Dr. Alaric Hall will deliver a talk at Leeds Central Library on the 12th of October, using the Special Collections at the University of Leeds, to explore the scholarships and friendships made by J.R.R. Tolkien during his time (1920-1925) in Leeds, and how these affected his creative writing. Ahead of that talk, Local History Librarian,…
Author: Leeds Libraries
On Some Pre-1841 Sources of Leeds People
As part of a series examining family history resources for beginners, librarian Antony Ramm, takes a brief look at some useful sources for genealogy in Leeds prior to the publication of the 1841 census… It is surely no exaggeration to say that the vast majority of people doing family history are well-aware of the Census and…
Walking tours of the back-to-back houses, Harehills
University of York PhD researcher Joanne Harrison has continued her collaboration with Leeds Central Library’s Local and Family History department and the Compton Centre Community Hub, hosting a couple of events as part of the national Heritage Open Days weekend. She reports here on the tours and exhibition, how to get involved in the latest…
Town Hall Terror
Local History Librarian, Helen Skilbeck, recounts a tale from our recent walking tours of Victoria Gardens – the area outside Leeds Central Library that has seen its fair share of history and still bears the shrapnel scars from an explosion 76 years ago… On the night of 15 March 1941, Leeds was under attack from…
Captain Cook and Doctor Priestley: A Library Tale for Our Times
Heritage volunteer Tony Scaife imagines a secret meeting of great minds in 18th century Leeds… Having borrowed a copy of Peter Whitley’s Lord North: The Prime Minister Who Lost America from Leeds Libraries, I became intrigued at the similarities between the 1770s and today. As his many Whig critics claimed, Lord North’s bungling government negligently lost…
Exploring Leeds: Heritage Open Days 2017
As always, we have a wide-range of fascinating events lined-up for this season’s programme of Heritage Open Days. Further details of each can be found below, along with booking information. Tours HERITAGE TOURS OF LEEDS CENTRAL LIBRARY Thursday 7 September, 2.00pm, Friday 8 September, 2.00pm, Saturday 9 September, 11.00am. Join us for an entertaining trip behind the…
Up, Up & Away, in My Beautiful Balloon
Local History librarian, Antony Ramm, writes about a fascinating little diary held in the collections at the Central Library – and looks ahead to the latest in our Lunchtime Talk series… A recent search through our collections brought to light a most wonderful discovery: a small, handwritten diary for 1848, written by R.B. Harrison of…
The Adam & Eve Garden Today
Local history librarian, Ross Horsley, revisits the site of the former Adam and Eve Garden on Woodhouse Moor. A couple of weeks ago at the Secret Library, we looked back to the early decades of the twentieth century, when a miniature Garden of Eden – home to its own Adam, Eve and Tree of Knowledge…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 