Leonard Bentley
Lambeth Pier
This is a Francis Frith & Co photograph reproduced in the autotype process. The process was developed by Georg Meisenbach in Munich and it enabled photographs to be reproduced in books and newspapers by breaking up the photograph into horizontal and vertical lines. The subject of the photograph is Lambeth Palace taken from Lambeth suspension bridge and a paddle steamer about to arrive at Lambeth Pier. The steamer is in the livery of the River Thames Steamboat Company and dates from the late 1880s, originally it was built for the London & Westminster Steamboat Company in the 1840s or early 1850s at Blackwall or Deptford and was used on a non-stop service from Old Swan Pier to a Pier at the southern end of Westminster Bridge near to where County Hall stands today. It is one of a fleet of “Double Enders”, that is, with two bows and two rudders. All the boats were named after flowers, they were: - Azalea, Bluebell, Rose, Dahlia, London Pride, Sunflower, Lotus and Camelia. Unfortunately, the name of this boat is not visible on the photograph. All the boats were withdrawn form service by the early 1890s except for Lotus which continued operating with other companies until 1909.
Lambeth Pier
This is a Francis Frith & Co photograph reproduced in the autotype process. The process was developed by Georg Meisenbach in Munich and it enabled photographs to be reproduced in books and newspapers by breaking up the photograph into horizontal and vertical lines. The subject of the photograph is Lambeth Palace taken from Lambeth suspension bridge and a paddle steamer about to arrive at Lambeth Pier. The steamer is in the livery of the River Thames Steamboat Company and dates from the late 1880s, originally it was built for the London & Westminster Steamboat Company in the 1840s or early 1850s at Blackwall or Deptford and was used on a non-stop service from Old Swan Pier to a Pier at the southern end of Westminster Bridge near to where County Hall stands today. It is one of a fleet of “Double Enders”, that is, with two bows and two rudders. All the boats were named after flowers, they were: - Azalea, Bluebell, Rose, Dahlia, London Pride, Sunflower, Lotus and Camelia. Unfortunately, the name of this boat is not visible on the photograph. All the boats were withdrawn form service by the early 1890s except for Lotus which continued operating with other companies until 1909.