Tate & Lyle has long been a powerful symbol of Silvertown’s industrial heritage.
Originally established by Henry Tate in 1878, the Thames Refinery became one of the largest in the world and is still the largest in Europe.
Along with nearby Plaistow Wharf (opened by Abram Lyle in 1881), these sugar factories have employed thousands of local people over the years.
But where can we find their stories? And what about the global connections that this industry brought?
Researchers from the Newham African Caribbean Heritage Reference Group (NACHRG) have been finding out.
One of their most exciting discoveries has been the richness of the company’s staff magazine, the Tate & Lyle Times.
Newham’s archive holds hundreds of these magazines, stretching from 1949 to the 1970s.
They are filled with photographs and testimonies of the company’s work at home and abroad.
NACHRG’s research has highlighted complex networks of sugar production and sales across Africa and the Caribbean, as well as personal stories of migration and community life.
Looking through these magazines, it is striking how many opportunities Tate & Lyle offered its workers to support their wellbeing.
From childcare to entertainments, the company was a major provider of social care.
Dances at the Tate Institute are regularly pictured, as are sporting events like football and table tennis.
Art was also supported – the magazine had a regular feature at the back where workers and their families could submit photos they’d taken, such as a kitten in a golden syrup tin!
At the same time, stories are told about the company’s international links, such as images of sugar production in Jamaica and sugar salesmen in Ghana.
As a major part of the sugar trade across the British Empire, Tate & Lyle was deeply invested in British colonies.
There are articles from the 1960s that discuss how they could keep profiting from countries post-independence.
For example, Tate & Lyle (Nigeria) Limited was set up in 1962 to buy sugar grown in Nigeria, refine it, and then sell the cubes back to the Nigerian market.
You can find out more through NACHRG’s Bittersweet: Legacies of Sugar.
This research project is run in partnership with Museum X, with funding from the Lyle’s Local Fund.
Through free events and a digital resource crafted by artist and researcher Remiiya Badru, they are revealing how Newham has been shaped by global histories of sugar.
- Cas Bradbeer is Heritage Officer for the London Borough of Newham (newham.gov.uk).
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