Darfield Area Amenity Society, with the help of Barnsley Civic Trust, have produced a blue plaque to commemorate Maurice Dobson and Fred Halliday. It will be unveiled on Friday August 29th at the museum Maurice left to Darfield. Barnsley Civic Trust members are invited.
At the next Civic Trust event, on Thursday September 18th, Kenneth Brookes will give a talk about Maurice and Fred –and the story of the Maurice Dobson Museum and Heritage Centre.
The talk is at 6.30pm in the Council Chamber at Barnsley Town Hall. All welcome.
Five new blue plaques have been installed in Barnsley Town Centre. Barnsley Civic Trust has been working with the Eldon Street High Street Heritage Action Zone —which has funded the plaques— to tell some of the stories of Eldon Street and its surroundings.
These include commemorating the work of the man who redesigned the town centre in the 19th century, John Whitworth, and celebrating the woman who brought the first department store specifically for women to the town, Ann Porter.
Here are Barnsley Mayor John Clark, the Mayoress, and the Young Mayor, together with Linda Burgess, Chair of Barnsley Civic Trust, and Jeff Lunn, the 2024 President of Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union, at the first plaque unveiling.
This first blue plaque commemorates Thomas Lister, Quaker, Poet and Naturalist, who was Barnsley Postmaster on this site from 1839 to 1870. As well as being President of Barnsley Naturalist and Scientific Society for 20 years, he was a prominent member of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union which had their annual general meeting in Barnsley on the day of the unveiling. Thomas Lister attended the first YNU AGM held in Barnsley in 1884, 140 years ago!
More information will follow on the other four plaques
In 1956 and 1957, Barnsley welcomed 200 Hungarian refugees following the crushed Hungarian revolution; they found work in the coal industry. We are commemorating this with a blue plaque.
The Hungarian Consul General Dr L Risko-Nagy unveiled the blue plaque at the Miners’ Hall in Victoria Road on Wednesday 23rd October at 2.00pm.
It was another great opportunity to visit the stunning Miners’ Hall!
Dr Andrew Zsigmond, one of the refugees, told us his story and how he was welcomed in Barnsley.
The Mayor of Barnsley John Clarke and the Area Chairman of the NUM, Chris Skidmore, welcomed our guests.
It was great to welcome some of the original 1956 refugees and their relatives to the event.
‘A Lifetime in Cinema; from Barnsley to Malta and back’, a talk by Rob Younger, proprietor of the Parkway Cinema: Thursday 21st November, 6.30pm in the Council Chamber in Barnsley Town Hall.
Rob’s talk includes the story of the Parkway Cinema and its site on Eldon Street.
The site has been occupied by cinemas, theatres and other entertainment usage for over 150 years. This has been commemorated by a Blue Plaque.
One of the most celebrated writers of the 20th century, George Orwell stayed in Barnsley in 1936. He wanted to see for himself the living conditions of working class people for his book ‘The Road To Wigan Pier’. He stayed at a house in Agnes Terrace, still there today. A Blue Plaque commemorating George Orwell’s stay in Barnsley was unveiled on Friday 26 April.
The main event to mark the occasion was a talk by Edana Guest about George Orwell’s time in Barnsley, his experiences and what he found out. It was in the Miners’ Hall, Victoria Road, next door to the NUM building.
Edana has written an article about George Orwell’s stay in Barnsley in the excellent ‘Memories of Barnsley’.
The unveiling of the Blue Plaque then took place as a small event in Day Street at the end of Agnes Terrace.
Edana Guest, Quintin Kopp, Linda Burgess and Milly Johnson at the unveiling.
This event was held in partnership with Barnsley Archives & Local Studies. We are pleased that the Chair of the Orwell Society, Quentin Kopp, was present and made some interesting comments. Richard Blair, George Orwell’s son and Patron of the Society was unfortunately not able to be there.
Our thanks to Edana Guest for all she has done to arrange this event.
ErnestHarold Jones —Artist, Excavator, Archaeologist, Egyptologist— was born in Barnsley.A Blue Plaque for him was unveiled on Thursday 14 September— celebrating his life and connection to Barnsley.
Ernest Harold Jones. Image: National Library of Wales.
1.30 – 2.30pm — Barnsley Town Hall Illustrated talk by Lady Carnarvon, with an introduction and welcome by Professor Joann Fletcher and Sir Stephen Houghton.
3.00-3.15pm — Sackville Street Unveiling of Blue Plaque to Ernest Harold Jones by the Mayor of Barnsley.
Born in Barnsley in 1877 – his father was the headmaster of Barnsley School of Art – Harold Jones died in Luxor in Egypt in 1911. The Jones family lived in Sackville Street in Barnsley until his father moved to become head of the Carmarthen School of Art.
Harold Jones became a well-regarded artist; his work inspired by what he’d heard of Egypt and the pre-Raphaelite artists who painted Egyptian themes.
He moved to Egypt for health reasons, employed as an archaeological artist and then excavator. He unearthed rings and small objects bearing the name —not known at that time— Tutankhamun, and sparked interest in finding his tomb.
Unfortunately, he died in 1911, before the tomb of Tutankhamun was finally discovered. His funeral was held in Luxor, organised by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter who went on to discover Tut’s tomb in 1922.
We celebrated Joseph Bramah at Wentworth Castle Gardens on Tuesday 12th September, during Heritage Open Days.
Joseph Bramah (1748 to 1814), from Stainborough, was one of Britain’s most important inventors and the father of hydraulic power. Amongst many other things, he invented a lock that could not be picked, a beer pump, a flushing toilet, hydraulic presses and devices for pulling up trees.
Barnsley Museums have the original 1791 continuous fire pump made by Joseph Bramah for Wentworth Castle, the first of its kind. It can be seen at Experience Barnsley at Barnsley Town Hall.
Barnsley Civic Trust and National Trust Wentworth Castle Gardens. Heritage Open Day: Free Entrance to Wentworth Castle Gardens #BarnsleyHeritageMonth
Organised by the Royal Society of Biology and the British Society for Immunology with the National Trust Wentworth Castle Gardens, the unveiling of the blue plaque for Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu took place on Saturday 15 July at Wentworth Castle Gardens.
Dr Lynda Partridge, Royal Society of Biology, unveiling the plaque to Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu. Allen Parks, Barnsley Civic Trust, said a few words to mark the occasion.
Town Tours We have two tours of Barnsley Town Centre coming up for visiting groups, looking at significant buildings, both historic and new: Saturday 22 July: Huddersfield Civic Trust visit for tour of Barnsley Town Centre
Sunday 20 August 20: Yorkshire Victorian Society tour of Victorian buildings.
We also intend to repeat the tours for Barnsley Civic Trust members and Barnsley residents.
Blue Plaques Two Barnsley Civic Trust Blue Plaques are being unveiled in the next few months.
Tuesday 12 September: Blue Plaque for Joseph Bramah, Engineer and Inventor, at Wentworth Castle, in association with the National Trust Wentworth Castle Gardens. This is one of the national Heritage Open Days and access to Wentworth Castle Gardens will be free of charge.
Thursday 14 September: Blue Plaque for Ernest Harold Jones, Artist and Egyptologist, with a talk by Joann Fletcher.
Saturday 15 July: There is also the unveiling of another Blue Plaque at Wentworth Castle to commemorate the achievements of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. This is a Royal Society of Biology and National Trust event with talks.
Barnsley Civic Trust would be interested to hear of nominations for Blue Plaques especially where funding can be provided by a sponsor.
Further Talks Thursday 19 October at the Miners Hall (NUM Offices). Paul Darlow will give a talk on the fascinating history of the mining of coal under Barnsley Town Centre and the surrounding area.
Thursday 16 November: History of the Barnsley Trinity Players, a presentation on the history of the theatre group by Phil Johnson.
Talks are open to members and non-members
Watch this space for details of other talks and activities.
On Thursday 22 September a Blue Plaque for Brian Glover will be unveiled outside Chennells Bar in Peel Square, starting with music at 11.30am, short speeches at 12 noon and the unveiling at 12.20pm …
