Exhibition to show Barnstaple's Victorian underclass

By Alex GreenBBC News

Dr Sadru Bhanji

Dr Sadru Bhanji said all but a handful of the 98 people depicted in the photographs were named

An exhibition highlighting Barnstaple's "hidden 19th Century underclass" is opening at a museum in the town.

The exhibition has been created by local historian Dr Sadru Bhanji.

He discovered an album of photos in 2009 containing the images and names of local men, women and children imprisoned in the town between 1867 and 1877.

Dr Bhanji then gathered background information on the prisoners to create the exhibition.

He said the exhibition exposed the lives of working class people - and highlighted how even small indiscretions often lead to harsh punishments during that era.

Dr Sadru Bhanji

Men, women, and children were imprisoned at Barnstaple Jail during the decade beginning in 1867

Dr Bhanji's research revealed each person in the photo album had been arrested and imprisoned at Barnstaple's jail for crimes including theft, fraud and embezzlement.

"The exhibition owes much to the chance acquisition of an album of Victorian photographs, which transpired to be of some of the inmates of Barnstaple Prison during the decade beginning 1867," Dr Bhanji said.

He added: "As all but a handful of the 98 people depicted were named, curiosity was aroused.

"A fruitful exploration of contemporary sources then followed and made it possible to provide accounts of the subjects' backgrounds and criminal lives, and bring back into awareness forgotten members of one of Victorian Barnstaple's underclasses."

Dr Sadru Bhanji

The collection of photos was discovered in 2009

Devon historian Dr Todd Gray said the collection - titled Barnstaple Prisoners: unveiling Barnstaple's Victorian underclass 1867-1877 - was "an amazing discovery".

Dr Gray, a historian also based in Devon, said the images were the earliest collection of photos of members of north Devon's working class.

He said: "Each girl, boy, woman and man was photographed to provide a record in case they re-offended and, a century and a half later, they allow us today to gaze at their faces and begin to understand their lives.

"North Devon's past has just become a little bit more accessible."

The exhibition, being shown at the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon, runs between Saturday 2 December and Saturday 17 February.