Plan of the Tavern as designed
by Frederick Pepys Cockerell
EXHIBITION DETAILS
Thursday 13 July to Friday 20 October
2006. Free of charge, Monday to Friday,
11am to 5pm.
BOOK
The Library and Museum is publishing
an illustrated book to accompany the
exhibition called The Hall in the Garden:
Freemasons’ Hall and its place in
London, available from Letchworths
Shop (www.letchworthshop.co.uk)
from July.
EVENTS AND TALKS
The Library and Museum is organising
a range of events to complement the
exhibition. Details are also available
on the Library and Museum website
on www.freemasonry.london.museum
or on an events programme available
on 020 7395 9257.
THURSDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER: A
CELEBRATION OF FREEMASONS’ HALL
The history of the Freemasons’ Hall site
from the 18th century to the 1930s is
marked by an evening reception with
wine, cocktails and music from Mozart to
the Jazz Age. There will be an
opportunity for a private view of the
exhibition, talks about aspects of the
history and tours of the building. 6pm-
8pm. Tickets £12.50 available from Emily
Greenstreet at the Library and Museum.
BEHIND THE SCENES TOURS
Available every Thursday at 3pm
throughout August, starting from the
exhibition. No booking required.
FREE LUNCHTIME TALKS
The following talks by members of
Library and Museum staff will take
place at 1.10pm on Tuesdays at
Freemasons’ Hall: 22 August: For hire:
Users of Freemasons’ Hall (Susan Snell).
29 August: Freemasons’ Hall in
Literature, film and television (Emily
Greenstreet) / 5 September: Deaths
and Dividends: The Freemasons’ Tontine
(Jessica Silver) / 12 September: Pieces
of Silver: The Jewels of Freemasons’
Hall (Alison Royle) / 19 September:
The History of the Library and Museum
(Martin Cherry) / 26 September: Great
Queen Street (Mark Dennis) / 3 October:
Builders and tradesmen: who really built
the Hall (Andrew Tucker) / 10 October:
Furnishing the Hall (Diane Clements).
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Major changes occurred in the 19th
century that altered the experience of eating
out in London and affected the nature of
business of the Freemasons’ Tavern.
Restaurants, often run by French or Swiss-Italian entrepreneurs such as Daniel Nicolas
Thevenon at the Café Royal, Pagani’s in the
Strand (1874), Oddenino’s and Frascati’s
were established, setting higher standards
with French haute cuisine and allowing
for mixed dining by both men and women.
The catering industry became more
commercialised, which introduced
additional capital, and catering companies
were able to build larger, more elaborate
restaurants which could offer a wide range
and price of meal. The first companies to
build hotels in London were the railway
companies building near their termini
(such as the Charing Cross Hotel at the
western end of the Strand in the 1860s),
but others soon joined this trend.
The Westminster Palace opened in 1860,
the Langham Hotel (Portland Place) in 1865
and the Savoy Hotel in 1889. The new
hotels offered food and accommodation and
tried to emulate the standards set by hotels
in Paris and New York. The contemporary
Langham Hotel Guide described this approach
as being “an attempt … to introduce the best
points of the three systems, English, French
and American, the comfort of the first being
amalgamated with the elegance of the
second and the discipline and organisation
of the third”.
All these new venues meant that there
were more places to cater for the growing
number of Lodges (the Café Royal was one
of many that had its own Lodge room),
thus competing with the Tavern.
At the same time, pressure was growing
within Grand Lodge to make greater
distinction between those areas used for
Masonic meetings and the eating and
drinking facilities of the Tavern. John
Havers, as President of the Board of General
Purposes, stated his view clearly, “It appears
to me a disgrace and reproach that the most
ancient, influential and by far the most
wealthy Grand Lodge in the world should
longer permit its headquarters to be used
as a Tavern”.
A committee under his control embarked
on an extensive rebuilding of the site,
including the Tavern, which was now to
have a large banqueting hall and eleven
other dining rooms of various sizes with
kitchens. It would retain its own entrance
from the street, but there would also be
direct access from the new building. The
Masonic buildings and the Tavern would
be made architecturally distinct.
A new company was formed in 1864 for
“the purchase of the lease, goodwill, and
stock in trade of the Freemasons’ Tavern”.
The prospectus for the new company
proposed to raise £65,000 by the sale of
shares and explained how “for nearly a
century … the Grand Hall” had been used
to hold “great public meetings of a large
number of the political, religious, and
educational societies”.
The existing tenant (David Shrewsbury
was closely involved with the company)
would continue to take an active part in
the management of the business of the
Company. It took over the tenancy in 1865,
but it did not prosper despite employing
the former royal chef, Charles Francatelli,
as manager from 1870 to 1876.
In 1877 one of the more established
commercial catering companies, Spiers and
Pond, took over the Tavern. Formed by
Felix Spiers and Christopher Pond, both
Englishmen, as a successful catering business
in the Australian gold fields and responsible
for taking the first English cricket team to
Australia, Spiers and Pond came to London
in the 1870s, when their business expanded.
They built the Criterion Restaurant and
Theatre at Piccadilly Circus in 1874 and also
catered at the Gaiety Theatre Restaurant
and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. They
ran the Tavern until 1905, but no further
improvements were made to the Tavern’s
facilities after the rebuilding in the 1860s,
and the standard of food and facilities was,
by the early 20th century, once again
attracting much criticism.
Frank Richardson, Grand Director of
Ceremonies, noted that “the Tavern is so
badly constructed, the kitchens in the wrong
place and no sufficient lifts, that it is utterly
impossible for any restaurateur to supply
good dinners in the place”.
Neither Grand Lodge nor Spiers and
Ponds were willing to pay for the necessary
improvements, and the Tavern closed for
several years whilst increasingly fraught
negotiations with prospective tenants took
place. In order to resolve this situation, in
March 1909, Grand Lodge decided to spend
£30,000 to put the Tavern premises in
proper order including rebuilding the
kitchen and enlarging the Banqueting Hall.
To mark this new era, the name of the
Tavern was changed to the Connaught
Rooms in honour of the Duke of
Connaught and Strathearn, who was the
Grand Master at the time, and agreement
was reached with the Connaught Rooms
Limited to take on a new lease. The
managing director of the company was
George Harvey, former manager of the
Hotel Cecil in the Strand (and later Mayor
of Holborn and MP for Kennington).
Under his leadership, the premises once
more became a successful venue.
Diane Clements is Director of the
Library and Museum of Freemasonry
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