The Leech Diaries Project

We're delighted to be able to present the work done by a team of students from MMU, Liz Collins, Megan McBride, Nichola Mundy and Rob Woodward on our new accession, the Leech family papers. They have made their own website about the diaries, and you can buy copies of their published extracts for £2.00 at the Library or sent out for £2.50 including p&p. within the UK.

The Leech family archive is one of Chetham's Library's most remarkable collections. Over the last few years, members of the family have presented the Library with a large and diverse collection of personal and business memorabilia. The archive is a uniquely personal collection, dominated by an astonishing series of journals and diaries. It begins with a short journal written in 1815-16 and ends with diaries covering the second half of the twentieth century. There are almost 200 volumes in the collection compiled by over a dozen members of the family, a remarkable record that is unlikely to be matched by any other collection in the country.

The Diaries of a Manchester Family publications are a collaboration between Chetham's Library and the Department of History and Economic History at Manchester Metropolitan University. The current titles available in this series are:

1. Diary and Memorandums of Thomas Leech, 1839-1840, transcribed and edited by Megan McBride
2. Memorandums of Sarah Leech, January 1844-March 1846, transcribed and edited by Elizabeth Collins
3. Diary of Rachel Leech, 1846-1848, transcribed and edited by Nichola Mundy
4. Memorandums of Sarah Ann Ellis Leech, November 1852-May 1853, transcribed and edited by Robert Woodward

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