Hello!

Welcome to the November edition of the Local and Family History newsletter. This month we are commemorating those Leeds people who have served in or been affected by armed conflicts around the world. Read on to find out more...

Talks and other events

Banner commemorating Alford Gardner (1926 - 2024) at the Reginald Centre, Chapeltown

Remembrance Day events

Alford Gardner Commemoration

November 11, during opening hours, Reginald Centre

Visit our Reginald Centre library to pay your respects to the life and achievements of Alford Gardner, a Jamaican-born emigrant to Leeds, co-founder of the first Caribbean cricket club in Britain, and Royal Air Force engineer and mechanic during World War II. A  Book of Remembrance is available at the library for you to leave your thoughts, memories, and gratitude for Alford. 

Free, drop in during opening hours.

Leeds during the Second World War

November 11, 5pm, Crossgates Library (in Crossgates Shopping Centre)

Join Bob and Jacki Lawrence from East Leeds History and Archaeology Society, for this illustrated talk as part of Remembrance Day.

The Second World War affected the general populations of countries worldwide more than any other war in history. Bob & Jacki look at the effects this terrible war had on the city of Leeds, and how its citizens, its businesses, and the general administration of the city responded to the situation. The presentation will spark memories for some and show others the reality of living through such a conflict.

Free, booking required.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

November 12, 1.30pm, Yeadon Community Hub and Library

Would you like to find out about war graves and the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission? The CWGC aims to commemorate those who have died in service as a result of conflict so that they are remembered forever.

Come along to a free talk and hear about the work of the CWGC.

Free, booking required.

Other local history talks and tours

Chris Nickson - Them Without Pain

November 12, 6.30pm, Farsley Library

Join Leeds author Chris Nickson for a discussion of his new novel Them Without Pain. The latest of Chris’ historical, Leeds-based crime novels, Them Without Pain is inspired by the story of Arthur Mangey, a goldsmith who made the Leeds Mace in 1696 and was hanged for treason two years later. The evidence was flimsy, his accuser of dubious reputation… Delve into the world of this lesser-known Leeds tale as Chris talks about the inspiration for his new novel, his writing process and of using Leeds as his creative backdrop in turning history into fiction.

Free, booking required.

Heritage Tours of Leeds Central Library

Various dates and times

Join us for an entertaining trip behind the scenes of our magnificent Grade II* listed building. Find out about the architecture, history and famous visitors, as well as visiting some secret corners! Tours last approximately 1 hour and leave from the ground floor atrium, outside the Lending department.

Tickets cost £5 and booking is required.

Family History events

Family History for Beginners Workshop

Various dates and times

Join us for this live and interactive version of our popular Family History workshop, for a friendly introduction to key concepts and resources for complete beginners.

Free, booking required.

Family History Consultation

Various dates and times

If you are having difficulty with your family history research then join our team of family history librarians at the Central Library for a free consultation: from first steps using Ancestry to more advanced queries, we're on hand to help.

Free, booking required.

Leeds Beckett University Cultural Conversations

Ageing, Apocalypse and Adaptation

November 21, 1pm, Central Library

Why is ageing so often viewed in apocalyptic terms for both individual, society and culture? We can see this in metaphors for ageing like the ‘silver tsunami’ and ‘demographic ticking time bomb’. Why do we associate older people with the past and children with the future? In this talk, Susan Watkins explores how we might challenge these narratives and replace them with ideas about ageing as adaptation. Making use of ideas about adaptation from cultural studies and humanities, the talk will focus on science fiction and fantasy fiction as rich sources for creative alternatives to apocalyptic visions of ageing futures.

Free, booking required.

In the Reading Room

The Chapel at Leeds General Cemetery, where two Leeds veterans of the American Civil War are buried.

Researchers continue to search for information about soldiers and other people who served in armed conflicts so that their achievements and sacrifices can be properly commemorated. Two recent enquiries in our Local and Family History department have demonstrated the value of library resources for such searches. 

Earlier this year, an email from Andrew Hopkinson of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) sought information about Leeds soldiers who served in the Union army during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Further correspondence and research led to our department curating a fascinating cabinet display devoted to the lives of Leeds and Yorkshire Civil War veterans, and we were delighted to be informed that this exhibition was subsequently featured in the autumn edition of The Banner, the Sons of Union Veterans Magazine.

Our staff also aided researchers from the Stichting CWGC Venray War Cemetery foundation, an organisation dedicated to keeping the memory of the 693 Commonwealth men buried in Venray alive - including some Leeds soldiers who served during World War II. The Foundation are particularly interested in photos and information of the soldiers and airmen resting in the cemetery; using our microfilm archive of local newspapers we were able to find images of Lance Corporal Herbert Alan Young, Private John Keddie, and Sapper Walter Marshall. 

You can read more about the American Civil War veterans on our blog. Contact our team if you're interested in more information about the soldiers buried at the Venray Cemetery (located in south-east Netherlands). 

Leodis

Image shows the For King, Country & Home exhibition which took place in the Local and Family History department on the 2nd floor of the Central Library between 27th April and June 24th 2023. For King, Country & Home explored the lives and times of Jamaican WW2 veterans of Leeds who volunteered as teenagers and young men to answer Britain’s call to defend ‘the Mother Country’.

Resource of the month

1916. Edith Cliff was awarded an OBE after the war for her devoted service. She married Sir Thomas Willans Nussey in 1935 when aged 63 and died in 1962 at the age of 90. (c) Leeds Libraries

The photograph above shows Edith Cliff, Commandant of Gledhow Hall Military Hospital, sitting at her desk. Born in 1871, Edith began training as a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse in 1911. This organisation had been created jointly by the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John in 1909 to care for wounded and ill soldiers. Most VADs were completely voluntary so had to be ladies of independent means, as Edith Cliff was. She was the cousin of Lord Airedale, Albert Ernest Kitson, who offered the family estate, Gledhow Hall, to be used as a military hospital during the First World War. Miss Cliff was appointed commandant and kept a scrapbook of photographs, letters and articles relating to life at Gledhow Hall.

Edith's scrapbook is now held at our Central Library and is one of the most treasured items in our Special Collections. Staff have been busy recently indexing names of soldiers and nurses from the scrapbook to make it more usable for researchers. Please get in touch if you would like to know more about this wonderful new resource.

Our Secret Library Leeds blog has more articles about soldiers and other people who served in conflicts over the last hundred years - including recent research on the diary of a World War I soldier from Leeds, and posts commemorating the lives of women who served during the World Wars, including at the Barnbow Munitions Factory. You can also explore our research guides on resources for the study of the First and Second World Wars as they impacted Leeds and Leeds people. Galleries on our Leodis archive offer curated looks at military subjects, including the Barnbow Munitions Factory and Gledhow Hall Military Hospital itself.

Secret Library Leeds blog

We've continued to mark and celebrate Black History Month on the blog through October, with the most recent article being a short biography of pioneering footballer Gerry Francis. Other articles in October included guest posts on the history of Mill Hill Chapel, the obscure Victorian world of northern librarians and learned societies, and our annual Halloween post - this year, a few spooky tales from a scrapbook in our collections. 

You can see all our previous articles and sign up for notifications of future entries on the Secret Library Leeds website. 

We are looking forward to...

Alternative news and views: Leeds Other Paper remembered

Thursday 21st November 
6.00 - 7.00pm
The Leeds Library (Commercial Street)

A talk about the Leeds Other Paper, an alternative local newspaper that uncovered many of the city’s less told stories from 1974 to 1994.

Free, booking required.

Conference: The Radical North, 1779-1914

Friday November 29
09:30 - 7.00pm
University of Leeds

Northern History journal, with the support of the School of History, University of Leeds and the Social History Society, is organising a symposium to celebrate the life and work of Professor Malcolm Chase, author of many important works on British popular radicalism and labour history.

Free, booking required.

The symposium is timed to coincide with the Leeds Civic Trust’s unveiling of a blue plaque commemorating the Chartist newspaper Northern Star on Saturday 30 November. 

^{@LeodisbyLeedsLibraries}

^{@LeedsLibraries} 

_{@LeedsLibraries}

_{Subscriber Preferences}