Bertram Waldrom Matz

“ When once through the gateway, the imposing and picturesque building confronts you on the right, with its two galleries, stretching across the building, with its bedrooms running out of them, with a bell over each door, reminding you immediately of the minute descriptions of such scenes to be found in the pages of Dickens, particularly of the memorable one of Sam Weller cleaning the boots below and incidentally indulging in a dialogue with a maid leaning over the balustrades above, which is described as having occurred at the White Hart that once stood not very far away. ”

“ Added to all these pleasant reflections is the one, almost as uncommon as the Inn itself, that the amiable and good-natured proprietress, Miss Murray, is ever ready to welcome visitors, not merely because she has good wholesome English food and drink to dispense, but because she loves the old Inn and likes others to love it too. She maintains all the old traditions that such a place abounds in, and we can only hope that she will long remain to act as hostess, and that the ravages of the modern builder will never reach the walls of the old-time building. ”

“ THE GEORGE INN
SOUTHWARK
PART I
AS IT IS TO-DAY
"There is no private house in which people can enjoy themselves so well as at a capital tavern ... there is nothing which has been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced, as by a good tavern or inn."—Samuel Johnson. ”

“ Yet the only occasion, so far as we are aware, that the Novelist actually mentions the inn is in Little Dorrit, Book I., Chap. XXII, where Maggy, speaking of Tip, says: " If he goes into the " George " and writes a letter ..."
As The Dickensian for February, 1915, in reviewing Mr. Hopkinson Smith's book stated: "The 'George' Inn is just a fine survival of old days—the old days of which Dickens wrote—and is similar, in many respects, to what the 'White Hart' used to be. As such Dickensians have a great affection for it; there is no need to invent stories about it to justify their reverence." ”

“ The only case in which Dickens deliberately used the name of one inn for another was that of the Maypole and King's Head at Chigwell in Barnaby Rudge. But in this instance he admitted that he had done so, although it was scarcely necessary, for the inns were very dissimilar and the novelist's description of the latter could not be taken for the former.
The case of the "George" and the "White Hart" is different. They both stood quite near to each other at the time Dickens was writing The Pickwick Papers, and were both so named and both famous. ”

“ Although the present building of "The George Inn" is not older than the end of the seventeenth century, it seems to have been rebuilt, after the fire, upon the old plan, and it still preserves the character of the ancient English inns, having open wooden galleries leading to the chambers on each side of the inn yard. ”

“ Suspended from the wall is the old warming pan, without which no self-respecting inn could be considered complete. Between the kitchen and the bar-parlour, with its cosy sitting-room behind, runs the passage leading to the push-up window through which the waiter or waitress of the tap-room gives his—or her—orders.
The bar parlour itself is just ideal and if you can picture Dickens's description of the bar parlour of "The Six Jolly Fellowship Porters" in Our Mutual Friend, or even remember Marcus Stone's picture of it, you will get a good idea of that at the George. ”

“ Great rambling queer old places they are, with galleries and passages and staircases, wide enough and antiquated enough to furnish materials for a hundred ghost stories."—Charles Dickens in The Pickwick Papers.
Certain traditional legends naturally grow round our old London landmarks and, when once started, no matter how conjectural, they are hard to overtake or suppress.
The George Inn, is no exception in this respect, and the legend that is prone to cling to it is that it was the original of the "White Hart" inn of Pickwick fame ”

“ That which still exists is often made pretty in summer with flowers, as may be seen from one of our illustrations. The parts of the inn not devoted to important business are mostly occupied by people who frequent the very bustling Borough Market close at hand. But, alas, like the rest, the glory of the inn is departing! ”

“ It is pleasing to be able to bear witness to the thriving trade that continues to be done in this sole ancient survivor of the old Southwark galleried inns, and to note that, however harshly fate, as personified by rapacious landlords, has dealt with its kind, the old-world savour of the inn is thoroughly appreciated by those not generally thought sentimental persons, the commercial men who dine and lunch, and the commercial travellers who sleep there. ”

“ In the conveyance of 1785, the inn is described as having been formerly in the occupation of Mary Wayland (probably widow of Mark Wayland, who was the host in 1676) , afterwards of William Golding; and then of Thomas Green, who, in 1809, was succeeded by his niece, Frances, and her husband, Westerman Scholefield; since whose death "The George" has been, and is still, kept by his widow, Mrs. Frances Scholefield, now about eighty years of age. Mrs. Scholefield died in 1859, and Guy's Hospital granted a lease to George Grinslade, and, after his death, to his executors. ”

“ Beyond the coffee-room is another small apartment where little parties of "Ramblers" so often resort for tea; and, like all the rooms in the Inn is provided with mahogany tables, chairs and sideboards. Indeed, mahogany old dark polished mahogany predominates everywhere one goes; in bedrooms, sitting rooms, passages.
The way up to the galleries and bedrooms is by a winding broad staircase, old and worn by the use of thousands of travellers. ”

“ A return is made by the Warden to the Earl of Arundel, that the George Inn, or tenements within it, was built of brick and timber in 1622. The landlord is presented in 1634, and doubtless often besides on other occasions, because he allowed drinking during Divine service. 1637 Taylor, the Water Poet, tells us of the carriers who came from various parts of Surrey and Sussex to lodge at the George. In 1656, some angry poetaster had been served with bad sack at the George, and thus he vents his wrath:—
"The Devil would abhorre such posset-drink. ”

“ Jingle forfeited all claims to the lady's hand," and imagine, too, that the galleries could be accepted easily as those over which "the landlord shouted instructions to Sam in the Yard." But these flights of fancy could be indulged in even in the "New Inn," Gloucester, or any similar old coaching inn, if one so desired.
Mr. Percy FitzGerald, the greatest authority on The Pickwick Papers, is of the same opinion as ourselves on the point, and asks: "Why should notoriety be attached to the 'White Hart,' from which the 'George' was to be shielded?" ”

“ Inside the coffee-room a busy scene can be witnessed at lunch time when the votaries of the Hop Exchange take their mid-day meal and smoke afterwards round the fire, seated in tavern chairs of which Dr. Johnson spoke as being "the throne of human felicity." [2] Often visitors from all parts of the world come and join the company and enjoy a well-cooked meal in the surroundings of the old days.
In The Amateur Gentleman, by Jeffrey Farnol, the George is named as the Inn where Barnabas put up on his arrival in London. ”

“ In 30th George II., an Act of Parliament was passed for vesting the settled estates of Lillie Smith, Esq., and Valentina, his wife in trustees, to be sold. And in 1785, "The George Inn," with considerable other property, was sold and conveyed to Lillie Smith Aynescomb, Esq., of Thames Street, London, merchant; and within a few years past, it has been purchased by the trustees of Guy's Hospital, to which it adjoins. ”

“ Although the perfect picture can only be imagined, and there remains only the one side for us to actually visualize the galleries and bedrooms running out of them, we can at least be thankful that even so much remains.
Up above the second tier are long and spacious barns of attics, once used by commerical travellers to exhibit their wares, and where there are more bedrooms. Some of the rooms are now empty and useless, and rats and mice can revel there to their hearts' delight. ”

“ This contention, we submit, has no justification whatever.
It is surprising that so good a Dickensian as the late J. Ashby Sterry should have been one of those who favoured the idea. Whether he was the first to do so we are not aware. ”

“ Our poet-apes, that do so much impute
Unto the grape's inspirement."
In the year 1670, "The George Inn" was, in great part, burnt and demolished by a violent fire which then happened in the Borough, and it was totally burnt down in the great fire of Southwark, in 1676, which I have mentioned in speaking of the "Tabard," and of which I promised to give a further account in the history of "The George." ”

“ Set in an historic neighbourhood associated with Shakespeare and the players and, in more modern times, with Dickens and his characters, it has become the rendezvous of a continual flow of literary and antiquarian enthusiasts who never miss an opportunity for a visit to its enticing old-world rooms and exterior.
Literary men, artists and antiquaries on a visit to London still make the Inn their headquarters, and at times there is great competition for one of the two available bedrooms which still retain the old four-poster bedsteads. ”

“ His Majesty, accompanied by his Royal Highness the Duke of York, in a tender sense of the calamity, being pleased himself to go down to the bridge in his barge, to give such orders His Majesty found fit for putting a stop to it, which, through the mercy of God, was finally effected, after about 600 houses had been burnt or blown up. ”

“ Yet another such club was "The Rolling Stones," composed of business men from the West End. It first selected the George Inn for its festive gatherings some twenty years ago, but prior to that they met at the famous Stone's Chop House in Panton St., Haymarket, hence no doubt their name. The full title of their Club was "The most Secret Brotherhood of the Rolling Stones" and their notice of the dinner was couched in a fanciful style in travesty of Brigandage. It is so amusing we give it in full ”

“ Wayland rebuilt it, and had his rent reduced to £80 and a sugar-loaf. Wayland, in 1670, had a lease of Nicholas Andrewes. [5] In the great fire of the year 1676, the inn was totally destroyed, and rebuilt by the tenant; accordingly an extension of lease and a reduction of rent are granted, the old lease of thirty-nine years yet to run, and nineteen in addition, at a rent of £50 a year and a
THE REAR OF THE INN AND COACH YARD AS THEY WERE IN 1889 ”

“ But in the case of "The George" a very substantial portion is still to be seen as in the olden days. It is indeed the only example of the old galleried coaching inn of the the past now existing in London. ”

“ They had a special room reserved for their function in the wing of the building which was demolished in 1889-90, a picture of which will be found on another page. The "Four O'Clockers" was founded about the year 1860 and was only disbanded when their favourite room was demolished in 1889, the members then declining to be transported to the opposite side of the courtyard. It was one of the rigid laws of this coterie that no member should be late for dinner under penalty of a fine. ”