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	About the Island History Trust

News Flash! News Flash! News Flash!

Island History is housed in the Dockland Settlement building which this year celebrates its centenary. Opened in 1905 to be used as a club and canteen for local factory girls and women, it became Dockland Settlement No.2 in 1923. Harold Kimberley was the Warden until 1950. To mark this 100th anniversary, Island History has published a special edition of Island History News, with 12 pages of stories and pictures about the life of the building, past and present. To find out more, click on dockland settlement, or subscribe to the Newsletter.

Dismantling the swing bridge at Millwall Docks

How it all Began

People on the Isle of Dogs started collecting photographs and reminiscence in 1981. This was at the time when the docks and most of the local factories had just closed.

There was unemployment and an atmosphere of uncertainty. Feelings of loss of local identity and of traditional ways of working and living, were countered by the activity of recording and preserving local history.


		Photographs were brought out of family albums and biscuit tins, copied and returned to their owners. New prints were made and stored with every print, information was gathered - names, dates, stories.
		This information was indexed for easy reference. Today there are almost 5,000 pictures in the Photograph Collection.


		It has always been on open access and is used by people living locally, visitors with a connection to the Island, and newcomers who are interested in the history of their new home.
		At the same time, tape recorded interviews were made with elderly Islanders. Other people wrote down their memories, some producing complete autobiographies and diaries.



		This material has been used alongside the photographs in a series of publications and exhibitions, which include an annual Calendar and a regular Newsletter.


		In 1985 a slot in the Timewatch television programme put the project in touch with many Islanders who had moved away, often as a result of war-time evacuation.
		This broadened the base of the Trust's supporters and led to our annual Open Days. At these events, people gather from all over the country to reminisce and meet up with old friends and family around the Photograph Collection.


		The Trust has worked closely with Islanders over 20 years, creating records, ensuring public access, running local history classes and workshops and supporting other groups in project work around the theme of local history.
		One group of Island women met regularly over a 10-year period and created a series of wall hangings illustrating the history of the Island.

There are seven Trustees, one part-time curator and a number of volunteers. The Trust is funded by its many supporters and through the sale of publications, as well as by charitable foundations, local business sponsors and local government.

The Photograph Collection is open to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and on the first Sunday of each month, from 1:30pm to 4:30pm and at other times by arrangement. Groups of six or more can be accommodated by appointment. The collections are on the first floor and if stairs are a problem, ground floor access will be made available.

The Trust is based in one of the Island's oldest community centres, The Dockland Settlement, at 197 East Ferry Road, London E14 3BA. The nearest station is Mudchute on the Docklands Light Railway and limited car parking is available.