Drawing of the Day: By the Seaside, The Sands of Ramsgate, 1856

By the Seaside No. 1
The Sands of Ramsgate
After McConnell
The British Museum

This satirical print was engraved by Joseph Swain after nine original drawings by William McConnell. The drawings date to 1856 and the set is entitled “By the Seaside, No. 1. The Sands at Ramsgate.” The set was published in “The Illustrated Times” in August of 1856. It’s a charming view of the seaside on a summer day. 

 “Snapshots” of individuals from the crowds of people on holiday at the seaside, give us a look at the accepted archetypes of holiday tourists of the era. The attributes of the English seaside of the mid-Nineteenth Century, are readily apparent. We see the bathing machine and the ubiquitous seaside Punch and Judy Show which many will always associate with a carefree summer day.