Beverley – Hull & East Yorkshire History Calendar

January 1st

On 1st January 1151, Meaux Abbey was founded on land given by William le Gros, Count of Aumale, Lord of Holderness.

On 1st January 1645, Captain John Hotham was executed for treason at Tower Hill, London.

On 1st January 1685, Alderman Duncalf of Hull gave £5, the interest of which to be given to the poor of Patrington every New Years Day.

On 1st January 1754, Joseph Pease opened Hull’s (and Yorkshire’s) first commercial bank at 18, High Street, Hull.

On 1st January 1841, Daniel Boyes, landlord of the Angel Inn, Beverley, started a new tradition, to bake an enormous game pie for customers; it weighed more than 7 stone. In 1844 the pie weighed 10 stone, and was 18” wide, 12” high, and 2’ 2” long.

On 1st January 1904, Hull GP Dr Francis William Fullerton obtained the first driving licence issued in Hull.

On 1st January 1908, the newly created Humber Conservancy Board took over responsibility for Humber lifeboats from Hull Trinity House, which had managed Spurn lifeboat for 97 years. The Board did not seem to realise the complexity of running a lifeboat service, and after 3 years of arguments, the RNLI took over in 1911.

1st May

On 1st May 1603, surgeon Simon Crouch was admitted as a burgess of Hull free, on condition that he treat the poor at his own cost. There was an outbreak of plague that summer, and Simon Crouch was known to be still in Hull in 1610.

On 1st May 1676, Leonard Gaskill, 27, and Peter Rook, 25, of Beverley, were hanged for stealing 13 sheep from John Brown of Driffield.

On 1st May 1810, Hull gunsmith William Taylor was indicted for passing counterfeit money to Cecily Rickatson at Sculcoates and given 6 months in the House of Correction. He later set up in business in Beverley, where one of his apprentices in 1821 was Esau Akrill (the Akrill family ran a gunshop in Beverley for many years).

On 1st May 1826, Harriet Pease, wife of the banker Joseph Robinson Pease, of Hesslewood Hall, miscarried after horse riding. Medical help came from Hessle; Joseph’s diary gave his opinion that she might have died if they had had to wait for a doctor to travel the 5 miles from Hull.

On 1st May 1877, William Pritchard, 21, apprentice of Porter St, Hull, drowned on board Hull trawler Iolanthe in the North Sea whilst boarding fish.

On 1st May 1911, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution took over responsibility for the lifeboat station at Spurn, after 3 years of acrimonious argument.

11th May

On 11th May 1481, Stamford shoemaker John Woodcok claimed sanctuary at St John’s church, Beverley, for the death of William de Tee, mercer of Stamford, on 30th March.

On 11th May 1812, HMS Anson, a 74-gun naval ship of the line, was launched at Paull by Steemson of Hull. In 1844 she carried 499 male convicts to Hobart, Tasmania, the largest number of convicts carried by a single ship. Was refitted as a prison for female convicts and broken up in 1851.

On 11th May 1975, Hull-born artist and architect Allanson Hick died aged 76 in Hornsea. From a maritime family, his career as an architect allowed time for artwork; a member Society of Graphic Artists, founder member of Royal Society of Marine Artists, Fellow of Royal Inst British Architects, President of York & EYorks Architectural Society. Many of his architectural commissions no longer survive, but he designed Dundee Chambers, Princes Dock Side. Several of his works were purchased by the Ferens, and he exhibited at the Royal Academy. He has no Wikipedia entry. (born 19.6.1898 89 Walton St, Hull)

10th May

On 10th May 1346, John de Manby and Eobert de Seton, both of Beverley, were convicted before the king at Nottingham of the death of Adam Coppendale, merchant of Beverley, at Barton on Humber.

On 10th May 1377, King Edward III’s parliament issued a statute pardoning the Mayor and town of Hull. I have not found what the pardon was for, and Edward was very ill at the time, and died in June.

On 10th May 1527, Thomas Richerdson, husbandman of Lockington, claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for debt.

On 10th May 1595, the Howden churchwardens ‘paid to the lame soldiers by the Chief Constable warrant 21s8d’.

On 10th May 1707, Hull-born Dr Thomas Watson, Bishop of St David’s made proposals to contribute to the cost of rebuilding almshouses in North Church Side, Hull. Later correspondence indicated that he wished to influence the rules by which they were to be managed.

On 10th May 1854, William Marshall’s flax mill at Patrington was burnt down, throwing 100 people out of work.

On 10th May 1866, asked the town council to cover a foul ditch where sewage collected in pools; the ditch remained open. Hedon had suffered badly from cholera in 1849. The ditch was not covered until 1873.

On 10th May 1910, Robt R. Leonard & Son sold at auction the effects of the Hull Racecourse Company, including luxury furniture and fittings from the grandstand, and grounds equipment. The racecourse was at Twyers land, Preston South.

On 10th May 1946, Maureen Lipman was born in Hull. TV and film actor, stage performer, and writer, CBE. Awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Hull in 1994.

April 29th

St Mary's Beverley

On 29th April 1520, the tower of St Mary’s Beverley collapsed across the nave, killing many people in the church for the Sunday service. A piece of 16thC oak carved with an inscription to the event remains in the church. Sir Richard Rokeby and his wife Dame Joan gave £200 to rebuild the church.

On 29th April 1524, William Thowe of Hedon rented to the Mayor and town of Hull a patch of waste ground near St Mary’s church for a chaplain’s house; the annual rent was a red rose if demanded, i.e. the medieval equivalent of a peppercorn rent.

On 29th April 1757, the vicar of Hutton Cranswick recorded a very deep fall of snow.

On 29th April 1891, former Trinity House School pupil Herbert William Rea was shipwrecked on the Pacific coast of North America in 1880 on his first sea trip; he joined a schooner trading to the Pacific Islands, and was later appointed collector of taxes in Samoa.

April 28th

On 28th April 1489, Henry Percy, 4^thEarl of Northumberland, was lynched at Cocklodge near Thirsk by a rioting mob protesting against high taxes, during the Yorkshire Rebellion. He was buried in a newly built chapel in Beverley Minster.

On 28th April 1825, a bull sperm whale washed up at Tunstall, and was dissected on the beach by Dr James Alderson, before being articulated by Edward Wallis, and put on display to the public at Burton Constable Hall. Herman Melville saw the whale and referred to it in his novel “Moby Dick’. The remains of the skeleton are still on show.

On 28th April 1876, Hull sculptor Thomas Earle died aged 66. A member of the Earle family of stonemasons and later shipbuilders, Thomas made a successful career in London. His works in Hull include the statue of Dr John Alderson (Hull Royal Infirmary), Oceanus (Trinity House), Queen Victoria (Pearson Park), Thomas Ferres (Hull Minster – see below) and Edward I (Guildhall). Awarded Royal Academy Gold Medal 1851.

Thos Ferres by Thos Earle

April 27th

On 27th April 1314, King Edward II stayed in Beverley on his way to fight the Scots at Bannockburn.

On 27th April 1681, John Baker, pewterer, known as ‘the Protestant tinker’ and a chamberlain of Hull, was working for the Ordnance Office to look into the misappropriation of lead, timber and other materials for use in Hull North Blockhouse. He alleged that materials had been delivered to the houses of the Governor (Bellasis) and the Lieutenant-Governor (Gilby). The Privy Council ordered Hull council to prosecute Baker for spreading false news.

On 27th April 1759, Mary Wollstonecraft was born in Spitalfields, London. Feminist writer and mother of Mary Shelley, she lived in Beverley for 6 years, aged 9-15.

On 27th April 1821, the Spurn lifeboat crew were assaulted while loading gravel for the Lord of the Manor, Francis Sheldon Constable, by local men who wanted to share the income from this work.

On 27th April 1918, former Reckitt’s employee Private Richard Wilson, 42, died on active service with 942^ndArea Employment Co Labour Corps. He is buried in Rouen, France.

Mary Wollstonecraft

April 25th

minstrels st mary's.JPG

On 25th April 1524, The Guild of Minstrels met in St Mary’s Beverley, as they did on this date each year, and revealed the new pillar which the guild paid for, to repair the damage done to the church in 1520 when the tower fell. 5 minstrels are pictured on the pillar.

On 25th April 1524, Walter Shore, a cooper from Barmby Moor, claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for debt.

On 25th April 1534, Sir Ralph Ellerker stodd for election as a Beverley governor, even though he was not eligible; he kidnapped and intimidated members of his opposition, was re-elected. The Archbishop of York ruled in the Star Chamber that the election was null and void.

On 25th April 1795, William Jackson, 25 of Keyingham, was hanged at York Castle for stealing 10 sheep.

On 25th April 1832, James Acland, of 23 Queen Street, Hull, printer and owner of Hull Portfolio, was elected churchwarden at Holy Trinity Church, Hull. He campaigned against corruption in local government and headed the Hull Political Union.

On 25th April 1915, Father William Joseph Finn, 40, was the first padre of WW1 to be killed. At Gallipoli, Turkey, he ignored an order not to go ashore with the troops, and spent a long time offering help or consolation to the wounded and dying, before being killed himself. He was buried on V Beach. The Church of the Sacred Heart, Southcoates Lane, Hull, was built in 1926 and paid for in his honour by his brother, Frank Finn, Lord Mayor of Hull. (b 27.12.1875)

Father Wm Finn 2

April 21st

On 21st April 1499, Hull barber Richard Colyn sought sanctuary in the church of St John, Beverley, and confessed to committing homicide, and to being to an accessory, as he was present at the death of a man called Scotton, killed at Hull on 18^thApril.

On 21st April 1803, Burnett’s Daily Shipping List reported 2 ships arriving from London, and 5 ships leaving port, heading for London, Hastings, Koningsberg, Amsterdam and Yarmouth.

On 21st April 1884, William Goodin, aged 34, with other mill workers, tried to put out a fire at Barker’s mill, Wawne Road, Sutton, with buckets, but was badly burned, and the mill was destroyed.

On 21st April 1982, the North Sea ferry Norland, captained by Don Ellerby, left Hull for Portsmouth, on the way to the Falklands as part of the Task Force, with 60 volunteers from the regular crew; she carried 800 men of 2 Para to San Carlos. Hull trawlers Farnella, Cordella, Junella, Northella and Pict were also requisitioned by the Navy and used as mine-sweepers. Capt Ellerby was later awarded the CBE. photo shows the Norland in the Falklands.

Norland in Falklands

April 19th

On 19th April 1672, Rev John Shaw(e) died aged 64 . Puritan Lecturer at St Mary’s, Hull, then at Holy Trinity. In 1651 Master of the Charterhouse, where so many flocked to hear him preach that troops kept them out. One Sunday more than 300 people camped out at night as the soldiers had closed all the town’s gates. (b 28.6.1608 Sykehouse)

On 19th April 1689, 4 Beverley aldermen recorded that they were considering prosecuting the vicar of St Mary and St Nicholas, Rev John Brereton. Before then, the town council had recorded their thanks to him for his generous gifts to the town. They then discovered that he had purloined several church collections, as well as money collected for the relief of persecuted French Protestants. 4 days later, Brereton resigned his posts and later left Beverley.

On 19th April 1821, an Act of Parliament approved lighting the town of Hull and adjacent places with gas (replacing lighting with whale oil). Gas manufactured from whale oil was used until 1830, when it was replaced with coal gas.

On 19th April 1891, former pupil of Hull Trinity House School Frank Dick, 23, died of yellow fever in Rio de Janeiro.

On 19th April 1902, Beilby, 3^rdBaron Wenlock, of Escrick, spoke at a public meeting in Beverley to recruit for an East Riding Yeomanry Regiment; the meeting was poorly attended, as it was Market day.