Rare Photos Show British Victorians Letting Their Hair Down at the Beach

Jul 18, 2025

Matt Growcoot

A black-and-white triptych: a man in swimwear about to dive into water, a couple kissing on a beach, and two women in long dresses walking into the sea, all set on a historic beach. — Lovers embrace, men joke, women frollick. We’re not used to this side of British Victorians. | Photos by Paul Martin

It is getting hot, and for many Americans, it’s time to head to the beach. But if you’re British, you might be heading to the seaside this weekend.

Although Americans don’t use the phrase “seaside”, it remains common parlance in quaint Old England, which is apt given that many of the towns and villages that derive their existence from being on the sea are often archaic.

Photographing the British Seaside

Going to the seaside is a tradition that’s as British as apologizing for no reason at all, and it has attracted photographers including Martin Parr and David Hurn. And for today’s Historical Friday feature, we’re looking at one of the very first documentary photographers to train his lens on the British coast.

Late Victorian photographer Paul Martin was unusual for his era since he was interested in capturing photos of the working class. Traveling to resorts like Hastings, Yarmouth, and Jersey, Martin used a Fallowfield’s “Facile”, a clandestine film camera, to take snapshots of subjects without them realizing it.

Vintage advertisement for Fallowfield’s “Facile” hand camera, featuring a side view drawing of the camera and an illustration of a man holding it. Text details features, usage, and prices. — The 1893 ad for Fallowfield’s “Facile” camera. Designed for detectives, it was essentially a box with a hole in it for the lens, and Martin realized he could use it for candid photography.

Four women in old-fashioned clothing stand at the edge of the sea, waves touching their feet. Two hold hands, and one carries a basket. The scene appears breezy and playful on a sandy beach. — Trippers caught by the sea, Yarmouth, 1892.

A vintage black-and-white photo shows a beach scene with a painted cutout of a woman washing a boy, labeled "You Dirty Boy," with a woman standing nearby and people in the background. — Friends clown around with this Pears soap advertisement board, Yarmouth, 1892.

A large group of people, dressed in late 19th or early 20th-century clothing, gather on a rocky beach and nearby cliffs, some sitting and some standing, with a backdrop of rugged rocks. — Capstone Hill, Ilfracombe, Yarmouth, 1892.

A group of children in early 20th-century clothing gather outdoors, looking up with interest at someone or something out of frame; a crowd of adults stands behind them, some holding umbrellas. — Punch and Judy show, Ilfracombe, Yarmouth, 1892.

A man and three children stand at the edge of the sea, with their backs to the camera, playing in shallow waves on a beach under an overcast sky. — A Father takes the children paddling, Lowestoft, circa 1892.

Black and white photo of people relaxing on a sandy beach, many lying on blankets, wearing late 19th or early 20th-century clothing, with tents and chairs in the background under a mostly clear sky. — Young couples have a rest on the sand in Yarmouth

A group of people ride ponies along a sandy beach. In the background, there are a few people walking, ships, and distant buildings near the shoreline under a clear sky. — Donkey riders, Jersey, 1893.

Three women in Victorian-era clothing wade barefoot in shallow ocean water at the beach, holding up their skirts to avoid getting them wet. They appear to be smiling and enjoying the moment. — Trippers having a paddle, Yarmouth, 1892.

Historic black and white photo of people relaxing on a crowded beach; a couple lies close together in the sand in the foreground, while groups of people stand, walk, and sit in the background. — A loving couple on the sands, Yarmouth, 1892.

Dressed head-to-toe in hats, blouses, bloomers, and stockings, it’s a far cry from how people dress for the beach today. Nevertheless, Martin captured photos of people behaving distinctly un-Victorian; clinching a lover in the sand, joking around for the camera, and smiling while enjoying a beach concert.

The people he photographed were workers and craftspeople, working-class subjects less confronting than the gentry who would have felt entitled to challenge him. And though Martin’s imagery of the less privileged is sympathetic, it was not motivated by any urge for social and political reform like Lewis Hine, for example.

Black and white photo of people lying closely together on a sandy beach, some sitting or reclining, with buildings in the background and a few people standing or walking among the crowd. — Fun on the beach in Yarmouth 1892. The photographer Paul Martin wrote, ‘The Concert Party does not begin till 3pm so there is little to do till then, so young couples have a rest on the sands in the friendliest way.’

Three people are in shallow water at the beach; two are standing and waving at the camera, while a third person is swimming nearby. The sea and a distant horizon are in the background. The photo is black and white. — Three men from Birmingham swim in the sea, St Helier, Jersey, 1893.

Four children stand on a sandy beach facing the sea, watching a large steamship with passengers pass by in the distance. The image is in black and white and appears to be from an earlier time period. — Watching a pleasure steamer, Jersey, Channel Islands, 1893.

A vintage black-and-white photo shows a couple lying on a sandy beach, embracing and kissing. People sit and walk in the background near boats, with some dressed in early 20th-century clothing. — A couple on the sands, Yarmouth, 1892.

Vintage photo of a crowded beach scene with people in early 20th-century clothing; a man appears to give first aid to a woman lying on the sand while others stand or walk in the background near tents and flags. — Flirtations on the beach, Yarmouth, 1892.

An older man in swimwear stands at the edge of a wooden raft, preparing to dive into calm water where another swimmer is already swimming nearby. The scene appears to be from an earlier time period. — A portly man from Birmingham prepares to jump into the sea in Jersey, the photographer’s playful caption was ‘The approach of a tidal wave.’

A black and white photo of three people beside a small wooden boat at the shore, with shallow water around their feet. One person bends toward the boat, another stands nearby, and a child stands to the left. — Washing the Boat, Jersey, 1893.

A group of boys and men in old-fashioned clothing smile and lean over a wooden fence, watching something with excitement and interest; the photo is in black and white. — Beach concert, Yarmouth, circa 1892.

A black-and-white photo of a group of young people and men, some wearing caps and hats, smiling and leaning over a wooden barrier while watching an event. The scene appears to be from the early 20th century. — Beach concert, Yarmouth, circa 1892.

Three women in old-fashioned swimsuits hold onto ropes attached to a wheeled bathing machine as they stand and kneel in the surf, with waves crashing around them at the beach. — Bathing at Yarmouth, 1892. The section reserved for women was at the opposite end of the beach from the men.

But upon presenting his peers with the photos of working-class people lounging at the beach, the members of his camera club were appalled.

“They are not encouraging towards the type of subject which I was then taking … many members looked down at my studies, regarding them shocking,” Martin wrote in his diary. “They felt that an image demanded a noble and dignified subject, a cathedral or mountain or family party dressed up in their Sunday best.”

This snobbishness was ultimately proven wrong as collectors eventually found value in Martin’s work, and his photos are now held by London museums. But sadly, that was after he had already died and sold his negatives for a cheap price. Sir Cecil Beaton, who shot famous photos of a young Queen Elizabeth II, dubbed Martin the “Charles Dickens of the lens.”

Image credits: Paul Martin / Courtesy of News Dog Media