EXTENSIVE ARCHIVE OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND RELATED PAPERS An important collection providing a unique record of the Household Division during World War I and documenting the military, ceremonial, and public life of London in the early decades of the twentieth century, incorporating the photographer's own archive, and including in excess of 2000 vintage photographic prints, mostly in postcard form, over half of which are images of troops, chiefly from the Household Division, as well as glass-plate negatives, correspondence and other papers, and modern reproduction prints, housed in 8 albums, 4 small cases, 44 folders, 2 boxes, and with additional loose material
Christina Broom (known professionally as Mrs Albert Broom) is thought to have been the first woman press photographer. Entirely self-taught, she capitalised on the postcard craze of the early twentieth century. She developed a particularly close relationship with the military, and her many photographs of troops during World War I is the particular focus of the current collection. She was appointed official photographer to the Household Division and ran a stall in the Royal Mews, in particular having a successful business taking photographs and selling the prints to the posing soldiers complete with an envelope to send them back to their families. The heart of this collection is therefore the remarkable and poignant record it provides, through hundreds of photographs, of men in the Household Cavalry and the regiments of Foot Guards posing for a photograph before heading off to the front. There are shots of individual soldiers and of men with their families, lines of troops in the parade ground and informally posed groups, men in dress uniform, crowds in khaki at Waterloo about to leave for France, and an extensive series of photographs taken at a Buckingham Palace tea party for the wounded held in March 1916. Among the thousands of faces recorded here are "My son Jack" Kipling (pictured opposite), whose death a few months after this photograph was taken so devastated his father, and Stewart Menzies, who went on to head SIS and was a possible inspiration for Ian Fleming's "M".
Mrs Broom's access to the ceremonial heart of Britain meant that she captured such events as the lying in state of Edward VII and the unveiling of the Guards Memorial on Horse Guards, as well as generals and royalty - the best of which are her photographs of the twenty year-old Edward, Prince of Wales (later Duke of Windsor) in his Grenadier Guard uniform. Other subjects covered in depth by Broom's camera include the royal stables, including state carriages and servants in their formal uniforms, the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race (among her photos of 1922 Oxford Blues is one of A.C. Irvine, who was lost with Mallory on Everest in 1924), Lord Mayors' Shows, and Suffragette marches.
This is not only the largest extant collection of Mrs Broom's photographs, but the residual archive of the photographer's daughter and assistant Winifred Broom. It includes ancillary documentary material that gives the collection unique historical significance. Many of the prints are the photographer's own copies, annotated on the reverse by Winifred Broom with unique information about sitters and dates. The collection also includes correspondence received by Mrs Broom and her daughter, press passes, biographical notes, numbered inventories and lists of negatives, and Mrs Broom's own album of cuttings of newspaper articles that used her photographs.
For a full description of the collection please see the online catalogue or contact the department.
i) Vintage photographic postcards (85 x 140mm), c.1903-1939, but predominantly of the years 1914-1918, in six labelled albums: -The Household Cavalry [Blue], containing 279 photographs of Life Guards -The Household Cavalry, Guard Machine Gun Regt, Household Battalion [red], containing 287 photographs, predominantly of Life Guards -The Grenadier Guards [Maroon], containing 237 photographs -The Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards [Maroon], containing 272 photographs with subjects including: troops in the Foot Guard Regiments during World War I; the King's Birthday (1913); St Patrick's Day (1915); Sports Day (1916) -The Royal Mews [Maroon], containing 193 photographs with subjects including: Royal Horses; King's State Coaches; State Stables; Royal Footmen/Bodyguards/Coachmen; Coronation of King George V; King and Queen's Tea Party to the Wounded; King's Indian Officers -Numbered and Miscellaneous [Blue], containing 393 photograph of miscellaneous subjects including royalty and processions, the Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race, various army regiments, naval scenes, and London scenes, together with an articles and typescript on Mrs Broom and related items
together with two further albums: -Mrs Albert Broom [Dark Green], containing 50 vintage photographic postcards of subjects including the Royal Mews and the Broom family, including two signed by David Paltenghi, business cards, more than thirty permission passes to events such as the burial of the Unknown Soldier at Westminster Abbey, and openings of Parliament, about 70 letters to Mrs Broom and her daughter Winifred Broom, chiefly with officials at the Royal Mews and Buckingham Palace, including requests for photographs, testimonials, and letters of thanks, c.1907-1972 -Unlabelled [Dark Green], containing approximately 50 photographs of various sizes, many being later reproductions, of subjects including the unveiling of the Guards memorial, London scenes, various portraits, asmall quantity of correspondence, and copies of glass plate negatives
ii) A brown leather case containing glass plate negatives, with subjects including Broom family photos (12 glass negatives), Royal Mews (21), Welsh Guards (28), and the Boat Race (6)
iii) A series of 44 folders containing vintage prints of various sizes, many later reproductions, negatives, cuttings, associated correspondence with Mrs Broom, Winifred Broom, and E.J. Collings, concerning her photographs (including lists), career, and later distribution of her negatives, labelled: Southend Fleet Review (including 22 photos and 12 negatives); Prince of Wales (including 32 photos, many duplicates); Churches (including 87 photos, some duplicates); Welsh Guards (including 153 photos, some duplicates); Household Cavalry (including 133 photos, some duplicate); Household Division (including 87 photos); Boat Race Crews (including 33 photos); Lord Mayor Show (including 17 photos); Irish Guards (including 120 photos); Scots Guards (including 176 photos); Coldstream Guards (including 75 photos, some duplicates); Various Photos (including 120 photos, some duplicates); Suffragettes (including 12 photos and 2 large negatives); Royal Mews Photos (including c. 250 copy-prints); Grenadier Guards (including 50 photos); Grenadier Guards (including c.100 photos); Royal Mews (including c.100 photos); Royal Mews (including c.150 photos); Other Militaria (including 53 photos); the Gernsheim Collection; National Army Museum: Burial of the Unknown Warrior; National Maritime Museum; Broom family history; Distribution of Mrs Broom's Negatives; H/CAV Lists (including lists of photographs taken by Mrs Broom); Newspaper Clippings; Livingtson Family Tree; Duke of York's School; Letters to Winifred Broom; Imperial War Museum; Winifred Broom's Estate; Maidstone Museum of Carriages; Developing and Printing Formulae; Police, Fire Brigade; Hospitals; National Portrait Gallery; Household Cavalry Museum; Duke of York's R.M. School; Scottish United Services Museum; London Museum; Fulham and Chelsea Libraries; Various Captions; Potted History by Winifred Broom
iv) An album of press-cuttings with reproductions of photographs by Mrs Broom, 82 pages, folio
v) A group of eight framed photographs including royal state coach, the Lying in State of Edward VII, members of the Red Cross, royal horses, and Mrs Broom posing at her stall on the Royal Mews, as well as Mrs Broom's tripod
vi) Two black metal cases and one brown leather case once belonging to Winifred Broom, containing a notebook including names of sitters in military photographs, two inventories of negatives, a ring-binder file entitled "Persons I met and People I know" containing c.15 brief character sketches including Earl Roberts and Oscar Wilde, two autograph albums compiled by Winifred (1910s-20s), collection of Livingston family photographs, ribbons, medals, pins and badges (Red Cross etc), further copy-prints, 10 additional vintage prints, correspondence (c. 50 letters, mostly to Winifred Broom)
vii) Additional material in two cardboard boxes, including c.60 vintage prints of subjects including Boat Race crews (tinted), Prince Alexander of Tec, an airship at Ranelagh (1902), and family scenes, together with further passes, correspondence, and copy-prints
