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122-594: The Tower Division was a liberty in the ancient county of Middlesex , England . It was also known as the Tower Hamlets , and took its name from the military obligations owed to the Constable of the Tower of London . The term 'Hamlets' probably referred to territorial sub-divisions of the parish of Stepney – and its daughter parishes – rather than to the usual meaning of a small village. In contemporary terms,

244-502: A royal charter to the Muscovy Company under governor Sebastian Cabot , and commissioned a world atlas from Diogo Homem . Adventurers such as John Lok and William Towerson sailed south in an attempt to develop links with the coast of Africa. Financially, Mary's regime tried to reconcile a modern form of government—with correspondingly higher spending—with a medieval system of collecting taxation and dues. Mary retained

366-618: A county', having its own Lord Lieutenant (the Constable of the Tower ), it raised units in its own right (though in the Tower Hamlets, as elsewhere, not all units raised bore the name of their Lord Lieutenancy area). A significant number of units were raised, a noteworthy example being the East Metropolitan RVC (11th Tower Hamlets) which was entirely made up of Jewish Volunteers. The profusion of units, some very short lived before being amalgamated or discontinued, makes

488-506: A further amalgamation saw the loss of local identity in this last Tower Hamlets unit and the last of the Tower Hamlets name in the British Army. Some current British Army units, recruited on a much broader geographical basis, count Tower Hamlets units as part of their historic lineage. Various historical sources list different components of the division, but its overall area remained the same. The Metropolitan Police Act 1829 enumerated

610-782: A guard, a limited siege, using the City of London Trained Bands (the Tower Hamlets Trained Band garrisoning the Tower were separate from the City of London Trained Bands) under the popular Philip Skippon from 12 January. Around 20 January, the Constable (with the permission of the King) answered a summons and appeared before a House of Lords committee in Westminster to answer for his build-up of armaments. That night, with

732-536: A household, which included the reinstatement of Mary's favourite, Susan Clarencieux . Mary's Privy Purse accounts for this period, kept by Mary Finch , show that Hatfield House , the Palace of Beaulieu (also called Newhall), Richmond and Hunsdon were among her principal places of residence, as well as Henry's palaces at Greenwich , Westminster and Hampton Court . Her expenses included fine clothes and gambling at cards, one of her favourite pastimes. Rebels in

854-468: A large Trained Band ready to serve outside the Liberty and this would later be organised into two regiments. By early 1643, the Tower Hamlets forces, together with those of Westminster and Southwark joined those of the City under the command of Sir Philip Skippon , who had previously tried to get the Tower Hamlets troops to betray the Tower to him before the start of the war. By 1644 The regiment of

976-539: A mere province of the Habsburg Empire. This was of particular concern to the landed gentry and parliamentary classes, who foresaw having to pay greater taxes to cover the cost of England’s participation in foreign wars. Lord Chancellor Gardiner and the English House of Commons unsuccessfully petitioned Mary to consider marrying an Englishman, fearing that England would be relegated to a dependency of

1098-466: A military force at Framlingham Castle , Suffolk. Northumberland's support collapsed, and Jane was deposed on 19 July. She and Northumberland were imprisoned in the Tower of London . Mary rode triumphantly into London on 3 August 1553, on a wave of popular support. She was accompanied by her half-sister Elizabeth and a procession of over 800 nobles and gentlemen. One of Mary's first actions as queen

1220-462: A mixture of Spanish, French, and Latin. In September 1554, Mary stopped menstruating. She gained weight, and felt nauseated in the mornings. For these reasons, almost the entirety of her court, including her physicians, believed she was pregnant. Parliament passed the Treason Act of 1554 making Philip regent in the event of Mary's death in childbirth. In the last week of April 1555, Elizabeth

1342-506: A new London Regiment , though the Tower Hamlets units retained their local identities and traditions and affinities gained while attached to regular regiments. The 4th Bn Royal Fusiliers (previously the 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade) became the 4th Bn while the 9th Bn The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) (previously the 2nd Tower Hamlets) became the 17th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Poplar and Stepney Rifles) . Both these units saw extensive combat in

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1464-539: A person whom the religious and political interests of the world recommended for Mary. The Spanish prince had been widowed a few years before by the death of his first wife, Maria Manuela of Portugal , mother of his son Carlos and was the heir apparent to vast territories in Continental Europe and the New World. Both Philip and Mary were descendants of John of Gaunt . As part of the marriage negotiations,

1586-601: A portrait of Philip by Titian was sent to Mary in the latter half of 1553. Mary was convinced that the safety of England required her to form a closer relationship with Charles's family, the Habsburgs , and she decided to marry Philip. A marriage treaty was presented to the Privy Council on 7 December 1553, and even though the terms clearly favoured England and included several safeguards, many still thought that England would be drawn into Philip's wars and become

1708-564: A reasonable regret for her death." Although Mary's will stated that she wished to be buried next to her mother, she was interred in Westminster Abbey on 14 December, in a tomb she eventually shared with Elizabeth. The inscription on their tomb, affixed there by James I when he succeeded Elizabeth, is Regno consortes et urna, hic obdormimus Elizabetha et Maria sorores, in spe resurrectionis ("Consorts in realm and tomb, we sisters Elizabeth and Mary here lie down to sleep in hope of

1830-603: A regular regiment, The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) . The Militia became the 7th Battalion, the 2nd Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corps became the 9th Battalion and the 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade (THVRB) also joined the regiment but retained its own name. In 1881 these latter two unit became part of the East London Brigade for training and mobilisation purposes but remained part of The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) regiment. The 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade (THVRB) used

1952-602: A revolt". Mary persevered with the policy, which continued for the rest of her reign and exacerbated anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish feeling among the English people. The victims became lauded as martyrs . Reginald Pole, the son of Mary's executed governess, arrived as papal legate in November 1554. He was ordained a priest and appointed Archbishop of Canterbury immediately after Cranmer's execution in March 1556. As long as

2074-463: A ring of parliamentary fortifications around London. Despite this the support for Parliament remained generally robust throughout the coming war. The strategic importance of the Tower, together with its money and munitions meant Charles I was careful to install a Constable of the Tower , John Byron , who was loyal to him. In late December 1641 and early January 1642 Byron brought in stores of artillery and other armaments, parliament responded by putting

2196-633: A series of amalgamations. The longest to bear the local name were the Tower Hamlets Rifles who went through the Second World War as infantry. Both these Tower Hamlets Battalions (9th and 10th) of the Rifle Brigade were amalgamated to form 656th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (Tower Hamlets) TA in 1947 and from 1961 to 1967 were known as the 300th (Tower Hamlets) Light Air Defence Regiment RA (TA) . In 1967

2318-576: A son, Edward . Mary was made godmother to her half-brother and acted as chief mourner at the Queen's funeral. Mary was courted by Philip, Duke of Bavaria , from late 1539, but he was Lutheran and his suit for her hand was unsuccessful. Over 1539, the King's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell , negotiated a potential alliance with the Duchy of Cleves . Suggestions that Mary marry William I, Duke of Cleves , who

2440-470: A trait she inherited from her father. Despite his affection for Mary, Henry was deeply disappointed that his marriage had produced no sons. By the time Mary was nine years old, it was apparent that Henry and Catherine would have no more children, leaving Henry without a legitimate male heir. In 1525, Henry sent Mary to the border of Wales to preside, presumably in name only, over the Council of Wales and

2562-577: Is best known for her vigorous attempt to reverse the English Reformation , which had begun during the reign of her father, King Henry VIII . Her attempt to restore to the Church the property confiscated in the previous two reigns was largely thwarted by Parliament , but during her five-year reign, Mary had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions . Mary

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2684-613: Is not clear whether this was caused by stress, puberty or a more deep-seated disease. She was not permitted to see her mother, whom Henry had sent to live away from court. In early 1533, Henry married Anne Boleyn , and in May Thomas Cranmer , the Archbishop of Canterbury , formally declared the marriage with Catherine void and the marriage to Anne valid. Henry repudiated the Pope's authority, declaring himself Supreme Head of

2806-635: The Act of Succession 1544 (also known as the Third Succession Act), placing them after Edward – though both remained legally illegitimate. Henry VIII died in 1547, and Edward succeeded him. Mary inherited estates in Norfolk , Suffolk and Essex , and was granted Hunsdon and Beaulieu as her own. Since Edward was still a child, rule passed to a regency council dominated by Protestants, who attempted to establish their faith throughout

2928-609: The Church of England . Catherine was demoted to Dowager Princess of Wales (a title she would have held as Arthur's widow), and Mary was deemed illegitimate. She was styled "The Lady Mary" rather than Princess, and her place in the line of succession was transferred to Henry and Anne's newborn daughter, Elizabeth . Mary's household was dissolved; her servants (including the Countess of Salisbury) were dismissed and, in December 1533, she

3050-608: The Empress Matilda —the first queen regnant of England. In July 1554, she married Prince Philip of Spain , becoming queen consort of Habsburg Spain on his accession in 1556. After Mary's death in 1558, her re-establishment of Roman Catholicism in England was reversed by her younger half-sister and successor, Elizabeth I . Mary was born on 18 February 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, England . She

3172-519: The First World War . The army's need for expansion saw the 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment "duplicated" to form four battalions (1/4th, 2/4th, 3/4th and 4/4th); while the Poplar and Stepney Rifles were "duplicated" to form the 1/17th, 2/17th and 3/17th. The Tower Hamlets Engineers, by now a part of the wider Royal Engineers and retaining their local identity but not their name,

3294-702: The Liberty of the Fleet in the City, and the Rules of the Bench in Southwark. Mary I This is an accepted version of this page Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor , and as " Bloody Mary " by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She

3416-542: The Royal Artillery (RA) as an Anti-aircraft artillery unit, the 60th (City of London) AA Brigade, RA (TA) . The unit retained its Tower Hamlets identity, if not its name, and saw action on the home front and in continental Europe. Descendant units of the Tower Hamlets Engineers were also extensively involved in the conflict. After the war the Tower Hamlets units lost their identities through

3538-551: The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in 1968. The modern regiment is headquartered at the Tower of London, where laid up Colours of the regiment are kept. The Fusiliers also maintain a museum at the Tower. While most UK militia fell into disuse in the early 19th century, the Tower Hamlets Militia endured, becoming known in the late 19th century as the Tower Hamlets Militia (Queen's Own Light Infantry) and using

3660-654: The White Tower as its cap badge at this time and used the Tower of London moat for training and drilling. Machine Gun elements of this unit were sent to the 2nd Boer War and earned a battle honour at Colenso . In 1904 the 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade (THVRB) was transferred from The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) regiment to the Royal Fusiliers a historic regiment originally formed in 1685 primarily from Tower Hamlets men. In 1908 London's reserve infantry forces were re-organised to form

3782-505: The home counties around London in mid-1528. Throughout Mary's childhood, Henry negotiated potential future marriages for her. When she was only two years old, Mary was promised to Francis, Dauphin of France , the infant son of King Francis I , but the contract was repudiated after three years. In 1522, at the age of six, she was instead contracted to marry her 22-year-old cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor . However, Charles broke off

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3904-614: The " parishes , townships , precincts and places" of the Tower Division for inclusion within the Metropolitan Police District , while the Militia (Tower Hamlets) Act 1796 specified how many men each component should supply to the division's militia . From 1832 to 1885 there was a Parliamentary Borough named "Tower Hamlets", after the Tower Division. From 1832 to 1868 it occupied the same boundaries as

4026-549: The Catholic faith, opponents of Northumberland, lived there. On 9 July, from Kenninghall , Norfolk, she wrote to the privy council with orders for her proclamation as Edward's successor. On 10 July 1553, Lady Jane was proclaimed queen by Northumberland and his supporters, and on the same day Mary's servant, Thomas Hungate , arrived in London with her letter to the council. By 12 July, Mary and her supporters had assembled

4148-433: The Church of England, repudiate papal authority, acknowledge that the marriage between her parents was unlawful, and accept her own illegitimacy. She attempted to reconcile with Henry by submitting to his authority as far as "God and my conscience" permitted, but was eventually bullied into signing a document agreeing to all of Henry's demands. Reconciled with her father, Mary resumed her place at court. Henry granted her

4270-629: The Constable away, Skippon led a force of 500 men of the London Trained Bands under the cover of darkness, to the narrow streets of St Katharines district, by the riverside, just east of the Tower. Skippon and his men approached the Iron Gate , a small now lost feature (its site, on the east bank of the moat, is under the Tower Bridge Approach Road), outside the moat which protected a postern which opened out from

4392-609: The Develin Tower. The Tower was protected by a force of Hamleteers, but Skippon knew the areas political loyalties were with Parliament. Skippon believed he could seize the fortress in a coup de main by persuading the Hamleteers to let his force into the Tower, hold it and thereby transform the strategic and political situation in the capital. Skippon called on the Sergeant on the Iron Gate to let his men through so that

4514-513: The Dudley conspiracy, was betrayed, and the conspirators in England were rounded up. Dudley remained in exile in France, and Noailles prudently left Britain. Philip returned to England from March to July 1557 to persuade Mary to support Spain in a renewed war against France . Mary was in favour of declaring war, but her councillors opposed it because French trade would be jeopardised, it contravened

4636-463: The Edwardian appointee William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester , as Lord High Treasurer and assigned him to oversee the revenue collection system. A failure to apply new tariffs to new forms of imports meant that a key source of revenue was neglected. To solve this, Mary's government published a revised "Book of Rates" (1558), which listed the tariffs and duties for every import. This publication

4758-672: The Emperor abdicated. Mary and Philip were still apart; he was declared king of Spain in Brussels, but she stayed in England. Philip negotiated an unsteady truce with the French in February 1556. The next month, the French ambassador in England, Antoine de Noailles, was implicated in a plot against Mary when Henry Dudley , a second cousin of the executed Duke of Northumberland, attempted to assemble an invasion force in France. The plot, known as

4880-629: The French ambassador, Antoine de Noailles . Mary continued to exhibit signs of pregnancy until July 1555, when her abdomen receded. Michieli dismissively ridiculed the pregnancy as more likely to "end in wind rather than anything else". It was most likely a false pregnancy , perhaps induced by Mary's overwhelming desire to have a child. In August, soon after the disgrace of the false pregnancy, which Mary considered "God's punishment" for her having "tolerated heretics" in her realm, Philip left England to command his armies against France in Flanders . Mary

5002-577: The Habsburgs. The marriage was unpopular with the English; Gardiner and his allies opposed it on the basis of patriotism, while Protestants were motivated by a fear that with the restoration of Catholicism and the arrival of the Spanish King, the Inquisition would come to judge Protestant heretics. Many English people knew the stories of the torments and cruelties suffered by the prisoners of

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5124-525: The Hamleteer contribution to the Tower's garrison seems to have varied greatly. Records from 1610 show a modest 9 men per night on duty, but in 1641, a tight of great tension, 552 Hamleteers are recorded as guarding the Tower on a nine-night rota. The size of the contribution varied according to which area's men were on duty: on one evening Whitechapel provided 45 men, while on another Hackney , Bow , Bromley-by-Bow and Old Ford together provided 85. In

5246-622: The Hamlets area, with the Constable of the Tower also having responsibility for the upkeep of the local part of the Thames and Lea . Tower Hamlets units are recorded as being present at the Tilbury muster in August 1588, when Elizabeth I reviewed the English troops available to face the expected Spanish invasion . It was there that the Queen delivered her famous Tilbury address . The size of

5368-912: The Inner and Middle Temples are allocated by the Temples Order 1971 ( SI 1971 /1732) which provides that the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple and the Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temple may exercise any function of an Inner London borough defined in either of ss.1(4) or 6 London Government Act 1963 which is not expressly excepted by an act or order. Exceptions in the Temples Order 1971 include various matters associated with housing, planning, public welfare and health;

5490-534: The Inquisition, and there were even those “who had suffered from the rack of the inquisitors” themselves. It was not just the English who were alarmed by the pending marriage of Mary and Philip. France feared an alliance between England and Spain. Antoine de Noailles , the French ambassador to England, "threatened war and began immediate intrigues with any malcontents he could find". Before Christmas in 1553, anti-Spanish ballads and broadsheets were circulating in

5612-459: The Liberty covered inner East London , the area now administered by the eponymous modern London Borough of Tower Hamlets together with most of the modern London Borough of Hackney ( Shoreditch and Hackney proper ). The Liberty was seen as synonymous with East London until East London extended further, east of the Lea and into Essex . The Tower Division was formed sometime in the 17th century but

5734-402: The Marches . She was given her own court based at Ludlow Castle and many of the royal prerogatives normally reserved for a Prince of Wales . Vives and others called her the Princess of Wales , although she was never technically invested with the title. She appears to have spent three years in the Welsh Marches , making regular visits to her father's court, before returning permanently to

5856-409: The North of England, including Lord Hussey, Mary's former chamberlain, campaigned against Henry's religious reforms, and one of their demands was that Mary be made legitimate. The rebellion, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace , was ruthlessly suppressed. Along with other rebels, Hussey was executed, but there is no suggestion that Mary was directly involved. In 1537, Queen Jane died after giving birth to

5978-420: The Papacy became strained, since Pope Paul IV was allied with Henry II of France . In August, English forces were victorious in the aftermath of the Battle of Saint Quentin , with one eyewitness reporting, "Both sides fought most choicely, and the English best of all." Celebrations were brief, as in January 1558 French forces took Calais , England's sole remaining possession on the European mainland. Although

6100-438: The Peace (JPs) , appointed by the Constable of the Tower (as Lord Lieutenant) , who administered both judicial and civil functions, mainly through their quarter sessions . The usual civic functions of JPs in England included: There is conflicting evidence around the county-level civil responsibilities exercised by the Tower Division; the extent to which the civil autonomy mirrored the military autonomy, and for how long. Unlike

6222-403: The Queen remained childless, her half-sister Elizabeth was her successor. Mary, concerned about her sister's religious convictions (Elizabeth only attended mass under obligation and had only superficially converted to Catholicism to save her life after being imprisoned following Wyatt's rebellion, although she remained a staunch Protestant), seriously considering the possibility of removing her from

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6344-606: The Queen should not marry a foreigner, since that could lead to the interference of a foreign power in English affairs. On 16 November 1553, a parliamentary delegation went to her and formally requested that she choose an English husband, with its obvious although tacit candidates being her kinsmen Edward Courtenay , recently created Earl of Devon, and the Catholic Cardinal Reginald Pole . But Mary's first cousin, Charles V , also king of Spain, saw that an alliance with England would give him supremacy in Europe; he sent his minister to England to propose his only legitimate son, Philip , as

6466-413: The Robes . On 1 October 1553, Gardiner crowned Mary at Westminster Abbey . Now aged 37, Mary turned her attention to finding a husband and producing an heir, which would prevent the Protestant Elizabeth (still next in line under the terms of Henry VIII's will and the Act of Succession of 1544 ) from succeeding to the throne. While the English expected her to marry, there was a general consensus that

6588-487: The Tower Division, with the best known MP for the area being Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda , a well known shipbuilder and an officer in the 2nd Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corps . After 1868, population growth saw the constituency split in two; the southern part of the area kept the name Tower Hamlets while Hackney , Shoreditch and Bethnal Green became part of a new Hackney constituency. The southern, Tower Hamlets constituency, persisted until 1885. The name "Tower Hamlets"

6710-446: The Tower Hamlets is estimated to have 2-3000 men, while the strength of the reserve Yellow regiment of the Auxiliaries of the Tower Hamlets is not known. Under Skippon's leadership, the Tower Hamlets Trained Bands saw action at Basing House (1643), Cropredy Bridge (1644), Newbridge (1644) and on their own territory, when the Yellow regiment fought at Bow Bridge in 1648. Regimental Flag designs varied but some versions featured

6832-399: The Tower Hamlets Militia, which could be deployed in the field in the event of invasion or rebellion. There was no peacetime standing army in England until the interregnum , and when regular units were formed they were typically raised from wider geographical districts than the Tower Hamlets; however, the area has provided some examples of regular forces. The earliest surviving reference to

6954-452: The Tower of London's White Tower with the Traitors' Gate watergate in the foreground. The troops wore buff sleeveless jackets to mark them out as a Trained Band, soldiers with higher status and value than ordinary Militia. In 1685, during the Monmouth Rebellion , King James II raised a force of infantry from the Tower of London garrison; the Tower Hamlets Militia. The Regiment was formed of two companies of Militia and one of miners and

7076-451: The Tower rather than immediately executed, while Lady Jane's father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk , was released. Mary was left in a difficult position, as almost all the Privy Counsellors had been implicated in the plot to put Lady Jane on the throne. She appointed Gardiner to the council and made him both Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor , offices he held until his death in November 1555. Susan Clarencieux became Mistress of

7198-416: The Tower would fall into Parliament's hands. The Serjeant would not let them in, and the force waited for some time in the hope that he could be talked round. The Sergeant refused a second attempt to persuade him and Skippon's force dispersed when the Constable returned from parliament just before 10pm. It seemed that the historic local bonds proved more powerful than the highly charged political affiliations of

7320-411: The White Tower as its cap badge. An invasion scare of 1857 saw the creation of the Volunteer Force which included both Engineer and Rifle Volunteer Corps and which in the case of the Tower Hamlets supplemented the existing militia. These Volunteer units were raised by members of the community with the permission of their county's Lord Lieutenant , but as Tower Hamlets was effectively a 'county within

7442-411: The age of 15, Edward VI died of a lung infection, possibly tuberculosis . He did not want the crown to go to Mary because he feared she would restore Catholicism and undo his and their father's reforms, and so he planned to exclude her from the line of succession. His advisers told him that he could not disinherit only one of his half-sisters: he would have to disinherit Elizabeth as well, even though she

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7564-406: The break with Rome her father instituted and the establishment of Protestantism by her brother's regents. Philip persuaded Parliament to repeal Henry's religious laws , returning the English church to Roman jurisdiction. Reaching an agreement took many months and Mary and Pope Julius III had to make a major concession: the confiscated monastery lands were not returned to the church but remained in

7686-482: The brief, disputed reigns of the Empress Matilda and Lady Jane Grey—England's first queen regnant . Further, under the English common law doctrine of jure uxoris , the property and titles belonging to a woman became her husband's upon marriage, and it was feared that any man she married would thereby become king of England in fact and name. While Mary's grandparents Ferdinand and Isabella had retained sovereignty of their respective realms during their marriage, there

7808-559: The country. For example, the Act of Uniformity 1549 prescribed Protestant rites for church services, such as the use of Thomas Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer . Mary remained faithful to Roman Catholicism and defiantly celebrated traditional Mass in her own chapel. She appealed to her cousin Emperor Charles V to apply diplomatic pressure demanding that she be allowed to practise her religion. For most of Edward's reign, Mary remained on her own estates and rarely attended court. A plan between May and July 1550 to smuggle her out of England to

7930-400: The creation of the County of London , and the creation of a Lord Lieutenant for the new county. The Tower division appears to have persisted as a magistracy area well into the 20th century. The Tower of London was normally garrisoned by a small force of Yeoman Warders , but these were supplemented by sometimes large numbers of local Hamlets men, known as Hamleteers . The area also provided

8052-440: The creation of the Liberty, and as the Hamlets are described as "owing" service there must have been a customary duty long before that date. Some believe the relationship goes back to the time of the Conqueror, but others suggest it came later in the medieval period when the Hamlets had a higher population. It is thought that duty had its origin in the rights and obligations of the Manor of Stepney which once covered most or all of

8174-421: The day. Under normal circumstances Skippon would have been put on trial and executed for his actions, but Parliament swiftly exonerated him. Before the outbreak of the first English Civil War, parliament had managed to use political pressure to get the King to install a Constable, Sir John Conyers, sympathetic to their cause. Knowing his position in London was weak, the King fled the capital before war broke out in

8296-409: The education of girls. By the age of nine, Mary could read and write Latin. She studied French, Spanish, music, dance, and perhaps Greek. Henry VIII doted on his daughter and boasted to the Venetian ambassador Sebastian Giustinian that Mary never cried. Mary had a fair complexion with pale blue eyes and red or reddish-golden hair, traits very similar to those of her parents. She was ruddy-cheeked,

8418-461: The effect is usually to direct such excepted powers or responsibilities to the Common Council of the City of London. The City of London Police have policed the Temples since 1857 by consent rather than by imposition. The term "liberty" was used in Ireland after the Norman conquest. The term "liberty" was also used in England for a demarcated area in the vicinity of a prison in which convicts could live upon regular payment of fees. Examples include

8540-527: The end of September 1553, leading Protestant churchmen—including Thomas Cranmer , John Bradford , John Rogers , John Hooper , and Hugh Latimer —were imprisoned. Mary's first Parliament, which assembled in early October, declared her parents' marriage valid and abolished Edward's religious laws . Church doctrine was restored to the form it had taken in the 1539 Six Articles of Henry VIII, which (among other things) reaffirmed clerical celibacy. Married priests were deprived of their benefices . Mary rejected

8662-420: The ending of the special jurisdictions in April 1889: the Isle of Ely and Soke of Peterborough became administrative counties , while the three remaining liberties were united to their surrounding counties. Inner Temple and Middle Temple , which occupy an area in London known as The Temple , describe themselves as liberties based on letters patent from 1608 and retain a large degree of independence to

8784-433: The engagement within a few years with Henry's agreement. Cardinal Wolsey , Henry's chief adviser, then resumed marriage negotiations with the French, and Henry suggested that Mary marry the French king Francis I, who was eager for an alliance with England. A marriage treaty was signed which provided that Mary marry either Francis I or his second son Henry, Duke of Orléans , but Wolsey secured an alliance with France without

8906-419: The execution of Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard , the unmarried Henry invited Mary to attend the royal Christmas festivities. At court, while her father was between marriages and thus without a consort, Mary acted as hostess. In 1543, Henry married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr , who was able to bring the family closer together. Henry returned Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession through

9028-464: The foreign war provisions of the marriage treaty, and a bad economic legacy from Edward VI's reign and a series of poor harvests meant England lacked supplies and finances. War was only declared in June 1557 after Reginald Pole's nephew Thomas Stafford invaded England and seized Scarborough Castle with French help, in a failed attempt to depose Mary. As a result of the war, relations between England and

9150-560: The hands of their influential new owners. By the end of 1554, the Pope had approved the deal, and the Heresy Acts were revived . Around 800 rich Protestants, including John Foxe , fled into exile . Those who stayed and persisted in publicly proclaiming their beliefs became targets of heresy laws. The first executions occurred over five days in February 1555: John Rogers on 4 February, Laurence Saunders on 8 February, and Rowland Taylor and John Hooper on 9 February. Thomas Cranmer,

9272-471: The hundred were named Finsbury , Holborn and Kensington . The Tower Division was different from the other divisions in that, as well as taking on hundred responsibilities, it also took on the responsibilities – judicial, civil and military – normally exercised at county level, making the Tower Hamlets a "county within a county", comparable to the Ridings of Yorkshire . The area had its own Justices of

9394-641: The imprisoned archbishop of Canterbury, was forced to watch Bishops Ridley and Latimer being burned at the stake. He recanted, repudiated Protestant theology, and rejoined the Catholic faith. Under the normal process of the law, he should have been absolved as a repentant, but Mary refused to reprieve him. On the day of his burning, he dramatically withdrew his recantation. In total, 283 were executed, most by burning. The burnings proved so unpopular that even Alfonso de Castro , one of Philip's own ecclesiastical staff, condemned them and another adviser, Simon Renard , warned him that such "cruel enforcement" could "cause

9516-527: The inhabitants of the Tower Hamlets having a duty to provide a guard for the Tower of London dates from 1554, during the reign of Mary I . Sir Richard Southwell and Sir Arthur Darcye were ordered by the Privy Council in that year to muster the men of the Hamlets "whiche owe their service to the Towre, and to give commaundement that they may be in aredynes for the defence of the same. This was long before

9638-516: The lead-up to the war, London and the eastern counties were broadly in sympathy with Parliament and against the King , with the Tower Hamlets being notably ardent in its parliamentary sympathies. This wasn't always a militant radicalism though, as evidenced when the war-weary poor of Stepney, seeking compromise with the King, partially demolished a parliamentarian strongpoint in the Lines of Communication ,

9760-592: The liberty of Bowland was one of the larger tenurial configurations covering some ten manors, eight townships and four parishes under the sway of a single feudal lord, the Lord of Bowland , whose customary title is Lord of the Fells . Up until the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 ( 12 Cha. 2 . c. 24), such lords would have been lords paramount . The Liberties Act 1836 ( 6 & 7 Will. 4 . c. 87) ended

9882-526: The line of succession because he supposed, correctly, that she would reverse the Protestant reforms that had taken place during his reign. Upon his death, leading politicians proclaimed Mary's and Edward's Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey , as queen instead. Mary speedily assembled a force in East Anglia and deposed Jane, who was eventually beheaded. Mary was—excluding the disputed reigns of Jane and

10004-410: The lineage of Tower Hamlets units sometimes unclear. The Cardwell Reforms of 1871 saw the volunteer element of the armed forces re-organised and given more supervision and support from central government. The local engineer unit became known at this time as the 2nd Tower Hamlets (East London) Engineer Volunteers . The infantry units retained their local identity but became reserve forces attached to

10126-594: The marriage was not to the kingdom's advantage, she would refrain from pursuing it. On reaching London, Wyatt was defeated and captured. Wyatt, the Duke of Suffolk, Lady Jane, and her husband Guildford Dudley were executed. Courtenay, who was implicated in the plot, was imprisoned and then exiled. Elizabeth, though protesting her innocence in the Wyatt affair, was imprisoned in the Tower of London for two months, then put under house arrest at Woodstock Palace . Mary was—excluding

10248-609: The marriage. In 1528, Wolsey's agent Thomas Magnus discussed the idea of her marriage to her cousin James V of Scotland with the Scottish diplomat Adam Otterburn . According to the Venetian Mario Savorgnano, by this time Mary was developing into a pretty, well-proportioned young lady with a fine complexion. Although various possibilities for Mary's marriage had been considered, the marriage of Mary's parents

10370-503: The much older administrative units comprising the area were united in shared military obligations long before this time. The Liberty had judicial and some local government responsibilities, and its military function was unique. The growth of population around the City of London led to the Ossulstone Hundred being divided into four divisions, with each division taking on the role of the hundred . The other three divisions of

10492-421: The new queen; however, if her sister gave birth to a healthy baby, Elizabeth's chances of becoming queen would recede sharply. Thanksgiving services in the diocese of London were held at the end of April after false rumours that Mary had given birth to a son spread across Europe. Through May and June, the apparent delay in delivery fed gossip that Mary was not pregnant. Susan Clarencieux revealed her doubts to

10614-467: The other divisions, the Tower Division was outside the jurisdiction of the Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex, with the Constable of the Tower exercising lieutenancy powers, usually with the ex-officio title of Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets . This began when the right of the Constable to exact guard duty was extended in 1605 to the raising of a militia, the Tower Hamlets Militia. Counties were

10736-472: The present day. They are extra-parochial areas , historically not governed by the City of London Corporation , and are today regarded as local authorities for most purposes. They are also outside the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of London . They geographically fall within the boundaries of the City of London , but can be thought of as independent enclaves . The local government functions of

10858-507: The principal way in which military forces were raised and the creation of the liberty and exemption from county based obligations saw East London made a distinct military unit. The Metropolitan Board of Works was established in 1855 in order to lead on the provision of infrastructure in the capital, and this is likely to have led to a reduced responsibilities for the Tower Hamlets JPs. The area's special status ceased in 1889 with

10980-443: The resurrection"). John White , Bishop of Winchester, praised Mary at her funeral service: "She was a king's daughter; she was a king's sister; she was a king's wife. She was a queen, and by the same title a king also." She was the first woman to successfully claim the throne of England, despite competing claims and determined opposition, and enjoyed popular support and sympathy during the earliest parts of her reign, especially from

11102-571: The safety of the European mainland came to nothing. Religious differences between Mary and Edward continued. Mary attended a reunion with Edward and Elizabeth for Christmas 1550, where the 13-year-old Edward embarrassed Mary, then 34, and reduced both her and himself to tears in front of the court, by publicly reproving her for ignoring his laws regarding worship. Mary repeatedly refused Edward's demands that she abandon Catholicism, and Edward persistently refused to drop his demands. On 6 July 1553, at

11224-471: The streets of London. When Mary insisted on marrying Philip, insurrections broke out. Thomas Wyatt the Younger led a force from Kent to depose Mary in favour of Elizabeth, as part of a wider conspiracy now known as Wyatt's rebellion , which also involved the Duke of Suffolk, Lady Jane's father. Mary declared publicly that she would summon Parliament to discuss the marriage and if Parliament decided that

11346-639: The succession and naming as her successor her Scottish first cousin and devout Catholic, Margaret Douglas . Furthering the Tudor conquest of Ireland , English colonists were settled in the Irish Midlands under Mary and Philip's reign. Queen's and King's Counties (later called Counties Laois and Offaly) were founded, and their plantation began. Their principal towns were named, respectively, Maryborough (later called Portlaoise ) and Philipstown (later Daingean ). In January 1556, Mary's father-in-law

11468-528: The summer. The Tower proved an extremely valuable asset to Parliament throughout the war. In the early years of the English Civil War both Parliament and the King relied on local Militias such as that of the Tower Hamlets. Generally speaking these forces were county based and very reluctant to leave their home areas. A notable few organised "Trained Bands" of more highly motivated and reliable men willing to spend more time training – Tower Hamlets had

11590-540: The temporal jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Ely in several liberties, and the Liberties Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 105) permitted the merging of liberties in their counties. By 1867, only a handful remained: Ely , Havering-atte-Bower , St Albans , Peterborough , Ripon and Haverfordwest . St Albans was subsequently joined to the county of Hertfordshire in 1875. The Local Government Act 1888 ( 51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) led to

11712-401: The territory was financially burdensome, its loss was a mortifying blow to the Queen's prestige. According to Holinshed's Chronicles , Mary later lamented (although this may be apocryphal), "When I am dead and opened, you shall find 'Calais' lying in my heart". The weather during the years of Mary's reign was consistently wet. The persistent rain and flooding led to famine. Another problem

11834-638: The throne of England but also heir to the Spanish Empire in the event that Philip's eldest son, Don Carlos, died without issue. To elevate his son to Mary's rank, Emperor Charles V ceded to Philip the crown of Naples as well as his claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Mary thus became queen of Naples and titular queen of Jerusalem upon marriage. Their wedding at Winchester Cathedral on 25 July 1554 took place just two days after their first meeting. Philip could not speak English, and so they spoke

11956-499: The unlikely charges against him was that he had plotted to marry Mary himself. Anne consented to the annulment of the marriage, which had not been consummated, and Cromwell was beheaded. In 1541, Henry had the Countess of Salisbury, Mary's old governess and godmother, executed on the pretext of a Catholic plot in which her son Reginald Pole was implicated. Her executioner was "a wretched and blundering youth" who "literally hacked her head and shoulders to pieces". In 1542, following

12078-512: The usual system of hundreds and boroughs for a number of different reasons, usually to do with peculiarities of tenure . Because of their tenurial rather than geographical origin, the areas covered by liberties could either be widely scattered across a county or limited to an area smaller than a single parish : an example of the former is Fordington Liberty , and of the latter, the Liberty of Waybayouse , both in Dorset . In northern England,

12200-475: Was Frances Brandon, Mary's cousin and goddaughter. Just before Edward's death, Mary was summoned to London to visit her dying brother, but was warned that the summons was a pretext on which to capture her and thereby facilitate Jane's accession to the throne. Therefore, instead of heading to London from her residence at Hunsdon, Mary fled to East Anglia , where she owned extensive estates and Northumberland had ruthlessly put down Kett's Rebellion . Many adherents to

12322-418: Was a Protestant. Guided by John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland , and perhaps others, Edward excluded both from the line of succession in his will. Contradicting the Act of Succession 1544 , which restored Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession, Edward named Northumberland's daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey , the granddaughter of Henry VIII's younger sister Mary , as his successor. Lady Jane's mother

12444-454: Was a precocious child. In July 1520, when scarcely four and a half years old, she entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals (a type of harpsichord ). A great part of her early education came from her mother, who consulted the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives for advice and commissioned him to write De Institutione Feminae Christianae , a treatise on

12566-595: Was also heavily involved in the conflict. In 1926 the Poplar and Stepney Rifles was renamed the 17th London Regiment (Tower Hamlets Rifles). In 1937 the London Regiment was abolished and the Tower Hamlets Rifles were transferred back to The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) regiment, seeing action in North Africa and Italy. The increasing importance of aerial warfare saw the former 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment being transferred to

12688-569: Was betrothed to Francis, Dauphin of France . Philip persuaded his wife that Elizabeth should marry his cousin Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy , to secure the Catholic succession and preserve the Habsburg interest in England, but Elizabeth refused to agree and parliamentary consent was unlikely. In the month following her accession, Mary issued a proclamation that she would not compel any of her subjects to follow her religion, but by

12810-453: Was born, and Mary was forced to accept that her half-sister Elizabeth would be her lawful successor. Mary was weak and ill from May 1558. In pain, possibly from ovarian cysts or uterine cancer , she died on 17 November 1558, aged 42, at St James's Palace , during an influenza epidemic that also claimed Archbishop Pole's life later that day. She was succeeded by Elizabeth. Philip, who was in Brussels, wrote to his sister Joanna : "I felt

12932-485: Was conducted immediately after the baptism. The following year, Mary became a godmother herself when she was named as one of the sponsors of her cousin Frances Brandon . In 1520, the Countess of Salisbury was appointed Mary's governess . Sir John Hussey (later Lord Hussey) was her chamberlain from 1530, and his wife Lady Anne, daughter of George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent , was one of Mary's attendants. Mary

13054-426: Was heartbroken and fell into a deep depression. Michieli was touched by the Queen's grief; he wrote she was "extraordinarily in love" with her husband and disconsolate at his departure. Elizabeth remained at court until October, apparently restored to favour. In the absence of any children, Philip was concerned that one of the next claimants to the English throne after his sister-in-law was Mary, Queen of Scots , who

13176-447: Was itself in jeopardy, which threatened her status. Disappointed at the lack of a male heir, and eager to remarry, Henry attempted to have his marriage to Catherine annulled , but Pope Clement VII refused his request. Henry claimed, citing biblical passages ( Leviticus 20:21), that the marriage was unclean because Catherine was the widow of his brother Arthur, Prince of Wales (Mary's uncle). Catherine claimed that her marriage to Arthur

13298-664: Was known as the Ordnance Regiment and was soon renamed the Royal Fusiliers , after the fusil, the type of musket they were equipped with. The Tower Hamlets Militia helped form the Fusiliers and subsequent Tower Hamlets reserve units would come under the organisational wing of the regiment. The regiment later became known as the 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers) and The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) before merging with other Fusilier regiments to form

13420-505: Was never consummated and so was not a valid marriage. Pope Julius II had issued a dispensation on that basis. Clement VII may have been reluctant to act because he was influenced by Charles V, Catherine's nephew and Mary's former betrothed, whose troops had sacked Rome in the War of the League of Cognac . From 1531, Mary was often sick with irregular menstruation and depression, although it

13542-517: Was no precedent to follow in England. Under the terms of Queen Mary's Marriage Act , Philip was to be styled "King of England", all official documents (including Acts of Parliament ) were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple, for Mary's lifetime only. England would not be obliged to provide military support to Philip's father in any war, and Philip could not act without his wife's consent or appoint foreigners to office in England. Philip

13664-415: Was not extensively reviewed until 1604. English coinage was debased under both Henry VIII and Edward VI . Mary drafted plans for currency reform but they were not implemented until after her death. After Philip's visit in 1557, Mary again thought she was pregnant, with a baby due in March 1558. She decreed in her will that her husband would be the regent during the minority of their child. But no child

13786-680: Was refused permission to visit Catherine. When Catherine died in 1536, Mary was "inconsolable". Catherine was interred in Peterborough Cathedral , while Mary grieved in semi-seclusion at Hunsdon in Hertfordshire. In 1536, Queen Anne fell from the King's favour and was beheaded. Elizabeth, like Mary, was declared illegitimate and stripped of her succession rights . Within two weeks of Anne's execution, Henry married Jane Seymour , who urged her husband to make peace with Mary. Henry insisted that Mary recognise him as head of

13908-516: Was released from house arrest, and called to court as a witness to the birth, which was expected imminently. According to Giovanni Michieli, the Venetian ambassador, Philip may have planned to marry Elizabeth if Mary died, but in a letter to his brother-in-law Maximilian of Austria , Philip expressed uncertainty as to whether Mary was pregnant. Mary's pregnancy had its pros and cons for Elizabeth: if Mary died during childbirth, Elizabeth would become

14030-626: Was sent to join her infant half-sister's household at Hatfield Palace , Hertfordshire. Mary determinedly refused to acknowledge that Anne was the queen or that Elizabeth was a princess, enraging King Henry. Under strain and with her movements restricted, Mary was frequently ill, which the royal physician attributed to her "ill treatment". The Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys became her close adviser, and interceded, unsuccessfully, on her behalf at court. The relationship between Mary and her father worsened; they did not speak to each other for three years. Although both she and her mother were ill, Mary

14152-471: Was subsequently used for the modern London Borough of Tower Hamlets created in 1965 from southern areas of the Tower Division. The Shoreditch and Hackney proper areas of the Tower Division together make up most of the area of the modern London Borough of Hackney . 51°31′N 0°02′W  /  51.52°N 0.04°W  / 51.52; -0.04 Liberty (division) Liberties were areas of widely variable extent which were independent of

14274-524: Was the only surviving child of Henry VIII by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon . She was declared illegitimate and barred from the line of succession following the annulment of her parents' marriage in 1533, though she would later be restored via the Third Succession Act 1543 . Her younger half-brother, Edward VI , succeeded their father in 1547 at the age of nine. When Edward became terminally ill in 1553, he attempted to remove Mary from

14396-590: Was the decline of the Antwerp cloth trade. Despite Mary's marriage to Philip, England did not benefit from Spain's enormously lucrative trade with the New World . The Spanish guarded their trade routes jealously, and Mary could not condone English smuggling or piracy against her husband's subjects. In an attempt to increase trade and rescue the English economy, Mary's counsellors continued Northumberland's policy of seeking out new commercial opportunities. She granted

14518-742: Was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon , to survive infancy. Before Mary, her mother had three miscarriages and stillbirths and one short-lived son, Henry, Duke of Cornwall . Mary was baptised into the Catholic faith at the Church of the Observant Friars in Greenwich three days after her birth. Her godparents included Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey ; her great-aunt Catherine, Countess of Devon ; and Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk . Henry VIII's first cousin once removed, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury , stood sponsor for Mary's confirmation , which

14640-402: Was the same age, came to nothing, but a match between Henry and the Duke's sister Anne was agreed. When the King saw Anne for the first time in late December 1539, a week before the scheduled wedding, he found her unattractive but was unable, for diplomatic reasons and without a suitable pretext, to cancel the marriage. Cromwell fell from favour and was arrested for treason in June 1540; one of

14762-660: Was to order the release of the Roman Catholic Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk , and Stephen Gardiner from imprisonment in the Tower of London, as well as her kinsman Edward Courtenay . Mary understood that the young Lady Jane was essentially a pawn in Northumberland's scheme, and Northumberland was the only conspirator of rank executed for high treason in the immediate aftermath of the attempted coup. Lady Jane and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley , though found guilty, were kept under guard in

14884-588: Was unhappy with these conditions but ready to agree for the sake of securing the marriage. He had no amorous feelings for Mary and sought the marriage for its political and strategic gains; his aide Ruy Gómez de Silva wrote to a correspondent in Brussels , "the marriage was concluded for no fleshly consideration, but in order to remedy the disorders of this kingdom and to preserve the Low Countries ." A future child of Mary and Philip would be not only heir to

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