The Coffee Tavern Craze of the 1880s

Coffee

Around 1880 there was a wave of coffee taverns being opened all over Hertfordshire associated with the Temperance Movement. Some time ago I posted information on the Tring Coffee House, which opened in 1878, and recently I mentioned the Star Coffee Tavern at Shenley. Jon Mein sent me some information about the latter, and I decided to post a page on Coffee Taverns - giving details of some of those which opened prior to 1880, including a long contemporary press cutting relating to the Tavern at Bengeo.

I plan to add more information about the Coffee Tavern that opened in Hemel Hempstead when the British Newspaper Archive finish inputting the relevant years for the Hemel Hempstead Gazette - and would be interested to hear what any of you have about the fate of some of the other taverns.

Dating a picture of Shenley Post Office

The Star Coffee Tavern and Post Office, Shenley

This picture must have been taken by 1905, as it appears on a post card carrying this date. But how much earlier is it. I thought this would be an easy card to date but soon run up with a problem. The big house is clearly the "Star Coffee Tavern" and the Post Office is the shop to the left run by J A Tidey. However the big house is still standing and Google street view shows it is called The Old Post Office, and I could not find (in the limited time I had originally allocated) any reference to Tidey being the post master.

However a bankruptcy in 1903 suggests that Tidey may have become the postmaster when the previous postmaster had gone bankrupt - and if this is the case the photograph cannot have been tahen before 1903 - so it must be between 1903-1905.

The Star Coffee Tavern also gave problems - as the only reference I could find was in 1890 - but the most likely explanation is that the big house was multiply occupied - bu the baker and by a "Club House.

More Information.