The Blind Beggar The Blind Beggar The Blind Beggar is a pub on Whitechapel Road in Whitechapel in the East End of London, England. It is where Ronnie Kray murdered George Cornell in front of witnesses, and is the location of William Booth's first sermon, which led to the creation of the Salvation Army. It was the nearest outlet (or brewery tap) for the Manns Albion brewery, where the first modern Brown Ale was brewed. The pub was built in 1894 on the site of an inn which had been established before 1654, and takes its name from the legend of Henry de
Ale conner in the community. Ale-conners sometimes had to be impressed into service, and the post was often rotated amongst a number of individuals. The tradition is still maintained in the City of London. The 1911 "Encyclopædia Britannica" reports: The officers are chosen by the liverymen of London to inspect the measures used in the public houses. The title is a sinecure. It is sometimes said that: The Ale Conner was a type of early tax-man whose job it was to test the quality and strength of beer, not by quaffing, but by sitting in a puddle of it! They travelled from