Friday 15 March 2024

Howden Hall East Yorkshire

It's a sunny breezy day - such a relief from the incessant rain - and although the snowdrops have  all finished the daffodils are looking good. A friend came yesterday and we walked around with her phone app identifying what birds were about. Not only did it identify the various types of tits and the wren but also a tree creeper which I know we often had but had not seen  so far this year. And we could also hear the wood pecker hammering away in the ash tree.

Last week I gave a talk at Skelton to the small history group which meets there about Howden Hall. It is well hidden behind its [listed] wall and although there is a lot of information about it in the Howden an East Riding Market Town book which I wrote several years ago with Ken Powls it was interesting to 'revisit' what I knew of its history.

Originally part of the extensive Metham lands for a time the Howden hall estate was a separate manor called Paradise [meaning an enclosure] owned by a family called Har[t]forth.  It can be traced as being in the ownership in the mid 16th century  of Peter Hartforth  who was the Howden vicar or possibly curate.  

Christopher Hartforth was the high constable in Elizabethan times and in the seventeenth century William Hartforth was the owner of the small manor of Paradise.which in in 1644 consisted of house, barn, stables, orchard, windmill and 3 crofts - about 30 acres in all. 

He sold it to the Belt family of Belby who owned it by 1702.

In that year it was sold to the Worsop family who  originated around Adlingfleet and Luddington. Rev Richard Worsop was vicar of Adlingfleet in the late seventeenth century.

Richard and Sarah Worsop were the first of the family to live at Howden. Richard died in 1723 aged 63 and is buried in Luddington. He is described on the family plaque as 'late of Howden'. His widow Sarah died in 1739 aged 77. 

The plaque tells us that they had four sons and three daughters all of whom died young, other than a daughter Sarah who married Samuel Smith a Hull merchant and died in 1740 and a son Richard. When Richard died  in 1758 aged 67 the Worsop property passed to two distant cousins, John and Hester Arthur.  Richard requested in his will that they take the Worsop name.

William Arthur [1675-1741] of Wadworth near Doncaster had married Hester Worsop in 1704. The Arthur family lived at Alverley Hall/Grange. John Arthur, as requested, changed his name by act of parliament to John Arthur Worsop.

So in July 1778 John Arthur Worsop of Alverley Grange married Sarah Mauleverer at Arncliffe second daughter of Thomas. It is said that he was a gambler and mortgaged many of his lands.

They had three children: Hester, Richard and John.  His wife Sarah died in 1790 and is buried at Luddington. He died 1818 and is also buried at Luddington.

After his death his eldest son Richard, who had served in the 11th Dragoons,  took up permanent residence at Howden Hall.

His sister Hester Arthur Worsop had married John Parker Toulson in 1804 at Luddington. They lived at Skipwith Hall.

His brother John Arthur Worsop (1784-1851) had also served in the army during the Napoleonic wars. He married Harriet Hesse Topham in 1806 at Thwing. She was the  daughter of Major Topham of Wold cottage She died in 1810. 

Her obituary described her as having 'the most affable and engaging manners, and  that beauty and countenance, which attracted the notice of all who saw her. She died at the age of 23 years, and has left two infant daughters—as yet unconscious of their loss'.

By 1841 John was living at Landford Manor House in Wiltshire.  The house was also occupied by his son-in-law William Trollope, married to his daughter Maria, and their family. He died on 21 May 1851. 

Back in Howden the story of Richard is not straightfoward. 

Richard Arthur Worshop 

He was educated at Harrow and Magdalen College Oxford where he matriculated  in 1800 aged 19.  He, like his younger brother, served in the 11th Dragoons. So far quite straightforward.  We know he married Mary Ann Moat  at St George's Hanover Square in London in February 1819.

But it seems as if he and Mary were already married [ I cannot find the marriage] as they had at least 6/7 children already. The eldest was Sarah born in July 1812 and the youngest Valentine born in July 1819 [after the marriage]. All these children were baptised in Sculcoates, now a part of Hull.

And who was Mary Ann Moat? We know that her parents were William and Elizabeth [nee Pool] - both were living at Howden Hall in 1841 and a Mary Ann Moat was baptised in Beverley in 1792.

So did Richard and Mary have a first 'secret' marriage'? Was she 'not suitable'? Did Richard's father not approve? We shall never know.

 Richard Arthur Worsop







Mary Ann Worsop nee Moat





But what we do know is that after they moved into the hall they had a further nine children including one born in Edinburgh in 1830 where they had a house. Richard died in 1835. Mary Ann died in 1849 and the hall was then sold.






It was bought by John Banks who was a landowner and shipbuilder and  whose family also owned Brackenholme near Hemingbrough. John owned almost 400 acres and a shipyard at Skelton near Howden.

John Banks and his wife Sarah nee Tennant had had 10 children - seven girls and three boys. Their son James died in 1874 at Wressle castle,  Sarah died in 1877, John died in March 1778 aged 82 and only a fortnight later their son John also died.

John's obituary is below.

John Banks, of Howden Hall.— We regret to report tho death of Mr. John Banks of Howden Hall, which took place on Tuesday. Mr. Banks was one of the oldest inhabitants of ihe town, and  was well-known and esteemed throughout the entire district. He commenced life in comparatively humble circumstances, and raised himself to a position of affluence. ln addition to his Howden estate, he was also a large owner of property in Goole, Selby, and otber places. He was 82 years of age

His memorial and others to the Banks family are in Hemingbrough church.

Then on 28th February 1879 John, son of James, who was only 25 died.

After this the whole of the Howden hall estate was put up for sale in October 1879

Important Property Sale.—On Thursday week, Mr. Robert Brown offered for sale by auction, at Bowman's Hotel, the Howden Hall estate, late the property of Mr. John Banks which included a number of houses, and 137 acres of land. There were in all 27 lots, of which Lot 21, the most important, comprised “the hall, outbuildings pleasure grounds, grass land adjoining:—in all, 55 acres. This was offered subject to the life interest of the Misses Banks and a charge of £3000. The highest bid was £3,600 by Mr. J. Hawke, but the lot was withdrawn. 

Several of the detached dwelling-houses were sold at £400, or rather over; some of the smaller lots were sold at fair prices. The bidding for the land was of a very much less spirited character, only one field being bought at the sale, the price being £200. Several small plots of  ground  sold remarkably well, one of about  three quarters of an acre being knocked down for £260. Mr. Henry Green was solicitor for the vendor, and the attendance was the largest ever known at a property sale at Howden.

In April 1881  Miss Ann Banks aged 45 was living alone in the hall  with a cook and a housemaid. But in September that year at Howden she married Henry Blanchard Anderson a timber merchant a few years older than her whose business was at Howdendyke. Henry and Annie lived lived at the hall until her death in 1897.

Henry died in 1899. His obituary reads

Mr H. B. Anderson, of  Howden Hall, died suddenly yesterday morning the age of 71. Though a native Fimber. near Driffield, he had for over forty years been resident Howden, where he successfully carried the business of a timber merchant. He was a Justice the Peace for the Riding and chairman of the local Conservative Association. For some years he was churchwarden.  He was a Past Master of St Cuthbert's Lodge of Freemasons.

Both Henry and Ann were buried at  Hemingbrough.

In early 1900 the hall was advertised for sale but had no takers.

A report from February 1900 reads that 

at the Station Hotel, Hall, on Thursday afternoon, the Howden Hall Estate was offered for sale by public auction. The auctioneer entertained the company to whiskey and cigars, and then spent half-an-hour in endeavouring to induce a bid, but was reluctantly compelled to declare the sale closed without one offer having been made

The contents were put up for sale in March 1900

Mr. JAMES GLEW is favoured with instructions from the Exors. of the late Henry Blanchard Anderson, Esq., J.P, to SELL BY AUCTION, on Thursday, March 29th, the Valuable Furnishings. Pictures, Electro-plate, Glass, etc., in the Drawing Room, Dining Room, Breakfast Room, six Bedrooms, Bath Room, Box Room, Entrance Hall, Wine cellar, Pantries, Passages, Office, Kitchen, Scullery, Garden, Greenhouse, Yard, etc. 

There is no mention here of the ballroom which is there now. A bit of a mystery as to who had it built and why?

 
Howden Hall painted by local artist Frances Hutchinson

By 1901 Mrs Elizabeth Wilkinson was living at the hall. She was a 45 year old widow of independent means. Also there was her 17 year old niece Dorothy, a cook, a house maid and a kitchenmaid. Mrs Wilkinson was, before her marriage, Elizabeth Chaplin whose family were large landowners in the Bubwith area. She  had married John William Wilkinson, fourth son of the vicar of Bubwith. He had died in 1899.

Mrs Wilkinson lived at the hall until her death in 1943. She maintained her interest in the Bubwith area and seems to have lived quietly in Howden.

In 1903 for example she gave new carved oak choir stalls to Bubwith Parish Church. The work, which cost about £200, was carried out by Messrs. Jones and Willis, of Birmingham, under the supervision of Mr. M. Wilson, of Sheffield, and included two prayer desks for the clergy.

After the death of Mrs Wilkinson the Howden hall estate was bought by James Edward 'Jimmy' Mortimer and his wife Mary. They had moved from Knedlington manor and he  was something of an entrepreneur having previously owned the Howden airship station.

But soon after moving from Knedlington he died in 1946. His widow Mary died in 1951 leaving the hall to Dr and Mrs Mackenzie of Newport.

The Yorkshire Post reported in May 1951 that 

A doctor and his wife of Newport, East Yorkshire, are undecided whether to occupy Howden Hall, with 52 acres of parkland and gardens, together with two cottages and outbuildings, left to them by the late Mrs. Mary Mortimer, who lived there until last February. Mrs Mortimer left £51,287 (net £50.130, duty paid £7,713). Dr. James M. McKenzle and his wife were both friends of Mrs. Mortimer, whom the doctor had attended for the past three years. Mrs Mortimer's husband died about four years ago. shortly alter they went to live at the Hall. Mrs. McKenzic told "The Yorkshire Post" last night that Mrs. Mortimer had hinted that she might leave the Hall them, but it was not confirmed until after her death. Dr. McKcnzie has been practising the Howden district for about 25 years. 

The Mackenzies remained at Newport and later sold a large part of the estate to the East Riding council who built a new secondary school on the site.

The hall itself has had other subsequent occupiers - bank managers Harry Carlisle and the Harrops and latterly Peter White and his family.



Monday 22 January 2024

Family connections - Jenkinson and Nagley

 We have had a week of snow - very little here - and ice and have now had yet another 'named' storm. How did we ever manage when we looked at the sky to see if it was going to rain and put on a woolly hat when it was cold?

In the garden the snowdrops are just showing white and a few daffodils are in bud but wisely they are waiting for a little warmth.  I see them when I walk Molly who is an old dog now - she was a puppy when I began to write my blog- she likes lying in her bed next to the radiator and has to be coaxed out for a walk.

Both my history groups have now started and we are catching up after the Xmas break.So often you can pull a thread and you never know where you are going to end up. This was the case when I received an e mail from a gentleman whose  grandmother was brought up in Goole and who was a very proficient musician.

Maud Hopkinson was born in Hunslet in 1884 but when she was 6 years old her father died of tuberculosis and she was ‘adopted’ by her aunt and uncle.  Her uncle, Alfred Whittaker, was a professional sign writer and also a musician who played the violin and the piano.  

In  June 1913 an article about her appeared in the Goole Saturday Journal. This is an extract.

Miss Hopkinson, of 11 Jefferson Street, Goole, has lived in a musical atmosphere all her life.  At an early age she made her debut as a pianist, and when twelve years old she secured her first professional engagement. This was to play at a dance at Saltmarshe Hall. She was assisted by her uncle, Mr Alfred Whitaker, who played the violin, and was complimented by the company for whom she played. Among the guests, and about her own age, was Miss Saltmarshe, who is now Lady Deramore. Needless to say, the half guinea Miss Hopkinson earned was greatly treasured. Following this she received similar engagements, but after a few years her taste for classical music became too strong to allow her to continue playing for dances, and naturally she declined to undertake any more work of that kind.

About this time, Mr Rogers, a musician from Doncaster, expressed a desire to form a ladies’ orchestral society in Goole. Miss Hopkinson was so much in sympathy with this idea that she pluckily choose to learn the double bass, an essential instrument to the orchestra, yet one upon which few ladies desire to devote their practice. She soon became a good player, but unfortunately no ladies’ society was formed owing to the insufficient number of members. 

However Miss Hopkinson’s energies in this direction were not wasted, as she was invited to join the Goole Amateur Orchestral Society, and on several occasions she assisted at their concerts. Finding the double bass rather clumsy, and hardly suitable for solo work, the ‘cello next claimed Miss Hopkinson’s attention. She became a useful member of the Orchestral Society, and also assisted the Goole Operatic Society in the production of their operas - ‘Trial by Jury’, ‘Pirates of Penzance’ and ‘Les Cloches de Cornville’. 

When the Maidstone Violin Classes were formed at the Boothferry Road Boys’ and National Schools, with Mr Whitaker as instructor, Miss Hopkinson assisted.  A well known Goole violinist to whom Miss Hopkinson gave his first lessons at these classes was Master S. Nagley. She soon discovered his natural ability, and although he joined the class at a later date than the majority he easily became the leading boy.

At the present time Miss Hopkinson is best known as a pianist and organist. Her later pianoforte tuition was received from Herr Muller, Mus. Bac., under whom she studied harmony and counterpoint for two years. She was a prize winner at Pontefract Music Festival on two occasions, being successful in the class for pianoforte accompaniment at sight.

 Following a course of organ lessons under Mr Arthur Whitaker she obtained the post of organist at the United Methodist Church, and as an accompanist to the prize choir of that church she is well known as a very capable worker, and has played a number of oratorios.

 As a mark of appreciation of her untiring efforts on their behalf, the members of the choir presented her with a gold watch in January of last year.

She is a member of the Royal College of Organists, and succeeded in passing the practical section of the associateship examination, held in London last July. Her coach for this work was Dr Eaglesfield Hull, F.R.C.O., Principle of the Huddersfield College of Music. Besides a year’s organ tuition under so eminent a master, Miss Hopkinson has attended lectures in London, Huddersfield and Manchester, and has heard some of the best English and continental organists, including a recital at Lucerne Cathedral.


Three years later Maud married Walter Tom Jenkinson, a farmer from Gribthorpe, as reported in the Goole Times in June 1916.  


The  Boothferry Road chapel on the right where Maud Hopkinson played the organ and where she was married. It was damaged by bombing in the war in 1942 and was demolished in 1962.


 A very pretty wedding, and one of considerable interest to lovers of music and admirers of the high musical service at the Boothferry Road United Methodist Church, to which Miss Hopkinson has been so valuable a contributor, was solemnised at the United Methodist Church, 


 The bride was Miss Maud Murdina Hopkinson, daughter of Mrs Hopkinson, Dunhill Road, Goole, and the late Mr Jas Hopkinson, and the adopted daughter and niece of Mr Alf Whitaker, of 11 Jefferson Street.

 The bridegroom was Mr Walter Tom Jenkinson, of The Beeches, Gribthorpe, youngest son of Mrs Jenkinson and the late Mr Edward Jenkinson, of Gribthorpe.

         

 The chief bridesmaid was Miss Mobbs (Clifton Gardens), an old friend. There were four junior attendants; Miss Mary Alden (Foggathorpe), niece of the bridegroom, and Miss Daisy Hopkinson, niece of the bride, Master Charlie Patchett (Yokefleet), and Master John Jenkinson (Howden), nephews of the bridegroom.


         The happy pair were the recipients of many handsome and valuable presents, which included a massive silver candelabra, the gift of the members of the church and congregation, and a rosewood music cabinet from the choir.


         The letter accompanying the present from the choir reads :- 


“Dear Miss Hopkinson, I am desired on behalf of the choir and choirmaster to convey to you on your approaching marriage our most sincere wishes for your future happiness and prosperity. It may have been a foolish thought to adopt, but we had almost begun to think that you were wedded to the organ and proof against any man diverting you from it. But we have had a rude awakening. That any man should have the presumption to come and take you away from our organ and choir is almost unthinkable and some of us are looking forward to meeting the gentleman. However, we desire you to accept this cabinet, not for the face value but as a token of the esteem we have for you, and also as an appreciation of your most valued services so consistently and modestly given to the choir. 



Pictured at Yokefleet are the Patchett family. Seated in the rear is Mrs Alice Patchett, nee Jenkinson, Walter's sister and children George [at the wheel] Charlie, Alice and Eliza


The couple had one daughter, Nora, who became a nurse and who, in 1943 married Alec Innes, a Scottish  surgeon whom she met while working in Leeds.


But this is where the following a thread that I mentioned earlier, comes in. One of the members of the Goole Thursday morning group wondered who this talented young violinist, Master S Nagley was and followed up his life story.


And this story was very interesting but ultimately sad.  


Here is a quick summary but if anyone would like to know more do get in touch. Sam Nagley was born in Leeds in 1896 but later lived with his family in Pasture Road in Goole. His family were Jewish and had fled Russia  before his birth. He attended Alexandra St school in Goole and then Thorne Grammar School  and briefly in 1909 the newly-opened Goole Secondary School. In 1910 he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music and was taught by American born violinist Achille Rivarde, Dr Read, Thomas Dunhill and Frederick Bridge.


He returned to Goole, living in Mount Pleasant and taught music. After the death of his father he moved to Leeds and became part of a thriving Jewish artistic community.  A 1922 portrait of him by artist Jacob Kramer is in the Ben Uri collection and can be seen online


He trained as a doctor at Leeds University and practised in London until, aged 32, he was struck off the medical register. Research suggests that this was because he performed an abortion on his pregnant mistress. Exactly what happened to him then is unknown. He disappeared in the Austrian alps in 1930 and was declared dead in 1938.


One branch of the Nagley family moved to Canada and  a descendant and author, Susan Glickman, wrote a book in 2006 entitled The Violin Lover. It is a fictionalised account of Sam's story. She based her novel on some family information and suggests that Sam walked in the Alps with his violin and was never seen again.


You never know where local history will take you - but with the aid of the internet it is possible to follow  some life stories to their surprising ends. 




Tuesday 2 January 2024

January 2024

Happy New Year to all who read my blog.   I wish it would stop raining as the land is waterlogged and our pond is as high as I have seen it for many years. But on the plus side  I can feel all the snowdrops pushing through as I walk Molly around the wood and there are some daffodils peaking up too.

I have tried to have a computer-less Christmas and have succeeded to some extent although I did manage to produce a short slide show about Howden pubs to go with the history of Howden pubs booklet which I produced with Geoff Taylor just before Christmas and which has sold very well as Christmas presents. Here it is as a You Tube link to my as yet small You Tube channel for those many readers who do not 'do' facebook.



I thought I would include here some accounts of how Christmas and  the New Year was celebrated in times past.

1851 Howden
Howden Church.—On New Year's Eve, according to annual custom, the ringers of the Parish Church ascended tho tower at half-past eleven o'clock, and commenced ringing the old year out; firing with the bells together twelve close volleys, in imitation of the clock striking twelve, which at that time had a most solemn and impressive effect. They then welcomed in the new year of jubilee with a merry series of changes on tho melodious peal of eight bells

1861 Howden
 Christmas Tide.—Frost and snow have this year given to Christmas the old characteristics of' the season, and the ancient customs of bell-ringing, carol singing, and Christmas gifts have been kept up at Kowden as the olden time. Christmas-day, the inmates of the Union House, about 85 in number' were feasted with roast beef and plum pudding, the beef being supplied by Mr. Robert Claybourn, and consisting of the best parts of some remarkably fine beasts fed by Robert Scholfield, Esq., of Sand Hall. Mrs. Clarke, of Knedlington, the Rev. G. Richards, Mr. Wm. Fitch, Mr. and Mrs. Anderton, Mr. aud Mrs. Dix, Mrs. John Taylor, and Mrs. Rigby assisted Mr. and Mrs. Meadley, the master and matron, in carving aud waiting on tho poor people. During the past week considerable quantity of fine beef was distributed by Thomas Carter, Esq., among the old retainers of the family. Excellent soup was given away, to all comers, by George Anderton, jun., Esq.; and other generous individuals distributed meat, coals, and blankets.

Goole  Jan 1899

With what " hooting " and a " tootling " was the New Year ushered in to sure. such screaming and a screeching of buzzers and  heralded the birth of 1899, the like of which one seldom hears at Goole at any rate.  The snow which fell on Saturday morning did not stay long; in fact, before night it had all dieappeared. It was exceptionally dirty under loot, and very unpleasant for the large number of people who flocked into the town to the market. Thick fog also set in, and prevented the steamers from getting away by the night's tide. It was quite bad yesterday morning, and is consequence there were sailings or arrivals. Of course, it just suited the men for they were able to spend New Year's Day at home.  Talk about mud! Why, Bridge-street yesterday was "a sight for the Gods!" Passing vehicles splashed pedestrians, some of whom presented a sorry picture. Aire-street may boast about its tar macadam, but Bridge-street stands second to none for its mud. 

1942
New Year Honour for Goole Man. Included in the New Year Honours List is Captain Percy Pratt, master mariner, of Victoria-street, Goole, who receives the M.B.E. (Civil Division). 
Captain Pratt is 50 years of age, and a native of Goole. Following the death at sea of' his father, who was a marine engineer, Captain Pratt entered the Newland Homes at Hull, where he spent his boyhood days, and served his apprenticeship in deep sea vessels. He has held a master mariner's certificate for nearly 30 years, and for many years has been in the service of Messrs Atkinson and Prickett, Ltd., coal exporters, of Hull and Goole. He has had command of their motor vessel Coxwold since she was launched a year or two before the war, and she was one of the last vessels to leave Norway during the evacuation. Since then the Coxwold has on two occasions rescued the crews of ships sunk by enemy action. Captain Pratt is married, with two sons and a daughter. He is a Younger Brother of Trinity House.

Today we no longer hear the blowing of the sirens from Goole docks, not have we had snow. But we have had fireworks and mud!!!  Health and happiness for 2024


Saturday 16 December 2023

An eye witness account of the launch of the R100

 Ninety four years ago today on a still winter's day, like today,  the airship R100 was launched from Howden. Strictly speaking it was North Howden where it had been built in a giant hangar. 

Ernest Butler was then a young reporter on the Goole Times and seventy years later years later he wrote this account of that morning.

I was only a trainee reporter, with little more than a year’s experience in journalism, when I was present at the launch of the R100 airship from North Howden.

From Goole I travelled in the Goole Times van - there were no company cars in those days - with the van driven by one Charlie Ayre, and with the then chief reporter, Stuart Gunnill, squeezed in with me to oversee what I did and wrote.

I remember we - the Press, and there seemed to be hundreds of reporters and photographers swarming around - had to present ourselves at some ungodly hour in the pitch darkness of a December morning, and I remember, after we had crossed over Boothferry Bridge - that itself was a novelty because the bridge itself had been opened only a few months    earlier in 1929 - that the roads leading to Spaldington were literally alive with people -   people walking, people running, people on bicycles, people on motorcycles, people in cars. Cars in those days were few and far between but on that December morning in 1929 it seemed that every car in the country was heading for the airfield. I remember seeing people camped out on the grass verges and even dancing to the music of portable gramophones. I think we had to be in the cordoned off press enclosure outside the hangar by 6.30 am. It wasn’t cold, I remember, just dark and a little eerie.

And then, eventually, the huge hangar doors were slowly opened, the sky began to lighten with the approach of dawn and slowly, just before 8.00, out of the hangar the great airship slowly emerged, hauled by seemingly hundreds of pygmies beneath her, each of them holding her steady by ropes. They were soldiers and they marched steadily in step out of the hangar and onto the airfield with the great mass of the R100 a few feet above them. It was, to me, and I think to everybody who saw it, an awesome sight. In fact I remember being rather frightened to watch this huge gleaming monster passing slowly and silently a few yards above where I was standing, with lights shining from the gondolas beneath the mass of her body. And then I remember faintly hearing a word of command, the soldiers released their hold on the ropes, the airship rose slowly up, the propellers began to revolve and hundreds of gallons of water ballast were released, soaking the soldiers underneath. The R100 rose higher and higher, turned slowly to dip seemingly in farewell salute over Howden, and in a few more moments she was lost to view.

70 years on, and it is still - almost all of it - a vivid memory. The launch of the R100 was my first real story; and when I turned in my copy, the great god Gunnill (and to me he was a god in those days) read it through, made some corrections, grunted ‘Good. Now go home and get some sleep.’ So I did. And the following Friday, when I presented my weekly expenses claim form to the cashier for payment, there was the item ‘Breakfast - 1s 6d’. Gunnill had told me to enter it - in those days we received 2s 6d for lunch expenses, and 1s 6d for tea or supper. So 1s 6d for breakfast was fair enough, even though I didn’t have any breakfast. Gunnill thought I deserved it, for I’d been on Goole Times duty from 4.30am to 9am out in God’s cold air, and then from 9am to 11am writing the story.

Many local people worked on the airship and were out of work after it departed for Cardington. It could not return to Howden as there was no mast there for it. And despite a successful flight to Canada it was dismantled after the crash of the government built R101. Much has been written about the R100 since that day and of course anyone interested in its story can walk the airship trail in Howden, enabling the visitor to realise exactly how vast it was.

 
R100 at Howden having been walked out of its hangar. There was a

 9 foot clearance on each side and 5 feet on top.  It came out stern first



 R100 in flight. If you look carefully you can see how small the figures are on the ground.




Saturday 2 December 2023

Smith family of Goole Grange

It is the second of December and it has snowed and is now foggy!! Not sure whether we are heading for a white Christmas. But I shall go outside when I have written this and gather some sticks to light the woodburner. It is cheaper than burning the oil.

The last fortnight has been busy. A week ago I went to an event in Howden Minster which  celebrated in words and music the 650th anniversary of the Anglo Portuguese alliance. Pianists Amy Butler and Graziana Presicce played a specially commissioned piece; David Blackmore appeared in military costume  and told us about the Portuguese role in the Napoleonic war and tenor Steven Goulden sang some evocative the songs of the period. We ate delicious Portuguese inspired canapes and a good time was had by a capacity audience. 

 I also recently took a visitor from New York around the local area so that she could see where her ancestors lived before they emigrated to Canada in 1829. The Bishop family had lived in Laxton  since at least 1675 but remained well below the radar as far as family history went. This is true for so many families - they were hard-working farm labourers, committed no crimes, owned no property and when they were buried could not afford gravestones.

I had spent a lot of time researching them for my visitor and could only take her to the churches where the Bishops had married - ie Howden and Eastrington,  to Balkholme where they had lived prior to emigrating and to Laxton churchyard where most were buried. She spent the night at Saltmarshe Hall - which was strangely appropriate given that her ancestors probably worked for the Saltmarshe family whose home it was before it was recently made into a wedding venue and hotel.

.I am writing here however about a Goole family that I have known about for a long time and who played a large part in the history of the town in the nineteenth century.

William Smith of Turnham Hall [near Hemingbrough] married Ann Clark of Woodhall in 1790 and they had at least two sons. Samuel was born in 1791 at Turnham and their son William was born in 1800 at Airmyn.

But at that time Airmyn included a much wider area than today, in particular the farms known as New Potter Grange and Goole Grange.

Samuel married Betsy Chantry at Snaith in 1811- both were then minors. They eventually had eight children, one of whom,  Sarah, married Joseph Spilman, a young miller. They lived at the Goole mill, the tower of which is preserved in Morrisons' supermarket.

William married Betsy's sister Harriet in 1823. They too had eight children and confusingly some of these cousins had the same names!

So in 1860s for example there were two George Smiths in the news. One, the son of Samuel and Betsy of Goole Grange was charged with murdering his servant but was found not guilty. He was subsequently charged with breach of promise a few months later after promising to marry his housekeeper.

http://www.howdenshirehistory.co.uk/goole/smith-duckels-goole-grange.html

His cousin George was a witness in the case and was then running the mill as Joseph Spilman had died.

William Smith, son of William and Harriet was born at Potter Grange in 1825. He farmed for a time at Goole Grange, part of the Airmyn estate but is believed to have been the builder of New Potter Grange in 1881. He was living there in 1891 and died there in 1904. His son, another William, was born in 1861 and played a large part in the life of Goole. He took on the Goole Grange farm after his father.



 Goole Grange from the 1919 sale catalogue

He bought the farm in 1919 when the Airmyn estate was sold but retired and passed it to his son Leslie. He built himself a new house - Vernon House nearby. Another branch of the family was at New Potter Grange. Goole Grange was eventually sold to the Jacklin family.

His funeral took place in Old Goole and these are extracts from the The Goole Times report. 


The funeral of the late Mr. William Smith, J.P., chairman of the Goole Board of Guardians, and one of the town’s foremost public men, was the occasion of a wonderfully spontaneous tribute on Saturday afternoon, great numbers attending a service held in the Wesley Chapel, Old Goole, with which the deceased gentlemen had been associated since boyhood, and also at the interment which took place in the Armyn churchyard, which is the resting-place of the forebears of the present family…

Old Goole, indeed, was in mourning and blinds were drawn all along the route of the cortege. Four ministers took part in the obsequies, the Rev. D. Williams, of Worksop, a relative of the deceased, the Rev. W. H. Lowther, superintendent Wesleyan minister at Goole, the Rev. Bramwell Evens, a former minister at Goole and personal friend of the deceased, and the Rev. G. A. East, a second minister in the Goole Circuit. 

The accommodation of the little Wesley chapel was taxed to the utmost. Every available seat was occupied and many public mourners stood throughout the service, which was of particularly impressive nature…  

The psalm “The Lord is our refuge” was read by the Rev. D. Williams, and a further scriptural passage from the burial service by Rev. G. A. East. Three hymns were sung, Whittier’s beautiful “Who Fathoms the External Thought,” “Immortal Love for Ever Full,” and “Peace Perfect Peace,” and as the plain oak coffin, covered with floral tributes, was borne from the church, the organist, Mrs. Wilson, played the Mendelssohn’s “O rest in the Lord

The Rev. W. H. Lowther,  said everybody esteemed and respected Mr. William Smith, and those who knew his public work admired his gracious influences. His passing had left a gap which they could not fill. In all his public offices, as magistrate, as chairman of the Goole Board of Guardians and in other capacities, Mr. Smith showed ability of a high order. One of his greatest thoughts was to perform the best possible service he could on behalf of his fellow men. His devotion to the church he loved was beyond praise. He gave generously at all times, but more than that he worked and prayed. Everything he did was done in the most beautiful manner, graciously and unobtrusively, self-effacing.

The Rev. Bramwell Evens said he would speak of the late gentleman as a personal friend of fifteen years standing. Mr. Lowther had said that Mr. Smith was a Christian gentleman but he would be content with stating simply that he was a gentleman, for no man could be a gentleman who was not a Christian. He had never heard of Mr. Smith speak ill of a single soul and if he heard people speaking ill of others he would decline to listen to them. His motives were of the highest. 


 
Old Goole Coop and Wesleyan chapel


 

As a note Rev Bramwell Evens  later became well-known as a BBC radio broadcaster as Romany. His series was called Out with Romany and he always mentioned his dog Raq, a Cocker Spaniel. His mother was a Romany and his father a member of the Salvation Army.

Additional information

Since sharing this blog onto the Goole facebook page I have a bit more information to add. Someone commented on the name of Vernon House and as I am in touch with Sue, a descendant of William Smith, I asked her if she knew why it was so named.

William Smith's wife Emily Florence Hart [known as Flossie!] was born and brought up at Vernon House in Newland near Hull.


William Smith

Sunday 5 November 2023

Banking in Howden

Recently on facebook there was a discussion about the banking history of Howden. Some years ago I wrote an article about the banks which was published in the sadly missed publication Howdenshire Living. Rather than put a long post on facebook I am reproducing the article, with a few amendments, here.


Early history

Until the eighteenth century most people in England transacted all their business using coins and did not trust bank notes. In fact, until the 1750s there were only five private banks outside London. However, Howden had its own private bank by 1792 - the only others then in East Yorkshire were in Beverley and Hull, which shows how prosperous and important the town was at the time. 


The Howden bank was originally run by John Barker, father and son. Both died in the early 1800s and soon afterwards Thomas Coates came to Howden from York to run the bank. Thomas lived at the bank office on Highbridge; this original office is now a pet shop and stands next door to the more recent bank premises.


Thomas Coates went into partnership with John Scholfield (a  junior member of the Scholfield family of Sandhall), Barnard Clarkson snr of Holme on Spalding Moor, his son (Barnard jnr) and John Clough of Selby. The partnership also ran a bank in Selby.


But in January 1822 for reasons unknown Thomas Coates ceased to be a partner and in May that year it was reported that sadly 'Mr. Coates, lately of the Howden Bank, cut his throat in a dreadful  manner and that he survived only a few minutes'. The running of the Howden bank then passed into the hands of John Clough's son Thomas.


Barnard Clarkson snr died in 1826 but his son and grandson continued their involvement in the two banks. The Clarkson story featured in the Howden Town play Reap the Whirlwind when Barnard jnr was the nemesis of local rogue Snowden Dunhill. 


Collapse of the Howden bank


But in the 1830s disaster struck. Barnard jnr overstretched himself by buying the Kirkham Abbey estate. His son, who was responsible for the running of the Selby bank, died suddenly of a fever at the same time. In 1831 both the Howden and Selby banks crashed and John Scholfield, John Clough and Barnard Clarkson were declared literally bankrupt. This was disastrous for the many local farmers and tradespeople who had money in the Howden bank. They lost everything.


The Howden bank was immediately taken over by the York City and County bank who bought the existing bank premises. Thomas Clough was appointed manager, suggesting that he was not held responsible for the bank's problems.


A Howden bank note



And what of Barnard Clarkson? Two of his sons had already emigrated with a Methodist group of settlers to Swan River near Perth in Australia. After the collapse of the family's fortunes Barnard's wife Elizabeth died in 1832. Her epitaph at Chapel Haddlesey reads: ‘Thro the vicissitudes of fortune, Her faith faltered not’. After her death Barnard joined the rest of his family in Australia, where he died destitute in 1836.


Meanwhile, back in Howden Thomas Clough continued to run the bank. Next door, in the premises which later became the bank, lived a family called Wetherell.

The Wetherell family


James Wetherell and his brother John were at various times woollen drapers, chicory growers, millers and tanners. In the 1830s they built, in partnership with their neighbour Thomas Clough, a new tanyard in Howden near Mill Yard. Tanning was a large industry in the town with over 40 men employed as tanners, curriers and shoemakers. 


John and James married sisters Jane and Ann Wikeley, whose father Thomas was a surgeon and apothecary in Howden. The family were well connected - another sister was the wife of Thomas Guy, vicar of Howden. But life in Victorian days could be like snakes and ladders and the Wetherells were about to go down the snake. Thomas Clough withdrew from the tannery business and in mid December 1851 the Wetherell brothers had to call in the administrators. They must have had a miserable Christmas.


Within the month the contents of the Wetherells' house, where both families lived, was for sale. It was described as having two drawing rooms, two sitting rooms, ten lodging rooms, a hall and two kitchens. The furniture was opulent and included 'a Finger Organ', 'a Piano-forte', '400 Vols of Books' and a 'Four-Wheel Carriage and Harness'. James and John, then in their 50s, left Howden for Australia to try to recoup their fortunes. James died in 1852 at Bendigo, a gold rush town, and John died in 1854 in Melbourne.


The Wetherells were an interesting family. James' eldest son, also James, was a merchant in Brazil. He was acting as British vice consul at Paraiba in 1858 when he died in a fall. When his possessions were returned to his family it was found they included notes he had made about the natural history and people of Brazil. They were published posthumously as Stray Thoughts from Bahia and the book now is popular with those studying the history of Brazil.


New premises


Back in Market Place the York City and County bank moved their premises - and the Clough family their home - to the now empty building next door. This remained as a bank until HSBC closed their Howden branch in 2016. Thomas Clough died in 1871, having played a full part in the life of the town: in particular, it was largely due to his work that Howden vicarage was built. 


The new bank manager was Edwin Storry. He also took an active part in local life and, amongst other roles, was a prominent member of the East Yorkshire Volunteers, rising to command the Second Battalion in 1891. His military service is commemorated by a brass plaque on the wall of the Minster.


Banking in Howden seems to have been something of a family business as Edwin Storry was succeeded as manager of the bank by Charles Wilkinson, whose wife Agnes was the granddaughter of previous manager Thomas Clough. It was while Mr Wilkinson was manager that the whole bank building was remodelled in 1902 and the frontage that is there now was installed.



An early view showing what was HSBC bank building before new frontage









Wednesday 11 October 2023

Cat Babbleton and concerts

Here we are in mid October and as yet we have not had to put the heating on - it cannot last but while it does it certainly saves on oil! I have been cutting back my herb bushes this morning and  later while walking Molly could not resist picking up a few conkers. But it's many years since I have threaded one onto a bootlace!

Last week was busy. I attended a concert in Doncaster on the Wednesday and had a few minutes spare to explore the new archives building on Chequer Road. I had not made an appointment but the staff were very friendly and let me have a look round and explore the research room - I was the only visitor!!. I shall return.

And on Saturday I attended a lovely afternoon concert in Howden Minster. The Roscoe Piano Trio played to a packed audience of over 250, many of whom had not visited Howden before. The concert was organised by Howdenshire Music - https://www.howdenshiremusic.co.uk - whose aim  is to bring free high quality classical music to as wide an audience as possible.

I am particularly looking forward to an event they are organising in November with a specially commissioned piano piece celebrating 650 years of the Anglo Portuguese Alliance. There will be Portuguese themed drinks, Napoleonic war songs and a talk by a historian delivered in costume. I am reading up on my history!

My historical researches too have been wide ranging. A friend bought me a collection of postcards at a fair which were local to Saltmarshe and Laxton. Perhaps the most interesting one was of a bridge  near Yokefleet called Cat Babbleton. I know where it is - many years ago local farmer and enthusiastic historian Joe Martinson came to one of my classes and talked about it but I was surprised to see it as a postcard. It is not the only place with that odd name - others too seem to have an association with drains or water courses.


 A coloured version of the black and white postcard.


I am also busy researching a family from Laxton who emigrated to the Montreal area around 1829. Robert Bishop and his family left for a new life in Canada as did so many others around this time. My own family, the Nurses of Eastrington settled around Port Hope and I have found at least one other family, the Warners, who had Laxton and Blacktoft connections and who emigrated to the area around the same time. It was a hard time then for agricultural workers and a new life with the possibility of your own piece of land to farm was very attractive.

I have some details of emigrant families on my Howdenshirehistory.co.uk website.

Last month I gave a talk to Howden civic society about the pubs of Howden. I run a small  history group in the Scholfield village hall in Skelton. I was asked if I would give the talk to them too and  so on Monday 16th October at 1.30pm I shall show it again. It is open to anyone but at a cost of £5 pp to cover hall hire etc. If you are interested let me know on susanebutler@btinternet.com.





 The white track to the bridge is on the very bottom of this picture of Yokefleet.
 





Wednesday 13 September 2023

Wallingfen and its witches

 This weekend, 16th and 17th September, Howden civic society is having an exhibition in Gilberdyke Memorial Hall as part of the annual heritage open day events.  It will be open from 10am to 4pm both Saturday and Sunday. Whilst concentrating on Howden there will be material too about the area around Gilberdyke including  Eastrington. There will also be information about the large commons of Wallingfen and Bishopsoil which existed before enclosure. 

Some years ago I wrote this article for a local magazine and thought it might be appropriate to reproduce it here.

As a child I was fascinated to hear tales of how my mother’s family from Eastrington were said to be distant relatives of Rebecca Nurse, one of the Salem witches. The jury is out on that.

But I thought I would write about Wallingfen, a 5,000 acre area of marshland which once lay between Gilberdyke and North Cave. And its witches.

The marsh was ancient common land and forty-eight settlements which lay around its fringes had the right to graze their animals, dig turf, gather firewood and fish on Wallingfen.

Representatives of the communities met regularly and held a court to listen to any complaints and make rules about how the Commoners had to behave. Commoners were forbidden to grave (dig) turf from the cart gaits (tracks) or dam any of the drains ‘with an intent to gett fish’. And obviously stray dogs were a problem even in 1636 when it was ruled that ‘ye sheppards that keep sheep on Wallingfen shall keep their doggs on a string att their belts and not suffer them to go loose but to take a sheep’.

Court records of the forty-eight – or eight and forty, as it was then written – date back to the thirteenth century and the area where they met, between Gilberdyke and Newport, is still today known as Eight and Forty.

Exactly where these meetings took place is not clear. In 1584 ‘ye court of ye forty-eight’ met at Scalby chapel. But Mr Jack Holmes, who had a butcher’s shop just west of Newport church, always maintained that the meeting house stood behind his premises but that he demolished it to make way for his slaughterhouse.

 

In 1772 an Act of Parliament was passed to allow the construction of the Market Weighton canal, which would act as a drain for the fen, and in 1777 Wallingfen Common itself was enclosed. The 5,000 acres were divided up and allotted to the various parishes in place of the common rights which they had lost. New straight roads were laid out and each allotment became part of the parish to which it was given – so today we still have places such as Skelton and Saltmarshe Granges detached from their villages.

 

A folk story has grown up around the area, although how ancient it is you may judge for yourselves.

 

There were, it is said, forty-eight witches, led by Margaret Weedon and Mary Hooden, who met every year and sat around a fire on the fen. Here they drank and sang their song, which went as follows:

 

We’re eight and forty jolly girls tho’ witches we may be;

We live upon the best of food and, like the air, we’re free.

A moorhen, coot or leveret, a duck or good fat hen

Each day we’re almost sure to get around old Wallingfen.

From Blacktoft, Eastrington or Holme we get a daily dish;

Old Foonah’s waters will provide us with the best of fish;

And Hotham Carrs we often comb and take the best of game.

None live more happy than we who bear the witches’ name;

Then fill your glasses everyone and drink ’til all is done;

Here’s whisky hot from Saltmarshe Hall; good ale from Howden town

Long may we eight and forty live, long live old Wallingfen

And may she never fail to breed fine women and bold men.

 

One evening Margaret Weedon stood up after the song had been sung and said to her fellow witches that they should drink well that night as it was the last time they would meet. She declared that she could see into the future when ‘years after we are gone this will not be a meeting place for such as us, but near this very place will rise a building where people will meet for worship just as they do now at Howden’.

 

The witches took her message to heart and the drinking and dancing continued until, the story continues:

 

And the man in the moon looked down on the place

And could scarcely believe his eyes

But quietly pulled a cloud over his face

As he nearly fell out of the skies

For there down below him, oh, what had he seen to give him such great surprise?

The forty eight witches all stripped to the skin

Dancing round before Satan’s old eyes.

 

The two witch leaders were secretly jealous of each other and each had provided half the drink for the evening’s merriment: Margaret the whisky and Mary the ale. Each witch had poisoned the drinks of the others but had carefully drunk only their own personal supplies. However, their caution flew out of the window as they drank and eventually they too lay poisoned around the fire.

 

Next morning a wanted man, hiding from the authorities, came upon the forty-eight naked corpses and was so horrified he immediately gave himself up.

 

And so the Eight and Forty witches were no more and of course the prophecy came true in the shape of the building of Newport church.

 

Make up your own minds about the witches – but after telling this story, I was once asked whether I could pinpoint exactly where the above event took place so that a local coven could meet there. I was even invited to go along – but politely declined!



nb the poem was actually written by a former stationmaster George Grayson of Newport who had a great interest in local history. Were there any witches? Maybe!!


Below are two pictures of the area. 


The Eight and Forty house was sketched in 1892. You can see that the bottom part was stone and may have been Scalby chapel





The second picture  shows where it stood.  Jack Holmes' butcher's shop was the first building of the block beyond the white building, behind a telegraph pole.



Tuesday 5 September 2023

Autumn term

 The new term has begun and the weather is beautiful.  I belong to - and teach-  a history group in Skelton village hall. We met yesterday for the first time since April and talked about the early days of Goole, right back to the staithe at Morham which was in medieval times  on the Ouse at the end of Murham lane, now North Street. But it seemed a shame to pull down the blinds when the sun was shining so brightly outside. The group welcomes new members. Just contact me on susanebutler@btinternet.com for more information.

I am keeping my hand in with family history research. A lady has lost her ancestor, William Anson/ Hanson who says he was born at Howden in 1832/33. But he does not turn up until his marriage in Hull in 1857 in a Primitive Methodist chapel. He was a ship's engineer. There is another William Anson with similar dates in Hull at the same time working a similar job but he was definitely baptised at Brantingham. Both men give Joseph as their father. Are they the same man or were there two of them? I wonder what they would all think if they knew how much we hang on now to what they put on censuses and marriage records!

In more domestic news we are eating apple pies and crumbles and just finishing off a good crop of tomatoes in the greenhouse. A success too this year were some cucumbers which looked like lemon apples - I am going to try and save some seed from them.  The grass is still growing and I am very pleased that where the garden was dug up to have drainage work done only a few weeks ago it is now not really possible to see where the trenches were- nature soon  restores itself.

Tomorrow evening I am talking to the Howden Civic Society about the old pubs of Howden. I am hoping to rekindle some memories from the older members of the audience!!

Here's a picture to begin. But I don't know all the names and am not certain of the location. Any help?







Saturday 19 August 2023

Goole history exhibition

 It's been a busy week but very enjoyable. On Tuesday the members and friends  of the local history groups I attend in Goole and Howden concluded our summer visits by coming to Saltmarshe where we have a small museum.  It is in an eighteenth century cottage and we have filled it with all sorts of artefacts ranging from a boot worn by a horse which pulled the lawn mower at Sandhall, my grandfather's adze which he used as a wheelwright at Eastrington and a range of tinplate toys and a wind up gramophone.

We enjoyed tea, scones, jam and cream and also catching up with friends on what was a lovely sunny day.

The following day I met an Australian visitor and his daughter who had come to Yorkshire to look at where their ancestors lived. It is an interesting story about a young man called Robert Donkin, born in 1867 at North Cave to parents William Donkin and Esther Howarth who had married in 1864. 

When he was around 18 Robert emigrated to Australia and took his mother's  maiden surname of Howarth. His descendant had employed an Australian family history researcher to trace his ancestor. Although Robert had never used the surname Donkin he had always said he was born in North Cave in Yorkshire. And armed with that - and eventually DNA  - Robert Donkin and Robert Howarth were proved to be the same person. Why he changed his name may never be known.

My visitors met me in Howden and we enjoyed chatting about what they thought of Yorkshire and its people. They liked us!!

The following day I went to a lovely concert in the Minster organised by Howdenshire Music. https://www.howdenshiremusic.co.uk

The church was full and the young performers very engaging. All concerts are free and draw in large audiences who are always impressed by our town.

And now I am preparing for our Goole Local History group's exhibition in Junction, beginning on Tuesday 22nd August. There will be old photos,  family research help and information about the First World War and waterways heritage. Our theme this year is railways and ships. 




So above is a picture of West Dock - and the water towers- while below from 1967 is a picture of the last steam loco to leave Goole shed.