Children in the Nursery

1898
Silent
1m

Seen but not heard? Three children get up to mischief after mother puts them to bed in this Victorian entertainment.

Seen but not heard? Three children get up to mischief after their mother puts them to bed in this Victorian entertainment. This was one of numerous variations on the theme of 'naughty little boys or girls' in film's early years, demonstrating that Victorian ideals of child discipline didn't always match the reality.

COMEDY. Two boys are put to bed by their mother, who then leaves them. A little girl enters, tickles their faces, and then crawls under the bed. Each boy thinks the other did it and they commence fighting and burst their pillows. The mother enters and parts them just as one is emptying the water jug over the other. She restores order and discovers the girl under the bed. The girl is smacked and sent out of the room.

Victorian Film

Celebrating the birth of film: the last great invention of the Victorian era.

Queen Victoria's long reign famously saw extraordinary advances: in industry, transport, science, culture... But one late but great innovation is too often missed from the list: the moving image. Yet film forever changed the way we see the world. And even before the French Lumière brothers presented their first demonstrations in London in 1895, British filmmakers were beginning to make their mark.

Here you'll find the most comprehensive gallery of Victorian films ever assembled. Hundreds of films made over the last six years of Victoria's reign, during which film was transformed from the pursuit of a handful of showmen, chemists and amateur enthusiasts into a dynamic industry, from fairground novelty into the greatest entertainment of the age.