Editing Stepney (section)

==History – Events==
===Stepney Parliament===
In 1299, during the reign of [[Edward I]], a parliament was held in Stepney at the home of [[Henry le Walleis]]. The location of his home is uncertain but is thought to be close to St Dunstan's church.<ref>'Stepney: Settlement and Building to c.1700', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11, Stepney, Bethnal Green, ed. T F T Baker (London, 1998), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp13-19 [accessed 9 March 2025].</ref> The Stepney Parliament confirmed and reissued the [[Magna Carta]] (also known as the Charter of Liberties), and it is the Stepney version of Magna Carta that is in the modern [[statute book]].<ref>Weinreb and Hibbert, The London Encyclopaedia, p516 (under Mile End)</ref>

===Stepney Feasts===
The 1600s and 1700s saw a long annual tradition known as the '''Cockney's Feast''', later also known as the '''Stepney Feast'''. The event, managed by the Stepney Society was a way of raising money to apprentice Stepney boys into the maritime trades, for instance as sailors. The area was regarded as producing exceptional seamen, as the historian [[John Strype]] noted:

{{Blockquote|"It is further to be remarked that the Parish of Stepney, on the Southern Parts of it especially, that it is one of the greatest Nurseries of Navigation and Breeders of Seamen in England, the most serviceable Men in the Nation; without which England could not be England for they are its Strength and Wealth."|[[John Strype]]<ref>Extracts from Tower Hamlets' Local History Library and Archives https://www.mernick.org.uk/thhol/stepney1.html</ref>}}

The event was typically held on a convenient Saturday on or around 19 May, the feast day of [[St Dunstan]], the patron saint of Stepney.<ref>Rules and Orders of the Stepney Society https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_rules_and_orders_of_the_Stepney_soci/-hIIAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Stepney+Feast%22&pg=PA56&printsec=frontcover</ref> The meal was preceded by a service at [[St Dunstan's, Stepney|St Dunstan's church]].

In his 'A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster' of 1720, the historian and clergyman [[John Strype]] described the course of the event in his day. Eight Stewards would be chosen each year, sometimes men who as a boy had benefitted from the charity. At the initial church service, a sermon would be given by a locally born clergyman – Strype said that he had had the honour on several occasions.

There was then a procession led by beneficiaries of the scheme and "the eight Stewards and the rest of the Natives commonly take a Walk with Officers and Musick playing before them, through [[Limehouse]] and [[Ratcliff]], and so return back to the King's Head overagainst the Church; and there dine plentifully and friendly together"<ref name="auto">John Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster 1720, https://www.dhi.ac.uk/strype/TransformServlet?page=app1_101</ref> Strype thought that Stepney was an unusually charitable place with more alms houses than any parish he knew of.<ref name="auto"/>

The event was discontinued in 1784 after the fundraising was taken on by the [[Marine Society]], a charity which had the resources to apprentice boys beyond the East End.<ref>Notes and Queris 1871 https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Notes_and_Queries/f9gEAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Cockneys+Feast%22&pg=PA511&printsec=frontcover</ref>

An annual [[Barbados]] equivalent of the Feast was also held, with invitations limited to those born within the sound of [[Bow Bells]].<ref>West Indies Quarterly https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/West_Indian_Quarterly/EpwyAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Cockneys+Feast%22&pg=PA431&printsec=frontcover</ref>

===Urban development===
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2025}}
At the turn of the 16th century Stepney was largely rural. The theologian and [[Christian humanism|humanist]] philosopher [[Erasmus]] was a friend of [[John Colet]], the vicar of St Dunstans's church, who was a great influence on him. Ahead of a stay with Colet, Erasmus wrote of Stepney "I come to drink your fresh air, to drink yet deeper of your rural peace". About the same time [[Sir Thomas More]] wrote "wheresoever you look, the earth yieldeth you a pleasant prospect."<ref>Our Flag Stays Red – p11, Phil Piratin, Lawrence and Wishart, London 2006, {{ISBN|1-905007-28-0}}</ref>

Much of the subsequent urbanisation of the area was driven by the maritime trades along the river, as well as ribbon development along the [[Mile End Road]]. Other factors included the development of London's docks and railways, combined with slum clearance, which pushed the displaced poor and various immigrants looking for work into cheap housing being built in the area.

The [[Trinity Green Almshouses]] were built in 1695 to provide housing for retired sailors. They are the oldest almshouses in [[Central London]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/row-over-sainsburys-scheme-for-tower-near-whitechapel-almshouses-a3172771.html|title=Row over Sainsbury's scheme for tower near Whitechapel almshouses|last1=Prynn|first1=Jonathan|last2=Bourke|first2=Joanna|work=Evening Standard|location=London|date=4 February 2016|access-date=12 May 2016}}</ref>

[[Malplaquet House]] is named after the [[Battle of Malplaquet]], one of the main battles of the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], which took place in France in 1709. However, it is not known whether this naming came from the Jewish widow of the London merchant, who made his living selling war salvage, or from a later resident, the military surgeon Edward Lee.<ref name=Classicist>{{cite web|title=Malplaquet House|url=http://tdclassicist.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/malplaquet-house.html|work=The Devoted Classicist|date=14 March 2013|access-date=4 December 2013}}</ref> It was home to a variety of small businesses including a bookmaker and a printer, before being occupied in 1910 by the Union of Stepney Ratepayers.<ref name="GreatHouses2012">{{cite book|last=Stourton|first=James|author-link=James Stourton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=42aXuAAACAAJ|title=Great Houses of London|location=London, England|publisher=[[Frances Lincoln#Frances Lincoln Publishers|Frances Lincoln]]|year=2012|others=Photographs by Fritz von der Schulenburg|edition=Illustrated 1st|isbn=978-0-7112-3366-9|page=112}}</ref>

The [[Leonard A. Montefiore|Leonard Montefiore]] memorial fountain on Stepney Green is named for a young writer and philanthropist, Leonard Montefiore, who at the time of his death in 1879 was known for his philanthropic work in the East End of London. Montefiore attended [[Balliol College, Oxford]], where his posthumous memoir reports that he was a devotee of [[John Ruskin]]. Whilst at Balliol he became a friend of [[Oscar Wilde]], who after Montefiore's death allegedly proposed to his sister Charlotte.<ref>The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, Neil Mckenna, Random House, 2011-02-28</ref> He was also influenced by [[Arnold Toynbee (historian, born 1852)|Arnold Toynbee]] and [[Benjamin Jowett]]. Montefiore was chief assistant to [[Samuel Barnett (reformer)|Samuel Barnett]] in his work regarding the extension of Oxford University to London, and was secretary of the [[Tower Hamlets]] branch of the Society for the Extension of University Teaching.<ref>Essays and Letters by Leonard A. Montefiore, in Memoriam, Page 10, Privately Printed, Chiswick Press; C Whittingham and Co. London 1881</ref> The Jewish Encyclopedia<ref name="jewishencyclopedia">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10960-montefiore|title=MONTEFIORE|website=JewishEncyclopedia.com|access-date=2017-10-07}}</ref> says "Montefiore was associated with many philanthropic movements, especially with the movement for women's emancipation." Montefiore died at Newport, Rhode Island, aged 27. According to the Women's rights activist [[Emily Faithfull]] in her book "Three Visits to America" published in 1884 Montefiore died "''While he was visiting the United States, in order to see for himself what could be learned from the political and social condition of the people, must ever be deplored. The world can ill afford to lose men of such deep thought and energetic action.''"<ref name="Faithfull">{{cite book|last1=Faithfull|first1=Emily|title=Three Visits to America|url=http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/faithfull/america/america.html|date=1884|publisher=Fowler & Wells Co., Publishers|location=New York}}</ref> The memorial fountain has the following poem engraved on its side:

<poem>''"Clear brain and sympathetic heart,''
''A spirit on flame with love for man,''
''Hands quick to labour, slow to part,''
''If any good since time began,''
''A soul can fashion such souls can."''</poem>

[[File:Sheet 4 (Mile End, Stepney, Shadwell, Limehouse) from the east half of the- 'Plan of the cities of London and Westminster, the borough of Southwark and parts adjoining shewing every house' RMG K0929.jpg|Map of 1792 of Stepney and around, when it was countryside|thumb]]
[[File:Stepney Area, part of Cross's New Plan Of London, 1853.jpg|Map of 1853: The spread of London has reached Stepney|thumb]]

In 1883, [[Jacob P. Adler]] arrived in London with a troupe of refugee professional actors. He enlisted the help of local amateurs, and the ''Russian Jewish Operatic Company'' made their debut at the Beaumont Hall, close to [[Stepney Green tube station]]. Within two years they were able to establish their own theatre in [[Brick Lane]].<ref>[http://www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/y3.asp The Jewish Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051023231641/http://www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/y3.asp |date=23 October 2005 }} accessed on 31 March 2007</ref>

[[Stepney Green tube station|Stepney Green railway station]] was opened in 1902 by the [[Whitechapel and Bow Railway]], a joint venture between the [[District Railway]] and the [[London, Tilbury and Southend Railway]]. The station passed to London Underground in 1950.<ref name="LT transfer">{{cite news|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/38824/pages/480/page.pdf|title=Transport Act, 1947|newspaper=The London Gazette|date=27 January 1950|page=480|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730190415/http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/38824/pages/480/page.pdf|archive-date=2013-07-30|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the early 20th century, Stepney was one of the most [[Jewish]] neighbourhoods in England;<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBqkFb7MTQ0C&q=metropolitan+borough+of+stepney&pg=PA70|title=Immigration and Social Policy in Britain|first=Catherine|last=Jones|date=27 September 2001|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415265003}}</ref> it was eventually superseded as such by [[Stamford Hill]].<ref>[http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_SDDRGVT  ''Kosher in the country''], ''[[The Economist]]'' 1 June 2006 accessed 14 August 2007</ref>

On 31 July 1987 the [[Docklands Light Railway]], which operated over the old LBR line, commenced operations, with new platforms (platforms 3 and 4) built on the site of the old LBR platforms;{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} at Stepney East which had been renamed Limehouse on 11 May that year.<ref name="culg">{{cite web|url=http://www.davros.org/rail/culg/dockland.html|work=Clive's UndergrounD Line Guides|title=Docklands Light Railway}}</ref>