Expert’s choice
Jayne Shrimpton ( jayneshrimpton.co.uk) is the author of Tracing Your Ancestors Through Family Photographs
“Among the best photographic archives, but one sometimes overlooked by family historians, is the National Portrait Gallery’s Heinz Archive and Library, situated in Orange Street, London WC2, behind the main building. The largest repository worldwide for portraits (artworks and photographs) of British sitters, the archive maintains extensive visual and written portrait records concerning famous, influential individuals, and also holds information that may be relevant to genealogists. The public study room welcomes researchers in person, by appointment. Staff will also conduct a limited number of picture searches for those unable to visit ( npg.org.uk/research/archive/library).
The dedicated Photographs Collection comprises over 250,000 original photographic images from the 1840s to the present day. These include works by esteemed photographers such as Julia Margaret Cameron and Roger Fenton and sets of negatives from well-known studios that no longer exist, such as those of Camille Silvy, Bassano and Howard Coster, who may well have photographed some of our more affluent ancestors ( npg.org.uk/collections/about/photographs- collection).
The collection is growing and being catalogued and digitised on an ongoing basis. You can quickly find out if the NPG holds a photograph or artwork of your ancestors via the A-Z of sitters.”