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Article Soc : Rosicr: in Anglia. " LEEDS." ← Page 2 of 3 Article Soc : Rosicr: in Anglia. " LEEDS." Page 2 of 3 →
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Soc : Rosicr: In Anglia. " Leeds."
this country , and is deserving of a more lengthy reference had time permitted . From a period extending from the advent of the Normans to the Stuarts , say about 540 years , we have no authentic knowledge of Leeds , excepting some occasional reference to it during the times of the Wars of the Roses , especially interesting in respect of the Battle
of Towton , 1461 , fought in this neighbourhood , and when about 40 , 000 men are recorded to have beon slain * , aud during tho Wars of the Roses , when the history of this district was distinguished by tho great battle of Marston Moor , 2 nd July 1644 , which took place about the probable period of the sieges of the Castles of Leeds , Pontefract and Wakefield ( Sandal Castle ) ; Leeds during thia period being suecessively taken by the Royalists , under the Marquis of Newcastle ,
and the Parliamentary troops under Sir Thomas Fairfax . About 1552 Leland speaks of it as " Ledes , two miles lower down than Christal Abbey , on the river Aire , is a praty market tonne , having one paroche chnroh , reasonably well builded . " To this description of the situation of Leeds , we may add , at the present time , that the town is situated near the northern margin , or " out-crop " of the coal measures , constituting the great midland coalfield , a circumstance which has contributed no little to its commercial prosperity in recent
times . . . . The most important ecclesiastical events , so far as this district is concerned , that occurred during this long period , was the creation of Kirkstall Abbey , by Cistercian Monks , in 1153 , and its dissolution by Henry VIII ., in 1540 , but as this famous and beautiful abbey has already been described by a member of this College , * so well able to tell ns its true story , I shall not refer further to it , but , in the language of one of its poets , that
" No more the pealing anthems strain Resounds in Kirkstall ' s walls ; No more the swelling vesper hymn Is heard when evening falls . " " Where lauds at midnight once were sung , By torches lurid glare , The silver moonbeams from on high Have now au entrance there . "
Leeds from 1603 to the present time . The Borough of Leeds was first incorporated by Charles I . about 1625 , soon after he ascended the throne , and it is from this time that we may trace the beginning of that career of prosperity , which ( although for many years apparently of very slow growth ) has distinguished the history of Leeds . The security which this charter aud
the two subsequent ones afforded , protected trade from the abuses which had grown in the unsettled days prior to this time , and has enabled Leeds and her productions to become known all over the civilised world . Bishop Parker about this time refers to the importance of Leeds as a manufacturing town , calling it " oppidum lanificio opulentum "— " Rich in woollen manufactures . " And abont the
same time , tbe dukedom of Leeds was created , in the person of Thomas Osborne , who , it is worthy of note , was the descendant of a merchant who amassed great wealth in trading pursuits . A sketch of the history of Leeds wonld be most imperfect without some reference to its parish church , dedicated to Saint Peter . The date of the first church is not known , but that there was a Saxon chnrch
here admits of little doubt , for in the records of those days it stands first in the description of Leeds , which tells of " a church , a priest , and a mill" that then existed , and this church must have been associated with the conversion of the Saxon king Edwin ( who resided at the Villa Regis , or Osmondthorpe Hall , so very near the church ) , when Paulinas visited this district , and he probably influenced the
king to build the church as the first-fruits of his conversion . One of the most interesting relics of the Saxon church in Leeds is the cross that until recent years stood in the grave ground surrounding the present parish church , upon which was an inscription—Cuni Onlaf . The bearer of this name was a Dane , who entered the Hnmber in 937 ; he subsequently became King of Northumbria ,
and was converted to Christianity . He probably resided in the Villa Regis , now called Osmondthorpe Hall . where afterwards Ethelbert , the first Christian King , converted by Augustine about 625 , is recorded to have resided . The cross referred to is supposed to have been erected to the memory of Onlaf about the year 950 . Around this church , from the earliest known period of wbich any
record exists , the history and welfare of the town has been most intimately associated , for the site of the present church is undoubtedly one of very great antiquity . It seems most probable that there wa # a Saxon church ( probably built of timber ) , at the time when the Saxon Kings of Northumberland had their palace here ; and we know , on the authority of the Domesday Book , there was a church here
dedicated to St . Peter , at the time of the Norman conquest . Of its parish priests we know nothing till about 1220 , when , according to Thoresby , it was constituted a vicarage , and its first vicar was Alanus de Sherburn . In 1837 the great and good Dr . Hook , the late Dean of Chichester , was the vicar , arid during whose vicariat the present edifice was built . He was afterwards succeeded by Dr . James Atley
( the present Bishop of Hereford ) in 1859 , by Canon Woodford , D . D . ( the present Bishop of Ely ) in 1868 , and in 1873 by the present vicar , Dr . Gott , all of whom have , by their great zeal ancl devotion to Leeds , maintained unimpaired the high position which historians have ever given to the old parish chnrch of Leeds . In the presence of one who has so lucidly placed before the public
the records of onr parish church , f it would , indeed , bo invidious on my part to continue the subject . Respecting the buildings of Leeds , all that time permits to be mentioned are the new Victoria Town Hall , opened by her Majesty the Queen , in 1858 ; tho new Infirmary , opened in 1869 ; and the York . shire College . The latter is destined , as an affiliation of the new Victoria University , to make Leeds in the future the great centre of
Soc : Rosicr: In Anglia. " Leeds."
Yorkshire for the acquirement of that truly practical and scientific knowledge so necessary to enable this country to maintain its position in arts and manufactures with other nations . The extensive and convenient mineral resources of Leeds seem to have been known for a long period , as the Romans availed themselves of its clay and ironstone , numerous remains of whose mining
operations havo from time to time been discovered . On thia subject it is interesting to note that the first railway in this part of the country was made iu 1818 , for the purpose of conveying coal from the Middleton collieries to Leeds , a distance of about three miles , the wagons of coal ( about 15 , forming one train load , were
drawn by a locomotive engine invented by Mr . J . Blenkinsop ) . Leeds , therefore , has some claim to the honour of being the birthplace of the railway system . The extraordinary progress of the town from about the time of the opening of this first railway is indicated by the rapid growth of the population , which in 70 years has advanced from 53 , 162 in 1801 to 259 , 212 in 1871 .
Lhstingm $ hed Men of Leeds . Of the many great men to whom Leeds has given birth time will only permit a passing record of a few of those who are gone , but whose name should be ever revered , for in every field of honour , in science , commercial enterprise , and deeds of valour , her sons have in all ages left an indelible mark on the roll of time : of these may be mentioned the followincr ;—
Ralph Thoresby , F . R . S ., the distinguished antiquary and historian of Leeds , born in 1658 , and to whom Leeds will be ever indebted for hia Dncatas Lodiensis , or Topography of the town and parish of Leeds , descriptive of the town and its men of note in the last century ; and who , as a faithful writer ancl scholar of great eminence , and by a life of great benevolence and piety , is entitled to one of the first
places in the history of the great and good to whom Leeds has given birth . Benjamin Wilson , F . R . S ., born about 1720 , was a painter of considerable eminence , and contributed to electric science great thought and originality , and whose researches have an intimate association with the subsequent important discoveries in that science .
John Smeaton , F . R . S ., born in 1724 , at Anthorpe , and educated at the Leeds Grammar School , was a civil engineer of great eminence , who , amongst other works indicating mechanical genius , erected under the most difficult conditions , the Eddystone Lighthouse , and other works involving great mechanical and scientific skill ; he left a name which will ever be remembered with appreciation by engineers , and
will most deservedly occupy an important page in the history of Leeds . He died in 1792 . In 1811 was born Mr . John Blenkinsop , the first mining engineer in this district of whom we have any record , and whose invention of the railway for bringing coal to Leeds at the time when he was manager of the Middleton collieries has been already referred to .
Sir Peter Fairbairn , born 1799 , was one to whom Leeds owes very much of her subsequent prosperity ; and who , by his great enterprise and skill , occupies one of the highest places in the commercial history of Leeds . Of eminent men born in the neighbourhood of Leeds we may mention Dr . Priestley , a distinguished philosopher , born at Fieldhead , in 1733 , tho discoverer , in 1774 , of the gas oxygen . This discovery alone
must cause him to be remembered , not only as one of the greatest men of any period , but of all time , as this discovery was the foundation of modern chemistry . William Hay , F . R . S ., the celebrated surgeon , born 1736 : Dr . Bentley and William Congreve , Dr . Hook ( previously referred to ) ; General Cockell , a distinguished general in the beginning of this century , and others who by their works deserve to be long and well remembered by the town upon which they shed so bright a lustre .
Masonry % n Leeds . As this College is the Archaeological Branch of Masonry , and discharges , under its distinguished Chief Adept , a work of great importance to the intelligent pursuit of Masonry , and thereby fills a long felt want , it may be expected that the writer should make more than a passing reference to the history of Masonry in Leeds ; but this is
not proposed on the present occasion , especially as there are those present who have a more intimate acquaintance with the records of Leeds Masonry than it has been the privilege of the writer to acquire ; and it is sufficient here to record tho belief that , with slight interruptions during very troublous periods , Leeds has been associated with Masonry from time immemorial ; and we now welcome yon to
the town in the Hall of its oldest Lodge , Fidelity , No . 289 on the roll of English Masonry . This Lodge was founded in 1792 , by a member of a previous Lodge of great antiquity , but which had become extinct a few years previously . The Lodge , after passing through many vicissitudes , and occupying very humble quarters elsewhere , entered
into its present home , designed in 1877 for the Lodge by one of the aspirants of this College . * To Knight Templars Leeds is a place of the greatest interest in its associations with Temple Newsam , now the seat of the Hon . Mrs . Meynell Ingram . The Order was founded in 1118 , and a Preceptory was established at Temple Newsam , where thev continued up to 1311 , when the suppression of the Order took
place . In names and places Leeds possesses many other records of the footprints of that Illustrious Order , to which many of us are greatly attached , snch as Temple Bridge , Temple Street , and an effigy of a Knight Templar of the name of Steynton in the parish church of Leeds , all of which are evidence of the influence and importance of the
Order at Temple Nowaam during the period they occupied the beautiful temple from whieh the name of the present place is obtained , and where the Preceptory at that period was located . The writer has now given as complete a sketch of the history of Leeds as circumstances permit , and , in the language of the poet , " Conducted by hist u * ic truth , has trod the long extent of backward
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Soc : Rosicr: In Anglia. " Leeds."
this country , and is deserving of a more lengthy reference had time permitted . From a period extending from the advent of the Normans to the Stuarts , say about 540 years , we have no authentic knowledge of Leeds , excepting some occasional reference to it during the times of the Wars of the Roses , especially interesting in respect of the Battle
of Towton , 1461 , fought in this neighbourhood , and when about 40 , 000 men are recorded to have beon slain * , aud during tho Wars of the Roses , when the history of this district was distinguished by tho great battle of Marston Moor , 2 nd July 1644 , which took place about the probable period of the sieges of the Castles of Leeds , Pontefract and Wakefield ( Sandal Castle ) ; Leeds during thia period being suecessively taken by the Royalists , under the Marquis of Newcastle ,
and the Parliamentary troops under Sir Thomas Fairfax . About 1552 Leland speaks of it as " Ledes , two miles lower down than Christal Abbey , on the river Aire , is a praty market tonne , having one paroche chnroh , reasonably well builded . " To this description of the situation of Leeds , we may add , at the present time , that the town is situated near the northern margin , or " out-crop " of the coal measures , constituting the great midland coalfield , a circumstance which has contributed no little to its commercial prosperity in recent
times . . . . The most important ecclesiastical events , so far as this district is concerned , that occurred during this long period , was the creation of Kirkstall Abbey , by Cistercian Monks , in 1153 , and its dissolution by Henry VIII ., in 1540 , but as this famous and beautiful abbey has already been described by a member of this College , * so well able to tell ns its true story , I shall not refer further to it , but , in the language of one of its poets , that
" No more the pealing anthems strain Resounds in Kirkstall ' s walls ; No more the swelling vesper hymn Is heard when evening falls . " " Where lauds at midnight once were sung , By torches lurid glare , The silver moonbeams from on high Have now au entrance there . "
Leeds from 1603 to the present time . The Borough of Leeds was first incorporated by Charles I . about 1625 , soon after he ascended the throne , and it is from this time that we may trace the beginning of that career of prosperity , which ( although for many years apparently of very slow growth ) has distinguished the history of Leeds . The security which this charter aud
the two subsequent ones afforded , protected trade from the abuses which had grown in the unsettled days prior to this time , and has enabled Leeds and her productions to become known all over the civilised world . Bishop Parker about this time refers to the importance of Leeds as a manufacturing town , calling it " oppidum lanificio opulentum "— " Rich in woollen manufactures . " And abont the
same time , tbe dukedom of Leeds was created , in the person of Thomas Osborne , who , it is worthy of note , was the descendant of a merchant who amassed great wealth in trading pursuits . A sketch of the history of Leeds wonld be most imperfect without some reference to its parish church , dedicated to Saint Peter . The date of the first church is not known , but that there was a Saxon chnrch
here admits of little doubt , for in the records of those days it stands first in the description of Leeds , which tells of " a church , a priest , and a mill" that then existed , and this church must have been associated with the conversion of the Saxon king Edwin ( who resided at the Villa Regis , or Osmondthorpe Hall , so very near the church ) , when Paulinas visited this district , and he probably influenced the
king to build the church as the first-fruits of his conversion . One of the most interesting relics of the Saxon church in Leeds is the cross that until recent years stood in the grave ground surrounding the present parish church , upon which was an inscription—Cuni Onlaf . The bearer of this name was a Dane , who entered the Hnmber in 937 ; he subsequently became King of Northumbria ,
and was converted to Christianity . He probably resided in the Villa Regis , now called Osmondthorpe Hall . where afterwards Ethelbert , the first Christian King , converted by Augustine about 625 , is recorded to have resided . The cross referred to is supposed to have been erected to the memory of Onlaf about the year 950 . Around this church , from the earliest known period of wbich any
record exists , the history and welfare of the town has been most intimately associated , for the site of the present church is undoubtedly one of very great antiquity . It seems most probable that there wa # a Saxon church ( probably built of timber ) , at the time when the Saxon Kings of Northumberland had their palace here ; and we know , on the authority of the Domesday Book , there was a church here
dedicated to St . Peter , at the time of the Norman conquest . Of its parish priests we know nothing till about 1220 , when , according to Thoresby , it was constituted a vicarage , and its first vicar was Alanus de Sherburn . In 1837 the great and good Dr . Hook , the late Dean of Chichester , was the vicar , arid during whose vicariat the present edifice was built . He was afterwards succeeded by Dr . James Atley
( the present Bishop of Hereford ) in 1859 , by Canon Woodford , D . D . ( the present Bishop of Ely ) in 1868 , and in 1873 by the present vicar , Dr . Gott , all of whom have , by their great zeal ancl devotion to Leeds , maintained unimpaired the high position which historians have ever given to the old parish chnrch of Leeds . In the presence of one who has so lucidly placed before the public
the records of onr parish church , f it would , indeed , bo invidious on my part to continue the subject . Respecting the buildings of Leeds , all that time permits to be mentioned are the new Victoria Town Hall , opened by her Majesty the Queen , in 1858 ; tho new Infirmary , opened in 1869 ; and the York . shire College . The latter is destined , as an affiliation of the new Victoria University , to make Leeds in the future the great centre of
Soc : Rosicr: In Anglia. " Leeds."
Yorkshire for the acquirement of that truly practical and scientific knowledge so necessary to enable this country to maintain its position in arts and manufactures with other nations . The extensive and convenient mineral resources of Leeds seem to have been known for a long period , as the Romans availed themselves of its clay and ironstone , numerous remains of whose mining
operations havo from time to time been discovered . On thia subject it is interesting to note that the first railway in this part of the country was made iu 1818 , for the purpose of conveying coal from the Middleton collieries to Leeds , a distance of about three miles , the wagons of coal ( about 15 , forming one train load , were
drawn by a locomotive engine invented by Mr . J . Blenkinsop ) . Leeds , therefore , has some claim to the honour of being the birthplace of the railway system . The extraordinary progress of the town from about the time of the opening of this first railway is indicated by the rapid growth of the population , which in 70 years has advanced from 53 , 162 in 1801 to 259 , 212 in 1871 .
Lhstingm $ hed Men of Leeds . Of the many great men to whom Leeds has given birth time will only permit a passing record of a few of those who are gone , but whose name should be ever revered , for in every field of honour , in science , commercial enterprise , and deeds of valour , her sons have in all ages left an indelible mark on the roll of time : of these may be mentioned the followincr ;—
Ralph Thoresby , F . R . S ., the distinguished antiquary and historian of Leeds , born in 1658 , and to whom Leeds will be ever indebted for hia Dncatas Lodiensis , or Topography of the town and parish of Leeds , descriptive of the town and its men of note in the last century ; and who , as a faithful writer ancl scholar of great eminence , and by a life of great benevolence and piety , is entitled to one of the first
places in the history of the great and good to whom Leeds has given birth . Benjamin Wilson , F . R . S ., born about 1720 , was a painter of considerable eminence , and contributed to electric science great thought and originality , and whose researches have an intimate association with the subsequent important discoveries in that science .
John Smeaton , F . R . S ., born in 1724 , at Anthorpe , and educated at the Leeds Grammar School , was a civil engineer of great eminence , who , amongst other works indicating mechanical genius , erected under the most difficult conditions , the Eddystone Lighthouse , and other works involving great mechanical and scientific skill ; he left a name which will ever be remembered with appreciation by engineers , and
will most deservedly occupy an important page in the history of Leeds . He died in 1792 . In 1811 was born Mr . John Blenkinsop , the first mining engineer in this district of whom we have any record , and whose invention of the railway for bringing coal to Leeds at the time when he was manager of the Middleton collieries has been already referred to .
Sir Peter Fairbairn , born 1799 , was one to whom Leeds owes very much of her subsequent prosperity ; and who , by his great enterprise and skill , occupies one of the highest places in the commercial history of Leeds . Of eminent men born in the neighbourhood of Leeds we may mention Dr . Priestley , a distinguished philosopher , born at Fieldhead , in 1733 , tho discoverer , in 1774 , of the gas oxygen . This discovery alone
must cause him to be remembered , not only as one of the greatest men of any period , but of all time , as this discovery was the foundation of modern chemistry . William Hay , F . R . S ., the celebrated surgeon , born 1736 : Dr . Bentley and William Congreve , Dr . Hook ( previously referred to ) ; General Cockell , a distinguished general in the beginning of this century , and others who by their works deserve to be long and well remembered by the town upon which they shed so bright a lustre .
Masonry % n Leeds . As this College is the Archaeological Branch of Masonry , and discharges , under its distinguished Chief Adept , a work of great importance to the intelligent pursuit of Masonry , and thereby fills a long felt want , it may be expected that the writer should make more than a passing reference to the history of Masonry in Leeds ; but this is
not proposed on the present occasion , especially as there are those present who have a more intimate acquaintance with the records of Leeds Masonry than it has been the privilege of the writer to acquire ; and it is sufficient here to record tho belief that , with slight interruptions during very troublous periods , Leeds has been associated with Masonry from time immemorial ; and we now welcome yon to
the town in the Hall of its oldest Lodge , Fidelity , No . 289 on the roll of English Masonry . This Lodge was founded in 1792 , by a member of a previous Lodge of great antiquity , but which had become extinct a few years previously . The Lodge , after passing through many vicissitudes , and occupying very humble quarters elsewhere , entered
into its present home , designed in 1877 for the Lodge by one of the aspirants of this College . * To Knight Templars Leeds is a place of the greatest interest in its associations with Temple Newsam , now the seat of the Hon . Mrs . Meynell Ingram . The Order was founded in 1118 , and a Preceptory was established at Temple Newsam , where thev continued up to 1311 , when the suppression of the Order took
place . In names and places Leeds possesses many other records of the footprints of that Illustrious Order , to which many of us are greatly attached , snch as Temple Bridge , Temple Street , and an effigy of a Knight Templar of the name of Steynton in the parish church of Leeds , all of which are evidence of the influence and importance of the
Order at Temple Nowaam during the period they occupied the beautiful temple from whieh the name of the present place is obtained , and where the Preceptory at that period was located . The writer has now given as complete a sketch of the history of Leeds as circumstances permit , and , in the language of the poet , " Conducted by hist u * ic truth , has trod the long extent of backward