St Botolph without Aldgate St Botolph Aldgate | |
---|---|
St Botolph without Aldgate civil parish, one of the parishes in the 1870s Whitechapel District (red) | |
Area | |
• 1851 | 37 acres |
• 1911 | 75 acres |
• Coordinates | 51°30′50″N0°04′34″W / 51.514°N 0.076°W |
Area transferred | |
• 1895 | All from St Katharine's by the Tower |
• 1895 | All from Old Tower Without |
- 1901 | All from Tower of London |
Population | |
• 1801 | 6,153 |
• 1851 | 4,163 |
• 1911 | 3,245 |
Density | |
• 1851 | 111.78/acre |
• 1911 | 43.27/acre |
Status | Civil parish |
St Botolph without Aldgate was an ancient parish immediately east of and outside (without) Aldgate, a gate in London's defensive wall. The parish church was St Botolph's Aldgate.
The densely populated, and entirely extramural East End parish was split into two parts: the Portsoken ward of the City of London and East Smithfield in the County of Middlesex. [1] Each part operated as a separate parish for civil administration with its own local government, but it was a single parish for ecclesiastical purposes.
The section of the parish in the City of London was the Portsoken ward.
The City of London section of the parish was abolished in 1907 when the City of London civil parish was created.
The part in Middlesex was known as East Smithfield. It was part of the Tower Division (which was also known as the Tower Hamlets). Its eastern boundary with Wapping ran along Sir Thomas More Street (originally known as Nightingale Lane) and the small brook that ran either side of it.
Civil parish administration was in the hands of the vestry until 1855 when the parish was grouped into the Whitechapel District and the parish elected six members to Whitechapel District Board of Works. The parish was transferred from the County of Middlesex to the County of London in 1889.
In 1895 it absorbed the civil parishes of St Katherine by the Tower and Old Tower Without. In 1901 it absorbed the civil parish of the Tower of London.
It became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney in 1900 and the local authority became Stepney Borough Council. The civil parish then had only nominal existence until 1921 when it was abolished. [2]
In common with the neighbouring St Katharine's Precinct (a part of the parish till 1444), the parish has had a diverse population since the medieval period.
From 1236, the parish (or at least the south of it) had a Jewish population, settled in the area for the protection of the Tower and its garrison. The Jews had to take refuge in the Tower several times and on at least one of those occasions, in 1267, during the Second Barons' War, formed part of its defensive garrison during a siege. [3] This arrangement lasted until the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290. [4]
In 1483 the Portsoken ward is recorded as having more aliens in its population than any ward in the City of London. [5]
This pattern of diversity continued, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries the parish as a whole is recorded as having a population of at least 25 people identified as "blackamoors." [6] [7]
They appear to have arrived as a result of the war with Spain, being freed from Spanish slave ships, or slavery in Spanish colonies, by English warships. These free black Londoners, some of whom had mixed African and Spanish ancestry, often found work as sailors or interpreters. Many were servants and one appears to have worked at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The parish records from that time also reveal the presence of French, Dutch and Indian residents as well as at least one Persian and one East Indian (Bengali). [8] [7]
The continuation of the black presence is illustrated from a court record from 1787, which noted that constables trying to make an arrest at the Shovel public house in East Smithfield, were ejected by the landlord and more than forty black drinkers. [9]
Since the 1840s, nearly all of the Aldermen of the Portsoken electoral ward have been Jewish. [10]
Stepney is an area in London, England located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name applied to a much larger manor and parish. Stepney Green is a remnant of a larger area of Common Land formerly known as Mile End Green.
Wapping is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between St Katharine Docks to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This position gives the district a strong maritime character.
Whitechapel is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough town centre. Whitechapel is located 3.4 miles (5.5 km) east of Charing Cross.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a borough of London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of the regenerated London Docklands area. The 2019 mid-year population for the borough is estimated at 324,745.
Aldgate was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London.
The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London created in 1900. In 1965 it became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Brick Lane is a famous street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest, most commercially active part which runs through Spitalfields, or along its eastern edge. Brick Lane's southern end is connected to Whitechapel High Street by a short extension called Osborn Street.
Minories is the name of a small former administrative unit, and also of a street in central London. Both the street and the former administrative area take their name from the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate.
Houndsditch is a street running through parts of the Portsoken and Bishopsgate Without wards of the City of London; areas which are also a part of the East End of London. The road follows the line of the outside edge of the ditch which once ran outside the London Wall. The road took its name from the section of ditch between Bishopsgate and Aldgate. The name may derive from the widespread dumping of rubbish in this stretch of ditch; relating to the dumping of dead dogs, or the scavenging of the waste by feral dogs.
St Botolph's Aldgate is a Church of England parish church in the City of London and also, as it lies outside the line of the city's former eastern walls, a part of the East End of London. The church served the ancient parish of St Botolph without Aldgate which included the extramural Portsoken Ward of the City of London, as well as East Smithfield which is outside the City.
Portsoken, traditionally referred to with the definite article as the Portsoken, is one of the City of London, England's 25 ancient wards, which are still used for local elections. Historically an extra-mural ward, lying east of the former London Wall, the area is sometimes considered to be part of the East End of London.
East Smithfield is a small locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, east London, and also a short street, a part of the A1203 road. Once broader in scope, the name came to apply to the part of the ancient parish of St Botolph without Aldgate that was outside of the City of London.
The Knighten Guilde or Cnichtengild, which loosely translates into modern English as the Knight's Guild, was an obscure Medieval guild of the City of London. According to A Survey of London by John Stow (1603), it was in origin an order of chivalry founded by Saxon King Edgar for loyal knights.
Holy Trinity, Minories, was a Church of England parish church outside the eastern boundaries of the City of London, but within the Liberties of the Tower of London and therefore in the East End of London. The liberty was incorporated in the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney in 1899, and today is within the City of London. Converted from the chapel of a nunnery, Holy Trinity was in use as a church from the 16th century until the end of the 19th century. It survived as a parish hall until it was destroyed by bombing during World War II.
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have universally accepted boundaries on its north and east sides, though the River Lea is sometimes seen as the eastern boundary. Parts of it may be regarded as lying within Central London. The term "East of Aldgate Pump" is sometimes used as a synonym for the area.
Whitechapel was a local government district within the metropolitan area of London, England from 1855 to 1900.
St George in the East, historically known as Wapping-Stepney, was an ancient parish, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England. The place name is no longer widely used.
The Royal Foundation of St Katharine is a religious charity based in the East End of London. The Foundation traces its origins back to the medieval church and monastic hospital St Katharine's by the Tower, established in 1147, next to the Tower of London.
Old Tower Without was an extra-parochial area, usually described as a "precinct", and after 1858 a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England.
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