|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Trade and industrialisation 1750–1900
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
London becomes the richest city in the world
|
|
|
|
|
Between 1750 and 1900 London became an international centre of trade and industry. Londoners made money from everything: from the work of individual craftsmen to massive docks and department stores.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
London trade
|
|
In the 18th century, London made most of its money through trade. Sugar from the Caribbean, tea and spices from the East Indies and timber from Norway came into Britain through the London docks. By the mid-19th century, Britain was known as ‘the workshop of the world’ and British goods were shipped across the globe from London.
|
|
|
|
|
The London docks
|
|
As trade increased, the River Thames got busier and the docks became overcrowded. Delays cost merchants and traders money. Some ships began to use newer ports such as Bristol and Liverpool which were larger, less crowded and had fewer delays.
To compete with Bristol and Liverpool, bigger docks were built in London at a cost of over £7 million. Docks such as the West India Docks built on the Isle of Dogs in 1800–02 were wider and had huge secure warehouses for storing cargoes. Most of the new docks were built in east London, creating the East End that we know today. By 1800 London handled 70% of all goods imported to Britain.
No one could have known that in a few years these docks would be outdated. In the 1840s, the age of steam arrived. The docks weren’t big enough for the massive new steamships and none of the city docks was connected to a railway. Once again the Thames began to get congested. Newer larger docks had to be built, such as the Victoria Docks at Plaistow.
|
|
|
|
|
Industries
|
|
London was still the largest industrial city in the world. Unlike those of northern Britain, London’s industries were mostly organised on a smaller scale – in workshops making high-quality goods by hand. However there were huge factories such as distilleries and vinegar works. The Truman Brewery on Brick Lane was so huge it became a tourist attraction.
|
|
|
|
|
What sort of things did London make?
|
|
A lot of London industry was in the ‘finishing trades’ – making clothes and household items for Londoners out of raw materials shipped into the country through the London docks. London industries also supplied the rest of the country and the world with paint, varnish, glue, beer, ships, carriages, furniture, silk, hats, jewellery and guns.
Many industrial cities concentrated on one industry alone – cotton in Manchester, steel in Sheffield. London did not. Instead there were lots of little industries, clustered in different parts of London.
|
|
|
|
|
London industries
|
- Watchmaking: Clerkenwell
- Textiles and silk: Spitalfields
- Furniture and coach-building: Covent Garden
- Shipbuilding and woodworking: Blackwall, Poplar, Woolwich, Deptford
- Clock-making: Clerkenwell, Islington
- Hat-making: Southwark
- Leather: Bermondsey
- Breweries: South and East London
Other industries concentrated on making cheap mass-produced goods, such as clothes, to meet the needs of Londoners. Gas works sprang up around London as gas lighting in public buildings and homes spread at the end of the 19th century. As the city grew, new houses, roads and railways were needed, creating a boom in the building industry.
|
|
|
|
|
Sweated labour
|
|
Many cheap goods were manufactured in small workshops or in the home, particularly in the East End. The tasks were simple and repetitive and could be done by anyone, even children. The pay was terrible and whole families worked long hours in dreadful overcrowded conditions. This was known as the ‘sweated’ system and although many people campaigned against it, it has never been totally banned. New laws in the early 20th century improved working conditions for most workers, but ‘sweatshops’ continue in the East End to this day.
|
|
|
|
|
The wealthiest city in the world
|
|
London was the world’s centre of finance and banking. The City of London was the wealthiest place in the world. It was a big employer too. In the days before computers, banks and insurance companies needed bookkeepers and clerks to calculate figures. In 1891 there were about 90,000 clerks employed in London.
|
|
|
|
|
The service industries
|
|
In Victorian Britain, everyone who could afford it had at least one servant. After 1850 domestic service was the single largest employer of women in Britain. In London many people worked as cooks, cleaners, housemaids or butlers in the homes of the better off.
|
|
|
|
|
Shopping
|
|
London had some of the most fashionable shops in the world. They were based around Fleet Street, the Strand and Charing Cross. There you could buy anything from fancy goods made by London industries to exotic decorations and spices from around the world. You could also purchase the latest products made in the industrial cities: cotton goods from Manchester or fine porcelain from Staffordshire.
The first department stores didn’t appear in London until the 1850s when a few enterprising shopkeepers began to realise they could make money from selling a larger range of goods. The first department store in London was Whiteley’s in Westbourne Grove. It claimed to sell ‘everything from a pin to an elephant’. Others followed, including Harrods, which opened in Knightsbridge in 1853, and Liberty’s, which opened on Regent Street in 1875. These new purpose-built shops were temples to shopping and boasted the latest technology such as lifts and escalators.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For more information . . .
|
|
In the Museum . . .
Visit the World City galleries where over 3000 objects will show you what London was like between 1780 and 1914. Walk around a recreated Victorian arcade and experience the sights and sounds of Victorian shops or catch a glimpse of Victorian crafts in the workshops. Listen to personal histories of life in London. See Victorian machinery used in London industries and clothing worn by London workers. Take a journey through Victorian London on an interactive computer.
On the internet . . .
Don’t forget to visit World City's Virtual Victorian Walk on the Museum website where you can find out more about Victorian London, take a ‘virtual tour’ of the galleries and send an e-postcard to a friend
Museum in Docklands explores the history of London’s river, port and people
Victorian London, a website full of information, facts and figures about all aspects of Victorian London
BBC History
Virtual Victorians, find out what life was like for a Victorian family and explore virtual artefacts and e-toys
Borrow these books from your local library . . .
Dickens, Charles: stories such as Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol give a good overview of what life was like in Victorian London
Hatt, Christine, London: The Inside Story of Britain’s Largest City (2001)
Williams, Brenda, People in the past: Victorian Children (Heinemann, 2003)
Williams, Brenda, People in the past: Victorian Jobs (Heinemann, 2003)
Williams, Brenda, People in the past: Victorian Women (Heinemann, 2003)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|