The opening of the Royal Victoria Dock in 1855 accelerated the development of the area creating employment and a need to house dock workers and their families. Canning Town escorts know that new settlements around the dock developed, starting with Hallsville, Canning Town and Woolwich, and later the areas now known as Custom House, Silvertown and West Silvertown. Canning Town escorts recorded that the new settlements lacked water supply and had no sewage system, leading to the spread of cholera and smallpox. Canning Town escorts noticed that the casual nature of employment at the docks meant poverty and squalid living conditions for many residents, and in 1857 Charles Dickenswrote about the area, like escorts in Canning Town
