William Priestley (wool clothier) explained

William Priestley (1779 - 1860) was a Halifax wool clothier and eminent local musician, antiquary and literary gentleman.^[1] His strong interest in music, especially German, was manifested in his personal library, which housed many unusual items of German choral music; these formed much of the early repertoire of the Halifax Choral Society, which he is credited with founding.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Book: Turner, J. Horsfall . The history of Brighouse, Rastrick, and Hipperholme; with monorial notes on Coley, Lightcliffe, Northowram, Shelf, Fixby, Clifton and Kirklees online . 1893 . Read and download ebooks . 11 February 2017 . Wm. Priestley was educated at Hipperholme Grammar School. He was eminent as an amateur musician, antiquary and literary gentleman . 11 February 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170211160226/http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/j-horsfall-joseph-horsfall-turner/the-history-of-brighouse-rastrick-and-hipperholme-with-monorial-notes-on-cole-nru/page-30-the-history-of-brighouse-rastrick-and-hipperholme-with-monorial-notes-on-cole-nru.shtml . live.
2. Web site: How I found "Mozart" in Halifax . Rachel Cowgill . 16 March 2001 . Guardian News and Media Limited . 9 February 2017 . 9 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140509174716/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/17/books.guardianreview2 . live.