Redactions 2

It is probable that very few, if any, of the individuals whose photographs are held in the Tyne and Wear Archives could have afforded to commission personal photographic portraits between 1871 and 1873. For this reason, photographs dated 1871 -73 of the vast majority of prisoners' contemporaneous peers are unknown to us today.

In the 1870s to own photographic portraits was a sign of social standing, which might be further elevated by owning hand coloured portraits. In contrast, the Tyne and Wear photographs only exist because the portrayed had committed a criminal offence warranting imprisonment in Newcastle Gaol. As such, they represent a social class even lower than that which could not afford to have photographic portraits commissioned and printed.