What's happening in Beeston, Belle Isle, Cottingley, Holbeck, Hunslet, Middleton and Stourton
I thought that this would be an appropriate follow on article to my September Mann’s article because both companies made similar products and started around the same time as James Hutchinson Mann and George Hutchinson Mann, James’s brother, was in partnership with Joseph Clayton of Clayton & Son Limited. George
The Mann Family of this article was started by William Mann and Elizabeth Mann (nee Stanniforth) and this was Williams’s second marriage. His first marriage to Elizabeth Hutchinson on 4 January 1849 at St George’s Church, Leeds, but unfortunately Elizabeth died on 14 July 1856. William’s second marriage to Elizabeth
On Monday (13 July 2026), Leeds celebrated a remarkable milestone: 400 years since the city received its first Royal Charter from King Charles I. The Charter of 1626 marked an important moment in Leeds’ development, granting the town a greater degree of self-governance and laying foundations for the civic institutions
Thomas Richard Harding started a business in Lille, France, in 1836 making cast steel pins, combs, and other mechanical parts that were to be used in the production of textiles. In 1853 he decided to open a factory in Leeds making the same objects that were to be used in
Holbeck Anti-Corn Mill Association was set up by seven workers from Benyon’s Flax Mill. The mill was owned by two brothers, Thomas and Benjamin Benyon who in 1793 were partners of John Marshall. It was no easy working relationship and Marshall bought the brothers out in 1804. It was about
I grew up in Holbeck in the 1950s and 60s, this is a typical walk home from Princess Field School. I hope it might stir a few memories for some old timers. Sunny days warm and bright Well that’s my memory, Bell rings for home time at Princess Field School,
On the Sunday evening of 8 October 1848 the inhabitants of Hunslet were thrown into a state of great excitement and horror when the body of a 16 year old girl, Esther Inman was found horribly murdered. The deceased lived with her step father, one Thomas Watson in Varley’s Yard,
To close the Matthew Murray Anniversary I thought it might be an idea to just do the Round Foundry and its history and I hope you can bear with me on this. Matthew Murray – the father of Leeds Engineering – set up a factory for making engines at Mill
The Friends of Middleton Park are hosting a free guided winter walk in Middleton Park on Sunday (15 March 2026) exploring the legacy of the Brandling family in Middleton and Leeds Ralph Brandling married Anne Leigh, the heiress of the Middleton Estate, in 1697 and inherited the estate in 1706.
To mark the 200th anniversary of Matthew Murray’s death, we are reproducing an article first published in June 2023. Matthew Murray is believed to have been born in Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1765 but little is known of his early life. His father had him apprenticed to a Smith, more probably a