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39-679: The Portsoken Ward of the City of London has its origin in the guild's landholding outside the Aldgate , as did the Ancient Parish of St Botolph without Aldgate . As well as Stow (1603), the guild is also mentioned in a charter of 1042 and in the Charter of Liberties of Henry I of England (1100). According to a legend solely recorded in John Stow 's Survey of London , land east of

78-474: A St Botolph dedicated church stood outside three city gates ( Aldgate , Bishopsgate and Aldersgate ), as well as one by the Thames at Billingsgate ). These churches served as a spiritual 'checkpoint' for devotions made at the boundaries of the City. Botolph is the patron saint of trade, travel and boundaries. The editor of Stow's Survey of London added a footnote commenting that The Knighten guild of London

117-683: A like nature in London. Their main objects were the relief of poverty and the performance of masses for the dead. Stow records the Guild's account, as recorded in the Liber Trinitae, claimed its charter was given by Edgar and renewed by Canute the Great , Edward the Confessor , William I , William Rufus and Henry I , but its earliest surviving records are from the latter Medieval period, namely

156-604: A number of guilds, which were associations of neighbours for the purposes of mutual assistance. Such associations were very numerous in the Middle Ages, both in town and country, and they appear to have abounded in London at a very early period. A "frith guild" and a "knighten- guild" seem to have existed in London in Anglo-Saxon times, and at the time of the Norman Conquest there were probably many other bodies of

195-636: A result of the war with Spain , being freed from Spanish slave ships, or slavery in Spanish colonies, by English warships. These free black Londoners, some of whom had mixed African and Spanish ancestry, often found work as sailors or interpreters. Many were servants and one appears to have worked at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry . The parish records from that time also reveal the presence of French, Dutch and Indian residents as well as at least one Persian and one East Indian (Bengali). Since

234-784: A ward. The sources for Stow's account are uncertain, the only one given, Liber Trinitatis, records the views of the Order of the Holy Trinity which took over the area, and so no doubt gives a biased account. On taking over the Guild, the Priors of Aldgate became ex-officio , the Alderman of the Portsoken. This arrangement lasted until the Priory was dissolved, during the reformation, in the 16th century. The Portsoken Ward has its origin in

273-451: Is believed to be a corruption of Knighten Guilde Lane . London County Council changed the street name to Sir Thomas More Street in 1937, despite Sir Thomas More having no connection to the area. The King Edgar statue by Denys Mitchell was erected in 1990 to commemorate the guild. It is situated at Devonshire Square on the Portsoken's boundary with Bishopsgate Without . Portsoken Portsoken , traditionally referred to with

312-507: Is known to us only through the gift of its soke to Trinity, and the consequent preservation of the documents in the Priory Chartulary. Its true character is uncertain, and its bearing on the history of municipal institutions in London has been disputed. In its later years the Guild simply performed religious duties, later taken on by livery companies; a Royal Commission report says: the companies of London prove to have sprung from

351-401: Is recorded as having more aliens in its population than any ward in the City of London. This pattern of diversity continued, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries the parish of St Botolph without Aldgate as a whole (both the Portsoken and East Smithfield parts) is recorded as having a population of at least 25 people identified as "blackamoors." They appear to have arrived as

390-462: The Court of Aldermen , and commoners (the City equivalent of a councillor ) to the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation. Only electors who are Freemen of the City are eligible to stand for election. Keith Joseph , Secretary of State for Industry 1979–1981 and Secretary of State for Education and Science 1981–1986, took the area as his territorial designation on elevation to

429-528: The Lords in 1987. Similarly, Peter Levene (Lord Mayor 1998–1999) in 1997. Joseph's father was Lord Mayor in 1942–1943. In 2014 William Campbell-Taylor made history when he became the first ever party politician to win a seat on the City of London's Common Council, standing as a Labour candidate in a by-election in the ward of Portsoken. William Campbell-Taylor stood down as a Common Councilman in March 2017 at

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468-525: The " soke " – in this context the right to extract fines as a source of income – (later " liberty ") was granted in the time of Saxon king Edgar the Peaceful , east of Aldgate to a guild of knights, the Cnichtengild , in exchange, essentially, for regular jousting. Norman kings confirmed these rights but later the land was voluntarily transferred to the Priory of the Holy Trinity by the descendants of

507-651: The 1840s, nearly all of the Aldermen of the Ward have been Jewish. Boundary changes in 1994 and 2013 made often fundamental changes to the ancient Wards. The Portsoken (part of the City of London) and the neighbouring London Borough of Tower Hamlets exchanged territory, with the Middlesex Street Estate being transferred to the Portsoken. Land was also exchanged with the Aldgate Ward (Aldgate

546-517: The Charter of Liberties of Henry I. Though Stow quotes from an earlier charter from William I: William king of England to Maurice Bishop, and Godffrey de Magum, and Richard de Parre, and to his faithfull people of London, greeting: know yee mee to have granted to the men of Knighten Guilde, the Guilde that belonged to them, and the land that belonged thereunto, with all customes, as they had the same in

585-598: The City of London. The election that took place in Portsoken Ward recorded the highest turnout in the entire 2022 Common Council Elections with 57.6% of the electorate casting their vote. The average turnout across the rest of the City of London was much lower at 36.5%. Two incumbent councillors, Munsur Ali and Jason Paul Pritchard, who were elected as Labour candidates in 2017, stood jointly and were both re-elected. John Fletcher and Henry Jones stood jointly and were both re-elected. Changes in voteshare are by party for

624-574: The Inhabitants, by reason of too much seruitude. They besought the king to haue this land, with the libertie of a Guilde for euer: the king granted to their request with conditions following: that is, that each of them should victoriously accomplish three combates, one aboue the ground, one underground, and the third in the water, and after this at a certaine day in East Smithfield, they should run with Speares against all commers, all which

663-521: The Knighten Guild to Holy Trinity Priory immediately brought about trouble with Geoffrey de Mandeville, Constable of the Tower. Having taken a piece of ground in East Smithfield and made it into a vineyard, he and his successors held it by force. The situation of the vineyard cannot be identified, but it doubtless became attached to Tower Hill which it adjoined. No reason is given in any source for

702-584: The Labour candidates and by candidate for independent candidates who previously stood as independents. Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate The Holy Trinity Priory , also known as Christchurch Aldgate , was a priory of Austin canons ( Black Canons ) founded around 1108 by the English queen Matilda of Scotland near Aldgate in London . The English queen Matilda of Scotland received advice and help in

741-616: The Middle-Ages, the kind of knight typically depicted in Arthurian legend . The guild did not fight on horseback, and they didn’t have the elevated social status of later knights. Edgar's decision to grant the land may have been influenced by his chief minister, St Dunstan , who had close links to the large neighbouring Manor of Stepney . The guild may have responsible for the creation of St Botolph's church at Aldgate, sometime before 1115, or were at least its custodians. At one time

780-428: The Portsoken. However, this figure only included freemen of the City of London who possessed moveable property worth more than 10 shillings , and so did not include the poor, non-citizens, or members of religious orders . A later subsidy roll from 1582 showed that the ward's taxpayers had been assessed to pay a total of 57 pounds , 11 shillings and 4 pence. The Portsoken has long had a mixed population, and in 1483

819-531: The Tower Liberty was lost to both the city ward of Portsoken and to the parish, while East Smithfield was lost to the Portsoken but remained a part of the parish. In 1442, St Katharine's (first established in 1147) became an independent Precinct, the Precinct of St Katharine by the Tower and so ceased to be a part of the East Smithfield area of the parish. In 1332, a tax assessment showed 23 taxpayers in

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858-433: The abbey was then to sit as an ex officio Alderman of London. Matilda of Boulogne continued the close relationship between queenship and the priory. Two of her children were buried here and she took the prior as her confessor. In the 12th century the priory had a reputation as a centre of learning under Prior Peter of Cornwall . Holy Trinity Priory in London, commended to St Botolph's Priory by Matilda of Scotland,

897-615: The definite article as the Portsoken , is one of the City of London , England's 25 ancient wards , which are still used for local elections. Historically an extra-mural ward, lying east of the former London Wall , the area is sometimes considered to be part of the East End of London . The ward is about 5 hectares in area, and is mainly oriented north-south, with the central part informally known as Aldgate while to its north as Bishopsgate . John Stow 's Survey of London records that

936-790: The end of his time in office. In the 2017 City-wide Common Council elections, the Labour Party won two seats in Portsoken ward with local residents Jason Pritchard and Munsur Ali topping the polls and Independent incumbents John Fletcher and Henry Jones elected in third and fourth place respectively. The Labour Party won a record total of five seats on the Common Council in March 2017, winning two seats in Portsoken, two seats in Cripplegate ward and one seat in Aldersgate ward. In December 2017, William Campbell-Taylor stood as

975-399: The fifteen members referred to included some of London's most influential men; an alderman, a canon of St Paul's. moneyers and goldsmiths. A more recent historian, Sydney Maddocks, summarises the Guild's end: The members of the Knighten Guild in 1115 granted their estate to the Priory and Convent of Holy Trinity, Aldgate, which grant King Henry I confirmed. The transfer of the possessions of

1014-493: The first ever party political candidate to contest a City of London Aldermanic election, standing for Labour in Portsoken ward, but was defeated by Independent candidate Prem Goyal. Prem Goyal is the founder of the UK political party, All People's Party , although to date Goyal has chosen to stand as an Independent in elections in the City of London. On 23 March 2022, the quadrennial Citywide Common Council Elections were held across

1053-588: The foundation from Anselm of Canterbury , the archbishop of Canterbury . The house was founded with clergy from St Botolph's Priory in Colchester , and the first prior was Norman, who was the queen's confessor. By 1115 the entire soke , or liberty of East Smithfield (including the ward of Portsoken ) was given by the Knighten Guilde to the church of Holy Trinity within Aldgate. The prior of

1092-620: The guild. In 1120 or 1121 (the exact date is unknown), the Portsoken was granted as a liberty to the Priory of Holy Trinity , which had been founded in 1107 by Queen Matilda , the wife of King Henry I . The sitting prior of Holy Trinity became, ex officio , an alderman of the City of London Corporation representing the Portsoken ward, and remained so until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1531. The Ward

1131-477: The heirs of the original Knights, were "certaine Burgesses of London, of the progenie of those Noble English knights to wit: Radulphus Fitzalgod, Wilmarde le Deuereshe, Orgare le Prude, Edward Hupcornehill, Blackstanus, and Alwine his kinsman, and Robert his brother, the sonnes of Leafstanus the Goldsmith, Wiso his sonne, Hugh Fitzvulgar, Algare Secusme..." The guild seems to have grown in prestige over time, as

1170-495: The land of the guild and was in place before the Norman Conquest. The Ancient Parish of St Botolph Without Aldgate , in place since the early 12th century (perhaps before) was originally coterminous with the Portsoken. Both areas were then larger than they subsequently became, both reaching down to the Thames. The eastern boundary of the Guilds lands lay on Nightingale Lane and the little stream that ran beside it. Nightingale Lane

1209-471: The time of king Edward, and my father. Witnesse hugh de Buche: at Rething. This charter no longer seems to exist, nor does any of the others, though Stow insists that these were present when the Guild was dissolved. However he does not quote any sources other than the Liber Trinitae. Around 1115, the guild was made of fifteen members, who passed their rights and responsibilities onto Holy Trinity Priory , just inside Aldgate . According to Stow these fifteen,

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1248-568: The transfer, and it may either indicate the Guild had run its course or the change was part of the political and ecclesiastical changes imposed by Henry I when he seized power after the death of William Rufus. The assumption is that the Guild was dissolved after its lands were passed on. Though according to the Livery Companies Commission, the Guild was believed to have been absorbed into London's livery companies . It certainly no longer exists, though Portsoken still exists as

1287-584: The wall was granted to the guild by King Edgar . (In) Portsoken, which soundeth, the Franchise at the gate, was sometime a Guild, and had beginning in the dayes of King Edgar, more than 600 yeares since. There were thirteene Knights, or Soldiers welbeloved to the king and realme, for service by them done, which requested to haue a certaine portion of land on the East part of the Citie, left desolate and forsaken by

1326-585: Was dissolved in February 1532 when it was given back to King Henry VIII . In 1544, the priory came onto Thomas Duke of Norfolk , and was from then called The Duke's Place . It was sold to "the Lord Mayor, the commonalty and the citzens of London" in 1592. The Great Synagogue was built in the area of The Duke's Place in 1791. The buildings and land associated with the priory were given, or sold, to prominent courtiers and City merchants. In 1846, it

1365-418: Was formerly entirely within the wall, with the Portsoken entirely without), so that John Cass's Foundation Primary School (now The Aldgate School ) is now part of the ward, despite lying just inside the line of the wall. The Portsoken is now regarded as one of the City's four residential wards, with a population of 985 (2011). Portsoken is one of 25 wards in the City of London, each electing an alderman to

1404-455: Was gloriously performed: and the same day the king named it knighten Guild... Historic accounts of a brotherhood of 13 knights are redolent of a Cockney Camelot , but although the responsibilities of the guild were military – presumed to be to defend Aldgate and the eastern part of the City Wall from Norsemen and others – they were not the knights as the term came to be understood later in

1443-504: Was initially supposed to be obedient to them. However this authority was disputed by Holy Trinity, and after a lawsuit before arbitrators appointed by Pope Honorius III the matter was referred to the bishop of London, who decided in 1223 that Holy Trinity should be free from visitation from the canons and priors of St Botolph's. Thomas Pomerey is named as the prior of the house & church of Holy Trinity within Algate, in 1460. The priory

1482-588: Was originally coterminous with the once slightly larger parish of St Botolph without Aldgate and extended as far south as the Thames. However, the growth of the Tower of London beyond the line of the London Wall, disputes with the Tower, the creation of the Tower Liberty other factors resulted in the southern area being lost to the ward and to the City of London, after around 1200. The area taken for

1521-409: Was reported that there remained scarcely anything of the priory. None of the buildings survive today except for some pointed arches within the office building on the corner of Aldgate and Mitre Street. Mitre Street itself follows roughly the line of the nave of the priory church, while Mitre Square corresponds roughly to the former cloister. Some account of the Priory is given by John Stow , and in

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