Waterman

[announcement over speaker] One golden rule of the race is that all boats must carry a passenger in honor of the Thames watermen.

In Tudor times, they were some of the most important tradesmen in London.

In 1555, an act of Parliament led to the foundation of the Company of Watermen.

This is the courtroom of the company, part of the original hall.

And we, uh, we are the only Georgian hall left in the city.

The city fathers didn't want all this activity, bull-baiting and, uh, theaters, uh, brothels, so people would travel across.

Particularly young, young blades from the city would, uh, would take a boat and go across and, uh, be, be skinned alive for their [laughs] for their purses almost.

The Watermen's Company had a stranglehold on river traffic, and they strictly controlled both the boats and the watermen.