Our research and collection guides provide a curated introduction to the most interesting items held at Leeds Central Library. You’ll find links to many of these guides embedded in related blog articles, but this page is a convenient way to browse the full set.

COLLECTIONS
Treasures of the Leeds Central Library
The Alf Mattison Collection (Leeds Historian)
The Gott Bequest (English gardening 1500-1800)
The Sanderson Collection (British, European and world fashions 1770-1960s)
Tomes of Thrones (History and books behind Game of Thrones)
The Thomas Wilson Collection (18th-century Leeds Antiquarian. This guide includes holdings available at other Libraries and Archives)
Leeds Antiquarian Collection
The Leeds United Collection
Mary Gawthorpe Collection
The Reverend Bates Collection (Books about the Caribbean, held at the Reginald Centre in Chapeltown)

GENERAL HISTORY OF LEEDS
The History of Leeds
Bibliography of the Histories of Leeds
Maps of Leeds

ASPECTS OF LEEDS & YORKSHIRE HISTORY 
18th Century Leeds
19th Century Leeds politics
The Bronte Family
The English Civil War in Yorkshire
Frank Kidson (Folk music expert)
Health and Hospitals in Leeds
Jewish Leeds
Leeds’ Black History
LGBT+ Leeds
Public Libraries of Leeds
Sport in Leeds
The Tetley Family
Theatres in Leeds
Ralph Thoresby (Leeds Historian. See also the Central Library’s Antiquarian Collection)
Women of Leeds
First World War material at Leeds Central Library
Yorkshire Battles (7th – 20th-centuries)
Leeds Savage Club
Voices from the Past (20th-century working-class autobiographies)

AREAS OF LEEDS
Armley
Harehills
Hunslet and Holbeck
LS6 (Headingley, Hyde Park, Meanwood, Burley & Woodhouse)
Rothwell and District

HISTORY
The Battle of Waterloo (1815)
1914-1918: Contemporary Responses
The Beautiful Game: Books on Football History
The Age of Anger: Background Readings

ART
Feminist and Women Artists
The Sanderson Collection (British, European and world fashions 1770-1960s)
Gothic Literature, Art and Costume
Leeds Pottery History

SCIENCE & DISCOVERY
Arctic Exploration
The Gott Bequest (English gardening 1500-1800)
The Supernatural
Women Explorers
Zen
Psychoanalysis 
Games, Toys and Pastimes

FAMILY HISTORY
African-Caribbean Family History
Ancestry
Birth, Marriage and Death
Burial Records
Census Records
House Histories
Irish Family Histories
Local and Family History (introduction to the Central Library department)
Online Resources for Family History
Parish Registers
Useful Information for Family Historians (e.g. important dates)
Wills and Divorces
World War I Family History
Your Family Archive (tips for creating a permanent archive of your family history)

EXHIBITIONS (archived articles relating to past exhibitions)
Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights