1865 Start of excavation of docks; the contractor was Mr. Rigby of Westminster.
1881 Parliamentary approval for construction of a new deep water dock at Dagenham which would avoid large vessels having to navigate the Thames with its bends nearer to London. The site included the area of the Dagenham Breach. The existing Dagenham Lake would be converted into an auxiliary dock.
1887 Samuel Williams, a barge builder, purchased 30 acres of land at Dagenham Breach. This was new land created when part of the lake was filled in.
By 1891 Williams' company had built a deep-water timber dock. They also built a railway connected to the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line and two new jetties that created a tidal quay.
1911 the last great ship built on the River Thames, the battleship HMS Thunderer, was fitted out here.
Samuel Williams and Co joined forces with John Hudson and Co. to form a successful shipping company. Some of the land beside the dock was used for their shipping and haulage business. Some was sold to organisations such as Union Cable Company and Ford Motor Company who built factories there.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Historic England