The East End has always attracted more than its fair share of characters. Some were born there, others moved there while some were taken there against their will. The close proximity of the London Docks invariably meant that there was a constant flow of new people into the area and entire businesses grew to serve this new influx. Some individuals like Tubby Isaac with his famous jellied eel stall provided sustenance to the poor, while others like Joseph Merrick, The ‘Elephant Man’ may not be an Eastender born and bred, but found himself exhibited as a freak alongside the Whitechapel Road.
Some of the many names associated with the East End are gathered below. All have a tale to tell – if you let them, so to find out more – read on…
TUBBY ISAAC
Tubby Isaac’s name has long been associated with the provision of jellied eels and seafood to the East End. The business was founded in 1919 by ‘Tubby’ Isaac Brenner, who soon gained a reputation as the East End supplier of choice for slippery jellied eels to the masses (more)
JOSEPH MERRICK – ‘THE ELEPHANT MAN’
Joseph Merrick – who became known as ‘The Elephant Man‘, was not born in the East End, but his involvement with the London Hospital, Whitechapel and with Frederick Treves, one of its surgeons, made him inextricably linked to (more)
MATT MONRO – THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN VOICE
Matt Monro was one of the greatest vocal performers ever to come out of the East End – but his early years were dogged by the tragic death of his father and the admission of his mother to a sanitorium by the time he was 5 years old (more)
ARTHUR ORTON – THE TICHBORNE CLAIMANT
Fraudulent claims to riches are nothing new, but the strange case of Arthur Orton, who came to be known as the ‘Tichborne Claimant’ held Victorian London in it’s thrall for years. Could this obese, coarse son of a Wapping Butcher really be heir to the Tichborne fortune? (more)
DOCTOR BARNARDO
Doctor Barnardo set up a number of ragged schools and children’s homes to help the destitute children he found sleeping rough on the streets of the East End. This Irish born philanthropist was appalled by the conditions he found in Victorian London. (more)
CHARLES JAMRACH
Charles Jamrach had become the world’s foremost importer of wild animals and his East End business thrived, but one day in 1857 a fully grown Bengal tiger escaped from his premises and ran off with a small boy in its mouth. Jamrach pursued the animal and (more)
BARBARA WINDSOR
Barbara Windsor is one of the East End‘s most well known and prolific actresses – but her private life has been often been even more colourful as her various on screen personas – with a string of marriages, affairs and abortions (more)
‘Rip’ -THE BLITZ DOG
Rip, a small mixed terrier dog is credited with saving over 100 lives by locating bodies trapped in houses flattened by the Blitz. Found by an ARP Warden, Mr E King, Rip the dog went on to receive the Dickin Medal, often referred to as the ‘Animal VC (more)
CLARA ELLEN GRANT
Clara Ellen Grant, a Head Teacher at a school in Bow in the East End, set up the ‘Farthing Bundles’. Children who had a farthing and could walk under a forty eight inch small wooden arch, could exchange their coin for a parcel (more)
DES O’CONNOR
Des O’Connor has been one of this country’s most popular and long lasting entertainers with a career that has seen him perform at the Palladium over 1200 times. Singer, actor and presenter, he has appeared in numerous light entertainment shows (more)
TOMMY FLOWERS
Tommy Flowers is one of the East End’s unsung heroes. Born in Poplar, his work on the Colossus code breaking computer with Alan Turing at Station X, Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire helped to shorten WWII by years (more)
BERNARD BRESSLAW
Bernard Bresslaw was a giant of a man – at 6ft 7″ tall – but any concern that this would hinder his chosen career of acting faded away when he was picked by none other than Laurence Olivier for his first stage role… (more)
MARTY FELDMAN
Marty Feldman was one of the most prolific comedy writers to emerge from post war London – writing comedy sketches for John Cleese, Ronnie Corbett, Ronnie Barker, Tim Brook Taylor and David Frost, he had a glittering career in radio, television and cinema... (more)
Bud Flanagan could sing, write music, and appeared in many television programmes and films throughout his career with his partner, Chesney Allen. His career in showbusiness had started before his teens, and he was still working up to his death aged 72… (more)