Introducing the East End of London
Billy Jones
Most folk know that the capital city of the United Kingdom is London in the south east of England. As Europe's largest city, with a population exceeding 7 million people, there are several areas where different cultures seem to congregate leading to a multi-cultural and rather cosmopolitan society. One of the areas most people associate with true Londoners is the East End of London.
To some people the location of the East End is obvious, but the average tourist is often confused, expecting only a small area. In actual fact the East End encompasses all those districts which are to be found east of the centre. Of course such a large area contains a number of highly interesting places to visit and a number of top class tourist attractions. One thing that you really should make the effort to see is the fascinating collection of dolls houses at Bethnal Green Museum. The collection contains numerous antique houses dating back to the 17th century.
When you mention the East End of London, a great many people automatically think of the word "Cockney" or "Cockneys". A Cockney is a person who was born in the East End of London within hearing distance of the bells at Bow Church (Bow Bells). You may wonder about the origins of such a strange word and you may be surprised to learn that it came from an old middle English word for a misshapen egg (or cock's egg) - "cokeney".
During the time of the plague (1348 and 1350), or "Black Death" as Londoner's called it, there were so many victims that the corpses were thrown into huge pits known as plague pits. In excavations of a plague pit close to Tower Bridge over seven hundred skeletons were discovered in only a small space.
Between the years 1788 and 1960 London's East End port was, by far, the largest in the world. At one time (in the 1930's) the were about one hundred thousand men working in the port and the amount of cargo handled was incredible, around thirty five million tons. London had a number of important docks, the earliest being the West India Dock completed in 1802 (the East India Dock was built in 1806).
Joseph Merrick, or the "Elephant Man" as he is better known, was, for some time, one of the attractions of an East End freak show. Another famous East Ender is the seafaring explorer Captain Cook. He lived in the Wapping area, and in 1762 married his wife who was also from the East End. She was first introduced to her future husband when she was only a child.
During the 1960's the East End became famous for the gangster operations of the "Krays". The Kray twins (Ronnie and Reggie) ruled an incredibly lucrative criminal empire which became headline news when they were finally brought to justice. One infamous East End criminal who famously evaded capture was "Jack the Ripper". In 1888 Jack the Ripper brutally murdered five women then ceased much to the annoyance of the police. There were many suspects but little hard evidence and the debate continues to this day as to who really was the Ripper.
At the time of the Ripper murders the population of Whitechapel was about ninety percent Jewish and this led to many assuming that the Ripper must, almost certainly, have been a Jew. The East End has always been one of the areas in which new cultures settle when first arriving in England. Even today this is the case and the East End is all the richer for it.
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