Origins and administration The term
Bethnal Green originally referred to a small common in the
Manor and Ancient Parish of Stepney; around which a small settlement developed. By the seventeenth century the area had become a
hamlet, a territorial sub-division of Stepney, with a degree of independence. Continued housebuilding and population growth in the 18th century led to the hamlet area becoming a fully independent daughter parish in 1743. The parish had a church, a benefice (for its priest)
and vestry (for its people) in 1743. In 1855 Bethnal Green was included within the area of the
Metropolitan Board of Works to which it nominated one member and the various local government bodies were replaced by a single incorporated
vestry which consisted of 48 elected vestrymen. Under the
Metropolis Management Act 1855, any parish that exceeded 2,000
ratepayers was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of St Matthew Bethnal Green was divided into four wards (electing
vestrymen): No. 1 or East (9), No. 2 or North (9), No. 3 or West (15) and No. 4 or South (15). The (civil) parish became a Metropolitan Borough in 1900, which merged with some of the neighbouring areas, to become the new London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in 1965. The area was part of the
historic (or ancient) county of
Middlesex, but military and most (or all) civil county functions were managed more locally, by the
Tower Division (also known as the Tower Hamlets). The role of the
Tower Division ended when Bethnal Green became part of the new
County of London in 1889. The County of London was replaced by Greater London in 1965.
Early history In what would become northern Bethnal Green (known as
Cambridge Heath) a tract of
common land, which stretched to the east and west, a part of the
Manor and Ancient Parish of Stepney. The heath was used as
pasture where people grazed their sheep in the 13th century, though 1275 records suggest at least one house stood there.
Stepney's Manor House (known as Bishopswood, later ''Bishop's Hall'') was located in Bethnal Green from at least 1207, on a site subsequently occupied by the
London Chest Hospital.
Emblems Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green The area was once best known for the popular
early modern ballad,
The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, which tells the story of a beautiful young woman named Bess, the daughter of a blind beggar. The earliest known explicit mention of the ballad is from 1624, but it was clearly well established by that date, as two other ballads of similar date were said to have been sung to the tune of the
Blind Beggar. A play on the same theme, almost certainly based on an existing ballad, is known to have been performed in 1600. According to one version of the legend, found in
Thomas Percy's
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry published in 1765, the beggar was said to be
Henry, the son of
Simon de Montfort, but Percy himself declared that this version was not genuine. A version published in 1934, closely based on Percy's but with some amendments to include much older material, contains 67 verses. The ballad recounts how Bess leaves Bethnal Green to seek her fortune, and stays a short time at the Queen's Arms inn at
Romford. There, her beauty quickly attracts four suitors, three of whom lose interest when she declares her background, while the fourth, a knight is unconcerned by her father's status. The couple marry, and despite his seeming poverty, the beggar gives a huge dowry to the knight, to the bitter dismay of the other three suitors.
The Blind Beggar public house, just on the Bethnal Green side of the historic boundary with
Whitechapel, is reputed to be the site of his begging. A depiction of the beggar is known to have been used on the head of the local
beadle's staff in 1690. Later, the beggar and his daughter were the basis of the
common seal of the
Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green. The legend also inspired
Elisabeth Frink's sculpture
Blind Beggar and his Dog (1958) on the
Cranbrook Estate in Bethnal Green.
Mulberry Bethnal Green is famous for its
mulberry trees, most notably the
Bethnal Green mulberry at the site of the former London Chest Hospital, which is reputed to be the oldest tree in the East End. Many of these mulberry trees may be a legacy of unsuccessful 16th and 17th century attempts to boost the weaving industries that Bethnal Green,
Shoreditch,
Spitalfields and other East End districts relied upon so heavily. Mulberries were used as the local emblem when it was a partly self-governing neighbourhood of Tower Hamlets from 1986 to 1992, and the symbol can still be seen on many local street signs. The mulberry is also used as a symbol of the East End more generally, and is featured on the
coat of arms of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Growth The Green and Poor's Land is the area of open land now occupied by
Bethnal Green Library, the
Young V&A and
St John's Church, designed by
John Soane. In
John Stow's
Survey of London (1598) the hamlet was called
Blethenal Green. It was one of the hamlets included in the Manor of Stepney and Hackney. Hackney later became separated. In 1678, the owners of houses surrounding the Green purchased the land to save it from being built on and in 1690, the land was conveyed to a trust under which it was to be kept open and rent from it used for the benefit of poor people living in the vicinity. From that date, the trust has administered the land and its minute books are kept in the
London Metropolitan Archives. Bethnal House, or Kirby's Castle, was the principal house on the Green. One of its owners was Sir Hugh Platt (1552–1608), author of books on gardening and practical science. Under its next owner it was visited by
Samuel Pepys. In 1727 it was leased to Matthew Wright and for almost two centuries it was an
asylum. Its two most distinguished inmates were
Alexander Cruden, compiler of the
Concordance to the Bible, and the poet
Christopher Smart. Cruden recorded his experience in
The London Citizen Grievously Injured (1739) and Smart's stay there is recorded by his daughter. Records of the asylum are kept in the annual reports of the Commissioner in Lunacy. Even today, the park where the library stands is known locally as "Barmy Park". The original mansion, the White House, was supplemented by other buildings. In 1891, the Trust lost the use of Poor's Land to the London County Council. The asylum reorganised its buildings, demolishing the historic White House and erecting a new block in 1896. This building became the present Bethnal Green Library. A history of Poor's Land and Bethnal House is included in
The Green, written by A.J. Robinson and D.H.B. Chesshyre. Boxing has a long association with Bethnal Green.
Daniel Mendoza, who was champion of England from 1792 to 1795 though born in
Aldgate, lived in Paradise Row on the western side of Bethnal Green for 30 years.
Joe Anderson, 'All England' champion of 1897, was from Bethnal Green. The north end of the Green is associated with the Natt family. During the 18th century they owned many of its houses. Netteswell House is the residence of the curator of the Bethnal Green Museum. It is almost certainly named after the village of
Netteswell, near
Harlow, whose
rector was the Reverend Anthony Natt. A few of its houses have become
University settlements. In Victoria Park Square, on the east side of the Green, No. 18 has a
Tudor well in its cellar. The silk-weaving trade spread eastwards from
Spitalfields throughout the 18th century. This attracted many
Huguenot and Irish weavers. Large estates of small two-storey cottages were developed in the west of the area to house them. A downturn in the trade in 1769 led to the
Spitalfield Riots, and on 6 December 1769, two weavers accused of "cutting" were hanged in front of the Salmon and Ball
public house. The weaving industry is now commemorated in the name of the
Weaver line railway which serves the area. Bethnal Green Road Market on the road of the same name, founded in the 18th century, grew and grew and became more full with stalls. By 1959 stalls were choking the streets and the council attempted to relocate the market but had no success. In 1986 there had been many shop closures but the stalls were still trading. The street market is now today recognised as a major local shopping area.
Victorian era In the early 19th century, Bethnal Green remained characterised by its
market gardens and by weaving. Having been an area of large houses and gardens as late as the 18th century, by about 1860 Bethnal Green was mainly full of tumbledown old buildings with many families living in each house. By the end of the century, Bethnal Green was one of the poorest slums in London.
Jack the Ripper operated at the western end of Bethnal Green and in neighbouring
Whitechapel. In 1900, the Old Nichol Street
rookery was replaced with the
Boundary Estate (near the limits of Shoreditch). This was a first in
council housing. Brothers
Lew Grade and
Bernard Delfont were brought up on the estate. In 1909, the larger
Bethnal Green Estate was opened with money left by the philanthropist
William Richard Sutton which he left for "modern dwellings and houses for occupation by the poor of London and other towns and populous places in England". The
Peabody Trust administered the funds to complete much of the estate in 1910. The
Regent's Canal opened in 1820, for horse-drawn canal barges to carry cargo between the
Port of London and the
Grand Union Canal. These supplied local coal merchants and gas houses/plants (gasifiers) built along its banks including Bethnal Green. The
London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews built Palestine Place as Cambridge Heath began to be fully developed during the first half of the 19th century. A windmill survived until at least 1836. Most local residents were poor, especially in the streets around the railway line and the Regent's Canal, as well as on Russia Lane. As the population grew, a number of mission churches were founded to serve newly created parishes. St Andrew's church on Viaduct Street was built in 1841, serving a congregation of up to 350 people. It closed and was demolished in 1958. Globe Town was established from 1800 to provide for the expanding population of
weavers around Bethnal Green attracted by improving prospects in
silk weaving. The population of Bethnal Green trebled between 1801 and 1831, operating 20,000 looms in their own homes. By 1824, with restrictions on importation of French silks relaxed, up to half these looms became idle and prices were driven down. With many importing
warehouses already established in the district, the abundance of cheap labour was turned to boot, furniture and clothing manufacture. Globe Town continued its expansion into the 1860s, long after the decline of the silk industry.
Columbia Road Flower Market is on the street of the same name which has kept some Victorian shops, and was established as Columbia Market in 1869 as a covered food market. It closed in 1886, but was later revived as a Sunday flower market.
Bethnal Green Junction, now just Bethnal Green from 1946 (which leads to confusion with the much-later
London Underground station) and Cambridge Heath railway station are on the
London Overground. Both were opened by the
Great Eastern Railway (GER) on the
Lea Valley Lines in 1872 as part of a more direct route to
Enfield Town. The GER opened further Fast Lines that allow longer-distance trains to bypass these. Bethnal Green was also formerly served by trains on the
Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) via and saw two derailments in the later 20th century, similar to other contemporary comparators of busy, metropolitan junctions. Mowlem Street School opened in 1887. It was enlarged in 1898 and again in 1902 to accommodate 410 boys and 410 girls. A new single-storey building catering for 280 children was opened in 1971 when it was renamed Mowlem Primary School.
Early 20th century Bethnal Green Town Hall was completed in 1910 and the internationally renowned
York Hall opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200. In 1993, the Town Hall was vacated when the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets moved its headquarters, and in 2007 the building was converted to a hotel which opened in 2010. The warehouse buildings rose from the Regent's Canal without a towpath to interrupt development, giving direct access to the canal. A row of Victorian workshops was built on Wadeson Street in what was a historically
Jewish precinct. This became very overcrowded with 572 inhabitants living in 125 houses by the 1930s.
Second World War The Blitz During the Second World War, the
Luftwaffe began
The Blitz on 7 September 1940. Bethnal Green was in "Target Area A" along with the rest of the
East End of London. Bethnal Green Library was bombed on the very first night of the Blitz. This forced the temporary relocation of the library into the unopened Bethnal Green Underground Station in order to provide continuity of lending services. The library was rebuilt and opened a few months later for the public. Oxford House also had a major role, with some local residents fleeing into the house off Bethnal Green Road seeking shelter, this location was more attractive than the stables under the nearby
Great Eastern Main Line arches. The Chief Shelter Welfare Officer at the time, Jane Leverson, is reported to have said that "people came to Oxford House not because it was an air raid shelter but because there they found happiness and a true spirit of fellowship". It is estimated that during this war, 80 tons of bombs fell on the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green, affecting 21,700 houses, destroying 2,233 and making a further 893 uninhabitable. There were a total of 555 people killed and 400 seriously injured. Many unexploded bombs remain in the area, and on 14 May 2007, builders discovered a Second World War 1 m long
bomb.
Bethnal Green tube disaster On 3 March 1943, an
air raid warning sounded at 8:17 pm, causing a flow of people down the narrow staircase, with no handrail, of the uncompleted
Bethnal Green tube station, wet from rain and only dimly lit due to blackout precautions, to shelter from bombs. (The station had been requisitioned in 1940 by the
Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green under the supervision of the Regional Commissioners.) A
crowd crush ensued, thought to have been triggered by a woman carrying a baby tripping on the stairs. A new anti-aircraft rocket being test-fired in nearby Victoria Park caused panic, being thought to be a German weapon. The panic began at 8:27. In the wet, dark conditions, a woman tripped on the crowded stairs, causing many others to fall. Within a few seconds 300 people were crushed in the narrow stairwell, causing the deaths of 173 people, mostly women and 62 children, who were crushed and asphyxiated. A report was filed by Eric Linden, who witnessed the incident, with the
Daily Mail, but not published. Very little information was provided at the time. The outcome of a government inquiry was not made public until 1946 to avoid a propaganda win for the enemy and to protect public morale. Director
Steve McQueen made a 2024 film,
Blitz, about the wartime bombing of London (
the Blitz), depicting and partly inspired by this event.
St Barnabas Community Fete was an annual fête and music festival held on Wennington Green in
Mile End Park. In 2015, three children Amira Abase,
Shamima Begum, and Kadiza Sultana appeared in the press. All three had attended the
Bethnal Green Academy before leaving home to join the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ==Representation==