As King Charles III’s coronation approaches, we take a moment to reflect on the rich history of coronations in our collections. From the earliest days of official record keeping, to the illustrated newspapers of the 20th century, we have lots of interesting material documenting the ceremonies and celebrations surrounding these momentous occasions. Some of the…
What Poll Books can tell us about our ancestors in Leeds and the West Riding
This week, as part of Local and Community History Month, we welcome guest author Janice Heppenstall for a fascinating and in-depth look at using electoral results in family history research… Janice will be joining us at the Central Library on Thursday May 11 to deliver a talk based on her family history research. Further information…
For King, Country & Home
The much anticipated ‘For King, Country & Home’ Exhibition is now open in the Local Studies department, second floor, of the Leeds Central Library and runs until June 24th. The exhibition looks at the lives of Jamaican WWII veterans of Leeds and includes rare photographs, keepsakes and memories gathered over the years by the families…
Two 19th Century Scoops: Part II – Peterloo, August 1819
This week we hear from Library and Digital Assistant Ruairí Lewis on some fascinating examples of local, Leeds newspapers making their mark on the national stage. On top of our extensive local newspaper collection in the Central Library, Leeds Libraries also have access to the British Newspaper Archive’s 19th Century Newspapers database. This gives library…
Two 19th Century Scoops: Part I – The Spy Oliver
This week we hear from Library and Digital Assistant Ruairí Lewis on some fascinating examples of local, Leeds newspapers making their mark on the national stage. On top of our extensive local newspaper collection in the Central Library, Leeds Libraries also have access to the British Newspaper Archive’s 19th Century Newspapers database. This gives library…
Merchant of grunge: having fun with parliamentary papers online
This week, Librarian Antony Ramm gives one of the Library’s online resources a go… Update, Jan. 2026: Leeds Libraries subscription to Parliamentary and Official Documents Online ended on December 31 2025. This article will remain on the Secret Library Leeds as part of the site’s archive. Have you ever wondered if the word “grunge” has…
Leeds Arts Club and the campaign for women’s suffrage
This week we hear from M.A. student Hannah Cullen on the history of a little-known but highly-influential cultural movement in Leeds and, specifically, its connections with the women’s suffrage movement. Research such as this can be done using Library resources like local newspaper archives and relevant books or pamphlets. A previous article on the Secret…
The Arrest of Miss Winifred Virtue
As sometimes happens in Local and Family History, Library Assistant Becky Bavill fell down a rabbit hole the other day, lets join her on her adventure. While helping a customer find information about railway wagons our indexing system returned this result: I went and found the article and sure enough, there she was, in a…
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