History of Margate | As compiled by Anthony Lee

Welcome to the Margate Local History Website

NEWS:

11 April 2012. A new button has been added to the menu on the left, "Dreamland", showing pictures of Dreamland and the Hall-by-the-Sea.

8 April 2012. A new button has been added to the menu on the left, "Newly Added Pictures". This shows pictures newly added to the site.

Just Published: Margate in the Georgian Era

During the Georgian era, from 1714 to 1830, the town of Margate was transformed from a small run-down fishing village into one of the first sea-side resorts. This 212 page large-format book with 150 full coloured illustrations tells the story of this transformation, in maps, pictures, caricatures and prints of the time. It describes the importance of the Margate hoys and the early steam ships in providing cheap and ready access from London. It describes the typical visitor to Margate, how these early visitors would bathe in the sea, and the hotels, assembly rooms and libraries built for their amusement. The book will be of interest to those wanting to explore the development of the English holiday, as well, of course, to those with a particular interest in the county of Kent and the town of Margate.

212 pages, 8.5ins x 11ins, 150 illustrations in full colour, with full-colour stiff card cover.

A view inside the book [PDF file] can be seen here

The book can be ordered for £35 a copy (postage extra) from Lulu.co.uk

Some copies may also be available from the Margate Museum

Margate Maps	Margate Directories

The menu on the left provides access to a number of zoomable maps of Margate from 1717 to 1954. Further details are provided here.	The menu on the left provides access to a number of Margate directories from 1791 to 1883 in PDF format. Further details are provided here.
Margate Photographs	Margate Prints

Photographs can be accessed from "Margate Maps with Pictures".	Many prints of Margate can be accessed from the menu on the left.
Ride the Margate Trams	Newly Added Pictures

Under "Margate Maps with Pictures" on the left, see the trams and tram line from Westbrook to Northdown. Click on a coloured spot to see the trams at that location.	Pictures newly added to the site can be accessed from the menu on the left or from here.

Margate Museum, Margate Old Town, and the Grotto

A corner of the Museum

Museum Web Page for opening times etc.

Museum Facebook Page

Margate Old Town Information

The Shell Grotto webpage

OLD NEWS:

24 March 2012. A new section on Margate Storms has been added to the menu on the left, showing prints and photographs of the many storms that have hit Margate over the years.

4 March 2012.

Ride the Margate Trams.

Under "Margate Maps with Pictures" on the left, click to see the trams and tram line from Westbrook to Clftonville in 1907 and from Cliftonville to Northdown in 1936, after the major redevelopments in the Cliftonville area. As always, click on a coloured spot to see the trams at that location. The pictures are mostly from the collection of the late Mick Twyman, courtesy of Eve Twyman, and I thank John Robinson for scanning them.

8 February 2012. Margate Maps with Pictures. Ordnance Survey Maps for Margate for 1907 (scale: 25 ins/mile) have been added to the site, linked to ca 2000 Post Cards and other illustrations of Margate for this period. This still leaves a number of streets and buildings in Margate un-illustrated and I would be very grateful for any further illustrations that could be included with the maps. My contact details are given under 'Contact' on the top menu.

4 December 2011. A number of new prints and stereos have been added to the Edmunds map of 1821 and the 10ft/mile Ordnance Survey Map of 1873. Also a new "Margate Families" section has been added that includes a fascinating history of the Stannard family in Margate, very kindly provided by Virginia Silvester.

19 June 2011. Pictures have been added to the Edmunds Map of 1821. Clicking on one of the coloured spots now opens a Gallery Viewer showing relevant pictures. The use of the Gallery viewer is described in detail under "Help." FOR USERS OF FIREFOX . The Gallery Viewer works best if Firefox opens the Gallery Viewer in a New Window rather than in a New Tab. The default setting of Firefox is to open a New Tab. This can be changed in Firefox/Options/Tabs, by unclicking the first option "Open new windows in a new tab instead".

12 June 2011. The selection of Prints has now been completed with the addition of a number of Margate Caricatures and a number of Margate People. On a more technical note, a Search facility has been added: it is now possible to search the whole contents of the site, or to search separately text, pictures, and PDF files. Finally, a more convenient picture viewer has been included for viewing the smaller pictures: clicking on the small thumbnail picture opens up the viewer; click and drag on the picture to move it around the screen; click on the cross symbol on the bottom right to expand the picture to full size; click on the picture or on the cross symbol at the top right to close the picture (as you move your mouse across a picture these instructions appear, so there is no need to remember them).

30 April 2011. Further prints have been added to the site: Margate Prints from Local Publishers, Margate Prints from London Publishers, the rather odd Leporello Albums popular at the end of the 19th century, the woodcuts from Bonner's book, and the plates from Oulton's book, "Picture of Margate." These can all be accessed from the "Margate Prints" list in the left hand vertical menu. I would be very pleased to hear from others with prints of Margate not yet included on the site, so that we can make the site as comprehensive as possible. My contact details are given under "Contact" in the horizontal banner menu at the top of the page.

8 April 2011. A history of Margate prints has been added to the site, together with a set of about 120 steel line-engraved vignettes. These can be accessed from the drop-down menu on the left. Other prints of Margate will be added in the near future.

20 March 2011. Three further Ordnance Survey Maps for Central Margate have been added; 25 in/mile maps for 1906 and 1936 and a 50 in/mile map for 1954.

2 March 2011. The Bacon's Map of ca 1896 has been made searchable, and a later Bacon Map, also searchable, has been added. This new map is undated, but is probably ca 1910, including, for example, the route of the Isle of Thanet tramway; it also shows the considerable expansion of Margate that had taken place since the previous map. Any help in putting a more accurate date to the map would be gratefully received [contact details are given on the 'Contact' page.]

21 Feb. 2011. James Brazier of the Margate Civic Society has provided some fascinating information about the two sketch maps, '1821 Edmunds Map: Detail' and '1840: Lower High Street, Margate' which is now included on the 'Further Details' Map page.

13 Feb. 2011. Three new Margate Maps have been added; Harris’s Map of 1717, Andrews’s Map of 1769 and Bacon’s Large Scale Plan of Margate of ca. 1896.

Margate in Maps and Pictures