April 26th

 

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On 26th April 1642, the Hull Mayor received a letter from King Charles (now in York) demanding admittance to the town, and confirming Sir John Hotham as a traitor, and not to be obeyed.

On 26th April 1796, Capt Metcalfe, of Hull Trinity House, assisted in quelling the second day of riots in Hull. The price of bread was high, and starvation a reality, poor people spending 60-80% of their income on food. A crowd sacked a mill outside town, seized flour and meal, and took goods being landed from Lincolnshire. They attacked market traders and insisted on paying a lower price for goods.  The Riot Act was read; 2 people were jailed.

On 26th April 1828, Matthew Harrison, 40, of Beverley, was hanged at York Castle for horse stealing, with 2 associates.

On 26th April 1867, the Hull whaler Diana returned to port after 353 days away, mostly spent trapped in ice in Frobisher Bay in the Arctic. 10 (or 13) men died of scurvy and dysentery.  Captain  John Gravill is buried in Hull General Cemetery.

 

April 24th

 

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On 24th April 1597, the Council in the North asked Hull and York corporations to work together and take part ownership with Roger Ashe of a new ship being built at Grimsby. Both corporations objected, and the York Merchant Adventurers joined in, asking both sides to take over Ashe’s share in the ship, as he evidently wished to pull out of the project. How it was resolved the author does not know.

On 24th April 1642, King Charles I sent heralds with a message to Sir John Hotham, giving him a last chance to admit the King to the town. It was rejected.

On 24th April 1644, Parliamentary and Scottish troops took the town of Stamford Bridge from the Royalists.

On 24th April 1882, Hull Street Tramways Company broke a strike by drivers and conductors, by engaging staff to replace those on strike. The strike was for improved working conditions, and resulted in the formation of the Hull Tramway Men’s Union.

 

April 23rd

CharlesBevGate

On 23rd April 1642, Sir John Hotham refused to allow King Charles I and his forces to enter the town through Beverley Gate. Charles declared Sir John a traitor, and all who obeyed him guilty of high treason, and withdrew to Beverley.

On 23rd April 1860, widow Elizabeth Ann Parker, 25, died at 1 Darley’s Court, New George St, Hull, of injuries inflicted by Thomas Kirkwood, 30, soldier, a deserter from the 29thRegiment. He was charged with murder and tried at York Assizes on 21stJuly 1860, but does not appear to have been executed there.

On 23rd April 1941, Private, Acting Corporal Ernest Collinson, 2ndBattalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, of Burstwick, led an action leading to the surrender of 50 Italian troops in the Battle of Keren, Eritrea. He was awarded the Military Medal for leadership, courage and devotion to duty. This was the most decisive battle of WW2 in East Africa. Many East Yorkshire men were in the West Yorkshire Regiment. Ernie was my great uncle.

April 22nd

On 22nd April 1566, Walter Cave was assaulted in his own home in Hull by Ralph Ellerker, his brother James and servants, and Cave brought an action in the Star Chamber. The argument involved Walter Cave accusing Robert Dalton, his brother-in-law and servant of the Ellerkers, of illegally harbouring Catholic priests, and Cave’s refusal to allow Dalton into the house to speak to Dalton’s mother. Ralph Ellerker claimed he acted in defence of his brother, who was unarmed. The outcome of the case is not recorded.

On 22nd April 1642, James Duke of York, the King’s son, aged 9, and the King’s nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, 23, arrived in Hull unannounced, with the country people arriving for market day. They were well looked after, and invited to dinner with Sir John Hotham the following day. portrait on left shows James aged 12

On 22nd April 1893, arson suspected when fires broke out in timber stocks on Hull docks, during a dock strike which saw rioting, police charges and military involvement. The fire covered an area of 8 acres; the Citadel Hotel was destroyed, and total damage was estimated at up to £1million. Kier Hardy asked Parliament why the military had been sent to assist the shipowners. The strike continued into May.

April 9th

On 9th April 1484, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, became Heir Presumptive to the English throne, when the Prince of Wales (son of Richard III, his maternal uncle) died. The Earl died 3 years later, aged 25 at the Battle of Stoke, in a rebellion against Henry Tudor.

On 9th April 1610, the household accounts show that the number of servants in residence in the various houses of Francis Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, (incl Londesborough House and Skipton Castle) rose from 49 to 83 after he inherited the Earldom. They included 4 musicians, and a huntsman.

On 9th April 1646, Matthew Topham, merchant of Hull, was fined £90 as a member of the Royalist army (delinquent) in order to recover his goods which had been sequestered by Parliament.

On 9th April 1814, Hull gunsmith Owen Probin, 38, was murdered by John Lever, a saddler, who had had a violent quarrel with Probin the previous day in Silver Street.

On 9th April 1858,  Sir Thomas Aston Clifford Constable and Rosina, Lady Constable, with a number of other ‘distinguished amateurs’ performed a programme of music at a charity concert  in The Music Hall, Jarratt Street, in aid of education for poor children in Hull.

On 9th April 1869, the Attorney General moved that a Royal Commission be set up to enquire into corrupt practices at the general election in Beverley the previous year. At least 800 people had been bribed, and corruption at Beverley was said to be ‘worse than at Norwich and Bridgewater put together’. The enquiry is said to have led directly to the 1872 Ballot Act.

On 9th April 1933, Canon Edward Arthur Berry, vicar of Drypool (grandfather of Mary Berry) was one of the speakers at a mass meeting in the Balmoral Room, Metropole Hall, West Street, Hull, called by the Jewish community to protest against Nazi actions against Jews in Germany.

 

 

April 7th

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On 7th April 1615, George Goodgion, senior servant to Francis Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, ordered tenants to cart coals to the big house, which was out of fuel, and to note the names of those who refused. Tenants were required in their leases to do this work, but had to fit it in with their own farming work.

On 7th April 1643, Sir John Hotham wrote several letters to people on the Parliament side; the post for London was captured, and his letters published by the Royalists at Oxford, revealing his double-dealing.

On 7th April 1787, John Morrit, 34, was hanged at York for murdering John Argyle, aka Roundell, of Howden.

On 7th April 1810, Mr William Iveson, Steward to Francis Constable of Burton Constable, proposesd to Hull Trinity House to erect a lifeboat house on Spurn Point, provide 12 crew from Kilnsea, and open a tavern to create an income for the boat’s master.

On 7th April 1828, Joseph Robinson Pease, JP, made his first committal as JP in Cottingham, of a man who disobeyed an Order of Bastardy, i.e. he was jailed for refusing to pay maintenance for an illegitimate child.

On 7th April 1893, a rioting Hull mob destroyed 37 bags of carrots being taken on rullies to the docks, and used them as missiles to attack the police.

On 7th April 1943, pupils at Paull Primary School escaped unhurt when a barrage balloon escaped its mooring in the Humber, and exploded, setting fire to the school building.

 

April 2nd

Chas I trial

On 2nd April 1380, Alexander Neville, Archbishop of York, granted to the burgesses of Beverley the Westwood and all rights attached to the land.

On 2nd April 1607, John Alured was baptised in All Saints Church, Preston. He was elected MP for Hedon in 1640, and was a judge at the trial of Charles I. Died 1654. picture above shows the trial

On 2nd April 1652, Luke Hinderson, aged 45, of Stamford Bridge, was hanged outside Walmgate Bar, York, with 3 others, for robbing Peter Ellison, butcher of York, and leaving him for dead.

On 2nd April 1660, John Ramsden & Andrew Marvell were elected MPs for Hull; the votes cast were: John Ramsden 227, Andrew Marvell 141, Mr Barnard 113, Wm Lister 80, Matthew Allured 55 and Baron Thorp 35, in all 651.

On 2nd April 1774, George Belt of Howden was hanged at York Castle for breaking into and robbing the house of Mr Althorpe, near Howden.

On 2nd April 1785, William Riley, 23, was hanged for robbing John Borr of Hull near Newland.

On 2nd April 1916, a BE 2c aircraft of Beverley Royal Flying Corps Squadron 47, crashed at the Racecourse due to engine failure while defending the area from a Zeppelin attack.

 

March 31st

Andrew Marvell

On 31st March 1621, Andrew Marvell was born in Winestead to local vicar Andrew Marvell, who later became Master of Hull Charterhouse. Marvell junior was a renowned poet, and MP for Hull several times. During the Civil War, he travelled in Europe, prompting some to suggest he was employed as an English spy. He acted as London agent for Hull Trinity House. Died in Hull 1678, and is buried in St Giles in the Fields, London

On 31st March 1801, Captain Mitchinson, of the Hull whaler Blenheim, was found not guilty of the murder of 2 members of the Press Gang, (John Burnick and John Sykes) his defence being that he was handcuffed and locked in his cabin at the time. Burnick and Sykes were buried in Drypool Cemetery.

On 31st March 1941, having just completed a successful campaign for blood donors, Dr David Diamond, Deputy Medical Officer for Hull, was killed instantly when a land mine made a direct hit on the Shell Mex Building, Ferensway, the ARP Headquarters. A heavy raid on the docks destroyed offices, a garage, works, houses, dog kennels and warehouses at Albert, Alexandra, Town and Victoria Docks. A total of 200 deaths was recorded in March.

hull-blitz-shell-mex

March 26th

On 26th March 1646, Hull merchant James Watkinson was fined £400 as a member of the Royalist army (delinquent) in order to recover his goods which had been sequestered by Parliament.

On 26th March 1706, the congregation of Cottingham church gave 4s in a collection for the repair of Beverley Minster.

On 26th March 1740, John Burnham and Ralph Burnsall of Preston bought 2 fields from Benjamin Waive of Hull, half the income from which was used to give to the poor, and half to pay for a schoolmaster to educate poor children in the village.

On 26th March 1827, an evening’s entertainment at Theatre Hedon (presumably in the Town Hall) included a performance of Hamlet, a recitation, and a farce.

On 26th March 1933, Sir Alexander Wentworth Macdonald Bosville Macdonald of the Isles, 13thbaronet, died at Rudston aged 67  and is buried in the churchyard. (b26.9.1865)

MacDonalds of the Isles

March 17th

Kiplingcotes

On 17th March 1646, Henry Hildyard of Winestead was fined £4,660 as a Royalist (a ‘delinquent’) in order to recover his goods which had been sequestered by Parliament. (He had been a  Colonel of the trained bands which formed King Charles’ bodyguard for about 2 weeks in 1642, then retired to Surrey for the rest of the war). The fine was later reduced by half in payment for Hull Manor House which had belonged to him and which Parliament had given to the town of Hull.

On 17th March 1930, Judith Patricia (Pat) Albeck was born in Hull to Polish migrant parents. She was an award-winning designer of textiles and ceramics, known for her work for the National Trust. She is commemorated in Hull with a cream plaque. (d 2.9.2017)

On 17th March 1945, a cinema queue outside the Savoy Cinema, Holderness Road, Hull (the site is now Boyes store) was bombed and strafed; 12 people were killed, 22 wounded.

On 17th March 1966, Barbara Foster fFailed to win the Kiplingcotes Derby when her horse collapsed and died.

Pat Albeck