Today we are rejoicing in Local and Family History because the 1921 census is available on Ancestry! Regular readers will know that you can use Ancestry for free at any Leeds Library as part of our digital offering. Here’s some reasons why you should be excited about the 1921 census too. It reflects changes in…
The eight young Leeds children and their amazing adventure in Switzerland
This week we are delighted to welcome guest author Alwyn Prior, who has an amazing story to tell… My name is Alwyn Prior and I was born in Bramley, Leeds on 28/09/1938 after interviews and medicals I was chosen along with three other boys and four girls all from Leeds to attend the Pestalozzi International…
The Chimney Corner: Secret Books from the Secret Library #9
The latest in an occasionally-regular series exploring books and other items selected from our vast collections. In this entry Librarian Antony Ramm looks at a slim 18th-century volume of antiquarian musings… Titled ‘A Survey of Yorkshire,’ it is debatable, really, whether this is even a book at all: although bound like a book, it is quite clearly a chapter, one…
Victoria Square and War Time Spirit, Part 3: 1943
In the third part of this series, Librarian and Digital Assistant, Alexandra Brummitt, takes a look at how Victoria Square was used during the Second World War. Read part 1 and part 2. Over the past century the space outside Leeds Town Hall has been used for everything from memorials to protests to Christmas markets….
Treasures of the Central Library
We launched an updated edition of our Treasures of the Library leaflet this month, packed full of new information about key items from our Special Collections. Take a look by clicking on the cover image below – or read on for an excerpted lookback at how our collections came into existence. Please contact us if…
Victoria Square and War Time Spirit, Part 2: 1942
In this second part Librarian and Digital Assistant, Alexandra Brummitt, takes a look at how Victoria Square was used during the Second World War. Read Part 1 here. 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…
Victoria Square and War Time Spirit, Part 1: 1939 – 1941
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…
Flaubert and his parrot are in Egypt
Welcome to 2025! Our first article on the Secret Library Leeds this year Librarian Antony Ramm’s brief look at the breadth and depth of books in our Central Library stacks, using Gustave Flaubert as a case study… For reasons that are not worth going into here, I have recently been reading a pile of London…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 