Sam Thompson Collection

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Sam Thompson Collection

"Sam Thompson was a Lancaster photographer whose work won acclaim and recognition, nationally and internationally, far beyond the confines of his native city.

Sam was born in Scotforth, just to the south of Lancaster, in 1871. His family were farmers in the area providing - in future years - many useful connections for his nostalgic portraits of local characters.

Alongside his portraiture, Sam Thompson is also well known for his images of the old streets, yards and alleyways of Lancaster and their inhabitants.

The earliest photographs known of by Sam Thompson date from the mid 1890s, a time of change in the landscape of the city. His main body of work, a photographic survey of threatened streets, yards and alleys, was made in the 1920s. Without these photographic surveys of the old streets of Lancaster, when there was a great deal of "urban development", some of the old courts, yards and alleys would largely have been forgotten. His photographic interest in the changing face of Lancaster has provided invaluable visual historical information for posterity."

From the Lancashire Museums website 10//10/2014