A PEEK into everyday family life in Edwardian Rugby is on offer at a new exhibition at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum.
The Eadons Of Hillmorton Road features family photographs which reveal a fascinating snapshot of the town’s social history.
The collection of more than 300 glass plate negatives, dating from 1910 to 1918, was donated to the museum a decade ago by David Eadon.
The majority of the photographs were taken by David’s father, Edgar Christie Eadon – known as Chris – with others believed to have been taken by Chris’s father William, who was a local newspaper reporter before becoming secretary to a succession of headmasters at Rugby School.
As well as snapshots taken at the family home in Hillmorton Road, the exhibition features a photograph of Chris and his brother Leslie in Lawrence Sheriff School uniform, and photos of Foster & Dicksee Builders of Rugby in James Street, where Chris started his working life.
The exhibition also includes a photograph of the celebrations following the election of John Baird as MP for Rugby in 1910, and snaps taken on the family’s annual summer holiday in Llandudno, where Chris met his first wife Gwendoline.
The exhibition also includes an oral history recorded by David Eadon, now in his 80s and living in Hillmorton.
“When I was a youngster, I can remember my father taking photos,” Mr Eadon said. “He always took a camera whenever we went on trips and holidays.
“When my mother died I found the glass plate negatives in a wooden chest in the garage.
“I brought the chest home and started to look through the negatives, and took five to a photography shop in Rugby to be printed.
“Then a member of staff at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum mentioned it had the equipment to process the negatives, and all the photographs were scanned in and transferred to disc.”
Catherine Shanahan, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum’s senior collections officer, said: “The majority of photographs we have from the Edwardian period were taken in a formal studio setting, so the Eadon photographs offer a unique insight into normal family life.
“At the time, the development of dry plate processes revolutionised photography and led to a surge in people taking photographs as a hobby.”
The Eadons Of Hillmorton Road runs at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum’s Social History Gallery from September 18 to January 12.
The Queen, The Chairman and I, an exhibition of photographs by Kurt Tong which explore the entwined histories of Britain and China, also opens in the Art Gallery on September 18.
Rugby Borough Council growth and investment spokesman Sebastian Lowe said: “Thanks to donations from residents, the museum’s social history collection has a wealth of photographs, documents and objects which tell many stories of Rugby’s past.
“The collection of Eadon family photographs reveal everyday family life in the town both before and during the First World War, and we’re delighted Mr Eadon’s donation has allowed us to put the photos on display.”
Visit www.ragm.co.uk for more information about exhibitions and events at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum.
