Sir Bosdin Thomas Leech 1836–1912
The eldest son of Thomas and Rachel Leech, Bosdin inherited his father's business acumen and flourished as a businessman and landowner. He became one of the most influential figures in Manchester's economic and political scene, served as Lord Mayor in 1891-2 and was knighted for his work on behalf of the Manchester Ship Canal. In 1907 he published a two-volume history of the canal. He remained a major civic figure and was a key player in the Thirlmere scheme to bring fresh water into Manchester from the Lake District.
He was a strong teetotaller, disliked all sport with the exception of cricket, and was against all forms of gambling. A prolific diarist, he also wrote and published a collection of proverbs and maxims for young men, and had a fascination for collecting waste paper. In later life, he and his wife Edith developed a passion for travel and several of his diaries record in detail their journeys by rail and sea which took them all over the world.
Edith Mary Leech (née Booth) 1847-1905
Second daughter of William and Mary Booth and brought up in Manchester, Edith married Bosdin Leech in 1868 and remained his constant companion until her death in from an illness she developed while travelling in South Africa. Her accounts of their travels are full of closely observed detail, interspersed with notes and pressed flowers, in which she took a special interest.
She was active in numerous charitable organisations in Manchester and in Timperley where she lived. Politically she remained Conservative, in contrast to her husband's strong Liberal tendencies, and refused to take the title of Mayoress during her husband's term as Lord Mayor of Manchester.
The diaries of Bosdin Leech are a readable and fascinating mix of his civic and business activities and his family life at home with Edith and the children. Town Hall matters and business dealings are often recorded in minute detail and coloured with plenty of personal opinion, and an opportunity to relate an amusing incident is seldom missed. Here he records the official opening of the Manchester Ship Canal by Queen Victoria in May 1894:
Went to Holly Bank in morning – then to meeting of Council at 2.30 where I seconded address to Her Majesty – at 3.15 left with Reception Committee for London Road station. Met Queen at 4.30 – she shocked me by appearing so infirm – she seemed a Lady without legs – the reception by the people was most enthusiastic and the crowds of people were immense. At Town Hall an address was presented as also at School of Art by Professor Ward and at Blind Asylum by Blind girl and at Salford by the Mayor – on the boat all the Directors were presented and also address – after the Queen declared the canal open at Mode Wheel and on her return the cortege went through Salford to Exchange Station – Then we returned to Town Hall and dined my function was to return thanks for Mayor and Corporation – the chief features of the day the orderly crowds the nurses in front of the Infirmary, Brook and Bond’s ship [_____] – opposite Town Hall a Policeman was thrown quite close to the Queen – the weather all through was bitterley keen and for a few minutes it rained. When my carriage in which was Hopkinson got to the Blind Asylum rise one of the horses which had been kicking at intervals made a plunge and got its leg fast in the traces in consequence I jumped out and had to hurry for the last ¾ of a mile but just managed to catch the party at the Docks – to my mind the arrangements at the Docks were execrable as regards seating etc. The £1.10 places were not even numbered and in consequence of the high prices the stands were badly filled. Salford looked very gay and I was much pleased with the assemblage of children in port but so that all could see – sat at Banquet between Sir William Houldsworth and the Lord Mayor of Liverpool who is a nice plain man and made an excellent speech. Sir John Harworth in proposing the guests was a failure.
Diary of Bosdin Thomas Leech, 21 May 1894
In the later years of their lives, Bosdin and Edith Leech travelled widely, making voyages by rail and sea to Canada and the USA, Scandinavia, the Holy Land, Cairo, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, the Canaries, South Africa, and a round-the-world trip taking in Ceylon, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and China.
After Edith's death in 1905, Bosdin continued to travel with friends, extending his horizons to the West Indies, Panama and South America. As well as providing a remarkable record of their impressions of these places, their diaries also offer a lively and engrossing window onto life on board ship and the deck games, dinners, parties and entertainments laid on to pass the time on what were often extremely lengthy journeys.
