Stokesley Street is named after John Stokesley who was Catholic Bishop of London during the reign of Henry VIII.
John Stokesley (1475–1539) was an English church leader.
He became Bishop of London and Lord Almoner in 1530, and in September 1533 christened the future Queen Elizabeth. His later years were troubled by disputes with Archbishop Cranmer; Stokesley opposed all changes in the doctrines of the church, remaining hostile to the English Bible and clerical marriage. Stokesley was a staunch opponent of Lutheranism and very active in persecuting heretics.
In May 1538, the King’s attorney took out a writ of Praemunire against Stokesley and, as accessories with him, against the Abbess Agnes Jordan and the Confessor-General of Syon Abbey. Stokesley acknowledged his guilt, implored Thomas Cromwell’s intercession, and threw himself on the King’s mercy. He obtained the King’s pardon, for it was not the Bishop but Syon that Cromwell aimed at.
