April 2026 marks 130 years since the opening of Halifax Royal Infirmary on Free School Lane, but the provision of free healthcare goes back much further.

Just in time for Christmas, Local Studies brings you a tale of good deeds gone unrewarded, a distinct lack of human kindness, and Good Samaritan-ism coming back to haunt people. Who’s to say we aren’t festive folk in the library service? Never mind – the story here is of a stranger in a strange land

Any reader with even the most basic knowledge of the history of asylums and mental institutions – whether from academic reading or from...

In the 1830’s there was a movement towards social reform, especially towards the employment of children in the burgeoning industries of...