tour 2 of 28
London 1753
The City
The City of London (the capital C is used here
to distinguish the historic City from the metropolis as a whole)
dates back to Roman
Londinium. Although the
City was to become a tiny part of a vast conurbation, it has never
lost its distinct character: with its concentration on
international trade, its combination of workaday business life and
ancient ceremonial, its medieval street pattern and tightly-packed
buildings, it remains proudly apart from the great capital that
took its name.
Since the
twelfth century the City has been governed by its own mayor,
sheriffs and aldermen, and has had its independent court of
justice. Freedom from royal and parliamentary interference was
still jealously guarded in the eighteenth century, and the
commercial power and wealth of the City merchants ensured their
opinion was listened
to.
The enormous increase
in British influence worldwide during the eighteenth century, based
primarily on trade and commerce, was centred on the City, still the
country's major port. Institutions such as the Bank of
England (founded in 1694) and the East India Company were crucial
to the country's international
status.
New developments
had their victims. In the industrial suburbs beyond City
jurisdiction, factory systems and a wage economy took the place of
paternalistic regimes where master, journeyman and apprentice knew
their place. Philanthropy led to the opening of hospitals and other
institutions to help those who fell by the wayside. But social
dislocation, rapid change and massive migration to London brought
periods of civil unrest - in the mid-century this was at its most
violent in the East End where silk-weavers and coal-heavers erupted
into periodic
riot.
Illustration:
Giovanni Antonio Canaletto, View of London
from the north, a drawing, 1751 (PD
1862-12-13-51)