United Kingdom— Tattoo scenes & cities

In the United Kingdom, the first documented professional tattooist, Sutherland Macdonald, worked from a London salon starting in 1894. Tattooing was still mostly associated with sailors and the lower classes, but by the 1870s it had become fashionable among some members of the upper classes, including royalty, and it long remained divisive along class lines.

A 1969 law, the Tattooing of Minors Act, makes it an offence to tattoo anyone under 18, except for medical reasons by a doctor or someone working under their direction. The Act applies to England, Wales and Scotland, but not to Northern Ireland. The fine is set at level 3 on the standard scale.