Colonial London Tour

Colonial

LONDON

After the fire of 1666 the city would get rebuilt fallowing the latest European trend, the Baroque; but that was not the only trend the British fallowed: colonialism, slavery and central banking too, transforming London into a global city — and thanks to some churches and banks you can go back to the colonial times of London.

Time Period: 1666s-1820s

Movie/book: Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)/The Expansion of England: Two Courses of Lectures by John Robert Seeley

Soundtrack: Sea Shanties/Italian Opera

Fashion: red and white, velvet coat, and hat with a feather

Budget:

Sir George Thorold: A new Plan of the City of London, Westminster and Southwark; London, 1720

This tour would take you through the streets of Central London: where a new city emerged after the fire of 1666 with coffee shops, brick houses and banks; and where new offices for the army, navy and horse guards where built along side the new Royal Palace of Whitehall. The area is characterized by: baroque architecture, public squares with monuments and little shops/restaurants from around the world. After Elizabeth the Ist death the thrones of England/Wales and Scotland got united by blood-lines under the none Catholic Stuart dynasty but it wasn’t until 1707 through the acts of union that they got officially united creating Great Britain. A British sailor financed by a Dutch found a new way to Asia, which led to the creation of the first corporation of the world: The Dutch East India Company; which inspired the creation of the East India Company in 1600 and with that the English colonial presence in Asia — and 7 years later in the Americas with the Virginia Company. Exotic goods from the east and west (tea, fur, sugar, tabaco and silk) arrived at the docks of the River Thames to later be stored in warehouses along the river banks. The Dutch not only influenced in “businesses” but also in art: Van Dyck became part of the court of King Charles the Ist in 1632 and after he died Peter Lely replaced him in 1643. The baroque portraits of the latter influenced a young nepo baby girl, Mary Beale who turned into a successful portraiteur (maintaining her whole family with her endeavors). The banking industry was monopolized by Italian magnates on Lombard Street but in 1656 the Jew moneylenders were aloud back in the city to do businesses. A decade latter the ancient walled city of London got burned to the ground in the Great Fire of London in 1666 leaving room for new banks, coffee houses and pubs. Christopher Wren envisioned a new baroque city with an organized layout but instead it grew back fallowing the old medieval streets; but the wood houses were replaced by brick ones while the gothic churches by baroque ones (at least Christopher was able to rebuilt 52 including the glorious St. Paul Cathedral starting in 1675). Banks came back to Lombard St like Barclays founded in 1690 by a Quaker goldsmith-banker, but also the Lloyd’s Coffee House: a popular place for sailors, merchants and shipowners to discuss maritime insurance, ship rocking and foreign trade. Inaugurated in 1686 by 1691 it became one of the first stock exchange/auction houses to exist. The Bank of England founded in 1694 it the second oldest central bank in the world (model after the Bank of Amsterdam) profiting from the colonial trade and financing the wars against France. The renowned neoclassical architect Sir John Soane designed the “current” Bank in 1788. Even though the empire lost its American colonies against the Enlightened Freemasons after The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), it wasn’t done yet. The tour suggest exploring the financial district and St Paul Cathedral in the morning; Sir John Soane home plus the Somerset House in the afternoon; and to end the day dinner and a walking tour around Whitehall.