King's Arms, Chatham
The King’s Arms was a riverside public house at 18 Medway Street in Chatham, Kent.
History
By the early 19th century, King's Arms stood adjacent to the Holborn Wharf on the River Medway, in the town’s old commercial district near Sun Pier. The 17th-century inn served local dockyard and mill workers, being immediately beside Chatham Town Mills and within sight of Holborn Wharf.. Nearby, Richard Watts’s Charity lands are shown on an 1860 plan of Holborn Lane, although it remains unclear whether the charity ever held direct title to the pub structure itself. For context, nearby buildings in the Holborn Lane area today, such as the former Argos building, are owned by the Richard Watts Charity.----
Licensees and Ownership
Historical directories and census records list successive licensees. In 1840 Pigot’s Directory names Benjamin Braddy as landlord of the King’s Arms at Holborn Wharf. By 1858 the licensee was Thomas Marshment, and from 1862 through 1874 Thomas Cameron is recorded as landlord. Census and directory entries show John Ballard running the pub in the 1880s–1890s. At the 1901 census the occupier was Daniel H. Barnard with wife Alice and staff; he appears in the 1903 Post Office Directory. By 1911 the licensee was George Edwin Foreman with wife Elizabeth, and he is listed in the 1913 and 1922 directories. Elizabeth Foreman is still named in the 1930 directory, and Charles Hattersley is listed as licensee in 1938. A 1950 trade journal names W. J. A. Punter as licensee at that date. In the early 1960s the pub’s licensee was Harold George Thomas Wells. He is mentioned in The London Gazette as “WELLS, Harold George Thomas, Kings Arms, Medway Street, Chatham ” on 23 Nov 1962. A later Gazette entry confirms Wells in the same capacity. By 1970 the landlord was Henry Asa Oxford, described as “late of The King’s Arms, Medway Street, Chatham, as a Licensed Victualler”. After the early 1970s there is no clear public record of further licensees. The pub reportedly closed in the late 20th century. A KentOnline report notes: “In the 1990s, the pub closed when the building was damaged in a fire, and remained in a ruined state until it was demolished in 2002.''----
Notable Events and Incidents
1840 Holborn Wharf Drowning Tragedy
The King’s Arms figured in one of Chatham’s worst mid-19th century tragedies. On 28 July 1840, a boat carrying sixteen sailors capsized at Holborn Wharf near the pub. Nine men swam ashore or were rescued, but seven drowned in the Medway. The victims and survivors were carried into the King’s Arms, where makeshift first aid was rendered. An inquest on the recovered bodies was held at the pub, which concluded the deaths were “accidental”. Days later, the pub’s landlord Benjamin Braddy died – a coroner’s report noted that the “melancholy catastrophe” of the drownings had hastened his demise.Suicide of John Field (c. 1790 – 1860)
John Field was a 70-year-old man from Chatham who died by suicide in July 1860. Known locally by the nickname "God Save the Queen," Field had recently discharged himself from the Medway Union Workhouse and struggled to find employment. On the morning of July 19, 1860, he was seen sitting near the New Stairs by the River Medway. Witnesses reported that he bid farewell to nearby children before deliberately entering the river, where he drowned. His body was recovered shortly thereafter. An inquest into his death was held the following day at the King's Arms public house in Chatham, presided over by Coroner T. Hills, Esq. The jury returned a verdict of "Temporary Insanity," citing his recent hardships and expressed reluctance to return to the workhouse as contributing factors.----