Nos. 13–19 (consec.) Great Piazza
with No. 13 Russell Street
Part of sites of the Royal Opera House, the Floral
Hall and Russell Street market area
No. 13–14
The house which was let to (Sir) Edward
Sydenham in 1634
(ref. 95) occupied, with its garden,
the largest site in the Piazza. The portico building itself stood in the north-east angle of the
Piazza and filled two bays of the east side; its
garden extended northward to Hart Street. In
1669 it was divided into two parts which were
later converted into the Shakespeare's Head
Tavern and the Bedford Coffee House. The
latter was the earlier of these two establishments,
being first rated as a coffee house in 1726 when
Sarah Gardiner was probably the proprietress. (ref. 42)
At this time it appears to have occupied a building
at the rear, but later expanded into the southern
part of the portico building. (ref. 96)
In 1731 the whole of the site formerly let to
Sydenham was let to John Rich for the erection
of Covent Garden Theatre. (ref. 96) The theatre
was built over the combined gardens of this and of
the adjoining house southwards, No. 16–17.
The front of the portico building was retained,
but the northern part, where it adjoined the
theatre site, was altered to accommodate the
principal entrance to the theatre.
The Bedford Coffee House continued in the
southern part of the portico building (No. 14),
and the northern part (No. 13) was converted into
the Shakespeare's Head, or Shakespeare, Tavern
and Coffee House. The exact date of the
Shakespeare's establishment is not certain. It
was in existence by 1738 when Richard Croft
was rated for this part of the house, but may have
begun in 1736, when Croft first became the
tenant. (ref. 97) In 1747 Packington Tomkyns, vintner, became the proprietor. (ref. 98) James Campbell is
said to have taken over the management in 1769
but Tomkyns continued to pay rates for the tavern
until 1774 (ref. 97) and did not assign his sub-lease to
Campbell until 1785. (ref. 99) In 1792 the Duke of
Bedford granted Campbell a lease of the tavern,
which hitherto had been held by the proprietors
as undertenants of John Rich and then of his
widow, Priscilla. (ref. 100)
The Shakespeare appears to have been a
popular rendezvous for the dissipated; several
clubs and masonic lodges also met there to dine
and the electors of Westminster held anniversary
dinners at the tavern to celebrate Charles James
Fox's first return to Parliament as their member. (ref. 101)
After the decline of Button's Coffee House in
Russell Street the celebrated lion's head letterbox there was transported to the Shakespeare and
subsequently to the Bedford Coffee House. It
was eventually bought at a sale of James Campbell's effects in 1804 by Charles Richardson, (ref. 102)
who transferred it to his own coffee room in No.
43 King Street.
The Shakespeare came to an end in 1804 and
the empty premises were burned during the fire
which destroyed Covent Garden Theatre in
1808. (ref. 103) A coffee house and tavern of the same
name was later opened in Russell Street under a
different proprietor. (ref. 101) What little remained of
the old Shakespeare's premises was incorporated
into the Bedford Coffee House. (ref. 104)
An earlier addition to the Bedford Coffee
House had occurred in 1785 when, for the first
time, the proprietor had been granted a direct
lease from the Duke of Bedford which included
the building (No. 15) at the back of Sir Godfrey
Kneller's house, latterly occupied by John Rich
and his wife (ref. 105) (see below).
In 1790 Stephen Kinsey, vintner, the proprietor, leased the Bedford to John Wake. From
1802 the coffee house appears to have been
associated with the Bedford Hotel at No. 16–17.
Wake assigned his interest in the coffee house to
Robert Joy in 1804 (ref. 106) and in 1811 William
White succeeded Joy. (ref. 56) White also became owner
of the Bedford Hotel in 1823 and thereafter the
two businesses were amalgamated (see below).
Nos. 15–17
The more northerly of the two portico
buildings let to Sir Edmund Verney in 1634 (here
numbered 16–17) occupied, like the more
southerly, three bays of the Piazza front. It was
inhabited by Sir Godfrey Kneller from 1682 to
1702. During his tenancy (perhaps in about 1698)
a building (No. 15) was erected at the rear of the
house on part of the garden site, (ref. 42) accessible by a
passage from the Piazza through the north part
of No. 16–17. When the portico house to the
north (No. 13–14) was granted in 1731 to John
Rich for the erection of Covent Garden Theatre,
Kneller's old house and its back premises were
also granted to Rich for the same purpose. (ref. 96)
The theatre was erected on the site of the two
gardens. The back-building, No. 15, was occupied by John Rich and then by his widow until
1767; in 1785 it was transferred on lease to the
proprietor of the Bedford Coffee House. (ref. 105) The
front or portico building, No. 16–17, was sub-let,
being occupied from 1760 to 1768 by Charles
Moran, a bookseller. (ref. 107)
In 1802 No. 16–17 was let to John Wake,
who in the previous year had established a hotel
here, which he called the Bedford, as an adjunct
to the Bedford Coffee House at Nos. 14 and
15. (ref. 108) Wake transferred his interest in the
coffee house in 1804 and his interest in the hotel
in 1806 to Robert Joy. (ref. 109) Joy retained the hotel
until 1824, when it was taken over by William
White, who, since 1811, had been the proprietor
of the coffee house. In 1823 White obtained a
lease of the coffee house and hotel (ref. 110) which continued as a single business known as the Bedford
Hotel, latterly under the proprietorship of the
Ruddell family and then Mrs. Ann Warner,
until 1886. (ref. 111) The hotel was demolished in
1887–8 (ref. 42) for the extension of the market and the
site has ever since remained open.
No. 18–19 Great Piazza and No. 13 Russell Street
The southernmost of Sir Edmund Verney's
two houses was divided into two in about 1740, (ref. 112)
one part facing the Piazza and the other part,
east of the portico walk, fronting Russell Street.
In 1745 or 1746 the house facing the Piazza
(No. 18–19) was taken by Calvin Hawksbee
and Abraham Carter. (ref. 42) They established a
coffee house here, known as Sam's, for which
Hawksbee was licensed in 1753. (ref. 113) After Hawksbee's departure in 1755 the house was occupied
by William Naisby or Neasby from 1756 to 1761
and licensed under the name of the Hat and
Beaver. (ref. 114) A later occupant, Richard Corsbie,
was licensed for a coffee house in 1795 (ref. 115) but as
he was also rated for Wood's Hotel (on the north
side of the Piazza) in the same year, it is not clear
for which premises the licence was granted.
From 1761 leases for both houses were granted
to brewers (ref. 116) so that the use of the house facing
Russell Street (No. 13) as a public house may date
from that year. The first certain reference to a
public house on this site occurs in 1795 when
John Moore, who had occupied the house since
1781, was licensed for the Red Lion. (ref. 115)
Moore was succeeded in 1798 by Philip
Salter, victualler, who in 1801 also became the
occupant of the former coffee house facing the
Piazza. (ref. 117) Both premises continued in the possession of the Salter family for many years, under
the name of Salter's or the Russell Hotel and
Coffee House, or the Russell Hotel. (ref. 118) By 1866
the old name of the public house had been
revived (ref. 119) and the premises were thereafter known
as the Old Red Lion until 1886. The building
was demolished in 1887–8 for the extension of the
market. (ref. 42)