IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): LMA/4108
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: PLAISTOW CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, BALAAM STREET, PLAISTOW, WEST HAM
Date(s): 1925-1943
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 0.15 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Congregational Church of England and Wales
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Plaistow Congregational Church, Balaam Street, originated in 1796 in a mission conducted by W. Newman, a Baptist minister from Bow. Regular meetings were held in private houses, and in the open air, until 1807, when a building was erected in North Street by a group of Independents and Baptists under Robert Marten, who was the leading layman until his death in 1839. A union church of the two denominations was constituted in 1812, with Henry Lacey (1812-1824) as minister. 'Marten and his religious crew' encountered local opposition and even violence in the early days, but their numbers grew. A day-school was opened (1844) and in 1860 a new church was built in Balaam Street. John Foster (1865-1869) was the church's only Baptist minister. In 1869 part of the congregation - probably the Baptists - apparently seceded with him to form a church in Upper Road, Plaistow, which soon disappeared. After this, Balaam Street seems to have had little or no Baptist connexions. Under Richard Partner (1888-1903) the membership increased rapidly as the area was built up, reaching 670 in 1902, by which time the church had been enlarged to accommodate 1,000. In 1887 a mission hall was built in Southern Road. After 1903 Balaam Street began to decline, though it remained fairly strong until 1939. During the Second World War the church was bombed, being finally abandoned in 1945 and later demolished. Meanwhile, in 1943, the members of Balaam Street and Southern Road united with Greengate as Plaistow Congregational church.
From: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 123-141.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Marriage registers for Plaistow Congregational Church, Balaam Street, 1925-1943.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Three volumes.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright: Depositor
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Received in 1998 (B98/202).
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Date(s) of descriptions: January to March 2009