First Port of Empire 1840 - 1939

This busy gallery exposes the visitor to the vast array of activities, issues and events facing the London Docks from 1840 – 1939. The space contains some of the most impressive exciting and evocative artwork and objects housed in the Museum.

With the advent of steam power, the volume of trade flowing through London massively increased. More trade meant more docks and between 1855 and 1886 a series of them were opened to accommodate steamships.

The invite below, from the opening of Tilbury Docks, is just one of the artefacts that relate this growth to the visitor. Another are the tools above. These belonged to a shipwright who helped to build wooden vessels.

As the nineteenth century progressed wooden ships became superseded by their iron counterparts. Although there was still work for the more traditional craftsmen, these tools represent the growth or industry and technology that transformed the docks in this period and consigned a way of life to the past.

Recent additions to the gallery are two iconic Victorian paintings by Henry Nelson O'Neil. The first Eastward Ho! (seen to the right of this page) relates the vivid drama of soldiers boarding a ship at Gravesend. They are leaving to fight in the first Indian war of Independence in 1857. A companion painting Home Again, 1858 shows the soldiers' return a year later. These paintings are just one example of the magnificent collections of artwork found throughout the Museum.

Explore these paintings in more detail on our archive website.

Alongside these paintings the other displays in the gallery examine many of the issues that faced the Victorian port; the pollution of the Thames, the first dock police force, the building of the Great Eastern, and dock strikes – to name only a few. These issues are brought to life through exhibits such as the massive Stevedores' banner commemorating the 1889 Dock Strike (pictured above and to the left) and the sensitive display examining the Princess Alice disaster – the worst maritime disaster in British history.

The myriad of exhibits and subjects reflect the fact that, during this 100 year period, London was at the centre of the largest empire in the world and the Thames was the artery to it’s heart.