# The Fitzroy Tavern: Meeting Place of Artists — and Aleister Crowley? **Was Aleister Crowley a regular at the Fitzroy Tavern?** This famous Fitzrovia pub has long been associated with artists, poets, and occultists. While names like Dylan Thomas and Nina Hamnett are often mentioned, Crowley’s own connection to the Fitzroy has remained something of a mystery — until now. Through letters, diaries, and court records, we can piece together the Beast’s presence at this legendary London meeting place, revealing tangled love affairs, magickal workings, and literary friendships played out against the clink of glasses and the smoke-filled air of the Fitzroy Tavern. ![[Fitzroy Tavern venue of Marco Visconti's Moot.png]] ## Crowley’s Local: The Fitzroy Tavern in the Early 1930s The Fitzroy Tavern, nestled in the heart of _Fitzrovia_, has long been known as a hub for artists and bohemians. Augustus John, Dylan Thomas, and Nina Hamnett were all familiar faces at this illustrious watering hole. Today, it hosts the "Magick Without Tears" pub moot — a fitting nod to its esoteric legacy. In 1932, Aleister Crowley was living on Charlotte Street with Bertha Busch — which would have made the Fitzroy his local pub. In a letter to Montgomery Evans dated 8th June 1932, Crowley writes: > "But it would be senseless for me to drop all my work here — just as it's going well — and arrive at the Fitzroy without the price of a drink." Clearly, the Fitzroy was already familiar to both Crowley and Evans. The tavern even features in a legal statement made by Nina Hamnett during the _Laughing Torso_ libel case brought by Crowley against her in October 1932: > "That on the following night I saw the Plaintiff (Aleister Crowley) in the Fitzroy Tavern, where there were quite a number of London artists. The Plaintiff said that the story relating to the celebrated artist's model was quite all right but that it was not the woman to whom he referred. He treated the matter as a joke and was rather pleased about it. > > That I made a note in my Diary as to this interview. > > As a matter of fact, the Plaintiff seemed pleased about the references to himself. The Plaintiff was then living in a restaurant in Charlotte Street, and I used to see him practically every day with a Mrs. Busch, a woman with whom he was living, until these proceedings were commenced." The evidence suggests that Crowley was a regular presence in the Fitzroy, living just around the corner. ## Crowley, Mistresses, and Meetings at the Fitzroy Fast forward nearly five years. On Sunday, 15th August 1937, Crowley records in his diary that he "ran into Bobby Barfort & Charles Cammell in the Fitzroy," suggesting that either he or they — or perhaps all of them — were regulars. He notes further meetings with Bobby Barfort there on Wednesday, 17th November, and again on Sunday, 28th November 1937. The very next day, events take a dramatic turn. Crowley writes: > "Pat (Patricia MacAlpine) found me at Fitzroy — two minutes later Bobby walked in. That tore it!" By December, tensions were rising. On Friday, 17th December, Crowley takes Pat to the Shanghai Restaurant but later arranges a date with Bobby at the Fitzroy. The entanglements continue into the new year: - **Sunday, 23rd January 1938**: Meets Bobby at 7.30 pm in the Fitzroy; later performs sex magick with her. - **Saturday, 29th January 1938**: Lunch at the Fitzroy with Pat. - **Friday, 11th February 1938**: Lunch again with Pat, but possibly meets Bobby later at Casa Prada (where, as he records, the sex was "unsatisfactory"). The Fitzroy seems to have been not only a social hub but also a stage upon which Crowley’s complicated personal dramas unfolded. ## Letters, Bombs, and the Fitzroy in Wartime In April 1938, Crowley finds Ethel Archer at the Fitzroy, drinking too much — only for Pat to arrive and "rescue" him from the scene. By the early 1940s, the Fitzroy still served as a familiar point of contact. Crowley collects a letter there from Montgomery Evans dated 28th September 1941, and writes back on 27th July 1941: > "Had a certain bomb fallen 20 yards further west, I should have not got your letter of Sept 25, but London would have been a more wholesome place. For I walked into the Fitzroy after a year or more's absence from that pestilence, and found it." Further entries pepper Crowley’s diary throughout the war years: - **Saturday, 9th August 1941**: "Bobby at Fitzroy." - **Sunday, 10th August 1941**: Meets Alice Florey and Nina Hamnett — an awkward encounter, one suspects. - **Saturday, 16th August 1941**: Encounters old acquaintance Lorna Rathbone. - **Sunday, 19th October 1941**: Sees Alice Florey once again. There is then a long gap until **23rd January 1944**, when Crowley records a rather disappointing visit to an empty Fitzroy bar. ## The Dramatis Personae of Crowley’s Fitzroy Circle A brief introduction to the key players in this tangled tale: - **Alice Florey**: Regular sex magick partner from October 1939 to the end of 1941. - **Bobby Barfort**: Another of Crowley’s sex magick partners, involved from June 1936 to March 1938. - **Patricia MacAlpine**: Mother of Crowley’s child, Ataturk. - **Montgomery Evans**: Literary networker par excellence, connected to Augustus John, Arthur Machen, Walter de la Mare, Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Pankhurst, and more. Long-time correspondent of Crowley. - **Charles Cammell**: Author of _Aleister Crowley: The Man, the Mage, the Poet_. - **Ethel Archer**: Contributor to _The Equinox_, known for her love poems, and part of Crowley’s circle. - **Bertha "Billie" Busch**: Lover and partner from 1931 to 1933, with several later encounters before the outbreak of war. --- ## **Join the Conversation** If you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into Crowley’s London life, explore more of my writings on the intersections of the occult, history, and the tarot here at **Taro-Rota.co.uk**. I’d love to hear your thoughts — do you know of other hidden Crowley haunts in London? Join the conversation at one of our upcoming "Magick Without Tears" pub moots at the Fitzroy Tavern. _Stay curious, stay inspired, and above all: know thyself._ #moot #Aleister-Crowley --- ### Contact me The circle is open — if the work calls to you, or if you simply wish to say hello, you're most welcome. 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