12th May

On 12th May 1585, Dr Thomas Vavasour died of diseas in Hull Castle after being imprisoned in damp and overcrowded conditions with the whole of his household for many years. A physician and scholar, he was a prominent Catholic, was excommunicated and arrested. He was buried in Drypool churchyard, which stood within the garrison walls of Hull.

On 12th May 1698, Hull grassman Hugh Stringer was given a contract by the town council to cart away rubbish, clean the streets, and ensure that residents kept the street clean in front of their house.

On 12th May 1855, Sir (William) Alfred Gelder, FRS, FRIBA was born in North Cave. As  an architect, was involved in clearing Hull’s Victorian slums and reconstructing the city, in partnership with City Architect Joseph Hirst. Liberal, Mayor of Hull 1899-1903, later MP for Brigg and Hull alderman. Received the freedom of the city 1930. Died 26.8.41.

On 12th May 1859, Paull fisherman Thomas Marritt drowned whilst fishing in Whitebooth Roads, in the Humber. His body was found in the river between Hessle and Hull in June.

On 12th May 1874, Grace (8) and Lucy (7) Cuthbert of Easington died when their clothing became trapped in the machinery of the family mill, where they were playing.

On 12th May 1903, the Prince and Princess of Wales (later George V & Queen Mary) unveiled a statue to Queen Victoria in Hull; their escort was the first task of the newly created East Riding of Yorkshire Imperial Yeomanry.

On 12th May 1915, an anonymous person wrote a letter addressed to George, at German Pork Shop, Waterworks Street, Hull, warning him that his shop was to be ‘broken up’ because of anti-German feelings as a result of the sinking of the Lusitania. Hohenrein’s Pork Butchers was attacked by a mob.

On 12th May 1945, retired Hull City Architect Joseph Hirst died aged 81 in Selby. Was responsible, with Mayor Alfred Gelder, for the transformation of Hull in the late 19thC, with the creation of Victoria Square, City Hall, and Alfred Gelder St. His designs include the Market Hall, Beverley Road Baths, Carnegie Library, Pickering Almshouses, Castle Hill Hospital. He was involved in planning new council estates in the 1920s. Wrote “The Blockhouses of Hull’ and ‘Armorial Bearings of KuH’. (b24.5.1863 South Milford) Hirst appears to have no memorial in Hull.

On 12th May 2013, Professor George William Gray, CBE, died aged 86. He moved to Hull in 1946 and worked as a laboratory demonstrator at Hull University. Went on to lead the research which resulted in LCD technology. Received many awards, including Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Kyoto International Gold Medallist. He is commemorated in the George Gray Room in Hull History Centre.

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.

 

 

February 7th

On 7th February 1518, Hull weaver John Watson claimed the sanctuary of St John’s church, Beverley, for debt.

On 7th February 1519, John Gilson, a gentleman of Garton claimed the sanctuary of St John’s church, Beverley, for debt. It is not known whether this was Garton on the Wolds or Garton in Holderness.

On 7th February 1651, the Mayor of Hull wrote to the Sheriff Thomas Raikes concerning the partitioning of Holy Trinity church to allow soldiers to be billeted there, whilst services could continue in part of the church.

On 7th February 1799, Lutheran Pastor Triebner came to Hull to preach to the Germans employed in the two Sugar Houses in Drypool.

Holy Trinity

September 29th

On 29th September 1541, King Henry VIII stayed overnight with the Earl of Northumberland at Leconfield.

On 29th September 1638, the Council in the North wrote to the East Riding Commissioner for Sewers at Hedon complaining of the ruinous condition of the banks of the Humber in Drypool.

On 29th September 1829, some postboys were watering the Archbishop of York’s horses at Bar Dyke, Beverley (next to North Bar) after a trip to Rise; one fell in and was saved from drowning by 2 young men. One of the horses dropped dead, whether from exertion or from drinking the dirty water, the Hull Advertiser did not say.

On 29th September 1947, interpreter Sergeant Wadey, and Sgt Cramer were both killed, together with 7 German prisoners of war, when the Army truck they were driving crashed through the railway crossing gates, and stopped on the track in the path of a train heading for Bridlington. 19 other POWs were injured. They were being transported from POW camp 250 at Thorpe Hall, Rudston.

b.agnes level crossing

August 4th

On 4th August 1511, John Hessey, husbandman of Belby, nr Howden, claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for the murder of William Smyth of Didyngham (anyone know where this is?)

On 4th August 1652, Keyingham manor court fined 18 villagers for allowing their geese and pigs into the fields outside the stipulated times.

On 4th August 1795, Hull residents rioted against inflationary food prices and shortages. Much corn was being taken by the army, (Napoleonic Wars) in a year of poor weather. A few windows broken.

On 4th August 1834, John Venn, was born in Drypool, son of the vicar. Left Hull at age 8. Fellow of the Royal Society, famous mathematician, who introduced the Venn diagram. Commemorated in Hull University by the Venn Building. (d 4.4.1923) and by Drypool Bridge.

On 4th August 1851, G. Hought of Hutton Cranswick was killed by lightning, as he sheltered under a tree during a thunderstorm. He left a wife and 2 children.

On 4th August 1884, all 11 Walgate brothers of Aldbrough formed one cricket team in a match held at Rise Hall; the Walgates won the match by 3 wickets.

On 4th August 1969, HM Queen Elizabeth opened Queen Elizabeth Dock, the last major dock to be opened in Hull, accompanied by HRH Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne.

 

Drypool Bridge

August 3rd

On 3rd August 1349, John de Preston was elected Prior of North Ferriby on the death of John de Beverley, himself elected Prior just 10 days earlier on 24thJuly, when he succeeded the previous Prior Walter de Hessell on his death. This outbreak of the Black Death killed 35 out of 95 parish priests in East Yorkshire, and presumably a similar proportion of the general population.

On 3rd August 1523, Thomas Senexer, yeoman, of Holme on Spalding Moor, claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for debt. photo shows the Frith Stool (sanctuary chair)

On 3rd August 1732, Robert Cook was killed when he fell from a wagon at one of the chalk pits in Hutton.

On 3rd August 1798, Press Gang seamen John Sykes and John Burnock or Burnick were killed when attempting to press the crew of the returning whaler Blenheim (& see 2.8). The fight was watched by crowds on the dockside. Capt Mitchinson was charged with murder (& see 31.3) The navy men were buried in Drypool Cemetery.

On 3rd August 1878, for 1d working people could attend a lecture on ‘The Yorkshire Wolds in Prehistory’ as part of Hull Literary and Philosophical Society’s new series of lectures to the working classes in the Exchange Building, aimed at keeping working people occupied during the new Saturday half holiday.

On 3rd August 1942, Mrs Frances Snowden, Lieut Stanley Lawrence and Charles Cross were killed when 4 bombs were dropped on Flemingate, Beverley, damaging Hodgson’s Tannery and destroying a house, a medical centre and a warden’s post. 15 people were injured, some of them machine-gunned by the German bomber.

minster - frith stool.JPG