Editing Yorkshire (section)

===1500s–1900s: Industry===
====1500-1600s: Explorative growth====

In the 16th and 17th centuries Leeds and other wool-industry-centred towns continued to grow, along with Huddersfield, Hull and Sheffield, while coal mining first came into prominence in the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.num.org.uk/?p=history&c=num|publisher=NUM.org.uk|title=History of the NUM: 1 – Towards A National Union|access-date=25 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419080240/http://www.num.org.uk/?p=history&c=num|archive-date=19 April 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[wool]] textile industry, which had previously been a cottage industry, centred on the old market towns moved to the [[West Riding of Yorkshire|West Riding]] where entrepreneurs were building mills that took advantage of water power gained by harnessing the rivers and streams flowing from the [[Pennines]]. The developing [[textile industry]] helped [[Wakefield]] and [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]] grow.<ref name="woolindustry">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/makhist10_prog13a.shtml|publisher=[[BBC]]|title=William Hirst – Leeds woollen industry pioneer|access-date=25 November 2007|archive-date=30 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630051913/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/makhist10_prog13a.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

====1800s: Victorian revolution====
[[File:Leeds Dark Arches June 2013-TJBlackwell.webm|thumb|These tunnels were built in the 1800s to channel the [[River Aire]] under [[Leeds railway station]].]]
The 19th century saw Yorkshire's continued growth, with the population growing and the [[Industrial Revolution]] continuing with prominent industries in coal, textile and steel (especially in [[Sheffield]], [[Rotherham]] and [[Middlesbrough]]). However, despite the booming industry, living conditions declined in the industrial towns due to overcrowding. This saw bouts of [[cholera]] in both 1832 and 1848.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thoresby.org.uk/history.htm|publisher=Thoresby.org.uk|title=The Historical Society for Leeds and District|access-date=25 November 2007|archive-date=29 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229103015/http://www.thoresby.org.uk/history.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> However, advances were made by the end of the century with the introduction of modern [[Sanitary sewer|sewers]] and [[Water supply|water supplies]]. Several [[Yorkshire railways|Yorkshire railway]] networks were introduced as railways spread across the country to reach remote areas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nrm.org.uk/|publisher=NRM.org.uk|title=National Railway Museum, York|access-date=25 November 2007|archive-date=25 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225213233/http://nrm.org.uk/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Number 4468 Mallard in York.jpg|thumb|The [[London and North Eastern Railway|LNER]] Class A4 4468 ''[[LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard|Mallard]]'' built in [[Doncaster]] is the current confirmed record holder as the fastest steam locomotive at {{convert|203|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} on 3 July 1938.]]

Canals and [[Turnpike trust|turnpike]] roads were introduced in the late 18th century. In the following century the [[spa town]]s of [[Harrogate]] and [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|Scarborough]] flourished, due to people believing [[mineral water]] had curative properties.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.great-britain.co.uk/regions/yorkshire/harrogat.htm|publisher=Great-British.co.uk|title=Harrogate, Yorkshire Spa town|access-date=25 November 2007|archive-date=13 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013122243/http://www.great-britain.co.uk/regions/yorkshire/harrogat.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

When elected county councils were established in 1889, rather than have a single Yorkshire County Council, each of the three ridings was made an [[Administrative counties of England|administrative county]] with its own county council, and the eight larger towns and cities of Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Sheffield and York were made [[county borough]]s, independent from the county councils.<ref name=1888act>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1888|year=1888|chapter=41|access-date=9 March 2024|mode=cs1}}</ref>

====Twentieth century to present====
During the [[Second World War]], Yorkshire became an important base for [[RAF Bomber Command]] and brought the county and its productive industries into the cutting edge of the war, and thus in the targets of [[Luftwaffe]] [[Hull Blitz|bombers]] during the [[Battle of Britain]].<ref>{{cite book | first= Bruce Barrymore |last=Halpenny |author-link=Bruce Barrymore Halpenny| title = Action Stations: Military Airfields of Yorkshire v. 4 | year = 1982 | publisher = PSL | isbn = 978-0-85059-532-1 }}</ref>

From the late 20th century onwards there have been a number of significant reforms of the local government structures covering Yorkshire, notably in 1968, 1974, 1986, 1996 and 2023, discussed in the [[#Governance|governance]] section below. For most administrative purposes the county had been divided since the Middle Ages; the last county-wide administrative role was the [[Sheriff of Yorkshire]]. The sheriff had been a powerful position in the Middle Ages but gradually lost most of its functions, and by the twentieth century was a largely ceremonial role. It was abolished as part of the 1974 reforms to local government, which established instead [[high sheriff]]s for each modern county.<ref name=1972act/>