Welcome to the Victorian Underground Project

Today’s collection is one of the the most precious in our archives and demonstrates the importance of documenting the fringes of any society so that no life is forgotten.

Stencilling as an act of rebellion goes back hundreds of years and we are glad that it had found its way into Victorian life. The images we display here were actually taken only a few years ago using a sepia filter and the paintings can now be found all over the southwest of England. They were unearthed by Bristol University’s street art historians and gratefully sent our way.

The stencils are all statements of rebellion, created by a fellow who went by the name of Toby Dunn and was the direct descendant of African slaves. Although he managed to reach England and lived with a Bristolian family many years after Abolition, like all black people then, he still encountered awful racism throughout his young life.

As a young teenager Toby learned how to stencil images onto walls after observing somebody painting a door number using the exact same method but on a tinier scale.

Toby would sneak outside in the dead of night with his stencils and would target highly visible commercial property with his images. He knew the punishment would be severe but he was determined to make a statement.

The ridiculous thing is that the police only suspected Toby because of the colour of his skin rather than acquiring any hard evidence. Toby knew this but still confessed as a way of bringing more attention to his causes by way of an outraged press. He was punished with a year in the slammer for vandalism and defiling Queen Victoria’s image.

However, this act of bravery brought about a new alliance of men and women of all colours who began organising and fighting for equal rights.

Upon his release Toby became a prominent leader in his community and campaigned against poverty and racism for the rest of his days. He was buried in Bristol aged 79.

TVUP