Charles Cornish Browne
Dorset County Museum has a collection of almost 50,000 photographic prints, slides and negatives dating back to the mid 19th century - images showing what life was like in Dorset parishes in times gone by, with an extensive biographic collection telling the story of Dorset people.
One of the most significant collections is that originally assembled by Harry Pouncy. A professional journalist and skilled photographer, Pouncy collected over 450 glass slides of Dorset which record in tremendous detail everyday life in the early 20th century.
Other important collections include photographs taken prior to 1914 by Charles Cornish Browne to capture Dorset’s architecture on film for the National Photographic Record Association. The collections of aerial photographs by John Boyden, Richard Atkinson and the RAF are particularly also noteworthy. Fascinating glass slides document the early days of photography, including some 70 glass slides taken about Lawrence of Arabia during his time in the desert.
Indexed by subject, place and photographer, taken together Dorset County Museum’s photographic collections constitute an important archive of information on Dorset's landscape, architecture and social and cultural history.