April 16th

On 16th April 1313, Petronilla de Scarfon conveyed ownership of land to the East of Vicar Lane, Hull, to William Brimswein of Ottringham.  On the same day, John de London conveyed land on East side of Vicar Lane to Ingram Sonnolf of Ottringham. The town was growing, and drawing in landowners from the local area.

On 16th April 1454, William Eland, enrolled in post as Hull Collector of Customs, joining existing staff Richard Bryd (Collector) and Ralph Babthorp (Controller).

On 16th April 1532, Christopher Hoggeson, labourer of Thorngumbald, claimed the sanctuary of the church of St John, Beverley, for debt.

On 16th April 1680, Sir Edward Barnard wrote to Hull Mayor about ‘Darningham Springs’, one of several letters around this time from landowners concerned about ‘the placing of stops in land drains’. The stream was again getting polluted, and a dam was proposed to stop runoff from the land getting into the drinking water.

minster - frith stool.JPG

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

November 29th

On 29th November 1486, John Thurleby started in a new post as Hull Collector of Customs, joining existing staff Thomas Annesley (collector) and John Wolleston (Controller).

On 29th November 1596, William Knight of South Duffield, and Henry Abbot of Howden were hanged, drawn and quartered as traitors for their Catholic faith. Knight was beatified on 22.11.1987,  Abbot 15.12.1929.

 

English Martyrs, hanged, drawn and quarted for the Catholic Faith in England

 

November 3rd

On 3rd November 1451, Richard Anson was enrolled in post as Hull Collector of Customs, joining existing staff Richard Bille (Collector) and Richard Alanson (Controller).

On 3rd November 1947, George Cornelius (Con) O’Kelly died aged 61. He achieved gold for Great Britain in the 1908 Olympics in men’s freestyle wrestling. 12,000 people turned out to meet him when he returned to Hull.  His son, Con jnr, competed in the 1924 Olympic heavyweight boxing.

On 3rd November 1975, trawler owners ceased to use St Andrew’s Dock, Hull, which was closed to shipping after the collapse of Hull’s fishing industry.

St Andrews Dock memorial
Zebedee’s Yard

October 21st

On 21st October 1823, Mr Gleadow, commander of the customs cutter Bee, seized 31,324 barrels of contraband, including 250 lbs of tea, 720 lbs of tobacco, and 976 gallons of spirits, mostly gin, from the Lunatic asylum, Brandesburton Moor.

On 21st October 1904, the Gamecock trawler fleet from Hull was fired on by the Russian Baltic fleet, claiming they mistook them for the Japanese Navy. The trawler Crane was sunk and her captain and second mate killed; 30 others were injured. There is a memorial statue to the ‘Russian Outrage’ at the corner of Boulevard/Hessle Road.

On 21st October 1905, Ellen Borrill, of William’s Terrace, Hull, was murdered at Danthorpe by Peter Williams, her partner. He cut her throat in a field, walked to Burton Pidsea, and then gave himself up to the police at Roos. He claimed she had tried to kill herself, and asked him to finish her off. On 2nd December, Williams was sentenced to death, but was reprieved.

On 21st October 1921, Jim Graham and Cam Connor, out of work shipwrights from South Shields, bought a 14-seater Model T. Ford and set up Easington’s first bus service, just 2 years after East Yorkshire’s first bus service was set up in Elloughton by E.J. Lee, also using a 14-seater Model T.

Russian Outrage

 

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

August 27th

On 27th August 1473, John Warter’s ship Nicholas left Hedon with exports belonging to 14 different merchants, mostly wool and sheepskins. The tax record does not indicate where the ship travelled to. photo shows the Hedon ship design, found in St Augustine’s church.

On 27th August 1586, Daniell Morton was arrested for attempting to travel overseas against government order, and was retained in custody in Hull until further order.

On 27th August 1643, Lord Ferdinando Fairfax, Governor of Hull, ordered that Royalist sympathisers (termed malignants) have their property seized to support Parliament’s cause.

On 27th August 1902, Trooper H.B. Adamson, and Sergeant T. Burn were soldiers returning home to Hornsea from the Boer War. They were greeted by large crowds, the Town Band and a detachment of the Artillery Volunteers, and paraded round the town in a carriage. Sadly, Trooper E. Dabb arrived 4 days later unexpectedly and without ceremony.

On 27th August 1940, Mrs Spetch’s cottage at Mappleton was severely damaged by an enemy bomb, which also destroyed several windows in the church. The cottage site is now occupied by the Maple Garage.

Hedon ship, St Augustine's

July 16th

On 16th July 1796, 10 days after the introduction of the Dog Tax of 5s per dog per year, the Hull Advertiser reported a considerable number of rotting dog carcases, after owners killed their dogs and threw them in the street.

On 16th July 1802, Dorothy Wordsworth, sister of poet William, visited Beverley with friends, commenting on the beauty of the town and the minster.

On 16th July 1807, a Bastardy examination of Ann Linwood, single woman of Hedon
revealed that the father of her son, born on 28 Jun 1807 in Hull was gunsmith Owen Probin. Owen Probin was murdered 7 years later (the events are probably not related).

On 16th July 1885, Hull & Barnsley Railway and the Alexandra Dock officially opened.

On 16th July 1904, the Beverley Guardian reported a new phenomenon, ‘the hatless brigade’, when pedestriansof both sexes had been seen in Hornsea without any head covering whatsoever.minster beverley.JPG

July 5th

On 5th July 1532, Henry VIII’s charter was read out in Hull Market Place, and prohibited anyone but Hull burgesses from conducting business in the port; the corporation paid £31 19s4d to obtain the charter, part of which was paid in the form of a sturgeon for Thomas Cromwell.

On 5th July 1657, a major fire in Hedon starting at 1 a.m. resulted in the loss of 42 houses, and others damaged. In August, the Mayor petitioned Parliament for permission to hold a collection to raise money; £4,000 was raised.

On 5th July 1776, John Wesley paid a visit to Howden and preached to a large congregation during a thunderstorm near Station Road, Howden. Wesley’s picture below

On 5th July 1811, Bridlington Collector of Customs Benjamin Milne discovered a tidal spring near the quay, now commemorated by a stone inscription.

On 5th July 1899, Hull Alderman Larard took the controls of the city’s first municipal electric tram (Siemens Bros & Co provided the electrical equipment). A spectator hoping for a good view, climbed on the roof of the public lavatories and fell through.

On 5th July 1930, the annual King’s Cup Air Race took place on this date, and planes had to follow a route of around 800 miles. Hull Aerodrome was a main control station on the route. Tickets were sold for 1s and 2s6d. The winner was Miss Winifred Brown in an Avro Avian III. (N.B. Hull Aerodrome is actually in Preston South.)

 

john wesley

June 23rd

Ezekiel Rogers window

Ezekiel Rogers window, Rowley church.

On 23rd June 1660, Reverend Ezekiel Rogers died aged 70, in Rowley, Massachusetts, after 22 years as vicar of a new Puritan settlement.  The new town was named after Rowley in East Yorkshire, from where he led a group of about 100 Puritans to America in June 1638. Became Rector of Rowley in 1621, aged 31, and served there for 17 years. (b 1590 in Wethersfield, Essex)

On 23rd June 1766, Sara Jenkinson, the infant daughter of Richard Jenkinson of Hutton Cranswick, fell from a little girl’s arms and died within 30 minutes. There was a coroner’s inquest.

On 23rd June 1768, John Courtney, aged 34, gentleman, of Beverley, married Mary Jesse Smelt, aged 24, at St Mary’s, Lowgate. The bride dressed in a white ‘night gown’ and white hat, the groom in a white suit. Only family and servants attended the church and family members dined with them afterwards. The bells of both churches rang for them. They returned to their future home in Beverley in the evening. In his diary, John refers to his future wife at all times as ‘Miss Smelt’.

On 23rd June 1787, the Clerk to the Beverley to Driffield Turnpike Trust wrote to T. Baxter, the owner of Bell Mills, Sunderlandwick, threatening him with prosecution if he allowed anyone to cross his land to avoid paying tolls. 2 months later the Trust asked T. Baxter to lock the gate near his mill, and to prosecute anyone who broke it down.

On 23rd June 1812, Major-General Barnard Foord Bowes of Cowlam was wounded at Battle of Badajoz, but recovered to fight at Salamanca.

On 23rd June 1848, Uckaluk died of measles aboard the Hull ship Truelove, on their way home to Nyadlik, Greenland. She and her husband Memiadluk had visited England to highlight the poor conditions in their homeland.  They took part in talks in Manchester and York. 

On 23rd June 1853, Captain John (or Thomas) Bowlby set sail for Cumberland Sound in the Arctic with 3 ships, with the aim of forming a settlement there; they took goats and building materials. The surgeon on the trip was William Gedney, who had been on board the Truelove with Captain Parker in 1847.

On 23rd June 1898, Winifred Holtby was born at Rudston. Social reformer, novelist and journalist, she was famous and respected for her work in South Africa and elsewhere. ‘South Riding’ became her most famous novel, published after her death. She is buried in Rudston. (d 29.9.1935)