Rare photos of British Raj found in shoebox

A collection of photos showing the British in India 100 years ago has been discovered in one of Scotland's national collections.

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland has announced the discovery of 178 plate glass negatives depicting the British in India a century ago. The photos were discovered in the RCAHMS archives, in a shoebox, and appear to have been untouched for decades. Among the images are King George V visiting Calcutta, ships arriving at the Chandpal Ghat and merchants selling their wares outside an eleventh-century temple.

Claire Sorenson, architectural historian for RCAHMS said: 'We don't know for sure how they came to be in our collection because we receive archive material from countless different sources, ranging from the archives kept by architectural practices to generous public donations.

'Over time all this new material will be inspected and catalogued as part of our collection - undergoing conservation work where necessary - and then made available to the public.

'It's fantastic that a small shoe box contained such a treasure-trove of photographic imagery, but in some ways it's not unusual. Our experience as an archive has shown us that some of the most interesting discoveries can be made in the most unlikely of places.'

RCAHMS now hope that members of the public and photography experts might be able to shed more light on the finds, as the identity of the photographer is a mystery and one theory is that he or she might have been a British Civil Servant working in India, or someone connected to the jute trade.

Keep up to date with the latest history news, discoveries and research in every issue of History Scotland and Scottish Memories.

Sign up now for our FREE e-newsletter for more news stories, sneak previews, exclusive content and special offers.