The photographer of these images, Edgar G. Lee, was born in Simonburn, near Hexham in 1860. Edgar made his living from taking portrait photographs of the upper and middle classes in Tyneside and Northumberland. He also took photographs on Newcastle’s Quayside which was one of the poorest areas in the country, at that time.

These six photographs are an example of about 300 that we hold at Northumberland Archives, taken by Edgar G. Lee. They show children playing on the streets of Newcastle in the 1890s. From the pictures you can see the clothes that they wore (some are not wearing shoes) and the things that they played with (rocks, toy train and piece of rope tied around a lamppost).

In front of the toy shop (SANT/PHO/SLI/35/49) there are two children who contrast rich (or well-off) and poor. The little boy at the centre of the picture is well-dressed (hat, coat with shiny buttons and boots) and is playing with a toy train. Looking on is a girl on the side of the pavement (left side of photo). She is wearing no hat or shoes, her hair looks uncombed and her legs look very dirty.

Fixing images using chemicals (photography) was invented and developed during the Victorian period. Henry Fox Talbot carried out a series of experiments at his home in Wiltshire during the 1830s and produced the first photographic negatives. He made his experiments public when he found that Louis Daguerre was doing similar experiments in France.

This new invention became very popular from the middle of the nineteenth century. Julia Margaret Cameron used photograph to make portraits of the people around her, including Charles Dickens and the poet Alfred Tennyson. Edward Muybridge used it to capture the movement of people and animals. His work led to the invention of moving pictures. (Please see links for further information about both photographers.)