Poplar, located in Middlesex County, England was the home for my home of my Steward origins from at least 1820 to the 1890s and the Holloways for about the same years. It was home briefly to a single Scholdberg family from around 1867-1875 and then home to a single Jordan family from around 1876-1893.

In the 1800s, Poplar and nearby towns along the Thames were major shipbuilding, ship repair and docking areas. Ships and crews destined for all over the world embarked from the Poplar docks.

The area was a center for the import of tea, silk, spices and the porcelain trade with China and India. The famous cutter, Cutty Sark, launched there in 1869 and was one of the tea clippers which once berthed at these docks.

Our Steward and Holloway ancestors worked at the docks and its nearby industries over the years as: shipwrights, trenail mooters, dock laborers. And at least two of our ancestors were merchant seamen: Knut Oscar Scholdberg and James Jordan.

Joseph Steward’s long time homes on Chrisp Street and later at 20 Wade Street, Poplar were within easy walking distance of the West India Docks and the East India Docks.

In 1994, I purchase a reproduction of an 1840 lithograph West India Docks from the south east, 1840 by Parrott that shows a scene of ship repair at the Poplar Docks. In this lithograph, one can observe numerous ships and ship workers. Several riggers can be found high in the rigging of the closest ship and shipwrights can be seen in the foreground making repairs. The ships have been lifted onto a dry dock for the repairs. In the background, there is a draft horse for pulling material and what appears to be numerous men straining to pull a rope to raise a load of material onto the ship. It is an excellent representation of the activities of our Poplar ancestors.

A way to view the Lithograph is to do a web search on the phrase: View of West India Docks from the south east, 1840. This will lead to several art studios offering to sell this print.

The Wikipedia article West India Docks includes its history and a number of photos.

If you would like to add information, please contact Dave Jordan, a 3x g-grandson of Joseph John Steward and a 4x g-grandson of William Holloway.