London: A Brief History - Part 4: Politics, The Industrial Revolution and London’s Railway Age
London: A Brief History - Part 4: Politics, The Industrial Revolution and London’s Railway Age
![]() |
Image: National Economics Editorial |
A new phenomenon in
London at the time was the coffeehouse where newspapers could be read, as
printing presses became common. Fleet Street became synonymous with news.
Eighteenth century
London was also rife with crime with the death penalty being using for the vast
majority of crimes. Public hangings, in areas such as Marble Arch, were common
and big public spectacles.
London went through a
radical change in the 1800s. It became the world’s largest city and during the
19th century its population exploded from 1 million to 6.7 million.
Also during the 19th
century, the invention of the steam train and its railways, under Queen
Victoria’s reign transformed London, but the building of new railways meant the
demolition of many buildings. Most areas affected by the demolition were poor
areas due to the easy approval by government authorities.
London’s maiden
railway line was commissioned in February 1836 between Deptford and Bermondsey.
The 1840s, experienced railway boom, which also saw the arrival of long
distance railway travel. The introduction of the railways saw a massive rise in
population and London’s area became larger than ever before. A few years later,
in 1863, London unveiled the world’s first underground railway running from
Paddington to Farringdon.
Meanwhile, in 1855,
Joseph Bazalgette led a team of workers who constructed over 2,000km of tunnels
in London’s first sewage system. The death rate in London dropped dramatically
as living conditions improved.
London’s population
began to become more international, as Irish settlers moved over during the
Great Famine in the mid-1850s. People from poorer parts of Europe emigrated to
London, as did many from colonial countries.
Go back and Read Part 3 - Disaster Strikes or Read Part 5 - World Wars and the 20th Century
Go back and Read Part 3 - Disaster Strikes or Read Part 5 - World Wars and the 20th Century
Comments
Post a Comment