St Dunstan and All Saints
Stepney High St.
Baptisms 1568-1954
Marriages 1568-1962
Burials 1568-1929: LMA
Baptisms 1954- date
Marriages 1962- date: Not deposited
Free on-line:
Marriage Register 1640-1696
Baptist Chapel
James Street
Baptisms 1786-1803: PRO
Christ Church
Jamaica St
Baptisms 1877-1941
Marriages 1878-1940: LMA
Congregational Chapel
Cannon Street Road
Baptisms 1792-1810: LMA
Congregational Chapel
Burdett Road
Marriages1909-1939: LMA
East London Mission to the Jews
Commercial Rd
Baptisms 1892-1898: LMA
Globe Fields Burial Ground
(Wesleyan Methodist)
Burials 1820-1857: PRO
Independent Chapel
Baptisms 1796-1820: PRO
Independent Meeting House
Bull Lane
Baptisms 1644-1837
Marriages 1646-1677
Burials 1780-1837: PRO
Independent Meeting House
New Road
Baptisms 1811-1817
Burials 1785-1810: LMA
St Anthony
Globe Rd
Baptisms 1879-1933
Marriages 1880-1936: LMA
Latimer Chapel
(formerly Mile End Road Chapel)
Bridge St
Baptisms 1825-1837: PRO
other records destroyed WWII
Lycett Memorial Methodist Chapel
White Horse Lane
Marriages 1955-1962: LMA
St Augustine
Settle St
Baptisms 1879-1948
Marriages 1880-1946: LMA
Burials - allotted area at:
The East London Cemetery
Plaistow
St Boniface German Church
(Roman Catholic)
Adler St
Commercial Road
Baptisms 1809- date
Marriages 1864- date : Not deposited
Baptisms 1809-1950
Marriages 1864-1968: Copies with AGFHS
St Faith
Shandy St
Baptisms 1891-1945
Marriages 1891-1940: LMA
St John
Halley St
Limehouse Fields
Baptisms 1853-1955
Marriages 1853-1940: LMA
At the end of the 16th century there was a period of rapid growth in population with the development of the riverside and eastern suburbs of the City. For civil purposes Stepney had been divided up into four hamlets - Ratcliffe, Limehouse, Poplar and Mile End, but because of the increase in buildings and inhabitants new hamlets were created:
Bethnal Green (1597), Shadwell (1645), Spitalfields (1662), St. George in the East (1670), Mile End New Town (1691) and Bow (1719). Whitechapel and Bromley St. Leonard were already separate parishes.
The name Stepney now meant little more than a geographical area around St. Dunstan's church but revived in the 19th century as the name of a registration district.
In 1900 the Borough of Stepney was formed and comprised of various civil vestries, parishes and liberties bounded by the City, Bethnal Green and Poplar.
This industrial suburb had a population of about 300,000, many living in poverty and overcrowded conditions. The main industries were dock labour and the manufacture of clothing with many employed in warehouses and shops.
During World War II more than a third of the houses were made uninhabitable and most of the others damaged by bombing, as were the docks, warehouses and business premises. Stepney became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 1965.
In the case of Stepney, nine hamlets (whence the name of the modern London Borough, Tower Hamlets) are listed in Hatton's New View of London (1708) - Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, Mile End New Town, Mile End Old Town, Stratford-le-Bow, Ratcliff, Limehouse, Poplar, & Blackwall.
For an excellent description of the convoluted history of Stepney Parish, see Parishregister.com here
St Luke
Burdett Rd
Baptisms 1869-1923
Marriages 1872-1958: LMA
Baptisms 1923-1958: Not deposited
St Mark
Goodman's Fields
Baptisms 1840-1926, Marriages 1841-1926: LMA
St Mary and St. Michael
(Roman Catholic)
Commercial Rd
Baptisms 1856-1893, Marriages 1856-1899: WDA
Baptisms 1893- date, Marriages 1899- date: Not deposited
formerly at Virginia Street
Ratcliffe Highway
Baptisms 1773-1789, 1800-1832 missing
Baptisms 1789-1800, 1832-1856: WDA
St Matthew
Salmon Lane
Baptisms 1871-1947, Marriages 1872-1954: LMA
St Paul
Bow Common
Baptisms 1858-1926, Marriages 1859-1936: LMA
Baptisms 1926-1944, Marriages 1936-1951: Not deposited
St Paul
Dock St
Baptisms 1848-1925, Marriages 1864-1948: LMA
Baptisms 1925- date, Marriages 1948- date: Not deposited
St Philip
Newark St
Baptisms 1838-1979, Marriages 1845-1978: LMA
St Saviour and the Cross
Wellclose Square
Baptisms 1857-1868: LMA
St Thomas
Arbour Square
Baptisms 1840-1940, Marriages 1840-1940: LMA
The Holy Name and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
(Roman Catholic)
Bow Common Lane
Formed 1892
St Dunstan's © Kathleen Andersen