Photographs of a Victorian Voyage: From the Annie Brassey Collection

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery has unveiled a selection of Annie Brassey's travel photographs in a special walkway exhibition.

Annie Brassey (1839-1887) was a travel writer and collector who travelled the world in the 1870s and 1880s. Many of the objects Brassey collected were donated to Hastings Museum & Art Gallery in 1919, along with the Durbar Hall, that she purchased from the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London. The objects from her travels now form part of the World Cultures collection at the museum.

In 1873, after learning how to take her own photographs, Brassey became a member of the Royal Photographic Society and had a darkroom fitted on board the Sunbeam, the family's yacht, to develop and print her images. Missing from the donation to the museum were these photographs. This latest exhibition brings a selection of these images back to the museum's collection for the first time in more than 100 years.

These images have been reproduced from the 70 albums of more than 5,000 photographs, which are now kept in the Huntington Library in California. The collection contains Brassey's own photographs and commercial and tourist photographs purchased at destinations she visited.

Cllr Andy Batsford, lead councillor for Health and Culture, said:

"To have some of Annie Brassey's collection of photographs on display here in Hastings once again is a fantastic moment for the museum and the town. Each image depicts the family's experience travelling the world, documenting countries in a way unimaginable to earlier travellers. If you would like to explore the collection of images for free, head to Hastings Museum & Art Gallery."
 
This display has been curated by Sarah French as part of a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership between Hastings Museum & Art Gallery and the University of Sussex. With special thanks to the Huntington Library, California, for the reproduction of images and to the University of Sussex and CHASE for their generous support.