Scenes of Carlisle (1901)

Carlisle
1901
Silent
2m

A well dressed crowd emerges from an unknown building and engages with the camera.

It's not possible to identify the building from which this crowd emerges but it's unlikely to be a factory, given their standard of dress. A couple of well-dressed women make a point of filing past the camera to give a cheerful wave. The film was probably commissioned by C. Algie, the Carlisle-based proprietor of Algie's Modern Circus, who worked with related Mitchell & Kenyon exhibitors.

Crowds of people leaving work through factory doors in Carlisle

The Victorian World

Vivid portraits of everyday Victorian life, thanks to the first generation of filmmakers to take to Britain’s streets.

Some of the most fascinating of early films are those which are content to watch the world go by. Numerous filmmakers parked their cameras on street corners, in parks, on seaside promenades or outside workplaces or churches to capture fleeting moments of everyday life.

In their own day, these films held a mirror up to Victorian society. Today, these images of our ancestors – relaxed, smiling and laughing, gazing at us through the camera lens - are a gift of moving history. The offer us extraordinary insights into a lost world, more vivid than any still photograph or written account.