Above photo date unknown, by kind permission Chris Mansfield. http://www.chrismansfieldphotos.com/

Above photo, 2 December 2015.

Above Google image September 2017.

From the local papers of 1794.

2 Aug:- ... at the "Kings Arms" with Skinner the Bricklayer....NB ..gave Skinner and Bryant orders to do the work at the "Kings Arms."

4 Aug:- ... with Captain Humber at "Kings Arms".... NB … Mr Ely and Jaques stripped and laid open the "Kings Arms" House and damaged the plastering, without orders, and then left it.

23 Aug:- ... NB Mr Ely’s Lawyer came to me… and read a Bill of something unto me about Ely.

29 Aug:- .... at Stephen’s (Highlander) with Jaques, Jerry Whitehead, James Brett, James Gooding, George Highsted and others. ..... At Parish Meeting "Kings Arms." ... NB Mr Jaques began to paint the "Kings Arms" House…. and abused me in presence of James Gooding, Jerry Whitehead and James Brett at my son’s (the Highlander) in the afternoon when I showed him Mr Tong’s letter and my Estimate.

4 Sept:- ... received the writ copies Ely and James Jaques this morn.

He doesn't go into detail, but Stephen Rouse was a builder/carpenter and it seem he had been hired to do some repairs at the "Kings Arms," but there was some sort of disagreement resulting in legal action. He doesn't mention it again, so presumably it was all resolved.

Cheers,

Wendy James.

From the Borough of Greenwich Free Press, 22 December, 1855.

CORONER'S INQUESTS.

On Tuesday last, the following inquests were held at the "King’s Arms Tavern," Woolwich, before C. J. Carttar, Esq., Coroner. On the body of William Chalk, an able seaman on board the Black Eagle steam vessel. It appeared from the evidence that on the previous Friday afternoon the deceased fell from the railing of the ship on to a landing stage and from thence into the water. He was extricated immediately, but life was extinct, and it appeared that death resulted from dislocation of the neck. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the evidence.

The next case was on the body of a shoe maker, named Frederick Gregory. It appeared from the evidence of three of the deceased’s shipmates that they had been drinking at the various public houses in company with the deceased for several days, and on the previous Friday night the deceased left a public house for the purpose of proceeding home. Shortly afterwards his companions left the house, and found the deceased lying in the road. He was then taken home and placed in bed, where he was found dead on the following morning. The jury returned a verdict of died from natural causes, and the coroner remarked that he hoped this event would be taken as a solemn warning by the companions of the deceased, and that they would desist from the destructive vice of drunkenness.

From the Borough of Greenwich Free Press, 2 May, 1857.

MURDER A OF CORPORAL OF MARINES, AT WOOLWICH.

On Wednesday afternoon, an adjourned inquest was held at the "King’s Arms Tavern," Woolwich, before C. J. Carttar, Esq., coroner for West Kent, on the body of Samuel Long, a corporal of the Woolwich division of Royal Marines, who died at the Marine Infirmary on the previous Friday night, from a bayonet wound inflicted by a seaman named George Bave.

From the evidence adduced at this and previous examinations, there appears to be no doubt that Rave had secreted himself on the main deck of the Hebe Hulk, and that when the deceased, in accordance with his duty, went over the vessel at nine o’clock to see that all lights were out, the prisoner who had previously possessed himself of a bayonet, suddenly sprang upon his victim, and committed the crime.

Several witnesses including Charles Blofield, a boat-swain, and John Newberry, a marine, proved that, after the act was committed, Bave paced the deck with the bayonet, and asserted that he had had his wish, and that he did not care if he was hanged for it.

Dr. Evans, medical inspector of the Royal Marine Infirmary, now stated the result of the put mortem examination. It appeared that the bayonet had entered the body immediately below the short ribs on the right side, passing downwards, completely to the spinal bone, which alone prevented the point of the weapon from finding egress on the opposite side. The witness said it was perfectly wonderful that any man could exist twenty-four hours after receiving such a wound.

The coroner carefully summed up the evidence, pointing out the legal distinction between manslaughter and murder, and the jury, after a short consultation, returned a verdict of "Wilful Murder," against George Bave.

From the Borough of Greenwich Free Press, 28 November, 1857.

Death of a Wealthy Miser from want of the Common Necessaries of Life.

An inquest was held on Thursday, at the "King's Arms," Woolwich, before C. J Carttar, Esq., Coroner for West Kent, on view of the body of Thomas Rust, aged 51 years. The deceased was a single man, of very eccentric habits, and resided for some years without society, at a small house in Lower Market-street, Woolwich. The jury retained the following verdict. That death resulted from natural causes, and was accelerated by a want of medical attendance and the common necessities of life."

From ‘Kentish Independent’ 8 June 1895.

DISCOVERY OF OLD OIL PAINTINGS.

Can anyone help us discover the identity of a capable artist by the name of Robinson, who was much in evidence at Woolwich about the year 1784?

A very extensive and elaborate series of paintings executed by him on the walls of a room at the "King’s Arms Hotel" has just been brought to light by the Proprietor, Mr. Campbell, who, in order to repaper the room, had all the old papers, some six in number, stripped off.

The paint, when disclosed, was nearly black everywhere, but, by the advice of Mr. J. O. Cook, architect, Mr. Purnell, of Conduit Road, a well-known expert, was called in and undertook the work of restoration. He found that the pictures had been covered with seven coats of varnish, the whole of which he cleaned off – enough to fill a bushel basket – and the pictures, perfectly revived, are now resplendent in all their original glory.

They are painted in oil colours upon the plaster of the walls and cover them in every part. There are but two subjects, one being a view of the Bay of Naples and the other a Scotch pastoral subject, neither of which, of course, gives any clue to the authorship.

One of the paintings, however, bears the signature of “Robinson,” with a date which is either 1783 or 1785. In 1783, the first mess-room in the Royal Artillery Barracks (now the theatre), was being built, and there is reason to believe that some of the officers had their mess at the "King’s Arms Hotel." (“Records of Woolwich,” pp. 386-7) That being so, the inference would be that one of them was the artist. But there was not one of them named Robinson in 1783 or 1785. There was one on the retired list, but it would be a stretch of imagination to associate him with the work; and there was a Lieutenant Robison promoted to the rank of captain about the date in question, but if the signature is “Robinson,” Robison will not do.

The discovery, however, is interesting, even without the artist’s revelation, and the character of the work, though it may not rank as genius, is good enough to make us marvel that any one of the hosts of the "King’s Arms" could have had the heart to cover it with wall paper. Probably, however, it grew indistinct under the load of varnish, and nobody thought of restoration. There is no doubt that it had been hidden from mortal eye for at least sixty or eighty years.