The Aldgate Pump 1880 F.C. Lewis Rocque was a land surveyor

Rocque was a land surveyor and cartographer born in France to a Huguenot family

At this time the Thames was still a working river and in the foreground barges and workers on the shore are detailed before the sun-lit towers of Parliament

Illustration from Ackermann's 'The Microcosm of London'

View of the London slums by Gustave Dore from 'Londre a Pilgrimage'

the Port of London was the busiest in the world

The Aldgate Pump 1880 F.C. Lewis Rocque was a land surveyorThe Aldgate Pump, 1880. A pump was originally installed here in the 16th century. The present one dates from the late 18th century but has been modified several times since. It officially marks the boundary between the City of London and the East End