I popped in to St. Dunstan’s, our local parish church, because I wanted to have a look at the wall monuments. The church is a relic of a time when Stepney was the first parish east of London and Stepney Green was truly a village green. It is now heavily Victorianised, repaired by Benjamin Ferrey in the 1840s, gutted by fire in 1901, damaged in the war. I was pleased to discover a monument to John Charrington, the local brewer:
And a rather wonderful piece of seventeenth-century verse:
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
As noted in a post from Spitalfields Life – it is apparent from the records of St Dunstan’s Church that families in almost every street around suffered losses of their menfolk in WW One.
A poignant reminder of the scale of loss
23rd October 1914. Robert Elder, 59 Beaumont Sq
9th May 1915, Stephen Freshney, 35 Ben Jonson Rd
23rd May 1915, Robert Frehney, 35 Ben Jonson Rd
10th August 1915, Norman Winterbourne, 9 Portland St
10th August 1915, William Wittey, 278 Oxford St
10th September 1915, William Fox, 97 Grosvenor St, Commercial Rd
27th September 1915, Percy Stewart, 38 Belgrave St
13th October 1915, Richard Vicat, 7 Lufton Place, Halley St
3rd July 1916, Edgar Watts, 89 Belgrave St
24th August 1916, Thomas Pocock, 127 White Horse St
15th September 1916, Alfred Knowden, 22 Durham Rd
15th September 1916, Sidney Squires, 6 Chaseley St
23rd September 1916, Harry May, 59 White Horse Lane
21st October 1916, George Legon, 32 Copley St
13th October 1916, Richard Bull, 6 Market St
13th November 1916, Henry Turner, 30 Portland St
21st December 1916, George Palmer, 13 Bromley St
2nd February 1917, Frederick Page, 17 King John St
4th February 1917, William Wotten, 5 Wakeling St
9th February 1917, Joseph Ellis, 3 Oley Place
27th March 1917, William Page, Flat 4, 45 Jubilee St
14th May 1917, John Jenkins, 27 Commercial Rd
9th May 1917, Herbert Graves, 78 Diggon St
10th May 1917, Henry Middleton, 82 Old Church Rd
16th June 1917, John Moonie, 85 White Horse Lane
6th July 1917, Thomas Crouch, 21 White Horse Lane
9th July 1917, Walter Page, 63 White Horse Lane
11th July 1917, Robert Kirby, 73 Ernest St
16th July 1917, William Long, Pole St
26th July 1917, William Lynch, 41 Belgrave St
30th July 1917, George Reid, 38 Diggon St
3rd September 1917, Sidney Biggs, 12 Matlock St
20th September 1917, Edward Webber, 16 Dean St
24th September 1917, William Grainger, 49 Diggon St
26th October 1917, Alfred Walmer, 12 White Horse Lane
26th October 1917, Ruchard Tyndall, 3 Rectory Sq
2nd November 1917, John Fox, 3 Oley Place
10th November 1917, Henry Nicholas, 38 Latimer St
25th November 1917, Albert Clarke, Salmon Lane
8th December 1917, Albert Stokes, 9 Louisa Gardens
21st March 1918, Harry Gray, St Thomas St
21st March 1918. Arthur Hallett, 52 Bromley St
3rd April 1918, Horace Vincent, 21 Copley St
1st May 1918, Robert Parlett, 51 Belgrave St
27th May 1918, Albert Mitchell, Grosvenor St
15th July 1918, Henry Smith, 169 Stepney Green
1st September 1918, Walter McMinn, 635 Commercial Rd
19th September 1918, Arthur Murphy, 23 Rhodeswell Rd
17th October 1918, Raymond Smith, 10 Latimer St
18th October 1918, Arthur Reids, 38 Diggon St
2nd November 1918, Charles Legon, 107 Rhodeswell Rd