Spitalfields Explain Questions Flashcards
Explain why migrants settled in Spitalfields by 1700.
Medieval migrants – monks and nuns, many of whom came from France, who founded priory hospital (St Mary Spital) were attracted to the area because it was outside the city walls of London and therefore the land was cheap. It was also open land, as it had previously been used as a cemetery in Roman times. Monastery grew as more wealthy people donated. As it was beyond the control of the City authorities, it became a place where outcasts, criminals and poorer people settled.
Huguenots in 16th and 17th centuries (13,050 by 1687). Fled persecution from Catholics in France and were attracted to Spitalfields as it was an area that welcomed Protestant Dissenters. French Protestant church established. Also, lots of spare land and empty properties. As Huguenots settled there, it encouraged chain migration from Lyon and Tours.
Explain why there was conflict among weavers in the late 1600s and 1700s.
Irish weavers moved into the area after the linen industry’s decline in Ireland. Spitalfields master weavers preferred to employ them as they were poor and prepared to work for lower wages. Caused conflict and resentment from English weavers. 1736 fighting with guns and knives broke out after English labourers accused Irish of undercutting wages.
New technology led to conflict between employers and workers. Master weavers started to bring in machines and some hired cheaper labour (women and children) to operate them. Some weavers, led by the Irish, formed ‘combinations’ against their employers. Throughout 1760s, these groups threatened and attacked master weavers and committed sabotage by destroying looms (‘Cutters Riots’), creating much conflict.
Explain why Irish migrants to Spitalfields faced difficulties between 1700 and 1900.
Faced anger as most were unskilled labourers who were prepared to take lower wages. Employers in Spitalfields often preferred to hire them as a result. This made English weavers resent them. The Irish – most of whom spoke Gaelic - were the most likely to be underpaid and out of work, and to suffer racist violence. In July 1736 serious fighting broke out after English labourers accused the Irish of undercutting their wages on a church building site.
Anti-Catholic discrimination. The Catholic Irish were not allowed to worship openly or build churches. In 1780, when one in eleven Londoners were Irish, there were violent anti-Catholic ‘Gordon’ riots and a mob burnt down Catholic chapels in Brick Lane. Full freedom for Catholics only came in 1829 with the Roman Catholic Relief Act.
Explain why the Jewish community in Spitalfields faced difficulties between 1880 and 1939.
Poorer and immigrant Jews in late 1800s were exploited. Employed as garment workers in the ‘sweatshops and forced to accept low pay and poor conditions. Terrible working conditions – hot rooms and dangerous fumes.
Rise of anti-immigrant feeling in East London. BUF targeted London’s East End by planning a march with the aim of turning Irish and English workers against their Equally poor Jewish neighbours. Led to battle on Cable Street between Fascists and anti-fascists (175 injuries on both sides and over 100 protestors arrested)
Explain why migrants settled in Spitalfields by 1900.
German and Dutch Jews migrated to Spitalfields because there were lots of economic opportunities and a lack of immigration controls. Spitalfields was close to the London docks where they landed, and it was also where cheap accommodation could be found. First synagogue established in 1874 on Sandy’s Row. From the 1880s, large numbers of Jews from Russia and Poland also arrived, because they were fleeing persecution in the Russian Empire. They had few possessions and very little English, so were attracted to Spitalfields as they could join an established Jewish community with familiar language, customs and religion.
Irish people migrated to Spitalfields in the 18th century because of the collapse of the linen industry in Ireland. They came to Spitalfields because there was a tradition of weaving in this part of London from the Huguenot migration, so it was where they thought they would be able to find work. Irish people also migrated to Spitalfields because of the Great Famine in the 1840s and 1850s. They came to Spitalfields as there was an established Irish community.
Explain how Spitalfields changed as a result of migration after 1945.
Cultural and religious make-up of the community changed. Increase in numbers of migrants from Bangladesh and Somalia, and a decrease in the number of Jewish families in the area - Spitalfields became more representative of the Muslim beliefs of the recent arrivals. Mosques opened, e.g. Jamme Masjid on Fournier Street (previously the Spitalfields Great Synagogue). Kosher butchers, supermarkets and restaurants became halal. Name change - ‘Banglatown’ - reflecting the impact of migration into Spitalfields.
Economic changes. Some continuity in the textile trade which had existed in the area since before the Huguenots arrived, but large numbers of migrants from Bangladesh worked in the newly established Indian restaurants. Brick Lane - famous for the large numbers of curry houses. The area became more prosperous as a result of migration after 1945.
