Maryland is a neighbourhood in Stratford in east

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is in the

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

. The community centres around Maryland Station and borders

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, ...

to the north, Stratford New Town to the west and Forest Gate to the east, with Stratford town centre to the south-west.

History

Maryland's earliest known recorded appearance is on a map of

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

published by J. Oliver in 1696, where it is marked as 'Maryland Point'. The origin of the name is uncertain. One popular theory is that it originated with a rich local merchant who bought land and built in the area having returned from the American colony of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

(itself named for Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

). If true, then London's Maryland would be unusual example of a place in Britain named after an American location, rather than vice versa. Various attempts have been made to identify the merchant. The most likely candidate seems to be Richard Lee (1617–1664, great-great-grandfather of Confederate General

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...

), who emigrated to Virginia around 1640. He became a tobacco planter, trader, an owner and trader of slaves, and an employer and importer of English indentured servants. His estate there included land on the Maryland side of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

, near a place known as Maryland Point (later to be the site of the Maryland Point Light). On returning to England in 1658, Lee bought land in Stratford, and in 1662 was recorded as owning a large house there. However, retired history professor Ged Martin has questioned the American name-origin theory, finding limited documentary support for the story. Professor Martin put forward an explanation that the name derives from Old English words for a boundary, cognate to the Anglo-Saxon words ''maere'' and ''mearc''. With the growth of Stratford in the mid-19th century the vicinity was built up as Stratford New Town and Maryland gained a prosperous shopping thoroughfare. Maryland station opened in 1874.

Notable people

*'The Birthplace of

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harr ...

'
Cart & Horses
1 Maryland Point * Charles Edmund Clutterbuck (1806–1861),

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

artist
Charles Hitchcock
grandfather to

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, fishmongery business at 20 Leytonstone Road *

Dorothy Kilner Dorothy Kilner (17 February 1755 – 5 February 1836), who used the pseudonyms M. P. and Mary Pelham, was a prolific English writer of children's books. She combined a didactic approarch with a strong knowledge of children's character.Patricia ...

(1755–1836), children's writer * Anna Kingsford (1846–1888), anti-

vivisectionist Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for Animal testi ...

, theosophist,

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to member ...

and campaigner for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countri ...

, née Bonus, was born atMaryland Point

Transport

* Maryland Station is served by Elizabeth line trains, with a frequency of 10 minutes in each direction. Trains towards central London stop at Stratford before terminating at

Liverpool Street station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the ...

, with a journey time of 10 minutes. To the East, trains run a stopping service terminating at

Shenfield Shenfield is a commuter suburb of Brentwood, in the borough of Brentwood, Essex, England. In 2020, the suburb was estimated to have a population of 5,396. History The old village (now town), by the church and Green Dragon pub, lies along the ...

. *Maryland is served by bus routes 69 (24hr), 257, 308, and night bus N8.

Education

Local primary schools include Maryland Primary School, St. Francis' Catholic Primary School, and Colegrave Primary School.http://www.colegrave.newham.sch.uk

References

{{LB Newham Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Newham Stratford, London