Pre-WW1 Photos

The curator of the National Trust’s photography collections, Catherine Troiano, shares some of the images in her care and what these pre-WW1 pictures can reveal to family historians

The curator of the National Trust’s photography collections shares advice on dating early photographs

The invention of the first photographic process, the ‘daguerreotype’, was announced in 1839. This ‘direct positive’ process produced a unique image that was often kept in a case, like a precious jewel. Later that year William Henry Fox Talbot introduced his negative-to-positive paper technique. The ‘calotype’ would become the basis of almost all of the photography of the future, up until the shift to digital processes in the late 20th century.

As photography developed over the decades after its invention, so did its role in society and culture. Photography quickly became an important part of family life; a tool for creating memories, legacies and identities. And with the rise of popular photography from the turn of the century and a world in flux from global conflicts and imperial missions, photography cemented its place as purveyor of social change. As such, considering the wider contexts of photography – not only what images show, but why they were made and how they were used – can reveal a wealth of information about people, time and place.

The National Trust holds photography collections numbering roughly 550,000 objects, dispersed across 250 properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. These were largely amassed as part of property acquisitions, which has kept intact the nuanced perspectives of the people who collected or made these photographs. This reflects many tendencies that have driven interactions with photography in families across Britain, from the earliest days of photography to today. You can see more photographs in the collection at nationaltrustcollections.org.uk.