Skip to content or footer

Workers Leaving Symington's, Market Harborough (1900)

Workers Leaving Symington's, Market Harborough (1900)

Striking close-ups of Edwardian corset makers

One of the longer examples of Mitchell and Kenyon's many 'factory gate' films, this is also one of the most beautifully preserved. Its single, unusually close camera position uses the factory's imposing wooden doors to frame the workers as they leave. The upside of this is that we get to see the workers' faces in fantastic detail (except where buckling of the original negatives has introduced some blurring). The downside is that we don't see much of the building they're all piling out of.

As a result, the workplace in the film was initially hard to identify. Against the odds, though, it eventually was: as the premises of W & HR Symington, corset makers, in Market Harborough, Leicestershire. Two of the Symington family are seen in the film: probably factory manager James L Symington (white haired and moustachioed, in a white suit and bowler at 0:12), and Perry Gold Symington (smiling in a dark jacket, skirt and matching hat at 0:13).

Symington's operated until 1967, when it was acquired by the Courtauld Group. The magnificent Symington Building still stands today in Church Square, opposite St Dionysius church. Now owned by Harborough district council, since 2014 it has been the home of the town's library, museum and registry office, among other functions.

Tags

From the collection

Edwardians at Work

Outside those factory gates: a long-lost world of working life at the dawn of the 20th Century.

Some of Mitchell and Kenyon's liveliest, most joyous images can be found among the scores of films they shot outside places of work. From the cotton mills on their Lancashire doorstep, the duo travelled to engineering factories and ironworks, collieries and shipyards, highlighting an early 20th-Century economy that was industrialised, relatively prosperous, and very hard-working.

Indoor light was too dim for early film stock, so M&K never took their camera beyond the factory gate. But then, what they filmed outside was so much more alive: at shift's end the workers might be weary, but they were also relaxed, even playful. 

114 videos in this collection

Edwardian workers react to the camera at one of Rotherham's major employers.
1

Workforce of Parkgate Iron and Steel Co., Rotherham (1901)

  • Rotherham
  • 1901
Girls gut herring on the quay at North Shields while a Showman tries to stir up trouble.
2

North Sea Fisheries, North Shields (1901)

  • North Shields
  • 1901
A black miner makes an intriguing addition to an already captivating film of coal workers up from their pit.
3

Miners Leaving Pendlebury Colliery (1901)

  • Pendlebury
  • 1901
A flood of Lancashire cotton workers and their children at the end of another shift.
4

Workforce Leaving Alfred Butterworth and Sons, Glebe Mills, Hollinwood (1901)

  • Hollinwood
  • 1901
Glistening brass and galloping horses thrill the crowds at a municipal Fire Brigade drill.
5

Turn Out of the Newcastle Fire Brigade (1901)

  • Newcastle upon Tyne
  • 1901
Victorian Manchester mill workers enjoy the novelty of a moving picture camera.
6

Co-operative Wholesale Society Clothing Factory in Manchester (c.1900)

  • Manchester
  • 1900
A cheerful, largely female crowd makes their way home from work.
7

Workers Leaving the Jute Works, Barrow (1902)

  • Barrow-In-Furness
  • 1902
Exuberant scenes of engineers and machinists at the famous Cornwall works near Birmingham.
8

Employees Leaving Tangyes Engineering Works, Smethwick (1901)

  • Birmingham
  • 1901
A rich impression of a vibrant Midlands works, in an unusually elaborate 'factory gate' film.
9

Workers at Kynoch Ltd Lion Works, Birmingham (1901)

  • Birmingham
  • 1901
The streets of the Cheshire town are lined with spectators to see their fire brigade.
10

Turn Out of the Winsford Fire Brigade (1901)

  • Winsford
  • 1901
Shift change at Edwardian Britain's most important glassmakers, at the heart of the Merseyside town.
11

Operatives Leaving Messrs Pilkington Bros. Works, St Helens (1901)

  • St Helens
  • 1901
Unruly shipworkers defy direction from Mitchell and Kenyon's showmen partners.
12

Workforce of Scott & Co. Shipyard, Greenock (1901)

  • Greenock
  • 1901
The luxurious RMS Lucania is bound for New York in one of Mitchell & Kenyon's most elaborate and striking films.
13

Cunard Mail Steamer Lucania Leaving For America (1901)

  • Liverpool
  • 1901
A well-staged exit of workers from a Leicestershire manufacturer for the transport industry.
14

Workforce of Brush Electric Co. Falcon Works, Loughborough (1900)

  • Loughborough
  • 1900
Where was this Edwardian paper works?
15

Workers at Ross & Hardy Paper Works (1901)

  • 1901
The all-male workforce heads home from a factory in Victorian Birmingham.
16

Workers Leaving Bamford's Works, Moseley (1900)

  • Moseley
  • 1900
The hustle and bustle of Edwardian lace-workers heading home after a morning shift.
17

Workpeople and Girls Leaving Thos. Adams Factory, Nottingham (1900)

  • Nottingham
  • 1900
Victorian women workers (and a few men) hasten through the gates of the hosiery works after their shift.
18

Workforce Leaving Cartwright & Warner Hosiery Works, Loughborough (1900)

  • Loughborough
  • 1900
An early film showing men and boys leaving a Nottinghamshire metals factory.
19

Workforce at Steel & Garland Priory Foundry, Worksop (1900)

  • Worksop
  • 1900
Edwardian workers file out of a naval shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness.
20

Employees Leaving Messrs Vickers, Sons & Maxim in Barrow (1901)

  • Barrow-In-Furness
  • 1901
Grimy miners head home at the end of their shift in the days before pithead baths.
21

Creswell and Langwith Miners, Mansfield (1900)

  • Mansfield
  • 1900
A surprisingly calm 'factory gate' film, shot outside a factory in the Ayrshire town, famous for its wooden furniture making.
22

Workforce of Pollock's Caledonian Cabinet Works, Beith (1901)

  • Beith
  • 1901
It's all sunshine and smiles for the Lincolnshire agricultural equipment makers at home time.
23

Workforce at Hornsby and Sons of Grantham (1900)

  • Grantham
  • 1900
Two horse-drawn fire engines gallop past the camera.
24

Turn Out of the Dundee Fire Brigade (1901)

  • Dundee
  • 1901
Edwardian engineers and their marvellous machines at Britannia Ironworks, Lincolnshire.
25

Employees of Marshall's Engineering Works, Gainsborough (1908)

  • Gainsborough
  • 1908
Hoards of workers funnel through the great arched entrance to Robey's works in Lincoln.
26

Employees at Robey's Works, Lincoln (1900)

  • Lincoln
  • 1900
Victorian industrial workers leave their factory after a demanding day.
27

Factory Exit in Lincoln (1900)

  • Lincoln
  • 1900
A slice of Edwardian working-class life outside a factory in Cork.
28

Workers Leaving Lee Boot Factory, Dwyer & Co. Ltd. (1902)

  • 1902
A staged demonstration shows the Cork Fire Brigade leaping into action, rescuing people from flames in front of an intrigued crowd.
29

Cork Fire Brigade Turning Out (1902)

  • 1902
Very early footage of a vast industrial site in Ripley, and the folk who manned the machines.
30

Workers Leaving Butterley Ironworks, Ripley (1900)

  • Ripley
  • 1900
Edwardian textile workers leave a Dundee mill.
31

Employees Leaving Baxter's Jute Works, Dundee (1901)

  • Dundee
  • 1901
Some infectious youthful high spirits outside an engineering factory in Victorian Manchester.
32

Workers Brooks and Doxey, West Gorton Works, Manchester (1900)

  • Manchester
  • 1900
Tired Edwardian workers finish their shift at a Kingston-Upon-Hull paint factory.
33

Employees of Blundell's Paint Works, Hull (1901)

  • Kingston upon Hull
  • 1901
Countless men, women and children spill out on to the screen from "The Plant" at the heart of the Yorkshire railway town.
34

Great Northern Railway Works at Doncaster (1901)

  • Doncaster
  • 1900
Workers of all ages depart Oldroyd's wool mill – and the filmmakers' camera is a subject of curiosity.
35

Mill Workers Leaving Oldroyd & Sons Mill, Dewsbury (1900)

  • Dewsbury
  • 1900
Workers are marshalled past the gate of one of Yorkshire's biggest steel firms.
36

Employees Leaving Brown's Atlas Works, Sheffield (1901)

  • Sheffield
  • 1901
Infectiously lively film of a Yorkshire mining community's grand day out.
37

Miners Demonstration at Wakefield (1908)

  • Wakefield
  • 1908
Hometime for thousands of Teesside shipbuilders.
38

Ropner & Co., Shipbuilders, Stockton on Tees (1900)

  • Stockton-on-Tees
  • 1900
An Edwardian Leeds crowd enjoys a spectacle of wanton destruction.
39

Demolition of a Mill Chimney in Leeds (1901)

  • Leeds
  • 1901
A tide of flat-capped rail factory workers is ushered past the camera after a day's work.
40

Employees Leaving North Eastern Engine Works, Gateshead (1901)

  • Gateshead
  • 1901-02-27
A Mitchell and Kenyon film of workers in their home town, intriguing despite (or because of) the poor lighting conditions.
41

Workers at Yates's Foundry, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
Athletic young Lancashire cotton weavers show off outside their Victorian mill.
42

Workers at Bradley Shed, Nelson, Lancashire (1900)

  • Nelson
  • 1900
Locals line the streets for the fire brigade's procession through Edwardian Preston.
43

Turn Out of the Preston Fire Brigade (c.1901)

  • Preston
  • 1901
Victorian ironworkers leave their Derbyshire factory in carefully stage-managed fashion.
44

Workers at Jesse Crossley & Sons Ironworks, Ripley (1900)

  • Ripley
  • 1900
The dinner time hustle and bustle of a Salford street at the dawn of the 20th century.
45

Howarth's Egerton Mill, Ordsall Lane, Salford (1900)

  • Ordsall Lane, Salford
  • 1900
A vibrant impression of dinner hour at an Edwardian cotton mill.
46

Workforce at Horrocks Miller & Co. Preston (c.1901)

  • Preston
  • 1901
Men and boys (and one woman) outside an Edwardian engineering factory.
47

Workmen Leaving Peacock's Works at Meal Time, Gorton, Manchester (1900)

  • Manchester
  • 1900
A rare snapshot of the daily routine of the workers of a Lancashire textile mill.
48

Workers at Dickens & Heywood, Middleton (1900)

  • Middleton
  • 1900
Widnes workers take a well-earned dinner break.
49

Workers Leaving Gossage's Soap Works, Widnes (1901)

  • Widnes
  • 1901
Edwardian miners are filmed leaving their Lancashire pit at the shift's end.
50

Workers at St George's Colliery, Tyldesley (1901)

  • Tyldesley
  • 1901
Operatives heading out of Berry's Blacking Works.
51

Workers at Berry's Blacking Works, Manchester (1901)

  • Manchester
  • 1901
Wet weather fails to dampen a thrilling show of horse-drawn fire wagons.
52

Turn Out of the Wigan Fire Brigade (1902)

  • Wigan
  • 1902
An orderly exit from one of the biggest hat factories in Edwardian Stockport.
53

Workers Leaving T & W Lees of Stockport (1901)

  • Stockport
  • 1901
A fire drill for the benefit of residents of Edwardian Rochdale - and the camera.
54

Turn Out of the Rochdale Fire Brigade (1901)

  • Rochdale
  • 1901
Workers emerge from a huge ironworks in Edwardian Salford with some relief on a hot and sunny day.
55

Workers Leaving Craven Ironworks, Ordsall Lane, Salford (1901)

  • Ordsall Lane, Salford
  • 1901
A chimney explosion in Edwardian Nelson, near Burnley, presents an exciting public spectacle.
56

Felling of Hibson Road Brick Works Chimney in Nelson (1906)

  • Nelson
  • 1906-05-26
Workers co-operate with the camera at a Manchester print factory.
57

Employees of Co-Operative Wholesale Society Printing Works, Longsight, Manchester (1901)

  • Longsight
  • 1901
Mounted police lead smartly uniformed firefighters past William Widdup's furniture store in Edwardian Nelson.
58

Procession of Firemen, Nelson (c.1902)

  • 1902
This Manchester 'factory gate' film has one mysterious addition...
59

Employees Leaving Crossley's Works, Openshaw (1900)

  • Manchester
  • 1900
Mill workers swarm into the July sunshine to enjoy a well-earned lunch break.
60

Workforce Leaving Salt's Works in Saltaire (1900)

  • Salts Mill, Saltaire
  • 1900
Spinners and weavers jostle through the exit of one of Stockport's largest textile mills.
61

Workers at India Mills, Stockport (1900)

  • Stockport
  • 1900
An astonishingly crowded Victorian street reveals the vast scale of Tyneside manufacturing.
62

20,000 Employees Entering Lord Armstrong's Elswick Works (1900)

  • Elswick
  • 1900-11
Hungry and cold, Lancashire cotton workers trek home through the snow at dinner time.
63

Workers Leaving Haslam's Ltd., Colne (1900)

  • Colne
  • 1900
Victorian cotton workers leave for their lunch break.
64

Millhands of Cheetham's Bankwood Mills, Stalybridge (1900)

  • Stalybridge
  • 1900
A visually memorable film of staff exiting a turn-of-the-century Lancashire machine factory.
65

Workmen Leaving Platt's Works, Oldham (1900)

  • Oldham
  • 1900
Millworkers bustle home, except for youngsters who are transfixed by the camera.
66

Workpeople Leaving Ryland's Mill, Gorton, Manchester (1900)

  • Gorton
  • 1900
Workers surge through the great gates of a Victorianengineering works.
67

Employees of Galloways Ltd. Boiler Works, Hyde Road, Manchester (1900)

  • Manchester
  • 1900
Workers of all ages emergefrom a Salford mill.
68

Workforce of Howarth's Ordsall Mill, Salford (1900)

  • Salford
  • 1900
Weary glassmakers head home after morning shift.
69

Workers at Pilkington Glass Works, St Helens (1900)

  • St Helens
  • 1900
The lasses, and a few lads, surge out of a Victorian cotton mill after their shift.
70

Employees of J & E Waters, Talbot Mills, Ellesmere St., Manchester (1900)

  • Ellesmere St, Manchester
  • 1900
Bicycles and broomsticks at the ready as workersfinish shift at a marine engineering works in Victorian Hull.
71

Amos & Smith Boiler Works, Hull (1900)

  • Kingston upon Hull
  • 1900
Ironfounders and engineers head home after morning shift at Pagefield Works.
72

Employees at Walker Engineering Works, Wigan (1900)

  • Wigan
  • 1900
Home time for grateful workers in a Cheshire factory.
73

Employees at White Cross & Co. Ltd Wire Works, Warrington (1900)

  • Warrington
  • 1900
Eager youngsters burst out of the gates of a Victorian cotton mill.
74

Workforce of Ormerod's Mill, Great Moor Street, Bolton (1900)

  • Great Moor St, Bolton
  • 1900
A beautifully composed film of Edwardian factory workers as they rush for home.
75

Employees Leaving Fowler's Ironworks, Leeds (1901)

  • Leeds
  • 1901
A jovial crowd of Edwardian workers head home atdinner time in the Cheshire town.
76

Employees of Rylands Bros. Ltd. Wireworks, Warrington (1902)

  • Warrington
  • 1902
Male and female millworkers - young and old - spill out after their shift.
77

Workpeople Leaving Hornby's Brookhouse Mill, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
Lancashire cotton workers hurry to lunch aftermorning shift.
78

Workpeople Leaving Fish's Waterfall Mill, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
Cheery child workers, averaging around 10 years old, leave the cotton mill after a shift.
79

Workpeople Leaving Ordnance Mill, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
Dinner time at a textile mill in Victorian Lancashire.
80

Workpeople Leaving Dugdale's Paradise Mill, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
Workers at a Lancaster linoleum factory leave and the gate is firmly shut behind them.
81

Employees Leaving Storey's Moor Lane Mill, Lancaster (1902)

  • Lancaster
  • 1902
Lively Lancashire millworkers, including young boys and girls, at themill gates.
82

Workers at Spring Bank Mill, Nelson (1900)

  • Nelson
  • 1900
A glimpse of early filmmaking showmanship as James Kenyon marshals Lancashire textile workers.
83

Operatives of Acme Spinning Company, Pendlebury (1901)

  • Pendlebury
  • 1901
Lancastrian workers spill out of a huge textile factory. 
84

Employees Leaving Williamson's Factory, Lancaster (1901)

  • Lancaster
  • 1901
A great surge of workers pushes through the gates of a Lancashire mill.
85

Workforce of Storey's White Cross Mills, Lancaster (1902)

  • Lancaster
  • 1902
An all-male Edwardian crowd is filmed leaving work in the north western town.
86

Employees Leaving Furness Railway Works, Barrow (1901)

  • Barrow-In-Furness
  • 1901
A drizzly street scene outside one of south Yorkshire's major employers.
87

Employees Leaving Vickers, Sons & Maxim Works, Sheffield (1901)

  • Sheffield
  • 1901
The largely female workforce of an Edwardian Lancashire factory parades past the camera.
88

Factory Exit in Wigan (1901)

  • Wigan
  • 1901
Men and lads spill out at the end of their shift at a Lancashire iron works.
89

Workforce Leaving Smith & Coventry Works, Ordsall Lane, Salford (c.1901)

  • Salford
  • 1901
Workers and wagons pass through the main gate of an engineering factory in Edwardian Lancashire.
90

Tweedale & Smalley, Castleton near Manchester (1905)

  • Castleton
  • 1905
Royal Warrant biscuit-makers released after their shift.
91

Workers at Carr's Biscuit Works, Carlisle (1901)

  • Carlisle
  • 1901
Filmed at a production plant for Edwardian ale, thisunique footage carries a powerful scent of malt and hops.
92

Workers Leaving Nuttall's Brewery, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
Bustling scenes in Edwardian Lancashire, outside the mill gates and on the street.
93

Darwen Factory Gate (1901)

  • Darwen
  • 1901
Another shift ends in Victorian Lancashire, while children play in the street.
94

Workers Leaving a Factory in Leyland (c.1900)

  • Leyland
  • 1900
Well-heeled Edwardian workers head home after work.
95

Workers Leaving a Factory in Wigan (1902)

  • Wigan
  • 1902
Scenes in Leeds city centre as Edwardian firemen roll through on drill.
96

Turn Out of the Leeds Fire Brigade (1901)

  • Leeds
  • 1901
Workers in Edwardian Lancashire become ghostly thanks to an odd camera effect.
97

Workers Leaving a Factory in Droylsden (1901)

  • Droylsden
  • 1901
Victorian textile workers at a mill near Manchester
98

Workpeople from Messrs Mayall's Mills Emerging on Queen Street, Mossley (1900)

  • Mossley
  • 1900
Employees exit a Lancashire works on a drizzly day.
99

Workpeople Leaving For Dinner, Robinson's Iron Foundry, Rochdale (1901)

  • Rochdale
  • 1901
Employees of a South Yorkshire brassworks walk or cycle past the camera.
100

Workers Leaving Guest and Chrimes Brassworks, Rotherham (1901)

  • Rotherham
  • 1901
Victorian ironworkers emerge from the grand entrance of a long-established South Yorkshire firm.
101

Employees Leaving Yates, Haywood & Co. Foundry, Rotherham (1900)

  • Rotherham
  • 1901
The fire brigade springs into action for the benefit of the camera.
102

Turn out of the Hull Fire Brigade (1902)

  • Kingston upon Hull
  • 1902
A tidy exit from an unidentified factory in Edwardian Barrow in Furness.
103

Barrow Hematite Steel Company

  • Barrow-In-Furness
  • 1902
Edwardian workers leave the Liverpool docks at the end of another long shift.
104

Employees Leaving Alexandra Docks, Liverpool (1901)

  • Alexandra Dock
  • 1901
Lancashire mill-workers have fun in front of the camera.
105

Workforce of Haslam's Ltd., Colne (1900)

  • Colne
  • 1900
106

Scene Outside a Factory (c.1902)

  • 1902
Lancashire cotton-workers pile out through the mill gates at dinner time.
107

The 'Hands' Leaving Work at North-Street Mills, Chorley (1900)

  • Chorley
  • 1900
Crowds of cotton workers flow through the gates of the Clitheroe textile mill.
108

Factory Workers in Clitheroe (1901)

  • Clitheroe
  • 1901
Having worked the looms all morning, Victorian wool workers head home for awell-earned dinner break.
109

Employees of Messrs Lumb and Co. Leaving the Works, Huddersfield (1900)

  • Huddersfield
  • 1900
Home time for cotton workers at a Lancashire mill.
110

Employees Leaving Olive Mill, Darwen (1900)

  • Darwen
  • 1900
A group of workers dominated by women and children emerges from a Lancashire factory.
111

Lancashire Factory Gate Exit (c.1901)

  • Lancashire
  • 1901
Smartly-dressed men and women leave an unknown (textiles?) factory at lunchtime.
112

Workforce Leaving a Factory (c.1900)

  • 1900
Victorian factory workers head for home, dodging puddles along the way.
113

Workforce Leaving a Factory in the North of England (c.1900)

  • 1900
Striking close-ups of Edwardian corset makers
114

Workers Leaving Symington's, Market Harborough (1900)

  • Market Harborough
  • 1901
View full collection

Report a problem -

We're sorry that you've found a problem with one of our videos. To help us investigate, please provide as much detail as possible.
If you would like us to get back to you about this problem, please provide us with your email address. This won't be used for marketing purposes.
Please enter a valid email address; for instance, [email protected]