by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library Last Friday I gave the latest in our popular series of Lunchtime talks; my presentation was an introductory look at the Local and Family History department’s collection of 19th-century political cartoons. These mainly cover parliamentary elections in Leeds in the latter half of the 1800s, specifically…
Category: Leeds History
Where Was Leeds Maze?
by Ross Horsley, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library When Carver thought about the maze he could picture it very clearly. The thick green walls of leaves, the scuffed brown pathway that may once have been lawn, the iron trellis that was pulled across the entrance at six o’clock each evening. But apart from…
Making a Drama Out of a Catalogue Card
by Ross Horsley, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library Last weekend, we welcomed a group of Leeds University students to the Local and Family History Library to take part in a mystery project for the Out There Challenge programme. None of them knew each other, and none even knew where they’d be meeting until…
William Darby in Norwich and Leeds: Life and Death
This week on the Secret Library we welcome Orla Kennelly from the Norfolk Heritage Centre. Orla kindly agreed to write a section for our blog focusing on the circus manager and performer, William Darby – aka Pablo Fanque. Darby was born in Norwich, but is buried in Leeds; Orla’s section looks at Darby’s early years, while our part concentrates…
A.R. Turner’s Ironmongery Catalogue: The Communication of History
Part II in a loose trilogy of posts exploring (some) meanings behind the study of local history. Part I is here and Part III is here This article is also #17 in our People of Leeds series by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library “How much history can be communicated by pressure on a…
Alf Mattison: A Hidden Figure
by Rhian Isaac, Leeds Central Library I was inspired to take a closer look at our Alf Mattison Collection after I heard Professor Malcolm Chase from the University of Leeds deliver a talk a few weeks ago to a busy room about this fascinating but somewhat shadowy figure. This was a man who despite his…
Ralph Thoresby and the Ducatus Leodiensis: A Curated Display
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library There are still five days to enjoy the fantastic series of events we’re holding for our 2016 Library Fest. Among that panoply is a display celebrating the life and works of Ralph Thoresby – in particular, the 300th-anniversary of his Ducatus Leodiensis. That book – often referred…
Secrets of The Palm 2: The Future Foretold
Leeds Libraries Heritage Volunteer Tony Scaife follows up his previous post with another delve into the pages of The Palm, the old Central High School magazine of the 1920s. Prompted by the city of Leeds’ Tercentenary in July 1926, two articles written by schoolboys for The Palm seem almost prophetic, dealing as they do with…
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