| Description | The Historical Photographs of China (HPC) Project was created at the University of Bristol by Professor Robert Bickers and Jamie Carstairs in February 2006. The project borrowed contributors’ photographs taken in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, mostly between the 1850s and 1950s, often in albums which were generally family heirlooms. The individual photographs in albums were digitised, along with whole pages of albums, and the physical material usually returned to its owners. By licence agreement with owners, digital images were added to the project’s fully searchable web site (https://www.hpcbristol.net/). The project also digitised photographs held in archives and museums, such as the National Archives, Special Collections SOAS, and the Cadbury Research Library. The low-resolution images on the Historical Photographs of China web site are available to be downloaded, on an open access basis (creative commons licence). Although the date range of the HPC web site is 1850s to 1950s, the project collected photographic material from the 1960s-1980s, and even more recently.
China’s twentieth century was destructive, causing loss of the country’s built heritage and of records. Surviving photographs have greater value than might be the case elsewhere, as records of the lost built environment and long gone ways of life. Research by the HPC team (with knowledge of thousands of images), helped identify people and locations, make connections, and enhance the significance of the material.
From 2007, the HPC project was recognised by the British Academy as an Academy Research Project. The HPC project ended in April 2021 and its digital and physical holdings were transferred to Special Collections. The project’s blog site, ‘Visualising China’ (https://visualisingchina.net/blog/), remains active.
Over 62,000 high-resolution digital images (tiff format) - photographs, negatives, 35mm transparencies (slides) magic lantern slides and post cards digitised by the HPC project - are now held by Special Collections. Low-resolution jpegs made from these tiffs are also held. 22,461 images have been published (as on 18 November 2021), along with associated metadata, on the HPC website.
The Historical Photographs of China digital images are in 168 collections, often named after the collections’ original compilers or current owners. In addition to the digital images, Special Collections also hold photograph albums, loose prints, negatives, slides, books, cameras and ephemera, donated to, or acquired by, the HPC project, between 2006 and 2021. This physical material is listed below with its relevant Special Collections DM archival reference in square brackets. In this list, the collection names are sorted alphabetically.
The Historical Photographs of China collections of digital images are:
A
Abe Family Collection
Alejandro Acin Collection [DM2817]
Colin Andrew Collection [DM2818]
Augustus Anthony Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
John Arber Collection [DM2985]
William Armstrong Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
George Atchison Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Leslie Ayre Collection
B
Ernest Baggs Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Banister Family Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Oliver Barnham Collection
Leslie Bauld Collection [DM2866]
Arthur Bayley Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Charles Beale Collection [DM2819]
Florence Beales Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Pearl Bertch Collection [DM2820]
Billie Love Historical Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Stella Bills Collection
Kenneth Bonner Collection [DM2821]
Arthur Bonsey Collection
Edward Bowra Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
British Steel Archive Project Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
C
Cadbury Research Library Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Cameron Family Collection
John Cameron Collection [DM2822]
Gordon Campbell Collection
Frederick Carey Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Carrall Family Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Jamie Carstairs Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Joyce Chatterton Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Walter Clennell Collection
Anthony Clark Collection [DM2986]
William Cooper Collection [DM2823] (These images are on the HPC web site)
Albert Cornwall Collection [DM2824]
Cottrell Family Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Thomas Crellin Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
John Crowley Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Customs Service Staff Collection
D
Charles Darwent Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Francis Davidson Collection [DM2825] (These images are on the HPC web site)
James Dearden Holmes Collection
Helen Dhoot Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Leo Dudeney Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Fred Dunne Collection [DM2826]
E
Ernest Edinger Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Sidney Edwards Collection
Elliot Family Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Jack Ephgrave Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
David Evans Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
F
Arthur Fiddament Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
John Gurney Fry Collection [DM2887] (These images are on the HPC web site)
Fu Bingchang Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Martin Funnell Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
G
Berkeley Gage Collection [DM2827]
Geoffrey Gawler Collection
Glasgow Police Heritage Society Collection
William Grant Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Alice Green Collection [DM2988]
Arthur Greenwood Collection
H
F. Hagger Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Leo Handley-Derry Collection [DM2828]
Lucy Harris Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Geoffrey Havilland Collection [DM2989]
Hayward Family Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Tita and Gerry Hayward Collection [DM2830] (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Reginald Hedgeland Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
James Helbling Collection [DM2829]
David Marr Henderson Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Hillier Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Felix Hookham Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Thomas Hughes Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Oliver Hulme Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Hutchinson Family Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Leslie Hutton Collection
George Hutton Potts Collection [DM2831] (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
I
Images from Books Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
J
Eric Jacobs-Larkcom Collection
Thomas Johns Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
George Johnston Collection [DM2832]
K
Paul Kaye Collection [DM2990]
Kelsey Family Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Robert Kennedy Collection [DM2991]
Kiki de Chaffoy Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Edward Kingsbury Collection
John Kitto Collection
W.J.C. Kitto Collection
Peter Klein Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Kiene Family Collection
Ronald Knapp Collection [DM2992]
Knight Family Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
King’s Own Scottish Borderers Collection
L
Archibald Lang Collection [DM2833] (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Michael Lindsay Collection
Liu Haiyan Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Oliver Lockhart Collection
Helena Lopes Collection
John Lyle Collection [DM2993]
M
Arthur Martin Collection [DM2994]
John Masson Collection
Maxwell Family Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Hedley Mellor Collection
Penny Mellor Collection [DM2834]
Miscellaneous Collection [DM2835] (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Eleanor Mitchell Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
John Montgomery Collection [DM2836] (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Ian and Rachel Morrison Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
James Morrison Collection
N
National Archives Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Lesley Northup Collection [DM2837] (These images are on the HPC web site)
O
John Oswald Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
P
P.A. Crush Chinese Railway Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Atwell Palmer Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Pardoe Family Collection
Herbert Payne Collection
Harold Peck Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Robert Peck Collection [DM2838]
Ann Phipps Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Emerita Pilgrim Collection
Cornell Plant Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Charles Powell Collection [DM2839]
R
Richard Family Collection [DM2840] (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Gordon Richards Collection [DM2841] (These images are on the HPC web site)
Edward Rigby Collection
Malcolm Rosholt Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Cyril Ross Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Royal Hampshire Regiment Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Henry Rue Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Ruxton Family Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
S
Ranjit Singh Sanga Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
William Sangster Collection [DM2995]
Brian Schara Collection
John Shackford Collection
Shaji Massacre 1925 Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
John Sinton Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Smedley Howell Family Collection
Sydney Smith Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Stanfield Family Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
James Steen Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Dennis Stevens Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Arthur Stiles Collection [DM2996]
Leonard Street Collection [DM2842]
John Sullivan Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
G. Warren Swire Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
T
George Tarr Collection
Edgar Taylor Collection [DM1973] (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
John Thompson Collection
Tianjin Post Cards Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Maurice Tinkler Collection [DM2997]
Forbes Scott Tocher Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
Charles Todd Collection
Frank Tovey Collection [DM2843]
George Trobridge Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
U
University of Bristol Library Collection [DM2520] (These images are on the HPC web site)
V
Vacher Hilditch Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Gilbert Vinden Collection (A selection of these images are on the HPC web site)
W
Barney Wall Collection [DM2844]
Charles Wheeler Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Cyril Whitaker Collection [DM2845]
Richard Whiteside Collection
Edward Wilkinson Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Jim Williams Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Stephen Wood Collection
Albert Worwood Collection
Stanley Wyatt-Smith Collection (These images are on the HPC web site)
Y
Yangtse Corporation Collection [DM2998] (These images are on the HPC web site)
Sir Cyril Young Collection [DM2846]
Stuart Young Collection (These images are on the HPC web site). |