Hackney in Middlesex County England History and Geography

HACKNEY, a parish in the Tower division of the hundred of OSSULSTONE, county of MIDDLESEX, 2 miles (N.E.) from London, comprising three districts, viz., Hackney St. John, South Hackney, and West Hackney, and containing 22,494 inhabitants. It is almost united to the metropolis by successive ranges of building, of which some are of handsome and respectable appearance, and was among the earliest of the adjacent villages inhabited by the more opulent merchants of London; and from its having been the first of those retreats provided with regular conveyances to that city, it is supposed to have given name to the numerous coaches which ply in the streets of the metropolis, and in the principal towns of the kingdom. Among the various mansions of distinguished persons who anciently resided here, are Brook house, at Clapton, the residence of Lord Brook (now converted into an asylum for lunatics), and the palace of the prior of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, in Well-street, at present let out in tenements to poor families. To the south of Lea bridge are mills, formerly belonging to the Knights Templars, and subsequently to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, having been since employed for preparing sheet-lead; they are now unoccupied. The parish is lighted with gas, and amply supplied with water: the houses are irregularly built; many of them in detached situations are handsome, and in various parts of the parish there are ranges of modern houses of neat and respectable appearance. On the site of an ancient building in the old church-yard, formerly used as a school-house, a spacious edifice has been erected, and gradually enlarged, containing sundry commodious apartments for the meetings of members of different local trusts, and for other purposes of parochial business. The environs are in many parts pleasant, and there are several nursery grounds, of which those belonging to Messrs. Loddige and Sons are noted for a great variety of scarce and curious exotic plants. A considerable quantity of land in the neighbourhood is cultivated by market-gardeners for the supply of the London market, and a much larger portion is appropriated to the pasturage of cattle. The old bridge over the river Lea was taken down in 1820, and a handsome iron bridge of one arch was erected, at an expense of £4500. The silk-manufactory at Hackney Wick, in which from six to seven hundred persons were formerly employed, has within the last two years been discontinued, and the adjoining dwelling-house, which is a handsome building, has since been commodiously fitted up in a superior style for the reception of insane persons. The principal branches of manufacture at present carried on are the making of optical glasses of every description, the preparation of colours, dyeing, calico-printing, and calendering: there is an extensive flour-mill, and a water-mill of very great antiquity is now used for supplying the inhabitants of Clapton with water: a great number of bricks and tiles is made in the neighbourhood, and several of the fields in which the clay has been exhausted have been since advantageously cultivated or built upon. The Regent's canal passes through the western part of the parish, and the Lea river navigation through the eastern. The parish is within the jurisdiction of a court of requests held at Whitechapel, for the recovery of debts under 40s., and has been recently included within the limits of the new police act.

Until recently Hackney constituted one parish, under the designation of St. John's, consisting of a vicarage and a sinecure rectory, rated in the king's books at £20, and for all civil purposes it still continues so; but by an order of the King in council, dated March 1825, it has been divided into three districts, each of which now constitutes a distinct rectory, called respectively Hackney, South Hackney, and West Hackney, and with the consents required by the acts passed in the 58th of George III., and 3rd of George IV., and by means of the liberal sacrifices of income made both by the patron, as lessee of the rectorial tithes, and by the incumbent, the rectorial and vicarial tithes of the whole parish have been consolidated, and apportioned, with every other source of ecclesiastical emolument, among the incumbents of the three newly constituted rectories, each rector having an exclusive right to such tithes and dues as shall arise within the limits of his benefice: they are in the jurisdiction of the Commissary of London, concurrently with the Consistorial Court of the Bishop. The patronage is in W. G. D. Tyssen, Esq., as Lord of the Manor, which is co-extensive with the boundaries of the whole parish. The church of St. John the Baptist, which now constitutes the church of the central district, or Hackney (proper), was erected under an act of parliament obtained in 1791, at a short distance northward of a more ancient one, the tower of which is still standing, the new building not being considered of sufficient strength to receive the bells. It is handsomely built of brick, with a cupola and dome of stone subsequently added to it; it was consecrated in 1797, and contains sittings for upwards of three thousand persons: the roof is a singularly fine piece of mechanism, and the arches are of a bolder and wider span than those in almost any other building of similar design: the fine windows in the chancel, and one at the font, are handsomely enriched with painted glass. Among the ancient monuments removed from the old church into the vestibules of the present edifice is that of Christopher Urswick, almoner of Henry VII., and incumbent of this parish, who died in 1521. Dr. Richard Sampson, Bishop of Chichester, and afterwards of Lichfield and Coventry; David Daulben, Bishop of Bangor; and Gilbert Sheldon, Bishop of London, and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of the University of Oxford, where he built the theatre, were rectors of this parish. The church-yard is spacious and well planted. The parsonage-house has been recently rebuilt by the present incumbent, on a considerably enlarged scale.'The church of West Hackney, containing one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight sittings, of which one thousand one hundred and ninety-two are free, is situated in Kingsland-road, and was erected by a grant from the parliamentary commissioners in 1823, at an expense of £15,302. 14.: it is a handsome edifice in the Grecian style of architecture, with a cupola and a portico of the Doric order, designed by Mr. Smirke. The site of the church, and an ample allotment of ground for a cemetery, together with an adjoining piece of land for the site of a parsonage-house, and for the purpose of a garden and slip of glebe, were given by the patron: the house was built by subscription, at an expense of about £2000.''The church of South Hackney (formerly a chapel of ease), situated in Well-street, was built in 1810, on a site given by John Dekewer, Esq.; the erection and subsequent alterations cost nearly £8000, which was defrayed by subscription: a considerable part of the church is appropriated as free sittings. In addition to the three rectories a sub-district has been apportioned from the central district, or Hackney (proper), to the chapel at Upper Clapton, called Stamford Hill chapel, and formerly proprietary, but purchased by subscription among the inhabitants, and subsequently enlarged, in aid of which the rector of the parish, and the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches, each contributed £200, for extending the number of free sittings. An endowment of £150 per annum has been assigned to the minister, in addition to which a transfer has been made by the rector of all dues for whatever occasional services should be performed within the chapel. There is also a small ancient chapel at Kingsland, situated partly in West Hackney parish, and partly in the parish of Islington: it was formerly attached to a lazar-house belonging to St. Bartholomew's hospital, and in the patronage of the Governors of that institution: the endowment is very insignificant, and the only other source of emolument to the minister is the pew-rents, which, from the small size of the chapel, are very inconsiderable. At Homerton, within the district attached to Stamford Hill chapel, is Ram's chapel, a private proprietary chapel, at present in disuse. There are places of worship for Baptists at Homerton and in Mare street; for Independents, at Homerton, Clapton, Kingsland, Well-street, and St. Thomas' square; for Wesleyan Methodists, in Pleasant-place; and for Unitarians, in Paradise fields. Among the ministers of the Independent congregation in St. Thomas' square were Dr. William Bates, an eminent theological writer, and the Rev. Matthew Henry, author of a commentary on the Holy Scriptures; and among those of the Unitarian congregation were Dr. Price, Dr. Priestley, and the Rev. Thomas Belsham.

Mrs. Margaret Audley, in 1616, left by will £20 per annum, for the maintenance of a schoolmaster in the parish, which now forms a portion of the salary paid to the master of the parochial charity school. The parochial charity schools were established in 1714, for educating and clothing thirty boys and twenty girls, being the children of such poor inhabitants as had certified settlements in the parish: the number in each school continued to vary, until by the adoption of the Madras system of instruction, and the erection, in 1811, of a new and capacious school-house, at an expense of £4500, containing separate and sufficient accommodations in the centre of the building for a master and a mistress, and in the wings, two very large and convenient school-rooms, the guardians of the charity were enabled greatly to extend the benefit of this institution, which now affords instruction to as many children of the resident poor properly recommended, as the school-rooms will admit, one hundred of each sex being clothed also. The charity is supported by annual subscriptions, occasional benefactions, and two half yearly collections in the parish church. The schools are under the superintendence of their respective committees of visitors, and the general concerns of the institution are regulated and controlled by a committee of managers annually elected by the subscribers. The other schools in connexion with the church in the central parish, are, a school of industry in Dalston-lane, built by subscription on a piece of waste ground granted by the lord of the manor for that purpose, in which forty girls are instructed and clothed, principally by the produce of their own industry. An infant school has also been established in Homerton within the last three years, which is supported by voluntary subscriptions; it contains about one hundred children. In the district of Stamford Hill chapel, a school for boys and another for girls have been recently erected by subscription, containing at present ninety-five of the former, and seventy of the latter. There is also a school for younger children, under the superintendence of a mistress, originally established by the present rector, for the numerous population at the tile-kilns and brick-fields adjoining, but it has been recently connected with the above schools as preparatory to them. The members of the Cumberland Benevolent Institution, have also a small establishment in Church-street, for the maintenance, clothing, and instruction of seven boys and two girls, who are admitted from the age of nine to twelve, and continue till they are fourteen. The only school in connexion with the church of South Hackney is one belonging to the Rev. H. H. Norris, which was erected by him in the year 1810, on land in Grove-street, belonging to himself, and continues to be his own property: the building contains suitable accommodations for a master and a mistress, and separate school-rooms for about sixty boys and thirty girls. In West Hackney a boys' school has been recently erected by subscription, in which there are at present ninety children. There is also a considerable girls' school, the children being allowed the temporary use of a school-house in the central district, until they are enabled by the liberality of the inhabitants of West Hackney to erect one in their own. The boys' school at Homerton, in connexion with Ram's chapel, was established by subscription in 1801, and has realized from legacies and benefactions a fund of £2000; and a school for girls in the same connexion, in which twenty-five are educated and clothed, is supported partly by the dividends on £950 three per cent. consols., arising from various benefactions, and by subscription. In addition to the church schools in the three newly constituted districts, there are various others in connexion with, and supported by, the several denominations of dissenters, in their respective neighbourhoods. The dissenting school in Well-street is supported partly by an income of £46 per annum, arising from benefactions and subscriptions; there are seventy boys instructed in this school. Spurstowe's almshouses, founded in 1666 by Dr. William Spurstowe, vicar of Hackney, who endowed them for six aged widows, were rebuilt in 1819, at an expense of £1352. 11. 4., which sum had accumulated from the savings of the original endowment, augmented by subsequent benefactions: the inmates are appointed at a vestry meeting, and receive a quarterly sum of money, and an annual allowance of coal. Six almshouses were built in Wells-street, for six aged men, by Henry Monger, Esq., who endowed them with an annuity of £12, to which subsequent benefactions have been added. The almshouses at Clapton were founded by Thomas Wood, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, who endowed them for ten aged widows, with a rent-charge of £50, and £5 per annum to a chaplain to read prayers. There are also various charitable bequests for distribution among the poor, which, in consequence of the partitioning of the parish, have been divided into three distinct portions, by the direction of the commissioners. The Retreat, for eight widows of Independent and four widows of Baptist ministers, near Paradise fields, is a handsome range of buildings, comprising six dwelling-houses, and a chapel in the centre, in the ancient style of English architecture, erected at the sole expense of Samuel Robinson, Esq., who allows each of the inmates £10 per annum, and on his decease £3 per ann. will be added to each allowance. Near St. Thomas square are twelve almshouses, erected in 1828 by the Bakers' Company, for decayed members and their wives, adjoining which are eight additional tenements, recently erected by'Thorne, Esq., and appropriated to the same use.

The London Orphan Asylum at Clapton, founded in 1813, a spacious and handsome brick building, ornamented with columns and cornices of stone, was erected by subscription, at an expense of nearly £30,000, and comprises, in addition to a commodious chapel detached from the main building (for the exclusive benefit of the children and officers connected with the establishment, and in which the service of the church is regularly performed by the master of the school, who must be a clergyman of the established church), a centre in which are all the domestic offices, under the superintendence of a matron; and two wings, in one of which are the school-room and dormitories for the boys, under the inspection of the master, and in the other similar arrangements for the girls, under the care of the mistress: there are upwards of three hundred children in this institution, chiefly descended from respectable parents, who are maintained, clothed, and educated in virtuous and religious principles, and on their leaving the asylum, if not settled by the board of management in some permanent situation, are stimulated to good conduct by annual rewards progressively increased according to the number of annual meetings at which they have attended with certificates of character. The Metropolitan Female Asylum in Grove-street was established in 1829: it is intended to restrain poor females from deviating from the path of virtue, by affording them a temporary abode, until suitable situations can be provided for them, and to reclaim the imprudent, with a view to their emigration to the colonies. The affairs of the establishment are under the superintendence of a committee of gentlemen, and the household concerns are managed by a committee of ladies. A physician, three surgeons, and a chaplain, afford their services gratuitously. There are at present sixty inmates; but it is contemplated to extend the benefits of the institution as soon as the patronage of the public shall enable the managers to carry into effect an object so desirable. The Hackney Church of England school is in union with the corporation of King's College, London, for the purpose of providing a course of education for youth, comprising religious instruction in conformity with the principles of the established church, classical learning, the modern languages, mathematics, and such other branches of knowledge as may be advantageously introduced. The head and second master are always to be clergymen of the established church, and graduates of one of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or of Trinity College, Dublin. The second master may take boarders, with the consent of the committee of management, being pupils belonging to the school. The institution is formed by a proprietary of shareholders limited to one hundred and fifty shares of £15 each, with a discretional power in the committee to call for an additional £5. Each proprietor has the right to nominate one pupil for each share he may hold, and shall pay for each pupil, if under twelve years of age, £10. 10. per annum, and if twelve years of age, or upwards, £12. 12. per annum, the same to be in full of every charge for tuition, books, and stationery: no child is to be admitted under seven years of age. The building, situated in the Back-lane, Clapton, is wholly of brick-work, in the Grecian style of architecture, with a portico of four fluted Doric columns, which, together with the entablatures and principal front, are finished in Roman cement, to imitate stone: it contains on the basement story a school-room and hat-rooms for the students, committee and class-room, head master's room, janitor's room, and apartments for the same on the upper story. The site, about an acre in extent, including a play-ground and fives-court at the rear of the building, is enclosed on three sides by a boundary wall, and in front by an ornamental iron railing and two pair of gates, through which the principal entrance is approached by a carriage sweep of ample dimensions: the school-room is warmed by a hot-water apparatus, upon a new and improved principle: the expense of the whole was about £1750. There is another institution, designated by the name of the Hackney Grammar school, founded and supported by a proprietary of shareholders, which admits pupils of every religious denomination. The head master is a clergyman of the church of England: he is not allowed to take boarders: the number of shares are one hundred and twenty, at £15 per share: the building, situated near the old church-yard, is in the English style, and cost upwards of £1300. The Society for educating young men for the ministry, instituted in 1730, and entertaining the doctrines expressed in the catechisms of the Westminster Assembly, have a college at Homerton, for the instruction of twenty pious young men, who are not admissible under seventeen nor above twenty-two years of age: the course of studies includes the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, with their application to classical and biblical literature, English composition, the mathematics, natural philosophy, the principles of chemistry, natural history, logic, and the philosophy of the mind, general history, ecclesiastical antiquities, and scriptural divinity; besides which a professor of elocution delivers a course of lectures on that subject every session. The period of time allotted is six years: the first two are occupied solely in classical pursuits; the remainder in classical, theological, and philosophical studies. The present building of brick, which is plain and neat, and very commodious, was completed in 1823, on the site of a former one, at an expense of nearly £10,000, defrayed by subscription: it contains a good library of classical and theological works, and of others in the general branches of literature. Among the distinguished individuals interred at Hackney may be mentioned Henry, Lord Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who died at his house in this parish, June 29th, 1537, being the same earl, who, according to the assertion of Henry VIII., was contracted to Anna Boleyn, and under which pretext the sentence of divorce was pronounced between that monarch and her; Edward Vere, Earl of Oxford, a statesman, poet, and dramatist, who flourished in the reign of Elizabeth, and died in 1604; Dr. John Worthington, an eminent divine; and Sir Francis D'Oliveyra, a Portuguese emigrant, who wrote against the inquisition, and died in 1783. Sir Ralph Sadleir, a distinguished statesman in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth, was born here; and Howard, the great philanthropist, is supposed to have been born at Clapton, in this parish.

From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale