The sample collection includes many commodities that came from Africa. These include African teak from Sierra Leone, barwood from West Africa, cocoa from Nigeria, copper ore and sugar from South Africa, East African tea, cloves form Zanzibar, black mother of pearl shell from Egypt and ivory from Mozambique. Photographs and films show how some of these cargoes were handled, stored and displayed in the docks and warehouses. The collection includes objects that were used to unload, transport, weigh and display these African commodities in the port.

The Museum in Docklands library and archive contains material that relates to shipping companies, such as the Union Castle Line, that operated regular services carrying people and cargoes between Africa and London. A number of photographs and engravings in the collection show African sailors in London.

London’s East India Docks were built to handle trade from the Asia. The collection includes the main archive about the construction of these docks and their operation from 1806 to the 1960s. By the 1830s, other docks including the St.Katharine Docks and the London Docks were handling cargoes such as tea and spices imported from Asia. The collection contains many items that relate to the cargo handling of these commodities in the docks. There are supplemented by hundreds of photographs illustrating how cargoes were unloaded from ship to quayside and transported from quayside to warehouse. Special Chinese letter books were prepared to enable dock officials to identify marks on crates and sacks imported from China.

The sample collection includes many commodities that came from Asia. These include tea from Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and India, spices from Indonesia, rubber from Malaysia, gum copal from Sarawak, silk from Japan, India and China, and cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean.

Many ‘lascar’ or Asian seamen visited the Port of London. A few photographs show them on board ship in the docks and on the quayside. A few signs relate to lascars’ facilities in the port and more information about lascars can be found in the Museum in Docklands Library and Archive.

A portfolio of drawings, engravings, photographs and newspaper cuttings relating to Limehouse includes a number of items about the settlement of Chinese people in the area.

London’s West India Docks were built to handle the trade to and from the West Indies. The collection includes the primary archive about the construction and operation of this dock from 1799 until it closed in 1980. Hundreds of engravings and photographs as well as a number film sequences show how cargoes such as sugar, rum and coffee were unloaded and stored in these docks. The Museum in Docklands occupies one of London’s earliest dock warehouses, sited on the north quay of the West India Dock. The size and scale of this building reflects the importance of the West Indies trade to London’s economy.

The sample collection contains many cargoes that arrived in the port from the Caribbean. These include annato seeds from Barbados, sarsparilla from Jamaica and pimento, indigo and hardwoods from different parts of the West Indies.

The important West Indian banana trade to London in the 20th century is featured especially in the Museum’s photograph and film collection.

Some of the images can be found on the Moving Here web site.

The sample collection includes many commodities that came from Central and South America. Samples include jalap root from Vera Cruz, cajoba wood from Puerto Rico, carnauba palm and gutta percha from Brazil and balsam from Peru.

The sample collection includes many commodities that came from Central and South America. Samples include jalap root from Vera Cruz, cajoba wood from Puerto Rico, carnauba palm and gutta percha from Brazil and balsam from Peru.

The photographic archive of factories and riverside sites made in the 1980s by the Museum in Docklands project show Londoners from black and minority ethnic backgrounds at work. The cultural diversity of London’s workforce is also revealed in the Museum’s collection of photographs recording the redevelopment of Docklands, especially the Isle of Dogs, in the 1980s and early 1990s.

The sample collection includes unusual items such as Gum myrrh from Yemen, liquorice root and safflower from Iran (Persia), fenugreek from Lebanon and valonia from Turkey.

Irish labourers helped to build London’s docks in the early 19th century and many settled nearby in places like Wapping. Dock company records show that many Irish men found work in the docks. The collection of prints, photographs and documents are a valuable source for studying the Irish community in London. Some of the images and archive can be found on the Moving Here web site.

Australia and New Zealand were an important colonial source of goods arriving in the port of London. In the 19th century wool was a major import from this part of the world. Archival records, maps and engravings in the collection show the special facilities that were constructed for the reception of wool. From the late 19th century, once refrigerated transportation had been developed, frozen meat became another major commodity imported from Australia and New Zealand. Photographs and films show how both these cargoes were handled in the port of London.

The sample collection includes many other types of goods arriving from Australasia into the port of London such as lead ore from Australia, totara wood from New Zealand and even jove seeds from the Pitcairn Islands.