Frank Crocker

Frank Crocker (18 January 1863 - 24 October 1904)[1] was a British publican, owner of the Crown Hotel in St John's Wood, London, renamed Crocker's Folly in 1987 in his honour.

Crocker's notice of an application for a music and dancing licence, The Morning Post, London 1897.
Crocker's Folly, 2014
Crocker's Folly, boarded up in 2007.
The interior, 2001.

Early life

Frank Crocker was born on 18 January 1863 in Fair Field, Newton Abbot, Devon, the son of Francis Crocker and Louisa Handford.[1]

Prior to building the Crown Hotel, Crocker already owned The Volunteer pub in Kilburn, London.[2]

Crocker's Folly

Crocker's Folly is a Grade II* listed public house at 23-24 Aberdeen Place, St John's Wood, London.[3] It was built in 1898,[4] in a Northern Renaissance style, and was previously called The Crown.[3] Brandwood and Jephcote describe it as "a truly magnificent pub-cum-hotel" with "superb fittings", including extensive use of marble.[4] The architect was Charles Worley.[2]

In 1987, the pub's name was changed to Crocker's Folly. The story was that Frank Crocker built the pub to serve the new terminus of the Great Central Railway, but when the terminus was actually built it was over half a mile away at Marylebone Station, leading to Crocker's ruin, despair and eventual suicide. In reality, Crocker did die in 1904, aged only 41, but of natural causes.[5] It has been claimed that Crocker's ghost haunts the pub.[6]

The building is now an upmarket bar and Lebanese restaurant, with accommodation on the upper floors.

Personal life

He married Agnes Cooper on 16 December 1893 at St Bartholomew, Dalston, east London. Frank Crocker died on 24 October 1904 at the Crown Hotel (now Crocker's Folly).[1]

References
  1. "Frank Crocker". WikiTree. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  2. "Crocker's Folly". London Canals. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  3. Historic England. "Crocker's public house (1357150)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  4. Jephcote, Geoff Brandwood & Jane (2008). London heritage pubs : an inside story. St. Albans: Campaign for Real Ale. p. 174. ISBN 9781852492472.
  5. "Crocker's Folly". Heritage Pubs. CAMRA. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. "This pub is haunted by its founder, Frank Crocker". The Shady Old Lady. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
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