The Blind Beggar

The Blind Beggar is a pub in Whitechapel Road in the East End of London, England, at the junction with Cambridge Heath Road. Owing to its location close to Whitechapel Station, the pub is often described as being in Whitechapel. Strictly speaking, however, it stands just on the Bethnal Green side of the historic boundary between Bethnal Green and Whitechapel. The pub takes its name from the ballad and legend The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green. The pub is reputed to be built on the site on which the blind beggar begged. It is where Ronnie Kray murdered George Cornell in front of witnesses. It is also the location of William Booth's first sermon, which led to the creation of the Salvation Army. It was the nearest outlet (or brewery tap) for the Manns Albion brewery, where the first modern brown ale was brewed. The pub was built in 1894 on the site of an inn which had been established before 1654.