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A community magazine for residents in Acomb and the surrounding area.

In 2000 Geoff Hodgson, a well-known and respected local historian, who was regularly conducting historical walks around the village, was asked to form a Group and appointed Dorothy Holdsworth as Secretary. Acomb Local History Group formed part of a wider network of groups formed through York Central Library. Dorothy Holdsworth and Kay Naisbitt promoted the Group and delivered hundreds of leaflets. They were also joined by John Terry. Geoff Hodgson died on 20th February 2004, however the Group continues with a membership of over 160.

Acomb Parish Council was officially created at some point after the Local Government Act of 1894 formed Parish Councils. The new Parish Councils assumed responsibility for local civic and social welfare which was previously managed through ecclesiastical parishes. Acomb became part of the York Unitary Authority in 1996.

Acomb windmill stood on a site near the present water-tower on Severus Hill but on the Acomb side of the boundary. It may have been damaged in the Civil War in the 17th century and appears to have fallen into disuse about this time. Holgate Mill (also referred to as Acomb Windmill) was built on a different site towards the end of the 19th century where it remains today.

Renamed Civil Defence Committee in 1943

Following the Municipal Reform Act, aldermen continued to be at the heart of local government in York, but their status was changed. The number remained the same at twelve, one third of the total body of councillors, but appointments were for 6 years only, rather than life. They were selected by the council, not the electorate (including the outgoing aldermen, until this was ended by national legislation in 1910).

The inner circle of twelve became known as aldermen by 1399. They were elected for life until the corporation was reformed in 1835..

The DORA powers for local authorities to acquire land for allotments during the First World War expired in 1923. A new act was made in 1922 which provided more security of tenure and specified the chief uses to which an allotment could be put. Merged with Parks Committee once more in the 1960s.
Functions originally part of the Strays Committee (1907-1913), followed by the Parks Committee before a dedicated Allotments Committee was formed in the 1920s. The Parks and Allotments Committees merged once more in 1961.

Archbishop Holgate's School was founded by Robert Holgate, Archbishop of York, in 1546, on a site between Ogleforth and the City Walls in the shadow of York Minster. The site was chosed as it was on land owned by Holgate himself.

In 1858 the school moved to a new site at Lord Mayors Walk, before moving to its current location on Hull Road in 1963.

Until 1985, Archbishop Holgate's was an all-boys' grammar school. With the reorganisation of education in York in 1985, the school changed its name to Archbishop Holgate's School, and became a co-educational comprehensive school. During this transition period the outdoor swimming pool was converted to an indoor pool, a new sports hall was built, and upgrades were made to music, design and technology, home economics and other facilities.

In 2009 a £4.3 million two-storey learning centre with landscaping, parking and bike storage, called the LearningCentre@AHS was built, and now serves as the home of the school's sixth form facilities.

On 1 April 2011, Archbishop Holgate's School officially gained academy status. The school built new two-storey English block which opened in late April 2014. The school development is for expansion due to a larger intake of students because of the closure of Burnholme community college and new housing estates.

The school's ethos is the idea that having a Christian foundation at the centre of all it does give the school an extra dimension, an additional facet, giving it a distinctiveness compared to most community schools. Church status does not provide a context for evangelising; those committed to Christianity will, on the other hand, often find many ways in which their faith can find expression through the corporate values of the school.

The company began early in the 19th century when Gordon Armstrong opened the East Riding Engineering Works in Beverley. He then started a firm manufacturing shock absorbers in the 1920s. His William took over in 1945, establishing a research and development department in Fulford.

William Armstrong opened the York factory in 1949, to manufacture a new type of suspension unit for Ford cars and to establish the company's range of telescopic shock absorbers. The company later opened factories in Australia, Canada, the United States and South Africa. By the 1960s, Armstrong's had three manufacturing divisions and the York factory expanded in 1965.

But just six years later, Armstrong Patents warned that 250 of its 1,300 employees could be laid off due to Ford and postal strikes. After years of UK-wide industrial strife, and as foreign-built cars grew in popularity, the company announced another 400 redundancies in York in 1980. A year later, the Beverley factory closed.

Fears the York factory would close in 1986 were averted but then in 1989, after losing a £3.3m contract with Nissan, the company was sold to the American firm Tenneco and the York factory became Monroe's. Further redundancies followed, and the factory closed in 2000 with the loss of the remaining 392 jobs.

Arnett's Butchers were located at 79 Front Street, Acomb, and were a local butchers shop supplying meats to the local area.

The art gallery buildings were used and altered by the military authorities during WWII. The building was improved and redeveloped between 1948-1951. First professional curator appointed in 1947. Opened a folk museum in the female prison within York castle in 1938. The debtors's prison extension was opened in 1952.
Previously named Museum and Art Gallery Committee (1912-1932). Instructed Curator.

The school of art was formed from two art schools which merged in 1905, one in St Leonard's and one created as part of the Mechanics Institute. Following the 1899 Technical Education Act, the city took over the Institute in 1891 and ran its own schools of art and science. The art school moved to the art gallery building in Exhibition square around the early 20th centry.
Reported to Technical Instruction Committee (in various incarnations).

Art Scene magazine was a regular magazine about the art world in York, including directories of local artists and exhibitions. The magazine was in existence prior to 1968, and continued until the 2000s at least.

Founded in 1955 to represent local guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers and their members.

The business began operating in 1815 when it was purchased from the Telford family by the brothers James and Thomas Backhouse, Quakers in York. James Backhouse had been apprenticed to Wagstaffe's nursery in Norwich for two years when he was 19 years old, and had spent time visiting nurseries in Scotland prior to the purchase. Their purchase of the nursery was advertised in the York Courant on 13 May 1816. By 1821 the Backhouse family were advertising their ability to undertake 'plantations by the acre' and supply 'gentlemen with experienced gardeners.'

The original firm was founded at Tanner Row, Toft Green, in about 1665, and the Backhouse business continued on the same site. In 1831, following the death of his wife, James left England for Australia to undertake Quaker missionary work. He left the business in the care of family members for the following ten years, during which time he sent back an array of plant samples and seeds from his travels.

In 1841 James returned to England and took up the running of the nursery, first with his brother and then with his son. That same year the nursery moved from Toft Green to make way for the new York railway station. The coming of the railways allowed Backhouse Nurseries to distribute correspondence, plants and seeds much more effectively around the country from their new premises in Fishergate. In 1853 the business moved again, this time to a 100 acre site at Holgate, York.

James Backhouse died in 1869 and the business was continued by his son James, who was later joined by his own son, also James. During this period the business was at its height, with a plant import business, rockery, 40 greenhouses and an underground fernery.

The agricultural depression of the 1880s, followed by the 1910 Land Tax bill and the First World War, compounded by increased competition between nurserymen, all contributed to the decline of demand in plants. Despite James Backhouse forming a new company in 1891 to try and save the business - Backhouse Nurseries (York) Ltd - the firm suffered a series of financial losses. In 1921 much of the land owned by the nurseries was sold off, and the business was officially wound-up in 1955.

York had three bailiffs. They were replaced by two sheriffs when York became a county in 1396.
Replaced by sheriffs in 1396.

Banks' Music Room is thought to be the United Kingdom's oldest retailer, and was opened by Thomas Haxby on 15 June 1756 in Blake Street, York. Haxby built up an impressive retail business, and at the same time developed a business manufacturing and repairing instruments. In 1788, Haxby sold the retail business to Samuel Knapton, a hairdresser and cellist, and the business moved to alternative premises in Blake Street opposite York's Assembly Rooms. The business later passed to his son Philip, and in 1803 moved to premises in Coney Street.

The Knapton family took the business into the realms of music publishing, and in 1829, the business was transferred to William Hardman. After Hardman's death in 1855, Henry Banks, who had been his assistant for the previous 15 years, took over the business. It is from this point that the current name originates.

In 1855 Banks moved the business to 2 Stonegate, before moving it again in 1904 to 58 Stonegate, a property looking directly onto St Helen's Square. The shop was to remain on this site until 1985, with the business passing through various generations of the Banks family.

In 1985 the business relocated to 18 Lendal, where it continues to trade from today.

York-born nun Mary Ward began a mission to educate girls in the Catholic faith in order to continue future generations of Catholics. She launched her convent run schools on the continent, where Catholicism was still legal, and built up a community around her to direct them. After her death the Sisterhood returned to York in 1686. Wishing his daughters to be given a local, Catholic education, Yorkshire businessman Thomas Gasgoine gave the Sisterhood £500 to start a small school – the Bar Convent Girls School. Gaining a good reputation, the school grew in popularity, and the Convent block in the Lower School site was built to accommodate a boarding school and a Convent.

In the 1800's, an extra wing was added to accommodate a day school, and in 1925 the Bar Convent School became a Grammar School, enabling locals to apply for scholarships.

Boys were accepted in the mid 1970's and in the early 1980's, on the abolition of the Grammar School system, to secure the future of free education for the Catholic community around York, the responsibility of the school passed from the Sisterhood to the Diocese of Middlesbrough. The school was re-opened as All Saints Roman Catholic School.
All Saints Roman Catholic School, 1985-present.

Barron & Barron was founded in 1893. In 2011 it merged with Mitchells accountants of Leeds and Harrogate, and in 2013 merged with Barber Harrison & Platt, an independent firm of chartered accountants and business advisors based in Sheffield. At that time the practice name changed to BHP Barron & Barron.

BBC Radio York was launched at 6.30am on 4 July 1983 – a launch featured on the cover of the Radio Times. A year prior to its launch a temporary AM service was broadcast for the coverage of the visit of Pope John Paul II. Broadcasts originally lasted between 6.30am and 1pm and 4pm and 6pm during the week with weekends restricted to 8am till 2pm. BBC Radio York is still the only countywide station in North Yorkshire. Notable former presenters include Jon Champion, Rob Hawthorne, Will Hanrahan, Victor Lewis Smith, Richard Whiteley and Richard Hammond.

In 1980, a steering group was formed by members of some of York's surviving guilds, to discuss the possibility of using the building as a new guild hall. Shortly afterwards the Company of Cordwainers, the Gild of Freemen and the York Guild of Building formed the Bedern Hall Company. The company raised the funds to add further facilities to complement the Hall, and a modern annexe was added to ensure that the building was equipped for the needs of future generations. Among the most striking of the modern additions are the stained glass panels in the windows, commemorating Guild members.

Since restoration, the Hall has been used by a variety of organisations as a venue for dinners, meetings and conferences. In 2005, it was licensed for civil wedding celebrations. It is also used as a meeting venue and events space.

Bellerby's Decorators was a business located in Petergate, York, owned by the Bellerby family. The business was founded in around 1914, and specialised in painting and decorating services to private and business customers. Their commissions included the gold leafing in both York Minster and All Saints' Church, the renovation of Fairfax House, and work on the Sultan of Oman's palace in the 1980s.

The business was wound-up in 1988 when Derek Bellerby retired.

Ben Johnson was originally formed in 1841, when Hull printer William Goddard and businessman John William Lancaster joined forces and set up shop in Bridge Street, York. Seven years later, the partnership was dissolved, but John Lancaster kept the premises. He then employed Ben Johnson, who had served as an apprentice to an engraver in Huddersfield, to take control of his printing and stationery business. By 1880, Johnson was the sole owner and the firm took his name. A factory had been built in Micklegate and was expanded until, in 1907, it covered 75,000 sq ft.

After his death in 1901, Ben's sons, Cecil and Gilbert, took control of the business. In 1932, fire destroyed the mainly wooden factory and new premises were built in Boroughbridge Road.

American firm RR Donnelley's took over the factory in the early 80s, and a ten-year contract began to produce millions of telephone directories for British Telecom.

Bishophill Action Group was formed in the 1970s as a protest group against City of York Council proposals for an inner ring road just outside the city walls. The group were against the destruction of properties in the Bishophill area to make way for the road, and protested accordingly. Once the ring road plan was finally settled, the group turned its attention to other issues in the area, including the proposed building of a multi-storey car park, the demolition of properties in Buckingham Street and the renovation of 26-34 Skeldergate.

The group appears to have ceased functioning in 1995.

Formed in 1894 along with the York, Escrick and Flaxton Out-Relief Unions. All four out-relief unions were attached to the York Union, otherwise known as the Joint York Union.
Jointly administered with the Bishopthorpe Rural District Council; part of the Joint York Union

Rural districts were established in 1894, along with urban districts, to replace the earlier system of sanitary districts. In York, the Flaxton, Bishopthorpe and Escrick Rural District Councils were abolished in 1974 and merged with urban districts and boroughs to form district councils.
Jointly administered the Bishopthorpe Out-Relief Union until 1930.

The Black Swan Folk Club was formed in September 1979. It meetings at 8.15pm every Thursday night at the Black Swan pub, Peaseholme Green, York, and offers a range of resident musicians and perfomers, formal concerts and guest singers. From the 1980s until 2019 the club was run by Roland Walls. Since 2001 the club has also held larger concerts of bigger name performers in the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, and the Crescent Club.

In 2020 the club posted weekly 'Virtual' sessions on YouTube during the coronavirus lockdown.
Walls; Roland (1954-2019)

John Dales, an alderman of the City of York, founded the firm in 1780. The business passed to James Moore Butterfield and became Butterfield & Clarke in 1838 when he took on Joseph Clarke as his partner. J M Butterfield died in the early 1850s and his share of the business was acquired by William Bleasdale in 1856. The business was established at 23 Colliergate, York. As a result of two fires, in 1863 and 1864 the premises had to be completely rebuilt in 1866. By this time they were operating a drug grinding mill and manufacturing laboratory in addition to a distribution warehouse. Bleasdale became sole proprietor following the deaths of Clarke and Tollinton and the retirement of Bell, and traded under the name of W. Bleasdale & Company until his death in 1888. In 1894 it was converted into a limited liability company Bleasdale Ltd., the employees and customers acquiring the business with Grierson as managing director. The company continued to do well until the National Health Service came into being in 1948. After this, it gradually ran down the manufacturing side of the business and concentrated on the wholesaling operation. In 1982 the company made the decision not to re-register as a public company, and it moved from Colliergate to a warehouse at 2 Birch Park, Huntington Road, York.

Basis of the "New Poor Law". Previously, poor relief had been organised at the parish level. The New Poor Law grouped parishes into Poor Law Unions to better distribute the balance of poor rate payers and receivers within an area. In York, the system was not implemented until 1837. Board of Guardians were elected annually by property owners and rate-payers. The York Poor Law Union was founded with 32 urban and 48 rural parishes.
Not part of corporation but supported by a council officer: Clerk to the Guardians. Poor relief function transferred from Overseers of the Poor in 1837. Administration of institutions transferred to council Welfare Committee in 1948.

The need to regulate trade between Great Britain, the remaining British colonies and the independent United States of America, and between Britain and France after the Peace of Versailles in 1783 led William Pitt to establish a new Committee of Council on Trade and Plantations (later known as 'the First Committee') by an order in Council of 5 March 1784. To strengthen this committee he reconstructed it by a second order, of 23 August 1786, under which it operated for the rest of its existence.

The committee has been known as the Board of Trade since 1786, but this title was only adopted officially by an Act of 1861. Its first functions were consultative, like those of William III's board, and its concern with plantations, in matters such as the approval of colonial laws, was originally a reality. As the industrial revolution progressed, however, the board's work became increasingly executive and domestic and from the 1840's a succession of acts of parliament gave it regulatory duties, notably concerning railways, merchant shipping, and joint stock companies.

To deal with these new functions specialised branches were developed, while the remaining business was transacted until 1863 by a Commercial (also called General) Department. Besides its wider consultative business, this department dealt with art unions, charters, colonial and commercial questions, copyright, corn returns, quarantine, licences to limited companies to hold land, merchant shipping and seamen, navigation laws, schools of design and tariffs. From an early stage, the board's business was transacted at nominal meetings attended only by the President and the Vice President and their secretaries, which occurred twice a week. After 1845 even these nominal meetings ceased.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the board acquired many new responsibilities (several of which were later transferred to other government departments) and underwent periodic reorganisations, notably in 1919 after the end of the First World War. Responsibility for fisheries was transferred to the Board of Agriculture in 1903, labour functions to the Ministry of Labour in 1917, railways to the Ministry of Transport in 1919, merchant shipping to the Ministry of Shipping in 1939 and fuel and power to the Ministry of Fuel and Power in 1942.

The board's duties nevertheless remained numerous, especially during the First and Second World Wars and by the 1960's included a general responsibility for commerce, industry and overseas trade and in particular commercial relations with other countries; imports and exports; tariffs; industrial development; consumer protection; tourism; and statistics of trade and industry at home and abroad, including censuses of production and distribution.

The board was responsible for government relations with all industries not specifically the concern of other departments. It also had supervisory or regulatory duties concerning patents, designs and trademarks and copyright; weights and measures; merchandise marks; companies; bankruptcy; insurance; the distribution of industry; films; and enemy property.

The board's functions altered even more frequently during the administrative reorganisations of the 1960s. It regained its merchant shipping responsibilities from the Ministry of Transport in 1965 and acquired civil aviation duties from the Ministry of Aviation in 1966. It lost its responsibility for the distribution of industry and the sponsorship of individual industries to the Ministry of Technology in 1969 and for certain productivity services and for control over monopolies, mergers, and restrictive practices to the Department of Employment and Productivity in the same year. Finally, in October 1970 the board was merged with the Ministry of Technology to form the Department of Trade and Industry.

Bootham Bowling Club was formed in 1912 as the Minster Bowling Club, wih headquarters at the Minster Inn, Marygate, York, and playing on the Municipal Green in Marygate. The club joined the local league in 1913 and changed its name to Bootham and District Bowling Club.

Gradually the club assumed a prominent part in local events and in addition to winning all local and many County honours the club won the Yorkshire County Club Championship in 1950 and brought the 'Marshall Shield' to York for the first time.

In the late 1940s the President, A A Keech, provided the club with a new private green at Sycamore Place. This Cumberland Turf Green was officially opened in 1949, and at the same time the club name changed to Bootham Bowls Club.

Bootham School was opened in 1823 as a private boarding school. It was was the idea of William Tuke (1732-1822), who had first raised the idea of establishing a boy's school in York for the sons of Quakers in 1818. The school was seen as a solution to the growing numbers of children who were not eligible for Ackworth School near Pontefract. Suitable premises were found in Lawrence Street in 1822 and leased from the Retreat Hospital (run by a Quaker Committee) and the school opened early the following year.

In January 1829 a Quarterly Meeting Committee was appointed to run the school, under the management of John Ford, the 'Superintendant of the Establishment'. It then became known as the Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting Boys' School. By 1833 the school was teaching 50 boys, and the following year it founded its natural history society, believed to be the first in the country. In 1846 the school moved to 20 Bootham, York, however it only became known as Bootham School in 1915. In 1891 the school began to admit boys whose parents were not members of the Society of Friends.

In 1899 a fire at the school destroyed most of the classrooms. The premises was rebuilt and reopened in 1902.

In 1939 the School was evacuated briefly to Ampleforth College, while the buildings at Bootham were prepared for conversion into a hospital.

In the post-war period the School has grown in size and stature. In 1983, it adopted a co-educational system and admitted girls. In 1997, Ebor School, a Junior School, was acquired. In 2002 this moved to a purpose built school and became known as Bootham Junior School. Today Bootham is part of the mainstream independent school system, however it retains its founding Quaker principles, which include the pursuit of learning through science, progressive and reforming ideas, a respect for the individual, creativity and independent thought, and a responsible social conscience.

The Borthwick Institute of Historical Research was established in 1953 and was run by the Academic Development Committee of York Civic Trust (to 1956) and then by the York Academic Trust (1956-1963). These were both independent bodies which had no national or local government support.

The Borthwick Institute was founded as part of a programme of academic activities designed to support the city of York's campaign for a university, to provide more suitable accommodation for the York Diocesan Archive and to make this archive publicly available to scholars for the first time. The Borthwick was supported by an endowment, the Borthwick Trust, and was situated at St Anthony's Hall, Peasholme Green, York. The Borthwick became part of the new University of York in October 1963.

In 2005 the Borthwick's new £6.5m state-of-the-art accommodation opened on the University of York's Heslington campus. The new building was supported by a major grant of £4,415,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. In the same year the Borthwick merged with the University Library. It was renamed the Borthwick Institute for Archives and became part of the University Library and Archives.

The Borthwick Institute provides a records management and archive service for the corporate records of its parent body, and leads on the University's Data Protection and Freedom of Information compliance. In 2012 the Borthwick Institute began to establish a digital archive at the Borthwick Institute with the appointment of a Digital Archivist.
York Academic Trust

Originally responsible for practical upkeep of bridges, the post became defunct but continued in name. As late as the eighteenth century, chamberlain's had to pay a fine for exoneration from the office.
See also Chamberlains and Muremasters.

The origins of the firm lie in the partnership of John Carr and Peter Atkinson in York in the late eighteenth century. Peter Atkinson’s son, also Peter, joined the practice as a partner in 1801.

After the deaths of Peter Atkinson Senior (in 1805) and John Carr (in 1807), and following unsuccessful partnerships with Matthew Philips and Richard Hey Sharp, Peter Atkinson Junior went into partnership with his eldest son, John Bonas Atkinson, in 1831. His younger son, William, joined as partner in 1837, and together with his brother established the firm as a significant architectural practice. They were later joined by James Demaine in 1874 and Walter Henry Brierley in 1885.

The work of Brierley made the name of the firm. Between 1885 and 1926 it was responsible for over 300 buildings, including churches, houses and civic buildings in York and across the North of England. These include Northallerton County Hall, Scarcroft School in York, and Goddards on Tadcaster Road, built for the Terry family in the 1920s.

The firm was continued by his partner from 1911, James Hervey Rutherford, with Brierley's place taken by John Stuart Syme, who later entered into partnership with John Keighley and Cecil and John Leckenby.

Today the firm lives on as Brierley Groom, an architectural practice still based in York.

Gansolite Ltd established a factory on former Rowntree land in Haxby Road, York, in 1929, when Dutchman Jacob Gans moved his factory from Holland to the city. The factory produced buttons for a number of commercial clothing manufacturers. In 1983 the firm, then trading as British Buttons, was acquired by Ashley Goff and his son Stephen as part of a management buyout.

By 1990 British Buttons employed 70 people and manufactured an average of five million buttons a week. At that point it was the biggest selling button maker in Britain. That same year, production moved to Sutton on the Forest so that the Haxby Road premises in York could be cleared for redevelopment.

During the 1990s British button maufacturing began to go into decline. With the firm losing Marks & Spencer as a client in 1998 following a review of their materials purchasing, 30 to 40 per cent of business was lost in a year. This resulted in the firm filing for bankruptcy, before being rescued by Peter Bownes in 2000. With a continued decline in customers due to cheaper options being produced abroad, by 2003 the firm employed 18 staff and was manufacturing between 750,000 and 1.5 million buttons a week.

On 27 January 2003 staff were told that due to the the decline in orders the company had been placed in voluntary liquidation.

British Rail was solely responsible for the state railways of Britain, transforming a collection of exhausted, post-war steam operators into the modern network we know today.

The history of British Rail is the story of post-war rail travel in the UK. British Railways, known from the 1960s simply as British Rail, operated most of Britain's trains from 1948 to 1997. Formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" UK railway companies – LNER, LMS, GWR and SR – BR became an independent statutory corporation in 1962 (the British Railways Board) and oversaw the transformation of the UK rail network until its privatisation in the 1990s.

The decades after nationalisation in 1948 brought wholesale change to the national railway network, as governments committed to the elimination of steam traction in favour of diesel and electric power. Over time, with the growth of the road haulage sector, passengers replaced freight (especially coal transport) as the railways' main source of income, and, as rationalisation took hold in the 1960s, one third of the pre-1948 network was closed.

In the 1970s, British Rail began investing in High Speed Trains and by 1990 both main coastal express routes, the East and West Coast Main Lines had been electrified between London and central Scotland.

Following a 1950s modernisation plan designed to take Britain's railways from the 19th to the 20th century, Doctor Richard Beeching's 1963 report, 'The Reshaping of British Railways', recommended the closure of a third of passenger services and more than 4000 of the 7000 stations. Most of the closures were carried out between 1963 and 1970, and today's network is largely his legacy.

In 1982, British Rail passenger services were split into three core sectors: InterCity, NetworkSouthEast and Regional Railways. Then, between 1994 and 1997, British Rail was privatised, as track and infrastructure passed to Railtrack in 1994 and, later, passenger services were franchised in 25 blocks to private-sector operators. Freight services were sold outright. Overall, ownership and operation of the network became highly fragmented, as operations were split between more than 100 companies.

Burnholm Social Club was built by W G Penty in 1880 for the Former Lord Mayor of York John Bellerby. In around 1930 a speedway track was built on part of the estate, but only remained for a couple of years. Surrounding housing on Burnholme Ave were built during the 1930s. The Social Club still continued today but has since moved to a new purpose built building in the same area.

Member of the Cabinet.

Member of the Cabinet.

Member of the Cabinet.

Known as Cabinet Member for Corporate Services from May 2011-August 2012.
Member of the Cabinet.

Member of the Cabinet.

Tourism was transferred from the Leader portfolio to this Cabinet Member in August 2012.
Member of the Cabinet.

Known as Cabinet Member for City Strategy between May 2011- August 2012.
Member of the Cabinet.

CAMRA was set up by four men from the North West of England. The first CAMRA office was set up in St Albans at 94 Victoria Street but soon after outgrew this premises and moved to 34 Alma Road. In 1995 CAMRA moved to new purpose-built premises on Hatfield Road. Membership continued to grow and today stands at over 140,000. It has 200 branches across the UK.

Established when the corporation bought York prison in 1934. Historically the area around the castle (Clifford's Tower) had been owned by the crown and was outside corporation jurisdiction. There were plans to convert the castle area into municipal offices, and foundations were dug but the scheme was interrupted by WWII and never carried out. The folk museum, known as the Castle Museum was opened in 1938 in the female prison and expanded into the debtor's prison in 1952.
Shared functions with the Castle Museum Committee, established 1940.

Management of the Art Gallery and Castle Museum were traditionally by separate committees. These were merged around 1973.
Previously named Museum and Art Gallery Committee (1912-1932) and Art Gallery Committee (1932-c.1973). Instructed Curator of Art Gallery and Curator of Castle Museum. Gained responsibility from Castle Museum Committee c. 1973.

In the early 1970s the council sought operational control of Clifford's tower, which was refused by the Department of the Environment.
Instructed Curator (Castle Museum). Functions transferred to Museums and Art Gallery Committee (c.1974-1980s) around 1973.

The pressing need for a girls hostel in York became obvious to the Committee of St Stephen's Children's Home in 1953. It had become almost impossible to find suitable accommodation in York for the girls from St Stephen's who had reached school leaving age. Home Office regulations would not allow girls who had started work to remain in children's homes indefinitely. A survey showed the shortage of accommodation across the city to be very acute, and as such York Corporation was approached and asked whether they might be able to provide suitable accommodation under the Children's and Young Persons' Act, 1948, provided to residents at a cost which they could afford. The answer received was that the need in York was thought to be too small to warrant the expenditure by the Corporation. At the same time, it was suggested that if a voluntary committee could be formed to start the process of creating accommodation for young women, the Corporation would support it. Accordingly, a provisional committee was formed on 8 February 1954, and the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust was approached for financial aid. The Trustees provided £300 per year for three years to cover staff salaries, and a further £150 for one year to cover rent.

Soon afterwards, the Trustees were offered the opportunity to acquire Rawcliffe Holt, and the committee accepted the tenancy for three years in the first instance. Official sanction for a girls' hostel had already been acquired by the Home Office.

The provisional committee of the hostel was advised to form a Trust for administrative purposes. As a result, the Catherine Cappe Memorial Trust was set up in York following a public meeting at York Mansion House on 16 July 1954. The Trust was named in honour of Catherine Cappe, a writer in York in the 18th and 19th centuries who concerned herself with improving lives of young women and girls.

At the meeting in 1954 the Catherine Cappe Memorial Trust was formed, and a provisional committee appointed. The accommodation was made available from 1 January 1955, and the hostel welcomed its first residents on 29 January 1955.

It is unknown when the Trust officially ceased trading, however the Trust was still producing annual reports in 1973.
St Stephen's Orphanage

Cattley Ernest & Co were timber merchants in Skeldergate, York, throughout at least the first half of the 20th century.

First mentioned in 1290, the number of elected chamberlains ranged from three to eight. There was typically a chief chamberlain, or "Lord Mayor's Chamberlain" and a number of others either for support or in name only. How desirable the posts were varied over time: in the fifteenth century holders often had to supplement the city's finances from their own, whereas in the seventeen century the posts were seen as the first step on the ladder of civic office. The post was replaced by that of City Treasurer when the Corporation was reformed in 1835.
Replaced by City Treasurer in 1835.

The first city police force and chief constable were established in 1835. In 1925 there were 107 members of the force.
Reported to Watch Committee. Full responsibility for policing transferred to Corporation in 1835 from Magistrates and Parish Constables. Instructed Superintedendent and Deputy Chief Constable.

Managed Education Department. In the mid twentieth century the department was responsible for secondary and primary education places, York Technical College, school meals, staffing, purchasing, school health service, caretaking and cleaning, monitored attendence, youth employment service and child guidance clinic. Supported by a deputy and large staf.

First appointed in 1873 by Urban Sanitary Committee. As duties increased, so did size and activities of the Inspection department. Initially responsible for environmental nuisances, functions widened in the early twentieth century with the passing of legislation on food hygiene.
Reported to Urban Sanitary Committee (1873-1900) and its successor the Health Committee (1901-1974). Head of the Sanitary Inspection Department. Gained responsibility for factory sanitary conditions from Factory Inspector in 1921.

The 1948 Children Act made it the responsibility of local authorities to provide social care for children without parents or parents unable to provide suitable care. The committee and department were formed in 1948 with council members. Voluntary organisations working with "deprived children" were invited to nominate representatives for co-opted members. The committee considered appointing a joint Children Officer shared with the East Riding but both authorities decided against it.
Function created by legislation in 1948. Instructed Children's Officer.

The 1948 Children Act made it the responsibility of local authorities to provide social care for children without parents or parents unable to provide suitable care. A Children's Officer was appointed to head a social work Children's department.
Reported to Children Commitee (also known as Children's Committee)

The Diocese of York is the adminstrative body responsible for supporting and growing the Church of England membership in its area. By 2020 its jurisdiction included 589 churches and 125 schools in 443 parishes. The Diocese is committed to the praise of God through Jesus Christ and service to others, and is led and guided in their faith and work by the Archbishop of York.

There was a church at Nether Poppleton from at least the eleventh century. It was appropriated to St Mary's Abbey, York, at its foundation in 1088 and the Abbey held the advowson until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the sixteenth century, at which time it passed to the Crown and then to the Archbishop of York. It is not known when a vicarage was ordained there but it was described as such by the seventeenth century. The living was augmented in 1829.

The present parish church dates to the twelfth century. It is dedicated to the seventh century Saxon saint Everilda, who is believed to have led a monastic community at either Everingham or Nether Poppleton. The church was restored in the nineteenth century and in 1939 a new altar was installed, carved by Robert 'the Mouseman' Thompson of Kilburn. In 2015 an extension was added to house new kitchen and storage facilities.

In 1866 Upper Poppleton chapelry separated from Copmanthorpe parish to join that of Nether Poppleton. Today Nether Poppleton is part of the united parish and benefice of Nether with Upper Poppleton.

Upper Poppleton was originally a chapelry within the medieval parish of York, St Mary Bishophill Junior and thus subject to the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of York until the nineteenth century. In 1844 the chapelry became part of a new parish of Copmanthorpe with Upper Poppleton, and then in 1866 it separated from Copmanthorpe to join the existing parish and benefice of Nether Poppleton, which became Nether Poppleton with Upper Poppleton.

The present church, which is dedicated to All Saints, was built in 1890 by architect Charles Hodgson Fowler, replacing the medieval chapel of All Hallows. The church was altered in 1959-1972 by George Pace.

Churches Together in York was founded to encourage and provide the means for Churches to worship, pray and reflect together on the nature and purpose of the church, each church sharing with others its traditions and values with the diversity of tradition and practice being respected by all members, thus enabling churches to live and share the Gospel and to put the teachings of Christ into action by responding to the needs of society.

In 1938, the prospect of a second world war encouraged the government to establish a group to look at how the needs of the civilian population could be met during war time. This group suggested that Citizens Advice Bureaux should be established throughout the country. The first 200 bureaux opened in 1939 and were run by volunteers. They dealt with issues such as loss of ration books, homelessness, evacuation, missing relatives, prisoners of war and debt. Numbers of bureaux were halved in the 1950s but the service continued due to help from charitable trusts. From the 1990s, changes in the benefits system generated a large proportion of enquiries. Issues around debt, housing and employment are key issues bureaux currently deal with.

In the 1880s the corporation's entire financial system was audited by a Bradford accountancy firm, Colefax and Hamer, who produced a confidential report for the Audit and Investigation Committee. They found severe deficiencies in almost all areas of book keeping and one of many recommendations was the appointment of a professional city accountant. This post was created in 1884 and lasted until 1905 after which the duties went back to the City Treasurer. By 1958 (at the latest) there was once more a separate post, Chief Accountant, who worked under the City Treasurer.
Functions gained from City Treasurer in 1884. Functions transferred to City Treasurer in 1905. Functions delegated by City Treasurer (mid twentieth century)

Following local government reorganisation in 1974, the City Architect kept his title but was transferred to North Yorkshire County Council. The post came back to CYC in 1996.
Gained specialist functions from City Engineer/ Surveyor. Instructed by committees of the council. See also City Engineer/ Surveyor.

The City Commissioners had overlapping jurisdictions with the Corporation and disputes were common. Responsibilities included paving, lighting and policing, but the corporation already ran a police force, and the parish constables were still appointed by magistrates. The Commissioners had the power to levy rates to fund their improvements although there was a limit to the amount they could impose. The commissioners were also responsible for instituting the first nightwatch in York.
Improvement and public health functions transferred to Board of Health in 1850.

The first Electrical Engineer was appointed by the Electric Lighting Committee in 1899 to oversee and manage the Corporation's electrical generating station at Foss Islands, which opened in 1900. In 1948 control passed to the North Eastern Electricity Board due to nationalisation and the Corporation ceased generating electricity.
Reported to the Electricity Committee.

At different times the term City Engineer or Surveyor appear to have referred to broadly the same functions. In 1850 the joint post of City Engineer and Surveyor was formally instituted. Other titles such as Planning Officer were incorporated into the post at various times.
Instructed by all council committees as required.

Appointed in 1891 to manage first free public lending and reference library based in Clifford Street in the former Mechanics Institute. Purpose built central library built in 1920s supported by Carnegie fund. Branch libraries opened throughout twentieth century. For details see Technical Institution and Library Management Committee and successors.
Reported to various incarnations of Public Library Committee.

The City of York and District Family History Society was founded in 1975 in order to further the interest in Family History Research. It is run entirely by volunteers working in their spare time, with the aim of bringing together local people who share the same interest and to provide a point of contact for those members who, although not living in the area, have their roots within the modern Archdeaconry.

The Society covers the modern Archdeaconry of York which stretches from Coxwold, Hovingham and Sherburn in Harfordlythe in the North to Ledsham, Birkin, Selby and Drax in the South, as well as from Bramham, Bilton and Sherburn in Elmet in the West to Huggate and Bubwith in the East.

The Society's area overlaps parishes covered in the West by the Yorkshire Archaeological Society Family History Section, in the East by The East Yorkshire Family History Society and in the North by Ryedale Family History Society.

The ancient corporation was dramatically altered by the Municipal Corporation Act. It lost many legal rights and privileges, the electorate was widened, various officials were changed or renamed and a single chamber was instituted.
Previously known as "the Mayor and Commonality of the City of York", it developed into the historical Corporation (see City of York Corporation (Unreformed). The corporation was reformed in 1835, became a district council with North Yorkshire County Council in 1974 and a unitary authority once more as the City of York Council in 1996. Municipal charities passed to York Charity Trustees in 1837.

The ancient corporation of York, with rights and privileges gradually accrued over time by royal degree and legislation. It was dramatically reformed in 1835 following the Municipal Corporations Act.
Previously known as "the Mayor and Commonality of the City of York", it developed into the historical corporation. The corporation was reformed in 1835, became a district council within North Yorkshire County Council in 1974 and a unitary authority once more as the City of York Council in 1996.

In 1996 York became a unitary authority once more as the City of York Council.
Previously known as "the Mayor and Commonality of the City of York", it developed into the historical Corporation (see City of York Corporation (Unreformed). The corporation was reformed in 1835, became a district council with North Yorkshire County Council in 1974 and a unitary authority once more as the City of York Council in 1996.

Formerly known as the Executive. Comprised of Cabinet Members, each with their own porfolio area, from the largest political group. Chaired by the Leader of the Council.
Between 2011-2013 the Cabinet Member portfolios were as follows:
Leader; City Strategy; Corporate Services; Health, Housing and Adult Social Services; Leisure, Culture and Social Inclusion; Communities and Neighbourhood Services; Education, Children and Young People's Services; Crime and Community Safety.

In August 2013 Communities and Neighbourhoods Services was replaced by Environmental Services; Corporate Services became Finance, Performance and Customer Service; City Strategy became Transport, Planning and Sustainability. Crime and Community Safety was renamed Crime and Stronger Communities; Leisure, Culture and Social Inclusion was renamed Leisure, Culture and Tourism. The other portfolios remained unchanged.
Formerly known as the Executive. Reported into Full Council. Each Cabinet Member has a duty to advise on their own portfolio area.

Selected from the majority party.
Chaired the Executive or Cabinet.

Established in 1627 to specifically collect rents.
Reported to chamberlains or the city. Merged with city husband in 1710 to form one official responsible for city property management and rent collection, but the term continues to appear in later records.

Founded as the Mechanics Institute in 1827. Following the Technical Instruction Act 1899 which permitted the corporation to fund technical instruction, the corporation bought the assets of the Institute and ran it directly. The library stock formed the first free library in York which the corporation opened in 1891.
See also Art Master. Managed by Technical Instruction Committee (in various incarnations).

Function gained from City of York Tramways Company in 1886. Function transferred to corporation in 1909.

In 1835 the traditional post of Chamberlain was replaced with that of City Treasurer.
Replaced the Chamberlain when the Corporation was reformed in 1835. Some functions temporarily transferred to a City Accountant 1884-1905.

Provided public canteens to provide economical meals to the public during rationing.

Preceded by the Air Raid Precautions Committee.

Clementhorpe Community Association was established in 1984.

Clements Hall Local History Group was founded in 2013, following a series of local history events at Clements Hall in York. The group covers the areas of Scarcroft, Clementhorpe and South Bank in York, to the south of the city walls and west of the River Ouse. The group stage exhibitions around York, including at Clements Hall, York Explore Library, York Cemetery Chapel, Rowntree Park and the Winning Post pub. In 2016 the Local History Group began an annual programme of talks and walks, performances and occasional workshops.

The group meets monthly at Clements Hall, near Scarcroft School in York.

See Board of Guardians.

On the 1st of January 1915, Quakers in York turned their meeting house in Clifford Street into a hospital for wounded soldiers. Previously it was used as temporary home for Belgian refugees who had fled their home country. The hospital was established to ease the shortage of hospitals in York and run jointly by the St John Ambulance Association and Voluntary Aid Detachment.
The York Quakers

The Clifton Cycling Club was founded in 1895. Its first club run was held in Spring that year. The first club event was the '50 mile record', introduced in 1896. In 1906 a 100 mile Sealed Handicap was also introduced. During the early 20th century Clifton Cycling Club also developed a very strong hill climb team.

A Ladies section of the club was founded in 1902, before ladies were admitted to full club membership in 1923. Combined club runs were held monthly.

During the Second World War Clifton Cycling Club supported the City of York Council 'Holidays at Home' scheme, which encouraged families to have holidays in their local area rather than travelling further afield. The cycling club programme consisted of Sunday afternoon bike rides for all ages.

The 60s and 70s was an era of exceptionally high achievement for the racing members of the club. Pete Smith rode the World Championship and Commonwealth Games Road Race and won the King of the Mountains Jersey in the Tour of Britain. John Watson also rode the Worlds RR and won the British Best All Rounder competition. Roy Cromack along with John and Pete made up three of the four man British team to ride the Team Time Trial at the 1968 Olympics. They were joined by Ian White and Dennis Pickard in breaking all the British Time Trialling records from 50 miles to 24 hours and winning a plethora of major team competitions.

In 2006 the Clifton CC York were ranked number 1 Road Racing team in the Yorkshire Region.

The club has published its own magazine, The Cliftonite, twice a year since 1936.

Clifton was originally mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, with Count Alan, St Peter's School, the Archbishop of York and the Canons of York Minster all holding land there. A manor worth 20 shillings is also mentioned. Parts of the township of Clifton eventually fell into three manors - Clifton, Acomb with Holgate & Clifton, and Strensall.

Tha Manor of Clifton was given to St Mary's Abbey soon after 1088, a gift from the King, William Rufus. It remained in the Abbey's hands until the Dissolution, when the Crown took it over. The Manor was was presumably leased out by the Crown to individuals and in 1606 it was leased to the Robinson family who kept it for the next 300 years or so.

The Robinsons were already a substantial merchant family in York and their subsequent purchases and inheritance took them into the ranks of the county families. Sir Thomas Robinson was created Baron Grantham in 1761 and in 1833 Thomas Philip Robinson succeeded his aunt as Earl de Grey. For several generations the Robinsons took an active part in civic affairs as Aldermen, Lord Mayors and MPs.

The City purchased the manor in 1919 from Lady Lucas and Lady Alwyne Compton Vyner, joint Ladies of the Manor and descendants of the Robinson family.

Clifton Manor also had a manor court. Although the papers are headed 'Court Leet', only a part of the full normal manorial court business is conducted within them. Transfer of property does not appear, for example, but list of tenants and suitors are given, from which a jury is chosen and Affearers (officers appointed by a manorial court to assess the penalties for proven offences), Byelawmen, Constables, Overseers and a Pinder are all chosen as the manorial officers.

People were fined for not appearing before the Manor Court if they didn't have a good excuse. Those summoned to the court included women if they held property subject to manorial rights.

The jury laid pains (i.e. made byelaws) and those for Clifton were entirely to do with the free running of watercourses. The jury later made presentments and apportioned fines.

The Manor Court meetings used to end with a dinner paid for by the Lord of the Manor.

Clifton Without Parish Council was officially created when the Local Government Act of 1894 formed Parish Councils. Clifton Without officially became part of York Unitary Authority in 1996.

The Cocoa Works Choral Society was a group of amateur singers in the early 20th century, most likely connected to the Rowntrees Cocoa Works factory. The group held regular meetings and performances of large-scale works before the First World War. The exact dates of operation of the Society are currently unknown.

The surviving records cover the period 1704-1773 and 1779-1814 but this may not represent the full length of the committee's activity.
See also Estates Committee (1884-1974)

The first named common clerk was Nicholas Seizevaux in 1317. The name gradually changed over time to town clerk. From 1708 it appears deputies were provided, one of whom, William Giles, restored and catalogued the city archives between 1892-1909. The office became formally full-time in 1886. The name changed in the twentieth century to Chief Executive.
The term "common clerk" was replaced with "town clerk" which was eventually replaced by "chief executive" in the later twentieth century.

The "48" were the most junior tier of representation and emerged in the 14th century from the craft gilds. A common council was instituted in 1518, made up of two members from each of thirteen crafts. This was then expanded in 1633 and switched to geographical representation, with 72 members elected from the four wards. In 1663, outside elections ceased, and vacancies were filled by nomination.
See also Aldermen / The "12" and Councillors / "The 24"

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is the biggest union for the communications industry in the UK with 300,000 members. It was formed in January 1995 when the Union of Communication Workers joined forces with the National Communications Union. CWU members work in the Post Office, BT and other telephone companies, cable TV, Accenture HR Services, the Alliance and Leicester and Girobank. Members' expertise includes engineering, computing, clerical, mechanical, driving, retail, financial and manual skills.

The union provides first class collective and individual representation for all CWU members. It aims to achieve security of employment for all members, to offer individual membership services of the highest quality, to expand trade union membership throughout the communications industry. It also campaigns against all forms of discrimination and to further these objectives by promoting the influence of the union throughout the national and international community.

Community Health Councils were set up in the 1974 NHS reorganisation to represent the interests of consumers in the health districts. Their role was to investigate, inspect, advise and comment on local healthcare facilities. Each year they were to report to their establishing authority. As originally constituted Community Health Councils were composed of 30 members, half of which were local authority appointees, and of the remainder, two thirds were from voluntary organisations and one third were appointed by the regional health authority. After the NHS restructuring in 1982, CHCs were reduced in size to 24 members, but with the same proportion of representatives. CHCs also employed a small number of offiers.

The Community Health Council for the York Health District was established by, and reported to, the Yorkshire Regional Health Authority. In 1974 it was coterminus with the York Health District, and from 1982, with York Health Authority. Through subsequent reorganisation it continued to represent people in York Health District, an area covering York, Easingwold, Selby and Tadcaster. In 2002 a Parliamentary Act was passed to abolishh the Community Health Councils, and to replace them with Patients' Councils.

The Company of Cordwainers was initially founded in the Medieval period (or perhaps earlier) and is one of seven guilds still in existence in York today. Cordwainers were shoemakers, and the Company had influence over York's governance, trade standards and religious events. The Company disbanded in 1808, but was re-established in 1977.

The first reference to a Butchers' Guild structure in York appears in the Freemen's Rolls of 1272, with thirty-six names that include two citizens, Robert Withenskirtes and Nich. de Nunnewk, registered as Freemen Butchers. However, there must have been Freemen before that date as Nicholas of Clifton claimed his Freedom by patrimony.

Guild organisation and control were by co-operative agreement between the leading members and the burgesses of the city. Any regulations agreed were incorporated in the Ordinances of the Guild, and enforced by the Searchers of the Company. The Butchers' Gild held sway in matters of hygiene, weights and measures, meat restricted days and fast periods, and over 'foreign' (i.e. non-guild) butchers. The Gild Searchers operated as overseers for the good of the trade with powers of search of shops and stalls, of imposition of fines and of application of correction and punishment.

Standards of workmanship were protected through the apprenticeship system. In London (1556) the authorities decided that:
'Until a man grows unto the age of 24 he has not grown into the full knowledge of the art that he professeth.'

Seven years was generally agreed as the minimum period of training and servitude before the apprentice became a 'freeman to ply his trade'. Apprentice registration was controlled so that children of freemen had priority of admission to the learning of a craft. Guild Masters were responsible for the Indenture and for the entry of apprentices in the City's Register, following one month's probationary period.

Trades would tend to congregate their shops in one area of a town or city. The Shambles in York is well known as the butchers' street, but the trade area also extended over St. Andrewgate and St. Saviourgate.The Butchers may well have been responsible for a civic duty – that is, to act as the City executioners.

The York Butchers' own hall lay behind The Shambles in Gell Garth, an area now occupied by York market. This property was owned by the Gild until 1929 and the last remnants cleared away in the 1950's. Their traditional church was Christ Church, at the west end of The Shambles, where they were responsible for a chapel. The church was demolished in 1937 to form what is now King's Square. It is believed that the execution sword was housed in the church.

In York, the Mystery Plays were a most important part of the life of the craft guilds., under the control of the Corpus Christi Guild. These plays were performed on a procession of pageants at various stations throughout the city, on the Feast of Corpus Christi. The Butchers enacted 'The Death of Christ', reflecting their role as executioners.

The guilds had voting rights in the elections for Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Sheriff. The Butchers, considered as one of the lower fifteen guilds, contributed one voting member, usually the Senior Searcher.

There were 96 craft guilds in York in 1415, at the peak of guild control of trade and civic life. By the late 16th century, guild numbers dropped as specialisation in crafts was ending and some mergers occurred, as 'foreign' (i.e. outside the city) traders were allowed within and as monopoly was curtailed in law. Although records indicate that the Butchers' Gild appointed three searchers in 1826, the 1835 Municipal Reform Act finally abolished all guild trade privileges [1]. In York, guilds withered and nearly all passed away except for two with property. These, The Merchant Adventurers and The Merchant Taylors, converted into social and charitable institutions. A third, the Butchers, struggled on into the 20th century, with just a single member by 1940.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Butchers' Gild membership fell - from thirty or forty in 1812 to just two in 1929, and just one remaining by 1940. In 1929, the City Authorities purchased the Gell Garth site for £932 and the records and Ordinances of the Company were passed into the hands of the Corporation for preservation in the City archives.

In 1940, Mr. F. Wright, butcher of Goodramgate, York, and Mr. C. N. B. Crombie, solicitor of York, persuaded the last remaining member to swear in new members. As a result, the present Gild is able to claim continuous membership from its mediaeval roots. The first Court of the modern Gild was held in 1940 at the Hermitage, Stockton on the Forest, the first Feast was held in the Davy Hall, Davygate on Shrove Tuesday, 1941 and the first new-era Master took office in 1943.

Membership has gradually grown since that date, but with the slow decline in numbers of craft butchers, the Gild now draws its members from a wider geographical area than the City of York and now includes the County of York, neighbouring counties in the North of England, and from further afield, so long as the member is able to commit to guild life and functions. The Company considers that its membership should retain strong links with the craft of butchery or the meat trade.

The City Council was able, in 1950, to provide The Gild with a suitable hall, appropriately in The Shambles. However, in 1991, the authorities looked for a 'commercial rent'. The Gild was unable to match the sum proposed and moved out (although the doorway in the Shambles is still carved with the name 'Butchers Hall'). The Gild was fortunate in being able to move into, and furnish, the recently renovated ‘Jacobs Well’ in Trinity Lane, Micklegate.

In common with all the other York guilds, the Company now worships in All Saints’ Church, Pavement.

The Charitable Trust was properly constituted in 1992.

During the late 1990’s, the Gild debated and accepted the notion of the entry of Lady Members. (History indicates that this was always acceptable and was particularly applied when a widow continued the running of a business after the loss of her husband). The first three ladies in the modern era were admitted to the Company on Shrove Tuesday, 2002.

Today, the membership extends to over one hundred persons.

Conservative Associations were formed after the 1832 Reform Act by members of the Conservative Party.

The York Central Conservative Club was founded in 1881 in order to consolidate the party after the defeat of The Right Hon James Lowther at the General Election in 1880 who had represented the city in Parliament since 1865. For many years the club met at the Ebor Rooms, Coney Street. However, this became too cramped due to social requirements of numbers and in 1909, moved to the De Grey Rooms, St Leonard's Street where they added an extension onto the rear of the building in 1910. The club had over 500 members in 1933 and the De Grey Rooms were more appropriate due to the size.

The club moved again from De Grey Rooms to Museum Street in March 1986 until their closure in 1991. The club finally closed in 1991 after a period of financial difficulty and the archives were subsequently transferred in 1994.

There were also four ward Conservative clubs in the city. These clubs, along with the Central Conservative Club formed a valuable asset in party politics. In 1969, the club abolished the 'male only' member policy and allowed females to become members 80 years after the club's foundation. The club also actively took part in international snooker tournaments.