Social History – Page 27 – The Secret Library

Peterloo and After: 19th-century Radicalism in Leeds

Earlier in 2019 Librarians in the Local and Family History department of the Central Library curated a small display of books and other stock showcasing the rich tradition of radical politics in 19th-century Leeds. Reproduced below are the exhibition’s descriptive text cards, along with some sample images of the relevant stock. Please contact the Local…

Hungarian Refugees in Leeds

This week we welcome history student Haaris Mahmood, a previous guest contributor, with a brief history of Hungarian refugees in Leeds during the events of 1956. This article makes extensive use of the Central Library local newspaper archive, which can be found in our Local and Family History department. Specific articles used by Haaris in…

‘Report into the Investigation of the Series of Murders and Assaults on Women in the North of England between 1975 and 1980’

This week we hear from independent researcher Francesca Roe, who describes how an unassuming document in the Central Library collections casts light on the Yorkshire Ripper investigation and its failings. Between 1975 and 1980, Peter Sutcliffe – better known as the Yorkshire Ripper – murdered 13 women in the North of England. The terror…

Hiding in plain sight: my search for the old cinemas of Leeds

This week our guest writer is Dr Laura Ager, Academic researcher and Creative Engagement Officer at the Hyde Park Picture House, who is writing about the history of old cinemas in Leeds. Before the era of the corporate multiplex cinema began, Leeds used to have many different and unique small cinemas. I have read that at…

Fake News 13th June 1914

Fake News is a new project, by Tim Knight, which uses Local and Family History’s newspaper archive to publish a fictional front page every month. Curated from cuttings of The Yorkshire Post and The Yorkshire Evening Post—Leeds’ oldest continuous newspaper—Fake News will explore the goings-on, mishaps and miscellany of Yorkshire through the ages. Today’s edition, late…

Oswald Mosley and Leeds – The Battle of Holbeck Moor 27th September 1936

This week Josh Flint uses the collection in the Local and Family History Department to examine Oswald Mosley and Fascism in Leeds during 1936. The Battle of Holbeck Moor, 27th September 1936 saw the British Union of Fascists under the leadership of Oswald Mosley march from Calverley Street, in the centre of Leeds, to Holbeck…

Nineteenth Century Politics – The Leeds Parliamentary Election of 1868

This week we hear from Josh Flint of the Local and Family History Department, who will look at the Parliamentary Election held on the 17th November 1868. The 1868 election in Leeds was fought between two Liberal candidates Edward Baines Jr and Robert Meek Carter; an Independent Liberal Sir Andrew Fairbairn and two Conservatives Admiral…