April 17th

On 17th April 1595, a week after the birth of Frances Clifford at Londesborough House, her parents gave a feast for 70 people, including friends and family and local people; the menu included caviar, 11 types of fish, lamprey pies, turbot pies, eel, mutton, chicken and rabbit, salad, cheesecake and fruit tart and custard.

On 17th April 1627, army deserter Richard Towler was taken under escort to Hull with orders to either rejoin the forces heading for Germany from which he had deserted, or be returned to York as a prisoner. 1,350 soldiers had sailed from Hull in 1626 to support the King of Denmark in the Thirty Years War.

On 17th April 1797, Hull Trinity House paid £1 5 shillings to William Taylor and Robert Masgill, of the ship Jupiter, which had been captured by the French.

On 17th April 1803, George Wallis, aged 73, died in Hull. Hull’s most prominent locksmith, he created a collection of arms and armour, and opened what may have been Hull’s first museum. His painting can be seen in Wilberforce House. His son George invented a swivel-mounted harpoon gun for the whaling trade.  (b 20.4.1731 in Lockington).

On 17th April 1878, George Herbert Stancer, was born in Pocklington. He was a sports journalist and administrator of cycling associations. He beat the record for a tandem tricycle ride from London to Brighton in 1910 (with L.S. Leake) in 5hrs 59mins 51secs. He was awarded the OBE, Died October 1962.

Geo Herbert Stancer

April 12th

On 12th April 627AD, King Edwin of Northumbria convened his Great Council at  Londesborough and agreed to adopt Christianity; King Edwin’s high priest Coifi destroyed the pagan temple at Goodmanham.

On 12th April 1748, William Kent (orig Cant) died aged 63 . This Bridlington-born architect and polymath, originator of the English style of landscape gardening, also introduced the Palladian style of architecture to England.  His buildings include Treasury Buildings and Horseguards, both in Whitehall, and Holkham Hall. (bapt 1.1.1686) photo shows his house in Bridlington old town

On 12th April 1855, John Enderby Jackson’s  ‘The Withernsea Quadrilles’ were played for the first time at a ball to celebrate the opening of  Withernsea’s first hotel, Queens Hotel, for visitors travelling on the new Hull to Withernsea rail line. Before the railway opened the previous year, the village population was tiny (108 in 1801), with 1 inn, and farming was the main occupation.

William Kent's house

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

john-hotham-1-sized

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.

 

March 24th

On 24th March 1582, James Halsey was imprisoned and fined £3 6s8d for buying fish from a Flemish boat and breaching the Hull port regulations.

On 24th March 1602, the Londesborough household records showed that the number of Lady Grissell Clifford’s personal servants had risen to 5 gentlewomen attendants and 7 chamber servants (previously 7 in total), since her husband became Sheriff of Yorkshire. picture shows portrait of Sir Francis Clifford, later the Earl of Cumberland

On 24th March 1905, Charles Edward Hollings, Driffield Medical Officer of Health, published his report for the previous year, noting the very low birth-rate (23.6 per thousand) and high death-rate in the area (16.2 per thou). The principal diseases were respiratory disease and heart disease, with the incidence and mortality rate from cancer notably higher amongst agricultural labourers.

sirfrancisclifford

 

 

March 12th

On 12th March 1511, Elizabeth Nelson, spinster of Pollington, claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for felony and murder of an infant (possibly her own child) at Hull.

On 12th March 1553, on the surrender to King Edward VI of the castle and fortifications at Hull, the King granted to Ralph Constable former monastery lands in Swine, Newton Grange, and all the extensive lands formerly belonging to the dissolved Hospital of St Sepulchre, Hedon. He was also the tenant of the site of Hull Charterhouse.

On 12th March 1622, Josias Lambert, schoolmaster, left the employment of Francis Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, after 9 months teaching ‘scholars’, which may have included some of the Londesborough House household staff and/or their children. The Earl also supported the village school at (Market) Weighton. photo shows Londesborough church

On 12th March 1647, Sir Matthew Boynton died at Bainton aged 56. Sheriff of Yorkshire twice, MP twice (once for Hedon and once for Scarborough), 1stBaronet, of Barmston. He helped capture Sir John Hotham when he intended to surrender Hull to the Royalists. His son Colonel Matthew Boynton was killed fighting for the Royalists in the Battle of Wigan Lane in 1651. (bapt 26.1.1591)

On 12th March 1697, the Brethren of Hull Trinity House charged almost £21 for the launch of the 60-gun Royal Navy ship HMS Kingston from Hessle. Work included laying buoys from the launching site to Hull.

Londesborough

March 10th

Holy Trinity

On 10th March 1425, Hull Holy Trinity Church, was consecrated; building began in 1291 and was interrupted by the Black Death.

On 10th March 1447, Henry VI issued a charter enlarging the county of Hull to include Hessle, North Ferriby, Swanland, West Ella, Kirk Ella, Tranby, Willerby, Wolfreton, Anlaby, the site of Haltemprice Priory and Derringham Dike.

On 10th March 1623, George Tummond, butcher, of Patrington, was found dying at sunrise in Winestead, after starting to walk home from the alehouse in Ottringham. Holderness was notorious for its floods.

On 10th March 1800, George Hudson, the “Railway King’, was born in Howsham.  He  made a great business and political career from sharp practice and bribery (was MP for Sunderland, and Lord Mayor of York). He became hugely rich, but was disgraced, and imprisoned for debt, though released when his debts were paid by public subscription. In 1845, he bought the Londesborough Estate for £470,000. D14.12.1871

On 10th March 1823, John Bacchus Dykes was born in Hull. By the age of 10, was assistant organist at St John’s Church, Myton. Became a vicar, and composed over 300 hymn tunes, including ‘Eternal Father, Strong to Save’ and ‘We plough the fields and scatter’. (d 22.1.1876)

On 10th March 1921, Mr J.H. Tate proposed a motion at Hornsea Golf Club that ’Old Jack be shot’! It is assumed Old Jack was the horse used to pull mowers and rollers on the course.

On 10th March 1954, Alex May, master of the tug Fenman, died in hospital after the tug was overrun by the ship she was towing, the Rudolf, and sank, on the way into Hull’s Alexandra Dock. 2 of the crew were swept away. There was 1 survivor.

February 18th

Pilgr Grace

On 18th February 1537, Sir Francis Bigod entered Beverley with 3-400 men on the renewed Pilgrimage of Grace.

On 18th February 1620, The King’s Players performed 5 plays at Londesborough House over a 4-day period at Shrovetide, for the Earl and Countess of Cumberland. The Cliffords regularly had entertainment at the house, hosting 13 different companies of players, and many musicians. Shakespeare had been the company’s leading playwright (he died in 1613).

On 18th February 1657, Sir Henry Slingsby, a Royalist prisoner in the Hull blockhouse, attempted to bribe Captain John Overton and incite the soldiers to go over to the King. Ralph Waterhouse, commander of the South Blockhouse, was also approached by Slingsby, who said that King Charles had offered him a commission, and said 600 men were at Paull ready to march into Hull. Slingsby was executed in 1658.

On 18th February 1786,  Elizabeth Dearing, aged 20, died in Fitling, cause unknown. She was the 3rdgeneration of the Dearing family to be recorded in the Humbleton parish register as Papist. Later generations who died there are not so described.

On 18th February 1945, Thomas Sheppard died aged 68 in Hull. He was a self-taught geologist, archaeologist and prolific author. He devoted 40 years of his life to Hull’s museums, abolished admission charges in 1902 and increased visitors to 2,000 per week. (born 2.10.1876 in South Ferriby) see photo

Thomas Sheppard Monster Footprint

February 6th

On 6th February 1611, Stephen Taylor, steward of the household and receiver-general at Londesborough House, home of the Earl of Cumberland, bought a barrel of white herrings from Hull merchant Mr Foddle. He also bought sea fish landed at Scarborough and Carlisle, but had bought eels from Thomas Williamson of Hull the previous December.

On 6th February 1889, John William Dishman, aged 10,  Died in the care of Port of Hull Society’s Sailor’s Orphan Home – photo: memorial in Hull Western General Cemetery

On 6th February 1901, William Bernard Traynor, a sergeant in the 2ndBattalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, went to the aid of a wounded man under heavy fire at Bothwell Camp, South Africa, and was severely injured; he was awarded the Victoria Cross ‘for valour’. Traynor was born in Moxon Street, Hull. (31.12.1870)

Orphan deaths, Sailor's Orphan Home
Western General Cemetery

 

January 27th

Pilgr Grace

On 27th January 1332, Sir John de Sutton was summoned to Parliament by writ and thereafter become Lord Sutton of Holderness.

On 27th January 1537, John Hallam and others captured during the attempt by the Pilgrimage of Grace to seize Hull were examined by local justices; Hallam and 2 others were condemned to death and the rest awaited the arrival of the Duke of Norfolk for a decision on their fate.

On 27th January 1599, the Earl of Pembroke’s Players arrived at Londesborough House for a week performing plays for the Shrovetide period, for payment of £15shillings.

On 27th January 1645,  14 Hull burgesses gave evidence that Thomas Swann was  not a Royalist, and should not have his property sequestered, but in fact was owed money by Parliament because his new house was demolished to build a defences for the town. His appeal failed.

On 27th January 1882, the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, joined the Holderness Hunt at Brantinghamthorpe, which recorded 1,400 horsemen, 4,000 on foot and 1,000 in carriages.

On 27th January 1901, Joseph Smith of Hull, on board SS Friary, was the 7thand last Hull passenger to have died of pneumonic plague contracted in the Mediterranean. He is commemorated in the columbarium at Hedon Road Cemetery.

On 27th January 1924, Brian Norman Roger Rix, Lord Rix of Whitehall in the City of Westminster and Hornsea in Yorkshire,  was born in Cottingham. He was a comic actor, specialising in Whitehall farce; awarded CBE for his charity work; campaigner for people with learning disability. He was also awarded 8 honorary degrees, 5 fellowships and many other awards, and was the first Chancellor of the University of East London, and vice Lord Lieutenant of Greater London. d20.8.2016