Benjamin Law and Lydia Sheard were married in this church in 1801.

The old parish church was demolished in 1837.

From the west.

In his welcome to "Leeds Parish Church" the rector says

"The present church was built in 1841 to express the grace and compassion of God at a time when the surrounding area was a huddled mass of squalid housing and money was scarce."

In the 19th century Anglicanism in Leeds was weak. Many people attended the new protestant non-conformist chapels. Charles Land and Ann Dinsdall were members of the Queen's Street Chapel.

No date.

No date.

No date.

THE OLD PARISH CHURCH, LEEDS Illustrated London News, June 18, 1885

The Illustrated London News of September 11, 1858 stated that Leeds was the "largest and most flourishing" city in Yorkshire, the fifth in England "in point of population and commercial activity. The population in 1851 was 172,270. The number of inhabited houses in 1851 was 36,165.

Leed's town Hall was opened by Queen Victoria in September 1858. It was the first time a reigning monarch had visited Leeds.

THE ROYAL EXCAHNGE, LEEDS Illustrated London News, June 18, 1885

BOAR LANE, LEEDS Illustrated London News, June 18, 1885

Looking north to the entrance of Briggate and the old Leeds Bridge

Engraver, T. A. Prior

A Sketch in Boar Lane and Briggate

The building in the center was the Old Corn Exchange

Drawn by N. Whittock

The Corn Exchange was demolished to develope Upper Briggate

Postmarked 1905

English Illustrated, March 1889

This picture is from the junction of Infirmary Street (left) and Park Row(right). The Cloth Hall is the long building on the left. The Court House is the porticoed building at the beginning of Park Row. Neither of these building are still standing. The Cloth Hall is now the site of the General Post Office.

"The Cloth Halls form a very interesting spectacle on market days. The coloured or MIxed cloth Hall is near the Commercial Buildings, in the busiest centre of Leeds. It is a quadrangular brick building 380 feet long by 200 broad, and contains nearly twofer thousand stalls, arranged in six streets, each of which has its own distinctive name. Each stall is about two feet in width, and is marked with the name of the occupant. The market days are Tuesday and Saturday. The White Cloth Hall is similar in style and arrangement to the hall just noticed. It is 300 feet long, and contains about twelve hundred stands in five streets. It opens as soon as the Couloured Cloth Hall closes, for the sale of cloth in an undyed state.

The Illustrated London News September 11, 1858.

No longer standing

This photo was taken from the junction of Boar Lane and Park Row circa 1880. It is now the site of the General Post Office Changing Leeds.

Date unknown

Leeds is filled with arcades and markets. Most of the markets that exist today were built in Victorian times.

This market was opened in 1904.

No postmark

County Arcade Leeds

Not posted.

Not posted. More images of the River Aire at Where the Lands Lived in Leeds

On Great George Street, the Leeds General Infirmary opened in 1868.

Image courtesy of Eileen, June 2011

THE LEEDS TOWN HALL FROM THE INFIRMARY GROUNDS, LEEDS Illustrated London News June 18, 1885

MECHANICS INSTITUTE, LEEDS Illustrated London News June 18, 1885

Mechanics Institutes were established to further the education of the working man particularly in technical subjects that might improve his skills in the workplace. The were also thought to be a good alternative to spending time in the pubs. The Leeds Mechanical Institute later became part of Leeds College of Technology. The building, which is located at the corner of Rossingtonand Cookridge Streets, later became a theater and in currently the home of the Leeds City Museum.

Leeds City Museum, Millennium Square, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS2 8BH, United Kingdom Phone 44 113 224 3732

YORKSHIRE COLLEGE, LEEDS Illustrated London News July 18, 1885

NEW BUILDINGS OF THE TEXTILE DEPARTMENT OF THE YORKSHIRE COLLEGE, LEEDS The Graphic Dec 18, 1880

West Front of the Lecture Room and Museum, with Dye House and Weaving Shed, Entrance to Beech Grove Road, Interior of the Weaving Shed and Interior of the Dye House.

Built in 1863 it is now a shopping center. See Corn Exchange Leeds

Posted 1908

Most of the center of the city of Leeds is Victorian or modern. Here and there can be glimpsed remnants of the older city.

No Postmark

See Ralph Thoresby (1658-1725), antiquary and topographer. My thanks to Wayne Paton, April 2011, who corrected my misspelling of Thoresby's name and for pointing out the link.

The bridge on the left crosses the river, the bridge on the right crosses the canal. The large mill is the Bean Ing Mills, the worlds first integrated woolen factory. The entire textile process, from wool to finished cloth, was carried out in this mill. By 1797 the workforce of this mill was 1,200 and produced 4,000 broadcloths a year.

This area is to the west of the Victoria Bridge.

Looking up river from below the church of St Peter's.

By 1834 a great deal of industrialization had occurred. The air was bad and the water of the river was foul.

Drawn by Henry Burns

Beeston Hall is south of Leeds so this images is looking to the north across Holbeck to Leeds. The tall white temple-like building to the right of center is the Town Hall which was opened in September 1858. In this image the clock tower is not finished.

"The Aire below is doubly dyed and damned;
The air above with lurid smoke is crammed;
The one flows streaming foul as Charon's Styx,
Its poisonous vapours in the other mix."

The print, as I bought it, was not dated. However, the seller indicated that it came for a publication of the 1890s.

"With the fifth part of A Picturesque History of Yorkshire (J. M. Dent and Co.).........some particularly charming sketches are given, notable that ot Ponetfract, of Leeds 'from John o'Gaunts hill'

The literary world, Volume 60

John O'Guant was the duke of Lancaster and the father of Henry IV.

Image courtesy of Eileen, June 2011

In contrast to the soot and smog, there appear to have been some idyllic spots near Leeds.

Meanwood Valley is currently a nature reserve. It is located some distance north of the city of Leeds.

The Illustrated London News, August 8, 1868

THE LEEDS ART-EXHIBITION

"We present a view of the general aspect of that department of the national exhibition, now open at Leeds, in the new building of the Royal Infirmary, which contains the Museum of Ornamental Art. A few specimens of the contents of this museum, lent by their owners, will be the subject of forthcoming Illustrations. Three of these appear in this Number. One is the old sword which is said to have belonged to John Hampden. Its guard, handle , and pommel, are beautifully chiseled in steel with scenes from the life of King David: the cross hilt terminates in figures of Fame and Time; and other parts are decorated with nude figures and foliage of minute and exquisite design. This sword is the property of her Majesty the Queen. The Earl of Chesterfield has sent a lofty Chelsea vase, similar to the one preserved in Foundlings Hospital. It has a blue background, ornamented with gold and medallions, upon which are painted birds on one side of the vase and an elaborate scroll design, and there is a scroll on the top of the lid. The other illustration represents a fine silver ewer, designed by Flaxman, and manufactured in 1807. Its handle is in the form of a satyr, whose body is girdled with a wreath of vine leaves and grapes. It was contributed by Messrs. Hunt and Roskell. "

Roundhay Park is one of the biggest city parks in Europe. Originally a hunting park it passed though various hands from the 13th century until 1871 when it was bought by a group that included the mayor of Leeds. The Leeds City Council bought it for the same amount and it was given to the people of Leeds in 1872. The major problem as a city park was that Roundhay was located 3 miles from the center of Leeds. In 1891 the park was serviced from the city of Leeds by trolley.

Roundhay Park Near Leeds

The Graphic September 21, 1872