by Rhian Isaac, Leeds Central Library I was inspired to take a closer look at our Alf Mattison Collection after I heard Professor Malcolm Chase from the University of Leeds deliver a talk a few weeks ago to a busy room about this fascinating but somewhat shadowy figure. This was a man who despite his…
From Bread to Ghosts: Speed-dating Library Treasures
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library Our amazing series of Library Fest events finished over the weekend and we hope you managed to attend a few! One that we particularly enjoyed took place last Thursday night, when we invited some adventurous and open-minded members of the public to “speed date” some of…
Ralph Thoresby and the Ducatus Leodiensis: A Curated Display
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library There are still five days to enjoy the fantastic series of events we’re holding for our 2016 Library Fest. Among that panoply is a display celebrating the life and works of Ralph Thoresby – in particular, the 300th-anniversary of his Ducatus Leodiensis. That book – often referred…
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…
Tales From the Stacks: Solving a Mystery
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library EDIT: You can now find this British Association for the Advancement of Science printing block on our catalogue. Please contact the Local and Family History department to arrange a viewing. This blog was supposed to be about something else; instead, it’s about this: That question was…
Read More: Holocaust Memorial Day 2016
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library Leeds City Council has organised a programme of events over the next week to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. The theme is “Don’t Stand By” and will “commemorate the millions who were murdered in the Holocaust, by Nazi persecution and in subsequent genocides, in order to…
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)…
Christmas and New Year in the Territorial Hospitals, 1917
by Ross Horsley, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library Within three months of the outbreak of the First World War, Leeds had already seen its first influx of injured soldiers. These made their way to Beckett’s Park to what would become the city’s largest military care centre, the 2nd Northern General Hospital. At its…
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