The Local and Family History Library has a wealth of primary and secondary material relating the history of Leeds and Yorkshire. The following resources illustrate the breadth of this material:
Leeds
and Yorkshire Collections
The Leeds and Yorkshire collection is extremely wide ranging, with approximately 55,000 books, pamphlets and periodicals covering all aspects of Leeds and Yorkshire life, covering subjects such as history, geography, religion, education, natural history and much more.
Accessing the collection
The collections can be searched primarily using the card catalogue in the Reading Room. If you contact the library, the staff will be happy to search the catalogue for any particular book you may be looking for. However, items are retrospectively appearing on the online library cataloguewww.leeds.gov.uk/catalogue, so please check here first.
Trade directories
Many Yorkshire trade directories are in stock but the collection is particularly strong in directories of Leeds and the West Riding dating from the 1780s. The last Kelly’s directory of Leeds was published in 1947 and the last Barrett’s in 1966. After this date telephone and other classified directories are available. Trade directories can be an invaluable resource when researching the history of a particular business, building, religious or educational establishment.
Voters’ lists (electoral rolls/registers)
There is an almost complete run of voters’ lists of Leeds, dating from 1832. Before 1974 the lists cover the old Borough of Leeds and after that date the Leeds Metropolitan District. No lists were compiled during the World Wars.
Local newspapers and journals
The library holds microfilm copies of all the major Leeds newspapers back to the eighteenth century, including the Yorkshire Post and its fore-runner the Leeds Intelligencer, the Leeds Mercury, which merged with the Yorkshire Post in 1939, the Yorkshire Evening Post, and Yorkshire Evening News. Other current and historic local Leeds newspapers are also kept e.g. Pudsey News, Morley Observer and the Wharfedale and Airedale News. Newspapers are a fantastic resource for discovering what happened in society in Leeds and Yorkshire.
As well as our newspaper collection, we have many bound volumes of Leeds & Yorkshire periodicals such as the Dalesman, Yorkshire Life, Leeds Graphic and full sets of both the Thoresby Society Transactions and the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal.
A partial index to local newspapers has been maintained for the past thirty years covering major local news items, obituaries and biographical articles on Leeds people which can now be searched online at www.leedslocalindex.net.
Maps
An extensive collection of maps covering all of Yorkshire, but specialising in Leeds and the north part of the West Riding, is held in the library; maps date from around 1500. Ordnance survey maps are available from 1850 to present day in various scales. Maps are invaluable tools for local historians who want to discover what a particular area was like and how it changed over the years, or even what a particular building was originally used for.
Prints and photographs collection
We have a huge collection (around 40,000) of images of old Leeds and Yorkshire, some dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The collection consists of photographs, prints and engravings of Leeds and Yorkshire subjects, mostly topographical in scope and including photographs of Leeds taken by the City Engineer’s Department between 1890 and 1960. They can be viewed on-line at www.leodis.net.
There is also another useful online resource called Discovering Leeds. This web-site contains histories on a variety of local subjects, such as the Leeds Waterfront, Leeds theatres, Leeds Town Hall, and Industrial Leeds. Ideal for homework projects.
Leeds Playbills
Our playbill collection is a superb resource for anyone interested in the history of Leeds theatres. This extensive collection dates back to the 18th century, and is from many old Leeds theatres and is now available to view on line atwww.leodis.net/playbills
Census enumerators returns
Microfilm copies for the whole of Yorkshire 1841 -1901 are available for consultation on open public access. Various indexes to the Census returns are provided to help researchers. We sell 1901 on-line census vouchers, available from the Local & Family History Library and at some of the larger branch libraries at £5 each. Census returns can be useful when researching patterns of migration, industrial growth and the history of particular localities.
Community libraries
Most community libraries have collections relating to their local area; much of the material is available for loan. Morley, Rothwell, Horsforth, Armley and Pudsey libraries have the most extensive collections.
Please contact us here at the library if you have any queries about our resources or if you need any help with your research.