plague – Hull & East Yorkshire History Calendar

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.

March 4th

On 4th March 1666, Edward Grey, Mayor of Beverley, and Robert Hildyard were in correspondence with the Mayor of Hull about plague in North Frodingham and the precautions taken in Beverley against infection; a week later, they sent a certificate that North Frodingham was clear of infection.

On 4th March 1752, Elizabeth Plaxton paid for 4 brass chandeliers to be installed in the choir of Holy Trinity, Hull, at a cost of £100.

On 4th March 1791, Sarah Metcalfe, originally of Hull, died in Humbleton aged 45. No cause of death is given; she was the mother of 13 children, 4 of which died in their infancy.

On 4th March 1903, Dorothy Mackaill was born in Newstead Street, Hull. She became a stage actor in London and Paris before moving to Broadway and, in 1920, making her first film. In 1932 she starred with Humphrey Bogart in “Love Affair’, and retired 5 years later, though she did return to acting on TV. She died aged 87 (12.8.1990)

On 4th March 1908, Cornelius O’Kelly, PC 249, later Olympic gold medallist, was one of 4 police fire officers injured when a 20ft wall collapsed during a fire at Frank Soulsby’s saw mill, Thomas Street, Hull. Unable to work for 27 days, he received £5 15s8d from his employer’s liability assurance. (and see 3.11)

dorothy-mackaill

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 7^thand 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

columbarium Hedon Rd

December 15th

On 15th December 1604, the Hull Recorder, Sir William Gee, petitioned the Council in the North on behalf of the Hull Corporation for a financial contribution towards the relief of people infected by plague; 788 people had received financial support of some sort, and other costs (wages of watchmen, repairs to pesthouse) totalled over £97. photo shows the Gee memorial in York Minster

sir Wm Gee

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

November 13th

On 13th November 1002, English King Ethelred ordered the massacre of all the Danish in England on St Brice’s Day. East Yorkshire being in the Danelaw, where Danish and English were well integrated, the order appears to have been ignored here.

On 13th November 1684, John Largeman of Patrington married for the 3^rdtime; he married his second wife Elizabeth Dunn on 31^stJuly, and she died in September; his first wife had died in April of the same year. It is not known what killed his 3 wives, although plague is recorded in parts of Yorkshire in that year.

On 13th November 1916, was a private in the Hull Sportsmen’s Pals Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, at the Battle of the Ancre, WW1. His heroism in seizing German positions alone was rewarded with a Victoria Cross (for valour). (b 28.6.1897 died 21.2.1941) photo shows members of the 13th Battalion (Hull Sportsmen)

Hull PALS 13Btn sportsmen

November 8th

On 8th November 1481, Thomas Nevyll, yeoman of Skirlaugh, sought sanctuary in Durham Cathedral for killing John Hewlins of Rise on 1^stNovember.

On 8th November 1500, William Thorpp of Welwick, John Dorand and a man named Nicholas were in Winestead when their dog entered the park; they asked the parkers to return the dog, but they refused, and were abusive. Nicholas shot one of the parkers named March, in the neck with an arrow; he died about 10 days later. Thorpp travelled to Durham, where on 10.12 he claimed sanctuary, fearing he would be indicted as an accessory to murder.

On 8th November 1605, Jack and Kit Wright of Welwick, and brother-in-law Thomas Percy were fatally wounded at Holbeche House, Staffordshire, by the posse of 200 men led by the Sheriff of Warwick, Sir Richard Walsh. 9 of the 13 Gunpowder Plotters were at Holbeche, and they all died there; the other 4 were all executed.

On 8th November 1637, the Mayor of Hull petitioned the Privy Council that 1) the town was so poor as a result of the recent plague that it be let off the requirement to provide 2 warships for the Navy; 2) that the county’s funds help to support Hull’s poor and; 3) that Hull’s merchants be allowed to sell their goods elsewhere in the country again, now that the town was free of the plague. It was estimated that 2,000 people died in Hull, and perhaps as many left town.

November 1st

On 1st November 1151, Adam, a monk from Fountains Abbey, is reported to have led a colony from the older abbey to found the new house of Meaux Abbey.

On 1st November 1831, the Scholfield and Clough Bank was the first bank in Howden declared bankrupt after 14 years. Partner Barnard Clarkson had to sell estates in Kirkham Abbey, Holme on Spalding Moor and Foggathorpe.

On 1st November 1834, Beverley youths lit a bonfire early, rolled lit tar barrels and threw fireballs into shops in Beverley marketplace.

On 1st November 1902, Major E.S.E. Harrison, aged 38, Adjutant, 11^thHussars (of the Broadley Harrison family of Welton House) died from a fall during a polo match at Ghezireh, Egypt. He served with distinction in the Boer War (DSO) and bequeathed to the Regiment the Bhurtpoor Sword, now in the Royal Hussars Museum, Winchester.

Major ESE Harrison

October 28th

On 28th October 1451, the Mayor and town of Hull and the Prior and Convent of the Charterhouse reached agreement on 8 areas of dispute between them, chiefly relating to ownership of land and streets between the town walls and the Charterhouse, including the Trippett and the northern part of Pole Street, the rent due for them, and garden fences of the Charterhouse encroaching on the public highway.

On 28th October 1510, William Sedyngton of Flambrough claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for debt.

On 28th October 1880, during a storm, the Saffron, Jabez, and Earl of Derby separately crashed into the piers at Withernsea and Hornsea, 2 at Withernsea and 1 at Hornsea; both piers were substantially damaged. The Hornsea pier had only opened 5 months before, and was completely demolished in 1897. The Withernsea pier had been open 2 years, and was to have several more ships crash into it before being demolished, apart from the 2 remaining towers.

On 28th October 1910, the Aldbrough Rocket Brigade rescued the crew of the trawler Castor of Grimsby, which ran aground on Aldbrough beach, whilst the Hornsea Lifeboat crew took an hour against high winds to row to the site. Later the Secretary of the Hornsea branch of the RNLI said that Hornsea did not have strong men like they had in Bridlington and it was the worst place on the coast to get a lifeboat.

September 24th

On 24th September 1298, an inquisition was held by the Court of Chancery into Sir Osbert de Spaldington’s goods and lands, which were taken by the king. As recently as 1296, Edward had made him Governor of Berwick, when he received Robert the Bruce and imprisoned Sir William Douglas. It is not known what the allegations against him were, and he recovered most of his land by 1300, after living on the generosity of others in the meantime.

On 24th September 1401, Pope Boniface IX declared John of Bridlington a saint. John was born in Thwing, had been the Prior of Bridlington and died of the plague in 1379, aged 59. 15 miracles are recorded during his life, and 12 after his death, including saving the lives of 5 Hartlepool fishermen caught in a storm. photo shows Brid Priory church

On 24th September 1678, the wife of Thomas Richardson of Wyton died and was buried in the Quaker cemetery in Sutton.

On 24th September 1779, Lord Rockingham, High Steward of Hull, chaired a public meeting in Hull Town Hall at which it was decided that 20 18-lb guns and military equipment due to be sent to Woolwich should be used instead to defend Hull from the threat of American attack. A few days later, the threat reduced when the Americans sailed for Holland.

On 24th September 1830, Hull gunsmith Thomas Rosindale was convicted of vagrancy, having been found in the kitchen of the dwelling house of Charles Frost of Albion St. He was sent to Sculcoates House of Correction for 1 month’s hard labour.

On 24th September 1832, Mr J. Dunn caught a 17lb trout near Driffield.

Brid Priory church