Portsoken

John Stow's Survey of London records that the "soke" – in this context the right to extract fines as a source of incomeCitadel of the Saxons, by Rory Naismith, p. 163. – (later "liberty") was granted in the time of Saxon king Edgar the Peaceful, east of Aldgate to a guild of knights, the Cnichtengild, in exchange, essentially, for regular jousting. Norman kings confirmed these rights but later the land was voluntarily transferred to the Priory of the Holy Trinity by the descendants of the guild.

File:Devonshire Square, Horse and Knight (48276481201).jpg, commemorates the Cnichtengild]]

In 1120 or 1121 (the exact date is unknown), the Portsoken was granted as a liberty to the Priory of Holy Trinity, which had been founded in 1107 by Queen Matilda, the wife of King Henry I. The sitting prior of Holy Trinity became, ex officio, an alderman of the City of London Corporation representing the Portsoken ward, and remained so until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1531.p45, Inwood, Stephen, A History of London (Macmillan, 1998), {{ISBN|0-333-67154-6}}

The Ward was originally coterminous with the once slightly larger parish of St Botolph without Aldgate and extended as far south as the Thames. However, the growth of the Tower of London beyond the line of the London Wall, disputes with the Tower, the creation of the Tower Liberty other factors resulted in the southern area being lost to the ward and to the City of London, after around 1200.{{cite book |chapter=Parishes, churches, wards and gates in Eastern London |first=Jeremy |last=Haslam |editor-first=John |editor-last=Blair |title=Minsters and Parish Churches: the local church in transition, 950–1200 |publisher=University of Oxford Committee for Archaeology |location=Oxford |year=1988 |pages=35–43 |url=https://jeremyhaslam.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/london-parishes-pdf.pdf }}"London, 800-1216". Brooke and Keir, Chapter 7

The area taken for the Tower Liberty was lost to both the city ward of Portsoken and to the parish, while East Smithfield was lost to the Portsoken but remained a part of the parish. In 1442, St Katharine's (first established in 1147) became an independent Precinct, the Precinct of St Katharine by the Tower and so ceased to be a part of the East Smithfield area of the parish.

In 1332, a tax assessment showed 23 taxpayers in the Portsoken. However, this figure only included freemen of the City of London who possessed moveable property worth more than 10 shillings, and so did not include the poor, non-citizens, or members of religious orders.p61, Inwood, Stephen, A History of London (Macmillan, 1998), {{ISBN|0-333-67154-6}} A later subsidy roll from 1582 showed that the ward's taxpayers had been assessed to pay a total of 57 pounds, 11 shillings and 4 pence.[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=36141 1582 London Subsidy Rolls], British History Online

The Portsoken has long had a mixed population, and in 1483 is recorded as having more aliens in its population than any ward in the City of London.Margins and marginality in 15th century London https://core.ac.uk/reader/190363108 Charlotte Berry

This pattern of diversity continued, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries the parish of St Botolph without Aldgate as a whole (both the Portsoken and East Smithfield parts) is recorded as having a population of at least 25 people identified as "blackamoors."{{Cite book |last=Wood |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YhlAAAAMAAJ&q=in+search+of+shakespeare+bbc+book |title=In Search of Shakespeare |date=2003 |work= |publisher=BBC |isbn=9780563534778 |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2012-07-19 |title=Britain's first black community in Elizabethan London |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18903391 |access-date=2023-10-26}}

They appear to have arrived as a result of the war with Spain, being freed from Spanish slave ships, or slavery in Spanish colonies, by English warships. These free black Londoners, some of whom had mixed African and Spanish ancestry, often found work as sailors or interpreters. Many were servants and one appears to have worked at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The parish records from that time also reveal the presence of French, Dutch and Indian residents as well as at least one Persian and one East Indian (Bengali).{{Cite book |last=Nicholl |first=Charles |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780143114628 |title=The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street |date=2008 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=9780141911878 |quote=fashionable novelty |url-access=registration}}

Since the 1840s, nearly all of the Aldermen of the Ward have been Jewish.LBTH doc on the Jewish EE, inc the Portsoken. https://www.ideastore.co.uk/assets/documents/Local%20History%20Archives%20Online/walks/Jewish_History_Walk_Final_Version.pdf

File:The Ward of Portsoken - geograph.org.uk - 1036184.jpg

Boundary changes in 1994 and 2013 made often fundamental changes to the ancient Wards.[http://www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si1993/Uksi_19931445_en_1.htm The City and London Borough Boundaries Order 1993] (enacted 1994) The Portsoken (part of the City of London) and the neighbouring London Borough of Tower Hamlets exchanged territory, with the Middlesex Street Estate being transferred to the Portsoken.Corporation of London, https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/housing/housing-estates/Pages/middlesex-street.aspx

Land was also exchanged with the Aldgate Ward (Aldgate was formerly entirely within the wall, with the Portsoken entirely without), so that John Cass's Foundation Primary School (now The Aldgate School) is now part of the ward, despite lying just inside the line of the wall.

The Portsoken is now regarded as one of the City's four residential wards, with a population of 985 (2011).{{Cite web|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/help/localstatistics|title=Local statistics - Office for National Statistics|website=www.ons.gov.uk}}

File:City of London Ward Map, 1870.svg

File:City of London, Ward of Portsoken.svg

Portsoken is one of 25 wards in the City of London, each electing an alderman to the Court of Aldermen, and commoners (the City equivalent of a councillor) to the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation. Only electors who are Freemen of the City are eligible to stand for election.

Keith Joseph, Secretary of State for Industry 1979–1981 and Secretary of State for Education and Science 1981–1986, took the area as his territorial designation on elevation to the Lords in 1987. Similarly, Peter Levene (Lord Mayor 1998–1999) in 1997. Joseph's father was Lord Mayor in 1942–1943.

In 2014 William Campbell-Taylor made history when he became the first ever party politician to win a seat on the City of London's Common Council, standing as a Labour candidate in a by-election in the ward of Portsoken.{{cite web |last1=Morris |first1=Nigel |title='The red flag is flying' over the City of London as vicar wins Labour's first ever seat on the council |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-red-flag-is-flying-over-the-city-of-london-as-vicar-wins-labours-first-ever-seat-on-the-council-9208585.html |website=The Independent |publisher=Independent Digital News & Media Ltd |access-date=11 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240211171610/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-red-flag-is-flying-over-the-city-of-london-as-vicar-wins-labour-s-first-ever-seat-on-the-council-9208585.html |archive-date=11 February 2024 |location=Finsbury Square, London |language=en |date=21 March 2014}} William Campbell-Taylor stood down as a Common Councilman in March 2017 at the end of his time in office.{{Cite web|url=https://portsokenlabour.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/saying-thank-you-and-sending-best-wishes-to-rev-dr-william-campbell-taylor/|title=Saying thank you and sending best wishes to Rev Dr William Campbell Taylor|first=Author|last=peterkenyon|date=10 March 2017}}

In the 2017 City-wide Common Council elections, the Labour Party won two seats in Portsoken ward with local residents Jason Pritchard and Munsur Ali topping the polls and Independent incumbents John Fletcher and Henry Jones elected in third and fourth place respectively.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-the-city/voting-elections/Documents/notice-of-persons-elected-2017.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=8 November 2017 |archive-date=9 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109022948/https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-the-city/voting-elections/Documents/notice-of-persons-elected-2017.pdf |url-status=dead }} The Labour Party won a record total of five seats on the Common Council in March 2017, winning two seats in Portsoken, two seats in Cripplegate ward and one seat in Aldersgate ward.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-city-of-london-election-vote-independence-jeremy-corbyn-a7649221.html|title = Labour wins record five seats in historic City of London election victory| website=Independent.co.uk |date = 24 March 2017}}

In December 2017, William Campbell-Taylor stood as the first ever party political candidate to contest a City of London Aldermanic election, standing for Labour in Portsoken ward, but was defeated by Independent candidate Prem Goyal.{{Cite web|url=https://portsokenlabour.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/william-campbell-taylor-on-why-party-politics-has-a-place-in-the-city/|title=Labour's candidate William Campbell-Taylor on why party politics has a place in the City|first=Author|last=labourportsoken|date=29 November 2017}}[https://www.citymatters.london/prem-goyal-wins-portsoken-aldermanic-election/ Prem Goyal wins Portsoken Aldermanic election] Prem Goyal is the founder of the UK political party, All People's Party,{{cite web|last1=Goyal|first1=Prem|title=All People's Party – gathering momentum in Southwark|url=http://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/all-people-s-party-gathering-momentum-southwark|website=www.obv.org.uk|publisher=Operation Black Vote|access-date=12 December 2017}} although to date Goyal has chosen to stand as an Independent in elections in the City of London.{{cite web|title=Election results - City of London|url=https://mobile.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-the-city/voting-elections/Pages/results.aspx|website=mobile.cityoflondon.gov.uk|publisher=City of London Corporation|access-date=21 December 2017}}

{{main|Portsoken election results}}

{{main|2022 City of London Corporation election}}

On 23 March 2022, the quadrennial Citywide Common Council Elections were held across the City of London. The election that took place in Portsoken Ward recorded the highest turnout in the entire 2022 Common Council Elections with 57.6% of the electorate casting their vote. The average turnout across the rest of the City of London was much lower at 36.5%. Two incumbent councillors, Munsur Ali and Jason Paul Pritchard, who were elected as Labour candidates in 2017, stood jointly and were both re-elected.{{Cite web |title=Your chance to shape the City's future City of London Corporation Elections 2022 |url=https://www.speakforthecity.com/ |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=www.speakforthecity.com |language=en}} John Fletcher and Henry Jones stood jointly and were both re-elected.{{Cite web |title=Your chance to shape the City's future City of London Corporation Elections 2022 |url=https://www.speakforthecity.com/ |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=www.speakforthecity.com |language=en}} Changes in voteshare are by party for the Labour candidates and by candidate for independent candidates who previously stood as independents.

{{Election box begin | title = Portsoken (4 seats)}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

| party = Independent politician

| candidate = John Fletcher*

| votes = 255

| percentage = 21.8

| change = {{increase}}4.6

}}

{{Election box winning candidate minor party

| party = No description

| candidate = Munsur Ali*

| votes = 254

| percentage = 21.7

| change = N/A

}}

{{Election box winning candidate minor party

| party = No description

| candidate = Jason Paul Pritchard*

| votes = 239

| percentage = 20.5

| change = N/A

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

| party = Independent politician

| candidate = Henry Jones*

| votes = 213

| percentage = 18.2

| change = {{increase}}1.9

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Labour Party (UK)

| candidate = Lana Joyce

| votes = 114

| percentage = 9.8

| change = {{decrease}}10.2

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Labour Party (UK)

| candidate = Dominic Hauschild

| votes = 56

| percentage = 4.8

| change = {{decrease}}14.1

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

| party = Women's Equality Party

| candidate = Alison Smith

| votes = 37

| percentage = 3.2

| change = N/A

}}

{{Election box turnout

| votes = 1,168

| percentage = 57.6

| change = {{increase}}6.9

}}

{{Election box hold with party link no change

| winner = Independent politician

}}

{{Election box gain

| winner = No description

| loser = Labour Party (UK)

| swing = –

}}

{{Election box gain

| winner = No description

| loser = Labour Party (UK)

| swing = –

}}

{{Election box hold with party link no change

| winner = Independent politician

}}

{{Election box end}}

• East End of London

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110704191511/http://217.154.230.195/NR/rdonlyres/27A93F03-473B-4FF2-A922-AE60838BC0DA/0/portsoken.jpg Map of Portsoken ward] City of London Corporation (2003–)
• [http://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/PORT1.htm Map of Early Modern London: Portsoken Ward] - Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London

{{City of London wards}}

Category:Wards of the City of London

Category:Black British history