"All those gay ladies of the eastern hemisphere (i. e., those fashionable watering places, hight Wapping, Shadwell, Ratcliff, East Smithfield, Poplar and Blackwall) are the wives of many husbands, and, strange to say, a prosecution for bigamy is never heard of amongst them; yet they all wed at Stepney Church. The inducement for Blackwall Bet, Poplar Sall, Shadwell Poll, or Ratcliff Soph, to take unto herself more than one partner for life is answered in three words- "the monthly note," or the "will and power," both of which a sailor can leave to his lawful wife. The monthly note insures to her a part of his pay, while he is at sea; the latter gives her possession of all his worldly effects, pay due, etc., in the event of death. A nautical poet, not Dibdin, thus feelingly describes the sensations of a freshly wedded practical, not theoretical, "Poll of Plymouth," on her beloved one weighing anchor:-
"There he goes, b----r his eyes; He's been going this quarter of an hour. Oh, that the bullets may scuttle his nob, For I'vr got 'his will and his power.'"
We have seen sailor lads, rigged in snow-white ducks, straw hats, bandanas, etc., led, by middle-aged, painted doxies, to the Stepney altar, and there sacrificed, like lambs, innocent of all sin. Again, sailors, in appearance middle-aged, yet in actions perfectly childish, are made groggy, and fairly towed into Stepney's holy fane, and imperceptibly lashed to stout women in yellow ribbons and huge-patterned cotton gowns. Old seamen, only fit for Greenwich, are great temptations to those antiquated damsels who have got old in the naval service, because, though scantily, they are provided for to the end of life's chapter. These ladies look out for Greenwich moorings with as much certainty as do the ancient Jack-tars themselves, and the first "man-o'-war's-man" they can get hold of, they "pull alongside" him, and, if possible, convoy him into Stepney Church, to make a certainty of the prize-money. So common is a plurality of spouses with the mollishers of the east, that you may frequently hear them say, "Well, so help me bob, I must get my Ben a ship, for I expect my Tom home next week;" or, "Jack must be off, for the next tide will bring my Bill ashore." .....
"Marriages at Stepney Church," extract, 1839, source unknown. Marriages
Stepney Church, (St. Dunstan's) is ancient. The main structure is 15th c., the chancel is 13th c., and the font is Norman in decoration. A church has been at that location since c. 1000.