A big city offers big problems, no matter what the period of history. Victorian London was no exception. This section looks at the infrastructures that kept Victorian London "running", including its civic offices, its police and fire fighters (that's a London fire engine to the left), its utilities and even its sewer systems. It's worth noting that in Victorian days, a number of "public" services were actually handled by private agencies or by religious charities.

The Metropolitan Officers of Health (Illustrated London Almanack, 1857)

The role of the newly created General Board of Health.

Police 'Prentices, by G.F. Millin (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1875)

What it takes to become a London "Bobby".

Workers by Night, by George Manville Fenn (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1877)

A look at London's night workers, including bricklayers, sweepers, Thames police patrols, firemen, cabmen and more.

How to Organise a Voluntary Fire-Brigade (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1880)

London Fires and Firemen (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1881)

The London School Board and Elementary Educational Progress (Illustrated London Almanack, 1884)

The Municipal Administration of the Metropolis (Illustrated London Almanack, 1884)

How London is Governed, by Albert Shaw (Century Magazine, 1891A)

The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (The Strand, 1891A)

A Night with the Thames Police (The Strand, 1891A)

People Who Face Death: Firemen, by A.E. Bonser (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

[Chatham Yard] A Royal Dock-Yard, by Fred T. Jane (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1895)

How the Other Half Lives: The Policeman, by Wilfred Wemley (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895A)

The Lost Property Office by William G. FitzGerald (The Strand, 1895B)

Some of the odd items left on trains and cabs that turn up in London's Lost Property Office, from umbrellas to babies!

A Night with the Thames Police, by F.M. Holmes (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1896)

Bobby on His Beat, by W.J. Wintle (Windsor, 1897)

A night in the life of the London "bobby" - and the hazards of trying to research an article on same!

Utilities

The Gas We Burn (Leisure Hour, 1868)

Bringing the Sea to London (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1876)

A curious proposal to bring large reservoirs of salt water into London to provide improved drainage, street-cleaning, and street moistening in hot weather.

The London Water Companies (Illustrated London Almanack, 1883)

The Water Supply of the Metropolis (Illustrated London Almanack, 1884)

The Metropolitan Board of Works (Illustrated London Almanack, 1886)

The Metropolitan Water Companies (Illustrated London Almanack, 1886)

London's Drinking Water (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1891)

Gas, by Edward Salmon (The Strand, 1892B)

How natural gas is used and distributed in London.

How London Gets Its Gas: A Visit to North Woolwich, by F.M. Holmes (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

The Rebuilding of London, by Dr. Joseph Parker (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895B)

How London might be rebuilt, and the advantages of doing so.

How London Is Supplied with Water, by Frederick T. Souden (Windsor Magazine, 1898B)

Underground London (The Strand, 1898B)

A journey through London's sewer system.

Lists & Statistics

Statistics of Metropolitan Burial Grounds (Illustrated London Almanack, 1850)

The acreage of burial grounds in London used by each religious sect (e.g., Catholic, Protestant, Dissenters, Jews, etc.), along with the interesting tid-bit that it is estimated to take seven years for "a layer of bodies to decay" in London.

Metropolitan Police Courts (Illustrated London Almanack, 1870)

School Board for London (Illustrated London Almanack, 1875)

The City Parochial Charities (Illustrated London Almanack, 1881)

The Metropolitan Board of Works; the Local Government Board; The Metropolitan Gas Supply (Illustrated London Almanack, 1881)

The Metropolitan Board of Works (Illustrated London Almanack, 1882)

City of London Parochial Charities; Metropolitan Charities (Illustrated London Almanack, 1883)

A Year's Total Receipts of the Metropolitan Charities (Illustrated London Almanack, 1884)

City of London Financial Account; Expenditure of the City Companies (Illustrated London Almanack, 1886)

The London School Board (Illustrated London Almanack, 1886)

A Year's Fires in London (Illustrated London Almanack, 1886)

Income and Expediture of the Corporation of London (Illustrated London Almanack, 1887)

Fires in Theatres (Illustrated London Almanack, 1888)