The Railway Tavern

first draft 2.2.2004 reformatted 1.2012

This is a picture of the Railway Tavern, Hamilton Street, Deptford. It was kindly sent to me by Richard Menari. The photograph was thought to have been taken in the 1880s, detail from the early photograph of 'The Railway Tavern', of a poseter for the Film 'Birth of a Nation' but having 'tweaked' the image I have noticed that I can now see an advertisement for the 1910 film 'Birth of a Nation' at the Scala Theatre! The landlord in the 1880s was Duncan Jenkins, who was thought to have been one of the gentlemen standing at the door. Mr. Jenkins bought the Railway Tavern some time after the 1881 census, and sold it in 1888.

My great grandfather Edward Hoare was the landlord in 1876 when my grandfather was born, but had moved on by 1881. LCTU was a apparently the London Carmen's Trade Union (there are references to it on the TUC website). The LCTU was formed in 1888 to represent carters working around London docks. It was renamed 'The National Union of Vehicle workers' in 1913, but the old initials painted on the windows of the pub would have probably not been changed for several years. NACPU must have been something similar, but I haven't yet traced it.

I understand that the building was demolished in the 1970s to make way for a small housing estate.

Regardless of the exact date of the photograph, it gives a very clear sense of what 'The Railway Tavern' would have been like when my family lived there.

JOHN HOARE'S FAMILY HISTORY

The Railway Tavern