Marking the end of Black History month this week we are sharing three playbills from our collections featuring Pablo Fanque, Britain’s first black circus owner. Born William Darby on 28th February 1796 in Norwich he joined the circus in 1810 as an apprentice to William Batty who owned a small travelling circus. He was known as…
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Tales from Circus 250: A Topography of the Circus in Leeds, Part III
Part III of a short series of stories from the glory days of the Circus in Leeds and the surrounding area. All the stories can be found in the History of Leeds Circus tab at the top of this page, continuing with today’s third topographical look at the various Circus sites in and around Leeds… KING CHARLES…
Tales from Circus 250: A Topography of the Circus in Leeds, Part II
Part II of a short series of stories from the glory days of the Circus in Leeds and the surrounding area. All the stories can be found in the History of Leeds Circus tab at the top of this page, continuing with today’s second topographical look at the various Circus sites in and around Leeds… Readers…
A History of the Leeds Circus
A short series of stories from the glory days of the Circus in Leeds. Click on a title to read the whole story… HISTORY Tales from Circus 250: A Topography of the Circus in Leeds, Part I Tales from Circus 250: A Topography of the Circus in Leeds, Part II Tales from Circus 250: A Topography…
Library Fest 2018 is here!
Our annual programme of Library events is almost upon us – and, as usual, there’s something for everyone. You can browse our very attractive festival brochure (designed by our talented Librarians!) – or read on to discover more about our exciting set of heritage-themed events… (Contact details and opening times for all events and locations…
Speed-dating our Library Treasures II: Small Books and Big Ideas
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library You may recall that, during our 2016 Library Fest programme, we trialled a new event: Speed-date our Library Treasures. Put simply, this was an opportunity for the public to engage with a wide range of some of our most interesting and unique stock items, all curated by…
William Darby and the Ghosts of the Past
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library The following article was edited for publication as part of last Friday’s collaboration with the Norfolk Heritage Centre. This is the unedited version and forms Part III of a loose trilogy on (some) meanings in the study of local history. Part I is here; Part…
William Darby in Norwich and Leeds: Life and Death
This week on the Secret Library we welcome Orla Kennelly from the Norfolk Heritage Centre. Orla kindly agreed to write a section for our blog focusing on the circus manager and performer, William Darby – aka Pablo Fanque. Darby was born in Norwich, but is buried in Leeds; Orla’s section looks at Darby’s early years, while our part concentrates…
