Victorian Photos - 1870s

Many photographs taken in other parts of the world during certain time periods can be just as useful in helping a family researcher today understand life of their ancestors of another era. Yes, it is great to have images of our relatives, their hometown, their shop, home or farm, but it one should also see the bigger scene, the life-style overall.

There is a small collection online of 13 images taken in the 1870s based on a book titled Street Life in London“, and written by Adolphe Smith with photography by the Scottish photographer John Thomson, which was published in 1877. Such moving photos of ordinary people going about their daily lives in London, England in the 1870s.

As you view view each image there is a brief caption about the photo in the lower left side. You can advance to each of the 13 photos by clicking on the thumbnail image along the bottom of the larger image. The book containing these images has many more photos, but at least you get a small sampling of London life on its streets in the 1870s.

Even if you didn’t have relatives from London, life at that time period in any major city would have been very similar.

Photo: A photographer in the street at Clapham Common ( a park area in the south portion of London which still exists) taking a photo outside of a family. This would have been a common scene anywhere.

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