By the end of the 19th century, London was not just a bustling, world-class city. It was also the center of Britain’s Empire.

People living in London had access to goods from around the world… if they could afford them, that is. Not everyone could afford them, however, since London was also a city of contrasts.

London by Alfred Buckham, pioneer of aerial photography.

 

Eighteenth century houses at Borough Market by William Whiffin

 

Bunhill Fields

 

A plane tree in Cheapside

 

Dirty Dick’s in Bishopsgate

 

Book stalls in the Farringdon Rd by Walter Benington

 

Roman galley discovered during the construction of County Hall in 1910

 

The garden at the Bank of England that was lost in the reconstruction

 

Bridge House in George Row, Bermondsey – constructed over a creek at Jacob’s Island

 

Penny for the Guy!

 

Hoop & Grapes in Aldgate by Donald McLeish

 

Houndsditch Old Clothes Market by William Whiffin

 

In Huggin Lane between Victoria St and Lower Thames St by Andrew Paterson

 

Inigo Jones’ gate at Chiswick House at the time it was in use as a private mental hospital

 

The Langbourne Club for women who work in the City of London

 

Leadenhall Poultry Market by Donald McLeish

 

Liverpool St Station at nine o’clock six mornings a week

 

Old signs in Lombard St by William Whiffin

 

The London Stone by Donald McLeish

 

Figureheads of fighting ships in the Grosvenor Rd by William Whiffin

 

Old houses in the Strand

 

Puddledock Blackfriars

 

Piccadilly Circus in the eighteen-eighties

 

Poplar Almshouses by William Whiffin

 

Punch & Judy show at Putney

 

On the deck of a Thames Sailing Barge by Walter Benington

 

The Grapes at Limehouse

 

Wapping Old Stairs by William Whiffin