Tag: crime

December 31st

On 31st Dec 1458, Robert Foster enrolled into post as Collector of Customs, joining existing staff Thomas Everyngham (Collector) and Thomas Maygne (Controller).

On 31st December 1501, William Croswet of Hull claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for debt.

On 31st December 1511, Audrey, or Etheldreda, spinster from Lincolnshire, claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for a felony; the register gives no detail of her offence.

On 31st December 1626, the Council of the North summoned a representative of the Hull Corporation to appear and explain Hull’s failure to provide ships ordered. (Under Charles I’s unpopular Ship Money tax, Hull was required to provide the cost of 3 ships in 1626, and appealed against the decision, saying it was too much).

On 31st December 2007, new research revealed that the Hell’s Gate, Hunsley archaeological dig site site was an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery (mid 7thC to early 11thC). The heads would have been displayed on posts  at the site between Welton and Cave. 12 male Anglo-Saxon skeletons, 10 of them headless, were found in a Bronze Age barrow in the 1960s, and known as the Walkington Wold burials.

Hell's Gate

December 30th

wars-of-the-roses

On 30th December 1460, Richard Hanson, mayor of Hull, died at the battle of Wakefield, in the Wars of the Roses, fighting on the Lancastrian side. image copyright threetwoone.org

On 30th December 1872, David Tong, apprentice blacksmith, was charged at Roos Petty Sessions with absconding from his employer’s service. He had worked for James Blenkin of Roos, blacksmith and machine maker, for 5 years, and his labour was worth £1 per week. Tong made no complaint of any kind against his master, and was ordered by JPs Sir Talbot C. Constable and Rev C.J. Wall to return and pay costs.

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

December 22nd

On 22nd December 1530, Beverley draper William Leryfax wrote his will, and appointed as guardians for his son Robert the priors of Watton Abbey and Meaux Abbey. In 1539, both abbeys were dissolved, and the subprior of Watton had been hanged in chains in 1537 for his part in the Pilgrimage of Grace.

On 22nd December 1580, the Hull Mayor and aldermen set the price of ale at a penny for a quart and a pint outsales, and a penny a quart and a gill in the alehouse.

On 22nd December 1802, George Knowsley of Cottingham Grange held a meeting at the Duke of Cumberland, Cottingham, to propose the building of a canal from Cottingham to Hull; the aim was to reduce transport costs and establish a local grain market. The Napoleonic Wars caused the project to be shelved, and it was never revived.

December 21st

wm constable

On 21st December 1633, the Duke of Cumberland’s staff bought supplies of oysters (600 at 6d per 100) for Christmas at Londesborough House on his behalf when he was in York on business.

On 21st December 1721, William Constable was born at Burton Constable. He inherited the Constable estate, and is chiefly remembered for restoration work on the Hall, and as an amateur scientist and collector of art and artefacts; his Cabinet of Curiosities may be the most complete in any stately home. He became grossly overweight, suffering from gout, probable hypochondria and addiction to medication containing opiates. (d 18.5.1791) see photo with his sister Winifred

On 21st December 1824, Richard Arthur Worsop of Howden Hall recorded in his diary that he supported a charity which had been continued by the owners of the Hall since the 17th Century; he gave 6d each to 40 poor people of the parish, and a bushel each of wheat and coals to a further 10. He recorded several other charitable gifts in his diary, including a sheep to the workhouse.

On 21st December 1838, Hull banker Joseph Robinson Pease established, and was elected President of, Hull Labourers’ Friendly Society, having established a society in Hessle which had built a cottage there.  There were already dozens of friendly societies in Hull by this time, and this new group may have been more of a building society than a self help group. Pease was certainly no democrat (he described democracy as a ‘pestilent curse’).

On 21st December 1857, Henry Smith Bright, manager, Hull Cotton and Flax Mills, was found guilty at York Assizes of forging deeds of transfers of shares, and sentenced to 6 months’ penal servitude. His actions appear to have precipitated the closure of the Hull Flax and Cotton Mills and the bankruptcy of the partners in the Harrison Watson & Co bank on 24.9.1857.

On 21st December 1957, Edward Benn, 43, bosun, of Hull Rd, Hedon, died as result of accident aboard Hull trawler Cape Palliser off Iceland.

December 16th

On 16th December 1512, William Crag of Cave claimed sanctuary at the church of St Cuthbert, Durham, for ‘asportation’; along with others, he had stolen 25 horses and mares, near Cave; in addition, in a certain park near Airton by York, he stole 3 other horses.

On 16th December 1586, the Earl of Huntingdon, on behalf of the Council in the North, wrote to the Hull Corporation to ask them to prevent merchants profiteering from the corn shortage by purchasing stocks for poor relief at a reasonable rate.

On 16th December 1645, Hull draper Robert Cartwright was fined £47 as a former Captain in the Royalist army (a ‘delinquent’) in order to recover his goods which had been sequestered by Parliament.

On 16th December 1689, a number of Danish soldiers were in William of Orange’s army, and 2 of them quarrelled and settled their dispute by a sword duel at Beverley. The survivor was beheaded in Saturday Market. (see 23.12)

On 16th December 1929, the R100 airship, the largest airship ever designed, made by a team led by Sir Barnes Neville Wallis, and including novelist Neville Shute Norway, took its maiden voyage from Spaldington Air Station.

On 16th December 2010, Easington tithe barn was offered for sale at an auction with a guide price of £125,000 and failed to sell. The 14thC building is the last remaining tithe barn in the county, and a Grade II listed building.

Easington tithe barn