This week on the Secret Library we hear from John Boocock on the history of radical publishing in Leeds and the West Riding, from the 19th-century to the Leeds Other Paper in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. This will be the subject of John’s upcoming talk at the Central Library (February 19) – further details…
Category: Leeds History
Three Leeds Architects: W.H. Thorp, William Hill and Percy Robinson
Next Tuesday, the Central Library (in partnership with the West Yorkshire Victorian Society) welcomes prominent historian Janet Douglas, who will be delivering a talk on some lesser-known local architects of the Victorian and Edwardian period: W.H. Thorp, William Hill and Percy Robinson. Here we present some brief biographical details of those architects, along with some…
Male Homosexuality in Britain, 1954-70: The Leeds Link
As part of LGBT History Month in February, Leeds-born writer John-Pierre Joyce will give a talk and read from his book Odd Men Out: Male Homosexuality in Britain from Wolfenden to Gay Liberation, 1954-1970. Here, he takes a look at Leeds and its people at a time of immense social and political change for gay…
Leeds Zoological and Botanical Gardens: A Brief History
This week, Kyle Thomason, a heritage volunteer at the Central Library, writes about the long lost Zoological Gardens in Headingley. The Leeds Zoological and Botanical Gardens were unknown to me until a few months ago. However, when I was younger I regularly saw what I thought was a mini Castle, over grown with no information…
The First Leeds Panto?
To mark the forthcoming Christmas week, Librarian Antony Ramm offers a short investigation into the first pantomime performed in Leeds… In 1986 a reader of the Yorkshire Evening Post asked a simple question: What “records” were consulted for this answer is not made clear, but a previous article on the history of pantomime in Leeds…
A Brief History of the Leeds Improvement Acts: 1755 – 1842
This week, Librarian Antony Ramm brings you a brief history of the Leeds Improvement Acts. This content was used as part of a talk given in conjunction with colleagues from the Leeds Museums and Galleries service, on November 7 2019. The Improvement Acts were a series of private Acts of Parliament passed in the 18th…
The Rotation Office
The Rotation Office (late 1700s – early 1800s) New Market Street This was a brick building in a narrow yard, named for the magistrates who attended here, in ‘rotation’, to hear cases that came within the jurisdiction of the borough – but which did not justify the need for a jury. They were able to…
The 1926 General Strike
The General Strike (5-6 May 1926) The Corn Exchange On the 5th and 6th of May disturbances occurred in the town centre due to the continued operation of some trams and buses on a reduced service. On the first day, a tram was forced to stop as its windows were smashed by lumps of coal….
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 