This week on the Secret Library we are delighted to hear from Mick Ward, who gives us the fascinating and poignant story of his grandfather, Charles Ward: his military life in The Boer War, and First World War and the impact of those conflicts on him personally. This article is #20 in our People of…
Category: Leeds History
Wormald’s Yard, Commercial Court and Lower Briggate
On the Secret Library this week, we hear from Library Officer Karen Downham about another project on our Leodis archive of historical Leeds photos… I have recently been indexing for the Leodis website a set of photographs from the area on the eastern side of Briggate, to the south of Boar Lane, which had a…
Windrush Day 2020
On this day in 1948 the troopship Empire Windrush arrived at the port of Tilbury, England, after a journey that began at that same place before visiting Southampton (to collect troops) and then taking in stops at Trinidad, Jamaica, Mexico, Cuba and Bermuda. On board were at least 1,027 people (according to the passenger list),…
Family History Resources: Newspaper Microfilms and Online Newspaper Databases
As part of a series examining family history resources for beginners, Local and Family History’s Josh Flint takes an in-depth look at one of the most useful resources for your family history research: online newspapers databases. This article will discuss how Leeds Libraries members can use multiple newspaper databases online and then show in detail how to…
Black History at Leeds Central Library
This week on the Secret Library blog we have chosen to highlight past articles exploring the rich legacy of Black communities, locally, nationally and internationally – as seen in the collections at Leeds Central Library. We shall be publishing more articles along these lines over the coming months, because we firmly believe #blacklivesmatter. A permanent…
Record YOUR History: Covid Diaries
Leeds Libraries is partnering with CEG, Leeds City Council, Leeds Libraries, Leeds Museums & Galleries and Child Friendly Leeds on the Covid Diaries project – an attempt to record and capture the daily reality of life in Leeds during lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic more widely. Entries will form a permanent historical record and archive….
Crime and Punishment on Ancestry
As part of a series examining family history resources for beginners, librarian Helen Skilbeck takes an in-depth look at one of the most useful resources for continuing your family history research: records of crime and punishment. As well as the most popular collections of birth, marriage and death records, Ancestry hosts some fascinating databases covering…
Collingham Pageants
This week we hear from Library Officer Karen Downham, who explores a fascinating new addition to our Leodis archive of historic Leeds images… The Local & Family History Library often takes donations of photographs to go onto the Leodis online photographic archive (www.leodis.net), and as often happens when researching the background to images, the trail…
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