Museum of Science and Industry

A visiting academic is on a quest to find the oldest photograph of people working in Greater Manchester industry. Professor David Perrett, President of the Newcomen Society for the History of Engineering and Technology, will give a free talk at MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry) next Tuesday, which includes some of the oldest known photographs of working people in the North West, such as one of female coal miners in Wigan, and another of the testing of a sewage pumping station, in Bolton.

Professor Perrett will argue that history has focussed on the inventors, engineers, and the machines they created, so we tend to have limited understanding of how they were used in practice, and few images of the people who operated them. He is keen to hear from anyone who knows of any photographs of people at work in Greater Manchester or elsewhere, which were taken earlier than 1860.

Professor Perrett said: “Historians have tended to place a lot of emphasis on big name engineers, but little attention to the engineers and skilled workers who actually worked them. I’m interested in trying to get a picture of the people behind the machines and I’ve found there is very limited evidence. Early photography meant that people had to stand very still to have their pictures taken, which wasn’t very compatible with people working. I’d really like to hear from anyone who knows of any early photographs of people at work in industry in the Manchester area, so please do get in touch!”

According to Professor Perrett, the first known photograph of people at work in Britain was taken in Sheffield in 1858. Another early example is a picture by Arthur Munby, which depicts female workers in Wigan’s Rose Bridge Pits in 1865, while an anonymous picture survives of Shevington Pithead, taken in 1863. There are also several examples around Britain of images of people at work which are embedded in architecture. In Manchester, the former fish market entrance, dating back to 1876, shows life-like images of fishermen at work.

The talk at MOSI will demonstrate how depictions of working people have changed, from miners in the middle ages in De Re Metallica , through 17^th Century handbooks of trades, to Ford Maddox Brown’s famous painting, Work, through to the present day. Professor Perrett will also feature highlights from Days at the Factories, a series of articles and line illustrations about British factories, published by George Dodd in The Penny Magazine between 1841 and 1844.

Days at the Factories, an illustrated talk by Professor David Perrett, will be held at 6.30pm, Tuesday 25 November in the Cardwell Auditorium, MOSI, Liverpool Road, Castlefield, Manchester. Entrance is free. Professor David Perrett can be contacted at d.perrett@qmul.ac.uk

For more information please call Sarah Roe on Tel: 0161 606 0176 or m: 07847 372647.

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