This originated in 1882 from the power supply set up by Agostino and Stefano Gatti in the cellars of one of their restaurants.
From Covent Garden: "... established in 1888 to provide lighting for the Adelaide Restaurant on the Strand. The plant, erected in the basement of the building which flanks Bull Inn Court consisted of a pair of multi-tubular Field boilers supplying steam to two Armington & Sims engines, which drove a pair of 150-light Edison dynamos by means of belts, cogs, levers and pulleys."
From National Archive: "Charing Cross Electricity Supply Company Limited was registered in 1889 as the Electricity Supply Corporation Limited and underwent a number of name changes as Charing Cross and Strand Electricity Supply Corporation Limited, then Charing Cross, West End and City Electricity Supply Company Limited. The company had originated with the installation by A and J {should be 'S'} Gatti of a private plant to supply Adelaide Galleries, which was followed by one of the earliest electricity mains laid in Maiden Lane connecting the Adelphi Theatre. The public company obtained orders to supply from Strand to Holborn, and this was extended to the City of London in 1899. Plants were erected in Bull Inn Court, Lambeth and Saint Martin's Lane, Westminster to meet increasing demands for electricity. In 1902 a generating station was commissioned at Bow to meet further increases, with a capacity of 4,800 kW. Later was the chief one of the six companies which formed Central London Electricity Limited."
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