When English photographer Eadweard Muybridge published a set of photographs in 1878 of a horse at full gallop taken on 12 cameras, each frame captured in rapid succession, he launched a new medium that would go on to dominate our world: film.
A decade later, the first motion-picture cameramen were beginning to capture the nation on film. And now, for the first time, many of those early recordings have been remastered in colour, revealing a world that seems both alien and familiar.
The smiling faces of children are instantly recognisable, for example, but in these Victorian images many of them are barefoot. We see tragedies unfolding, war raging and Britain’s first-ever erotic film, and this fascinating footage is now coming to Channel 5 in a 90-minute documentary, Victorian Britain On Film.
Watching Victorian life in colour feels like opening a time capsule, as Nicole Lampert reveals…
Hotshot Annie and an audience with the Queen
Remastered footage from Victorian Britain is shared in a new 90-minute documentary on Channel 5 – including Annie Oakley demonstrating Thomas Edison’s new camera. Pictured: A portrait of sharpshooter Annie Oakley holding a shotgun, mid 1880s
Even in the 19th century celebrities were endorsing products. When Thomas Edison, the inventor of the lightbulb, wanted to demonstrate his new camera, he asked sharpshooter Annie Oakley to perform for him.
Annie was the inspiration for the musical Annie Get Your Gun
Now that footage can be viewed in colour, revealing an intense-looking long-haired beauty who never takes her eye off the target.
Annie, the inspiration for the musical Annie Get Your Gun, developed her shooting skills as a child in Ohio where she would hunt for her impoverished family.
At the age of 15 she won a shooting contest against experienced marksman Frank E Butler and they later married and toured the world as part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. During their act Annie would shoot a cigarette out of her husband’s lips.
The extravaganza came to London in 1887 and Queen Victoria insisted on a special show. Afterwards she met the performers and spoke to Annie.
‘I stepped near,’ Annie later recalled, ‘and she asked me when I was born, at what age I took up shooting and several other questions. She finished by saying, “You are a very, very clever little girl.” To be called clever by Queen Victoria meant the highest compliment, and with an, “I thank you, Your Majesty,” I bowed myself out.’
They weren’t quite as prudish as you think
Footage of a woman slowly undressing (pictured) features in the documentary, despite Victorians having a reputation as prudes
The Victorians may have a reputation as prudes, but this mesmerising film shows there was more to them than we think. It’s simply a woman slowly undressing – her blouse, her corset, her skirt and hoops.
She’s looking away from the camera and her undressing appears to be a private event, as if the viewer is spying on her. At the end of the film she’s still wearing her long undershirt but removes a single sock. And there is her naked ankle, dangling attractively, as the film ends.
Made in 1896 by Brighton-based film pioneer Esme Collings and titled A Victorian Lady In Her Boudoir (other films Collings made were the less racy Grandma’s Reading Glass and As Seen Through A Telescope), this is perhaps Britain’s first erotic film.
It was designed to be shown at gentlemen’s clubs when it was time for cigars, liquor and titillation, and suggests that the Victorians weren’t really so prudish after all.
A stolen kiss on a steam train
This scene from a minute-long silent film made in 1899 by Yorkshire firm Bamforth & Co, is one of the first kisses seen on British screens
Made in 1899 by Yorkshire firm Bamforth & Co, this minute-long silent film was one of the first to use editing techniques to create a fictional narrative.
First we see a steam train entering a tunnel then, in a scene inside a carriage, a man is smoking on one side while a lady is reading a newspaper on the other.
He goes to sit with her and they start to kiss. We don’t know what their backstory is but it is one of the first kisses seen on British screens, and would have been considered extremely sensual. The film’s final scene shows the train pulling into a station.
Rugger was just as rough back then
A Northern Union game between Yorkshire’s Dewsbury and Manningham captured in 1901, is believed to be the first time rugby was filmed
This 1901 footage is believed to be the first time rugby was filmed. It shows a Northern Union game between Yorkshire’s Dewsbury and Manningham.
The film was discovered in a basement in Blackburn in the 90s, and had been captured by filmmakers Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon. Now restored, you can see the pinks and yellows of Manningham’s shirts.
We can see thousands of fans backing the teams – leisure activities were increasing as workers gained rights and the concept of the weekend began. Just as today, rugby was very physical – one sequence shows a player changing his torn shirt during a break.
Little tich… the big music hall star
Harry Relph, known as Little Tich, wore heavy boots with 28in long soles that allowed him to perform moves such as leaning into a hat on the floor
Harry Relph, who was just 4ft 6in tall, was one of music hall’s most famous faces, known as Little Tich (a childhood nickname was Tichborne, due to his resemblance to a man claiming to be heir to the Tichborne baronetcy).
The incredible footage, which is amusing and awe-inspiring, shows him performing his most famous routine, the Big Boot Dance. Wearing heavy boots with 28in long soles allowed him to perform moves such as leaning into a hat on the floor or standing on their tips. His performances would leave his audience crying with laughter.
Harry died in 1928 after a long illness, but his name lives on in our lexicon with the words ‘titch’ or ‘titchy’ meaning small.
The first local news bulletin
Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon, who set up Mitchell & Kenyon in 1897, specialised in local scenes such as the Dewsbury Fire Brigade
Former Blackburn cabinet-makers Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon were early film pioneers, setting up their company Mitchell & Kenyon in 1897. They specialised in local scenes, which they would charge people to see under the banner ‘Local Films For Local People’.
One of their most atmospheric films is of the Dewsbury Fire Brigade going to put out a fire in a burning house. With no telephones, the fire brigade would be alerted by the ringing of the town hall bell.
The noise would ensure all the locals knew there was an emergency and the captivating footage shows men, women and children chasing after the horse-drawn firefighters.
Anyone for a game of Mounty kitty?
Footage from 1900 shows a group of young boys playing an intricate game of leapfrog called Mounty Kitty
By the end of the Victorian era there were stricter rules about child labour, and school had become compulsory for children aged between five and 12. PE was an important part of the school day, and this fascinating 1900 footage shows a group of young lads playing an intricate game of leapfrog called Mounty Kitty.
Their youth and vitality jump off the screen. After some conventional leap-frogging, two of the boys form a bridge with their backs, while the others repeatedly try to all jump on top. Each time the structure gives way, and the lads fall down giggling.
Child mortality in the Victorian era was shamefully high: in deprived areas as many as 33 per cent of newborns didn’t live to see their fifth birthday. Childhood was different in many ways but youthful exuberance, it seems, was not.
All aboard for a new life in the States
Another remastered film shows passengers embarking on the Cunard Lucania, which offered different experiences depending on the class they had paid for
Engineering titan Isambard Kingdom Brunel had changed the face of sea travel with the first propeller-driven transatlantic liners, and by the end of the 19th century a journey to America, which had once taken six weeks, could be done in six days.
Hundreds of thousands of travellers would leave England from Liverpool either to holiday or make a new life in America each year. This film shows passengers embarking on the Cunard Lucania, and there is a sense of both excitement and trepidation for the huge adventure ahead.
The ship held 2,000 passengers but they would have very different experiences, depending on which class they had paid for. First-class could expect lavish dinners and maids, while those in third-class jostled for room.
More captivating footage comes from on deck as passengers while away the long days by playing boisterous games, including races to get in and out of a lifebelt the fastest.
Victorian Britain On Film is coming soon to Channel 5.