Editing West Ham (section)

==History==
===Toponymy===
The first known written use of the term, as 'Hamme', is in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 958, in which King Edgar granted the [[London Borough of Newham#Manor of Ham|Manor of Ham]], which was undivided at that time, to Ealdorman Athelstan. A subsequent charter of 1037 describes a transfer of land which has been identified with East Ham, indicating that the division of the territory occurred between 958 and 1037.<ref>The Place Names of Essex, P.H. Reaney, 1969</ref>

The place name derives from [[Old English]] 'hamm' and means 'a dry area of land between rivers or marshland', referring to the location of the settlement within boundaries formed by the rivers [[River Lea|Lea]], [[River Thames|Thames]] and [[River Roding|Roding]] and their marshes.<ref name="mills_london">{{cite book|title=Dictionary of London Place Names|year=2001|last=Mills|first=A.D.|publisher=Oxford}}</ref> [[North Woolwich]] seems likely to have been removed from Ham in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest.<ref>'Becontree hundred: East Ham', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6, ed. W R Powell (London, 1973), pp. 1–8. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol6/pp1-8 [accessed 6 May 2022].</ref>

The earliest recorded use of West Ham, as distinct from Ham or East Ham, was in 1186 as 'Westhamma'. The creation of [[Stratford Langthorne Abbey]] (one of England's larger monasteries), and the building of  [[Bow Bridge (London)|Bow Bridge]], the only dry crossing of the Lea for many miles, are likely to have increased the prosperity of the area.

===Tudor and Stuart===
In June 1648, during the [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]], a Royalist force of some 500 to 600 men won a minor battle against the [[Tower division#Military role|Tower Hamlets Militia]] at [[Bow Bridge, London#Battle of Bow Bridge|Bow Bridge]] and occupied Stratford for three days, before heading off along the old Roman Road to the [[Siege of Colchester]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Monteth |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3nhYAAAAcAAJ&dq=robert+monteth+%22the+history+of+the+troubles+of+great+britain%22&pg=PP7 |title=The History of the Troubles of Great Britain, Containing a Particular Account of the Most Remarkable Passages in Scotland, from the Year 1633 to 1650 ... |date=1738 |language=en}}</ref>

===Urbanisation===
The village of West Ham underwent rapid growth from 1844 following the [[Metropolitan Building Act]]. The Act restricted dangerous and noxious industries from operating in the metropolitan area, the eastern boundary of which was the [[River Lea]]. Consequently, many of these activities were relocated to the other side of the river and to West Ham, then a parish in Essex centred on [[All Saints Church, West Ham]]. As a result, West Ham became one of Victorian Britain's major manufacturing centres for pharmaceuticals, chemicals and processed foods. This rapid growth earned it the name "London over the border".<ref name=charter>{{cite news |title=The Incorporation of West Ham |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=1 November 1886 |page=12 }}</ref> The growth of the town was summarised by ''[[The Times]]'' in 1886:

<blockquote>''"Factory after factory was erected on the marshy wastes of Stratford and Plaistow, and it only required the construction at Canning Town of the [[Royal Docks|Victoria and Albert Docks]] to make the once desolate parish of West Ham a manufacturing and commercial centre of the first importance and to bring upon it a teeming and an industrious population."''<ref name=charter/></blockquote>

Many workers lived in slum conditions close to where they worked, leading to periodic outbreaks of contagious diseases and severe poverty. The pollution and

===First World War – West Ham Pals===
In the [[World War I|First World War]], the [[County Borough of West Ham|Mayor and Borough of West Ham]] raised a [[pals battalions|pals battalion]] of local volunteers, the ''13th (Service) Battalion (West Ham)'' of the [[Essex Regiment]]. The battalion first paraded in February 1915 at [[St Luke's Church, Canning Town|St Luke's Church]] in Canning Town. [[East Ham#WWI - East Ham Pals|East Ham also raised a battalion]], but it joined a different regiment.
[[File:Essex Regiment Cap Badge.jpg|thumb|Essex Regiment Cap Badge]]

The ''West Ham Pals'' were assigned to the [[6th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|6th Infantry Brigade]] of the [[2nd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|
2nd Infantry Division]] and served on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref>Up the Hammers" The West Ham Battalion in the Great War 1914–1918, by Elliot Taylor and Barney Alston.</ref> The battalion were locally nicknamed ''The Butterflies'' due to the name of their popular leader, Lieutenant Colonel Pelham Rawston Papillon (Papillon was of Huguenot ancestry, with Papillon meaning 'butterfly' in French).<ref>Stratford Express June 1919</ref>

The battalion's disbandment in February 1918 occurred as the British Army was so short of manpower that it could no longer maintain as many units, the surviving members of the West Ham battalion were re-assigned to other battalions of the Essex Regiment in order to bring them up to strength for the [[Operation Michael|anticipated German offensive]].

===Second World War===
The presence of the [[Royal Docks]], the Stratford railway lands and other high value targets made West Ham one of the areas of London and Essex worst affected by bombing during the [[Second World War]]. There were officially 1186 civilians killed,<ref>{{Cite web |last=CWGC |title=West Ham, County Borough {{!}} Cemetery Details |url=https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/4004016/west-ham-county-borough/ |access-date=2023-09-08 |website=CWGC |language=en}}</ref> but this may have been around 500 higher due to the disputed death toll at South Hallsville School.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boniface |first=Susie |date=2010-09-18 |title=Blitz bomb killed 600 in school, details kept secret for 70 years |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/blitz-bomb-killed-600-in-school-248302 |access-date=2023-09-08 |website=mirror |language=en}}</ref>

===Post-war===
In March 1976, an [[West Ham station attack|IRA terrorist planted a bomb]] on a Metropolitan Line train, but it exploded prematurely, at West Ham station, injuring seven. The perpetrator shot and injured a member of the public and fled. The train driver, Julius Stevens, gave chase but was shot and killed. The terrorist ran into the street where he was confronted by a policeman; he turned the gun on himself but survived.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/15/newsid_2543000/2543605.stm |title=1976: Tube driver shot dead |website=BBC On This Day |year=2008 |access-date=11 November 2017 }}</ref>

In the 1970s and 1980s, the area suffered from [[Deindustrialization|deindustrialisation]], including closure of the [[Bromley-by-Bow gasholders|Bromley gasworks]] and [[West Ham Power Station]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Prof. Russell |date=2020 |title=The Manufactured Gas Industry: Volume 3 Gazetteer |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/8018/TheManufacturedGasIndustry_Volume3 |publisher=[[Historic England]] |pages=208–209}}</ref>