Stepney Folk

William Quekket

A Somersetshire clergyman, William Quekkett became curate in 1829 and worked in the East End for twenty years. There were to be no state schools until 1870 but he, realising the importance of education, opened schools under the arches of the London and Blackwall Railway viaduct.

An area nearby known as Kings Arms Gardens or 'No Mans Land' was a terrible slum and William Quekket forced the owner to improve the conditions for those who lived there.