Brook Street was an old name for this section of Cable Street.
Until Victorian times, the current Cable Street had different names for each of its sections. From west to east these were Rosemary Lane, Cable Street, Knock Fergus, New Road, Back Lane, Bluegate Field, Sun Tavern Fields and Brook Street.
In the Victorian era, most sections of Cable Street were combined into one name, with the former names abolished. Other terrace names were abolished at the same time, all becoming simply ’Cable Street’.
Brook Street was once known for its cheap lodging houses, inns, brothels and opium dens.
Chapter V of Walter Besant’s
East London (published 1899) has the title of 'The Factory Girl'. Besant traces the life story of a typical working-class woman and the particular chapter was illustrated by Joseph Pennell (1857-1926). One of the illustrations shows Brook Street, which Besant labelled the "boulevard of her quarter".
The photo (sourced by Vin Miles) shows a location just outside the Friends; Meeting House in about 1910. 36A is on the corner of Schoolhouse Lane and in the far distance, the roads bends away to become White House Street.
Brook Street held onto its distinct name until the 1930s. The Post Office was trying to simplify London street names to stop confusing postal workers - there were too many duplicate names. There were several Brook Streets across London and so this name went too.
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Brook Street was an old name for this section of Cable Street.
