Bradford
WYAS, Bradford
Bradford Central Library
Prince's Way
Bradford
BD1 1NN
Telephone: +44 (0)1274 435099
Email: bradford@wyjs.org.uk
We are members of the County Archive Research Network (CARN) readers’ ticket scheme. Please bring your CARN readers’ ticket with you when you visit. If you do not have a ticket please bring official proof of ID which includes your name, address and signature.
Click here for more information.
Appointments recommended. Some archives are held offsite and our search room may be subject to unplanned closure because of staffing difficulties.
Opening Hours
Full Archive Service with ‘ask the specialist’:
Monday 9.30am – 5.00pm
Tuesday 9.30am -5.00pm
Archive Service with pre-ordered documents:
Thursday 9.30am - 5.00pm
Microfilm available in Local Studies Library. No appointment necessary
Monday 9.30am to 7.30pm
Tuesday 9.30am to 7.30pm
Wednesday: 9.30am to 7.30pm
Thursday: 9.30am to 7.30pm
Friday: 9.30am to 7.30pm
Saturday: 9am to 5pm
Facilities: There is a refreshment area with vending machines selling hot and cold drinks and snacks on the ground floor.
Toilets are located on the second floor.
How to find WYAS, Bradford… (External website)
| Car Parking | Available at Hall Ings and the Library car park. Disabled parking is available off Sharpe Street to the side of the Library. |
| Train | We are close to Bradford Interchange Railway Station. |
| Bus | We are close to Bradford Interchange Bus and Coach Station. |
In 1974 the City of Bradford Metropolitan Council set up an Archive Department housed in Bradford Central Library. The Department became part of West Yorkshire Archive Service in 1982. The office also oversees the wide-ranging collections held in Keighley Library.
Records at Bradford Archives
More detail about the holdings of Bradford District Archives can be found in the Guide to Bradford Archives 1974-1995. Winner of the 1996 Phillimore Prize.
These mainly come from borough and district councils and their predecessors which merged in 1974 to become Bradford Metropolitan Council. The minutes and other records of the Bradford and Bingley Improvement Commissioners, and Bowling, Manningham and Shipley township books are among the earlier records. Bradford became a borough in 1847 and large quantities of its archives are available including minutes and departmental records. Similar material is available for other local authorities. There are collections for Bradford, North Bierley and Keighley Poor Law Unions and School Boards.
The office is a place of deposit for the records of the Diocese of Bradford. It holds material for most of the parishes within the Metropolitan District with the earliest parish registers starting in 1562. Nonconformity was always strong in the region and the office has collections on many of the dissenting congregations.
There are a number of large collections. They include papers of the Spencer-Stanhope family which relate to the Horsforth, Calverley and Eccleshill areas, the Wilsons of Eshton Hall which cover Keighley and also have material on North Bierley, the Tempests of Tong, the Ferrands of Bingley and Francis Sharp Powell of Horton Hall.
Bradford is a classic example of an industry town with its success depending on the worsted trade. A number of manufacturers' records have been deposited; among them Salt's of Saltaire, Fison's of Burley-in- Wharfedale, Drummond's of Lumb Lane and Garnett's of Apperley Bridge. Other important collections are the records of the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Trade, the Bradford Manufacturers' Association and the Wool Textile Manufacturers' Federation. Non-textile business records include those of the Bowling Iron Company, George Hattersley and Sons, loom manufacturers, the Bradford Canal Company and the Leeds-Liverpool Canal Company.
The workers' side of industrial relations is represented by trade union records. The earliest material relates to the important 1825 strike. Bradford Trades Council has deposited several large collections and there is good material on a number of textile unions, such as the Power Loom Overlookers, Textile Managers and Overlookers, Crafstmen and Dyers, Bleachers and Finishers. Other craft union records including those of printers, woodworkers and engineers are also available, as are records of some general unions and the Distributive and Allied Workers.
The Labour, Liberal and Conservative parties have all at various times headed the town's politics. The office holds material on the various political movements of the 1830s and 1840s, in particular the struggle for the Ten Hours Bill. The Liberal control of the mid nineteenth century is recorded in various minute books, letters and papers; the Conservative revival after 1885 can be followed in a fine set of party records; and the rise of the Independent Labour Party and later the Labour Party can be seen in several sources especially those deposited by the Bradford Trades Council. Papers on a number of well-known local politicians such as W E Forster, Philip Snowden and E R Hartley are also held.
Records from a wide range of organisations are also available. Among them is a large collection of archives of co-operative societies which has national significance. There are also many papers about individuals such as personal letters, diaries, reminiscences, antiquarian notes and pedigrees.
Collections Team
As part of the WYAS Mission Statement, the Collections Team actively seeks to strengthen its holdings and establish links with communities, individuals and specialist groups with a view to preserving their written histories.
The focus of the Collections Team is to preserve these unique collections and make them accessible to the public for future generations.
If you are an individual, part of a community group, local business or society and would like to receive more information about donating records, please contact us and one of our team will be happy to talk to you
Contact: Collections Team
PO Box 5
Nepshaw Lane South
Morley
LS27 0QP
Tel: 0113 2898 285
For the contact details
of our offices click here
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