Kemplay’s Literary & Commercial Academy was established by Richard Kemplay in the early years of the 19th Century. The building had originally been a private house built in 1720 and today houses Nash’s Fish Restaurant.
Over more than a century, the Society has built up a number of special collections, notably its archive, map and image collections, which have recently been re-catalogued to make them more accessible. These collections are housed in the Society’s library, based at the Leeds Library, 18 Commercial Street, Leeds LS1 6AL.