Samuda Estate

The following the shows the boundaries of the Samuda Estate on an 1890 map.

The large ‘Shipbuilding Yard’ was originally established in 1852 by Joseph D’Aguilar Samuda (1813-1885), one of the earliest and most successful builders of iron and steel steam-ships. His obituary in the proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers described him thus:

JOSEPH D’AGUILAR SAMUDA was born in London in 1813, and early became a pupil of his elder brother, Jacob Samuda, with whom he entered into partnership as an engineer in 1832.
The firm were at first principally engaged in marine-engine building, but in 1843 shipbuilding was added to the business; and from 1842 to 1848 he was engaged in carrying out, on the Kingstown and Dalkey, Croydon, South Devon, and Paris and St. Germains lines, the atmospheric railway on the plan of his elder brother and Mr. Samuel Clegg.

From 1851 he occupied himself almost exclusively in iron and steel shipbuilding, and constructed a large number of vessels for most of the principal navies and leading mercantile companies. Amongst them may be mentioned the “Thunderbolt,” the first armour-cased iron vessel built; the “Prince Albert,” the first iron-clad cupola ship built; and the “Mortar Float No. 1,” the first iron mortar vessel built.

More recently he built two very fast steel vessels, the “Albert Victor” and the “Louise Dagmar,” each 1040 tons burden and 2800 H.P. with a speed of 18.5 knots per hour, for the Channel service between Folkstone and Boulogne; and subsequently the “Mary Beatrice” with a speed of 19 knots per hour.

Of late years the principal part of his work was the construction of armour-clad vessels, the most recent being the Brazilian turret ships “Riachuelo” and “Aquidaban.”

In 1860 he assisted in the formation of the Institution of Naval Architects, of which he was subsequently a Vice-President.
In 1864 he became a Member of this Institution.

In 1865 he entered parliament as member for Tavistock ; and in 1868, and again in 1874, he was elected to represent the Tower Hamlets.

He died on 27th April 1885 at the age of seventy-one.

Survey of London:

The original yard was a plot of 370ft frontage to the Thames with a drawdock adjoining to the north, taken from December 1852 at £538 per annum. Samuda Brothers were pioneers in their use of steel in shipbuilding, gaining a reputation for constructing warships, steampackets, and other special-purpose craft of iron and steel. Expansion was an almost inevitable consequence. In 1860 the yard was extended to the north and west to meet Manchester Road and Davis Street, and a smaller, irregularly shaped plot to the north of the drawdock was added in 1862, giving Samuda a combined riverside frontage of over 500ft. According to P. Barry, by 1863 Samuda’s Yard was producing nearly double the output of the other London dockyards combined. Many of Samuda’s orders came from emerging foreign naval powers such as Germany, Russia and Japan, and the specialized nature of their merchandise enabled the firm to survive the 1866 financial crash and the subsequent decline in Thames shipbuilding.

Embed from Getty Images

Samuda’s Yard

Samuda’s Yard, one of the earliest photos taken on the Island.

Samuda’s firm was rolled up after his death, and the wharf was taken over by the Haskin Wood Vulcanizing Company, specialists in the ‘vulcanizing, seasoning, or preserving of wood’ who operated there until c1912.

An industrial area, but there were already some well-established residential streets at the time – Davis St, Samuda St and Stewart St – as well as the grander houses along Manchester Rd.

Photo: Island History Trust Collection

Sadler’s Park was enclosed by the houses on Samuda St, Stewart St, Davis St and Manchester Rd.

Samuda St

336 Manchester Rd. Photo: Island History Trust Collection

338 Manchester Rd. Photo: Island History Trust Collection

Manchester Arms, on the corner of Manchester Rd and Davis St. Photo: Island History Trust Collection

Dance Family. Manchester Rd.

Manchester Rd. 1935. King George V Silver Jubilee Celebration. Photo: Island History Trust Collection

332 Manchester Rd. Photo: Island History Trust Collection

1937. Sadlers’s Park

Saddler’s Park. Note the sheds which are also visible in the Haskin Wood illustration above.

Photo: George Warren.

Predictably, sadly, as with all my posts about Island neighbourhoods, World War II changed everything. The area was particularly badly hit, including two V-1 (Doodlebug or Flying Bomb) strikes on Samuda Wharf.

Stewart St and the river from Stewart St.

The Manchester Arms and Manchester Rd from the first floor room of a house in Samuda St.

1950, with prefabs built on the site of the former houses.

In the 1950s, the LCC bought up the former Samuda’s Wharf, and other land from Poplar Borough Council. It would be their later form, the GLC, who developed the area and the estate subsequently became part of the Tower Hamlets council housing stock.

The estate was designed by Sir John Burnet, Tait & Partners, architects; and construction was carried out from 1965 by Tersons Ltd of Finchley. In spite of  difficulties with old timber piles and mass-concrete foundations on the site of Samuda’s Wharf, the estate was opened in 1967. Total cost of construction was £2,879,424.

The estate comprises four and six-storey blocks arranged around central traffic-free squares, some connected by covered bridges:

• Ballin Court, named after Louise Sakina Ballin wife of Joseph d’Aguilar Samuda
• Yarrow House, named after Alfred Fernandez Yarrow (1842–1932), an engineer who set up Folly Shipyard just north of Samuda’s Yard.
• Pinnace House, named for a type of light boat carried on ships.
• Reef House
• Hedley House, named after Joseph Hedley, one time partner of Alfred Yarrow
• Talia House
• Halyard House; a halyard is the rope used to raise or lower sails
• Dagmar Court

And of course, the 25-storey Kelson House.

Survey of London:

The blocks are arranged around a series of traffic-free squares and they are sited to give most dwellings a southerly or westerly aspect. Halyard, Hedley, Pinnace, Reef, Talia and Yarrow Houses, together with Ballin Court and Dagmar Court, are four- and six-storey blocks of flats and maisonettes, faced with aggregate-concrete panels and mottled, dark-red brick. Some of the blocks are connected by covered bridges, while two of the four-storey blocks contain bedsitter and one-bedroom flats for old people.

To the riverside, Kelson House is a 25-storey block of maisonettes, faced in aggregate-concrete panels. It is of the ‘scissors’ type developed in the early 1960s by a team in the LCC Architect’s Department, headed by David Gregory-Jones, Colin Jones and Ian Hampson. Such blocks were intended to give greater flexibility and economy than the existing LCC dwelling types – in particular by placing all living-rooms on one side of the building, and by providing a central corridor, which avoided the need for access-balconies. The somewhat complicated layout, ultimately derived from Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation (1947–52), is best described ‘by comparison with a pair of half-opened scissors, the handles representing the bedroom levels, the blades the living levels and the pivot the bathroom level’.

The bedrooms are, therefore, a full storeyheight above or below the living-rooms, with the sanitary accommodation in between. Each dwelling is approached either up or down half a flight of stairs from the access corridor. A separate tower contains lifts, escape-stairs and other services, and is linked to the main block by bridges leading to the access-corridors.

422 of the 505 dwellings completed by 1974 had individual oil-fired boilers and radiators. This was a novel diversion for council housing: giving residents control over their energy consumption instead of everyone contributing to a central energy provision.

Survey of London:

Because of competing demands for space on housing estates, underground garages were adopted in several schemes completed by the GLC in the later 1960s and first half of the 1970s, although they were expensive. They were built … on the Samuda Estate (where 200 garages and 31 motorcycle stores were provided in a large semi-basement area).

The (semi-)underground spaces have since reputedly become areas to avoid, the terrain of drug-users and vandals. Meanwhile, conflicts exist between residents and the housing corporation, the successor of the council as manager of the housing, and in particular concerning the neighbourhood community accommodation. An estate the size and configuration of the Samuda Estate is not tenable without its communal facilities, unless you plan to confine people to their homes and talk not of ‘community’. But hey, what do I know?

Tooke Times

Tooke is (or was) a well-known name on the Island. The Tooke Arms public house has a prominent place on Westferry Rd – one of the few original Island pubs still doing business (although, admittedly, it is a late 1960s version of a pub that was originally a few yards to the south).

The original Tooke Arms, shorly before its demolition. Photo taken from Sir John McDougall Gardens, courtesy of Nick Trevillion.

Before the construction of Barkantine Estate, there used also to be a Tooke St, running from Alpha Grove (formerly Alpha Road) to Westferry Road.

1890

This was a typical Millwall street, with simple terraced houses for local workers and their families.

Photo: Island History Trust Collection

The view eastward was dominated by the large warehouses of Millwall Docks.

Photo: Island History Trust Collection

3-5 Tooke Street was notable for being the address of The Islanders public house (known commonly as Sexton’s, after an early landlord). This was the first home and unofficial club house of the local Millwal football team which would later become the modern-day Millwall FC. See Millwall FC – The Millwall Year(s) for the full story.

The Islanders pub is on the left in this photo. Photo: Arthur Ayres

Outside The Islanders. Photo: Island History Trust Collection

Photo: Island History Trust Collection

Original Tooke Arms on the corner of Westferry Rd and Janet St.

Photo: David Lloyd

Tooke Street is so named as it was built on land owned by the Rev. William Tooke (1744–1820), British clergyman and historian of Russia (he was for a time the chaplain of English merchants operating in St. Petersburg). The Island land had come into the hand of his family when his father Thomas married the daughter of Richard Chevall, whose own family had acquired it in 1660.

William Tooke  married Elizabeth Eyton in 1771, and the couple had two sons, Thomas and William, and a daughter Elizabeth.  Son Thomas became a renowned economist and served several terms between 1840 and 1852 as governor of the Royal Exchange Corporation. Likewise, he served for several terms as chairman of the St Katharine’s Docks company. He was also an early director of the London and Birmingham Railway. William’s second son, his namesake, went on to become a lawyer, politician, and President of the Society of Arts.

There is no evidence of any member of the Tooke family visiting the Isle of Dogs. Doesn’t surprise me, no pubs had been built yet.

Rev. William Tooke by Joseph Collyer the Younger, after Sir Martin Archer Shee, line engraving, published 1820

The following map shows the principal land holders in the early 1800s; many names that are still in use in Island street names.

Key to landowners: A Port of London Committee: B Sir Charles Price: C Robert Batson: D George Byng:E Rev. William Tooke: F William Mellish: G Ironmongers’ Company: H Ferguson and Todd: I Earl of Strathmore:I William Stratton

It was only after the creation of the Westferry Rd (then West Ferry Rd) around 1815 that industry began to develop down the west side of Millwall, providing opportunities for landowners to develop housing on the east side of Westferry Rd. Survey of London:

Like so much of the Isle of Dogs, Tooke Town developed patchily. By the riverside there grew up a dense urban muddle typical of Millwall: cramped wharves; awkward, inaccessible factories and workshops; mean houses and shops cheek-by-jowl with the noise, pollution and danger of industry and wharfage. East of Westferry Road the side streets, stopping short in the marsh at the boundary of the estate, were not fully built up for many years. They were eventually extended across the Mellish Estate, but the resulting grid pattern of streets has since been broken up, largely by public-housing developments.

By 1817 William Tooke had put a road called Moiety Street through his riverside land, with three turnings off Westferry Road. The probable intention was to split the estate into residential and industrial portions, Moiety Street acting as a service road to factories and wharves and the backs of terrace-houses in Westferry Road. However, only about half the main-road frontage south of the first turning was built up with houses, and most of these did not appear until the 1850s.

There was no house building on any scale until the 1840s, when Charles Chevall Tooke [grandson of Rev. William Tooke, and son of Thomas Tooke] began to sell building leases on plots fronting Westferry Road and new side streets. The name Tooke Town appears in leases from the mid-1840s.

The development of the western part of Tooke Street began in 1842 when William White, a local baker, took a building lease of four plots on its south side. As well as a terrace of four houses, he wedged in two cottages at the rear, White’s Cottages. (ref. 204)

There was some further building in 1842–7 — the lessees including a butcher and an engineer, both from Limehouse, and a Millwall stonemason — then a second wave of building in the mid-1850s. In 1854 George White, an iron-founder, completed a row of plots he had agreed to take in 1846. A few years later William White built another row of houses and about the same time a couple of pairs of houses appeared, on leases granted to a Spitalfields watch-case manufacturer, and a Millwall sawyer.

Almost all the western (Tooke) part of the street had been built up by the late 1860s; the eastern part, on the Mellish Estate, was laid out later and built up in 1879 with terrace houses by Abraham Cullen of Havannah Street, a house agent.

c1850

Tooke Town and part of the Mellish Estate. Based on the Ordnance Survey of 1893–4. Key: A Tooke Estate: B Mellish Estate (part): C Byng Estate (part)

The area around Tooke St did not change much for the next 40 years, until the outbreak of World War II when it was heavily damaged by bombing, as was the rest of the Island and the East End in general.

Luftwaffe photo of bombs dropping in Millwall during the Blitz

Assessment of one week’s worth of fire bombing in December 1940

After the war, the damage to the street was evident; it had taken quite a battering due to its proximity to the docks.

Black shading corresponds to buildings destroyed or damaged beyond use.

Photo: Peter Bevan

http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/

Photo: Peter Wright

During the 1960s, the area was largely cleared of housing (including undamaged buildings) to make room for the new Barkantine Estate.

Architectural Model. Photo: London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)

Construction

Newly-opened. Photo: London Metropolitan Archives (City of London).

Newly-opened. Photo: London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)

But still a bit more to be built – the flats in Byng St / Strafford St for example. Photo: Jonathan Barker

New Tooke Arms

If you were wondering where Tooke St was, stand with your back to the Fried Chicken Shop (the one opposite Barkantine) in Westferry Rd and look down the right side of the football cage.

You’re looking down the old route of Tooke St. Can’t see it? No, me neither.

Historic Isle of Dogs Churches

A (largely pictorial) overview of the old churches on the Isle of Dogs. By definition, they are/were all Christian places of worship. I’d have liked to have included other religions, but there was never a synagogue on the Island, Islamic places of prayer are a recent thing, and I don’t think any other religion had premises on the Island. Besides that, my knowledge of churches, chapels, whatever has never been that extensive – I know about the (former) buildings but cannot profess to knowing too much about the in’s and out’s of what is or was practiced there.

I was for a short while a choir boy in Christ Church in the 1970s, but my interest was primarily the 2/6 for weddings and 3/6 for funerals. Not that I earned anything – in my very first service I fainted and had to be led outside, and my dad was less than happy at me calling the vicar (Rob) ‘father’. “I’m yer bleedin’ father”, I remember him saying to me outside the vicarage in Manchester Rd. His education by Stepney nuns had led him to have an aversion to all things to do with organized religion, and it definitely rubbed off on me.

Still, Island churches had a deep significance for the people who lived there, and many who still do. Their history is something worth posting about.

Alpha Road Wesleyan Chapel

A community centre since the late 1970s, the chapel was built in 1887 by G. Limn of Mellish Street at a tendered price of £1,350 to designs in a utilitarian Gothic style by James F. Wesley. The hall was added in about 1926 by Edwin Beasley of Victoria Dock Road.

Photo: London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)

Christ Church

The development of Cubitt Town in the 1840s led to the decision to build a new church to serve the growing community on the Isle of Dogs. In 1847 William Cubitt offered the Bishop of London a site for a new church and a donation towards its construction, but these proposals do not appear to have been taken further. By 1852 Cubitt had begun the new church himself, and it was built entirely at his own expense by Cubitt & Company on land leased by him from the Countess of Glengall.

By May 1853 the building had advanced ‘far beyond the carcass stage’ with both the tower and spire completed, and the church was apparently finished in 1854, at a cost of £6,500. The church and land were given to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners by Cubitt and the Countess of Glengall in 1855, but the interior was not considered fit for the performance of divine service, and Christ Church was not consecrated until January 1857.

The building is of brick with dressings of Portland stone. The bricks were originally white but have severely discoloured with age, and the dressings were said to incorporate some stone from the London Bridge demolished in 1832.

The destruction of Island churches during the Second World War and the subsequent fall in population resulted in the amalgamation of parishes and congregations. In July 1952 the three parishes of the Isle of Dogs were united under the title of the Parish of Christ Church with St John and St Luke, with Christ Church as the parish church. Following the closure of the church of St John in Roserton Street it was decided that Cubitt Town should have only one church, and in 1965 Christ Church was renamed the Church of Christ and St John.

 

Cubitt Town Primitive Methodist Chapel

The chapel stood on the west side of Manchester Road, close to the junction with Glengall Grove. The first Primitive Methodist building here was begun, on a leasehold site, by Thomas Ennor of Limehouse in 1862, when the foundation stone was laid by Joseph Westwood of the neighbouring firm of Westwood, Baillie & Company, marine engineers. The building appears as the Jubilee Chapel in the Post Office Directory in 1869.There was a schoolroom below the chapel. The building was extended backwards in 1878 and again in 1891, increasing the accommodation to 450.

In 1904–5, after the freehold of the site had been acquired from Lady Margaret Charteris, the chapel was completely rebuilt by the local builders F. & T. Thorne to designs by a Nottingham architect, Henry Harper.

The church was demolished in 1978.

Millwall Independent Chapel

The first place of worship built on the Isle of Dogs since the medieval chapel of St Mary, this was erected in 1817 by a congregation which had been meeting since 1812, at first in a house on the Mill Wall belonging to John Howard, a mast- and block-maker. Prominent in the founding of the chapel were Prows Broad, whose boatbuilding yard was nearby, and George Guerrier, a grazier, who contributed largely to the cost. Guerrier died in 1824 and was buried at the chapel (the only known place of interment on the Isle of Dogs since medieval times).

The chapel closed about 1908, after which it became a girls’ institute and later a printing works. Disused and dilapidated by 1951, it was pulled down soon afterwards.

St. Cuthbert’s Church

A mission church within the parish of Christ Church, St Cuthbert’s was built in 1897 (although the site was acquired in 1893 and tenders sought as early as 1894). The site, formerly occupied by two houses — Nos 377 and 379 Westferry Road — was given by Lady Margaret Charteris, who laid the foundation stone on 15 October 1897. An organ-gallery was added in 1900. St Cuthbert’s was virtually destroyed by a bomb in September 1940 and demolished shortly afterwards. Par of Harbinger School playground is on its site.

Photo: London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)

   

St. Edmund’s Church

St Edmund’s church and school replaced the little chapel of St Edward in Moiety Road. There were about 1,000 Roman Catholics living on the Isle of Dogs in about 1870. A 99-year lease of the site, at an annual rent of £30, had been taken out by Archbishop Manning and others in 1871. Funds were limited, a fact reflected in the general austerity of the buildings. The school and clergy-house having been completed, work on the church began in September 1873 and the building was opened the following August.

From the start there was trouble with the foundations, which had to be remade in March 1874, the priest-in-charge, Father Biemans, subsequently assuring prospective subscribers to the building fund that they were ‘on average twenty-five feet deep and . . . as solid as rock’. The truth was that to save money the only deep foundations were under the nave piers, the rest of the church and school being placed on the subsoil. Piling and underpinning had to be carried out in 1879 and 1883.

The church was demolished and in 1999 construction of a new church on the site commenced.

  

  

St. Edward’s Chapel

This small building was opened in 1846 in Moeity Rd. to serve the growing Catholic community on the Isle of Dogs. Superseded in 1873–4 by St Edmund’s Church in Westferry Road, the chapel was still standing, albeit in ruins, in the 1880s. The site was later incorporated into Fisher’s Wharf.

St. John’s Church

The District Chapelry of St John’s, Cubitt Town, was created in 1873. It had its origins in St Paul’s Mission, established in 1866, which held its services in a wooden hut near the Millwall Docks. St John’s appears to have been the most vigorous and active of the three original Island parishes, and throughout its history was noted for its ‘high’ Anglo-Catholic practices. Attendances at the church exceeded those at Christ Church and St Luke’s in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and by 1939 the annual attendance figures for St John’s had reached 6,000, ten times those of Christ Church.

St John’s was damaged during air raids in 1941 and was abandoned and eventually demolished in the 1950s. Worship continued in a temporary ‘church’ in the clubhouse on the opposite side of Roserton Street. Between 1939 and 1947 St John’s lost 90 per cent of its communicants, and the three Island parishes were merged in 1952. The old mission hall adjoining the club-house was refitted as the new church and dedicated in 1955. Attendances continued to fall, and in 1965 the congregations of St John’s and Christ Church were combined and Christ Church was rededicated as the Church of Christ and St John. St John’s church and hall were demolished following fire damage in 1970.

St. Luke’s Church

Like other churches in the Isle of Dogs, this began as a mission curacy within the large parish of Christ Church, and was at first housed in a temporary building on the west side of Westferry Road, known as the ‘Iron Church’.  By 1868 a new church was built on ground given by Lady Margaret Charteris and Lord Strafford. A mission hall was built on to the south side of the church in 1883.

St Luke’s was damaged during the Second World War and was demolished about 1960, when a chapel with stained-glass windows was made at the east end of the parish rooms and consecrated for worship. This was demolished in 2014, and at the time of writing a new church is being built.

       

Photo: London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)

 

 

St. Mary Chapel

The earliest reference to a St Mary Chapel dates from 1380, on a section of high land in the Isle of Dogs marshes, in the centre of the Island not far from the present-day Crossharbour DLR station. Eventually, it lent its name to Chapel House Farm, and sections of the chapel were still visible on construction of Millwall Docks in the 1860s.

St. Paul’s Church

Known locally as the Scottish Church, St. Paul’s was important for its connections with the Scottish shipyard workers drawn to Millwall in the 1850s to work on the Great Eastern and other ships. John Scott Russell, the Scottish builder of the Great Eastern (himself the son of a Presbyterian minister), laid the foundation stone in 1859.

Although the church had been built with extra foundations to cope with a peat layer in the subsoil 18ft or 20ft thick, it has had a history of structural problems, largely caused by subsidence. St Paul’s was replaced by a new church at Island House, Castalia Square, in 1972 It was subsequently used for industrial storage, one of the side windows being removed to form a doorway. In 1989 the St Paul’s Arts Trust was formed by local residents to take it over for use as an arts centre.

Camera 360

The Ill-Fated R101 over the Isle of Dogs

R101 was built as part of a British government initiative to develop airships to provide passenger and mail transport from Britain to the most distant parts of the British Empire, including India, Australia and Canada, since these distances were too great for heavier-than-air aircraft of the period. Two experimental airships were built: one, R101, to be designed and constructed under direction of the Air Ministry, and the other, R100, to be built by a Vickers subsidiary, the Airship Guarantee Company,.

Specifications for the airships required them to be of not less than five million cubic feet (140,000 m³) capacity and a fixed structural weight not to exceed 90 tons, giving a “disposable lift” of nearly 62 tons. If you’re wondering how big they were, consider this comparison:

Construction of R101 commenced in early 1927, and her maiden flight was on 14th October 1929, involving a return trip to London from her hangar in Cardington, Bedfordshire (just across the fields from the home of my aunt and cousins, coincidentally – I remember playing in those fields as a kid and being overwhelmed by the size of the hangar).

This short film features the maiden flight to London.

The R101 made around ten trial flights until the end of September 1930, with her final trial flight being on 1st October. Bedford Borough Council Local Heritage & History.

The R101 slipped her mast at 4.30pm on 1st October to fly a 24 hour endurance flight to complete the engine and other trials. It was noted however, and agreed by officers, Reginald Colemore, Director of Airship Development (DAD) and the AMSR that if the ship behaved well and Major Herbert Scott, one of the most experienced airship men in the UK, was satisfied during his flight, then they could curtail the tests to less than 24 hours. The ship left Cardington and headed south to London then turned east following the Thames and out across Essex. She spent the night out over the North Sea.

It was during this flight that the R101 flew over the Isle of Dogs, much to the delight of Islanders. This Doris McCartney photo (now in the Island History Trust Collection) was taken outside Inkpen’s shop on the corner of Ship Street (foreground) and Stebondale Street. The R101 must have been flying over the Mudchute or the docks.

Another photo, also in the Island History Trust Collection, was taken from another section of Stebondale Street.

A couple of days later, on Saturday 4th October 1930, weather conditions were considered favourable for a flight to India, and preparations were made for an early-evening departure. After leaving at 18.30, the R101 crossed the channel coast in the vicinity of Hastings and arrived on the French side at Pointe de St. Quentin at around 23.30.

At 00.18 the R101 sent out the following wireless message :

“To Cardington from R101. 2400GMT 15 miles SW of Abbeville speed 33 knots. Wind 243 degrees [West South West] 35 miles per hour. Altimeter height 1,500feet. Air temperature 51 degrees Fahrenheit . Weather – intermittent rain. Cloud nimbus at 500 feet. After an excellent supper our distinguished passengers smoked a final cigar and having sighted thisFrench coast have now gone to bed to rest after the excitement of their leave-taking. All essential services are functioning satisfactorily. Crew have settled down to watch-keeping routine.”

This was the last message from the R101 giving speed and position. At 2.00, east of Beuvais, gusty winds caused the airship to make a long and steep dive. Although the dive was partially corrected, the airship moved into a second dive from which it would not recover. The impact on the ground was relatively gentle (the forward speed was later estimated to be no more than 14 mph at the time), but it caused one of the hot engines to twist around and come into contact with gas escaping from a tear in the forward gas bags. The R101 was immediately consumed in fire and the rear exploded. 46 crew members and passengers were killed in the crash, with 2 more dying later in hospital.Only 8 men were able to escape from the wreck.

The R101 tragedy was the end of British pre-war attempts to create lighter-than-air aircraft.

Millwall Park Open-Air Swimming Pool

In the 1970s, the view from Stebondale St. over Millwall Park and the Mudchute looked like this.

Photo: Peter Wright

30 years previously the view looked like this (photo by Mrs. Smith and the Island History Trust Collection), taken from the upstairs rear window of a house in Stebondale Street. The large construction in the foreground is Millwall Park open-air swimming pool. Just visible between it and the Mudchute is the roof of the rope-walk.

The pool was built by Poplar Borough Council, and opened in 1925, having cost £10,495. It was 150ft by 60ft and it stood within a walled enclosure 200ft long and 90ft wide, which also contained forty dressing boxes, nine dressing shelters and a number of ancillary buildings.

The rear of houses in Stebondale St, with Christ Church in the background.

On completion the pool was handed over to the LCC, which was responsible for its administration and finance, the costs being shared equally by the two Councils. A filtration plant was installed in 1930 and charges for bathers were subsequently introduced; until then admission had been free.

The following three photos are courtesy of the Sale Family – the late Frank Herbert Sale is standing on the diving board in the first photo.

In the following photo, the Builder’s Arms is visible in the background. The pub, at 99 Stebondale St. was damaged beyond repair during WWII.

Photo: Island History Trust Collection / G. Thurgar

During the first night of the Blitz, the bombing which destroyed most of the houses in Stebondale St. also damaged the swimming pool.

Photo courtesy of David Lloyd. c1960

The shored up swimming pool would remain in place until the 1960s, when it was demolished to make room for a One O’Clock club and a short-lived adventure playground.

The Windmills of Millwall

The embankment (or ‘wall’)  down the west side of the Isle of Dogs was an ideal place to build windmills as the open expanse of water and marshland to the west meant there was no obstruction to the prevailing westerly winds.

Gascoyne’s 1703 map, ‘An actuall Survey of the Parish of St. Dunstan, Stepney, alias Stebunheath’ shows seven mills along the top of the embankment (which was originally known as Marsh Wall, but was later more commonly known as Mill Wall).

1703. Click on map for full size

However, at various times, there were at least twelve windmills on the Island. There were few other buildings on the Island, and the prominence of the mills meant that they were also used as navigational aids by Thames shipping, even appearing on charts.

1750. Thames navigation chart showing nine windmills, the most northerly of which – the Lead Mill – was in Limehouse. Click for full-sized version

Island windmills are also represented on paintings and etchings whose viewpoint was the top of the hill in Greenwich Park,. They give a good impression of just how empty the Island was at the time.

1700s. Click for full-sized version.

Nearly all the mills were of the same type: post mills, the earliest type of European windmill whose defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind.

1830s drawing depicting an 18th century Island windmill

At least two of the mills were ‘smock mills’, a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded or thatched tower, topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind. This type of windmill got its name from its resemblance to smocks worn by farmers in an earlier period

1830. Unidentified smock mill, possibly Theobald’s Mill. Deptford is visible in the background on the right.

It is difficult to establish the precise locations of many of the windmills: early maps and descriptions were not accurate in their positioning or naming, compounded by the frequent renaming of mills when the owners changed. After much comparing of old maps and paintings and documents, I am quite confident of the locations of these eleven windmills (give or take a few yards).

Windmill locations. Click for full-sized version.

The following information is mostly from the Survey of London:

The First Mill – so called from its topographical position – was built in 1730 at the southern edge of ‘The Breach’, the area of land that was inundated with water after a failure of the river embankment in 1660 (see here for article). The mill changed hands a number of times and it was last used for seed-crushing before the premises became part of Sir Charles Price’s oil mills in 1805. The mill was converted into an oil refinery.

The Second Mill was built in 1710 and was demolished approximately a century later. Survey of London:

This was built … by … William Lea, citizen and fishmonger of London, to Robert Smith junior of Stepney, miller, for a consideration of £10 15s and at a rent of £2. The 80ftwide site had a river frontage of 150ft. A peculiarity of the lease was a clause denying access from the rest of Lea’s land, the intention being that the occupiers ‘are to Goe to and Come from the same from off the River of Thames only’; a further covenant banned ‘geese, ducks, turkeys, cocks, hens, or any other sort of fowls whatsoever’ from the premises.

The Third Mill was built in about 1679, the earliest known among the riverside mills on the Isle of Dogs. It was demolished in 1785.

Three Smith’s Mills were built in the 1690s by Robert Smith, a Rotherhithe miller, probably the Robert Smith later known as Robert Smith senior of Poplar. The southernmost of the three mills is visible in an 1812 painting by Thomas Whitcombe….

1812. Thomas Whitcombe. Click for full-sized version.

Baker’s Mill, named after the first owner, Rotherhithe miller, Nicholas Baker, was built in 1694 and demolished around 1770.

Chinnall’s Mill, built in 1695 and remained in use for approximately 100 years.

The Ninth Mill was built around 1718 and is sometimes named on maps as Little Mill or Tommy Tinker’s Mill.

Theobald’s Mill (aka Ward’s Mill) was built around 1701 and was later the site of a public house, ‘The Windmill’. The mill and surrounding buildings burned down in the 1880s.

1843. The Windmill pub is on the left.

1870

The Mill at Drunken Dock was built in about 1712 . The site was later occupied by the Mast House.

Many paintings and etchings were made of the windmills over the years, but it remains difficult to identity which windmills are the subject. Here, a selection….

 

Stebondale Street

In the late 1960s, when our family moved onto the Island, Stebondale Street consisted of 1960s flats and early 20th century houses on one side, and prefabs on the other, separating the street from Millwall Park. That was it, no shops, nothing much of note, a dead straight street from Manchester Rd as far as the sharp right turn into Seyssel St.

A bit bare, concrete poles topped with sodium lights every 50 yards or so, and equally spaced plane trees. The prefab residents were moving out, and their homes would be demolished within a year or two, a demolition assisted by local kids who had never heard of asbestos, let alone its dangers.

When the prefabs were gone, a fence was constructed along the street, protecting the works to absorb the prefab sites into Millwall Park.

Trees were planted, a new fence was built, and Millwall Park became a little bit larger than it was.

Me and my mates used to ‘hang around’ there a lot, outside the flats at the end of Kingfield St, before the time of George Green’s Youth Club. Nothing special to say about the location, no particular reason to have chosen it, a random place. A few decades later, I do feel for the poor sods who lived in the flats. What a racket we made. Or perhaps that was considered more normal and acceptable then?

 

Fast-forward 40 years and imagine my surprise when I learned that Stebondale Street was once one of the grander streets on the Island, a street intended by William Cubitt to be the home of the middle classes, a street full of large houses and a variey of shops. It was even longer once, extending as far as Manchester Rd just north of the present-day Betty May Gray House.

c1890

So, what was it like then? Thanks to the Island History Trust and other sources there are plenty of photos….

The Builder’s Arms public house, 99 Stebondale Street, built in 1865 by Jonathan Billson, who was responsible for 26 houses in Stebondale Street

And then came WWII, and the Blitz. Stebondale St suffered more than many other streets on the Island. It was not a deliberate bombing target; the Luftwaffe, at the start of the war at least, had instructions to bomb only military and industrial targets. However, dropping bombs from aircrafts was incredibly inaccurate in 1940 and it is likely that Stebondale Street paid for its proximity to the anti-aircraft battery in the Mudchute.

Robert Lowther recalled:

Uncle Ern was blown up by a bomb during the war, and found days later. A lot of the family had been evacuated to Swindon but my dad Bob Lowther stayed at home with Grandad, the older Ernie Lowther. During one of the raids when the Bricklayers pub and most of the Airy houses in Stebondale and some in Manchester Road were hit, the roof of 44 Stebondale Street was dislodged and the end house on the terrace was demolished. When this happened Bob and Ernie were over the Mudchute allotments and returned home to see the damage and found their house had been looted. Ernie realised who had taken their chairs and went and got them back!

Pat Ussher, Canadian Press Staff Writer:

One of the hardest-hit spots is the Isle of Dogs – a narrow neck of land in the middle of the Thames dock zone, surrounded on three sides by the river. Here wharves, docks, warehouses, factories and small houses are jumbled together. A bus ride around the Isle of Dogs shows plenty of bomb damage. Let’s take Stebondale Street as an illustration of what can be done with lavish use of high explosives. The street isn’t typical of all London but it shows that the bad spots are really bad. On one side of the street I counted 49 houses or stores and a church wrecked or damaged so badly they were unoccupied.

There was a big open space where a dozen or more houses once stood. Only a few bricks remain now. The debris has been removed. The other side wasn’t quite so bad. Only 34 houses and stores were empty due to enemy action. A mission hall with its roof punctured, its windows agape, also testified to the fury of the assault. Few of the remaining houses were intact. Some had top storeys gutted, others had windows out. But people were living in them. Children roller-skated by in the street, joked with the passersby. Cats and dogs roamed around. At the end of the street a pub was still open, undamaged except for a few boarded-up windows . Most forlorn spectacle was a row of damaged houses. Roofs had fallen in, upper floors sagged at crazy angles. A couple of bedsteads leaned perilously atop the debris. Wallpaper flapped in the breeze. An empty house near the church bore a reminder of the first Great War. Its scarred wall bore a plaque with the names of the soldiers lost in the 1914-18 struggle and the inscription ‘A sweet and glorious thing it is to die for one’s country.’

Lucy Reading:

It’s amazing when you saw all those empty houses and nothing was taken, pillaged or stolen, you know. We used to go and feed the cat and this particular day, my mum and I went down Stebondale Street, my mum went down the airy, out the back, where we usually found the cat. And I stood outside, and the whole length of Stebondale Street, there wasn’t a person in the whole street and everything smelt dusty and derelict and damp.

This says enough: the 1950 electoral register listed 160 registered voters on Stebondale Street, compared to 650 in 1939.

After the prefabs were demolished…..

And today…..a very green street, the plane trees are all grown up.

A Little Bit of Millwall

WESTFERRY ROAD, WEST SIDE
NOS. 2-4

2 1882 Seaward & Company Engine Factory, 1883, James Cooper, James Woodyer. 1963 Foam Plastics Packaging Ltd. 1964 Applied Automation, 1966 Sebec Cellofoam Laminators, 1968 DIY Enterprises Ltd Hardware, 1974 Merlin Press, 1978 M Lorel, 1979 Gilbert Gilbert & Shaw Haulage Contractors, Rentrux Vehicle Hire & Haulage.

2 & 4 1951 Morton C&E Morton Ltd Jam Manufacturers

Mortons

4 1882 John Thomas Morton Preserved Provision Manufacturers, 1977 Beecham

Cuba St, site of future Beecham. Photo: London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)

Mortons & Beecham

Beecham

WESTFERRY ROAD, EAST SIDE
NOS. 2-23

1 City Arms Public House, 1882 Henry Cole, 1884 John Reeve, 1905 George Parsons, 1915 Thomas James Carroll, 1923 Thomas James Carroll, 1939 Jeffery Family, 1939 John Wass, 1944 Rose F Saunders, 1950-1 Emmott Family, 1964 Brian A Hunt, 1964 Eileen G Hunt, 1971 Millwall Car Service Hire, 1974 JT Ryan

No. 1. City Arms in the 1920s

3 1882 Samuel Covel Spurling Mariner, 1905 John Reynolds. 1923 Spilstead Family

5 1883 John Carlile

7 1882-3 Joseph Roberts Coffee Rooms, 1905-15 Edward John Smith Coffee Rooms

9 1883 William Nettleship, 1905 Ernest Collins

11 1882-1905 William Smith Westwater Sailmakers & Ships Chandlers, 1914-39 Corderoy Family Weighing Machine Makers

13 1882-4 Sarah Colverd Coffee Rooms, 1905 George Martin, 1914 Frederick Stevens Dining Rooms, 1939 John Ryder Refreshment Bar

15 1883 William Dawson, 1905 William Sparks

17 1882 John Bradford, 1905 Henry Fenton, 1923 Tebby Family, 1939 Palmer Family, 1951 C&E Morton Ltd Jam Manufacturers, 1966 Unidata Data Processing Cards, 1970 Graphic Trend Associates Ltd Point of Sale Producers, 1971 WR Williams Ship Forwarding Agents, 1972 Viacar Ltd Property Developers, Contractors, 1973 JS Gillespie Warehousing, 1975 BG Farquarson

Nos. 3-17 (site of). Photo: London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)

19 1939 C & E Morton Jam Manufacturers

21-23 1882 John Thomas Morton Jam Manufacturer, 1905 William Eborn, 1961 Scrivener-SLT Ltd Stationery & Educational Supplies, 1963 Foamair Ltd Plastic Foam Manufacturers, 1966 West Ferry Factors, 1967 Paniquil Ltd Plastic Welders, 1971 R Stanton Manufacturers, 1971 Columbus-Dixon Ltd Manufrs of Floor Maintenance Machines & Chem Prods

Nos. 21-23

Nos. 21-23

No. 23

No. 23. Photo: London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)

WESTFERRY ROAD, WEST SIDE
NOS. 6-22

6 Watermen’s Arms Public House, 1882 Hjalmar Paridon Wetterlund, 1884 Edwin P Rowe Watermen’s Arms, 1905 William Dawson, 1915 William Green, 1923 Alice Louisa Griffiths, 1923 William Griffiths

8 1883 George Ball, 1905 William Chambers, 1950 Alfred E Crabb, 1950 Dorothy Crabb, 1950 Albert Kershaw, 1950 Bridget Kershaw, 1950 Alfred George Reynolds, 1976 Millwall Car Service Hire.

10 1882-1905 Alfred Shout Coffee Rooms, 1964 Constance Miriam Jeffreys, 1964 James Frederick Jeffreys, 1964 Eva Lilian MacDonald, 1964 John MacDonald

12 1882-4 George Harvey Grocer & Tea Dealer, 1915 Thomas Peterkin Chandlers Shop

14 1905 Edward Chesnall, 1915 Alfred Roberts Coffee Rooms, 1937 Aston Gran Sawmill

16 1882-4 Henry Oram, Grocer & Tea Dealer, 1915 Wilson Brown Butcher

18 1882-4 Mary Ann Burge Beer Retailer, 1905-1915 John French Beer Retailer, 1923 Arthur Hedges, 1923 Elizabeth Hedges, 1939 Alfred George Reynolds, 1939 Amelia Reynolds, 1939 Ernest Victor Reynolds

18-22 1951 John Lenanton & Son Timber Merchants

20 1905 Emily Parker, 1923 Emily Ethel Pinteaux, 1923 Victor Pinteaux

22 1905 Robert Noble, 1923 George Stamford Wheaton, 1923 Harriet Jane Wheaton

Nos. 18-22. Lenantons.

Same view as previous, from Byng St, before Lenantons took over and filled the Regent Dry Dock (with obsolete lorries and bags of set cement from a flooded warehouse in Cubitt Town).

WESTFERRY ROAD, EAST SIDE
NOS. 25-57

25 Blacksmiths Arms, 1882 John Reeve, 1883 George Welsh (or Welch), 1884 George Welch, 1914 Henry Baker, 1923 Charles Coleman, 1923 Emily Smith, 1939 Mrs E Coleman, 1939 Norton Family, 1950 Moss Family, 1958 FB Slater, 1964 Devonport Family

No. 25. Blacksmith Arms

No. 25

27 1882 Charles Willis Dining Rooms, 1883 Edward Willis, 1905 Thomas Cooper, 1914 George Stevens (or Stephens) Tea Rooms, 1939-51 Walker Family, 1957 RR Maddock Café, 1977 Barny’s Stores Fruiterer & Greengrocer, 1979 Island Cars

Nos. 25-33

29 1882 William Henry Williams Greengrocer, 1905-1923 Thomas Family Hairdresser, 1939-1951 Walker Family Hairdresser, 1964 Stellios M Kalogirou, 1964 George Pieri

31 1882 Alfred Scriven Stationer, 1883 John Williams, 1905 Emma Green, 1914 Sarah Crocker Tobacconists, 1923-1951 Clarke Family Tobacconist, 1964-1980, Wooding Family Newsagent & Tobacconist

No. 31

33 1882-4 Joseph Rawlings Fishmonger, 1914-23 Kosky Family Fried Fish Shop, 1939 Oxley Family,

35 1882 William Quick Boot & Shoe Makers, 1905 Martha Crickmore, 1923 Ellen Smith, 1939 Ellen & Ernest Skeels

37 1914 Thomas Lan Greengrocer, 1923 Edward & Mary Dacey, 1939, Emily & George Ashton

37 & 39 1951 Frederick Powell Baker

39 1882-1884 James Payne Baker, 1883 Thomas Martin, 1905 Harry Jungheim, 1914-1923 Arthur Payne Baker, 1923 Charles Henry & Helena Pope, 1939 Powell Family

41 Anchor & Hope Public House, 1882-4 William Elmy, 1905 Thomas Banks, 1905 James Cochrane, 1915 George Saunders, 1923 Henry & Julia Baker, 1939 Violet & Wilfred Goodridge, 1944 Sidney Cash, 1950 George & Lily Balfour, 1950 Winifred Hidson, 1957-1964 SP & Doris Funnell

No. 41

43 1882 Edwin Toy Greengrocer, 1905-1923 Monk Family Coffee Rooms

45 1883 Thomas Turner, 1905 William Bratt, 1923-1939 Moore Family.

47 1882 Charles Julius Brandt Mariner & Pilot, 1905 William Piper, 1923 William Reuben Milan, 1923 James Frederick Paul , 1923 Priscilla Elizabeth Paul, 1923 Bert Starling, 1939 Emily Milan, 1939 Sarah Ann Milan, 1939 William Reuben Milan

49 1882-1905 Richard Bedford baker, 1905 Henry Bedford, 1923 Arthur & Rachel Cole, 1923 Elizabeth & Frederick Lamport, 1923 Ellen & James Newby, 1939 Arthur & Rachel Cole, 1939 Robinson James Newby, 1939 Alfred Reuben Timothy & Mary Beatrice Turner

Nos. 45-49

51 1882-4 William Schmidt Tailor, 1914 George Rome Hall Surgeon, 1923 Michael John Hackett, 51 1935 Philip MPC Lissack, 1939 Robert & Violet Hollingsworth

53 1882 Louisa Cowderoy Post Office & Grocer Shop, 1883 John Ridley Grocer & Tea Dealer, 1905-1939 Osborn Family Grocer & Post Office

Nos. 51 & 53, behind a Lenanton’s lorry.

55 1882 Charles Markwick Newsagent, 1883 James Inchworth, 1884 James Tuxworth Stationer, 1905-1923 Addison Family Confectioner, 1939, Lilian & William Porter

57 1882 William Spittle Brass Finisher, 1914 Samuel Woodland Boot Maker, 1923 Rosina & Wilson Brown, 1923 John Willie Lindsell, 1939 Eleanor & William Stockdale

Nos. 51-57

WESTFERRY ROAD, WEST SIDE
NOS. 24-38

24 1882 Scrutton & Campbell Mastmakers, 1905 William Brown, 1923 Ellen Rosina Caton, 1923 John Henry Caton

26 1882-4 William Andrews Dairy

26-28 1951 Torrington Wharfage Co. Wharfingers

28 1882-3 George Deeks Fishmonger, 1883 George Deeks, 1905 Henry Charles Deeks, 1915 Harry Deeks Fried Fish Shop, 1974 Mui Che Mui

No. 28.

30 1883-1884 Joshua Smith Shipping Butchers, 1905 Wilson Brown, 1923 Alice Sarah Elizabeth Deeks, 1923 Harry Charles 80 Deeks, 1939 Albert Edward Harper, 1939 Ethel Maud Harper

32 1939 John Benfield, 1939 Alice Louisa Griffiths, 1939 Maud Winifred Griffiths

34A 1882-4 William Jackson Blacksmith, 1884 George Slack Torrington Arms Public House

34 1882-3 Samuel Thody Tripe Dresser, 1905 William Peter Lee, 1905 Eliza Marsh, 1905 Eliza Woodhouse, 1915 John Percival Lee Newsagent, 1939 Alfred Webb, 1939 Sophia Charlotte Webb

36 1882-1915 Sedgwick & Co Manufacturer

Next to 36 1882 St Lukes National School, 1895 Frederick Ernest Aldrick Schoolmaster, 1895 Mary Berry Schoolmistress, 1895 Mary Law Infants Mistress

St. Luke’s School

Canadian Royal Mounted Police riding past Bullivant’s & St. Lukes School

38 1882 Seaward & Company Boiler Factory, 1884 E & W Pontifex Marine Engineer, 1905 Edmund George Fossey, 1905 George May Selby, 1915 Bullivant & Co Wire Rope Manufacturers, 1964 Florence Beatrice Drain, 1964 Stanley Robert Drain, 1973, Freight-Express Seacon

Seacon and the site of St. Luke’s School, from Strafford St.

WESTFERRY ROAD, EAST SIDE
NOS. 59-93

Nos. 59 and higher in 1914. Photo taken from the SS Endurance.

59 1882-4 James Sparks Coffee Rooms, 1905 George Kemp, 1914 George Stevens or (Stephens) Tea Rooms, 1923 John Joseph Scott, 1939 Ernest Edward Brain, 1939 Ada & Albert Croker

61 1905 James Donovan, 1915 Arthur George Mann Furniture Dealer, 1923 Beatricew & Edward Davis, 1923-39 Baker Family, 1939 Baker Family, 1939 Cecil & Sarah Kneeshaw, 1950 Evelyn Anderson, 1950-64 Baker Family

63 1882-4 Frederick White, Commercial Steam Towing Co Tug Owner, 1905 George Woodland, 1905 John Woodland, 1923 John Whyberd, 1923-1939 French Family, 1950-64 McConalogue Family

65 1882-4 Roderick MacDonald Physician & Surgeon, 1905 George Notman, 1923-39 Griffiths Family, 1939 Alfred David Lowe, 1939 Rosina Grace Vanner, 1950 George & Ivan West, 1950 John & Rose Williams, 1964 Philip McConalogue, 1964 John & Rosy Williams

No. 65

67 1883 Edward Snook, 1905-14 Mark Bostel Watchmaker, 1915 George Edward David Watchmaker, 1923 Alice Attwood, 1923 John & Mabel Baker, 1923 Frederick Kennedy, 1923 John & Mabel Laxton, 1939 Ada & James Marsh, 1939 Lilys Ladies Hairdresser, 1950 Askew Family Hairdresser, 1962 R Olding

69 1905 Herbert Jolly, 1905 Katherine Moore, 1914-39 Cain Family Laundry, 1923 Frederick & Mary Parker, 1939 George Biggs, 1939 Ada & John Whyberd, 1950-1965 Corderoy Family Dining Rooms

71 1882-4 Misses Harriet, Georgina & Emma Young Milliners, 1884 H G E & Young Metal Merchant, 1905 Arthur Bush, 1923 Albert Fry, 1923-64 Tyler Family, 1950 Doris & George Blyth-Tancock

No. 71

73 1882-1915 Young Family Chemists, 1923 Frederick Fowler, 1923 George Lounton, 1939 Elsie & John Driscoll, 1951 Michael John Hackett Physician & Surgeon, 1951 Timothy Whites & Taylors Chemists, 1961 The Island Pharmacy

75 1882 Henry Fensom baker, 1883 James Spiller, 1905 Abraham Spinks, 1914 John Weeden Confectioner, 1923 Esther & Henry Whale, 1939 Lucy Aungier, 1950 Amelia & Duncan Fletcher, 1950 William John Rowell Stationer & Post Office, 1964 Edward & Mary Taylor, 1964 Claude H White

77 1882 Bernard Kahn Hairdresser, 1884 Jasper J Sexton Hairdresser, 1905 James Turner, 1923 Edward Newman Robinson, 1923 Emily & Henry Wright, 1939-1964 Summerton Family Boot & Shoe Repairs

79 1883 Richard Bedford, 1905-15 Robert Charles Gaskin Boot Maker, 1923-50 Peterken Family, 1951 Diploma Laundry Ltd, 1964 Brian & Yvonne Phillips

No. 79

81 1882-4 James Bulbeck Fancy Repository, 1905 Charles Richard Gearey, 1914 Arabella Brown Laundry, 1923 John Alexander Yellon, 1939 Annie Hopkins, 1939 Emily Florence Nicholson, 1951 Florence Ogles Dining Rooms

Nos. 79 & 81

83 1882-4 William Thompson Wholesale Boot Maker, 1905 George Roper, 1914 Jarvis Brothers Tobacconists, 1923 Louisa Yellon. 1939-51 Coleman Family Tobacconist, 1950 Maureen & William Higgs

85 1882 Frederick Harry Hairdresser, 1883 Frederick Harrison, 1905 Frederick Goulthorpe, 1905 William Page, 1914-39 Lunn Family, 1923 Nellie Peirson, 1951 Patrick Coleman Cycle Dealer, 1964 Maureen & Wiliam Higgs

Nos. 83 & 85

87 1882-1915 John Thomas Line Corn Chandler, 1923 Isabella Lunn

89 1882-4 Roderick MacDonald Physician & Surgeon, 1905-39 Whyberd Family, 1923 John Thomas Line Jr, 1939 Frederick Lindsay Joyce

91 1882 Beaden Andrews Dairy, 1905 Joseph Rawlings, 1951 Baggs Family Fish Shop, 1939 Julius Goldman, 1950 Ellen & William Hook

93 1882 George Oughton Tobacconists, 1884 Sarah A Gant Tobacconists, 1905-15 Ewings Hairdresser, 1939 Kate Goldman, 1964 Martin John Baggs, 1964 Jack S Harris

WESTFERRY ROAD, WEST SIDE
NOS. 40-58

40 1905-1915 Thomas Chidgey Oilman, 1939 Beryl Alexandra Watson, 1939 Leslie Stratford Watson

42 1882-84 Charles Cox Greengrocer, 1915 Joseph Skidmore Greengrocer, 1939 Constance Catherine Dibdin, 1939 Robert John Dibdin, 1939 Albert Sidney Oldrey, 1939 Mary Hilda Oldrey, 1950 Edward W Jackson, 1950 Margaret R Jackson, 1951 Richard Ellis Richard Ellis & Son Surveyors

44 1905 Eliza Lapwood, 1939 Janet Shanks Buehan, 1939 Norah Freeman, 1939 William Freeman, 1939 Alexander Grant , 1950 Edward H Warn, 1950 Nancy Warn

46 1882-4 William Henesy Dairy & Dining Rooms, 1905-15 Mary Ann Pestall Laundry, 1939 Sidney Bray, 1939 Walter John Lewis Youngs, 1950 Doreen Kitson, 1950 James A Wells, 1964 Roy S Lunn, 1975 Golden Fish Bar Fish & Chip Shop

48 & 50 1882 Wright & Emery Butcher, 1884 Austin Angliss Butcher, 1905 Harry Cooper, 1905-1964 John Faulconbridge & Family (Shipping) Butchers, 1939 Leslie Wakefield, 1964 William Walter Wakefield

52 1882 Sarah Emery Haberdasher, 1884 John W Emery Linen Draper. 1905 Sarah Colverd, 52 1915 Thomas Brown Coffee Rooms, 1939 Ada Anne Chapman, 1939 Joseph Chapman, 1950 Hetty Barrs, 1950 Jack Barrs, 1950 Michael Barrs, 1951 Alfred E Barrs Eel Caterer, 1956 JA Wells, 1958 K Wells, 1960 D Thomas Fishmonger, 1964 David Luther Thomas, 1964 Mabel Doreen Thomas, 1970 P Christou Fishmonger

54A 1915 John Thomas Line Carman, 1958 Spedex Packing Ltd Packing

54 1882-1884 Eliza Layland Retail Ironmongers, 1884 Edwin Fox & Co Galvanizer. 1905-15 James Clarke Ironmonger, 1975 HAT Corderoy

No. 40-54 (Right to Left)

56 1882 Edwin Fox & Co Magnetic Telegraph Wire Works, 1882 Charles Price & Co Oil Merchant, 1905 Alfred Hill, 1915 Levy Bros & Knowles Ltd Sack Makers, 1964 Speedy Metal Castings Ltd

58 1882-4 Simpsons, Payne & Co Manufacturing Chemists, 1905 Henry John Beverley, 1905 David Thomas, 1915 Levy Bros & Knowles Ltd Sack Makers, 1939 Gwendoline Violet Thomas, 1939 Ivy Evelyn Thomas, 1939 Penelope Thomas, 1939 Elizabeth West

Nos. 46-58 (Right to Left)

Nos. 46-58 (Right to Left)

No. 58. From Malabar St.

WESTFERRY ROAD, EAST SIDE
NOS. 95-129

95 1883-1923 Holman Family Baker, 1923 Stanley Harold Sadler, 1939 Margaret & Philip Docwra, 1951-64 Powell’s Bakery

97 1882-4 George Measons Chandlers Shop, 1905 Isabel Pearson, 1905-15 GC Wallis & Co Metal Workers, 1923 Hilda Beatrice Payne, 1923 Alice Louisa Woodlands, 1951 Bedford & Son General Constructional & Engineering Co.

99 1882-4 Robert Cable Potato Dealer & Greengrocer, 1905 Francis Ward, 1914 Herbert Okill Greengrocer, 1923 Joseph William Fryer, 1923 Jennie Skidmore, 1939 Jane & William Skeels, 1950 Peterken Family

101 1882-4 Charles Norman Butcher, 1905-51 Snell Family Butcher, 1923 Eliza Sophia Kelland, 1939 Mary & Walter Williams, 1950 Charles Parmenter, 1956 RE Gasgoyne Butcher, 1964 Barbara & Leonard Surridge

103 1882 Elizabeth Ann Boaz Brazier, 1884 George Boaz Tin Plate Worker, 1914 Donald Buchan Newsagent, 1923 Donald McLeod Buchan Jr & Sr, 1923 Frank Harold Young, 1939 Buchan Family, 1950 Grace Stiff Draper, 1964 Aneurin & Anneliese Thomas

105 1883 Daniel Ferris, 1905 Edith Foster, 1914 Joseph Watson Linen Draper, 1923 Sarah Buchan, 1923 Elizabeth & Joseph Watson

105 & 107 1939 Miriam Carroll, 1939 Alice Priscilla Stratford, 1939 Elizabeth Sarah Watson, 1939 Joseph Watson

107 1882 William George Biner Linen Draper, 1905-15 Joseph Watson Linen Draper

109 1882 William Henry Terry Greengrocer, 1905-15 Samuel Gaskin Boot Repairer, 1923 Jane Gaskin, 1923 Lawrence Thomas Watson. 1935 Joe Green

No. 109

111 1882-4 Frederick Trudgett Grocer & Tea Dealer, 1914-23 Charles Hoad Grocer, 1950-64 William G Rowell Grocers

No. 111

113 1882-95 William Stout Oil & Colour Man, 1905 Alfred Mann, 1914 Harry Lee Chimney Sweep, 1915 Helvetia Leather Co, 1939 Charles & Florence Bynoe, 1951 Kneeshaw & Mansbridge Café, 1959 E Morrell Café

Nos. 95-119. Tooke St in the middle.

Nos. 95-119. Tooke St left, Malabar St right.

115 1882-4 John William Kilsby Pork Butcher, 1914-51 Betz (later changed name to Betts) Family Butcher, 1923 Ruby Mildred Hoad, 1959 Ferry Trading Co Home Furnishings, 1964 Albert & Ivy Clark

No. 115

117 1882 Charles Henry Bilby Boot & Shoe Makers, 1905-15 Frank Thorn Butcher, 1923 Charles William Ingram, 1923 Robert John Tarr, 1939 Rose Milton Brewer, 1939 Mary Ann Coulter, 1950 Ethel G Fairhead, 1951 United Dairies Dairy

119 1882 George Jamieson Confectioner, 1905 Henry Edward Hinge, 1914 Herbert Okill Greengrocer, 1939 Emma & John Sullivan, 1950 Elizabeth & Frederick Crouch Toy Dealers, 1964 Thomas Sinfield

121 1905 Elizabeth & Sarah Stapleton, 1914 Albert Knell Tobacconists, 1923 Thomas Charles Willy, 1939 Archibald & Kate Chatfield, 1950 Vincent D Kneeshaw, Bartholomew Fletcher Grocers, 1958 Thomas Sinfield

123 1882 Charles Henry Milsom Greengrocer, 1905 Harry Titman, 1923 John Fuller, 1923 Alfred Skinner, 1923 Esther & John Styles, 1950 Florence Crathern, 1951 Thomas William Peterken Greengrocers

Next to 125 1882 Emma Limm Schoolmistress, Millwall Congregational Chapel

125 1882 James Harvey Fishmonger, 1905-14 Henry Baggs Fried Fish Shop, 1915 William Clark Fried Fish Shop, 1923 Amelia Clark, 1923 Martin Beaumont Styles, 1951 Phocou Chrics Fried Fish Shop, 1951 John Eustration Fried Fish Shop. 1964 Florence Ellen Crathern

127 1883 William Kelsby, 1895 John George Smith Sack Contractors, Collectors & Lenders, 1905 Henry Edward Hinge, 1923 Leonard Winn, 1939-50 Thomas Family

129 1882-4 Charles Poole Stationer, 1905 James Adrian McComb, 1915-23 John Henry Cooke Daly Physician & Surgeon, 1923 James Thomas Ritchie, 1923 Albert Edward Thomas, 1939-1951 Gangadhar Dinkar Galwankar Physician & Surgeon, 1950 Hannah E Brogan

WESTFERRY ROAD, WEST SIDE
NOS. 60-84

60 1882 David Thomas Durham Dairy, 1883 John Jones, 1905 Christopher Biggs, 1915 William Owen Lloyd Dairy, 1939 Albert Victor Jubilee Rump, 1939 Anne Mary Rump

62-66 1882-4 William Allen Pawnbrokers, 1905-1964 Joseph William Squires Pawnbrokers

Nos. 62-66 (Right to Left)

64 1883 Richard Best

66 1883 James Bristow, 1905 Greenwood Trower

68 1883-1905 John Dove, 1905 John Jones, 1939 Florence Esther Spalding, 1939 William Charles Spalding

70 1883 Henry Jones, 1905 Henry James Butler, 1939 Archibald Gray, 1939 Beatrice Emma Gray, 1939 Frederick Kettering

72 1883 Henry Bond, 1905 Walter Kemp, 1905 James Stones, 1939 Ernest Francis Barton, 1939 Charles Coates Hodges, 1939 Jessie Hodges

74 1883 John White, 1905 Edgar Morris, 1905 Henry Luxon Morris, 1939 Amelia Elizabeth Hedger, 1939 Henry Robert William Hedger, 1939 Alice Louisa Stones, 1939 James Andrew Stones

76 1939 Martha Ellen Bennett, 1939 William George Bennett, 1939 George Henry Chapman, 1939 Phoebe Helen Chapman

78 1883 Henry Morris, 1905 Ann Williams, 1923 Elizabeth Jane Prest, 1923 Matilda Tucker, 1939 Dorothy May Pittock, 1939 George William Pittock, 1939 Annie Preston, 1939 James William Preston

80 1882 John Calver Grocer & Tea Dealer, 1884 John Calver Globe Maker, 1905 Emma Calver, 1915 John Calver Grocer, 1939 Alice Calver, 1939 Emily Calver

No. 80

82 1883-4 Edgar Ellis Chandlers Shop, 1915 Thomas Taylor Chandlers Shop

Nos. 82 & 84 in the background. Charabanc in Janet St outside the Tooke Arms

84A 1905 Frederick Hickingbotham, 1915 Electrical Power Storage Co, 1923 Elizabeth Gathercole, 1923 Elizabeth Gibson

84 1882 Greenwood Aylett & Trower China (Glass & Earthenware) Dealers, 1883-4 George Trower, 1915 Richard George Carter Corn Dealer, 1951 Merediths Ltd Timber Importers

WESTFERRY ROAD, WEST SIDE
NOS. 131-165

131 1884-1914 James Richard (or Richard James) Grocer & Tea Dealer, 1923 Nancy Jane Ritchie, 1939 Henry & May John Birkett

133 1883 James Russell, 1905-23 Louisa Sophia Hiscott Draper, 1923 Minnie Ada Horton, 1939 Doris & Henry Wright, 1883 John Jones

135 1923 William Orwell, 1939 James & Nellie Green

137 1883 John Bridge, 1883 William Smith, 1914 Charles Poole Stationer, 1923 George Coombs, 1923-64 Crane Family Stationer & Newsagent

Nos. 137-141

Nos. 137 and higher

139 1882-4 Henry Williamson Watchmaker, 1905 Bell Dawes, 1923 Alexander & Sarah Heath, 1923 Leonard Victor Stephens, 1939 Charles & Rebecca Byrnes, 1950 & Ernest Tilson

141 1883 John Surry, 1905 Louisa Coward, 1923-1939 Crouch Family, 1923 Arthur Bert Major, 1923 Henry Charles Saunders, 1939 Annie Florence Grace Darcy, 1950 Ogles Family

143 1883 Charles Lock, 1905 Ellen Laurence, 1923 Arthur Home, 1923 Harriet Knell, 1923 Emma Young, 1939 Annie & Thomas Gosling, 1950 James Family, 1964 Marsh Family

145 1905 Martha Baker, 1923-1939 Biscoe Family, 1923 Martha Mary French, 1939 Edward & Harriet, 1950-64 Wilkins Family

147 1883 Ebenezer Bartlett, 1905-23 Spear (or Spears) Family, 1923-50 Jolly Family, 1923 Joseph Sime, 1939 Albert & Ivy Dowsett, 1939 Louisa Beatrice Hiscott, 1950-64 Batten Family

149 1882 Henry Williamson Plumber, 1883 Plumbers & Glaziers, 1905 Lucy Allison, 1914 Thomas Turner Hairdresser, 1923-64 George Baker

151 1882-4 George Ball China (Glass & Earthenware) Dealer, 1905 Richard James, 1956 RB (Exports) Ltd

153 1883-1905 Edward Smith

155 1883 James Russell, 1905 John Dose

157 1883 Joseph Lucas, 1905 Thomas Taylor

159 1883 John Burns, 1905 Edgar Mockett

161 1883 John Francis, 1905 John Dove

161 & 163 1951 Robert Walber Ltd Iron & Steel Stockholders

163 1905 John William Coveley, 1905 Louisa Robinson

Nos. 137-165

165 Tooke Arms Public House, 1882-4 Frederick F Beard, 1905 Henry Bishop, 1914 James Sparham, 1915 Louis Herbert Turner, 1923 Sidney Arnold, 1923 James Cox, 1923 Lily & Richard Miller, 1923 James George Summers, 1939 Thomas Byrne, 1939-44 Darby Family, 1950-1 Williams Family, 1959 LR Moss, 1964 Edith & Thomas Gray, 1964 Sylvial Hillier, 1964 Veral Jackson, 1964 Alice & Benjamin Shone, 1966 VI Jackson

No. 165 (L). Janet St on the right.

WESTFERRY ROAD, WEST SIDE
NOS. 86-108

86 1883 Daniel Granvell Greengrocer, 1905 Caroline Land, 1915 Joseph Skidmore Greengrocer, 1923 Charles William Allen, 1923 Mary Allen, 1923 Louise Skidmore, 1939 John Davies, 1939 Kate Alice Davies, 1939 Emily Jarvis, 1939 John Edward Jarvis, 1950 Clara Moore, 1950 David H Moore, 1950 David R Moore, 1950 John H Moore, 1950 Stanley Moore, 1950 Winifred Moore

88 1883-1923 John Henry Caton, 1923 Albert Edward Emmerig, 1923 Charles Peirson, 1939 Joyce Jane Riley, 1939 William Ernest Riley

90 1883 Richard Wheeler, 1923-1950 Granvell Family

92 1883 James Butler, 1883 William Willingby, 1923 Eleanor Crocker, 1923 John Frederick Crocker, 1923 Eleanor Francis Ponman, 1923 George Siltoe, 1939-1940 Hall Family, 1939-1940 Stanley Family

94 1883 James Pope, 1905 Richard Boots, 1905 Jane Pope, 1923-50 Clowsl(e)y Family, 1923 Philip Ponman, 1939 Annie Howard, 1939 Jane Vipond, 1939 Alice Wray, 1950 Robert Deneareaz, 1950 Alexandria Howard

96 1883 William Thompson, 1923 Florence Maud Mary Caygill, 1923 Mabel Kate Holman, 1923 Albert Edward Payne, 1939 Florence Maud Mary Caygill, 1939 Winifred Frances Caygill, 1939-1950 Howard Family, 1950 Annie Thackray

98 1882 Lewis Rawlings Boot Maker, 1883 Thomas Batt, 1915 George Henry Potter Carman, 1923 Margaret Ewings, 1923 Thomas John Ewings, 1923 William John Ewings, 1923 George Woodlands, 1939 George Francis Brewer, 1939 Jane Elizabeth Brewer, 1950 Jane Brewer

100 1939 Charles Lewis Noakes, 1939 Vera Eilen Noakes, 1882 Lamb, Beal & Son Anchorsmiths & Chain Cable Makers, 1905 Mary Ann Rootkin, 1923 Edward Kelland, 1923 Joseph Skidmore, 1939 Albert Edward Kelland, 1939 Eliza Sophia Kelland

102 1923 Mary Ann Snell, 1923 Elsie May Young, 1939 Edward Britton, 1939 Ethel Britton, 1939 Henry Webb, 1939 Hilda Madeline Webb, 1950 Edward Still, 1950 Norah Still, 1959 L Fairways, 1964 Sheila Hyde, 1964 Edward Still, 1964 Norah Still

104 1882-1915 Samuel Hodge Samuel Hodge & Sons Engineers, 1883 Charles Lewis

106 1882 Alfred Cartwright Shipwrights

108 1882-1884 Walter Ward Cab Proprietor & Job Masters, 1883 Francis Ward

WESTFERRY ROAD, EAST SIDE
NOS. 167-207

167 1883 William Goldsmith, 1905-15 Goodrich Family Oil & Colour Men, 1923 Harriet Donovan, 1923 Amos James Two, 1939 French Family, 1939-50 Turpin Family

No. 167

169 1883 John Morris, 1905 William Henry Lovett, 1923 Annie & James French, 1923 Charles Gilbert, 1923 John Cealy Porter, 1950 Rose Edgson, 1950 Mary Lewin, 1950 Hannah Stennett

171 1882 Maria & William Bennet Wardrobe Dealer, 1923 Ernest & Gertrude Grice, 1923 Alfred James Lancaster, 1923 John Taylor, 1939 Alice & Arthur Mather, 1950 Brynmor & Frances Thomas, 1950 Florence & George Wilkins

173 1882 Hooper & Lewis & Bradshaw Auctioneers & Estate Agent, 1884 Hooper & Lewis Architects, Surveyor, Land Agent, 1905 Robert Bland, 1914 Harry Hooper Surveyors, 1939 Charles & Elizabeth Cushen, 1939 Dorothy & William Noakes, 1939-50 Spooner Family, 1950-64 Henry A Tuttle, 1951 Cushen & Co Surveyors

175 1882 William Burrell Confectioner, 1905 Albert Edward Francis, 1914-23 George Whale Confectioner, 1923 George Henry Lander, 1939 Gertrude Ivy Still, 1950 Ellen Broadis, 1950 Mary M Ricks, 1951 Maxwell Laundries Ltd

177 1882 Robert Gilbert Physician & Surgeon, 1883 Robert Prichard, 1884 MA De Quadros Surgeon, 1915 Richard Ellis & Son Estate Agent, 1923 Walter Thomas Oliver, 1923 Christopher Francis Ridgers, 1939 Alice & George Davison, 1950 Ellen Aldis, 1950 Anderson Family

179 1914 David Harris oilman

183 1882 William Purkis Coffee Rooms, 1905 Elizabeth Ann Holley, 1914 Susan McNeil Coffee Rooms, 1923 William Frederick Waters, 1939 Edward Martin, 1939 Edwin & Etty Mills, 1950 Olive & Roy Cargill, 1958 AV Wethey Provisions, 1960-64 Watts

185 1883 Robert Ettershank, 1905 Charles Morris, 1923 Christopher McNeil, 1923 William Sime, 1939 Gladys & James Lakey, 1950-64 Mather Family

187 1882-4 Charles Walter Baker, 1905-23 George Henry Baldwin Baker, 1923 William James, 1939-64 Hemmings Family, 1951-64 Oldfield Baker

No. 189 (Prefab) and higher.

 

189 1882-4 William Edwin Golding Oil & Colour Men, 1883 Richard Walter, 1905-15 James Parker Hairdresser, 1923 Freda & William Jackman, 1923 Martha Ellen Elizabeth Pownall, 1939 Dorothy & John Askew

Nos. 189-207 (L). Nos. 110-132 (R)

191 1883 James Noons, 1905 William Brown, 1905 Clarence Fish, 1923 Carl Grindrod, 1923 Henry Parker, 1923 Pepper Family, 1939 Frank & Mary Denyer

193 1883 Thomas Parnell, 1905 Charles Roberts, 1923 Thomas Davis, 1923-39 Don Family, 1923-39 Kessell Family, 1939 Arthur Kite, 1939 Ellen & Mary Woods

195 1882-4 Joseph Rosenstock Outfitter, 1923 Selina Durling, 1923-39 Gosling Family, 1939 Elizabeth Keefe

197 1923 Roger McSweeney, 1939 Elizabeth & Mary Hill, 1950 Albert & Lilian Parker. 1964 Florence & Joseph Colombo

199 1884 Henry Williamson Watchmaker, 1905 Lydia Swan, 1923 Charles Prendergast, 1923 Albert Nathan Smith, 1923 Thomas Weston, 1939 Nellie & Redvers Hill, 1950 Alice & James Yellon, 199 William & Winifred Mehegan

201 1883 Thomas Jones, 1905 Robert Stennett, 1923 Charles Higgs, 1923 Thomas Pratt, 1923 Rose Sykes, 1939 David & Mary Hutchins, 1950 Elizabeth & Andrew Kohter, 1964 Margaret McMurray

203 1882 Charles Vickerman Coffee Rooms, 1905 Herman Manhardt, 1923 Mary Magnerson, 1923 William O’Neill, 1939 Mabel & William Quy, 1950-64 Hawkins Family, 1964 Joyce O Passeretti

205 1882-4 Stephen Pettit Grocer & Tea Dealer, 1905-15 George Wethey Grocer, 1923 Robert John Roberts, 1923-39 Wethey Family, 1950 Reginald & Winifred Elstone. 1964 Marjorie & Samuel Morgan, 1965 Newmak Turf Accountants

No. 205

205 & 209 1951 James McCarthy Dining Rooms

207 1883 Gurney Chandlers Shop, 1905-15 William Charles Downs Tobacconists, 1923 Lydia & Stanley Downs, 1923 Mary Mott, 1939 Hitchcock Family, 1951-59 Jarvis Bros Tobacconist, 1964 Herbert & Winifred Hitchcock

WESTFERRY ROAD, WEST SIDE
NOS. 110-132

110 1915 John Bennett Lawes & Co Manufacturing Chemists

112 1882 Millwall Tap Public House, William Henry Smith Beer Retailer, 1884 Edward Gurrey Beer Retailer

116 1882 Timothy & Green Wharfingers, 1905 Thomas Caygill, 1923 George Frederick Betz, 1923 Eliza Ann Tarr

118 1882-1915 Bellamy Burney & Co Ships Tank Makers

120 1882 IIngall, Phillips & Co Wharfingers, 1883 Felix Gill, 1905 James Thurgood, 1905 William Woolley, 1923 Emily William Ingram, 1923 Esther Willy, 1939 Gertrude Butcher, 1939 John Leonard Butcher, 1939 John Mark Butcher, 1951 Willment Willment Bros Ltd Wharfingers, 1962 W Benedict, 1962 Beaulah Benedict Sales, 1967 M Lovell Lovell’s Wharfingers

122 1882-1915 NJ & H Fenner Oil & Lead Works, Paint Manufacturers, 1915 Thomas J Kirton & Co Varnish Manufacturers, 1951-9 Clover Paint & Composition Co Ltd, 122 1968 E. Klein Wholesale Wool & Rags, 1975 T. Cymrie

124 1905 Edward Morgan, 1951-9 Thomas J Kirton & Co Paints & Varnishes

126 1883 John Sydney Limm, 1883 Thomas Raymond, 1905 James Huggins, 1923 William Clark, 1923 Florence Harriett Winn, 1923 James George Winn, 1951-61 T. Wildash & Sons Paint Manufacturers

132 1883 James Rose

WESTFERRY ROAD, EAST SIDE
NOS. 209-233

209 1882-4 Charles Cornwell Coffee Rooms, 1905 Walter Mahoney, 1914 Mrs Harriet Russell Coffee Rooms, 1923 John Furness, 1923 George Hale, 1923 Harriett Russell, 1939 Thomas Cox, 1939 Hemmings Family, 1950-59 McCarthy Restaurant, 1960-64 Mrs A Cavazzini, 1964 Maria Carini

211 1883 George William Swan, 1905 James Knowles, 1923 Lucy Roberts, 1923 Smith Family, 1923 Robert John Charles Watson, 1939 Smith Family

213 1882 Henry Baker Coffee Rooms, 1905 Rosina Baker, 1923 Herbert George Chapman, 1923 James William Garrett, 1939 Tilson Family

215 1883 William Ottey, 1905 Frederick Tucker, 1923 John William Dryer, 1923 Martha Evans, 1923 Ethel Spaul, 1939 Elizabeth & John Dryer

217 1905 Samuel Wardley, 1923 James & Joseph Jarvis, 1923 Mabel Unswurth, 1939 James Family

219 1882 Lester Lester & Perkins Shipwrights, 1905 James McCollin, 1914 Coubro & Scrutton Sailmakers, 1923 William Gove, 1960 JA Porter, 1964 Victor Schoolling Quantity Surveyor, 1972 TR Motors Spares, 1978 T Collins Scrap Merchant

221 1882 Jacob Allen Jacob Allen & Co Engineers, 1915 Millwall Cinema, 1967 L Benvoys Warehousing & Haulage, 1974 Progressive Quilting Co Ltd, 1976 Progressive Bonding Ltd Foam Laminators

223A 1939 David & Mary Hutchins, 1964 Joan & Leonard Surridge

223 1882-1959 George Robinson Bolt & Nut Manufacturers, 1923 Alfred George, 1923 William Edmund Timothy Pentecost

Nos. 223 and higher

225 1939 John & Mary Wilcox, 1950 Florence & Patrick Connolly, 1950 Eileen & John Wooff, 1964 Florence & Patrick Connolly, 1975 S Attridge Welding, 1976 Olympic Furniture Co, 1978 M Rahman, 1978 Trans T Ltd Haulage

225 & 227 1951 Poplar Borough Council Depot

227A 1905 George Read, 1923 Alice & Eliza Spears, 1923 Arthur George Travers, 1939 Francis & Margaret Gilbertson, Alice & Percival Maris, 1950 Charles & Janet Perkins, 1950 Edward & Mary Waterson, 1965 R Rankin, 1966 Sutherlands of Peterhead Ltd Road Hauliers, 1967 John Rhind, 1975 MD Evans, 1984 K Conlin

227B 1905 Ernest Bailey, 1905-39 Mark Middleditch Carman, 1923-39 Emma Middleditch, 1923 Esther & William Quy, 1939 Hannah & William Quy, 1950 Doreen & Edward Poulton, 1950-6 Rice Family, 1964 Rogers Family

227C 1905 George Middleditch, 1923-64 Davison Family, 1975 FJ Thomas

Nos. 227A-227C

227 1882-4 Henry Cumberland Manufacturing Chemists, 1923 Thomas Farrow, 1975 Gilbert & Searle Haulage Contractors, 1975 S & S Trunk, 1976 Romex Services Shot Blast Spraying

227 & 229 1951 Davisons (Millwall) Ltd Road Transport Contractors

229A 1883 John Madden

229 1882-4 George Thomas Allen Veterinary Surgeons & Farriers, 1914 James Davison Farrier, 1914 Mary Willie Coffee Rooms, 1914-5 Poplar Board of Works Depot, 1915 James Davison Farrier, 1923 Alfred Henry Brown, 1923 Jane Wilson

231 1882-3 George Howcraft (or Houghcroft) Dairy, 1884 Henry G Shopland Coffee Rooms, 1905 William Alfred Bulman, 1914 James Mahoney Coffee Rooms, 1914 Ezra Watkins Grocer, 1915 Charles John May Coffee Rooms, 1923 Joseph Watson, 1939 Hilda & Thomas Holloway

233 1882-4 Millwall Docks Hotel & Tavern, Hjalmar Paridon Wetterlund, 1914 Edward Middleton, 1915 Ernest Brangwin Abbey, 1915 Ethel Matilda Long, 1923 Charles George Lefevre, 1923 David & Ethel Ross, 1923 Ethel Matilda Ross, 1939 Cyril Edwin James Bourchier, 1939 Emily Henderson, 1939 Elizabeth Humphrey, 1939 Olive Sophie Nayler, 1939 Mary O’Grady, 1951 Dennis MacGinniss Refreshment Bar, 1983 Island Minicar Service

No. 233

 

The Isle of Dogs Progressive Club

The 19th century Isle of Dogs was not only notable for its innovating and world-class industries and docks, it was also a grey and miserable place to live for most people. There were no leisure facilities (if you discount the pubs), no public green spaces, no markets, no theatres or bookshops, poor health care and little in the way of local authority investment in infrastructure or public hygiene.

Towards the end of the 19th century, however, there was a rising call for political representation of the working classes, and trades unions began to take form.  It was during this period that British labour groups began to make headway in local government. In 1889, a “Progressive” party composed of Fabians and British Liberals took control of London County Council at the first elections held there. This was the first council to have substantial socialist influence, and carried out a programme of municipalisation, while constructing some of the first social housing in England and increasing public spending on services such as the Fire Brigade. In addition, the number of parks and public baths were increased, London’s sewerage system was improved, roads were widened and paved, and the Blackwall, Rotherhithe and Greenwich Foot Tunnels were realized.

One of these groups was the Isle of Dogs Progressive Club, established as a friendly society in 1894, and often stated as instrumental in the establishment of the Labour Party in Poplar, in part due to its support for Will Crook and other politicians.

In case you don’t know who Will Crooks was, he:

….became the first Labour Mayor of Poplar in 1900. Born in Shirbutt Street in 1852, he was the third son of a ship’s stoker, George Crooks, who lost his arm in an accident when Crooks was three years old. His mother, Caroline Elizabeth (née Coates), then supported the family by working as a seamstress, but money was scarce and five of the children [including Will] were temporarily forced to enter Poplar workhouse in 1861. This experience had a profound influence on Crooks’ views on poverty.
– Wikipedia

And a friendly society (sometimes called a mutual society, benevolent society, or fraternal organization):

…is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose. Before modern insurance, and the welfare state, friendly societies provided financial and social services to individuals, often according to their religious, political, or trade affiliations.

There is surprisingly little information to be found about the Isle of Dogs Progressive Club, but I did manage to find some of their paperwork in the National Archives: their rules, and various lists and notes.

Two pages later, the names of the founding applicants are listed.

The original address on the application is that of Charles Henry Oaks: 6 Ferry Street, a couple of doors from the corner of Ferry Street and Westferry Road. However, this was changed to 72 Stebondale Street, which was to be the location of many progressive lectures, including that by a Dr. H. Rundlett on Sunday 22nd November 1895:

The rules of the club were very typical of other friendly societies, for example:

A few years later the society moved into a purpose-built building at the rear of 17 Pier Street.

This wonderful photo, courtesy of Jan Hill, shows the laying of the foundation stone for the new club in 1897. Jan’s grandfather, John Lawrence Price, is to the left of the photo wearing a whitish coloured cap.

Will Crooks’ biography refers to a visit to the new club:

He hurried away from his college by the dock gates one Sunday morning to keep an appointment to address the Isle of Dogs Progressive Club. He found less than a dozen men in the lecture hall, while the bar and billiard room were crowded. He walked out without a word and sat down in the club garden.

“This is all right, I’m enjoying myself perfectly here,” he told the bewildered secretary. “If they prefer to play at billiards and to drink beer, let them. I am quite content to enjoy this garden.”

In ten minutes not a man remained in the bar of billiard room. The lecture hall was filled.

“We deserve your reproach, Will,” shouted someone from the audience when at last he stepped on to the platform.

In 1901, an offshoot of the Isle of Dogs Progressive Club, the Millwall Working Men’s Club and Institute, was opened in Cuba Street by Sydney Buxton, the MP for Poplar.

Although the fact was kept quiet at the time, the whole cost of about £6,000 [for the construction of the Cuba Street club] had been met by Stansfeld & Company Ltd of the Swan Brewery, Fulham, who let the building to the club on a succession of short leases. Stansfelds owned pubs throughout London, but none in Poplar. Brewers’ involvement in working men’s clubs was then a controversial issue. The Working Men’s Club and Institute Union had long abandoned its early opposition to alcohol in clubs, but was opposed to any form of tie with brewers. The Isle of Dogs Progressive Club was briefly expelled from the Union in 1901 because of its links with Stansfelds.
– Survey of London

This was the first sign that not all members were as kosher as they ought to be. While the club continued as a radical and educational institution (along with a good billiards hall and a cheap bar, much to the dismay of temperance societies), the club secretary, Alfred Finden, was accused in 1908 of fraud and conspiracy in his role as a one of the Guardians of the Poplar Board of Works. A witness for the prosecution stated in the trial:

After a time Poole took the license or became the manager of a public-house; he had a bacon shop at East Ham. I have been there with Peacock in my trap and bought a lot of things, about a sovereign’s worth, it may have been more. It was to give Charlie a turn. The first public-house Charlie had, I think, is called the “Millwall Dock Tavern”; he was managing the house for the owner, Mr. Wetton. I have been there with Jack and Albert and Mr. Finden. A lot of other contractors have been down there. J. R. Smith has never been down there with me. We used to have refreshments there. I have been there once a week, two or three times, or it might be four times.

I got to know Poole well before he went into the “Dock House.” I have been in other parts of his house than the bar. I have seen none of the defendants in the private part of the house. I went up to the private bar and Charlie would just give me a nod and I would go upstairs to the billiard-room. When I used to meet some of the defendants there I spent a tidy bit, all according to what time I stopped. I daresay I have spent some half a sovereign upwards to about £3; perhaps £210s. or £3; it was all according to who was there. Sometimes Charlie would have a lot of his customers there, and Charlie would say, “Make a fuss with the boys, Jim”—of course I would. I used to meet a lot of contractors there as well. I have treated them as well.

I think the next one I got to know after Poole was. Finden; he was secretary, I think, of the Isle of Dogs Liberal, Radical, and Progressive Club. He had an office at the club and had a small house round the corner. I was introduced to him by Peacock similar to the same way as he introduced me to all of them. Peacock was not a member of the club, nor was I, but Finden being secretary could take us in and treat us, but we could not pay—not then. I gave Finden the money in the office so that he could pay. That was not when I first knew him, not till I got to know him well. Peacock suggested that I should be made a member of the club. I said, “I cannot be a member of a Liberal club, I am a Conservative; I belong to a club in Mile End.” He said, “It does not matter, you have got to be a Liberal down there.” I became a member and I had a book or acard or something—the rules. I used to go down there very frequently with the exception of Sundays. I spent a lot of money there on the club members at Mr. Finden’s suggestion—they drank very heavy indeed.

Afterwards I met Charlie in the “Dock House,” and me and him went into the lavatory and there I gave him £20 in gold. This was a few days after the first conversation. I met him by appointment there and I met Albert. I asked him if he was satisfied with the £20 and he said, “Yes, that will do me very nicely, I wish I had known you years ago. I also gave money to Mr. Finden out of this account; it may have been some time after—a week or two later. I saw him about that at his house. I had already been introduced to Finden by Peacock, and he knew I was willing to pay money. Finden asked me for money. I have given him £5, £10, or £15 at a time. He had £5 the first time; he has had £10, he has had £30. He has had a lot more than £30 in all.

After I joined the Liberal Progressive Club Finden spoke to me about doing it up, painting or papering or something. Mr. Finden gave me an order for it. I charged £10 and another 25s. for the billiard room. I sent in the bill receipted, and made it a present to the members of the club through Finden because Finden said it would do him a bit of good he being the secretary of the club, and the club members would think a lot of it. Then the members of the club arranged to get up a collection to present me with a silver cigar case. My wife went with me on the night of the presentation. There was a good deal of conviviality. I called for drinks. I think the first order was 40 pots of bitter. Then I think there were three bottles of whisky and two boxes of 50 cigars; I think they were twopenny ones. I remember Finden borrowing sums of money from me. He came up to my place in Grafton Street and said he had got dismissed from this club.

All the accused were found guilty. In addition to their sentences, they were banned from public office for seven years.

December 1908

For a full report of the trial, see: https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?path=sessionsPapers%2F19081110.xml

Possibly as a consequence of this scandal, the club was wound up a couple of years later.

The final list of members is interesting, especially as there are so many familiar Island family names: Bowles, Smith, Elderley, Anderson, Coppin, Bowen, Woodard, Budden, Sprackling, Wright, Earwaker, Hicks, King, Soper and more.

When I first came across mention of the Isle of Dogs Progressive Club, I wanted to write an article about its characters and its influence on local politics. I’ve not managed to do that – I just haven’t been able to find any information, unfortunately. Maybe another time.

Central Granary

The Central Granary on the west side of Millwall Inner Dock was huge, but – oddly – I didn’t really notice it until it was gone. It’s not as if it was hidden away; you could clearly see it from many places on the Island, and you walked in its shadow if you crossed the Glass Bridge (other varieties of Glengall Bridge were available to older generations). Perhaps it was because I was a kid, and was so used to all the industrial buildings around me that there was nothing exceptional about it in my young mind?

1966 (estimated)

But now, if I look at the photos of the building, and read about its design and capacity, I am impressed and humbled by this giant of a complex just a few hundred yards away from our home.

In 1900, the Millwall Dock Company (this was a few years before the creation of the PLA with responsibility for all docks in the Port of London) invited various engineers and architects to submit designs for a new granary; one which would have a large capacity and a fast grain handling capacity.

It was constructed with fire-proof walls and floors, and the grain elevators were external to the building. This latter requirement was also to reduce the risk of fire and “dust explosion”:

A dust explosion is the rapid combustion of fine particles suspended in the air, often but not always in an enclosed location. Dust explosions can occur where any dispersed powdered combustible material is present in high enough concentrations in the atmosphere or other oxidizing gaseous medium such as oxygen.

Dust explosions are a frequent hazard in coal mines, grain elevators, flour mills and silos (such as those of McDougall,close to the granary) and other industrial environments. As recently as July 2015, a dust explosion in the Bosley Wood flour mill in Macclesfield killed 4.

On the other hand, they are also commonly used by special effects artists, filmmakers, and pyrotechnicians, given their spectacular appearance and ability to be safely contained under certain carefully controlled conditions. As a kid, I’d heard of this effect, perhaps having heard of it from someone’s dad, and was sometimes to be found throwing bags of flour in the air, in the forlorn hope it would explode. Meanwhile, back in 1900….

Dock engineer Frederick Duckham (yes, him again, mentioned in a previous post) designed a novel pneumatic grain elevator for the granary; novel in that it used a pneumatic suction effect, grain was sucked out of ships’ holds instead of the usual method of scooping with cranes. This revolutionized the speed of unloading – doubling it to a capacity of 550 tons per hour. A local firm, the East Ferry Road Engineering Works (who used to be diagonally opposite the George pub) built the pneumatic machinery.

The granary was first used in 1903. Some facts (from Survey of Britain):

The building itself was a shell of three million bricks with 7½ acres of floor space. It was 259ft by 103ft and 95ft tall in eleven storeys, ten for storage in five firewalled divisions, with delivery on the ground floor.

Year unknown

Each steel-plated pneumatic grain elevator tower comprised a 20ft-tall vacuum chamber under which patent airlocks transferred the grain to weighing hoppers. There were two boilers driving the vertical compound steam engine and four pairs of air-exhauster pumps. Girder bridges carried conveyor belts from the dolphin to the quay.

c1920

Floating elevator.

At the top of the elevators the grain was shot off on to conveyors running under the steel-framed and corrugated-iron-clad roof. Travelling trippers then threw it into 10in.— diameter cast-iron delivery pipes (in 1,980 storey-height sections) that fed the 50 housing sections of the building, where bulking boards separated different consignments.

c1920

The delivery pipes had sleeves at the top of each storey, dropped to admit grain, and floor-level sliding doors, operated by remote levers, for the discharge of grain to sacks on the ground floor, for delivery to barge, road or rail.

The south end elevator towers were cased with corrugated iron below a fifth-floor conveyor gantry to form auxiliary storage garners, to prevent delay if grain could not pass to the top. The steel transit silos — supplied by the local firm of Samuel Cutler & Sons — each had ten cells, served by bucket elevators and delivery chutes, to hold grain for short-term storage and transmission to railway wagons passing beneath. The steel-framed and corrugated-sheet roof over the quay was 311ft long with a 56ft span.

Western Morning News, 10th February 1948.

The Central Granary remained the principal granary in the Port and a vital part of London’s grain trade until 1969, when the opening of the Tilbury Grain Terminal made it redundant. It was demolished in 1970.

I’ve merged the Central Granary with the modern building on the spot. It doesn’t look that huge at all any more.