History of London Group 4 Our Year 2015 Geffrey Museum (Victorian)
January 2015 Our first meeting included a tricky quiz about people and events in London history. It covered events from the Romans to the Victorians, and subjects from transport and medicine to culture and politics. We visited the Geffrey Museum, which shows the changing style of the English domestic interior in a series of 11 period rooms depicting the style of mainly middle-class homes from 1600 to the late twentieth century. Here are some photos from the visit taken by John Sanford
February 2015 We discussed the start of printing and the spread of the protestant religious ideas in the late 15th and early 16th century. Suggested listening is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011vh4k about Wyclif and the Lollards http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04k6sjj about Gutenberg http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04k6rc8 about Luther http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nbqz3 about Caxton http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04k6rls about Hans Holbein the Younger http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009jtq1 about the dissolution of the monestries Connected sites in London include: Lambeth Palace (the Lollards Tower) The National Portrait Gallery For our second outing we visited the Imperial War Museum. As a group we first visited an exhibition of the work of the WW1 war artists with 100 works rarely seen together (now closed). Among the art work we saw there were striking images produced by Nevinson and by John and Paul Nash. One room had paintings by women artists of the munitions factories and hospitals - these included one with a setting in Norbury. http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/nerves-of-the-army- 6073 Nevinson paintings http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/battle-of-britain-6997 Nash paintings
March 2015 Richard Jones, Chairman of the Friends of Greenwich Park spoke to the meeting, covering the history of Greenwich from Doomsday to the 2012 Olympics. We visited The Queen's House, Greenwich and the Old Royal Naval College. At the Queen's House we visited two exhibitions - the Art and Science of Exploration, which showed paintings and botanical illustrations from the three voyages of Captain Cook. Suggested listening http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06qkrks Voyages of James Cook - War Artists at Sea, which included dramatic paintings from World War 2 and ones showing ships painted with Dazzle designs. At the Old Royal Naval College we enjoyed a guide's presentations about the ceiling and wall paintings in the Painted Hall and the visited the chapel. Here are some photos from the visit.
April 2015 Kate Boyle, a City of London guide, gave us the history of TocH. Kate was also our guide when, on 22nd April, we visited All Hallows by the Tower. As well as hearing about the long history of this, the oldest church in London (founded 675 A.D.), we saw the place on Tower Hill where Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell and others were executed. May 2015 The build up to the Gunpowder was the main subject of the meeting. Suggested listening http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01gvthw underground catholicism as a theme in Shakespeare http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01gvkwh treason and plots as a theme in Shakespeare Connected site in London Westminster Hall Thanks to Jean (a Rotherhithe childhood), Ian (Croydon's early transport history) and John (St Erkenwald) for their short talks. The May outing combined the Treasures of the British Library with a guided talk at the Wellcome Collection's Forensics exhibition.
June 2015 There was a short presentation by Barbara on the Great Fire of Tooley Street 1861, which was a disaster during the early days of the London Fire Brigade (called the London Fire Engine Establishment at the time) involving exploding warehouses, Victorian style sight-seeing, the crime of scavenging fat from the Thames and he civic funeral of James Braidwood the "father of modern firefighting". This was followed by a recorded Gresham College lecture about what happened to London's royal palaces during the Commonwealth, including the private style in which Oliver Cromwell lived at the weekend (using the most lavish rooms a Hampton Court). The June outing was to the National Maritime Museum where we saw the permanent Galleries on the East India Company and Nelson s Navy. July 2015 The meeting covered the life of Sir Hans Sloane and the early history of the British Museum. Suggested listening http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b040hy59 on Hans Sloane The July outing was to the British Museum. We saw the exhibition of caricatures from the Napoleonic Wars period and the new display of items from Waddeston Manor. There was also time for talks on Enlightenment collecting and some of the Museum's pieces from Medieval Europe (including the Lewis Chessmen).
August 2015 We went to see the exhibition of Victorian photographs at the London Metropolitan Archive. These included scenes from the building of the Crystal Palace, Tower Bridge, Marc Brunel's tunnel from Rotherhithe to Wapping and the first Tube lines. Also on show were photos taken of older buildings "relics" under threat as the building of railways gathered pace and personal portraits including Victorian actors and actresses and young migrants to Canada. After lunch we visited "London's Dreadful Visitation, the Great Plague 1665" at the Guildhall Library and the Roman Amphitheatre underneath the Guildhall Art Gallery. September 2015 John Halligan, an accredited City of London guide, gave a talk to the meeting about the life of Samuel Pepys. Our visit was to Kenwood House, Highgate. It was a bright day and after coffee outside the Old Brew House (now a cafe) we saw the art collection bequeathed to the nation by Lord Iveagh in the 1920s (who bought the house and his paintings using part of his fortune from brewing Guinness). The collection includes sea scenes and 18th century portraits including Rembrandt's last self-portrait, Vermeer's the guitar player, works by Turner, Constable, Gainsborough, Reynolds and Wright of Derby. The house was home to Lord Mansfield and his family during the 18th century. Lord Mansfield brought up his great niece Dido Belle from the age of 5 and her story was the basis for the feature film Belle (released 2014).
Here is John Sanford s photo of Kenwood the Notting Hill view October 2015 Group members gave presentations. Jean talked about her work as clerk of the Upholders (one of the City Livery Companies) and the arrangements for electing the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs and the Lord Mayor's show. Barbara talked about genealogical research, giving information on the websites and archives which she has used in researching her own family. The outing was to Museum of London Docklands at West India Quay. The Museum is in a Grade I listed Georgian warehouse - one of two on the dock to have survived. The group saw an exhibition of the photographs taken by Christina Bloom of suffragette rallies and the guards regiments. There were also talks by the museum staff on Samuel Colt's factory at Pimlico which produced revolvers in the 1850s, the London docks complex and the crime, policing and ceremonial activities shown in the City and River Gallery covering the early nineteenth century.
November 2015 The group visited the William Morris Gallery located in one of his childhood homes in Walthamstow. We saw the work of this artist and socialist pioneer. As well as the hand-printed wallpaper designs, for which he is remembered, we saw the story of how he and Edward Burne-Jones chose to become artists. his marriage to a beauty who features in the paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, his political work and championing of craftsmanship and of the preservation of historic churches. The displays included the major commissions which his Firm took on (sometimes clashing with the rich patrons) and the technicalities of dying processes used at his Merton Abbey factory. After lunch some members went on to the Vestry House local Museum about the Walthamstow workhouse. In a change of programme, members discussed the changes to the sanitation of London over the 19th century including the work of Joseph Bazalgette in creating the main London sewers and of Dr Alfred Carpenter's attempts to improve the waste-water treatment in Croydon. Many thanks to Mary, Barbara and Ian for their insights into London street-life before sewers, cesspits and water supply. December 2015 The outing was to see Faces of Britain the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and was followed by delicious mince pies or afternoon tea in Covent Garden.