Mention of Charles Swain Booth Sharp in a Past Times piece about the old Court House and the new Telegraph & Argus print hall (August 19) prompted an e-mail from John Allison, membership secretary of the Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society.

He writes: "In my research of the old Bradford Canal I found C S B Sharp was one of the original subscribers. He agreed to put up £500 towards the £6,000 estimated to be required to build the canal. Thirteen names are given in the first minutes of the company in 1771. I knew some of the names, e.g. Abraham Balme and John Hustler, but some others (Sharp among them) I didn't know. I had a very interesting search to find out more. Eventually my research resulted in an article in The Antiquarian, the journal of the Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society, for 1999 (Third Series - Number 7).

"C S B Sharp was born plain Charles Booth and he became a barrister. His mother was a Swain and his aunt lived in a good house attending at one time in Hall Ings'. She died and left Charles the Swain fortune and he added Swain to his name.

"In 1769 he married Hannah Gilpin who had added Sharp to her name when she had inherited Abraham Sharp's estate, and Charles took the Sharp name when he married Hannah and they came to live in Horton Old Hall. This was the home of the Sharp family. He owned much flat land in the centre of Bradford."

Mr Allison adds: "You may remember Charles Street, Booth Street and Swain Street (the site of the fire station and council offices, before the Town Hall was built) around the Broadway area of central Bradford. It would be good to retain those names when the present demolished derelict sites are rebuilt."

Thanks for the information, Mr Allison - and for the suggestion, which fully deserves consideration when (or if) the rebuilding goes ahead.