Gunjani wrote:

snip
Much appreciated, I didn't know Poplar was named after Trees!

IIRC rows of poplar trees were planted here to act as wind-breaks.

My daughter's actually doing a small school holiday project on the
Docklands Light Railway Station Names... History & Origins etc;
Ironic no-one at DLR could assist. Thoughht about trying the Local
Council Boroughs but I concluded I might just as get as little
response as DLR.
I (she) would appreciate as much assistance as possible. She is
trying
to research a bit of Tidbits/history behind the namong of the area
hence station name.

Actually Tower Hamlets council has a local history unit and would put
you in touch if you called their main switchboard on 020 7364 5000.
The Town Hall is located at Mulberry Place, Poplar, which gets it's
name from the floating harbours (called 'Mulberries') which were
built at that spot for use in the Normandy landings in WW2.

Just an additional point of interest... Canning Town is named after
George Canning, He was a Prime Minister Of Britain in 1827 at one
time
as well as a Foriegn Minister and was noted for a Duel in which he
was
wounded in the thigh by Lord Castlereigh, Sept 1809.
And did you know Limehouse was to be called East Stepney, and East
India was originally named Brunswick ( it cost Tower Hamlets, where
the Council is now located £60,000 in admin costs to rename that
station in 1991).
I guess Devons Road was named after the road it's on?

Correct.

As for Stratford and Crossharbour there not as obvious, as well as
Beckton, Bow Church, Heron QuayS, Greenwich, Lewisham, Blackwall,
East
India, Prince Regent, Custom House, Shadwell...

Stratford I guess comes from a ford (shallow horse and/or waggon
crossing) either across the river Lee or one of its tributaries.

Crossharbour is a point at which a glass-sided foot-bridge once
crossed Millwall Dock (to the end of my road - I remember it and the
pontoon bridge [constructed from old barges] which replaced it until
new development spread across it linked by a short Dutch-style
bridge.

Bow Church is from the church near Bow flyover on the A11 which sits
in the middle of the road between 2 one-way sections. It was called
that so as not to be confused with nearby Bow Road LUL District Line
station.

Not sure about the origin of Heron Quays - nesting herons perhaps :-)
It was the next wharf to the north of Canary Wharf and friends of
mine used to have a boat moored there 20 years ago until the
developers evicted them :-(

Lewisham - the hamlet of Lewis (your guess is as good as mine).

Blackwall - possibly from the high 'security' walls around the East
India Dock or may be much older than that.

Prince Regent from Prince Regent Lane leading to the Royal Albert
Dock.

Custom House is the old HQ of HM Customs and Excise for the Royal
Docks. The building is still there.

Shadwell would have been the site of a drinking water well possibly
owned or dug by a Mr Shad.

There's an interesting map of South Poplar and the Isle of Dogs
dating from 1885 )click on the map for a larger version) at:
http://www.londonancestor.com/maps/bc-poplar-s-th.htm


And Beckton Park ( not the station) where is it?

North of the Docklands Spine Road and the DLR between Custom House
and Beckton Park stations.

Any more help?

Tell your daughter she should do *some* research on her own ;-)

--

Phil ,,,^.".^,,,




---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.507 / Virus Database: 304 - Release Date: 04/08/03