Archive and Museum Collection
Each month, we’ll be sharing stories from the collections at Newham Heritage Centre. From rare photographs to historic objects to documents, our archive and museum collections reveal the rich, diverse history of the borough and its communities.
This regular feature highlights newly catalogued items, special finds, and fascinating pieces of local heritage — offering a glimpse into Newham’s past through the collections we care for.
Phases
May
Hands-On History: Preserving Plaistow Fever Hospital’s Past
After their hard work repackaging the Theatre Royal Stratford East poster collection, our volunteers are now cataloguing and repackaging the archive’s vertical files. This collection consists of over 1,000 folders covering a huge range of topics relating to Newham’s history. The size and contents of the folders vary, but they generally contain a combination of newspaper clippings, flyers, publications, maps, plans, correspondence and other ephemera.
These materials relate to Plaistow Fever Hospital, a hospital for infectious diseases which first opened in 1901. It was considered a modern hospital for its time, pioneering the barrier method for infectious diseases. Over the next 40 years, it also became a training destination for over 3,000 medical students. The hospital underwent several changes throughout its lifetime but ultimately fell into disuse in 2006. Its vertical file contains a wealth of information, offering insight into developments in science and public health. It is bursting with 100 years of booklets, practitioner regulations for scarlet fever and diphtheria, staff hiring and discharge forms, regulations for nurses and sisters, and much more!
Mapping the Tracks: West Ham Corporation Tramways
From 1904 to 1940, electric tramcars were a common sight throughout the borough, serving the area’s growing population. In our museum collection, we have an early guidebook to the West Ham Corporation, which operated tramways in the area. It gives us a sense of what it was like to be a commuter in 1908. Printed locally by J. Curwen & Sons, this small but mighty pocket guide includes several maps of East London and a fold-out map of the tram routes. Alongside this, it also contains a brief history of the area and travel advice. Its pages feature adverts for local businesses, such as J. Moss Grocers in Custom House, which boasts of selling the finest teas in West Ham!