Belinda's Briggate

The green spaces and places of Leeds
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uncle mick
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Post by uncle mick »

It seems that Class was someones name, not as I thought as "Class" meaning good stuff.It first appears in the phone books in 1939 as M. Class, Tailors, 3 Briggate

Stay pressed
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Re: Belinda's Briggate

Post by Stay pressed »

It was a guy called Mr Class. He came to England before WW2 as a Jewish immigrant and bought the building using the ground floor as a tailors. The cellar was once used as a club and the first floor a bookies, probably in the 50's or 60's. His real surname was longer, with Class at the beginning, but he shortened it when he opened his business. I met him a few times in the early 80's and all his friends owned parts of Leeds city centre. His daughter Mrs Jackson owned the business in the 70' and 80's, she was bought out by the manager, Keith Watters following his win on the pools.

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uncle mick
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Re: Belinda's Briggate

Post by uncle mick »

Stay pressed wrote:
Sun 04 Jul, 2021 2:42 pm
It was a guy called Mr Class. He came to England before WW2 as a Jewish immigrant and bought the building using the ground floor as a tailors. The cellar was once used as a club and the first floor a bookies, probably in the 50's or 60's. His real surname was longer, with Class at the beginning, but he shortened it when he opened his business. I met him a few times in the early 80's and all his friends owned parts of Leeds city centre. His daughter Mrs Jackson owned the business in the 70' and 80's, she was bought out by the manager, Keith Watters following his win on the pools.
Here he is the 1939 Register
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Screenshot (12).png (13.96 KiB) Viewed 7226 times
He passed away in 1983
Screenshot (13).png
Screenshot (13).png (4.44 KiB) Viewed 7225 times

Stay pressed
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Joined: Sun 04 Jul, 2021 2:25 pm

Re: Belinda's Briggate

Post by Stay pressed »

Hi yes that's him, Morris. He lived in a care home towards the end but used to visit the shop occasionally. There was a large antique table in the middle of the shop that he always used to go on about how valuable it was, when he visited. I remember friends of his, a Mr Stowe who owned Stowe house opposite Leeds train station and Dyson who owned the jewelers and time building up the road. Time building was amazing inside in the early 80s

Stay pressed
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Re: Belinda's Briggate

Post by Stay pressed »

I recall him telling me that he once had the chance to buy the Anglia knight which he passed on and later much regretted.

Stay pressed
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Re: Belinda's Briggate

Post by Stay pressed »

It's all coming back to me now. The bookies was called Jackson and the only access was through Class.

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