Seeking Little Alie St information (and a long hello)

[byghostlight]

See, bgl? Told ya: Colin is the man.
Please let us know when your book is available. I was rearranging my bookshelves this afternoon and noticed that I have room for one more.

yes he certain is!

Thanks for the interest in the book, the way things are going it will be a while but after i find time to do an edit i will post an introduction. Its a self contained chapter that is like a birds eye though the area and history, inside the theatre, meet the main characters. It touches on the themes and teases the mysteries involved. Its about 10 odd pages long.

[byghostlight]

thanks Colin for your wealth of knowledge, it certainly answered my question and a few others i didn't realise i had. i love that these forums have a wealth of people all with there own specialised areas who are willing to help. im currently lost deep in the world East End theatre history now there is a wealth of information available on the interweb these days!

and cheers Lechmere for the Booth link, a great read, i have been using the maps but hadnt got around to looking through the document scans yet. There so isnt the hours in the day to read everything i want currently... hehe

[Roy Corduroy]

Good afternoon Colin,

Personally, I would not use the 'Matfelon' tag, in reference to either the Parish or Parish Church of St. Mary Whitechapel.

On the basis of everything that I have been able to gather, thus far; I am thoroughly convinced that it was merely a colloquial - and, therefore, technically incorrect - carryover, from the dedication of the Chapel of Ease, i.e. the 'White Chapel', that belonged to the Ancient Parish of St. Dunstan Stepney, until its consecration, in ~1329, as the Parish Church of St. Mary Whitechapel.

While you are technically correct, 'Matfelon' was used, such as in this excerpt from page 21 of The Religious Census of London, 1888.



Gives morning & evening attendance. From archive.org (here) - Roy

[Colin Roberts]

thanks Colin ...

You are most welcome.

While you are technically correct, 'Matfelon' was used, ...

I have seen many instances of its use, during the Victorian era, Roy.

But, I would argue with utmost conviction that each of them was colloquial.

Even in cases of documentation that would seemingly have called for 'official', if not completely 'formal' usage, such as the one, which you have cited, above; I would contend, with the same degree of conviction, that any reference to 'Matfelon' was neither 'official', nor 'formal', but indeed 'colloquial'.

On the basis of everything that I have been able to gather, thus far, I am thoroughly convinced that the St. Dunstan Stepney Chapel of Ease that came to be known as the 'White Chapel', was dedicated to 'St. Mary Matfelon'¹; but, that upon its consecration as a Parish Church, in ~1329, it was rededicated - simply - to 'St. Mary', and accordingly consecrated, as the 'Parish Church of St. Mary Whitechapel'.

¹Matfelon being, presumably, the name a major benefactor of the chapel.

If the 'Matfelon' tag was not dropped upon the church's 1329 consecration, then it was most certainly dropped before the onset of the nineteenth century. Of that, I am certain!

Even so, I am inclined to believe that there was never a Parish, or Parish Church, ... of 'St. Mary Matfelon Whitechapel'.

While my inclination is based upon a variety of Parish Baptismal & Matrimonial Registers, Parish Boundary Markers, Census Records, tabulated Census Reports, etc ...; its single most significant basis is the multitude of Ordnance Surveys, and other similar cartographic sources of information, that we are fortunate enough to have at our disposal.

The 1870's series and 1890's series of the Ordnance Survey both clearly delineate an abundance of Parishes of ... St. Mary Something-or-Other Some-Place-or-Other:

St. Mary Abbotts Kennsington
St. Mary Stratford Bow
St. Mary Magdalen Bermondsey
St. Mary Magdalen Woolwich
St. Mary Aldermary (City of London)
St. Mary Mounthaw (City of London)
St. Mary Somerset (City of London)
St. Mary Colechurch (City of London)
St. Mary le Bow (City of London)
St. Mary Bothaw (City of London)
St. Mary Woolnoth (City of London)
Etc ...

But, in the case of Whitechapel: "St. Mary Whitechapel", i.e. no mention of 'Matfelon'.

However, ...

In the 'Large Scale' versions, of each series, the Parish Church of St. Mary Whitechapel is labeled:

St. Mary's Church
Site of
White Chapel
or
St. Mary Matfelon

I believe that we can gather a great deal from that description.

~~~

Personally, I would not use the 'Matfelon' tag, ...

You know how I go about my business, Roy.

I believe that colloquialisms can be extremely misleading, in the context of Victorian London's political geography.

Admittedly, the use of the 'Matfelon' tag is not going to cause any confusion, as might the Pall Mall Gazette's use of "Fulham Workhouse", i.e. an abbreviated form of the colloquial 'Fulham Road Workhouse', in reference to ...

The St. George Hanover Square Union Workhouse, Fulham Road, Parish of St. Luke Chelsea: The so-called 'Fulham Road Workhouse'

...

The Pall Mall Gazette references, ...

... to "Fulham Workhouse" are very misleading.

They would suggest, more or less, that prior to his admissions thereto, and upon his discharges therefrom, Grainger was spending his time in the vicinity of 'Fulham'.

However, I am inclined to believe that he was probably spending that time in the City of Westminster, in the vicinity of 'Millbank'.

But, in any case, I believe that the use of colloquialisms, in the context of Victorian London's political geography, should be avoided, whenever doing so would be practical.