This week we hear from Library and Digital Assistant Kirsty Lodge, on an intriguing discovery that wasn’t a discovery, but which turned out to be another discovery entirely – leading to some inspired cross-departmental working… When departments collide! Sometimes the most interesting discoveries, come about because of chance, coincidence, or serendipity. When the Music department…
Category: Family History
Women of Beckett Street Cemetery: Theodosia Grimshaw Wilkinson (1831-1901)
This week we hear from Jeanette B of the Friends of Beckett Street Cemetery group about the life and achievements of an inspiring Leeds woman… Whilst researching and reading on the Friends of Beckett Street Cemetery website I was very interested to find a gentleman buried in the Cemetery who was known as the ‘Blind…
What Poll Books can tell us about our ancestors in Leeds and the West Riding
This week, as part of Local and Community History Month, we welcome guest author Janice Heppenstall for a fascinating and in-depth look at using electoral results in family history research… Janice will be joining us at the Central Library on Thursday May 11 to deliver a talk based on her family history research. Further information…
The Arrest of Miss Winifred Virtue
As sometimes happens in Local and Family History, Library Assistant Becky Bavill fell down a rabbit hole the other day, lets join her on her adventure. While helping a customer find information about railway wagons our indexing system returned this result: I went and found the article and sure enough, there she was, in a…
Back-to-back houses in Harehills…the story continues
University of York PhD researcher Joanne Harrison has been working on an exciting project about the past, present and future of back-to-back houses and their communities in Harehills since 2014. A new exhibition, now at Leeds Central Library, provides the findings of her research. Joanne writes… Producing an exhibition at the end of my PhD…
Woodbine Lizzie
For International Women’s Day 2023 we’re going to delve into the Leodis photographic archive and look at a woman who followed her own path, regardless of social conventions, and while doing so left a mark on the collective memory of Leeds residents. The undated image shows a woman who was once a very familiar character…
The Wiener Holocaust Library
The Wiener Holocaust Library recently paid a visit to Leeds Central Library to run a workshop on tracing Jewish ancestors. We thought it would be useful to explain a bit about them and their resources for anyone with Jewish ancestry. The Wiener Holocaust Library are based in Russell Square in London. Open each weekday, the…
Irish Family History Resources
To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and Irish History Month we take a look at some of the key websites to use when researching your Irish genealogy. Start with this good overview from the Who Do You Think You Are website to get an introduction to which records are and are not available: https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/tutorials/irish-census-records/ The National…
