List of Objects
Telling a history of our world through objects
Click on the titles in the blue bar below [Location, Theme, Contributor Type, etc.] and then choose a category to see a list of objects - e.g. click Theme and then click War. (All objects have been classified by their contributor.)
You can also chose to see objects from a particular time period by clicking on the dates in the box below.
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Location / UK / England - London
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Gold Mourning Ring
This ring was owned by John Holroyd, who foiled the assassination attempt on George III at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on ...
Contributed by Individual
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Victorian swimming costume
This red cotton swimming costume was left behind in lost property at Hornsey Road Public Baths, Islington in about 1900. ...
Contributed by Museum
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Colt Dragoon Revolver
Colt's revolver was the first truly mass produced item made using modern industrial techniques. This Colt Dragoon was ...
Contributed by Individual
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Grand Christmas Fete poster
This festive advertisement announcing the Grand Christmas Fete at Islington’s Royal Agricultural Hall is one in a ...
Contributed by Museum
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1793 £5 Note
Paper money as we recognise it today originated in Britain in the 17th Century as a receipt for gold deposited with ...
Contributed by Museum
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Point Blank - Bruce Springsteen fanzine
I started this fanzine at a time (1980) when Bruce Springsteen fans such as myself were isolated, with little means of ...
Contributed by Individual
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Great Great Aunt Eliza's Paint Box
Great Great Aunt Eliza was my Grannie's Aunt - sister of grannie's father. My Grannie is still alive at the age of 100 ...
Contributed by Individual
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Tram pass for Inspector John Spratling
This pass for tram transport is written out to Inspector John Spratling of J Division (Bethnal Green) of the ...
Contributed by Individual
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Pocket watch made by Joseph Windmills
This is an example of an early pocket watch and demonstrates the craftsmanship of the maker. Pocket watches were often ...
Contributed by Museum
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H bomb Christmas Island official booklet
This booklet was given to servicemen involved in Operation Grapple, the H Bomb test, carried out on Christmas Island in ...
Contributed by Individual
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The Little Golden Fish that returned
My grandfather presented this little golden fish watch to my aunt when she qualified as the first Muslim woman doctor ...
Contributed by Individual
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Audio Disc - Voices of the Forces
Becky Lowe - 12/07/2010
My grandad Kenneth Curley sent messages to his parents on discs such as this between 1942 and ...
Contributed by Individual
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Gold repousée pocket watch with chime
This pocket watch was created by Roger Dunster who worked in Amsterdam and London in the early 1700's
Contributed by Museum
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ICT 1301 computer
This computer was made in 1962, not of integrated circuits but individual transistors etc. I bought it in 1978. I and ...
Contributed by Individual
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Apprenticeship Indentures
These are my great-great-great-great grandfathers Indentures, from when he was apprenticed to an Engraver. My ...
Contributed by Individual
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Shrapnel from V1 Flying Bomb
This volume of Dickens contains a piece of shrapnel from a V1 flying bomb, or doodle-bug,that fell on Landseer Close, ...
Contributed by Individual
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Circuit Breaker 275 kV - 15,000 MVA 1/64
This is a 1/64 scale model, made in about 1970, of an oil filled high voltage circuit breaker designed by my father, A ...
Contributed by Individual
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A Victorian Spark Generator
This Object was Given to my father by Cavendish Labs in about 1952. It was probably used by JJ Thompson in his ...
Contributed by Individual
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Concorde Special Flight Inflight Pack
This is an inflight pack from one of the first inaugural Concorde demonstration flights for business leaders. The pack ...
Contributed by Individual
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Telephone Exchange Ringing Tone Generatr
It is a Walter Jones & Co. 17Hz ringing tone generator, an example of the emerging ingenuity applied to the early ...
Contributed by Individual
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Sadler's Wells theatre programme, 1931
This theatre programme is from the first performance held at a new Sadler's Wells theatre in January 1931.
There have ...
Contributed by Museum
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A Clock made from bits of a spitfire
My paternal grandfather was a time served cabinet maker. During World War 2 he was employed at Hooper Bros. of Park ...
Contributed by Individual
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Travelling Post Office Mailbag Apparatus
The Travelling Post Office, short TPO was first introduced in 1838. The TPO is closely linked with Rowland Hill’s penny ...
Contributed by Individual
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Embroidered hessian needle case
Patricia Waterman brought in a needlecase that was made by her maternal grand-father, a quaker, who refused to go to war ...
Contributed by Individual
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spies for peace RSG-6 pamphlet
a group calling themselves "spies for peace" broke into a secret government bunker and copied documents relating to ...
Contributed by Individual
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old clay tile with face motif age?
Tile found in london on a building site no idea of its date or history think it may be georgian
Contributed by Individual
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Printing Press
ALBION PRINTING PRESS. The Printing Industry has been a significant employer in the Country since the late eighteenth ...
Contributed by Museum
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Letter from George Frideric Handel
The composer George Frideric Handel wrote this letter to his friend and librettist Charles Jennens on 19th July 1744. ...
Contributed by Museum
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SUTTON TOKEN
The token is one inch in size. It was used by a market gardener named Henry Sutton born Chadwell Heath, Essex in 1835 . ...
Contributed by Individual
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early wooden moulding plane
This is a very early moulding plane by John Davenport of London.
Up until the middle of the 17th century, most wooden ...
Contributed by Individual
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Sir Richard Burton dressed as an Arab
This portrait, by Borgo Casatti, depicts Burton on his way to the sacred city of Mecca, in the guise of "Mirza Abdullah ...
Contributed by Individual
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Viva Geevor T-shirt
THIS OBJECT IS PART OF THE PROJECT 'A HISTORY OF CORNWALL IN 100 OBJECTS'.
GEEVOR TIN MINE. When the price of tin ...
Contributed by Museum
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Box for Tom Smith's Crackers
Christmas crackers are an essential part of the British Christmas. They were invented by Englishman Tom Smith. Tom ...
Contributed by Museum
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Silver Swan
Musical automaton in the form of a lifesize silver swan which preens and bends its neck to retrieve a fish from water
Contributed by Museum
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copy of letter from W. Joyce 2 Nov. 1945
This was found in my late mother's papers. She was, for a time, Mr Head's secretary so it must have come into her ...
Contributed by Individual
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Lander medicine cabinet
Medicine chest used by Lander brothers whilst exploring the source of the R Niger, 1830
Contributed by Museum
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1660s banking ledger
This ledger was kept by the London goldsmith-banker Edward Backwell (c.1618-83). The origins of Britain's modern banking ...
Contributed by Museum
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A Dictionary of the English Language
Samuel Johnson's 'A Dictionary of the English Language' was published in 1755
Contributed by Museum
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Margaret Thatcher's blue suit
Royal blue wool crepe suit worn by Margaret Thatcher whilst in office as Prime Minister
Contributed by Museum
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Glass from the Crystal Palace.
This item is a small piece of glass from the original building, known as the Crystal Palace, that housed the Great ...
Contributed by Individual
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Book of sample wine bottle labels
Sample bottle labels used for labelling wines and spirits at the kosher distillery M. Chaikin & Co. Limited
Contributed by Museum
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old fashioned telephone
This is the Telephone:
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. The telephone makes me think about the ...
Contributed by Individual
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Court letter and Seal of Elizabeth 1
This letter is about a court case in which a man takes to court for stealing cattle and sheep. These were later allowed ...
Contributed by Individual
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Letter from Queen Victoria
This is one of a series of letters which were found in Portman Square in London and have been treasuered by the Farrier ...
Contributed by Individual
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Naval cap bands
My great grandfather was born in 1886 and he joined the Royal Navy as a boy sailor in around 1900 when he was about 14. ...
Contributed by Individual
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Binoculars
They belonged to my Great-Grandfather and my Nana has had them for about 30 years. They were used when my Great - ...
Contributed by Individual
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The 1903 train plate
This plate belongs to my grandad.
It was fixed onto a steam engine that was built in 1923 at Stratford works in ...
Contributed by Individual
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Barrister's Wig
This is my Grand-father's wig that he wore when he was a Barrister. It is a 'half wig' made of horse hair.
He ...
Contributed by Individual
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A letter with Henry VIII's seal
This sealed letter is about land ownership. It involves a battle between two land owners, one of whom was the Portman ...
Contributed by Individual
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The Welshpool Gold Cup
A Gothic-style communion cup, engraved in Latin to explain how Thomas Davies had it made of Guinea gold to thank God.
Contributed by Museum