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Ebook has 72 lines and 19055 words, and 2 pages

Release date: December 2, 2023

Original publication: London: Spottiswoode & Co, 1877

THE THAMES AND ITS DOCKS

A LECTURE

ALEX^R FORROW

DELIVERED AT THE EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCK COMPANY'S LITERARY INSTITUTION, DECEMBER 18, 1876. CHAIRMAN: PERCIVAL BOSANQUET, ESQ., CHAIRMAN OF THE EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCK COMPANY.--ALSO AT CITY OF LONDON COLLEGE, LEADENHALL STREET, FEBRUARY 8, 1877. CHAIRMAN: GEORGE H. CHAMBERS, ESQ., CHAIRMAN OF THE LONDON AND ST. KATHARINE DOCKS COMPANY

J. L. DU PLAT TAYLOR, ESQ.

SECRETARY EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCK COMPANY

THIS LITTLE WORK

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

THE WRITER

PREFACE

At the urgent request of many who have heard this lecture, I have been induced to publish it. I have had considerable hesitation in doing so, because, as its structure sufficiently indicates, it was never written with a view to publication. It is a sketch, and nothing more, of a great subject, condensed into a two hours' address. As, however, it contains some curious information of considerable interest, otherwise difficult of access, it has been considered worthy of preservation in its present form. With a view to placing the readers of this lecture, as far as possible, in the position of hearers of it, I have accompanied it with some of the rarest and most interesting of the plans with which it was illustrated. Whatever may be its shortcomings in other respects--and I am conscious they are many--I venture to hope that this feature of it will prove generally acceptable.

A. FORROW.

THE THAMES AND ITS DOCKS.

The subject of this evening's lecture is so vast and discursive, that to attempt, within the brief period of a lecture, to give more than a sketch of a particular portion of it, would be manifestly absurd. Moreover, as a visit to any of the Docks will result in the attainment of more practical information than could be imparted in a dozen lectures, we may very consistently dispense almost entirely with reference to contemporary dock history; and I intend doing so except in so far as incidental reference to that part of the subject may appear necessary. My object, in this lecture, is to convey some interesting information respecting the origin and growth of the facilities which have been provided in the river, from time to time, to meet the requirements of the mercantile marine of the port; to trace the steps by which its commerce has gradually been emancipated from its ancient river-side restrictions, and then lead up to notice the establishment of the magnificent system of docks, to which it so largely owes its marvellous growth. I propose to deal with this portion of the subject in preference to any other, because it is one of which, although exceedingly interesting, the literature is singularly scarce, fragmentary, and difficult of access. It is, however, obvious that the ground which we have to cover necessitates such rapid travelling, that it will be necessary to omit many interesting particulars to which I should, otherwise, have invited your attention.

From this period the commerce not only of London, but of England itself, may be said to date its rise. The failure of Sir Hugh Willoughby to discover a North-east Passage led, in 1553, to the formation of the Russia Company, and the opening up of the important trade with Russia and the Baltic; and the stories of the fabulous wealth to be acquired on the newly-discovered continent of America, excited a spirit of enterprise that gave a tremendous impetus to commercial transactions of all kinds. It is quite unnecessary to speak of the encouragement which good Queen Bess gave to this movement, or how far the success of those old sea-dogs, Hawkins, and Drake, and Frobisher, to say nothing of the exploits of the noble Raleigh, contributed to this impetus. Billingsgate and Queenhithe, the two places which had hitherto served for the landing of goods and the collection of the king's Customs, soon proved to be inadequate, and permission was given for the landing of goods at other spots on the river. But this naturally gave rise to attempts to evade payment of Customs dues by smuggling goods ashore at unauthorised places. To repress this practice, an Act of Parliament was passed in 1559, enacting, under pain of very heavy penalties, that all goods should be landed and shipped between sunrise and sunset, and that the landing and shipment was to take place at such open spots as might be authorised by Royal Commission. This Commission, which was appointed by the Court of Exchequer, authorised twenty-two places for the landing of goods. As some of these old landing-places are still known as Legal Quays, it may be interesting to some of you to know that these ancient substitutes for docks were known as:

Old Wool Quay. New Wool Quay. Galley Quay. Androw Morris' Quay. Ambro Thurston's Quay. Ranff's Quay. Cock's Quay. Dyce Quay. Bear Quay. Somer's Quay. Busher's Wharf. Botolph Wharf. Sab's Quay. Young's Quay. Crown Quay. Smart's Quay. Fresh Quay. Gaunt's Quay. Billingsgate. The Three Cranes. Johnston's Quay. The Bridge House.

Billingsgate was appointed only for Fish, Corn, Salt, and Fruit. The Three Cranes and Johnston's Quay for Wine and Oil. Busher's Wharf for Pitch, Tar, and Flax. The Bridge House for Corn and other provisions. Wool, Coals, and Beer might be landed at any place in the presence of a Searcher.

Chester's Quay. Brewer's Quay. Galley Quay. Wool Dock. Custom-house Quay. Porteus' Quay. Bear Quay. Sab's Quay. Wiggan's Quay. Young's Quay. Ralph's Quay. Dice Quay. Smart's Quay. Somer's Quay. Lyon's Quay. Botolph Quay. Hammond's Quay. Gaunt's Quay. Cock's Quay. Fresh Wharf. Billingsgate.

It will be seen that this list includes several of those selected by the earlier commission, and comprised a total river frontage of 1,464 feet only, the whole of it lying between the Tower and London Bridge. As might be expected, this limited accommodation practically left the importer of goods entirely at the mercy of the proprietors of these wharves, because there was no legal limit to the charges to be imposed, similar to the restriction placed upon the Dock Companies when they started. The result was that, as the business of the port increased without any proportionate increase in the accommodation for it, so the wharfingers raised their charges. And they not only did this, but by acting in concert they contrived to evade their responsibilities for losses inseparable from the limited and imperfect nature of the accommodation which they afforded. It was a common complaint amongst the merchants that, owing to the carelessness of the servants of the wharves, lighters were sunk when alongside, goods stolen from the lighters or off the quays; that losses by fire, &c., &c., constantly occurred; and that as the associated wharves were not a corporate body, the parties aggrieved never knew where to look for redress. Now, when it is remembered that these complaints were the subject of a petition from the merchants of London to the Privy Council so early as 1674, and that from that period until the opening of the West India Dock in 1802, not an additional foot of Legal Quay accommodation had been provided, some impression may be obtained of what our commerce must have suffered in the interval. It cannot be doubted that, but for the unrivalled natural facilities of the river for trade, London must have sunk into a third or fourth-rate port. And that such a state of things should have been so long tolerated by London, while Bristol, and Hull, and Liverpool supplied three or four times the extent of Legal Quay accommodation, is all the more surprising. So unsparing were the exactions of the earlier wharf proprietary, that it was ascertained on enquiry that they had trebled their charges in the course of eight years; and justified this proceeding by alleging it to be the only means by which they could repair the losses which they had sustained by the Great Fire.

Now it is commonly supposed that there were no docks in London in existence at this time. Nor were there on the north side of the river, where they were most wanted, and where the City interest always attracted the landing of the most valuable classes of merchandise. But for many years prior to the date to which I have brought my lecture a most interesting dock had been in existence at Rotherhithe, known as the Howland Great Wet Dock. Stowe tells us that when Canute laid siege to London he commenced to dig a canal on the site of this dock in order to divert the course of the river to Battersea; and in 1209 the current was so diverted to admit of the rebuilding of London Bridge, which in 1176 had been destroyed by fire; and the large opening thus made from the river is said to have formed the nucleus of the dock before you. But, be this as it may, the dock actually existed in 1660 as here represented, and may fairly claim to be the first public dock in Great Britain. As shown in this view, the dock was 1,070 feet from east to west, 500 feet in width, and had a depth of water of 17 feet. It will be observed that on the north and south sides it is thickly planted with trees, the object being to protect the ships in the dock from the fierce gales which in winter swept over the open country surrounding it. On the development of the Greenland Fisheries the dock was specially laid out for the ships engaged in that trade, and was for many years known as the Greenland Dock. Extensive premises, with the necessary boilers and tanks, were erected for boiling the blubber and extracting the oil; and for many years upwards of a thousand tuns of oil were produced annually. At the commencement of the present century this profitable business not only rapidly sunk, and finally left the port of London, but the United Kingdom itself. But simultaneously with the decline of the Greenland trade the timber and corn trade with the Baltic ports increased, and the dock became the principal resort of vessels engaged in them.

About the year 1807, the period of the inception of the Commercial Dock Company, a Mr. Moore, who owned some forty-five acres of land in the neighbourhood of this dock, projected a Company to be known as the Baltic Dock Company, and succeeded in obtaining from the Treasury a promise of an exclusive right to bond timber in the docks he proposed to construct, provided that they furnished sufficient accommodation for the business. Strange to say, this concession was granted by the Treasury and even notified to the Customs for their information, although the proposed docks were never even commenced. Mr. Moore subsequently sold his land and transferred the exclusive privileges he had acquired to the promoters of what was afterwards known as the Commercial Dock Company.

The City interest always opposed the recognition of this dock as a Legal Quay, for a reason sufficiently obvious, and it was not until 1851 that the Commercial Dock Company obtained an Act empowering them to land here nearly every description of goods, if sanctioned by the Customs. But the development of the timber trade pointed to the necessity of providing accommodation for it, and the owners of this dock, which in the year 1808 received the name of the Commercial Dock, encouraged by the prospects of the restriction acquired from the Treasury through Mr. Moore, which, as you are aware, was never practically operative, considerably enlarged and improved it; large tracts of land adjoining were purchased and converted into timber ponds, and in 1810 their first Act of Parliament was obtained by the Commercial Dock Company. Granaries, wharves, &c., were subsequently built, and between the years 1810 and 1815 four additional ponds, or docks, were opened. You will thus observe that the Howland Dock was the nucleus of the existing Surrey Commercial system of Docks--a plan of which is now before you. In 1811, the year after the Commercial Dock Company obtained their Act, an Act was obtained for completing and maintaining what was known as the East Country Dock, the history of which seems very obscure. Under their Act of 1851 the Commercial Dock Company purchased this dock. Meanwhile, side by side with the Commercial Docks, the Grand Surrey Canal and Docks had been steadily growing. In the year 1800, Dodds, an eminent engineer, had recommended the Greenland Dock as a suitable entrance to a tidal canal for ships to Vauxhall and Lambeth, along the line now partly occupied by the Surrey Canal. This scheme was never carried out, but the expense and danger of the river navigation indicated the desirability of some similar means of reaching points above bridge by water; and the result was the Grand Surrey Canal, commenced in the year 1800. It was intended to make a cut from Rotherhithe to Battersea, with collateral cuts to Croydon, Merton, Tooting, Wandsworth, and Camberwell. Although empowered by their Act of Parliament to build docks, the Surrey Company did not exist as a Dock Company until 1854. Ten years afterwards this Company united with the Commercial Company, and thus formed, under the title of the Surrey Commercial Docks Company, the interesting and extensive network of water-communication which you see before you. Including the new dock recently opened, the total extent of these docks--land and water--is nearly 370 acres.

Chamberlayne's, Cotton's, Haye's, Beale's, Griffin's, Symon's, Stainton's, Davis, Butt & Co.'s, Hartley's, Pearson's, Holland's, Cole's, Carrington's Hoggarth's, Scott's, Merriton's,

representing a river tonnage of 2,890 feet. Those on the north side of the river were:

Irongate, St. Catherine's, Watson's, Bryant's, Down's,

representing a frontage of 786 feet; or a total for both sides of the river of 3,676 feet.

Thus the condition of things on the river went on growing from bad to worse, until we reach the years 1793-94, when the crowded condition of the river was declared to be altogether intolerable. Meanwhile, in spite of these drawbacks, the increase in the commerce of the port during the twenty-four years ending with the latter year had been as great as in the first seventy years of the century. In the year 1702, the shipping entered inwards, foreign and British, exclusive of coasting vessels, was 1,335 ships, with a tonnage of 157,035 tons; in 1751 it was 1,682 ships, with a tonnage of 234,639 tons; in 1794 it was 3,663 ships, with a tonnage of 620,845 tons. From a little over ?10,000,000 in the year 1700, the value of the exports and imports had rushed up to ?31,442,040. With Legal Quay accommodation for only 32,000 hogsheads of sugar, the annual importations had reached upwards of 140,000 hogsheads. During war time, the West India fleets only could more than trebly fill the warehouses. One fleet from the Leeward Islands brought 35,000 hogsheads; another from Jamaica brought 40,000: on the arrival of the latter fleet only 7,000 hogsheads could be warehoused at the Legal Quays; the rest had to remain in barges in the river at the mercy of the river thieves, or be left on board the importing vessels until it could be landed elsewhere. I may add that in five months in the year 1794 not less than 122,000 hogsheads of sugar arrived in the port. Indeed, at this period the Legal Quays could not accommodate one-fourth of the trade.

'Most of these infamous proceedings were carried on according to a regular system, and in gangs, frequently composed of one or more receivers, together with coopers, watermen, and lumpers, who were all necessary in their different occupations to the accomplishment of the general design of wholesale plunder. They went on board the merchant vessel completely prepared with iron crows, adzes, and other implements to open and again head up the casks; with shovels to take out the sugar, and a number of bags made to contain 100 lbs. each. These bags went by the name of "black strap," having been previously dyed black to prevent their being conspicuous in the night, when stowed in the bottom of a river boat or wherry. In the course of judicial proceedings, it has been shown that in the progress of the delivery of a large ship's cargo about ten to fifteen tons of sugar were on an average removed in these nocturnal expeditions, exclusive of what had been obtained by the lumpers during the day, which was frequently excessive and almost uncontrolled whenever night plunder had occurred. This indulgence was generally insisted on and granted to lumpers to prevent their making discoveries of what they called the "drum hogsheads" found in the hold on going to work in the morning, by which were understood hogsheads out of which from one-sixth to one-fourth of the contents had been stolen the night preceding. In this manner one gang of plunderers was compelled to purchase the connivance of another, to the ruinous loss of the merchant.'

Before proceeding to call your attention to the various schemes which at this time were submitted to the Government for the improvement of the port, I wish to bring under notice the existence of a small private dock at Blackwall. This dock, commenced on March 2, 1789, and known as the Brunswick Dock in honour of the reigning royal family, was constructed by Mr. Perry, of Messrs. Perry, Wells, & Co., who owned the adjoining ship-building premises, and opened on November 20, 1790. Here I may observe that, from a very early period, Blackwall has been a noted place for ship-building yards. Pepys speaks of a visit which he paid to them in 1661, and again in 1665, when, much to his discomfort, he complains that he was compelled to pass a night in what he calls the 'unlucky Isle of Doggs.' I may also mention in passing that Mr. Perry built a small dock in 1783, just large enough to receive one whaling vessel. This little dock, of which I have not been able to obtain a view, was subsequently converted into one of the slips now occupied by Messrs. Wigram's dry docks. The Brunswick Dock was built for the accommodation of the vessels of the East India Company, and was capable of receiving twenty-eight large Indiamen and a number of smaller vessels. This dock formed the nucleus of the existing East India Export Dock, and many of you remember the old Mast House, which, you will observe from its appearance here, was coeval with the origin of the existing dock. But the relief afforded by this dock was merely a drop in the bucket, and from the years 1793 to 1799, when the Bill for the construction of the West India Dock was passed, we find a number of schemes for increasing the accommodation of the port engaging the attention of the mercantile community and Parliament. These, I now proceed, as briefly as possible, to notice in the order in which they were reported upon by the Committee of the House of Commons appointed to take evidence and consider and report on them.

Mr. Ogle, whose plan is before you , proposed to deepen the river, extend and improve the Legal Quays, and to increase the number of mooring chains. He further proposed that the moorings should be appropriated in proportion to the claims of the several classes of commerce, and that harbour masters should be appointed to see that vessels took up their proper position as they came up the river. The different colours on the plan represent the moorings. It was, however, the opinion of nine-tenths of the practical men of the port that under no scheme would it be possible so to improve the river and extend the Legal Quays as to obviate the necessity for wet docks.

The next scheme to which I would ask your attention was known as the Merchants' Plan of Docks at Wapping . The desirability of having goods landed as near the City as possible is, of course, obvious. As a natural consequence, all the schemes for docks at Wapping were warmly supported by the City. The dock here represented was to be 39 acres in extent, with a smaller one of 2 acres for the accommodation of lighters. One of the entrances was to be by a canal 22 feet deep, 170 feet wide, and 2 3/4 miles in length, and navigable for ships of 300 tons: and, as you will see, communicating with the river immediately above Perry's Dock, at Blackwall. The object of this canal was, of course, to avoid the circuitous and dangerous navigation round the Isle of Dogs, which was always a great difficulty with the early dock engineers. To get from the Pool to Blackwall when 'kedging' was the only means of getting a vessel along, sometimes occupied fourteen days, and it was felt that no scheme would be satisfactory which did not in some way enable vessels to avoid this obstinate bend in the river. The line taken by this canal was, as nearly as possible, that now occupied by the Commercial Road. This scheme was estimated to cost ?1,000,000. While this plan is before you, I wish to call your attention to a small canal known as the 'Bromley Cut,' connecting the River Lea with the Thames at Limehouse. It is not generally known that this Cut was commenced so early as the reign of Elizabeth, in the year 1571. Before this Cut was made, the connection of the traffic on the Lea with the City was most difficult, inasmuch as barges had to leave the mouth of that river at Blackwall, and wind their way round the Isle of Dogs--a most hazardous undertaking. All this was obviated by the now despised and unsavoury Cut. This system of docks, although not accepted, was the basis of the existing London Docks.

The third plan was known as the 'Corporation Scheme' . This scheme, with the munificence which distinguishes every undertaking of the Corporation of London, was at once the most extensive and expensive of the many schemes which engaged public attention. The Corporation proposed to excavate one dock in the Isle of Dogs of 102 acres, and another at Rotherhithe of the same extent, with a canal to Vauxhall. They further proposed to extend the frontage of the Legal Quays by the acquisition of Billingsgate, and to provide for the construction of slips for the accommodation of lighters. They also intended largely to increase the warehouse space, by arching over the quays and constructing warehouses on them.

This plan represents what was known as Mr. Wyatt's Scheme. Mr. Wyatt was an eminent architect and civil engineer. His plan of docks in the Isle of Dogs was, as you will observe, very extensive--so extensive that, although the price of land in the island was then only ?5 per acre--indeed the whole of the island might have been purchased for ?10,000--and labour was cheap, the estimated outlay was nearly ?900,000. The water space afforded by the docks and basins proposed by Mr. Wyatt would have been upwards of 200 acres; and in view of the vast increase in the commerce of the port, and the present great cost of dock extensions, one cannot but regret that some modification of this scheme was not adopted.

This plan of docks at Rotherhithe , designed by Mr. Cracklow, a surveyor, and which bears some slight resemblance to the network of docks constituting the Surrey Commercial system, was known as the 'Southwark Plan,' and included a canal opening to the Thames at Bankside, above London Bridge. These docks, principally intended for colliers, timber ships, and vessels for sale, were the most inexpensive of the many schemes proposed, the estimated outlay being only ?300,000.

These docks at Wapping were proposed by Mr. Walker, a wealthy shipmaster and Jamaica planter. The docks here shown included a water space of 55 acres, leaving 35 acres for quays and warehouses. You will observe that Mr. Walker also proposed a canal similar to that suggested by the Merchants' Plan, but taking lower ground near the river. Besides the access to this dock afforded by the canal, Mr. Walker proposed two others: one at a little bay known as 'Hermitage Dock,' and the second at a place called 'Pellican Stairs.' His scheme also included a dock in the Isle of Dogs for timber-ships, reaching across the island by what was known as 'Poplar Gut,' a large piece of swamp or boggy ground at the Limehouse side of the island, and now absorbed by the West India Docks. The total cost of this great scheme was estimated at ?880,000. This plan of docks was very warmly supported by the Brethren of the Trinity House, who alleged that it furnished every requisite for the accommodation of the trade of the port and the proper navigation of the river; and I am sure that those of my hearers who would like to see a dock of 55 acres at Wapping, will agree with me in expressing regret that this scheme was not carried out.

This plan represents a scheme for docks proposed by Mr. Spence, a maritime surveyor to the Admiralty. He proposed to divide the shipping of the port into twelve different classes, each class to have a separate dock for its accommodation. He proposed that six of these docks should be 600 feet square, the other six being 400 feet, connected with each other on the plan of the docks at Liverpool. As you will see by this plan, Mr. Spence suggested two alternative sites for these docks. There cannot be a doubt that, had the principle here indicated of localising the warehousing of the various classes of merchandise been more fully carried out, the working of goods would have been more efficient, more economical, and more satisfactory in every way to both merchant and Dock Company. In the monopolies granted to the earlier Dock Companies, the Government seem to have made an attempt in this direction; but it is to be feared that the spirit of competition and the morbid jealousy of anything tending to a monopoly will always be a barrier to any extended application of this principle, however much it might be the interest of the public to promote it. The docks proposed by Mr. Spence were estimated to cost ?500,000.

The last, but by no means the least interesting, of these rejected dock schemes to which I shall invite your attention, consists of four alternative plans proposed by Mr. Willey Reveley, an engineer and architect. You will observe by the plan before you , that Mr. Reveley proposed , by a bold stroke, at once to demolish the Isle of Dogs, as an impediment to the navigation of the river, by cutting a channel straight through it from Limehouse to Blackwall; leaving the long reach round the island as a magnificent dock of 434 acres, with flood-gates at each entrance to the new course of the river.

Under the second scheme proposed by him , Mr. Reveley, as you will observe by this plan, suggested the cutting of a new channel for the river, inclining towards Woolwich Reach below Blackwall, so as to convert the upper bend of the river by Perry's Dock into a second dock, thus securing for the two docks a water space of 524 acres.

Under his third plan , Mr. Reveley proposed to conduct the new channel of the river straight from Wapping, intersecting the river so as to convert the three bends between Wapping and Woolwich into three docks, to be known respectively as the 'Ratcliff,' the 'Blackwall,' and the 'Greenwich' Docks, giving a total of 644 acres.

To meet the objection of the Trinity House that any of these schemes would be impracticable without essential injury to the river and its navigation, Mr. Reveley proposed a fourth plan , under which, as you will see, the new channel of the river is made to take its course from near Wapping to the old channel of the Thames between Greenland Dock and Deptford, thence inclining gently to the northward till it falls into Woolwich Reach; thus leaving two spacious docks to the northward by shutting out the Ratcliff and Blackwall bends of the river. The docks thus formed would have yielded a water space of 559 acres.

Each of these rejected schemes, of course, represented particular, and, in some instances, conflicting, interests. The West India merchants who suffered most severely from the depredations on the river, were very anxious to have a dock in the Isle of Dogs, and in two days, December 22 and 23, 1795, raised subscriptions of ?800,000 for the purpose. Opposed to the West India merchants was the Corporation of London, with its large collateral vested interests. They professed to be jealous of any measure which would have the effect of removing the shipping from the City; hence their gigantic scheme, to which I have called attention, and which, as you will remember, so far met the views of the West India merchants as to include a large dock in the Isle of Dogs. The fact is, the Corporation wished to get the control of the docks of London into their own hands; and although Parliament was not inclined in this way to swell the sufficiently plethoric bulk of the Corporation, that body, with its allied interests, was strong enough in Parliament to defeat any body of merchants going to it for powers opposed to their interests; and, as you are aware, all the Dock Companies when first started were largely represented by nominees of the Corporation.

This view represents the first ship entering the dock--the 'Henry Addington,' a West Indiaman of the old school, and one of the wooden walls, in privateering days, of England's reputation. It is to be hoped that the iron walls which have succeeded them in the Navy will give as good an account of themselves in 'the battle and the breeze' as these old wooden walls; and so dispel the misgivings to which some of their recent achievements have given rise.

This view represents both the West India Import and Export Docks, with the canal, as they appeared when completed in 1805. I should here state that in 1829 the Corporation of London sold the canal to the West India Dock Company for ?120,000; and, until converted into the existing South Dock, it was used by the Company as a timber pond, and for the accommodation of an important grain trade. The Government was so impressed with the necessity of removing the shipping from the river, that for a period of twenty-one years they made it compulsory upon all vessels from the West Indies to discharge in these docks. Not only so; but the Commissioners of Customs were empowered to order vessels from other parts to discharge here. And all vessels outward bound for the West Indies were compelled either to take in their cargoes in these docks or else in the river below Blackwall--an arrangement more costly than the payment of dock dues. As a further illustration of the interest which the Government took in these docks, I may add, that the wall surrounding them was built at a cost of ?30,000, advanced by the Government; and that for a considerable time the premises were under the protection of troops sent down for the purpose, and that circumstance accounts for the existence of the guard-houses to be seen facing the inner entrance to the West India Docks.

You will have observed that the West India Docks were established, almost exclusively, in the interest of the West India trade. Their location in the Isle of Dogs had, of course, been in opposition to the views of a powerful party in the City. The result of this feeling was the establishment of the London Docks, which followed so closely upon the West India Docks that scarcely twelve months elapsed between the passing of the two Acts; the London Dock Act passing on June 20, 1800. Commenced on June 26, 1802, the first stone being laid by Lord Hawkesbury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, the 'Western' Dock of 20 acres, the first completed, was opened on the last day of January 1805, at a cost ?140,654 an acre: and this view represents the dock as it then appeared. This is a remarkably fine view, as you will observe, the sinuous course of the river and the Isle of Dogs in the distance, coming out very distinctly.

This view represents the dock, when opened, as seen from the river. All vessels entering the port with wine, brandy, tobacco, and rice were compelled to unload here for a period of twenty-one years from the date of completion, under a penalty of forfeiture of the ship to the Crown, and a fine of ?100 from the owner or master. The Hermitage Basin and entrance were opened in 1820, the Eastern Dock and the Tobacco Dock in 1828, and the original Shadwell entrance and basin in 1832. The fine jetty in the Western Dock was built in 1838, and the new Shadwell entrance and basin were constructed at a vast outlay and opened on October 13, 1858.

The establishment of the West India and the London Docks still left the East India and China shipping to be provided for; the accommodation afforded by Mr. Perry's Dock at Blackwall being scarcely sufficient for the shipping of the East India Company alone. To meet this deficiency the East India Dock Company was formed. The Act passed in the year 1803, the docks were commenced in August of the same year, and opened on August 4, 1806. This view, which represents the docks as they appeared when completed, gives a very interesting picture of the river at this point, as also of the virgin character of the surrounding country. Like its predecessors, the East India Dock Company started with a twenty-one years' monopoly. All vessels with cargoes from the East Indies and China were obliged to discharge in these docks. Outward-bound ships to these parts of the world were also compelled to load here or else in the river below Limehouse. But, for the protection of the London Dock monopoly, it was enacted that no vessel not immediately from, or immediately bound to, the East Indies or China, should, under a penalty of ?50, enter these docks without the consent of the Treasury in writing.

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