Bacon's Atlas of London & suburbs, c1912 : London Gas Supply and Underground Railways : eastern section

            A page from the wonderfully detailed Bacon's Atlas of London & Suburbs, this being dated from c1912 by one of the 'special maps' bound in at the front of the atlas. The bulk of London is covered in a series of map sheets at 4" to the mile and is very detailed giving a clear indication of the pre-WW1 city, in its full Victorian and Edwardian splendour but before the massive inter-war expansion into 'Metroland' and similar suburbs.

Bacon's was formed by one George Washington Bacon (1830–1922), an American who set up business in London producing atlases and maps of the capital in about 1870 after a series of business failures. G W Bacon prospered and in c1900 were acquired by the Scottish publishers and cartographers W.& A.K. Johnston of whom they became a subsidiary.

One of the special plates shows the numerous London gas supply undertakings, mostly private companies although a good few of the Borough councils also ran municipal undertakings. The major company in the capital was, until Nationalisation in 1949, the Gas Light & Coke Company that was, given its origins in 1812, the first gas supply company in London and one of the earliest in the world. By the date of this map the GLCC had developed the major works at Beckton, adjacent to the Thames in East London although it still had stations and gas holders in the heart of Westminster where the first works had been situated. The company had acquired many competitors and in the coming years after c1912 would acquire others such as the Ilford Gas Company and the Brentford Company - the latter had itself in the 1920s acquired the smaller Harrow and Stanmore Company.

The other major company was the South Metropolitan whose name somewhat belies its geographic supply area. It was also one of the country's largest producers and was held in high regard for the efficiency of production - although as weith all town gas works, cleaning sites up afterwards was never simple. The South Met's works included the vast Greenwich works, now the site of the Millennium Dome.

The map is also used to show the Underground Railways of London - these include the original 1863 Metropolitan Railway, of cut and cover construction as was the District, along with the 'deep tube' lines such as the Central London, the Great Northern Piccadilly & Brompton, The Baker St & Waterloo, the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead, The Great Northern & City and the City & South London Railways. By the date of this map the majority of these companies had been acquired by the Underground Electric Railways of London, the London Electric Railways, and were forming the effective start of the 'Combine' that would form a key component of London Transport in 1933.

Taken on: October 15, 2021

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Bacon's Atlas of London & Suburbs c1912

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Gas Light & Coke Company

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Wandsworth Mitcham and Epson Gas Company

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Hornsea Gas Company

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Bishops Stortford Harlow and Epping Gas Company « less

Sets appears in: • G W Bacon Atlas of London & Suburbs, c1912 • Old London tube maps more » • Old maps • London books and maps • London Transport « less

Groups appears in: • Public Transportation • industrial culture more » • Industrial Architecture/ Archaeology UK • Lost London • That Old Timey Feeling • Public Transport Around the World • London Maps • * L O N D O N - T R A N S P O R T * • London Books & Their Illustrations • Old London • PLANET EARTH BACK IN THE DAY • Metro Maps from Around the World • UK town gas industry « less

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