These scrapbooks compiled by William Scruton take us back in time to 19th Century Bradford, and allow us a rare insight into the history of the city.
William Scruton was born in 1840 at Little Horton Green, a small village about 1 mile south east of the centre of Bradford. He worked as a solicitor’s clerk, and was a keen historian and journalist, often contributing to the ‘Bradford Observer’ and the ‘Yorkshireman’, as well as to the Bradford Antiquary, the journal of the Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society which he co-founded in 1878.
William always had a passion for history, collecting many historical documents, and even published ‘Pen and Pencil Pictures of Old Bradford’ as a way to distribute his sketches of the Bradford he knew and loved to the masses. It included both views and portraits of the people and places which he thought would give the best representation before they were lost forever, a fact of which he was very aware
From newspaper cuttings, pictures and sketches he drew himself, the scrapbooks William created let us learn a great deal about the inhabitants of Bradford and the surrounding towns.
His drawings show us many old buildings that have since been demolished to make way for new improvements as Bradford expanded into a city, allowing us to see what the town once looked like.
Vote for the Scrapbooks of William Scruton today!
Are you a ‘Bradfordian’? Have you seen the buildings of Bradford come and go? Leave us your thoughts here.
William Scruton was born in 1840 at Little Horton Green, a small village about 1 mile south east of the centre of Bradford. He worked as a solicitor’s clerk, and was a keen historian and journalist, often contributing to the ‘Bradford Observer’ and the ‘Yorkshireman’, as well as to the Bradford Antiquary, the journal of the Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society which he co-founded in 1878.
William always had a passion for history, collecting many historical documents, and even published ‘Pen and Pencil Pictures of Old Bradford’ as a way to distribute his sketches of the Bradford he knew and loved to the masses. It included both views and portraits of the people and places which he thought would give the best representation before they were lost forever, a fact of which he was very aware
From newspaper cuttings, pictures and sketches he drew himself, the scrapbooks William created let us learn a great deal about the inhabitants of Bradford and the surrounding towns.
His drawings show us many old buildings that have since been demolished to make way for new improvements as Bradford expanded into a city, allowing us to see what the town once looked like.
Vote for the Scrapbooks of William Scruton today!
Are you a ‘Bradfordian’? Have you seen the buildings of Bradford come and go? Leave us your thoughts here.