Joseph Agar (1832-1920) was an important figure in York for many years.

He was born in 1833 and died in 1920 and was, for most of his life, a prominent York figure including being Lord Mayor of the city three times. He owned the tannery firm Agar and Chadwick.

His home was Kilburn House in Fulford which had previously been called Fulford Lodge, but was renamed by the alderman because his family came from Kilburn in North Yorkshire.

It is said that when developers built houses on the land in the 1930s they had only heard of Kilburn in London, and so named the new roads after other London areas such as Edgware.

An alderman for nearly 40 years, he laid numerous foundation stones and it is reported that when he died he had a collection of more than 70 presentation mallets and trowels.

This is the bricklaying ceremony for the York Central Mission in Swinegate - the tools can be seen on the bench on the right of the photograph. This was on April 23, 1910. Four hundred bricks were bought and people paid seven shillings to lay a brick in the wall facing Little Swinegate. Alderman Agar is in the centre of the picture with a trowel. The man on the right of the platform is Mr TH Atherley, the founder and organiser of the Central Mission.

Alderman Agar gave an address after the hymn singing and performed the ceremony of laying the first brick. A tea and concert followed. The Mission was started as an independent non-sectarian project by two members of the Centenary Methodist Chapel.

This photograph was taken in July 1913 and shows a table of guests at a garden party at Kilburn House. Joseph Agar is the bearded man on the left of the image. He was an important Methodist, a Sunday School Superintendent, and a director of York Coffee House, York Waterworks, York Cemetery and the Wesleyan Chapel Company

This photograph of the Junior Section Conference of the YMCA reads "A souvenir of happy days from Charles E Heald". It was taken on March 2, 1910. Some of the members are identified: on the second row from the front, the gentleman on the left is Dr Shann; the fourth left is Alderman Joseph Agar and the fifth right is the Reverend Dr John Solloway.

Updated: 09:34 Monday, June 28, 2004