POSTCARDS FROM OLD LONDON
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WHO IS CHARLIE BROWN?
by
DAVE HILL
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When you mention Charlie Brown, most people immediately think of the Schultz cartoon character and the Peanuts gang. A few may even think of The Coasters. However long before Mr. Schultz drew his first character, the name Charlie Brown meant to many in the East End of London the landlord of a public house in Limehouse, which was officially known as The Railway Tavern.
The pub was built in about 1840 on the corner of Garford Street and the West India Dock Road and greatly extended in 1919. The pub was demolished in November 1989 during construction of the Limehouse Link tunnel.
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Mr. Brown was its landlord from 1893 until his death in 1932 at the age of 73. As The Railway Tavern was close to the docks, it was popular with sailors and dockworkers who took to referring to the establishment as Charlie Brown’s, and in 1972, the name of the pub was officially changed to this.
Mr. Brown was an interesting man as illustrated by his hobby, which was collecting treasures. These treasures were gathered from his clientele in exchange for drinks whenever they were short of money. He also added to his treasure trove by buying additional objet d’art from respectable antique dealers. His treasures were displayed in the pub and became both a big draw and a talking point by the public.
The two postcards shown here are of some of his treasures and were probably produced by a local photographer and not by a national publisher and were perhaps on sale at the pub.
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When Mr. Brown died in 1932, his treasures were divided between his daughter, Ethel, and son, also named Charlie. Ethel took over the license of the pub upon her father’s death and became its landlady for a number of years. Incidentally Mr. Brown’s son, Charlie, ran the public house, Blue Posts, which was situated on the opposite side of the road to The Railway Tavern/Charlie Brown’s.
By 1932, the traditionally huge Victorian funerals of old had declined. However, in contrast with the then-current fashion, Mr. Brown’s funeral was large in attracting 16,000 people to Bow Cemetery. This number was only equaled with the funeral of Ronnie Kray, one of the infamous brothers that helped terrorize the East End during the 1960s.
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THE SECOND CHARLIE BROWN’S
by
DAVE HILL & CHARLES S.P. JENKINS
with photographs and additional information
of the Public House provided by
PETER ROWLAND and PETER EATON
In 1938, Mr. Brown’s son, Charlie, moved to South Woodford and opened a pub, The Roundabout, but which he re-named Charlie Brown’s. This pub was at the junction of Chigwell and Southend Roads.
The pub consisted of a Saloon and Public Bars together with an Off Licence between them. In the forecourt, to the right in the picture, stood a pole topped with a model of a Roundabout.
Left: The Roundabout Public House; the Off Licence is situated between the two bars
Right: the model of a Roundabout
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When Mr. Brown moved to this public house, he took with him a number of his father’s treasures previously present in the original Charlie Brown pub and had them placed in the two bars.
The Saloon Bar showing a host of Treasures
Left: The Public Bar – Please not the presence of a stuffed Bear & the sparsity of Treasures
compared to the number present in the Saloon Bar
Right: Spotlight on the Bear
Note: to my eye, the Bear is wearing Wellington Boots!
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By 1957, the second Charlie Brown had died, but his widow (a formidable matriarch) was in charge and her two sons served behind the bar, though one of them also worked elsewhere during the day. One of the sons was married and he and his wife had a small son. Apparently, his wife never worked in the bar.
There was a very good Irish cook called Norah, a bespectacled lady in her mid-40s, who took charge of the kitchen for the lunchtime meals that were regularly served.
To cater to the evening trade, the family was reinforced by one or two part-time bar staff. Trade was always brisk during these hours.
An Exterior View of the Pub taken during the summer of 1957
together with one of the bar staff standing in front
The young barman shown in the photograph above lived close by. Apparently, he had a particular fondness for one of the treasures brought from the Limehouse pub, a Chinese Buddha, that was covered with dirt. Apparently, he managed to clean up during the odd moments of quiet. Later, he was able to bring the Buddha home and give it to his small son.
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In 1972, The Roundabout Pub or Second Charlie Brown’s was demolished. This was result of the plane to enlarge the Roundabout so as to allow aspects of the North Circular Road (A 406) to have Flyovers built linking it with the newly built M11 Motorway.
It is interesting to note that this Roundabout is now commonly referred to in traffic reports and on the Internet, as Charlie Brown’s Roundabout. It would seem that Charlie Brown lives on, albeit in another incarnation!
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When the Docklands Light Railway was built in 1989 the pubic house, and that of Mr. Brown’s son, were demolished. Whatever happened to the Charlie Brown’s treasures and their exact whereabouts are mysteries and so it would seem that this little bit of history was now lost and forgotten. However, as a comment below will inform, most of the treasures were divided between his children, and since a number have been sold.
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I recently learned that once The Roundabout Public House (i.e., the second Charlie Brown pub) was demolished, Mr. Vic Brown, the landlord (i.e., grandson of the original Charlie Brown) moved to Harlow, Essex. Seemingly he took some of the treasures with him including the stuffed Bear.
Mr. Peter Eaton informs me that:
Most of the treasures were split up amongst the extended family. I know my parents over the years sold most of the furniture including the Ivory-inlaid Walnut cabinet shown in one of the pictures. All proved too big for modern bungalows; unfortunately no Rembrandts or Picassos among the treasures!
Sadly, the Bear was stored in a shed where it quickly deteriorated and (quote) was consigned a painful death on a Bonfire, poor old chap! An unfortunate end for this poor Bear.
Perhaps this would have been a more appropriate end for the Bear
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Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
V – The Burial of Kijé – London Symphony Orchestra (LSO)
conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent (1895-1967)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Mr. Peter Eaton and Mr. Peter Rowland for providing information and photographs.
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The charlie brown at the M11 used to be a small roundabout at the end of Woodford avenue on the A12. There was a large pub there called Charlie Browns. The pub sign was a model of a fairground horse roundabout. Hence the name I believe.
The pub in Woodford was actually named the Roundabout Tavern. The landlord was Charlie Brown, the son of the landlord of the Railway Tavern, hence the name of the current roundabout. Some of his collection of from the original Railway Curios were on display here.
I am Charlie Brown’s great grandson my mother Esther was his granddaughter
After Charlie died in 1932 my grandparents Tom And Ethel Chandler (Ethel being Charlie’s daughter) ran it until 1934.
I was told my grandfather was an honest man and wouldn’t give the local constabulary the customary back hander, so they did him for harbouring prostitutes and he left. This is a tale my father told me as I was only 6 years old when my grandfather died and only 18 months when Ethel died
Tom and Ethel took the Fox and Hounds pub in Forest Gate in 1936 Tom ran it until his death in 1955 and my mother held the licence until 1988 when she retired.
Many of the curios were split between Charlie Brown “2” and his sister Ethel although a lot has been sold over the years I have inherited from Ethel
Thank you very much for sharing your interesting story. Regards. Charles
Lovely story which I forat read today on a Facebook page, old London, then here on postcard and stories of london so I’ve followed the story all day . Great to here the history of this man and his family.
Thank you very much for sending this message.
I worked behind the bar(s) at ‘The Roundabout’ at South Woodford for six or seven weeks in 1957 – visitors were astonished at the number of exotic Asian-type antiques it contained – not to mention a stuffed bear! When told that it was, in effect, an off-shoot of the Charlie Brown pub at Limehouse they would instantly understand why it was such a unique establishment. It was a very popular port of call and did a splendid trade.
An interesting article. The incident that my cousin, Peter, refers to in the above thread was actually thrown out by the courts as being without evidence (an as Peter says, was a result of thwarted police corruption). It was nice to see the photographs of the saloon bar at the Roundabout, although when I liived there the bear stood next to a 1960s pinball machine. I’m the ‘small son’ referred to in the article 🙂
Mr. Brown,
Thank you for visiting y website and for sending a comment and setting the record straight.
I lived close by the pub, at Lechmere Ave until 1953. My Mum was a cleaner at Charlie Browns, so I was lucky enough to be able to go inside and see the treasures within, and was so fascinated by the bear.
On Saturday nights in the summer , Mum and dad would take us to the pub where we would sit outside on the wall with a lemonade and crisps , waving to the coaches coming back from their day trips to Southend.
I seem to remember one of the family drove a sports car, which was a rare sight at that time, and he only had one arm, which to me as a child seemed incredibly clever.
I have wonderful memories of those times, and how that family was so well respected.
AH! happy days.
Many thanks for visiting my website.
My great grandfather lived in Garford St and took my 6 year old father to visit Charlie Brown. Charlie handed my dad a priceless ivory box to play with and said he would give him a shilling if he could count all the faces that appeared on it. He never got it right but Charlie Brown gave him a lemonade and a biscuit instead
David: Thank you for sharing this delightful story. Regards. Charles