Monthly Archives: February 2020

Richard the Third, Hero or Tyrant

On the 19th of February the Forum’s guest speaker was Gillian Waters who had spoken previously on topics of medieval history.

On this occasion her subject was Richard the Third, Hero or Tyrant.

At the outset Gillian admitted that she quite liked her subject and she started by destroying some preconceptions about him. Modern opinion is based on Shakespeare’s play which is based on Tudor propaganda (Gillian’s description).

This portrays him as an evil monster with many physical deformities. Although he suffered from curvature of the spine, in other respects his appearance was unremarkable. Gillian detailed the complicated history of the fifteenth century when the houses of Lancaster and York vied for the position of King of England until Richard, supported mainly by landowners and troops from the North of England, became Richard the Third. This included the murder of the two young prices in the Tower of London although there is little proof that Richard was responsible for this. In 1485 Henry Tudor landed in Wales and marched into England at the head of his army.

Henry had no justifiable claim to be King being only distantly related to the royal line, but he defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth, slaying Richard on the battlefield. Richard’s body was carried to Leicester where it was buried in an obscure churchyard and laid undiscovered until recently uncovered under a carpark.

After questions from Forum members Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks to Gillian Waters for a most interesting talk.

The Great Sale of Wetherby

On the 12th of February the Forum welcomed Victor Hawkins from Wetherby Historical Trust.

His talk was titled The Great Sale of Wetherby and described the occasion in 1824 when all property in our town was auctioned by its owner the Duke of Devonshire to obtain funds to settle gambling debts (it is believed).

Victor started by listing the various owners from the town’s establishment in Anglo-Saxon times to the time of the sale. He circulated a copy of the sale documents, pointing out the fanciful descriptions contained.

He went through a few of the prices paid for various properties, the most expensive being a package of the two corn mills at 8,100 guineas and the cheapest being Bishopgate, a large slum tenement building on the site of the present day Bridgefoot Gardens, at 410 guineas.

The whole sale raised 198,476 guineas for the Duke, estimated to be worth £73 million by modern standards. Victor fielded many questions from Forum members particularly about who the purchasers were. Some were tenants of the properties many of whom were declared bankrupt the following year.

Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks, enthusiastically supported by the members.

The Actor, Singer, Medics and a Solicitor

On the 5th of February the Forum welcomed its guest speaker Lesley Newnham, a local resident who has always been interested in her area, particularly the city of Leeds.

One place of interest has been Beckett Street Cemetery which was under threat from building development until given protected status after protests by local activists. Lesley’s exploration of the cemetery revealed many graves of celebrities and she has researched into the lives of a number of them, some of whom she featured in her talk titled The Actor, Singer, Medics and a Solicitor.

The actor was John Langford Pritchard who was a celebrated actor in the mid-nineteenth century both locally and nationally and whose most notable achievement was the introduction of Shakespeare’s plays into Scotland.

The singer was Joshua Cawthra who sang and led choirs in cathedrals around the country but was best known for the choir which he led in Leeds Parish Church.

The medics were the Price family led by William Price, a former naval surgeon who left the navy to become a leading surgeon in Leeds. In 1831he was a member of a team of local medics who set up the Leeds Medical School. He was followed by two of his sons, Henry William Price and William Nicholson Price who became apothecaries, a highly lucrative profession which established the power of the Price family.

Finally the solicitor was John Hope Shaw, three times Lord Mayor of Leeds who was instrumental in the establishment of Leeds Town Hall.

After questions from members about the Town Hall and Victorian cemeteries Forum chairman Mike Earle thanked Lesley Newnham for a well-researched talk