Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for GEORGE (St.),-IN-THE-EAST, or St. George-Middlesex

GEORGE (St.),-IN-THE-EAST, or St. George-Middlesex, a parish and a district in Tower Hamlets borough, Middlesex. The parish lies 2 miles E of St. Paul's, London; forms a prominent part of the eastern section of the Metropolis; marches with Mile-End-Old-Town hamlet, St. John - Wapping parish, St. Mary Whitechapel parish, Ratcliff hamlet, St. Paul-Shadwell parish, and the London Dock walls and bridge; includes Princes-square, part of Wellclose-square, and numerous streets between Commercial-road and the London Docks; has post offices and pillar-boxes under London E; and is traversed by the London and Blackwall railway. -Acres, 243. Real property in 1860, £182, 734; of which £600 were in gas-works. Pop. in 1851, 48, 376; in 1861, 48, 891. Houses, 6, 169. The area was part of Stepney parish till 1727; and it is now all occupied by buildings, works, or thoroughfares. The parish church stands in Cannon-street; was built in 1727-9, after designs by Hawksmoor, at a cost of £40, 000; is a noble and massive structure, in the Doric style; has a lofty tower at the west end, unlike any other in England; has also four smaller towers, -two on the south side and two on the north. St. Matthew's church, in Pell-street, has a good spire. St Peter's church, in old Gravel-lane, was built in 1866; and is in late first pointed style, and cruciform. Another church was built in 1869. Raine's asylum, for the maintenance and education of 40 girls, is a structure in the Tudor style, by G. Smith; was founded in 1737; and has an endowed income of £776. The Swedish church, in Princes-square, is notable as the place where Baron Swedenborg was buried. Other charities than Raine's asylum have £62.

The head benefice is a rectory, united with Calvert-street and Wellclose-square chapelries. Christchurch, St-Mary, and St. Matthew, are vicarages, and St. Peter is a p. curacy, in the dio. of London. Christchurch was constituted in 1841; St. Mary's, in 1850; St. Matthew's, in 1860; St. Peter's, in 1866. Pop. of Christchurch, 13, 145; of St. Mary, 5, 515; of St. Matthew, 3, 245; of St. Peter, 8, 354. Value of St. George, £396; of Christchurch, £300; * of St. Mary, £150; of St. Matthew, £183; of St. Peter, £420. Patron of St. G., C., and St. Matthew, the Bishop of London; of St. Mary, the Dowager Countess of Aberdeen; of St. P., Trustees. The places of worship, in 1851, were 5 of the Church of England, with 5, 880 sittings; 1 of Independents, with 700 s.; 1 of Baptists, with 560 s.; 2 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 1, 550 s.; 1 of New Connexion Methodists, with 92 s.; 1 of Primitive Methodists, with 337 s.; 1 of Wesleyan Reformers, with 290 s.; 1 of Lutherans, with 150 s.; 2 undefined, with 120 s.; and 1 of Roman Catholics, with 360 s. The schools were 9 public day schools, with 2, 220 scholars; 86 private day schools, with 2, 211 s.; 13 Sunday schools, with 3, 053 s.; and 7 evening schools for adults, with 119 s.—The district is divided into the sub-districts of St. Mary, St. Paul, and St. John; and is aggregately conterminate with the parish. Acres of the sub-districts, 62, 84, and 97. Pop., 18, 181; 21, 015; and 9, 695. Houses, 2, 384; 2, 793; and 992. Poor-rates in 1862, £32, 243. Marriages in 1860, 410; births, 1,880, -of which 90 were illegitimate; deaths, 1, 293, -of which 671 were at ages under 5 years, and 12 at ages above 85. Marriages in the 10 years 1851-60, 3, 744; births, 18, 743; deaths, 13, 178. The workhouse is in St. John sub-district; and had 304 male inmates and 514 female inmates at the census of 1861.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a parish and a district"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Middlesex AncC
Place: St George in the East

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