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 turns Leeds into 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 Parliamentary soldiers capture Leeds in January but they are forced out 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 newpaper 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 Canal
1801 The population of Leeds is over 30,000
1819 The streets are lit by gas
1822 Tetleys 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. 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
1899 It is made compulsory for dwellings 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
1983 St Johns Shopping Centre is built
1993 Quarry House opens
1995 The Royal Armouries Museum opens
1997 The Thackray Medical Museum opens
1999 The Monet Garden opens
2000 Millenium Square opens