As the Great Fire of London consumed the buildings, almshouses, schools and churches of the City of London in 1666, property owners watched their buildings and livelihoods go up in flames, each knowing that they had lost everything because fire insurance did not exist. Immediately after the fire, rebuilding and reconstruction of the City started. One [more...]
As tourists clamber over the four lions at the base of Nelson’ Column in Trafalgar Square, London, few know that their creation was beset by delays and prevarication. When planning the design of Nelson’s Column, Nelson’s Testimonial Committee had included four lions at the corners of the plinth. It was intended that the lions were to [more...]
Madame Tussaud’s in London, is world famous for its waxworks of politicians, movie stars, musicians, television celebrities, and sports stars. But what would you have seen in their exhibitions in the 19th century? Madame Marie Tussaud came to Britain from France in 1802 and travelled around the country with her exhibition of effigies of royalty and [more...]
Execution Dock is in Wapping, London, and it is here that many criminals were executed for piracy and murder. Under the English legal system, the Admiralty Court dealt with all crimes committed on the high seas, and for at least 500 years, Execution Dock was where its capital sentences were carried out. So that it was [more...]
In 1867, Regents Park, one of the ‘Lungs of London‘, contained a Zoo, a range of gardens, avenues for riding, and an ornamental lake with an area for boating. In very cold winters when the lake froze over it became a popular venue for skaters. The beginning of January 1867 was intensely cold throughout Britain and [more...]
The ‘Lungs of London’ are said to be the many parks and squares in London, and it conveys the idea of their importance to the well-being of its inhabitants. It was first attributed to William Pitt (1708 – 1778) Earl of Chatham, by Lord Windham in a speech in the House of Commons on 30 [more...]
One could, of course, argue about which English novel has the most memorable opening and closing lines, but since the novel has sold more than 200 million copies and is the most printed original English book, it is safe to say that the greatest number of persons have had a chance to remember the lines: “It [more...]
Many will remember that the hero of Henry Fielding’s novel had a lively career that often ran afoul of the law. When the novel was published in 1749, Fielding was a magistrate in the Bow Street magistrates’ office in London, also the site of the Bow Street Court. At the time, pursuit of criminals was unregulated. [more...]
In the Victorian period, competing railway companies built a number of railway stations in the City of London and in London. Since then all the stations have undergone substantial redevelopment, but many still remain their original architectural features including impressive roof spans. London Bridge – Opened in 1836, London Bridge was first station to be built [more...]
The River Thames flows through London and there are two tunnels which you can walk through between the south and north banks. First, a little about the history of foot tunnels under the Thames. The first foot tunnel constructed under the Thames was the Thames Tunnel opened in 1843. Construction had started in 1825, but flooding, [more...]
Highgate Cemetery is in Highgate, in north London, England. When it was opened in 1839, the population of London was expanding rapidly and church yards were either full or quickly filling up. Highgate Cemetery was one of number of new private cemeteries approved of by Act of Parliament. It was designed to cater for the [more...]
Cleopatra’s Needle stands on the north bank of the River Thames on the Victoria Embankment, central London. It is an ancient Egyptian obelisk and one of a pair. The other one now stands in New York. The name Cleopatra is inappropriate as they were made hundreds of years before Cleopatra’s reign. The obelisks are made of [more...]
A Mud-Lark (or Mudlark) was the name given in the 19th century to children and adults who scavenged the banks of the River Thames in London. There were river scavengers in other parts of the country, but it seems the term Mud-Lark was largely used in London. According to the OED, the first mention of [more...]
The use of gas for light was first demonstrated by William Murdock who lit his home and workshop in Redruth, Cornwall, England, in 1792. Soon after he became the manager of Boulton and Watt’s steam engine works in Soho, Birmingham, where erected an apparatus which lit the building by gas. He later installed similar apparatus [more...]
On 16 October 1834, the Palace of Westminster, or the Houses of Parliament as it is also known, was destroyed in a great fire. Before the fire, the medieval building of the Palace had been altered and improved on to deal with the changing demands of Parliament and its business, but plans to demolish the [more...]
The release of another film about the fictional British detective Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, jnr., and Jude Law, has again awoken interest in the address of 221b Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes’s address. But does this address exist, or which address was it based upon? Fans and aficionados of the Sherlock Holmes stories have debated this [more...]
We are very familiar with how today’s police conduct a raid on the house of a drug supplier, or the venue of some other illegal activity, but how did the authorities conduct a raid in the early 19th century? This is one example. The “pernicious games” of roulette and the similar game of roly-poly were illegal [more...]
A new Constable of the Tower of London is appointed today. But what exactly does the Constable do? The Tower of London was founded by William the Conqueror in the 1080s. The castle is strategically sited on the Thames on the eastern approach to London and near London Bridge, for centuries the lowest crossing [more...]
Today is the 150th anniversary of the famous four-faced clock in the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster and its Great Bell better known by its nickname ‘Big Ben‘. The clock started on 31 May 1859, but the bell did not first strike in the tower until the 11 July. However, this was [more...]
The iconic Tower Bridge in London was opened on the 30 June 1894, and the time was the largest opening bridge in the world. The bridge had been built following several years of debate over where to place a bridge east of London Bridge and what its design should be. The final design was selected [more...]