Records of Scholes Preparative Meeting of the Society of Friends

Minutes of Preparative Meeting, 1874-1887, 1909-1987 (7 vols.) [EF 1-7]; Lists of members and attenders, 1884-1958 (2 items) [EF 11-12]; Account of subscribers for new Meeting House, 1883 [Y 10]; Account book, 1910-1951 [EF 16]; Account of building and opening of new Meeting House, 1883 [EF 15]; Papers, 1884-1990 (1 bundle) [EF 10]

A group of Friends emerged around Liversedge in the early 1650s, after George Fox passed through the area; however they were historically part of Brighouse Preparative Meeting. They included the Green family, William Newby and Rowland Glaister in Liversedge, and Jonas Long or Lang in neighbouring Hightown. There was a Meeting House and burial ground in Quaker Lane on the outskirts of Hightown from at least 1700. During the 18th century, the Crosland family of Oldfieldnook, near Scholes, played a leading role amongst local Friends. However worship eventually ceased in the area before 1800. Many decades later, in 1872, Quaker worship began to be held in the Victoria Institute in Hartshead Moor, near Scholes, under the care of Brighouse Preparative Meeting. The site for a Meeting House and burial ground was given by James Crosland in 1880 and opened three years' later. In 1884, Scholes acquired Preparative Meeting status. Despite a period of closure between 1961 and 1966, it is still in existence, as part of Brighouse Monthly Meeting.

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

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

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

In English

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

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 in Leeds University Library: Records of Victoria Institute, Hartshead Moor; Brighouse Preparative Meeting, and Brighouse Monthly Meeting

See D. Blamires, A history of Quakerism in Liversedge and Scholes (author, 1973)

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