Thomas O’Donoghue in Grundy Street, Poplar in 1877 and the Royal Charlie pub

Thomas O’Donoghue in Grundy Street, Poplar in 1877 and the Royal Charlie pub

By Rod O’Donoghue

In 1877, when their daughter Mary Ann was born, Thomas and Mary O’Donoghue (my great grandparents) lived at 54 Grundy Street, Poplar.  Grundy Street ran into Chrisp Street then and still does.

I have taken to cycling into Bromley/Bow/Poplar on Sunday mornings to see what historic buildings I can find – takes me about 45 mins to get there.

At the end of Grundy Street in Chrisp Street today is a pub called the Royal Charlie.  Here’s a picture from the net. 

I looked for more and found this http://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/Bromley/RoyalCharlie.shtml

They state the landlord in 1877 was a Harrington, a surname that figures in our family history as a family friend/godparent (however don’t know it was him). 

My uncle Bernie once told me that No.54 was up the Chrisp Street end.  I have this image of Thomas and his mates walking down the road to have a pint in this pub – very evocative. 

One day I will go to the Tower Hamlets library and see if I can find an earlier picture of pub and street.

Sadly today the pub is for sale and looks rather run down with gaps on each side.