West Ham is an area in East London, located east of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...

in the west of the modern

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, and it later became a

County Borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

. The district, part of the historic county of

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

, was an administrative unit, with largely consistent boundaries, from the 12th century to 1965, when it merged with neighbouring areas to become the western part of the new

. The area of the parish and borough included not just central West Ham area, just south of Stratford; but also the sub-districts of Stratford, Canning Town, Plaistow,

Custom House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

Silvertown Silvertown is a district in the London Borough of Newham, in east London, England. It lies on the north bank of the Thames and was historically part of the parishes of West Ham and East Ham, hundred of Becontree, and the historic county ...

, Forest Gate and the western parts of Upton Park, which is shared with East Ham. The district was historically dependent on its docks and other maritime trades, while the inland industrial concentrations led to its byname as the ''Factory centre of the south of England''. These sources of employment have largely been lost, though there has been a degree of regeneration, in part associated with the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

History

Toponymy

The first known written use of the term, as 'Hamme', is in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 958, in which King Edgar granted the Manor of Ham, which was undivided at that time, to Ealdorman Athelstan. A subsequent charter of 1037 describes a transfer of land which has been identified with East Ham, indicating that the division of the territory occurred between 958 and 1037. The place name derives from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

'hamm' and means 'a dry area of land between rivers or marshland', referring to the location of the settlement within boundaries formed by the rivers Lea,

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and Roding and their marshes. North Woolwich seems likely to have been removed from Ham in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest. The earliest recorded use of West Ham, as distinct from Ham or East Ham, was in 1186 as 'Westhamma'. The creation of Stratford Langthorne Abbey (one of England's larger monasteries), and the building of Bow Bridge, the only dry crossing of the Lea for many miles, are likely to have increased the prosperity of the area.

Urbanisation

West Ham underwent rapid growth from 1844 following the Metropolitan Building Act. The Act restricted dangerous and noxious industries from operating in the metropolitan area, the eastern boundary of which was the River Lea. Consequently, many of these activities were relocated to the other side of the river and to West Ham, then a parish in Essex centred on

All Saints Church, West Ham All Saints Church is a parish church in West Ham, an area in east London. It has been a Grade I listed building since 1984. History Medieval and Tudor In the medieval era the church's parish included all of West Ham, with the one exception of th ...

. As a result, West Ham became one of Victorian Britain's major manufacturing centres for pharmaceuticals, chemicals and processed foods. This rapid growth earned it the name "London over the border". The growth of the town was summarised by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' in 1886:

''"Factory after factory was erected on the marshy wastes of Stratford and Plaistow, and it only required the construction at Canning Town of the Victoria and Albert Docks to make the once desolate parish of West Ham a manufacturing and commercial centre of the first importance and to bring upon it a teeming and an industrious population."''

Many workers lived in slum conditions close to where they worked, leading to periodic outbreaks of contagious diseases and severe poverty. The pollution and

First World War – West Ham Pals

In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the Mayor and Borough of West Ham raised a pals battalion of local volunteers, the ''13th (Service) Battalion (West Ham)'' of the Essex Regiment. East Ham also raised a battalion, but it joined a different regiment. Essex Regiment Cap Badge

The ''West Ham Pals'' were assigned to the 6th Infantry Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division and served on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

. The disbandment occurred as the British Army was so short of manpower that it could no longer maintain as many units, the surviving members of the West Ham battalion were re-assigned to other units to bring them up to strength.

Second World War

The presence of the

Royal Docks Royal Docks is an area and a ward in the London Borough of Newham in the London Docklands in East London, England. The area is named after three docks – the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are mo ...

, the Stratford railway lands and other high value targets made the Borough of West Ham one of the areas of London worst effected by bombing during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. There were officially 1186 civilians killed, but this may have been around 500 higher due to the disputed death toll at South Hallsville School.

Post-war

In March 1976, an IRA terrorist planted a bomb on a Metropolitan Line train, but it exploded prematurely, at West Ham station, injuring seven. The perpetrator shot and injured a member of the public and fled. The train driver, Julius Stevens, gave chase but was shot and killed. The terrorist ran into the street where he was confronted by a policeman; he turned the gun on himself but survived. In the 1970s and 1980s, the area suffered from deindustrialisation, including closure of the Bromley gasworks and

West Ham Power Station West Ham Power Station was a coal-fired power station on Bow Creek (the tidal mouth of the River Lea) at Canning Town, in east London. It was often referred to informally as Canning Town Power Station. History The first power station at Canni ...

Administrative history

Local Government – Ancient Parish

West Ham formed a large ancient parish of around in the Becontree hundred of

. The parish was made up of three wards: Church-street, Stratford-Langthorne, and Plaistow. The parish also included the hamlet of

Upton Upton may refer to: Places United Kingdom England * Upton, Slough, Berkshire (in Buckinghamshire until 1974) * Upton, Buckinghamshire, a hamlet near Aylesbury * Upton, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough * Upton, Huntingdonshire, a location in Cambridg ...

Initial administrative response to urbanisation

In 1840 the parish was included in the Metropolitan Police District soon after the built-up area of London had encompassed much of West Ham. It had become apparent that local government in the parish of West Ham was not adequate to meet the needs of the area which was divided between the parish vestry, highway board and the Havering and Dagenham Commissioners of Sewers. Problems centred on provision of adequate paving, water supply, fire fighting and control of development. In 1853 a group of ratepayers initiated moves to improve local administration. This led to a public enquiry by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

' brother Alfred, a medical officer, who published a report in 1855 severely critical of conditions in the slum areas. Accordingly, the

Public Health Act 1848 Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environment ...

was applied to the parish, and a local board of health was formed in 1856. The board had 15 members: 12 elected and 3 nominated by the Commissioners of Sewers. West Ham was included in the London postal district, established in 1857, but not in the statutory metropolitan area established in 1855 or the County of London established in 1889. Instead, administrative reform was undertaken in the area in much the same way as a large provincial town. A local board was formed in 1856 under the Public Health Act 1848. In November 1878 the inhabitants of the parish decided to petition the

privy council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

for a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

, incorporating the town as a

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

. This was in reaction to proposals to enlarge the area governed by the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Coun ...

to include adjoining districts with a population of 50,000 or more: the primary aim of incorporation was to prevent the inclusion of West Ham in an enlarged London municipality. This initial application was unsuccessful. However, encouraged by the 1883 incorporation of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

, a second petition was submitted in May 1885. Following an inquiry in October 1885, a scheme for the creation of the borough and dissolution of the board of health was made in June and the charter was granted in July 1886. A corporation consisting of a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, 12 aldermen and 36 councillors replaced the board, with the first elections held on 1 November. The first mayor was John Meeson, head of a local lime burning and cement making firm, and a former chairman of West Ham Local Board.

Local government – County Borough

In 1889 the borough was large enough in terms of population to become a county borough and was outside the area of responsibility of Essex County Council – though still formally within the county. At the time of the 1901 census it was the ninth most populous district in England with a population of 267,308. From 1934 to 1965 it was surrounded by the County Borough of East Ham to the east, the municipal boroughs of Wanstead and Woodford and Leyton to the north, and the metropolitan boroughs of Poplar to the west with the

to the south with Greenwich on the far side. HE1080991 Old Town Hall Stratford (1)

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sover ...

on 14 January 1887. The chevrons on the lower portion represent Stratford, taken from the device of Stratford Langthorne Abbey. At the top right, there are crossed hammers, representing the

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Canni ...

– the borough's main employer. The ship is representative of the

, and the area's long association with the sea. The Latin motto "''Deo Confidimus''" at the base translates as "''In God We Trust''." West Ham arms

Formation of Newham and inclusion in Greater London

The omission of West Ham from the London-administered

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

, which took in nearby places such as Greenwich and

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, was first commented on in 1855 and West Ham Council later considered the case for inclusion in the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

in 1895 and 1907.
Local administration and public services: Administrative bodies
', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5 (1966), pp. 32–37. Date accessed: 7 December 2007. The reluctance to proceed with amalgamation was largely explained by lack of perceived support, fear of financial disadvantage caused by increased rates, the detrimental effect of London planning laws on industry, and the desire to retain the independent civic institutions and privileges attached to county borough status. The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London reviewed the local government arrangements of the ''Greater London Conurbation'' and in 1965, under the terms of the London Government Act 1963, the county borough, and the

County Borough of East Ham East Ham was a local government district in the far south west of Essex from 1878 to 1965. It extended from Wanstead Flats in the north to the River Thames in the south and from Green Street in the west to Barking Creek in the east. It was part o ...

, were abolished and their former area was amalgamated with small parts of Barking and

to form the

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

Geography

The parish, and coterminous subsequent borough, lay east of the Lea and north of the Thames, with Leyton to the north and

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. It was originally part of the hundred o ...

to the east. The boundary between West and

was drawn from the now lost Hamfrith Waste and Hamfrith Wood in the north (then the southernmost parts of Epping Forest which extended as far south as the Romford Road at that time), along Green Street down to the small, similarly lost, natural harbour known as Ham Creek, the mouth of a small watercourse. The area of the parish and borough included not just central West Ham area, just south of Stratford, with the twin focuses of All Saints' Parish Church and

West Ham station West Ham is a London Underground, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and National Rail intermodal interchange station in West Ham, London, United Kingdom. The station is served by London Underground's District, Hammersmith & City and Jubilee lines, ...

; but also the sub-districts of Stratford, Canning Town, Plaistow,

, Forest Gate and the western parts of Upton Park which is shared with East Ham. The areas along the Lea and Thames were historically industrial with the remainder residential, mostly Victorian terraced housing interspersed with higher density post-war social housing. Since its urbanisation the area has always been one of the poorest in London.For instance, parts were a New Deal for Communities area in the early 21st centur
West Ham and Plaistow New Deal for Communities: All About NDC
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Ethnicity

In 1971, individuals of non-European origin comprised approximately 16% of the population of West Ham, rising to approximately 30% by the

1991 census A nationwide census, commonly known as Census 1991, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday 21 April 1991. This was the 19th UK census. ''Census 1991'' was organised by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in England and Wales, t ...

and 65.5% in the 2011 census. In 2011

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

people comprising 19% of the ward's population with

Other White The term Other White is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom and has been used in documents such as the 2011 UK Census to describe people who self-identify as white (chiefly European) persons who are not of the English, Welsh, ...

individuals forming approximately 15% of the population.

Transport

on Manor Road is served by the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

Jubilee, Hammersmith and City and District tube lines; the National Rail

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

services; and from 2010 the Docklands Light Railway. Plaistow and Stratford stations are also close by.

Sport

The football club

West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

is named after the area. Their nicknames, ''the Irons'' and ''the Hammers'' derive from their association with the

, whose workers formed

Thames Ironworks F.C. Thames Ironworks Football Club, the club that later became West Ham United, was founded by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd owner Arnold Hills and foreman Dave Taylor in 1895. Thames Ironworks took over the tenancy of The Old Castle ...

West Ham United F.C. played at the Boleyn Ground in nearby Upton Park between 1904 and 2016. The West Ham Stadium, a football,

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tr ...

and speedway stadium, operated between 1928 and 1972, with a capacity of 120,000. The street names of housing developed on the site of the former stadium pay homage to the speedway greats associated with West Ham, including Bluey Wilkinson and Jack Young. The West Ham Hammers team were involved in the top flight leagues 1929 to 1939, 1946 to 1955 and 1964 to 1971, winning the inaugural British League in 1965. While football is probably the main focus for the community, there is rugby, with Holland Road, next to

, home to 3 rugby teams which play in Essex RFU leagues: Phantoms RFC, Kings Cross Steelers and East London RFC.

Notable people

* Frank Bailey (1925–2015), firefighter * Leslie Bray (1895–1957), cricketer and officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August ...

, footballer * Fred Corbett, footballer * Tony Cottee, footballer * Alan Curbishley, footballer and football manager * Richard Harry Dennis, former Scotland Yard detective chief inspector * George Edwards (1694–1773) ornithologist * David Essex, musician * Elizabeth Fry, social reformer * Ted Fenton, footballer and football manager * Len Goulden, footballer * Leon Greene, opera singer and actor. * Ernie Gregory, footballer *

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame placed him among leading Victorian poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innova ...

, poet * Chris Hughton, footballer and football manager * Ronnie Irani, cricketer *

Rob Lee Robert Martin Lee (born 1 February 1966) is an English former professional footballer and sports co-commentator. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and West Ham United. His time at St ...

, footballer * Jack Leslie, footballer * Lennox Lewis, boxer and last undisputed world heavyweight champion * Allan Levene, information technology specialist *

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of ...

, antiseptic surgeon *

Glen Murphy Glen Murphy (born 6 April 1957) is a British actor and producer, best known as Firefighter George Green between 1988 and 2002 on the television drama '' London's Burning''. Career Murphy was the only actor to remain throughout the entire r ...

, actor, producer. *

Mark Noble Mark James Noble (born 8 May 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder and is well remembered for his time at English club West Ham United, spending eighteen years with the club. Apart from two sh ...

, footballer *

Christine Ohuruogu Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu , MBE (born 17 May 1984) is a British former track and field athlete who specialised in the 400 metres, the event for which she is a former Olympic, World and Commonwealth champion. The Olympic champion in 2008, and ...

, athlete * Martin Peters, footballer and World Cup winner * Kevin Stead, footballer * Colin Towns, composer and keyboardist * Margaret Tyzack, actress *

Bertha Willmott Bertha Mary Willmott (16 September 1894–3 June 1973)Bertha Willmott

Reg Varney, actor

References

Sources

* Jim Clifford. ''West Ham and the River Lea: A Social and Environmental History of London's Industrialized Marshland, 1839–1914.'' Vancouver. University of British Columbia Press, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:West Ham Areas of London History of the London Borough of Newham History of Essex