This Adult School dates back to 1859, when an existing First Day School for children, based at the Camp Lane Court Meeting House in Leeds, acquired new enlarged premises and expanded its work. The first Adult School teachers were John Henry Rhodes, Samuel Southall and John Whiting, and membership grew steadily as boys from the children's classes grew up and entered the Adult School. A Savings Bank, a Sick Club and a Temperance Society were also established. When Leeds Meeting relocated to a new Meeting House on Carlton Hill in 1868, a decision was made that the Adult School should remain in the local area, and alternative accommodation was found in Fleece Lane, off Meadow Lane. A meeting for worship was also started. A decade later, a new building was opened on the corner of the Friends burial ground in Great Wilson Street, funded largely by Thomas Harvey. By 1909 the school had a membership of 121. In 1946 it moved to Beeston Hill and and was still running in 1983.
From the guide to the Records of Leeds Beeston Hill Friends Adult School, 1859-1983, (GB 206 Leeds University Library)
