One would guess that
the pub is named after HMS
Royal
Albert, which was launched from
Woolwich Dockyard in 1854 – the same year that the Crystal
Palace was relocated from Hyde Park to
nearby Sydenham Hill. Associations with the Prince
Consort were doubtless a good thing in
the area at the time.
This particular sign
takes as its visual inspiration* an engraving by J.W. Carmichael
called Homeward
Bound, which appeared in the
London Illustrated News in 1857. It’s a nice illustration,
but it can’t be the ship in question because it appears to have
only two gun decks, whereas the Royal Albert had three. This,
it would seem, was known to the anonymous sign painter, who
accordingly introduced a third gun deck into his picture. If only all
signs could be researched so thoroughly…
* Note: not merely
copied/nicked – and yes Greene King, I’m looking at you.
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