Commercial London in 1900: The Custom House

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Arthur H. Beavan continued his survey of commercial London in Imperial London, 1901, with this look at the Custom House:

To many thousands of born Londoners, in 1900 the City was a terra incognita, and would remain so.

They were essentially West-enders, and although the luxury that surrounded them was derived from commerce, and the head of the family was either banker, merchant, or stock-broker, with an office in some Court or Lane off easily accessible thoroughfares like Broad Street, Cornhill, or Lombard Street, the probability is that neither his wife nor daughters could ever find their way thither, but would wander about hopelessly lost, so ignorant were most people of the intricate geography of that square mile called the City of London, whose resident population hardly equaled that of Dover, but into whose precincts over a million persons entered daily, Sunday excepted, on business bent.

An excursion into this wonderful quarter of London to see the sights, was an exploration not to be undertaken lightly; and to be effective required the services of a cicerone gifted with unerring powers of localization, an excellent memory, and abundant patience. Let us start on the expedition from the Custom House.

There were few pleasanter spots in summer to stroll about in than the quay in front of the Custom House, Lower Thames Street, open, breezy, picturesque, and commanding a capital view of the river and the shipping.

Upon the quay, the Custom House, with its long facade designed circa 1852, by Robert Smirke, though plain, possessed an air of dignity from the simplicity of its style.

In Lower Thames Street the frontage and entrance were alike ugly and paltry in appearance; in fact, inside and out, it was strictly utilitarian and unadorned to an extent that made it resemble a barrack, all but the Boardroom, which was fairly well furnished and had portraits of George III and George IV, the latter by Sir Thomas Lawrence.

Nearly two hundred distinct and well-classified departments were in this building, besides many warehouses and cellars; yet the only thing worth seeing was the Long-room, some 190 feet by 66 feet, but without any kind of ornamentation, where most of the documents were dealt with.

However, the interest of the Custom House depended not upon the structure but upon the prodigious sums the Department dealt in, its annual contribution to the national revenue often exceeding twenty millions sterling, derived from duties on wine, spirits, tea, tobacco, etc.

And when, as happened in February 1900, there was a rush of merchants, adept in the commercial art known as the "intelligent anticipation of events" in relation to the Budget and the possible imposition of higher duties, the figures of the Custom House and Finance Department became colossal, one wine Company alone clearing 30,000 dozen of champagne in two days, representing a cheque for duty of about £16,000, while within a fortnight (February 1 st to February 16th) 35,000,000 lbs of tea and 11,000,000 lbs. of tobacco were removed from Bond, the former involving payments to the Revenue of about £814,000.

So fierce at the beginning of the rush was the struggle to be first in the field that in an hour no less than £100,000 was paid in.

Next: The City of London in 1900: The Tower of London