Timeline
1651 Pioneering businessman, Alexander Hay, became proprietor of Tooley Street warehouses, taverns and brew houses in London Bridge. His business acumen enriched the area and it began to be a key trading dock for the country. 1696 Joseph Hay (son of Alexander Hay) established an insurance scheme named 'Ye Amicable Contributors' and formed the first fire brigade in London to protect the area. 1838 Marked the end of nearly two centuries of the Hay family affiliation with Hay's Wharf.
1666 The Great Fire of London virtually destroyed the City and the riverside wharfs.
1700s Hay's Wharf was used as a refuge for German Protestants escaping persecution, some emigrate to New America
1840 John Humphrey Jnr took over the leasehold of the wharf.
1849 Britain opened up trade with the
1856/7 Sir William Cubitt, an acclaimed civil engineer, was commissioned to build a new wharf around an enclosed dock. Late 1800s/early 1900s The Wharf was rebuilt and became a major dockland serving the whole of the British Empire. Handling thousands of tons of dairy produce from abroad, it was named the Larder of London'. Cottons Wharf was converted into the first commercial cold storage warehouse in Britain. 1940s Hay’s Wharf was badly damaged during WWII bombings and once again it was rebuilt.
international market and started importing tea on the much-admired Tea Clippers from China, India and Ceylon.
1861 Hay's Dock was destroyed by the Great Fire of Tooley Street - described as "the greatest spectacle since the Great Fire of 1666".
Early 1920s Ernest Shackleton's ship, The Quest, was fitted out in Hay's Wharf for the ill-fated Polar Expedition of 1921-1922
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