CAREY Williams Craven served as an Independent on Keighley Town Council from 1887 to 1893, and again in 1895, notable for having “the courage to openly express his feelings, whether it pleased friend or foe”.

He died in 1896, aged only 41.

He also wrote mainly mediocre verse, but when strongly roused he could produce graphic investigative journalism, shedding light on several dark corners of late-Victorian Keighley.

For example, when concerned by reports of harsh treatment of vagrants in the workhouse, he dressed in old clothes, pretended to be an unemployed mechanic tramping in search of work and got himself admitted for two nights, sleeping on bare boards, existing on dry bread and cold water, and labouring all day corn-grinding.

“I would not again for a substantial sum be placed in a similar position, if I had any choice in the matter,” he was able to tell the readers of a pamphlet describing his experiences.