History of Stratford in 1878
Private Residents - Commercial
Stratford (or Stratford Langthorne), the ford of the street or Roman way from London to Colchester, a polling place for the Southern division of the county, is a suburb of London, and lies on the east side of the navigable river Lee and on the Great Eastern railway, whence the Colchester and the Cambridge, and the Blackwall and the North Woolwich, and the Woodford and the Tilbury and the Southend branch lines diverge: there are three stations, viz., Stratford Central station, Stratford Bridge, and Forest Gate. It is 3¾ miles from Shoreditch, is a ward of the parish of West Ham, and in the union of West Ham, in the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court and Metropolitan Police, in the Bow County court district, rural deanery of Barking, archdeaconry of Essex and diocese of St Albans, and Eastern Metropolitan postal district. It is united to Stratford le Bow, in Middlesex, by a bridge over the river Lee. Tramways are laid down from the Broadway to Aldgate.
Stratford is included in the Local Board District of West Ham.
St Johns is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in 1844 from the mother parish of West Ham; the church is a large and handsome edifice, in the centre of town, where the main road from the east of London diverges towards Romford and Leytonstone: it is in the Early English style, and was built at a cost of £23,000; of this sum £18,000 was raised by subscription, and the remainder advanced on security of the rates; the church consists of chancel, nave, aisles and tower. The land was given by the late Lord Wellesley Pole, esq. of Wanstead, and T Humphreys esq. , lords of the manor: it had been before this an unenclosed village green. The church was erected in 1834 as a chapel of ease to the parish church of West ham; it became a parish church about 1859, and was constituted a village in 1868, the register dates from the year 1895?. The living is a vicarage, value £310, in the gift of the vicar of West Ham, and held by Rev William Jay Bolton, M A of Caius College, Cambridge. The area is 301 acres; the population in 1871 was 10,834.
Christchurch is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in 1852 from the mother parish of West Ham; the church, in High Street, erected in 1851, is a handsome stone building in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave and aisles, with tower and spire. The register dates from the year 1853. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £300, in the gift of trustees, and held by the Rev James Wray Carter. The area is 405 acres; the population in 1871 was 4,000.
Stratford New Town, formerly called Hudson’s Town, is a part of Stratford, adjoining the Angel lane railway station.
St Paul, Stratford New Town, was formed into an ecclesiastical parish from the mother parish of West Ham, in 1865. The church, situated in the Maryland Road, is a plain brick building, with chancel, nave, aisles, apse, and a turret with 1 bell. There are sittings for 1,250 persons, half of which are free. The register dates from December 10th, 1864. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £300, in the gift of five trustees, and held by the Rev William Spencer. The area is 236 acres; the population in 1871 was 8,730.
The Congregationalists, Baptists, and Wesleyans have chapels here.
The Catholic church of St Francis of Assisi was opened May 12, 1868: it is a rectangular building in the Italian style, 90 feet by 35, capable of holding 400 persons, with a small tower over the porch containing 1 bell; there is also a large school room for boys underneath; the cost was £6,000.
The Town hall, opened July 7th, 1869, is situated at the corner of West Ham lane and the Broadway, Stratford, and has a frontage of about 10 feet each way.
On the river Lee are flour mills, chemical and print works, artificial manure factories, soap and candle works, vesta and match manufactories and distilleries.
In 1135 an abbey for Cistercian monks was founded here, the abbot of which was a lord of Parliament, and of which the income at the Dissolution was £573 15s 6d. : there are considerable remains of the building. George Edwards, the naturalist, was born here in 1692 and was also buried here.
The population of the Stratford Ward in the West Ham Local Board District in 1871 was 23,286.
Official Establishments, Local Institutions etc
Post & Money Order & Telegraph Office, Savings Bank & Government Annuity & Insurance Office, Broadway – Alfred Moss, receiver.
Post & Money Order Offices & Savings Banks, 24 Upton Place, Romford Road – William Stock, receiver; Market Place, Leytonstone Road, New Town – George Singley, receiver; 64 High Street – John Osborne, receiver; 271 High Street – John Lines, receiver; and Leyton Road, New Town – John Butler, receiver.
Post & Money Order Offices, Maryland road – Sydney Thomas Fisk & Co, receivers.
Pillar Letter Boxes, Broadway; Maryland Point; & at Stratford & Stratford Bridge railway stations
Insurance Agents: -
Liverpool & London & Globe, C W Ashdown, Lime Cottage, Gurney Road; B Brayshaw, 14 Windmill Lane, New Town; J G B Marshall, Martin Street; F R Morter, Roslyn Villa, Hamfritt Road; H & J Wayland, 380 High Street; & J Morter.
London Assurance, C C Smith, Harrow Bridge, High Street; & W L Greenfield, 20 Austin Friars e c
London & Lancashire, J Saunders, 8 Lansdowne Terrace; W Fisher, Cleveland House; & W Young, 37 Broadway
Midland Counties, A H Aldridge, 1 Market Place, Martin Street
Royal Exchange, R Martin, 2 St Johns Terrace
Standard Life, J Crosthwaite, London & County Bank, Broadway.
Sun Fire, J Rivett, 312 High Street
Westminster & General Life, J Maw, High Street
Public Establishments
Inland revenue Office, The Grove, T W Foyer, surveyor of taxes; James Bayford, supervisor of excise
Magistrates Court Room, Station street, open every day except Saturdays & Sundays; Magistrates meet every Wednesday; Clifton & Haynes, clerks
Police Station, West Ham lane
Town Hall, Broadway
West Ham Local Board of Health (Town Hall), F E Hilleary, clerk; Lewis Angell, C E engineer & surveyor; E Watkins, assistant surveyor; Thomas Drake, medical officer of health (William Darling, chief inspector); William Allen & Robert Everest, inspectors of nuisances; collectors, T Watton, C Ashdown & J J Richardson
Public Officers
Vestry clerk, George Alfred Sedgwick, Town Hall
Regristrar of Births & Deaths, Thomas James Vallance
Registrar of Marriages, Charles William Ashdown, Lime Cottage, Gurney Road
Relieving Officer, Henry Brittain
Surveyor of Taxes, Thomas Wallace Foyer
Poor Rates Collectors, William Escreet, Henry Gollege & Thomas George Tonge
Place of Worship
St Johns Church, Broadway, Rev William Jay Bolton, MA vicar
Christ Church, High Street, Rev J Wray Carter, incumbent
St Pauls Church, Maryland Road, New Town, Rev William Spencer, vicar
Catholic Church of St Francis of Assisi, Grove, Crescent Road, Rev Francis Verhagen; Rev Germain Verleyer; Rev Aidar McCarthey; Rev George Dowling; Rev Walter Holland & Rev Bede Wrigley, priests
Presbyterian Church, Leytonstone Road, Maryland, Rev George Wilson, minister
Congregational Church, Grove Crescent Road, Rev James Knaggs, minister
Baptist Chapel, the Grove, Rev Chas Venon, minister
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Chapel Street
Primitive Methodist (Ebenezer) Chapel, Henniker Road, New Town
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Major Road, New Town
United Methodist Free Church, Bridge Road
Wesleyan Chapel, The Grove
Schools:-
Board Schools, Channelsea Road, David Webb, master; Miss Catherine Martin, mistress; Miss Sophia Stevens, infants mistress – High Street, George Bush, master; Miss Alice Slyfield, mistress; Miss Mary Tebbs, infant mistress
National (St Johns), Chart Square, Henry John Millard, master; George Housden, assistant master; Miss Gabrilla Stilly, mistress; Mrs Marian L Brasuer, infants mistress
Christ Church (National), High Street, Miss Emily Must, mistress
British (mixed), North Street, New Town, Miss Charlotte parker, mistress
British, West ham & Stratford (girls & infants), Bridge Road, Miss Jane Norton, mistress; Miss Harriet Cherry, infants mistress
St Pauls Maryland Road (boys & girls), A J Clarkson, master; N A Cole, J Elder, J Cross & T Potter, assistant masters; Mrs Eliza Day, mistress; Miss Eliza Nott, assistant mistress; Miss Emma Rayson, infants mistress
Free Ragged, Chapel Street, Mrs Hannah Lorking, mistress; Miss Emma Lorking, infants mistress
Great Eastern Railway (boys), Maryland Street, William Charles Culling, master; William John White, assistant master
Catholic (mixed), Grove Crescent Road, William O’Keeffe, master
Newspapers
Essex Times & Romford Telegraph, Broadway, Wilson & Whitworth, proprietors (published Wednesday & Saturday)
Stratford Express, Broadway, Wilson & Whitworth, proprietors & publishers (published on Saturdays)
Stratford Times, Broadway, Wilson & Whitworth, proprietors (published on Wednesdays)
Railway Stations:-
Central, Station street, Angel Lane, John James Francis, station master
Maryland, Samuel Woods, station master
Stratford Bridge, High Street, Isaac John Pryke, station master
Conveyance to London:-
Omnibuses from the Swan Hotel, Broadway, to the ‘Dolphin’, Oxford Street every half an hour, from 8 am to 10 pm
Tramway cars from Broadway to Aldgate every five minutes from 7.30 am to 11 pm; from Broadway to Leytonstone every fifteen minutes from 8 am to 10 pm; tramway omnibuses from ‘Princess Alice’, Romford Road, every half hour from 8.15 am to 10 pm
Carriers to London : - William Bushman & R Sholl pass through West Ham, daily. Carriers from Ilford, Romford, Barking, Plaistow, Woodford & Leytonstone pass through daily.