THE NATION’S FAMILY ALBUM
Have your photos judged by our Millie Pilkington, amongst others, in the UK wide competition The Nation’s Family Album.
The global leader in family history, has published online over 125,000 digitized portraits from the National Portrait Gallery’s extensive Collection. To celebrate the availability of some of the country’s most important portraits online, Ancestry is working with the National Portrait Gallery to launch The Nation’s Family Album – a search for undiscovered portraits of everyday British people collated into a representative online album.
Ancestry invites people of different ages, backgrounds and cultures in the UK to delve through suitcases in attics, scour photos on walls or flick through albums on bookshelves and submit their favourite family images.
Entrants will be in with the chance of having their own family photographs and stories included in an online exhibition, as well as a display at the iconic National Portrait Gallery in London when it reopens in 2023. Here, the photos will be amongst national icons such as Sir David Attenborough and Jane Austen.
The Nation’s Family Album is set to be an important landmark in history, as it will highlight, celebrate and capture the rich and diverse family stories across Britain, making it easier for future generations to find out more about their family history.
Entries open today and submissions must be uploaded digitally here by Thursday 30 June 2022. Any person in the UK may submit a maximum of three images that represents what family means to them.
Later this year, a panel of experts - including the National Portrait Gallery’s Chief Curator, Dr Alison Smith, and family history expert Simon Pearce from Ancestry - will shortlist a selection of portraits that best encapsulate the themes of The Nation’s Family Album.
The UK, Portraits and Photographs, 1547- 2018 collection launching on Ancestry today captures British history and culture in a variety of mediums, including paintings, photographs, sculptures, drawings, and prints. As well as many iconic portraits of famous figures, the collection includes images of individuals from all walks of life, including:
David William Richardson - Teacher; second son of Elizabeth Marion and Neil Richardson
Lydia Dorothea Benoly - First woman mayor of Bethnal Green; social worker and teacher
Mairi Chisholm - Motorcycle ambulance driver, nurse and photographer
“The saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ is particularly relevant when researching your family history. Portraits can reveal how our family members once looked, how they lived and even certain personality traits,’’ says Simon Pearce, Family History expert at Ancestry. “That’s why we’re so excited to be working with the National Portrait Gallery to provide wider access to some of its captivating and historically rich collection. Hosting these portraits online at Ancestry means more people can explore nearly 500 years of British life – and some might even discover a picture of their own family member!”
Dr Alison Smith, Chief Curator at National Portrait Gallery adds: “The National Portrait Gallery is home to the largest collection of portraits in the world, and while many are familiar with our most
famous faces, we are proud to also hold numerous portraits of men, women and children from all walks of life. By making 125,000 portraits from the 1500s to the present day available on Ancestry, people will be able to explore the histories of those depicted in our Collection. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Ancestry to share our extensive Collection of world-class portraits with those researching their family history online, and encourage submissions to The Nation’s Family Album to celebrate this moment.”
For more information about how to submit your family photographs, entry Terms & Conditions and to explore the collection, visit www.ancestry.co.uk/FamilyAlbum. To buy copies of the portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, please visit www.npg.org.uk/shop/npgprints.