From Williamson Kinematograph Company Studios

A man, objecting to being filmed, comes closer and closer to the camera lens until his mouth is all we see. Then he opens wide and swallows camera...

A short melodrama based on Hans Christian Andersen's harrowing tale. A poor little girl tries to sell matchsticks in the freezing December cold. She...

The titles tell us this film is based on an incident in the Boxer Rebellion. A man tries to defend a woman and a large house against Chinese...

Firefighters ring for help, and here comes the ladder cart; they hitch a horse to it. A second horse-drawn truck joins the first, and they head down...

The adventures of an inattentive man who can't look away from his book.

A boy helps a convict to escape after meeting him at his mother's graveyard. The convict gets rich in Australia and when he returns is arrested again...

A lad from a butcher shop is carrying a tray laden with a roast or a leg of lamb. A hobo grabs it and runs. The boy gives chase, joined by dogs, as...

Directed by one of the pioneers of the cinematic industry, James Williamson, The History of a Butterfly - A Romance of Insect Life is an intriguing...

A workman flees from a lunatic who wishes to return a putty knife.

A conjurer vanishes animals then vanishes himself.

As a man removes his clothes to bathe, more reappear on him.

A momentous act of self sacrifice is caught on camera - Emily Davison is trampled by the King's horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby.

Innovative early 'trick' film showing the popular 'flying the foam' stunt performed on - or rather off - Brighton's West Pier.

A two-wheeled convoy of Victorian gentlewomen in a charming early film enigma.

A village fire brigade puts out a fire.

Boys blow peas at the cobbler, who throws a boot and hits a woman.

A young man's telephone call to his sweetheart is intercepted by her father, who beats him with his umbrella.

A clown cuts off a customer's head and replaces it.

A comedy of faux Frenchmen who engage in a duel over some slight disagreement and who manage to shoot everyone but each other. Filmed by James...

On the Yorkshire coast, a Victorian crew launch their lifeboat the old-fashioned way, with a horse-drawn slipway