The Thoresby Society

Lecture Syllabus 2016-2017

Lecture Syllabus 2017-2018

Wednesday November 1st
Leeds Library at 12.00

Session 2018-2019

The disabled and unemployed in Leeds after the First World War.
An illustrated talk by Lucy Moore from The Leeds Discovery centre.

Session 2019-2020

Lady Members of the Leeds Library 1768-1914. by Janet Douglas
In the eighteenth century and for much of the next century, middle-class women rarely ventured into the public sphere without being chaperoned by a man or an older woman. A visit to the Leeds Library was one tiny step on the road to emancipation. Women could be shareholders in their own right. The talk is about the women who used the library, where they lived and what they read.

The Leeds Library and the Thoresby Society - Book Launch
Libraries in Leeds: a Historical Survey, 1152-c.1939   P.S.Morrish (Thoresby Society, 2019)

There will be a brief talk about the book, and a display of items from Ralph Thoresby’s own library. Refreshments provided.

Session 2020-2021

Eveleigh Bradford
'The most beautiful Public Gardens in England'

The Story of the Lost Headingley Botanical Gardens and Royal Park'

See More

Now on YouTube

Working Class Life in Hunslet, 1900-1939.

Lecture by Dr Kevin Grady to the Thoresby Society, 6.00 p.m., Monday 15 March 2021 Using a variety of contemporary reminiscences and sources, in this illustrated lecture Dr Grady will provide a fascinating glimpse into the realities of working-class life in Hunslet, Leeds’ most important industrial suburb, in the four decades before the Second World War.

Now available to watch on YouTube

Andrea Hetherington's lecture is now postponed until we are back to live lectures.

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Lord Mayor, Councillor Eileen Taylor, will be present.
This will be followed by a talk entitled The Place of the River Aire in the History of Leeds. Kevin Grady will trace the evolving physical character of the river and its environment and its economic importance to Leeds.

Session 2021-2022

George Corson, Leeds Architect

Now available on YouTube

Dr Hook and the Oxford Movement in Leeds by Rev. Dr Roy Yates.

William Gascoigne, Leeds Astronomer - or, How a spider placed Leeds at the forefront of the Scientific Revolution

David Sellers will explore the life of William Gascoigne (c.l612-1644), the first inventor of the telescopic sight and the telescope micrometer.

Joshua Tetley and the development of Tetley's Brewery by Prof. John Chartres.  

"Look at this - Did you see that'': Making Sense of the Leeds 'Blitz'
 
This talk from Dr. Henry Irving will explore the history of the city's worst air raid, which took place on the night of 14 March 1941.

Now available on YouTube

'The Risk We Take': LGBTQ Histories of Leeds.

Ross Horsley looks into the lives of local lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans gender people from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Watch on YouTube

Field Marshal Lord Nicholson (1845-1918): From LGS to CGS

William Gustavus Nicholson was born in Leeds and attended Leeds Grammar School. He served most of his army career in India before becoming Chief of the General Staff and the first Chief of the Imperial General Staff. John Davies' talk tracks his life and career.

Watch on YouTube

Session 2022-2023

Kirkstall Power Station

In this talk Shaun Page will deliver an overview of the life of the now defunct Kirkstall Power Station and its impact on the Aire Valley and Burley

Postponed due to bank holiday. Now cancelled for this year.

A City and its Welcome: Migrating to Leeds

by Adam Jaffer, curator of World Cultures at the Leeds Museum    

Arthur France: The Driving Force of the Leeds Caribbeans, 1957 to Today

by Professor Max Farrar

Watch on Youtube

The Leeds Jewish Community: Past and Present

by Professor Derek Fraser

Watch on Youtube

Northerners: A History, from the Ice Age to the Present Day

One of the foremost experts in British regional and national affairs, Brian Groom, talks about his new book, a biography of the north of England as told through the lives of its inhabitants. In a sweeping narrative that takes us from the earliest times to the present day, the book shows how the people of Leeds, Yorkshire and the north have shaped Britain and the world in unexpected ways. 

At least six Roman emperors ruled from York. The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria was Europe’s leading cultural and intellectual centre. Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes, deserves to be as famous as Boudica. Neanderthals and Vikings, Central European Jews, African-Caribbeans and South Asians, have all played their part in the making and remaking of the north. Northern writers, activists, artists and comedians are celebrated the world over, from Wordsworth, the Brontës and Gaskell to LS Lowry, Emmeline Pankhurst and Peter Kay. St Oswald and Bede shaped the spiritual and cultural landscapes of Britain and Europe, and the world was revolutionised by the inventions of Richard Arkwright and the Stephensons. The north has exported some of sport’s biggest names and defined the sound of generations, from the Beatles to Britpop. 

Northerners also explores how the past echoes down the centuries, the north-south divide and the divisions between northerners, such as the rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Finally, Brian Groom explores what northernness means today and the crucial role the north can play in Britain’s future. 

Brian Groom is a writer and journalist who started his career at the Goole Times - then part of the Yorkshire Post group - and moved on to work as a writer and section editor for the Financial Times and as editor of Scotland on Sunday.

Watch on Youtube

The Italian Presence in Leeds from the Eighteenth Century to 1945

by Janet Douglas

Watch on Youtube

Sandstone in my Blood
 
Teacher, actress and author Jane Bower spent her first nine years at Ashwood, the fascinating Headingley home of the Victorian Poet Laureate, Alfred Austin. The talk offers humorous and poignant portraits of both Austin and Ashwood, is illustrated throughout with photographs and lasts one hour.

Please note that this talk will take place on Zoom only

Watch on Youtube

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING


Followed by a lecture from Michael Meadowcroft exploring the many possible uses of Ephemera in the aid of Leeds research.

Please note that, while this talk will be available via Zoom, the nature of the lecture means that, if at all possible, Society members should endeavour to attend in person.

Watch the lecture on youtube

Session 2023-2024

Towards an Art Gallery for Leeds, 1858–1888

This lecture is hosted in partnership with Leeds Civic Trust
In this talk Rebecca Wade offers a short history of the long campaign to establish a permanent art gallery in Leeds. From the first attempt to instigate a civic collection alongside the opening of Leeds Town Hall, we follow a largely untold story over the course of thirty eventful years, culminating in the successful opening of Leeds Art Gallery in 1888. Across these three decades in the second half of the nineteenth century, we witness the effects of intense civic rivalry, the influence of voluntary societies and the emergence of a municipal culture that continues to inform our relationship with the visual arts today.

Dr Rebecca Wade is a Project Archivist in Special Collections and Galleries at the University of Leeds and Deputy Editor of Art History, the journal of the Association for Art History. Her second monograph, An Exhibition History of Victorian Leeds, was published by Liverpool University Press in 2023.

The Irish in Leeds before 1914.

by Janet Douglas

Watch again

Merchants, Lawyers and Explorers: The Oates family of Leeds 1700 - 1917

Steven Burt will draw on his latest research to highlight the important role this illustrious family played in the development of Chapel Allerton.

This talk was on Zoom only

Watch Again

‘The Friend of Poor Children’: Dr William Hall

Janet Douglas will talk about her research into the life and achievements of Dr William Hall – a pioneer of preventative medicine and the health of children.

Postponed

Back-to-back housing: Past, present and future

The first half of the talk sees Dr. Joanne Harrison explore the architectural development of back-to-back houses and their social history in Leeds, from their origin in 1787 to the changing urban layouts and building forms of the 19th and early 20th centuries. These were shaped by the role of speculative developers, building societies, sanitary reformers, the various government bills, acts and by-laws and the determined people of Leeds, resulting in in a house type that overcame all of the criticisms of back-to-backs by the time their construction was prohibited in 1909.  In the second half of the talk Dr. Harrison will focuse on the houses as they stand today in the Harehills area, and how communities are working to secure the future of their neighbourhood.

Cricket in Yorkshire: How did it all begin?

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, cricket in Yorkshire lagged well behind that played in London and the south-east, where it had been popular for many decades. Drawing on two of his books, covering the period from the 1750s to the 1890s, Jeremy Lonsdale will discuss how cricket emerged in Yorkshire and grew in popularity throughout the 19th century.

Against the background of significant changes in English society in the 18th century, the talk will highlight: the slow spread of the game in Yorkshire before 1820; the rapid development of commercial cricket in Sheffield in the 1820s; and the increased linking-up of cricketers from different parts of the county in the 1830s following improvements in transport. It also covers other aspects of the game’s growth, including changes in how it was played to make it more of a spectacle; the opening of several enclosed grounds; and the growing programme of hard-fought matches between major clubs in the 1840s. A lack of funds and leadership in the game, and insufficient high-quality players slowed developments, but by mid-century, cricket was an important part of Yorkshire life.

Cricket spread rapidly during the Victorian era. Growing expectations of what was required to be a high-performing local club, allied to the increasingly competitive spirit in which the game was played, meant clubs sought greater support from within their local communities to fund the game. Cricket became increasingly visible in everyday life – in the press, in schools and even in the courts - so that by 1900, all the foundations were in place for Yorkshire cricket to be the strongest in the country.

The speaker – Jeremy Lonsdale studied history at King’s College, London. He has written five books on different periods of the history of cricket in Yorkshire.

Watch again

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Lord Mayor, Councillor Al Garthwaite, will be present.

Followed by a lecture on Godfrey Bingley, Leeds’ Most Prolific Photographer, 1842 – 1927
Middle-class life, industry, politics, religion and photography in Victorian and Edwardian Headingley, Meanwood, Leeds and the Cotswolds. Dr Kevin Grady explores the remarkable activities and family associations of this former Thoresby Society member.