- Pontefract Castle 20th Century
- 1903 - On 31st October 1903, ‘The Builder’ magazine reported that eight tenders had been received ‘for the erection of a free library, Salter-row for the Corporation of Pontefract with ……….Henry Gundhill’s (of Pontefract) £1744 4s 8d accepted (£217,000 in today’s money)…… £150 (£18,650) allowed for wood block floors not included in the contract’
- Sandal Castle 14th Century
- 1321 - On 31st October 1321, John de Warenne - 7th Earl of Surrey and owner of Sandal Castle - was with King Edward II, at the fall of Leeds Castle in Kent. The castle had been besieged following Queen Isabella coming under attack from the battlements when she sought shelter on her pilgrimage to Canterbury. John was now clearly back in the king's favour, but his lands in Yorkshire - including Sandal Castle - which had been given up when he had been forced to come to terms with Thomas Earl of Lancaster in 1319, would for the time being, remain in the king's hands, even after John would be one of the lords that would pass the death sentence on Lancaster in March 1322 at his trial in the Great Hall at Pontefract Castle. John would spend the summers of 1322 and 1323 campaigning in Scotland.
- Sandal Castle 15th Century
- 1460 - On 31st October 1460, Henry VI took an oath to abide by the Act of Accord (giving Richard, Duke of York, lord of Sandal Castle, and his heirs the crown on Henry’s death). All assembled lords similarly swore to accept Henry as king and York as heir to the realm and York and his sons, the Earls of March and Rutland, promised that they would not do anything ‘to cause or lead to the shortening of the natural life of King Henry VI’. York and his family were protected from claims of treasonable actions and allowed to act in Henry’s stead to ‘repress, subdue and pacify the realm’ against the king’s enemies. Not only was York paid to undertake this role but it effectively permitted him to lead an army against Henry’s wife, Queen Margaret, and her supporters. On this day, the vigils of All Hallows, York removed Henry from Westminster Palace against his will and put him in the Bishop of London’s Palace.