The Thoresby Society

The four articles in this volume offer new and interesting material on their subjects.

The first tells the story of the dispute that followed the proposal in 1863 to build a railway line clean across the town centre, with huge bridges across Kirkgate, Briggate, Albion Street, Park Row and King Street. Well-organised opposition forced the company to adopt the present route to Central Station that takes it through the former burial ground of the parish church.

"Episodes in the History of Golden Acre" tells the chequered story of this popular amenity from the days when it was proposed to cover it with houses to the building of the Parkway Hotel against the noisy opposition of the teetotal lobby, and on to the development of today's fine park.

Medical help for the poor of the city via the Leeds Dispensary in its early years is the subject of the third article. In its first half century the Dispensary treated over 130,000 patients. They were asked to provide their own bandages and return unused medicines, while servants were not catered for - their employers were expected to pay for their treatment.

Finally, the story is told of how interest in art developed in the 19th century. The first exhibition was held in 1809. Others followed, with over half a million people visiting one in 1868, but only when colonel Walter Harding drove the corporation into action was the Art Gallery opened in 1888.

The Leeds North Eastern Railway Extension, 1863 – 1869.	K.R.Wark	2
Episodes in the History of Golden Acre.	A.Shelton	19
‘An Institution of Great Utility’: Leeds Public Dispensary, the early years, 1824 – 1867.	A.L.Kent	44
Leeds and Public Patronage of Fine Art, 1809 – 1888.	J.Douglas	73

 

 

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