February 19th

Pilgr Grace

On 19th February 1408, Henry Percy, 1stEarl of Northumberland, was killed in battle against King Henry IV, after supporting Edmund Mortimer’s claim to the throne. The Percies held lands across Yorkshire, the Lakes and Northumberland, but their main seat appeared to be Leconfield until the 16thC.

On 19th February 1499, William Fechet of Harpham claimed sanctuary at St Cuthbert’s church, Durham, for assaulting William Fox on 22ndOctober, striking him in several places with a sword; he assumed that Fox had died from his wounds, and fled.

On 19th February 1537, Sir Ralph Ellerker, the elder, chased Sir Francis Bigod and his men out of Beverley, and took 62 prisoners, who were taken to Hull. Bigod escaped. This appeared to be the end of the Pilgrimage of Grace in East Yorkshire.

On 19th February 1944, a Halifax bomber crashed 2m NNW of Hornsea shortly after take-off, killing all 7 crew. Photo -notice in Atwick church. Sadly, I was unable to find the memorial.

Atwick Halifax crash

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

January 30th

Mary Ward

On 30th January 1499, Robert Colstone of Hull and Marmaduke Pateson of  Flambrough claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley – Colstone for debt and Pateson for the murder at Flambrough of John Mottows.

On 30th January 1645, Mary Ward died aged 60. A cousin of the Wright brothers of Welwick, she spent 5 years living there with her grandmother and spent a further 6 years at Osgodby. She founded the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and championed women’s education. She was declared Venerable in 2009. (b23.1.1585 Mulwith Yorks) see photo

On 30th January 1901, Beverley Mayor Elwell proclaimed the accession of King Edward VII to a large crowd at the Market Cross, despite bitterly cold weather and a snow storm.

On 30th January 1913, Harry Houdini, escapologist, performed at the Palace Theatre, Hull. He escaped from a canvas sea bag and straps; the challenge was signed by seamen Dan Morris, Tom Carr and Robert Mason.

On 30th January 1983, Captain Derek Wharton of North Sea Ferry Norland spent the day sailing back and forth in Bridlington Bay, having arrived back from service in the Falklands War a little too early for the homecoming celebration planned for 1stFebruary.

Houdini copy

 

 

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

 

January 19th

 

Pilgr Grace

On 19th January 1537, Sir Francis Bigod was attacked by Ellerker’s men in Beverley, and most of his men were captured. After failing to capture Scarborough, he had gathered more followers at Bainton, but heard that John Hallam had failed to capture Hull. Bigod escaped to the north, and was eventually captured in March. Both Bigod and Hallam were executed.

On 19th January 1684, Sir Robert Hilyard, knight & Baron of Patrington, gave his son Capt Robert Hilyard ‘2 whole pues or closets, which were positioned in the South Transept’.

On 19th January 1970, Alan Plater oversaw the first production at the new theatre in Spring Street of his own play ‘Don’t Build a Bridge, Drain the River’, with music by Mike Chapman and Mike Waterson. The Humberside Arts Centre later became Humberside Theatre, and then Hull Truck Theatre. see photo

On 19th January 1979, William Rodgers, Secretary of State for Transport, reported in the House of Commons that as the result of an industrial dispute in the road haulage industry, there was no movement of grain or animal feed out of Hull docks. The importance of Hull was stressed, as other parts of the country depended on it to deliver goods.

On 19th January 2014, the Environment Agency closed Sutton Lock on the River Derwent to navigation due to safety concerns. The lock had been reconstructed in 1972 to enable pleasure craft to travel up to Stamford Bridge and give access to the Pocklington Canal. There seemed to be uncertainty as to who owned the gates and equipment.

Spring St theatre

January 16th

On 16th January 1518, John Frost of Twing on the Wold (presumably modern Thwing) claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for debt.

On 16th January 1537, John Hallam and about 20 men entered Hull on market day, planning to seize the town and re-start the Pilgrimage of Grace. Hallam was betrayed by a man called Fowberry of Newbald, and arrested.

On 16th January 1642, William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, was appointed by King Charles I as the Governor of Hull, but the Parliament’s choice of Hotham prevailed with the support of the Mayor and aldermen.

Pilgr Grace

January 10th

st mary's sculcoates.JPG

On 10th January 1308, Ivo de Etton of Temple Hirst, near Selby, and William de la Fenne from Faxfleet had been preceptors (heads) of local houses of the outlawed Knights Templar order, when they were arrested and imprisoned by Henry II on instructions of Pope Clement V. Also arrested were Richard de Ryston, chaplain, Thomas Tyeth, claviger (or warden), and Roger de Hugunde or Hogyndon, a brother in residence at Faxfleet, and Adam de Crake, claviger, at Temple Hirst.

On 10th January 1511, Richard Elynor of North Cave claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for a felony, but the register does not give any detail of his crime.

On 10th January 1537, Sir Francis Bigod, of Settrington, and John Hallam, of Cawkeld near Watton, met to discuss rekindling the Pilgrimage of Grace, which had ended in December with promises to restore the monasteries and hold a Parliament at York. They planned to seize Hull and Scarborough before they could be fortified.

On 10th January 1646, Stephen Thompson of Humbleton was fined £400 as the owner of Scarborough Castle and a Royalist (a ‘delinquent’) in order to recover his goods which had been sequestered by Parliament.

On 10th January 1761, Mrs Jane Delamoth died in Hull. Her memorial in St Mary’s Sculcoates may be the only memorial written in shorthand in the world. It says: ‘In the vault beneath this stone lies the body of Mrs Jane Delamoth, who departed this life 10thJanuary 1761. She was a poor sinner, but not wicked without holiness, departing from good works, and departed in the faith of the Catholic Church, in full assurance of eternal happiness, by the agony and bloody sweat, by the cross and passion, by the precious death and burial, by the glorious resurrection and ascension of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’. see photo

On 10th January 1783, Rear Admiral John Storr died in Hilston. He is buried in Westminster Abbey. (b 18.8.1709) He commanded the Revenge at the Battle of Quiberon Bay 20.11.1759. His father Joseph built Storr’s Tower at Hilston in 1750. It served as a hospital for troops camped on the coast in 1794–5 and later as a cottage, but was disused in 1990. His memorial is in Hilston church.

On 10th January 1849, Cottingham land agent Thomas Spenceley reported that he had measured the distance from the Spa Inn, Aldbrough to the sea in 1832 and again in 1848 and the loss of land due to coastal erosion was 28 yards in that period. On 6.8.1832 the distance was 160 yards; on 11.8.1848 it was 132 yards, an average loss of 5ft 3” per year.

On 10th January 1952, Madame Clapham (Mrs Emily Clapham) died aged 96, the former Court Dressmaker of Kingston Square, Hull. Her fashions for high society made Hull ‘the rage’ according to Sir Osbert Sitwell.

On 10th January 1968, Hull trawler St Romanus left port and made radio contact with the owners that evening. A Mayday call was heard, but not passed on. The official enquiry concluded ship probably lost on 11thJanuary, reason unknown.

On 10th January 1968, Hull trawler Kingston Peridot of Hull left port and was not contacted until after 26 January. The enquiry concluded she probably capsized on 26th  or 27th January, due to extreme weather.

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 8th

turkey lectern3.JPG

 

On 8th December 1536, armed men from Holderness who had seized Hull in the Pilgrimage of Grace restored the town to the Mayor and dispersed.

On 8th December 1598, William Strickland died in Boynton. When young, he had travelled to America on voyages of exploration with Sebastian Cabot, and is credited with introducing the turkey to England. Later became a prominent Puritan MP. photo shows the Turkey Lectern in Boynton church.

On 8th December 1629, George Acklam of Bewholme died aged 64, and left £5 to Hornsea church to distribute to the poor every year on Maundy Thursday ‘forever’.

On 8th December 1637, Hull Mayor John Ramsden was buried; he died of plague. Andrew Marvell gave the funeral oration. His son, also John Ramsden, became Hull MP. This outbreak of plague in Hull killed over 2,500 people, and many more left the town. 

On 8th December 1879, William Walden, engineer and brewer, died aged 62. In a time when Hull was beset with cholera, he offered to supply Hull with clean water from Springhead at the rate of 5m gallons of water per day, at a fee of £500, or if he failed, be paid nothing. He succeeded. He is buried in Hull General Cemetery.

Springhead bore hole

October 20th

On 20th October 1536, Sir Robert Constable of Flamborough took command of Hull after a siege lasting 5 days, by the East Riding rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace. The only condition the inhabitants made was that no-one would be forced to take the pilgrims’ oath.

On 20th October 1580, Rowlande Burton was called before the Hull mayor and aldermen to answer a charge of dealing in hops without paying a customs charge. They agreed that he would pay the charges due.

On 20th October 1586, Luke Fox (or Foxe) was born in Hull. He explored much of the Hudson Bay in search of the Northwest Passage. Later became a brother of Hull Trinity House and in 1635 published ‘North-west Fox, or Fox from the Northwest Passage’. Died approx 15.7.1635.

On 20th October 1749, a ’sudden and dreadful’ fire broke out at night when the Stamford Bridge Mills machinery overheated.

On 20th October 1890, Withernsea pier was damaged for a third time since its opening 12 years before, when an unmanned Grimsby fishing smack, the Genesta, smashed into it, and destroyed half of the remaining pier (see 19.10). Another boat, the Henry Parr, smashed into it in 1893, leaving only 50 feet, which remnant was removed in 1903 during work on the sea wall.

On 20th October 1958, the Malton to Driffield Railway closed to freight traffic, passenger traffic having ceased in 1950.

 

W'sea pier