Category: murder

January 24th

On 24th January 1882, Peter Hughes, 16, ship’s cook, died on board the fishing smack Gleaner on the Dogger Bank. He died at the hand of Edward Wheatfill, after two weeks of beating, starvation, and torture, including being tied naked on deck. Wheatfill was found guilty of wilful murder and executed at York on 28.11.1882.

On 24th January 1906, the name of Leona Sherman was found on the Hornsea electoral list for the General Election; there is no record whether she tried to cast her vote.

On 24th January 1937, Richard Baker, 28, skipper, of Bernadette Ave, Anlaby and all his crew were lost when the trawler Amethyst foundered off Kinnaird Head.

AMETHYST-H455-leaving-SAFD-450px

January 18th

On 18th January 1482, William Rougthwayt, baker, of Beverley, claimed sanctuary in Durham cathedral for killing John Thomson at Beverley on 8 Dec; he claimed it was in self-defence. He wounded Thomson in the thigh with a dagger, and he died of the wound later that day, presumably from loss of blood.

On 18th January 1511, tailor Thomas Bonfay of Everingham claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for the theft of goods and chattels from Nicholas Suttell, a gentleman.

On 18th January 1582, Hull draper William Robertson was fined 5s8d for buying herrings landed from a Scottish ship, against the port regulations. Because he was ignorant of the statute, and promised not to reoffend, he was allowed to keep the herrings.

On 18th January 1801, James Evans was born in Hull. A teacher, Methodist minister and linguist, he developed a script for the previously unwritten Ojibwe and Cree languages, leading to almost universal literacy among speakers of these languages. d23.11.1846 in Canada.

james evans

January 6th

On 6th January every Plough Monday, in the15th and 16th centuries, Hull Trinity House  Guild presented the Miracle play of Noah in the streets of Hull.

On 6th January 1600, George Wolstenholme, Esq (59), Thomas Wilson, Esq (48), Richard Thomas (60), James Norrison (39), Robert Noke (43), Francis Mitchell (46), and Henry Hutchinson (29), all of Hull, murdered Captain Thomas Fletcher, of the ship Nancy, of Hull, mate Guy Foster, and William Forest and George Fowler, seamen of same ship. All 7 were convicted at York on Monday 2ndApril 1600 of murder and smuggling, and their bodies given to surgeons of York and Hull to be dissected and anatomized.

On 6th January 1764, flooding was so bad that the Holderness turnpike was unusable  between Hull and Bilton until 1stApril. One man and a horse were drowned attempting the route. The building of Holderness Drain was begun that year.

On 6th January 1839, the Nafferton house of Mr Thompson, a miller, was destroyed in ‘the Great Storm’ and his 2 sons, his daughter and a servant girl were all killed. Joseph Robinson Pease reported salt spray from the South-West on windows at Kilnwick Percy (i.e. it had come from the nearest coast in that direction, South Wales). photo shows Kilnwick Percy from the air

On 6th January 1840, William Dunn pleaded guilty at Beverley Sessions Court to a burglary. He was convicted and sentenced to transportation for life.

kilnwick percy.JPG

 

December 29th

On 29th December 1594, Sir Francis and Lady Clifford began a tradition in their new house  (Londesborough Hall) of Christmas and New Year feasts, entertaining 93 staff and local people, tenants from different villages on the estate on different days, to meals until 6thJanuary.

On 29th January 1611, they paid for entertainment from visiting puppeteers, 2 men and a woman, who called at the great house.

On 29th December 1817, Mary Woodall married John Lewis Friday, private in the 33rd (WR) Regiment of Foot, a  Waterloo veteran, who was probably born in Mozambique.

On 29th December 1829, Hedon MP Col John Baillie informed the Mayor of Hedon that the Post Office would have a daily post from Hedon instead of 4 days a week.

On 29th December 1881,  William Papper, 15, was murdered aboard fishing smack Rising Sun, in the North Sea, by Osmond Otto Brand, skipper of the boat, after prolonged mistreatment amounting to torture. Brand was found guilty of murder at Leeds Assizes and sentenced to death. Richard Rycroft was sentenced to 3 months’ hard labour for assault.

On 29th December 1898, Elsa (formerly Elfie) Gidlow was born in Hull. Lesbian poet known for On A Grey Thread 1923. Her family emigrated to Canada when she was 6 (d 8.6.1986)

 

December 27th

On 27th December 1442, John Shale, mariner, and John Roper, chaplain, conveyed to William Riplyngham, merchant, a tenement and garden in Le Pavement, Hull.

On 27th December 1804, the crew of Danish ship Familian was rescued when their ship ran aground on Stoney Binks, off Spurn Point, on a journey from Longsound to Hull.

On 27th December 1822, Richard Walker of Beverley was robbed and murdered at Leconfield by William Johnson, 23. Johnson was convicted and hanged at York Castle 24.3.1823, and his body delivered to surgeons for dissection.

spurn lighthouse.JPG

December 26th

On 26th December 1220, William de Forz II, Count of Aumale and Lord of Holderness was with King Henry III at the Royal court at Oxford; the King made an appointment William hoped to get; disappointed, he left Oxford for Lincolnshire, and began a rebellion, known as the war of Bytham.

On 26th December 1489, George Gusterd, weaver of Bishop Burton, claimed sanctuary at Beverley for the murder of a servant of Edward Barnaby, a gentleman. He did not know the servant’s name.

On 26th December 1495, William Middleton was threatened with a pole-axe by John of Cottingham, John of Wawne, Thomas Warde, Robert Bate, and (- ) Mykill, and was so afraid for his life that he took sanctuary in Wawne church and stayed there for 10 hours, afterwards leaving the area. He applied to the Chancery Court for leave to prosecute his attackers, but the outcome is not recorded.

On 26th December 1645, Rev Nicholas Osgodby was reported to be using the forbidden Prayer Book in secret.

On 26th December 1750, the chapter house roof of Howden church collapsed, to join the rubble of the chancel which had collapsed in 1696.

On 26th December 1890, residents of Hornsea had a fair on the frozen surface of the Mere, and a sheep was roasted on the ice.

On 26th December 1955, Roy Francis played his last game after 6 years with Hull FC, and became UK’s first black professional sporting coach, and team manager 1971 to 1973.

roy-francis

December 24th

Coat_of_arms_of_the_baron_de_Ros_-_Premier_baron_of_England

On 24th December 1264, Robert de Ros of Roos and Helmsley was created Baron de Ros, probably the first English Barony created, and the title holder is styled the Premier Baron of England.

On 24th December 1510, Welwick labourer James Martynson claimed sanctuary at the church of St John for the murder of John Lewes of Welwickthorpe, labourer.

On 24th December 1592, the Council in the North ordered that no merchants carry goods or merchandise up the river or trade with other parts of the north except through the port of Hull.

On 24th December 1911, James Adamson, 34, deckhand, was lost overboard from Hull trawler Eldorado, 250 miles ENE of Spurn.

 

 

December 23rd

On 23rd December 1226, Robert ‘Furfan’ de Ros, of Roos, died, aged about 54. 1stLord of Helmsley, son-in-law of the Scottish king William the Lion, a Knight Templar and one of the barons enforcing the Magna Carta. His tomb is in the Temple church, London.

On 23rd December 1510, Peter Swake and Roland Dale of Catton claimed sanctuary at the church of St Cuthbert, Durham, as accessories to homicide. About 25.11.1510, they were present when Richard Horsley of Catton was taken from his mother’s house in Catton to a field, where he received several wounds, from which he died about a month later. They feared being  indicted as accessories. On 5.7.1511, another Catton man, William Ratcliff, entered the sanctuary with the same story, although he had taken sanctuary in Beverley for the homicide the previous year.

On 23rd December 1535, Austin Tennant of Hull claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for homicide and felony (details not recorded).  On the same day, the sanctuary received another 4 fugitives, from Leeds, Wakefield, and Thornton and Tealby in Lincs, 3 for felony and 1 for debt.

On 23rd December 1640, Sir John Lister died in Hull, aged 53. He left land at Thorngumbald to provide income for the poor, and money to set up the almshouses known as Lister’s Hospital. Twice Mayor of Hull, and MP, he built the house now known as Wilberforce House. He is commemorated in Holy Trinity church, where he also left money for repairs.

On 23rd December 1689, Johannes Frederick Bellow, a Danish trooper, was executed in Beverley Market Place for killing fellow soldier Daniel Straker, in a duel. Both are buried in St Mary’s churchyard.

On 23rd December 1732, a hurricane removed the roof and steeple of Hornsea church, destroyed 24 houses and overturned a windmill, and interrupted the parish clerk in the act of concealing smuggled goods in the crypt of the church.

danish soldiers st mary's.JPG

November 28th

On 28th November 1427, Richard Reedbarowe received royal assent to erect a lighted beacon at Ravensporne (Spurn Point) to prevent shipwrecks, and to maintain it by charging vessels a fee.

On 28th November 1901, Sarah Hebden of Hodgson Street, Hull, was battered to death by her nephew, Arthur Richardson. He was the first person to be hanged in Hull Prison, Hedon Road on 25.3.1902.

On 28th November 1904, Hull’s first telephone exchange opened at the former Trippett Street Baths.  In 1913, Hull’s became the only municipally owned telephone service, after all other services were bought by the Post Office.

On 28th November 1955, Mr John Davies, of J. Arthur Rank Organisation, officially opened the new Cecil Cinema, replacing the building destroyed in the blitz on 8.5.1941. Architects Gelder & Kitchen. Davies was accompanied by his wife, film star Dinah Sheridan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P3–fkaeP8

Cecil cinema

 

November 19th

On 19th November 1484, Thomas Squirry, husbandman of Leven, claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for killing John Hewlyn.

On 19th November 1855, Henry Holmes and John Combes, crew members of the Spurn lifeboat, drowned in stormy weather attempting to rescue the schooner Zabina on the Binks, River Humber.

spurn boats.JPG