1862 International Exhibition

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The 1862 International Exhibition, also known as the London International Exhibition of Industry and Art or the Great London Exposition, was a world’s fair held in South Kensington, London. It ran from May 1 to November 1, 1862 (open to November 15 for the public). The event aimed to showcase advances in industry, technology, and the arts since the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Key facts
- Attendance: about 6.1 million visitors
- Exhibitors: around 28,000 from 36 countries
- Size: the site covered about 11 hectares (27 acres)
- Profit: receipts about £459,632; costs about £458,842; a small overall profit

Buildings and site
- The main buildings, designed by Captain Francis Fowke and built by Lucas Brothers and Sir John Kelk, went up in about 11 months.
- The complex used a lot of cast iron and featured two very large glass domes and extensive lighting.
- The design included picture galleries, large “Industrial Buildings,” and temporary Machinery Galleries.
- After the fair, Parliament refused to buy the buildings; the materials were used to build Alexandra Palace. Today the site is home to the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Notable displays and events
- Ice-making refrigerator
- Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. decorative arts
- Early rubber (caoutchouc) and the Bessemer steel process
- Indian subcontinent photographs by Benjamin Simpson
- Stereoscopic photography by William England and colleagues
- Locomotives, including the Lady of the Lake and Watt
- Lilleshall Company's express locomotive
- A large art gallery with special lighting
- An international chess tournament
- The Leeds Tiger skin exhibit
- A musical program: works by Bennett, Meyerbeer, Auber, and Verdi (Verdi’s cantata caused some controversy and was not included in the opening concert)

Opening and aftercare
- Opening address by Earl Granville; Queen Victoria did not attend, with the Duke of Cambridge presiding.
- An official closing ceremony took place on November 1, 1862; the site remained open to the public until November 15.
- The fair was larger in scale than earlier exhibitions but did not attract the hoped-for number of visitors.
- Its legacy included inspiring the creation of major museums on the site, notably the Natural History Museum, and contributing to the later development of the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.