The travels of a Leeds Police helmet: the Senegal connection

One of the treasures of the Thoresby Society collection, which has recently been transferred to Leeds Museums and Galleries, is this Leeds City Police badge.  It is of interest in its own right as it is the design worn by the police shortly after Leeds gained city status in 1893 and probably dates from about 1895.

This photograph was taken by Sara Porter for Leeds Museums and Galleries and is licensed under Creative Commons BY NC SA.

What happened to it over the next twenty years is less clear but somehow it had ended up in West Africa by 1916.  The accompanying letter sent to the Chief of Leeds City Police explains the circumstances:

District Commissioner’s Office, Zouaragu, Navorro , 19^th August 1916

Sir,

I have the honour to enclose herewith a badge belonging to one of your Force which was found on a native here on the borders of French Haut-Senegal and Niger.  It was on a policeman’s helmet which he was wearing, and which he stated he had bought in Coomassie market.

We are strict here in not allowing the natives, except those employed by the Government, to wear badges etc. as they impose on the raw savages up here, and loot under the guise of being in the Government Service.

I presume the helmet must have been sold in a pawnshop, but I thought the badges were always taken off.  I have seen in a small trading store in Northern Transvaal a London and N.W. Railway guard’s frock coat for sale with the company’s buttons still attached.

I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant, Louis Castillain, District Commissioner

We only hope that the gentleman concerned was not punished too severely for this transgression and was allowed to keep his hat (minus the badge).

The badge is on display in the Crime and Punishment exhibition at Abbey House until the end of December 2016. http://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/Pages/Crime-and-Punishment.aspx

Kitty Ross, Curator of Leeds History

Decades of Youth: Growing Up In Twentieth Century Leeds

Our next Community History display at Abbey House Museum will focus on what it was like to be a young person growing up in different eras. It will be curated with Abbey House’s Vintage Youth Group,  who are all between 13 and 24 years old. 

Share your memories!
The Vintage Youth Group want to hear from you and your memories of being between 13 and 24 in different decades, from the 1940s and 50s, through the 60s and 70s, to the 80s, 90s and Noughties.

The big question we want to answer is: how has the experience of being a young person in Leeds changed?

We want your comments and memories, but also any photos you may have of yourselves as young people to form part of a montage in the exhibition.  We also want your memories to inform what objects we put on display.

Tell us about your teenage years
We'd like to know what was important to you when you were young? Was it getting your first job, or furthering your studies?

Were you socialising out with friends?  Listening to the latest music? Were you dedicated follower of the latest fashion?  What hobbies and interests did you have?

Did you undertake National Service or were you letting your hair down?  Were you among the first wave of 18 year olds casting your vote? Finding love? Setting up home?

Teddy boy, Glam chick, Mod, Rocker, Punk, Disco diva, Goth, Britpop fan or true individual, we want to hear from you.

How to share your memories:
Post your memories in the comments section below, on our Facebook page, via Twitter, or email me at Patrick.Bourne@leeds.gov.uk

We’d also love to see any pictures of you in your ‘era’ so don't be shy in sharing them with us on social media! We have an Instagram account @leedsmuseumsandgalleries, so do tag us in any photos. 

The Decades of Youth display will launch on July 30 2016 at Abbey House Museum.

Women's History Season at Leeds City Museum

This March and April we are putting on our first season of talks, events and study days relating specifically to women’s history.

Why are we holding these events?
 Traditionally history has focussed on the lives of those that were thought of as the important figures in society – politicians, rulers, soldiers etc. – but the vast majority of those were men. In recent years there has been a real growth in interest in social history, and in particular looking at more general experiences of life. This has included a huge growth in interest in how women have lived their lives over the centuries.

Rather than just hold a one off event for International Women’s Day we thought it might be nice to bring together museum colleagues and other speakers and researchers from organisations across Leeds to put on a whole season looking at different aspects of women’s history.

What are the talks on?
Whilst it is by no means an exhaustive selection of topics, we do have a good range from a Medieval Women Study Day to a talk on the history of Girl Guiding, via a range of topics including votes for women, gender in natural history galleries, and even Jewish fashion.

Our first talk is on March 1st at 2pm, Leeds City Museum. Janet Douglas will be speaking about Isabella Ford: Socialism, Feminism and Peace.

Find out more!
If you fancy joining us for any of the events and want to find out more you can visit our special Women’s History website. Each drop down list at the bottom of the page takes you to a list of either events, talks, or study days.

 Events and talks are free and on a drop in basis. There is a charge for study days (which includes lunch in our café), and places do need to be booked in advance with Leeds City Museum as they are limited.

Leeds Gas Riots

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 1^st July.

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.

Colonel T. Walter Harding, Abbey House, Kirkstall in 1893
Photograph: Leeds Museums and Galleries, licensed under Creative Commons BY NC SA

Kitty Ross, Curator of Leeds History

Leeds, Locomotives and the Swedish Nightingale

The current popularity of all things Scandinavian in our cultural life, from IKEA to ‘Borgen’ and ‘The Bridge’, may seem like a relatively recent trend, but as early as 1848 the people of Leeds were in thrall to one particular Swedish talent. 

A news cutting from the Leeds Times of 9th December from our collections describes scenes of near hysteria surrounding the visit to the city of Swedish soprano Jenny Lind.   In July 1847, she starred in the world première of Verdi’s opera I masnadieri at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Lind, by now dubbed ‘The Swedish Nightingale’, then embarked on a tour of the English provinces, including Leeds. 

Cutting from the Leeds Times, 9th December 1848

The Leeds Times reported that following the concert: ‘So great was the multitude assembled in the street to catch a glimpse of Jenny Lind that a strong body of police was obliged to interfere, and it was some time ‘ere the street could be sufficiently cleared for the carriages to pass.’

But what, if anything, does all this have to do with Leeds industrial history?  

A key exhibit in the recently re-developed orientation space at Leeds Industrial Museum is the very fine model of locomotive number 287 of the ‘Jenny Lind’ class built from 1847 by E. B. Wilson & Company of Leeds for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. 

The ‘Jenny Lind’ locomotive model at Leeds Industrial Museum

The model was built by a Mr Thomas Dixon of Bramley and presented to Leeds City Museum by his granddaughter Mrs A. E. Sinclair.  It is thought to have been completed in around 1895.  According to the donor, Mr Dixon had ambitions to work for the railways, which were thwarted by pressure to work for his family’s wheel wrighting business. 

It is believed that Mr Dixon constructed the majority of the model’s components himself, with the exception of the wheels, dome and funnel.  Mr Dixon’s son Harry is recorded as remembering the locomotive running.  As far as can be ascertained, the model was accepted into the museum’s collection without a tender. 

E. B. Wilson & Company of Leeds:
The story of the Leeds company E.B. Wilson is highly significant in the history of early locomotive building.  Extracts from the diaries of Wilson’s Chief Draughtsman David Joy were published by the Railway Magazine in 1908.  These provide a fascinating insight into the development of the ‘Jenny Lind’ class of locomotive and its success with many contemporary railway companies. 

As much as possible, E.B. Wilson sought to standardise production of the ‘Jenny Lind’ class, charging railway companies a premium for alterations to designs.  Over 70 of the class of locomotives were built, with 24 being purchased by the Midland Railway.  There is, however, some debate about whether Joy, James Fenton or even E.B. Wilson were responsible for the design of the ‘Jenny Lind’ locomotive.  

Jenny Lind, soprano

Joy’s diaries were published by the Railway Magazine (1908, volumes 22 & 23).  These contain some fascinating snippets on the development of the Jenny Lind locomotives.  Here are a few extracts:

May 1847
‘First Brighton engine was called "Jenny Lind" after the famous singer, "Jenny Lind," who was making a great excitement in London. I made a very highly finished drawing 1 in. to 1 ft. of her (the engine, not Jenny), which was lithographed, and sent about’

May 1847
‘In these wild days there was one driver especially attached to Railway Foundry, one Jack Hemsworth, also called "Hell fire Dick," but he dare do anything, and was a splendid driver. He was one of the first contract men - in the days when real coke saving was begun. 

At this time the "Jenny" had become a very popular engine, and we were building for very many railways as well as the Brighton, especially for the Midland, and on this line it was decided to have a trial of a 6 ft. "Jenny" against an ordinary Midland engine . . .’

  

The ‘Jenny Lind’ model locomotive made by Charles Wilson

We have another model of a Jenny Lind class locomotive (see above), built by Mr Charles Wilson, a driver with the Leeds & Thirsk Railway.  This particular model is believed to have featured in the 1851 Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace.  Given the prototype ‘Jenny Lind’ was built in 1847, this is a remarkable near-contemporary model and one object which certainly deserves to emerge from its secret life!   

‘Jenny Lind’ model, National Railway Museum
(Photo: John Clarke)

Other museums where Jenny Linds crop up include the National Railway Museum, Dehli, where a full-sized replica is on display, and the National Railway Museum, York, who have several fine models.

With the ‘Swedish Nightingale’ visiting Leeds in December 1848, at the height of her powers, it would be fascinating to know how far the decision to name the locomotive after her was influenced by her forthcoming visit to Leeds. 


By Curator of Industrial History John McGoldrick

Sepik Art at Leeds Museums

Last week I was in Paris for the opening of a stunning exhibition on Sepik art at the Musee de Quai Branly, and a two day workshop on The Materiality of Sepik societies in 2015. The exhibition coincides with the 40th anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s independence. 

The Sepik River is an area with a distinctive style of ancestor figure sculpture and portrait heads, some shown in family dwellings, and others in the huge sacred men’s houses or Haus Tambarans. Different musical instruments are linked to men’s initiation into sacred knowledge.

Abelam yam mask photographed by missionaries Barbara
and John Ross in the Wosera area of Papua New Guinea.

Here in Leeds we have a few examples of Sepik art. These include a large chunky figure hook, probably an ancestor figure, which shows the sort of scarification designs that men acquire during initiation, on their shoulders, back, navel and thighs. 

Much better documented is a collection of 50 or so items purchased in 1983 from Barbara and John Ross, who lived for a while amongst the Abelam, in the Wosera area of Papua New Guinea, helping with the educational side of missionary work (Their collection is accessioned as LEEDM.F.1983.200 to 251). Their items include several Abelam yam masks (pictured above), a basketry Iatmul pig mask, and some of the huge colourful net bags with their intricate geometric designs.

Mr and Mrs Ross also let Leeds Museums make prints from a selection of their colour slides, including images of yam masks at a Yam distribution at Malba in 1976 and masked dancers at a funeral dance at Magendo in 1977.

Keram River story board from Papua New Guinea

Other key items in the Ross collection are one of the huge sago pots from the village of Aibom, a large Iatmul mask with feather hair, nassa shell inlays, boar’s tusks, and bird shaped nose extension. The largest piece is a Keram River story board (pictured above).

According to John Ross this intricate carving tells a traditional story about a village sorcerer who can change himself into a crocodile. Two flute players are playing traditional songs, whilst a man with a cockatoo's head represents a cockatoo spirit bird. These storyboards developed after the 1940s, taking inspiration from earlier paintings on sago spathe which hung inside the sacred men’s houses on the underside of the roof.

It was a delight to see so many key pieces of Sepik art at the Paris exhibition and hear talks from a broad range of anthropologists who have made the Sepik their special area of study.

By Antonia Lovelace, World Cultures Curator