London's East End
Most folk know that the capital city of the United Kingdom is London in the south east of England. As Europe's largest city, with a population exceeding 7 million people, there are several areas where different cultures seem to congregate leading to a multi-cultural and rather cosmopolitan society. One of the areas most people associate with true Londoners is the East End of London.
Anywhere east of the centre of London is known as the East End. When visiting London, the East End is not most peoples first port of call and it is often overlooked. However the area does have a number of popular tourist attractions, one of which is the incredible Bethnal Green Museum. Inside you will discover a massive selection of exhibits including the highly interesting collection of antique Doll Houses, including some that are several hundred years old.
Londoner's who live in the East End are generally known, and commonly referred to, as "Cockneys". However, to be a true Cockney the person has to have been born within the sound of "Bow Bells" (the "Bow Bells" are the bells from Bow Church). Strangely the word "Cockney" is derived from the middle English word "cokeney" which is the name given to misshaped eggs or cock's eggs.
Sadly, during the dark times of the plague (1348-50), there were so many men, women and children killed that the dead had to be disposed of in large pits rather than individual graves. Archaeologists, digging in the area around Tower Bridge, found the remains of more than 700 bodies.
Between the years 1788 and 1960 London's East End port was, by far, the largest in the world. At one time (in the 1930's) the were about one hundred thousand men working in the port and the amount of cargo handled was incredible, around thirty five million tons. London had a number of important docks, the earliest being the West India Dock completed in 1802 (the East India Dock was built in 1806).
Joseph Merrick, or the "Elephant Man" as he is better known, was, for some time, one of the attractions of an East End freak show. Another famous East Ender is the seafaring explorer Captain Cook. He lived in the Wapping area, and in 1762 married his wife who was also from the East End. She was first introduced to her future husband when she was only a child.
The East End of London has had a number of "high profile" criminals. During the 1960's the area was ruled by the infamous Krays, twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray. In 1888, the Whitechapel district of the East End was witness to the horrific murders of the infamous serial killer, "Jack the Ripper". Although he murdered 5 women he was not caught and even today there are powerful arguements for and against him being one of many suspects.
At the time of the Ripper murders the population of Whitechapel was about ninety percent Jewish and this led to many assuming that the Ripper must, almost certainly, have been a Jew. The East End has always been one of the areas in which new cultures settle when first arriving in England. Even today this is the case and the East End is all the richer for it.
Article Source: http://www.search-raven.com
About the Author
If you are planning to pay a visit to London you may want to check out our listings of cheap hotels in London.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License, which means you may freely reprint it, in its entirety, provided you include the author's resource box along with LIVE links (without "nofollow" tags).
by: BillyJones
Total views: 16
Word Count: 538
Rating: Not yet rated