Early 20th century (1901–1918)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912) was a trailblazing British composer and conductor from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Medical case sheets from the 28th General Hospital, Salonika, reveal an especially deadly peril on the front lines: malaria. How was it fought?

The first Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was prompted by the sinking of RMS Titanic. Signed in 1914, it established international shipping standards.

This debated document officially ended the First World War and set out the terms and conditions for peace, and determined the course of the 20th century.

Copyright photographs of composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor provide us with a unique insight into his status in early 20th-century British society.

More than a thousand people who supported women’s right to vote were arrested for their activism. This document records them – and includes some famous names.

Maud Allan (1873–1956) was a celebrated West End dancer in the early 20th century until she became entangled in one of the most sensational trials of the 1920s.

Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928) was a tireless political activist, who led the WSPU – the militant faction of the movement for women’s suffrage.

Alice Hawkins (1863–1946) was a working class suffragette and trade unionist, who boldly campaigned for the rights of women.