Editing Wapping (section)

===Migration===
Wapping's position by the Thames has meant it has long attracted people from around the world. In the 15th century, the population of the area included a number of foreigners, in particular seamen from the [[Low Countries]].<ref>Waeppa's People – a History of Wapping by Madge Darby, p28 – {{ISBN|0-947699-10-4}}</ref>

There was a sizeable Irish presence in Wapping from the 16th century onward.<ref>My East End, A History of cockney London. Gilda o'Neill p54-55</ref> It is probably under their influence a stretch of [[Cable Street]], and the area around it, become called ''Knock Fergus''.<ref>Waeppa's People – a History of Wapping by Madge Darby, p54 – {{ISBN|0-947699-10-4}}</ref> The [[Irish Language|Irish]] name of ''Knock Fergus'' (sometimes spelled ''Knock Vargis'') is first known to be recorded in 1597<ref>The Place Names of Middlesex – English Place name Society – Vol 18 – Gover Maw and Stenton – Cambridge University Press – p157 – 1942</ref> and continued to be  recorded in Stepney parish rolls in the 1600's.<ref>Overview and map of the place name Knock Fergus https://www.theundergroundmap.com/article.html?id=65458</ref> ''Knock Fergus'' (the hill of Fergus) is an old name for [[Carrickfergus]] in [[County Antrim]]. In the 20th century Irish migration to Wapping slowed and by the middle of the century the local Irish community had been assimilated.<ref>East London Papers, Volume 6, Number 2, The Irish in East London, December 1963, John A Jackson.</ref>

In 1702, a French-speaking church established at Milk Alley, next to St Johns Church, close to the shore in western Wapping. The church was established to support a community of French speaking seafarers originating in [[Jersey]] and [[Guernsey]] who had been joined by [[Huguenot]] refugees from France. There seems to have been a good relationship with the rest of the population as it received financial support from the Rector of St Johns, when it was in financial difficulty, and its long term future was settled by an intervention from Queen Anne who provided it with an allowance.<ref>Waeppa's People – a History of Wapping by Madge Darby, p50 – {{ISBN|0-947699-10-4}}</ref>

Starting in the 16th century, and accelerating later, parts of Wapping attracted large number of German migrants, with many of these people, and their descendants working in the sugar industry. The area north of [[The Highway, London|The Highway (formerly St George's Highway)]] and west of Cannon Street became known – together with neighbouring parts of [[Whitechapel]] – as ''Little Germany''.<ref>East London Record – No 13 – 1990 https://www.mernick.org.uk/elhs/Record/ELHS%20RECORD%2013%20(1990).pdf</ref>

There appears to have been a considerable [[Black British people|black]] presence in late 18th century Wapping, on account of the many black and mulatto (mixed race) people, often seamen, being baptised at the two parish churches of St John's and in particular St George in the East.<ref>Waeppa's People – a History of Wapping by Madge Darby, p52-3 – {{ISBN|0-947699-10-4}}</ref> There appears to also have been a sizeable black population in the areas to the west, the parish of [[St Botolph without Aldgate]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Britain's first black community in Elizabethan London |work=BBC News |date=20 July 2012 |access-date=5 May 2025 |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18903391 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=History |work=stgitehistory.org.uk |access-date= |url= http://www.stgitehistory.org.uk/history.html }}</ref> (both the [[Portsoken]] and [[East Smithfield]] areas of the parish, and possibly also in [[Royal Foundation of St Katharine#Precinct|St Katharine's Precinct]], a densely populated little district that was swept away to build [[St Katharine Docks]].