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5 unusual facts about Pontefract


James Douglas, Lord of Douglas

Bannockburn left northern England open to attack; and in the years that followed many communities in the area became closely acquainted with the 'Blak Dowglas.' Along with Randolph, Douglas was to make a new name for himself in a war of mobility, which carried Scots raiders as far south as Pontefract and the Humber.

Malise Graham, 1st Earl of Menteith

Two months after his receiving the above charter Earl Malise, in November 1427, entered England as a hostage for King James I, and was confined in the castle of Pontefract, whence he was not released until June 17, 1453.

Mansfield Township

Mansfield-et-Pontefract, Quebec, was formed from the merger of Mansfield Township and Pontefract Township

Mansfield-et-Pontefract, Quebec

Or it may have been named in honor of Sir James Mansfield (1733-1821), Solicitor General of Canada in 1780, or William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (1705–1793).

Wakefield Council election, 2003

The results saw Labour lose 2 seats to the Conservatives in Pontefract South and Wakefield Rural, and 1 seat to the Liberal Democrats in Ossett.


Castleford bus station

Buses run from the bus station around the town of Castleford and as far a field as Leeds, Knottingley, Tadcaster, Barnsley, Pontefract, Morley and Wakefield.

City of Wakefield

The district has a strong heritage of cricket with former Yorkshire and England captain Geoffrey Boycott born in Fitzwilliam and current Yorkshire and England cricketer Tim Bresnan from Pontefract.

George Morton Pitt

Pitt resigned as governor in 1735 with a considerable fortune, purchased what later became known as Orleans House Twickenham from the estate of James Johnston who died in 1737 and bought in January 1740 burgages and freeholds from Sir William Lowther which with Lord Galway's interest gave complete control of the Pontefract seat.

George Pitt

George Morton Pitt (1693-1756), administrator of India and later British Member of Parliament for Pontefract

Marquess of Crewe

Robert Pemberton Milnes, father of the first Baron, was Member of Parliament for Pontefract.

Pontefract bus station

Buses run from the bus station around the town of Pontefract and as far a field as Leeds, Castleford, Tadcaster, Selby, Doncaster and Wakefield.

Pontefract cake

Pontefract cakes (also known as Pomfret cakes and Pomfrey cakes) are a type of small, roughly circular black sweet measuring approximately 2 cm in diameter and 4 mm thick, made of liquorice, originally manufactured in the Yorkshire town of Pontefract, England.

Pontefract Castle

In 1541, during a royal tour of the provinces, it was alleged that King Henry's fifth wife, Queen Catherine Howard, committed her first act of adultery with Sir Thomas Culpeper at Pontefract Castle, a crime for which she was apprehended and executed without trial.

Richard West, 7th Baron De La Warr

After West's death his widow married, before 1 November 1476, as his second wife, Nicholas Leventhorpe (died c.1505), esquire, of Bramham, West Yorkshire, King's Yeoman and Receiver of Pontefract, son of Geoffrey Leventhorpe.

Sir Richard Hutton, the younger

The History of the Ancient Borough of Pontefract by B Boothroyd, printed by and for the author, 1807 details Sir Richard Hutton, the younger's involvement in the sieges of Pontefract Castle during the English Civil War and his death at the battle of Sherburn-in-Elmet


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