Bow is a neighborhood in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Greater London, England, located 4.6 miles east of Charing Cross. It was originally known as Stratford-at-Bow, with its name Stratforde meaning "paved way to a ford" and referring to a stone causeway across the local marshes, and "bow" referring to a bowed bridge. Stratford was first recorded as a settlement in 1107, and, in 1110, Queen Matilda of England had the bowed bridge built over the River Lea after tripping on her way to Barking Abbey. During the Norman era, a Benedictine nunnery, St. Leonard's Priory, was built in Stratford-at-Bow. During the 17th century, Bow became a center for the slaughter and butchery of cattle for the City of London's market, and its china works employed 300 artisans until the death of its founded in 1770 and the works' relocation to Derby in 1776. In 1853, Bow became the headquarters of the North London Railway, and its station opened in 1850 and was rebuilt in 1870. Bow was also a center of the Suffragette movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with Sylvia Pankhurst advocating for the women's rights movement in Bow for 12 years. Bow's Victoria Park became a center of politically-linked music festivals during the 1970s and 1980s, including a 1978 "Rock Against Racism" protest. By 2011, Bow had a population of 27,720 people, and Bow was represented in Parliament by a Labour MP at every election since 1974, apart from 2005, when former Labour politician George Galloway was elected MP with the Respect Party.
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