This week Librarian and Digital Assistant, Alexandra Brummitt, takes a look at how Victoria Square was used during the Second World War. Over the past century the space outside Leeds Town Hall has been used for everything from memorials to protests to Christmas markets. During the Second World War this space was bustling with activity…
Category: Leeds History
The Gledhow Hall Scrapbook: A Library Treasure
This week we welcome Library and Digital Assistant Sue Stepan for an in-depth look at one of the Central Library’s real treasures – the Gledhow Hall Scrapbook. Sue also reveals a new resource that will prove beneficial to researchers of soldiers and medical staff involved in World War I. Do you have an ancestor or…
A Brief Tour of Clarendon Road
This week Librarian Antony Ramm offers a very short tour of Clarendon Road in Little Woodhouse, based on a walk delivered to library staff on Monday November 25 2024. Some of this article and tour is based on information posted in a previous blog post about Little Woodhouse, and relies heavily on details given to…
John Searle Ragland Phillips (1850-1919) and the Growth of Journalism – Part 2
This week we welcome back guest author, retired librarian Lucy M. Evans, who enjoys delving into the obscure Victorian world of northern librarians and learned societies. She has previously written about the longevity guru Maurice Ernest, Andrea Crestadoro, a Chief Librarian in Manchester (copy available at LCL), and is currently finishing a biography of his…
Ghost Stories and Weird Experiences (Part 2)
Halloween is officially here so today we continue with some more gruesome tales from the spooky scrapbook compiled by Edwin Hick. As mentioned in Part 1, this scrapbook is officially called ‘Ghost Stories and Weird Experiences, Life after Death etc.’ and is full of newspaper cuttings from the local newspapers detailing weird and wonderful stories…
350 years of worship and rebellion: A timeline of the history of Mill Hill
This week we welcome Leeds Beckett University student Emma Hays, who reports on a recent local history project based on resources in our Local and Family History department…The launch of the accompanying resource is at 1.30pm on October 31 at the Mill Hill Chapel (next to City Square). Mill Hill Chapel was founded in 1674…
Ghost Stories and Weird Experiences (Part 1)
As we creep ever nearer to Halloween we thought it only right to regale you with a few spooky tales from a certain scrapbook in our collections. Known colloquially by staff as the ‘ghost scrapbook’ and more officially as ‘Ghost Stories and Weird Experiences, Life after Death etc.’, it forms Volume 37 of the Edwin…
John Searle Ragland Phillips (1850-1919) and the Growth of Journalism – Part 1
This week we welcome guest author, retired librarian Lucy M. Evans, who enjoys delving into the obscure Victorian world of northern librarians and learned societies. She has previously written about the longevity guru Maurice Ernest, Andrea Crestadoro, a Chief Librarian in Manchester (copy available at LCL), and is currently finishing a biography of his friend…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 