2-982-228 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Mr. John Thwaites, Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works - from a photograph by Cox, 1858. First Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works, and the first Leader of local government in London. 'During the agitation of 1848-9 among the gas consumers of the metropolis, for the purpose of reducing the price of gas to 4s. per 1000 feet, he was chairman of a large gas-consumers' committee, representing the boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, and Greenwich, which eventually, owing to the obstinacy of the old companies, called the Surrey Gas-Consumers' Company into existence, Mr. Thwaites being appointed one of the trustees on the part of the gas consumers...During the high price of coals at the close of the year 1856 an arrangement was entered into by the gas companies south of the Thames to allot to each company a given district for its exclusive supply of gas, thereby effecting a considerable reduction in the amount of waste caused by the pipes of one company having to traverse through large and unprofitable districts. But when the companies sought to stamp this arrangement with the authority of an Act of Parliament, and thereby establish a monopoly, Mr. Thwaites, in conjunction with his co-trustees, successfully resisted the attempt'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.