Lecture Syllabus 2024-2025
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. |
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2024 | |
Thursday September 12th |
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. |
Thursday October 10th |
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. This lecture will on Zoom only.
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Wednesday November 6th @ 1pm |
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Wednesday November 13th @ 1pm |
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Wednesday November 20th @ 1pm |
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Thursday November 21st |
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.
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Wednesday November 27th @ 1pm |
![]() by Steven Burt Watch again on youtube |
Thursday December 12th |
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. |
2025 | |
Thursday January 16th |
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.
Watch again on youtube |
Thursday February 20th |
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. Book on ticketsource to attend in personBook on ticketsource to watch on Zoom |
Thursday March 20th | A Manchester Man Abroad: Richard Cobden and the West Riding of Yorkshire
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. Book on ticketsource to attend in personBook on ticketsource to watch on Zoom |
Thursday April 17th | THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Followed by a lecture:
Book on ticketsource to attend in person Book on ticketsource to watch on Zoom |