Images in collection of 250,000 antique photos released online for first time

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Never-seen-before historic photographs on everything from royal family to towns from a bygone era released online
Images from the Francis Frith Collection include 1890 snap of Tower Bridge being built and Queen Victoria's Jubilee
Also includes a 1850 black-and-white photograph of Shakespeare's house and a monument to poet Sir Arthur Scott

Published: 20:15 EST, 13 August 2015 | Updated: 00:17 EST, 14 August 2015

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From Tower Bridge under construction to Queen Victoria celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, a huge collection of never-seen-before historic images have been made public for the first time.

Taken from the Francis Frith Collection, the album includes as many as 250,000 antique photographs on everything from the royal family to villages and towns across the UK from the 19th and 20th centuries.

The images, taken from 1857 to 2005, have been uploaded to family history website Ancestry, and are searchable by location, year and subject enabling millions of people to see how their local area has changed over the years.

Taken from the Francis Frith Collection, the never-seen-before antique album features black-and-white photographs on everything from the royal family to towns and villages across the UK from the 19th and 20th centuries. Pictured: Tower Bridge being built in London in 1890

This black-and-white image showing Queen Victoria parade past well-wishers during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations is part of the collection of never-seen-before antique photographs which have been published online - on family history site Ancestry - for the first time

St Paul's Cathedral in 1867 is also among the images to feature in the collection, which is available to view for free until the end of August

Virtual 17th Century St. Paul's Cathedral courtyard created

The Royal Liver Building in Liverpool in 1955 (left) and Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament in 1965 (right) are also part of the album

Buckingham Palace and The Mall captured in 1955 is among the images in the Francis Frith Collection which are now available to the view

Royal Childhood: Clips of Queen Elizabeth II as a child

Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner in central London is pictured in 1915, before the road layout was substantially modernised in the area

The collection includes this 1850 shot of the the half-timbered house in Stratford-upon-Avon, where English poet and playright William Shakespeare is believed to have been born in April 1564. It is thought he spent his childhood years in the 16th century restored home

The collection includes an 1890 black-and-white photograph of London's Tower Bridge being built, as well as an 1897 picture of Queen Victoria parading past well-wishers during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Another photograph, from 1850, shows the half-timbered 16th Century-restored house in Stratford-upon-Avon, where poet and playwright William Shakespeare is believed to have been born.

Famous UK landmarks also nestled within the antique collection include Buckingham Palace, The Mall and the Houses of Parliament from a bygone era, as well as an 1897 snap of the monument to playwright and poet Sir Arthur Scott which stands tall in Edinburgh.

As well as these iconic landmarks, everyday scenes are also captured within the album with more than 7,000 images alone from almost every city, town and village in Britain.

The photos are primarily topographical and include thousands of individual streets, churches, castles, landscapes, businesses, bridges, municipal buildings and locations that have been important in individuals' lives.

Shackled criminals are caught dragging a cart through the gates of the notorious Dartmoor Prison in Devon in one 1890 photograph, while a family day out at Southworld Beach in Suffolk, with Edwardian ladies in full-length gowns and men in bowler hats is captured in another image taken in 1906.

Cardiff Castle in 1893 is also featured in the collection taken by Francis Frith - who made a fortune as a businessman before focusing his attention on photography. In 1860 he founded the company that created this enormous archive and travelled the world selling his images

Half a dozen male prisoners enter Dartmoor Prison in Devon in 1890 in this black-and-white image which is among those now published

A large family enjoy a day at the beach in Suffolk in the 18th Century in this image which is just one of 250,000 antique photos released

A policeman directs traffic in Durham in the north east of England in a by-gone era in this image from the never-seen-before antique collection which gives a fascinating insight into how towns and villages across the UK looked back in the 18th and 19th centuries

The Big Wheel in Blackpool in 1896 (left) and a lighthouse in Merseyside in 1872 (right) are also featured in the album of historic images

The Green Bridge of Wales pictured in 1893. The natural arch - described as 'probably the most spectacular arch in the UK' is formed from Carboniferous Limestone within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, and is a a popular visitor attraction which stands at about 80ft tall

A couple enjoy a day out on the water in an old wooden rowing boat at Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, in 1909

HMS Duke of Wellington is pictured off the coast of Portsmouth in Hampshire in 1890. The steam-powered vessel, launched in 1852, was the flagship of Sir Charles Napier and served him throughout the Baltic campaign of 1854 before being taken out of service in 1904

A rather morbid 1890 snap shows mummified human remains in the crypt of St Michan's Church, Dublin, while another shot - taken in 1955 - shows an elephant standing alongside his keeper at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire.

Ancestry, the world's largest online family history resource, has published the photos that were originally held by The Francis Frith Collection.

Born in Derbyshire in 1822, Frith - a former grocer - made a fortune in two businesses before focusing his attention on photography.

An early pioneer of the landscape aesthetic, in 1860 he founded Francis Frith & Co that created this enormous archive and Frith and his team of photographers journeyed across the UK and abroad taking photos for sale.

The company published more than 300,000 photographs which were sold to tourists as souvenirs, and later as postcards.

An ancient photograph of Scott Monument in Edinburgh, which was built from 1840 and officially opened in 1844, is also featured

An elephant and his keeper are depicted in this historic image from Whipsnade Zoo, formerly known as Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, in Bedfordshire. Ancestry, the world's largest online family history resource, has now published the photos online for the first time ever

A man loads hops at Paddock Wood in Kent in 1950 (left) while a worker feeds the sea lions at Chessington Zoo in Surrey in 1965 (right)

Three young children are pictured playing with hoops in the road at Bexhill-on-Sea, situated on the south east coast of England, in 1904

A tennis match unfolds in Blackburn, Lancashire, in 1923. The collection of images have been released to the public for the first time ever

A train is pictured crossing a bridge in Wales in 1896, in one of the 250,000 historic black-and-white photographs released to the public

Frith is recognised as one of the great pioneers of photography, having undertaken three expeditions up the River Nile to record the pyramids and antiquities of the Middle East between 1857 and 1859.

He is best known today for the amazing archive his company created and the collection is famous as an outstanding record of British towns and villages over a period of 110 years. He was also a founding member of the Liverpool Photographic Society in 1853.

Miriam Silverman, content manager at Ancestry, said: 'From royal celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee, to the construction of the most iconic bridge in the UK and even a mummy, this collection provides photographic insight into 150 years' worth of history, bringing a bygone era back to life.

'As the most comprehensive online historic photo collection of its kind, these images will also allow people the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane and see just how much - or little - their local area has changed.'

To search the collection for free until the end of August, visit www.ancestry.co.uk.