From Pirates of the Caribbean to the Antiques Roadshow, it’s no secret that people love a mysterious and valuable find. Sittingbourne Heritage Museum made their own surprising discovery during their recent move to new premises.
While preparing for the move and going through old archives, the museum team discovered several glass negatives. When one of the volunteers scanned and developed the images, they found some evocative and haunting images of the past, but without any clue about who the pictures were taken by, who the people shown in these photos are, or what the context of these scenes might be.
One of the images shows a group of people staring up at an old airship or zeppelin, which one Facebook user has theorised might be a shot of His Majesty’s Airship R100, which was a British airship designed and built as part of a government scheme to improve communication between Britain and the more distant corners of its empire.
Another image depicts a large house, which was subsequently identified by Facebook members as Hales House in Tunstall.
Other photos show a man, and a woman and child, standing outside what looks like the same house. From their clothing, we can deduce that the image dates back to the 1900s, but who these people were and what the occasion was for having their photo taken, remains a mystery.
The Museum is keen to find out more about the stories behind these discovered negatives, so if you have any information about these images, please get in touch with the Museum either on Facebook @SittingbourneHM or by sending an email to: [email protected]k.