History On The Doorstep

WALKING around East London - I was deliberately taking a circuitous route to a Poundland "down the Roman" - I passed an interesting-looking building in Fairfield Road.

The blue plaque caught my eye

Turns out this is a former Bryant & May factory, site of the famous Matchgirls' Strike in 1888.

At one point it was London's largest factory, and in 1888 employed more than 1,500 females, mostly women, but including hundreds of teenage girls, as well as some boys and men.

Workers were in danger of developing phossy jaw, a debilitating and sometimes fatal disease, caused by inhaling phosphorous vapour, and were subject to deductions from their wages for talking too much, having dirty feet, being untidy, etc.

In June 1888 a socialist paper run by activist Annie Besant ran an article about conditions at the factory, greatly embarrassing its Quaker owners.

Management tried to force workers to sign a statement criticising the article, and one was sacked after refusing.

Hundreds of colleagues immediately went on strike, and within a few days production at the factory halted completely.

Management offered to reinstate the sacked employee, but the strikers demanded more, including an end to unjust fines, a proper grievance procedure, and a separate room for eating meals away from phosphorous contamination.

Besant helped organise strike meetings, and the cause was taken up in Parliament by the atheist MP Charles Bradlaugh.

Management quickly caved in, and the strike's success was marked by the founding of the Union of Women Matchmakers, which inspired similar unions in other trades.

The factory was redeveloped in 1909, but closed 70 years later, and the site is now home to Bow Quarter, which has almost 750 homes, mostly one-or-two-bedroom flats.

Residents have their own gym and supermarket

Entrance to the gated community