The Social and Historical Context

Abstract

This chapter provides the historical background against which the current situation in the traditional East End of London can be evaluated. In order to understand today’s profile of Tower Hamlets and to consider why changes to the traditional Cockney dialect might have taken place we must chart the changes that have occurred in the area from the time of the first redevelopments following World War I. Since that time, there has been a mass exodus of the white working-class population, whose families had lived in the East End of London for generations. Between 1901 and 1981 there was a staggering decline in the population of Tower Hamlets from 600,000 to just 140,000 and the reasons for this will be explored throughout this chapter.