The large collection of photographs in the Tyne-Wear Archives depicts mugshots of Edwardian Britain depicting minors arrested for petty crimes.
The youngest among the photographs belong to those from the ages of 12 to 21, as that was the legal age of adulthood at the time. These people were arrested in a British town called North Shields.
The time Edward VII took the throne and became the king in 1901, most people couldn’t remember the monarch that reigned before Queen Victoria who he took over. This was a result of how long she had reigned.
Her name had become synonymous with power, as she was the figurehead of an empire “on which the sun never sets.” However, the Edwardian period wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.
The Edwardian reign began with the nation facing so much uncertainty, and Edwardians faced a period of unsettlement that was rooted in situations from the past.
Statistics show that while Britain was still Europe’s richest nation, others were catching up and catching up fast. Most of the societal issues that were paramount in the reign of Victoria became even more obvious such as the increase in the poverty rate among the working classes; 77 percent of the population was crowded into the cities, and in many situations, wages had fallen, while the cost of living was on the rise.
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Among children, there was an immediate increase in the rate of petty crime at the beginning of the 20th century. The increase in poverty despite the high cost of living was because of the increase in industrial exercises. This resulted in major urban migrations in search of a job.
Many children had to abandon schooling and focus on pickpocketing and petty thievery. The British legal system began various approaches for young offenders from the 1850s onwards when reformatory and industrial schools were first introduced.
Laws were also passed to remove children from certain areas of industry and restrict their activities in others. Elementary education was made compulsory and introduced in 1870.
1889, the 1890s and 1900s witnessed a surge in campaigners, campaigns and actions for greater coverage and legal protection for children and young people.
