English: Document: Photograph of Charles Harold Moore, champion one legged swimmer. Catalogue ref: COPY 1/8/514.

Description:

For Disability History Month, our document of the month is this photograph of Victorian swimmer Charles Harold Moore.

Moore began using the title of champion after beating another one-legged champion swimmer, William Woodbridge, in a race at Lambeth Baths on 12 November 1857. He competed in races throughout the 1860s and 70s and was also known as an excellent ornamental swimmer.

The National Archives holds four photographs of Charles Moore in our Copyright collection. They were registered for copyright by John Frederick Timms in 1865, at the height of Moore’s fame. Individuals registering images for copyright tended to do so for commercial reasons, so it is possible that these photographs were reproduced for sale outside baths.

This photograph shows Moore standing with his hands on his hips against a blank wall, wearing only swimming trunks. His trunks hang low on his left side, which is the side without a leg. A scrawled description next to the photograph reads: “Photograph of Charles Moore, champion one legged swimmer, standing hands on hips, ¾ face”.

With this document, students could consider:

- What does this photograph tell you about Charles Moore? - Why do you think people would have been interested in purchasing this photograph? - What does this source tell you about the lives of disabled people in the Victorian era? - How do you think the treatment of disabled athletes today compares to the Victorian era? (Look at, for example, the Paralympics.)

You can learn more about Moore’s life in this National Archives blog post: blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/charles-harold-moore-the-vic...