Archaeology

 

Become a photo detective!

Old photographs aren’t just fascinating to look at, they can also reveal important clues about the past! On this page, we’ve gathered some old photographs with secrets to reveal. Using our top tips, can you correctly guess what’s happening and who’s in them? Answers are below each photograph.

Our top tips:

  • Keep these questions in your mind: Who? What? Where? When?
  • Look for the small details that could be important clues!
  • Compare what you can see to things you know today
  • Imagine what life might have been like for the people in the photo
  • And if you look at old photos at home, always remember to handle them carefully and approach them with curiosity and respect
A photograph from Nan Herbert
Hannah Mackenzie, the housekeeper, and Mrs Geyton, the cook, at Wrest Park

1. Women at Wrest Park

Have a look at this photograph of two women at Wrest Park. What do you notice about their clothing and hairstyles? Do they look like they live in a grand house, or work there?

Things to look for:

  • What type of clothing are they wearing? Does it look fancy or practical? Do they have long dresses, trousers, or short skirts?
  • How is their hair arranged? Is it neat, elaborate, up or down? Are they wearing hats?

Top tip:

Clothes and hairstyles change a lot over time. Different eras have distinct styles, so spotting these in photographs helps us to work out when it might have been taken.

  • 1. Answers

    This is Hannah Mackenzie, the housekeeper and Mrs Geyton, the cook, at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire. They were working at the house when it was converted into a hospital during the First World War.

    Did you notice the medical cross on Mrs Geyton’s apron?

2. On the terrace at Audley End House and Gardens

Who do you think the group of people in this photo could be? Do they look happy together?

Things to look for:

  • How are they dressed? Are they wearing similar types of clothing, or are there differences between how the people are dressed?
  • How are they interacting with each other? Do they look friendly with each other?

Top tip:

The clothes people wear and the way they sit or stand together can tell us about how they might know each other and how people interacted in the past. Photographs can reveal social customs and leisure and work activities.

  • 2. Answers

    This is a photo of Charles Neville (1823–1902), 5th Baron Braybrooke (centre), taken at Audley End in about 1868.

    To his left is his wife Florence (d. 1914), and in front of Charles is their daughter Augusta (1860–1903). The other people are family members.

    The Braybrookes don't seem very happy together, but this is common in Victorian photographs. Cameras in the 1860s took a long time to take a picture (around 10-15 seconds!), so people had to stay still for a while. 

    Try holding a pose for a photo while you time yourself for 15 seconds. Is it easy or quite difficult?

A small group of shelterers knit and read the evening newspaper in this small section of an air raid shelter under the railway arches, somewhere in South East London. Makeshift beds have been constructed from crates and planks of wood. This photograph was probably taken in November 1940.
Civilians passing the time in a public air raid shelter under railway arches in South East London during 1940.
© Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

3. An underground shelter

This group of people is in a public air raid shelter in London during the Second World War. They are knitting and reading the evening newspaper. If we didn’t know what this photo was showing, what evidence can we spot to help us decide?

Things to look for:

  • What is happening here? What are the people doing?
  • What are they wearing?
  • What can you see in the background? Where are they? Is there any furniture?

Top tip:

Interiors, furniture and appliances can tell us a lot about the time and place in which a photo was taken. Fashions change, and technology develops quickly, so spotting these things can help date a photo.

  • 3. Answers

    The arched ceiling tells us that this room could be underground in a cellar – or in this case, under railway arches.

    People’s clothing and hairstyles tell us that this photo was likely to have been taken in the 1940s. Knitting is a less popular activity now compared with in the past, so this tells us about when the photo was taken, but paired with reading the paper, these are things people do when they need to pass the time. So it’s likely they are waiting for something.

    The makeshift beds made from crates and planks of wood tell us that this isn’t a permanent place where people are staying.

    Paired with what we know about the Second World War taking place between 1939-1945, it is likely that these people are underground sheltering from air raids.

Suffragettes holding up Votes for Women banners, London
© Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

4. A demonstration in London

These women were photographed demonstrating in London. Who do they represent, and what can we learn from the photo?

Things to look for:

  • What is happening? How can we tell?
  • How are the women dressed? Who might they be?

Top tip:

Photographs of demonstrations are a rich source of information about the past. They can tell us what was happening, what life was like, and what was important to the people photographed.

  • 4. Answers

    These women are suffragettes, photographed in London.

    The signs they are holding can give us a lot of information: they tell us that these women are campaigning for women’s votes, so are suffragettes. They are advertising a meeting, so are probably members of an organised group. The meeting is at Essex Hall, on the Strand in London – so even if we didn’t know this photo was taken in London, we could work it out from the signs.

    We don’t know the exact date of the photograph, but we can infer that it’s likely to have been taken in the late 1800s or early 1900s, based on the Edwardian style clothing and hats, and that women gained the vote in 1919.

    We can also assume these women are wealthy. They are all dressed well and can take the time to campaign for votes, so probably don’t have to work, and probably have help with the care of any children they might have.

    How many things did you notice?

5. A tale of two abbeys

It’s useful to be able to compare older and newer photographs. These can help us to build up a story of what happened at a particular place over time, and highlight how things have changed, and what has stayed the same.

Look at these photos taken at Whitby Abbey. Has anything changed?

A view of Whitby Abbey A view of Whitby Abbey

  • 5. Answers

    In the older photograph, we can see a low wall and a mound of earth visible in front of the Abbey, which are no longer there in the more recent photo. Big changes like this are documented well in photographs and help us to keep track of what has happened to a site over time, and how it looked and functioned in the past.