Mudlark'd: Hidden Histories from the River Thames

In the 18th and 19th centuries London was the busiest port in the world, exchanging goods, ideas, people and power with every continent. The Thames long acted as London’s water source, shipyard, thoroughfare and rubbish dump. Its banks have been densely packed with taverns, brothels, markets and workplaces, and scavengers – known as mudlarks - have scoured them since at least the 18th century. Consequently, the Thames today offers a repository of intriguing objects that evoke ways of life long forgotten. A delicate bone hair pin uncovers the story of Roman ornatrices - enslaved hairdressers. A counterfeit coin reveals the heritage of millions of Australians. Glass beads expose the brutal dynamics of the transatlantic slave trade. Clay tobacco pipes uncover the lives of Edwardian women parachutists and Victorian magicians. A scrap of Tudor cloth illuminates the stories of Dutch and French religious refugees.

The book also includes a primer, giving step-by-step advice on how to mudlark on tidal rivers and how to identify commonly made finds.

Malcolm Russell is a history writer who searches the foreshore of the River Thames to find the remnants of forgotten lives. The hundreds of objects he has found include Roman gaming counters, Tudor rings, eighteenth century beads used in the slave trade, a Victorian opium pipe and contemporary spells. In his first book ‘Mudlark’d’ (Thames & Hudson) he uses these objects to reveal the stories of London’s unremembered people: its non-conformists, immigrants, addicts, magicians, soldiers, sex workers and street musicians.

Malcolm studied history at the University of Sheffield where he was also more recently an Honorary Research Fellow of the history department. He first started unearthing objects from the past thirty-five years ago while excavating Victorian household tips. He is one of the most popular mudlarks on social media, and has contributed to publications such as Treasure Hunting, The Searcher and Beachcombing. He lives in east London.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thames and Hudson Ltd; 1st edition (21 April 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
• ISBN ‏ : ‎ 9780500024225
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 26.4 x 3.1 x 18.7 cm