Editing Plaistow, Newham (section)

===18th century===
[[Daniel Defoe]]'s 1724 work, ''"Tour of the Eastern Counties"'' (part of his ''[[A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain|A Tour Thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain]]''), mentions Plaistow as a town in which there had been much new building as well as repairs to existing houses since the [[Glorious Revolution]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newhamstory.com/node/2350 | title=The Newham Story, Essex Journey | publisher=Newham London | date=24 June 2010 | access-date=10 April 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316043257/http://newhamstory.com/node/2350 | archive-date=16 March 2013 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Plaistow is connected with the legend of notorious [[highwayman]] [[Dick Turpin]] (born 1705; executed 1739). Several stories state that among Turpin’s first crimes was the theft of two oxen from his employer, a Mr Giles of Plaistow,<ref name="Turpin">{{cite web | url=http://historyofstratford.co.uk/Silvertown/Silvertown%20&%20neighbours-Plaistow.shtml | title=History of Stratford, West Ham, Canning Town, Silvertown etc | date=29 July 2009 | access-date=2 November 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025045158/http://historyofstratford.co.uk/Silvertown/Silvertown%20%26%20neighbours-Plaistow.shtml | archive-date=25 October 2011 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.stand-and-deliver.org.uk/highwaymen/newgate_turpin.htm | title=The Newgate Calendar, Richard Turpin | publisher=stand-and-deliver.org.uk | access-date=2 November 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031152426/http://www.stand-and-deliver.org.uk/highwaymen/newgate_turpin.htm | archive-date=31 October 2012 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/cgi-bin/res.pl?keyword=Dick+Turpin&offset=0 | title=Dick Turpin | publisher=Probert Encyclopaedia | access-date=2 November 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119040854/http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/cgi-bin/res.pl?keyword=Dick+Turpin&offset=0 | archive-date=19 November 2012 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> in 1730.<ref name="Newham">{{cite web | url=http://www.newham.com/live/history_heritage/a_newham_timeline/401,10,0,0.html | title=A Newham timeline | publisher=Newham London | access-date=3 November 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220070053/http://www.newham.com/live/history_heritage/a_newham_timeline/401,10,0,0.html | archive-date=20 February 2014 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Turpin is alleged to also have run a smuggling gang which operated between Plaistow and [[Southend-on-Sea|Southend]].<ref name="Turpin"/>

[[File:West Ham CP Ward Map 1867.svg|thumb|Plaistow ward of West Ham Civil Parish in 1867.]]
In [[Aaron Hill (writer)|Aaron Hill's]] time there (1738–1750) Plaistow was a rural village described as a day's coach journey from Westminster,<ref name="Hill">{{cite web | url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183884.003.0010?rskey=nEyiTh&result=3&q= | title='Essex Man': Richardson and the Hill Family, 1738–1750 | publisher=Oxford University Press | access-date=20 October 2012 | archive-date=4 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040740/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183884.003.0010?rskey=nEyiTh&result=3&q= | url-status=dead }}</ref> despite it being a distance of only some {{convert|8|mi}}.  The Black Lion public house in the High Street is one of the oldest landmarks in Plaistow and is reputed to date back to at least 1742.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newhamstory.com/node/1091 | title=The Newham Story | publisher=Newham London | access-date=11 August 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316040249/http://newhamstory.com/node/1091 | archive-date=16 March 2013 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>