Leeds Trivia Quiz

Answer: About 200

In the Domesday book, Leeds was referred to as 'Ledes'. In 1086, it was recorded that 'Ledes' had a priest, a church and a mill.

Answer: 1770

Work on the canal was completed in 1816. It is 127 miles long, making it the longest inland waterway in Britain. There are 91 locks on the main line of the canal. Although the canal was the first Trans-Pennine one to be started, it took 46 years to build and cost five times the original budget, making it the last canal to be completed.

The original engineer for the canal was James Brindley, who was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire in 1716. He died on 30th September 1772.

Answer: True

In 1849 there was a second outbreak of cholera which claimed the lives of over 2,000 people. In 1899 it became compulsory for dwellings to be connected to sewers, in an attempt to clean up the city.

Answer: Marks and Spencer

Michael Marks, a Russian born Polish refugee, opened a stall in Kirkgate Market, Leeds, in 1884. Everything on the stall cost one penny and included nails, screws and soap. Thomas Spencer joined Michael Marks in 1894
and the company then became known as 'Marks and Spencer'.

In 1984, to mark the centenary of the company, a clock was erected at the site of the original stall in Kirkgate Market.

Answer: 1893

Leeds was made a city, by Royal charter in 1893.

In 1207 Leeds was established as a borough by the then Lord of the Manor, Maurice Paynel (also known as Maurice de Gant), who was in debt and needed to raise funds. By allowing a charter for Leeds to become a borough, he was able to free some of his workers from their work in the fields, so as they could train in a particular skill, and so higher rents could be charged.

In 1626 Charles I granted a Town Charter to Leeds.

Answer: The Tower of London

The Tower of London was built by William the Conquerer in 1078 and was known for housing both a Royal and National arsenal from around this time.

The year 1545, shows the first paying visitor to the Royal Armouries in the Tower of London, a foreign dignitary, who viewed the armoury of Henry VIII.

The Royal Armouries was the first British museum to open a branch abroad. The whole of the third floor of the Frazier International History Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, is devoted to collections from the Royal Armouries, and it was opened in May 2004.

Answer: Edward, Prince of Wales

The statue was sculpted by Thomas Brock, and features the 'Black Prince' on horseback, in the centre of City Square, Leeds. The sculpture was presented to the City of Leeds by Thomas Walter Harding, who was Lord Mayor in 1898-99.

Edward, Prince of Wales, was born on 15th June 1330, he died on 8th June 1376, after suffering a 'wasting' disease. He was the eldest son of Edward III but died before his father. Upon the death of Edward III, Richard of Bordeaux, the son of Edward, Prince of Wales, became King Richard II.

Edward was known as 'Edward of Woodstock'. There are no reports of him being called the 'Black Prince' during his lifetime. It is the thought may have derived from his 'shield of peace', which was black with three white ostrich feathers or from his crushing defeats of the French Army.

Answer: The English Civil War

Only part of Adwalton Moor is located within the district of Leeds, the remainder of it being in the districts of Bradford and Kirklees.

The Battle of Adwalton Moor took place on 30th June 1643 and lasted for about three hours. It was a battle between the Royalists, led by the Earl of Newcastle and the Parliamentarians, led by Lord Fairfax. The Royalists were victorious on that day and went on to regain the north of England for King Charles II.

Answer: Joseph Priestley

The chapel currently housed on the site was built in 1848 and is a grade 1 listed building.

Joseph Priestley was born in Birstall, West Yorkshire on 13th March 1733. He discovered oxygen in 1774. He is also credited with the discovery of soda water as a drink and in 1772 he published a paper called, 'Impregnating Water with Fixed Air'. He would give soda water as a drink to his friends.

In 1772 Jospeh Priestley provided a way to make soda water to the crew of Captain James Cook's second voyage to the South Seas. He wrongly thought that soda water might be a cure for scurvy.

Answer: Murder

James Saragon was convicted of beating a man to death for his watch in Rotherham, and Jospeh Myers was convicted of stabbing his wife to death with a pair of scissors. Whilst awaiting execution Joseph Myers tried to kill himself by slitting his own throat, but was saved by having surgery.

A well known suffragette, Lilian Ida Lenton, was an inmate at Armley Jail for several days in 1913, after being arrested for arson in Doncaster. She had stated that she would set fire to two buildings every week, until women were given the vote. Whilst in Armley, Lilian was on hunger strike and was released on licence, until she recovered, under the 'Cat and Mouse' Act, which was passed by the government, allowing such releases. This Act was passed as a result of suffragettes being force fed, causing them to be gravely ill. Lilian evaded arrest by the police in Leeds, but was arrested later that same year in Paddington Station.

She was the recipient of a French Red Cross medal in World War 1, in which she was an orderly.