Place Name
Named in honour of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (August 14, 1473 – May 27, 1541), who held the Manor of Bretts, Plaistow, between 1512 and 1539. She was one of two women in 16thCentury England to be a peeress in her own right with no titled husband. In 1539 she was suspected of conspiring with others against Henry VIII, following his breakaway from the Catholic church. As a result she lost all her lands and was imprisoned at the Tower of London until she was beheaded in 1541. Pope Leo XIII beatified her as a martyr for the Catholic Church on December 29, 1886. She is one of several martyrs to the Catholic cause who have streets named after them locally.
