Saint Dunstan, Stepney, Middlesex

Four children of William GUY and Jane YOUNG were christened at Stepney, Saint Duststan, Middlesex, England.
Jane GUY (b 1824) chr 6 May 1824
Maria GUY (b 1826) (chr 28 Sep 1827
Frances GUY (b 1827) chr 28 Sep 1827
Emily GUY chr 24 Sep 1829

Saint Dunstan is the parish church of Stepney and the mother church of the East End. Its ancient dedication of Saint Dunstan and All Saints was revived in 1896. The bells in the tower feature in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons - "... when will that be, say the bells of Stepney."
In the 16th century the riverside hamlets of Stepney became London's 'Sailortown' and St Dunstan's became known as the Church of the High Seas. It was here that seafarers gathered for blessings of their voyages. Until the 1950s all UK births, marriages and deaths at sea were registered in this parish. Registers from 1586 are housed at the London Metropolitan Archives and post July 1837 at The Family Records Centre. The Red Ensign, flag of the Merchant Navy, still flies from the tower and the church contains several memorials to Admirals and men of the Merchant and Royal Navy Fleets. The unusually spacious and leafy churchyard was enlarged in the 1600s for the burials of Plague victims. In a period of 18 months 6583 died in the parish and in September 1665, 154 were buried in one day. Only a few tabletop tombs from the 18th century remain but the churchyard was once crowded with the graves of seaman, captains, merchants of the East India Company and clergy. (Notes from Pitkin Guide and church leaflet)
In 2006 I visited Saint Dunstan's church at the east end of Stepney Way. It was a short walk from Stepney Green station down White Horse Lane.

Five more children were christened in Stepney churches.
William Walter GUY (b 1831) chr 21 Jun 1833 St George in the East, Stepney, Middlesex
Robert GUY (b 1833) chr 21 Jun 1833 St George in the East, Stepney, Middlesex
Eliza GUY (b 1835) chr 11 Nov 1835 St George in the East, Stepney, Middlesex
Saint George in the East in Cannon Street Road, was bombed in 1941 and a smaller church was built in the shell of the old, opened in 1954.

Mary Guy (b 1837) chr 15 Nov 1838 St Philip the Apostle, Stepney, Middlesex
Saint Philip the Apostle in New Street (now Stepney Way/Newark Street), (both intersect with Turner Street where the GUY family was living in the 1841 and 1851 Censuses) was built in 1819, parish 1837. In 1892 was rebuilt and was the largest church in Stepney. Closed in 1979 and became the Medical Library of the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, in 1988.

Lucy (b 1840) and Mary GUY (b 1837) (again) chr 27 Oct 1843, All Saints, Stepney, Middlesex
All Saints Church in Buxton Street, Stepney was built in 1839. In 1841 the hamlet of Mile End New Town became a district chapelry of St Dunstan's, Stepney under the name All Saints. The church survived the bombing during WW2 with only superficial damage but in 1951 when the parish was joined to Christ Church, Spitalfields, All Saints building was demolished.