Annual Yorkshire History Prize
The competition for essays on the history of Yorkshire is held annually. The Beresford Award is for longer essays of up to 10,000 words. There are two prizes, of £300 and £150. For shorter essays, with a limit of 5,000 words, there is one prize, the Bramley Award, of £150. Entries should be original and based on research, and should neither have been published nor offered for publication. Illustrations may be included. Any subject drawn from the history of places and people in traditional Yorkshire is usually acceptable.
Those considering entry may like to know that in previous years essays, including prize-winning ones, have sometimes come from people without a history qualification. Successful essays have often been published subsequently in learned journals.
Further details can be obtained from the Chairman of the Judges, Professor Barrie Dobson, 15 St Olave's Rd, York YO30 7AL (tel. 01904 613500), who will advise on eligibility of subject. Notice of intention to enter, together with the suggested title, must be given to him before 1 March 2010. The final date for entries is 1 May 2010.
Background on the Yorkshire History Prize
In 1985, as one of its final acts, the West Yorkshire County Council provided a grant of £5000 to the Yorkshire Society with the object of encouraging the study of the history of the ancient County of York. Professor Maurice W. Beresford, the distinguished economic historian of the University of Leeds, kindly agreed to establish the rules of an annual essay competition and to invite a group of academic colleagues to serve as adjudicators. The competition was instituted in 1987 and has been held each year since then. In 1991, following the success of the main competition, a second type of award, for shorter essays on more general topics, was made available through the generosity of Mrs J G Bramley of Lofthouse Hall, herself a member of the Society.
The History Prizes are offered annually under the two categories, one, the Beresford Award, for long essays of up to 10,000 words, the other, the Bramley Award, for essays of up to 5000 words. Two prizes, of £300 and £150, are given for the first type, and one prize, of £150, for the second. Entries are expected to be original and based on research, and should neither have been published nor submitted for publication. Any subject drawn from the history of people and places in traditional Yorkshire is acceptable.
Entries have come from all corners of the county and beyond, from London, Oxford and Windsor, as well as from Hull, Sheffield, Leeds, Knaresborough, Dent, Hebden, Harrogate, York, Doncaster, Halifax and so on Subjects have ranged widely, from 'Mother Shipton, the Yorkshire Witch' and 'Percy Shaw of Halifax, the Catseyes Man', to 'The Evacuation of Leeds Schoolchildren in the Second World War', 'Migration Patterns of Mining Families in Darfield 1861-81' and 'The Nunneries of Esholt and Marrick'.In 1996, when Yorkshire Water generously hosted the awards ceremony at their Esholt headquarters, the winner of the First Prize that year was able to descend into the basement and see mediaeval remains of the Esholt nunnery which had been the subject of her essay. The Society has been gratified by the generosity of organisations prepared to play host to these ceremonies over the years, including the Leeds and Wakefield local authorities, the University of Huddersfield, the Borthwick Institute and Blackwell's Bookshop in York, Radio Hallam FM in Sheffield, YTV, the Yorkshire Bank, the Yorkshire Archaeological Society and the Penistone Community Centre.
