Studio photograph showing a young boy selling the 'Echo' newspaper on the day that the town of Mafeking, South Africa, was released, 17 May 1900.

Mafeking was occupied by British soldiers under the command of Colonel Robert Baden-Powell and was beseiged by Boer forces on the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in October 1899. The siege lasted for 216 days and the lifting of the siege, known as 'the relief of Mafeking' was the cause of public celebration throughout the British Empire.