Costumes of Yorkshire

Archive Highlights from Winter 2023

Hello again! Though delving through the archives takes up much of my time, I thought we could take a little break from our archival explorations to turn instead to one of my favourite books in the Library’s historic collections: George Walker’s ‘The Costume of Yorkshire’ (1814).

Behind its unassuming leather cover are forty beautiful full-colour engravings depicting all sorts of lives lived in Georgian Yorkshire. It’s a beautiful time capsule, showing how clothes can tell stories about those who wear them; as you’ll see below!

The first engraving I wanted to highlight depicts a group of Knurr and Spell players. A storied Yorkshire tradition, Knurr and Spell fell out of favour in the late 20th Century and isn’t well known outside of Yorkshire today. Its origins have been traced back to the 14th Century, but it reached the peak of its popularity in the 18th and 19th Century (when it was depicted here).

The ‘spell’ is a levered wooden trap, which launces the ‘knurr’ – the ball, usually wooden – into the air for players to hit as far as possible. Distances were often marked with wooden pins, 20ft apart. It was a popular pub game, so would have been familiar for many at the time Costume of Yorkshire was being produced.

Though these children seem cleaner and happier than we’d expect of a 19th Century working child, their presence in this collection is a significant marker of the industrial revolution’s emergence during this period.

They aren’t the only omens of the future in this book. You may have seen ‘The Collier’ (pictured here!) elsewhere, famous for its depiction of Middleton Colliery in South Leeds. The smoking chimneys in the background here also loom close – a portent of the shape of the coming century.

This engraving is named after its subject, a young woman foraging for cranberries on the Yorkshire moors. Her garments are a lovely contrast to the high-society fashions most modern eyes are exposed to through Jane Austen adaptations. The silhouettes are the same, however: a high waist, long straight skirt, and bonnet. Her layers are well-adapted for hours spent in the wind, and apron clearly a useful basket!

Last but not least: ‘Woman Making Oatcakes’, perhaps my favourite of the bunch. There’s lots to love here if you’re interested in domestic history: the stockings drying over the fire in the leftmost corner, or what looks like a cat curled up near the warmth below them.

I find the children particularly interesting: they’re a prime example of the popularisation of ‘children’s clothing’ during this period, a turn away from the previous century’s fondness for dressing them like miniature adults (wide skirts and silk suits included). The short hair on both the boy and girl child is another notable feature – a practice that crossed class lines, kept that way for ease of cleaning and upkeep!

The variety of materials here is just a small sample of what lies hidden in the depths of the Library’s collections. If you have any questions about our highlights today – or any other archive inquiries – please don’t hesitate to contact me at day-goughn@theleedslibrary.org.uk! The Leeds Library provides free access to our archive and collections for researchers of all kinds, and I would be delighted to hear from you.

All images courtesy of The Leeds Library.