Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. Houndsditch.

1862		Illus. Times 11 Jan. 11/2: Deeper into the ‘Ditch’ I came upon [...] a vast wall of coats and trousers, christened Cutler-street.
1876		J. Greenwood Low-Life Deeps 216: A big bagfull of damaged cockshy toys [...] bought in the ‘ditch’ (Houndsditch).
1896		E. Pugh Man of Straw 7: ‘Hullo! Where are you from?’ ‘’Ditch. Where d’yer think?’ ‘What ’Ditch?’ ‘Houn’s ditch.’.
1930		(con. 1910–20s) D. Mackenzie Hell’s Kitchen 118: Ditch ... Houndsditch.

2. Shoreditch, East London; thus Ditch and Chapel, Shoreditch and Whitechapel.

1873		J. Greenwood In Strange Company 152: Master Muggins is but a type of hundreds and thousands who crowd the Ditch on the Sabbath.
1883		press cutting in J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 110/1: The Ditch is the oldest village in London. A bloke named Shore hung out there once. His missus went wrong with a King. When the King snuffed it the dona had to walk through the streets in her nightgown. She died in a ditch did Jane. Hence the name Shoreditch.
1895		Mirror of Life 16 Feb. 10/3: Most of the doorsmen were provided by Tommy Orange from the Ditch [...] but one of the barrier special constables did not come from Shoreditch, but from Lambeth.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.
1930		(con. 1910–20s) D. Mackenzie Hell’s Kitchen 118: Ditch ... Shoreditch.