King & Queen - History
List of proprietors
1822 William Long
1848 Edward Reed
1856 T Challis
1859 Henry Norman
1862 W.M. Inman
1864 H Funnell
1870 Mrs Funnell
1881 J Bradley
1889 Mrs Bradley
1891 Robert W Hill
1893 Thomas Barnett
1896 Arthur Payne
1897 D Diggs
1898 D Digges
1899 W.G. Pearce
1900 William George Pearce
1901 T Bonner
1902 Thomas Bonner
1906 J Underwood
1908 Joseph Underwood
1909 Mrs Edlin
1912 Walter J Edlin
1926 Edlins Ltd
Thomas Blamey
In 1822, Private John Ireland of the 2d Royals returned to the barracks in Church Street, and found a soldier lying in the courtyard adjoining the King and Queen. Assuming him to be drunk, he walked over and kicked him gently to wake him. On finding that he didn’t stir, he stooped to try and raise his head, when he felt the blood on his hands. Ireland called for assistance. He was joined by another, who also cried out for help “A man has been murdered”. The guard arrived at the scene, and sent Ireland for the doctor. On his return, the body had not been moved, and Sergeant John Mills had identified the body only by his uniform as Thomas Blamey, a servant to Lieutenant Jackson, and served in the same house as Ireland.
But what had happened? As it was soon discovered, the musket of the deceased was found with a short section of string attached to the trigger, and he had placed the muzzle of his weapon in his mouth, and, in the words of the Brighton Gazette ‘blown his head to atoms, and scattered a portion of the brain on the wall of the building near where the desperate act had been committed’. Something had driven him to this point where his only course of action was to terminate his own life. But what?
The coroner’s inquest was held at the King and Queen, and the various witnesses spoke about who Thomas Blamey was, and what had happened leading up to this fateful night. Blamey had been acting out of character for the previous 2 months, and had been observed sat in the kitchen that night, with his head in his hands, looking despondent. When he had last been seen by Ireland, he had been entering the Gloucester, and still seemed to be in low spirits.
Blamey had been accused of having stolen 2 shillings from his master, and was being sent back to barracks. He had said that he was innocent of the crime to Sergeant Mills, but could not look anyone in the face anymore. He had started to drink more, and he associated with ’loose women’. The last time Mills saw Blamey, he was entering the barracks with his musket, and looked agitated, and conducted himself in a manner that he had never seen him do before. Mills had assumed that he was returning to the Barracks with his belongings from his master’s house and thought no more of it.
Blamey had moved on from the Gloucester, and had gone to the King and Queen with a female companion- a Mary Cross. She testified that she had left him between 8 and 9pm, and he had given her a black silk handkerchief, ‘desiring her to keep and wear it for his sake, as he should never see her any more’. This was the last she saw of him.
Finally, a letter was produced and read, written by Blamey to his father in Cornwall. It began ‘Dear Father and Mother’, and continued, informing them of the accusation he laboured under, and protested his innocence. He wrote that he would ‘sooner die than lose his character- that his piece was loaded but his life was short’. He asked his father to write a letter to Colonel Jordan, his commanding officer, and explain to him the reasons that he was going to take his own life, together with instructions of how to contact the colonel.
The jury deliberated for ten minutes, before returning with a verdict of Lunacy.
John Flood shoots John O’Dea
In 1862, the town of Brighton was shocked to hear about the fatal shooting of John O’Dea. Despite the late hour, the townspeople gathered in Church Street, desperate for the news of what had just occurred. What they were to learn was to shock them to the very core.
Most would have you believe that O’Dea was a Barrack-room bully, who often tormented the life of a fellow Soldier, John Flood. He would subject him to “District-room Court-martials” for the most minor infractions. John Flood, unable to take this anymore, drank at the King and Queen next door, and summoned the Dutch Courage to stand up to this tyrant, and set right an old score, by use of his rifle. Indeed, the tyrant was vanquished with a shot straight through the heart. One is inclined to take the side of the shooter, although in fact, the truth of the matter is a lot more bizarre, asking more questions that this neat little ‘David and Goliath’ story lets on. But to try to understand this, let’s take it back to the beginning.
1858- Limerick, Ireland. Two youngsters, both keen to see some action, and get stuck in, sign up to join the British Army. Two years separate these two, O’Dea the older at 19, and Flood, 17. They are put into the 18th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons, a unit that has been reformed after 37 years since it’s disbandment in 1821. in 1861, the regiment was renamed, and John Flood and John O’Dea found themselves proud wearers of the blue and white uniform of the 18th Hussars. Flood’s brother was also in the regiment- he reportedly suffered a succession of fits, following on from this melancholy incident.
So what happened on that night in 1862? This has often been the subject of speculation, although what is known from witness statements is that John Flood was on guard duty that night. When, at quarter past nine, the guard were inspected, John Flood was standing second from the right, next to his corporal. He stated to his corporal that he ‘wanted to see a couple of men going to the room’. When these two men returned, the first was challenged. ‘Is that you, Swires?’ he was asked. Swires responded that it was. ‘Is that you, O’Dea?’ enquired Flood to the other man. ‘Is that you, Flood?’ came the reply, in the affirmative. Flood replied ‘Yes, O’Dea, I want to speak to you’, and with that, he stepped back, raised his weapon, not fully to his shoulder, and pulled the trigger. O’Dea reeled backwards, and said ‘I am shot, I am a dead man’. And with that, O’Dea collapsed.
The Corporal, William Brown, seized Flood. Flood tells Brown ‘It’s alright, Corporal, I’m not going to run away’, as he takes the still smoking carbine from his hands. The Sergeant on duty, Alfred Arter, was in the guardroom, fetching a lamp, when he heard the report of the weapon from the courtyard. On arriving on the scene, he looked at Flood, who told him ‘I am a prisoner’. Arter takes Flood’s belt from him, and found 9, not 10 rounds in his ammunition pouch, and removed a smaller pouch from Flood, which was not inspected, but should have contained 11 percussion caps. These were given to the police. Flood asked Arter ‘Sergeant is he dead’. He replied ‘no, but I fear he soon will be’. Flood put his hand on the hilt of Arter’s sword, and said ‘What have you got here?’ Arter seized the hilt of the sword and pushed Flood back. Flood then said ‘If he is not dead, I hope he soon will be’. After this, he was led to the Defaulter’s room, which was locked by Arter, who kept hold of the key.
O’Dea’s wounds were severe; he had been shot through the stomach, the round exiting below his right shoulder blade. He lay there, on the ground, gasping for breath, but there was nothing William Robert Wall, the Assistant-surgeon could do, although arriving on scene only two minutes after the shot was fired- O’Dea died 4 minutes later. There was little external hemorrhaging. The bullet travelled straight through O’Dea, and was found on the floor, having been flattened to that the width of a shilling.
Flood did not appear to have been drinking before the incident, however, when he was removed from the defaulter’s room, he pretended to be intoxicated. The Assistant-surgeon visited him, as he was told that Flood had attempted to poison himself, and said that he smelled faintly of alcohol. Had he been drinking? Initially, Flood said no, but later stated that he had had three pints of ale and a glass of rum.
At examination before the bench, Flood was found guilty of Wilful Murder, and was sent to Lewes Assizes for trial. Legend has it that Flood escaped the gallows, and was sentenced to life in prison, following a royal pardon.
So why had Flood shot his childhood friend? There was a couple of conflicting statements- firstly, that Flood and O’Dea had had words about Flood’s Saddle- it was a regimental tradition that those on guard would have their saddles cleaned by those off duty. O’Dea had said that Flood’s saddle had been in a real state when he was due to clean it, and threatened to give him a “District Room court-martial”. Private William Gore, who had witnessed this, stated that it was done in a joking manne r, and nothing else was said. Flood himself told P.C. Amos Neve, who had stayed with him overnight that O’Dea had come to him at his post earlier in the day, and used “threatening language towards me”. He told the officer that O’Dea had promised him a thrashing, and he had told him that he was “no fighting man, I do not want to make a blackguard of myself”. Flood was the only person to make reference to the threats- no other witness corroborated this.
So what is the mystery? Flood maintains that he did not load the weapon himself, although admitted to firing the shot. So who had loaded it, if he is to be believed? Witnessed state that he was seen to lie on the floor of the guard house under his cloak, moving his hands- possibly chambering a round in his carbine. Secondly, and perhaps most chillingly, Flood made the following statement to P.C. Neve- “I am very sorry I had not another with him, and then I could go to the gallows comfortable”
This poses an important question- the 18th hussars used a particular weapon. The problem with muskets is their size, particularly when operated on horseback. Typically, the weapon of choice was a carbine- a shorter weapon to be more manageabl e, although with less power. The 18th Hussars operated a specific weapon named a ‘Terry Carbine’, which was a breach-loaded weapon, firing a single shot. So, if Flood had a second target, he would never have been able to have fired another shot, due to the time taken to reload the weapon. As a soldier of 4 years service, he certainly would have known this. Flood never named his second target.
So who was this intended second victim?
