New Tigers Head

159 Lee Road

Lee

https://camra.org.uk/pubs/old-tigers-head-lee-158536

Above photo circa 1900, showing "Old Tigers Head" left and "New Tigers Head" right.

Above postcard 1906, the Old Tigers Head is the first building on the left side; the New Tigers Head is the first building on the right side.

Above postcard, 1909.

Above postcard, circa 1910.

Above photo 2018.

Above plaque date unknown.

Above photo kindly sent by Roger Corbett.

I believe this may well be the same pub I have also listed as the "New Tiger's Head" in Eltham.

The "New Tiger‘s Head" started life as a beer shop known as the "Tiger Tavern" in the 1830s to service travellers moving from the Kent coast to Central London via Blackheath.. It was situated in the end of four cottages known as Prospect Terrace built around the same time. Three of these cottages remain, housing a post office/newsagent and a hairdresser’s. In 1868 it is referred to as the "Tiger‘s Head Inn." The present building is thought to have replaced the original cottage a few years after 1896 - the date of the rebuilding of the "Old Tiger’s Head."

By 1841, the "New Tiger’s Head" appears to have become a successful business; however, James Phillips was not granted a full licence until 1863. No sooner had Phillips obtained the licence than he sold his interest to Marchant Bowyer Warner; presumably it was worth much more than it had been as a beer house.

A series of landlords operated the pub in the 1880s and 1890s, with Edward Dicker (1881), John Stevens (1883), and Emma Porter all being licensees. There were also brief interludes of a Frederick Morgan being behind the pumps, followed by a George Rose. Arthur Strutt Lindus took over soon after and was fined £8 12s for watering down beer in late 1894.

The pub was rebuilt in its present form in the late 1890s, a year or two after the "Old Tiger’s Head" on the opposite corner of Lee Road. The landlord when it reopened was probably Neville Dedman, from a family with a strong tradition of running pubs. Most recently, his father William had been the publican at the "Old Tiger’s Head" before it was rebuilt in 1896.

For reasons that aren’t documented, William, who lived in Eltham Road, took over the tenancy in 1902. He was, though, eyeing up other options, and he got permission to build the "Station Hotel" in Hither Green during 1905. Sadly, he died in 1906, the year before the "Station Hotel" opened, and it was his widow, Jane, who was to become the licensee.

John Reynolds, from Cambridgeshire, took over the pub in 1904, with his wife Elizabeth, who hailed from Hitchin, and remained there until he died in November 1914. What Reynolds true position was is debatable, as the 1911 Census shows Neville Dedman as being the licensee again. Albert James Bromley took over from Reynolds in 1914, renewing the licence in 1916 and then staying for 5 more years. In 1921, John Pritchard became the long time licensee, and he was certainly there in the 1939 Register, then aged 71, with Agnes who he had married in 1925. They had 5 live-in staff to help them run the business. Robert remained there until he died in 1945.

Apparently closed and boarded up since 2006, but as of 2018 the ground floor was cleared out , re-floored and is for sale on a 999 year lease. As of spring 2021 it was destined to be turned into the International Blackheath Food Centre.

Above photo 2021. Kindly sent by Roger Corbett.

LICENSEE LIST

PHILLIPS James 1863+

WARNER Marchant Bower Mr to 1881

DICKER Edward 1881+

STEVENS John 1883+

PORTAL Emma ????

MORGAN Frederick ????

ROSE George ????

LINDUS Arthur Strutt 1894-96+

DEDMAN Neville ????

DEDMAN William 1902+

REYNOLDS John 1904-Nov/14 dec'd

BROMLEY Albert James Nov/1914-19+

PRITCHARD John 1921+

PRITCHARD Robert Benjamin 1938-45+

https://pubwiki.co.uk/NewTigersHead.shtml