A MAN is hoping to enlist the help of the parish council in returning a piece of Ilkley's memorabilia to the town.

Frazer Irwin, a local historian, believes an historic key, presented to Dr Robert Collyer at the opening of Ilkley Library in 1907, is part of the town's legacy and should be stored in the town It is currently housed at City Hall, in Bradford, and Mr Irwin, of Queens Drive, said: "If Bradford is wanting to become the culture capital of the North they should give back what belongs to Ilkley.

"A number of historical items from the town keep cropping up around the world. We ought to make sure that we do not lose any thing else."

Mr Irwin has passed the matter to Miggy Bailey, the parish clerk of the council, who said she would raise the matter with councillors at the next meeting.

Coun Michael Gibbons, chairman of the council, said he was not averse to having the key returned to Ilkley.

He said: "It is a piece of Ilkley memorabilia and perhaps Ilkley is the obvious place for it. We will be happy to have co-operation with Mr Irwin on this issue. I have spoken to the clerk and we will discuss it at the next meeting."

Dr Collyer rose from humble beginnings to become one of the great pulpit figures of America. He came to Ilkley from his home in Blubberhouses, at the age of 14, to take up an apprenticeship with the blacksmith John Birch.

After completing his apprenticeship Dr Collyer continued to work at the Leeds Road smithy. A number of personal tragedies led him to emigrate with his second wife, Ann Longbottom, to America, where he secured employment in a claw hammer factory in Philadelphia.

In Ilkley Dr Collyer had been a Methodist preacher and he continued this calling in America. He became disenchanted with the Methodist Church and in 1859 he gave up factory work to embrace life as an outreach minister with the Unitarian Church in Chicago.

He founded a very successful Second Unitarian Church and his reputation as a preacher continued to grow. In 1879 he accepted an

invitation to become pastor of the main Unitarian Church in New York.

He continued to preach until a few weeks before his death in 1912.

At the time he was presented with the key, he was visiting the region to collect an honorary degree from Leeds University.

The library was not finished but he declared it open anyway and received the key and an illuminated address.

This was to be his last visit to Ilkley. A bust of Dr Collyer, along with one at the entrance to Carnegie, stands at the library entrance.