ERNEST Ethelbert Slater was born in the Victorian era at a time when photography was in its infancy.

But the amateur enthusiast left a remarkable legacy of images capturing life in his hometown of Yeadon more than a century ago.

A founder member of Yeadon Camera Club, he left behind a vast collection of images showing the people and places of Yeadon and the surrounding area. His photographs were also taken on trips around the UK and overseas.

Many of his most evocative images are portraits - some of them picturing members of his own family - as these photographs from Aireborough Historical Society show.

From the image of Slater’s grandmother smoking a clay pipe, to the tender shot of a mother and baby these pictures give an insight into the photographer’s own life.

The group of family photographs, which were taken onto glass slides and which date back to around 1900, also include a young girl sitting on a chair and a young boy wearing a sailor suit. The boy is pictured in the garden of Slater’s home Hopeville House. Behind him is a greenhouse where fish were kept.

The image of two crouching children, also taken in about 1900, is of Jimmy and Peggy Slater who are thought to have been family members.

The picture of two young women was taken in the garden of Hopeville House. It is not clear whether they were family members or simply visitors to the house. Slater was a Trustee of Queen Street Methodist Chapel and hosted a number of garden parties where he welcomed large numbers of chapel members to his home.

The final two images show Slater himself - one with his finger raised as if about to make a point, and the other as the passenger in a car. The location where the photograph was taken is unknown.

Slater was born in 1850, the son of Ann, nee Murgatroyd, and Philomen Slater who was the author of The History of the Ancient Parish of Guiseley.

Ernest went on to become the manager of Manor Mill and lived in Hopeville House in Yeadon, on the corner of Harper Lane and South View Road, now Rufford Avenue.

He is remembered for his love of photography, at that time the occupation of a gentleman of means. He was a member of the Yeadon Photographic Society and took numerous images of the area and it’s people. Many of the pictures which remain are on glass slides.

Slater’s work helps to create a picture of Yeadon as it used to be and gives us an insight into the day to day lives of people at the time.

An entry on the Aireborough Historical Society website says: “Ernest Ethelbert Slater was a keen amateur photographer, the slides which remain give a valuable insight to life in his time even when in poor condition.”

Speaking previously about the photographer, Aireborough Historical Society archivist Carlo Harrison said: “It is due to people like E E Slater who had the vision to use the new medium of photography to capture everyday scenes that we can relate to history in our own area.

“The art of photography in 1900 was a slow process where the images would be displayed upside down under a cloaking material from the camera and over the photographers head to minimize the light.”

Ernest Ethelbert Slater died in 1928 but he left a huge photographic legacy - and much of his work can be seen on the Aireborough Historical Society website.

The Victorian Manor Mill was at the junction of Kirk Lane and Haworth Lane, formerly Manor Road. It closed in 1980.