A farthing token issued in the name of the White Horse in Stable Yard, Westminster
The above copper farthing measures 16.3 mm and weighs 1.20 grams. It was issued in the name of a tradesman operating from premises marked by the sign of the White Horse in Stable Yards, St. Margaret’s Parish, Westminster.
Obverse: (rosette) AT.THE.WHITE.HORSE , around the depiction of a horse running left.
Reverse:IN. STABLE.YARD.WESTMIN. , around twisted wire inner circle, a triad comprising I | (rosette) N (rosette) | (rosette) I , within.
Part of the Parish of St. Margaret’s, Westminster showing the location of Stable Yard (c.1720)
Since before the 17th century the sign of the White Horse was commonly used by inns and taverns and it is highly likely that the token in question was issued by such an establishment located in Stable Yard off Kings Street. The token’s issuer (i.e. Mr. and Mrs. I. or J. N.) have not as yet been identified. An examination of the Hearth Tax returns for Stable Yard from 1666 indicates no residents with initials which fit those in the triad on the token’s reverse. On stylistic grounds it is likely that the farthing token in question was most likely issued several years before the mid 1660s so it is possible that its issuers had moved on by the time of the 1666 Hearth Tax assessment.
A half penny token issued in the name of George Carter in St. Alban‘s Street, Westminster
The above brass token measures 21.2 mm and weighs 1.51 grams. Based on it size alone it arguably best fits into the category of a penny token although that lack of it carrying a mark of value (as most penny token of the series do) probably means that it is more likely to be a half penny token. It was issued in the name of George Carter who was possibly a tavern owner operating from premisses in St. Alban’s Street, in the Parish of St. James, Westminster.
Obverse: (rosette) GEORG. CARTER. AT. YE. ST. ALBAN , around twisted wire inner circle, within the depiction of a standing figure (presumably St. Alban) facing and wearing a crown or peer’s coronet and holding a cross in its left hand and a sword in its right. What appears to be an open book on top of a draped alter or lectern is visible to the right of the figure.
Reverse: A legend in six lines reads IN .ST / ALBANS / STREET / NEERE. ST. / IAMES . / MARKET
It is possible that the George Carter recorded on the token was one and the same as the similarly named individual in the 1664 Hearth Tax return who is noted as occupying premisses with 15 hearths in Garndner Lane, St. Margret’s Parish, Westminster. While Hearth Tax returns were recorded for the eastern side of St. Albans Street in 1666 there are as then no occupants with the surname Carter.
St. Alban’s Street, Parish of St. James, Westminster (c.1720)
St. Alban’s Street took its name from its developer and one of the area’s principal earliest inhabitants, Henry Jermyn, the 1st Earl of St Albans, a man sometimes refered to as the “Farther of the West End”.
In the 1650s the open space west of the Haymarket and north of Pall Mall, known at St. James’ or Pall Mall Fields was considered ripe for development but hitherto such had been forbidden by the Crown. In March 1661/2 the Earl of St Albans was granted a lease of much of this area by the Queen Mother. Development of the area was given further impetus in July 1662 when a meeting of commissioners for reforming the streets and buildings of London ordered the “paving of the way from St. James’, north, which was a quagmire, and also the Haymarket about Piqudillo”. A further Act of that same year also made provision for the paving of Pall Mall, the Haymarket and St. James’ Street. By September 1663 the development of St. James’s Fields by the Earl had begun. By April 1665, despite strong opposition, especially from the Lord Southampton who was a rival developer, Earl St. Albans obtained a freehold grant for over 11 acres (approximately half) of St. James’ Fields. On this land and his adjacent leaseholds he proposed a piazza, or square, of 13 to 14 houses, with subsidiary streets and plus a large covered market. This proposed development was similar to that of the Earl of Southampton’s estate of Bloomsbury. Despite some opposition and difficulties in 1665 Earl St. Albans had begun construction on his own house on his piazza, St. James’ Square. Completion of the square followed over the next decade or so.
Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St. Albans
By September 1665 a covered market (St. James’ Market) had been opened between the newly founded St. James Square and the Haymarket. The southern entrance to the market was connected to the west side of St. James’ Square via a short street (St. Albans Street) leading off King Charles Street. All of these streets were part of Earl St. Albans development of the area which the diarist Samuel Pepys comments on in his diary entry for the 1st April 1666;
“Up and down my Lord St. Alban his new building and market-house, looking to and again in every place building.”
In the 1666 Hearth Tax returns for St. Alban’s Street there are only entries for the eastern side of the street and some of these indicate that at that point in time several of the houses were recorded as newly built and still un-occupied. It is possible that by 1666 the western side of the street was still under construction and/or still comprised empty plots.
In Volume I of J.T. Smith’s 1846 publication “An Antiquarian Ramble in the Streets of London: With Anecdotes of Their More Celebrated Residents” reference is made to a mansion-house (supposedly once the residence of Earl St. Albans himself?) on the western corner of St. Albans Street at the junction with King Charles Streets which supposedly became a tavern and remained so until the building was demolished as part of improvements made to Reagent’s Street in 1820 and 1821. The same author associates this tavern as being the premises from which George Carter issued his undated trade token. As yet I have found nothing to confirm this one way or the other. That Early St. Albans took up residence in St. James Square c.1667 does not preclude him from living at the alternative address at a slightly earlier date of his development of this general area of St. James’ Fields.
There are several indicators that point to this token being issued relatively late in this mid-17th century series. These include;
1) The token’s reverse legend style
2) The identification of the token as possibly being of a penny denomination
3) The construction completion date of its street of issue
All of these factors point to a date of issue in the period 1667 to 1672.
At the time of this token’s issue the wording on its reverse side could be taken to indicate that many Londoners may not have known whereabouts its place of issue in the city was. Presumably while many people may not have heard of relatively new and obscure road by the name of St. Albans Street most of them will have been much more familiar with the neighbouring location of St. James Market.
While this token issue is the only one known from St. Albans Street there are over twenty types recorded from the neighbouring area of St. James Market-place. The earliest of these is dated 1664.
The above copper farthing measures 15.6 mm and weighs 0.92 grams. It was possibly issued by the landlord of a Tun Inn or Tavern in Aldersgate Street, London.
Obverse: (star) AT.THE.TVNN.IN , around depiction of a barrel (or tun) on its side.
Reverse: (star) ALDERSGATE. STREET , around a triad comprising T | .A. | .E
Aldersgate Street (c.1720)
Aldersgate Street ran north from the Aldersgate in the city wall through the Ward of Aldersgate Without.
Based on the style of this farthing token it is likely to date to the 1650s. With only the triad of the token issuers’ initials to work on (i.e. Mr. T.A. and Mrs. E.A.) it is very difficult to attribute it to named individuals. Trading under the sign of the tun (i.e. barrel) it is very likely that the token’s issuers were inn or tavern keepers as the symbol of the “tun” is synonymous with that of vituallers of the time. A review of Hearth Tax returns for Aldersgate Street in 1666 indicates only one male individual with initials that fit those on the token. These belong to a Thomas Apsley who is recorded as a single man occupying a property having 2 hearths. If this is the same person as the Mr. T.A. mentioned in the token (of which there is only a possibility) it has to be assumed that by 1666 Thomas Apsley had become a widower and was no-longer a publican as such a small number of hearths is not typical for a tavern or inn.
A penny token issued in the name of Edward Shrawley of Creechurch Lane, London
The above copper penny token measures 24.1 mm and weighs 4.95 grams. It was issued in 1669 in the name of Edward Shrawley who operated his business at the sign of the Crown in Creechurch Lance in the Aldgate Ward of the City of London. The design of the token may be formally described as follows;
Obverse: (rosette) EDWARD. SHRAWLEY . AT . YE . CROWN , around twisted wire inner circle, a crown within.
Reverse: (rosette) IN. CEEECHVRCH . LANE . 1669, around twisted wire inner circle, legend within three lines reads HIS / (rosette) I D (rosette) plus triad below comprising E |(rosette) S (rosette) | (rosette) I.
A similar design of half penny token is also recorded with the issue date of 1666.
Creechurch Lane, Aldgate Ward, London (c.1720)
Based on a review of surviving London parish registers plus the apprenticeship registers of the Worshipful Company of Vintners it appears highly likely that Edward Shrawley was born in 1644 and baptised on 3rd November of that same year in the church of St. Mary at Hill, Billingsgate . His parents were Thomas and Sarah Shrawley. Thomas Shrawley was a grocer and citizen of London.
At the age of fifteen Edward was bound apprentice by his father to Brian Appleby, a London Vintner. It is likely that Edward served a typical seven-year apprenticeship before gaining his freedom and becoming a Vintner in his own right at the age of twenty-two.
Edward obviously had ambitions and a new what he wanted from life. Within less than a year of striking out on his own he was married and within three years it appears he was the proprietor of the Crown (we must assume a tavern) in Chreechurch Lane in the Aldgate Ward of the city of London.
On 4th April 1666/7 the parish register of St. James Dukes Place show Edward marrying Josinah Minshull. The initial I/J in the triad of issuers’ initials on the above token’s reverse is obviously that of his wife’s christian name.
A year after their marriage Edward and Josinah had their first child, a son who was baptised Edward at the neighbouring church of St. Katherine Cree, located on the corner of Leadenhall Street and Creechurch Lane. This part of the city was spared from destruction during the Great Fire of London in early September of 1666 and property prices and associated rents in the area at this time must have been at premium levels.
In 1681 Edward and Josinah had a second son. He again was baptised as Edward at the parish church of St. Katherine Cree. In the parish register the baby’s farther is recorded as Captain Edward Shrawley. It is possible that Edward had become a member of the local city militia or “trained bands”. As will become apparent later this is a title that Edward appears proud to have used until at least the early 1683.
The Parish Church of St Katharine Cree at the junction of Chreechurch Lane and Leadenhall Street in the Aldgate Ward of the city.
A copy of Edward Shrawley’s Last Will and Testimony exists in the collections of the Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library (London) and is dated 6th August 1690. The cover of the Will bears the note that it had passed probate by 5th February 1694/5. His Will confirms the name of his wife still as Josinah, and his profession as a London vintner. It also confirms the then existence of two surviving children, a son Edward and a daughter Martha.
The signature and seal of Edward Shrawley, taken from his Last Will & Testimony of 6th August 1690.
As yet the current writer has found no references to a Crown Tavern in Creechurch Lane or any reference to Edward Shrawley in the city Hearth Tax returns of the 1660s. In the 18th century there is a recorded trade sign in Creechurch Lane of “Three Sugar Loaves and Crown” which may have been related to a nearby Crown Tavern? To the south-west of Creechurch Lane on the southern side of Leadenhall Street (see location 20 on the above plan) there was a “Crown Tavern” but again there is no reference to a Mr. Shrawley in that street in the Hearth Tax returns of the 1660s.
Over the course of his career Edward took on apprentices of his own. At least two indentures exist prepared under the seal of The Worshipful Company of Vintners and dated 1672 and 1674 contracting two separate boys to the terms of seven and eight years respectively as apprentices to Edward Shrawley.
A vintner by the name Edward Shrawley was buried in St. Saviours parish church in Southwark on 2nd November 1694. Given the deceased stated profession in the burial register plus the close proximity of his burial date compared to the probate date on the Will of Edward Shrawley the token issuer, we must assume they are one and the same person and that Edward died a day short of his fiftieth birthday.
According to the apprenticeship records of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, Edward Shrawley’s surviving son, Edward, followed in his farther’s footsteps. Two years after his father’s death young Edward was bound as an apprentice to Thomas Harris, a London vintner.
It is not clear what became of Josinah after Edward’s death. However, listings exist of a widow Shrawley living in the district of Cripplegate Within in 1703 and 1704 and a further record of the burial of a Mrs. Josina Shrawley at All Saints Church, Edmonton. It is almost certain that the latter was Edward’s widow as there is a least one other know link between the Shrawley family and this area of Middlesex. In the churchyard of what was once Weld Chapel, a former chapel of ease to the church of All Saints, Edmonton and now the site of Christ Church, Southgate, can be found the grave marker illustrated below. It records the death of Rebecca Shrawley, the daughter of Captain Edward Shrawley, who died on the 9th September 1683, at the age of 4 months and 6 days. It appears that the Shrawley family has strong connections with the Edmonton area and may even have had a second home there. It was not uncommon in the 17th century for wealthier trades and business men to have a second home in rural Middlesex within easy communication with the city.
The 1683 grave marker of Rebecca Shrawley in the churchyard of Christ Church, Southgate, Middlesex.
A farthing token issued in the names of Daniel Burry of Cousin Lane, London
The above copper farthing token measures 15.9 mm and weighs 0.76 grams. It was issued in the name of Daniel Burry of Cousin Lane, Dowgate. Cousin Lane was located in the Dowgate Ward of the city and ran off the south side of Thames Street down to a slip way and wharf on the River Thames. This lane formed the western boundary of Steelyard (or Steel / Still Yard) and was located in an area containing several warehouses and goods storage yards all of which backed onto the north bank of the River Thames.
The design of the token may be formally described as follows;
Obverse: .DAN . BURRY WOODMVNGR , around twisted wire inner circle, depiction of four barred gate within.
Reverse: .CVZEN LANE . AT . DOWGAT, around twisted wire inner circle, a triad within reads D|.B.|M below (.)
On stylistic grounds this farthing token appears to date from the mid 1650s t0 the early 1660s.
Cousin Lane from John Ogilby & William Morgan’s 1676 Map of the City of London
Daniel Burry (or possibly Berry) was a woodmunger, or domestic fuel (i.e. wood and coal) salesman. He probably traded at the sign of the gate in the terrace row which ran along Cousin Lane and backed onto Dowgate Dock. The properties on the eastern side of Cousin lane backed onto Steel Yard. In the 1662 Hearth Tax returns his property is listed as having 5 hearths.
On 2nd September 1666 this area of the city was destroyed during the first morning of the Great Fire of London. In the first of his famous diary entries (reproduced in part below) which document the progress of the fire Samuel Pepys described its progress that first morning and how he witnessed it engulf the warehouses and storage yards in the vicinity of Steel Yard. These contained a plethora of combustible goods including, brandy and spirits, rope and cord, tallow and wax, wool and cloth, pitch and tar plus coal and (in the case of our particular token issuer) wood.
“(Lord’s day). Some of our mayds sitting up late last night to get things ready against our feast to-day, Jane called us up about three in the morning, to tell us of a great fire they saw in the City. So I rose and slipped on my nightgowne, and went to her window, and thought it to be on the backside of Marke-lane at the farthest; but, being unused to such fires as followed, I thought it far enough off; and so went to bed again and to sleep. About seven rose again to dress myself, and there looked out at the window, and saw the fire not so much as it was and further off. So to my closett to set things to rights after yesterday’s cleaning. By and by Jane comes and tells me that she hears that above 300 houses have been burned down to-night by the fire we saw, and that it is now burning down all Fish-street, by London Bridge. So I made myself ready presently, and walked to the Tower, and there got up upon one of the high places, Sir J. Robinson’s little son going up with me; and there I did see the houses at that end of the bridge all on fire, and an infinite great fire on this and the other side the end of the bridge; which, among other people, did trouble me for poor little Michell and our Sarah on the bridge. So down, with my heart full of trouble, to the Lieutenant of the Tower, who tells me that it begun this morning in the King’s baker’s house in Pudding-lane, and that it hath burned St. Magnus’s Church and most part of Fish-street already. So I down to the water-side, and there got a boat and through bridge, and there saw a lamentable fire. Poor Michell’s house, as far as the Old Swan, already burned that way, and the fire running further, that in a very little time it got as far as the Steeleyard, while I was there. Everybody endeavouring to remove their goods, and flinging into the river or bringing them into lighters that layoff; poor people staying in their houses as long as till the very fire touched them, and then running into boats, or clambering from one pair of stairs by the water-side to another. And among other things, the poor pigeons, I perceive, were loth to leave their houses, but hovered about the windows and balconys till they were, some of them burned, their wings, and fell down. Having staid, and in an hour’s time seen the fire: rage every way, and nobody, to my sight, endeavouring to quench it, but to remove their goods, and leave all to the fire, and having seen it get as far as the Steele-yard, and the wind mighty high and driving it into the City; and every thing, after so long a drought, proving combustible, even the very stones of churches…..”
The neighbourhood of Steel Yard on the north bank of the River Thames, London. (c.1540).
After the Great Fire it appears that Daniel Burry re-built his property in Cousin Lane and is recorded as having paid for the staking out of foundations associated with the re-building of at least four other properties in the vicinity of Dowgate. The receipts, each for 6s and 8d, for staking out these various properties were received from Daniel Burry by the city authorities on the following dates;
Cozen (Cousin) Lane, near Dowgate – 14th December 1667
Dowgate Hill, at ye west Corner Hill – 7th April 1668
Dowgate Hill, at ye west Corner Hill – 7th April 1668
Dowgate Hill, east side – 4th September 1668
Dowgate Hill, east side – 4th September 1668
The last four of these foundations were surveyed by the famous Robert Hooke under his post Great Fire role of Surveyor of the City of London.
No further information has yet come to light regarding Daniel Burry or his wife (possibly Margaret or Mary) or business post the Great Fire although the present writer has been discovered a burial register entry, dated 23rd February 1698, for a Daniel Burry in the parish registers of All-Hallows-the-Great. This church was situated on Thames Street just east of Steel Yard. It was one of the many parish churches re-built by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire. This church would almost certainly have been that to which Daniel Burry, the woodmunger of Cousin Lane from the 1650s and 60s, would have attended.
A farthing token issued in the names of Jerrard and Hutton, tradesmen in East Smithfield, London
The above copper farthing token measures 15.4 mm and weighs 0.81 grams. It was issued in the joint names of John Hutton and G. Jerrard and of East Smithfield, an area to the immediate east of the Tower of London which runs along the southern boundary of the parish of St. Botolph without Aldgate and the northern edge of the parish of St. Katherine’s by The Tower.
This token is an interesting example of two persons, apparently of different trades, were jointly responsible for issuing a token in both of their names.
The design of the token may be formally described as follows;
Obverse: (star) I.HVTTON. G.IERARD , around twisted wire inner circle, depiction of four candles suspended from a cord strung between the ends of a crescent moon.
The first person listed on the obverse of the token, i.e. J. Hutton, has been identified as John Hutton who, given the appearance of a string of candles on the obverse of the token, may have been a tallow chandler who possibly operated at the sign of the Half Moon in East Smithfield. In the Hearth Tax returns for 1666 there is a listing for a John Hutton paying tax on 3 hearths “street side” in St. Botolph Aldgate.
The second individual listed, G. Jerard, has not been identified. It has been postulated that the reverse sign of a wheatsheaf may imply that he was a baker. Alternatively he may have been alternatively employed in a different trade operating from the sign of the Wheatsheaf in East Smithfield. The sign of the Wheatsheaf in combination with other objects has been noted as being used by haberdashers, lacemen, woolen draper. mercers and sundry others by Bryant Lillywhite in his book “London Signs”.
A farthing token issued in the name of The Hercules Pllars in Fleet Street, London
The above brass farthing token measures 15.8 mm and weighs 0.93 grams. It was issued in the name of The Hercules Pillars Tavern in Fleet Street, London.
The design of the token may be formally described as follows;
Obverse: (star) THE.HERCVLVS.PILLERS , around twisted wire inner circle, depiction of Hercules with a rope wrapped around his waist pushing against two pillars. Reverse: (star) IN.FLEET.STREETE.WESTMINSTER , around twisted wire inner circle, triad I /. S . / .M within.
Stylistically this undated farthing token likely dates to the mid 1650s and was probably struck by David Rammage at the Tower Mint. The initials of the couple that ran The Hercules Pillars at the time this token was issued (i.e. Mr. “J (or I).M” and his wife Mrs.”S.M.”) have not been positively identified although one researcher has proposed that those of the landlord belong to a Mr. John Symons.
From c.1657 to at least 1666 The Hercules Pillars tavern was run by Edward Oldham who issued his own half penny token in the names of himself and his wife. stylistically this later token appears to date to the mid 1660s. In the 1666 Hearth Tax return the tavern appears to have 17 hearths.
The location of Hercules Pillar Alley off the south side of Fleet Street from John Ogilby & William Morgan’s 1676 Map of the City of London
The Hercules Pillars was built-in the time of King James I and was a tavern of great repute in the 17th century with lovers of good living. It stood at the head of Hercules Pillar Alley on the south side of Fleet Street, south-west of St. Dunstan’s Church and north of Temple Churchyard. In John Strype‘s Survey of London (1720) he describes Hercules Pillars Alley as;
“Hercules Pillars Alley, but narrow, and altogether inhabited by such as keep Public Houses for Entertainment, for which it is of Note.”
In a letter of advice to a foreigner visiting England in 1679 the philosopher John Loche sates the following on the subject of “the home made ales of England”;
“There are also several sorts of compound ales, as cock-ale, wormwood-ale, lemon-ale, scurvy-grass-ale, colledge-ale etc. These are to be had at Hercules’ Pillars, near the Temple.”
The Hercules Pillars tavern was a popular haunt of Samuel Pepys . He mentions it in 26 separate entries in his famous diaries. These entries are listed chronologically below.
11th October 1660
“Here, in the Park, we met with Mr. Salisbury, who took Mr. Creed and me to the Cockpitt to see “The Moore of Venice,” which was well done. Burt acted the Moore; ‘by the same token, a very pretty lady that sat by me, called out, to see Desdemona smothered. From thence with Mr. Creed to Hercules Pillars, where we drank and so parted, and I went home.”
30th October 1660
“In the afternoon, to ease my mind, I went to the Cockpit all alone, and there saw a very fine play called “The Tamer Tamed;” very well acted. That being done, I went to Mr. Crew’s, where I had left my boy, and so with him and Mr. Moore (who would go a little way with me home, as he will always do) to the Hercules Pillars to drink, where we did read over the King’s declaration in matters of religion, which is come out to-day, which is very well penned, I think to the satisfaction of most people.”
4th January 1660/61
“After dinner Mr. Moore and I to the Theatre, where was “The Scornful Lady,” acted very well, it being the first play that ever he saw. Thence with him to drink a cup of ale at Hercules Pillars, and so parted.”
30th July 1661
“So in Fleet Street I met with Mr. Salisbury, who is now grown in less than two years’ time so great a limner (i.e. a portrait painter or book illuminator) thathe isbecome excellent, and gets a great deal of money at it. I took him to Hercules Pillars to drink, and there came Mr. Whore (whom I formerly have known), a friend of his to him, who is a very ingenious fellow, and there I sat with them a good while, and so home …..”
27th March 1663
“Thence I to the Exchequer again, and thence with Creed into Fleet Street, and calling at several places about business; in passing, at the Hercules pillars he and I dined though late, and thence with one that we found there, a friend of Captain Ferrers I used to meet at the playhouse, they would have gone to some gameing house, but I would not but parted, and staying a little in Paul’s Churchyard, at the foreign Bookseller’s looking over some Spanish books….”
29th October 1663
“…Being wearied with looking upon a company of ugly women, Creed and I went away, and took coach and through Cheapside, and there saw the pageants, which were very silly, and thence to the Temple, where meeting Greatorex, he and we to Hercules Pillars, there to show me the manner of his going about of draining of fenns, which I desired much to know, but it did not appear very satisfactory to me, as he discoursed it, and I doubt he will faile in it. Thence I by coach home….”
21st June 1667
“Thence homewards, calling at my Tailor’s to bespeak some coloured clothes, and thence to Hercules Pillars, all alone, and there spent 6d. on myself, and so home and busy all the morning. At noon to dinner, home….”
6th February 1667/68
“At last I did find my wife staying for me in the entry; and with her was Betty Turner, Mercer, and Deb. So I got a coach, and a humour took us, and I carried them to Hercules Pillars, and there did give them a kind of a supper of about 7s., and very merry, and home round the town, not through the ruines; and it was pretty how the coachman by mistake drives us into the ruines from London-wall into Coleman Street: and would persuade me that I lived there.”
20th April 1668
“Thence with Creed, thinking, but failed, of dining with Lord Crew, and so he and I to Hercules Pillars, and there dined, and thence home by coach….”
22nd April 1668
“Up, and all the morning at my office busy. At noon, it being washing day, I toward White Hall, and stopped and dined all alone at Hercules Pillars, where I was mighty pleased to overhear a woman talk to her counsel how she had troubled her neighbours with law, and did it very roguishly and wittily.”
28th April 1668
“Thence with Creed to Hercules Pillars by the Temple again, and there dined he and I all alone, and thence to the King’s house….”
1st May 1668
“Thence I by coach to the Temple, and there set him down, and then to Sir G. Carteret’s to dine, but he not being at home, I back again to the New Exchange a little, and thence back again to Hercules Pillars, and there dined all alone, and then to the King’s playhouse, and there saw “The Surprizall…”
2nd May 1668
“At noon with Lord Brouncker in his coach as far as the Temple, and there ‘light and to Hercules Pillars, and there dined, and thence to the Duke of York’s playhouse, at a little past twelve, to get a good place in the pit……”
13th May 1668
“Thence, at noon, to Hercules Pillars, and there dined all alone, and so to White Hall, some of us attended the Duke of York…”
23rd June 1668
“So I away with my wife and Deb., whom I left at Unthanke’s, and so to Hercules Pillars, and there we three supped on cold powdered beef, and thence home and in the garden walked a good while with Deane, talking well of the Navy miscarriages and faults. So home to bed.”
31st August 1668
“Up, and to my office, there to set my journal for all the last week, and so by water to Westminster to the Exchequer, and thence to the Swan, and there drank and did baiser la fille there, and so to the New Exchange and paid for some things, and so to Hercules Pillars, and there dined all alone, while I sent my shoe to have the heel fastened at Wotton’s, and thence to White Hall to the Treasury chamber, where did a little business, and thence to the Duke of York’s playhouse…..”
9th November 1668
“So I staid about the Court a little while, and then to look for a dinner, and had it at Hercules-Pillars, very late, all alone, costing me 10d. And so to the Excise Office, thinking to meet Sir Stephen Fox and the Cofferer….”
18th November 1668
“Lay long in bed talking with my wife, she being unwilling to have me go abroad, saying and declaring herself jealous of my going out for fear of my going to Deb., which I do deny, for which God forgive me, for I was no sooner out about noon but I did go by coach directly to Somerset House, and there enquired among the porters there for Dr. Allbun, and the first I spoke with told me he knew him, and that he was newly gone into Lincoln’s Inn Fields, but whither he could not tell me, but that one of his fellows not then in the way did carry a chest of drawers thither with him, and that when he comes he would ask him. This put me into some hopes, and I to White Hall, and thence to Mr. Povy’s, but he at dinner, and therefore I away and walked up and down the Strand between the two turnstiles, hoping to see her out of a window, and then employed a porter, one Osbeston, to find out this Doctor’s lodgings thereabouts, who by appointment comes to me to Hercules pillars, where I dined alone, but tells me that he cannot find out any such, but will enquire further.”
23rd November 1668
“Thence with W. Hewer, who goes up and down with me like a jaylour, but yet with great love and to my great good liking, it being my desire above all things to please my wife therein. I took up my wife and boy at Unthank’s, and from there to HerculesPillars, and there dined, and thence to our upholster’s, about some things more to buy, and so to see our coach, and so to the looking-glass man’s, by the New Exchange, and so to buy a picture for our blue chamber chimney, and so home…”
9th December 1668
“This done, and having spent 6d. in ale in the coach, at the door of the Bull Inn, with the innocent master of the house, a Yorkshireman, for his letting us go through his house, we away to Hercules Pillars, and there eat a bit of meat: and so, with all speed, back to the Duke of York’s house, where mighty full again; but we come time enough to have a good place in the pit, and did hear this new play again….”
20th January 1668/69
“Thence to my wife at Unthanke’s, and with her and W. Hewer to Hercules Pillars, calling to do two or three things by the way, and there dined, and thence to the Duke of York’s house, and saw “Twelfth Night,” as it is now revived; but, I think, one of the weakest plays that ever I saw on the stage.”
10th February 1668/69
“Up, and with my wife and W. Hewer, she set us down at White Hall, where the Duke of York was gone a-hunting: and so, after I had done a little business there, I to my wife, and with her to the plaisterer’s at Charing Cross, that casts heads and bodies in plaister: and there I had my whole face done; but I was vexed first to be forced to daub all my face over with pomatum: but it was pretty to feel how soft and easily it is done on the face, and by and by, by degrees, how hard it becomes, that you cannot break it, and sits so close, that you cannot pull it off, and yet so easy, that it is as soft as a pillow, so safe is everything where many parts of the body do bear alike. Thus was the mould made; but when it came off there was little pleasure in it, as it looks in the mould, nor any resemblance whatever there will be in the figure, when I come to see it cast off, which I am to call for a day or two hence, which I shall long to see. Thence to Hercules Pillars, and there my wife and W. Hewer and I dined, and back to White Hall, where I staid till the Duke of York come from hunting, which he did by and by, and, when dressed, did come out to dinner; and there I waited: and he did tell me that to-morrow was to be the great day that the business of the Navy would be dis coursed of before the King and his Caball, and that he must stand on his guard, and did design to have had me in readiness by, but that upon second thoughts did think it better to let it alone, but they are now upon entering into the economical part of the Navy.”
12th February 1668/69
“….and so away vexed, and called my wife, and to Hercules Pillars, Tom and I, there dined; and here there coming a Frenchman by with his Shew, we did make him shew it us, which he did just as Lacy acts it, which made it mighty pleasant to me. So after dinner we away……”
22nd February 1668/69
“After the play done, we met with W. Batelier and W. Hewer and Talbot Pepys, and they follow us in a hackney-coach: and we all stopped at Hercules’ Pillars; and there I did give them the best supper I could, and pretty merry; and so home between eleven and twelve at night, and so to bed, mightily well pleased with this day’s work.”
21st April 1668/69
“This we were discoursing when my boy comes to tell me that his mistress was at the Gate with the coach, whither I went, and there find my wife and the whole company. So she, and Mrs. Turner, and The., and Talbot, in mine: and Joyce, W. Batelier, and I, in a hackney, to Hyde Park, where I was ashamed to be seen; but mightily pleased, though troubled, with a drunken coachman that did not remember when we come to ‘light, where it was that he took us up; but said at Hammersmith, and thither he was carrying of us when we come first out of the Park. So I carried them all to Hercules-Pillars, and there did treat them: and so, about ten at night, parted, and my wife, and I, and W. Batelier, home; and he gone, we to bed.”
30th April 1668/69
“This morning I did visit Mr. Oldenburgh, and did see the instrument for perspective made by Dr. Wren, of which I have one making by Browne; and the sight of this do please me mightily. At noon my wife come to me at my tailor’s, and I sent her home and myself and Tom dined at Hercules’ Pillars; and so about our business again, and particularly to Lilly’s, the varnisher about my prints, whereof some of them are pasted upon the boards, and to my full content. Thence to the frame-maker’s one Morris, in Long Acre, who shewed me several forms of frames to choose by, which was pretty, in little bits of mouldings, to choose by.”
A half penny token issued by John Parrett of Shire Lane, Temple Bar, London
The above copper half penny measures 20.8 mm and weighs 2.05 grams. It was issued in the name of John Parrett at the Sword and Buckler in Shire Lane in the district of Temple Bar Within, London in 1667.
Obverse: (rosette) IOHN.PARRETT.AT THE.SWORD , around twisted wire inner circle, within the depiction of a sword and buckler (i.e. small round shield).
Reverse: (rosette) AND.BUCKLER.SHEERE.LANE , around twisted wire inner circle. Legend within, HIS / HALFE / PENNY / 1667 in four lines.
Shire (or Sheere) Lane ran north off Fleet Street from its junction with the Strand at Temple Bar.
Shire Lane from John Ogilby & William Morgan’s 1676 Map of the City of London
From the information displayed on his token’s we can’t tell what John Parrett’s occupation was. There is also no record of him in Shire Lane in the 1666 London Hearth Tax returns. It is possible the tat the sign of the Sword and Buckler could have been used by a tavern but this is by no means certain. The sign itself may have been an indication that buckler play or so-called sword and buckler play may have been exhibited there or near by at some point in time. Sword and buckler play was once common in England, especially in the time of Elizabeth I.
Elizabeathan gentlemen engaging in sword and buckler play
By a proclamation of 1609 buckler play, bear-baiting and the singing of ballads was banded in the City of London and adjoining counties was to be prohibited and those transgressors of the new law were to be severely punished. However, on the restoration of King Charles II licences for the pastime of buckler-play and other mischievous sports were, for the payment of a fee, made available from the Master of Revels.
It is likely that it was a sword and buckler fight which Samuel Pepys described in his diary entry for 37th May 1667;
“So to my chamber, and there did some little business, and then abroad, and stopped at the Bear-garden-stairs, there to see a prize fought. But the house so full there was no getting in there, so forced to go through an alehouse into the pit, where the bears are baited; and upon a stool did see them fight, which they did very furiously, a butcher and a waterman. The former had the better all along, till by and by the latter dropped his sword out of his hand, and the butcher, whether not seeing his sword dropped I know not, but did give him a cut over the wrist, so as he was disabled to fight any longer. But, Lord! to see how in a minute the whole stage was full of watermen to revenge the foul play, and the butchers to defend their fellow, though most blamed him; and there they all fell to it to knocking down and cutting many on each side. It was pleasant to see, but that I stood in the pit, and feared that in the tumult I might get some hurt. At last the rabble broke up, and so I away to White Hall…”
In the time of John Stow, the famous Elizabethan historian of the City of London, it is recorded that every haberdasher sold bucklers. Hence it is said that the device was often associated with haberdasher.
In addition to John Parrett in Shire Lane the sign of the sword and buckler is also recorded during the period 1660 to 1720 by businesses operating at the following London addresses;
A half penny token issued by Thomas Clatworthy of White Hart Yard
The above copper half penny measures 21.0 mm and weighs 2.59 grams. It was issued by Thomas Clatworthy at the sign of the Crooked Billet (i.e. a crooked stick) in White Hart Yard in 1666.
Obverse: (rosette) THOMAS.CLATWORTHY.AT.THE , around twisted wire, within the depiction of a crooked billet.
Reverse: (rosette) IN.WHITE.HART.YARD.1666 , around twisted wire inner circle HIS / HALFE / PENNY in three lines, below four dots arranged in a cross pattern.
There are still public houses and restaurants in south-east England that trade under the name of the “Crooked Billet”. A crooked billet was a bent wooden stick or cudgel which was used to play a game which was possibly a for runners of modern-day cricket.
The fact that these tokens are found in and around the vicinity of London indicates that they originate from that locality. Unfortunately the token issuer or his address has not been fully identified with any one particular location in this area. Possible contending areas for the token’s origin are as follows;
White Hart Yard – Stepney
White Hart Inn Yard – Holborn
White Hart Yard – Drury Lane
White Hart Yard – St. Martin’s Lane, Westminster
White Hart Yard – Tothill Street, Westminster
White Hart Yard – Bermondsey, Surrey
White Hart Yard – Southwark, Surrey
Searches of the 1662, 1664 and 1666 Hearth Tax returns for London and Westminster (made by myself) have returned no entries for anyone with the name Clatworthy or Clayworthy etc.
A half penny of John Warner, Aldersgate Street, London
The above copper half penny measures 21.0 mm and weighs 2.05 grams. It was issued by John Warner of the Bell and Dolphin in Aldersgate Street, London, in 1668.
Obverse: (star) IOHN. WALNER. IN. 1668 , around twisted wire, within the depiction of a dolphin above a bell.
Reverse: (star) ALDERSGATE. STREET , around twisted wire inner circle HIS / HALFE / PENNY in three lines, below a triad comprising I | W. | A
Aldersgate Street (c.1720)
Aldersgate Street ran north from the Altersgate in the city wall through the Ward of Aldersgate Without. In John Ogilby and William Morgan’s 1676 Map of the City of London a “Bell Inn” is located at the northern end of Aldersgate Street at the location highlighted by location marker No.42 in the above street plan. It is very probable that the Bell Inn can be identified with the Bell and Dolphin alluded to on John Warner’s half penny token of 1668.
In the Hearth Tax returns for Altdersgate Street in 1666 John Warner is recorded as occupying a property having 11 hearths. This is very much in-line with him being an innkeeper. Based on the triad of his plus his wife’s initials on the reverse of his token it is possible that his wife’s name was Ann.
Mr. Pepys' Small Change 