The Carolina Coffee House was to be found in Birching Lane (now known as Birchin Lane) in the centre of the City of London, then as now the business centre of the city. The Carolina Coffee House specialised in trade and communications with the Carolinas. A list of London traders used by merchants in Charles Town (Charleston) is mentioned by Elizabeth Hyrne in a letter (see List of Goods ). All are within a short walking distance of Birching Lane, and we can imagine the deals being struck over coffee or hot chocolate in the Carolina Coffee House, which also acted, like the other coffee houses, as a poste restante – a place were post could be delivered to await collection. Many of the Hyrne letters sent to friends and family in London were directed to the Carolina Coffee House to await collection.
I’d like to write a book on “South Carolina and the Run-up to the American War of Indepdence,” with special attention to Carolinians living in London c. 1775. Do you have information on these people?
Hunt Janin, Vignoble, 47270 St. Urcisse France