THE CENTRE: BETHNAL GREEN ROAD.
The area between the green and Dog Row on
the east, Spitalfields and Shoreditch Side on the
west, and Hackney Road and Cambridge Heath
on the north remained farmland until the later
18th century. Its only house c. 1650 was one
built by John Godowne at the north-west of
Great Haresmarsh before 1646, (fn. 91) at the eastern
end of Hare Street in 1703. (fn. 92) By 1687 another
house with farm buildings in the westernmost
of the two fields forming Turney Field estate
was occupied by Anthony Wells, who made
bricks there, possibly for the neighbouring
Satchwell Rents. By 1696 3 ft. of topsoil had
been stripped from the field and the house was
in ruins, (fn. 93) although it may have been shown in
the south-west corner of the field in 1703. (fn. 94)
One building stood in the centre of Willetts in
1703 (fn. 95) and three houses in the same field, possibly
at its northern end, by 1713. (fn. 96) Godowne's house
had become two by 1712. (fn. 97) Buildings in Saffron
Close on the north side of Bethnal Green Road,
in 1713 four boarded houses on the west side
and four brick houses at its south-east corner,
one the George inn, (fn. 98) apparently existed by
1703. (fn. 99) In 1746 the western houses were absorbed
by the extensive Coates's Farm but the George
and its neighbours formed a small settlement
with a few buildings on the south side of the new
Church Street (Bethnal Green Road), probably
the Willett houses of 1713. (fn. 1)
The new east-west road was the chief stimulus
to building. On Markhams in 1766 the Blissett
family granted a 93-year lease of 9 a. south of
Bethnal Green Road to David Wilmot, who was
to spend £4,000 in four years. One of the first
buildings was the Lord Camden public house;
Camden Row fronted Bethnal Green Road and
Wilmot Street ran south from it by 1770. (fn. 2)
Among Wilmot's sublessees was John Price, a
London plasterer who built 20 houses in Wilmot
Street in 1771. (fn. 3) By 1777 there were 67 houses
on the estate. (fn. 4)
In 1772 Philip James May, parish and vestry
clerk, bought Saffron Close on behalf of David
Wilmot. (fn. 5) From 1777 houses were built fronting
Bethnal Green Road and behind in Wilmot
Square and Grove. (fn. 6) A big house for Wilmot
himself in the north, called Wilmot's Folly, (fn. 7) was
possibly the 'house and other structure' built in
1787 in a new bowling green in Wilmot Square. (fn. 8)
In 1808 it was known as the Abbey, (fn. 9) from which
Abbey Place, in existence by 1806, (fn. 10) was named.
In 1791 William Pollard of Islington built 16
houses in Saffron Close, (fn. 11) most presumably in
Pollard Row (formerly May's Lane) at the
western border of the estate. (fn. 12) A Southwark
surveyor, William Fellowes, and a City plumber,
John Shillitoe, initiated the main development
on the estate, a plan for 90 houses in two sizes
featuring grotesque animated keystones, financed
by monthly subscription and leased to ballotted
subscribers. The scheme, which was associated
with the White Hart in Bethnal Green Road, was
only partially successful and James Pollard, who
presumably succeeded William, was bankrupt by
1798. (fn. 13) The ground was already mortgaged in the
early 1790s when William Pollard granted leases
to other builders, Thomas Harrison, brickmaker
of St. Pancras, (fn. 14) and James Naish, carpenter of
Shadwell. (fn. 15) Ann Street ran parallel with Bethnal
Green Road by 1792 (fn. 16) and linked Pollard Row
with Mary's Row, which formed the eastern
border of the estate by 1794. (fn. 17) There were c. 200
houses on the estate by 1800. (fn. 18)
In 1788 much of Willetts (George and Gravel
fields) south of Bethnal Green Road was divided
into lots, most of which were leased for 99
years to John May Evans, a Surrey builder, and
William Timmins, a local brickmaker. (fn. 19) They
immediately built along the main road, (fn. 20) including
Shepherd's Place or Row, (fn. 21) and in the streets
running south from it, named from the estate's
owners: White, Thomas, and Charles streets. (fn. 22)
Houses 'in the back ground' (fn. 23) were probably in
the narrow street parallel with Bethnal Green
Road, called White's (fn. 24) or Thomas Passage (fn. 25) or
Granby's Row. Abbey Street, at the west end of
the development, existed as Benal Abbey Street
in 1788. (fn. 26) Part of the land was still a brickfield
in 1803. (fn. 27)
In 1794 Samuel Scott, owner of Thickness
estate, had a house in a brickfield opposite a
house in the Jewish burial ground at the southern end of the district, next to Ducking Pond
Lane. (fn. 28) Three houses had been built there by
1801 when he had leased ground to Isaac Bird,
coachmaster of Whitechapel. (fn. 29) By 1809, when he
was 'builder' or 'brickmaster', Bird had built
along North Street (formerly Ducking Pond
Lane) and on a new side road, Pleasant Row. (fn. 30)
Building began on Jarvis's, the estate to the
east, in 1812 when two parallel streets were
planned to run the length of the estate from
Three Colts Lane: Hinton Street, to join the
northern part of Collingwood Street, and Tapp
Street to the west. Westover (Temple) Street
was to link them in the middle of the estate.
Sir George Ivison Tapps in 1812 agreed with
Edward Bumford, engraver of Islington, for
building south of Temple Street (fn. 31) and thereafter
granted several leases to Bumford and his
brother (or son) John, who started from the
south with Somerford Street and Trafalgar
Place. Their sublessees William Miller and
Richard Leavitt were the builders in Somerford
Street. (fn. 32) Building had reached Temple Street by
1826 (fn. 33) and there were nearly 100 houses on the
estate by 1836 (fn. 34) although half of it, east of
Hinton Street, was still open.
In 1818 Bumford agreed with the Pope family
for ground to the west, where he built Winchester
(or Market) Street as an extension from Hare
Street and Carlisle, Great Manchester, Nottingham,
and Arundel (or Albion) streets running south
from it. In 1825 the Popes agreed to grant the
rest of the estate (Great Haresmarsh) to the
south and west, Bumford to spend £7,000 on 56
houses with frontages of 14-21 ft. (fn. 35) Artillery (or
Anglesea) Street was 'new intended' in 1826. (fn. 36)
The southern and eastern parts of the estate were
leased to George Selby, who in 1828-9 was
involved with Edward Bumford, by then a
'surveyor', in leasing houses in Albion, Anglesea,
Wellington (the southern extension of Nottingham Street), and Selby (at the southern border)
streets. The whole area was called Waterloo
Town. (fn. 37)
Building meanwhile continued on Willetts,
extending southward in streets named after the
White family and places associated with it:
Hereford, by 1823, (fn. 38) and Derbyshire, Manchester
(after 1864 Menotti), Cheshire, Sale (Ches.),
Mapes (Willesden), Ramsey, and Hague, (fn. 39) all by
1826. (fn. 40) In 1836 there were 785 houses on the
estate, all but 79 in the central area. (fn. 41)
In 1807 John Warde of Squerryes Court,
Westerham (Kent) leased the whole of his Turney
estate, 21 a. west of Saffron Close, to Daniel
Gosset of Edmonton for 61 years. A few houses
had been built fronting Bethnal Green Road
between c. 1799 and 1807 (fn. 42) and Gosset had built
another 10 in 1813 (fn. 43) and the parallel Ward's Row
by 1812. (fn. 44) John Henry Berry, carpenter of Hackney, had been engaged by Gosset to build along
Gibraltar Walk, the western boundary, by
1811; (fn. 45) houses fronted the eastern boundary,
Pollard Row, by 1812 when Squirries Street, not
yet named, also apparently existed. (fn. 46) Robert,
William, and South (later Florida) streets had
been added by 1826 (fn. 47) and King Street and
Wellington Street (Row) in the north of the
estate and Orange Street in the west by 1836.
Gosset Street, the westward extension of King
Street, probably existed as Daniel Street by
1836, when there were 486 houses on the estate. (fn. 48)
The remaining frontage on Bethnal Green
Road belonged to Markhams or to Sebrights.
Some houses may have been built on the northern portion of Markhams, fronting south on the
main road, between c. 1799 and 1812 (fn. 49) but
1 Turney, 2 Saffron Close, 3 Willett, 4 Great Haresmarsh, 5 Acres Land, 6 Burgoyn
7 Sebright, 8 Markham, 9 Thickness, 10 Jarvis
others, together with one of the streets running
northward, Camden Street, were built after 1820
by William Miller of Bethnal Green Road. (fn. 50) By
1826 building was well advanced in Camden
Street and the other new streets, Blisset (later
New York) and Grove streets. (fn. 51) Cambridge
Street had been added by 1836, when Markhams
contained c. 143 houses north of Bethnal Green
Road. (fn. 52)
The centre: principal estates
1 Turney, 2 Saffron Close, 3 Willett, 4 Great Haresmarsh, 5 Acres Land, 6 Burgoyn 7 Sebright, 8 Markham, 9 Thickness, 10 Jarvis
For the neighbouring Sebrights an Act to grant
building leases was obtained in 1813. Apart from
10 a. at Cambridge Heath, the estate consisted
of 3½ a. north and 8½ a. south of Bethnal Green
Road. (fn. 53) Joseph Teale, who was largely responsible for building north of Hackney Road, was
also the chief developer on both sides of Bethnal
Green Road. On the 3½ a. William Hewitt, a
local builder, had already built four houses
fronting the main road and six in a new road,
another Wolverley Street, by 1822, when Teale
leased the ground to Seaman Ives of Norfolk
Street, New Road, who financed the operation. (fn. 54)
A parallel road, North Conduit Street, existed
by 1823. (fn. 55) Teale had built 12 houses south of
Bethnal Green Road by 1822 when he took a
99-year lease, with instructions to complete six
more in Sebright Street and 22 in South Conduit
Street by 1826. (fn. 56) He apparently exceeded the
quota by 1826 and Teale Street existed at the
south of the estate by 1829. (fn. 57) By 1836 Sebrights
contained 90 houses north and 182 south of
Bethnal Green Road. (fn. 58)
By 1836 there were 1,163 houses north of
Bethnal Green Road and 1,976 to the south. (fn. 59)
The only empty areas were the Burgoyn estate
in the north, abutting Old Bethnal Green Road,
and c.10 a. on the southern borders. (fn. 60)