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Greater London
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London
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Whitechapel
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515165
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-00750
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LONDON
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E
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E1
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Tower Hamlets
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020
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TQ335815
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is a place in the
London Borough Of Tower Hamlets ,
England . It is a built-up inner city district located 3.4 miles (5.5 km) east of
Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the
Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west,
Hanbury Street on the north,
Brady Street and
Cavell Street on the east and
Commercial Road on the south.
Whitechapel's heart is Whitechapel Road itself, named for a small , though anciently it was the initial part of the Roman road between the City of London and
Colchester , exiting the city at
Aldgate .
'Stepney: Communications', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998), pp. 7-13 accessed: 09 March 2007
By the late
16th Century the suburb of Whitechapel and the surrounding area had started becoming 'the other half' of London. Located east of
Aldgate , outside the
City Walls and beyond official controls, it attracted the more fragrant activities of the city, particularly tanneries, breweries, foundries (including the
Whitechapel Bell Foundry which later cast Philadelphia's
Liberty Bell and London's
Big Ben ) and slaughterhouses.
In 1680, the Rector of Whitechapel, the Rev.
Ralph Davenant , of the parish of St. Mary Matfellon, bequeathed a legacy for the education of forty boys and thirty girls of the parish - the
Davenant Centre is still in existence although the
Davenant Foundation School moved from Whitechapel to
Loughton in 1966.
Population shifts from rural areas to London from the ), Wentworth St. and others.
William Booth began his ''Christian Revival Society'', preaching the gospel in a tent, erected in the ''Friends Burial Ground'', Thomas Street, Whitechapel, in 1865. Others joined his ''Christian Mission'', and on
August 7 ,
1878 the
Salvation Army was formed at a meeting held at 272 Whitechapel Road.
1878 Foundation Deed Of The Salvation Army accessed 15 Feb 2007 A statue commemorates both his mission and his work in helping the poor.
In the (also called "The Whitechapel Murderer" at the time), who terrorised this part of London in the autumn of 1888.
In 1902, American author
Jack London , looking to write a counterpart to
Jacob Riis 's seminal book ''
How The Other Half Lives '', donned ragged clothes and boarded in Whitechapel, detailing his experiences in ''
The People Of The Abyss ''. Riis had recently documented the astoundingly bad conditions in large swaths of the leading city of the United States. London, a socialist, thought it worthwhile to explore conditions in the leading city of the nation that had invented modern
Capitalism . He concluded that English poverty was far rougher than the American variety. The juxtaposition of the poverty, homelessness, exploitive work conditions, prostitution, and infant mortality of Whitechapel and other East End locales with some of the greatest personal wealth the world has ever seen made it a focal point for leftist reformers and revolutionaries of all kinds, from
George Bernard Shaw , whose
Fabian Society met regularly in Whitechapel, to
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin , who boarded and led rallies in Whitechapel during his exile from Russia. The area is still home to
Freedom Press , the anarchist publishing house founded by Charlotte Wilson.
The "Elephant Man",
Joseph Carey Merrick (1862-1890) became well-known in Whitechapel - he was exhibited in a shop on the Whitechapel Road before being helped by Dr
Frederick Treves (1853-1923) at the
Royal London Hospital , opposite the actual shop. There is a museum in the hospital about his life.
Whitechapel remained poor (and colourful) through the first half of the
20th Century , though somewhat less desperately so. It suffered great damage in
The Blitz and the
V1 /
V2 German "flying bomb" attacks of World War II. Since then, Whitechapel has lost most of its notoriety, though it is still thoroughly
Working Class . The
Bangladesh is are the most visible migrant group there today and it is home to many aspiring artists and shoestring entrepreneurs.
The
East London Line of the tube is being extended northwards to
Dalston and southwards to
West Croydon , planned for completion in
2010 . A further extension is planned in phase 2, to provide a complete rail ring route around south London to
Clapham Junction , this is unlikely to be completed before
2015 . Whitechapel is also scheduled to be a stop on the
Crossrail project, again, unlikely to be completed before
2015 .
These changes are likely to lead to a radical redevelopment of the area, making it more attractive to businesses, but pricing existing residents out of the area.
Whitechapel Road was the location of two 19th century theatres: 'The Effingham' (1834-1897) and 'The Pavilion' (1828-1935; building demolished in 1962). "
In the early 20th century it became the home of
Yiddish Theatre , catering to the large Jewish population of the area.
Since at least the 1970s, Whitechapel and other nearby parts of East London have figured prominently in London's art scene. Probably the area's most prominent art venue is the
Whitechapel Art Gallery , founded in 1901 and long an outpost of high culture in a poor neighbourhood. As the neighbourhood has gentrified, it has gained citywide, and even international, visibility and support. As of 2005, the gallery is undergoing a major expansion, with the support of £3.26 million from the
Heritage Lottery Fund . The expanded facility is due to open in 2007/8.
Whitechapel in the early 21st century has figured prominently in London's
Punk Rock /
Skuzz Rock scene, with the main focal point for this scene being
Whitechapel Factory and
Rhythm Factory bar/restaurant/nightclub. This scene includes the likes of
The Libertines ,
Zap! ,
Nova ,
The Others ,
Razorlight and
The Rakes , all of whom have had some commercial success in the music charts.
; Born in Whitechapel
- Jack Kid Berg , boxer, "The Whitechapel Windmill", British Lightweight Champion 1934
- Tina Charles , 70s disco artist, 1954
- Peter Cheyney , mystery writer and journalist, 1896-1951
- Ashley Cole , Chelsea and England footballer ( Left Back ) 1980
- Jack Cohen , British-Jewish businessman who founded the Tesco supermarket chain , 1898-1979
- Roger Delgado , Actor (best known as "The Master" in ''Doctor Who''), 1918-1973
- Bud Flanagan , (born Chaim Reuven Weintrop), music hall comedian on stage, radio, film and television, 1896-1968
- Margaret Pepys (née Kite), mother of famous diarist Samuel Pepys , d. 1667
- Shahara Islam , 20 year old of Bangladeshi descent killed in the 7 July 2005 London Terrorist Attacks
- Simon Blumenfeld, novelist, playwright and columnist,1907-2005.
- Jack "Spot" Comer , Jewish gangster and anti-Fascist, 1912-1996
- Alan Tilvern , film and television actor, 1918-2003
- Abraham Beame , first Jewish mayor of New York City, 1906-2001
- Abe Saperstein , founder of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team,
; Resident in or otherwise associated with Whitechapel
- Charles Lahr , anarchist bookseller/publisher, secretary of Whitechapel branch of the Industrial Union of Direct Actionists (IUDA), 1885-1971.
- Avrom Stencl , Yiddish poet, early companion of Franz Kafka , published ''Loshn and Lebn'' in Whitechapel, 1897-1983.
- Rudolf Rocker , Anarcho-syndicalist writer, historian and prominent activist, active in Whitechapel 1895-1918, 1873-1958
; Sources consulted
; Endnotes
