Yesterday marked 150 years since the first 'trial ride' on the London Underground, the first underground railway system in the world. I know this only because I visited the National Portrait Gallery in March and found this photograph (more precisely, this is my photograph of the photograph). The gallery's accompanying text is as follows...
Mr and Mrs Gladstone on the Metropolitan Railway
The 'railway mania' in the first half of the nineteenth century greatly improved access to and from London. However, acute road traffic congestion created a need for a rail network within the city itself. In February 1860 work began on the Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway system in the world. The first line, from Paddington Station to Farringdon Street, opened on 10 January 1863. Public figures including William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98), then Chancellor of the Exchequer, and his wife Catherine (1812-1900), were invited to take 'trial rides' on the line prior to the opening.
Catherine Gladstone (nee Glynne) often accompanied her husband on public occasions, including the very first London underground train journey on 24 May 1862. She recognized the importance of their image as a couple and was the first woman to regularly appear alongside her husband on the platform during political speeches. Increasingly committed to charity work and fundraising, she became a celebrated figure in her own right and a market developed for her portrait in the form of photographs and commemorative memorabilia.
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As this is a photo of an old photo, I think I can set the copyright for the image. As such, please refer to the footer of my blog for license terms (Creative Commons License Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 England & Wales License).
Mike Horne says:
An interesting photo. However, the trucks bear initials KWB&L which I think means Kelk, Waring Brothers & Lucas, the contractors for the Metropolitan District Railway, opened in 1868. The Met contractors were Smith & Knight and John Jay, who had sections each. I think the photo is somewhat later than 24th May 1862, and there is an known image that day of Gladstone in a Smith & Knight truck. (It is probably 1867-8 and Gladstone was also a director of the Met District.) By the way your pop-up caption attributes photo to 24 May 2012!
30 April 2013 — 10:49 am