Explore the collection
The British Empire & Commonwealth Collection at Bristol Archives
The thousands of photographs and films collected by the former British Empire & Commonwealth Museum are now held by Bristol Archives.
There are two archivists and several volunteers working on the collection. More of the 500,000 photographs and 2,000 films will be catalogued, digitised and added to the online catalogue over the next few years, so the material accessible will be growing all the time.
If you would like to see more, you can search the collection online.
You can make an appointment to see the collections by contacting Bristol Archives.
In the exhibition at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, we asked visitors to vote for their favourite photographs from a selection of albums in the archive. Below you can scroll through those with the most votes.
“The British Empire is something that happened and its impact shouldn’t be ignored.”

Thoughts from the exhibition

An excellent and valuable exhibition

One wonders whether time will truly change this.

The photos are very provocative

The distinct difference between two types of image commentary are interesting

This is a very interesting exhibition and should hopefully have a permanent exhibition

Racism and white supremacism at the heart of the British Empire.

We continue to turn a blind eye to our history

I do, as a practicing curator, admire the collection and curation of the work.

The other face of slavery

People should treat others better
Your memories and thoughts
Share your family stories and memories of life in countries in the British Empire or the Commonwealth. What changed with Independence? What’s your view on the legacy of Empire?
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