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| This photograph was taken for Leeds Museums and Galleries and is licensed under Creative Commons BY NC SA |
This anonymous drawing is titled the “Leeds Gas Riots” and
shows events around New Wortley Railway Bridge, Wellington Road, in July 1890.
This eruption of violence came in the wake of a bitter
Gasworkers’ strike which started in June 1890. The Gas Committee of Leeds
Corporation wanted to save rate-payers money by enforcing a reduction in the
working hours of coke stokers during the summer months (when demand for gas was
less) and a strike was inevitable. The
council tried to break the strike by bringing in expensive blackleg labour from
Manchester and London, but this served to rally other trade unionists, led by
Tom Maguire, to support the strikers and to physically prevent blackleg workers
from entering the gasworks. The Gas
Committee called in armed Dragoons from York and riots broke out on 1st
July.
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| Sword (about 1850) used by Leeds Police during the Gas Riots 1890 This photograph was taken by Norman Taylor for Leeds Museums and Galleries and is licensed under Creative Commons BY NC SA |
Violence broke out as the imported workers were escorted by
Dragoons and police from the city centre to the gas works (south of the
river). At the railway arch in
Wellington Road several thousand angry workers hurled missiles (including
boulders, timber, iron pipes and bottles) from the bridge and railway
embankment.
The drawing features in the 2016 exhibition “Crime and
Punishment” at Abbey House Museum, and there turns out to be a direct
connection to Abbey House. Among those injured was Thomas R. Harding, a
magistrate and owner of Tower Works in Holbeck, whose son had just moved into
Abbey House. In his autobiography
Colonel Thomas Walter Harding recalled that his first night at Abbey House
coincided with the gas riots and that early next morning he was called to the
scene. He was vice-president of the
Leeds Chamber of Commerce and so was appointed as mediator for the dispute. Factory owners were beginning to put pressure
on the council to restore a normal gas supply as soon as possible. The strike was resolved in favour of the
striking gas workers and the victory was regarded as Tom Maguire’s finest hour
but Harding must also take some of the credit for the peaceful resolution. His actions help explain his popularity with
both employers and workers and helped his election as a city councillor for
Headingley and subsequent election as Lord Mayor in 1898.
Kitty Ross, Curator of Leeds History
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| Colonel T. Walter Harding, Abbey House, Kirkstall in 1893 Photograph: Leeds Museums and Galleries, licensed under Creative Commons BY NC SA |
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