Home > London > E1 > Lord Rodneys Head Lord Rodneys Head

Picture source: Chris Amies

Lord Rodneys Head was situated at 285 Whitechapel Road. This pub was established before 1806.  In 1854 it became a music hall, known as the Prince’s Hall of Varieties.  The music hall closed in 1885 and the pub was probably rebuilt at this time.  It had been tied to the City of London Brewery, later passing to Charrington’s Brewery and in 1986 was leased to the Banks & Taylor Brewery of Shefford, Bedfordshire.  It had a very lively reputation in the 1980s and early 1990s, particularly the legendary Sunday evening performances by the Burns Brothers, basically a kind of karaoke act, who had everybody dancing on the tables.  In 2000, the long-standing licensee moved on and the pub was renamed the Funky Munky, redecorated in a bizarre, scrap-yard style and seemingly lost all its customers overnight.  It closed in 2005 and was converted to a shoe shop.

Stephen Harris

My Dad was born in the Lord Rodney’s Head in 1905. His name was Mark Arlington Sheppard, and his brother Ivor Ludlow was also born in the pub in about 1808. The landlord was my grandfather, Albert Sheppard and he and my grandmother, Rose Sheppard (nee Bateman) ran it and 6 other pubs between Whitechapel and Ramsgate. My father and uncle had a governess who lived in, educated and looked after them while my grandparents worked in the pubs. Sadly, my grandfather was an inveterate drinker and gambler (he owned a few racehorses at the time) and he was his own best customer. They’d lost everything by the end of WW1, and moved to Chingford Mount. My grandmother went on to have 4 other children. She continued to work as a barmaid all her life, but Albert died in 1926. Rose never remarried and died in 1964. I used to drink in the Lord Rodney’s Head in the late 70s and early 80s when I worked in Bethnal Green. It was a lovely, dark, corridor-type pub, one long bar, cosy and friendly,

Jill Brownbill (August 2017)

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Name	Dates	Comments
Diane Johnson	1990s	Monday night with Burns Brothers playing was always fun. I remember with much affection as we sang & danced to favourites from Rolling Stones, Monkees, Talking Heads, Blues Bros, Madness & Grease, with the actions, standing atop a table. The Burns Bros knew how to make a party; facial contorts by Sax & vocals by guitar/keyboard player set the party mood. V sad that pub now a shoe shop! What have we become! Where are Burns Bros now?
John Lange	1987-1988	I remember this pub with great affection. I was a student who lived near by and this was our favourite haunt. Very lively but friendly atmosphere. I remember that they had a v strong lager called Hacker on draft as well as the Bedfordshire beers. They also had a bar billards table.
Ali Lewis	1988-1994	This was the best place to go on monday nights; just over the road from the hospital it was pretty much part of our nurse training...finish our late shift at 9 and scoot over the road (still in uniform) to dance the night away on top of a surface in the pub, dancing to the fab burns brothers. all the pubs in whitechapel were such an integral part of the hospital and community life. lockins and social banter, i loved it.
Tony Bradley	1990-1994	Fantastic pub especially on Monday night the place was rockin by the burn brothers who are still on the go but mainly plays pubs out the hometown Hornchurch, I had without doubt some of best time of my life in that pub with my friends emma and Andrew Coyle and Rachel Harrison,
Bambi Cunningham	1991	I worked for the Governor Paul and 2 Aussie managers(Pratt’s?). I lived on site on the top floor with a view supposedly overlooking one of the Jack the Ripper murder locations. Thursday nights were hopping with a fabulous ska band and yes we barmaids danced on the tables and bar. I remember the pub being one of the few real ale houses and attracting some interesting customers. We sold SOD ( special old dark) and SOS (?) as well as Black Bat.
Paul Thomas	1986/1998	I became the landlord after making an offer for the tenancy in 1986 and exposed the tongue and groove and 44ft long bar. Lots of bands, customers and staff mainly hospital based . My favourite was Sunday nights with sixties music, Burns Bros Mondays, Peabrains Thursdays. I would put the furniture on the pavement to make space. Punters and staff would dance on the remaining tables. Lots of lock-ins, there were some great times.