Charlotte Olive Dora Burch

Charlotte Olive Dora Birch, known as Olive, was just 18 years old when she came to work at Tower Bridge in 1895. She is one of the first known female employees to have lived and worked inside the Bridge.

On 11 March 1895, Violet Cator, wife of the first Bridgemaster, Lieutenant Bertie Angelo Cator RN, wrote formally to Olive offering her the position. Addressed from the Southern Archway, Tower Bridge, S.E., the letter confirms that Olive would join a household of four servants in the original Bridgemaster’s residence.

Violet wrote:

“I am very glad to hear from you that you have made up your mind to take my situation & hope you will be happy here & make up your mind to stay with me. I try to make my servants happy & I like to feel that they do their work not only because they must, but because they themselves take an interest in it & wish to please me.”

The letter suggests Olive was already employed elsewhere — Violet refers to “your mistress” — and that arrangements had been discussed with her aunt. She was expected to arrive at three o’clock on 21 March 1895, her box to be sent ahead by Carter Patterson.

Olive lived and worked in the South Abutment residence, above the roadway at the southern end of the Bridge. These rooms served as the Bridgemaster’s home before later purpose-built quarters were constructed.

“The work is not hard,” Violet assured her, “the stairs being the only reason that makes it necessary for me really to keep four servants.”

Those steep stairs were no small matter. There were no lifts, and supplies sometimes had to be hauled up in baskets by rope. With traffic passing constantly beneath, the rooms above the road must have been lively — and noisy.

From family recollections and surviving letters, it appears Olive may not have been a general maid-of-all-work, but perhaps a step above, suggesting prior experience and trusted responsibility.

Olive was clearly literate and well educated. Her family still holds Sunday school prize books awarded for knowledge, and examples of her handwriting survive in postcards and account books.

After leaving Tower Bridge and marrying, she settled in Brixton. Her husband’s family operated a successful wheelwright businesses in Brixton and Camberwell, and Olive kept the accounts. Surviving books in her own hand demonstrate her skill with figures and careful record-keeping.

Much of Olive’s personal correspondence was sadly lost after her death at the age of 44. However, some precious items remain.

A writing box, faintly marked with her initials “C.O.D. Birch,” was given to her on her 21st birthday and still contains traces of ink. One surviving envelope, dated 15 April 1897 and sent from her brother aboard HMS Talbot in Jamaica, is addressed to her at the Southern Archway, Tower Bridge — tangible proof of her residence within the landmark during its earliest years.

Her descendants also treasure her engraved gold fob watch and the engagement ring that was later divided between her two daughters and passed down to the next generation.

For many years, Olive’s connection to Tower Bridge survived only as a brief family anecdote. Through the research and dedication of her granddaughter, Liz Hunter, fragments of her story have been pieced back together — like assembling a jigsaw puzzle.

For her family today, the knowledge that she worked inside one of London’s defining landmarks, and at the very beginning of its life, is a source of immense pride. Even if her time at the Bridge was relatively brief, Olive’s presence there forms part of the human story behind one of the capital’s most recognisable structures.

Hear Olive's story

Listen to an interview with Olive's granddaughter, Liz Hunter, all about Olive's life and connection with Tower Bridge.