Leeds news on today's date (July 31) in 1774 and 1822.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Tue 31 Jul, 2012 1:19 pm

The following reports are extracts from John Mayhall's 'Annals of Yorkshire' volume 1. The two reports immediately after that for July 31st 1774 were among some general items for 1774 that followed in the book which I thought may be interesting enough to add.1774. “On Sunday, July 31st, the sails of the windmill belonging to the Leeds pottery fell down with a tremendous crash, which, being looked upon as a judgment for desecrating the Sabbath, the proprietors resolved that the mill should never be allowed to be worked afterwards on the Lord's day"."In this year great distress prevailed amongst the poor of Leeds, when "not less than 6,000 persons were relieved weekly for some time." Inclemency of the weather, dearness of provisions, and bad trade were assigned as the causes.” The latter piece is very similar to nowadays! I don't know but I assume that "relieved" means they were given some aid, not that they died.“In this year the Leeds corporation subscribed £100 towards the building of a new White Cloth Hall in the town.”That will be the Third White Cloth Hall, about which in the Wikipedia online encyclopaedia it states “The 3rd White Cloth Hall is an important historic building in Leeds city centre in England. It was the most important market place in the world for the sale of undyed cloth, between 1776 and 1865. After construction of the two prior white cloth halls in 1711 and 1756 there was a meeting in 1774 to plan the building of yet another cloth hall in Leeds. Most of the money for the scheme came from the wealthy Leeds merchants, and a site was found on a piece of land called the Tenter Ground in the Calls. The hall was built around a large central courtyard, and at the northern end it was two storeys high, with assembly rooms on the upper storey. The Hall was built at a cost of £4,300, and opened in 1775. During the Victorian period, the White Cloth Hall Yard played host to various events, including the circus, as evidenced by an 1858 poster for Pablo Fanque's Grand Allied Circus...When the railway system was extended through the town centre in 1865 the building was literally sliced in half by the new North Eastern Viaduct. This necessitated the construction of the 4th White Cloth Hall, built at the expense of the North Eastern Railway company. Only parts of the original cloth hall building remain.” It is at the end of Cloth Hall Street looking from Duncan Street.1822. “July 31st. The inhabitants of Leeds met in the parish church, and by a great majority, determined to remove the Middle-row, an ancient pile of buildings, which included the Moot-hall, and extended along the centre of Briggate, from Kirkgate end, a little above Wood-street, contracting the road so much on each side, that it was dangerous for two carriages to pass each other. The expense of effecting this great improvement was estimated at £12,000, it cost, however, £15,097 4s 2d., which was agreed to be levied upon the inhabitants, by five annual rates of five pence in the pound, and one rate of twopence in the pound. The demolition was completed May 30th 1825.”According to an inflation calculator in the Bank of England website £15,097 in 1822 was equivalent to about £1,573,819 in 2011 at an average inflation rate of 2.4% a year.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Wed 06 Mar, 2013 2:40 pm

In my post above I mention "an 1858 poster for Pablo Fanque's Grand Allied Circus" event that was held at the Third White Cloth Hall. This is a link that I have just come across to that poster:- http://www.leodis.net/playbills/item.as ... 2844485Use the enlargement facility on the webpage to better read the interesting information on the poster.

Loiner in Cyprus · Post by **Loiner in Cyprus** » Wed 06 Mar, 2013 3:16 pm

It's nice to see this thread again. Thanks and well done Leodian

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Wed 06 Mar, 2013 3:51 pm

Cheers Loiner in Cyprus. I like the following in the poster:-"The whole of the Entertainments interspersed with the Extraordinary Whimsicalities, Comicalities, Originalities, Eccentricities, Oddities, Incongruities, Follies, Witticisms, Criticisms, Anti-Empiricisms, Reflexions, Deflexions, Inflexions, Genuflexions, and Strange Conflexions of the GREAT CLOWNS."They don't write things like that anymore! PS. I don't know what Anti-Empiricisms are so I've just looked up empiricism in a dictionary and it gave it as "The theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience" but I'm still not really any the wiser!

Tasa · Post by **Tasa** » Wed 06 Mar, 2013 8:30 pm

Hi Leodian, for a moment there I thought you had started your (almost) daily Leeds News threads again, which I used to read with interest but didn't always have a response to make!It's a bit of a commitment to come up with a daily piece of news, particularly if you don't always get a response, but if you come across something interesting in the Annals of Leeds on a particular date, please continue to add it to the forum I, too, like the poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus. Coincidentally, I saw a similar poster in the Tolson Museum in Huddersfield yesterday, but for a different circus. It was described in similarly flowery terms! I didn't have my camera with me, but I would like to have taken a photo of it.I've found the Leeds Mercury articles about the inquest into the death of Pablo Fanque's wife and about his own funeral in 1871, which I'll add to the Pablo Fanque thread.http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messag ... eadID=1156

Tasa · Post by **Tasa** » Wed 06 Mar, 2013 8:55 pm

Further to my previous message, I was unable to attach or display the articles. Please see the thread I've linked above for how to access the articles online!

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Wed 06 Mar, 2013 10:47 pm

Thanks Tasa for your nice comment about my posts on old Leeds related items. After the period of several weeks when SL was not online I decided in view of that missing period not to restart posting such items.