Early British Cinema 1896 - 1918

Researching early film at the BFI by Bryony Dixon, Silent Film Curator

Early film is a fascinating source for family research. Think of how revealing a photograph can be and how much more revealing that would be in motion. Even if we are not lucky enough to find our own relatives on film, these moving images from over a hundred years ago can give us a picture of what life was like for our grandparents, great grandparents (and even great-great grandparents). But how to find the films?

The BFI has been actively collecting these early films and film publications for over 70 years and has a wealth of resources to help you in your researches.

Getting started at the BFI National Library

The first port of call, if you have a film title to go on, is the BFI's Film and TV database. Here you will generally find a reference to the trade journals of the day and any subsequent articles. If you can't find it there then try Denis Gifford's The British Film Catalogue 1895-1994 which is primarily a catalogue of every film produced and released in Britain.

If you have a name but no titles you can try the BFI Film and TV database which will give you the film credits which go with a member of the cast, crew or production team of a particular film.

There are also many other resources in the BFI Library that will give you information about people involved in the early film business - early film journals, catalogues, biographies, business papers and more.

Book resources

If you want to know more about the world of early film then there is a very readable and authoritative history by Rachel Low entitled A History of the British Film: 1895-1906, 1906-1914, 1914-1918 and 1918 -1929.

Early cinema was often a family affair, with many family concerns coming to play a important role in the new industry. The BFI was the first library in the world to acquire a copy of Bertie: The life and times of G.B. Samuelson . This is an exhaustive history of the founder of one Britain's most influential film dynasties and can be studied, by prior request, in the Reading Room.

Film journals

The main trade journals of this period were The Bioscope and The Kinematograph & Lantern Weekly . These are fantastic sources on the day-to-day workings of the early film business, with a plethora of details that bring the era to life. A complete list of the BFI Library's early journal holdings is available online.

Special Collections

The BFI's Special Collections holds a varied selection of early cinema ephemera, dating back to the end of the nineteenth century. Materials include theatrical screening programmes, letters, promotional pamphlets and pressbooks.

Film footage

Local and amateur films may be held by regional archives but there are also significant numbers held by the National Archive here at the BFI. Although these odd fragments of film are often forgotten about, when it comes to family history or illustrating contemporary life and customs they are invaluable as they were made with no deference to the commercial world of the cinema.

There is a wealth of information about the beginnings of British cinema available through Screenonline, including clips of the films themselves. Screenonline can be accessed via the BFI website and in the Library Reading Room.

More information to download

Bibliography for Early British Cinema (PDF, 42kb)

Researching Family History - Early British Cinema (PDF, 23kb)