You've traveled a very long distance (and time - over 130 years) to visit us, so in order to develop a better understanding of our way of life, you'll need to know something about 1876 London.

Since the Great Exhibition of 1851, London has grown in both area and population and is now the world's largest city. The County of London and its outskirts (Middlesex, Essex, Surrey and Kent) have a population approaching 7 million people.*

Its current most notable landmarks include Westminster Abbey, the House of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Royal Opera House, Westminster Bridge and the National Gallery.

It has a structured transportation system consisting of a metropolitan steam-powered railway; an underground railway providing transportation throughout the central city, and the London General Omnibus Company which was a ssytem of horse-drawn public omnibuses.

Improvements have continually been made relative to sanitation; domestic plumbing, pure water processing, trash collection and sewage drainage/disposal. The major streets are lit by gas lights with experimentation being done with electric lighting in Holborn.

The General Post Office runs the telegraph, a fast, popular and inexpensive communication system. Delivery was guaranteed day or night. The first telephone system would be established on Lombard Street in 1879 by the United Telephone Company. The GPO will take over its operation in 1880.

Mail delivery is frequent, reliable and also inexpensive. Central London consists of eight postal districts. There were 12 deliveries daily, nine of which were made to each district hourly. The outer districts received 11 deliveries with the suburbs receiving six deliveries daily.

Despite all its pluses, there are drawbacks to living here in London.

The most unpleasant of these is the heavy street traffic. Horse-drawn vehicles of every description (omnibus, delivery trucks, hansoms) jam the roads in one noisy (almost deafening), unending parade. It is estimated that a half million vehicles travel the city's streets in a day. And as everything is horse-drawn, well you can imagine "clean-up" (and the smell) all of which had to take place at the same time.

Another problem is air pollution. Homes are being heated and food cooked by coal. The soot and noxious gases causing respiratory illnesses of every sort. This pollution sometimes forms much like "fog" throughout the city. The poor tolerates it and the businessman, while he finds it objectionable looks at is as the cost of doing business and the result of a strong economy.

By 1860, many began to move out to the suburbs, i.e. residential districts. Each district is self-contained consisting of shops, schools, churches and community services among the semi-detached row houses. Despite the desirability of living in such an area, some seemed to turn into slum-like areas.

So where did a family move to? One chose to live in an area that best suited them and their family. Each suburb had its own specific characteristics and usually evolved based upon occupation or social status.

Credits:

Background and buttons by webmaster and are digitally watermarked. They are not to be used on another site.

To Top