A woman in a cardigan and long flowing skirt wakes East London dockers.
John Topham, Limehouse, 1927 took this famous photo of Mrs Mary Smith, then a well-known woman, who was working as a knocker up. This meant that she earned money by getting industrial workers up on time.
The photograph is one of many from the early 20th-century and is featured in a new exhibition that examines the effects of the Port of London upon the UK’s capital.
Another image from the London: Port City collection, which opens today at Museum of London Docklands, and runs until May 8th, 2022, shows a little girl holding a lizard that has just arrived in a shipment of reptiles to Tilbury Docks in Essex.
London’s network was the busiest worldwide after the first one was built in 18th century. They began to decline as the shipping industry adopted containerisation.
Photos from West India Dock, Royal Albert Dock, and London Docks are also featured in the exhibit.
A third photo, taken in 1983, shows a man wearing smart clothes and a tie proudly holding up two enormous sponges of the Mediterranean. He is selling the Cutler Street warehouse of Port of London Authority, (PLA).
In 1930, Alfred Yates, a diver from South-east London’s Surrey Docks, is seen getting ready to put on his helmet before going underwater to repair.
A woman in a cardigan and long flowing skirt wakes East London dockers while her hand is on her hip. John Topham, Limehouse, 1927 captured the famous image of Mrs Mary Smith, then a well-known woman, carrying out her job as a knocker top. This was someone who earned money by waking up industrial workers in order to get them to their shifts in time.
One of the images in London: Port City is also a photograph of a little girl who is holding a lizard. The reptiles arrived in a shipment to Tilbury Docks, Essex. The image was taken in 1915 and 1925.
A third photo was taken in 1933 and shows a man wearing a smart shirt with a tie holding two huge sponges from the Mediterranean. He is trying to sell them at an auction at Cutler Street warehouses in central London. They were built by the East India Company and held goods that had arrived at London’s docks
In 1930, Alfred Yates, a diver from South-east London’s Surrey Docks, is seen getting ready to put on his helmet before diving underwater to repair the damage.
Claire Dobbin is curator at Museum of London. She said that the port has had a profound influence on London physically, economically, and culturally.
‘With this exhibition we wanted to bring the significance, scale and dynamism of port operations – past and present – to life, as well the experiences of those working on the docks.’
The Museum of London Docklands’ original base was part of the West India Docks, London’s first enclosed dock system. It was bustling with activity from 1802 to its closure in 1980.
Although it was once full of exotic imports from around the world, the site now contains treasures from the archives of Port of London Authority.
Six women police officers are seen smiling brightly while patrolling East London’s Royal Docks in a photo that shows how times have changed. The image is one of many that were taken in the early 20th Century and are featured in a new exhibition that examines the effects of the Port of London. The image was taken in 1954 by the women who were first recruited to the Port of London Police Force.
The Pool of London, circa 1927 – This striking shot of the busy Pool gives a sense of what the port looked like in its glory days. Tower Bridge can be seen in the background, as a ship passes under it.
These women were seen packing tea samples at Whitechapel’s Commercial Road Goods Depot between 1930 and 1945. The warehouse was built by the London Tilbury & Southend Railway (LTSR) to cater for goods arriving at Tilbury Docks
A sample of tobacco is being examined by a customs official at Royal Victoria Dock in East London. This is the largest of the three Royal Docks. This photo was taken in 1930 and 1940.
A live tracker will be able to show the movements of vessels along the River Thames.
Despite the decline in its old docks the PLA still handles more cargo than 50million tonnes annually and welcomes more than 12,000 ships from all over the world.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to enjoy the aromas of different types of cargo that used to arrive in port. The shipments that were processed included those of wine, tea, and tobacco.
Londoners and tourists will be able to see a helmet from the 1920s that shows the PLA diver’s work today as compared to what they did 100 years ago.
Visitors will also be able view original plans for the docks and a document commemorating Robert Milligan’s unveiling of this statue to slave owner and merchant Robert Milligan.
The statue, which was erected at West India Docks 1813, was removed by Black Lives Matter protesters last year.
Claire Dobbin is curator at Museum of London. She said: “The port has had an enormous impact on London – physically and economically as well as culturally.
A horse-drawn wagon loaded with goods is seen being driven to King George V Dock in 1942. This dock was opened by the monarch in 1921. It was the third and last Royal Dock to be built. Covering 65acres of land, it cost £4.5million to be built
Royal Albert Dock, 1955: Trucks heading to Mombasa in Kenya are seen being loaded at Royal Albert Dock. The dock was built in 1880. However, the dock experienced a steady decline after the adoption of containerisation by the shipping industry.
An aerial photo shows hundreds of barrels of wine at the gauging ground at London Docks in 1920. The docks were opened in 1805 and ended up holding a monopoly over the wine trade. The area was, however, largely developed in the 1970s.
One worker is seen trying to move floating timber in London’s docks during the 1930s. This image was taken in 1930, when London was still a major industrial center. The various docks processed millions of tonnes of goods each year.
This 1948 photograph shows North Quay at West India Dock. Workers watch as a crane lifts a pallet full of potatoes off a ship. Another huge ship can be seen at the dockside, behind them
‘With this exhibition we wanted to bring the significance, scale and dynamism of port operations – past and present – to life, as well the experiences of those working on the docks.’
She said, “Visitors can either step back in history to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the docks or go behind the scenes to see current PLA activities, which continue their vital role in our daily lives.”
Robin Mortimer is the chief executive of PLA. He said that the brilliant exhibition was a timely look at the role the River Thames played in the growth of the economy of London, and the country, through good and bad times.
It comes as London recently reclaimed the top spot in the UK’s largest port.
‘The exhibition shows that there is a huge amount to celebrate in the life of the Thames, but also rightly does not shy away from the uncomfortable parts of its history – in particular showing the port’s role in the slave trade.’
In 1934, passengers are seen boarding a vessel at Tilbury docks. They are dressed in smart clothes and carry hand luggage. Tilbury’s docks joined the PLA in 1909 and have undergone continuous expansion and improvement since then. The port handles container ship arrivals.