Thoresby on You Tube - Thoresby Society

YouTube

We now have a channel on YouTube where you can view videos that we have made about items in our archives and some of our lectures. When you go there remember to click on Videos at the top to be able to view them all. To make things easier we also have our videos listed below.

The first video made is of Steven Burt talking about our oldest copy of Cossins' Plan of Leeds from 1726.

Our plans for more were put on hold by Covid 19 but we then utilised Zoom to record more talks specifically for YouTube.We have also recorded the lectures and events that have been held online. Copyright issues and the speakers preference mean that not all are available to view but below you will see everything that we have online..

Apologies for the sound quality of the zoom videos but you will be able to hear it all.

Images of Old Leeds

Maps

Cossins' Plan of Leeds In 1726 John Cossins produced the most wonderful plan of Leeds with sixteen pictures of the most impressive buildings of the town appended to the edge of the map. Leeds is today thought of as a product of the Industrial Revolution yet in the Georgian period it was a vibrant cloth manufacturing town with over 7,000 people living within its bounds. Most of its inhabitants were deeply religious people and, on this film, Steven Burt, points out the key features of the town, including the location of the main places of worship, the focal point of Christian worship and community activity.

	The 1839 Baines and Newsome Map of Bramley Township Anthony Silson talks about Bramley Township as shown on the 1839 Baines and Newsome Map. Filmed by Trevor Plow

Lantern Slides

	St. Mary's church Lantern Slide Box 5 - 3 Steven Burt tells us about the history of the original St Mary's Church shown here just before it was demolished.
	House of the Ingham family Lantern Slide Box 5 -23 Steven Burt tells us about the history of this wonderful old house that was owned by the Ingham family.
	The Old Vicarage - the house of the Fenton family Lantern Slide Box 5 - 4 Steven Burt relates the history of the Old Vicarage in Hunslet which started life as the home of the Fenton family.
	The Old National School - Lantern Slide Box 5 - 9 and 10 In this video Steven Burt gives the history of the old National School in Hunslet.
	Blayds Court Lantern Slide Box 5 - 15 Steven Burt relates the history and surrounding circumstances of Blayds Court in Hunslet.
	Hunslet Hall Home Farm house Lantern Slide Box 5 - 21 Steven Burt describes the circumstances around the Home Farm belonging to Hunslet Hall.
	Red House Lantern Slide Box5 - 29 Steven Burt tells us about the history of Red House in Hunslet.
	Carr Hall, Hunslet Moorside Lantern Slide Box 5 - 32 Steven Burt describes the varied fortunes of Carr Hall in Hunslet Moorside.
	Hunslet Feast Lantern Slide Box 5 - 03 Steven Burt describes the painting of the Hunslet Feast. Lantern Slide Box 5 - 42

The sites of the above slides shown on F1844b Fowler's map of Leeds

Watercolours

	Eveleigh Bradford talks about Red Hall. Red Hall, built 1628, housed the captured King Charles I when he was brought through Leeds in 1647 as a prisoner. This ancient house survived into the 20th century and for 50 years was part of Schofield’s department store, until demolition in the 1960s to make way for their new flagship store. See also Snowden Schofield

Treasures from the Archives

	Representation of Leeds - the 1832 General Election Eveleigh Bradford talks about a scrapbook of the 1832 General Election when Leeds had its first opportunity to elect 2 Members of Parliament when previously they had none.

Lectures

	Lady Members of the Leeds Library 1768-1914. by Janet Douglas This lecture was given on Wednesday November 27th and filmed by Stephanie Alexander 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.
	A Strangers Guide to Leeds in 1830 This lecture was first shown at a joint Zoom meeting with the Leeds Civic Trust on the 15th July 2020. A visitor from London arrives in Leeds to gather information for a talk he is giving to his local Literary and Philosophical Society. During his stay he will meet some Leeds personalities and discuss the issues of the day. In this ‘Tardis-type tour through time’, using a profusion of contemporary illustrations Kevin Grady recreates Leeds and its buildings and streets in 1830.
	Dr. Kevin Grady 'The Early Years of the Leeds Library' A lunchtime lecture on Wednesday November 4th, 2020
	Eveleigh Bradford 'The Headingley Botanical Gardens' A lunchtime lecture on Wednesday November 11th, 2020
	Alderman Archie Scarr: Leeds radical ’Mayor of the masses’. Chris Hindle talks about this interesting and controversial figure 1827-1904. Described as one of the best-known men in the northern part of the West Riding, an advocator of temperance and thrift. An evening lecture on Monday November 16th, 2020
	Rev. Dr. Roy Yates 'The Back-to-Back Housing Development on the Site of the Victoria Gate Shopping Complex' A lunchtime lecture on Wednesday November 18th, 2020
	Steven Burt: 'Hunslet and the Cholera Epidemics of the C19th.' A lunchtime lecture on Wednesday November 25th, 2020 There is also a pre-recorded version of this lecture
	Book Launch for our 2020 Publication The launch took the form of short talks introducing the articles that make up this Miscellany volume. These included talks by Irfan Shah on “Louis Le Prince and Leeds”, Robert Demaine on “Charles Villiers Stanford and the Leeds Choir in Paris 1906”, Chris Hindle on “Hudson Sykes and Bousfield: the rise and fall of a Leeds manufacturing house” and Roy Yates on “The Tudor Reformation in Leeds”.
	Members Evening January 18th 2021 1. Leeds and its History in the Central Library Collections, presented by Antony Ramm. 2. Gabriel Davis and the establishment of the Jewish Community in Leeds. A talk by Michael Meadowcroft.
	Book Launch for "Leeds - A Biographical Dictionary" by David Thornton David gave a fascinating talk about some of the people in the book. Lunchtime on Monday 25th January, 2021
	Thomas Nunneley 1809-1870, Surgery, Audit and Politics. Dr. John Turney talks on what surgery could and could not be done in the C19th and how it reflected on the dangerous lives of the working people. An evening lecture on Monday 25th February, 2021
	Kevin Grady on Working Class Life in Hunslet, 1900-1939 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. An evening lecture given on 15th March 2021.
	George Corson, Leeds Architect A fascinating talk by Eveleigh Bradford about the architect who designed many well known buildings in Leeds. The first of the 2021 lunchtime lectures given on Wednesday 3rd November.
	Alice Cliff Scatcherd, Leeds Suffragist 2021 17th November lunchtime lecture by Janet Douglas
	"Look at this - Did you see that'': Making Sense of the Leeds 'Blitz' This talk from Dr. Henry Irving explores the history of the city's worst air raid, which took place on the night of 14 March 1941. A fascinating lecture recorded on the 20th December, 2021.
	Henry Rowland Marsden: his life and legacy, presented by Chris Hindle. The first Members Evening talk from January 17th, 2022
	The Leeds Preventorium 1925-1939: shielding children from tuberculosis, but ••• presented by David Cundall. The second Members Evening talk from January 17th, 2022
	Fawkes' Fairfaxiana, c.1815-1825: JMW Turner's Illustrations of the Past for the Future, presented by Lucy Bailey. The third Members Evening talk from January 17th, 2022
	The Leeds firm Burmantofts, 1880-1914, presented by Hans van Lemmen. The first Members Evening talk from January 31st 2022
	Family life in a ledger 1860-1877: The records of a regular visitor to Leeds -Frederick W. Sheppard, Schoolmaster & Parish Clerk of Bardsey, presented by Margaret Moseley. The second Members Evening talk from January 31st 2022
	'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. Our lecture on Monday February 21st February
	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. An evening lecture given on March 21st 2022
	Alan Slomson talks about Joseph Ernest Morris and the Little Guides to Yorkshire. The author of the Little Guides to Yorkshire was born in Surrey, educated in Oxford and lived the rest of his life in Hertfordshire and Devon. What was his connection with Yorkshire, and what do his books tell us about Yorkshire and the author? This lecture followed the AGM on April 25th, 2022
	Before Windrush: Black People in Leeds and Bradford, 1708 — 1948 People of African heritage have been making Leeds and Bradford their home for over 300 years. This talk by Danny Friar explores the lives of Black people living in Leeds and Bradford prior to the arrival of the Windrush in 1948. Our evening lecture on Monday October 17th, 2022
	Arthur France: The Driving Force of the Leeds Caribbeans, 1957 to Today by Professor Max Farrar A lunchtime lecture on Wednesday November 9th, 2022
	The Leeds Jewish Community: Past and Present by Professor Derek Fraser A lunchtime lecture on Wednesday November 16th, 2022
	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. Our evening lecture on Monday November 21st, 2022
	The Italian Presence in Leeds from the Eighteenth Century to 1945 by Janet Douglas A lunchtime lecture on Wednesday November 23rd, 2022
	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. Our evening lecture on Monday December 19th, 2022
	Members Evening - Monday January 16th, 2023 1. Robert Demaine - The Voyage of the Burmantofts: A Forgotten Chapter in the History of Leeds as an Inland Port Amid the transport chaos which followed the First World War the Leeds firm of Albrecht & Albrecht devised a novel solution to deliver their goods to Europe. Drawing on photographs from the Albrecht family archive the lecture tells the story of a remarkable venture which typified the spirit of risk-taking prevalent at the time.
	Members Evening - Monday January 16th, 2023 2. Neil Ashcroft - Leeds Leylands' Life A talk about the now vanished Leylands area of north Leeds in the late Nineteenth Century, focussing upon the harshness of life there at that time and the struggles of its Jewish immigrant population to escape its confines.
	AIDS: The Crisis Years in Leeds and West Yorkshire Joe Tanzer and Andi Walker are HIV prevention and support workers for BHA in Leeds and Wakefield. Their talk will focus on the HIV/AIDS crisis years (1981-1996) from the perspective of Leeds and West Yorkshire. It will also cover how the situation has changed from 1996 to the present day. How was this pandemic felt in Leeds? How did local communities respond to this crisis? What is the legacy of this crisis in Leeds? What is the situation like now for people living with HIV in Leeds? Image © ACT UP Leeds, with thanks to Mick Ward, Gill Crawshaw and West Yorkshire Queer Stories Our evening lecture on Monday February 20th, 2023
	Uncontrollable Women: Radicals, Reformers and Revolutionaries In this talk Nan Sloane examines the roles women played 200 years ago when Britain and Europe were plunged in to revolution, resistance and war. Leeds women played a part in many of these events, and Nan’s talk will not only cover those who made it into the pages of the book, but also some who did not. She will also talk about her hunt for the elusive Yorkshire woman Mary Smith, sometimes said to have been from Leeds, who submitted the first Parliamentary petition for votes for women in 1832. This was our evening lecture on Monday March 20th, 2023
	Michael Meadowcroft explores the many possible uses of Ephemera in the aid of Leeds research. The talk following the AGM on Monday 17th April 2023
	Berenblum and the Bari bombs Andy Wilson from Yorkshire Cancer Research delivers a talk exploring how tragic incidents in both World Wars and the work of a young researcher in Leeds, Isaac Berenblum, all contributed to the discovery of chemotherapy.
	The Irish in Leeds before 1914. by Janet Douglas The first of the 2023 lunchtime lectures on Wednesday 8th November
	From Laundries to Take Aways: The Chinese Presence in Leeds by Janet Douglas Lunchtime lecture on Wednesday 15th November, 2023
	Merchants, Lawyers and Explorers: The Oates family of Leeds 1700 - 1917 A fascinating talk by Steven Burt Evening lecture on Thursday 21st December, 2023
	Cricket in Yorkshire: How did it all begin? Drawing on two of his books, covering the period from the 1750s to the 1890s, Jeremy Lonsdale discusses how cricket emerged in Yorkshire and grew in popularity throughout the 19th century. Lecture on Thursday 21st March, 2024
	‘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. Lecture on Thursday 12th September, 2024
	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. Lecture on Thursday 10th October, 2024

Research

	Peter Howarth presents an outline of continuing research into key aspects of Leeds in the 1930s in relation to national politics: peace movements, British fascism and Britain and the Spanish Civil War.

The Thoresby Society

The Historical Society for Leeds and District