100-year-old photos found showing life of East Yorkshire aristocrat

A set of 100-year-old photos have been found at the Bradford Media Museum depicting the life of an East Yorkshire aristocrat who was once employed as a tutor to Russian Royalty.

The photos are now on display at his former family home in Pocklington, near York.

Between 1908 and 1917, Herbert Stewart was English Tutor to the six sons of Tsar Nicholas's sister Grand Duchess Xenia and her husband Grand Duke Alexander.

He was a keen photographer andcreated an archive of 22 photograph albums, now housed at the National Media Museum at Bradford, showing the daily lives of the royal children he tutored in Russia.

On his trips home, he regularly visited his brother Percy and his wife Katharine at Burnby Hall, and they occasionally feature in his photographs. One album also features a visit by Percy to see Herbert at the Grand Duke's Crimean estate at Ai-Todor in 1914.

In March 1917, he kept a brief diary outlining the very early days of the Russian Revolution from his unique perspective. The diary is on display in the Stewart Museum, along with copies of some of his photographs.

"Mr Stewart and the Romanovs", a new museum booklet featuring a selection of Herbert Stewart's photographs is on now sale at our Visitor Centre.

The Stewart Museum is dedicated to the travels of Major Percy Stewart and the 8 World Tours he undertook between 1906 and 1926.

Often accompanied by his wife the Major visited every continent, explored remote regions and collected a remarkable range of cultural and religious exhibits. Many of these have been recognised by UNESCO as of national and international importance.