Editing Poplar, London (section)

==History==
===Origin and administrative history===
[[File:Stepney Civil Parish Map 1870.png|thumb|right|250px|The parishes that would ultimately become the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.]]
[[File:Poplar Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg|thumb|The parish boundaries of Bow, Bromley and Poplar preserved in ward boundaries within the former Metropolitan Borough of Poplar.]]

Poplar was formerly part of the [[Stepney#Manor and Ancient Parish|Manor and Ancient Parish of Stepney]], and was first recorded in either 1327<ref name="rackham207">''The History of the Countryside'', Oliver Rackham, 1986, p207</ref> or 1350.<ref>''The Concise Dictionary of English Place Names'', 4th Edition, Ekwall</ref> It took its name from the [[Black Poplar]] trees which once flourished in the area. Black Poplar is a very rare and exceptionally large tree that grows well in the wet conditions which the [[River Thames|Thames]] and [[River Lea|Lea]] historically brought to much of the neighbourhood. A specimen persisted in the area until at least 1986 when the naturalist [[Oliver Rackham]] noted "Nearby, in the midst of railway dereliction, a single Black Poplar even now struggles for life".<ref name="rackham207"/>

By the seventeenth century the area had become a ''Hamlet'', a territorial sub-division of Stepney,<ref name="Youngs">Young's guide describes Hamlets as devolved areas of Parishes - but does not describe this area specifically {{cite book | first=Frederic |last=Youngs | title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England | volume=I: Southern England | year=1979 | publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]] | location=London | isbn=0-901050-67-9}}</ref><ref>Joel Gascoyne's maps of Stepney in 1703 show the Hamlets of the parish occupying the same boundaries as when they subsequently became independent parishes</ref> with a degree of independence. The ''Hamlet of Poplar'' became an independent civil and ecclesiastical parish in 1817.

The area was part of the [[Historic counties of England|historic (or ancient) county]] of [[Middlesex]], but military and most (or all) civil county functions were managed more locally, by the [[Tower division|Tower Division (also known as the Tower Hamlets)]].

The role of the ''Tower Division'' ended when Poplar became part of the new [[County of London]] in 1889. The County of London was replaced by Greater London in 1965.

In 1855, Poplar joined with neighbouring [[Bromley-by-Bow|Bromley]] and [[Bow, London|Bow]] to form the [[Poplar District (Metropolis)|Poplar District]] of the Metropolis — though it remained an independent parish for some administrative purposes. The Poplar District (including Bromley and Bow) became the [[Metropolitan Borough of Poplar]] in 1900; population (1901), 168,822.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Poplar (borough) |display=Poplar |volume=22 |page=89}}</ref> In 1965 it merged with the Metropolitan Boroughs of [[Metropolitan Borough of Stepney|Stepney]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green|Bethnal Green]] to form the new [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets]].

===Social and economic history===
In 1654, as the population of the district began to grow, the [[East India Company]] ceded a piece of land upon which to build a chapel and this became the nucleus of the settlement.<ref>{{cite book|title=The history and survey of London and its environs|author=Bernard Lambert|year=1806|location=London|oclc=647659045|page=134|volume=4}}</ref>
[[St Matthias Old Church]] is located on Poplar High Street, opposite [[Tower Hamlets College]].

There was a major ship fitting industry from at least the 15th century, and the maritime trades became more important after the [[East India Docks|East]] and [[West India Docks]] were opened in 1806.<ref name=EB1911/> Thames Ironworks at [[Leamouth|Leamouth Wharf]] was a major employer till its closure in 1912, its works team becoming known as [[West Ham United F.C.]] The docks attracted very heavy bombing to the area during the [[The Blitz|Blitz]].

In 1921, the [[Metropolitan Borough of Poplar]] was the location of the [[Poplar Rates Rebellion]], led by then-Mayor [[George Lansbury]], who was later elected as leader of the Labour Party. As part of the 1951 [[Festival of Britain]], a new council housing estate was built to the north of the [[A13 road (Great Britain)|East India Dock Road]] and named the [[Lansbury Estate]] after him. This estate includes [[Chrisp Street Market]], which was greatly commended by [[Lewis Mumford]]. The same era also saw the construction of the [[Robin Hood Gardens]] housing complex (overlooking the northern portal of the [[Blackwall Tunnel]]) – designed by [[architect]]s [[Peter and Alison Smithson]] – and the similarly [[brutalist]] [[Balfron Tower]], [[Carradale House]] and [[Glenkerry House]] (to the north) – designed by [[Ernő Goldfinger]]. Other notable buildings in Poplar include [[Poplar Baths]] which closed in 1989 and reopened in 2016 after the efforts of local campaigners.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brooke|first=Mike|title=Poplar Baths makes a splash reopening after 30 years—in good spirits|url=https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/politics/poplar-baths-makes-a-splash-reopening-after-30-years-in-good-spirits-1-4632501|access-date=2020-11-12|website=East London Advertiser|date=26 July 2016 |language=en}}</ref>

The importance of the maritime industries attracted many overseas migrant to the area, including the Chinese community in the ''Pennyfields'' area of Poplar. This area, on the border with [[Limehouse]] was a part of the old East End ''Chinatown'', most closely associated with Limehouse.<ref>'Pennyfields', in Survey of London: Volumes 43 and 44, Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs, ed. Hermione Hobhouse (London, 1994), pp. 111–113. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols43-4/pp111-113 [accessed 11 December 2021].</ref>

The [[West India Dock]] and other local docks had all closed by the end of 1980, so the British Government adopted policies to redevelop the docklands areas, including the creation of the [[London Docklands Development Corporation]] (LDDC) in 1981 and the granting of [[Urban Enterprise Zone]] status to the Isle of Dogs in 1982.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols43-4/pp702-707#h3-0003|title=Modern Docklands: Modern commercial developments {{!}} British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref>

In 1998, following ballots of the residents, Tower Hamlets Council transferred parts of the Lansbury estate and six other Council housing estates within Poplar to [[Poplar HARCA]], a new [[housing association]] set up for the purpose of regenerating the area. The following year, tenants on further estates voted to remain with the council. However, after a lengthy consultation of all Council estates in Tower Hamlets begun in 2002, most estates in Poplar did transfer to Poplar HARCA, East End Homes and other landlords between 2005 and 2007.

===Wartime bombings===
The first [[German strategic bombing during World War I|airborne terror campaign in Britain]] took place during the [[World War I|First World War]], which caused significant damage and took many lives. German raids on Britain, for example, caused 1,413 deaths and 3,409 injuries. Air raids provided an unprecedented means of striking at resources vital to an enemy's war effort. Many of the novel features of the war in the air between 1914 and 1918—the lighting restrictions and blackouts, the air raid warnings and the improvised shelters—became central aspects of the World War II less than 30 years later.

The East End of London was one of the most heavily targeted places. Poplar, in particular, was struck badly by some of the air raids during the World War I. Initially these were at night by [[Zeppelin]]s which bombed the area indiscriminately, leading to the death of innocent civilians.

The first daylight bombing attack on London by a fixed-wing aircraft took place on 13 June 1917. Fourteen German [[Gotha G.IV]] bombers led by ''[[Hauptmann]]'' Ernst Brandenberg flew over Essex and began dropping their bombs. It was a hot day and the sky was hazy; nevertheless, onlookers in London's East End were able to see 'a dozen or so big aeroplanes scintillating like so many huge silver dragonflies'. These three-seater bombers were carrying [[shrapnel shell|shrapnel bombs]] which were dropped just before noon. Numerous bombs fell in rapid succession in various districts. In the East End alone 104 people were killed, 154 seriously injured and 269 slightly injured.

The gravest incident that day was a direct hit on a primary school in Poplar. In the [[Mayflower Primary School, Poplar|Upper North Street School]] at the time were a girls' class on the top floor, a boys' class on the middle floor and an infant class of about 50 pupils on the ground floor. The bomb fell through the roof into the girls' class; it then proceeded to fall through the boys' classroom before finally exploding in the infant class.  Eighteen pupils were killed, of whom sixteen were aged from 4 to 6 years old. The tragedy shocked the British public at the time.<ref>Air Commodore [[Lionel Charlton]], "The Air Defence of Britain", [[Penguin Books]], London, October 1938</ref>

In [[World War II]], Poplar suffered heavily in [[the Blitz]] of that war, the Metropolitan Borough losing 770 civilian dead as a result of enemy action.<ref>[https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/4004495/poplar,-metropolitan-borough/ CWGC List of Civilian War Dead, Poplar Metropolitan Borough].</ref> At the height of the bombing, ten Poplar schools were evacuated to Oxford.<ref>''London Children in War-Time Oxford: A Survey of Social and Educational Results of Evacuation''. Oxford: Barnett House, 1947, p. 12</ref>