Editing Soho (section)

===Early history===
During the [[Middle Ages]], the area that is now Soho was farmland that belonged to the Abbot and Convent of Abingdon and the master of [[Burton Lazars|Burton St Lazar]] Hospital in [[Leicestershire]], who managed a [[leprosy|leper]] hospital in [[St Giles in the Fields]].{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=845}} In 1536, the land was taken by [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] as a royal park for the [[Palace of Whitehall]]. The area south of what is now Shaftesbury Avenue did not stay in the Crown possession for long; [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary]] sold around {{convert|7|acre|ha}} in 1554, and most of the remainder was sold between 1590 and 1623. A small {{convert|2|acre|ha|adj=on}} section of land remained, until sold by [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] in 1676.<ref name=sol33-34_20-26>{{cite journal|title=Estate and Parish History|journal=Survey of London|volume=33–34: St Anne Soho|editor1-first=F H W|editor1-last=Sheppard|location=London|year=1996|pages=20–26|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols33-4/pp20-26|access-date=10 April 2017}}</ref>

In the 1660s, ownership of Soho Fields passed to [[Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans]], who leased 19 out of the {{convert|22|acre|m2}} of land to Joseph Girle. He was granted permission to develop property and quickly passed the lease and development to bricklayer Richard Frith.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=846}} Much of the land was granted freehold in 1698 by [[William III of England|William III]] to [[William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland]], while the southern part of Soho was sold piecemeal in the 16th and 17th centuries, partly to [[Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester|Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester]].<ref name=sol33-34_20-26/>

Soho was part of the ancient parish of [[St Martin in the Fields (parish)|St Martin in the Fields]], forming part of the [[Liberty of Westminster]]. As the population started to grow, a new church was provided, and in 1687 a new parish of [[St Anne Within the Liberty of Westminster|St Anne]] was established for it. The parish stretched from Oxford Street in the north to Leicester Square in the south and from what is now Charing Cross Road in the east to Wardour Street in the west; it therefore included all of contemporary eastern Soho, including the Chinatown area.<ref>{{cite map|title=Map of the Parish of St. Anne, Soho|work=Survey of London|volume=33–34: St Anne Soho|editor=F H W Sheppard|location=London|year=1966|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols33-4/map-of-st-anne-soho|access-date=3 July 2017}}</ref> The western portion of modern Soho, around Carnaby Street, was part of the parish of [[Westminster St James|St James]], which was split off from St Martin in 1686.<ref name=sol33-34_20-26/>