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The 1832 cholera epidemic in East London
Article written by Robert McR. Higgins and published in the "East London Record", no.2 (1979). Republished with the kind permission of the East London History Society.
 
An Account of the Hamlet of Poplar, in Middlesex
From "The Universal magazine" for June 1795. Poplar at this time being a rural hamlet, this is largely a description of John Perry's shipyard and wet dock at Blackwall which was soon to be converted into the East India Docks.
 
"And ye shall walk in silk attire"
Henry Mayhew visits some silkweavers in the Spitalfields area to see the effects of the depression in trade. The article was published in "London Characters" in 1881 but appears to have been written in 1849.
 
Annie Besant and the match-girls' strike of 1888
Annie Besant's own account of how her article in the Link newspaper triggered the Matchgirls' Strike of 1888 and of the subsequent events. From "Annie Besant : an autobiography," 2nd ed., published by T. Fisher Unwin, [1893?], pp. 331-8.
 
At a sugar baking
James Greenwood describes a visit to a sugar refinery in Backchurch Lane, Whitechapel, in a chapter from "The wilds of London", published in 1874.
 
An autumn evening in Whitechapel
Article from "Littell's Living Age", 3 November 1888, on Whitechapel in the wake of the Jack the Ripper murders.
 
Bethnal Green
Article from "The Nineteenth Century" (June 1924) about conditions around Green Street (now the western end of Roman Road).
 
Bethnal Green fever haunts again
Inquest report from the "East London Observer," (Saturday, 17th February 1866), p. 2, on the death of a woman and child, with descriptions of the terrible conditions in which they lived and the workings (or rather failings) of the Poor Law.
 
The black and Asian presence in the Tower Hamlets : a miscellany (1707-1823)
A collection of short reports from the 18th and 19th century on black people, Chinese people and Lascars.
 
Breaking and entering : a miscellany (1729-1838)
A collection of 18th and 19th century news reports on burglaries and peoples' attempts to stop them.
 
Bromley Saint Leonard
Article from "The Copartnership Herald", Vol. IV, no. 43 (September 1934).
 
Bromley Saint Leonard : the Upper Manor
Article from "The Copartnership Herald", Vol. IV, no. 44 (October 1934) on the Priory of St. Leonard, the Upper Manor, and the "Old Palace".
 
Bromley Saint Leonard : the Village
Article from "The Copartnership Herald", Vol. IV, no. 45 (November 1934).
 
Bromley Saint Leonard : Tudor House, Lower Manor
Article from "The Copartnership Herald", Vol. IV, no. 46 (December 1934).
 
Bromley Saint Leonard's
Excerpt from "London and Middlesex", Vol. IV, (1816), by J. Norris Brewer, on the history of the parish of Bromley.
 
The Brutality of night-constables and watchmen...
An article on the death of Anne Ashley due to the negligent treatment of the night-constable of St. Matthew's, Bethnal Green. Published in 1825 but the source of the article is not given.
 
The Builder
 
The Camden-Town Railway
Article from "The Illustrated London News", 15th November 1851, p. 603-604, describing a journey from Fenchurch Street Station to Camden. The Tower Hamlets area as well as areas outside it, such as Homerton and Hackney, are described.
 
The Church of St. Matthias, Poplar
Article from "The Copartnership Herald", Vol. II, no. 16 (June 1932).
 
Charles II of Limehouse
Taken from an almanac and tide table issued from The Blue Posts by Charlie Brown Jnr. in 1936 .
 
Church of St. Bartholomew the Less, Bethnal Green
Short article on the newly-built church from the "Illustrated London News", 8th June 1844.
 
Commercial Road
Article from "The Copartnership Herald", Vol. II, no. 21 (November 1982), on the history of the Commercial Road, built in 1803.
 
The Copartnership Herald
Articles from a periodical published by the Commercial Gas Company in the 1930's
 
The "Continental Sunday" in England : sketches from the life in Petticoat Lane
Article from "Pall Mall Budget", 18th April 1889, on the market in, what is properly called, Middlesex Street.
 
Crimes of passion : a miscellany (1728-1780)
A collection of short reports from the 18th century on bawdy houses (brothels), bastardy, and other sexual crimes.
 
The curiosities of drunkenness
An anecdotal study by Henry Mayhew of the reasons for drinking - or not drinking - alcohol among the coal-whippers of the Pool of London. Published in "London Characters", 1881.
 
A Curious Burial
Article from "The East London Observer", 11th January 1890, on the funeral of Ah Sing, a Chinese inhabitant of St. George's-in-the-East who, reputedly, ran the opium den visited by Charles Dickens before he wrote "The mystery of Edwin Drood".
 
Down East
The West End takes a look at the East End (accompanied by a policeman, of course) in this article from "The Metropolitan", 14th September 1872. A look at the nightlife of the East End from a German dancehall to a "penny gaff" in Whitechapel.
 
Down the Highway
Article from the "East London Observer," no. 4 (Saturday, October 10, 1857), where a "Taxpayer of Forty Years Standing" complains bitterly and colourfully about the failure of the police to control the behaviour of prostitutes on the Ratcliff Highway and "frightful scenes of debauchery and vice."
 
Dwellings of the Poor in Bethnal-Green
Article from "The Illustrated London News", 24th October 1863, on housing conditions in the area.
 
East and West London
Selections from a book by the Rev. Harry Jones of St. George's-in-the-East on his impressions of East London, subtitled "Being notes of common life and pastoral work in Saint James's, Westminster, and in Saint George's-in-the-East". Published in 1875.
 
An East End vicar and his work
Article, written circa 1895, about Revd. Daw and his work in the parish of St. Mary, Spital Square.
 
East London : sketches of Christian work and workers
Twelve chapters (of which two chapters are currently available and the others will be added gradually) describing the work of the churches, missions, and settlements in the East End, written by Henry Walker and published by the Religious Tract society in 1896.
 
East London Industries
Highly-approving descriptions by W. Glenny Crory of the various industries located in the East End. Originally written between January 1875 and January 1876 for the East London Observer, these articles were published in book form in 1876. Currently, only the Preface, Introduction and the chapter on The Manufacture of Matches is available here. Others will be added gradually.
 
East London Observer
Articles from this weekly newspaper.
 
East London Opium Smokers
From London Society, July 1868.
Author not recorded. Interesting for its relaxed attitude to drug taking.
 
East London Record
Articles from the journal of the East London History Society.
 
An evening at a Whitechapel "gaff"
Article reprinted in the "East London Observer," (Saturday, March 10th, 1866), p. 2, in which James Greenwood, the "Amateur Casual," visits an East End theatre. East Enders at play instead of the usual poverty and disease.
 
The Female Casual at Whitechapel. Pt. 1
Article from the "East London Observer," (Saturday, September 1st 1866), p. 2, in which a female correspondent describes her own experience of a night in the casual (temporary) ward of the St. George-in-the-East workhouse.
 
The Female Casual at Whitechapel. Pt. 2
Article from the "East London Observer," (Saturday, September 8th 1866), p. 2, in which the female correspondent describes a night in the casual (temporary) ward of the Whitechapel workhouse.
 
A friend in my retreat
An account of the day-to-day life of that great East End institution: mother. Kingsley Royden remembers the daily routines of his mother (and father) living in Bromley-by-Bow in the 1920's. Published in the "East London Record", no.1 (1978) and republished here with the kind permission of the East London History Society.
 
Harry Jones and the creation of St. George's Gardens
From the East London Advertiser, 5th January 1901, page 7
 
Homes in the east of London : a fresh visit to Bethnal-green
Article from "The Builder" (28th January 1871) looking at the scandalous housing conditions in the area.
 
Homes in the east of London : a visit to "Wapping island"
Article from "The Builder" (7th January 1871) looking at housing conditions in Wapping - not, of course, a true island but cut off by the London Docks.
 
The Illustrated London News
 
In Alien-Land
Chapter I of "Off the track in London" by George R. Sims, published by Jarrold & Sons in 1911, in which he explores the Jewish East End, visiting Wentworth Street and Brick Lane, The Spitalfields Great Synagogue, and other streets in Whitechapel and Spitalfields.
 
In Bethnal Green
Chapter VIII of "Off the track in London" by George R. Sims, published by Jarrold & Sons in 1911, in which he visits the Sunday markets in Bethnal Green, an animal dealer, and a hand-weaver.
 
In Limehouse and the Isle of Dogs
Chapter XI of "Off the track in London" by George R. Sims, published by Jarrold & Sons in 1911. Originally published in "The Strand" magazine in July 1905. In it, he visits Millwall, China Town, Salmon Lane and other places in the area. The area has changed so completely that this has an almost legendary feel to it.
   
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