Updates

As Britain celebrates the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens I admit to finding it difficult not to refer to this puzzle as “The Mystery Of Edwin DRUID”.

To explain a little; Anyone who has read either of Easdown and Rooney`s books on the history of Folkestone`s pubs will perhaps have noticed that even they appear to by mystified over the history and lineage of the Cooper`s Arms/London Stores/Druid`s Arms/Isle Of Cyprus, and for whatever reason I have, since the publication of Tales From The Tap Room, felt myself drawn towards this particular house. Not because there was any particular mystery for me, but because there was just SOMETHING.

Until I embarked on the research for Even More Tales From The Tap Room, perhaps with the idea of giving a little more substance to the stories contained in the books, I had never really had any doubts regarding the identity of the house(s) or the dates for the various changes of name. The books were the result of years of extensive research, but, as with many things, looking at a subject through different eyes can produce a picture not previously seen. It can, of course, also muddy previously clear waters.

Talking recently with Eamonn Rooney about the house, it has become clear that he, for many years, has had his doubts that these were one and the same house. There are anomalies in local directories – as mentioned in the book – to start with. There is, maybe, the evidence of architecture to support this theory. I can`t put my finger on it, but you get a “nose” for old pub buildings, and looking at the buildings near to the former Isle Of Cyprus leads us both to believe that a house just a couple of doors down the street may well have had a former incarnation as a pub.

With the “discovery” of a Red Lion in Bayle Street – previously unlisted – could this have been a forerunner of one of the above-listed?

The time-line of licensees in the house(s) with the assumed date of opening are listed below, but as will be seen there are a few anomalies with the names and dates. So far, however, no “proof” has come to light of the existence of two separate houses, just the confusion!

Coopers Arms c1830 – c1855

John Kennett Cooper c1830 c1840
James Punnett c1840 c1846
George Featherbee c1846 1851
John Bridgeland 1851 1852
John Ward 1852 1855 Renamed London Stores

Chronicle report 13-10-1855 William How licensed (see London Stores)

Observer reports 13-7-1861 and 27-7-1861 with Murphy as licensee (see London Stores)

Observer 26-10-1861 Transfer from Brown to Murphy (see London Stores)

London Stores c1855 – 1869

William How 1855 1857
John Dent 1857 1860

Chronicle report 2-10-1858 Dent applies for license
Philip Brown 1860 1861
Henry Patrick Murphy 1861 1863 To North Foreland

Chronicle report 3-11-1860 has Murphy as licensee

Chronicle report 27-7-1861 still calls it Coopers Arms
Richard Oliver 1863 1864
Richard Welch (Or Walsh) 1864 1866
Charles Mills 1866 1866
Henry Augustus Herwigg 1866 1866 Ex Harbour Inn. To Oxford Tavern
John Floyd 1866 1866
Frederick Toghill 1866 1867
James Pollard 1867 1868
William Holland 1868 1869 Renamed Druids Arms

Chronicle advertisement 22-3-1878 to REBUILD London Stores

Chronicle report 24-8-1878 re-licensed after rebuilding (although house not named in report)

Druids Arms 1869 – 1877

Observer advertisement 23-11-1867 pre-dates name change

Express report 11-9-1869 Spirit license to Monckton

Clarence Monckton 1869 1870
Thomas Cobb 1870 1871

Express report 7-1-1871 Transfer Cobb to Parks AFTER IT HAD BEEN CLOSED FOR SOME TIME
Thomas Henry Parks 1871 1877 From New Inn. Later Alexandra Tavern. Renamed Isle Of Cyprus

Chronicle report 6-9-1879 with Richard Lyne as licensee (see Isle Of Cyprus)

Chronicle report 23-4-1881 still with Lyne here

Isle Of Cyprus 1877 – 1913

Richard Lyne 1877 1881
Matilda Lyne 1881 1888

Chronicle report 24-12-1881 I assume is the above transfer
Edwin Price 1888 1892
Lucien Mepham 1892 1895
George Preece 1895 1896
Alfred Smith 1896 1897
Alfred Averre 1897 1897
Charles Grist 1897 1900
Frank Clayson 1900 1902
William Halford 1902 1906
William Taylor 1906 1913