Advancements in London

     Towards the end of the Industrial Revolution, 19th century London was a bustling place. There were more people, more problems, and more innovations. The Times, a daily British newspaper, that has been publishing since 1785, has archived its prints throughout the years and is a great way to look into London's history. During the Industrial Revolution, many technological and social advances were made, but with those advances, came side effects. This advancement was a double edged sword: they were able to move forward, but there was usually an unpredicted outcome of some time. However, these problems led to people trying to overcome them and eventually led to a safer environment. Three examples of this are the creation of railways, the spread of cholera, and an increase in fires.

      After the creation of the steam train, railways in 19th century London started springing up all around the city and England. The complicated network of rail tracks throughout the city allowed commoners to work at locations far from home. Some of the more wealthy families were able to live outside the bustle of the city and move into the country side, and created a suburban community. The railway was a crucial innovation for London's growth and connected different areas of the city. People did not have to walk places or take a Hansom Cab (see image) to get across the city. Unfortunately the interconnectedness of the city did have problems. For example, on September 14th, 1866 a man was hit by a train and killed. Based on the length of the story, however, this incident must be relatively rare for it to receive this attention. Accidents like this led to the improvement in safety and efficiency of railways. These trains laid the basis for modern day subway systems.

A 19th Century Hansom Cab

      In November of 1866, the Times showed a graph tracing where and in what concentrations outbreaks of Cholera were throughout the city. Cholera is a bacterial disease that can be spread via drinking contaminated water. London's situation did not help, because they dumped all there waste into the River Thames, which also happened to be their main water source. London was hit by several pandemics of cholera, killing thousands. It also did not help that it could now spread throughout the city via railways. The spread of cholra frightened many, and many began researching it. The tracking of the cholera victims shows the interconnectedness of the city, that they were able to collect data from all the hospitals around. The outbreaks oef the disease did take many lives, but it led to the further development of hospitals and medicine. Cholera does not remain a serious threat in England today, but developing countries still struggle with it. 

      In 1866, the London Fire Brigade was created to combat the increasing frequency of fires. The increase in factories and population inevitably led to more fires. Before the creation of the the Fire Brigade, fire fighting was very unorganized and a lot of property was vulnerable. However, that Fir Brigade wasn't enough. A fire had taken the ever vigilant and hard-working Braidwood, the leader of the London Fire Brigade at the time. That is when they realized that their current fire fighting technology was not sufficient enough to adequately extinguish or contain fires. In 1868, the London Fire Brigade was completely reorganized. They utilized the technology developed during the Industrial Revolution and applied it to fire fighting. They used the steam engine to create a pump that could pump out 300 gallons of water in 1 minute. Because of the abundant fires, London created the technology and organization to make itself safer.