This week the Secret Library blog is delighted to welcome back local historian and researcher Danny Friar whose four articles during Black History Month told the story of Black people in Leeds and Bradford in the three centuries before the arrival of the ‘Windrush Generation’. This week, Danny has very kindly allowed us to publish the full text of that research. This is a major and original piece of local history research, which can also be accessed in hard-copy form in the Central Library in the near future. Click the image below to read the PDF, or view our dedicated Black History in Leeds page to see all Danny’s work along with other relevant articles.

The image on this page shows, to the right, Chapel Hill Sunday School, now Yeadon Methodist Church. Betsy Sawyer, a former Antiguan slave, worked for the Murray family who lived in Yeadon. Betsy passed away in Yeadon. There is now a plaque at Yeadon Methodist Church commemorating her death in 1839. (c) Leeds Libraries, www.leodis.net