A Timeline of Leeds

By Tim Lambert

1086

Leeds is a small village with a population of around 200

1207

Maurice De Gant, the Lord of the Manor makes Leeds a small market town

1300

Leeds has a population of around 1,000

1552

A grammar school is founded in Leeds

1600

Leeds has a population of around 3,000

1626

Leeds is given a corporation and mayor

1634

St John’s Church is built

1642

During the Civil war royalists capture Leeds

1643

Parliamentarians capture Leeds in January but they withdraw in the Summer

1644

The parliamentarians capture Leeds again

1645

Leeds suffers an outbreak of plague

1665

Leeds is a flourishing town with a population approaching 6,000. The wool trade is booming.

1694

Leeds gains a piped water supply

1718

The first newspaper in Leeds is published

1750

Leeds is a rapidly growing town. Wool is still its main industry.

1755

The streets of Leeds are lit with oil lamps

1777

Assembly Rooms are built

1790

Scavengers clean the streets

1794

Work begins on the Leeds to Liverpool Canals

1801

The population of Leeds is over 30,000

1819

The streets are lit by gas

1822

Brewery is founded

1832

Cholera kills more than 700 people

1834

Leeds is connected to Selby by rail

1849

Cholera kills more than 2,000 people

1851

The population of Leeds is 101,000

1858

Leeds Town Hall is built

1872

Horse drawn trams run in the streets of Leeds. The first public library opens.

1878

Grand Theatre is built. Thorntons Arcade is built.

1889

Queens Arcade opens

1891

Leeds gains an electricity supply

1894

The first electric trams run in Leeds

1899

It is made compulsory for dwellings in Leeds to be connected to sewers

1901

The population of Leeds is 178,000

1904

Leeds University is founded

1905

The first cinema in Leeds is built

1925

St James Hospital is founded

1933

Leeds Civic Hall is built

World War II

Bombing kills 77 people in Leeds

1964

Merrion Shopping Centre is built

1970

Leeds Polytechnic is founded

1974

The boundaries of Leeds are extended

1985

St Johns Shopping Centre opens

1993

Quarry House opens

1995

The Royal Armouries Museum opens

1997

The Thackray Medical Museum opens

1999

The Monet Garden opens

2000

Millennium Square opens