Editing Plaistow, Newham (section)

==Toponymy==
The name ''Plaistow'' is believed by some to come from Sir Hugh de Plaiz or Plaitz<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.geni.com/people/Hugh-de-Plaiz/6000000006405070026 |title=Hugh de Plaiz |work=Geni | access-date=7 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=banker1&id=I253643 |title=Hugh Plaitz |work=RootsWeb.[[Ancestry.com]] |publisher=Permira/CMGI |access-date=7 January 2012}}</ref> who, in 1065, married Philippa [[de Montfitchet]], of the [[Stansted Mountfitchet|Mountfitchet Castle]] family, who owned the district. It is she who is reputed to have named it the Manor of Plaiz.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/PLACE/2011-05/1305945940 |title=Sir Hugh de Plaiz |work=RootsWeb.[[Ancestry.com]] |publisher=Permira/CMGI |access-date=7 January 2012}}</ref>

However, in his book ''What's in a Name?'', first published in 1977, author Cyril M. Harris states that c. 1200 Plaistow was recorded as Plagestoue, derived from the Old English {{lang|as|pleg}}, meaning 'sport' or 'playing', and {{lang|as|stowe}} 'place'. It was a place where [[miracle play]]s were performed so it was a 'playing place'.<ref>{{cite book |isbn=185414-241-0 |title=What's in a Name? |first=Cyril M. |last=Harris |publisher=Capital History / London Transport Museum |date=2001}}</ref>  While the book concentrates on the names of London railway stations, Harris could have confused Plaistow in [[Essex]] (and later London) with the Plaistow near [[Crich]] in [[Derbyshire]], which is recorded as Plagestoue in the ''Darley Charters'' of 1200.<ref name="ISDb">{{cite web |url=http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Plaister |title=Plaister |work=The Internet Surname Database |publisher=Name Origin Research |access-date=19 June 2012}}</ref>  Nevertheless, the derivation from {{lang|as|pleg}}&nbsp;+ {{lang|as|stowe}} could apply equally to all places named Plaistow, Plaister, etc.<ref name="ISDb" />

Plaistow in Essex is reported as appearing as Playstowe in the county's ''Patent Rolls'' of 1414.<ref name="ISDb" />  This is also quoted by James Kemble, another who cites the derivation from {{lang|as|pleg}}&nbsp;+ {{lang|as|stowe}} – a 'place for playing'.<ref name="Kemble">{{cite book| isbn=978-1-905286-21-8 |title=Essex Place-Names |first=James |last=Kemble |publisher=Historical Publications |date=2007}}</ref>

The book ''Fifty Years a Borough, 1886-1936, The Story of West Ham'', compiled by Donald McDougall on behalf of West Ham County Borough Council, leans towards the derivation from Hugh de Plaiz, as Lord of the Manor, and that Plaistow was the Stow or village of the de Plaiz family.<ref>{{cite book | first=Donald | last=McDougall | title=Fifty Years a Borough, 1886-1936, The Story of West Ham | pages=57 | publisher=County Borough Council of West Ham | year=1936 | asin = B000LFZWAC}}</ref>