Speight, Harry

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Speight, Harry

Watercolour painting of Harry Speight by John Sowden.

from John Sowden's notebooks:

"Was a native of Bradford, and the only son of the late Mr Fred Speight of Bradford. As a boy he was fond of reading, writing and books, which was encouraged by success in a competition in essay writing in connection with the Bradford Mechanics Institute. In 1877 he began to contribute sketches and stories of various kinds to magazines and newspapers, and in the course of years his compositions of this nature were very numerous. On leaving school he was for a time in the employment of a firm of Bradford merchants and afterwards was for several years assistant cashier at New Ripley’s Dyeworks. In 1884, on the recommendation of the late honourable WE Foster, MP, he visited Ireland, and the visit furnished material for a series of articles which were published in the ‘Bradford Observer’. In 1885 he paid a similar visit to Scotland on the Isle of Skye, and the articles were reproduced in ‘The Scottish Highlander’ the following year.

In that year, when the people of Lewis were dying of starvation and (?) trouble was in progress, he made an appeal on their behalf through the columns of ‘The Bradford Observer’ which was the means of collecting about £100 in money and about 20 bales of clothing for the destitute islanders. Again on the failure of the potato crop in western Ireland in 1897, Mr Speight succeeded by lectures in Bradford and other places in helping the sufferers materially. His earlier books were written under the pen name of Johnnie Gray and included ‘A Tourist’s View of Ireland’ and ‘Pleasant Walks Around Bradford.

Then followed in 1891 the first of a series of books which made [him] known far and wide amongst Yorkshire folks. This book was ‘Through Airedale From Goole to Malham’ and was a description of the various places through the journey and included much of the history, topography, geology, antiquities and ancient customs in the district travelled.

The works from his pen which were written on a more ample scale are held in high repute. They include ‘The Craven and North West Yorkshire Highlands’, Nidderdale and the Garden of the Nidd’, ‘Romantic Richmondshire’, ‘Upper Wharfedale’, and ‘Lower Wharfedale’.

In 1893 he published his ‘History of Bingley’ and his ’Two Thousand Years of Tadcaster History’ and ‘Kirkby Overblow & District’. On the formation of the Deutsch-Englischer V(?) in 1884 he was appointed Joint hon secretary with the late Mr WH Platt(?) and was also co-editor of the society’s Zeitschsrift.

In 1896 he was elected a member of the Council of the Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society and in 1901-2 was its president and continued up to his last illness an active member. In recent years he had been much engaged in genealogical research.

He died at Bingley 1915 where he had resided many years, leaving a widow, one son and one daughter."

Year

1912

Creator

John Sowden

Image filename

sowden-321