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Topical Press Agency Collection

Early 20th Century images captured by one of the leading photo agency of the time

Choose a picture from our Topical Press Agency Collection for your Wall Art and Photo Gifts

Often known simply as Topical, the Agency was founded c.1903 by Mr J.B. Helsby & Mr Walter J. Edward and was one of the leading photo agencies in London in the early twentieth-century. This is an amazing collection of historical black & white art prints taken by Topical photographers who captured images of contemporary events and stock footage that was syndicated to newspapers and publishers around the world.

4,041 items

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: The bow of Sir Ernest Shackletons exploratory vessel SS Endurance

The bow of Sir Ernest Shackletons exploratory vessel SS Endurance
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - JULY 1914: The bow of Sir Ernest Shackletons exploratory vessel SS Endurance being prepared for her Antarctic voyage in Millwall Docks, London, England

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Wellington Bombers

Wellington Bombers
8th February 1940: A flight of Vickers Wellington long range bombers, used by the Royal Air Force to undertake raids into Germany and elsewhere. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Shire Horse

Shire Horse
23rd February 1926: A Shire Horse groomed for a show at the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington. (Photo by Kirby/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Everton FC Supporters

Everton FC Supporters and their young mascot, who is holding a Dixie Dean sign, arrive at Londons Euston Station, to see the 4th round FA Cup tie match with Arsenal FC at Highbury. Arsenal won 4-3

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Benito Mussolini Portrait 1925

Benito Mussolini Portrait 1925
12th November 1925: Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (1883 - 1945). (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Suffragette Parade through New York City, 3rd May 1913

Suffragette Parade through New York City, 3rd May 1913
3rd May 1913: Crowds line the sidewalks to watch a Womens Suffragette Movement march through New York City. (Photo by Paul Thompson/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Boots The Chemist

Boots The Chemist
October 1916: The exterior of Boots the Chemist shop in a British high street. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Female Surgeons

Female Surgeons
American female doctors in an operating theatre being watched by students. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Coal Truck Crash

Coal Truck Crash
December 1923: A lorry delivering coal, which has skidded off the road and crashed into the railings outside a house. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: President Roosevelt

President Roosevelt
29th December 1941: American president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, (1882-1945) sitting at the desk of his executive office in the White House. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Shrunken Heads

Shrunken Heads
19th August 1925: Three specimen of shrunken heads all with long hair, prepared by the Macas Indians. (Photo by Kirby/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: SS Endurance leaving Millwall Docks

SS Endurance leaving Millwall Docks
August 01, 1914: Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackletons ship SS Endurance after leaving Millwall Docks, bound for the Antarctic. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Aquaplaning

Aquaplaning
15th September 1925: One of the most difficult aquaplane stunts, water-surfing upside down, performed by Mr Brooks, at Lake Tahoe, California, where the sport is very popular

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Italian Dictator

Italian Dictator
November 1923: Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (1883 - 1945), wearing a national malitia uniform. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Cunard Ocean Liner RMS Aquitania

Cunard Ocean Liner RMS Aquitania
2nd August 1934: The RMS Aquitania photographed at Southampton. (Photo by Miller/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) Designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: British Battleship HMS Rodney

British Battleship HMS Rodney
The newly-launched British battleship HMS Rodney leaving the Cammell Laird shipyard at Birkenhead, Merseyside for Portsmouth, 13th August 1927. (Photo by H. F)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Cheeky Bathers

Cheeky Bathers
10th September 1926: A group of bathing girls at Chiswick open air baths throw their fully-clothed friend into the shallow end. (Photo by G. Adams/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Picnic At Henley

Picnic At Henley
Spectators having a picnic lunch in a punt at Henley Royal Regatta, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, 3rd July 1929. (Photo by MacGregor/Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Captured Aircraft

Captured Aircraft
9th November 1918: Captured German aircraft at the Lord Mayors show, London. (Photo by A. R. Coster/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Gardening Nuns

Gardening Nuns
January 1909: Sisters of Anglet, nuns from the order of St. Bernard in the garden of the nunnery. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Dublin Horse Show

Dublin Horse Show
29th August 1912: The crowd in the Grandstand. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Hawkstone Hounds

Hawkstone Hounds
circa 1905: The Hawkstone Otter Hounds search for their quarry near a tree trunk in the river. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Hammersmith Broadway

Hammersmith Broadway
Circa 1910: Hammersmith broadway with the underground station on the right and elaborate railings at the entrance to public conveniences in the centre. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Instruments

Instruments
1923: Musical instruments belonging to the Savoy Orpheans Band, including saxophones, trumpets and a trombone. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Captured Plane

Captured Plane
9th November 1918: On display at the Lord Mayors Show - a German Pfalz plane, shot down near Arras on 17th October 1918. (Photo by A. R. Coster/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Goodbye Kiss

Goodbye Kiss
1929: A Welsh soldier kissing his loved ones goodbye, before setting off from Waterloo Station, London, for service in Egypt. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Evening Dresses

Evening Dresses
22nd January 1929: Three smart evening dresses from the Mannequin Parade, at the British Artificial Silk Exhibition at Olympia, London. (Photo by H. F. Davis/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Mounted Policeman

Mounted Policeman
March 1928: A constable of the Royal Canadian mounted police. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Auto Red Bug

Auto Red Bug
1st March 1929: A man and a woman riding in an Auto Red Bug, Americas latest electric 2-seater runabout, in a London street. Driven by a 16 volt battery, it is capable of 12 mph. (Photo by J)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Arsenal And Villa

Arsenal And Villa
24th February 1926: A section of the crowd at the football match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Highbury. (Photo by W. G. Phillips/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Lambton Quay

Lambton Quay
circa 1930: Cars park along the side of the road whilst trams rumble through the Lambton Quay area of Wellington, New Zealand, where hotels and guest houses line the streets. (Photo by S. C)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: HMS Indefatigable

HMS Indefatigable
circa 1912: The warship, HMS Indefatigable, at sea. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: British Topical Press Agency (1903 - 1957)

British Topical Press Agency (1903 - 1957)
Fine Art Storehouse Vintage Photo Gallery: Press Photography: British Topical Press Agency (1903 - 1957)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Airship R33

Airship R33
March 1919: The British airship R33 in its hangar as it prepares for its first ever flight at an aerodrome in Barlow, Yorkshire. (Photo by R. Humphrey/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Shrewsbury Rail Accident

Shrewsbury Rail Accident
The scene of the Shrewsbury rail accident of 15th October 1907. Eighteen people were killed in the crash when a train from Manchester derailed on the approach to Shrewsbury station

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: RMS Aquitania

RMS Aquitania
The Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania on the River Clyde in Scotland, shortly after leaving the shipyard for her maiden voyage, 10th May 1914

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Working For Suffrage

Working For Suffrage
circa 1913: A crowd of women representing the various professions on a Womens Suffrage Movement parade through New York City. (Photo by Paul Thompson/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Aquitania

Aquitania
The Cunard liner Aquitania leaves Southampton on a transatlantic voyage to New York. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Hair Waving Machine

Hair Waving Machine
March 1925: Don Triplett reading a newspaper while his hair is permanently waved by a permanent wave machine. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Royal Enclosure

Royal Enclosure
24th April 1925: Workmen fixing the royal coat of arms in position over the royal enclosureat Wembley Stadium, on the eve of the FA Cup Final. (Photo by Davis/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Market Stall

Market Stall
24th May 1928: Market traders at Messrs Reuben Levys stall at Spitalfields Market, east London. (Photo by J. Gaiger/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Brighton Bathers

Brighton Bathers
Brighton swimming club members enjoying a smoke after plunging into the sea on a mild but sunny day. (Photo by E Bacon/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Best Friends

Best Friends
3rd March 1926: George Spinney with his bulldog at the Middlesex Hospital Open Championship Dog Show at Crystal Palace. (Photo by Kirby/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Ascot Racecourse

Ascot Racecourse
13th June 1927: A workman stands on a roof to paint the finishing post at Royal Ascot race course. (Photo by Brooke/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Trinidad Bath Day

Trinidad Bath Day
circa 1930: A Trinidadian women carries a bowl of fruit for her bathing children. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Ascot Fashions

Ascot Fashions
June 1925: Fashionable guests at Ascot. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Hop Pickers

Hop Pickers
Hop pickers using stilts on a farm at Wateringbury in Kent, August 1928. (Photo by Crouch/Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Background imageTopical Press Agency Collection: Horse Race Fair

Horse Race Fair
April 1925: A dwarf posing on a funfair ride with a group of people on Newmarket 2, 000 Guinea Race Day. (Photo by W. G. Phillips/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)



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