Craig,

The critical source for London Coffee Houses from the 17th through the 19th centuries remains "London Coffee Houses: A Reference Book of Coffee Houses of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries" by Bryant Lillywhite (London, 1963).

According to Lillywhite, there were numerous coffee houses in London called "Virginia" during the American colonial period. (pp. 622-29).

He lists several coffee houses in Cornhill named "Virginia" or "Virginia and Maryland" during the period 1759-1840. He also mentions various proprietors of these establishments, including James Christie and Richard Strout, but unfortunately he makes no serious attempt to sort out and distinguish the houses from one another.

The point is that caution is in order as you approach any colonial-era coffee house in London named "Virginia."

Benson's Tavern was notorious in the 1790s as a place for wild drinking and unlawful gaming.  Proprietor John Benson was indicted repeatedly during this period by Fredericksburg grand juries for failure to maintain the proper liquor license and for allowing gaming on the premises. This link will take you to some of these indictments: http://www.historiccourtrecords.org/courtrecords.stm

While the local citizenry might have been "shocked, shocked" to discover that gambling was taking place at Benson's, dissolute members of the Tidewater gentry flocked to it for that very reason.  In one incident that I've researched, George Carter (1762-1802), a grandson of Landon Carter's, binged on a three-day drunk at Benson's and lost nearly £2000 to a card sharp.  George's father, Robert Wormeley Carter I, made good on the loss (as a point of honor, not because he legally had to).

All the best.

Thomas Katheder




---- Craig Kilby <[log in to unmask]> wrote: 
> Hello all,
> 
> I have fortuitously "met" an historian named David French of Barkham, England. The timing was impeccable. He had just put on line his research into the Ball family of England, as he was tired of reading the seemingly unkillable myth that William Ball of Lancaster County, Virginia was from Barkham Manor, Berkshire, England. HE WASN'T and no, we still don't know where he was born or who his parents were. You can read his entire report at maryballwashington.com. (Yes, he actually bought that domain name!)
> 
> I say the timing was impeccable because I had just about finished transcribing the Joseph Ball Letter Book and the lesser-known Rawleigh Downman Letter Book. Which brings me to my point. Joseph Ball and, later, his son-in-law Rawleigh Downman were 1/3 owners of several properties at Ball Court in the Cornhill District of London. One of the tenants was the Virginia Coffee House, the favorite haunt of the Virginians in London on business. I am wondering if that is the same place that was called the Virginia and Maryland Coffee House after the Revolution? It seems to be, as a 1784 advertisement in the *Virginia Herald* by Robert Benson announced that the Virginia-Maryland Coffee House at Ball Court, Cornhill, was back in business.
> 
> This place is now known as the Baltic Exchange and the history I gave above is quite at odds with what the current owners say it is on their web site.
> 
> So, I am naturally curious to ask this learned list what they know about the Virginia Coffee House. I have no found all that much about it on the internet.
> 
> On a related matter, and much closer to home, I am also interested in learning more about Benson's Tavern in Fredericksburg. It's proprietor was John Benson (d. 1818). I would like to know where it was and if it is still standing (and if not, what is in its place.)
> 
> Warm wishes for all of you this Holiday Season,
> 
> Craig Kilby
> 
> P.S. I plan to publish the annotated Joseph Ball Letter Book (1743-1760) in the very near future, followed by the Rawleigh Downman
> 
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