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York Blind and Partially Sighted Society was originally formed in 1979 as an organisation to provide services and facilities to those who are blind or partially sighted. The aim of the organisation is for its users to achieve independence in all aspects of life and sectors of society. The organisation is based in York city centre, and by 2020 had over 1,100 members. In 2019, to coincide with their 40th anniversary, the organisation changed its name to MySight York.

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.

The Yorkshire Regiment was created in 2006 following the amalgamation of the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, the Green Howards, and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. t is currently the only line infantry or rifles unit to represent a single geographical county in the Britsh Army infantry structure, serving as the county regiment of Yorkshire.

The regiment's recruitment area today covers almost all the historic county (the three ridings of the county: East Riding of Yorkshire, North Riding of Yorkshire and West Riding of Yorkshire) except for the eastern half of South Yorkshire and the southeast of West Yorkshire, which is a recruitment area for the Rifles, and the part of the West Riding that is now in Greater Manchester.
Successor to the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire; Green Howards; Duke of Wellington's Regiment.

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.

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

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

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

Your Local Link is a monthly free magazine delivered to all households in York and the surrounding villages, with an events guide and articles about what is happening in the city.

William Patrick Hall, also known as Patrick Hall, was born in York on 16 December 1906. While still a teenager, he worked on a conservation project restoring the stained glass windows of York Minster, and also had a spell working in the family tanning business at Earswick while studying art on a part-time basis. He studied part-time at both the York and Northampton Art Schools and showed an early aptitude for etching and drypoint work.

During World War Two, the War Artists' Advisory Committee commissioned Hall to produce a number of watercolours depicting the training of paratroopers at the Parachute Training School at RAF Ringway in Cheshire. After the war Hall moved to London and set up a studio and worked full-time as an artist. He had a number of solo exhibitions, mainly focusing on landscapes and town scenes, at the Waddington Gallery, Gilbert Parr Gallery and at the Marjore Parr Gallery. He also showed works at the Royal Academy, the New English Art Club and the Paris Salon. Works by Hall are held in the collection of the Guildhall in London, the Imperial War Museum and the National Gallery of Australia. For the last twenty years of his life, Hall lived in Sellindge and died at Ashford in Kent on 10 June 1992.

Fred Hawksby was a professional boxer from York who was active between 1929 and 1935. He was also active in the management of local charitable tournaments in York, alongside his brother John.

Fred boxed at featherweight; lightweight and took part in 27 professional contests.
John Hawksby (brother).

Crombie Wilkinson solicitors is a law firm in North Yorkshire, with branches in York, Malton, Selby and Pickering. The firm employs over a 110 staff across the four branches. The firm is one of the NFU Legal Panel Firm members for the North East region providing specialist agricultural law services to the farming and rural community. The firm has been listed in The Legal 500 2020 Edition - United Kingdom, Private Client, Agricultural & Estates. The firm is also one of only a few solicitors in the country, who act for clients nationally, to provide a specialist operation providing legal services for dentists. Specialist legal services also extend to doctors, schools, care homes food and drink sector and property developers. Crombie Wilkinson is also one of the few law firms in North Yorkshire to have a specialist team offering family mediation services.

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

The Health and Housing Reform Association was set up in York to ensure 'the spread of knowledge regarding health and sanitation, and thus to improve the health condition in the houses of the public'. Amongst its membership was Oscar Rowntree, and it was supported by York's Medical Officer of Health. Members were due to pay an annual subscription, and a committee was appointed annually consisting of a Secretary, Treasurer and Chairman. Five members were to retire each year, but could stand for re-election.

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.

Yorkshire Association for the Disabled was operating by 1964. It appears to have championed disabled people in the Yorkshire area, and published a regular newsletter to members. It is unknown when the association ceased operating, but it was still in operation by 1974.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

In 1969 Rowntree & Co merged with John Mackintosh & Sons to become Rowntree Mackintosh PLC.

The divisional structure of Rowntree Mackintosh was very similar to that operating within Rowntree & Co prior to the merger. Central control was from Group Headquarters in York and the boards of the various operating divisions within Rowntree Mackintosh were responsible for strategic control of specific geographic or product markets. Supply, Transport and Distribution were also divisional functions.

UK Confectionery Division: factories in Castleford, Edinburgh, Egremont, Fawdon, Halifax, Leicester, Mallow, Norwich and York.
UK Grocery Division: factories in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Hadfield and Glasgow.
UK Associated Companies (ref. RAC): manufacturing of non-branded confectionery and engineering companies.
European Division: factories in France and West Germany; sales forces in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy and West Germany.
Overseas Division: markets in which the group has production facilities; factories and sales forces in Australia, Canada, Eire and South Africa; licensing agreement in New Zealand.
Export Division: All markets where the group does not have local production facilities. Selling operations in more than 120 counties. Licensing agreements in eight countries.

The 1947 Transport Act which set up the Central Transport Consultative Committee (CTCC) and a network of regional Transport Users' Consultative Committees as passenger representative bodies. The original CTCC and the TUCCs were abolished by the Transport Act 1962 and replaced with new bodies of the same name, although with extended powers. Those powers were extended again in 1968.

The Railways Act 1993 abolished the 1962 structure and replaced it with the Rail Users' Consultative Committee (RUCC) network comprising the Central Rail Users' Consultative Committee (CRUCC), as the national coordinating body, and eight regional committees. The new bodies were sponsored by the Office of the Rail Regulator, since renamed the Office of Rail and Road, and spoke up for passengers in the new era of privatised train companies. The CRUCC and RUCCs were renamed the Rail Passengers' Council and Rail Passengers' Committees by the Transport Act 2000, with sponsorship transferring to the newly-created Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). The new Rail Passengers Council and Committees (RPC) network was launched at the Rail Summit in May 2000.

In January 2004 the Secretary of State for Transport announced a review of the rail industry which led to a White Paper entitled 'The Future of Rail'. Amongst other things, the White Paper called for a more independent and focused rail passenger organisation that offered better value for money and achieved higher levels of passenger awareness. The resulting Railways Act 2005 abolished the Rail Passengers' Council and regional Rail Passengers' Committees, replacing them with a new Rail Passengers' Council as a single Great Britain-wide organisation.

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

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

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

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

The Yorkshire Association was formed in December 1779 to lobby for economic reform at a time of high taxation during the American War of Independence. Though conservatives denounced associations as potentially seditious, a number of other counties formed committees and joined with Yorkshire in petitioning Parliament. Their greatest success came in April 1780 when Dunning's motion, deploring the influence of the crown, was carried against Lord North, and in 1782 the short-lived Rockingham administration undertook some useful reforms. But Christopher Wyvill, founder of the association, had difficulty in holding his supporters in line. They soon moved on to advocate parliamentary reform and a split developed between the radicals of the Westminster Committee, pushing for manhood suffrage, and moderate reformers, content to augment the representation of the counties. The end of the war took much wind out of the association's sails, though Pitt moved for parliamentary reform in 1783 and again in 1785. The association was a remarkable attempt to mobilize public opinion and bring it to bear on Parliament, looking back to the Wilkites and forward to the chartists.

Robert Kay was a successful bootmaker with a number of shops in York. He was the son of an intemperate shoemaker. A Wesleyan temperance reformer, he ran Priory Street Wesleyan Young Men's class in around 1894. His notebook, also called Grandfather Robert Kay's diary and covering the period 1875-1900, was created to record 'what I remember in connection with, and a record of, any noteworthy incident occurring at any of the public houses between Fossgate and Walmgate Bar.' The notebook, whose original is still in the possession of the Kay family, is addressed to 'my much beloved children' and signed 'drink, debt, dirt and the devil I HATE, Robert Kay'.

Roland Walls was born into a North Yorkshire farming family and, after graduating from Cambridge University, pursued a career as a librarian. He spent a large part of his career at York City Library (now York Explore Library) before becoming a senior regional manager for North Yorkshire Libraries in Northallerton. He was committed to supporting his local community, and championing traditional music and cultures.

In the 1980s, Walls became the sole organiser of the recently-formed Black Swan Folk Club. Whilst he was neither a musician nor a performer, he was dedicated to the running of the Folk Club, and won the BBC Folk Club of the Year award in 2009. The club also won Best Small Venue in the Yorkshire Gig Guide in 2016. From 2001 he also arranged folk concerts at the National Centre for Early Music, in Walmgate, in tandem with the NCEM.

After a cancer diagnosis in 2010, Walls was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2018. Nevertheless he organised the annual City of York Weekend at the Black Swan, where 45 acts performed over three days. That same year, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Yorkshire Gig Guide.

Roland Walls died from Motor Neurone Disease in June 2019.
Black Swan Folk Club; York Public Library

David Hughes was born in North Berwick, East Lothian, the son of Mary and John Hughes. His father was an Anglican clergyman who became a Quaker after his experiences as a chaplain in the First World War. David and his siblings, Michael and Barbara, went to Quaker schools in York, where the family lived. They spent two years in America in the 1930s, when John was appointed director of the Quaker study centre Pendle Hill, in Pennsylvania – a formative experience for David.

He read geography at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, but his studies were interrupted by the Second World War and he was awarded a 'war degree' after two years. As conscientious objectors, David and Michael both faced military tribunals, but neither was jailed. David took the alternative of joining the Friends Relief Service, delivering relief to war-affected citizens. He spent six years with the FRS, in London and also in Holland, where he drove ambulances and lorries, and in Germany working in refugee camps.

In 1938 he volunteered at Dovercourt camp, Harwich, which took in, and found homes for, Jewish children fleeing the Nazis via the Kindertransport evacuation. David persuaded his parents to take in a young brother and sister. (His mother was already active in refugee work in York.) The boy, Harry Baum, later became very successful in the travel industry. All his life David kept on his key ring a small brass disc with his name and Dovercourt room number on it. He gave public talks about these experiences, into his 90s, and was interviewed by members of the Holocaust Education Trust.

While teaching at Ottershaw School, Surrey, the UK's first state boarding school for boys, David met Betty Wilson, who had come from Northern Ireland to work as a cook at the school. They married in Antrim in 1951, and daughter Lotte was born a year later. The family emigrated in 1952 as 'Ten Pound Poms' to Australia, where my father taught at a Quaker school in Hobart. My parents did not much like Tasmania, however, and returned after two years. The best part of the adventure was sailing round the world and visiting exotic lands.

The family settled in Shropshire, where David began teaching at Wellington Boys' Grammar School. His daughter Tanya was born in 1956. David retired in 1979 and he and Betty later moved to Church Stretton, where they were active in the local United Nations Association and the Liberal Democrats.

Sadly, Betty's dementia and move to a care home later forced them to live separately. David moved to Bishop's Castle at the age of 94 and enjoyed an unexpected new lease of life. In his 90s he published an anthology, The Seven Ages of William Shakespeare (2010), and a book in 2016 on the moral teachings of Jesus.

Betty died in 2019, and David died on 3 December 2020, aged 101. He is survived by his two daughters
Mary Hughes, mother.

Smithson and Teasdale had moved to 6 Lendal, next to Gray, Dodsworth & Co, some time before 1896. In 1934, when the company was styled Smithson, Teasdale and Hewitt, they moved to 3 St Leonard's, and stayed in that premises until after the Second World War. The firm later moved again to premises in Pavement, by which time the company was styled Teasdale, Hewitt & Holden.
Gray, Dodsworth & Co, York solicitors; Brown and Elmhirst, York solicitors

Harriett was a PhD candidate at University of York between 2017 and 2020. As part of her PhD research, she carried out face to face interviews with a number of Second World War veterans.

York and District Society for Mentally Handicapped Children and Adults was formally registered as a charity on 11 July 1966. The society saw changes to its constitution in March 1980 and December 2002, and during its period of existence became affiliated with the wider Mencap charity. Its name also later changed to York Mencap. It’s objectives at the time of creation were to relieve, advance the education of, and advance religion among, the mentally handicapped. The charity was removed from the charities register on 9 June 2005, when it was formally wound-up.

Example fonds Creator history (ISAD 3.2.2). Note that this will be added to the related authority record for Creator (ISAD 3.2.1).

History of Accumulator

Angelo Raine was born in 1877, the son of James Raine (1830-1896) and Ann Keyworth. He died in 1962.
He was the grandson of James Raine, Antiquary and Clergyman (1791-1845).
See Also - Raine; James (1791-1858); Rev.; antiquarian and clergyman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

William Gray (1) was born in 1751, the son of a Hull customs officer. He married Faith Hopwood in Oct 1777. They had three children - Jonathan (b. 1779), Margaret (b. 1782) and William (2) (b. 1785). Gray died in 1845. His son Jonathan Gray and his wife Mary had two children - Margaret (b.1808) and William (3). Jonathan died in 1837. William Gray (3) had a son named Edwin (b. 1847). William died in 1880. Edwin died in 1929.
See Also - Gray; family

Nathanial Pigott was born in 1725, the son of Ralph Pigott, a lawyer, and Alethea Fairfax. Alethea Fairfax was the daughter of William, 9th Viscount Fairfax, of Gilling Castle. In 1749, he married Anna Mathurine de Beriot of Louvain. In the 1770s, he moved to York in an attempt to settle his claim to the Fairfax estate at Gilling. He died in 1804.
His eldest son, Edward, was born in 1753. Edward was disinherited from the Fairfax title due to a family quarrel, and it was passed to his brother, Charles. He died in 1825.
Worked with John Goodricke from 1781. Great-grandson of 9th Viscount Fairfax. Brother Charles married Mary Goodricke, aunt of John Goodricke.
See Also - Goodricke; John (1764 - 1786); astronomer

Frederick Adolphus Camidge was born in around 1860, the son of William Camidge, Consulting Secretary of York Savings Bank and Methodist preacher. He was educated in Goole, became a solicitor in 1884 and a member of the law society in 1886.

He held positions as clerk to the school boards of Acomb, Haxby, Wigginton and Dringhouses, and was also clerk to the Escrick Rural District Council, Escrick Out-Relief Union and the Escrick Rating Committee.

Frederick Adolphus Camidge became a freeman of York in 1884. He held numerous public offices throughout his lifetime, and held the role of Sheriff of York in 1910-11.

Camidge was a well-known Freemason and was a Past Master of the York Lodge 236 and of the Zetland Chapter. He was also a lay lector at Holy Trinity Church in Micklegate, and had previously been a churchwarden at St Helen's Church.

Frederick Adolphus Camidge died in August 1947 in York.
Frederick Adolphus Camidge was son of William Camidge.

Queen Anne Grammar School for Girls was originally founded in 1905 as Brook Street School, a pupil-teacher centre. The new centre was approved by the Board of Education, and replaced the evening and weekend classes held in Fishergate Board School. In 1906 the school became known as the Municipal Secondary School for Girls, and it was officially recognised as a secondary school two years later.

The Brook Street premises were closed in 1909 and the school moved to a new school building on Queen Anne's Road, Clifton. The new site opened in January 1910, and in 1920 the name officially changed to Queen Anne Grammar School.

The school was converted into a co-educational comprehensive school in 1985. It closed in July 2000.

Augustus Mahalski was born in Poland in about 1831. His father was John Mahalski.
In December 1856, he married Sarah May in York. They had three children: Amelia (b.1859), William (b.1866) and Cecilia (b.1871).
Augustus died in 1900.

The first Public Libraries Act was passed in 1850 and was the result of a movement looking to form libraries which were freely open to everyone. After much opposition this first Act was only applicable to towns in excess of 10,000 people and it did not provide for the purchase of books. A further Act in 1855 resolved some of the limitations of the first one, and as a result more towns began to open their own free libraries. The method of adopting the Act was to be by a poll of the city ratepayers. It took until 1891 for York to gain approval from the city ratepayers, by which time 169 towns had established 'free libraries'.

On 1 September 1891, the York Corporation took over possession of the former subscription library building in Clifford Street. After two years of conversion work, overseen by the first librarian Mr Arthur H Furnish (the former Subscription Library Chief Librarian), the new Public Library was officially opened on 5 October 1893 by HRH The Duke of York (later King George V).

At the time of opening the stock of the library was 10,417 volumes, including volumes obtained from both the former York Mechanics Institution and the Subscription Library. On 1 January 1895 the library opened its magazine room to try and relieve overcrowding in the news room. Formation of the Reference Library was also at this point underway, with 2,269 books being set aside to form the core collection.

During the First World War soldiers were initially billeted in the basement and on the stairs of the library building, and once they left heavy machinery was installed instead. The war also saw the employment of female assistants for the first time.

In 1913 the Library Committee had been considering that the building was inadequate and approaches were made to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust. After preliminary negotiations, a formal request was made to the Trust in 1915, and following investigations, an offer of £12,000 was made on 29 February 1916. The Trust added, however, that any building work should not commence until after the war. A site had been acquired in Museum Street, and Messrs Brierley and Rutherford, architects, were employed to design the building. When work commenced after the war, the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust revised its offer to £13,200, however even then a loan was needed to complete the project.

The first portion of the building, containing the central block and one wing, was officially opened on 23 September 1927 by the Earl of Elgin, and cost £24,500. In 1934 a further portion of the building was erected, before the building was finally completed in 1938. The completed building was opened by Sir John A R Marriott MA on 26 October 1938.

On 1 April 1937 the City boundaries were extended to include Acomb and Dringhouses, and the Public Library acquired its first local branch libraries as a result. In July 1937 a book service was also introduced one day per week from the Social Hall on the Huntington Road Estate.

On the outbreak of war in September 1939, the News Room and Magazine Room at the Central Library were taken over by the Civil Defence Authority as the headquarters of the WVS, and in the following month the Hunt Room and the basement were commandeered by the Ministry of Food for the local Food Control Office. Following the Baedeker Air Raid on York in April 1942, the building was used for a fortnight as the Central Administrative and Information Centre for relief purposes. During the first week of this work library activities were completely suspended, and staff were seconded to help the thousands of people requiring assistance.

During the 1940s a new site was acquired for Acomb Library, and the new City Information Bureau, which had split from the Reference Library to handle 'quick reference' enquiries from personal and business interests was formed.

Towards the end of 1957 the Civic Records were transferred from the Guildhall to the Library and a full time archivist was appointed to administer this collection and other archival material relating to the city. Further alterations to the building were also seen in the 1960s, with the expansion of the Readers' advisory service and the addition of a gramophone record collection in 1968.

Plans for a new branch library at Tang Hall were drawn up in 1960, although delays meant that the building was not officially opened until 29 November 1962. Dringhouses library also underwent structural work in 1961, including the addition of a workroom, and by 1967 began opening on a full time basis. The following year permission was granted to build a new purpose-built library at Acomb, replacing the temporary structure on the same site.

The library service in York continued to expand, and by 2014 the service it included the main central library and 14 branch libraries across the city. The service also currently has two reading cafes and one mobile branch library.

On 1 May 2014 the library service of City of York Council 'spun out' from the main council as a not-for profit Industrial and Provident Mutual Society called 'Explore York Libraries and Archives.'
See Also - York Subscription Library

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

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

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

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

Appointed by York Corporation as Ouse Navigation Trustees.

The York Choral Society was formed in 1833 to provide a more democratic group for music making as opposed to the York Musical Society. They were an amateur group consisting of around 300 members and performed at the Festival Concert Room on Museum Street, York. Practice meetings occurred weekly, and they performed four concerts per year. Members included the Archbishop of York and gentry of the city and neighbourhood. It continued until the end of the 19th century when around this time it merged with the York Musical Society.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Charitable Trust was properly constituted in 1992.

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

Today, the membership extends to over one hundred persons.

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

The Visiting Committee appears to have been a full committee that had an intermittent life along with the Workhouse Committee (see Relationships below). After 1914 there were several visiting sub-committees which inspected various aspects of the workhouse and reported directly to the Workhouse Committee.
Replaced the Workhouse Committee (?mid-19thc-(1906); then was replaced by the Workhouse Committee, which was reinstated in 1914.

Served the Boards of Guardians of the Yorkshire Poor Law Unions. Previously named the Yorkshire Joint Vagrancy Committee.

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

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

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

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

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

John Hawksby was the brother of professional boxer Fred Hawksby. It also thought that he was a boxer, at least at amateur level. With his brother, he was also active in the management of local charitable tournaments in York.
Fred Hawksby (brother).

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

Formed in 1823 by 104 subscribing citizens. During 1828 the City Commissioners objected to the prices and returned briefly to oil lighting. In 1837 a rival company, York Union Gas Light Company was founded as competition but the two companies were amalgamated in 1844.
Amalgamated with York Union Gas Light Company in 1844 to become York United Gas Light Company.

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

The Finance Committee was renamed the Finance and General Purpose Committee in 1960.

In 1932 York was connected to the National Grid and then produced only a minority of the electricity it consumed. Control was transfered to the North-Eastern Electricity Board in 1948 when electricity and gas were nationalised. During this period the Corporation bought the tramways from a private company (in 1909) and electrified them (in 1910).

Created by private act of Parliament in 1727. Trustees consisted of corporation members and officials but was legally independent. Constructed Naburn Lock in 1757 and built a controversial banquetting house there in 1823.
Function transferred to corporation in 1835 (Ouse Navigation Committee).

The 1903 Motor Car Act introducted mandatory registration for both vehicles and drivers, administered by the local council who were to issue and keep a record of the numbers. The number had to be displayed on the vehicle. In 1969 the function transferred to central government, using the same local offices.

Following the reform of the corporation, a police force was set up in 1835 and first chief constable apppointed.
Full responsibility for policing transferred to Corporation in 1835 (from Magistrates, Parish Constables and City Commissioners). See also Chief Constable and City Police. Responsibility for prisons transferred to Home Secretary in 1877. Renamed Watch and Fire Services Committee in 1949. Gained fire brigade responsibilites from Yorkshire Insurance Company in 1875.

The salaries committee appears to have been instituted as a full time committee in 1926. It attempted to improve co-ordination and consistency for staffing matters, as committees were responsible for recruiting and paying their own staff independently.
Replaced the Special Salaries Committee in 1926.

The first special committee looking at salaries was setup in 1918 and met until 1926 when it was replaced with a full time Salaries Committee. This committee was established to attempt to improve co-ordination and consistency with the council on staffing matters, as committees were responsible for recruiting and paying their own staff independently.
Replaced by Salaries Committee in 1926.

The first School Board was not established in York unil 1889, nearly twenty years after enabling legislation permitted it. At the time its responisbilities ceased it had planned or built six new board schools and improved 15 Church of England Schools.
New function. Function transferred to York Education Committee (part of the council) in 1903.

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

Required by the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 , which also instigated a director of social services. A new social services department was also setup within the City of York Council with broad responsibility for social care.
Replaced the Welfare Committee (1948-1970) (with an overlap of two months). See also Director of Social Services.

Gas was provided privately in York by the York Gas Light Company and the York Union Gas Light Company who merged to form the York United Gas Light Company in 1844.

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

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 Boarding-Out/Children's 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). The Boarding-Out Committee underwent the following name changes: Boarding-Out Committee (1930-38); Children's Committee (1938-1947); Children's and Boarding-Out Committee (1947-1948).

The City of York was covered by three relief districts, with a Relieving Officer for each district. Each Relief Committee dealt with applications in one of the relief districts for a four-month period before moving on to the next district.

The three Relief Committees administered three separate relief districts, which covered the area of the City of York
In 1930 the Public Assistance Committee assumed responsibility for administering the Poor Law which had previously been the remit of the York Poor Law Union. Some committees, including the Relief Committees 1,2 and 3, had a continuous existence and function under both the York Poor Law Union and its successor body the Public Assistance Committee.

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.

James (Jim) Walter Hammond was a former York School Master, and a well known member of the Rowntree Players Dramatic Society. He performed with the players for 40 years from 1968 to 2007.

John Ward Knowles was born in 1838. He left school at the age of 12.

Following a visit to the Great Exhibition in London with his father in 1851, Knowles enrolled at the newly opened School of Design in York. He continued there as a pupil until 1854, winning prizes for his stained glass work in 1852 and 1854. In around 1858, Knowles moved to London for a year to work for Heaton and Butler, where he developed an interest in photography and architecture.

In 1863, following his return to York, Knowles began to undertake conservation work on the 'Fifteen Last Days of the World' window in All Saints Church. Three years later he was a member of the committee for the 1866 Great Exhibition at Bootham, York.

In 1869 Knowles moved his stained glass business from Goodramgate to Stonegate. Five years later he married Jane Annakin, with whom he had two sons, John Alder and Milward, and four daughters. Both sons would follow him into the family business of J W Knowles & Sons. In 1874 he also bought and began to restore 23 Stonegate (now number 35).

During the 1880s and 1890s Knowles undertook extensive conservation work on the St Cuthbert and St William windows at York Minster, during which process he photographed all the panels before their restoration and rearrangement. He also spent some time working on the stately home Nostell Priory.

John Ward Knowles died on 17 August 1931 at the age of 93.
John Ward Knowles was the father of John Alder Knowles, stained glass painter, who worked with him in the family business J W Knowles & Sons.

Joseph Benedikt Kleiser was born in Freiburg in Baden, Germany, in 1823. He was baptised there on 19 March 1823. His parents were Jacob Kleiser and Fransizka Geschwander. He had an older brother, Andreas (later Andrew), born in 1819.
On 12 March 1840, Joseph arrived in London via Calais and Belfast. Andrew (under the name Andreas) had arrived two years previously, on 2 Nov 1839.

By the time of the 1841 census, both brothers were working as clockmakers. Joseph lived and worked in Chelmsford, Essex, while Andrew had settled in York, where he lived on Stonegate along with his business partner, Philip Schwerer.

In 1854, Joseph married Mary Potter in York. They had three sons:
Cuthbert Joseph Kleiser (born 1855)
John Henry Kleiser (born 1857)
Louis Augustine Kleiser (born 1860).

Andrew Kleiser had also married into the Potter family. He married Hannah Potter in September 1847 at the Catholic chapel on Little Blake Street. They had one daughter, Jane Frances. She was born in 1849 but died in 1853, aged about four.

Andrew was naturalised in September 1852, and Joseph was naturalised in April 1854.
Andrew died in January 1885, and Joseph later that year in December. As Andrew had no surviving children, the Kleiser business passed to Joseph's three sons, Cuthbert, John, and Louis..

Cuthbert Joseph Kleiser married Hannah Lilian Cundall, the daughter of Luke and Hannah Cundall, in 1888. They had one son, Louis Cyril Kleiser, born 1893. Cuthbert died in 1929.

John Henry Kleiser never married, and died in 1920, a patient at the York Asylum.

Louis Augustine Kleiser also never married, and died in 1943.

Cuthbert's son, Louis Cyril Kleiser, was also known as 'Cyril'. He was born in 1893 and died in 1977.