January 1st

January

On 1st January 1151, Meaux Abbey was founded on land given by William le Gros, Count of Aumale, Lord of Holderness.

On 1st January 1645, Captain John Hotham was executed for treason at Tower Hill, London.

On 1st January 1685, Alderman Duncalf of Hull gave £5, the interest of which to be given to the poor of Patrington every New Years Day.

On 1st January 1754, Joseph Pease opened Hull’s (and Yorkshire’s) first commercial bank at 18, High Street, Hull.

On 1st January 1841, Daniel Boyes, landlord of the Angel Inn, Beverley, started a new tradition, to bake an enormous game pie for customers; it weighed more than 7 stone. In 1844 the pie weighed 10 stone, and was 18” wide, 12” high, and 2’ 2” long.

On 1st January 1904, Hull GP Dr Francis William Fullerton obtained the first driving licence issued in Hull.

On 1st January 1908, the newly created Humber Conservancy Board took over responsibility for Humber lifeboats from Hull Trinity House, which had managed Spurn lifeboat for 97 years. The Board did not seem to realise the complexity of running a lifeboat service, and after 3 years of arguments, the RNLI took over in 1911.

May 7th

On 7th May 721, retired Archbishop of York John of Beverley died at Beverley. He was canonized as St John of Beverley, and this is his feast day, celebrated at his birthplace, Harpham, with a procession.

On 7th May 1798, Hull Trinity House paid £3 1s to John Cook, the master of the ship John and Mary, and to 8 of the crew, after the ship was captured by a Dutch privateer, and then recovered by the British.

On 7th May 1915, William (Ely) Taylor, 36, stoker 1st class and former Reckitt’s fitter, died at Gallipoli while serving with the Royal Navy Hood Battalion; he is buried in Lancashire Landing Cemetery.

On 7th May 1926, strikers clashed with police at Hull on the 4th day of the General Strike.

April 29th

St Mary's Beverley

On 29th April 1520, the tower of St Mary’s Beverley collapsed across the nave, killing many people in the church for the Sunday service. A piece of 16thC oak carved with an inscription to the event remains in the church. Sir Richard Rokeby and his wife Dame Joan gave £200 to rebuild the church.

On 29th April 1524, William Thowe of Hedon rented to the Mayor and town of Hull a patch of waste ground near St Mary’s church for a chaplain’s house; the annual rent was a red rose if demanded, i.e. the medieval equivalent of a peppercorn rent.

On 29th April 1757, the vicar of Hutton Cranswick recorded a very deep fall of snow.

On 29th April 1891, former Trinity House School pupil Herbert William Rea was shipwrecked on the Pacific coast of North America in 1880 on his first sea trip; he joined a schooner trading to the Pacific Islands, and was later appointed collector of taxes in Samoa.

 

April 26th

 

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On 26th April 1642, the Hull Mayor received a letter from King Charles (now in York) demanding admittance to the town, and confirming Sir John Hotham as a traitor, and not to be obeyed.

On 26th April 1796, Capt Metcalfe, of Hull Trinity House, assisted in quelling the second day of riots in Hull. The price of bread was high, and starvation a reality, poor people spending 60-80% of their income on food. A crowd sacked a mill outside town, seized flour and meal, and took goods being landed from Lincolnshire. They attacked market traders and insisted on paying a lower price for goods.  The Riot Act was read; 2 people were jailed.

On 26th April 1828, Matthew Harrison, 40, of Beverley, was hanged at York Castle for horse stealing, with 2 associates.

On 26th April 1867, the Hull whaler Diana returned to port after 353 days away, mostly spent trapped in ice in Frobisher Bay in the Arctic. 10 (or 13) men died of scurvy and dysentery.  Captain  John Gravill is buried in Hull General Cemetery.

 

April 20th

On 20th April 1602, Robert Watkinson of Hemingbrough, aged 23, was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, London, as a Catholic priest; he was arrested almost immediately on returning to England after ordination at Arras, France.

On 20th April 1803, a sloop was ‘burnt to the water’s edge’ in Hedon harbour.

On 20th April 1808, Thomas Wilbe, 31, of Hull, was hanged at York Castle for raping a girl under 10 years old.

On 20th April 1892, former pupil of Hull Trinity House School, and Chief Officer of the Elliot of Caernarvon, William Henry Ansell, 29, died of yellow fever at Santos.

On 20th April 1976, Rev Wm Whitehead, on the 190thanniversary of the first recorded measurement of distance from Mappleton church to the sea, recorded the distance to the cliff edge.  At 898 ft 10”, it was almost exactly 1,000 feet less than in 1786, an average of 5ft 3” p.a.  Film clip: https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/z8jfb9q

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April 19th

 

charterhouse.JPGOn 19th April 1672, Rev John Shaw(e) died aged 64 . Puritan Lecturer at St Mary’s, Hull, then at Holy Trinity. In 1651 Master of the Charterhouse, where so many flocked to hear him preach that troops kept them out.  One Sunday more than 300 people camped out at night as the soldiers had closed all the town’s gates. (b 28.6.1608 Sykehouse)

On 19th April 1689, 4 Beverley aldermen recorded that they were considering prosecuting the vicar of St Mary and St Nicholas, Rev John Brereton. Before then, the town council had recorded their thanks to him for his generous gifts to the town. They then discovered that he had purloined several church collections, as well as money collected for the relief of persecuted French Protestants. 4 days later, Brereton resigned his posts and later left Beverley.

On 19th April 1821, an Act of Parliament approved lighting the town of Hull and adjacent places with gas (replacing lighting with whale oil). Gas manufactured from whale oil was used until 1830, when it was replaced with coal gas.

On 19th April 1891, former pupil of Hull Trinity House School Frank Dick, 23, died of yellow fever in Rio de Janeiro.

On 19th April 1902, Beilby, 3rdBaron Wenlock, of Escrick, spoke at a public meeting in Beverley to recruit for an East Riding Yeomanry Regiment; the meeting was poorly attended, as it was Market day.

 

April 18th

On 18th April 1801, Hull Trinity House gave financial support to 7 mariners who had returned home after being taken prisoner in the war against the French.

On 18th April 1864, Hull Mayor John Lumsden called a public meeting in Hull Town Hall, Lowgate. The topic was a petition to invite the Italian  nationalist General Garibaldi to Hull. He was in England, but unable to come to Hull, and returned to fight in Italy.

On 18th April 1911, Francis Frederick Johnson, was born in Bridlington, where he lived all his life. An architect, his early work was mostly local, and he did much restoration work on country houses. His work was increasingly recognised nationally and internationally, and he worked up to his death aged 84. He was awarded the CBE, for work including St Margaret’s Hilston; St Michael & All Angels, Orchard Park; Winestead Rectory restoration; Cottingham Rectory. Many of the buildings he designed were given listed status in 2017. He is buried at Reighton with his life partner, Edward Ingram, local historian.  (d 29.9.1995) photo shows Hilston church

On 18th April 1932, the Thorpe Enquiry into land deals on Hull Council reported its findings that Sir Digby Willoughby (who had committed suicide the month before), Alderman Francis Finn, and builder Robert Tarran, were involved in corrupt land deals.

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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 15th

On 15th April 1643, Captain John Hotham wrote to Queen Henrietta Maria that he had a plan involving both Hull and Lincoln, which would be a real service to the King.

On 15th April 1696, the Skipsea manor court appraised the value of timber which Stephen Grenestowe had found on the beach at 10d, which he had to pay to the Lord of the Manor, who owned all items washed up.

On 15th April 1801, James Glenmon and 2 shipmates, returning from being held prisoner in Holland,  received financial relief of 7s6d from Hull Trinity House.

On 15th April 1807, at the Humber Tavern, Paull, compensation was agreed by the Army to landowners and tenants (of at least 3 years) when land was taken to build Paull Battery to defend Hull against Napoleon.

On 15th April 1912, Joseph Groves Boxhall, 28, was 4thOfficer on the Titanic. In charge of lifeboat No.2, whose 25 passengers were the first survivors to reach the Carpathia. (b.23.3.1884 in Hull) right on photo below

On the same day, Algernon Henry Barkworth, 48, gentleman of Hessle, was a passenger on the Titanic. He survived by jumping from the ship and later climbing aboard a lifeboat. Few people in the water survived; he put his survival down to wearing a fur coat over his lifebelt and carrying a suitcase. far left on photo, taken at Tranby House, Hessle

On 15th April 1941, a heavy air raid sank a lighter in Hull’s Alexandra Dock, damaged rolling stock and warehouses, and demolished No 22 Warehouse.

 

April 7th

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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.