‍ ‍ Anyone traveling to the Isle of Wight this summer should definitely take in the special J. B. Priestley “The Isle of Wight Years” exhibit there.

Priestley Bus Tour Planned!

The Record Cafe in Bradford is offering a vintage bus tour of various J.B. Priestley-related locations around the area on June 20th. It sounds like a great opportunity to see the sites and discuss the man’s ties to Bradford.

Contact the Record Cafe for more information:

45-47 North Parade, Bradford, United Kingdom, BD1 3JH

therecordcafe.co.uk

44 1274 723143

info@therecordcafe.co.uk

A New Book Writers in Whites to be published in May

A new Society member, Ollie Randall, has written a forthcoming book, Writers in Whites, in which J. B. Priestley, a life-long cricket enthusiast, plays a prominent part. The book tells the story of a network of famous cricket-playing writers, from J. M. Barrie to Michael Morpurgo. In one of its eight chapters, "Man of the People," Priestley is the central character. There will be a book release event in London on May 18th, so members in the vicinity may want to attend.

More information can be found at https://www.randallwriting.com/announcing-writers-in-whites/

A Successful Run of Priestley’s “A Glass of Bitter” at the Bingley Little Theatre

With the cooperation of the JBP Society, Bingley Little Theatre put on one of Priestley’s lesser-known short plays ‘A Glass of Bitter.’ It was performed to a packed house in BLT’s 80-seat Studio on the evenings of November 28th to 30th, and was paired with a newly written play about Bradford, “Wool City”. A manned display about JB was featured each night.

The play portrays the value of women in society, in this case a wife and mother who is taken for granted, before she takes action to rectify matters.

Priestley Society at the Bingley Performance: Lindsay Sutton, Society President, Jill Robins  (Director of A Glass of Bitter, Irene Lofthouse, Society member and Production Assistant), & Richard D Rhodes, Studio Productions Co-ordinator.

J.B Priestley’s son's will donates royalties to preserve archive

Published: Monday 10 November 2025 (Courtesy of the University of Bradford)

The University of Bradford’s archive of Bradford-born author J.B. Priestley will continue to flourish after a donation of future royalties in his son’s will. 

An ongoing share of the royalties from his works has been donated in the will of J.B. Priestley’s son, Tom Priestley, a film editor, who died aged 91 in 2023. The proceeds will support the preservation and development of the archive at the University’s library, named after the author.  

The donation means every copy sold, or performance of, ‘An Inspector Calls’, a 1945 play by J.B. Priestley, will benefit the University’s archive.  

J.B. Priestley received an honorary degree from the University of Bradford in 1970, while Tom received the same honour in 2010. 

J.B. Priestley’s granddaughter, Sadie Wykeham, who runs the J.B. Priestley literary estate on behalf of the family with her brother Joel Wykeham, said: “Tom Priestley, the youngest of J.B. Priestley’s five children, was himself a distinguished award-winning film editor, as well as the recipient of an honorary degree from the University of Bradford.   

“After the death of his father, he managed the literary estate on behalf of the Priestley family and came to appreciate the sterling work done by the Special Collections Department at the J.B. Priestley Library at the University.   

“So, it is only fitting that he chose to leave part of his share of royalties to this most worthy recipient, and his family send their very best wishes to the Department, the Library and the University it serves.”

J.B. Priestley’s University links  

The University’s library houses J.B. Priestley’s archive, featuring scripts of plays, films and TV broadcasts, journal articles, lectures, press cuttings, theatre programmes and other publicity material, business and personal correspondence and a huge collection of photographs. There are objects including J.B. Priestley’s pipes, painting materials, typewriter and clothing. 

Alongside then-Prime Minister and University Chancellor Harold Wilson, J.B. Priestley officially opened the library on 18 October 1975. 

The University’s library celebrated its 50th anniversary in October this year with past and present staff attending an event, which also featured a screening of ‘Welcome to Bradford University Library’, a 1979 film capturing how the site operated in its early years.

A Wedgewood vase decorated by J.B. Priestley in 1933 and described by J.B. Priestley in his book ‘English Journey’, sold at auction following his death in 1984 was donated to the University’s Special Collections this year. The vase disappeared until this year, when it was donated by the person who bought it at auction almost 40 years ago. A statue of J.B. Priestley is also on display in the library. 

Julie Parry, the University’s Archivist, said: “This generous contribution will provide valuable and much welcomed funds for the continued preservation, promotion, and sustainability of the remarkable J.B. Priestley archive. 

“The J.B. Priestley archive is one of the largest and most popular of the Special Collections at Bradford. Most of the material has been kindly donated by the Priestley estate.  

“The University is proud to provide a home for the archive and is committed to ensuring current and future generations of researchers can learn about the legacy of J.B. Priestley and his link to Bradford.”

How the University will benefit

The ongoing royalties will support a number of projects, initially including a conservation project to assess the objects within the archive and provide them with museum-standard storage.  

Other benefits will include a collection management system, and a digitisation project of the collection’s items.  

For more information on the J.B. Priestley archive, go to the University special collections webpage. To book an appointment contact special-collections@bradford.ac.uk