Page 106 - Ian Marshall - London Coffe Houses - Standing Display January 2016

Tom's Coffee House
Devereux Court near Temple Bar

(1702 -1775)

Tom's Coffee House appears to have been established by Thomas Herbert

around 1702 but in 1706 it passed into the hands of Thomas Twining

whose firm are still in business today. He was 31 when he acquired the

business. In 1734 the business was sub-let to John Herbert at a rental of

50 guineas p.a. later reduced to 40 who was proprietor until his death in

1759 when a Mr. Stephens took it over. Eventually the business was

absorbed by the "Golden Lion", the business premises of Twinings,

which in 1717 were connected to Tom's Coffee House through a narrow

passage. In the 1760s Tom's was patronised by some of the most eminent

Imen of learning ofthe time. A fire in the area in 1770 may have damaged

trade but Tom's Coffee House fades from the scene after 1775.

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A letter written in Hen ey-m-Ar en, ev10ehced by a black town \

handstamp, on 23rct April 1744 by Thomas Tibbatts, a lawyer, addressed

to Edward Mann at Tom's Coffee House, in Devereux Court near Temple

Bar which arrived on the 25th, evidenced by a black bishop mark. The

letter seeks assistance in a complex inheritance case.