The Lord Southampton pub in Kentish Town re-opened recently and noted that a previous regular was Karl Marx who lived very close in Grafton Terrace and Maitland Park Rd. Good news that the pub has reopened but I can find, despite a search of Marx’s correspondence, no specific evidence that he drank in there. As I note below that does not mean he didn’t
Marx liked a beer (preferably pilsner which was available in later Victorian London) and also wine (when gifted by Engels). However he did not document where he drank the beer in his correspondence with others, which runs to a number of volumes. Engels who was also keen on beer (and after he retired often had a morning pilsner) did document some of where he drank and his frequent search for good beer.
There is a well documented instance of a pub crawl involving Marx and Engels in Tottenham Court Rd and a pub in Salford they are known to have drunk in but otherwise its more a question of Marx’s liking for beer and the proximity of licensed premises to where he was residing.
Of course there is always the possibility of more evidence coming to light
We can of course make an educated guess:
1 Any pub on Tottenham Ct Rd(see above). There are fewer than in Marx’s day and not all those in 2025 were then, but the experience will be fairly authentic, albeit with more tourists than in Marx’s time
2 Lord Southampton, Kentish Town (see above)
3 The Spaniards, Hampstead. Marx is reputed to have drunk in here. Its proximity to Hampstead Heath where he took exercise makes this likely
4 Jack Straw’s Castle, Hampstead, as with the Spaniards
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