Batley Conservative Club
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| Batley Conservative Club 2018 |
George Sheard was the President of the club and led the meeting following the clubs official opening.
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| Inauguration of Club, Leeds Times 18 Dec 1886 |
The building of a new club on Branch Road was a very ambitious project time and is still in use as a Conservative Social Club.
It was built at a cost of £5000 and was described in detail in Kelly’s Directory of 1893 as
“an edifice of stone in the classic style”.
Films were screened here in December 1897 and in 1913, after some alterations were made, it became a full time cinema, known as the Victoria Hall Cinema from December 1913. Around 1930 it could seat about 900 people and it was equipped with a RCA sound system and continued as a cinema until its closure on 2nd February 1957. The hall is now called the Victoria Function room and is still used for live music, stage productions and shows.
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| Yorkshire Evening Post |
When the annual meeting of the club was held in 1892 for the first time, it was held in the large reading rooms of the new building and was reported in the Yorkshire Evening Post. Mr George Sheard (of Bagshaw Museum fame) was President of the club and was re-elected at the meeting to serve another year. John Hopkinson was the secretary and he gave his report on the position of the club at that time. He stated that since the opening of the new club building the membership had risen considerably from 180 to 418 members, which included 48 ladies. This was one of the few times that female membership was recorded. There was also a further 91 members to add to the total bringing it to 509.
When the President of club, George Sheard made his address he stressed that
“they must not lose sight of the aims of the club, which were political and not just social.”
Yorkshire Evening Post 27th January 1892
By 1894 the annual report showed that membership was rising and that financially they were a better position than ever. This success continued until 1899 when the Leeds Times reported that
"subscriptions had dropped by 311 compared to 1897." Leeds Times 28th January 1899.
George Sheard was still President in 1894 and was asked to remain in the office but he declined due to his family commitments. He was President of the Conservative Association as well as the club. George died in 1902 at his home Woodlands which is now known as the Bagshaw Museum. Having been a long time president and prominent member of the Batley Conservative Club a portrait, painted by Mr Albert Sachs of Bradford, was hung in the club in his memory.
Yorkshire Evening
Post 16 February 1903
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| Yorkshire Evening Post 16 Feb 1903 |
The Sheard family were influential members of the club and the Conservative Party.
By 1899 James Brook
Jubb, who was also a mungo and shoddy merchant and related to the Sheard
family through marriage, was President of the club. The club had a healthy
budget at this time despite a fall in subscriptions to the club and it was
declared as the most successful year that the club had had to date. Yorkshire
Evening Post 17 January 1899
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| John William Blackburn, Mayor of Batley |
John William Blackburn, another Mungo and Shoddy merchant had married Eliza Rebecca Sheard, the niece of George Sheard. He was twice Mayor of Batley, 1897 – 1898; 1916 – 1917, and had been a member of Batley Council for 30 years. John held shares in the Batley Club Building Co Ltd which he left in his will to the club.
The club is still based in the Branch Road building in the centre of the town and continues as an active Conservative Social Club and entertainment venue.
Just a few photos of the club from the Kirklees Images Archive -
The club held its annual ball in the Victoria Hall of the
club buildings on 1891. There was a list
of 180 acceptance of the invitations and the event was a great success. The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that those
present “included many of the elite of the district”. The weather was particularly bad that evening
but apparently did not deter nor dampen the spirits of those attending with
dancing going on until four in the morning to live music by “Robinson’s String
Band”. Yorkshire Evening Post 16 December 1891
In 1908 Walter Critchley of Batley Hall was awarded the
Association of Conservative Club’s “distinguished service medal” in recognition
of his work at Batley Conservative Club.
He had been an officer of the club for five years. Yorkshire
Evening Post 17 July 1908
1909 The two suffragettes who smashed windows at Batley
Conservative Club on Friday 22nd October 1909 on the occasion of the Liberal MP, Walter Runciman’s visit, were ordered to pay 19s 9d each or go to prison for ten days.
The defendants were Miss Dorothy Evans (25), P.E. teacher at Batley Girl's
Grammar School, and Miss Nellie Godfrey (30) shop assistant, who was from
Leyton, Essex. They admitted having each thrown stone through the Conservative
Club windows, but regretted the damage caused to the property of the
Conservative party as their grievance was against the Liberal Government. Miss
Evans attempted to prevent her father from paying the fines, but he paid the
fines anyway and expressed the hope that in future
“the advocates of women's
suffrage would adhere legitimate and lawful methods”.
The women said they would
prefer to go to prison rather than pay the fine. Shields Daily News 26 October 1909
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| Walter Runciman |
The spacious Victoria Hall above the Conservative Club was
packed when Walter Runciman, Liberal MP for Dewsbury, visited a few months later, in 1910. He was given a “magnificent”
reception with the crowd cheering his appearance and the Leeds Mercury reported
that he was in
“rare fighting trim and delivered a splendid speech”.
At the annual meeting of the club in 1923 Major J P
Critchley was elected as President and he reminded the members that they were
“primarily
a political club”. Yorkshire Post 31 January
1923.
In 1928 a series of educational lectures were given at the
club starting in the January of that year beginning with one by Arthur Welford
who spoke on “Political Organisation”. C.C.
Milligan, chairman, said there was an ever growing need for political education
and Mr Welford stressed that
“good organisation was an essential to the success
of a political cause.”
He was pleased
that the Conservatives of the area were well organised.
The second lecture was on “The British Constitution” where
Mr C. C. Milligan impressed upon those present that to be a good Conservative
it was essential to be a “Constitutionalist”. The series of monthly lectures continued throughout the year. Leeds Mercury 24 January & 21
February 1928
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| Leeds Mercury May 1923 |
The club suffered several burglaries over the years. One in
May 1923 was “thwarted” by locks on the internal doors once he had gained entry
to the building. These doors had been
strengthened after a previous burglary in the club. However the thief then
turned his attention to the Victoria Hall which in 1923 was a cinema, although
still part of the club property. Once again he gained entry through a rear
window overlooking the Bowling Green and then making his way to the office where
he managed to break his way through one of the door panels. The intruder then
attempted to break into the safe which although he damaged it remained
locked. His attention then turned to a
locked case which was used to store chocolates and sweets and he helped himself
to the contents of this. Leeds Mercury
29 May 1923
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| Yorkshire Evening Post January 1932 |
In January 1932 another
burglary occurred when thieves once again gained entry to the building by means
of smashing a rear window. Whisky,
champagne and cigarettes were stolen along with some cash. This was one of a spate of burglaries in the
area on various business properties.
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| Yorkshire Evening Post June 1932 |
Another theft in 1932 when a bottle of whisky and 56 packets
of cigarettes were stolen, resulted in three young men being arrested and
charged with the offences. A police
constable had found the cellar grate of the club had been removed and the
billiards room window was open. Together with the club steward and another
police constable they investigated and discovered the three men inside the
club. The window of the bar had been
forced and one of the young men was in the process of drinking from the whisky
bottle. There was a flash lamp and a “jemmy” on the bar next to them plus a
pile of packets of cigarettes ready for removal. The men pleaded guilty to breaking and
entering but not to theft. However they
were found guilty on all charges and bound over for 12 months. Yorkshire Evening Post 16 January 1932
& Leeds Mercury 9 July 1932
The 1923 attempted burglary where the thief had gained
entrance through a rear window overlooking the club’s “bowling green” and a report
of a bowling match in 1931 held on the “green of Batley Conservative Club”
would suggest that the club had its own bowling green at one time but there is
no longer any evidence of this or its location.
In 1934 Tom Inman
a veteran member of the club celebrated his 80th birthday and his
fellow members presented him with a monetary gift. He was also a founding member of the Heavy
Woollen Bowling Association and had been twice President. Yorkshire Post 8 May 1934
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| Yorkshire Post, March 1935 |
In 1935 the Batley & Morley Women’s Unionist Association held a three day bazaar in Batley Town
Hall. It had taken fifteen months in the
preparation and was opened by Lady Bingley of Bramham Park and her daughter
Margaret Lane Fox. The town hall was
decorated for the occasion and the stalls were arranged to represent an
“old
English Village”.
The opening ceremony
had taken place from a platform which had a large scene of the Houses of
Parliament. The bazaar had been helped
by members of other political parties too in the form of money and goods. Yorkshire Post 28 March 1935
The club annual meeting in 1936 reported that the club’s
finances were “very healthy” as a profit of £145 was announced to the
membership and that the club was flourishing. John Roebuck was re-elected President of the club.
A young Conservative Association was formed at the club in
August 1946 and Major C. York, MP for Ripon spoke at the meeting.
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| Batley Conservative Club & Victoria Hall 2018 |
Just a few photos of the club from the Kirklees Images Archive -
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| Conservative Club viewed from Chime Wood, Kirklees Image Archives k023827 |
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| May Day Procession outside Batley Conservative Club |
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Batley Conservative Club Prize Draw Presentation
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