Most of the Preston Shaw images are now available in high resolution, courtesy of Blackburn with Darwen Council.
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Original or...
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Original
Image provided by A. E. Shaw for the Cotton Town digitisation project
www.cottontown.org
Alfred Shaw ran a photography business, with his father John, in Blackburn. Most of their photos were taken around 1900-1910. John had moved to Blackburn from East Anglia c.1860 and worked as a blacksmith. John developed a strong interest in photography. John and Alfred went all over the North West of England and beyond taking scenic views. Many of these were made into postcards. Most of the Shaw collection was donated to Blackburn & Darwen Council following Alfred's death in 1954.
The entire Shaw collection comprises approximately 1,500 glass negatives. However, their are probably many more in circulation. Just before WW1 the Shaw’s sent a lot of their images to Germany to be colour tinted and because of The War they were never returned. Postcards of images that are not in the collection turn up regularly in private collections.
A keen local historian worked hard to identify all the Shaw collection and transfer them to disc. When Cottontown.org was first set up in 2002 the trustees of the site took the opportunity to have them all scanned and put on the site, as they are a unique historical resource.
