Derek Morris: Early Modern East London Social History

A life and testimonials

A life an autobiography
Illustrated Eulogy from the service on 9th August 2024
Testimonials

Family Trees and Notes

Projects

For over thirty years I have been researching London's eastern parishes in the eighteenth century. Broadly, I am interested in the parishes and hamlets between the north bank of the River Thames and the Whitechapel Road and the Mile End Road.

In the thirteenth century "Stepney" referred to "almost all the area between the suburbs of the City of London and the river Lea, the eastern boundary of Middlesex". In subsequent centuries daughter parishes were created and the area of the parish of Stepney gradually reduced.

My research starts with the creation of a database of the land tax payers in a hamlet or parish, who were assessed as paying a rent of £10 or more per year.

We then search through a wide variety of resources such as wills, deeds, newspapers, manorial records, Admiralty records and other publications in order to build up a picture of the business and social networks for many of the families.

A Place in the Sun

From 2003 Derek contributed to the The Place in the Sun project, which indexed the Sun Fire Insurance registers from 1792 to 1839. This can be

Books

D. B. Morris (2007)
Mile End Old Town, 1740–1780; a Social History of an Early Modern London Suburb
The East London History Society ISBN 978-0-9506258-6-7

Professor Michael Port, University of London, wrote that the book was " a remarkably thorough and lively account" which "presents a markedly different picture from that traditional one of East London still presented in a dismissive paragraph even in well-reputed histories".

This book is now only available as a PDF file for £6 from:
The East London History Society

D. B. Morris, K. Cozens (2009)
Wapping 1600–1800, A social history of an early modern London maritime suburb
The East London History Society ISBN 97-0-9506258-9-8

Professor Sarah Palmer, Director, Greenwich Maritime Institute, University of Greenwich, in her Preface writes that the authors "are to be congratulated on producing such a fascinating, informative and ground breaking study."

This book is now only available as a PDF file for £6 from:
The East London History Society

D. B. Morris, (2011)
Whitechapel, 1600–1800 A Social History of an Early-Modern London Inner Suburb
The East London History Society ISBN 978-0-9564779-l-0

Peter Guillery of the Survey of London, English Heritage, has written in the Preface: ""Whitechapel has not fared well with history. Stereotyped if not neglected, it has stayed a shadowy and myth-ridden place. In this book Derek Morris sets about shedding some historical light. Through systematic, thorough and, above all, indefatigable documentary research he takes hold of a broad range of material from two centuries of the recent past of a complex, variegated and mutating district, peoples it with communities and individuals, and organizes its affairs into intelligible categories."

Details available from:
mail@eastlondonhistory.org.uk
The East London History Society

D. B. Morris, K. Cozens (2014)
London's Sailortown 1600–1800, A social history of Shadwell and Ratcliff, an early-modern London riverside suburb
The East London History Society ISBN 978-0-9564779-2-7

Revelatory is not too strong a term for the work undertaken here. The popular understanding of the East End of London at any time up to the First World War is of a uniformly bleak, often terrible, place of desperate poverty. This monochrome picture has been challenged by historians who have stressed the importance of an indigenous merchant and industrial class, especially in the years before 1800. But we have never before had revealed to us in such immense and convincing detail just how prosperous, diverse and cultured this East End heritage was in fact. And we have never been given such a picture before because no one had undertaken the sheer hard work of uncovering a history long buried in land tax returns, rate books, wills, deeds and insurance policies.

London’s Sailortown 1600-1800, Shadwell and Ratcliff – is, then, a fitting conclusion to these same authors’ study of the East End riverside. Given their past achievements that is praise indeed. Professor Jerry White, Birkbeck College, University of London

Details available from:
mail@eastlondonhistory.org.uk
The East London History Society

CD-ROM

Mile End Old Town Residents, 1741–1790

CD-ROM with detailed information on the residents of Mile End Old Town between 1741 and 1790

Available from:
The East of London Family History Society
http://www.eolfhs.org.uk

Publications

All articles by D. B. Morris unless otherwise stated.

Published 2024

Talk: Science on Captain Cook's Voyages U3A Harpenden Science and Technology group 15th May 2024. His last talk.

Published 2022

The Batts, Blackburns and Whitby Cook's Log, 2022, , Vol. 45, no 2, pp. 19-22
Wapping, Shadwell and Whitby, Newsletter, East London History Society, vol. 5, Issue 01, Spring, 2022 pp. 13-14

Published 2021

A Royal Peculiar in London: the Precinct of St Katharine's The Local Historian, October 2021, pp 322-331

Published 2020

Other Captain Cook Pubs, Cook's Log, 2020, Vol. 43, No. 4, p. 36-37
James Gordon, Mile End’s famous nursery man Transactions of the London & Middlesex Archaeological Society 2020, Vol. 51, p. 184-188(download)
D. B. Morris, K. Cozens, St Katharine's before the Docks, Newsletter, London Topographical Society, No. 91, November 2020, pp. 12-15
The Captain Cook tavern, Stepney, 1817-1921, Cook's Log, 2020, Vol. 43, No. 3, p. 12

Published 2019

D. B. Morris, K. Cozens, Sir John Soane and the Port of London, 1807-1812, Newsletter, London Topographical Society, No. 89, November 2019, pp. 12-15,
D. B. Morris, K. Cozens, The Role of Women in London's Sailortown in the Eighteenth Century, The Trafalgar Chronicle, New Series, 4, 2019, pp. 52-60,
D. B. Morris, K. Cozens, The London Dock Company and Wapping Street, 1800-1810, Newsletter, London Topographical Society, No. 88, May 2019, pp. 10-14,
Changing Views of 18th Century East London, Genealogist's Magazine, vol. 33, no. 2, June 2019, pp. 40-45

Published 2018

D. B. Morris, K. Cozens, The Thames as a Barrier in the Eighteenth Century, Local Population Studies, No. 101, Autumn 2018, pp. 26-46,
A horse-radish field in Stepney, 1800, Newsletter, East London History Society, vol. 4, Issue 12, Winter 2018, pp. 12-14
Magnetic Observations on Cook's First Voyage, Cook's Log, vol. 41, no. 3 (2018), pp. 30-33
Joseph Banks and Geology, 1768-1771, Cook's Log, vol. 41, no. 2 (2018), pp. 21-27

Published 2017

D. B. Morris, K. Cozens, Mariners ashore in the Eighteenth century: the role of boarding-house keepers and victuallers, The Mariner's Mirror, 103.4, Nov. 2017, pp. 431-449.
Daniel Solander in East London, Cook's Log, vol. 40, No. 3, 2017.
Purchasing Property in East London in the early nineteenth century; The London Dock Company in the 1800s, Newsletter, London Topographical Society, No. 84, May 2017, pp. 5-7.

Published 2016

The Journal of John Jones, 1859-1909: The Old Bear's own story, Genealogists' Magazine, vol. 32, no. 1, March 2016, pp. 14-19 (The story of a poor preacher on the streets of London and his many preaching trips to hop pickers in the west Midlands.)
Captain Cook's Last Banquet in 1776, Cook’s Log, vol. 39, no. 4, 2016, pp. 26-29 Online version

Published 2014

Surrounded by men of wide experience in sailing, Cook's Log, vol. 37, no. 1, 2014
Silver and carriage duties in the eighteenth century, Magazine of the Friends of The National Archives, vol. 25, no. 1, April 2014

Published 2013

The Protestant Association Petition of 1780 and the Gordon Riots, Genealogists' Magazine, Vol. 31, No 4, December 2013, pp 146–150.
Samuel Batts and John Blackburn in Shadwell, Cook's Log, Vol 36, no 4, 2013, pp 26–29.
D. B. Morris, K. Cozens, The Shadwell Waterfront in the Eighteenth Century, Mariner's Mirror, Vol 99, 1 February 2013, pp 89–94.

Published 2011

Labourers and Insurance, Cockney Ancestor The East of London Family History Society, No. 133, Winter 2011 pp. 10–11
Mark Beaufoy, F. R. S., (1764–1827), Cook's Log, vol. 34, no. 4, 2011 pp. 32–34
Silver and Carriage Duties; 1757–1766, Genealogists' Magazine, Vol. 30, No. 5, March 2011, pp. 147–151

Published 2010

Warminster, Wapping, Shadwell and Russia, Newsletter, East London History Society, Vol. 3, Issue 8, Winter 2010 pp 8–12
D. B. Morris, K. Cozens, The Paper Trail behind Captain Cooks Executors, Ancestors, 90, January 2010 pp 14–18

Published 2009

D. B. Morris, K. Cozens, Captain Cook’s Executors: Thomas Dyall in Cook’s Log, vol. 32,no. 2, 2009
D. B. Morris, K. Cozens, Captain Cook’s Executors: Richard Wise in Cook’s Log, vol. 32,no. 3, 2009
Lorna Wang 1929 - 2009, Harpenden & District Local History Society, August 2009, Newletter 108
Creekmouth Village, Harpenden & District Local History Society, August 2009, Newletter 108

Published 2008

James Cook, Francis Holman and William Christopher in Cook’s Log, vol. 31, no. 3, 2008 with Ken Cozens
K. Cozens and D. Morris. Researching London Ancestors before 1841, Part One, Family Tree Magazine, Summer 2008 Part Two, Family Tree Magazine, July 2008
D. B. Morris, K. Cozens Huguenots and Housing: Insurance and Land Tax 1740–1840, Huguenot Families No. 18 June 2008 The Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland
D. B. Morris, K. Cozens Huguenot Trading Networks, Huguenot Families No. 18 June 2008 The Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland
D. B. Morris The Slop Sellers in the 18th Century Wapping, The Journal of the East of London Family History Society, No. 118, Spring 2008

Published 2007

Visit to Trinity House, Kingston upon Hull, in Cook’s Log, Vol. 30, No. 4, Oct – Dec 2007, Captain Cook Society.
Captain Cook in Mile End Old Town – Part 5, in Cook’s Log, Vol. 30, No. 3, Jan – March 2007, Captain Cook Society.

Published 2006

Whitby and Wapping in the Eighteenth Century, Annual Report 2006, Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society
Papists in Wapping, 1740 to 1790, Genealogists’ Magazine, Vol. 28, No. 10, June 2006

Published 2005

Captain James Cook and Friends in Mile End Old Town, 1765–1779, Newsletter, East London History Society, Vol. 2, Issue 12, Summer 2005
Captain Cook in Mile End Old Town – Part 4, in Cook’s Log, Vol. 28, No. 3, July – Sept. 2005, Captain Cook Society, pp 13–15
Captain Cook in Mile End Old Town – Part 3, in Cook’s Log, Vol. 28, No. 2, March– June, 2005, Captain Cook Society, pp 13–15, re Admiral North .
Captain James Cook and Sir Joseph Banks in Newfoundland, Summer 1766 in The Link, No. 62, The Journal of the Wessex Newfoundland Society, May 2005.

Published 2003

The Benefits of Insurance: House History in Mile End Old Town in Ancestors, Issue 13, April/May 2003. Published by The National Archives, Kew

Published 2001

D. B. Morris Quaker Farmers in 18th century Stepney, in Quaker Connections, No. 24, November 2001
D. B. Morris And I leave to Joseph Coltman My Parrot: Record Linkage in Eighteenth-Century Stepney, Genealogists’ Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 147–154, December 2001
D. B. Morris Jewish Basket Makers in Stepney, in Cockney Ancestor, the Journal of the East of London Family History Society, No. 90, Spring 2001

Published 2002

D. B. Morris Captain Cook in Mile End Old Town 1764 - Part 2, in Cook’s Log, Vol. 23, No. 4, Oct. – Dec. 2000, p 1776, Captain Cook Society
D. B. Morris Captain Cook in Mile End Old Town 1764 - Part 1, in Cook’s Log, Vol. 23, No. 3, July – Sept. 2000, p 1750-1752, Captain Cook Society
D. B. Morris Two Early Breweries in Mile End Old Town, Stepney, 1700–1800 in The Journal of the Brewery History Society, No. 102, Winter 2000.
D. B. Morris James Gordon, Mile End’s Famous Nursery Man, Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society. Vol. 51, 2000.
D. B. Morris The Land Tax Assessments for Mile End Old Town, 1741–1790, Newsletter, No. 51, November 2000, London Topographical Society.
D. B. Morris Stepney Merchants and the Slave Trade, in Cockney Ancestor, the Journal of the East of London Family History Society, No. 89, Winter 2000.

Published before 2000

D. B. Morris (1999) Licensed Victuallers’ Records, Cockney Ancestor, Summer 1999 Special reference to Mile End Old Town, 1740 –1780.
D. B. Morris (1999) Fitzhugh House, Mile End Old Town, Stepney, 1738 – 1849, Newsletter, No. 48, May 1999, London Topographical Society.
D. B. Morris (1999) More Errors in the IGI, Cockney Ancestor, No. 84, Autumn, 1999,
D. B. Morris (1998) Or did the Vicar Like to Keep things Simple? Cockney Ancestor, No. 78, Spring 1998. A response to “An Application of Statistics to Family History”, CA, No. 77, Winter, 1997/98.
D. B. Morris (1998) The Life and Times of Swanley Mullett, Cockney Ancestor, No. 80, Autumn, 1998 Swanley Mullett is traced from 1739 until 1786 in Stepney.
D. B. Morris (1998) Drinking in Mile End in 1750, East London Record, No, 19, 1998, pp. 37–40.
D. B. Morris (1996) Rev’d. John Hubbard and Mile End Old Town, Cockney Ancestor, No. 69, Winter, 1995/6. A follow up to “Revd. John Hubbard: a Stepney independent minister”, by Muriel Bowler, CA, No. 67, Summer 1995. Hubbard was the Minister from 1721 to 1743.
D. B. Morris (1996) Baynes Street, Whitechapel, – Lost and Found, East London Record, No. 18, 1996, pp., 35–37
D. B. Morris (1995) Get thee to a nunnery, Cockney Ancestor, No. 65, Winter 1994/5, pp. 34. Re the will of Sarah Loaded, 1746 and her niece Ann White.
D. B. Morris (1994) The Mile End Estate of the Bridewell and Bethlem Hospitals, Newsletter No. 39, November 1994, London Topographical Society.
D. B. Morris (1994) Charles and Mary Mapp: a discontented life, 1746, Cockney Ancestor, No. 64, Autumn 1994. A note about their separation agreement.
D. B. Morris (1990) Stepney and Trinity House, East London Record, No. 13, 1990, pp. 33–38.
D. B. Morris (1986) Mile End Old Town Residents and the East India Company, East London Record, No. 11, 1986, pp. 20–27.
D. B. Morris (1981) Christ’s Hospital School, Cockney Ancestor, No. 12, Autumn, 1981. Re Henry Bagot Morris, 1794–1874 and James Bagot Morris 1869 –?.

Geophysics

D. B. Morris (2001) Value of gravity and magnetic surveys in the exploration of the North West European Continental Shelf, 1945-75 First Break the official publication of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers in a Special Topic Non-Seismic technology September, Vol. 19, 9 Journal website
Derek B. Morris (1982) Value of areomagnetic surveys in offshore oil exploration Achievment November 1982 September, Vol. 19, 9
D. B. Morris, M.Sc. D.I.C., F.G.S. (1975) Recent applications of remote sensing Comonwelth Survey Officers Conference, 1975
D. B. Morris and P. H. A. Martin-Kaye (1973) Remote sensing and the environment, Endeavour, September 1973, Volume XXXII, Number 117
D. B. Morris and L. P. White (1972) Remote sensing and environmental change The Environment This Month: The international Journal of Environmental Science JULY 1972, Vol. 1, No. 1.
D. B. Morris (1970) Forecasting Technological changes in airborne remote sensing Thesis for Diploma in Management Studies, Hatfield Polytechnic August 1970.
Derek Morris (1964) The Application of Resistivity Methods to Ground-water Exploration of Alluvial Basins in Semi-Arid Areas, , Journal of the Institution of Water Engineers, Vol. 18, No. 1, February 1964, 59-65
Derek B. Morris (1959) Seismic Studies of crustal structure Thesis for M.Sc. Faculty of Science, University of London May 1959.

Reviews

East London stereotypes challenged Margaret Makepeace, Untold lives blog, British Library, 24 January 2014
London’s Sailortown - Servicing the Royal Navy Untold lives blog, British Library, 25 January 2016

Contact details

E-mail: derek@singsurf.org

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