By Stuart Hennigan, Communities Librarian, and Ross Horsley, Local and Family History Library World War 1 is famous for its poetry. More than that of any other war in history, the poetry of World War 1 has determined our perception of the war itself. Most people have read, or at least heard of, such luminary war poets as…
Year: 2016
Thackeen Dhu!
By Ross Horsley, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library How’s that for a compelling image? Unlike most of the other playbills in the collection at Leeds Central Library, you won’t find this one online at Leodis, largely because, unlike the other playbills, it doesn’t really tell you very much about the show or venue….
Guest Post: The People’s Cafe
This week’s post comes courtesy of Russell Croft, who has kindly allowed us to republish a piece from his blog. The article – on the history of Leeds Bridge House – was researched using resources from our Local and Family History department and is an excellent example of how local history archives can work toward the…
On John Lucas, 18th-Century Leeds and Foot-ball
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library With the football European Championships now well underway, this seemed like a perfect time to draw attention to one of the lesser-known treasures of our collection: the handwritten manuscript of John Lucas’ Memoranda Book. Born in 1684, Lucas was primarily known as a schoolmaster in his…
Pottering About Thinking
By Tony Scaife, Heritage Volunteer, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library One of the advantages of a Heritage Volunteer/retirement job share is the temptation it gives you to wander about in the marvellous collection of the Local and Family History Library and digress from any assigned task. I am following the life and times of…
Re-Discovering Leeds
Soon we’ll be unveiling a raft of updates to the 13-year-old Discovering Leeds website, a learning resource devoted to the history and development of the city. The new additions have been written by student Sophie Hedley during a placement at the Local and Family History Library. This week, she tells us a little about her experiences…
19th-Century Political Cartoons: Explorations in the Collection of the Leeds Library Service
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library Last Friday I gave the latest in our popular series of Lunchtime talks; my presentation was an introductory look at the Local and Family History department’s collection of 19th-century political cartoons. These mainly cover parliamentary elections in Leeds in the latter half of the 1800s, specifically…
Where Was Leeds Maze?
by Ross Horsley, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library When Carver thought about the maze he could picture it very clearly. The thick green walls of leaves, the scuffed brown pathway that may once have been lawn, the iron trellis that was pulled across the entrance at six o’clock each evening. But apart from…
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