The City of London Tavern or London Tavern was a notable meeting place in London during the 18th and 19th centuries. A place of business where people gathered to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, the tavern was situated in Bishopsgate in the City of London. The original tavern was destroyed in a fire on 7 November 1765 and the new building was designed by William Jupp the elder and opened in September 1768. In 1828, the proprietor was Charles Bleaden. The building was demolished in 1876. The tavern boasted a large and well-decorated dining room with Corinthian columns. It hosted numerous public and private meetings held to rally support to various political, charitable and other causes. In 1841, Charles Dickens presided at a meeting for the benefit of the Sanatorium for Sick Authors and Artists, and in 1851 at the annual dinner for the General Theatrical Fund. While he was attending a dinner at the London Tavern on 14 April 1851, Dickens learned of the death of his daughter Dora Annie Dickens.
1788 – The London Tavern hosted a meeting of the Revolution Society discussing the French Revolution.
1789 – In 1789, pro-slavery campaigner George Hibbert spoke at a meeting of Merchants at the London Tavern, seeking to demolish William Wilberforce’s speech on abolition of slavery in a 40-minute address entitled 'The Slave Trade Indispensable…'.
1818 - On 18 March, a public meeting took place at the City of London Tavern, under the chairmanship of Benjamin Shaw when a new Society known as the Port of London Society was formed to minister to the religious needs of seamen. The charity, which is based in Southampton is now called Sailors' Society.
1858 - The first meeting of The Railway Benevolent Society took place at the London Tavern on Saturday 8 May. At this meeting, a resolution was carried unanimously, stating that the society should be called the Railway Benevolent Institution. George Glyn, 1st Baron Wolverton, was the first President of this institution.
1859 – The British acclimatisation society was founded following a meeting held on 21 January at the London Tavern attended by Richard Owen and others.
1865 – The London Tavern is depicted in a painting An Infant Orphan Election at the London Tavern, "Polling" by George Elgar Hicks.
Fictional meetings
In Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby, the London Tavern is the location for the public meeting held "to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning Parliament in favour of the United Metropolitan Improved Hot Muffin and Crumpet Baking and Punctual Delivery Company."
