New post on the Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog: 'Party Politics, the 1837 Election, 16th July.' Bribery and corruption 'senceless invectives, – scurrilous squibs, and party abuses' even bribing an elector with £40 for his pig! matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/07/18/p...

An absolute treasure! Don’t miss your chance to buy a copy!

Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog, new post: "Buying and Selling a Horse - Lies and Deceit, July 1807". Despite his strong moral beliefs, Tomlinson is prepared to deceive and accept deception when he is buying and selling a horse: matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/07/11/b...

Information from South Leeds Archaeology: As part of the excavations at Temple Newsam, we are having an Open day when members of the general public can join an Archaeological Dig. Sun 26July, two sessions 10am to 12:30pm and 1pm to 3:30pm. booking: www.southleedsarchaeology.org.uk/openday_form/

A blue plaque has been unveiled for Wing Commander John Freeborn at Armed Forces Day in Leeds. Born in Leeds he flew Spitfires in WW2 & fought in some of the fiercest fighting at Dunkirk before being forced down over France & avoiding capture by German forces for /1 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Are you following the Matthew Tomlinson Journal blog? On the 28th June 1838 Tomlinson was considering the waste of public money for Queen Victoria's coronation in the 'nonsense of crowning her'. matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/06/27/t...

New post on the Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog: Tomlinson Ponder on Adolescence, June 1807. He considers the changes he sees in his servant lad. matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/06/20/t...

Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog, new post: The Death of a Shoemaker, and the Coming of the Railway, June 1837. Tomlinson cares about his neighbours. He finds it hard to see the fields he has ploughed all his life taken for the railway. matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/06/13/t...

Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog, new post: The Burial of Tomlinson's Father, June 1807: Tomlinson bemoans the fact that he is unable to bury his father in the same place as his mother, and has to use the 'new' church (St John's): matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/06/05/t...

Update on the Elizabethan Gallery (Old Grammar School) The President and Hon. Secretary of the Society were pleased to meet the new owners who will move their business Wool n Stuff to the building next year, following sympathetic restoration: www.wakefieldhistoricalsociety.org.uk/about-us/blog/

A new post has been added to the Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog: 'Tales of Woe, 1838'. Tomlinson ponders on old age, of himself, a neighbour's horse, and the death of a neighbour. matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/05/30/t...

It's been quite a week for people finding unusual remembrances of Wakefield.

This week is the Roman Festival! - 30 May - 10am-4pm - Castleford Precinct, WF10 1BB For more information visit: https://experiencewakefield.co.uk/event/castleford-roman-festival/ #RomanFestival #Romans #Castleford #ThingsToDo

New post on the Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog: Two Noted Bruisers, May 1808. Tomlinson enjoys prize-fighting - this was a famous fight that was reported in the news sheets - I wonder whether prize fights were held in Wakefield. matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/05/23/t...

A lovely piece of ephemera and in very good condition

Local History has been championed by the Schools History Project since the 1970s! When our pioneering predecessors, SCHP, wrote their seminal book, A New Look at History, in 1976 they talked about a new course for history students to study, which they called History Around Us ...

Wakefield Historical Society meeting on 13 May: '180 years of Eastmoor, its people and their houses' by Dr Joanne Harrison, architect, consultant and researcher. More information: www.wakefieldhistoricalsociety.org.uk/whs-events/p...

Ah, Suckling Spendlove. The man with the longest inventory in our probate archive. He had a shop so it includes all your everyday grocery items such as brandy, raisins, spices, soap, 'Wash balls', coffee powder, 'glaized pypes', Naples 'Biskettes', gunpowder, mercury, and 'one box of Druggs'.

A new post has been added to the Matthew Tomlinson blog: 'The Trials of being an Overseer of the Poor, 1807'. Trying to cheat the welfare system is nothing new! matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/05/14/t...

Upcoming talks for WallFest 26

Newspaper articles can reveal a huge amount of information about families. This fine & lengthy example from the Wakefield Express from the 5th August 1911 which features in my latest #OnePlaceStudy blog about the Mary Clarkson at www.ancestralenquiries.co.uk/post/one-pla... /1

New post on the Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog: A Man gone from Riches to Rags, 1833. matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/05/09/a...

Wakefield Historical Society's next meeting Wed 13 May, 7pm Wakefield History Centre, Kirkgate '180 Years of Eastmoor: its people and their houses', by Dr. Joanne Harrison. More information: www.wakefieldhistoricalsociety.org.uk/whs-events/l...

New post on the Matthew Tomlinson Journal blog: matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/05/02/1... In 1812 Matthew is worrying about a Luddite attack on his new 'thrashing machiene'. Twenty years later now nearly 70 years old he comments on the number of cases of influenza.

Wakefield Historical Society's next meeting is on 13 May, 7pm, West Yorkshire History Centre: 'Eastmoor History' by Dr Joanne Harrison. More information: www.wakefieldhistoricalsociety.org.uk/whs-events/l...

You can discover the world on our maps website 🌎 If you'd like guidance on searching, comparing, printing, and annotating over 400,000 maps, book your place now for our free 'Navigating the Maps Website' webinar. 📆 3-4pm, Wednesday 29 April 📌 Free Book > www.nls.uk/whats-on/nav... #MapMonday

Looks good in the sunshine!

Matthew Tomlinson Journal blog - new post: matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/04/25/m... 225 years ago Matthew Tomlinson's wife gave birth to a baby girl. Having lost his first wife and baby in childbirth, he anticipates the event with great anxiety.

This coming Monday, 27th April: Local and Family History Network, Wakefield Wakefield Library, 1.30-3.00pm 'Joseph Cox (1833-1906): A Valued Servant of the Public'. Talk by Deborah Scriven The story of a dedicated and hard-working headteacher and mayor of Ossett. All welcome, free and drop-in.

Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog Matthew bemoans the fact that his sister-in-law is leaving when his wife is due to give birth. April 1811 matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/04/17/s...

Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog: Matthew Tomlinson attends the inquest on a baby, and is concerned to learn of the Luddites attacking Foster's Mill: matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/04/11/t...

WHS meeting on 8 April: 'Victorian Railway Clothing', talk by Anthony Dawson. Anthony Dawson's excellent presentation featured examples of the clothes and accessories that were worn by railway staff, some of which we were invited to try on. www.wakefieldhistoricalsociety.org.uk/whs-events/p...

In April 1807 things were not going well for Matthew Tomlinson. A new post has been added to the Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog: matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/04/05/d...

The Chantry Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin, Wakefield is open this Good Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Easter Monday, 11am to 3pm.

Wakefield Historical Meeting on Wednesday 8 April: 'Victorian Railway Clothing', by Anthony Dawson, historic railways researcher West Yorkshire History Centre, Kirkgate, 127 Kirkgate, Wakefield, WF1 1JG. 7-8.30 pm. All welcome, visitors £2 www.wakefieldhistoricalsociety.org.uk/whs-events/l...

'Archaeological Evidence of the Battle of Towton' presentation at the Wakefield Exchange on 21 Mar 2026 Tim Sutherland presents some of his archaeological work from over the last 30 years 1996 - 2026 The camera is hand-held, but the sound is clear and audible. www.youtube.com/watch?v=daS5...

A new post on the Matthew Tomlinson Journals blog A lot was on Matthew Tomlinson's mind on 29th March 1812, worries about lambing and his farm, attacks on farm machinery by the Luddites and the sudden death of a Huddersfield butcher: matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/03/28/f...

Yorkshire Heritage Summit at Barnsley, 25 March Our Society was pleased to exhibit at the Yorkshire Heritage Summit on Wed. 25 March. It was a good opportunity to raise awareness of our Society and to learn of other Yorkshire organisations. www.wakefieldhistoricalsociety.org.uk/about-us/blo

🧵The print Christ Church and Coal Staith, Leeds (1829) captures the city at full industrial pace. At its centre is one of John Blenkinsop’s rack-and-pinion locomotives pioneered by Salamanca (1812), the first of its kind hauling coal toward the River Aire. This was the Middleton

Did Matthew Tomlinson care about cruelty to animals? Did he scorn foolishness in other men? Find out more in the new post from Matthew Tomlinson's journals: The Cruelty and Foolishness of Men, March 1838 MATTHEWTOMLINSONJOURNALS.WORDPRESS.COM The Cruelty and Foolishness of Men, March 1838

Tom Licence was able to research this topic because the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was available for study rather than being sold to a private, anonymous individual. IYKYK. www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

This whole🧵 and the one embedded underneath are such a lovely example of what local history societies stand for. What one person can do with a curious mind and a stubborn and methodical nature to investigate their local surroundings

A new post has been added to the Matthew Tomlinson Journal blog: 'The Dangers of Drink, March 1807' matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/03/14/t...

AGM and talks by members Wed 11 March At our AGM thanks were paid to our outgoing President Pam Judkins for her outstanding contribution for the last 14 years. The AGM was followed by talks by members of the Civic Art research group: www.wakefieldhistoricalsociety.org.uk/whs-events/p...

Today is International Women's Day and this post features a newspaper report from Penrith Observer on 4 September 1917 about Nellie Spindler from Wakefield who as a nurse in World War 1 in France who paid the ultimate sacrifice for helping many others. #IWD

A new post has been added to the Matthew Tomlinson Journal blog. Tomlinson often welcomed strangers into his farmhouse, and he was always pleased to engage in theological discussion, this time on the nature of God: matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/03/08/d...

A new post has been added to our blog, 'Matthew Tomlinson's Journal.' Tomlinson watched the impressive funeral of John Carr the famous architect who was buried in 1807 at Horbury parish church which he had designed and funded. matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/02/28/t...

County Hall Wakefield, former seat of the West Riding County Council, and Wakefield's most elegant classical building.

The #GregorianCalendar was introduced in a papal bull #OnThisDay in 1582. Despite numerous attempts by radicals to reform the calendar, commerce usually decides how we measure time. 🔓 This archive article is free for 7 days www.historytoday.com/archive/hist...

There is a new post on the Matthew Tomlinson blog: 'Attending an Inquest on a Dead Baby, February 1808': matthewtomlinsonjournals.wordpress.com/2026/02/21/a... The inquest had to decide whether this was a case of infanticide, and Tomlinson shows his sympathy for the mother and her family.