King's Arms

This building has been demolished

The King's Arms was a very old Mortlake inn which stood on Thames Street. It was demolished in 1866 when Thames Street was incorporated into the brewery site by the brewers Phillips and Wigan. This drawing by SH Grimm was made around 1770. John Eustace Anderson states in Rambles of Old Waxam published in 1909 that: Before the Mortlake Hotel was built in its semi-circular style, the old Kings Arms stood on its site in 1866. The King's Arms was built, I fancy, some time in George III's reign, although I fancy there was a public-house there long before his reign. It was a square-built house with some few cobble-stones in front, with steps leading up to the front door, and was the only place where post horses and chaises could be hired. My father told me that previous to the year 1785 the landlord was one John Barker, who died in that year and was interred in the old churchyard. After him the place was kept by Mr Sam Taylor.

The owner of the King's Arms in 1798 was Kean Fitzgerald, and John Taylor was the landlord. In 1836 Thomas Fitzgerald was then the owner and remained so until 1863. The inn was often used for the sessions of the various courts of the Lord of the Manor.

The 1861 Census describes John Firmston as the inn keeper at the King's Arms. He lived on the premises with his wife Maria and their eight children. Their son Henry was a builder's clerk, Alfred was a marble mason and Ellen a barmaid; Katherine, Archibald, Rowland and Maria were all at school, and John D was a baby. Both Henry and Alfred had been born in France but were described as British subjects. Ellen was born in Scotland, and the other five children were all born in Mortlake. John D Firmston went on to become the first Mayor of the Borough of Barnes in 1932. John Firmston senior was the last landlord of the King's Arms, after which he went as landlord to the Queen's Head and then to the Jolly Milkman. He died in 1888.

The Mortlake Hotel, shown in the photograph above, was built in 1866 just south of where the King's Arms had stood and facing the High Street.