[7] He, along with a significant number of other members of the Anti-Corn Law League's Council, was an important figure in both instigating and developing the society during its early years.

[6] A report about the society in the Sheffield Times in 1847 noted that it catered for the "mental and moral improvement" of the intelligent among the middle-classes and that the shared pursuit of "rational amusement" was an aid to bridging the social gap between masters and men.

[5] The society was promoted as "an institution for the benefit of the tradesmen, commercial assistants and apprentices, professional students, clerks, of this very populous and flourishing town".

It has a symmetrical nine-window façade with raised rusticated quoins at the corners and an inscribed frieze under a prominent mutuled cornice.

The building's interior was damaged by fire in 1874 and was remodelled and an attic floor was added behind a high balustraded parapet with four tall chimneys.

[3] A central entrance porch with a coffered barrel-vaulted ceiling is accessed by a flight of stone steps and has Doric columns supporting a frieze, moulded cornice and balustraded parapet.