Short answers, pulled from the story.
The name Shoreditch derives from Old English scoradīc, meaning shore-ditch. Records show the name appeared as Soresdic in 1183 and Sordig in 1204. The term describes a riverbank or slope next to a drain that once ran through boggy ground.
James Burbage built The Theatre in 1576 on the site of the former Holywell Priory. Excavations by MoLAS uncovered the foundations beneath Curtain Road in 2008. William Shakespeare lived nearby and his early plays premiered at this wooden structure before it was moved to Southwark in 1599.
World War II bombing raids killed approximately 495 civilian residents in Shoreditch. At least 279 high explosive bombs struck the area along with six parachute mines and thousands of incendiary devices. Two V-2 rocket impacts contributed to creating Shoreditch Park and Haggerston Park by destroying existing housing and industry.
Baron Wei of Shoreditch lives in the area as a Conservative life peer. He was introduced to the House of Lords on the 3rd of June 2010. Meg Hillier represents Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency since 2005 while Rushanara Ali has represented Bethnal Green and Bow since 2010.
Shoreditch functioned as an administrative unit from the Middle Ages until merging into the London Borough of Hackney in 1965. The Metropolis Management Act 1855 converted the parish area into a new Shoreditch District with identical boundaries. The London Government Act 1899 transformed these areas into Metropolitan Boroughs based on the same boundaries.