The Adult School was founded in Keighley in 1882 and met at the Mechanics Institute. A Mutual Improvement Society, a Temperance Society and a savings bank were founded by members in the same year. The school seems to have reached its peak in the mid-1890s, with a membership of 89. Its traditional annual tea became a festival of entertainment and discussion, with speakers from other Yorkshire Adult Schools. However the school was always relatively small in size, and had declined to 52 members by 1902. At some point after 1917, the school closed, but a new school was established in the town in 1927, encouraged by Alice Robson, Arthur Raistrick and members of adult schools in Skipton and Saltaire. It had 29 members at the end of its first year, and there are no surviving records after 1934.
From the guide to the Records of Keighley Friends Adult School, 1882-1934, (GB 206 Leeds University Library)
