Yorkshire Day is a yearly celebration on 1 August to promote the historic county of Yorkshire, in England. It was celebrated by the Yorkshire Ridings Society in 1975, initially in Beverley, as "a protest movement against the local government re-organisation of 1974".
The date in part memorialises the commencement of the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act, on the 1 August 1834. William Wilberforce, member of parliament (MP) for Yorkshire, had been instrumental in campaigning for emancipation, alongside other prominent Yorkshire abolitionists including Wilson Armistead and Richard Oastler.
The day was already celebrated by the Light Infantry, successors to the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, as Minden Day, after the battle of Minden. Together with five other infantry regiments of the British Army, a rose is permitted to be worn in the headdress. In the case of the Light Infantry, the rose is white.
Yorkshire Society The event was first celebrated officially in 1985, when council authorities agreed to host a joint civic celebration in York. Attended by lord mayors, mayors, and other civic heads, this has been repeated annually with the location moving each year. It is convened by the Yorkshire Society.
1985: York 1986: Ripon 1987: Wakefield 1988: Wakefield 1989: Whitby 1990: Skipton 1991: Rotherham 1992: Richmond 1993: Leeds 1994: Doncaster 1995: Barnsley 1996: Todmorden 1997: Bradford 1998: Huddersfield 1999: Kingston upon HullHull Daily Mail, 29 July 1999 2000: York 2001: Wakefield 2002: Filey 2003: Halifax 2004: Leeds 2005: Bradford 2006: Penistone 2007: Kingston upon Hull 2008: Redcar 2009: Malton 2010: Hedon 2011: Wakefield 2012: Scarborough 2013: Skipton 2014: South Kirkby and Moorthorpe 2015: Doncaster 2016: Halifax 2017: Sheffield 2018: Ripon 2019: Whitby 2022: Keighley 2023: Rotherham 2024: York 2025: Bradford and Ilkley 2026: Goole
Saltburn, Guisborough and Saddleworth have also played host. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, celebrations were cancelled in 2020 and in 2021 York held on-line events.
Similar events have been promoted by the Friends of Real Lancashire (27 November, since 1996) and the Huntingdonshire Society (25 April, since 2002) to promote their counties.
On Yorkshire Day, members of the society read a "Declaration of Integrity": "I, [Name], being a resident of the [West/North/East] Riding of Yorkshire [or City of York] declare:
That Yorkshire is three Ridings and the City of York, with these Boundaries of [Current Year minus 875, so for , ]Thus, in 2013 it was "1,138 years' standing", in 2014 it was "1,139 years' standing", in 2015 it was "1,140 years' standing", and so on. years' standing; That the address of all places in these Ridings is Yorkshire; That all persons born therein or resident therein and loyal to the Ridings are Yorkshiremen and women; That any person or corporate body which deliberately ignores or denies the aforementioned shall forfeit all claim to Yorkshire status.
These declarations made this Yorkshire Day [Year]. God Save the King!" In York the Declaration is made four times by the Yorkshire Ridings Society, once for each Riding and once for the City of York. The traditional boundaries of the Three Ridings run up to the ancient city walls, so by processing out of three of the bars (gatehouses) the Society can make the Declaration in each Riding, followed by reading the Declaration within a fourth bar inside the city.
Critical reaction The day has attracted some criticism:
In its early years, the day was not widely acknowledged. A 1991 Times editorial read:
Influences
Suffolk Day Yorkshire Day was instrumental in the creation of Suffolk Day. It was created by Mark Murphy whilst he was a presenter at BBC Radio Suffolk, who noted that Carol Kirkwood made special mention of Yorkshire on 1 August:
See also Lancashire Day St Piran's Day Sussex Day
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