Leeds restaurant makes incredible 100-year-old discovery belonging to Titanic violinist Wallace Hartley

A remarkable piece of history has surfaced at Cut and Craft in Leeds, where a matchbox engraved with the name of Titanic bandleader Wallace Hartley was discovered during building renovations.

The find has shed new light on the venue’s past, linking it to one of the most poignant stories of the early 20th century.

Operations manager Darioush Shahidi, 34, and his team made the discovery while refurbishing the premises, which once housed Collinson’s Cafe.

The cafe, a popular gathering spot for Leeds’ elite in the early 1900s, hosted live music and afternoon teas. Among its performers was Wallace Hartley, the violinist who would later lead the Titanic’s eight-member band as the ship sank on April 15, 1912.

"Our interior designers really brought the vision to life and it wasn’t until we started the plans that we actually started digging a bit deeper into the history of the building," Darioush said.

"It had been the former jigsaw site but prior to that, way back in the day, it was known as Collinson’s Cafe. It was a high tea room where the elites of Leeds would gather and join and have afternoon tea.

“There’d be live music, a luxe coffee house and going back into history even further we discovered that there was some association to the Titanic and the band master. He used to perform in that building itself.

“When they found all the rubble and went through the rummage they found a matchbox that was engraved from the staff at Collinson’s Cafe; his name was Wallace Hartley and we've played a lot into that history."

The restaurant has embraced its heritage, dedicating a hallway to artefacts and information about its Titanic connection.

One of the private dining rooms has been named the Wallace Hartley Suite, and a viewing platform now allows guests to appreciate the building’s architectural features and historical significance.

Cut and Craft’s Leeds site has become the flagship location, welcoming up to 3,500 customers each week.

"We are very busy so Leeds remains our busiest site to the point where we've made it our flagship," Darioush said.

"We’ve now relocated our head office into the Leeds restaurant. We welcome anywhere up to 3,500 customers a week, so it's a very busy restaurant hence the reason for the expansion as well.

“That was very much built on customer demand as opposed to we're just going to throw one and a £1.5 million and hope for the best. We’re private so with the whole venue now we now cover 280 seats.

“That’s with two private dining spaces, bar space and then the main restaurant areas as well so it's very large."

The building’s legacy continues to resonate with customers, many of whom share personal stories connected to Collinson’s Cafe. "We’ve exposed some real characters that we didn’t know about," Darioush added.

“We’ve got a regular customer and her granddad who used to dine there; her great granddad used to dine at Collinson’s Cafe and she had photographs from when he used to be there as a young chap. T

“here was an elderly couple and [the woman] used to say that she used to go to Collinson's cafe when she was a child and had beans on toast which was her go-to [meal].

“We get quite a lot of that. It's really nice that there are generations within the city and there's a building that means so much to people and it's given everybody a purpose to come back and enjoy it in its true roots."

Cut and Craft, which opened its York branch in 2018 and Manchester in 2024, is planning further expansion with a Liverpool site set for spring 2027.

"Leeds has really shaped the way that we changed the style of our food, the style of our service, the style of our offering," Darioush said. "We’re really adapting to what the people of a bigger city were looking for, whereas York’s very tourist.

“We found when we came to Leeds that people wanted that nice place to have leisurely lunch, those after work drinks and there was much more of an offering. We opened in Manchester over a year ago and now we've got plans to open in Liverpool in spring 2027."

As visitors walk through the dedicated hallway, they are invited to explore the building’s Titanic ties and its place in Leeds’ history.

"As you walk down that walkway we've dedicated a whole wall of sort of artefacts, images and information around the Titanic, Wallace Hartley, the building itself, so that our customers know that they're part of the fascinating history of what we describe as one of the most iconic buildings in the city," Darioush said.