Tag: whale

April 28th

On 28th April 1489, Henry Percy, 4thEarl of Northumberland, was lynched at Cocklodge near Thirsk by a rioting mob protesting against high taxes, during the Yorkshire Rebellion. He was buried in a newly built chapel in Beverley Minster.

On 28th April 1825, a bull sperm whale washed up at Tunstall, and was dissected on the beach by Dr James Alderson, before being articulated by Edward Wallis, and put on display to the public at Burton Constable Hall. Herman Melville saw the whale and referred to it in his novel “Moby Dick’. The remains of the skeleton are still on show.

On 28th April 1876, Hull sculptor Thomas Earle died aged 66. A member of the Earle family of stonemasons and later shipbuilders, Thomas made a successful career in London. His works in Hull include the statue of Dr John Alderson (Hull Royal Infirmary), Oceanus (Trinity House), Queen Victoria (Pearson Park), Thomas Ferres (Hull Minster – see below) and Edward I (Guildhall). Awarded Royal Academy Gold Medal 1851.

Thos Ferres by Thos Earle

April 26th

 

john-hotham-1-sized

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 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 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

March 31st

Andrew Marvell

On 31st March 1621, Andrew Marvell was born in Winestead to local vicar Andrew Marvell, who later became Master of Hull Charterhouse. Marvell junior was a renowned poet, and MP for Hull several times. During the Civil War, he travelled in Europe, prompting some to suggest he was employed as an English spy. He acted as London agent for Hull Trinity House. Died in Hull 1678, and is buried in St Giles in the Fields, London

On 31st March 1801, Captain Mitchinson, of the Hull whaler Blenheim, was found not guilty of the murder of 2 members of the Press Gang, (John Burnick and John Sykes) his defence being that he was handcuffed and locked in his cabin at the time. Burnick and Sykes were buried in Drypool Cemetery.

On 31st March 1941, having just completed a successful campaign for blood donors, Dr David Diamond, Deputy Medical Officer for Hull, was killed instantly when a land mine made a direct hit on the Shell Mex Building, Ferensway, the ARP Headquarters. A heavy raid on the docks destroyed offices, a garage, works, houses, dog kennels and warehouses at Albert, Alexandra, Town and Victoria Docks. A total of 200 deaths was recorded in March.

hull-blitz-shell-mex

March 8th

On 8th March 1517, Thomas Tode, cutler, of Beverley, claimed sanctuary at the church of St John, Beverley, for theft.

On 8th March 1517, Thomas Stokell, 19, boatsteerer on the Hull whaler Three Brothers, received a certificate of protection from impressment, certifying that he was a seaman having completed 3 voyages in the Greenland Trade and could not by law be pressed into the Navy.

On 8th March 1897, Kathleen Mary Margaret Bryant was born in Hull. As actor Margot Bryant, she played many parts on stage and screen, but won fame at the age of 63 in the role of Minnie Caldwell on Coronation Street (on left in photo). died 1.1.88

On 8th March 1939, George H. Newton, 2ndengineer, and 8 other crewmen, were lost when the returning Hull trawler Lady Jeanette grounded on a sandbank on her way into dock.

Margot Bryant

February 14th

On 14th February 1763, Mr Newmarch, lighthouse keeper at Spurn Point, reported to his employer that the low light had ‘washed down wholly all together’.

On 14th February 1792, Thomas Wilson, son of a lighterman, was baptised at Dagger Lane Independent Chapel, Hull, He became a clerk, then salesman, set up a business  importing iron, and eventually became owner of Thomas Wilson, Sons & Co, the beginning of the Wilson Line, a multi-national business; his son Charles became Lord Nunburnholme.

On 14th February 1803, Burnett’s Shipping List reported the departure of the first whaler leaving for the fishing grounds that season: the Adventure, captain’s name Gibson, headed for the Davis Strait, got into the roads, but it was a week before it got under way. 5 other whalers left in February, followed by 33 in March. 2 other Hull whalers, the Thomas and the Lynx, appear not to have sailed that season.

On 14th February 1927, 12 Rail passengers died in a head-on rail collision near Hull Paragon Station; 40 others were injured. The outgoing Hull to Scarborough train was put on the same track as the train arriving from Withernsea.

TrainCrash1927

February 10th

On 10th February 1644, Sir William Constable of Flamborough led Parliamentary troops from Hull in routing the Royalists at Kilham.

On 10th February 1801, Sir Samuel Standidge, aged 75, died at Thorngumbald. He was born at Bridlington, and at age 19 was taken prisoner by privateers and taken to Rhode Island. Later in life he traded goods to Rhode Island and bought lands in Holderness, building New York Farm, Preston, to mark his financial success in New York.  He is credited with restarting the Hull whaling industry, acting as master of his own whaler.  Sheriff of Hull, Mayor, and warden of Hull Trinity House 5 times. His memorial is  in St Mary’s Lowgate, Hull.

On 10th February 1866, 6 days after running aground on the Isle of Juist, Germany, 15 people were rescued from the rigging of the ‘Excelsior’ of Hull, where they survived without food and water. Mrs Newton was considered a hero for her support of her fellow survivors.

On 10th February 1871, at least 70 mariners lost their lives in Bridlington Bay in the Great Gale, including 6 lifeboatmen. 23 vessels were lost. There is a mass grave in the Bridlington Priory churchyard, and an annual Fishermen’s Service was held for 100 years.

On 10th February 1893, Revd Francis Orpen Morris died aged 82 at Nunburnholme. Vicar at Nafferton 1844-1854, rector of Nunburnholme to 1893. Irish-born naturalist and author of children’s books, and books on natural history and architecture. Anti-feminist, anti-hunting and opposed to Darwinism. (b25.3.1810)

On 10th February 1898, Commander Cave, of Humber guard ship Galatea, rescued the crew of SS Marbella in the River Humber, near Humber Dock, Hull. The Marbella had problems with its steering gear, and almost collided with 2 ships before hitting the Galatea. The only passenger had to swim to safety, and the Marbella’s cargo of 41 horses were all lost. The Galatea was itself later stranded on the Hebbles sandbank, but refloated later.

Saml Standidge memorial

January 5th

On 5th January 1304, Sir John de Sutton was pardoned, because of his military service to King Edward II in Scotland, for taking hares in the King’s warren of Holderness.

On 5th January 1773, Mrs Bridget Briggs of Sproatley died and left money in her will to educate 10 poor boys and 10 poor girls in the village.

On 5th January 1824, the Port of Hull Society for the Religious Instruction of Seamen set up a nautical school for seamen and apprentices to receive practical and academic instruction, open several evenings a week. Many of the early students were illiterate.

On 5th January 1836, Captain James Clark Ross left Hull on an expedition to resupply 11 whaling vessels trapped in Arctic ice. About 600 men were in the overwintering ships.

On 5th January 1941, Amy Johnson, while flying for the Air Transport Auxiliary from Blackpool to RAF Kidlington, went off course in bad weather and bailed out as her aircraft crashed.  An attempt was made to rescue her, but she died and her body was never recovered. There is still, however, controversy surrounding the circumstances of her death in the Thames.

AmyJohnson death

December 20th

On 20th December 1584, Rev John Lothropp was born and baptised in Etton. He became a Congregationalist minister, was imprisoned and released on condition he did not preach or hold meetings. He took some of his congregation with him to America and is considered one of the first American spiritual leaders.

On 20th December 1661, an Act of Parliament was passed to separate the church and parish of Holy Trinity, Hull from Hessle, setting out the responsibility of the town for assessing and collecting a rate from which they should pay the vicar £100 a year.

On 20th December 1830, the Mayor of Hull started a collection for Greenland whalers and their families, after a disastrous season of ship losses and low catches.

 

Holy Trinity