Wakefield - Drury Lane Library

February 15th, Messrs Bagnall Bros., of Wakefield started building Drury Lane Library.

It opened on 20th June 1906, when philanthropist Andrew Carnegie - who had given £8000 towards its construction, on condition that a penny rate was levied - performed the opening ceremony before a large crowd, somewhat marred by a downpour of rain. The library was built by Bagnall Brothers of Wakefield, to a design selected from 81 entries in a competition.

From the 1901 census we know that at this time, Harry would be ~19 - Stonemason, George ~25 - Bricklayer, William 30 - Bricklayer, so any from these three could comprise Messrs Bagnall Bros.

Since the name is "Bagnall Bros." we might assume that John Bagnall was either retired or had handed the running of the company to his son's, or was never involved in the family business?

Anecdotal evidence seems to back up the fact that it was William and George who were Messrs Bagnall Bros., of Wakefield. This press cutting would seem to back that up too.

This press cutting describes how the library came to be and is also the source of the reference to "Messrs Bagnall Bros."

I was very sad to hear that the library has been boarded up and will no longer be a library after it has been gutted. Lucky then to have taken these photographs of the library and its interior in 2003.