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Burmantofts is now an area of 1960s high-rise housing blocks in inner-city east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, adjacent to the city centre and St. James's Hospital.
From 1859 to 1957 Burmantofts was the home of Burmantofts Pottery, a manufacturer of ceramic pipes and construction materials.
In the early 20th century, Burmantofts was a large centre of the textile industry. A Burtons textile factory was located in the area; it is still owned by Burtons, but today is being used as a storage facility.
History
The burghers from whom Burmantofts takes its name pursued craft businesses in the town, and grew crops on their tofts, such as grain which would be processed at the nearby mill on what is now Miles Hill.
Being on the edge of the Yorkshire coalfield, coal mines and clay extraction led to works making bricks and earthenware. Notably, in 1842, Lassey and Wilcock acquired 100 acres north of Nippet Lane, and found they were able to extract both coal and clay from the same mine. This led to them becoming coal sellers and brickmakers. In 1870 the enterprise became Wilcock and Co who also sold drainage pipes. Further development of the site and of newer products led to Burmantofts Pottery, which was made there until 1957.
The area was also home to some textile industry and in 1921, Montague Burton began to develop a site on Hudson Road which eventually became the biggest clothing factory in the world.
The only historic building in the area is St Agnes' United Church, the Church of England parish church on Stoney Rock Lane. It is a Gothic Revival building with stone walls and slate roof, designed by Leeds architects John Kelly and Edward Birchall. The foundation stone was laid on 9 July 1887 and the completed church was consecrated by the Bishop of Ripon on 20 May 1889.
Research Tips
- Leeds office of the West Yorkshire Archives Service (WYAS) includes archives for the whole of the area now in Leeds Metropolitan Borough
- Address: West Yorkshire Joint Services, Nepshaw Lane South, Morley, Leeds LS27 7JQ
- Telephone: +44 (0)113 393 9788
- Email: leeds@wyjs.org.uk
- British History Online (Victoria County Histories) do not cover the West Riding of Yorkshire
- GENUKI has a page on all three ridings of Yorkshire and pages for each of the ecclesiastical parishes in the county. Under each parish there is a list of the settlements within it and brief description of each. The list is based on a gazetteer dated 1835 and there may have been a number of alterations to the parish setup since then. However, it is worthwhile information for the pre civil registration era. GENUKI provides references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. There is no guarantee that the website has been kept up to date and the submitter is very firm about his copyright. This should not stop anyone from reading the material.
- The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date from more recent data. The wiki has a link to English Jurisdictions 1851 which gives the registration district and wapentake for each parish, together with statistics from the 1851 census for the area.
- A Vision of Britain through Time, Yorkshire West Riding, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974. There are pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions. Descriptions provided are usually based on a gazetteer of 1870-72.
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- The above three maps indicate the boundaries between parishes, etc., but for a more detailed view of a specific area try a map from this selection. The oldest series are very clear at the third magnification offered. Comparing the map details with the GENUKI details for the same area is well worthwhile.
- Yorkshire has a large number of family history and genealogical societies. A list of the societies will be found on the Yorkshire, England page.
- In March 2018 Ancestry announced that its file entitled "Yorkshire, England: Church of England Parish Records, 1538-1873" has been expanded to include another 94 parishes (across the three ridings) and expected it to be expanded further during the year. The entries are taken from previously printed parish registers.
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