Tourism was transferred from the Leader portfolio to this Cabinet Member in August 2012.
Member of the Cabinet.
Known as Cabinet Member for Corporate Services from May 2011-August 2012.
Member of the Cabinet.
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.
Kexby Parish Council was officially created when 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. At the time of its creation, Kexby was included in Escrick Rural District. In 1935 it became part of Derwent rural district and in 1974 became part of the Selby district of North Yorkshire. Kexby officially became part of York Unitary Authority in 1996.
The Hospital/House of Blessed Mary and St Martin was founded by members of gild of St Anthony in 1446. The charity continued as a corporation charity after the Dissolution. The building, known as St Anthony's Hall was being used as a house of correction in 1646, housed the York Bluecoat School between 1705-1947 and the Borthwick Institute for Archives between 1953-2005
Nunthorpe Grammar School was opened in 1920, in a house in Southlands Road, York. The house had been purchased and refurbished by the council. By March 1921 there were 64 enrolled at the school, which rose to 425 by March 1933.
In 1927 a new wing was opened, with four new classrooms, an art room, two storerooms and a cloakroom. The old stable block was also converted into two laboratories, and the stableboys' sleeping quarters were converted into the school library.
In 1959 a gym was added as well as what was for the next 25 years to be known as the 'new block', the building containing laboratories and classrooms. A Sixth Form block was added in 1974, although this block is now used for science laboratories and languages classrooms. In 1984 a new sports hall was built, however the following year the school closed and, together with Mill Mount Grammar School for Girls, became part of the new Millthorpe Secondary School.
The Yorkshire Advertiser was a monthly community newsletter. In existence before 1989, it is unknown when the newsletter stopped operations.
The railway line opened on 21st July 1913. It had strong connections with the North Eastern Railway (NER/LNER) and often used NER/LNER motive power. There were 11 stations which started at Layerthorpe and ended at Cliff Common. The line from Wheldrake to Cliffe Common was opened on October 29, 1912, with the remainder of the line opening on July 21st, 1913. It was constructed primarily as a freight line but passenger trains were introduced from 1913. During World War I it was used as a diversionary route by the North Eastern Railway between York and Selby. Passenger services ended in 1926, though freight traffic continued through World War II. During the Grouping of 1923 it remained private. Over the years much of the line has been closed. Today the line runs between Murton Lane and Murton Way, the last half mile of its former route. It is run by the Derwent Valley Light Railway Society who operate it on behalf of the Yorkshire Museum of Farming.
Derwent Valley Light Railway Society; Yorkshire Museum of Farming
Magistrates' courts replaced the Quarter Sessions and Assizes in 1971, and generally deal with the majority of all civil and criminal cases which are the less serious, or 'summary' offences. Previous to 1971 many of these cases would have been heard at the Police Courts. Defendants are tried by a single magistrate or a panel of magistrates rather than a jury.
Examples of the types of cases heard are drunk and disorderly, criminal damage, and common assault.
See Also - York Subscription Library
Mennell Bros appear in York Trade Directory (Cook), 1909 as Saw Mills and Timber Merchant, North St, Micklegate. There is a gap in directories until 1920, but in 1921 and 1922 Mennell Bros. is listed under Timber Merchants, New Earswick. The Mennell Sawmill was situated at Ebor Works, York Road, Huntington, and the firm was run by at least two generations of the Mennell family. Henry Vincent Mennell ran the sawmill with his older brother, Arthur Leo, and it was eventually managed by Charles Arnold Mennell (d. 1980).
Formed after the York Philosophical Society joined the Council for British Archaeology in 1971.
York Philosphical Society
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 billiard tournaments, including the Faber Shield Tournament (which it won in 1904), the Scruton Cup (which it won in 1975), and the Hylton Foster Billiards Tournament.
The Society was founded in 1788 by a group of York women led by philanthropists Faith Gray and Catherine Cappe. The original purpose was to provide a safety net for girls offering sick benefits, pensions and grants for medical care for those leaving York's Grey Coat and Spinning Schools, which they also ran. It continued to accept members up until the introduction of the NHS in 1948. Membership could be extended to other working women through a rule allowing limited nomination by honorary members. In 1976, the Society was dissolved and the funds divided among the remaining members. The remaining members of the Society continued to meet annually until 1984. Moyra F Johnson served as secretary of the Society from the early 1970s. The Society's office was situated in St William's College, York.
The Society was founded in 1855 by local butchers who proposed holding an Annual Show of Dead Meat (Beef and Mutton) at Christmas. This was changed in 1897 to the Yorkshire Fat Cattle Show. Over the years classes were added and included Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, Poultry, Pigeons, Rabbits, Root Vegetables, Butter, Bread and Yorkshire Hams. The meetings were held mainly at the White Horse, Goodramgate, The City Arms, Fawcett Street and the Old George Hotel, Fossgate/Pavement. Due to the war and the subsequent expense and shortage of timber and feed, society activity declined. This continued until a lack of interest from members and the high costs of setting up a show eventually led to the society disbanding in November 1965.
The exact start date of the business is unknown but it is thought that it began around 1861.
NALGO was formed from 14 guilds and organisations at a conference set up by Herbert Blain. The new organisation had 5000 members. In its early years much of its work was social. In 1910 a Benevolent and Orphan fund was set up which gave small sums to widows and families of government workers who had died in service. In 1920, despite leadership opposition, protests from members led to NALGO obtaining a certificate from the Registrar of Friendly Societies confirming its status as a trade union. That year membership rose to 36,500.In 1946 it changed its constitution to allow other public services employees to join such as the NHS and electricity and gas boards. In 1964 they became affiliated with the Trades Union Congress. In 1993 it merged with the National Union of Public Employees and the Confederation of Health Service Employees to create UNISON.
See Also - Jagger; William Arthur (c1897-1996)
The firm of Gray's Solicitors has existed in York since the 17th century. William Gray (1) was the son of a Hull customs officer. He became a solicitor in York. His two sons, Jonathan (b. 1779) and William (2) (b.1785) followed him into the legal business and the firm of Grays, as did Jonathan's son, a third William Gray (b. 1805), and his son, Edwin (b.1847)
In 1843, the second William Gray was at the helm of the firm, which was located at 75 Low Petergate (it had previously been 'Thorpe and Gray's)
William Henry Cobb was born in York around 1839. He became a freemen of the city in 1860, and by 1872 had set up his own solicitor's firm at 19 Blake Street. The firm was known as W.H. Cobb and Son, and given that his son, Cecil was a law student at the time he became a freeman in 1892, it is likely that he joined his father in the business around this time.
Ernest Ralph Dodsworth was the son of Benjamin Dodsworth, a York surgeon. He was born in 1859, and became a freemen in 1883. That year, he set up a solicitors firm on New Street. By 1885, Dodsworth had become a partner in the firm of Gray's Solicitors, which at the time was under the third William Gray and his son Edwin.
In 1897, the combined firm of Gray and Dodsworth relocated from 75 Low Petergate to Duncombe Place. The firm of W.H. Cobb and Son, at 19 Blake Street, remained there until 1939. By the time of the next published City Directory (1949-1950), the Cobb in charge of the firm (likely the son of Cecil Henry Cobb at this point) had become a partner in the firm of Gray and Dodsworth, which then became Gray, Dodsworth, and Cobb, which it remained until at least 1975.
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.
The York Castle prison (originally consisting of Clifford's tower) was the original county prison in york, outside of civic control. City felons were sent there from 1848. By the nineteenth century the prison buildings included the debtor's prison, male and female prisons. Many prisoners were kept at the prison awaiting trial at York assizes.
Reported to Keeper of York Castle.
See Also - York Castle Gaoler
Hungate Mission School was founded in the March 1861 as Salem Mission School by Mr James Harrison, a member of the Quaker Society of Friends. As well as being a Sunday School, it taught reading, writing and arithmetic on every night of the week except Saturday when the teachers met together to clean up the place for the Sunday services.
The school first opened in Whixleys Court, St Saviourgate, with a teaching staff representing nearly every religious community in the city. It was essentially non-denominational. It eventually left Whixleys Court and moved to a building in Garden Street, Hungate, which had been built by the Weslyan Methodists. At this time the name of the school changed to Hungate Mission School. By this time it was so important a centre that a volume was printed publishing the rules of the school, with two colour plates showing the schoolroom and its arrangements.
The Mission School continued to teach pupils until the 1920s and closed down when the Hungate area began to disappear.
The York Castle prison (originally consisting of Clifford's tower) was the original county prison in york, outside of civic control. City felons were sent there from 1848. By the nineteenth century the prison buildings included the debtor's prison, male and female prisons. Many prisoners were kept at the prison awaiting trial at York assizes.
See Also - York Castle Gaoler
Robert Dent was born in 1843, the son of William Dent, a saddler, and his wife Elizabeth.
He married Elizabeth Patchett in 1866. They had five daughters - Annie (b. 1869), Margaret (b. 1871), Louisa (b.1879), Edith (b.1880) and Catherine (b. 1884) - and two sons - William (b 1867) and Charles (b. 1874). He died in 1931.
The idea of Mechanics Friendly Society was proposed at the Annual Meeting of the York Mechanics Institute held on Tuesday 26th June 1832, a committee was appointed by consider the best way of establishing one in connection with the Institute. This committee was later incorporated with the Committee of the Institute and the proposed rules and regulations of the Friendly Society were read at a public meeting held on Tuesday 21st August 1832 in the lecture room of the York Mechanics Institute.
Founded in 1921.
The York Society for the Prevention and Discouragement of Vice and Profaneness was established in 1808. The Society started to devote the majority of its fund to the Penitentiary Society from 1822 onwards, and devoted all of its remaining funds to the establishment of the York Penitentiary as an Institution in 1845.
The York Society for the Prevention of Youthful Depravity was established with the aim of combating the increase of debauchery and immorality among the young females of the city.
The York Penitentiary Society was formed in 1822. In 1844, the late Dr Beckwith bequest his property at Bishophill to the York Penitentiary Society, and this was used to form the York Penitentiary Institution in 1845.
A motion was carried at the 1918 annual meeting that the name "Penitentiary Society" was unsuitable for the work of the Society, and "House of Mercy" was deemed more appropriate. In 1918, the Bishophill premises were sold due to their delapidated condition and new premises at Clifton Holme were purchased. These premises later became known as York Training Home for Girls, which was an approved school that operated by rules set out by the Secretary of State.
The Home Office responsibility for Clifton Holme ended on 31st August 1950. Clifton Holme was sold to the Corporation in 1953, and the profits from the sale were used to form the Clifton Holme Trust, the money from which was distributed to various charities.
York Work-People's Hospital Fund was founded by a small number of working men governors on 26th April 1901 to support the Country Hospital. It was diminished in 1935 due to the establishment of the York County and District Hospital Contributory Scheme in 1931.
Set up by father and son, Mr George Simpson and Mr James E Simpson. The business occupied a large space on the corner of Parliament Street and Pavement, York. In 1897 the firm produced a special promotional booklet for the Jubilee of Queen Victoria to promote the business. It is unknown when this business ceased to operate.
The York Association of Women Graduates was originally part of the British Federation of Women Graduates, but York members decided to become independent. This resolution was subsequently agreed and the York Association of Women Graduates (YAWG) was formed. YAWG ceased activity in September 2012 due to a dwindling membership.
The Sayer Orchestra was founded in 1920 by Charles Sayer, a local York Cellist. The Orchestra now has it's own library of largely donated musical works compiled by former conductor Alexander 'Sandy' Richardson. The Orchestra continued with a membership of around 20 string and woodwind players.
In 1862, brothers Joshua Redfearn and Samuel Redfearn went into partnership to form Redfearn Brothers' glass container manufacturing business in Barnsley at the Old Mill Factory. Semi-automatic machines were introdyced in 1910 and by 1925 completly automatic bottle-making machines were in use. After the Second World War, the need for modernisation meant that a new factory was built at Monk Bretton in 1947.
See Also - Redfearn National Glass Ltd.
It is not known when precisely the York Railway Lecture and Debating Society was formed, however it was an institution formed for exployees of the railway companies based in York. Members attended meetings and had the option to attend lectures on aspects of railway history. Members could also compete for an annual essay writing competition.
The York Refugee Committee was formed in November 1938 and appears to have disbanded in 1945. The Committee was affiliated to the Co-ordinating Committee for Refugees. Dr. H.N. Bate, the Dean of York was the Chairman, while Mrs V.B. Ditcham and Mrs G.S. Crossley acted as joint secretaries. C.J. Rowntree was Secretary for Mens' and Boys' Employment, while Mrs. G. W. Johnson was Secretary for Domestic Employment. Mrs J.A. Hughes was Hospitality Secretary.
The Parish Council represents the local community at council level and is responsible for local matters such as planning applications as well as local facilities including the upkeep of public spaces in the village.
Petty Sessions were responsible for hearing the less serious criminal offences up until 1971 (when they were replaced by the Magistrates Courts).
The courts were local to an area and heard cases without a jury (summary jurisdiction). The court was presided over by one or more volunteer justices of the peace or stipendiary magistrates (later district judges) who were paid officials. Petty Sessions were the lowest tier in the court system and developed at the beginning of the 18th century to take on some of the work previously undertaken by the Quarter Sessions. From 1848 it became compulsory for some cases to be referred to the Quarter Sessions. The session's work dealt with matters such as minor theft and larceny, assault, drunkenness, bastardy examinations, arbitration and deciding whether to refer a case to the Quarter Sessions. From 1872, they were also responsible for approving licences to sell alcohol in ale houses and public houses.
See Also - York Subscription Library
The York Residents' Federation is a committee formed by the Communities and Neighbourhoods department of City of York Council. It meets at regular intervals to discuss issues and concerns raised by local residents associations.
See Also - York Subscription Library
The Rotary Club of York was founded on 12th January 1921, with a preliminary meeting at the Mansion House. This was followed by an inaugural meeting on 4th February 1921. York became the 36th club in the British Association of Rotary Clubs. The initial President was the Lord Mayor of York, Alderman Edward Walker.
The original structure of the club, which is largely similar to the structure today, was one of committees, including membership, proceedings (speakers), fraternal and social (fellowship), civil (community service), and education (foundation).
Over the years, the community engagement activity of the club has become more diverse, and social activities widened. Tom Shouksmith, a keen golfer, organised a number of annual visits to golf clubs throughout Yorkshire and following his Presidential year in 1933/4 presented a trophy to be played for annually on these visits. The same format was followed until the late seventies, when it was changed to a knockout competition, which now attracts around thirty entrants every year.
The Club was involved in the formation of several other Rotary Clubs, including the Thirsk Club in 1934, the Malton & Norton Club in 1946, the York Ainsty Club in 1960 and the York Vikings Club in 1979.
International links have been established with the Rotary Clubs of Aubusson in France, Erlangen in Germany, and Gorinchem in Holland with reciprocal visits being made on a regular basis.
Today, the Club is committed to numerous fundraising ventures to support its charitable aims, including the annual York Rotary Dragon Boat Challenge, first held in 2003. This event now takes place each year in early July and annually raises over £70,000 for charity.
Helped found the York Ainsty Rotary Club in 1960 and the York Vikings Club in 1979.
See Also - York Subscription Library
The York Settlement Literary Club was set up in 1938 and continued to be a subscription Club until 1960 when it disbanded due to low membership numbers.
The York Open Planning Forum is a community body set up to provide a forum in which planning issues of public concern may be discussed. Their aim is to encourage a better understanding of planning matters as they affect the built and the natural environment of the York local authority area.
It is a forum for discussion, information exchange and consideration of planning matters. Planning Panels and Parish Council Planning Committees are one of the special concerns of the Forum.
The Forum also runs Local List, a citizens-provided list of buildings and structures which have historical or memorable interest in York even though they have not achieved Grade I or II Listed status.
Members of the York Open Planning Forum receive newsletters. Forum meetings are open to anyone interested and speakers include Council officers.
Fire-fighting was originally organised at the parochial level but became organised by wards in the late 17th-early 18th centuries. In 1720 the corporation had four large and four small engines. Throughout the 18th century the Sun Fire Office contributed to salaries and maintenance. Due to problems with hiring staff and the quality of service and equiptment the Corporation was able to provide, the function was out sourced to the Yorkshire Insurance Company in 1830.
The Yorkshire Insurance Company had been established in 1824 as the Yorkshire Fire and Life Insurance Company. The company opened for business on September 1 1824 and, in 1826, adopted York minister as its official emblem. A deed of settlement was signed on 21 July 1825 and was replaced by an act of parliament in July 1831. The company purchased its first engine in November 1824 and the 'Yorkshire' brigade tackled fires for over 50 years - including those at York Minster in 1829 and 1840.
The company disbanded the fire service in 1875 but contributed resources to the Corporation. It was part or all of the police force until 1940.
Around 1900 the company began a period of considerable expansion. In 1898, it started to offer accident insurance while a burglary business was added in 1901. The company extended its business to include fidelity guarantee insurance in 1904 followed by plate glass and livestock insurance in 1907. On May 27 1908, the company changed its name to the Yorkshire Insurance Company and was registered as a limited company on June 3 1908. By 1938, the company was offering fire, life, annuity, sickness, accident, employers' liability, burglary, fidelity guarantee, motor, plate glass, third party, boiler and engineering, live stock and marine insurances.
In 1967, the majority of the company's share capital was acquired by the General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation Ltd (now part of the Aviva Group), which acquired the remaining share capital the following year. By 1974, the Yorkshire had ceased operating in the United Kingdom but was still active in Brazil, Iran and France. In 1991, its principal business was United States business written in the United Kingdom and general insurance through overseas agencies. The company was registered as non-trading on 31 March 2006.
Fire-fighting function gained from Corporation in 1830, and transferred back in 1875.
The name Soroptimist was coined from the Latin soror meaning sister, and optima meaning best. Soroptimist is perhaps best interpreted as 'the best for women'. Currently there are around 3,000 clubs across the world.
The first British club was founded in 1921, the same year as the society was inaugurated in the United States. It's purpose was 'to encourage high ethical standards in business and professions; to increase the efficiency of each member by the exchange of ideas and business methods; to stimulate the desire of each member to be of service to her fellows; and to quicken the interest of each member in the public welfare and to co-operate with others in civic, social, and industrial development.'
It is unclear when after 1921 the York club was established, however it had been formed by 1934.
In 1934 the British and European clubs separated from the United States Federation. During the 1930s, many service projects were undertaken including: vocational training for women and children, housing for the disadvantaged, assistance for the sick and disabled, concern for the local area, and caring for refugees.
The governing body of Soroptimist International was founded in 1952.
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.
York 2000 was organised to protest against the building of an inner ring-road around the historic core of the city. It was formally constituted by an agreement dated 4th December 1971 and its purposes were stated to be to oppose the inner ring-road proposals of York City Council and '...to work with like-minded citizens of York and others for the proper examination of alternative solutions to the problems of traffic in York.' At the third AGM in 1975 the objects were amended to include the words '...and to co-operate with those in other places facing similar problems.'
It had been recognised since at least the 1930s that York could not accommodate increasing amounts of road traffic without major changes to its existing road system. The principal problems were the Medieval street plan with narrow streets and tight-radiused corners and the fact that all vehicles had to enter the historic core of the city to cross the river Ouse on one of the three bridges existing at that time. Early plans for a ring-road came to a halt on the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1948 an inner ring-road encircling the city was proposed; this plan was not carried out, at least in part because it would have entailed the demolition of all properties between the road and the city walls, an average distance of some 250 yards! However, its legacy was an unspoken belief that that the solution to York's traffic problems was an inner ring-road, running somewhere near to the city walls.
The City Engineer published a report in 1967 recommending the building of an inner ring-road. Acting on this report, the council engaged the firms of R Travis Morgan & Partners and Landscape Use Consultants to design the proposed new road. They reported in 1970 and the council adopted the report. The new road would avoid the historic core of the city but run through the Georgian and Victorian suburbs, requiring the demolition of many old buildings and blighting (in both the technical and ordinary senses of the word) many other premises and communities. Opposition was at first somewhat muted, since, to borrow a phrase from a slightly later period, it was believed that there was no alternative.
York had several conservation and amenity groups with interests in different aspects of the city's heritage. Members of those groups expressed concern about the plans, but no group felt able to take the lead in opposing them as a single issue. Indeed some groups had officially, albeit reluctantly, accepted the notion of an inner ring-road. York 2000 was organised by persons who were already members of amenity groups or who had interests in conservation. An ad hoc protest meeting in September 1971 by inhabitants of the Mount and Clementhorpe areas of York seems to have decided to organise more formally and York 2000 came into being as an unincorporated body formed by a written agreement dated 8th December 1971 to which there are 20 signatories. It grew to have over 9000 members at its peak.
York 2000 did not see itself simply as opposing the inner ring-road. It wanted to make a constructive contribution to the solution of York's traffic problems. From the beginning it sought, and acted on, professional advice as to how to proceed. Planning legislation required a public inquiry and York 2000 was advised that, of the several ways it might object to the proposals, its best option would be to lead evidence at the public inquiry that the council had not fully considered all the alternatives, in particular the active management of traffic. It engaged the firm of Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners as its planning consultants and Professor Alan Proudlove of Liverpool University to advise on traffic issues.
York 2000 raised funds from its membership fees and various activities. The membership fee was set low (10p) to encourage as many people as possible to join and to ensure that the organisation became a mass movement. Inter alia it published a York Cook Book and held an auction. It also received funding from the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust in respect of that part of Nathaniel Lichfield & Partner's work which could be published as a report.
In September 1972, before the public inquiry it held a conference, Planning, Participation and Protest, on the topic of how the public could become involved in traffic issues and the planning process. The conference attracted delegates from all parts of the UK.
The public inquiry took place in October 1972. Nathaniel Lichfield and Alan Proudlove gave evidence on behalf of York 2000. The Planning Inspector reported in favour of the inner ring-road but the Secretary of State called-in the report for further consideration. The Secretary of State did not announce his decision until 1975, but, in dismissing York council's application, he substantially upheld the case made on behalf of York 2000.
After the public inquiry closed but before the decision York 2000 produced a publication York 2000 People in Protest telling the story of the formation of the organisation and its work to date.
York 2000 continued its activities in calling for a ban on heavy lorries using the city's roads as a short-cut between North Lincolnshire and Teeside and their re-routeing via existing dual carriageways. It appears to have ceased to be active by the end of the 1970s, as evidenced by the minutes of the AGMs, but there is no evidence that it was formally wound-up.
Two people seem to dominate the history of York 2000: the chairman, David Cummin, and the secretary, Jean Wallace.
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.
A School of Design was opened in York in 1842 as a branch of the 'Normal School of Design in London' (later the Science and Art Department). William Etty, the York-based celebrated Royal Academy painter was heavily involved in its creation.
The first premises for the school were in Little Blake Street (the building was later demolished in the 1860s to make way for Duncombe Place). The London School supported the York venture with subscriptions and a grant. The school later moved to Minster Yard in 1848.
The average attendance in 1854 was 131, however in 1865 the numbers had declined, especially amongst artisan pupils, after the removal of the grant from London. In 1890 there were 76 day pupils and 124 evening pupils and the premises were described as unfit for teaching. The school then transferred to the north gallery of the Exhibition Buildings in St Leonard's Place, which had been purchased by the York Corporation in 1891.
The School of Design was then joined with the Art School which had been part of the Technical Institute in Clifford Street in 1905, and it moved to the Exhibition Building in 1905. Their combined pupil roll of 435 students were then administered by the city's Education Department.
Joined with the Art School (which had been part of the Technical Institute in Clifford Street) in 1905 to form York School of Art.
York School of Art was formed in 1905 by the merger of York School of Design and the Art School which had formed part of the Technical Institute in Clifford Street. At the time of the merger the schools had a combined roll of 435 pupils, and the new school operated from the Exhibition Buildings in St Leonard's Place.
Extra accommodation was opened in 1906 and over £2000 was spent on adapting the premises to their new role. Two studios were acquired in Marygate in 1949, at which date there were 594 students; 32 of them studying full time.
The School moved out to the new Technical College on Tadcaster Road in around 1972, and became part of the new York College when it was formed in 1999.
Became part of York College in 1999.
York Art Gallery reopened in 1948 following the Second World War, when it had been requisitioned by the military. The Gallery had sustained bomb damage in 1942, and it would be more than a decade before the vision of the Director, Hans Hess, his team and volunteers, plus the generosity of benefactors created an Art Gallery of some renown.
The reopening coincided with the foundation of the York Art Collection Society, whose mission was and is today the 'creating of a lively interest in all artistic matters and establishing a fund from which, from time to time, works of permanent value can be acquired for presentation to the Art Gallery'. The Society was later renamed the Friends of York Art Gallery in 1955.
In 1975 the Friends began a programme of tours, talks and outings, which has continued to increase over the years. Alongside this work, the Friends have supported the Art Gallery financially in acquiring a number of works of art for the collections. The Friends fund the annual sponsorship for an MA student (History of Art) at the University of York, Family Saturdays and lectures by visiting artists, such as the annual Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA) lecture.
The appeal launched in 2012 to raise £70,000 towards the cost of the Art Gallery's Fine Art Store has been the Friends most significant financial contribution, and in 2014 a grant from the Friends helped the Art Gallery purchase two tour audio guide systems, aimed at tour guides taking large grops round the galleries.
Supports the work of York Art Gallery.
John Hodgson Charitable Trust was first administered by the Guardians of the York Union (together with a representative appointed by Sheriff Hutton Parish Council from 1891 onwards). In 1924 the constitution of thecommittee was altered when it was decided to adminster the charity by a committee existing of six members of the York Board of Guardians and five Rural District Councillors from the outlying councils situated in the York Union, together with a representative of Sheriff Hutton Parish Council. These members continued in office until the 17th October 1930, when the Charity Commissioners amended the constitution for the regulation of the charity, owing to the operation of the Local Government Act 1929, which dissolved the Board of Guardians.
The charity held £2,500 London and North Eastern Railway Company 4 per cent First Preference Stock, and £2,500 London and North Eastern Railway Company 4 per cent second Guaranteed Stock, bequeathed by the late John Hodgson Esq, a Guardian of the Poor who lived in Strensall, to the Chairman of the York Union, W Surtees Hornby Esq. The income was to be given at the discretion of the Board of Guardians to people in the area living on small incomes, afflicted by illness or without the means of procuring items they needed in times of distress. The stipulation was that these people could not already be receiving poor relief, other than outdoor medical relief, and had to live in the York Union area or the village of Sheriff Hutton. Residents could also be from the areas of Beningborough and Overton, as these villages were in the York Union area at the time of John Hodgson's death in 1890.
The charity was finally wound-up in 2009.
41 Club was formed in 1946 to provide a way for members of Round Table to continue their friendships after retirement from Round Table at the then obligatory age of 40.
Round Table was founded in March 1927 by Louis Marchesi. Marchesi was a young Rotarian in Norwich who became aware of the lack of opportunities for the young businessmen of the day to meet and prepare themselves for their responsibilities as senior businessmen in later years. He found himself surrounded by older men, so he started a club for younger men with a maximum age of 40 to give them the right environment to develop their professional and civic skills while assisting the local community, the nation and later the world as a whole.
Round Table was formed after being inspired by a speech by the then Prince of Wales who said 'The young business and professional men of this country must get together round the table, adopt methods that have proved so sound in the past, adapt them to the changing needs of the times and, wherever possible, improve them.' Since that time Round Table has used the motto 'Adopt - Adapt - Improve'.
Originally once a Round Tabler reached 40 years of age he would retire from Round Table and would then become eligible to join 41 Club. In 1998 Round Table changed their retirement age to 45.
41 Club specialises in continuing the friendships made in Round Table. The philosophy of the club is very similar to that of Round Table, but it is often less 'active' and in many cases clubs meet less often. The Club's main purpose is to support Round Table and, if possible, participate in local community service initiatives or charity work. However the 'continued friendship' and 'fellowship' aspect is of great importance. Most clubs meet monthly, often in a public house, golf club or restaurant. Meetings are usually semi-formal with either an activity or a speaker to entertain.
To join 41 Club it was originally a requirement to have been a member of Round Table, however in 1972, the Club decided that prior-membership of a Round Table should no longer be a pre-requisite for entry, and instead that the only criterion should be those qualities which, at a younger age, would have been required for membership of Round table.
41 Club is managed by an elected National Board - consisting of a National President and nine officers with specific responsibilities. In addition there is a National Councillor elected by each of the 24 geographical regions in the country who represent the clubs. The National Councillors and the National Board form the 'National Council' of 41 Club.
There are around 800 41 Clubs in the UK and Eire with a total membership of over 17,000.
41 Club is also an international organisation with 21 countries affiliated to '41 International'. Each country sends representatives to the International AGM and a Half Yearly Meeting - both of which are hosted around the world.
The York branch of the 41 Club was one of the first to be founded in 1946, however the founder members did not apparently wish to be tied to the national rules, so the club did not join the national association which developed.
Founded as a conservation group to protect and rejuventate the area of Heworth Holme on the east side of the City of York. The group was disbanded in 2016, and responsibility for Heworth Holme was transferred to the Friends of St Nicholas Fields.
The York and District Autistic Society was founded in 1987 at the instigation of parents of autistic children in the York area. The Society raised awareness of autism, and brought together families and medical professionals to review provision in York.
The Society campaigned locally, and held a charity screening of Rain Man in York in 1989.
The Society was eventually subsumed into the National Autistic Society in 1992, becoming part of their northern region.
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.
A subscription-based association which supported the prosecution of felons in York for minor crimes, in particular theft, burglary, criminal damage and fraud.
One of the standing committees of the York Poor Law Union. Responsible for the assessment of the rateable value of properties for the purposes of collecting the poor rate. The poor rate was a tax levied on property owners and was the principle means of financing the poor law and provision of relief.
Reported to the Board of Guardians of the York Poor Law Union.
The York Poor Law Union (1837-1930) was abolished under the Local Government Act 1929. However the Poor Law continued as the main system of welfare until 1948 and was administered by the Public Assistance Committee (1929-1948). Some committees, including the Collecting Committee, had a continuous existence throughout this period of transition and executed similar functions under both the York Poor Law Union and its successor body the Public Assistance Committee.
Under the Local Government Act of 1929 the Public Assistance Committee assumed responsibility for administering the Poor Law, which had previously been the remit of the York Poor Law Union (1837-1930). Some committees, including the Collecting Committee, had a continuous existence and function under both the York Poor Law Union and its successor body the Public Assistance Committee.
One of the sub-committees of the Public Assistance Committee (1929-1948).
Formed in 1894 along with the Escrick, Bishopthorpe and Flaxton Out-Relief Unions. All four out-relief unions were attached to the York Union, otherwise known as the Joint York Union.
Part of the Joint York Union
Reported to the Workhouse Committee. Replaced the Building Committee (?1890s-?1900s) which was reinstated again in 1915.
Formed in 1872 following the Public Health Act of the same year. It comprised the area of the York Poor Law Union less the York City area, which was covered by the Urban Sanitary Authority. The York Rural Sanitary Authority was administered by the country guardians of the York Union, whereas the Urban Sanitary Authority became, in effect, part of The Corporation and therefore was not administered by the city guardians.
The York Rural Sanitary Authority and Urban Sanitary Authority inherited the functions of the Nuisance Removal Committee (?1867-1872). In 1894, the area covered by York Rural Sanitary Authority became the Bishopthorpe, Flaxton and Escrick Rural District Councils following the Local Government Act of the same year. However, each Rural District Council also remained a constituent part of the York Union for poor law purposes (as an Out-Relief Union) until the 1929 reorganisation of local government.
YDAA was established in 1887.
York Charity Cricket Cups have taken place since 1930, running almost continuously, with the exception of some years during World War II. The tournament was last played in 2014.
The York Guild of Building was established in 1954 under the guidance of Sir Peter Shepherd and a number of other leading citizens connected with the construction industry, as well as professional organisations within the city, to represent and provide a forum for all the skills which are required in the construction and maintenance of buildings. This representation inspired the Guild logo.
The builders of medieval York included masons, glaziers, plumbers, plasterers and tilers and the largest of the entire group who worked in wood, variously described as carpenters, sawyers, joiners and carvers. Of these only four crafts became organised into Guilds: the Carpenters, the Masons, the Tile Thatchers and the Plasterers. However these Guilds came to an end in York in the early nineteenth century.
The Guild operates with a Court of Assistants under the leadership of the Master for the year, assisted by Senior and Junior Wardens. Five members of the Court are elected annually by the membership. In addition several organisations connected with the construction industry nominate representatives, together with York College. Membership is open to any person involved in any aspect of building and associated activities. The day to day running of the Guild is in the care of the Honorary Clerk.
The Guild is committed to the advancement of design, management, science and craft in building and the better understanding of the problems and achievements of those engaged in building.
To support the objectives of the Guild a very full programme of lectures, talks and visits, complimented by a range of social activities is produced by the court each year.
In 1941 a group of young lads from a grammar school in Wakefield got together to go hill walking and to practice climbing on the local outcrops. They decided to call themselves The Junior Mountaineering Club of Yorkshire.
The membership expanded and eventually in the mid 1940s, a Constitution was drafted and an Honorary Secretary appointed. Soon afterwards the first Honorary Treasurer was appointed, with the affairs of the Club being dealt with by the members in the absence of a President or a committee.
In these early days there were many climbing expeditions to the Lake District, Wales and Scotland. Several visits to Rhum resulted in the production in 1946 of the JMCY climbing 'Guide to the Isle of Rhum'.
By 1949 the membership had grown to 21, although in subsequent years this dwindled, resulting in an attempt to recruit new members. This proved unsuccessful until late in 1951, when climbing courses were held by the Leeds branch of the Central Council of Physical Recreation. Members of the JMCY agreed to be instructors, with the trainees being encouraged to join the Club.
There followed a sudden healthy increase in membership and at the 1952 AGM it was agreed that the Club should be renamed The Yorkshire Mountaineering Club. A President was appointed along with other Officers and a committee of five was elected.
In the 1960s the Club took on the role of publishing the definitive guide books for both Yorkshire Gritstone and Yorkshire Limestone and has continued with this commitment to the present day, producing guide books that have been well accepted and supported by the climbing community.
In 1972 the club purchased four derelict dwellings from a row of miners' cottages in the Coppermines Valley, Coniston in the Lake District. After a lot of hard work and considerable commitment by club members, these were renovated and made habitable over the next year or so, to become the Club's cottage. The cottage has since given much enjoyment not only to members but also to other clubs and organisations to which it has been let out. In recent years the Club has undertaken major refurbishment and extension works, which have resulted in a modern and well equipped cottage that is much appreciated and well respected by all who use it.
In 2006 the Club changed its status and became incorporated as a Mutual Society under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965.
The Club currently has a membership of around 200 and always welcomes new members who have an interest in climbing and mountain activities.
The Sports Council of Great Britain, of which the Yorkshire and Humberside Sports Council was a regional subdivision, was replaced by UK Sport in 1997.
YABA was established by 1927.
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.
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.
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
Brunswick Terrace Hostel is a hostel for the homeless population in York. It originally opened in Kent Street, before moving to Brunswick Terrace shortly afterwards. The inadequacies of the accommodation later led to the opening of the Peasholme Centre in Peasholme Green in the 1990s, the first all purpose centre for the homeless in York.
The focus of the hostel changed over time from being a direct access hostel to one more focussed on helping people move into more permanent accommodation relatively quickly.
In around 2006 the hostel moved to nearby Fishergate, to allow for the redevelopment of the Hungate site.
York Fanteakwa Community Link shares fellowship and mutual support between the Fanteakwa district of Eastern Region in Ghana and communities in York, UK.
York Family Service Unit was part of the larger charity Family Service Units. It is not known when the York unit opened, but FSU had been operating throughout England and Scotland since 1948. The charity provided children's services, particuarly for a number of local authorities.
In April 2006 FSU collapsed due to financial issues, with services in England being taken over by the Family Welfare Association.
Ideal Laundry was opened in St Martin's Lane, York, in the early part of the 20th century. It later moved to Trinity Lane. The company became incorporated in 1979. Whilst its exact dates of operation are not known, the company had certainly ceased trading by 1995, when the site was excavated by archaeologists prior to redevelopment.
IWA is a membership charity that works to protect and restore the country's 6,500 miles of canals and rivers. It is unclear when the local branches in Yorkshire and the North Midlands were originally founded, however they were certainly operating by 1959.
Osbaldwick 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. Osbaldwick became part of the York Unitary Authority in 1996.
The exact foundation date of the York Old Priory Choir is currently unknown, however it was certainly in operation by 1906. The choir was a choral society, performing concerts for the local York public. Whilst the choir was originally mixed-gender, by the 1980s the number of men attending had begun to tail off, and the decision was taken to turn it into a female-only choir. From this point on it was referred to as the York Priory Ladies Choir.
Following a series of quarterly ringing meetings held in the early 1870's a meeting was held in Bradford on 2nd January 1875. After some ringing, those present adjourned to the Church Steps Inn for a business meeting and it was agreed to form a Yorkshire Society to promote ringing. Jasper Snowdon was unanimously elected to the chair for that meeting which formulated a constitution and a set of rules. These were presented to a large meeting held at Birstall on 30th October 1875, as a result of which the Yorkshire Association came into being.
In recognition of the leading part played by Snowdon, he was elected President and remained in this position until his death in 1885.
The Society continues to this day, and is now one of the largest ringing associations in the United Kingdom.
The university descends from two Anglican teacher training colleges, which were founded in York in 1841 (for men) and 1846 (for women). In 1862, the women's college relocated to Ripon. Over the next century, the colleges gradually diversified their education programmes. The colleges, St John's College and Ripon College, merged in 1974 to form the 'College of Ripon and York St John'.
In 1990 the combined institution formally became a college of the University of Leeds; this arrangement allowed it to award degrees in the name of the latter, while remaining in practice largely autonomous. Between 1999 and 2001, all activities were transferred to York and the college received the name 'York St John College'.
In February 2006, the College was granted the right to award degrees in its own name and the right to call itself a University College. On 10 July 2006 the Privy Council approved a request from the college to become a full-fledged University; the name became 'York St John University' on 1 October 2006, and the first Chancellor (installed at a ceremony in York Minster on 7 March 2007) was the Archbishop of York John Sentamu.
The Yorkshire Archaeological Society was founded 'to promote the study of ecclesiastical architecture, antiquities, and design, the restoration of mutilated remains, and of churches which may have been desecrated, within the county of York: and the improvement, as far as may be within its province, of the character of ecclesiastical edifices to be erected in the future'. The first meeting of the Society, to be called the Yorkshire Architectural Society, was held in York on 7 October 1842. Its membership consisted of patrons, The Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Ripon; Presidents, the Lords Lieutenants of the three Ridings: Vice-Presidents, local nobility, knights and Members of Parliament; and ordinary members, clergymen and lay members of the Church of England.
An early pioneer in its chosen field (The Oxford Architectural Society and the Cambridge Camden Society had been formed only two years earlier), the society met twice a year for the reading of papers and the dispatch of ordinary business. This included the consideration of grants from its funds for the restoration of churches. An early indication of its reputation was a request from the Vicar of Wakefield for the Society to undertake the complete restoration of the Chantry Chapel of the Blessed Virgin on the bridge there. The undertaking of this project was, in fact, to be a unique event in the annals of the Society.
Excursions to places of interest became a regular part of the Society's activities in 1845, when a visit was made to Adel church. A seal was designed for the Society by John West Hugall, a YAYAS secretary, in 1850. A year later, the Society entered the publishing field as a member of the union of architectural societies which produced The Associated Societies' Reports and Papers, a venture which continued until 1935. The pattern of lectures, excursions and grants continued until the last two decades of the 19th Century when the Society went into an almost terminal decline.
With the birth of the new century however, the seeds of a revival were sown. New members were recruited, including Dr W.A. Evelyn who exerted an influence that was to make the Society a significant force in the affairs of the City of York. To recognise the change of emphasis in its interests the words 'and York Archaeological' were added to its title to give it the usually used acronym of YAYAS.
Until he died in 1935 Dr Evelyn led many campaigns, with varying degrees of success, in an attempt to prevent the City's historic heritage being eroded. After the Second World War, the Society continued to exert its influence and was particularly well represented on the Corporation's Shambles Area Committee which planned the creation of Newgate Market. Now, as a member of the Conservation Areas Advisory Panel, it continues to make informed comment on planning matters in the City.
Thus on a more secure footing the Society has completed the 20th century without any further causes for disquiet: in 1992 the Society celebrated its 150th anniversary with a series of special events for its members.
YAYAS still continues to provide lectures and excursions and has become a considerable publisher of books and journals pertaining to its field of interest. As the success of any Society depends on a healthy membership, YAYAS invites all those with an interest in the architectural and archaeological heritage of York and Yorkshire to join and ensure that the Society continues its good work well into the 21st century.
The Society was established in Huddersfield in 1863 but within a few years extended its scope to the whole county and adopted the title 'The Yorkshire Archaeological and Topographical Association'. Archaeology and history have since become two scholarly disciplines, and the Society has become 'The Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society'.
The aims and objects of the Society are around the 'examination, preservation and illustration of the History, Architecture, Antiquities, Manners, Customs, Arts and Traditions of the county of York…'
These aims guide the work of the Society, although the emphasis on one theme or another may change with the passage of time. Members share a passion for Yorkshire's past and a commitment to the Society's aims, and, as volunteers, their commitment drives all our activities forward.
Over the years, much has been achieved but more remains to be done to ensure that future generations have as much information about their origins as can realistically be recorded.
Financially, in addition to the subscriptions of members, large projects depend increasingly on the generosity of donors, grant-giving bodies and on partnerships with other organisations.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) was founded in 1904 as the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust (JRVT), before changing its name to the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust (JRMT) in 1959 and finally to its present form in 1990. It was one of three Trusts established by the York Quaker philanthropist and businessman Joseph Rowntree to continue his family's pioneering work in the field of social reform; the others being the Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust (now the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust) and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
The JRF is also the owner of a subsidiary private limited company, Clifton Estate Ltd, which was created in 1926 to manage land and properties in Clifton. Since 1968 the Trust's housing operations have been managed through the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Housing Trust, later renamed the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, as well as through the Joseph Rowntree Housing Society Ltd (between 1980 and 1996).
As of 2018 the JRF describes itself as an independent social change organisation working to solve UK poverty through research, policy, collaboration, and practical solutions.
THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE VILLAGE TRUST (JRVT) 1904-1959
From its foundation the JRVT was closely tied to the Rowntree family and the family owned confectionery company Rowntree & Co Ltd. Joseph Rowntree endowed all three Trusts with shares in the company and the six founding Trustees (shared by all the Trusts) were members of his family and company directors. However each Trust had its own distinct character and mission, albeit all in service of Joseph Rowntree's overriding commitment, set out in his 1904 Trust deed, to seeking out the 'underlying causes of weakness or evil in a community' rather than merely 'remedying their more superficial manifestations.'
The JRVT was envisioned as a Housing Trust that would provide attractive, sanitary and well built homes for rent in village communities with good quality recreational and communal facilities. Its tenants were to be drawn from all levels of society, with a mix of houses and rents so that village life would be within the reach of the average working man. In setting out his plans for such communities, Joseph Rowntree drew on the experience of fellow Quakers such as the Cadburys who had created a model village at Bournville in the 1890s although Rowntree did not intend to create 'company villages' but rather communities open to all.
To this end the JRVT was endowed with a significant amount of property as well as company shares, making it the wealthiest of the Trusts and the only one intended from the very beginning to be permanent. This property included the West Huntington estate, on which Joseph Rowntree had already begun work on his own model village of New Earswick. He had purchased the 163 acre estate in 1901 and the first twenty-eight cottages, designed by innovative architects Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker, were built in 1902-1903. The JRVT took over responsibility for the development of New Earswick in 1904 and this remained its primary function until the 1950s.
The first phase of building under the JRVT took place between 1904 and 1918 when work on the estate was funded entirely by the Trust to a plan prepared by Unwin and Parker. Bricks and tiles were provided by the Trust's own works and the Trust was also responsible for all road repairs, sewage disposal, street lighting and landscaping. The plan included wide tree-lined avenues and around twelve acres of land to be reserved for recreational use and provided sites for key amenities such as the central Folk Hall, completed in 1906, which provided space for meetings, concerts, the village library and other functions, and the New Earswick Elementary School (renamed New Earswick Primary School in 1942) completed in 1911. The Trust also operated a model dairy at White Rose Farm, using Carl Sorensen's pioneering methods of milk production to provide a high quality supply for the village.
In 1919 Raymond Unwin was appointed Chief Architect to the Ministry of Health and Barry Parker took over his work for the Trust, beginning the second phase of development at New Earswick which lasted until 1936. In the post war period rising costs and a shortage of materials meant the Trust could no longer support the full cost of development and were obliged to make use of government subsidies and to simplify their designs. The resulting drive for economy in all aspects of building had a significant effect on the original plan for the village. The building programme was continued on a year by year basis, Parker introducing a series of cul-de-sacs so that each expansion could be completed within a year and shorter roads were needed to supply each new development.
Approximately 259 new houses were completed in New Earswick between 1919 and 1936 and the Folk Hall was considerably enlarged in 1935. At the same time the Trust was developing the Clifton estate left to the Rowntree Trusts at Joseph Rowntree's death and fully controlled by the JRVT from 1928. Unlike New Earswick the estate at Clifton was developed for sale, although by 1941 a minority of the houses there still remained unsold and were let as rentals.
However the building programme began to slow in the economic depression of the 1930s, with the closure of the Trust's own brick and tile works in 1934 followed by a complete cessation of house building in 1936. Work did not cease entirely however, with work beginning on the new Joseph Rowntree Senior School in 1939, a joint venture between the Trust and Local Authority. The school was opened in 1942 and in the same year the Trust appointed Louis de Soissons as their new consultant architect. The Trust also acquired Homestead House at Clifton from Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree in 1936, on the condition that the grounds were maintained by the Trust as a public park. The House was subsequently let to Seebohm's son Peter Rowntree who oversaw the park and also ran a market garden on the site known as the Clifton Fruit Company.
The development of New Earswick entered its third phase with the close of the Second World War. The Trust purchased adjacent land at Kettlestring Farms in 1945 and began a substantial expansion of the village in 1949 into the area previously occupied by White Rose Farm. The work continued throughout the 1950s and included a mixture of houses, bungalows and flats as the Trust began to focus their efforts on creating a better balance of accommodation in the village. At the same time the Trust continued to improve their existing housing stock with the use of government Improvement Grants, in particular through the installation of central heating and indoor bathrooms.
The new balance of accommodation included housing for the elderly and for single professional people. The Trust entered into discussions with the Local Authority concerning the provision of accommodation for the elderly within the confines of the National Assistance Act of 1948 which had extended the role of voluntary organisations in this area. In this the Trust was influenced by Seebohm Rowntree's 1947 report on the welfare of the elderly which had recommended small, well designed homes and group homes for those no longer able to fully care for themselves. Consequently the Trust built twelve cottages for the elderly and converted Westbrook House on Western Terrace into a small group home with a resident warden. The home proved so popular that it was transferred to a larger house, The Garth, in 1949 and extended in 1958-1960 to provide interconnected bungalows for the elderly known as Garth Court.
The Trust also commissioned a block of twenty flats for single business and professional people between 1957 and 1960. Recognising that this kind of accommodation was more common in continental Europe, they commissioned two Swedish architects to design and equip the flats. The completed flats boasted the first use of underfloor heating in New Earswick and Swedish standards of insulation with extensive use of double glazing.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE JRVT
The administration of the JRVT was overseen by its Trustees, in whom was vested all of the property and income belonging to the Trust. Initially limited to eight in number, the Trustees were required to meet quarterly, but usually met more often in the early decades when New Earswick was still under development. New Trustee appointments could be made by Joseph Rowntree or, after his death, by the original Trustees, and thereafter alternatively by continuing Trustees and the Religious Society of Friends. The first Trustee from outside the family was Thomas Henry Appleton who was appointed in 1906 following the death of Joseph's son, John Wilhelm Rowntree. The Trustees appointed a Chairman from among their number and the Chair was re-elected on a yearly basis.
The Trustees took all major decisions relating to the work and policies of the JRVT but the day to day administration was increasingly carried out by a range of sub-committees and a growing number of office staff. In the first three decades there was a great deal of overlap between Trust and Rowntree Company administration. All three Rowntree Trusts initially shared an office at the Cocoa Works, the company headquarters in York, and in many cases also shared staff with each other and with Rowntrees. The Trust's first permanent secretary, Percy Jackson Pfluger, joined Rowntree & Co in 1913 and was assigned to the Trusts' office but remained, like many early 'Trust staff' on the company payroll. He was appointed as JRVT secretary in 1933, whilst also serving as temporary secretary to the Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust. In addition to acting as secretary for the JRVT, he prepared the Trust's annual reports and accounts. He remained in post for the next fifty years, retiring in 1963. The Rowntree Company's legal and building departments also regularly advised the JRVT and carried out work on its behalf.
It was not until the 1940s that the administration of company and Trusts began to diverge, although the company's solicitor continued to act for the Trust. In 1942 it was noted in the Trust minutes that its staff were now no longer part of the Rowntree company or of their pension scheme. In 1948 the JRVT finally moved from the shared Trust office in the Cocoa Works to the ground floor of Beverley House, Clifton, which had been acquired by the Trust during the war. Beverley House was the headquarters of the JRVT, JRCT and later also the JRSST until 1990 and underwent a number of alterations and extensions during that time as the Trusts' activities grew.
In 1946 the first full time officer, Lewis E. Waddilove, joined the Trust as 'social investigator' and assistant to the Trustees. In 1947 he was added to the newly created Executive Committee consisting of York-based Trustees John Stephenson Rowntree and Peter Rowntree and secretary Pfluger, which was set up to deal with the routine work of the Trust, leaving more important matters and policy decisions to the quarterly meetings. By 1954 Waddilove was described as the Trust's Executive Officer.
The Executive Committee was supported by a number of other sub-committees of varied duration. One of the most important of these was the Earswick Committee which was created at the inaugural Trust meeting in 1904 'to exercise the powers of the Trustees in respect of the Earswick estate'. The committee comprised non-Trustees and included the New Earswick Housing Manager (originally called the Estate Agent) who was responsible for the welfare of tenants, allocation of houses and collection of rents. The post, which was held by a succession of women, was originally a part time one, but was made full time in 1918 and continued until 1967. The Earswick Committee reported directly to the Trustees at their quarterly meetings.
Other sub-committees were appointed as and when needed and their minutes and reports were shared with Trustees. An Education Committee was appointed in 1909 for example to report on the type of school most suitable for the village and the resulting Primary School and Senior School was managed by a Foundation Managers Committee and a Modern School Committee. In the late 1940s The Garth Committee was formed to manage the home for the elderly founded first at Westbrook House in New Earswick, before being transferred to The Garth in 1951. There was additionally a Pension Fund Committee from 1950, a Plans Committee of villagers to give feedback on proposed building developments, and a House Selection Committee to assist the Housing Manager with the selection of tenants.
The Trustees and its Earswick Sub-Committee also worked in conjunction with a representative council of villagers who met first as the Earswick Council in November 1904 and then as the New Earswick Village Council from October 1907. Consisting of eleven members, one of whom was appointed by the Trustees, the Village Council managed the Folk Hall, arranged lectures and classes, and represented the village in all matters concerning housing and village life. From 1935 they also administered an Amenities Grant in the village on behalf of the Trust, contributing to the funding of the village's many social clubs and services, as well as issuing a regular New Earswick Bulletin of news and community information.
THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE MEMORIAL TRUST (JRMT) 1959-1989
Though its primary concern before the 1950s was the development and management of New Earswick, the JRVT had also made a number of important contributions to housing policy and planning on a national and international level. New Earswick itself was a living and working example of the kind of housing standards the JRVT hoped to promote elsewhere and the Trust frequently welcomed visitors to the village, including over 200 members of the German Garden Cities Association in 1909.
They also made grants to organisations working to improve housing standards. In 1910 they made a grant to the National Housing Reform Council and in 1912 they began a long association with the National Housing and Town Planning Council. From 1919 the Trust also gave support to the Garden Cities and Town Planning Association which became the Town and Country Planning Association in 1940, as well as the London Housing Committee. In York the Trust funded an architect and planning consultant to prepare a master plan of improvement works in the city which became the 1948 exhibition 'A Plan for the City of York.'
The wider part that the Trust could play in questions of housing policy and social life came increasingly to the fore in the 1940s and 50s. In the early 1940s Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree wrote to his fellow Trustees to remind them that the 1904 Trust Deed allowed them to use their resources for any object that was of benefit to the working classes. As work on New Earswick inevitably slowed, the Trust would have more income at its disposal to devote to other projects and should think seriously about what its future role should be.
The resulting discussion continued, on and off, for the next fifteen years and involved not just the JRVT but also their sister Trusts. Meetings held in 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957 between the JRVT, their sister Trusts, the Charity Commission and consultants drawn from the world of academia and social policy considered at length the powers afforded to the Trust by its founding Deed and the future direction of its work, taking into consideration potential overlap with the work of the JRCT and JRSST. It was decided that the JRVT should broaden their work to include that of social research and enquiry, seeking out the 'underlying causes' of social ills stressed by Joseph Rowntree in 1904. These new far-reaching powers were enshrined in a private Act of Parliament brought by the JRVT in 1959 which allowed the Trust to support research into housing and social questions and to work overseas.
To match this wider scope of activity the Trust's name was formally changed to the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust (JRMT) and from 1960 the Trust began to publish triennial reports detailing its work. Its administrative structure was also revised to reflect its increase in activity. In 1961 the positions of Trust Director and Assistant Director were created with responsibility for the day to day management of the Trust. Lewis Waddilove became the first Director, a post he held until 1979, and James Edward Ford Longman the first Assistant Director. The Director liaised directly with the Trust Chairman and reported to the quarterly meeting of Trustees which continued to take all strategic and policy decisions and approve the allocation of funds. Every project supported by the Trust was in addition to have its own Advisory Committee to act as an intermediary between Trust and grant recipient. These committees usually included a Trustee and the Trust Director.
From 1959 onwards there was therefore a significant expansion of the Trust's activities into the fields of housing policy and research, community and family life, the training of social workers, and social services in the UK and abroad, as well as support for Yorkshire based projects. Many projects were initiated by the Trust itself, in keeping with Joseph Rowntree's instruction to his Trusts to 'seek out' and address the underlying causes of social ills. In 1958 the Trust had launched a group of influential studies on national housing policy and rents under the direction of David Donnison known collectively as the Rowntree Trust Housing Study. Over the next twenty years other JRMT funded studies followed, investigating the effects of the 1957 Rent Act, the Voluntary Housing Movement, housing and the mobility of labour, and the development of Housing Associations amongst other subjects. The Trust also offered financial aid to a number of housing organisations, including the National Federation of Housing Societies, the Shelter Housing Advice Centre (part of the charity Shelter) and the National Association of Almshouses. In 1971 the JRMT supported the creation of the Tuke Housing Association which provided social housing in and around York, taking responsibility for its administration (which it later transferred to the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust).
In the field of community and family life the Trust turned its attention to the rapid changes in urban life, funding a 1961 study of 'high rise' living that led to further guidance, again funded by the Trust, on the design and care of playgrounds for children in urban areas. Other early projects supported by the Trust included a study of services for the elderly in Tyneside, York Family Service Units, and the National Birthday Trust Fund's research into perinatal mortality, as well as work on such wide ranging subjects as the sociology of law, race relations, drugs, and teenage delinquency. In 1959 the Trust also made a five year grant to the Institute of Community Studies to support a broad range of social research with a Trustee and Executive Officer Lewis Waddilove joining the Institute's Advisory Committee.
The Trust also gave key support to the Social Work Staff College (later the National Institute for Social Work Training) which was founded in 1961 with the joint funding of the JRMT and the Nuffield Foundation. The need for an Institute to coordinate professional social work training and support had been recognised in the 1959 report of the Younghusband Working Party which examined the role and training of social workers in health and welfare services. Together the JRMT and Nuffield Foundation purchased and adapted Mary Ward House as a site for the Institute and provided further funding over the next ten years. In 1972 the Institute's first Director, Robin Huws Jones, was invited to join the JRMT as Associate Director and he remained with the Trust as a consultant following his retirement, helping to shape its work in this area. In addition to this institutional support the Trust also contributed funding to a number of regional social work training courses at Liverpool, Tyneside and York.
At York the JRMT played a key role in the foundation of the university in 1963, making a contribution of £100,000 to be spread over ten years. In addition to financial support the Trust also stated its intention to co-operate with any university departments that shared its research interests, particular in the social sciences. In 1962 the Trust was approached by the university regarding a proposed Institute of Social and Economic Research that would further the kind of social research pursued by the Rowntree family and Trusts and employ research students from the social science departments. The Trust agreed to make a grant of £23,500 over five years towards the general expenses of the institute and to fund two research projects. The Institute was launched the following year under the management of an Advisory Committee which included a representative of the Trust.
Whilst the Trust's initial funding to the Institute ended after five years, it continued to provide grants for individual projects such as Tony Atkinson and A. K. Maynard's re-analysis of Seebohm Rowntree's 1950 poverty survey, the report for which was published in 1981. Between 1981 and 1983 the Trust provided further funding for the creation of a broader social science research organisation, the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences, which would include the Institute for Social and Economic Research as well as staff and research units from other disciplines. In 1989 the Trust founded a Chair of Housing Policy at the university as part of the new Centre for Housing Policy (CHP).
The effect of this wide-ranging work on the effects of housing policy, investigations into family and community life and social services and social science research was to focus the Trust more clearly on the need to influence the implementation of social policy at national level. In January 1971 the Trust made the decision to establish a national Centre for Studies in Social Policy, funded by the Trust but independent from it. The Centre launched in 1972 with the mission to advise government and local authorities in taking social policy decisions. In 1977 it merged with Political and Economic Planning to form the Policy Studies Institute which continued to enjoy the support of the Trust. In the 1980s the JRMT found, bought and converted a new headquarters for the Institute in Park Village East, London.
In the same year that the Centre for Studies in Social Policy was launched the Trust took responsibility for a government initiative that would lead to the formation of the influential Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York. In December 1972, in the wake of the Thalidomide scandal, the Trust agreed to administer the Family Fund set up by the government to allocate money to families who had a child suffering from congenital disability. The Trust allocated the funds within guidelines agreed with the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS), the first time that an independent trust had thus administered public funds to deliver a service akin to that directed locally by statutory authorities.
In order to monitor the progress of the Fund, to collate the necessary data reports to administer it and explore the broader research opportunities in social policy it presented, the Trust established an independent research project in the Department of Social Administration and Social Work at the University of York, led by Jonathan Bradshaw. The project was launched in August 1973, with the costs shared between the DHSS and the Trust. It was originally intended that the research project would run for three years but in 1975 the research team were asked by the DHSS to become one of their standing research units, developing a broader research programme on children with disabilities. The DHSS subsequently took over the funding of the unit and it was renamed the Social Policy Research Unit, although the unit continued to maintain close links with the Family Fund and would later undertake other large scale projects for the JRF. These included the Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey in Britain in 1999 and the Minimum Income Standards project in 2006-2008.
OVERSEAS WORK OF THE JRMT
The Trust's work in this area was not confined to the UK. The 1959 parliamentary Act established the Trust's authority to provide houses and community services anywhere in the Commonwealth and to pursue research anywhere in the world. The initiative for this work came from the Trust's involvement with the National Citizens Advice Bureaux, run by the National Council of Social Service in the UK, and the suggestion that a similar service, adapted to local needs, could be of use in those Commonwealth countries adapting to the pressures of rapid industrial and urban change. The Trust secured the services of an experienced officer from the National Citizens Advice Bureaux Committee who visited Northern and Southern Rhodesia (later Zambia) in late 1959 to meet people engaged in voluntary social work there. Her report claimed that a Council of Social Service would be of more use to coordinate the various voluntary services before Citizens Advice Bureaux could be established.
The Trust subsequently arranged for other experienced officer to travel to Rhodesia for six months in 1960 to coordinate services, leading to the creation of Citizens Advice Bureaux in Salisbury, Bulawayo and two additional African townships in Southern Rhodesia. In order to establish the permanent body needed to manage these new bureaux the Trust engaged H. R. Poole of the Liverpool Council of Social Service who set up a base in Salisbury for a year and helped establish a Northern Rhodesian Council of Social Service with subsidiary local councils and a series of related committees and conferences, as well as responding to enquiries from Uganda and Nyasaland (later Malawi). The Trust subsequently helped to set up Councils of Social Service in Southern Rhodesia, Uganda and Kenya.
The considerations that governed these initial forays into overseas aid also shaped their support of other projects in Africa. The Trust's annual reports made it clear that they were all too aware of the pitfalls of a British charity influencing social and political developments in societies they had little direct knowledge of. Thus they sought to use their funds to support projects they could maintain a personal relationship with, that furthered their key commitment to improved social and community services and housing, and to allow these projects to be shaped by their own evolving societies, funding trained staff and necessary equipment for existing projects rather than establishing wholly new projects of their own.
Between 1960 and 1963 the Trust provided funding for the Uganda Youth Council's youth leader training courses in Kampala. They also made a grant to the Outward Bound Association of Rhodesia to fund a Training Officer from 1965 and paid for a full time warden at the Waddington Community Centre at Lusaka which was open to both Africans and Europeans. They also made a contribution towards fellowships for three African graduate students to come to Britain to study social administration and supported the secretarial training of twenty girls in Zambia. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s they also made several grants to the pioneering Jairos Jiri Association for Rehabilitation of the Disabled and Blind in Bulawayo to pay for trained staff.
In housing too the Trust worked with existing organisations, advancing a loan for the purchase of land and the building of co-operative housing and shops in Bulawayo in 1962-1963, managed by the Mhlahlandhlela Housing Co-operative in collaboration with the Bulawayo Municipality. In the 1970s the Trust also made a financial contribution towards staff costs at a self-help housing scheme in Kafue, near Lusaka, which had been set up by the American Friends Service Committee and the Zambian government, as well as to a group of housing co-operatives in Lesotho.
The Trust took the decision to discontinue its work in Africa in 1988.
THE HOUSING TRUST
The broader powers exercised by the Trust in the fields of social and housing policy and research did not undermine its core commitment to New Earswick and the practical provision of affordable and good quality housing and amenities in the UK. However its new dual role as a charitable body administering an endowment for the purposes of social research and experiment and as a housing association developing a housing programme with the aid of government subsidies gave rise to a number of legal difficulties. In 1967 the Trust took the decision to separate its role as a housing association from its other activities in order to divide and safeguard its status as a housing trust and an endowed charity, and to ensure its housing work could continue to qualify for statutory grants and loans. The Joseph Rowntree Memorial Housing Trust (later the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust) was launched on 1 January 1968 and was vested with all of the land and property of the JRMT, including the New Earswick estate and adjacent Kettlestring Farms. In addition it received an annual grant from the JRMT to carry out its work.
The legal distinction between the two Trusts was not, at least in its early decades, always reflected in its operations and administration. The JRMT and JRMHT shared Trustees, staff and offices, although the administration of the JRMHT was delegated to a New Earswick Management Committee and the finances of the two were kept separate. The housing programme followed by the JRMHT was to continue on from that of the JRMT and included the extensive New Earswick modernisation programme begun in 1966 and continued throughout the 1970s which saw the interiors of the oldest houses in the village extensively remodelled.
The two Trusts have continued to work closely together and this is reflected in their archives which show a significant degree of overlap. The JRMT had the power to contribute to any part of the work of the Housing Trust that was legally defined as charitable and the work of both Trusts was included in the published Triennial Reports from 1968 to 1991 and then in the Annual Reports from 1991 to 2003. It was only in 2004 that the two Trusts began to publish separate Annual Reports, although the first two Housing Trust reports describe it as the 'operational arm' of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and thereafter they are described as working in partnership.
THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION (1990-)
The late 1980s were a time of significant change for the Trust. In 1988 Rowntree Mackintosh was taken over by the Swiss company Nestlé. Although the JRMT, like the JRCT, had divested itself of some of its Rowntree shares and diversified its investments following the Cocoa Losses of 1973, company shares still accounted for 60 per cent of the JRMT's income in 1988, and made up 3.8 per cent of the company's ordinary share capital. The takeover was opposed by both the JRMT and JRCT (the JRSST had disposed of its Rowntree shares in the 1970s) and its success obliged both to sell their remaining company shares, severing the direct link between the Trusts and the company but almost doubling the value of the JRMT's assets to £110 million.
As a result of the takeover the JRMT was able to take back ownership of The Homestead, previously the home of Seebohm Rowntree and then leased to Rowntree Mackintosh as their international headquarters. In 1990 the Trust moved their offices from Beverley House to The Homestead and as of 2018 it remains their York headquarters.
It was also able to devote more money to its research and development programme, which came under review in the same year as the takeover. In its 1988-1991 Triennial Report the Director was keen to stress the active role of the Trust in research and development, stating that it did not make grants 'in the traditional sense' of contributing to charitable appeals or giving to good causes, but rather supported specific programmes of original work decided, and often initiated, by the Trustees, and subject to regular review. This was described in later reports as a mandate to search, demonstrate and influence. The boost to Trust income meant that the Trust now had considerably more resources to develop its programmes, in 1987 the JRMT gave £2.8 million in new grant commitments, by 1991 this had risen to £6.1 million.
In their 1988 review Trustees agreed that housing would continue to be a major activity of the Trust, as would social care, which would be expanded to include community care and the delivery of services to support families and carers. Its work for those with learning difficulties would also be broadened to include all aspects of disability. Social policy, which had been a major area of Trust work since the 1960s, was in turn to be confined in the future to social security issues and income support, with the Trust's work on employment (and Africa) discontinued. The Trust also established Local and Central Government Relations as a distinct area of activity, a field of work that had begun in the mid 1980s under the direction of Deputy Trust Chairman, Sir Charles Carter.
These areas of work were to be supported by committees of Trustees and outside experts. In 1991 these were the Housing Research Committee, the Social Policy Research Committee, the Community Care and Disability Committee, and the Local and Central Government Relations Research Committee. Most grant funded projects also had an individual Advisory Committee to offer support and enable the Trust to review its progress, and all were from 1990 subject to new Project Agreements which set out the expectations of both the Trust and the researchers and committed them to contributing a clear summary of their work for the 'Findings' series of four page summaries of Trust funded research projects.
At the same time there were changes to the Trust's staff as Director Robin Guthrie left to take up the role of Chief Charity Commissioner and was replaced by Richard Best, previously the Director of the National Federation of Housing Associations. Under his directorship the Trust changed its name to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to better differentiate it from its sister Trusts, and set about raising its public profile.
Best saw an immediate need to make the results of the JRF's broad range of research more readily available to policy makers, the press and the public, and in 1989 Roland Hurst, the Trust's first Director of Information Services, was appointed to manage the dissemination of the Trust's research output through new publications, specialist briefings and a closer relationship with the media. As part of his work he launched the 'Findings', as well as 'Search', a more detailed quarterly magazine.
By the end of 1991 the Directorate and staff of the JRF and JRHT combined numbered some 250 people. This included five Directors: the Director of the Foundation and the Directors of the Family Fund, of Housing and Property Services, Research, Finance, and of Information Services, and, where relevant, their reporting committees. Reporting to the Director of Research were the Social Policy Research, Housing Research, Local and Central Government Relations Research, and the Community Care and Disability Committees.
Meanwhile the housing operations undertaken by the JRF and its associated bodies (the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Society Ltd) were administered by the Housing Committee and New Earswick Management Committee, both reporting to the Director of Housing and Property Services. In 1993 the JRF added the new post of Housing Research Development Officer to bridge the gap between housing research and housing operations and to ensure the research directly influenced the work of the JRHT. In 1995 a new Development Overview Committee was added to support research and development projects involving the JRHT.
Although the work of the Trust focused in the early 1990s on the five main areas set out in 1988, projects within these programmes were often grouped together around a particular theme, with their results analysed in a final overarching report commissioned by the JRF. The Trust's 'Action on Estates' programme in 1993-1994 for example brought together eight research projects in the housing field, as well as practical work at the Bell Farm housing estate in York, to make detailed recommendations on ways to empower residents of estates across the whole of the UK, including the influential report 'Unleashing the Potential' by Marilyn Taylor.
From the mid 1990s the JRF adopted the overarching theme of 'strengthening communities and combating exclusion', and this began to shape much of their programme of research and development. In 1995 it brought together 30 research projects under a Trust commissioned Income and Wealth Inquiry, chaired by JRF Chairman Sir Peter Barclay, the final report of which received a great deal of publicity. In the same year the Trust's Family and Parenthood programme brought together 22 research projects in the report 'Family and Parenthood: Supporting Families, Preventing Breakdown' by David Utting. In 1996 Lynn Watson brought together findings from 20 Trust funded projects in the field of housing and community care to analyse the housing needs of care users and the effects of the 1993 Community Care Act. Where relevant, this research could directly influence the practical work of the Housing Trust, such as with the 'Lifetime Homes' scheme that saw the design criteria of the JRF's Lifetime Homes Group applied to the JRHT's 'Woodlands' housing development in York.
A major area of work during this period was the establishment by the JRF of Communities that Care UK, a company that received its core funding from the Trust between 1997 and 2001, when it became financially independent. Based on an American scheme, CTC UK focused on early intervention and prevention services for children and their families at risk of developing social problems. The scheme was trialled in three areas and, following an evaluation commissioned by the JRF, was extended to more than twenty communities by the end of 2001.
Trust committees changed to reflect these new and emerging priorities. Community Care and Disability became the Social Care and Disability Committee in the mid 1990s. In 1997 the Social Policy Research Committee became the Work, Income and Social Policy Committee, and in 1998 the Housing Committee became the Housing and Neighbourhoods Committee. In 1997 the Trust also added a Young People and Families Committee to direct its expanding youth intervention work.
So that it could continue to respond to wider change and ensure its work remained relevant, in 1998 the Trust created a new Policy and Practice Development Department, led by a new Director, to engage with external developments and agendas and liaise directly with the JRHT and Care Services department when needed. In 2002, as it approached its centenary year, the Trust conducted a further strategic review of its programmes in order to identify new areas of work and adjust its committee structure where necessary. The review identified the Trust's core areas of work as housing and deprivation, the twin issues of 'poverty' and 'place' which lay at the heart of the work undertaken by Joseph and Seebohm Rowntree and in the foundation of the JRVT itself in 1904.
Research and development programmes in these two areas were to be overseen by two existing committees, the Housing and Neighbourhoods Committee, and the Work, Income and Social Policy Committee which was renamed the Poverty and Disadvantage Committee.
Beyond these core areas the review recommended the replacement of standing research and development committees with a series of more flexible time-limited committees, responsible for individual programmes of work. Thus the Social Care and Disability Committee and the Children, Young People and Families Committee closed in 2003. They were replaced by a number of single programme committees, including a Drug and Alcohol Research Committee, an Immigration and Inclusion Committee and a Parenting Research and Development Committee.
Between 2002 and 2005 the JRF carried out a wide range of work through these standing and single programme committees. In the field of housing the Trust advocated for more affordable housing, as exemplified by its CASPAR (City Centre Apartments for Single People at Affordable Rents) scheme in Leeds and Birmingham, and its administrative support for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on homelessness and housing need. In the field of 'deprivation' the Trust produced its annual Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion survey, which it extended to Northern Ireland in 2006, as well as launching the Public Interest in Poverty initiative which surveyed public attitudes towards poverty, and advocating for access to affordable credit. In response to wider changes the JRF also commissioned research into the experiences and perceptions of migrants working in low waged jobs in the UK and carried out a comprehensive review of modern slavery.
Its work with families and young people included research into anti-social behaviour and funding a 2005 independent Commission on Families and Wellbeing of Children which was set up to look at the relationship between the state and the family. This work intersected with research on educational and employment opportunities available to disabled young people. The Foundation also continued to advocate for sustainable funding for long term care for the elderly, producing a series of costed policy options and working in partnership with the King's Fund, Age Concern, and Help the Aged to discuss these policy concerns with older people.
To aid the dissemination of this work, Trustees also approved a number of new programmes for the Policy and Practice Development Department which would build on the findings of JRF research and development activity with the aim of influencing policy makers on key issues such as neighbourhood regeneration, affordable homes for single people, the value of mixed income communities, and meeting the challenge of long term care for the elderly.
The long-serving Director of both the JRF and JRHT, Richard Best, retired in 2006 and was replaced in 2007 by Julia Unwin. A further review of the strategic direction of the JRF took place in 2007 which expanded the Foundation's core interests to poverty, place and empowerment. As a result of the review the Foundation established three new strategy groups to advice Trustees on its search, demonstration and influencing work under these three themes. Key research in these areas included routes out of poverty, barriers to reducing inequality, the regeneration of places, and meeting housing needs in times of change. The Foundation also sought to return to its founding principles by commissioning a public consultation on the nature of 'social evils' in the twenty-first century and how these had changed over the previous century, followed by analysis of the issues identified and exploration of possible solutions. This work was published in 2009 as 'Contemporary Social Evils', incorporating new research by the National Centre for Social Research.
A number of new programmes were introduced in 2009 under these three key themes. These included an examination of how climate change would affect the people and places facing poverty and disadvantage in the UK, how to offer a 'better life' to older people in residential care, and an exploration of the impact of globalisation on UK poverty. The Foundation also launched the JRF Housing Market Taskforce to work towards the establishment of a more stable housing market, particularly for vulnerable households.
In 2012 the JRF agreed a new Strategic Plan for 2012-2014 following consultations with staff, Trustees, and external stakeholders across the UK. The plan organised the Foundation's work around the themes of poverty, place, and ageing society and introduced a number of new programmes. These included a three year programme to contribute to evidence and debate on the wider implications of an ageing society, care for people with dementia, and care homes as places to live and work, as well as initiatives encouraging businesses to become 'anti poverty employers' and a partnership with the charity Crisis to monitor UK homelessness. The Foundation also made substantial grants to a programme exploring the relationship between housing and poverty, and to a major new four year programme to develop an anti-poverty strategy for the UK. The latter culminated in the launch of the country's first comprehensive plan to solve UK poverty, 'We Can Solve UK Poverty', in September 2016.
The 2015-2017 Strategic Plan adopted the three core themes of individuals and relationships, the places where people live, and work and worth. New programmes of work included the promotion of inclusive growth in cities, the 'reframing' of poverty to improve public and political debate on the subject, research into minimum income standards across the UK, and the relationship between poverty and ethnicity. The Foundation's current strategic plan sets out its priorities for 2018-2021, based upon the two overarching outcomes that everyone should have a decent home in a good place, and that everyone should have decent living standards and prospects.
The North Eastern Railway Association was formed for those interested in the history of the North Eastern Railway. It is a forum for members to share experiences, and to attend events about t the railway.
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.
The Gild of Freemen of the City of York was founded on 9th September 1953 on a unanimous vote of nearly two hundred freemen representing all four wards in the city. It was formed for the benefit of all freemen who no longer had a craft guild and to maintain the heritage of the gift of freedom.
The Gild upholds the vows of Freedom, promotes the good reputation of the City, acts as guardian in protecting and developing the traditional rights of Freemen, preserves the custom of caring for the welfare of Gild Freemen, operates a benevolent fund, subscribes to charitable causes and provides a range of social activities.
The Gild also takes part in the York cycle of Mystery Plays alongside other guilds in the city.
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.
Saint Stephen's Orphanage was founded by Lady Harriet, wife of Augustus Duncombe, Dean of York Minster, her two daughters, Mrs Harcourt and Mrs Egerton, and Reverend James Douglas, curate at Kirby Misperton. It was named after Saint Stephen who was one of the seven deacons charged by the apostles to minister to widows, orphans and the poor.
The orphanage was originally housed in Precentor's Court and provided shelter for up to 13 female orphans under the supervision of Miss Mathew and Mrs Blencowe. The accommodation proved to be too small so two houses were purchased in Trinity Lane, off Micklegate, in 1872.
By 1874 Major William Cayley Worsley of Hovingham, his wife and some of his friends, formed a committee of management which came to the rescue of the society, which was facing funding pressures. The committee provided a loan of £125 until a legacy of a further £660 came to fruition.
A new superintendent, Miss Mary Arlidge, was appointed in 1876. By the following year the orphanage was home to 26 children, and 25 Trinity Lane was purchased to provide a laundry, bathroom, larger dormitories and a playground. In 1878 27 Trinity Lane was also purchased, enabling an additional dining room, dormitory and an isolation room to be added.
By 1879, 31 girls were living in Trinity Lane and, although there was enough room for them, there were insufficient funds available. The number of girls needing a home continued to expand so, in 1881, 21 and 23 Trinity Lane were purchased. By 1885 there were 49 girls in residence of whom 23 paid no fees while the others were supported by an annual fee of £12 each.
During the 1880s, the orphanage expanded its facilities to provide free dinners for poor children all over the city. Dinners were provided in the orphanage dining room in sittings, and by 1887 10,255 dinners were being provided annually.
Dr William A. Evelyn became involved in the orphanage when he married and moved to 24 (now 61) Micklegate in 1885. In 1910 he was asked to review the fire appliances, following which he worked for the home for the next 22 years, becoming its medical officer in 1920 and vice-chairman of the management committee in 1926. In order to raise funds, he prepared a series of five lectures with lantern slides given in St Mary's Hall, Marygate, between 1 and 29 November 1911, entitled 'Walks through Old York' which would be of interest to those who were keen on preserving York's buildings. Although the hall was not full, £104 was collected for the orphanage. These lectures continued and in 1917 took £115. In 1919 the lectures were held in the larger Tempest Anderson Hall where admission was five shillings and £166 was raised. In 1921 it was £104 and in 1923 was £170.
At a management meeting at the end of 1919 it was reported that the state of the buildings in Trinity Lane had deteriorated and were no longer suited to the care of young children. It was proposed that a house which was for sale at 89 The Mount, on the corner of Scarcroft Road, be investigated as a possible home. Within two weeks the house had been purchased for £4,500. The cost of converting the house was £429 and the move to the new home began. Whilst this was being done the children were sent away to a holiday home at Filey. As the committee now carried a debt of £5,000, it sought ways to increase its revenue. It calculated that the annual cost of keeping a child was approaching £40 a year and decided to ask ladies who supported individual children financially to increase their contribution to £35.
By early 1922 the number of girls had fallen to 28 but Ministry of Health recognition was achieved in the same year, a classification which authorised the home to receive children from Boards of Guardians. Unfortunately this did not lead to an increase in the number of residents which remained fairly constant for the next two years, so it was agreed to offer places to York City Council when corporation children's homes were full. Four years later requests for places were received from Boards of Guardians at Leeds and South Shields, a development which again did not lead to any significant increase in numbers. Occasionally children were now being sent out from the home for adoption, a measure which further depleted numbers.
When the Second World War broke out in September 1939 the children were evacuated to the home of Mrs Stapleton at Myton-on-Swale. There the hostess was paid five shillings per week for each child and member of staff. The potting shed at the home was converted into an air-raid shelter and bunks were fitted with anti-splinter netting applied to the windows. Soon after this was completed the girls returned to York and, when enemy bombs fell on the nearby Bar Convent, the girls sang hymns in the area shelter.
In the post-war years fundraising was still an issue; the age for leaving was raised to 16; Miss Govan, a new matron, was appointed and she served for 22 years; the Sunday services moved from St Clement's in Scarcroft Road to Holy Trinity in Micklegate; the National Spastic Society agreed to use a vacant wing of the home; a hostel at Rawcliffe Holt was set up for older girls to live under supervision; in the 1950's children were inoculated against poliomyelitis; in 1957 there were 15 girls and 10 boys.
In the 1960s there was a steady decline in numbers and liaison meetings with Blue and Grey Coat Schools led to their amalgamation with St Stephens on 14 August 1969 and the formation of York Children's Trust. Thus ended the life of the home after almost 100 years, providing a caring home life for orphans in the early days of the venture, and for children with difficult home circumstances latterly.
Catherine Cappe Memorial Trust
York Adoption Society was registered with the Charities Commission on 23 September 1963, as a charity arranging the legal adoption of children in the York area. It continued until 16 January 1996, by which point it had ceased to exist.
York Centre for Voluntary Service (known as York CVS) was incorporated on 30 March 1951 as York Council for Voluntary Service. It was then known as York Community Council Ltd (1983-1985) and York Council for Voluntary Services (2010-2013) before being renamed to its present configuration in 2013. It is a social action organisation; supporting and championing York's voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to make positive change, challenge issues and grow new ideas for the future in order to strengthen communities.
Wheldrake Women's Institute. was created in March 1925 by a group of ladies living in Wheldrake.
The National Women's Institute was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War and is now the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK.
First listed in Kelly's Directory of York in 1896-1897 as R.B. Mills, auctioneer and emigration agent, 16 Stonegate. By 1900, the business is listed as Richard Bell Mills, valuer and ocean passenger agent, Minster Gates.
R.B. Mills occupied 7 Minster Gates as a travel agency, variously described as an ocean passenger agent, a shipping agent, and a tourist agent, until at least 1975, but appears to have stopped trading by 1985.
The company was founded in 1891 by Thomas Dick and dealt as a general wholesalers and wholesale stationers. In 1906 they were located at 22 Railway Street, and by 1968 they are listed at 19-25 Railway Street.
The business sold 'virtually everything' except food and clothing, and had a strong stationary element in the goods they supplied. The sales ledger indicates that they sold goods to many of the corner shops around York.
The company is listed as a Wholesale Stationer in trade directories, and is occasionally listed as Dick Bros. Ltd and Minnie Dick Ltd. The company is listed in the trade directory for 1968, but not for 1969. From 1968, the York Co-operative Society Ltd. is listed at 21 Railway Street (later George Hudson Street).
Thomas Surbey was a London-based engineer chosen in 1699 by two MPs of the City of York to survey the River Ouse. The purpose of this survey was so that the river could be made more navigable by ships. Surbey began his work on 5 May 1699, accompanied by two gentlemen, John Atty and Benedict Horsley, as well as two watermen, the captain and a boy. Together they made soundings and other observations along the river from York to the Humber and Hull. They returned to York on the 13 May.
Surbey returned to York with a series of recommendations, and began work on drawings plans and sections of the lock and weir, as well as preparing detailed specifications, estimates and a written report. He then presented the report to the City of York Corporation on 23 May 1699. His resulting report, covering 19 folio pages as well as a map or chart of the river, is believed to be one of the earliest practical civil engineering reports in England.
See Also - Allen; Oswald (1767-?)
William Hargrove was born in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, on 16 October 1788, the youngest child of Ely Hargrove and his second wife. His father intended him to join the church, and he was placed under the care of his godfather, Robert Wyrell, at that time curate of Knaresborough. Wyrell recommended, however, that Hargrove be trained as a journalist, and as a result he was accordingly apprenticed to Mr. Smart of Huddersfield.
Following his apprenticeship Hargrove returned to Knaresborough, before purchasing the York Herald, a weekly newspaper, in 1813. He moved to York, and the first number of the York Herald under his management was published on 13 July 1813. He was editor of the paper for the next 35 years, and during that time expanded the staff to include a reporter, and a correspondent in nearly every town in Yorkshire. Hargrove subsequently bought the shares in the business of his two sleeping partners.
In October 1818 Hargrove entered the corporation of York as a common councilman for Bootham ward. He defended Queen Caroline in the York Herald, and announced her acquittal in 1820 by torchlight from the steps of the Mansion House. In 1827 he successfully promoted, along with Charles Wellbeloved, a scheme for the erection of a Mechanics' Institute, of which he became the first secretary and treasurer. In 1831 he was elected a sheriff of York.
In 1818 Hargrove published a 'History and Description of the ancient City of York'; comprising all the most interesting information already published in Drake's "Eboracum," with new additional content and illustrations. He had initially planned to reprint Francis Drake's Eboracum, but did not have enough support.
Hargrove also published the York Poetical Miscellany; being selections from the best Authors, in 1835. He was a contributor to the poets' corner of the York Herald and the York Courant, and to magazines. He also issued A New Guide for Strangers and Residents in the City of York. ... Hargrove's pocket edition, illustrated in 1842.
Hargrove collected the Roman and mediaeval remains excavated in and around York. About ten years before his death he transferred the whole collection to the museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. He died at York on 29 August 1862.
John Alder Knowles was born in 1881, the eldest son of stained glass painter and restorer John Ward Knowles.
In 1903, Knowles travelled to Toronto, Canada, and then to Minneapolis, where he spent the next nine years working at the Ford Brothers stained glass works. On his return to England in 1912 he began to assist his father with his York stained glass business.
Knowles' career was interrupted by his service in both the First World War and the Second World War.
John Alder Knowles was granted an Honorary Master of Arts from the University of Hull in 1957 for his scholarly monograph on the York School of Glass Painting (published in 1936 and illustrated with his own sketches and photographs). During his career he wrote more than 60 articles on the history of stained glass.
Knowles died on 25 November 1961, aged 80.
John Alder Knowles was the eldest son of John Ward Knowles, stained glass painter, and worked with him in the family business J W Knowles & Sons.
William Peckitt was born in Husthwaite, a village near Easingwold, the son of William, a fellmonger and glove maker, and his wife Ann. He was baptised on 13 April 1731. At some point prior to 1752 the family moved to York, where Peckitt worked in his father's glove making business before establishing himself as a glass painter in Colliergate, York.
Whilst the majority of his commissions were for painted glass, Peckitt also produced a small number of windows which included stained glass. In 1780 he patented an invention for 'blending coloured and stained glass'.
On 3 April 1763 Peckitt married Mary Mitley, daughter of the sculptor Charles Mitley. The couple had 4 daughters. Peckitt worked throughout his life on the maintenance of the medieval glass in York Minster as well as painting new windows there. He also undertook commissions for cathedrals, churches and houses throughout England. He produced windows for a number of colleges including the Alma Mater window for Trinity College.
Peckitt died on 14 October 1795 and was buried in the church of St Martin-cum-Gregory, York.
William Etty was born on Feasegate in York in 1787, the son of Matthew Etty, a baker and confectioner, and Esther Calverly.
He died in 1849 and was buried in St Olave's churchyard.
Ken Cooke was an Infantryman in the Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment) for eighteen months between 1943 and 1945. He received his letter of conscription at the age of 18 just before Christmas 1943. Before joining the army he worked in a Royal Ordnance Factory as an office boy with his father. Ken was a member of the allied forces who landed on Gold beach on D-Day 1944. Ken was injured by shrapnel from an exploding shell after which he was sent from a field hospital in France, back to a hospital in England. After his recovery he was sent back to France to join up with Canadian troops. They fought their way to Bremmen where Ken suffered from shellshock and was returned again to England where he was demobbed. Ken is now a member of the York Normandy Veterans Association.
York Normandy Veterans Association
See Also - Normandy Veterans Association
John Stanley Purvis was born in 1890 in Bridlington. He died in 1968.
John Arthur Ransome Marriott was born on 17 August 1859 in Bowden, Cheshire, the eldest son of Francis Marriott and his wife Elizabeth. He was educated at Repton School and New College Oxford, graduating with a second class degree in modern history in 1882. He was active in the Canning Club during his undergraduate career.
In 1883 Marriott was appointed as a lecturer at New College, before taking up a position teaching modern history at Worcester College the following year. He continued at Worcester College until 1920, from 1914 onwards as a Fellow of the College, specialising in political and international history. During the course of his career he wrote over 40 books on historical and political subjects.
Marriott's major contribution to education dates from 1886, when he was recruited as an Oxford University extension lecturer by the secretary of the extension delegacy in Oxford, M. E. Sadler. Extension lecturers had been sent out by the university to give academic courses in provincial towns and cities in England since 1878. Marriott was immediately attracted to the work: he was a natural platform orator and able to hold large audiences. Marriott went on to succeed Sadler as head of the extension lectures in 1895.
Marriott had been adopted as a Conservative parliamentary candidate for East St Pancras in 1885, though he subsequently withdrew his candidacy. In the following year he was defeated in the general election as Conservative candidate for Rochdale. In 1914 he was defeated in a contest for the Conservative candidacy for the vacant Oxford University seat in parliament. But in March 1917 he was elected unopposed as Conservative MP for Oxford City, a beneficiary of the party-political truce under the wartime coalition. He was re-elected in the 'coupon' election of 1918, but defeated by the Liberal candidate in the general election of 1922. He returned to the Commons after the general election of 1923 as MP for York. There he was defeated in 1929 by a Labour candidate, and retired from active politics.
Marriott married Henrietta Robinson, daughter of the Reverend W. Percy Robinson, warden of Trinity College, Glenalmond, on 7 April 1891; they had one daughter, Elizabeth Dorothy Cicely (known as Cicely), who was born in 1892. Marriott was knighted in 1924, and he died at the Montpellier Hotel, Llandrinod Wells, on 6 June 1945.
John Thomas Swales was born in 1869 and appears to have taken over the family buthers business in 1896. John Thomas became a Methodist Lay Preacher, an influential member of local trade organisations, and was nominated for a vacancy on the Board of Guardians in 1907. He married Ada Plummer in 1897, and some information on their two children, Hilda Mary (who later became an American citizen) and Thomas, (who carried on the family profession of a Butcher).
See Also - Allen; Oswald (1767-?)