and
Thomas Rowlandson (figures) from
Rudolph Ackermann's
Microcosm of London, or, London in Miniature (1808–11).
19th century Robert Milligan (–1809) of a Scottish family, was largely responsible for the construction of the West India Docks. He was a wealthy
West Indies merchant,
slave trader and ship owner, who returned to London having managed his family's
Jamaica sugar plantations. Outraged at losses due to theft and delay at the extensive (continuously along the Thames for ) riverside wharves comprising the
Port of London, Milligan headed a group of powerful businessmen (including
George Hibbert, the chairman of the
London Society of West India Planters and Merchants who was a merchant, politician, and ship-owner) who promoted the creation of a wet dock circled by a high wall. The group planned and built West India Docks, lobbying Parliament to allow the creation of a West India Dock Company. Milligan served as both deputy chairman and chairman of the West India Dock Company. The docks were authorised by the
Port of London Improvement and City Canal Act 1799 (
39 Geo. 3. c. lxix). and were the first commercial wet docks in London. British
Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger and
Lord Chancellor Lord Loughborough were assisted in the foundation stone ceremony on 12 July 1800 by Milligan and Hibbert. The docks were formally opened on 27 August 1802 when the unladen was hauled in by ropes.
Echo, a ship laden with cargo from the West Indies, followed. For the following 21 years all vessels in the West India trade using the
Port of London were compelled to use the West India docks by a clause in the act of Parliament that had enabled their construction. The '''''' (
1 & 2 Will. 4. c. lii) consolidated acts related to the docks. The southern dock, the South West India Dock, later known as South Dock, was constructed in the 1860s, replacing the unprofitable
City Canal, built in 1805.
20th century In 1909 the
Port of London Authority (PLA) took over the West India Docks, along with the other enclosed docks from
St Katharines to
Tilbury. From 1960 to 1980, trade in the docks declined to almost nothing, for two main reasons. First, the development of the
shipping container made this type of relatively small dock inefficient, and the dock-owners were slow to embrace change. Second, the manufacturing exports which had maintained the trade through the docks dwindled and moved away from the local area. The docks were closed in 1981. After the closure of the upstream enclosed docks, the area was regenerated as part of the
Docklands scheme, and is now home to the developments of
Canary Wharf. The early phase one buildings of Canary Wharf were built out over the water, reducing the width of the north dock and middle dock.
Canary Wharf tube station was constructed within the middle dock in the 1990s.
21st century Part of the original dock building was converted for use as the
Museum of London Docklands in 2003. The
Crossrail Place development was completed in May 2015 and the
Canary Wharf Crossrail station below it was completed in September 2015. '' moored at South Dock in 2015 , viewed from the southeastern corner of the Canary Wharf estate.
Seizure of superyacht PHI In March 2022, the superyacht
PHI, a 58.5-metre vessel valued at £38 million, was seized by UK authorities while moored at South Dock in the West India & Millwall Docks complex. The detention was ordered by Transport Secretary
Grant Shapps under The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, following
Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The yacht's owner, Russian property developer Sergei Naumenko, was not himself subject to sanctions by the UK,
EU, or
United States, but the vessel was detained as an asset "connected to Russia".
PHI remains moored at the docks as of 2026, a visible symbol of sanctions against Russian-connected assets. occurred at West India Docks and the adjacent
Millwall Dock. Between 30 and 51 dead
mute swans were recovered from the waterways over a one-week period. ==Layout==