About us

The images that make up The Francis Frith Collection were all taken by professional photographers for the Frith company, originally for sale as souvenir photographs and depicting many of the best known locations in Britain, as well as thousands of small villages and country scenes. They have also, with the passage of time, become an invaluable source for those seeking images of characters, fashions, transport, architecture and the day to day minutiae from many historic (& not so historic) eras – from Victorian, through Edwardian and the 1920’s to the post war period and those iconic 1950’s and 60’s. It is a tribute to the quality of the Collection that 100 years later its images are still a treasure trove for the modern publisher or interior designer.

The complete Frith Collection contains some 365,000 photographs of over 7,000 British cities, towns and villages, all taken between 1860 and 1970. Many towns and villages were photographed at regular intervals during this time, and thus the Collection provides an unrivalled record of the social and physical development of Britain over a dynamic 110-year period. 120,000 of these images are available to view (and to buy as prints, canvas’, jigsaws, calendars and other gifts) on our main website, but are only searchable by location. In an endeavour to make it easier for researchers to use the archive, we have created this separate photo-library website especially for you and are presently adding key words to our images as fast as we can - the current tally can be seen on the search page of this site. If you cannot find the image you are looking for however, please do contact us for help. We have many members of staff who have been working with these images for years – 30 years in some cases – and might be able to put their hands on just what you are looking for.

You will find a separate link to our terms and conditions, and we have also put together a help and FAQs page – based on our many years of experience of talking to everyone from professional picture researchers, to those looking for images for the village newsletter, or other design projects. I hope that we have covered most queries here – but please do not hesitate to contact us should you wish to discuss your own requirements.