In Chinese Limehouse
Tong Yin Shung Gun laundry by Stafford Northcote, 1946
Almost nothing remains of London’s first Chinatown in Pennyfields, Limehouse, and even documentary evidence is scarce for this once-thriving community which makes this exhibition The Original Chinatown in Limehouse, Myths & Realities at St Anne’s Limehouse, Three Colt St, E14 8HH, especially important. It opens this Friday March 20th and runs each Thursday to Saturday 10-4pm until July, admission free.
This map from 1745 shows the locations of Limehouse Causeway and Pennyfields that became the epicentre of the original Chinatown in London
Portrait of Tan Che Qua, artist, the second-recorded Chinese person to visit England, 1769 -1772. His artwork was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1770
Early twentieth century painting of Limehouse Causeway by an unknown artist
Tsang Sing, born in Hong Kong in 1878, originally a sailor, he became a pastry chef in Chinatown where he met and married his English wife Lilian
Montage of Alison Gill’s Anglo-Chinese family with great-grandfather Tsang Sing’s photo on the left and various relatives – mother, and siblings.
Corner of Pennyfields and West India Dock Road with the H.Doe.Foon. restaurant
A local vicar with two Chinese gentlemen at Turners Buildings, a turning off Pennyfields now covered over by Pennyfields Park
Registration document for Ah Tin, merchant seaman from Canton who came to London in 1904 and settled at 46 Pennyfields in 1924
Ah Tin’s daughter Doris Tin pictured at the Dingle Street school in Poplar. Doris is the girl with dark hair in the second row, second from the left.
Film star Anna May Wong visits Chinatown in 1928
Anna May Wong visits in 1928
One of the many Chinese grocers, this is the Quong Yuen Sing shop at 53 Pennyfields
The Chow Family – Connie and Leslie were both from Chinese/English parents – with daughter Christina. They lived at 48 Pennyfields which was destroyed in one of the first air raids of the Blitz.
Live chicken sold from a barrow outside the Chinese restaurant at 60 Pennyfields
One of the many restaurants in Chinese Limehouse- this is the” East West” in West India Dock Rd – popularly known as the “Up the Steps”
Anglo-Chinese boys play on the street
Anglo-Chinese girls play on the street
The Peking restaurant in West India Dock Road was famed for its fish tanks from which diners could select their supper
A Puka Pu betting slip, a form of bingo popular in Chinese Limehouse
This is so interesting. I only knew about London’s first Chinatown in the East End from the storylines in Call The Midwife which have been really nuanced over the years. Heidi Thomas and team are meticulous in their research and the images you share bring it all back.
Beautiful pictures Gentle Author .
I heard
that opium dens were in China Town and perhaps famous poets attended them too.
Wonderful photos .. lovely children, and don’t Tsang Sing and the other Chinese gentlemen look smart!
Wonderful history of which I was unaware. Chinese were and are hard working and peaceable immigrants, happy to integrate into any society while still maintaining their own ‘Chinatown’ localities.