The new Waterloo Bridge was completed during the Second World War by a largely female workforce and is sometimes known as the Ladies Bridge. It is also the only bridge on the Thames to have been damaged by enemy bombers.
1888 puts it in the William Ewart Gladstone era; but is it he? If not, who then? There are apocryphal stories of notable Conservatives confusing the NLC for a public convenience when on their way to the House. Perhaps this is one of 'them' leaving.