STEPNEY

The Domesday Book of 1086 describes Stepney as an arable area with meadows, pastures and woodland with a population of 900 which included Hackney. In medieval times the parish of Stepney extended east from the City as far as the River Lea and north from the River Thames as far as Hackney.

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 (in 1597), Shadwell (in 1645), Spitalfields (in 1662), St. George in the East (in 1670), Mile End New Town (in 1691) and Bow (in 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 Two 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.

Greenwood's Maps 1827:

Stepney and surrounding area [267 Kbytes]

Church Records:

• 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
  
  See note HERE
  
• Christ Church, Jamaica St
  Baptisms 1877-1941, Marriages 1878-1940 : LMA
• East London Mission to the Jews, Commercial Rd
  Baptisms 1892-1898 : LMA
• St. Anthony, Globe Rd
  Baptisms 1879-1933, Marriages 1880-1936 : LMA
• St. Augustine, Settle St
  Baptisms 1879-1948, Marriages 1880-1946 : LMA
  Burials - allotted area at the East London Cemetery, Plaistow
• St. Faith, Shandy St
  Baptisms 1891-1945, Marriages 1891-1940 : LMA
• St. John, Halley St, Limehouse Fields
  Baptisms 1853-1955, Marriages 1853-1940 : LMA
• 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. 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 Sq.
  Baptisms 1857-1868 : LMA
• St. Thomas, Arbour Sq.
  Baptisms 1840-1940, Marriages 1840-1940 : LMA
• St. Boniface German Church (Roman Catholic), Adler St, Commercial Rd
  Baptisms 1809- date, Marriages 1864- date : Not deposited
  Baptisms 1809-1950, Marriages 1864-1968 : Copies with AGFHS
• 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 St, Ratcliffe Highway
  Baptisms 1773-1789, 1800-1832 missing
  Baptisms 1789-1800, 1832-1856 : WDA
• The Holy Name and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (Roman Catholic),
  Bow Common Lane
  Formed 1892
• Baptist Chapel, James St
  Baptisms 1786-1803 : PRO
• Congregational Chapel, Cannon Street Rd
  Baptisms 1792-1810 : LMA
• Congregational Chapel, Burdett Rd
  Marriages1909-1939 : 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
• Latimer Chapel, formerly Mile End Road Chapel, Bridge St
  Baptisms 1825-1837 : PRO; Other records destroyed WW2
• Lycett Memorial Methodist Chapel,
  White Horse Lane
  Marriages 1955-1962 : LMA

Links

• More Stepney Church Photos

Click the image to view