Port and river collections (objects)

The City Barge model

Wooden clinker-built model of the State barge used by the Lord Mayor of London, 1807

Object collections

The collection contains material from London’s docks, the river Thames and riverside industries. The Port of London Authority collection was transferred to Museum of London in 1975. It contains historic items that were collected by the East and West India Dock Company in the 19th century, especially commodity samples from all over the world.

The PLA material includes cargo handling equipment and dock trade tools. The bulk of the collection was acquired between 1979 and 1990, the period that saw the closure of the West India and Millwall Docks and the Royal Group of Docks and the beginning of the redevelopment of Docklands.

• Vessels

Traditional Thames craft include a PLA watermen’s skiff (c.1930), the West India Dock skiff, Thames (1934), Hammerton’s Ferry skiff and the Pax (c.1900).

• Cargo handling equipment

Objects reflect every aspect of the loading and unloading, the handling, sampling and processing of commodities in the port. They include winches and cranes, hand trucks and carts and many varieties of dock hook. Weighing equipment ranges in size from the large beam scales to desktop scales for weighing individual cigars.

• Navigation, moorings and salvage
  

Material in this category includes ship’s compasses, sextants, marker and mooring buoys, ship and tug pennants, anchors, diving and salvage gear, including the traditional helmet, canvas suit, weighted boots and hand-powered fresh-air pumps.

• Models

A range of Thames river craft, sailing ships and steamer models form part of the collection. Important models include the Lord Mayor of London’s barge by Searle & Co., a City of London Harbour Master’s skiff, Brewers, Chester, and Galley Quay in the City of London, c.1850 and two large 1870s half-models of HMS Northumberland built at the Millwall Ironworks.

• Port and related trades
  

This part of the collection is very comprehensive. It includes material relating to barge and boat building, cooper’s and carpenter’s tools, chain testing machinery, engineering pattern-making tools with a large selection wooden patterns, paint and colour making equipment, paper and board making, rice milling, rigger’s and sail-makers’ equipment, shipwright’s tools and ship-chandler’s and tinsmith’s equipment.

• Specialist trades and equipment

Objects relate to a wide range port and river professions including customs and excise officers, dock police, trade union officials, surveyor’s, railway workers and dock administrative staff. There is a very large group of signs and notices that relate to port and river work. Items from London’s 18th and 19th century Greenland and South Sea Whale Fisheries include a try-pot, harpoons, scrimshaw and whale bone.

Archive and library collections

The Museum also houses the Port and River Archive and Library collections. These can be used to research the history of the Port of London and tidal Thames. For more information on these collections please visit the Port and River Archive page.