Study for 'The Beloved', by Rossetti
This drawing was made by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) as a study for a painting, ‘The Beloved’ (‘The Bride’), which features models of different ‘races’. The dark skin of the boy is contrasted with ...
Poster encouraging parents to become ARP wardens
During World War 2 images of children were often used in propaganda and government publicity. They were used to remind parents and others of why the nation was at war and to encourage adults to ‘do their ...
'My Second Sermon', by Millais
'My Second Sermon', by John Everett Millais (1829-1896), shows a girl asleep in a church with her legs dangling uncrossed. No Bible can be seen. It is one of a pair of paintings, the other being 'My First ...
Log Book of Pipewood Camp School for Evacuated Girls
The 1939 Camps Act established Camp Boarding Schools. Older girls from Birmingham Senior schools were evacuated to Pipewood Camp School in Blithbury near Rugeley which opened in June 1940. The teachers ...
'Gypsies near Bromford Forge', by Joseph Barber
There have been Romany travellers or ‘gypsies’ in Britain since the 1500s, and from the beginning they were suspected and persecuted. The first evidence we have of a travelling family in Birmingham comes ...
'Grace before Meat', by David Wilkie
Oil painting by David Wilkie (1785-1841).
‘Grace before Meat‘ shows three generations of a family saying a prayer before sharing a meal together. In paintings like this, Wilkie presented an intimate ...
'Going to bed', by Joscelyne Gaskin
Joscelyne Gaskin (1903-1993) was the daughter of the Birmingham artists and designers Arthur Joseph Gaskin and Georgie Evelyn Cave France. Her parents both worked in a variety of media, with Georgie initially ...
Children in abandoned car, Lozells
Most working class homes were so small and overcrowded that there was little space to play indoors. Parents encouraged their children to play outside in the street. The street became a place for running, ...
Children eating breakfast, by Lisel Haas
The children sharing breakfast in this photograph are believed to be siblings although we do not know their names. Haas was born in Monchengladbach, Germany. She was a Jewish refugee who settled in Birmingham ...
Children and satchels, by Lisel Haas
With growing industrialisation in the 1800s employers required a more numerate and more literate workforce than before. The work of humanitarian reformers led to laws being passed to prevent the employment ...
'Charity', by Bourguereau
Oil painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905).
For the early Christian Church ‘Charity’ was the ‘mother of all virtues’. From at least the 16th century artists and poets depicted Charity as ...
Boy with sibling, London, by Nick Hedges
Hedges tried to capture the human face of homelessness. This photograph shows that positive family relationships existed despite the difficult conditions. The boy and his sibling are shown under the watchful ...
Boy with hoop at Calthorpe Park
In the 19th century public parks were introduced to provide the poor and working classes with healthier ways to spend their leisure hours. The land was often given by social reformers – Lord Calthorpe ...
Boy and toy horse
Photograph by Lisel Haas entitled 'Das Neue Pferd' (the new horse).
Blue Coat Charity School Apprenticeship Indenture
Joseph Eadley would have entered the Blue Coat School when he was 7 years old. The entrance age was increased to 9 in 1819. The School later arranged for children to be apprenticed. Joseph was apprenticed ...
Birmingham Mail Charity Boots
From 1889 the Birmingham Mail newspaper ran a Christmas appeal. One of the causes it supported was buying boots for poor children who would otherwise go barefoot. The first distribution of boots was made ...
Birmingham Blue Coat School Boys
The Blue Coat School stood at the east end of St Philip’s churchyard. It was founded as a charity in 1723 to board and educate the children of the poor. Boys and girls were taught to read, write and do ...
World War 1 recruitment poster
Poster depicting the destruction wrought by the German naval bombardment of Scarborough on December 16, 1914.
Home held a powerful symbolism during World War 1. Men went to the Front to fight in defence ...