.
27 Empirical generalisation: the argument that what is true of a sample (proportionately) is also true of the population
from which the sample was drawn. The validity of empirical generalisations depends (of course) on the quality of
research with the sample, but particularly on the extent to which the sample is (statistically) representative of the
papulation… Roger Gomm, Key concepts in social research methods, (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillian, 2009),
“Generalisation, empirical, naturalistic, theoretical”.
28 Theoretical generalisation: the claim that a principle/ mechanism/ theory which explains what happened in the
research study will also explain what happens more widely. Apart from the internal validity of the research, the validity
of this kind of generalisation depends greatly on how the conditions under which the generalisation should be true have
been specified… Gomm, Key concepts in social research methods, “Generalisation, empirical, naturalistic, theoretical”.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 135

It was however not only Salvationists who claimed the Eagle was a location for questionable

behaviour, but non-Salvationist authors also joined in the claims against the Eagle. Benge and Benge
stated, “This pub was so notorious that a children’s rhyme had been made up about it…”29 Bennett
claimed, “Behind the pleasant façade of wrought-iron gates and attractive gardens, Booth knew it
hosted not only drunkenness but also rampant prostitution”.30 In another biography Bennett claimed
that the property was “said to be the scene of flagrant sexual immorality.”31 Bennett also used Charles
Booth’s Descriptive Map of London Poverty to assess one of Railton’s claims about the
neighbourhood around the Eagle. Bennett found that Charles Booth had “a very bad area to the south-
west [of the Eagle], which may have been what Railton had in mind”.32 Therefore Railton was correct.

Begbie also claimed negative descriptions for the Eagle. He stated that it was a “very foul and
evil tavern”.33 In a much fuller description against the Eagle, Begbie stated:

In truth the tavern was a sink of iniquity. Drunkenness was perhaps the least of its vices. The
gardens at night, with their rustic arbours, were a scene of the most flagrant immorality, and
thither flocked some of the very worst characters of the town. This corner of Shepherdess Walk
was indeed a meeting-place for all that was most base and shameless in the London of those days;
and although the scandal of it had attracted attention, and although complaints about its
challenging debauchery had been made again and again, nothing was done by authority either to
end or to abate this abominable disgrace.34

Interestingly, Ervine only stated that there was a “notorious group of associated buildings, one
of which was the Eagle Tavern and another the Grecian Theatre.”35 As stated in the first paper36
Ervine’s focus was not the details of the narrative, but of those supporting and opposed to the

purchase. In this, he gave some valuable insight to the psyche of the Londoners of the time and

possibly humanity of all times. He outlined that the opposition came from the same area in the makeup

of human beings that led to the claims outlined above.

The opposition was deep and bitter, and came chiefly from those without immediate interest in
the neighbourhood or in the purchase. His [Humanity’s] offence was that he [Booth] proposed
stopping the poor man’s beer. This proposal never fails to bring tears to the eyes of those who
cheerfully watch the poor man suffering every other deprivation. The fact that there was a more
than ample supply of fermented liquor in and around the City Road was ignored by the protestants,
who behaved and talked and wrote as if the entire population of the district were likely to be
permanently parched through Booth’s malign and mischievous activities. It is an odd
characteristic of many Englishmen that they will watch, unperturbed, the invasion of nearly all
the liberties, but will fall into an unquenchable fury if their right to get drunk is questioned. That,
perhaps, is the secret of their success; for a man may be careless about attempts to rob him of his
right to do right, but, if he values his freedom, dare not remain indifferent to attempts to rob him
of his right to do wrong.37

29 Janet Benge and Geoff Benge, William Booth, Soup, soap and salvation, Christian Heroes: Then & Now series,
(Seattle, USA: YWAM Publishing, 2002), 132.
30 David Bennett, William Booth, Men of Faith series, (Minneapolis, USA: Bethany House Publishers, 1986), 89.;
David Malcolm Bennett, William Booth and his Salvation Army, (Capalaba, Australia: Even Before Publishing, n.d.),
77.
31 Bennett, The General, 2:181.
32 Bennett, The General, 2:189.
33 Harold Begbie, Life of William Booth: The founder of The Salvation Army (2 vols.), (London, UK: Macmillan and
Co, 1920), 2:126.
34 Begbie, William Booth, 2:10.
35 St. John Ervine, God’s soldier: General William Booth, 2 volumes, (London, UK: William Heinemann, 1934), 548.
36 Hentzschel, William Booth owned a pub: An overview of the historical narrative of The Salvation Army and the
Eagle Tavern”, 108-130.
37 Ervine, God’s soldier, 548.

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As the authors quoted above were either Christian authors or would go on to support the Army’s
methods, ministry or personalities, critics like Middleton may argue that they showed “bias toward”
or were “friendly” to The Salvation Army.38 Middleton however also failed to state that many
historians and others often claim things without always giving evidence or referencing their
worldview or primary sources. So, was the Eagle “well known and … so notorious”39 as some have
claimed? By looking through newspapers of the time, the remainder of the paper will investigate if
the Eagle and its location had the behaviours associated with it to deserve the claims that it was
“notorious”.

Investigating the Eagle and its location from historical data

For the Eagle to be “notorious” by 1882, events needed to take place prior to that year and have time
to become known throughout the country. It must be remembered that these events were prior to
social media and the fame or infamy of a location would have taken longer to become established.
The information for this section of the paper was collected in two parts. Firstly, a search through
English newspapers from 1800 to 1840 was conducted to establish the breadth of criminal, immoral
or socially unacceptable behaviours that took place in or around the Eagle. Secondly, newspapers and
other sources were reviewed in different years leading up to 1882 to ascertain the longevity of such
behaviours.40

A review of newspapers and other documents make it clear that the Eagle was a centre of many
and varied events which made it well known, or gave it ‘notoriety’. In addition to this, reports also
gave a picture of the criminal activities that took place in or near the property, to make it known for
negative events, or for it to be ‘notorious’.

Gaining notoriety

From the time it was the Shepherd and Shepherdess Tavern, a large room on the property was
used as a: sales rooms for residential furniture;41 neighbourhood meetings;42 political gatherings,43
Freemen of Coventry meetings and dinners,44 Friends of Liberty and Parliamentary Reform

38 Middleton, “Reputation Management in the Salvation Army”, 147.
39 “Important preliminary announcement”, The Era, (London, UK: Saturday 28 January 1882), 11.
40 Please note that while this methodology assisted to identify the types of behaviours and showed the longevity of some
behaviours, it does not give a history of all behaviours. There are also changing cultural factors, as some crimes died out
or were reported in as different category others replaced them. Many behaviours too were either not spoken of not
reported. See Clive Emsley, “Crime and the Victorians, BBC website history, (17 February 2011),
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crime_01.shtml, accessed 9 September 2017.
41 “Sales by auction”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Thursday 6 March 1806), 4.
42 Morning Advertiser, (London, Wednesday 1 July 1807), 1.
43 See for example “London”, Salisbury and Winchester Journal, (Wilshire, Monday 15 June 1818), 2.
44 See for example: “London”, Bury and Norwich Post, (Suffolk, Wednesday, 16 February 1820), 1.; “Coventry
Election”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Monday 8 June 1818), 1.; “London,” Morning Post, (London, Tuesday 8
February 1820), 2.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 137

meetings;45 Meetings of Licensed Victuallers;46 and inquests into criminal actions.47 These along with
the amusements bought notoriety, while the following list of activities and behaviours bought the
term of “notorious” on to the Eagle.

Becoming notorious

The following shows the breadth of behaviours associated with the Eagle. Some of these
behaviours are tracked throughout the history of the property to also show the longevity of the
behaviour.

Civil unrest

The Eagle played host to some protests and parliamentary reform rallies. Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt was a
union leader, agitator and working-class radical whose speeches encouraged rioting and violence.
These behaviours saw him imprisoned for three years.48 Upon release, Hunt held a rally and marched
through the streets from Charing-Cross to the Eagle. Along the route shops and businesses closed,
banners and flags flew. While Hunt and invited guests concluded their section of the march at the
Eagle with a dinner, some of the remainder of the crowds continued by a different route.49 Those who
sat down to eat numbered about 300 and the crowds remaining outside called for Hunt to speak. This
event turned into somewhat of a riot and there were fears that Hunt would be shot if he appeared in
front of the crowd.50

Later, the bookbinders also took the Eagle in aid of their “struggle”. It was hoped that “the
working classes of London will assist their brethren in their present determination to maintain the
right of working men to dispose of their labour as they may think proper”.51 Hunt, the bookbinders
and unions used the Eagle on a number of occasions and it became a kind of headquarters of working-
class radicalism. It is therefore safe to say that the Eagle was well-known and a centre of civil unrest.
But civil unrest, though sometimes it has a positive side was just one of the problems which came
from the Eagle.

Illegal Entertainment

As shown in the first paper,52 Rouse attempted to continue to expand the musical entertainment of
the Eagle. On a number of occasions, he attempted to gain a licence for his entertainment and although

45 “The Queen”, The Globe, (London, Friday 18 May 1821), 3.; “Metropolitan Reform Meeting”, Morning Post,
(London, Tuesday 9 March 1830), 4. This meeting attracted over 30,000 people who all signed a petition to see reforms
in parliament. The petition was read in the House of Commons.
46 “The Meeting of licensed victuallers”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Saturday 22 June 1822), 2.; Morning
Advertiser, (London, Friday 12 November 1830), 1.
47 See for example; a case of manslaughter, “Inquests”, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, (London, Saturday 15
August 1818), 4.
48 John Belchem, ‘Orator Hunt: Henry Hunt and English working class radicalism, (London, UK: Breviary Stuff
Publications, 2012).
49 “Public Entry of Henry Hunt”, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, (London, Tuesday 12 November 1822), 3.
50 “The dinner to hunt”, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, (London, Wednesday 13 November 1822), 3.
51 “The bookbinders’ struggle”, The Charter, (London, Sunday 30 June 1839), 1.
52 Hentzschel, William Booth owned a pub: An overview of the historical narrative of The Salvation Army and the
Eagle Tavern”, 108-130.

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not all were granted, this did not stop him from progressing. Hollingshead later described this musical
development and showed which of the developments were legal and which were illegal;

There was an overture (legal), and a set of singers, standing in a row, the men in evening-dress,
who went through about a dozen choruses and glees, with occasional duets and solos (also legal).
The second part of the entertainment was some mutilated farce, the actors sitting in a row like a
troupe of Christy Minstrels, tossing the “cues” to each other as if they were engaged in “hunt-the-
slipper,” and occasionally breaking into spasms of song and dance. The first attempt made at a
coherent dialogue was in 1834, in a little piece by Moncrieff, called “The Kiss and the Rose”
(illegal), and musical farces were gradually introduced (illegal).53

Although Rouse was praised for his development of the Eagle he was no respecter of the law.
It is interesting that Magistrate Bennett stated, “he had never heard any thing against Mr.

Rouse’s house”.54 Yet as more and more entertainment bought increasing numbers of people to the
venue, complaints were made. In October 1832, local residents pushed to have the music and dancing
license of the Eagle revoked as “much disorder and immorality arose from the musical
entertainments.”55 One report went further and stated that it “was the resort of hundreds of profligate
persons, where the utmost licentiousness prevailed”.56 For these reasons the Eagle lost its licence for
a year.57

When the Eagle attempted to regain its license at the October 1834 licencing board, a number
of members on the board spoke in favour of the Eagle:

Mr. Halswell said he had visited the house, unknown to the proprietor, and could in the strongest
terms bear testimony to the extremely moral and proper manner in which it was conducted. – Mr.
Barber Beaumont said he also had visited the place, and found it to be one where persons, for a
moderate expense, might enjoy an innocent and rational recreation. He wished to see such proper
and refined sources of amusement more generally extended. – Mr. Hughes said he likewise had
observed these gardens, and from the appearance of those who entered, and the nature of the
sports, he was satisfied it was such a place as he delighted in seeing his countrymen flocking to.58

Yet as Wroth wrote, counsel who represented such places as the Eagle and people who sat on the
committees in licencing boards too often sang the praises of the businesses.59 Such statements are
therefore questionable to use as unbiased sources of evidence.

There were others who pushed to limit the trading of such businesses. R. E. Dear outlined that
the Sunday licencing laws were questionable as “in granting a license to sell beer and spirits, and a
preference to the publican to get gain, while other tradesmen are compelled by law to cease from
trading, inimical to the equity of the laws under which we live”.60 While in 1840 others went further,
they outlined that for the Eagle to operate on Sunday was illegal;

… Mr. Rouse, publicly before the Court, to promise, that if that Court would renew his license,
his premises should never again be open on the Sabbath evening. Mr. Rouse immediately obeyed
Mr. Phillips’ advice; and the Court granted the license on the condition, that if the Eagle Tavern
were again opened on the Sabbath, excepting as an ordinary public-house, the license should be

53 Hollingshead, “The last of ‘Bravo Rouse’s’ Temple”, 332.
54 “Balloons”, London Courier and Evening Gazette, (London, Thursday 18 May 1826), 3.
55 “Middlesex sessions, Oct. 18.”, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, (London, Friday 19 October 1832), 4.
56 “Middlesex sessions. - Friday”, Morning Post, (London, Saturday 20 October 1832), 4.
57 “Middlesex sessions, Oct. 18”, The Examiner, (London, Sunday 21 October 1832), 11.; “Licensing-Day”, Bell’s New
Weekly Messenger, (London, Sunday 20 October 1833), 5.
58 “The Eagle Tavern”, Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, (London, Sunday 19 October 1834), 4.
59 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 66.
60 R. E. Dear, in The London City Mission magazine, (London, UK: L. and G. Seeley, Vol. V, 1840), 172.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017. Page 139

taken away altogether. The Court was very explicit on the point, distinctly stating, that every part
recently opened for the amusement of the people, such as the saloon, ballroom, and similar places,
must be closed, and that no money as entrance-money could be allowed to be taken on the Sabbath
evening.61

The Eagle kept breaking this area of the licence. The Report from the select committee on public
houses, 1854 specifically mentioned the Eagle on several occasions.62 There were a number of
questions about the opening of the Eagle on Sunday,63 some later also tried to establish the number
of people who attended on that day;

1246. This house [the Eagle] is open on Sunday evening without the dramatic
representation? – Every evening there is a representation; but on Sunday evening there is no
representation.

1247. Sir G. Grey.] What is the attraction on Sunday evening, if there is no dramatic
representation? – Tea-gardens….

1249. have you been there on a week-day? – Yes.
1250. Were there more people there on the week-day or on Sunday? – On Sunday, Monday
and Tuesday; the early part of the week.64

The entertainment in the tea-gardens would have been just one area to have broken the law. Another
witness was questioned;

4765. Did you go to the Eagle on Sunday? – Yes.
4766. Was there any music or any other attractions? – There were no attractions beyond
the ornamental garden, the grotto, and the lights.65

Again, the entertainment listed here would have gone against the points Rouse outlined in 1840.
In addition to this, serving alcoholic drinks during entertainment, although not an illegal act did

not win favours with other theatres. In 1850 Cunningham wrote;

…Taverns of this description have seriously injured the minor theatres, as at houses like the Eagle,
with both music and spirit license, people can see, hear, and drink; at theatres they can only see
and hear.66

This questions the ability of the proprietor to encourage their patrons to follow the law on the property,
if the manager ignored elements of the lease to gain profit. This could have helped the Eagle gain the
reputation of being “notorious”.

Alcohol Abuse

It must be remembered that the Eagle remained an outlet for selling alcohol. In addition to this, other
entertainment on the property also saw that more intoxicating drink was sold. This of course was not
an illegal activity; however with this came some unhealthy behaviour.

At times in the Eagle’s history, the entrance fee covered many activities on the property
including the consumption of alcohol. For example, a musical show in the Grecian Saloon had the

61 The London City Mission Magazine, 173-174.
62 Report from the select committee on public houses; Together with the proceedings of the committee, Minutes of
evidence, (London, UK: The House of Commons, 13 July 1854).
63 Report from the select committee on public houses, 68.
64 Report from the select committee on public houses, 71.
65 Report from the select committee on public houses, 280.
66 Peter Cunningham, Handbook of London: Past and present, (London, UK: John Murray, 1850), 171.

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admission of a shilling ticket “which entitle the holders to sixpenny-worth of drink.”67 This matter
was discussed in court in 1835 and the judge stated to entitle “each person to 6d. in drink out of the
admission money was rather calculated to lead to intoxication, and consequent disorder.”68

The amount of alcohol consumption also meant that the area was sometime unsafe for others.
Pedestrians complained that there were “hordes of dirty artificers in their week dress, and many of
them intoxicated, …”69

The Eagle was also one of the establishments that strongly opposed laws of 1839 which would
attempt to make it illegal for business to sell alcohol to children under the age of 13 years. One of the
arguments was that:

Many persons of thirteen appear seventeen or eighteen, and vice versa. How utterly impossible it
is then to ascertain the age of any person who may apply to be served with excisable liquor.70

In 1854, evidence was given at the select committee for public houses on the topic of alcohol.
The committee asked, “Are there any places upon a great scale where there is music, and singing, and
dancing, and where people are tempted by drink?” The conversation continued with the witness;

All public-houses which have singing and dancing sell drink. The most detrimental place which
I know, as far as females are concerned, is the Eagle Tavern in the City-road.

1230. Is that a very large place? – Yes; there is a very large theatre; I visited it on a Sunday,
and the scene I could not possible describe to the Committee.

1231. Is drink sold at the Eagle? – Yes….71
1253, Do you know whether drunkenness takes place? – No doubt; I have seen gentlemen
come out of there drunk.
1254. The Eagle Tavern is only one of several houses, but it happens to be upon a very
large scale? – A very large scale….72

Another witness was questioned;

4767. Is it [the Eagle] a temperance place? – No; far from it.
4768. Do people go and drink and smoke? – Yes; you have to pay sixpence for a
refreshment ticket a refreshment ticket gives the privilege of taking al lady in; they wait round the
door to be taken in by gentlemen….
4776… there is no inducement to go to places like the Eagle Tavern beyond the drink,
because in 10 minutes you can see all that there is to be seen; the people would not go over and
over again to those places if it were not for the drink and the company.
4777. You have no doubt that there is a great deal of drunkenness and disorder on Sunday
night in London, from what you have observed? – I have seen often, on my road home, and did
see that night, as many as 15 persons in a state of incapable intoxication, from the Eagle Tavern
in the City Road, to my own residence in the Harrow Road….
4779. You think the disorder is all owing to the drink? I think the principal part of the
immorality is caused by it…73

67 “Worship Street. – The Grecian Saloon.” Morning Advertiser, (London, Thursday 5 November 1835), 4.
68 “Worship Street. – The Grecian Saloon.” Morning Advertiser, (London, Thursday 5 November 1835), 4.
69 “Police of the metropolis”, Morning Post, (London, Saturday 27 September 1817), 2.
70 “Remarks.” Morning Advertiser, (London, Thursday 14 November 1839), 3.
71 Report from the select committee on public houses, 70.
72 Report from the select committee on public houses, 71.
73 Report from the select committee on public houses, 281.

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In 1849 Beggs, the former Secretary of the Health of Towns’ Association published findings
into an inquiry of ‘juvenile depravity’.74 In this publication a report was given from the Sub-
Commissioner of inquiring into the condition of children employed in manufacturers;

Having procured the company of an intelligent friend, he visited the Eagle Tavern, City-road, and
his description is heart-sickening. Amongst many other painful things, he said, they numbered
about 120 youth of both sexes, many of them almost children, who were laughing, drinking, and
talking, apparently quite at their ease.75
Then, even as late as 1886, there were still reports from the area that children as young as 6 were
found drunk.76 However, Houghton and Rochie wrote that drunkenness is tolerated in some cultures;

In some cultural context drunkenness is relatively more tolerated (for instance, the North
European countries), …. Although social and cultural acceptance of underage drinking varies
depending on the immediate context, nearly all cultures strongly disapprove of underage
drunkenness, especially among women…77
Therefore, drunkenness alone could not have given the Eagle the negative reputation outside
Salvation Army circles. Although Salvationists were greatly concerned about alcohol at the time,
some in society were tolerant of such matters. However, the drunkenness of those underage,
especially underaged females could have contributed to the Eagle’s reputation of being “notorious”.

The sign of the current Eagle Tavern.78
Footpadding and Highway Robbery79

Even back in the days of Shepherd and Shepherdess Tavern, high levels of crime were reported in the
area. In 1801 three young men were brought into custody for being “footpads” in the fields near the

74 Thomas Beggs, An inquiry into the extent and causes of juvenile depravity, (London, UK: Charles Gilpin, 1849).
75 Beggs, An inquiry into juvenile depravity, 113.
76 “Grecian: Drunk at six years of age.”, The Little Soldier, (London, 8 April 1886), 8.
77 Eleni Houghton and Anne M. Roche (ed.), Learning about drinking, (Lillington, USA: Edwards Brothers, 2001), 60.
78 Photograph courtesy of Garth R. Hentzschel.
79 Footpads were armed robbers and were the criminals feared most in London. They worked in gangs and would steal
anything of value. See discussion in Frank McLynn, Crime and punishment in eighteenth century England, (London,
UK: Routledge, 2002), 5.

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tavern. The youths had a pistol, a quantity of gun powder, cartridges and were suspected of preparing
for armed robbery.80 Two men were held on the similar charges in January 1811.81 Another man was
robbed in August 1812 by footpads on City Road.82 In July 1814 yet another man was arrested near
the Tavern preparing to footpad and had concealed “a most deadly weapon”.83

The footpads in the area became more violent as on Friday morning 13 January 1815, Mr.
Richard Deacon84 was found “quite naked and nearly lifeless” 85 with a rope around his neck:86

Mr. D[eacon]. was taken to a neighbouring public-house, where he now lies dangerously ill. For
some hours after his removal he was too enfeebled to state what had caused his being found in
that situation. It is supposed, however, that he was knocked down the preceding night, and robbed
of all his property; when the ruffians, not satisfied with plundering him, had the barbarity to strip
him quite naked, and after beating him, to leave him exposed to the inclemency of the weather.87

Once Deacon recovered, he went back to work. One day he told his clerk that he needed to take a
sample of silk to a customer and he disappeared. The room in the Tavern in which he recuperated
was searched and a letter was found:

…threatening that the party who began their work in the Shepherd and Shepherdess fields were
determined to make it more sure, when they next laid hold of him.88

On Tuesday 14 February, the body of a respectably dressed man was found in the river Thames. It
was later identified as Deacon.89 This murder did not stop the footpads’ attack, as on Thursday night
16 June 1815 another man in the same area was robbed. This victim was knocked to the ground and
“then kicked and trampled upon … in the ditch, and left … in a very bruised state.”90

Later, in January 1818 another major crime took place. A man riding a horse was attacked by
footpads and when he defended himself other footpads appeared. The man overpowered the group,
left one with the night watchman and mounted his horse to chase those now fleeing the scene. In a
short time, he heard a woman scream that the night watchman was being murdered. The man turned
his horse around to find the prisoner strangling the night watchman. Order returned and they took the
prisoner to the watch-house. The other members of the gang from City Road were not found.91

Not only did the area experience footpadding but the higher crime of highway robbery was also
practiced in the area. Highway robbery and assault took place in November 1814 when three men
robbed Captain Thomas Partridge. The men cut Partridge around the head and talked of killing him.92
It appears that as the field was developed and more buildings and streets were established these crimes
gave way to other forms of theft, yet they could have led to the idea that the location around the Eagle
as not always a safe place.

80 “Public Office, Bow Street”, Morning Post, (London, Thursday 19 November 1801), 4.
81 “Police”, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, (London, Thursday 10 January 1811), 3.
82 “Miscellaneous”, Oxford University and City Herald, (Oxfordshire, Saturday 8 August 1812), 6.
83 “Bow-Street – Footpads”, Bell’s Weekly Messenger, (London, Sunday 31 July 1814), 6.
84 Some news reports spelt it as Deakin, see for example Kentish Gazette, (Kent, Friday 17 February 1815), 4.
85 London Courier and Evening Gazette, (London, Monday 16 January 1815), 3.
86 “Mr Deacon”, Morning Post, (London, Friday 17 February 1815), 3.
87 London Courier and Evening Gazette, (London, Monday 16 January 1815), 3.
88 “Accidents, offences, &c.”, Windsor and Eton Express, (Berkshire, Sunday 5 February 1815), 3.
89 Kentish Gazette, (Kent, Friday 17 February 1815), 4.
90 “Footpads”, Cambridge Chronicle and Journal, (Cambridgeshire, Friday 23 June 1815), 4.
91 “Footpads”, Bell’s Weekly Messenger, (London, Sunday 25 January 1818), 8.
92 “Highway robbery”, Morning Chronicle, (London, Tuesday 15 November 1814), 4.; “Bow-Street”, London Courier
and Evening Gazette, (London, Friday 18 November 1814), 4.

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Hustling and stealing

In addition to armed robbery, other forms of hustling and stealing took place in and around the Eagle.
W. Goodman was charged in July 1809 with “hustling” and “stealing” a “metal watch”.93 The
publican of the Shepherd and Shepherdess was a victim of fraud in 1815.94 Then in December 1819,
John Muldene was charged for “burglarously entering the house of Mr. Reid” near the Eagle and he
stole a time piece.95

Many thefts in the area had very close links to the Eagle itself. Samuel Smith and Thomas Noble
took 35 sovereigns, four £5 notes and another item worth £100 from Richard James.96 In the latter
part of 1825 the wife of the proprietor of the Eagle, Mrs. Rouse was witness to “extensive swindling”
where stolen goods were attempted to be sold in the Eagle.97 September 1828, John Gooch was
accused of robbery after leaving the Eagle with some friends98 and a year later Edward Nevin was
accused of robbery inside the Eagle.99 In November 1832 a man was pickpocketed in the Eagle.100
Then in July 1834 James and William Robinson were charged with stealing glass goblets from the
Eagle.101

In September 1838 a youth, the age of 16 years was put on trial for stealing items at the Eagle.
The young man made advances to a woman not knowing she was married. Later he was accused of
stealing jewellery from her and during the court case abused her.102 In November of the same year a
man was charged with fraud for “acting as a toll-collector” and receiving money from people entering
the property but he was “not empowered to receive toll”.103

A more organised criminal activity was in operation from the Eagle for about three years.
Captain Frewe of the East India Company, a.k.a. Edward Wickham used the coffee-room and saloon
at the Eagle to scam the trades people who visited the property. He and his wife would secure goods
or services, pay by giving them bills under his alias and payable to a banking-house of the East India
Company. It was later discovered that he was unknown to the Company and was not a captain. He
had defrauded many, including Rouse of 30l. and Mr Phillips of a watch.104 Another report stated
higher amounts with the theft of £90 from Rouse and the other individuals to a total of £200. This
later report also showed that Wickham had engaged in identity theft as the real Captain Frewe
appeared in the court to give evidence that he did not know Wickham.105

In addition to these, other types of theft, extortion took place at the Eagle. One man told another
of some difficulties. After this event, the second man used this information to extort £15 until the

93 “Worship Street”, Public Ledger and daily Advertiser, (London, Monday 10 July 1809), 3.
94 “Old Bailey”, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, (London, Thursday 21 September 1815), 4.
95 “Worship Street”, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, (London, Monday 6 December 1819), 4.
96 “Police intelligence”, Morning Post, (London, Monday 8 October 1821), 3.
97 “Worship Street”, Morning Chronicle, (London, Thursday 1 December 1825), 3.
98 “Old Bailey Sessions, Sett. 10”, The Globe, (London, Saturday 20 September 1828), 4.
99 “Worship Street”, Morning Chronicle, (London, Tuesday 29 September 1829), 3.
100 London Evening Standard, (London, Wednesday 28 November 1832), 3.
101 “An Impudent Spree”, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, (London, Wednesday 2 July 1834), 4.
102 “Guildhall”, Morning Advertiser, (London, Saturday 15 September 1838), 3.
103 “Worship-Street”, Morning Post, (London, Thursday 15 November 1838), 4.
104 30l. is £30. See under heading of Hustling and stealing for information on his exploits. “A sham captain.” London
Courier and Evening Gazette, (Tuesday 20 November 1838), 4.
105 “Worship-Street”, Morning Chronicle, (London, Tuesday 27 November 1838), 4.

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matter went to court.106 Some authors claimed that the criminal activities made the Eagle so notorious
that the song “Pop goes the weasel” was linked to the property by 1856.107

In December 1868, a number of stolen goods were left near the Eagle. Thomas Tubbs was asked
to mind a horse and cart and took the opportunity to steal both of these items as well as a quantity of
silk. The horse and cart were later found abandoned near the Eagle. During the court case, the
whereabouts of the silk was not indicated, but it was found that Tubbs had just been released from
prison and was then sentence to “hard labour for 18 months.”108

Philip Varron entered the Eagle where William Crick and his friends made comment causing
Verron to leave. Crick then followed Verron from the Eagle and robbed him of 17s 6d.109 These
events of theft were bad enough, and would have easily have cause the label of “notorious” on the
Eagle, but they were not the only crimes.

Pugilism, kidnapping and murder

To identify the breadth of criminal behaviour in the Eagle and near its location, brief discussion is
given on three more behaviours that were identified.

In October 1811, men were charged at the front of the Eagle. Although wrestling110 and single-
stick111 were introduced onto the property as entertainment, the crowds sometime created their own
amusement. Two men were charged with pugilism, the fight lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes; the winner
also received money.112

Another criminal event that took place during the 1810s near the Eagle was murder. Henry Nash
was first charged with manslaughter for killing his wife in August 1817. He was later acquitted in
September 1818 from the evidence given by his 12-year-old daughter.113 Interestingly the inquest for
this was held at the Eagle.114

Just after the murder trial a plea for help came to the Eagle over missing children. In November
1818, Mr. Horsley had his two children stolen by a female servant. The last known sighting of the
servant and the children was at a “house of ill fame”.115 It was such activities and crimes The Salvation
Army were to fight against in the ‘Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon’ affair of 1885.116 Although
not organised from the Eagle, links to such criminal activities would have helped secure the reputation
of the Eagle being a “notorious” place.

106 “Marylebone”, West Kent Guardian, (London, Saturday 22 December 1838), 3.
107 There are various versions and meanings of the rhyme, see for example the discussion at “Pop Goes the Weasel”,
Wikipedia, (modified 30 March, 2017), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Goes_the_Weasel, accessed on 30 March
2017.
108 “Stealing a horse, cart, and silk”, Morning Post, (Tuesday 19 January 1869), 7.
109 “Strange Robbery.” Daily Telegraph and Courier, (London, Friday 2 November 1877), 2.
110 See for example “Wrestling”, Morning Chronicle, (London, Tuesday, 29 August, 1826), 3.; “Wrestling-Second
Day”, The Globe, (London, Wednesday, 30 August, 1826), 3.
111 See for example Bell’s Life in Lindon and Sporting Chronicle, (London, Sunday, 13 April, 1828), 3. Single-stick or
cudgels is a martial art sport that uses a wooden stick and began as a training tool for sailors to use a sabre or cutlass.
For an outcome of one of the games see “Single-stick”, Bell’s Life in London and Sporting, (London, Sunday, 25 May,
1828),
112 “Pugilism”, Evening Mail, (London, Friday 11 October 1811), 3.
113 “Old Bailey sessions”, Cambridge Chronicle and Journal, (Cambridgeshire, Friday 18 September 1818), 4.
114 “Inquest” Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, (Saturday 15 August 1818), 4.
115 “Lost Children”, Morning Post, (London, Thursday 12 November 1818), 3.
116 See David Malcolm Bennett, “‘The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon’ Affair”, The Australasian Journal of
Salvation Army History, (Brisbane, Vol. 1, Iss. 2, 2016), 53-71.

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Prostitution

In addition to the plying of the sex-slave trade in the area, there was also evidence of prostitution
linked with, and even inside the Eagle. During a discussion on “the increase of depravity amongst the
lowers of society” and “immorality”, the Eagle was listed and linked with other taverns and notorious
establishments. It was stated that these places were:

…a dreadful society of vagabonds were certainly collected together in those places…. they were
the resorts of women, not only of the lowest species of prostitution, but even of the middle classes;
they were the resorts as well of apprentices as of every sort of dissolute, profligate, and abandoned
young men.117

These activities put barmaids and other women visiting the Eagle at risk. In November 1834,
Elizabeth Moore who was a barmaid at the Eagle for 15 months met Mr. Niddery. He induced her to
leave “her situation”. This led to events which forced her to “a life of infamy”.118 In 1835 R. E. Dear
the chairman of the Committee of the London City Mission wrote, “at the Eagle Tavern, in the City-
road, there were present during the evening nearly 5,000 persons, and very many of the females
evidently women of loose character.”119

A similar event to that described in 1834 took place in 1839. Another barmaid of the Eagle,
Eliza Crisp was seduced by a man who frequented the house and she had become pregnant. She was
forced to leave her employment and had to sell all she had for food. Later, homeless and without hope
she was sleeping rough and ready to end her life when a police officer stopped her. For this act, she
was imprisoned for three days.120

A decade later, in Beggs’ 1849 inquiry, a case was given of “a wretched female whose ruin was
effected in a great measure by visiting the Eagle Tavern, City Road.”121 Then evidence of the 1854
House of Commons’ select committee highlighted prostitution at the Eagle. The questioning ran;

1234. What class of people frequent the Eagle? – All sorts.
1235. Young people of both sexes? – Yes; I have seen the women there whom I have
recognised next day as common street-walkers. …
1239. Chairman.] Is the Eagle Tavern open on week-days, as well as on Sunday? – Yes. I
am satisfied, from experience, that it is, as far as young females are concerned, one of the most
demoralising, if not the most demoralising place in London.
1240. These scenes of demoralisation begin late in the evening? – Yes.
1241. After the dramatic representation is over, and after the drink has been plied pretty
freely? – Yes. The gardens are open with alcoves, and boxes on each side, and lads and young
persons are taken in there, and plied with drink.122

Another witness stated;

4779… two females that accosted me both told me that they were ruined by visiting that
place [the Eagle].

4794. Lord E. Bruce.] You have mentioned the Eagle Tavern, and you say that it is a most
ill-conducted house? – I say it is one of the worst, in a moral point of view, in its effect upon the
morality of the parties who visit it. As far as the proprietor is concerned. The place is well

117 “Police of the metropolis”, Morning Post, (London, Thursday 26 September 1816), 2.
118 “Police intelligence.”, Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, (London, Saturday 1 November 1834), 4.
119 R. E. Dear, in The London City Mission magazine, 172.
120 “Police”, London Evening Standard, (Wednesday 9 1839), 4.
121 Beggs, An inquiry into juvenile depravity, 106.
122 Report from the select committee on public houses, 70.

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conducted. He was there himself, and there was no disorder. I do not wish the Committee to infer
that I say there was. I say it had a demoralising effect upon the visitors, male and female.

4798… No gentleman, well dressed, can promenade there without being solicited by a
female to go to houses of accommodation outside, whether he be aged, middle-aged, or young. I
had not sat down about five minutes when I was solicited twice, and told that there were houses
outside for me to go to.123

A court case was heard in 1871 when Mrs. Conquest accused Mrs. Brewer of being a prostitute.
Conquest had a number of times requested Brewer remove herself from the Eagle. Eventually a
private constable was called and Conquest demanded, “Take the dirty thing away.” In the removal
Brewer’s dress was torn and Brewer took the Conquests to court.124 These activities would have
helped the Eagle to develop the reputation of being “notorious”.

Patrons of Questionable Character

Not only were there activities and behaviour in and around the Eagle that could support the claims
made against it, but the property also encouraged patrons of questionable character.

Pedestrians complained that there were “hordes of dirty artificers … many of them intoxicated,
in two’s and three’s, who are constantly returning from the dog fights, and other bratish [sic]
sports…”125 While this comment came from observers looking in, another report came from inside
the property itself. A reporter at a dinner in the Eagle during August 1817 declared that the party
consisted of the “usual leaven” of “Tyrants, Despots, Oppressors, and Slaves, mingled with fond
regrets for lost Freedom…”126

There were also unchecked levels of now what we understand as mental health issues. In July
1832 a young man, James Moreland was found behind the Eagle with his throat cut after attempting
suicide. The razor needed to be removed from his hand before he was taken to hospital.127 Later, the
Eagle held the inquiry into the suicide of Ellen Sullivan at the age of 70 years in 1875.128 Another sad
occurrence in the area of mental health was in 1876 when William Blake hanged himself. After his
wife died Blake was barely sober and had attempted suicide several times before his successful
attempt. The odd twist to this sad occurrence was the inquest was held at the Eagle, the place where
he had become intoxicated.129

Also in 1832 Eliza Vincent used the Eagle to stalk her female victims. As soon as the female
audience of the concert left the building Vincent attacked. She physically assaulted her victims and
then destroyed their clothing by throwing oils and other liquids over their dresses.130

Another who visited the Eagle and left a written account was Charles Dickens. Dickens first
visited the Eagle sometime before 4 October 1835 and he then wrote it into Miss Evans and the
Eagle.131 In the story Mr. Samuel Wilkins takes Miss Jimmie Evans (pronounced Ivins) to the Eagle.

123 Report from the select committee on public houses, 281.
124 “Brewer v. Conquest – ‘Life’ at the ‘Eagle’”, Islington Gazette, (London, Tuesday 21 February 1871), 3.
125 “Police of the metropolis”, Morning Post, (London, Saturday 27 September 1817), 2.
126 “More patriotic biting”, Morning Post, (London, Friday 8 August 1817), 2.
127 Morning Post, (London, Wednesday 18 July 1832), 3.
128 “Suicide of a Pauper Imbecile.” Islington Gazette, (London, Friday 10 September 1875), 3.
129 Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, (London, Sunday 18 June 1876), 3.
130 “Destroying efforts of female jealousy!”, Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail, (Dublin, Wednesday 5 September 1832),
1.
131 The first publication of Miss Evans and “The Eagle” appeared in “Scenes and characters – No. II., Miss Evans and
‘The Eagle’”, Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, (London, Sunday 4 October 1835), 1.

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The story gave an insight into the scene behind the gates and what it would be like for a guest amid
the entertainment in the gardens:

…The concert and vaudeville concluded, they promenaded the gardens. The waistcoat and
whiskers did the same; and made divers remarks complimentary to the ankles of Miss J’mima
Ivins and friend, in an audible tone. At length, not satisfied with these numerous atrocities, they
actually came up and asked Miss J’mima Ivins, and Miss J’mima Ivins’s friend, to dance, without
taking no more notice of Mr. Samuel Wilkins, and Miss J’mima Ivins’s friend’s young man, than
if they was nobody!132

Another event around the time of Dickens’ visit showed how intense some behaviours could
become. During a performance of the song The Sea in November 1835 by Mr. Beale, Frederick Brown
had to be forcibly removed from the Grecian. Brown had continued to call for an encore and kept
trying to address the audience which caused annoyance and confusion. Staff of the Eagle and a police
officer then forcibly removed Brown. Brown later took Rouse and others to court and accused them
of assault.133

A comical but dishonest action linked to the Eagle occurred in January 1836. A female servant
asked for time off on Sunday to attend church, but instead went to the Eagle to meet her boyfriend.
After the activities, he walked her to her master’s residence and when the family had gone to bed, the
boy knocked on his girlfriend’s window. She awoke but did not recognise his voice. She called for
her master, as she thought it an intruder. The master and a police officer caught the man and in the
court case the story was unpacked and the dishonesty and mistakes revealed.134

A notorious character, James Campbell frequented the Eagle. In November 1836, a reward was
announced of £50 for his arrest. He had embezzled “sums of Money” from Messrs William Fawcett
and Knowles and was said to have been “seen often at the Eagle Tavern, City-road, in the
evenings”.135 Another notorious character who has already been discussed was Captain Frewe. Frewe
stated that he was a military captain of the East India Company. He was in fact Edward Wickham and
the story was a part of a scam. Wickham used the coffee-room and saloon at the Eagle to scam the
trades people who visited the property. He worked with his wife on the scam and would represent her
as his wife, his aunt or his mother. The scam was going on from the Eagle for two to three years.136

In 1867 a group of men connected with David Jackson, who forged £5 notes of the Union Bank
of Scotland.137 The group met in the evening mostly at the Eagle and coffee-shops on City Road.138

Not only were scams played out at the Eagle but people were assaulted. Mr. Stanley was fined
after he assaulted people while he was at the Eagle in October 1838.139 Then in 1855 George Downes
assaulted Miss. Clayton in the grounds of the Eagle. Clayton stated:

On Monday night I was in the gardens attached to the Eagle Tavern, City-road, when the prisoner
came up to me, seized me violently, and tore the front of my clothes all the way up, and exposed
me very much in the presence of the company.140

132 Dickens, Sketches by Boz, 267-270.
133 “Worship Street. – The Grecian Saloon.” Morning Advertiser, (London, Thursday 5 November 1835), 4.
134 “Another Beau – An Area Sneak.”, Bell’s New Weekly Messenger, (London, Sunday 24 January 1836), 12.
135 “Fifty ponds reward”, Bell’s Weekly Messenger, (London, Sunday 20 November 1836), 1.
136 See under heading of Hustling and stealing for information on his exploits. “A sham captain.” London Courier and
Evening Gazette, (Tuesday 20 November 1838), 4.
137 “Extraordinary Evidence of a Detective”, Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, and General Advertiser,
(Hertfordshire, Saturday 7 September 1867), 6.
138 “Charge of forging bank notes”, Islington Gazette, (London, Tuesday 3 September 1867), 2.
139 “Violent Assault”, Bell’s Weekly Messenger, (London, Sunday 7 October 1838), 5.
140 “Clerkenwell-Yesterday”, Morning Chronicle, (Wednesday 5 September 1855), 8.

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Questionable characters continued to be found at the Eagle leading up to 1882 when the Army
took the lease. These people would have cemented the public’s thoughts that the Eagle was a
“notorious” place.

Other writers with no connection to the Army earlier wrote of their concerns of the characters
associated with the Eagle. In 1850, Cunningham stated that the Eagle was “frequented by the lower
orders”.141 Ritchie gave a warning to parents who allowed their young people to visit London, in 1858
he wrote;

Anxious mothers in the country, fearing the contaminations of London and the ruin it has brought
on other sons, lodge them in remote Islington, or Hoxton, still more remote. It is in vain they do
so. The Haymarket may be far off, but the Grecian Saloon is near; and the young hopefuls come
in a half-price, for sixpence, and smoke their cigars, and do their pale ale, and adopt the slang and
the vices of their betters with too much ease. And then there are the unfortunates from the City-
road, with painted faces, brazen looks, and gorgeous silks; mercenary in every thought and
feeling, and with hearts hard as adamant. God help the lad that gets entangled with such as they!142

Floor of the entrance of the current Eagle Tavern.143
A review of the time leading up to the Army’s purchase of the lease

Wroth, with no connection to The Salvation Army wrote of continuing and worsening problems that
would have only added to the claims that the Eagle was a “notorious” place. He claimed that:

In the time of the Conquests there had been complaints of the company that frequented the
Eagle. … It is right to say that George Conquest seems to have done his best to keep out
notoriously bad characters, and that he warned mere boys and girls off his monster platform and
his concert-hall.144

141 Cunningham, Handbook of London, 171.
142 J. Ewing Ritchie, The night side of London, (London, UK: William Tweedie, 1858).
143 Photograph courtesy of Garth R. Hentzschel.
144 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 65-66.

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Wroth also wrote that in 1850s under the management of Ben Conquest, the family tried to hold
masked balls but they were,

…to be fraught with rowdyism, though the Eagle sternly refused admittance to clowns,
harlequins, and pantaloons.145

There were therefore attempts to keep the Eagle respectable to some level. However as already shown
in the overview of the history of the property,146 the events described above were made worse in the
two years of T. G. Clark’s (1879-1881) disastrous time as manager.147

Wroth came very close to accusing Clark of the moral decay of the Eagle which led to The
Salvation Army’s need to take on the property.

Mr. Clark’s difficulties and the belief, well founded or not, that the Eagle was an undesirable
public influence formed the opportunity of ‘General’ Booth and the Salvation Army. The Army
wanted a barracks and a headquarters for their social and religious work. That they should have
obtained these—and largely by public subscription—few will complain. 148
Wroth had not discussed the problems during Rouse’s management outlined in this paper. Had
Wroth been aware, he may have been less critical of Clark’s management. It is recommended that
Wroth’s statements about Clark need further investigation. It is the opinion of this author however
that similar evidence throughout Clark’s management will be found as presented in this paper.

Conclusion

Middleton claimed that all Salvation Army history is “carefully managed”149 and the restorying
creates non-Salvationists to be “unreal and the bad”.150 Yet the historical statements about the Eagle
made by Salvationist and non-Salvationist authors are supported by evidence outlined in this paper.
Therefore, claims made by Middleton and his theory cannot be upheld in this historical narrative. In
this case study, the Eagle was as stated “the bad” and the “notorious”.

145 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 64.
146 Hentzschel, William Booth owned a pub: An overview of the historical narrative of The Salvation Army and the
Eagle Tavern”, 108-130.
147 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 65. Some notifications had Mr. E. Clark which was incorrect, see
“Chit Chat”, The Stage, (London, UK: Friday 10 February 1882), 9.
148 Wroth, Cremorne and the later London gardens, 66.
149 Middleton, “Reputation Management in the Salvation Army”, 147.
150 Middleton, “Reputation Management in the Salvation Army”, 150.

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