John Freeth: Landlord of Freeth's Coffee House
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Our obsession with coffee shops / coffee houses didn't start in the early 21st century. You can go back to the late 18th century. Freeth's Coffee House was run by John Freeth, also known as the Celebrity Landlord and poet. His coffee house was on the corner of Bell Street and Lease Lane in Birmingham. A blue plaque at the Bullring marks the site near Bill's in the East Mall.
Known as the Birmingham Poet, John Freeth was born in 1731 and died in 1808. He was also known as Poet Freeth. He was an innkeeper, poet and songwriter. He owned Freeth's Coffee House between 1768 and his death in 1808. Also known as the Celebrity Landlord, he sat for many portraits during his lifetime. This one seen at the Birmingham History Galleries at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, was painted by an unknown artist. He was one of the major figures in Birmingham during the Midlands Enlightenment.
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The next picture seen in the Freeth's Coffee House exhibit at the Birmingham History Galleries is of John Freeth and his friends. They were members of a political society called the Jacobin Club. They commissioned Johannes Eckstein to paint their picture in 1792. Included in this picture was:
James Murray (Linen draper), John Wilkes (Cheese factor), John Freeth (Brassfounder), Richard Webster (Poet and publican), Jeremiah Vaux (Surgeon), John Collard (Hatter), John Miles (Lamp manufacturer), Samuel Toy (Steel toy manufacturer), James Bisset (Artist and owner of museum), Joseph Fearon (Tin merchant), James Sketchley (Auctioneer) and Joseph Blunt (Brazier).
It is more formerly known as John Freeth and His Circle.
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Time for a look around Freeth's Coffee House. It was the popular name of the Leicester Arms which was located on the corner of Bell Street and Lease Lane in Birmingham. It was first a tavern and later a coffee house, operating from 1736 until 1832. John Freeth was the landlord during the second half of the 18th century, and he would regularly entertain his customers with songs and poetry. It was one of the most celebrated meeting places in Georgian England. Small businessmen and lawyers would conduct business here. Radical groups such as the Birmingham Book Club would regularly meet here.
This window exhibit at the Birmingham History Galleries shows a view out of the window to the Statue of Horatio Nelson which would place it sometime after 1809, or later in the 19th century (after John Freeth had passed away). The statue is still there today and has survived various incarnations of the Bullring.
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Also in Freeth's Coffee House was this Grandfather Clock. Is it time for coffee? It was placed close to the window in the Birmingham History Galleries.
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Heading over to the Bullring there is a blue plaque near Bill's from the Birmingham Civic Society, close to the East Mall (Selfridges is not that far away). The plaque reads: "John Freeth The Birmingham Poet of Bell Street 1731 - 1808". A shop called Mango was previously in the units now occupied by Bill's. At Bill's you can have Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. Open from 8am 'til late.
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This modern scene of th Horatio Nelson statue at the Bullring was from the summer of 2009. The closest coffee house / coffee shop to where Freeth's Coffee House was, is probably this Starbucks Coffee (still there in 2019). The statue has been Grade II* listed since 1952. The statue was moved in 1961, and later after the recent Bullring redevelopment was moved closer to St Martin's Church. In 2005 the railings were restored.
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A bonus John Freeth site coming up.
If you are ever on a bus heading round Camp Hill Circus between Camp Hill and the Stratford Road, you might notice a plaque on the dual carriageway of Bordesley Middleway. I once went to check it out, and I found a plaque about the site of the Ship Inn. A pub on this site from about 1560 to 1972. Most famous for being Prince Rupert's headquarters in 1643, before he attacked Birmingham with a Royalist army during the Civil War. Is probably where the Camp Hill name came from.
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It's hard to imagine now, but a pub used to be on this site until the 1970s. When John Freeth and his friends came here in the 18th century, it was known as The Anchor. The pub was at the corner of Sandy Lane and Camp Hill. The old inn was pulled down in 1867. A new pub was built on the foundations of it's site called the Ship Hotel. But it only survived until the road's around here were realigned in the 1970s. The Camp Hill Flyover was built, but it was only a temporary solution to the traffic problems around here. Camp Hill Circus was built in the 1980s. Today it is free flowing, sometimes has a lot of traffic during rush hour. Only traffic lights are for the pelican crossings. I think they should have permanent lights at all junctions there (Stratford Road from the south, Highgate Middleway to the west, Camp Hill to the north and Bordesley Middleway to the east).
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The only surviving pub near here is the Brewer & Baker at the corner of Camp Hill and Bordesley Middleway (near Old Camp Hill). But it is quite derelict, been closed for years, and was a fire there in recent years. Could do with either A: restoring, or B: demolishing. Should never have been left in that state!
Photos taken by Elliott Brown.