History of London, England

The population of London may have reached 120,000 by the middle of the 16th century and about 250,000 by 1600. In the Middle Ages the church owned about 1/ 4 of the land in London. When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries it released a great deal of land for new buildings.

Wool was still the main export from London but there were also exports of 'Excellent saffron in small quantities, a great quantity of lead and tin, sheep and rabbit skins without number, with various other sorts of fine peltry (skins) and leather, beer, cheese and other sorts of provisions'. The Royal Exchange where merchants could buy and sell goods opened in 1571.

Nevertheless the suburbs outside London continued to grow. In the late 16th century rich men began to build houses along the Strand and by 1600 London was linked to Westminster by a strip of houses.

All this happened despite outbreaks of bubonic plague. It broke out in 1603, 1633 and 1665 but each time the population of London quickly recovered.

Banqueting House was built in 1622. In 1635 the king opened Hyde Park to the public. In 1637 Charles I created Richmond Park for hunting. Also in 1637 Queens House was completed in nearby Greenwich.

"He was succeeded in 1641 by his son, William - later Sir Greene - who built the brewhouse and took his cousin, John Greene into partnership in 1646. John Greene built another brewery at Kensington Gravel pits, London. The brewhouse expanded, the partnership owning over 16 acres by the end of the 18th century. The Watney family were the main partners in the Stag Brewery of Pimlico for much of the 19th century. In 1837 James Watney became a partner in the brewery with John Lettsom Elliot and Charles Lambert, as later did his sons James and Norman in 1856. The brewery was known as Elliot, Watney & Co from about 1849. John L. Elliot withdrew from the business in 1850 and for 8 years remained a partner in name only. He finally retired in 1858 and the firm became known as James Watney & Co. James Watney then kept the management almost entirely to himself until his death, at well over eighty years, in 1884. After his death in 1884 Watney & Co Ltd. became a private limited company in 1885."

Then in 1642 Civil War began between king and parliament. The royalists made one attempt to capture London in 1643 but their army was met 6 miles west of St Pauls by a much larger parliamentary army. The royalists withdrew. However the Puritan government of 1646-1660 was hated by many ordinary people and when Charles II came to London from France in 1660 an estimated 20,000 people gathered in the streets to meet him. All the churches in London rang their bells.