by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library On the 14th of July, 1791, a group of eminent Birmingham men – including philosophers, scientists, and newly-rich industrialists – met for dinner at the Hotel on Temple Row. This in itself would not normally be cause for comment; but what sets this meal aside from similar gatherings…
Category: Social History
The Chimney Corner: Secret Books From The Secret Library #1
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library In a new series, we’ll be taking an occasional look at individual items from our Collections. The title, if not the exact intention, of this series – The Chimney Corner – has been taken from a charming volume published by this Library Service in the 1920s and 30s: “a…
Guest Post: The People’s Cafe
This week’s post comes courtesy of Russell Croft, who has kindly allowed us to republish a piece from his blog. The article – on the history of Leeds Bridge House – was researched using resources from our Local and Family History department and is an excellent example of how local history archives can work toward the…
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…
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…
Secrets of The Palm: An Insight into Early Radio Broadcasting in Leeds
This week’s post is by Tony Scaife, a Heritage Volunteer based at the Local and Family History Library. He’s been indexing volumes of The Palm, the magazine of the old Leeds Central High School, which inspired him to delve a little deeper into the city’s early radio days… In 1901, the groundbreaking Central High School (CHS)…
Black History Month: A Brief History of the African-Caribbean Community in Leeds
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library Since the publication of this article on the 16th of October, 2015, new research has been undertaken, which takes the story into the 1980s. A BA dissertation by Tom Woolmore, a student at Queen’s University in Belfast, entitled “Keep On Moving: Black Responses to Racism and…
The Headrow: Coffee, Change and Loss in Leeds City Centre
Part I in a loose trilogy of posts exploring (some) meanings behind the study of local history. Part II is here and Part III is here by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library The proper study of history should always be far more than a record of ‘great’ events. History is as much…
