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The dock was originally built around 1698 by the aristocratic Russell family of the Duke of Bedford. The Russells had been given a portion of land in lower Rotherhithe by a wealthy Streatham landowner, John Howland, as part of a wedding dowry for his daughter Elizabeth, who married Wrothesley Russell, the Marquis of Tavistock. They immediately set about "improving" the rural property, obtaining parliamentary permission in 1695 to construct a rectangular dock with an area of about 10 acres (40,000 m²), capable of accommodating around 120 ships. It was named Howland Great Wet Dock in honour of John Howland.
In a picture of about 1717, it can be seen in a rural setting some miles outside the (much smaller) city of London, lined with trees on three sides (to act as windbreaks) and with the Russell family's mansion situated at the western end. Unlike the later docks, it was not built with cargo traffic in mind; it did not have walls, warehouses or other commercial facilities. Instead, it was promoted as being capable of accommodating ships "without the trouble of shifting, mooring or unmooring any in the dock for taking in or out any other". It was essentially a re-fitting base where ships could be repaired and berthed in a sheltered anchorage. It was aided in this regard by its proximity to the dockyards at Deptford
Howland Great Wet Dock was sold by the fourth Duke of Bedford in 1763. It came to be used by the whaling ships which operated principally in the North Atlantic around Greenland, prompting its renaming to Greenland Dock. For the remainder of the 18th century, it was used to refit whaling ships and as a location for the boiling of blubber to produce oil. However, this trade declined sharply by the start of the 19th centuryAlternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical ( 18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801- 1900. Events The Little Ice Age ended.
In 1806Events January 8 Cape Colony becomes a British colony January 10 Dutch in Cape Town surrender to the British January 19 The United Kingdom occupies the Cape of Good Hope March 23 After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocea the dock was sold to William Richie, a GreenwichThis page is about Greenwich in England. For other uses see Greenwich (disambiguation Greenwich (pronounced "Grennitch" or "Grinnitch") is a town, now part of the southeastern suburbs of London in the London postal district SE10, on the south bank of the timber merchant and founder of the Surrey Commercial Dock Company . The Company built a series of additional docks and timber ponds while rival companies built additional docks, leading to the jumble of harbours, canals and timber ponds that collectively made up the Surrey Commercial DocksThe Surrey Commercial Docks were a large group of docks in Rotherhithe on the south bank (the Surrey side) of the Thames in east London. The docks operated in one form or another from 1696 to 1969. Most were subsequently filled in and redeveloped for resi. Greenland Dock remained at the centre of London's timber trade for well over a century to come. It was lined with warehouses and immense piles of timber or "deal", which were maintained by the athletic deal porters. Much of the timber arrived aboard small sailing vessels from the BalticBaltic can refer to: The Baltic Sea Council of the Baltic Sea States an intergovernmental organization Baltic sea countries countries with access to the Baltic Sea The term Baltic countries is sometimes used more or less synonymously for Northern Europe ( region, although these were eventually displaced by large steamers.
Between 1895Events January events January 5 Dreyfus Affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. February events February 14 First showing of Oscar Wilde's last play The Importance of Being Earnes- 19041904 is a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). Events January 7 The distress signal " CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by " SOS. February 7 A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 Greenland Dock was greatly expanded by being extended to the west in a project carried out under Sir John Wolfe-Barry, the engineer who built Tower Bridge. In its final form, it covered an area of 22.5 acres (91,000 m²), with a depth of 31 feet (9 m) and a length of 2,250 feet (690 m), which cut straight across the old Grand Surrey Canal . It was also given a massive lock, 550 feet (170 m) long. This renovation enabled the dock to take large cargo ships and even ocean-going liners. Cunard Line vessels of as much as 14,000 tons sailed regularly from Greenland Dock to destinations in eastern Canada, carrying passengers and cargos in both directions.
In 1909 the dock, along with all of the other London docks, was amalgamated into the Port of London under the management of the Port of London Authority.
Greenland Dock suffered greatly during World War II, when many of the warehouses were razed by German bombing and the great lock was rendered unusable due to bomb damage. It soon recovered after the war and enjoyed a brief resurgence of prosperity. However, technological changes in the shipping industry soon pushed the dock into a spiral of decline. The deal porters' jobs were abolished from 1958 when timber started to be "packaged", or bundled in packaged quantities. Not long afterwards, the shipping industry moved en masse to the system of containerization, which required bulk carriers far too large to be accommodated in the London docks. In 1970, the Surrey Commercial Docks were closed. Greenland Dock was sold to Southwark council.
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