117 Whitechapel Road

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115-121 Whitechapel Road
Contributed by Survey of London on Aug. 2, 2017

Francis Newham, a grocer, took occupation of the building on the site of No. 121 in the 1750s. He replaced Cross Key Alley to the rear with Newham Rents, four cottages at the back that were accessible via a passage between Nos 117 and 119. They had been cleared by 1873. The main-road properties appear to have been rebuilt in 1819–20, Newham having died in 1807 and divided the ownership among relatives. The first occupant at No. 121 in the 1820s was Francis Heaverman, a corn chandler, who was followed by butchers. There was stucco embellishment of the façade at Nos 119–121 but that pair was refronted in plain brick in the 1940s. No. 115 was partially rebuilt in 1931–2, and No. 117 wholly rebuilt in 1952 after a fire, W. S. Sharpin & Co. Ltd being the builders for a Mr Genis. Its brickwork was rendered, windows replaced and dormers added in 1974–5 for A. Dakri & Co. Ltd (Iqbal Ahmed and Osman Ahmed Dakri). From 2005 'Weekly Bangladesh', a Bengali-language newspaper was published at No. 117, which premises continue as East London Book Shop and Islamic Clothes.[^1]

[^1] London Metropolitan Archives, Tower Hamlets Commissioners of Sewers ratebooks; CLC/B/192/F/001/MS11936/487/970769: The National Archives, PROB11/1459/77: District Surveyors Returns: Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, Building Control file 15942; P07316; LCP00017