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Georgian London
By Margaret Johnson
The early Hanoverian kings
lacked popularity in Britain and there was still
significant Jacobite support around the country.
However, the City required stability in order to
continue its trading interests and stood firmly
behind the crown during the two Jacobite
rebellions in 1715 and 1745. The Thames had
always been the chief thoroughfare of London and
was used to transport both people and goods;
though, under Queen Anne, the sedan chair had
become very popular. There were remarkably few
bridges across the Thames. Until 1750, there was
only the bridge between the City and Southwark.
Then a bridge was built at Westminster. Nearly 20
years later a third bridge was opened at
Blackfriars.
Between 1760-66 the last gates
to the City and surrounding walls were
demolished. By this time the City, under the Lord
Mayor and his aldermen, was a small part of an
ever-increasing area which formed the Capital,
with suburbs stretching in every direction as the
country people moved to the outskirts of the
city.
The Corporation was
instrumental in promoting freedom of the press.
For a long time Parliament had banned publication
of debates on the grounds of parliamentary
privilege. In March 1771, some printers reported
these openly for the first time. The printer of The
Evening Post was arrested on Parliament's
authority. Two aldermen, acting with the
authority of the City, freed him and arrested the
parliamentary messenger. The Lord Mayor supported
their stand. However, both the Lord Mayor, Brass
Crosby, and Alderman Oliver were sent to the
Tower and only released six weeks later. They
were greeted, on their release, by a vast crowd,
including the City officers and the full common
council in their official dress, who accompanied
them, with great celebration, to the Mansion
House. From this time onwards debates were freely
reported in the press.
In 1780, following an act of
parliament to improve the civil rights of Roman
Catholics, the Gordon Riots wrought widespread
damage on London. Evenutally the army put an end
to the rioting at a cost of 285 dead and 173
wounded. Unofficial estimates put the casualties
at nearer twice this figure. Twenty of the
ring-leaders were later hanged. Executions still
took place at Tyburn until 1783 and were treated
as public holidays.
This was a time of opulent
architecture, evidenced in the work of Chambers,
Soane, Gibbs, Kent, the brothers Adam and the
elder and younger Dance. Amongst the most
magnificent buildings are the present Somerset
House, rebuilt on the riverfront, and the Bank of
England, Sir John Soane's greatest triumph. The
Mansion House, Horse Guards and Lansdowne House
also date from this era. The elegant garden
squares of Bloomsbury date from this period as
does house numbering and the acceptance of street
lighting as a municipal duty.
Next: 19th Century
London
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