ANIMAL STATUES IN LONDON 2
Animal Statues in London 2 Poplar This grade II listed sculpture is all that is left of the White Horse tavern which stood, from 1690, at the western end of Poplar High Street. It was demolished in 2003 and replaced by a block of flats. From 1745, respected businessman James How and his wife were landlords of the White Horse. But in 1766, on her deathbed, Mrs How confessed to a friend that her husband was actually a woman. James How was subsequently blackmailed and eventually decided to take the extortionists to court. For three decades How had been accepted as a man by the people of Poplar; so there was quite a scene when he turned up on the opening day of the trial in a dress and revealed his real identity was Mary East. Mary won the case but was obliged to give up the pub and resign from the civic positions she held as a man. However, she was allowed to keep her business fortune and lived the rest of her life comfortably as a woman....