The Thoresby Society

The following lectures have been arranged for members but everyone is welcome to come. All meetings will be at the Leeds Library at 6pm, or by Zoom or both, depending on the circumstances.

Please note that this year the evening lectures will be on a Thursday.

The talks will mainly be both live and on Zoom so please use the link on each lecture to book your place. Booking this year is being done through ticketsource. Individual links will be shown next to each talk. If you are unable to attend at the Leeds Library use the link at the bottom of the ticket page to transfer to the online booking page or vice versa.

Please book in advance when planning to attend in person so that a chair can be put out for you.

Many of our recent lectures are now on YouTube and a list of those available can be found here.

A change to our printed programme. The lunchtime talks on the 20th and 27th November have been swapped round.

‘Leeds’ First Town Hall’: The Moot Hall, Briggate (1600-1825)

For over two hundred years the centre of Briggate above Kirkgate was dominated by the Moot Hall and butchers’ shambles. Its remarkable history brings 17th century and Georgian Leeds to life. A lecture by Dr Kevin Grady.

Watch again on youtube

James Hole, Yorkshire Mechanics' Institutes and National Policies for Technical Education in early Victorian England

When researching government documents, including those in the national archives, about national policies for technical education in early Victorian England, James Hole's name was mentioned on several occasions.

Coming from Leeds, I had heard of Hole and I decided to re-read some of his writings. It was clear that Hole took a lively interest in national policies for technical education and was determined that mechanics' institutes would play a full part in any provisions made. With regard to scientific education for workingmen, Hole took the initiative and persuaded government to set up a state scheme based on his ideas which operated for the rest of the nineteenth century.
This lecture, by Paul Sharp, examines how Hole and his grasp of local factors profoundly influenced national developments in this field.

This lecture will on Zoom only.

Watch again on youtube

“The Leeds Approach”: The city’s more adventurous tram/light rail schemes since the Seventies
by Clifford Stead

Watch again on youtube

“Treasures of the Thoresby Society Archives”: Some remarkable and some recent acquisitions.
by Patrick Gillett, Society Hon. Librarian

Watch again on youtube

“The Story of Mabgate”: From medieval street to today’s creative industries.
by Robert Dyson

Watch again on youtube

Alternative news and views - Leeds Other Paper remembered

Half a century has passed since the birth of Leeds Other Paper, an alternative local newspaper that uncovered many of the city’s less told stories. LOP lasted from 1974 to 1994, during which time it reported on social, political, economic and cultural life in Leeds from an alternative perspective. Run by a co-operative and existing on a shoestring, the paper gave a voice to many individuals and communities who felt ignored, patronised or even demonised by more mainstream media.

Our speaker, Tony Harcup, worked on the paper for many years. He is now an emeritus fellow of journalism studies at the University of Sheffield, and his books include the Oxford Dictionary of Journalism and What’s the Point of News? His talk will recount some of the highs and lows of Leeds Other Paper’s history and attempt to assess the paper’s impact and legacy.

Watch again on youtube

Merchants, Lawyers and Explorers: The Oates family of Leeds 1700 - 1917 (Part 2)

The phenomenal success of the Oates family as cloth merchants in the eighteenth century left the next two generations with a fortune to spend. Some opted for the legal profession as a means of further increasing their wealth, while others left Leeds to become members of the landed gentry. This lecture, by Steven Burt, highlights the important role of women in shaping the future of the family whose children developed a passion for gardening, botany, painting and exploration.

This lecture will on Zoom only.

Book on ticketsource

Victoria’s Last VC - A Leeds Loiner!

A talk about the bravery, honour and tragic later life of Charles Burley Ward, a Leeds lad from Hunslet - a Victoria Cross recipient whose story had by and large been lost in history. A lecture by Ronnie Walsh.

Fuzzy Logic: The History of Wool Science in Yorkshire

Wool has been grown and crafted into cloth for millennia and a major trade commodity in Yorkshire for about 1000 years but is one of the last natural fibres to receive scientific investigation. Find out how traditional practices, new scientific instruments of analysis, and a sheep shortage during World War I prompted a collaboration between scientists at the University of Leeds, wool growers, and the British Government to create the field of wool science in the early twentieth century and how we can use that knowledge in the battle against climate change today.

Monica Stenzel, Postgraduate Researcher, Center for History & Philosophy of Science, University of Leeds.

Image by kind permission of Winpenny Photography, www.leodis.net.

A Manchester Man Abroad: Richard Cobden and the West Riding of Yorkshire

Richard Cobden, the prominent Manchester radical and leader of the Anti-Corn Law League, occupied one of the two parliamentary seats for the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1847 until 1857, a substantial proportion of his active political career. This lecture explores Cobden’s relationship with West Riding politics, focusing in particular on the period from the foundation of the Anti-Corn Law League in 1839 to Cobden's defeat at Huddersfield during the General Election of 1857.  In the process it demonstrates the opportunities for further research on Cobden provided by the new open access database of Cobden's letters (www.cobdenletters.org).

Professor Simon Morgan is Head of History at Leeds Beckett University.  He is the Principal Investigator on the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded 'Letters of Richard Cobden Online: An exploration in Active Citizenship'.  Along with Professor Anthony Howe, he was also co-editor of the four-volume selected edition of the Letters of Richard Cobden published by Oxford University Press in 2006-2015.  His recent monograph, Celebrities, Heroes and Champions: Popular Politicians in the Age of Reform, 1810-1867, was runner up for the Social History Society book prize in 2023 and is now available in paperback.

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Followed by a lecture:

The Fire King: Superintendent Henry Baker, fighting fires at Leeds in the final third of the nineteenth century

Greater urbanisation and industrialisation in the nineteenth century led to an increased fire risk. Chris Hindle will look at the huge increase in fire numbers during the final third of the century, and trace the development of the town's professional fire service under the leadership of its charismatic superintendent, Henry Baker, who was appointed in 1871 and remained in office until 1899. Henry Baker's scrap books have been preserved in the Leeds Local and Family History Library and present a fascinating picture of the period.