Romantic cards and messages from centuries past are on show as part of a Bradford exhibition celebrating Valentine’s Day.

Among the exhibits at West Yorkshire Archive Service’s offices at Bradford Central Library is a letter from a lovelorn suitor, dated October 19, 1724.

In it, Ambrose Holbeck writes: “If you was but to see how inconsolable I am for the loss of my love, you would pity me. Tho I fear my Deary now that I am out of sight will soon have me out of her mind.”

Another extract from a letter held at the archive office in Kirklees, sent by George C Hirst to a Lillian Dyson, of Milns-bridge, in 1901, reads: “You are the most bewitching unattainable (no! I have better hopes of you than that), charming dear girl (after all) and I shall not try to forget you nor leave you alone until you make up your mind.”

Graham Hebblethwaite, chief officer of West Yorkshire Joint Services, which oversees the Archive’s work, said: “The Archive Service is delighted to highlight some of the many records it holds which reflect the life and loves of Yorkshire men and women of the past.”

The exhibition runs until Friday, February 18.