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Incredible Vintage Photos Of England From The 1900s That Offer A Glimpse Into Everyday Life

At the turn of the 20th century, Victorian-era ended in England with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. England signed the Entente Cordiale with France, which ended centuries of sporadic conflict and paving the way to future diplomatic and military co-operation in 1904. The political environment was also changing rapidly across the country, the Women’s Social and Political Union started the Suffrage movement.

Life was hard for the working class at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1900 surveys showed that between 15% and 20% of the population were living at subsistence (bare survival) level. In 1906 a Liberal government was elected and they laid the foundations of what would become known as the welfare state. The heavy taxation on inherited wealth put an end to agricultural land as the primary source of wealth for the upper classes. The Old Age Pensions Act of 1908 gave small pensions to people over 70. On 4 August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany.

Here below are some stunning historical photos that offer a glimpse into the everyday life of England from the early 20th century. Vote your favorites and don’t forget to share.

#6 Crowd outside the Russian Vapour Baths, Brick Lane, Stepney, London, 1904.

#7 Car lift at Mitchell Motors Company, 114 Wardour Street, Westminster, London, 1907.

#12 Looking northwards along the Albert Embankment, Lambeth, London, 1902.

#13 Smartly dressed family group being helped from a two wheeled cart into a coastal rowing boat on an English beach circa 1900.

#14 Ladies’shoe department, Harrods, Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London.

#15 Henley Regatta, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, 1902.

#20 Twelve O’Clock on New Year’s Eve Outside St. Paul’s Cathedral’, circa 1902.

#21 The 134 ton ketch ‘Lavengro’ under sail, 1911. ‘Lavengro’ was designed by Herbert Stow and built by Stow & Sons, Shoreham in 1902.

#22 The Ward Deck of the Atlas Smallpox Hospital Ship, 1903.

#23 Classroom Scene, Hugh Myddelton School, Finsbury, London, 1906.

#24 Boys and girls preparing food outdoors, Birley House Open Air School, Forest Hill, London, 1908.

#30 The Ship Inn, Porlock Weir, Somerset, England, 1904

#34 A Coldstream Guardsman at his sentry box, outside the Tower of London. 1903.

#35 Gymnastics display at the Boys Home Industrial School, Regent’s Park Road, London, 1900.

#36 Royal Navy ship HMS Waterwitch anchored of Labuan Asian coast as a group of chinese convicts load sacks of coal.

#37 Whitechapel Fire Station, Commercial Road, Stepney, London, 1902

#38 A victory parade in London at the end of the Boer War, London, England.

#39 A Badminton Tournament at the Crystal Palace’, 1902

#40 Kentish Town Fire Station, No 3a Fortress Walk, St Pancras, London, 1903.

#41 Pedestrians outside Dh Evans, Oxford Street, London, 1903.

#42 Harvest time, Cadsden, near Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, 1903.

#43 Thurston’s Billiard Hall, Leicester Square, London, 1903.

#44 Construction workers laying a hollow pot floor, 8 Lloyds Avenue, City of London, 1907.

#45 Crowd of East End children, Red Lion Street, Wapping, London, 1904.

#46 Shoreham harbour, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, 1905

#47 Girls holding Indian clubs, Cromer Street School/ Argyle School, St Pancras, London, 1906.

#48 Bibury, Gloucestershire, 1906. View looking along the river towards the stone bridge beside Arlington Row.

#50 The Motor Club ‘s Inaugural Run to Brighton, Outside the Royal York Hotel, Brighton, 1907.

#51 Organ grinder and daughter, London, England, 1904

#54 Blue Ball Inn, Countisbury, Lynmouth, Devon, 1904

#56 Dining Hall at Christ Church University, Oxford, 1904

#57 Carts outside the Sundial Public House, Goswell Road, London, 1900.

#58 Young group of boys in cloth caps and boaters sitting on donkeys on a sandy beach Ramsgate Kent.

#59 Railway tracklayers at work, Bodmin Road Station, Cornwall, 1901.

#60 Former Gloucestershire and England cricketer Dr WG Grace (seated 2nd from right) pictured with members of the Robson family, 1901.

#61 Opening ceremony of Totterdown Dwellings by His Majesty the King Edward VIII, Ruislip Street, Totterdown Estate, Wandsworth, London, 1903.

#62 Fire engine at Streatham Fire Station, Mitcham Road, Lambeth, London, 1903.

#63 Dustmen and dust cart in Beckett Street, Camberwell, London, 1903.

#64 Sessions House, Lancaster Road, Preston, Lancashire, 1904.

#66 Construction of Vauxhall Bridge, London, 1903-1904.

#68 Blackheath Fire Station, Tranquil Vale, Blackheath, London, 1905.

#69 St Giles’ Fair, Oxford, Oxfordshire, September 1905.

#70 Girls sports club members, Cromer Street School/Argyle School, St Pancras, London, 1906.

#71 Men working on tramline electricification, Wandsworth, London, 1906.

#72 Business in full swing in The Manchester Exchange, 1905.

#73 Workers shovelling coal in to a coal conveyor at Formby power station, Liverpool, 1909.

#74 A stonemason working on a detail of the Anglican Cathedral, Liverpool.

#78 Hay Wagons, Whitechapel High Street, London, 1903

Hay Wagons, Whitechapel High Street, London, 1903

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Written by Aung Budhh

Husband + Father + librarian + Poet + Traveler + Proud Buddhist. I love you with the breath, the smiles and the tears of all my life.

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