I’m all about location, location, location, and like to get as many details as close to realism as I possibly can. These locations in Fagin’s Boy can’t, of course, be real, since even Dickens’ London was an imaginary place, but I can get close. And besides, it’s fun to do the research!
This post is about the location for McCready’s Haberdashery and also for the Three Cripples, and my reasoning behind them.
First up, McCready’s Haberdashery.
I had determined that it would be somewhere in Soho, because while once elegant, the 1846 version of Soho came up as a middleling sort of area (not overly prosperous, but not run down), with shops and such. When I went to London in 2013, I made a point of going to Soho to check out all the locations, and get a feel for the area. There, I found the Ship, which is a tavern at 116 Wardour Street. It had a nice exterior that could easily be turned into a haberdashery, and I really loved the green paint on the sign and the clean look of it.
There is an alleyway to the right side of the tavern, but in my story (and in my mind), the alley is on the other side, that is the left side of the shop when you face the store. The alley on the right turns into a little road in my story. Both the road and the alley lead to Soho Square. In 1846 there were no alleys on either side, so with some poetic license, I have added one.
The wood on the outside of the Ship is painted green in my story, and there are double doors (also green) with polished brass handles. Mr. McCready doesn’t have time for fol-de-rols, so there are no hanging plants.
When I was in London, I took the time to walk from the haberdashery to the Three Cripples. Walking fast, it took me almost 30 minutes, and I wasn’t carrying anything, as Oliver might have done while on his deliveries. Still it was fun to do, and to experience that walk, and think about the distance between where Oliver lived and worked and where Jack lived and plied his trade.
The Three Cripples, on the other hand, has a much more convoluted history.
From the description in the novel, Fagin’s den is located at the bottom of Saffron Hill near Field Lane, based on the description in Chapter 8 of Oliver Twist:
As John Dawkins objected to their entering London before nightfall, it was nearly eleven o’clock when they reached the turnpike at Islington. They crossed from the Angel into St. John’s Road; struck down the small street which terminates at Sadler’s Wells Theatre; through Exmouth Street and Coppice Row; down the little court by the side of the workhouse; across the classic ground which once bore the name of Hockley-in-the-Hole; thence into Little Saffron Hill; and so into Saffron Hill the Great: along which the Dodger scudded at a rapid pace, directing Oliver to follow close at his heels.
Although Oliver had enough to occupy his attention in keeping sight of his leader, he could not help bestowing a few hasty glances on either side of the way, as he passed along. A dirtier or more wretched place he had never seen. The street was very narrow and muddy, and the air was impregnated with filthy odours.
There were a good many small shops; but the only stock in trade appeared to be heaps of children, who, even at that time of night, were crawling in and out at the doors, or screaming from the inside. The sole places that seemed to prosper amid the general blight of the place, were the public-houses; and in them, the lowest orders of Irish were wrangling with might and main. Covered ways and yards, which here and there diverged from the main street, disclosed little knots of houses, where drunken men and women were positively wallowing in filth; and from several of the door-ways, great ill-looking fellows were cautiously emerging, bound, to all appearance, on no very well-disposed or harmless errands.
Oliver was just considering whether he hadn’t better run away, when they reached the bottom of the hill. His conductor, catching him by the arm, pushed open the door of a house near Field Lane; and drawing him into the passage, closed it behind them.
Digital Dickens also states the following:
There’s some debate upon which pub The Three Cripples is based. Some suggest the One Tun was the original of The Three Cripples. In fact the ‘The Three Cripples’ pub mentioned in the novel was a lodging house, and never did hold a licence to sell ale. Sited at 124 Saffron Hill, it was supposedly next door to the One Tun. A well know Jewish fence called Ikey Solomons who frequented the area at that time was the model for the character of Fagin, and Mr Fang was modelled on the notorious Hatton Garden Magistrate, Allan Stuart Laing. Dickens, amongst others, attacked Laing for his severity, which lead to the Judge’s dismissal from the bench in 1838.
Charles Dickens was a patron of the One Tun between 1833 and 1838 when the pub had already been in existence for over half a century.
From all of this, I agree that perhaps that Jack takes Oliver to a lodging house, but I never interpreted that the name of the lodging house was the Three Cripples, as Digital Dickens states. Instead, I got the opinion that the Three Cripples was a tavern at the bottom of Saffron Hill where it turns into Field Lane, and that the lodging house was just next door.
This is based on the fact that when Fagin and Bill are talking in Chapter 15, there is a mention of a landlord, and also, Fagin rings a bell to call for a bartender. So for the purposes of my Oliver & Jack series, the Three Cripples is on Field Lane, at the location where the One Tun currently stands, at 125 Saffron Hill. The Three Cripples is a tavern, with a main tap room to drink, with tables and benches to drink at and play cards. Then there’s Jack’s alcove, which is his favorite place to sit, and so on. Upstairs there are rooms and bedsits. So it’s a bit of both.
Sadly, the One Tun has been “upgraded” from a grotty tavern with not a lot of charm but a whole lot of atmosphere
to an upscale Asian Fusion bistro, with rooms to let.
For your added viewing pleasure, the following is the location of the Three Cripples, based on John Snow’s 1846 map of London.
And also, here is the location of McCready’s Haberdashery, based on the same map in a different quadrant.
