East Smithfield
East Smithfield is a small locality in the
The old
The street
The street runs eastward from Tower Hill, with the name changing to
History of the district
Civil and ecclesiastical administration
Portsoken Ward
The strip of land became known as the Portsoken, an extramural ward of the City of London which originally extended as far south of the Thames. The name East Smithfield - derived from smoothfield - was applied to an area corresponding, either exactly or approximately, to the Portsoken. Portsoken later lost its southern, riverside, section and the term East Smithfield was subsequently applied only to the part taken out of the Portsoken.
Land ownership and privileges
Later,
By 1115, during the reign of Henry I, the entire soke, or liberty, was given to the church of Holy Trinity within Aldgate, which had been founded in 1107 by Matilda, Henry's Queen. The prior of the Abbey was then to sit as an ex officio Alderman of London.[4] The gift was not without problems. The Constable of the Tower, Geoffrey de Mandeville had cultivated a piece of ground in East Smithfield, adjacent to the Tower, as a vineyard. He refused to give it up and defended it with the garrison.[5]
The southern part of East Smithfield was given by
A further monastic house was the Abbey of St Mary Graces (or Eastminster), but this seems not to have had an administrative unit associated with it.
From 1855, the whole area of the former East Smithfield was reunited under the administration of the Whitechapel District.[6]
County functions
The area was part of the
The role of the Tower Division ended when East Smithfield became part of the new County of London in 1889. The County of London was replaced by Greater London in 1965.
Plague
Between 1347 and 1351, the
Migration
By 1236 Jews were settled in the area for protection by the Tower garrison — until their expulsion in 1290. It's not entirely clear if the settled in East Smithfield, St Katharine's or both.[5]
In common with the neighbouring St Katharine's Precinct, the parish has had a diverse population since the medieval period.
This pattern of diversity continued, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries the parish of St Botolph without Aldgate as a whole (both the Portsoken and East Smithfield areas) is recorded as having a population of at least 25 people identified as "blackamoors."[8][9]
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).[10][9]
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.[11]
Around 1821 the writer Pierce Egan wrote a semi-autobiographical account of a visit to the Coach and Horses public house on Nightingale Lane (now called Sir Thomas More Street) in East Smithfield. The story tells of three upper class friends who tiring of high society events decide to “see a bit of life at the East End of Town”. Egan compares the East Ends informal egalitarian nightlife favourably to the formality of the West End.
every cove that put in his appearance was quite welcome, colour or country considered no obstacle...the group motley indeed;
jack tars, coalheavers, dustmen, women of colour, old and young, and a sprinkling of the remnants of once fine girls, &c. were all jigging together, The True History of Tom & Jerry: or, Life in London (1821)[12]
Poverty and philanthropy
In 1844, "An Association for promoting Cleanliness among the Poor" was established, and they built a
Economic Activity
A Pentecost fair was granted in the district in 1229. The Royal Mint moved from the Tower of London, to a site at the end of East Smithfield in 1809. Today, this building, by Robert Smirke and its gatehouse are all that remain; the rest being swept away by continual expansion, until in November 1975, the London Mint was closed and production transferred to Wales. The site is intended to become the new Chinese Embassy.[14]
In 1828, the entirety of Katharine's district, as well as southern East Smithfield were swept away to allow the construction of St Katharine Docks. Around 11,000 people were evicted and had to find new homes.
Notable People
- Edmund Spenser, poet, born in East Smithfield around 1552.[15]
See also
- Smithfield, London - Sometimes referred to as West Smithfield
Transport
The nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Tower Gateway.
The nearest London Underground station is Tower Hill on the District and Circle lines.
References
- ^ The National Gazetteer (1868), this ref supports the case that ES was part of St B-W-A
- ^ "Background - St Botolph Aldgate - London Lives".
- ^ website, original resource From "The Copartnership Herald", Vol. III, no. 35 (Christmas 1933-January 1934) http://www.mernick.org.uk/thhol/stkatharine.html
- ^ a b Allen, Thomas The History and Antiquities of London, Westminster, Southwark, and parts adjacent pp.709–712 (George Virtue, 1839)
- ^ a b St. Katharine's and East Smithfield Archived 2 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine The Copartnership Herald, Vol. III, no. 35 (Christmas 1933-January 1934) (Tower Hamlets History Online) accessed 23 March 2008
- ^ Youngs, F. A. Guide to Local Administrative Units of England, Volume I (London, 1979)
- ^ "Black Death targeted the weak - Telegraph". 4 February 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ISBN 9780563534778.
- ^ a b "Britain's first black community in Elizabethan London". BBC News. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
- ISBN 9780141911878.
fashionable novelty
- ^ "July 1787, trial of Joseph Curry Thomas Riley (t17870711-4)". Old Bailey Proceedings Online www.oldbaileyonline.org. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
- ^ Egan P, The True History of Tom & Jerry: or, Life in London, London, Charles Hindley, 1821 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43504/43504-h/43504-h.htm
- ^ Curiosities of London: Exhibiting the Most Rare and Remarkable John Timbs, pp. 33 (London, 1855)
- ^ Architects Journal website https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/david-chipperfield-submits-reworking-of-royal-mint-for-chinese-embassy
- ^ website accessed 5th May 2023 https://englishhistory.net/poets/edmund-spenser/