City of a thousand trades-
The 1858 exhibition of local industry in Leeds showed how far Leeds had come from when it was dependent on the woollen industry. Engineering, leather and chemical industries had grown in importance. New enterprises such as footwear, printing and clothing enhanced Leeds international reputation and provided jobs for thousands.
"Leeds fortunately, suffers less from poverty than most manufacturing towns, owing to numerous and distinct departments of productive industry" - James Hole, 1860
Leeds Potteries -
Leeds has been producing high-quality pottery since the eighteenth century. In 1880 Wilcock and co began producing decorative pottery such as vases and plant stands at their Burmantofts works a mile from the city centre. By 1885 Burmantofts art pottery was being mass produced reducing the price. In 1889 Burmantofts merged five other companies to form the Leeds Fireclay Company. Art pottery production ended in 1904 but the company continued with other products until 1957.
Getting around -
As Leeds grew ever over-crowded and polluted, those who could afford to began to move out to the suburbs like Headingley and Roundhay. This created a demand for public transport, the earliest was provided by horse-drawn omnibuses and later Trams. In 1877 steam trams were introduced, made by Leeds engineers Kitson and Co. In 1891 Leeds became the first city in Britain to operate electric trams. The last tram ran in Leeds in 1959. The improved transport links increased the rate of new house building in the outlying areas of Leeds as people no longer had to live within walking distance of their workplace.
Leeds Story Cinema Space -
The story of cinema in Leeds began in 1888. The brief footage shot by Louis Le Prince on Leeds Bridge is thought to be the world's first example of moving images being captured on camera. Since then cinemas have come and gone in Leeds but they still remain a popular form of entertainment.
Leeds Becomes A City -
Although it was the largest town in Yorkshire by 1890 Leeds did not officially become a city until 1893. Leeds had applied for city status in haste on learning Yorkshire rival Sheffield was about to do so. Leeds was awarded city status so quickly that there was no time to prepare any formal celebrations.
Crime and Disorder -
In 1836 Leeds created its first professional police force. Until then Leeds had relied on a force of night watchmen and day constables, and sometimes the Leeds volunteer Militia. The expanding population put this system under great pressure. in 1847 in response to rising crime, Armley Jail Opened.
Punishment in the eighteenth and early 19th century could be harsh. During the 'Dripping Riot' of 1865 people took to the streets in support of a cook who had been jailed at Armley for stealing a small amount of dripping from her employer.
World War One -
Leeds used its industrial strength to support Britains war efforts, producing everything from uniforms to planes. By 1915 Leeds Forge was producing 7500 shells a week. Becketts Park College provided beds for 2000 wounded soldiers, whilst the art gallery housed 300 Belgium refugees. A massive munitions factory opened at Barnbow in east Leeds. It employed 16000 people, over 90% of them women, 37 were killed in an explosion at the factory.
Between the wars -
Many men returning after WW1 struggled to find work as traditional industries such as engineering declined. In 1926, 40000 Leeds workers took part in the General Strike. The council tried to ease the unemployment situation creating jobs mainly in Buildings. The Civic Hall was built in 1933 by a workforce 90% of whom had been unemployed. Leeds suffered less than other industrial cities because of the variety of work available in the city. During the 1920's and 30's the clothing industry grew dramatically.
Quarry Hill Flats -
Designed by Richard Alfred Hardwick Levitt, (1897 - 1959) director of housing and Leeds city architect from 1946. The flats were built by Leeds City Council to replace run-down slums. It was the largest housing scheme in the country at the time and aimed to incorporate the latest housing ideas and techniques. The flats were demolished in 1978. Between the Wars, Leeds Council carried out a major programme of slum clearance and replacement house building. In 1934 work began on Quarry Hill Flats, the biggest housing construction scheme in England, with 938 flats to house 3000 people. Quarry Hill was internationally famous for its use of new technology and as a model of efficient low-cost housing. The complex was never fully completed and the building materials and systems proved unreliable. By 1973 Quarry Hill was widely regarded as a failure and demolished.
Leisure -
From 1850 the law forced factories to close on Saturday lunchtime for the weekend and workers were entitled to six public holidays a year. Most people now had some free time available. In response in 1857, the council created Leeds first public park on woodhouse moor. Several more parks opened in the following years including Roundhay park in 1872. Other ways to spend free time were provided by Leeds Museum in 1821, and Leeds City Art Gallery in 1888. More people also had time to explore hobbies and join specialist societies.
Smoke and prosperity -
By 1850 over 100000 people lived in Leeds, busy making everything from shoes to railway locomotives. "There is always something doing in Leeds. The smoke curtain hangs perpetually over the heart of the town - a visible reminder of the restless energy that keeps the population busy and prosperous - Leeds has always had room to grow.." The Graphic, newspaper, July 18th, 1885
Keeping Control -
As Leeds grew so did the challenge of keeping people safe and healthy. The corporation had to take on ever more responsibilities, including sewage removal, water supply, keeping the streets clean and well lit, and maintaining law and order. To reflect their increased role, the corporation built a new Town Hall. Opened in 1858 by Queen Victoria the grand building reflected the pride and confidence of Leeds.
The growth of industry -
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century mill owners replaced skilled labour with machines, brought the processes that had been carried out in people's homes into the mills and controlled conditions and hours of work. One of the most important industrialists was Benjamin Gott. He became one of Englands largest employers, building the world's biggest wool mill in Leeds. He went on to own Armley and Burley Mills and by 1819 employed over 1000 men, women and children.
Flax -
Flax has been cultivated since 10,000 B.C. Flax fibre is used to make linen thread, whilst flax seed is used to make oil paints and varnish.
Leisure and past times of Leeds Merchants -
The Leeds merchants enjoyed spending their money. They wore the latest fashions to the theatre and balls and spent money betting on the Leeds races on Chapeltown Moor. They also built smart new houses filling them with expensive furniture, and works of art. The merchants did not just spend selfishly, in 1771 thanks to donations from merchants and doctors the Leeds General Infirmary opened. For the less well off there were large numbers of Inns and alehouses staging entertainments such as cockfighting.
Smoke -
During the early nineteenth century huge mills and factories, up to six floors, appeared filling the sky with chimneys and thick smoke. The way people lived and worked in Leeds was changing forever as the industrial revolution gathered pace. Between 1790 and 1840 Leeds was a boom town with people flocking in from the countryside looking for work. Great wealth and great poverty developed side by side.
Boomtown -
In 1775 the population of Leeds was 17,000, by 1841 it was 89,000. As industry appeared on the edges of town, the better off began moving to less populated districts like Headingley and Roundhay. Meanwhile, cheap housing for working people appeared in areas like Holbeck. In the town centre, impressive public buildings were constructed, including churches, markets, baths and a museum - The Philosophical Hall in 1821.
From Leeds to the world -
Leeds merchants bought woollen cloth products from all over the West Riding. The merchants paid for some of the cloth to be dyed and finished by independent 'Master dressers' but by the 1750's most merchants employed their own finishers. Much of the cloth was exported and Leeds merchants gained valuable experience trading overseas.
Why Wool?? -
In the surrounding countryside, there was plenty of space to feed and breed sheep. Kirkstall Abbey owned 11,000 sheep by 1280. People in the countryside around Leeds produced a range of cloths, cheap and expensive, fancy and plain. The soft pure water areas was ideal for washing wool and the rivers around Leeds could be used to move goods to and from ports such as Hull. Leeds provided a central market to buy and sell cloth, raw materials, food and supplies. It also became somewhere to meet and socialise.
From fleece to fortune -
Sheep have been key to Leeds wealth for centuries. From the thirteenth century, the monks at Kirkstall sold wool from their lands direct to Italian merchants. In the following centuries more wool began to be sold and used locally and cloth making grew in importance. Leeds became the main market for woollen cloth in west riding and by 1770 Leeds merchants dealt with a third of all cloth exported from England.
Dark Satanic Mills -
Children from the age of six provided cheap labour for Leeds mills working from 6 am to 7 pm with a half hour break. Tired children were often working with unguarded machinery resulting in frequent accidents. The appalling working conditions in the mills were criticised by many people but it was not until 1878 that the employment under ten was banned.
Railways -
The world's first commercially successful steam locomotives ran on Middleton railway in 1812. The town became a centre for locomotive construction even before railway services actually operated to and from Leeds. The first passenger railway in Leeds, the Leeds and Selby, opened in 1834. Within ten years Leeds had developed rail connections to most of Britains major cities, journey times to London were cut from days to hours.
Votes for women -
In 1900 most men could vote, women did not have this right. To fight for the vote (Suffrage) some Leeds women became suffragettes. To Bring attention to their cause they smashed windows and on one occasion tries to burn down Headingley football ground. One of the Leeds suffragettes was Mrs Leonora Cohen. Born in Hunslet, Leeds 1873. In 1913 she hit the national headlines by smashing a showcase at the tower of London. Women finally won the vote in 1918.
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