This week we hear from independent researcher Danny Friar, who offers a brilliant and sensitively-researched excavation of the Georgian era, revealing fragments of a hidden, but universal, history… Ten years ago a discussion of the Georgian period may have brought up names such as Lord Horatio Nelson, Captain James Cook, William Wilberforce and Jane Austen….
Category: Leeds History
The Chimney Corner: Secret Books From The Secret Library #2
The second in an irregular (very irregular) series of books and other items selected from our vast collections. In this entry Librarian Antony Ramm takes a look at a rather nice presentation book with some eye-catching illustrations… The book – if we can even call it a book – was produced to commemorate a special…
A Brief History of Leeds #9: The Early 20th-century, part 2
Part nine of a series exploring the history of Leeds, using books and other stock resources held in the Leeds Libraries collections. For all the entries in this series, see our dedicated page. In our last entry, we finished with the words of Colonel T.W. Harding at the opening of the 1908 ‘Old Leeds’ exhibition…
A Brief History of Leeds #8: The Early 20th-century, part 1
Part eight of a series exploring the history of Leeds, using books and other stock resources held in the Leeds Libraries collections. For all the entries in this series, see our dedicated page. Part eight of this series took a brief look at the emergence of the ready-made clothing industry in Leeds during the latter…
Discovering Leeds
We thought it was about time to shout a bit louder about the sister site to Secret Library Leeds – Discovering Leeds. Originally created as part of the Leodis project, the site was funded by the New Opportunities Fund and launched back in 2003. Since then it has had various updates and now sits as…
A Brief History of Leeds #7: The Later 19th-century
The seventh part of a series exploring the history of Leeds, using books and other stock resources held in the Leeds Libraries collections. For all the entries in this series, see our dedicated page. Our last part in this series concluded with the arrival of Irish migrants to Leeds in the 1840s and 1850s. many…
A Brief History of Leeds #6: The Early to mid-19th century
Part six of a series exploring the history of Leeds, using books and other stock resources held in the Leeds Libraries collections. For all the entries in this series, see our dedicated page. Our previous step in this history looked at the place of the industrial revolution in Leeds, noting in particular the growth in…
Youngmans Restaurant
Youngmans Restaurant features as stop five in the Edible Leeds trail. Librarian Helen Skilbeck takes a closer look at the history of the restaurant and the family behind the name. Gerald Priestland famously called Leeds “the intellectual capital of fish and chips” – and he had a point, with the town’s love of the dish…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 