|
Source: |
The Diary of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen, 2004 and G Weige’s Almanac and London Tide Table for 1907, Steamship Tavern, 24 Naval Row, Blackwall |
|
288 |
Fleet
formed to protect coast and river from Scandinavian pirates. |
|
412 |
Danish
and German pirates gave trouble in the river. |
|
878 |
King
Alfred's Fleet fought the Danes |
|
894 |
Second Invasion
of the Danes, who wintered with 330 ships in the River Lea. |
|
922 |
Southwark
citizens equipped a great fleet, and drove off Danish invaders. |
|
930 |
Aethalstan
instituted tolls on Billingsgate fishing boats. |
|
979 |
German traders
settled at Billingsgate: the aliens driven out in 1493. |
|
994 |
First
London Bridge (timber) built. |
|
1077 |
Tower of
London commenced. |
|
1091 |
London
Bridge swept away by whirlwind. |
|
1135 |
Saxon London
(including the bridge) destroyed by fire. |
|
1177 |
First
stone London Bridge commenced: 20 arches, opened 33 years later. |
|
1182 |
Bermondsey
Abbey (St Saviour's) founded. |
|
1212 |
Great
Fire at Southwark - 3000 deaths. |
|
1252 |
Van Tromp
(Dutch Admiral) defeated at the mouth of the Thames. |
|
1343 |
Pirates
of Southwark gave trouble. |
|
1346 |
London's
fleet of 25 ships and 662 men left the Thames for siege of Calais. |
|
1357 |
Edward the
King brought King John of France as prisoner to Southwark. |
|
1378 |
Lord
Mayor Philpot's defence fleet returned to river with 15 Spanish ships as
prizes. |
|
1397 |
Enemy's
ships at mouth of Thames. Four
aldermen, each with 100 men-at-arms and archers, appointed as river
defenders. |
|
1438 |
Pirates
executed at Wapping Dock. |
|
1450 |
All night
battle on London Bridge - Men of Kent v Men of London. |
|
1455 |
17,000
men of Kent storm southern gates of London Bridge; artillery at Tower used by
the defenders. Southern gates and
three score houses on bridge destroyed - bridge held. |
|
1477 |
German
merchants granted a lease of Dowgate Ferry - annual rent £70. |
|
1486 |
Queen
Dowager Elizabeth imprisoned in a convent at Bermondsey. |
|
1493 |
Londoners
drove foreign traders from the steel yard (Thames Street). |
|
1513 |
Forts
built on banks of river. |
|
1517 |
London
owned five vessels, measuring over 120 tons; nearly all foreign trade carried
in foreign vessels. |
|
1554 |
Chartered
trading companies replace privileged guilds of foreigners on riverside
markets. |
|
1559 |
Twenty-two
"legal quays" appointed on north side of the river. |
|
1582 |
Water
drawn from river at London, until 1779. |
|
1585 |
Mariners hanged
at Wapping for offences committed at sea. |
|
1598 |
A
gruesome record: Over 30 traitors' heads exhibited on London Bridge. |
|
1599 |
East
India Company (with 4 ships) granted a charter; foundation of Indian Empire. |
|
1624 |
Thames made
navigable to Oxford. |
|
1652 |
Dutch
navy sailed up the Thames after defeating the British navy. |
|
1653 |
England
defeated Dutch and captured 11 men of war and 30 merchantmen. |
|
1666 |
Great
Fire of London. |
|
1667 |
Sheerness
captured by Dutch fleet. |
|
1683 |
Frost
fair held on Thames; also in 1711 and 1814 |
|
1685 |
Discovery
made that the river had lost nearly four feet in depth in four years. |
|
1691 |
York
Buildings Waterworks established. |
|
1698 |
Peter the
Great worked at Deptford as a shipbuilder. |
|
1699 |
Billingsgate
made an "open market" - present building opened 1876. |
|
1700 |
Howland
(now Greenland) Dock opened - first public wet dock |
|
1703 |
Great
storm on the Thames - 500 wharves, 300 ships and boats, and 100 barges
destroyed. |
|
1715 |
Great
fire on the Thames - 120 hoses burned, 50 persons perished. |
|
1760 |
Blackfriars
(originally Pitt's Bridge) commenced: finished 1769 |
|
1765 |
Great
fire at Rotherhithe: 206 homes burnt. |
|
1768 |
Frost stopped
navigation of Thames between London and Gravesend. |
|
1775 |
First
regatta held on the Thames. |
|
1776 |
Transportation
sentence changed to hard labour in raising sand soil and gravel from shoals
in the river. |
|
1780 |
Blackfriars
Bridge anti-tolls riots - tolls Weekdays 1/2d, Sundays 1d; Government
abolished tolls 1785. |
|
1789 |
Thames
Pirates ("Night Plunderers", "Light Horsemen",
"Heavy Horsemen", etc) active - spoil amounted to half a million
sterling. |
|
1790 |
Brunswick
Dock, Blackwall opened |
|
1791 |
Census
figures - 37,000 persons employed on river "of whom 11,000 known to be
thieves and receivers". |
|
1792 |
River
traffic congested - voyage up to Blackwall Point took 3 to 4 days. West India merchants subscribed £800,000
for Dock on Isle of Dogs. |
|
1794 |
630
houses burned down on Ratcliff Highway. |
|
1798 |
Thames
Police originally established.
Present force formed 1839. |
|
1799 |
Act of
Parliament authorised construction of West India Docks. Government paid £1,600,000 compensation to
lightermen, wharfingers, watermen, etc. |
|
1801 |
First
steamer plied on the Thames. |
|
1802 |
West
India Docks opened: guard houses erected for soldiers to ward off attacks of
river pirates. |
|
1805 |
London Docks
opened |
|
1806 |
East
India Docks opened |
|
1814 |
Third
Custom House destroyed by fire.
Present building commenced, finished 1817. Cost with site - £200,000. |
|
1814 |
Record
low ebb tide. Children and women
waded over the river. |
|
1825 |
First London
Steamer "Margery" ran to Gravesend. |
|
1825 |
Present
London Bridge commenced - finished 1831. |
|
1828 |
St
Katherine's Dock opened |
|
1831 |
Menagerie
removed from Tower to Zoo. |
|
1842 |
Live
Whale (16 feet long) caught at Deptford. |
|
1842 |
Thames
Tunnel (began by Brunel 1825) opened |
|
1855 |
Royal
Victoria Dock opened |
|
1858 |
"Great
Eastern" launched at Millwall (largest merchant ship - 27,384 tons) |
|
1860 |
Westminster
Bridge opened. |
|
1861 |
Great
fire at London Bridge, June 22nd. £2,000,000
damage. |
|
1868 |
Millwall
Docks opened |
|
1869 |
Tower subway
commenced, opened 1870. (Now closed) |
|
1869 |
Albert
Embankment (South) opened |
|
1874 |
Chelsea
Embankment (North) opened |
|
1878 |
Princess
Alice disaster - 650 deaths. |
|
1878 |
Cleopatra's
needle erected on Thames Embankment (originally built 1500 BC) |
|
1880 |
Royal
Albert Docks opened |
|
1886 |
Tower
Bridge commenced - opened 1894 |
|
1886 |
Tilbury
Docks opened |
|
1889 |
North Woolwich
Gardens given to London by Duke of Westminster. |
|
1889 |
Great
strike of dock labourers. |
|
1889 |
Great
dock labourers' strike |
|
1889 |
Woolwich
Free Ferry opened |
|
1890 |
Four
whales found in the river at Chelsea. |
|
1897 |
Blackwall
Tunnel opened |
|
1900 |
Nelson
relics stolen from Greenwich Museum - some recovered 1904. |
|
1902 |
Greenwich
(to Isle of Dogs) tunnel opened |
|
1904 |
King
Edward VII visited Woolwich. |
|
1906 |
Vauxhall
Bridge opened |
|
1908 |
Rotherhithe
(to Shadwell) Tunnel opened |
|
1909 |
Port of
London Authority takes over the five dock systems |
|
1911 |
HMS
"Thunderer" launched (largest warship - 22,500 tons) |
|
1912 |
Woolwich
Tunnel (north to south) opened |
|
1921 |
King
George V Dock opened |
|
1930 |
Tilbury
Landing Stage opened |
|
1939 |
MS
"Mauretania" (37,000 tons) berths at Royal Docks at North Woolwich |
|
1945 |
New
Waterloo Bridge opened |
|
1951 |
Festival
of Britain |
|
1953 |
Coronation
River Pageant |
|
1967 |
Dartford -
Purfleet Tunnel opened (second tunnel opened 1980) |
|
1967 |
Greenwich
- Poplar Tunnel opened |
|
1973 |
New
London Bridge opened |
|
1984 |
Thames
Barrier opened by H M The Queen |
|
1991 |
Queen
Elizabeth II Bridge opened at Dartford |
|
1995 |
Celebrations
for 50th anniversary of D-Day and VJ-Day |
|
2000 |
Queen
Elizabeth Pier opened |
|
2000 |
Millennium
Race |
|
2000 |
Waterloo
Pier (for London Eye) opened |
|
2002 |
Millennium
Foot Bridge opened (again) |
|
2002 |
Golden
Jubilee Bridges opened |
|
2003 |
New
Millbank Pier |
|
2003 |
New
Woolwich Arsenal Pier |
|
2003 |
New
Chiswick Trust Pier |
Archive Home Page Company History Company Dates Thames Dates