London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Heritage Services

Archives andLocal Studies

collectionguide no.9

Thames and fishing

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Heritage Services

Location

Bay7 of the main shelves

Scope of the collection

The Thames has been important factor in the history and development of Barking and Dagenham. By 1850 Barking was the busiest fishing port in Britain, sending its vessels to the North Sea to supply the London markets. In Dagenham, the 18th century saw the formation of the Breach and the attempts to repair it, culminating in success for John Perry. The Breach became a popular fishing and holiday spot, and it was here that the Ministerial Whitebait Dinners were first held.

Topics covered in this section include histories of the Thames and London Docklands; design and development of barges and fishing vessels; and general studies of North Sea fishing.

The books are for reference only, so are always available on the open shelves. Before the re-opening of Valence House in summer 2010, each volume was carefully cleaned by Archives and Local Studies volunteers before being added to the sustainable custom-built oak shelves in the new library.

Examples

C.L. CUTTING: Fish saving: a history of fish processing from ancient to modern times
Peter EARLE: Sailors: British merchant seamen 1650-1775
FISHING NEWS AND FISH MERCHANDISER & PROCESSOR: The Short Blue Fleet 1764 -1964(supplement to the 3 April 1964 issue)
Henry HUMPHERUS: History of the Watermen’s Company (in 3 volumes)
Edgar J MARCH: Sailing trawlers
E.J. MATHER: Nor’ard of the Dogger
M.S. SCOTT: The Hewetts of Barking: the story of a fishing family
Derek SIMMANS: The History of the Barking Fishing Fleet volumes 1 and 2 (extracted from the Hewett diary and log 1856–1861, original at the Essex Record Office)
Fred S THACKER: The Thames highway (in 2 volumes)
Chris THURMAN: Essex Thames-side: Woolwich to Thorpe Bay