Factory Exit in Wigan (1901)
The largely female workforce of an Edwardian Lancashire factory parades past the camera.
Mitchell and Kenyon's 'factory gate' films typically feature large crowds, but the workforce at this unidentified factory is relatively sparse. Most are women, many in shawls and straw hats, suggesting that this was a textile mill. One woman, caught eating with her mouth open, seems embarrassed and swiftly runs off. At the end, several young women peer closely at the camera as if scrutinising us.
Tags
Edwardian Enigmas
We've learned a lot about Mitchell and Kenyon since hundreds of their films were rediscovered in 1995. Research by the University of Sheffield and the BFI revealed a wealth of background detail about the films, the events they depict, how they were commissioned and shown. But a few films have so far stubbornly refused to give up their secrets.
So now's your chance to play amateur detective. Do you recognise this town, that street, those factory gates, that football team... even a face in the crowd? If you can, please let us know. And if you can't, you can still enjoy these heady slices of Edwardian (or Victorian) life.
18 videos in this collection
Factory Exit in Lincoln (1900)
Unidentified Chinese Men (c.1900)
Parade of Schoolchildren (c.1902)
Textile Workers Leaving a Factory (c.1901)
Workers Leaving a Factory in Wigan (1902)
Scene Outside a Factory (c.1902)
Employees Leaving a Factory (c.1901)
Street Scenes in North of England (c.1902)
Factory Gate Exit (c.1901)
Exit of Clerical and Factory Workers (c.1901)
Unidentified Factory Gate Exit in Lancashire (c.1900)
Workforce Leaving a Factory in the North of England (c.1900)
Unidentified Factory Gate (c.1900)
Workers Leaving a Factory (1900)
Mitchell and Kenyon Unidentified Fiction Offcuts
Ship Departing from Port (c.1901)