The history of Spitalfields

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 The Huguenots

3 The Irish immigrants

4 The Jews

5 Conclusion

6 Bibliography

1 Introduction

The name ‘Spitalfields’ refers to St. Mary’s Spital, a hospital and a priory founded in 1197, at the east end of London. Up to the 17th century the area mainly consisted of gardens and fields, but with the waves of immigrants the house building started. Spitalfields has been a great access point for immigrants from all over the world in the last few centuries. The best example for this changing of inhabitants is the building at the corner of Brick Lane/ Fournier Street: It started as a protestant church in 1774, in 1897 it was turned into a synagogue and finally in 1975 it became the London Jamme Masjid Moshe.

In 1685 the ‘Edict of Nantes’ from 1598 was revoked by Louis XIV (www.wikipedia.org) and the radical Protestants in France were forced to leave the country. Many of them settled down in Spitalfields.

During the 19th century the population in Ireland grew poorer and poorer. Many left their home country to try to make their living elsewhere and the better part of them also moved to Spitalfields.

At the same time the Jews in Eastern Europe were persecuted and they, too, chose Spitalfields as their new living space.

Eventually in the 1970s people from South Asia started populating Spitalfields for the better working and living conditions in Great Britain. Today the area is called ‘Banglatown’ and a centre of South Asian Life and culture in London. Many of the street signs in ‘Banglatown’ are both in English and Bengali and it consists of lots of restaurants with Bengali Food.

The following peace of work will describe the living conditions of the particular groups of immigrants in detail and explain their influence on Spitalfields.

2 The Huguenots

The Huguenots were a group of radical Protestants from France. A French author mentions that the Protestants at Tour used to gather around the gate of King Hugo, for this reason a monk declared that they should be referred to as Huguenots, the kinsmen of King Hugo (Cf. Encyclopaedia Britannica).

The main religion in France was Roman Catholic, but in 1598 Henry IV passed the Edict of Nantes, that announced it as the state religion but stated that the Protestants should be allowed to act out their religious beliefs. In 1685 Louis XIV passed the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Protestants’ rights (Cf. www.wikipedia.org). Therefore the wealthier Protestants started to flee the country and emigrated to Prussia or England (Cf. Inwood; Porter 1998, 273). Even before that French immigrants had come to England, but this event led to a peak of French influx (Cf. Bermant, 1975, 30).

In England the Huguenots proved themselves as good examples of labour, faith and patience and were greeted with sympathy. The silk industry that Elizabeth and James I had attempted to develop in England began to flourish with the arrival of the Huguenots. They mainly moved into Spitalfields and produced large quantities of lustrings, brocades, damasks and velvets. Already in 1517 there had been anti-alien riots in and around Spitalfields. Anyhow the French weavers were welcome in London as the quality of the cloths was so high that England was able to attract a good part of the trade that had formerly been monopolised by France. An English writer even stated that hardly anything vended without a Gallic name (Cf. Bermant 1975, 30/31).

As mentioned above the Spitalfields of the early eighteenth century consisted basically of green fields and gardens but the massive influx of immigrants led to rapid spate of building. Nevertheless two or three families had to share one house. By 1775 the area was bricked over (Cf. Bermant 1975, 31).

Some of the refugees, the merchants, retailers and dyers, were more prosperous and able to build themselves elegant homes that had imposing facades. But the main part of the weavers lodged in small houses that were built in long rows in narrow streets, as usual for the working class.

The day started at 5.45 a.m. with the tenor bell at Christ Church summoning the workers to labour, was interrupted by half hour breaks for lunch and tea, and ended at 7.45 p.m. with the ring of the curfew bell (Cf. Bermant 1975, 32).

Church played an important role in their lives: Only in Spitalfields there already were sixteen Huguenot churches. In some other churches the Anglican liturgy was translated in to French, but in the East End they adhered to the liturgy they used in France (Cf. Bermant 1975, 32).

As far as possible the Huguenots tried to stick to their old traditions and their language, many of them were unable to speak English. They had a strong sense of community and charity; the wealthier merchants established soup kitchens and schools and also distributed money (Cf. Bermant 1975, 33).

The first half of the eighteenth century was a kind of golden age for the Huguenots in Spitalfields, but by the end of the century it was one of the most riotous corners in London.

In October 1763 several thousand weavers broke into the house of one of their masters and after they had destroyed his looms and a lot of silk, they took his effigy and pretended to execute him. Similar riots happened in 1765 and 1766 and in 1769 two of the ringleaders were hanged outside a tavern in Bethnal Green. After that troops were stationed in the neighbourhood. What finally appeased the situation was the Spitalfields Act in 1773. It controlled the wages and regulated the prices for silk and thus brought stability to the area that was unknown in textile industry (Cf. Bermant 1975, 34/35).

The Huguenots acclimatised well into the English community: They were few since the anti-Protestant fury in France ceased after 1700 and the influx stopped. Some Huguenots were longing for France and went back; those who remained were easily accepted as they were quite profitable for the British and apart from that Protestants in a Protestant land. Furthermore the rate of intermarriage between Huguenots and Englishmen was quite high.

Only a hundred fifty years after their arrival many of the Huguenot did not remember the origin of their ancestors (Cf. Bermant 1975, 35/36).

As a result of their industriousness many of the weavers rose to masters or merchants and moved out of Spitalfields. Once they were removed from Huguenot neighbourhood and institutions the absorption of the English life went even quicker.

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