William B. Muggeridge Collection of Photographs

William Burrell Muggeridge created a collection of photographs of mills from all over Britain and of rural subjects such as churches, which form an important and interesting illustration of rural life from the early to the mid twentieth century.

William Muggeridge was born at Elstree, Hertfordshire on 22nd September, 1884, the eldest of six children. He became interested in photography in 1901 when he bought the 'Wizard' double-extension glass-plate camera, along with all the cumbersome appurtenances of the era, which was to serve him for a lifetime. An illustrated article on windmills in Focus photographic magazine inspired him to spend June 1904 undertaking bicycle trips to photograph windmills. These excursions left him with an enthusiasm with windmills that stayed with him for the rest of his life.

During the 1920s, William penned a series of illustrated articles in the Sussex press to try to reinvigorate public interest in mills. In 1926, his photographs were made available to the Sussex artist P.B. Adnams, in his task to make pastel drawings of all the extant windmills in Sussex.

William continued to pursue his interests in his retirement in Devonshire, from 1944 until his death in 1978.

This section is divided into two parts:

• UKC/MILL/MUG/WBMUG/MILL: Images of Windmills
• UKC/MILL/MUG/WBMUG/RURAL: Images of Rural Subjects

Please note that we do not normally allow users to view the original glass plate negatives.

Images are available on the Special Collections website and prints can be ordered from the Special Collections team.

Please note that the copyright of all images in this collection is owned by the University of Kent.