nature
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Beachside Collection #2
As the weather began to heat up here in little England and then disappeared in style, the Fellowship began to talk about the approaching summer. We then remembered that we have a vast archive of beachside images to share with you. Photograph #2, #4, #6, #8 and #10 are of a fascinating demographic of Victorians…
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Victorians Who Died by Their Own Inventions Collection #1
In these content saturated times, it’s difficult for us to imagine or appreciate what life was like in Victorian England. These days our attention is diluted to the point where it’s often impossible to find an interesting topic of conversation because we’re all distracted by an overwhelming amount of content. Not so in Victorian England.…
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The Strange World of Victorian Taxidermy Collection #1
Today we bring to you the first collection of Victorian taxidermy which was kindly photographed and sent to us by a collector. Taxidermy was accessible to anyone who could find an unwilling subject. Oftentimes poorer Victorians would hunt or steal animals and then turn them into strange objects. They would then be sold or kept…
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The Deathly One Man Boat Race
Today we take a look at the peculiar, if not disastrous, One Man Boat Race of 1864. A total of 57 people set off from the beaches of Blackpool in tiny one man boats headed for New York. They were only allowed to take one umbrella, a useless map, a flask of tea, tobacco, one…
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The ‘Birds’ of Victorian England Collection #1
At the Fellowship of the Victorian Underground Project, we have looked at various subcultures and are set to explore many more in the coming months. This particular subculture we share with you today is one of the most interesting and beautiful in our archives, yet is largely absent from the history books. The women in…
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The Gentlemen’s Moth Appreciation Society of England Collection #1
The Gentlemen’s Moth Appreciation Society of England was founded in 1768. It was the governing body of all 57 registered moth societies across the country until its abrupt disbanding in 1900. This society converged around a shared, often lifelong love of the moth. While many of us are terrified by the mere mention of this…
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Beachside Collection #1
Today’s collection was gratefully received from an anonymous collector who claims to be a relative of the photographer. We have good reason to believe that the location of these photographs was Skegness around 1890. The only clue we have for this is those background buildings in photograph #5 which matches other photographs of Skegness around…
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Photographs of Interesting Victorians Collection #1
These striking photographs were submitted to the project only recently and were received in almost immaculate condition. Unfortunately the collector didn’t have much additional information on the photographers, subjects or locations. Our own research suggests that photograph #1 is likely to be a portrait of Mavis Cragg. She is referenced several times in a doctor’s…
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