JOHN HOARE'S FAMILY HISTORY

My Family, Poplar, and Dockland

First draft March 21.2014

Our families come from quite a few parts of the UK, but for a few years at the end of the nineteenth century the different families were drawn to London. So much of their lives overlapped that have set up this page covering all the branches of my family in what is now generally known as 'Docklands' .There are several names used for overlapping parts of this historically important and interesting area, so we need to get some kind of handle on the names used.

London grew up around the river Thames from Roman times, but as trade grew over the centuries the ships became more numerous and larger, and needed to unload further East. The Victorian docks were built in and around a boggy loop of the Thames about five miles (8km) East of central London, covering around a square mile. On the maps this is a 'U' shape, and we will refer to the 'U' to identify the locations of the various sections. UK television viewers can see it most nights of the week under the end credits of 'Eastenders' on BBC 1! The area suffered greatly during World War II and fell into disuse in the mid 20th century with the coming of large container vessels, only to be reborn with the formation of the London Dockland Development Corporation in 1981.

The Eastern side of London is very low lying, often below high water level, and throughout history has been characterised by protective walls on the river bank and therefore stairs to allow access. Area names along the river will often end in 'wall', and names such as 'Wapping Old Stairs' will be used instead of street names. 'Harbour' is also used.

The East London History Society has made available a really excellent set of maps of the area published between 1745 and 2000. They clearly show the huge changes that have taken place, and are well worth a look.

POPLAR
The area inside the 'U' was known as Poplar Marshes in the 1700's. It was at or below high tide level, and largely undeveloped except for the riverside. From about 1800 the name Poplar was used for the whole area in and above the 'U'. Poplar was a part of the parish of Stepney until 1855 when it became a parish in its own right.

ISLE OF DOGS
In the 1700s there were remains of the old course of the river taking a direct line across the top of the 'U'. This made most of the loop an island, sometimes referred to as 'The Isle of Dogs'. From 1799 as part of the development of the West India Docks a canal was cut along the same line to allow ships easier progress between London and the sea. (Later it was later widened and became the South Dock.) This made a more substantial barrier than the old waterway, and the name 'The Isle of Dogs' became more widespread. Charles Dickens described a walk around the Isle of Dogs in 1853 in his journal ''Household Words' Volume VII page 273, and in it he gives two possible sources of the name -

The mundane and most likely reason is that the area was the nearest hunting land to Greenwich Palace, and Royalty enjoyed hunting with dogs. Because it was so boggy it wasn't uncommon for the dogs to drown in the mud.

A much more colourful explanation is that an evil ferryman carried a rich gentleman from Greenwich to Poplar Marshes on a hunting trip, where he murdered him for his money. The gentleman's dog wouldn't leave his master's side, but took to swimming across the Thames to find food before returning, and was befriended by ferrymen. This continued until one day the dog came across the murderer, recognised him, and launched a furious attack. One of the ferrymen followed the dog back across the river, and to the dead man. Thus the murderer was identified and punished.

STEPNEY MARSHES
I have seen 'Stepney Marshes' used to refer to the same area as The Isle of Dogs'

BLACKWALL
The name 'Blackwall' was in use from the Middle Ages to define the area to the top right of the 'U'. Blackwall Yard was an important shipbuilding area until 1987. Part of Blackwall Yard was Brunswick Dock. this became part of the East India Dock which was set up in 1803.

The Blackwall Tunnel under the Thames was first opened as a single tunnel in 1893, catering for the road traffic of the time. A second tunnel was opened in 1967. It links Tower Hamlets to Greenwich and is still the most Easterly free crossing of the Thames. Our ancestor William Hatfield KELD, born 1825, lived at number 4, Naval Row, Brunswick place, Blackwall in 1861 when he worked as a ship's joiner - unfortunately where the house stood is now the Northern entrance to the Blackwall Tunnel!.

COLD HARBOUR
The Cold Harbour connected to the Keld family is a small London street in Blackwall, and the name is also used for the immediate area. We now understand that it was originally known as Cold Harbour, occasionally Cole Harbour. The street itself is nowadays usually referred to as just Coldharbour but sometimes Coldharbour Lane - all very confusing for Google Maps! According to Wikipedia the area developed in the seventeenth century, although little now survives from before about 1800. The area was very busy serving the Docks in the nineteenth century when our family were there. The whole area declined through the twentieth century, and was restored as part of the London Dockyards revival. It is recognised as almost the only historic part of the area still surviving.

MILLWALL
The North side of the Thames to the West of the loop - the left inside part of the 'U' - was known as Millwall by 1861. Millwall Dock was opened in 1868, forming the familiar large 'back to front' letter 'L'. To add to the confusion, Millwall Football Club left Millwall in 1910, moving to New Cross over the river.

TOWER HAMLETS
The Borough of Tower Hamlets encompasses all the areas so far listed. This is not the place for a deep discussion of local government in Victorian London, but there is plenty on Wikipedia. The short version - administration was chaotic and undemocratic until the setting up of the London County Council in 1888.

Under the LCC Tower Hamlets was represented by seven Councillors representing Bow and Bromley, Limehouse, Mile End, Poplar, St. George's in the East, Stepney, and Whitechapel. The LCC records are in Wikipedia and show that my great-great uncle Dalby Williams was elected as  Councillor for St. George's in the East in 1895. He represented the Moderate party, allied to the Conservatives. My mother recounted two stories about this, first that he was very proud to have knelt before King Edward VII and had a photograph of the event, and second that he stood and lost as a Conservative candidate against one of the Benn family, probably Sir John Benn (the grandfather of Tony Benn the well known 20th century politician) who records show was both an LCC Councillor and MP at about the right time. This is at least possible, though as yet unproven

© John and Sheila Hoare 2014

SOURCES

The British History Online web page for Blackwall and Coldharbour contains a large amount of well researched local history. It includes detailed coverage of numbers 1,3,5 and 7, including a contemporary map with house numbers, floor plans of numbers 5 and 7, and recent photographs. (seen 2013)

Wikipedia 'Coldharbour'(seen 2014)

Maps  from The East London History Society (seen 2014)
A fantastic resource for anyone researching East London

Charles Dickens and The Isle of Dogs
'Household Words' Volume VII page 273

Wikipedia London local Government (seen 2014)

Isle of Dogs History website with excellent maps and pictures (seen 2018)