1701 New synagogue in Bevis Marks
Spanish and Portuguese Jews in London needing somewhere to worship open a new synagogue in the City. The architectural style reflects a Christian nonconformist chapel. The construction of the synagogue is undertaken by a Quaker, Joseph Avis. Furniture from the Cromwellian and Queen Anne period adorn the interior.
1707 A fly epidemic
A fly epidemic in August becomes so serious that many of the streets are covered to the extent that ‘the people’s feet made as full an impression on them as upon thick snow’.
1710 St Paul’s Cathedral completed
The 78 year-old Sir Christopher Wren sees his son place the final stone on the summit of St Paul’s Cathedral in this year. The new Cathedral had taken 36 years to build at a cost of £850,000. Most of the money had been raised by a tax on coal imports into the City.
1722 Regulation to keep to the left on London Bridge may have led to the UK driving on the left
To combat increasing congestion on the Bridge, the City Corporation introduces a rule requiring traffic to keep to the left. This rule will also, it is hoped, stave off threats to press for more bridges over the river thus removing London Bridge’s monopoly. The regulation is adopted by the Government in the Highway Act of 1835.
1724 Jack Sheppard escapes from Newgate Prison
The 22 year-old burglar, having already escaped from Newgate and several other prisons, escapes. Having broken through to the cell above by way of the chimney, he proceeds to break through six further doors and then lowers himself 60 feet down to the ground using his bed clothes. Sheppard is captured yet again and finally hanged in November 1724.
1753 Elizabeth Canning disappears
Nineteen year-old Londoner Elizabeth Canning disappears on 1 January 1753 and reappears on 29 January, claiming that she had been kidnapped. She eventually accuses one Mary Squires of the crime. Squires is tried and sentenced to death, but is then pardoned. Subsequently, Canning is tried for perjury and transported to America. To this day no-one has discovered the truth of the case.
1755 Publication of Dr Johnson’s Dictionary
Dr Samuel Johnson is living at 17 Gough Square, off Fleet Street when his Dictionary of the English Language is published in 1755. His labour of love has taken him nearly nine years to complete but sets the standard by which all future dictionaries will be judged.
1760 First of the City gates demolished
Bishopsgate, Ludgate and Cripplegate are the first of the City gates to be demolished, as part of the City’s street improvements drive.
1762 Hanging signs banned
The proliferation of trade and shop signs hanging outside London buildings are obscuring each other and deemed a health hazard. The Cities of London and Westminster require signs to be placed on the walls of premises.
1764 First Lloyd’s Register published
The first Lloyd’s Register of Shipping is published, intended to give ship owners, maritime traders and insurers a factual summary about the vessels they owned, chartered and insured.
1769 Blackfriars Bridge opened
Designed by Robert Mylne the first bridge over the Thames between Blackfriars and Southwark is opened. It becomes the third bridge over the river and costs £230,000. Until 1785 it remains a toll bridge. The bridge is replaced between 1860-9 by the present structure.
1773 Stock Exchange established
A group of brokers has bought a building in Threadneedle Street. It is intended to use it as a Stock Exchange. Two committees have been created to govern it: a Committee of Proprietors and a Committee for General Purposes. Brokers can use the Exchange for a fee of 6d per day.
1780 Gordon Riots
In this year Lord George Gordon instigates a series of riots against plans by the Government to repeal anti-Roman Catholic legislation. He leads a mob of protesters to Parliament with a petition. Many sites in the City and Westminster are attacked and many people are killed. Gordon is tried for treason but acquitted.
1795 John Keats born in the City
The poet John Keats is baptised at St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate on 18 December 1795. He is the son of Thomas Keats, innkeeper, and his wife Frances. His date of birth, according to the baptismal register, was 31 October. He becomes a medical student at Guy’s Hospital but abandons his studies for poetry. Although dying at the early age of 25, his reputation as one of the great Romantic poets is established.
1813 The Great Fog
The burning of coal for domestic and industrial use has resulted in a series of fogs because of soot based particles in the atmosphere. On 27 December a very bad fog develops which lasts for eight days. One newspaper reports that it extended as far as the Downs, south of London.
1814 Frost Fair
The Frost Fair on the frozen River Thames begins on 1 February and lasts for four days. This is the last Thames Frost Fair as the removal of London Bridge and the building of the embankments speeds up the flow of the river, stopping it from freezing.
1828 Guildhall Library opens
The original Guildhall Library existed between 1425 and 1549. Now a new Library opens. Its collections relate mainly to the City, Southwark and Middlesex. It is for the benefit of Members of the City Corporation and accredited students. The library develops into a major reference library for London history and English local studies.
1829 Mr Shillibeer’s omnibus
George Shillibeer sets up the first regular passenger bus route running from Bank in the City to Paddington. The fare for the whole journey on this horse-drawn omnibus is 1s 6d for inside passengers and 1s for those sitting outside on top.
1831 New London Bridge opens
King William IV and Queen Adelaide open the new London Bridge built by Sir John Rennie. It has taken seven years to build and is considerably wider than the medieval London Bridge it is replacing.
1834 Removal of menagerie from Tower of London
Alfred Cops, Keeper of the Menagerie at the Tower since 1822, has made sterling efforts to improve the collection. The Constable of the Tower, the Duke of Wellington, however wants the animals to be moved to Regent’s Park where the Zoological Gardens have been established. The Duke’s wishes prevail.
1836 Isabella Mayson (Mrs Beeton) born
Isabella Mayson is born in Milk Street, off Cheapside. In 1856 she marries publisher Samuel Beeton and her organisational abilities and dynamism contribute greatly to the success of their publishing house. She is best known, however, for Beeton’s book of household management.
1841 Fenchurch Street Station opened
The London and Blackwall Railway open the first railway terminus in the City of London at Fenchurch Street. No steam locomotives are used on this line until 1849 so trains have to be dragged from Blackwall to Minories by cable and then have to reach Fenchurch Street by their own momentum. Gravity and a helping hand from station staff enable trains to leave the platform.
1852 First public lavatory erected in London
The first modern public lavatory is erected at 95 Fleet Street. It is for men only and is discreetly called a ‘public waiting room.’
1855 London’s first pillar box
The idea of a pillar box is popularly credited to the novelist Anthony Trollope who worked for the Post Office. Before this date, people had taken their letters to receiving offices, the sub post offices of their day, or relied on itinerant collectors. London’s first pillar box was on the corner of Farringdon Street and Fleet Street, and there were 10 collections a day, between the hours of 9am and 10pm.
1858 London divided into postal districts
To facilitate the postal service, London is divided into ten districts. Each district is given a letter code, for example, N, S, EC or NW and residents are encouraged to add the district letter(s) to their address.
1863 First underground railway opens
The Metropolitan Railway, the world’s first underground railway, opens, running between Paddington and Farringdon. In the first six months of its operation, an average of nearly 28,000 passengers daily make the 18 minute journey.
1868 Abolition of public hangings at Newgate
The last person to be executed in public outside the gates of Newgate Prison is Michael Barrett. He had been one of the men responsible for a bomb attack on the Clerkenwell House of Detention in 1867.
1888 Jack the Ripper
A mysterious killer, allegedly calling himself ‘Jack the Ripper’, murders and mutilates prostitutes in the East End of London during the summer and autumn of 1888. The body of one of his victims, Catherine Eddowes, is found in Mitre Square, just inside the eastern boundary of the City. No-one is ever convicted of these murders and the Ripper’s true identity remains unknown.
1894 Tower Bridge completed
After eight years of construction, Tower Bridge, designed by City architect Horace Jones, is opened by the Prince of Wales. The river had remained navigable during the whole construction. The bascule bridge allows an opening of 200 feet and headroom of 135 feet, enough to allow access for almost all vessels to the Pool of London.
1897 Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee
Queen Victoria arrives at the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral for a service held on 22 June to commemorate her reign of 60 years.