A short history of Leeds in 10 minutes

[buffaloskinner]

Leeds - An IntroductionLeeds was the industrial powerhouse of the West Riding, and like all our great industrial cities, it grew from much humbler beginnings. When the Domesday Book was being compiled, Leeds was little more than an agricultural village huddled between the river and what is now Kirkgate. There were 35 families, a priest, a church and a mill - the latter doing well enough to be worth four shillings a year.The village was under the lordship of llbert de Lacy, William the Conqueror's deputy in those parts, and as such appears to have escaped the wrath of the Conqueror when he laid waste to much of Yorkshire following an uprising in 1070. Around 1100 de Lacy sublet Leeds to Ralph Paganel, who was also the tenant-in-chief of Headingley and other lands throughout the county. Paganel, rich and powerful in his own right, was appointed High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1110.In Leeds and the surrounding villages, cloth manufacture seems to have been underway on a small scale by the 12th century, almost certainly influenced by the close proximity of the Cistercian abbey of Kirkstall. Endowed by Henry de Lacy in thanks to the Blessed Virgin Kirkstall, like the Cistercian abbeys of Fountains, Rievaulx and Jervaulx, kept huge flocks of sheep for wool. In the 12th century most of the wool was sold for weaving in Flanders and Northern Italy, though there was a considerable amount of weaving done at both York and later Beverley, with Leeds, Wakefield, Whitby and Selby the poor relations. By the late-14th century, however, times were changing. The guilds at York and Beverley were so over-regulated and over-taxed with guild levies that they were unable to rise to the challenge of cheaper textiles from the likes of Leeds, Halifax and Wakefield, where production costs were lower. Even so, as late as 1470 Leeds was still being described as "near Rothwell". Yet within the next 50 years the town would emerge as the leading centre in Yorkshire for the trade in woollen cloths, and by 1560 was probably similar in size to Bradford. There were houses on both sides of Briggate as far as the Headrow, and others beyond Timble Bridge over Sheepscar Beck. The population at this time would have been around 3,000, if the outlying hamlets of Woodhouse, Buslingthorpe, Potternewton and Knowsthorpe are taken into consideration.By 1612 the population had probably doubled, due in part to people coming to the town in search of work. Building development now extended along Kirkgate, Boar Lane, Vicar Lane and Swinegate; an ever-growing mixture of housing and workshops sprung up, as Leeds' position within the textile industry continued to strengthen. The town was no longer simply engaged in manufacturing: it had become the leading finishing centre in the West Riding for cropping, dyeing and dressing. Leeds merchants traded aggressively both at home and abroad, securing markets previously dominated by the merchants of York, Beverley and Hull.Leeds and the Civil WarIn January 1643, Sir William Savile entered Leeds at the head of a Royalist force of 500 horsemen and 1.500 foot soldiers. He set about fortifying the town; artillery was sited to cover Briggat, earthworks were thrown up at the north end of Leeds Bridge and a trench was dug around the town perimeter to the banks of the Aire. On 23rd January, Sir Thomas Fairfax at the head of a Parliamentarian force of 3,000 men, crossed the Aire at Apperley Bridge and halted on Woodhouse Moor. Sir Thomas followed the rules of engagement of the day by offering Sir William terms. Sir William declined and the assault began at around 2pm. Within two hours the Parliamentarians had broken through the defences and the batde was soon over. Though Sir William escaped, 500 of his men were taken prisoner but as was the custom, they were allowed to go free after promising to take no further part in the war.In 1646 Charles 1 was held prisoner for one night at the Red Hall in Upper Head Row. One of the stories surrounding the king's short stay in Leeds concerns John Harrison, a wealthy landowner. On hearing that the king was being held in Leeds, Harrison asked permission to meet with him and present him with a tankard of ale. The king accepted Harrison's offer and on opening the lid of the tankard found it full of golden guineas which "his Majesty did, with much celerity, hasten to secrete about his royal person".Powerhouse of the West RidingBy 1600 Leeds had established itself as the most important of all the cloth fairs in the county. Every Tuesday and Saturday tables were set up on the bridge over the Aire at the bottom of Briggate. When the market bell tolled the sellers would move to the tables, which they had to share, and stand in line behind their pieces. The traders entered when the bell stopped tolling. Business was done in a whisper so that other buyers and sellers could not overhear the price agreed. After a couple of hours the bell tolled to signal the end of the market and everything was cleared away. Daniel Defoe reckoned that in a morning somewhere between £10,000-£20.000 worth of cloth was traded.By 1710 these open-air markets were being challenged by Cloth Halls, where business could be done whatever the weather outside. Leeds answered the challenge in 1711 with the opening of a hall for White Cloths. In 1755 a new and much larger purpose-built White Cloth Hall was opened, followed a few months later by a Mixed Cloth Hall.By 1775 the population of Leeds is thought to have been about 17,000 and by the time of the first census of 1801 it had rocketed to 53,000. The coming of the factory system led to thousands leaving the countryside in search of work. The work they found was alien to them: strict discipline, regular attendance, long hours and unsafe working practices. Yorkshire mill owners were at the forefront when it came to employing child labour in almost slave-like conditions. Many of these children were sent north from London workhouses. Those who ended up in the mills around Leeds were luckier than the children sent to Bradford. In Leeds they worked a 12-hour day; in Bradford, 13. In both places children were beaten to keep them awake.With the factory system came machinery. As with every subsequent generation, the factory workers of the early-19th century equated mechanisation with a threat to jobs. In the 1800s reaction to the threat manifested itself in the movement that came to be known as Luddism. The earliest cases in Yorkshire date from 1811 to 1812 when croppers rebelled against the introduction of shearing frames.West Yorkshire's most famous Luddite was George Mellor. On 6th January 1813. George Mellor. William Thorpe and Thomas Smith were indicted before the grand jury at York Castle with the wilful murder of William Horsfall, merchant and manufacturer. With a former accomplice Benjamin Walker turning king's evidence, they had little chance and were executed at York. A few days later seven men went on trial charged with attacking William Cartwright's mill. Cartwright had already taken the precaution of arranging for troops to help guard his premises. When the Luddites attacked the troops opened fire. In an attack lasting about 20 minutes, both sides exchanged fire and several men died of their wounds. Found guilty, the Luddites were sentenced to death and executed at York.It was the combination of the factory system and the application of steam power that led to the concentration of textile production in a handful of towns, including Bradford, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Batley, Bingley and Leeds. By the mid-19th century there was an enormous diversity in the manufacturing base of the town. Though woollens still dominated the scene, the flax industry employed over 9,000 workers and other industries included rope, glass, earthenware and paper manufacturing.Coalmining was a major industry in the area. At its height there were 102 collieries employing 5,000 miners, with an annual total output of 2.5 million tons. Engineering also played an important part in the development of Leeds. Fairbairn &. Lawson manufactured flax and tow machinery, much of which went for export.The area also became a centre for the manufacture of railway locomotives, with such firms as Todd, Kitson & Laird. Fenton, Murray & Jackson, and E B Wilson & Co. When E B Wilson & Co closed in the 1850s much of the equipment and patterns were purchased by Manning, Wardle & Co, with the result that Manning's early locomotives looked like E B Wilson's products.In I860 yet another locomotive manufacturer appeared on the scene with the opening of Hudswell, Clarke & Co, followed in 1864 by the Hunslet Engine Co. The latter would be the last of the Leeds locomotive builders to remain in business, surviving into the 1990s. By the 1850s, Kitson's Airedale foundry was turning out traction, stationary and ploughing engines for John Fowler, though Fowler eventually opened his own works.Later still, Samuel Fox developed pressed-steel railway bogies and wagon underframes. Though Leeds had become a major engineering centre, iron-making was always on a small scale and even in 1871 there were only two blast furnaces in the borough. There were, however, a large number of foundries, such as the Leeds Forge Co and Kirkstall Forge Co, producing all manner of castings. Towards the end of the 19th century the production of wrought iron declined as steel gained in popularity. Most firms switched to using steel imported from Middlesbrough, Sheffield and Rotherham.In the 1870s, Leeds was smoke-covered and overcrowded. Three-quarters of the population was crammed into one-eighth of the area of the borough, in some of the most appalling housing in existence. As more and more people had flocked to Leeds in search of work, cheap housing had been thrown up to accommodate them, often without any thought being given to sewage disposal or water supply. The result was that infectious diseases were often rife in working-class areas; cholera epidemics killed 700 in 1832 and over 2,000 in 1848-49. One tourist attraction in Wellington Yard in 1872 was a midden 6 ft deep, 6 ft wide and 21 ft long.There had been little or no regulation regarding the building of workers' housing. For example, Johnson's Square comprised 15 single-room houses situated below the level of Charles Street; Camp Field off Water Lane comprised 92 back-to-back houses built in an area of just 70yds by 125yds. Another feature of local housing was the blind-backs, which had no rear windows or doors. From the end elevation they looked like a house that had been cut in half with one half pulled down. Some blind-backs were built up against factory walls, and others were built so that they looked like ordinary houses from the outside with a central porch. In fact, these were two blind-backs, each consisting of four single-room houses, probably accommodating 30 or more people.It has been estimated that by 1881 around 80 per cent of England's population was living in towns, compared with only 25 per cent in 1800. Though Leeds continued to play a major role in the woollen industry, competition was increasing and several large mills diversified into dyeing and finishing. By the 1891 census the textile industry was employing 22,313 workers, a slight reduction over 1881; but clothing manufacturing had nearly doubled to 30,172 employees. Over the period 1881-1891, an additional 23,000 manufacturing and 32,000 transport, professional and service-sector jobs had been created in Leeds, and the total population had risen from 309,835 to 366,129. Still Leeds continued to grow By 1901 the population stood at 428,744 and by 1911 it was 445,791. It was all far removed from the tiny hamlet of 1085.By RoadLeeds' rise into becoming one of the leading industrial centres in the country was also due in part to the development of transport and communication links - not only throughout West Yorkshire but with Lancashire, the Midlands, the north-east and London. By the mid-18th century what passed for the existing road network was under severe strain, unable to cope with increasing and often heavy freight traffic generated by the expanding woollen industry, collieries and agriculture. The two principal turnpikes in the area were the Leeds to Ripon via Harrogate, and the Leeds to Skipton. Turnpikes offered a system of reasonably well-maintained roads for the first time since the Roman occupation. In the 1750s the journey from Leeds to London took at least four days. By the end of the 18th century, turnpikes helped make the journey possible in just over one day. They enabled scheduled daily stagecoach services to operate, strengthening the town's links with York, Hull, Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Carlisle and London. The Leeds-to-Bradford turnpike was one of the busiest, carrying large quantities of freight as well as passenger traffic. In 1778 tolls on this road amounted to £852; by 1798 the sum was £2,843 and in 1810 it had risen to £4,445.By 1830 Leeds was one of the busiest coaching interchanges in the provinces, with well over 100 daily scheduled services leaving the coaching inns in Briggate. Both long-distance and short-haul freight services were operated to and from Leeds, the town having no fewer than 180 haulage businesses, many of which had their offices in local inns, where business could be conducted over a bottle of brandy or a few jugs of ale.In 1835 coaching was at its peak with around 3,300 stagecoaches and over 700 mail coaches operating daily scheduled services. However the writing was already on the wall. As early as 1830 the Post Office had contracted the Liverpool & Manchester Railway to carry mail.By WaterIn November 1700, the Aire and Calder was open for navigation as far as Leeds Bridge, where a wharf and a warehouse had been built on the north bank. Cloth could now be loaded for Hull, London, the Baltic and the Low Countries. The obvious advantage that water transport had over the roads was that of cost. It was far cheaper to send 20 tons of coal to Hull by way of the Aire and Calder than it was to hire sufficient wagons to do the same job.By 1760 river navigation was possible to Elland and Halifax, but the real prize would be the linking of the Humber with the Mersey. In 1770 the Leeds & Liverpool Canal was sanctioned. At 127 miles in length excluding branches, the canal was the longest in Britain. The first section, Bingley to Skipton, was opened by 1773 and in 1777 the sections from Aire and Calder at Leeds to Gargrave, and from Wigan to Liverpool were open for traffic. Then the money ran out. In 1790 a new Act allowed funds to be raised for construction of the middle section, but following the outbreak of war with Prance the funding slowed down and it was not until 1816 that the canal was open throughout.One of the problems suffered by the Leeds & Liverpool was lack of adequate water supplies. In long dry summers some sections had to be closed for weeks at a time, and despite the heavy payloads capable of being carried, carriers were forced to seek a reliable alternative.By RailIn June 1758 the Middleton Railway became the first in Britain to be sanctioned under an Act of Parliament, Built to a gauge of 4 ft 1 in, the Middleton ran to a coal staith south of Leeds Bridge. The staith was built to supply the town at a guaranteed price of just over 10shillings a ton. Other collieries in the area were unable to compete and as a result Middleton had a virtual monopoly on the coal sold in Leeds.The Middleton was worked by horses until 1812 when steam locomotives made an appearance. Steam traction continued until 1835, when horses once again took over. Steam locomotives were reintroduced in 1866 and the line converted to standard gauge in 1881.Main-line railways came to Leeds in 1834 with the opening of the Leeds & Selby line. The effect upon the Aire and Calder Navigation was almost immediate and the company had little alternative but to slash its freight charges in an attempt to remain competitive. By 1840 the Leeds & Selby line had been extended to Hull and a direct rail link with the Midlands had been opened, thanks to the North Midland Railway line to Derby, where there was an end-on connection with the Derby & Birmingham. At this time, the Leeds & Manchester Railway did not run directly into town but connected with the North Midland at Normanton.In 1846 the Leeds & Bradford line opened, followed in 1848 by the London & North Western line. In 1849 Headingley and Horsforth were linked by rail to Leeds with the opening of the Leeds Northern to Harrogate. On the eve of the railway amalgamations of 1st January 1923. Leeds was at the centre of a comprehensive railway network and served by five railway companies: the London & North Western, the Midland, the North Eastern, the Lancashire & Yorkshire, and the Great Northern. There were passenger stations at Wellington Street, Leeds Central and Leeds New. Goods facilities were at Wellington Street, Cardigan Road, Hunslet Lane and Central.Phew I think that’s covered it.

[cnosni]

If thats your work based on research then hats off to yer Buffy.PSI note another Avatar!!

[tilly]

Thanks for your post it must have taken you some time to put it together.I for one think it was time well spent well done.

[jane666]

Interesting tv tonight. Who do you think you are? Emilia fox of silent witness fame, is a descendant of samuel fox of Leeds forge co. Worth a watch if you can get BBCiplayer.

[Cardiarms]

I was a bit frustrated by that as they didn't spend any time on where he lived while in Leeds. He seemed to just get a forge get rich and move to harrogate. Intersting all the same.

[jane666]

Yes I agree. I was trying to read the street name on census report.

[grumpytramp]

Top work Buffaloskinner; a ten minute read but there is a lot more than 10 minutes work in it!Cheers jane666 wrote: Yes I agree. I was trying to read the street name on census report. Cracking programme; had a quick check this morning and from the census:1841 aged 2 – Cardigan Place, Headingley [with parents]1851 aged 13 - 107 Kirkstall Rd [with parents]1861 aged 22 – 94 Park Lane [with parents]1871 aged 32 - 66 Dewsbury Road, Hunslet [with family]http://www.leodis.org/display.aspx?reso ... Y=FULL1881 aged 42 – Castleton Lodge, Bramleyhttp://www.leodis.org/display.aspx?resourceIde ... SPLAY=FULL

[uncle mick]

I dont know if this link has been mentioned before, apologies if it has but Buffalos' post reminded me of it. Lots of storieshttp://homepage.ntlworld.com/keithfeeney/contents.html    

[Johnny39]

jane666 wrote: Interesting tv tonight. Who do you think you are? Emilia fox of silent witness fame, is a descendant of samuel fox of Leeds forge co. Worth a watch if you can get BBCiplayer. Just a little bit more information about the Fox family, I'm pretty sure her dad's brother, I think he was called James, worked for a number of years at St. George's Crypt in the 70's.

[dogduke]

Johnny39 wrote: jane666 wrote: Interesting tv tonight. Who do you think you are? Emilia fox of silent witness fame, is a descendant of samuel fox of Leeds forge co. Worth a watch if you can get BBCiplayer. Just a little bit more information about the Fox family, I'm pretty sure her dad's brother, I think he was called James, worked for a number of years at St. George's Crypt in the 70's. Did James live in Little London at that time please ?