The Lord Holland – Caldwell Street

Please note Caldwell Street was called originally called Holland Street – see here. Therefore this pub was The Lord Holland of 31 Holland Street.

I have been able to find out a little about this mysterious public house but not as much as I would have liked to have unearthed. Below you will find a table of occupants and some information about the pub’s location and what it looked like.

I have used Census records, Kelly’s Directories and Post office Directories to come up with the table below. The first appearance I can find of this public house is in 1871, the last appearance in any directory I can find is 1921, by 1923 Kelly’s Directory lists 31 Holland Street as a Drapers and not a pub. The property must have been fairly sizeable as at one point it housed the Landlord, his wife, a servant and three bar staff, fairly typical of a Victorian Public house. It seems that the pub was knocked down at some point after the late 1960’s.

YearNameLandlord or relation toAgeYear bornTown of birthCity of birthProfessionSource of information
1878T W CaseyLandlord/Post Office Directory
1881James FlemingLandlord31ClaphamLondonLicensed Victualler1881 Census
Martha FlemingWife221860ClaphamLondon/1881 Census
Ellen Kato BronnSister in Law181864ClaphamLondonBarmaid1881 Census
James FlemingSon11 months1881ClaphamLondon/1881 Census
Emily FarrarServant231859BermondseyLondonGeneral Servant1881 Census
1881Robert BilbieLandlord/////Kelly's Directory
1888Alfred James FitchLandlord/////Kelly's Directory
1889Alfred James FitchLandlord/////Kelly's Directory
1890Alfred James FitchLandlord/////Kelly's Directory
1891Charles MurtonHead57abt 1834StratfordLondonLicensed Victualler1891 Census
Harriet E MurtonWife56abt 1835St GeorgesLondon1891 Census
Charles MurtonSon24abt 1867Victoria ParkLondonAssistant to Licensed Victualler1891 Census
Edith MurtonWife22abt 1869ClaptonLondon1891 Census
Florence AyresServant22abt 1869ShadwellLondonServant1891 Census
Bessie RhodesVisitor16abt 1875N, Gloucester/1891 Census
1892George Chilmade/////Kelly's Directory
1895George Chilmade/////Kelly's Directory
1896G ChilmadeLandlord/////Post Office Directory
1896James AndersonLandlord/////Kelly's Directory
1897Alfred Thomas Jones//////Kelly's Directory
1901Alfred Thomas JonesLandlord34abt 1867/LondonLicensed Victualler1901 Census
Alice JonesWife32abt 1869/London/1901 Census
Ada WildeBarmaid23abt 1878/LondonBarmaid1901 Census
Frank FurleyBarman22abt 1879/LondonBarman1901 Census
Chas H AlexanderBarman24abt 1877/LondonBarman1901 Census
Jennie GilbertServant16abt 1885/LondonGeneral Domestic Servant1901 Census
1905William Henry MakingLandlordPost Office Directory
1911William Henry MakingLandlordPost Office Directory
1921William Henry MakingLandlord

The first photograph I have been able to find shows a very distant side profile of the building, this picture was taken in 1920…

Copyright © London Borough of Lambeth/ Lambeth Archives

I used Google streetview to capture the same scene now… Copyright © Google

You can see that that the houses on the right look almost unaltered apart from the garden railings and a few chimney pots. The scene to the left is drastically altered, there now remain none of the buildings including The Lord Holland, instead there is a community centre garden and a five a side pitch. On a modern day map the pub would have stood here.

You can see below that by zooming in on the top photograph that the pub was a fairly tall building with a raised decorative part to the roof.

 The above image shows part of Caldwell Street in 1967 – the Lord Holland is still standing to the far right of the photograph, it looks as though it has been altered since the previous photo taken in 1920.

0 Responses to The Lord Holland – Caldwell Street

  1. Bob Morrissey says:

    Chris, I have just come across your interesting site, interesting becaue I grew up in Morat St. in the 1950s. By that time the Lord Holland was occupied by “Blue Star Batteries” i used to pass it every day on the way to the Reay School.

    • Chriscat says:

      Hi Bob,

      Thanks for getting in touch, it’s really interesting that you grew up in Morat Street and that Blue Star Batteries occupied the Lord Holland! Did the building still resemble a pub then? It would be great if you could let me know anything else that you can remember about the streets on my site, especially Morat Street, Liberty Street, Hackford Road, Cranworth Gardens etc. Do you have any particular memories that you would like to share? I’m really interested in making the history of the area accessible for generations to come so anything you can share would be very much appreciated.

      Kind Regards

      Chris

  2. john morrissey says:

    Hello Chris,
    I wrote yesterday. On thinking the bombsite was on the corner of Hackford Road and there was a small shop on the corner of St. Anns street.
    I’ll think about my memories and consult my sister and brothers before I send you more memories.
    Regards
    John Morrissey

  3. David McDermott says:

    This was one of many London pubs to be supplied with Lacons beer from the brewery here in Great Yarmouth.This was taken over by Whitbreads and closed in 1968 strangely yesterday 21st May 2013 a new Lacons Falcon brewery opened here in the town using the original yeast strains and recipes and can be viewed on its web site
    hope this is of interest
    regards
    David

  4. Yvonne Fenter says:

    My grandparents Ernest James Graves (known as Jim) and his wife Georgina (known as Georgie) lived at 31 Holland/Caldwell Street from about 1922 to 1939 with various relatives. Ernest was a commercial traveller and grocer, and Georgina was a grocer, haberdasher and secondhand dealer, with her business being listed in phone and trade directories at 31 Holland Street in 1927-8 (Grocer, phone number Brixton 6294), and in 1933-4 (Haberdasher). She was also listed in 1938 at 31 Caldwell Street (General Dealer). Other family members known to have lived there during that period included their daughter Dorothy (Dora) Fretwell with her husband George; their daughter Georgina (Ena) Graves; their son George (Jimmy) Graves; their youngest children David, Joan and Peggy; Georgina’s sister Henrietta (Hetty) Rampton with husband George (Bill) Rampton; Lester & Maisie Chard, who were friends of the family and went into business with them about 1937 as Graves & Chard Cartage Contractors (will email you a billhead); and various other unrelated families, implying various other rooms at the property were being rented out. Georgina certainly seems to have been quite a character, with all sorts of stories in the family about her … the shop had everything from furniture to stuffed birds and animals in glass domes for sale. There were bugs behind the wallpaper, and stuffed animals where the food was sold, and there were charabanc seats in the parlour as all the others had been sold! There 6 kids (well, nearly teenagers) to a bed and they all treated the shop as a private larder. There was a horse and cart out back, and there was an unfortunate Italian assistant in the shop called Conti who was pelted with stones at the start of the war. There were also tales of illegal betting in the back of the shop, and the lookout didn’t spot the police and Georgina was driven away, protesting of course, in a Black Maria! I also have an amusing press cutting which I’ll email you about men being charged with various robberies, includes the following quote :
    “… stealing on February 24th, from a yard at Holland Street, Brixton, a Ford motor van, value £200, and a quantity of groceries and provisions, value £120, the property of Georgina Graves.” I’d love to hear any more from anyone with stories of my colourful clan!

  5. Colleen Watt says:

    One of my ancestors was a licensee of the Lord Holland. I have an image of the hotel but I don’t know when it was taken. In 1862 Richard Hewitt was listed as the outgoing licensee for The Pembroke Castle, a hotel in South Kensington. He is also listed as the licensee of the Lord Holland in Kennington/North Brixton for 1862-1871. In Mar 1866 his mother-in-law, Dorothy Spratley, died at The Lord Holland Hotel.

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