WHITECHAPEL

Whitechapel, originally part of Stepney, quickly developed as a suburb to the City of London because of its location on the main route in and out of the City from Essex. The chapel that gives Whitechapel its name was built in the 13th century and became the parish church of St. Mary in about 1338. Many trades, particularly in metalwork, were considered a nuisance in the congested City and moved to Whitechapel. Amongst these were the Gunmakers Company Proof House in Commercial Road and the Whitechapel Bell Foundry which made the 'Liberty Bell' and 'Big Ben'. Both are still in existence to-day.

The poverty of the inhabitants, much commented upon by the Victorians, was already present. The hearth tax returns of 1664 show that almost three-quarters of the households occupied houses worth less than £1 a year - the highest proportion in East London. At the end of the 17th century, more substantial houses were built in the Leman Estate area, some of which were occupied by Sephardic Jews. When the London Hospital was moved to its present site in Whitechapel Road in the 1750's, it backed on to fields.

Whitechapel continued to develop, the back streets becoming a maze of disreputable yards and courts, later to become the scene of the Whitechapel murders (Jack the Ripper). The Commercial Road brought much traffic to and from the East & West India Docks including sugar to refineries in Whitechapel especially in the Blackchurch Lane area. The refineries employed mostly Germans while the Irish lived around Rosemary Lane (now renamed Royal Mint Street). Whitechapel Market was one of the largest Victorian street markets and was mainly run by Jewish and Irish traders with much competition between them.

Greenwood's Maps 1827:

Whitechapel and surrounding area

Church Records:

• St. Mary (Matfellon), Whitechapel High St
  Baptisms 1558-1940, Marriages 1558-1940, Burials 1558-1857 : LMA
• St. Jude, Commercial St
  Baptisms 1848-1922, Marriages 1848-1923 : LMA
• Baptist Chapel, Little Prescot St, Goodmans Fields
  Births 1786-1803 : PRO
• Baptist Chapel, Mill Yard, Goodmans Fields
  Burials 1732-1837 : PRO
• Presbyterian Church, Somerset St, Goodmans Fields
  Baptisms 1756-1780, 1783-1811, Burials 1749-1826 : PRO
• St. George (German Lutheran), Little Alie St, Goodmans Fields
  Baptisms 1763-1997, Marriages 1825-1997, Burials 1818-1853 : THL
  Baptisms 1763-1895, Marriages 1825-1896, &
  Burials 1818-1853 : Copies with AGFHS, see also EoLFHS Publications
• Whitechapel Workhouse, South Grove
  Baptisms 1905-1926 : LMA

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