From the earliest days until the mid-18th century the Thames was the preferred route for travelling east-west across London, and a barrier which had to be crossed by boat to travel north-south. By boat, because the roads were very poor and there was only one bridge. In 1510 Henry VIII set up a licencing system for watermen, or wherrymen, and in 1555 the watermen were incorporated to control tariffs and impose safety regulations. In 1700 the watermen joined forces with the lightermen (who carried cargo rather than passengers) to form the Company of Watermen and Lightermen. See also Doggett's Coat and Badge.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Thames watermen
Commemorated ati
wherrymen seat
{On the modern plaque above:} The Ferryman's seat located on previous buildin...
Other Subjects
Port of Tilbury, London
As ships got bigger ports were needed further down the Thames. In 1909 Tilbury Port became part of the Port of London Authority. Situated just upstream from Tilbury Fort.
1 memorial
London & South Western Railway
Initially named London and Southampton Railway it connected all the way to Plymouth into a London terminus at Nine Elms. The line was extended in 1848 to terminate at the new station Waterloo. L&am...
2 memorials
Moorgate tube disaster
At Moorgate station a southbound tube train from Drayton Park failed to stop on a terminus platform, ran into the tunnel, through the buffers and smashed into the wall at the end. Because it was b...
2 memorials
Peter Hill
Elizabethan seafarer. With Robert Bell he co-founded the St Mary Rotherhithe Free School, to educate the sons of local seafarers.
1 memorial
Charles Rolls
Born 35 Hill Street, W1, son of Lord Llangattock, John Rolls. A keen racing cyclist, he became the fourth man in England to own a car, took to racing cars and repeatedly broke the land speed record...
Person, Aviation, Commerce, Industry, Seriously Famous, Transport
1 memorial
Previously viewed
Noor Inayat Khan
WW2 spy and member of the French resistance. A descendant of the 18th century south Indian ruler Tipu Sultan, Khan was a follower of the Sufi faith and believed in non-violence. Born Moscow to pa...
War dead, WW2
4 memorials
2 memorials
Norwegian Government-in-exile
SW7, Princes Gate, Kingston House North
The official Norway site provides useful background information for this plaque. See also the Norwegian gratitude stone.
1 subject commemorated,
2 creators
Sir William Orpen
Painter. Born William Newenham Montague Orpen at Oriel, Blackrock, County Dublin. He was an official artist in World War I and attended the Versailles Peace Conference. Deeply affected by the suffe...
1 memorial
London Docklands Development Corporation
We did not initially recognise this logo, on at least 8 plaques in the Surrey Docks area, and maybe others elsewhere. We tried Google's image search and the results made us laugh; being an array of...
21 memorials
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