The London Water Supply Industry and the Industrial Revolution
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The London water supply industry and the Industrial Revolution Leslie Tomory McGill University [email protected] EHA 2014 Columbus, OH Preliminary draft. Please do not cite without contacting author. Abstract This paper explores some of the ways in which the history of London’s water supply industry in the eighteenth century has relevance for the history of the Industrial Revolution. Established around 1600, private companies were supplying drinking water directly to tens of thousands of houses by 1700 and continued to grow thereafter. This water supply was anomalous as compared to other cities in Europe which were much smaller. The industry developed in Britain in part due London’s status as a commercial hub and the existence of a large and wealthy market for water. Joint-stock fnancing was also important for water companies. Finally, this history shows the existence of technological inventiveness outside the traditional leading sectors of the Industrial Revolution. 1 1. Introduction From 1660 to 1800, a new water industry became established in London. This new industry consisted of a number of supply companies that sold water, mostly for domestic consumption, to consumers through a large network of mains connected directly to houses. The emergence of this new industry in this period predates and overlaps with the period 1760–1830, the years traditionally assigned to the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Despite its emergence as a new industry at time, as well as the size it eventually achieved, the water industry is hardly mentioned within the historiography of the “leading sectors” of the Industrial Revolution (IR). These sectors are typically parts of the textile, transportation, iron and coal, and chemical industries.1 The water industry’s emergence as a new sector, however, offers an interesting perspective on some aspects of the IR. This paper how London’s water industry in this period experienced important technological change that sustained the industry’s growth. In addition, the role of joint-stock fnancing and incorporation is explored. These two themes, technological changes and business organization, are also situated within the broader historiography of the Industrial Revolution. It is argued that although joint-stock fnancing was crucial, incorporation itself, while common, was not indispensible. In regard to technology, the water industry shows the pan-European roots of technical change in the IR, while confrming the divergence of England from the Continent over time. The presence of a large and wealthy consumer market in London was very important in promoting the expansion in scale that motivated technological change. 2. Overview of London’s water industry London’s water industry in the 17th and 18th centuries consisted of a number of private water companies. Before they arrived on the scene, London's water supply included the pumps and wells that existed in European cities well into the nineteenth century, as well as small, low pressure, gravity fow aqueducts that drew water from springs, lakes and rivers. These stone and lead aqueducts typically brought the water to cisterns and public fountains, as well as providing supply to some privileged buildings, such as palaces or baths. Medieval aqueducts were usually erected and maintained by local institutions such as the town corporation, or in some cases monasteries. The situation in London before the advent of private water companies around the turn of the seventeenth century was typical in this regard. The city, however, was becoming increasingly thirsty. It was growing rapidly in the late sixteenth century, with its population increasing from around 120,000 in 1550 to 200,000 in 1600, before reaching 500,000 by 1700. The local authorities in 1 Landes, 2003. Mokyr, 2009. 2 London sought new supplies of water to meet this demand, particularly as many of the smaller rivers, such as the Fleet, were becoming too polluted and in a number of cases had been covered over. In the years before 1600, the City of London (the city corporation governing the relatively small area of the medieval city north of the Thames) gained new rights from the sovereign and Parliament to draw water from nearby sources, such as from Hampstead in 1543 and the River Lea in 1570. Technological change also offered possibilities for increased water supply. The late sixteenth century was a time of growing interest in hydraulic engineering, with, for example, the reconstruction of some of Rome’s ancient aqueducts. Another innovation was the use of pumps instead of just gravity for water feeds, beginning frst in Germany, and then spreading to other cities around 1600. These new forms of hydraulic engineering came to London in 1582 with a German or Dutch immigrant named Peter Morris, who proposed building a waterwheel driven mechanism to pump water from the Thames (fgure 1). The City Corporation gave Morris a lease on the frst two arches of London Bridge for 10 shillings per year. London Bridge, dating from the thirteenth century, was at the time the only one crossing the Thames. The establishment of the London Bridge Waterworks also gave an impulse to the model of direct domestic connections, an important feature of modern networks. Originally, Morris supplied public fountains, as the medieval conduits did, but he also began to supply individual buildings. Before Morris’s arrival, individuals petitioned the City of London to be allowed direct connections to their houses, but these were relatively few, were not always allowed, and were cleared away in times of scarcity. With the arrival of water companies, the dynamic shifted, and they sought to distribute water more widely, driving the extension of London’s water network over the coming decades, albeit haltingly.2 2 On the history of water supply, particularly in London, see among others Tynan, 2002. Magnusson, 2001. Dickinson, 1954. Robins, 1946. Hansen, 2007. Jenner, 2000. Ward, 2003. 3 Figure 1. The London Bridge Waterworks. H. Beighton. 1731. The most important of the new water companies was the New River Company, which was created in 1616 by Sir Hugh Myddelton, a wealthy London businessman. The New River drew water from the River Lea and springs in Hertfordshire to the north of London. The City of London had originally won the rights to water from these springs in the early 17th century, but had not acted on them. It then delegated them to Myddelton. The New River, when completed, was an open aqueduct around 42 miles in length, bringing water to reservoirs at Islington, originally outside the city itself (fgure 2). From there, the water entered a number of mains under city streets. The water was distributed directly into houses, or into private courts where a number of dwellings could draw from a common reservoir. The water was low pressure, and supply was intermittent. Typically, water fowed into a basement reservoir two or three times a week for a couple of hours at a time. Servants would then draw water from this reservoir and distribute throughout the house as needed. 4 Figure 2. The New River Head. W. Hollar, 1664. For the frst century of its existence to around 1710, the New River was a gravity-fed system. Most of the other water companies, however, followed the London Bridge Waterworks in using pumping mechanisms, with which they experimented over time. Some companies, such as the Chelsea established in 1722, used tidal waterwheels or horse pumps. In the early 18th century, steam engine pumps were introduced, frst by the York Buildings Company situated on the Thames. The New River itself adopted pumping when it constructed higher reservoir after 1710, relying frst on a wind-driven pump, before moving to horse, waterwheel, and then steam pumping late in the 18th century with a Boulton & Watt steam engine. The London water industry in the 18th century is notable for the scale it acquired, and it was this large scale that fnanced the industries expansion, and prompted experiments in technological innovation. In terms of size, the New River Company was pre-eminent, representing about 75% of the industry in the city from the point of view of customers served. Although there was a period of fairly intense competition among the companies between 1670 and 1710 when many new companies were formed during a joint-stock boom, the New River became increasingly dominant from 1700. It generated consistently healthy profts for its shareholders (fgure 3). It grew especially after the Great Fire of 5 London in 1666 when much of the city was rebuilt, presenting an opportunity for the company to take on many new customers. The results of the New River’s growth became evident in its dividends. From around £33 per share in 1640, they reached £64 in 1665, the year before the fre. By 1670 it was at £70, £145 in 1680, and £222 in 1690. The rapid growth, however, was too fast for the company’s own good and it proved unable to keep up with the demand for water from all the new customers it was taking on. In 1682, John Aubrey recorded that “London is growne so populous and big that the new river of Middleton can serve the pipes to private houses but twice a weeke”.3 Competition from new companies also slowed its proft growth until after 1710, when it expanded it reservoir capacity, and introduced various technological changes, described below. The company was able to stabilize its situation by 1730, providing more regular supply. From that point, dividends increased regularly over the rest of the century, and especially after 1770. Figure 3: New River Company dividends and share price In contrast with the New River, the other London water companies experienced more diffculties, and were less proftable. The London Bridge Company survived and paid 3 Aubrey, 1898 6 dividends for much of its history.