This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

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Record of historical events

Victoria and Albert collected photographs that documented the political and military events that defined a period of global expansion

CHARLES THURSTON THOMPSON (1816-68)

Men's Barracks, Boulogne

c. 1857

Albumen print | 19.0 x 29.2 cm (image) | RCIN 2500808

Photograph of a view along a cobbled lane between two rows of thatched huts with soldiers of different ranks, including a drummer, working or standing in front of them. A man with spade and wheelbarrow is in the foreground.

  • Creator(s)

    Charles Thurston Thompson (1816-68) (photographer)

    Subject(s)

    Army-France-Infantry

  • 19.0 x 29.2 cm (image)

  • Men's Barracks, Boulogne. [Boulogne and Aldershot, c. late 1850s].

  • Acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

  • Subject(s)
    • Places
      • Europe
        • France
          • Boulogne-sur-Mer [Pas-de-Calais]
    Object type(s)
      • visual works
        • photographs
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