The Blind Beggar Montfort. The pub was built in 1894 on the site of an inn which had been established before 1654, and named after the legend of Henry de Montfort, a son of Simon de Montfort. In 1865, William Booth preached his first open-air sermon outside the Blind Beggar, which led to the establishment of the East London Christian Mission, later to become the Salvation Army. William Booth is commemorated by a nearby statue. The Blind Beggar is notorious for its connection to East End gangsters the Kray twins. On 9 March 1966, Ronnie Kray shot and murdered George Cornell, an associate
Jack McVitie death, which was in 2000. Ronnie Kray was imprisoned for life at the same time for the murder of George Cornell in 1966 and remained behind bars until his death in 1995. McVitie married Marie Marney in Surrey in 1950. He fathered one son who was named Tony McVitie. The nickname "Jack the Hat" is said to be because of a trilby hat that he wore to cover up his hair loss. A known drug trafficker by the 1960s, he had been an associate of the Kray twins for some time and, although never a permanent member of "The Firm",