From today, a new exhibition can be seen in the Local and Family History department, on the 2nd floor of the Central Library – exploring the rich radical tradition of 19th-century Leeds, using books and other materials from the Central Library collections. The exhibition will run until the end of July. 

Broadly split into two sections – Leeds radicalism to and from 1832  – the exhibition showcases books and pamphlets by such writers and activists as James Watson, Richard Carlile, Richard Oastler, James and Alice Mann, F.R. Lees, John Francis Bray, Joshua Hobson and Joseph Barker. You can also see a genuine 19th-century policeman’s truncheon – used during the 1842 Plug Riot disturbances in Leeds, as well as two political cartoons published during the 1874 and 1880 Leeds parliamentary elections.

A related resource is published alongside this exhibition: a new research guide, covering the broader field of politics in 19th-century Leeds. Click the image below to browse the full guide, or see the list of all our research guides elsewhere on this blog.

Finally, readers may be interested to hear about an upcoming talk that ties to this same subject: Professor Malcolm Chase will be speaking at the Central Library on August 21, on the theme of ‘Peterloo and After: A Yorkshire Perspective’. See the poster below for more details, including how to book.