Exact boundaries of Whitechapel and other boroughs

I put this one together, about two years ago …


Parochial Establishment - 1867-1900 (Click to View in flickr)
Underlying Aerial Imagery: Copyright Google Earth, 2007
Overlying Plots, Labels and Color-Shadings: Copyright Colin C. Roberts, 2009

- '1': The Parish of St. Luke, County of Middlesex
- As Labeled: The Parish of St. Leonard Shoreditch, County of Middlesex
- As Labeled: The Parish of St. Matthew Bethnal Green, County of Middlesex
- '2': The Liberty of Norton Folgate, County of Middlesex
- '3': The Old Artillery Ground, County of Middlesex
- As Labeled: The Parish of Christ Church Spitalfields, County of Middlesex
- As Labeled: The Hamlet of Mile End New Town, County of Middlesex
- As Labeled: The City of London, County of the City of London
- '4': The Parish of Holy Trinity (Minories), County of Middlesex
- As Labeled: The Parish of St. Mary Whitechapel, County of Middlesex
- As Labeled: The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, County of Middlesex
- '5': The Liberty of Her Majesty's Tower of London, County of Middlesex
--- The Liberty of the Tower
--- The Precinct of Old Tower Without
--- The Tower
- '6': The Precinct of St. Katharine, County of Middlesex
- '7': The Parish of St. Botolph without Aldgate, County of Middlesex
- '8': The Parish of St. John of Wapping, County of Middlesex
- As Labeled: The Parish of St. George in the East, County of Middlesex
- '9': The Parish of St. Paul Shadwell, County of Middlesex
- '10': The Parish of St. Thomas, Borough of Southwark, County of Surrey
- As Labeled: The Parish of St. Olave, Borough of Southwark, County of Surrey
- As Labeled: The Parish of St. John Horselydown, Borough of Southwark, County of Surrey
- As Labeled: The Parish of St. Mary Magdalen Bermondsey, County of Surrey
- '11': The Parish of St. Mary Magdalen Bermondsey, County of Surrey
- '12': The Parish of St. Mary Rotherhithe, County of Surrey

… but I have always thought it was a bit 'hard on the eyes'.

I'm planning to eventually do one, in which the parochial boundaries (and murder-sites) are depicted in the following manner (i.e. in the following graphic scheme):

[ATTACH]6176[/ATTACH]
Figure 4: Ancient Parochial Establishment of East London (Click to View in flickr)
Underlying Aerial Imagery: Copyright Google Earth, 2007
Overlying Plots, Labels and Color-Shadings: Copyright Colin C. Roberts, 2009

Part of an effort to define that, which was 'local' in the context of political geography:

- Bright Yellow: St. John at Hackney
- Orange: St. Leonard Shoreditch
- Red: St. Dunstan Stepney
- Green: Bromley St. Leonard
- Purple: City of London
- Gold: The Liberty of His/Her Majesty's Tower of London
- Blue: Precinct of the Priory of St. Mary without Bishopsgate (St. Mary Spital)
- Green: Precinct of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, Aldgate (County of Middlesex)

The Ancient Parish of St. Dunstan Stepney (Red) was divided, between the years 1329 - 1817, into the following Civil Parishes:

- St. Matthew Bethnal Green
- Christ Church Spitalfields
- The Hamlet of Mile End New Town
- St. Mary Whitechapel
- St. John of Wapping
- St. George in the East
- St. Paul Shadwell
- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town
- The Hamlet of Ratcliff
- St. Anne Limehouse
- St. Mary Stratford Bow
- All Saints Poplar

The Precinct of the Priory of St. Mary without Bishopsgate (St. Mary Spital) (Blue) was originally part of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate (excepting the northernmost 'tip', which was part of St. Leonard Shoreditch). By the end of the seventeenth century, it had become The Liberty of Norton Folgate (north) and The Old Artillery Ground (south).

The green areas, which constituted the Middlesex portions of the Precinct of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, Aldgate were originally part of St. Botolph without Aldgate. The smaller area (north) eventually became Holy Trinity (Minories), while the larger area (south) became The Precinct of St. Katharine (west), and once again St. Botolph without Aldgate (east).

[Chris]

Thanks for your reply Colin. This is very helpful. However, I guess I was thinking it might be helpful to have a map, that actually illustrated all these various districts and parishes... showing the boundaries etc.

For example... just looking at this map, it seems that Sion Square (where Woolf Abrahams lived around 1890) is right near the border between Whitechapel and the west ward of Mile End Old Town.

Do you know if there is any map that illustrates this. I tend to be a visual person, and I think I could understand this better, if there was a map to go along with your very helpful post above.

One map that shows the boundary fairly clearly is the 1889 Booth poverty map (below). The houses on the north side of Sion Square are indeed on the northern boundary of Mile End Old Town.

[robhouse]

Thanks for your reply Colin. This is very helpful. However, I guess I was thinking it might be helpful to have a map, that actually illustrated all these various districts and parishes... showing the boundaries etc.

For example... just looking at this map, it seems that Sion Square (where Woolf Abrahams lived around 1890) is right near the border between Whitechapel and the west ward of Mile End Old Town.

Do you know if there is any map that illustrates this. I tend to be a visual person, and I think I could understand this better, if there was a map to go along with your very helpful post above.

Thanks again

Rob House

… I am confused about the difference between a borough and a ward.

Which was Whitechapel? A borough or a ward?

It was neither!

The only 'Borough' seen in the focus of this map is the Municipal/Parliamentary Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The only 'Wards' seen therein are those, which administratively divide the Hamlet of Mile End Old Town (i.e. 'West', 'North', 'Centre', 'South', 'East'). *

* In the context of the proposed Divisions; the named parishes (e.g. St. George in the East) may in fact, have been designated as 'Wards'.

Proposed Divisions of the Parliamentary Borough of Tower Hamlets; in accordance with the 'Redistribution of Seats Act', 1885, through which each Division would be granted the representation of an elected Member of Parliament:

Proposed 'West' Division:

(the fully intact 'Whitechapel District of the Metropolitan Board of Works' / 'Whitechapel Registration District' / 'Whitechapel Poor Law Union') *

- The Liberty of Norton Folgate
- The Old Artillery Ground
- The Parish of Christ Church Spitalfields
- The Hamlet of Mile End New Town
- The Parish of Holy Trinity (Minories)
- The Parish of St. Mary Whitechapel (Middlesex portion)
- The Liberty of Her Majesty's Tower of London
--- The Liberty of the Tower
--- The Precinct of Old Tower Without
--- The Tower
- The Precinct of St. Katharine
- The Parish of St. Botolph without Aldgate (Middlesex portion)

Proposed 'North' Division:

- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 'West' Ward
- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 'North' Ward
- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 'Centre' Ward
- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 'South' Ward

Proposed 'South' Division:

- The Parish of St. John of Wapping
- The Parish of St. George in the East
- The Parish of St. Paul Shadwell
- The Hamlet of Ratcliff

Proposed 'East' Division:

- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 'East' Ward
- The Parish of St. Anne Limehouse


Enacted Divisions of the Parliamentary Borough of Tower Hamlets; in accordance with the 'Redistribution of Seats Act', 1885, through which each Division was granted the representation of an elected Member of Parliament:

'Whitechapel' Division:

(the fully intact 'Whitechapel District of the Metropolitan Board of Works' / 'Whitechapel Registration District' / 'Whitechapel Poor Law Union') *

- The Liberty of Norton Folgate
- The Old Artillery Ground
- The Parish of Christ Church Spitalfields
- The Hamlet of Mile End New Town
- The Parish of Holy Trinity (Minories)
- The Parish of St. Mary Whitechapel (Middlesex portion)
- The Liberty of Her Majesty's Tower of London
--- The Liberty of the Tower
--- The Precinct of Old Tower Without
--- The Tower
- The Precinct of St. Katharine
- The Parish of St. Botolph without Aldgate (Middlesex portion)

'Stepney' Division:

- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 'West' Ward
- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 'Centre' Ward
- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 'South' Ward

'Mile End' Division:

- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 'North' Ward
- The Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, 'East' Ward

'St. George' Division:

- The Parish of St. John of Wapping
- The Parish of St. George in the East

'Limehouse' Division:

- The Parish of St. Paul Shadwell
- The Hamlet of Ratcliff
- The Parish of St. Anne Limehouse

'Bow & Bromley' Division:

- The Parish of St. Mary Stratford Bow
- The Parish of Bromley St. Leonard (northern portion)

'Poplar' Division:

- The Parish of Bromley St. Leonard (southern portion)
- The Parish of All Saints Poplar

* The only instance, in either the proposed or enacted Divisions of the Parliamentary Borough of Tower Hamlets, in which these units of civil administration (i.e. 'Parish/District of the Metropolitan Board of Works'; 'Registration District'; 'Poor Law Parish/Union') were fully reflected in the Division itself.

Am I correct that all three addresses (Morris at 16, Woolf at 62, and Isaac at 74 Greenfield Street) were actually in Mile End, not Whitechapel. I am assuming that "Whitechapel" was used colloquially in reference to this whole area.(??)

The three Greenfield Street addresses were each situated in the Hamlet of Mile End Old Town.

It is quite conceivable that the 'West' Ward of the Hamlet of Mile End Old Town (for the most part), and the northwestern quadrant of the Parish of St. George in the East (for the most part) were colloquially referred to as 'Whitechapel'. The same could not be said for the rest of the map; excepting of course, the 'non-Whitechapel' components of 'West' Division.

[robhouse]

Hello... this is a topic that has always confused me... specifically, what was the exact boundary of Whitechapel and other boroughs in the area? I am attaching a map below, which I believe was from 1885. This map identifies Tower Hamlets, and "proposed" division of boroughs.

First, I am confused about the difference between a borough and a ward.

Which was Whitechapel? A borough or a ward? I see the map has St. George in the East, and I also see "Whitechapel District". What about Spitalfields?

I do not see Mile End on the map... but I was under the impression that Mile End roughly corresponded to the borough marked on the map as "North"... As far as I understand, the Kozminski family's addresses on Greenfield Street were in the far western part of Mile End.

This is somewhat confused since Woolf Abrahams naturalization application (Dec 1886-Jan 1887) lists his address as "62 Greenfield Street Whitechapel"... if I understand correctly, 62 Greenfield Street was actually in Mile End, not Whitechapel. Also:

Morris Lubnowski naturalization application June-Aug 1888: "16 Greenfield Street Whitechapel".

Am I correct that all three addresses (Morris at 16, Woolf at 62, and Isaac at 74 Greenfield Street) were actually in Mile End, not Whitechapel. I am assuming that "Whitechapel" was used colloquially in reference to this whole area.(??)

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

Rob House