London Custom House??

[geno500]

Hi Deb, Well there are a number of answers to your question of was  Mill Yard off Cable Street,near Back Church Lane,this was a very common name in this area of London,as there were a lot of churches in the area,not that the population would have been church goers unless it was a baptism ,marriage or death,but the churches were built depending on the number of people and this area had a high population and they all had lanes at the back of them,but here are the ones that are recorded,there are 5 ,they are Aldgate/Spitalfields,Commercial Road East Whitechapel,St John the Evangelist St George in the East, St Mark Whitechapel, and St Matthew St George in the East,my two favorites would be St John and St Matthew ,the census may help to find it,as long as you have a map of the area at the time ,there are a couple online that can help,look at the census and see where the enumerator was and just keep turning the pages of the census and see which way he is going,it is a long shot because the police did not venture far from the main roads in this area,so the enumerator missed lots of dodgy lanes and closes

[geno500]

Hi Debs with nothing to do this morning,I decided to have a look for you,at the time your ancestor was arrested,Cable Street was not as long as it became later.the road was a long one but at that time Cable street only made up a small bit of it at the Aldgate End,that is the city end,the road then changed to Back Road and then it became Sun Tavern road and then Brook St,,all these became Cable street later,so Back Road was the same road a Cable Street  and just below Back Road was St Georges Church,the map you need is John Snows interactive map of London 1859 it is free,best of luck.

[Deb Stevens]

Hey Gen....again your help is beyond awesome, and I just wanted to ask if you could be more precise with the census info ie: London census?...have grabbed a couple of maps, not sure they are the right ones but believe this hunt for Jane is narrowing!! Here's a link to one, would you mind looking at it (when you have more time that is) just to see if I'm on the right track? http://www.stgite.org.uk/library/stjohns1878map.jpg
http://www.stgite.org.uk/media/stjohnsparish.html
Also, with the area of St Mathew's church in St George, was that situated on Pell Street?
Hope I'm not bombarding you with work!!
Anyway, good to know I'm in the right area and possibly once I start looking through the census will have more to go on Thanks again!
Deb

Hi Debs with nothing to do this morning,I decided to have a look for you,at the time your ancestor was arrested,Cable Street was not as long as it became later.the road was a long one but at that time Cable street only made up a small bit of it at the Aldgate End,that is the city end,the road then changed to Back Road and then it became Sun Tavern road and then Brook St,,all these became Cable street later,so Back Road was the same road a Cable Street  and just below Back Road was St Georges Church,the map you need is John Snows interactive map of London 1859 it is free,best of luck.

[geno500]

Hi Debs neither of those two maps are any good they do not go down far enough,but you are in the right area,try and find Dr John Snows interactive map of London 1859,he was a doctor who mapped the Cholera outbreaks from 1818 to 1860's this map does not show the outbreaks it is a great map because you can move it around,I looked at your postings again,and I missed what the man said at the trial,he said I came to Well Street just as I came Cable street,well on that map Well Street is marked and half way down is a chapel marked with a cross ,it is not a church because St Georges is only two streets away.I am never very good at giving web sites to look at but this should show you the tiny bit of map that has what you want if it does not work just use the front bit and look at the whole map www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/1859map/map/1859_1_25.html 

Best Regards. 

[Deb Stevens]

Thanks for the link, went and had another look but having trouble identifying the streets...is this what you were talking about or am I looking at another wrong map? hahaha
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/1859map/map1859_g-l_25-30.html

Hi Debs neither of those two maps are any good they do not go down far enough,but you are in the right area,try and find Dr John Snows interactive map of London 1859,he was a doctor who mapped the Cholera outbreaks from 1818 to 1860's this map does not show the outbreaks it is a great map because you can move it around,I looked at your postings again,and I missed what the man said at the trial,he said I came to Well Street just as I came Cable street,well on that map Well Street is marked and half way down is a chapel marked with a cross ,it is not a church because St Georges is only two streets away.I am never very good at giving web sites to look at but this should show you the tiny bit of map that has what you want if it does not work just use the front bit and look at the whole map www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/1859map/map/1859_1_25.html 

Best Regards.

[geno500]

Hi Deb yes that is the map if you look at the bottom you will see cable street click on that the map it is interactive,so you will get only that bit of map,I would also add there is a 1846 map and a 1827 map that one shows that the area still ahd open space and produce being grown but by 1846 most of that had gone also Back Street in the 1859 map was called Back Lane on the older maps

[Deb Stevens]

Hi Deb yes that is the map if you look at the bottom you will see cable street click on that the map it is interactive,so you will get only that bit of map,I would also add there is a 1846 map and a 1827 map that one shows that the area still ahd open space and produce being grown but by 1846 most of that had gone also Back Street in the 1859 map was called Back Lane on the older maps

Yep, got it, great!!
Now all I need to do is find out the "why's" and "what" to her being there...it's like this little old mystery that HAS to be solved!! Not clear on my next steps as unless I get anything else, I'm kind of trapped in the east end of London... Who knows where this is all leading but I'm loving it lol
Thanks for your brilliant input!!

[blake1]

Hi, I have tried to download a picture of Custom House but cannot see it on this page I'm typing!!
If it does appear the building in the right-hand foreground is the actual Custom House that gives its name to the area.
The district behind is Custom House, which comes under Canning Town. Newham.
The Seaman's Mission mentioned was purpose built as a refuge and a place of respite for seamen. these were all over the world.