City of Bradford: History
Bradford was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1847, covering the parishes of Bradford, Horton and Manningham. It became a county borough with the passing of the Local Government Act 1888. The County Borough of Bradford was granted city status by Letters Patent in 1897.
Bradford was expanded in 1882 to include Allerton, Bolton, Bowling, Heaton, Thornbury and Tyersall. In 1899 it was further expanded by adding North Bierley, Eccleshill, Idle, Thornton, Tong, and Wyke. Clayton was added in 1930.
The Brontë sisters, Emily, Anne, and Charlotte were born along with their brother Branwell at 74 Market Street in Thornton, now in Bradford, before moving to the parsonage at Haworth in the heart of West Yorkshire's Brontë Country where they wrote a range of classics of English literature including "Wuthering Heights" and "Jane Eyre".
The city played an important part in the early history of the Labour Party. A mural on the back end of Bradford Playhouse in Little Germany commemorates the centenary of the founding of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford in 1893.
The Bradford Pals were three First World War Pals battalions of Kitchener's Army raised in the city. When the three battalions were taken over by the British Army they were officially named the 16th, 18th and 20th Battalions, The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment.
On the morning of 1 July 1916, an estimated 1,394 young men from Bradford and District The Bradford Pals, the 16th and 18th Battalions of the Prince of Wales Own West Yorkshire Regiment left their trenches in Northern France to advance across No Man's Land. It was the first hour of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Of the estimated 1,394 men who left the trenches 1,094 were either killed or injured during the ill-fated attack on the village of Serre.
Other Bradford Battalions involved in the Battle of the Somme were 1st/6th Territorial Battalion of The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment, based at Belle Vue barracks in Manningham and the 10th Battalion of The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment. The 1st/6th Territorial Battalion of The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment first saw action in 1915 at Neuve Chapelle before moving north to Yser Canal near Ypres.
The 10th Battalion The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment was involved in the attack on Fricourt, the 10th West Yorks suffered the highest casualty rate of any battalion on the Somme on 1 July and perhaps the highest battalion casualty list for a single day during the entire war. Nearly 60% of the battalion's casualties were deaths.
In 1919 the Diocese of Bradford was founded, the Church of Saint Peter was then elevated to cathedral status. …