Records of Leeds and District Adult School Sub Union of the Society of Friends

Scope and Content

Minutes, 1937-1948 (1 vol.) [TT 62]; [Samuel Southall], The story of the Leeds Adult Schools (Leeds and District Adult School Sub Union, 1909) [O 11/13]

Administrative / Biographical History

Following the jubilee of the Friends First Day Schools in Leeds, celebrated in 1897, the movement lost momentum. The Adult Schools lapsed their membership in 1898 and organised their own United Quarterly Meetings. In 1903, following on from enthusiastic meetings at the Friends Adult School in Burley Road, a special meeting took place, addressed by Edwin Gilbert on the question of 'The Adult School Movement in Leeds: shall it go forward?'. The so-called 'forward movement' addressed the lack of recruitment of new members, the failure of the Adult Schools to promote themselves, and the need for more efficient internal organisation. A Leeds and District Adult School Sub Union, on broad undenominational lines, was formed that same year. The first members were Burley Road and Camp Road, followed by Woodhouse Carr and Carlton Hill. By 1909, 22 Adult Schools had affiliated to the Sub Union, 14 of which had separate classes for women. The total membership stood at 2311. The Sub Union was still in existence in 1948.

Arrangement

The records are numbered and arranged according to the system used when they were in Carlton Hill Meeting House

Access Information

The conditions of deposit include a clause requiring written prior permission from a Friend Custodian for access to consult current legal documents and any material less than fifty years old

Acquisition Information

The collection of archives of the Society of Friends formerly held at the Friends Meeting House at Carlton Hill, Leeds

Note

In English

Other Finding Aids

Contents listed in Handlist 99, "Inventory of the records of Brighouse, Knaresborough, Leeds, and Settle Monthly Meetings of the Society of Friends formerly preserved at the Friends Meeting house, Carlton Hill, Leeds", 2nd edition, 1997

Conditions Governing Use

As with access, the photocopying of current legal documents and any material less than fifty years old requires the permission of a Friend Custodian

Related Material

Related material in Leeds University Library: Records of Yorkshire Adult School Union and individual Adult Schools in Leeds

Bibliography

S. Southall, The story of the Leeds Adult Schools (Leeds and District Adult School Sub Union, 1909)

Additional Information

The records are deposited and remain the property of the Society of Friends