My East End: Memories of Life in Cockney London

by Gilda O'Neill

The heart of the East End has always been Tower Hamlets; Gilda O'Neill is enough of a partisan to regard even Hackney as a bit out of bounds. My East End starts with the earliest times--the East of London has always been where dirty industry congregated, downstream from the Court and Parliament, and it has always been where incomers started, from Flemings in the Middle Ages to Bengalis today.

The greater part of this excellent book, though, is not a competent academic run through of the sources, but an invaluable collection of oral history, in which pensioners talk about the classic East End of late Victorian times and the inter-war period, a time when grinding poverty could just about be survived with luck, when people were forced to live in each other's pockets and children played around the open door of their homes until all hours: "There was always a jigsaw on the go and everyone that called had a go at putting some pieces in. Nanny usually came round on Friday nights and always brought a bag of sweets--winter warmers--and, as she was going home, she would call out 'Goodnight, kidlets'. I said that when I grew up I would go out singing in the streets and buy her a pair of blue bloomers."

O'Neill is fascinating about both the positive and negative sides of a way of life that went forever when families were moved out to housing estates on the fringes of London and about the parts of it that have survived into a new multi-cultural East End; My East End is a good book because it has an unsnobbish respect for the voices it draws on. --Roz Kaveney

Genres: London, History, Nonfiction, Biography, Biography Memoir, British Literature, Memoir

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[nettebuecherkiste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seit ich die britische TV-Serie „Call the Midwife“ zum ersten Mal gesehen habe, interessiert mich die Sozialgeschichte des Londoner East End ganz besonders. Wurde die Gegend früher oft in erster Linie mit Jack the Ripper, Armut und Elend in Verbindung gebracht, was natürlich alles schon dazugehört, hat man durch die Serie erfahren, dass dort auch viele hart arbeitende Menschen leben und lebten, die sich durch einen besonderen sozialer Zusammenhalt auszeichneten. In den Fünfzigerjahren des vergangenen Jahrhunderts, nach dem Blitz, begannen die oft entsetzlichen Lebensbedingungen in Whitechapel, Poplar und Umgebung sich zu ändern. Die Autorin Gilda O’Neill wurde 1951 in Bethnal Green geboren. Als Kind einer traditionellen East Ender-Familie kann sie aus erster Hand von den Gegebenheiten berichten. Sie war aber auch Historikerin und so handelt es sich bei ihrem Buch keineswegs um reine Erinnerungen aus dem East End, es hat auch einen wissenschaftlichen Anspruch. Und so ist es auch eher eine weiterführende Lektüre für Leser*innen, die sich für das East End interessieren. O’Neill berichtet von der Geschichte des East End bis in die Gegenwart, in der Teile der Gegend, etwa die Docklands, längst gentrifiziert sind, viele ehemalige East End-Familien in Außenbezirke umgesiedelt wurden und die besondere Gemeinschaft leider Vergangenheit ist. Das Buch bietet einen ausgewogen Überblick über positive und negative Begebenheiten des East End sowie Geschichten von den Menschen, die es ausmachten.

[Andi Gaywood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been born in the East End (East Ham) I have always had a fascination with its history and culture. Of course times were hard back in the day with poverty, slums, overcrowding, diseases, low mortality rate and everything else associated with the East End. However there were many positives that are now lost to today's consumerism, corporate dominance and lack of communities.

A line from the book says conditions may be a lot better but there is a sense of loss. There were great things about the East End which will soon only be in books and in the stories of those that told them. Playing games, having family parties in the streets, playing out in the streets, being able to leave your children with neighbours, neighbours looking out for you, customer service in shops, no mobile phones, being able to leave your doors open, pie and mash, fish and chips, Beano's, Christmas clubs, jubblies, knees up and the list goes on.

This book recounts a lot of stories from people who lived in the East End. The rollercoaster life where life was hard and community was everything. This is a well researched and interesting book to read. Along with some insightful pictures of the time it is a trip of nostalgic succulence that has you debating on your head. "Now or then"?

[Tex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collected oral (now written) history of the area of London that I am most familiar with because of having a friend live there. Other than the experiences with the Blitz and bombings, the times seem to coincide with those in America, but distanced by about a generation or so.

[Novelle Novels · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 out of 5 stars
This is a book that goes over the history of the east end for a long way back. I found it very informative but unfortunately it was abit bity and hard to get into. For me there were some eras that I found interesting and so many stories that break your heart. So much unfortunately that I felt overloaded. If you read this book slowly then I think you will definitely get more out of it.

[tara bomp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story of the East End, primarily from 1900-1960ish as told by the voices of many people who lived there, the vast majority the poorer working class. Some other people have said there's too much romanticism and I think there definitely is quite a bit but the author tries to be balanced and is at least talking about the loss of actual things (sense of community and just human contact, the general feeling of disconnection as you grow older, feeling of neglect by most of the political class etc) and doesn't pin it on ridiculous sources (she avoids even the more covert racism and generally I quite liked what political comment she made, which was a change).

The real treat here is just the very evocative descriptions from actual people of how they lived - the games they played, the houses they lived in, the people they talked to, how they got by, what the war was like. You can't point to any one thing and say "this is special" but taken together it creates an amazing portrait of a world that's now mostly gone. If you're interested in that sort of history of average people - not in the class sense, but just how average people lived - then you'll definitely enjoy this.

[Mary O'Leary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially, an historical account of the author's life in London's East End, from her birth in 1923. The main section of the book covers her childhood memories and the devastation of WW2 which began when she was aged 16. Also, an explanation of the beginnings of the East End in the Middle Ages, when Flemish settlers carried on their crafts and traded there. Huguenots came from France, Jews came from all parts of Europe, Germans too. In the 19th Century, enforced shore leave for the Chinese workers of the East India Company vessels brought about the district known as Chinatown (Limehouse) near the early docks. A lot of nostalgia here for the way of life and closeness of neighbours and family during the author's life there - in fact, in 1999 she was still living in Bethnal Green aged 76. But of course, there had been many social changes and conditions had much improved there after slum clearances of the 1950s and 1960s. Lots of oral narratives from older people with whom the author spoke.

[Michael Moseley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book resonated with various parts of my childhood as I lived on the edge of the east end is Islington before Islington was Islington from birth in 1958 through a marriage in Hackney until I left in the late 1990's. Lot of bits of the history that I remember and the book was a fascinating reflection of the time.

But please stop the nostalgia, it was a dirty, violent cramped existence with no bathrooms outside loo and shit of many different kinds. We all are in a much better place now please don't forget it. If you have any connection with this part of London or just as a social history this book is well worth a read.

[Bj Dewey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The streets of East London can still harken some of the imagery the book lends to the reader with just a little imagination; however, if you're at a loss of travels and can't experience it first-hand, you'll find yourself well comforted within your imagination from the images and feelings this book conjures.

Although I was born decades after the author, and thousands of miles away, I still felt a deep connection with the culture and environment represented in this book. I couldn't help but feel a little bit a part of this time after reading.

Just wonderful.

[Juliet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing collection of stories and details about the famed East End of London. First section of the book provides a brief history of the area, including well-intentioned but poorly-executed charitable work.
In the second section of the book there are snippits of conversation from those who lived in the area, telling stories about what they ate, how they celebrated, what type of work they had. Incredible stories really paint a picture of what life was like in the early to mid 20th century.

[Linda Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could be over-generous with stars on this one. My rating my be colored by my trips there and my loss of a good friend whom I visited. Very interesting and more informative than expected view of East End. Lots of history, book type and oral, of the area. It does seem to be written for the Brits. I have made an effort over the years to learn and still failed to know what many things were. Damn, that is a bad sentence.

[David Flin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's interesting to compare my own recollections of the East End, growing up there from 1953-1969. Sometimes I recognise the recollections of others very strongly. At other times, it sounds that they're talking about somewhere else entirely different. Which I guess shows how variable and unreliable personal recollections of many years ago can be.

It gives vivid pictures; how accurate those pictures are is something beyond my ability to say.

[Anne wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memories

This I the first time that I have read a book by this author and I wasn't disappointed. It shows how close people in the East end where.
It brought back many memories of my childhood where you could play in the street without any concerns. We're we would go of with our jam butties and not come home until it was dark

[Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A social history of Cockney London told with warmth, wit and emotion that will have the reader rethinking our so called ideas of community and what it really means....home work for the politicians perhaps? If you will read just one book about the East End make it this one.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to about half of this long, well-researched book before deciding that I had learned all I wanted to about this side of London. It was pretty interesting with lots of first person interviews.

[Sandra De Kock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quotes from old folk who used to live in the east end. Most typically have a bit of a rosy glow. Looking back through tinted glasses I suspect. Does a good job of conveying what life in the east end was like.

[Inge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book on life in the East End. Social history with personal testimonies. Written with love.

[Liz C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, Gilda O'Neill is one of the best

[Someone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book. Worth a read if you're into British historical books

[Bloss ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

There is so much history and so much love in this book; a veritable time capsule!

[Les · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an interesting mix of written and, mostly, transcribed oral history. I enjoyed the author’s summarised history of the East End and found her end piece on the dock closures quite affecting as I grew up in the area when they were still a going concern.

But if you know anything about the East End it is that it has always been in transition. In my childhood it changed from predominantly white working class with a large Irish and Jewish populations to one with significant numbers of newcomers from the Indian sub-continent. That’s just the way it’s always been, a continuity of change.

If I’ve one criticism of this mostly excellent book, it is that it is overloaded with comments of the “things aren’t the same as they used to be” variety and I found them a bit wearing after a while. That said, it’s the kind of thing I can remember people saying when I lived there, some fifty years ago and with Canary Wharf looming over the area I grew up in, I must admit to finding it a little painful to go back to see the changes for myself.

[Dayna Duchovney · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot more history at the beginning of this book, going back a lot further than I expected, I found this very interesting.
Most part of the book was written in quotes and memories from those that remember living in the east end from about 1930s/ 40s onwards.
In the most part it is a pretty heart warming book about how attached people become to the area that they were born and bred in.
I was able to personally associate with some of this being brought up very close to the East end myself and having a nan who classed herself as a true Eastender and having gladly listened to many of her stories of what it was like to grow up there , I found the book very relatable.

[Christine Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may be primarily about London’s East End but more widely speaking it is the story of every inner city in the British Isles. I grew up Leicester in the postwar period and I recognise most of the reminiscences as being true of there too.

[Chels S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, shows this women hates big families and that these people were often immoral.

[Edward Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to finish this one as it’s not really a page turner, but more of a comprehensive history of the East End as told by old and new inhabitants. I could have done without the detailed history of London at the beginning, with Kings and battles and the kitchen sink, but some of the subsequent stories were moving and thought provoking, particularly the section about the Blitz. My only gripe is that there are so many people involved in the telling of these tales, that there is no real depth, and too many different perspectives. I was hoping to follow one narrative and see the world through their eyes. For those who aren’t familiar with the East End either, there’s a bit too much assumption that the readers know where everything is. That said, it’s beautifully curated, if bookended a little by thorough detail that isn’t really needed. A delight for locals or those who love London based nostalgia.

[Mummalovesbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book it’s like sitting down with a cup of tea and listening to someone’s wonderful personal memories of a bygone age. Made up of a collection of interviews with numerous people who were born and lived in London’s East End from the beginning of the 20th century until the 1960s regeneration scheme which saw communities broken up and moved out of their beloved old East End. Having been born in the East End myself I found the traditions and antidotes of these wonderful memories heartwarming. A wonderful find for me in a second hand book store a real little gem of a book.