![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
scfrankles.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sherlock60This week, the canon story we’re looking at is The Sign of Four, chaps. 9-12 and the chosen topic is The Thames.
A few facts:
⼮ During Victorian times there was an explosion of interest in the Thames as a leisure source... The new railways, which reached towns on the river such as Reading, Oxford and Windsor, provided a popular “day out” for those ordinary people who could afford it. Rowing boat firms sprung up with boats for hire… Rowing in particular became a hugely popular pastime and clubs increased. [The River Thames Guide]
⼮ Cruising on the river for private pleasure also developed in the Victorian era. [The River Thames Guide]
⼮ During Victorian times, Boulter's Lock [on the Thames] won fame - and notoriety - across the country as thousands of people flocked to the river here to mess about and watch the wealthier classes indulge themselves. This was especially so on warm summer weekends, and particularly on the Sunday of Ascot Week, when there were pageants, carnivals and regattas. Holidays were spent on houseboats and the favourite pastime of the wealthy was to enjoy a leisurely punt along the meandering and slow-moving river. [Visit Thames]
⼮ The Boat Race is a set of annual rowing races between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between eights [a rowing boat designed for eight rowers] on the River Thames in London, England… The first race was in 1829 and the event has been held annually since 1856, except during the First and Second World Wars. The course covers a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) stretch of the Thames in West London, from Putney to Mortlake. [Wikipedia]
⼮ Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. [Wikipedia]
⼮ For centuries, England’s most famous river played the role of dumping ground for all of London’s various wastes—human, animal, and industrial. By the arrival of the 19th century… [e]nough waste and pollution had accumulated in the Thames to make it the most contaminated and unhygienic river in the world.
⼮ In the summer of 1858, all of London was feeling the affects of an oppressive heat wave and as a result, all the sewage in the Thames began to ferment in the scorching sun—centuries of waste was literally cooking in the monstrous heat.
⼮ Luckily the revolting smell affected Parliament too and through a combination of pubic pressure and abject nasal suffering, Parliament finally chose to act instead of leaving the issue for another “hot season.” They also began to realize that simply relocating the seat of government would not do anything to alleviate the suffering of the people who could not move away from the toxic Thames. Within a record of eighteen days, a bill was created, passed, and signed into law that would refurbish the entirety of the River Thames. [Cholera and the Thames]
⼮ A leading Victorian engineer, Sir Joseph Bazalgette, was commissioned to design and build a system of sewers which would remove the sewage from the Thames, sending it instead to be treated the East End at new sewage treatment works in Beckton and Crossness. [Thames Water] Bazalgette's work ensured that sewage was no longer dumped onto the shores of the Thames and brought an end to… cholera outbreaks; his actions probably saved more lives than any other Victorian official. [Wikipedia]
⼮ As many as 650 people lost their lives [on 3rd September 1878] when [a paddle steamer, the SS Princess Alice] was smashed in two in broad daylight by the Bywell Castle, an 890 ton steam collier departing London after a lick of paint at Millwall Dry Dock. The paddle steamer sank in under four minutes… It remains Britain’s worst public transport disaster in either peacetime or war. [London Historians’ Blog]
⼮ George Dunlop Leslie, a painter and Royal Academician, lived by the Thames at Wallingford. His 1888 book, Our River, was the definitive waterway guide of the age. [The Victorian Thames] (Follow the link below for highlights of his book.)
⼮ Prior to the opening of [Tower] bridge, those wishing to cross the river [at that point] would have used the Tower Subway - a 410-metre tunnel. Once used by one million people a year (each paid half a penny to do so), it closed to pedestrians in 1898 and is now used for water mains. [Oliver Smith on the Telegraph website]
⼮ A Thames sailing barge was a type of commercial sailing boat common on the River Thames in London in the 19th century. The flat-bottomed barges were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and narrow rivers. [Wikipedia]
⼮ A mudlark is someone who scavenges in river mud for items of value, a term used especially to describe those who scavenged this way in London during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Mudlarks would search the muddy shores of the River Thames at low tide for anything that could be sold; and sometimes, when occasion arose, pilfering from river traffic. [Wikipedia] The mudlarks generally consist of boys and girls, varying in age from eight to fourteen or fifteen. For the most part they are ragged, and in a very filthy state, and are a peculiar class, confined to the river. As soon as the tide is out they make their appearance, and remain till it comes in. These mudlarks are generally strong and healthy, though their clothes are in rags. [Henry Mayhew, from his extra volume of “London Labour & London Poor,” 1861, via Spitalfields Life]
Some useful resources:
The 19th Century - the Victorian Era and the Thames On The River Thames Guide.
The Great Stink by Johanna Lemon on Cholera and the Thames.
The Big Thames Clean Up by Chad Hansen on Cholera and the Thames.
Condition of the Thames On The Dictionary of Victorian London.
Over 600 Perish in Woolwich Pleasure Boat Disaster On London Historians’ Blog.
The Victorian Thames PDF article about George Dunlop Leslie and his 1888 book, Our River.
Tower Bridge: fascinating facts and figures by Oliver Smith on the Telegraph website.
The Award Winning Thames - What Was it Like in 1870? On The Victorianist.
The Thames Watermen by Toilers in London, by One of the Crowd [James Greenwood], [1883], on The Dictionary of Victorian London.
Salter’s Steamers - Family History
The Pool of London A photograph of ‘The River Thames with barges and a steam-powered paddle-wheeler’, probably taken somewhere between 1902 and 1906.
"Thames Steam Ferry" Dickens's Dictionary of London, by Charles Dickens, Jr., 1879, on The Dictionary of Victorian London.
Thames Sailing Barge On Wikipedia.
The Life of a Mudlark, 1861 On Spitalsfield Life.
Mudlarks and River Scavengers On The Dictionary of Victorian London.
Please feel free to discuss this topic in the comments.
Please also feel free to comment about the canon story itself or any related aspects outside this week’s theme. For example, any reactions, thoughts, theories, fic recs, favourite adaptations of the canon story… Or any other contribution you wish to make. And if you have any suggestions for fic prompts springing from this week's story, please feel free to share those in the comments as well.
A few facts:
⼮ During Victorian times there was an explosion of interest in the Thames as a leisure source... The new railways, which reached towns on the river such as Reading, Oxford and Windsor, provided a popular “day out” for those ordinary people who could afford it. Rowing boat firms sprung up with boats for hire… Rowing in particular became a hugely popular pastime and clubs increased. [The River Thames Guide]
⼮ Cruising on the river for private pleasure also developed in the Victorian era. [The River Thames Guide]
⼮ During Victorian times, Boulter's Lock [on the Thames] won fame - and notoriety - across the country as thousands of people flocked to the river here to mess about and watch the wealthier classes indulge themselves. This was especially so on warm summer weekends, and particularly on the Sunday of Ascot Week, when there were pageants, carnivals and regattas. Holidays were spent on houseboats and the favourite pastime of the wealthy was to enjoy a leisurely punt along the meandering and slow-moving river. [Visit Thames]
⼮ The Boat Race is a set of annual rowing races between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between eights [a rowing boat designed for eight rowers] on the River Thames in London, England… The first race was in 1829 and the event has been held annually since 1856, except during the First and Second World Wars. The course covers a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) stretch of the Thames in West London, from Putney to Mortlake. [Wikipedia]
⼮ Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. [Wikipedia]
⼮ For centuries, England’s most famous river played the role of dumping ground for all of London’s various wastes—human, animal, and industrial. By the arrival of the 19th century… [e]nough waste and pollution had accumulated in the Thames to make it the most contaminated and unhygienic river in the world.
⼮ In the summer of 1858, all of London was feeling the affects of an oppressive heat wave and as a result, all the sewage in the Thames began to ferment in the scorching sun—centuries of waste was literally cooking in the monstrous heat.
⼮ Luckily the revolting smell affected Parliament too and through a combination of pubic pressure and abject nasal suffering, Parliament finally chose to act instead of leaving the issue for another “hot season.” They also began to realize that simply relocating the seat of government would not do anything to alleviate the suffering of the people who could not move away from the toxic Thames. Within a record of eighteen days, a bill was created, passed, and signed into law that would refurbish the entirety of the River Thames. [Cholera and the Thames]
⼮ A leading Victorian engineer, Sir Joseph Bazalgette, was commissioned to design and build a system of sewers which would remove the sewage from the Thames, sending it instead to be treated the East End at new sewage treatment works in Beckton and Crossness. [Thames Water] Bazalgette's work ensured that sewage was no longer dumped onto the shores of the Thames and brought an end to… cholera outbreaks; his actions probably saved more lives than any other Victorian official. [Wikipedia]
⼮ As many as 650 people lost their lives [on 3rd September 1878] when [a paddle steamer, the SS Princess Alice] was smashed in two in broad daylight by the Bywell Castle, an 890 ton steam collier departing London after a lick of paint at Millwall Dry Dock. The paddle steamer sank in under four minutes… It remains Britain’s worst public transport disaster in either peacetime or war. [London Historians’ Blog]
⼮ George Dunlop Leslie, a painter and Royal Academician, lived by the Thames at Wallingford. His 1888 book, Our River, was the definitive waterway guide of the age. [The Victorian Thames] (Follow the link below for highlights of his book.)
⼮ Prior to the opening of [Tower] bridge, those wishing to cross the river [at that point] would have used the Tower Subway - a 410-metre tunnel. Once used by one million people a year (each paid half a penny to do so), it closed to pedestrians in 1898 and is now used for water mains. [Oliver Smith on the Telegraph website]
⼮ A Thames sailing barge was a type of commercial sailing boat common on the River Thames in London in the 19th century. The flat-bottomed barges were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and narrow rivers. [Wikipedia]
⼮ A mudlark is someone who scavenges in river mud for items of value, a term used especially to describe those who scavenged this way in London during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Mudlarks would search the muddy shores of the River Thames at low tide for anything that could be sold; and sometimes, when occasion arose, pilfering from river traffic. [Wikipedia] The mudlarks generally consist of boys and girls, varying in age from eight to fourteen or fifteen. For the most part they are ragged, and in a very filthy state, and are a peculiar class, confined to the river. As soon as the tide is out they make their appearance, and remain till it comes in. These mudlarks are generally strong and healthy, though their clothes are in rags. [Henry Mayhew, from his extra volume of “London Labour & London Poor,” 1861, via Spitalfields Life]
Some useful resources:
The 19th Century - the Victorian Era and the Thames On The River Thames Guide.
The Great Stink by Johanna Lemon on Cholera and the Thames.
The Big Thames Clean Up by Chad Hansen on Cholera and the Thames.
Condition of the Thames On The Dictionary of Victorian London.
Over 600 Perish in Woolwich Pleasure Boat Disaster On London Historians’ Blog.
The Victorian Thames PDF article about George Dunlop Leslie and his 1888 book, Our River.
Tower Bridge: fascinating facts and figures by Oliver Smith on the Telegraph website.
The Award Winning Thames - What Was it Like in 1870? On The Victorianist.
The Thames Watermen by Toilers in London, by One of the Crowd [James Greenwood], [1883], on The Dictionary of Victorian London.
Salter’s Steamers - Family History
The Pool of London A photograph of ‘The River Thames with barges and a steam-powered paddle-wheeler’, probably taken somewhere between 1902 and 1906.
"Thames Steam Ferry" Dickens's Dictionary of London, by Charles Dickens, Jr., 1879, on The Dictionary of Victorian London.
Thames Sailing Barge On Wikipedia.
The Life of a Mudlark, 1861 On Spitalsfield Life.
Mudlarks and River Scavengers On The Dictionary of Victorian London.
Please feel free to discuss this topic in the comments.
Please also feel free to comment about the canon story itself or any related aspects outside this week’s theme. For example, any reactions, thoughts, theories, fic recs, favourite adaptations of the canon story… Or any other contribution you wish to make. And if you have any suggestions for fic prompts springing from this week's story, please feel free to share those in the comments as well.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2016-08-14 08:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-14 01:35 pm (UTC)But thank you ^^
no subject
Date: 2016-08-14 02:25 pm (UTC)But I didn't realize that Bertie Wooster's boat races actually take place in London. For some reason I thought there was a river between the two universities. Makes sense now since he ends up in court in London after stealing the policeman's helmet.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-14 03:31 pm (UTC)I can see why you'd think that about the Boat Race - the Thames is a very long river and it does flow through Oxford too. (Slightly unfortunately for this period of history, the bit that flows through Oxford is known as the Isis.)