nature
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Trophy Hunting Ancient Insects Collection
Eight miles south of the Outer Hebrides, one will find the Isle of Insectum. It once had the largest population of all the islands in the British Isles. It was also a source of mystery and speculation among academics. As we can see from photographs #1 and #2, there was a stone circle on the…
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Birds of Paradise Collection
The Birds of Paradise was a gentlemen’s club of the traditional type based in Newcastle. It became a meeting place for lonely bachelors who came together to curse the world and drown their sorrows. One night a gentleman called Alfred Beach (photograph #10), who was very drunk at the time, began talking about how easy…
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A Murder of Scarecrows Collection #2
This is the second and final scarecrow collection for a while. Photograph #9 depicts one of the biggest working farms of the Victorian era. At the very peak of the bird epidemic, Melrose Farms employed forty people to trudge through wintery fields while dressed as scarecrows. On average, working in the scarecrow trade for Melrose…
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The Importance of Cards During the Victorian Era Collection #5
You may recall from Collection #3 that a collector named Mr Martin had donated some Victorian ritual magic cards to the Fellowship. They tend to depict sealife, land mammals, birds and insects. They were used to ‘take control’ of the elements. Yesterday Mr Martin contacted us again. He has kindly donated a photograph of his…
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“The War of the Magic Mushrooms” Collection #1
Some of these images might look like they belong in the Victorian Hoax collection, but our experts and researchers have assured us of their authenticity. Today’s collection centres around an unusual incident which took place at a now dissolved village in Yorkshire called Skail (pronounced ‘Scale’). Records show that Skail was 3 miles from any…
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Victorian Insect Hatting Collection #1
For the people who have read some of the backstories of the Victorian Underground, you may recall us mentioning ‘insect hatting’. This was a variant of flower hatting, plant hatting and other types of ‘hatting’. These were small gatherings of gentlemen who would meet up once a week to share their love of hat making…
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The Bromley Society of Animal Lovers Collection #2
Today’s collection is an assortment of miscellaneous photographs. We have no names, no context, no backstory; only imagination. We’re almost certain that some of them are early examples of ‘photoshopping” and trust that our friends can also spot the culprits a mile off. For us at the Fellowship, these attempts at doctoring images only multiplies…
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The Bromley Society of Animal Lovers Collection #1
We have already shared images of the Victorians’ insatiable obsession with animals. However, none were so passionate as The Bromley Society of Animal Lovers. The society was founded in 1868 by the naruralist Kenneth Crabtree and survived until World War One. These images are only a handful of the ones we have in our archives.…
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The Importance of Cards During the Victorian Era Collection #3
Today we bring you another assortment of Victorian cards. These were submitted by the great grandson of a “white witch” called Godfrey Martin. Mr Martin told us that while they look like tarot cards, they are in fact ritual worship cards used by his grandmother and acquaintances. They were apparently used for taking control of…
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The Gentlemen’s Moth Appreciation Society of England Collection #2
Today we share 5 more members of The Gentlemen’s Moth Appreciation Society of England who also tragically lost their lived on the turn of the 18th century. May they all rest in peace. TVUP
Welcome to the Victorian Underground Project 