Leonard Bentley
Waterloo Pier
An anonymously published colourised postcard probably printed in Germany showing the view looking towards the north bank from Waterloo Bridge. The floating Thames Division police station on Waterloo Pier is about four years old having been rebuilt in 1900 and beyond, Somerset House and Victoria Embankment. Steaming its way upstream is the Thames Steamboat Company's "Kaiser" which was built in 1889 at Poplar by the Samuda Bros for the River Thames Steamboat Company. There is a story that during the late 1880s the managing director of the River Thames Steamboat Company was a German national, he named several other Paddle Steamers such as "Bismarck" whose name was changed to "Phyllis" in 1899 and "Empress Frederick" which worked on the Thames without a name change until 1911. The Empress Frederick, also known as the Kaiserin Viktoria was the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria who married Frederick III of Prussia and was the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kaiser Bill of WW1 fame. There was also a suggestion that a paddle steamer was named "Deutschland" but I cannot find any trace of her. The "Kaiser" worked on the Thames without a name change until 1909.
Waterloo Pier
An anonymously published colourised postcard probably printed in Germany showing the view looking towards the north bank from Waterloo Bridge. The floating Thames Division police station on Waterloo Pier is about four years old having been rebuilt in 1900 and beyond, Somerset House and Victoria Embankment. Steaming its way upstream is the Thames Steamboat Company's "Kaiser" which was built in 1889 at Poplar by the Samuda Bros for the River Thames Steamboat Company. There is a story that during the late 1880s the managing director of the River Thames Steamboat Company was a German national, he named several other Paddle Steamers such as "Bismarck" whose name was changed to "Phyllis" in 1899 and "Empress Frederick" which worked on the Thames without a name change until 1911. The Empress Frederick, also known as the Kaiserin Viktoria was the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria who married Frederick III of Prussia and was the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kaiser Bill of WW1 fame. There was also a suggestion that a paddle steamer was named "Deutschland" but I cannot find any trace of her. The "Kaiser" worked on the Thames without a name change until 1909.