- Wilson's lorries
- The Dutch Motor Coaster
- Woolwich Arsenal and railways
- GLIAS Recording Group report
- Museum matters
- Pedestrian Subways
- Lighthouses
- Trollope's interesting chimney
- Quarrying on Herm Channel Island
- Greenwich Railway Gasworks
- 180news.pdf
Stephen Croad's piece (GLIAS Newsletter December 1998) raised some interesting points. Regarding adults collecting 'Dinky toys' this is a popular activity. In the vicinity of Victoria Street, Derby, a shop well-stocked with Supertoy type lorries and buses was displaying a large notice stressing that they did not sell toys but models for collectors (just in case any were bought for children by mistake).
Do you remember the Wilson's Lorry craze of the late 1940s? About 1948 Wilson's lorry kits took hold of some people. The materials were largely balsa wood, card and embossed and colour-printed (aluminium?) foil and you glued them together with balsa cement, fairly novel at the time as it was so quick drying. The lorry cabs looked excellent when assembled and one could make small sacks from old white handkerchiefs to go on the back of say flourmill lorries which looked very fine too.
People displayed them in glass-fronted bookcases. They were probably 4mm scale, compatible with 00 gauge model railways anyway. The sort of people who made Wilson's lorries had other hobbies such as making glove puppets and doing marquetry. The Wilson lorry kits were reminiscent of the 00 gauge model railway Peco private owner wagon kits which were marketed for many years and may still be available.
Do any GLIAS members remember ever having seen a Wilson's lorry kit? They were sold by the type of shop which sold model aeroplane kits (eg Keil Kraft) which sold in large numbers. These kits were balsa wood and tissue which you doped * and made flying models. All this home activity was before television was cheap enough to be widely available and this was what went on during winter evenings. No plastic kits then. Bob Carr
* Regarding dope there was very little risk of confusion with narcotics 50 years ago although really it was a kind of glue inhaling. Dope was mostly cellulose which had a strong smell of peardrops, overpowering with the windows closed. Balsa cement had a similar strong smell. Probably it is now illegal to sell this kind of thing, at least to minors.
A successful application of the diesel engine, about the time of the First World War, was to the propulsion of the small Dutch motor coaster. At this time the Netherlands were neutral and these small ships were able to trade with both sides in the great conflict which from the start gave them an economic advantage over the coal-fired coasters of Britain.
However in a small ship, say about 150 feet in length, not requiring space for a boiler or bulky coal bunkers was a considerable boon, even more so when we consider that no-one was needed, 24 hours a day even if part time, to stoke coal.
That also meant no cabins to accommodate stoking crew or the need to feed them. Thus the Dutch were able to operate small ships with considerable cargo capacity economically with a tiny crew and the British coastal shipping industry suffered as a result.
In the lean years between the wars the Dutch motor coaster became ubiquitous and these efficient and attractive vessels, usually with the hull painted grey, were to be seen on the Thames in large numbers. With masts that could be lowered they could pass up-river beyond London Bridge and penetrate inland as far as Brentford or Isleworth. Of course on the other side of the North Sea they could do likewise on the large European rivers and canals. This situation persisted until the 1970s or so when the even more efficient German diesel-engined coaster began to make inroads on the Dutch domain. Bob Carr
It is difficult to fully appreciate the great extent of Woolwich Arsenal in south-east London. Now there is little left but 50 years ago the site was served internally by over 400 miles of standard-gauge railway track and a steam hauled standard-gauge passenger service was operated about the works to transport employees to their place of work.
A four-road locomotive shed housed the Arsenal's own steam locomotives and during the Second World War about 50 were in use internally.
Some idea of the engineering capacity available at that time may be gathered from the fact that about 1947 a batch of War Department 2-8-0 heavy main line freight locomotives was being refurbished by the Arsenal for export to the Far East.
These locomotives, introduced in 1943, were designed by Mr Riddles for the Ministry of Supply and when British Railways came into being 700 of these large machines were taken into BR stock.
The overhauling of the WD 2-8-0s was the work of just one shop at Woolwich, another was manufacturing standard MOT all-metal railway wagons at the rate of 30 per day. Bob Carr
The group met on 2 December 1998 at Kirkaidy Testing Museum. Ten people were present, apologies were received from a further two, making a good representative meeting.
A preliminary list of all the sites previously recorded by GLIAS was circulated. Once the list is checked with previous minutes and records, the location of the reports and any artefacts will be identified. A central database of holdings will then be established and maintained by the recording group. Advice will be drawn up for members 70 holding reports and artefacts, particularly in cases where they no longer wish to store the material.
Current recording work was discussed, in particular Tim Smith reported that he is to meet the managers of the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station site to consider promoting the Industrial Archaeology of the site. The Pyrene Co. have been identified as the manufacturers of the mechanically linked fire extinguishers. Their factory was on the Great West Road, catalogues are in the Patent library; Kate Jones reported that she had obtained access to the Kentish Mercury site and been granted an interview with the former editor. Tim Smith reported on a request to assist the present occupants of Diespeker Wharf, Islington, with researching the history of the site.
The group agreed to arrange a visit to explore the possibility of gaining access to the site for recording purposes. Derek Goddard reported a Waygood hydraulic lift has been identified in Patshull Hall, as the company was a London based one it was agreed that this should be investigated.
It was agreed that detailed proposals for practical training activities should be drawn up involving a programme of two day study courses. The recording group suggested a small working group to do this work and report back as soon as possible.
Chris Grabham had obtained development copies of the software for the Sites Database. He has produced a manual and it was agreed that evaluation of the database should be undertaken by members of the group. David Perrett reported that some 70 chimneys had been reported in the Chimney Search. The data was being entered into the database as test material. The GLIAS lecture on 21 April 1999 will feature these two items together with a report on the Wapping Site and other recording activity.
The next meeting of the recording group will be on the 3 March 1999 at 6.30pm. John Hinshelwood
Crossness Engines finished the year 1998 with a flourish. Thames Water plc ceased dumping dilute digested sewage at sea in favour of incinerating dried compacted sludge-cake in a state-of-the-art Sludge Powered Generator (SPG). HRH the Duke of Edinburgh was invited to inaugurate officially the powering of the two SPGs, one at Beckton and the other at Crossness. Having officiated at Beckton on November 4th, the Duke was brought by river to Crossness where he visited the Crossness Engines. Welcomed by Chairman, John Ridley, and Secretary, Michael Dunmow, the Duke was conducted round the site and introduced to various members of the AMO Trust who explained their work. After a look round the Museum of Sanitation and discussion the Manager, Peter Taylor, the Duke was escorted to the Crossness SPG.
The senior Captain of Thames Water's sludge vessels, Roger Bremner, invited past and present 'Sludgers' and a few members from Crossness Engines Trust to a farewell gathering aboard 'MV Bexley' on 19th December. The invitation to the Trust's members was in gratitude for the Museum displaying the history of the 'Sludge Boats', now that they are retired from service. Roger pointed out that the Museum was the focal point for the entire history of a service that had been in constant use since 1887 and that the proper repository for any artefacts relating to the sludge vessels and the service they performed.
Sadly Crossness Engines Trust has lost the services of their Museum Manager, Peter Taylor, who is moving to Lincolnshire. The Trust is seeking a replacement and anyone interested in the post of Manager should apply to Mike Dunmow for a full job description. (0181 303 6723)
Tim Smith (GLIAS Newsletter December 1998) enquired about the first pedestrian subways in London - the following information may assist. A book, 'The Corporation of London: Its Origin, Constitution, Powers and Duties' was published by the Corporation in 1950 in which it was stated that there were five pedestrian subways in the City, the first to be constructed being at the Bank in 1896. Of the five, two had been constructed by the LPTB and three by the Corporation. The date quoted is surely wrong, as in 1869, William Haywood, the Engineer and Surveyor to the City's Commissioners of Sewers, had assessed the value of footbridges and subways as a means for improving pedestrian safety (Engineering' Vol. VIII Jul.2 1869, p.246f.)
A footbridge was dismissed as a potential eyesore. Subways obviously existed at that time for he specifically mentions one under King William Street where a survey had been carried out which showed that pedestrians were most unwilling to use the subway. During the period of the survey, only 67 persons had used the subway as against 3382 who took the risk of crossing the street at the surface! Haywood commented that anyway the risk of accident was much smaller for pedestrians than for drivers of vehicles. The 1869 date shows that the subway in question was not associated with underground railways - Monument station at the south end of King William Street was not opened until 1884, and the City & South London Railways' King William Street station in 1890.
Subways solely for pipes and cables met with much greater approval but were usually incorporated only when new thoroughfares were being built, the first example being in Garrick Street in 1861 and the first in the City in 1867 (See NL 155). The fear of 'nuisances' being committed in a pedestrian subway was very real (it is still!)
As early as 1850, Haywood had proposed an increase in the number of public urinals, at that time there were 74 public urinals in the City - 22 having been erected by the Commissioners, 40 by publicans, 9 by various committees, and 3 others. In 1851 Haywood reported that he had identified an additional 34 potential sites. In support of his case, he had a survey taken of the number of persons using ten of the urinals in the City on one day between 8am and 6pm. and over that period, 8,269 men/hour made use of them. In 1882, Haywood noted his experiment with the urinal in Guildhall Yard which had dispensed with a water supply and was being kept 'clean to and free from odour by the use of hydrochloric acid'. Its condition was said to be satisfactory a year later - one wonders what happened to any metal which might have been around? It is assumed that all these urinals were on the surface. However, the City Commissioners of Sewers claimed in 1883 that they had been the first to advocate and construct public lavatories underground - 'a system which has since been copied all over the world'. Don Clow
Members cannot fail to have been aware of the publicity in November surrounding Britain's only remaining manned lighthouse. Perhaps most noticeable was the set of commemorative stamps produced by the Royal Mail in March 1998 to coincide with the automation of Fair Isle South, the last manned light of the Northern Lighthouse Board, which oversees Scotland and the Isle of Man. The North Foreland light in Kent was the very last to give bot up its crew. The final shift for the team of six keepers was on November 26th 1998. Thus, the Trinity House programme of automation, begun in 1980, when they ceased to recruit keepers, has been completed.
In 1982 the Eddystone light was the first of their rock stations to be converted to automatic working. The installation of functional but unattractive helicopter platforms on top of the wave-swept towers was an earlier part of this programme.
From now on, all lighthouses will be monitored and controlled from the base station at Harwich. Automating the country's lighthouses has brought savings of some five million pounds a year to Trinity House (the authority for English, Welsh and Channel Islands' lighthouses). However, there are many people who regret the passing of the 100 lighthouse keeper, not just for reasons of nostalgia but for their eyes on the sea. Keepers on duty twenty-four hours a day have always co-operated with the Coast Guard service, which is itself being reduced with fewer stations and greater reliance on computers and satellite navigation systems.
The Goodwin Sands off the Kent coast have always been hazardous to shipping. Thirteen ships were wrecked Ahe there in one night in 1703. In 1634 Sir John Meldrum was granted the right to maintain fires on the North and ow South Foreland as a warning to mariners. The wood and plaster tower on the North Foreland was destroyed by bi amo fire in 1683, after which it was rebuilt in stone and brick. In 1719 responsibility for the two lights passed to the in W Trustees of Greenwich Hospital. When the towers were raised in height in 1793, open coal fires were replaced by oil burners with reflectors and lenses. Trinity House bought the North Foreland in 1832 and added the keepers' houses in the 1840's. The light was converted to electricity in the 1920s. The South Foreland light was acquired by the National Trust in 1988 and is now run as a museum.
It might be of interest to GLIAS members to learn that Pharos Marine Ltd., one of the leading manufacturers of maritime aids and related equipment, is based in Brentford in West London. The company takes its name from one of the wonders of the ancient world, the lighthouse that stood on the Isle of Pharos off Alexandria. In 1909, TOKE Nobel Prize winner Gustav Dalen invented a system of acetylene gas lights capable of operating for a year without service. His 'Sun Valve' controlled the flow of gas automatically and was able to overcome the problems associated with this volatile fuel. Dalen's firm was originally AGA (Gasaccumulator Company) and became major suppliers of lamps to Trinity House. Renamed Pharos Marine, they have been one of the contributors to the automation of British lighthouses. Also they produce light-buoys, radar and radio beacons, fog signals and remote monitoring and control systems. In 1989 Pharos Marine merged with Automatic Power Inc. of Houston, Texas, thereby making the combined group the world leader in maritime navigation aids.
With the momentous change to automation, there has developed an increased interest in the history of lighthouses and a proliferation in the number of related publications. The standard general work, published as long ago as 1975, remains 'Lighthouses: their Architecture, History and Archaeology' by Douglas Hague and Rosemary Christie. Douglas Hague was a senior investigator with the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales. He may be remembered by some GLIAS members as an early enthusiast for industrial archaeology who was instrumental in saving the Conway suspension bridge.
Those of us who knew Dougie will remember his fund of stories and what his obituary in The Times in 1990 ex termed his 'puckish sense of humour'. Together with his long-time collaborator and partner Rosemary Christie (mother of actress Julie) he pioneered the professional study of lighthouses. This interest was fired when he was sent to The Smalls, the rocky outcrop off the Pembrokeshire coast, to record the remains of the eighteenth cas century wooden lighthouse which was about to be swept away for the construction of a heli-pad. A fitting tribute to Douglas is the posthumous publication in 1994 by the Welsh Royal Commission of his book Lighthouses of fuss a Wales' edited by Stephen Hughes.
An extremely useful and informative general introduction to the subject, which is still in print, is Lynn F.Pearson's 'Lighthouses', published by Shire Publications (1995). A relative newcomer is B & T Publications, 10 Orchard Way, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1RD, which has the laudable aim of publishing individual booklets on each of the lighthouses in England, Wales and Scotland. So far they have published about a dozen. In addition they have bo produced three general booklets:
'Lighthouses: Four Countries - One Aim', a brief history of lights around the British Isles; Lighthouses: To Light their Way', specifically about the development of lighting itself, and on lighthouses and maritime aids of the world 'To Safely Guide their Way' (fascinating reading despite the irritation of a split infinitive in the title). All are modestly priced. Full details of these and information about subscriptions to the series may be obtained from the publishers. Also to be recommended to anyone wishing to know more about the subject is 'Leading Lights', the international magazine about pharology, pilotage and seamarks, now in its sixth year of publication. It appears six times a year and details including subscription rates are available from Peter Williams Associates, Haven negado Lightship, Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, SA73 3AF. Stephen Croad
Trollope's interesting chimney
My appeal for help in locating works in London where Trollope the builders had a chimney on which was a specimen of sgraffito decoration (GLIAS Newsletter December 1998) produced some helpful responses. Readers may be interested to know what I have found out.
George Trollope, of George Trollope & Sons, founded as a company in 1851, developed a cabinet making branch of the firm which was opened in West Halkin Street in 1864. The combined workshops and showrooms were later set up to become known as The Museum of Decorative Arts. In 1883 George Robinson (1827-1897) became the adviser on decoration to Trollope and Sons and was appointed to run the museum, a position he held until his death. So it seems probable that this would have been the location of the chimney; it's not there now.
Robinson trained as an architect under the Gloucester architects, Messrs Hamilton and Medland; he started in practice in 1848, moving in 1868 into a partnership with H J Paull at 1 St. Peter's Square, Manchester, designing churches and chapels. He exhibited eight designs at the Royal Academy between 1850 and 1878. In 1860 he was elected as Fellow to the Royal Institute of British Architects, resigning in 1871.
In his later life Robinson was principally a decorative artist based in London. He was elected as a member of the Society of Arts and he became active in the Arts and Crafts Movement, being one of those elected at the first full meeting of the Art Workers' Guild in May 1884 and sitting on the committee in 1886/7. He wrote extensively on decorative plaster-work and received the Society of Arts silver medal for a paper he gave to the Applied Arts Section on Decorative Plaster Work - Modelled Stucco Work in April 1891. Robinson collaborated with Heywood Sumner in February 1891 in presenting a lecture to the Society on Sgraffito, in which he demonstrated works which had been executed under his guidance, having first tried the technique some thirty years previously. In his practice as an artist and decorator, Robinson executed various sgraffito works including a series of four panels depicting the four seasons for a porch at Maidenhead, and a retable depicting the Last Supper at Southport. Robinson was an innovator who encouraged his staff to experiment with new techniques. Under his dish! direction the Trollope's craftsmen worked on ways of staining wood to represent other materials and the firm became leaders in the new field of synthetics. He also developed a very important business of fitting out the state and public rooms of liners for the prestigious Blue Riband on the North Atlantic run.
Robinson died at 23 Earls Terrace, Kensington on 6 May 1897. His obituary in the Illustrated London News of 15 May 1897 makes reference to the distinction he obtained outside his profession as an architect. 'During the Franco-German war he acted as special correspondent at the Manchester Guardian, and was able to convey to his paper the most graphic accounts of what took place under Marshal Bazaine's command. On many occasions Mr Robinson distinguished himself and after one unsuccessful sortie - which he accompanied - he returned to the field on which the engagement had taken place and brought back into the city two wounded French officers under fire from the German soldiers.' John Hinshelwood
Quarrying on Herm Channel Island
One of the pleasures of going away for Christmas was for me looking for signs of industrial archaeology and delving into books and museums. On first approaching Herm by sea it does not appear to offer any such possibilities. This little island just one and a half miles by half a mile, and three miles from Guernsey has captivated most people that have stepped ashore because of its charm, tranquillity and beauty. But when you disembark and walk up the harbour you see railway track and your interest is aroused.
In 1815 The Hon Col John Lindsey bought the lease of Herm to install his mistress and three children away from the prying eyes of society. He saw the possibility of quarrying and exporting the granite of Herm. He built a rough landing stage of boulders (which can be seen in an old photograph of 1856). His business started well, supplying stone for the maintenance of London Bridge, the steps in front of Carlton House Terrace, Pall Mall, as well as curb stones for East India and West India Dock Roads. He organised a berth on the Regent's Canal, Paddington. But Lloyds would not insure the boats because of the dangerous current around the islands.
Lindsey had big ideas and even thought Herm would supply granite for all of England and Scotland. He bought costly cranes and equipment. Guernsey turned down his requests for loans, but in 1824 he entered into a business partnership with Jonathan Duncan, a wealthy barrister from London and son of a Bombay governor. Lindsey and Duncan hired 400 quarrymen and stone-masons, many coming from Aberdeen. The men probably worked in shifts of 200 on the island at a time. The men lived in dormitory accommodation blocks, now known as Mermaid Cottage (in which I have stayed). Duncan secured contracts for the maintenance of Blackfriars Bridge and for curbs and paving stones in London streets. Large square stones and blocks were needed and the quarrymen decided to recycle stone from Neolithic burial chambers. Later an obelisk was built to mark the site.
After Lindsey's death, Duncan bought the lease in 1828 and installed road and track, built the harbour in its present position, set up forges and a blacksmith's work-shop and built a brewery and bakery. In 1837 the lease changed hands and was managed by Ebenezer Fernie who employed more men and now a small prison had to be built. It is still there - a small granite beehive-shaped building - the smallest prison recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. While Fernie was in charge he installed a railway crane and track made by Bray, Waddington & Co. of Leeds. The crane dated about 1850 is known as a Leeds crane. It has a wooden jib and a cast-iron side frame; chain was used for lifting and it was hand worked. The gauge of the railway is an unusual four feet five and three quarter inches. The tracks went to the quarries and the wagons were pulled by horses. It is not thought steam to engines were ever used on Herm.
Quarrying was carried on until 1870 when cement became widely used. Herm granite is twice as hard as Cornish granite and so was very expensive to work. The crane stayed in service until 1981 - the only means of lifting heavy supplies onto the island. It was removed in 1995 and is now in pieces at a marine engineering workshop on Guernsey. £40,000 has been quoted to restore it. If this amount cannot be found, I hope a lesser sum will preserve it for future enthusiasts to view. For further information 'phone Herm on 01481 722377 or write to the Admin.to Office, Herm, Channel Islands, GY1 3HR. Judy Dunbar
I don't know if it's the done thing to comment on an article written over twelve years ago, but I was looking b through some back copies of the GLIAS Newsletter when I came across Brian Sturt's article in June 1986 (GLIAS Newsletter June 1986) on the subject of the Greenwich Railway Gas Works - written very properly for the 150th anniversary of the Railway. Il suddenly thought - I don't actually think there ever was a Greenwich Railway Gas Works, at least not in the sense w we have all been talking about.
Brian's article very properly follows the late Ron Thomas's authoritative work 'London's First Railway' (1972). He described the plans which the new railway had for lighting the length of the line and for providing gas lighting and cooking facilities in planned housing under the line and then put the continued existence of the railway company's purpose-built gas works into a gas industry context. Ron Thomas said that the gas works did not prosper under the railway, and within two years was reconstituted as the Bermondsey, Rotherhithe and Deptford Gas Light and Coke Co. which then offered gas in the domain of public supply in competition with the existing companies - The Phoenix Gas Light and Coke Co. and the South Metropolitan Gas Light and Coke Co. So far so good - this is a M story well and often told. I have sometimes added to it myself by pointing out that Col. George Landmann who built the railway had, over the previous fifteen years, built many European gas works for the Imperial Continental q Gas Association. However, because Brian knows the gas company records very much better than Ron Thomas ido could have done - he noted that the Railway company also had a contract with Phoenix for gas supply and I also no noted in a later article that Col. Landmann had approached South Met. for a supply.
So perhaps I can give my alternative version of events. 1. There had been a movement in Deptford for a Deptford and Greenwich Gas Company in the early 1830s. This is recorded in the Kentish Mercury and there is a later report of a dinner to celebrate the achievement of an Act of Parliament for a gas supply to Deptford. I have been unable to trace the Act or a Local Authority Improvement Act to enable this - it might be buried in something else!
2. There is no record of a Deptford Works having been built but there is an unexplained gas-making site at Blackhorse Bridge on the Surrey Canal/Evelyn St. If this were in fact a 'Deptford Works' then some of the references to the Deptford Company in the South Met. and Phoenix Records might be more easily explained.
3. In April 1834 Col. Landmann visited South Met. Gas Co. and gave them a very detailed specification for lights which would be required when the line opened. This is recorded in the South Met. Minute books. He also discussed with them arrangements for main laying while the railway was under construction.
4. In 1835 a company was formed called the Greenwich Railway Gas Co. and they issued a prospectus in 1836. Ron Thomas saw the prospectus in the British Library collection. It should be noted that a prospectus is different from a gas works.
5. In January 1836 Phoenix Gas Co. tendered for lighting the railway line.
6. The Greenwich Railway opened in February 1836.
7. In March 1836 the railway arranged to buy coke from Phoenix. Discussions also began with Phoenix on of the supply from South Met. This appears to refer to connections to the mains laid for railway supply absor between Deptford and London - as arranged between Landmann and South Met.
8. Ron Thomas quotes Wishaw who noted in 1837 the brilliant lighting on the line and he assumes that this referred to lights provided by Greenwich Railway Gas Works - in fact the light was provided by either or both Phoenix and South Met. - as noted above.
9. Ron Thomas noted that in 1838 the Deptford, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey Gas Light and Coke Co. was formed and took over both the site designated for the Greenwich Railway Gas Works and the mains already laid for the railway. He took the fact of the mains in place and the provision of light on the line as evidence that a gas supply was already in operation from a purpose built Greenwich Railway Gas Works.
10. The directors for the new company were all connected with the railway rather than the local dignitaries who had set up the Deptford Lighting scheme. (see below).
11. The Deptford Rotherhithe and Bermondsey Co. built a gas works alongside the Greenwich Railway on Deptford Creek. Work had been begun by the railway company in 1838 and was finished by T.G. Barlow in the next year (evidence given by his sons in Journal of Gas Lighting). On completion this works entered o into competition with South Met. and Phoenix as a public supply gas works.
12. Plans for gas lighting on the line of the railway and the cottages were dropped in 1838.
13. I know of no evidence of Parliamentary powers of supply being obtained by the Deptford Rotherhithe and sha Bermondsey Co. However if they took over the powers obtained from the Deptford Company and the works at Blackhorse Bridge it might also explain the comment in Garton's History of the South Metropolitan Gas Works that Phoenix had been offered the 'Greenwich Railway Gas Works at Blackhorses Bridge' for sale.
So - what this comes down to is that the Greenwich Railway planned a gas works but did not build it - they obtained a supply from local companies. The gas works eventually built went into public supply itself. Beyond that - the theories of the Deptford Gas Works - could easily be proved or disproved by some research into the relevant Parliamentary Process.
APPENDIX:
Directors of Greenwich and Deptford Gas Light Co. 1834 (source Kentish Mercury)
Sir William Beatty (Governor, Royal Hospital, Greenwich)
George Barrett, Esq. (Circus Street, painter and local dignitary)
Thomas Brocklebank (Westcombe Park, shipbuilder and local dignitary)
J W Davies (Broadway Deptford - seems to be the person behind the company, perhaps he is a local solicitor) Richard Edmonds Esq. (New Cross - in the directory as 'gentry' but could be connected to local barge building id business)
Adam Gordon Esq. (Deptford shipbuilder)
Samuel Gardiner Esq. (Deptford Broadway, wholesale tea dealer)
George Smith Esq. (Park Street, surveyor to the Mercers' Company and future surveyor of Morden College).
Directors of Deptford, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey Co.
Charles Barlee (Deptford Coke Merchant and Secretary of Deptford Pier Improvements)
John Barlow (one of the Barlow family of gas works builders)