A brief record of the most famous lives in local history. Each of the persons named was born in the East Riding, and living persons are excluded.
Saint John of Beverley. Born at Harpham, and died in A.D. 721. Became Bishop of Hexham and of York. Was canonised by the Church in 1037, and afterwards became one of the most famous saints of the north of England. See pages 135–140.
Alured, or Alfred, of Beverley. Born at Beverley in 1109. Became Treasurer of the Church of St. John of Beverley, and Abbot of the Cistercian Abbey of Rievaulx. Wrote a history in Latin, entitled Annals of the Deeds of the Kings of Britain, and a Life of St. John of Beverley.
Roger of Howden. Born at Howden, and died in 1201. Became a Clerk, or Secretary, to Henry II., and later a King’s Justice for Yorkshire. Was the author of a Latin history of England from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201.
William of Newburgh. Born at Bridlington in 1136. Was brought up at the Priory of Newburgh, and wrote in Latin a History of English Affairs, which takes rank as ‘the finest historical work left to us by an Englishman of the twelfth century.’ See page 269.
Peter of Langtoft. Born at Langtoft, and died in 1307. Was a Canon of Bridlington Priory, and author of a Chronicle of England, written in Anglo-Norman verse. See page 269.
John Hotham. Born at Scorborough, and died in 1336. Became Bishop of Ely, and twice Lord Chancellor of England.
John of Bridlington. Born at Thwing about 1324. Was successively Precentor, Almoner, Sub-Prior, and Prior of Bridlington Priory. Became so famed for his piety that after his death many miracles were believed to be wrought at his tomb.
Sir Michael de la Pole, first Earl of Suffolk. Born at Hull, and died in 1389. Became, successively, Mayor of Hull and Admiral of the King’s Fleets in the Northern Parts, a Knight of the Garter, Lord Chancellor of England, and the first Earl of Suffolk. His is the first example in British history of a prosperous merchant’s becoming a peer of the realm. See page 116.
Walter Skirlaw, LL.D., Born at South Skirlaugh, and died in 1406. Became Bishop, successively, of Lichfield, Bath, and Durham. Built the tower and chapter house of Howden, and Skirlaugh Chapel—now the parish church. Also built several bridges in the north of England, and helped to build the central tower of York Minster.
John Alcock, D.D. Born at Hull about 1428. Became Bishop, successively, of Rochester, Worcester, and Ely. Was a Privy Councillor and twice Lord Chancellor of England. Founded the Hull Grammar School and Jesus College, Cambridge. See pages 270–271.
John Fisher, D.D. Born at Beverley in 1459. Became Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, and Bishop of Rochester. Was famed for his ‘grete and singular virtue,’ and was beheaded on Tower Hill for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII. as the ‘Supreme Head of the Church.’ Was largely instrumental in founding St. John’s College, Cambridge, and formed a library which was considered to be ‘the finest in Christendom.’ See pages 270–272.
Sir John Pickering, Kt. Born at Flamborough in 1544. Was the son of very poor parents, yet became a Privy Councillor and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. Was twice chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
Sir John Lister, Kt. Born at Hull in 1585. Became twice Mayor of Hull, and was five times elected M.P. for his native city. Entertained King Charles I. on his visit to Hull in 1639. Founded in 1642 the ‘Lister Hospital’ for six poor men and six poor women.
Luke Fox. Born at Hull in 1586. Was a Younger Brother of the Trinity House, and revived the attempt to discover the North-West Passage, whence he gained the nickname ‘North-West Fox.’ Explored in 1631 the Channel west of Baffin Land which now bears his name.
Thomas Lamplugh, D.D. Born at Octon, near Thwing, in 1615. Was a Fellow of Queen’s College, Oxford, and became successively Dean of Rochester, Bishop of Exeter, and Archbishop of York.
Sir Philip Monkton, Kt. Born at Cavil, near Howden, about 1620. Was a devoted supporter of King Charles I., for whom he fought bravely at the battles of Atherton Moor, Naseby, and Rowton Heath. Was knighted for his bravery in 1644.
Andrew Marvell. Born at Winestead in 1621. Was an ‘old boy’ of the Hull Grammar School, became Assistant Latin Secretary to the Council of State, and was M.P. for Hull for nineteen years. Also gained considerable reputation as a poet, but is best remembered as ‘a pure-minded patriot in the most corrupt times.’ See pages 272–275.
Christopher Nesse. Born at North Cave in 1621. Was the son of a husbandman, but became a notable Non-conformist preacher, and suffered much persecution after the Restoration.
Thomas Watson, D.D. Born at North Ferriby in 1637. Was the son of a seaman, and an ‘old boy’ of the Hull Grammar School. Became a Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge, and afterwards Bishop of St. David’s. Was a liberal benefactor to his old school, and rebuilt the alms-houses known as ‘Watson’s Hospital.’
Richard Boyle, K.G., third Earl of Burlington. Born at Londesborough in 1695. Was Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and Lord High Treasurer of Ireland. Became famous as an amateur architect. Rebuilt Burlington House, London, and carried out large schemes of plantation at Londesborough Hall.
Richard Osbaldeston, D.D. Born at Hunmanby, and died in 1764. Became successively Dean of York, Bishop of Carlisle, and Bishop of London.
John Green, D.D. Born at Beverley in 1706. Was an “old boy” of Beverley Grammar School, and became Dean of Lincoln and later Bishop of Lincoln. In 1772 was the only Bishop in the House of Lords ‘to vote in favour of the Bill for the relief of Protestant Dissenters.’
William Mason. Born at Hull in 1724. Was a son of the Vicar of Holy Trinity and became a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and Chaplain to the King. Gained considerable renown as a poet, and would have been appointed Poet Laureate but for his political opinions.
Sir Samuel Standidge, Kt. Born at Bridlington Quay in 1725. Took a leading part in establishing the Greenland Fishery Trade, and fitted out a ship for the discovery of the North Pole. Was knighted when Mayor of Hull in 1795, and was four times elected Warden of the Hull Trinity House.
Sir Christopher Sykes, Bart. Born at Roos in 1749. Was distinguished as a mathematician, architect, banker, and M.P. for Beverley. Refused a baronetcy from Mr. Pitt, but asked that it should be given to his father, the rector of Roos.
Robert Thew. Born at Patrington in 1758. Was the son of an innkeeper, and became engraver to the Prince of Wales.
William Wilberforce. Born at Hull in 1759. Became M.P. for his native town at the age of twenty-one, and was for twenty-eight years one of the two M.P.’s for Yorkshire. Devoted his whole life and all his wealth to obtaining the Abolition of Slavery in the British Colonies, the Act for which was passed a few days after his death in 1833. See pages 275–279.
Adrian Hardy Haworth. Born at Hull in 1767. Became a renowned botanist and entomologist, and formed a collection of 40,000 insects, the most important of which are now in the British Museum.
Sir Benjamin F. Outram, Kt., M.D. Born at Kilham about 1770. Entered the Medical Naval Service, and became Medical Inspector of Naval Hospitals. Was knighted in 1850.
Sir Mark Masterman Sykes, Bart. Born at Sledmere in 1771. Was M.P. for the city of York for thirteen years. RaisedRaised in 1802 two squadrons of Yeomanry, known as the ‘East Yorkshire Wold Yeomanry.’ Was a great lover of books, and formed at Sledmere ‘one of the finest private libraries in England,’ which in 1824 was sold for £20,000.
Sir Tatton Sykes, Bart. Born at Sledmere in 1772. Devoted himself to sheep-farming and the breeding of race-horses, and, by the introduction of bone manure, wrought great improvements in the cultivation of the Wolds. Was a fearless sportsman, and a true specimen of ‘The Fine Old English Gentleman.’ See pages 279–281.
Thomas Jackson. Born at Sancton in 1783. Was the son of a farm labourer, and became ‘in spite of the adverse circumstances of poverty and lack of education,’ a famous Wesleyan divine. Was twice elected President of the Wesleyan Conference.
William Spence, F.R.S. Born at Bishop Burton in 1783. Was an ‘old boy’ of Beverley Grammar School, and became one of the founders of Blundell, Spence, & Co., Ltd., Hull. Was deeply interested in Entomology, and was one of the authors of Kirby and Spence’s Introduction to Entomology, the most popular natural history book of its day.
Sir James Alderson, Kt., M.D., F.R.S. Born at Hull in 1795. Succeeded his father as physician of the Hull Royal Infirmary, and became President of the Royal College of Physicians. Was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1869.
Frederick Huntingdon, M.D. Born at Hull in 1796. Was surgeon of the Hull Royal Infirmary for thirty-four years, and is recorded on his monument in Christ Church, Hull, as ‘one of Nature’s gentlemen, whose life was passed in doing good.’
James Hall. Born at Scorborough in 1801. Was a ‘model country squire ... and a devoted upholder of English field sports,’ and held the Mastership of the Holderness Hunt for thirty years.
Sir Henry Cooper, Kt., M.D. Born at Hull in 1807. Was physician of the Hull Royal Infirmary for twenty-seven years, and as Mayor of Hull was knighted when Queen Victoria visited the town in 1854. Was the first Chairman of the Hull School Board, and has his memory perpetuated in the ‘Sir Henry Cooper Schools.’
Thomas Earle. Born at Hull in 1810. Was a gold medallist of the Royal AcademyAcademy, and designed the statue of George the Fourth in Trafalgar Square, London, and that of Queen Victoria in Pearson Park, Hull, beside many others.
Sir James Hudson, K.C.B. Born at Bessingby in 1810. Entered the Government Service and held many important posts in the United States, South America and Italy. Was created a Knight Commander of the Bath in 1855.
Henry Dawson. Born at Hull in 1811. Was the son of poor parents, and became a self-taught artist. Struggled hard against adversity, and gained renown as a landscape painter only towards the end of his life.
Hugh Edwin Strickland. Born at Reighton in 1811. Was a notable student of natural history, and became Reader in Geology at the Oxford University. Was accidentally killed in a railway tunnel.
Charles Henry Bromby. Born at Hull in 1814. Was a son of the Vicar of Holy Trinity, and an ‘old boy’ of the Hull Grammar School. Became the first Bishop of Tasmania.
Sir Joseph Henry Gilbert, LL.D. Born at Hull in 1817. Became a distinguished scientist, and was knighted by Queen Victoria for his discoveries in agricultural chemistry.
Humphry Sandwith, C.B., D.C.L. Born at Bridlington in 1822. Travelled widely, became Inspector-General of Hospitals in the Russo-Turkish War, and helped to defend the fortress of Kars. Was decorated by Queen Victoria as a Companion of the Order of the Bath.
John Bacchus Dykes, Mus. Doc. Born at Hull in 1823. Was a grandson of the Vicar of St. John’s, and became Minor Canon and Precentor of Durham Cathedral. Composed more than two hundred hymn tunes, and was joint editor of Hymns, Ancient and Modern. After his death, a public subscription of £10,000 was raised in his honour to found musical scholarships.
Charles Alfred Lee, M.D. Born at Hull in 1825. Took a large share in the support of the Hull Royal Infirmary and the Newland Orphan Homes, and, on his death in January 1912, bequeathed £150,000 for the foundation of ‘Rest Houses’ for the aged poor.
Sir William Christopher Leng. Born at Hull in 1825. Was an ‘old boy’ of the Hull Grammar School. Took up journalism after some years spent as a chemist, and became the editor of the Sheffield Daily Telegraph. Was knighted for his public services in 1887.
The Hon. Sir John Hall, K.C.M.G. Born at Hull in 1824. Emigrated to New Zealand, entered Parliament, and became Premier in 1879. Was decorated by Queen Victoria as a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George.
John Robert Mortimer. Born at Fimber in 1825. Devoted more than fifty years of a long life to the most thorough exploration of the earthworks and burial mounds around Driffield, and did more than anyone else to extend our knowledge of the early inhabitants of the East Yorkshire wolds.
Charles Henry Wilson, first Baron Nunburnholme. Born at Hull in 1833. Became, in 1867, senior partner in the shipping firm of Thomas Wilson, Sons & Co., and built up the largest privately-owned fleet of steamships in the world. Sat in Parliament as M.P. for his native town for thirty-two years, and was raised to the peerage in 1906. See pages 280–283.
Arthur Wilson. Born at Hull in 1836. Became a partner in the firm of Thomas Wilson, Sons & Co. in 1867. Was a great sportsman, and was M.F.H. to the Holderness Hunt for twenty-five years. See pages 280–283.
1. Thríth-yunger
2. The weight of this tooth is 9½ lbs. One side has been worn down and polished smooth by the friction of the ice in passing over it.
3. Groups of circular pit-dwellings have been discovered at Bempton and at Atwick—the latter by Mr. William Morfitt, whose house at Atwick contains many ‘treasures’ which he has unearthed in the district around Hornsea.
4. The ‘Devil’s Arrows’ is the name by which three similar huge stones are known at Boroughbridge.
5. Pronounced Eb-oo-ráh-kum.
6. Pronounced almost as Yóv-er-wik.
7. Eń-gla, Sék-sa, and Yóo-ta, in pronunciation.
8. Pronounced, respectively, toon and hahm.
9. Pronounced, respectively, Wóh-den-ez-dag, Tée-wes-dag, and Frée-ga-dag.
10. É-orl, ké-orl, and thái-ow in pronunciation.
11. The place of meeting was either York or Londesborough.
12. Kóh-i-fi in pronunciation.
13. Pronounced week and beer, respectively.
14. There are more Danish place names in Lincolnshire than in all the rest of England south of the Humber. North of the Humber the largest number is to be found in the East Riding.
15. Pronounced exactly like the Anglian word wīc.
16. Pronounced yarl
17. This is the old Norse word for our ‘Villain!’
18. The holmgang was a duel fought according to fixed rules on a piece of ground specially marked out for the purpose. In earlier times it was fought on a holm, or island, whence the name.
19. Pronounced Yór-wik.
20. To ‘gang’ meant to walk, and Rolf the Ganger was given this nickname because, being extra tall, he found it more comfortable to walk when on land than to ride one of the small ponies of his native country.
21. Pronounced Kóp-si-ga.
22. Tharlesthorp is one of the ‘lost towns of the Humber.’ Its probable site is marked on the map on the opposite page.
23. A ‘carucate’ was the amount of land that a team of eight oxen could plough each year. It varied in size according to the nature of the soil, but may be roughly taken as being equal to 120 acres. An oxgang was one-eighth of this.
24. The value of money was in 1086 approximately twenty times its value at the present day. The Domesday ‘pound’ meant, not a coin, but a pound weight of silver.
25. The following are the internal areas of the three largest churches in Britain:—
| St. Nicholas’, Great Yarmouth | 25,023 | sq. ft. |
| St. Michael’s, Coventry | 24,015 | " |
| Holy Trinity, Hull | 21,756 | " |
26. The brickwork of the chancel and transepts of Holy Trinity, Hull, is probably the ‘earliest existing example of mediæval brickwork in England.’ These portions of the church were built during the first quarter of the fourteenth century.
28. This was a chapel, dedicated to the ‘Holy Trinitie,’ which James Helward, a townsman, founded in 1285. It stood where the chancel of Holy Trinity church now stands, and was pulled down when the present transepts and chancel were built a few years later.
29. In 1280 the monks of Meaux owned 11,000 sheep and 1000 beasts.
30. Close to this Carthusian monastery Sir Michael also built—in 1384—a Maison Dieu, or Hospital, for twenty-six poor men and women, ‘feeble and old.’ Its buildings were pulled down during the second siege of Hull, but afterwards replaced by others. This is the ‘Charterhouse’ that exists to-day, the present buildings dating from 1780.
31. The prayer with which the daily life began was this: ‘O Lord God Almighty, Who hast brought us to the beginning of this day, so assist us by Thy grace, that we may not fall this day into sin, but that our words may be spoken and our thoughts and deeds directed according to Thy just commands.’
32. A violin with three strings.
34. The name Minster became attached in mediæval times to the great churches which were not parish churches but were governed by a College, or body of secular canons.
35. A service held in memory of the death of a benefactor.
36. An old spelling of ‘Alfred.’
37. Acknowledged.
38. Dagger.
39. A flecher, or fletcher, was an arrow-maker.
Under such circumstances as these, it is not wonderful that complaints of the misuse of sanctuary rights became frequent. In 1324 ten prisoners escaped from Newgate Jail, of whom five took refuge in one or other of the London churches, and thence escaped out of the country. In 1376 Parliament complained to the King that certain people got money or goods on loan, made pretended gifts of all their property to their friends, then went into sanctuary, and stayed there till their creditors were glad to accept some small portion of the debt in payment for the whole; after which they came out, received back their pretended gifts, and lived merrily on their ill-gotten wealth. Cases even occurred in which thieves and murderers left their place of sanctuary at nightfall, committed fresh crimes during the night, and returned to the ‘chair of peace’ again before daybreak.
So great did the scandal of this misuse of the privileges afforded by sanctuaries eventually become, that in 1623 Parliament passed a law that:
No sanctuarie or priviledge of sanctuary shal be hereafter admitted or allowed in any case.
The law was again passed in 1697, but it was not until the reign of George I. that the last sanctuary in our country was demolished.
40. The total cost of the building operations, from the surveying of the ground to the ‘roseynyng’ of the doors, was £96 17s. 4½d.—about £2000 in our money.
41. The first Monday after ‘Twelfth Night,’ i.e. the Monday following January 6th.
42. The old ‘bull ring’ to which bulls were tethered at a bull-baiting in the market-place of Kilham is now built into the bank of the churchyard wall.
43. The French name for slippers.
44. Horse loaves were coarse bean bread, something like the modern dog-biscuit, and used as a winter food for horses.
45. This third demand resulted in the formation of the ‘Council of the North,’ which met at York during the next hundred years.
46. Sanctuary.
48. Jervaulx Abbey, in the North Riding.
49. A foder equals 2400 lbs.
50. Hundredweight.
51. The church of the Black Friary and the tower of St. Mary’s Church are very plainly shown in the older plan given on page 165.
52. In 1681 the North Blockhouse was abandoned, and a new Citadel built enclosing the Castle and the South Blockhouse. The whole was demolished about the middle of last century, with the exception of a small turret, which still remains built into the walls of the Humber Transport Company, but is shortly to be taken down and rebuilt in the West Park.
53. The King knighted his host during his visit.
54. In 1639 the military stores at the King’s Manor in Hull included 50 cannon, 200,000 muskets, carbines, pistols, and swords, 1,800 spades, shovels, and wheelbarrows, with powder, shot, and match to the value of upwards of £6000. Other stores of armour, powder, cannon balls, and musket shot purchased in Holland were added in the same year.
55. This passage, which connects Blackfriargate and Little Humber Street, was, in the seventeenth century, the only entrance to the town from the landing-place on the Humber. It is less than seven feet wide.
56. Rabbets are grooves cut in the edge of a piece of wood.
57. A reprint was published in 1905 by A. Brown & Sons, Ltd.
58. Small loaves of white bread.
59. Herons and Bitterns are known to-day in the East Riding as ‘herrin-sews’ and ‘buttherbumps.’
61. The floor of the Council Chamber at the Hull Trinity House is still strewn with rushes, these being changed about every six weeks.
62. The Prince was one of the five engines employed on the new line. The fastest non-stop run in the British Isles to-day is that made on the N.E.R. from Darlington to York, when 44-1/4 miles are covered in 43 minutes—an average speed of 61.7 miles per hour.
63. The Hull Dock Company became extinct in 1893, when its property was purchased by the North Eastern Railway Company.
64. The Albert Dock and the William Wright Dock are now combined into one, known as the Albert and William Wright Dock.
65. It is expected that this amount will be greatly increased within the next few years by the opening of new collieries around Doncaster, and the tapping of a new ‘Eastern Coalfield,’ which is believed to extend deep down under the Humber and the Wash, right out into the North Sea.
66. The first steamboat built in England was constructed in a yard off Wincolmlee, Hull, and was launched in the river Hull. This was in the year 1787, and the engine was patented the next year. The makers, Messrs. Furness & Ashton, afterwards built a larger steam-boat, which was put together in London and bought by the Prince Regent, who rewarded them with a pension of £70 each.
67.
| nobbut=only. | boon=ready. |
| helm=shed. | happen=possibly. |
| far-end=opposite side. | mud=might. |
| doots=fears. | whahl=until. |
68. Yat-stowp=gate-post.
69. The local pronunciation of ‘acre’ in the East Riding is yakker; so that the old sound of the word has been here kept, even though its meaning has universally changed.
70. In reading these, it should be remembered that the Norse J=y, AU=ow, EI or EY=ai, and V=w.
71. Hedon sent two members to Parliament from the time of Edward I. until 1832, when it was disfranchised as one of the ‘rotten boroughs.’ Beverley also was represented by two members till 1870.
72. This mace dates from the reign of Henry VI. In the enlarged portion are shown the lions of England quartered with the fleur-de-lis of France.
73. The meetings of the Hull City Council, and the Beverley, Bridlington and Hedon Town Councils are held in their respective Town Halls.
Sets out every Day about Half-past Three in the Afternoon, from Mr. BAKER’s, the Cross-Keys, in the Market-Place, HULL, and arrives at Mr. PULLEINE’s, the Tavern in YORK, in SIX HOURS; returns from thence about Half-past Twelve at Night, or immediately after the Receipt of the London Mail, and arrives at HULL early in the Morning.
No more than Four Inside and Two Outside Passengers will be taken.
Parcels from 3d. to 6d. if above a Stone Weight One Halfpenny per Pound.
For Places or Entry of Parcels, apply to Henry Cawood, at the Post-Office, Hull, Mr. Pulleine, York; Mr. Bland, Beverley, and to Mr. Gill, King’s Arms, Market-Weighton, from those Towns respectfully for Hull, York, London, or Edinburgh.
Conveyance may be secured for Passengers and Parcels from Hull to London (Fare 3l. 13s. 6d.) by the Mail Coach, the whole Way, except the Places be previously disposed of at York, in which Case Mr. Pulleine engages to send the Passengers forward in a Post-Chaise at the same Expence and accompanying the Mail Coach; the same from Hull to Edinburgh, 3l. 13s. 6d. or any intermediate Places at Fares in the Proportion of Distance.
The Public are respectfully informed that this RAILWAY will be OPENED THROUGHOUT from HULL to the JUNCTION with the LEEDS and SELBY RAILWAY, at Selby, on WEDNESDAY, the First Day of July next, and that PASSENGERS and PARCELS only will be conveyed on THURSDAY, July 2nd; thus presenting a direct Railway Conveyance from Hull to Selby, Leeds, and York without change of Carriage.
| AT SEVEN O’CLOCK, A.M. | AT THREE O’CLOCK, P.M. |
| AT TEN O’CLOCK, A.M. | AT SIX O’CLOCK, P.M. |
The Trains from LEEDS and YORK, for HULL, will depart from those Places at the same Hours; and Passengers and Parcels may be Booked through at the Leeds, York, and Hull Stations. Arrangements are also in progress for Booking Passengers to Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, and London.
| First Class. | Second Class. | Third Class. | |
| Hull to Selby | 4s. 6d. | 4s. 0d. | 2s. 6d. |
| Hull to York | 8s. 0d. | 6s. 6d. | 4s. 6d. |
| Hull to Leeds | 8s. 0d. | 6s. 6d. | 4s. 6d. |
No Fees are allowed to be taken by the Guards, Porters, or any other Servants of the Company.
The Trains, both up and down, will call at the Stations on the Line, viz.:—Hessle, Ferriby, Brough, Staddlethorpe, Eastrington, Howden, and Cliff.
Arrangements for carrying Goods, Cattle, Sheep, &c., will be completed in a short time, of which due Notice will be given.
By Order,
GEORGE LOCKING, Secretary.
Railway Office, Hull, June 24th, 1840.