No.135 Spring 2024

No.134 Winter 2023/24

No.133 Autumn 2023

No.132 Summer 2023

No.131 Spring 2023

No.130 Winter 2022/23

No.129 Autumn 2022

No.128 Summer 2022

No.127 Spring 2022

Water powered mills in Lincolnshire, an introduction - Jon Sass

Bourne's rural housing pioneers - Paul Griffiths

Clayton's heirs - Rob Wheeler

The Fateful Year of Nellie Bangs - Adam Cartwright
See notes and references for this article

Faces and Places

Diocesan visitations in the 15th century - Stamford St Michael Without - Barry Barton

No.126 Winter 2021/22

No.125 Autumn 2021

See references for this article

No.124 Summer 2021

No.123 Spring 2021

No.122 Winter 2020/21

Lawrence made lengthy visits to both Skegness and Mablethorpe in the years before the First World War. This detailed article describes his stay as a convalescent at his aunt's Skegness boarding house in 1902, and the family self-catering holiday on the edge of Mablethorpe four years later. Extracts from memoirs and dairies tell how his time was spent and what feelings were evoked by the coastal scenery. Fictional characters in his Lawrence's books visited the same coastal locations and reflect the author's experiences there.

Samuel was a talented Polish Jew, born in what in now Lithuania, who escaped military service by moving to England as a young man. He was converted to Christianity and served as Baptist minister in Farnham, Leicester and Salford before moving to Sleaford's Providence Baptist Chapel. Over a 35-year ministry he courted considerable controversy.

The tiny settlement of Twenty lies 3 miles to the east of Bourne on the main road to Spalding and close to the one-time Midland railway line between those two towns. Several explanations of the origins of the village name have been considered: a turnpike milestone; an OS map field number; and, most plausibly, a drain number and associated drove road, Twenty Drove.

Kirby and Edwards of Broadgate, Lincoln built and restored bicycles from the 1880s. From 1902 until their closure in the early 1920s they expanded the business to manufacture a small motorcycle, dubbed the Lincoln Elk. A fully restored model of 1917 is on display in the Museum of Lincolnshire Life.

Obituary: Maureen Birch (1937-2020)
A valued member of SLHA who served as Secretary and had a special interest in industrial archaeology.

Short Items:
* Recollections of a bonesetter in Horncastle in the 1950s
* A short quiz about Lincolnshire clergymen

Book Reviews
* The Railway its Builders Didn't Want: the Sleaford to Bourne Branch of the GNR - Alan Stennett
* Lincolnshire Gas Works - A T Marks
* The Cat and the Captain: Trim the Cat and Matthew Flinders - Ruth Taylor

No.121 Autumn 2020

No.120 Summer 2020

Charles Sharpe (1830-97), son of a Sleaford nurseryman, developed an agricultural and garden seed business in his home town which built up a market across the world. This entrepreneurial man had both a fine head for business and a deep interest in the science and technology of seed production. Sharpe's firm survived, albeit through twentieth-century take-overs, until 2003. 

Small-scale brick production right up to the early twentieth century involved the simple labour-intensive operations of moulding, drying and firing in kilns. A useful time-line highlights some prominent brick buildings in Lincolnshire and notes dates of brick taxes and standardised brick sizes. 

The final article in the SLHA story describes the amalgamations of county archaeology and local history groups to form the modern Society, and then gives details of the "interest" groups that have been developed within SLHA: Archaeology, industrial Archaeology, Family History (which left to form the independent Lincolnshire Family History Society in 1990), Local History, and Building Recording.

Planners employed by Lindsey County Council annotated large-scale maps with possible lines of village by-passes and relief roads in the early 1950s. The implementation of these schemes might have eased traffic flow but, in many cases, would have caused irreversible and unacceptable damage to village centres.

A completion of the account of Anne Bromhead's initiative in setting up the Institution for Trained Nurses in Lincoln, dealing with their recruitment and training in the 1870s. 

A simple but impressive stone portal on Carre Street is in Egyptian Revival style and carries the inscription "1792 Navigation Wharf". Its very early date (for this architectural style) is problematic and no records have been traced to account for its construction. Several possible explanations are explored, including the involvement of Sir Joseph Banks. 

* Dennis Mills (1931-2020), former Open University lecturer - historical geographer, local historian and prolific author.
* Nigel Burn (1951-2020), former solicitor - chairman of SLHA from 2016 to 2020, Lincoln Cathedral and Castle guide
* James Foster (1927-2020) - local historian and author

Short Items
* A stay at Woody's Top Youth Hostel, Ruckland, in 1958 by a Caistor Grammar School group is recalled, with a photograph (Rosalind Boyce)
* Quiz: ten questions based on recent short items published on the SLHA website
* Changes in a family's arms between generations (as in Burghersh arms , LP&P119, p.10) discussed (Rob Wheeler).
* Extract from a poem entitled 'The Grantham Navigation', published in May 1793

Book Review
* Lincoln in 50 Buildings - Daniel J Codd

No.119 Spring 2020

Anne Fector Bromhead - the Lincoln County Hospital experiment

Lesley Church

Mrs Bromhead, nee Jarvis of Doddington Hall, was a prime mover in the improvement of nursing services in Lincolnshire in the 1860s. Along with Miss Louisa Boucherett (of Willingham Hall) and Mrs Louisa Waldo-Sibthorp (of Canwick Hall) she battled with the governors of Lincoln's County Hospital and ultimately established a well-trained, well-organised and independent nursing service. This article gives details of both formal and informal meetings and of correspondence - including appeals for support to Florence Nightingale.

The Revd Adrian Gustavus Devereux-Quick

Dennis Mills
A sketch map of Branston, annotated with names of inhabitants, was roughly drawn by this Anglican curate during his two-year stay in the village in 1868 - an interesting and useful document. Devereux-Quick (at the beginning of his career just "Quick") was a "perpetual" curate, never holding a living of any significance. Between 1859 and his death at the age of 82 in 1912 he served parishes as far flung as Herefordshire, Kent and Norfolk. Six of these eighteen parishes were in Lincolnshire. See notes and references for this article

Youth Hostels Association in Lincolnshire

Steph Slater

Since the first Youth Hostels were opened by the YHA in the 1930s, about twenty have been established in Lincolnshire, many of short duration. (This article gives a comprehensive list.)  Woody's Top Youth Hostel at Ruckland (1947-2017), one of the longest-lasting and best known, holds vivid memories for many hikers and volunteers. The only surviving Youth Hostel in Lincolnshire is in Thurlby near Bourne.

The story of SLHA - Part 3: On the Campaign Trail

Pearl Wheatley

A fore-runner of SLHA, the Lincolnshire Architectural Society, promoted the publication of a history of Lincolnshire in the 1870s through work on individual parish histories by local clergy. Eventually a History of Lincolnshire Committee, under SLHA, published a 12-volume account between 1970 and 2000. The Society's active work has contributed to the preservation of Bardney Abbey site, saving St Benedict's church in Lincoln, setting up the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, founding the Lincolnshire Family History Society, and many other projects besides.

A Country Doctor and LIVES

Stewart Munday

Dr Richard Harper-Smith ran a medical practice based in Tetford single-handedly from 1961 to 1995. He was a highly regarded, hard-working GP who made an outstanding contribution to health care in Lincolnshire through setting up LIVES (Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service).  This emergency response team, incorporating professionals and trained volunteers, now deals with several thousand medical emergencies each year. Dr Harper-Smith, who lived in a converted watermill, also made a mark as an authority on watermills and as a sheep breeder.

Objects of Life - Life Story - The museum's history 3: From 1985 onwards

Catherine Wilson

Over the past 30 years the Museum has developed the Old Barracks site and enlarged its exhibitions. The Lincolnshire Regimental Gallery - now a major attraction - based on material formerly held at the nearby Sobraon Barracks, was opened in north range of the complex in 2000. Other changes include the creation of an adventure playground in the courtyard and the development of an indoor learning space. Volunteers play an important role in all aspects of the museum's work; their contribution alongside the dedicated permanent staff helps sustain this hugely important demonstration of Lincolnshire's heritage.

Short Item

The Punch House in the south-east corner of Horncastle's market place was built in c.1868 to replace the decrepit vicarage. The architects were Bellamy and Hardy of Lincoln. (Nick Moore)

Book Reviews 
* Yan Tan Tethera, a Story of a Lincolnshire Marsh Village, North Somercotes - North Somercotes Study Group
* The Story of Early Louth - from its Origins to the Reformation - Richard Gurnham

 

No.118 Winter 2019/20

 

At the time of the "Swing Riots", the widespread violent opposition to the use of machinery in agriculture in the early 1830s, threatening letters were received by three leading farmers in Great Hale. There was overwhelming evidence that the writer was Mercy Lunn, wife of a local farm labourer; she was found guilty at the Kesteven Quarter Sessions in 1831 and was sentenced to 18 months hard labour in the Folkingham House of Correction. See notes and references for this article

See notes and references for this article

See notes and references for this article

No.117 Autumn 2019

Brothers in exploration and science

Richard Voss

Major James Franklin (1783-1834), older brother of John the famous explorer, had a distinguished career as an army officer in India. He explored and surveyed undeveloped areas of the sub-continent and left an important and lasting legacy in his study of previously unknown bird species.

George Shadford - Scotter's American Methodist

Adrian Gray

Brought up in Scotter as an Anglican, George Shadford (1739-1816) joined the Methodist Church as a young man and became an ardent and effective preacher. In 1772 he was selected by John Wesley as one of eight preachers to spread the gospel in America, and he made a strong impact there. On return to England he continued his work as a Methodist and played a key role in the life of Alexander Kilham of Epworth, founder of the Methodist New Connection.

Conflagration, consternation and a coffin - a distressing house fire at Whaplode

Stewart Squires

In 1903 a thatched house close to the railway station at Whaplode was partly destroyed by fire started by a spark from a passing train. All six occupants of the house escaped but a coffin containing a recently deceased man, Samuel Ingamells, remained inside. A funeral ceremony was hastily conducted. However, it turned out that the corpse was not burnt, so a conventional service was held later in the local cemetery.

Mr Waterson's affliction - Curious case of the vanishing vicar

Simon Pawley

Edward Waterson, appointed vicar of Sleaford in 1781 by the Earl of Bristol, the patron, was principal master at the town's Grammar School. In addition, in order to augment his meagre income as vicar, he took on a range of suitable local posts, including that of estate agent and steward for Lord Bristol's extensive land and property in the area. For some reason not properly understood, but likely to be the result of his incompetence as agent and steward, Waterson left Sleaford in 1800, relinquished all his responsibilities and moved to far away North Wales where, still technically as Vicar of Sleaford, he died in 1809.  See notes and references for this article.

Lincolnshire County Cricket - a short history

Ronald Price

A wide ranging account of how clubs were formed and developed in the County's principal towns (Lincoln, Spalding, Boston, Bourne, Sleaford), eventually leading to a countywide organisation.

Burton and the Monsons

Maureen Birch

The Monson family, possibly originating from Scandinavia, came to Lincolnshire in the fourteenth century and soon were prominent in both Burton, where they built their principal residence, and neighbouring South Carlton. As well as being major landowners, the Monsons held important public offices and were very influential in Lincolnshire affairs.

A Murder at Torrington in 1219

Caroline McKenna

Who murdered William Tillebroc and the circumstances surrounding the event in 1219 are impossible to determine with certainty. Under the peculiar arrangements of the early thirteenth century three members of the murdered man's family made formal accusations against three different individuals. In due course 'money changed hands' and no one was imprisoned let alone executed.

The Story of the SLHA - Part 1: Beginnings

Pearl Wheatley

The museum's history 1: From military to museum [Museum of Lincolnshire Life]

Sara Basquill

See notes and references for this article.

 

Obituaries
* Rose Clark (1928-2019, retired teacher, local historian and author, chairman and organiser of the SLHA group at Spalding
* David Bramford (1945-2019), landscape gardener, churchwarden, family historian, long-time secretary of the SLHA group in Sleaford
* Brenda Webster (1933-2019), gifted speaker and local history researcher, long-time chairman of SLHA Local History team

Short items

* The marking of Lincoln on the famous mappa mundi in Hereford Cathedral may result from Richard Swinfield, the Bishop, having previouslt served as Chancellor at Lincoln.

* St Luke's Little Summer: origins and 'qualification' (James Foster)

Book Reviews

 

No.116 Summer 2019

The Scarborough Arms on Lincoln's Bailgate

Lesley Church

This is a detailed history of a building in Uphill Lincoln from the late 18th century. (Currently, as the recently closed Lloyd's Bank, it is being remodelled.) It was primarily a public house until 1910 but during its life as The Scarborough Arms it was also the venue for a variety of public and private events, including auctions and inquests. The lives of the succession of owners and innkeepers and others associated with the building illustrate the significant role it played in the history and development of this area of the city. See notes and references for this article.

Bardney 1864 - Assault, Libel and Perjury in a Lincolnshire Village

Stephen Roberts

William Walker, controversial vicar of Bardney, became embroiled in a dispute with his churchwarden, John Maltby, over the latter's occupancy of a church pew. Physical assault by Walker was alleged and at a subsequent court case the magistrates decided in Maltby's favour. Publicity escalated when an anonymous letter in the Lincoln Gazette expressed a critical view of Walker's character.

What if.. - The BEF fought in Lincolnshire in the Great War?

Stewart Squires

The critical battles of the First World War in France and Belgium took place in an area roughly the size of Lincolnshire. The scale of the conflict, the relative locations of key sites and the movement of battle lines can be appreciated by translating them to familiar locations in our own county.

Sudbrooke Grange and Sudbrooke Holme

Rob Wheeler

The large country house, Sudbrooke Grange, was built for the Ellison family 5 miles to the east of Lincoln in 1780.It was on the site of a grange of Barlings Abbey. the three-storey mansion was extended by the addition of impressive two-storey wings at the turn of the nineteenth century.

The Revd Thomas Humphrey and his Precious Books

Richard Gravestock

Humphrey, rector of Grainsby, who wrote widely-circulated books of prayers in the early seventeenth century, was relatively wealthy through his wife's family. He attempted, with limited success, to curb the extravagances of his spendthrift son by leaving most of his estate to his grandsons.

The People of Branston in 1881 and the Building of the Railway

Dennis Mills

In 1881, at the time of the decennial census, the Spalding to Lincoln railway was being built through the large parish of Branston. 59 of the 1329 inhabitants were recorded as railway construction workers of one sort or another. The remainder of the village - analysed here in detail in relation to occupation, household size and composition - was concerned with agriculture or trades and crafts supporting the farming population.

Henry Chaplin Tankard and a Victorian Scandal

Sara Basquill
Lady Florence Paget, daughter of the Marquis of Anglesey, created a scandal in 1863 by eloping with Henry Hastings, an impecunious gambler and heavy drinker. Henry Chaplin (1840-1923), of the well-established Lincolnshire family, had expected to marry her but instead, as recalled by an inscribed tankard, had a successful, though brief, marriage to Florence, daughter of the Duke of Sutherland.

Short Items

* William Haddon Owen (see LP&P 115) owned the Sutton on Sea brickyard for 25 years. Little Grimsby Hall, his home at one time, was later occupied by pioneering MP Margaret Winteringham.(Ken Redmore)
* The building on Leadenham Heath (see LPP&P 115) was probably not used by the Royal Flying Corps; it has not been possible to identify what it was.(Stewart Squires)

No.115 Spring 2019

Pictures from Budapest - Clayton & Shuttleworth in Europe

Nick Moore

Clayton & Shuttleworth, engineers of Lincoln, sold their products - especially steam engines and threshing machines - to many places in Europe from the 1850s through to the First World War. In Hungary they formed an alliance with Hofherr-Schrantz, and this company made machinery at several plants in the Austro-Hungarian Empire with an office in Budapest. Details of these developments are given in the article alongside several photos of products and contemporary documents.

Two Athenaeums in Two Bostons - Architectural comparison

Neil Wright

Both Boston (in Lincolnshire) and Boston (Massachusetts, USA) had athenaeums (libraries and centres of learning) built in the mid-nineteenth century, as was common elsewhere in British and US towns. The Boston (UK) athenaeum, established in 1851, had a membership of 400+, and contained a large library and newsroom. Pearson & Bellamy of Lincoln designed an impressive building in Italianate style which stood in the Market Place. The design had obvious similarities with the athenaeum in Boston (US) and it is feasible that Pishey Thompson, celebrated historian and antiquarian, who had travelled widely in the States, inspired this design for his home town building. See notes and references for this article

The Man who Made the Museum - Part 2: Development of City and County Museum

Antony Lee

This, the second of two articles centred on Arthur Smith, describes the Lincoln museum curator's impressive career in the city from 1907 to 1935. Starting from an empty building (literally), he assembled and skilfully curated a wide-ranging collection which received plaudits from national inspectors. Appreciation was not always so readily forthcoming from the cash-conscious members of Lincoln City Council. See notes and references for this article.

1918: Wragby Prepares for Invasion

Ken Redmore

The Local Emergency Committee in Wragby, in common with twenty-one other LECs in the county, published a notice in July 1918 setting out action to be taken by the general population in the event of an invasion. Tools, means of transport, horses and able-bodied man would have to assemble at one or more key locations when required. The LEC, using manpower provided by the Special Constabulary and the Voluntary Training Corps, had the responsiblity for this important aspect of Home Defence in World War One. See notes and references for this article

The Ambitions of William Haddon Owen of Louth

Stephen Roberts

Owen (1854-1924) was a successful solicitor in Louth holding several important posts in the community and living at Little Grimsby Hall. A surviving hand bill sets out his attempt to gain election as an Independent Conservative Councillor on the town council.

Objects of Life - The Duchess of St Albans' Funeral Coronet

Sarah Basquill
A small richly decorated coronet, now at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, was originally placed on the coffin of the Duchess of St Albans (1777-1837), firstly as she lay in state in Piccadilly, London, and later in Redbourne church, where she was interred. The duchess had been an actress before marrying Thomas Coutts and then, as a widow, the much younger ninth Duke of St Albans whose estate and country house were at Redbourne.

Obituary: Neville Birch (1932-2018)
Neville Birch, an engineer and lecturer by profession, had been chairman of SLHA in the late 1990s. He made a large contribution to Lincolnshire industrial archaeology through his fieldwork, research and writing and was also an active member in several local and regional organisations.

Short items
* Photograph of a Marshall of Gainsborough portable steam engine (dated 1910) in the Natural History Museum in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, 2015 (Tony Dent)
* Sketch of Royal Flying Corps building at Leadenham, c.1960 (Pat Firman)

Book Reviews

No.114 Winter 2018-19

The Man who made the Museum - Arthur Smith and the City and County Museum

Antony Lee

The first of two articles describes Smith's early years in Grimsby where, son of a leather merchant, he pursued a keen interest in the natural world, especially butterflies and insects, and became an active member of several local and national societies. In Lincoln, practical proposals for a public museum were slow to emerge but eventually the thirteenth-century Greyfriars building was acquired by the City Council and remodelled as the City and County Museum. Arthur Smith was appointed its first curator and began work there in 1906. See notes and references for this article.

Peter Brannan at the Usher Gallery - Part 2 - the 1950s

Malcolm Moyes
This decade was a period of achievement and increasing recognition for Brannan. The Lincolnshire Artists' Society annual exhibitions were well regarded and Brannan regularly contributed 4 or 5 paintings; his work was also shown in London galleries from time to time. The article gives details of most of his output in this period, with several illustrations of his paintings. See notes and references for this article.

The Shaming of George Holland - Riding the Stang in Grimsby

Martin Baggoley

George Holland, Grimsby surgeon and magistrate, became the victim of the old custom of 'riding the stang' or 'ran-tanning' after the dishonest female servant he dismissed in 1871 committed suicide. She had stolen a postage stamp (possibly more than one) and Holland had taken her to court. Holland's effigy was paraded through the streets and burnt; later a large noisy mob surrounded his house and broke all the windows.

Lincolnshire's milestones - Heritage worth preserving

Michael Knight
A brief account of the introduction of turnpikes in Lincolnshire and the important role played by milestones (illustrated). See notes and references for this article

A few facts you may not know about Jews' Court

Pearl Wheatley
Jews' Court, saved from demolition in the late 1920s, has had many occupants, one of which was the Regional Craft Centre of Lincolnshire and Humberside Arts in the 1970s and 80s.

Objects of Life - Tom Otter - Part 2 - What happened to the gibbet

Sara Basquill
The body of Thomas Otter, found guilty of the murder of his wife Mary in 1806, was gibbeted, a severe sentence calculated to deter others. The gibbet was located close to the scene of the murder near Drinsey Nook and remained there for over 40 years. See notes and references for this article.

Short Items
* Query: what is the origin of the name Moggs Eye, on the coast in the parish of Huttoft?
* Further details about Rauceby Hall (see LP&P113), VAD hospital in World War 1 (Mike Turland)
* Visit to Jews' Court of BBC Radio Lincolnshire's programme Pirate Gold in October 2018
* Illustration of decorated tile in surround to fireplace at Shodfriars Hall, Boston
* Photograph of group (all named) at Legbourne and Little Cawthorpe involved in the National Egg Collection for the Wounded in World War 1
* Thomas Otter, the murderer, had worked as a banker (i.e. navvy) at Swanpool, Lincoln (Rob Wheeler)

Book Reviews

No.113 Autumn 2018

North China missionary - The Revd Walter Canner

Rosemary Saunders

The Reverend Walter Canner (1880-1947) was born in Lincoln and trained as a priest at St Paul's Missionary College, Burgh le Marsh. He spent over 30 years in northern China as a missionary and head of a school for the blind where children received not only education but also social and practical training (e.g. weaving and printing). He and his Lincoln-born wife (Ethel, nee Swallow) returned to the UK in 1938.

Angerstein in Lincolnshire - record of industrial history

Barry Barton (Original Document)

Reinhold Rucker Angerstein, a Swedish iron founder, visited Europe on a fact-finding tour in 1749-65. His diary records his experience of travelling in Lincolnshire across the Holland Fens from King's Lynn, then via Sleaford to Lincoln. He makes revealing comment about the contemporary iron trade.

The case of the Home Office baby - A Lincolnshire clergyman takes drastic measures

Mark Acton

In 1884 the Rector of Colsterworth, Revd John Mirehouse, sent the corpse of a recently deceased infant, carefully wrapped, by rail to the Home Secretary. This was Mirehouse's eccentric way of protesting at the Home Office's failure to approve a new burial ground in Colsterworth. The coroner's inquest established the facts of the case and Revd Mirehouse received a stiff reprimand. He retained his living in the village until 1909. See notes and references for this article.

The Heath family of Barnetby le Wold - A gifted family of ordinary origins

Janet Tierney

The children of Samuel Heath, a butcher of Barnetby le Wold, were remarkable. Four of them graduated with flying colours from Cambridge University. The eldest, Joseph (1855-1921) and the youngest, Bertha (1869-1929) had teaching careers in leading public schools. Robert (1858-1931) became the first Professor of Mathematics and Vice-Principal at Birmingham University. Thomas (1861-1940) entered the Civil Service, where he rose to become Joint-Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, receiving, among other accolades, a knighthood and Fellowship of the Royal Society. See notes and references for this article.

Objects of Life - Museum reveals forgotten details of the Tom Otter story

Sara Basquil

The murder of Mary Otter by her husband Tom at Drinsey Nook near Saxilby is well known and much reported. An overlooked nineteenth century article provides fascinating details of the crime and Otter's subsequent arrest, trial and execution at Lincoln. See notes and references for this article.

First World War - Home Front - Munitionettes' football

Anya Johnson

During the First World War hundreds of women (many dubbed 'munitionettes') were employed in Lincoln's engineering works. In their leisure time, taking a lead from their male counterparts, they formed soccer teams. Women's soccer was very successful, attracting large crowds and raising signifcant funds for charities, until the Football Association banned the sport for women in 1921.

Short Items
* To mark the RAF's centenary, Stewart Squires gives a reminder of Lincolnshire's considerable heritage of structures from both world wars. He describes, with illustrations, two WW1 buildings lost in the 1990s: a brick admin block at RFC Leadenham and a similar operations block at RFC Harpswell (site of the later RAF Hemswell).
* A note recalling the series of Brackenbury Lectures - the brainchild of Terence Leach - which have taken place at Raithby Methodist Chapel each year since 1980. This historic building has recently been refurbished (Pearl Wheatley, Nigel Burn).
* As a postscript to their article in LP&P 112, Dennis Mills and Victoria Thorpe describe (with illustrations) the impressive garden bothy at Audley End, Essex.
* An extract from the autobiography of Sydney W Carroll, OBE (1877-1958), one time editor of Poultry World, describes his involvement in the National Egg Collection for the Wounded during World War I (Geoff Tann).

Book Reviews

No.112 Summer 2018

No.111 Spring 2018

Old Graffito found at Jews' Court
Brian Porter

A clear example of graffito has been spotted at Jews' Court. It is a double inverted 'V' with overlapping characters and a small cross above. Because of the long period of change and reconstruction of the building it is not possible to date the graffito or to determine its original location. Nor is it clear whether this is a mason's mark or the apotropaic symbol commonly known as a witch mark or Marian mark. See list of sources used in the preparing this short illustrated article.

Ripping(ale) Yarns: Lincolnshire's role in making media history
Carenza Lewis

The village chosen as the model for Ambridge of Radio 4's 'The Archers' may be Inkberrow in Worcestershire or Rippingale in South Kesteven. The suggestion for the programme arose in Lincolnshire in the late 1940s but the new programme's studio was in Birmingham, so a West Midlands village became identified with Ambridge. The two villages have several features in common (and with the fictional Ambridge). Academic conferences have considered all three settlements and as well as other issues arising from the radio programme. See full list of sources for this detailed, illustrated article.

Lincolnshire's Links with New Zealand
Eric Grigg
Lincolnshire men from the Boston area were among Cook's crew on each of his late-18th century voyages to New Zealand. Thomas Kendall (b. North Thoresby 1778) achieved renown through his books on the langauge of the Maoris. Robert Burns gave a first hand account of his adventures in New Zealand in a series of lectures to Lincoln Mechanics' Institution in 1842. Other individuals: John Irving, whose grandson married the daughter of an important Maori chief; Henry Falwasser, early NZ newspaper publisher, some of whose correspondence is deposited at Lincolnshire Archives; and Joseph Newman (b. Willoughby 1815), notable sheep breeder.

'Poor Old Joe' of Gainsborough
Sara Basquill

Joseph Hornby (1729-1811) was a well known, apparently poverty stricken eccentric while his brother William was a partner in a local bank (which crashed in 1803). William's lively portraits of Joe are held at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, Gainsborough Old Hall and the Gainsborough Heritage Centre.

A Hotbed of Roman Romance in North Lincolnshire?

Antony Lee
A bronze statuette of Cupid has recently been discovered by a metal detectorist at Winteringham, close to the Roman settlement and the Humber crossing. Other depictions of Cupid have been found in the area which suggests that this may have been a focus of worship.

A Floral Discovery
Stuart Crooks

Miss E M (May) Lane-Claypon (1873-1964) was an exceptionally gifted botanical illustrator and artist. She was born and lived in the Boston area, marrying Revd J P Cheales of Friskney. A large collection of her watercolour paintings of Lincolnshire wildflowers has recently been donated to the Sir Joseph Banks Society in Horncastle; albums of her work are also held by the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union; her work is being scanned and will be exhibited in due course. (Four examples of her work accompany this article.)

Short Items
* Women were taught engineering skills for WW1 munition work at Lincoln Municipal Technical School. Two excellent photographs from the collection of the late David Robinson about which more information is sought.

* A German spy, masquerading as an English clergyman, was thwarted in an attempt to inspect damaged tanks from France held in railway sidings in Lincoln in WW1.
* Photographs of Alford Primitive Methodist chapel (built 1856) and two local residents, presumably members of the chapel congregation.
* A further note about Cumberworth Primitive Methodist chapel with photographs.
* A 14th century grave slab in St Denys's Church Sleaford is finely decorated. It commemorates Iveyt, wife of W (William?) of Rauceby, and was discovered near Lincoln's Malandry in 1866.
* A spell of severe winter weather brought rail traffic to a virtual standstill in late February 1958, much as it did sixty years later. Details here of the impact on Lincolnshire's railways.

Book Reviews

No.110 Winter 2017-18

The Wrays of Glentworth: a Tradition of Religious Radicalism
Adrian Gray

Details to follow

Peter Brannan at the Usher Gallery: Part 1, the 1940s
Malcolm Moyes

Details to follow

W H Crowder DSO
Robert Holland
Details to follow

Sarah Clayworth's Sampler
Sara Basquill
In 1981 the Museum of Lincolnsire Life acquired a sampler depicting Lincoln Hospital, which had been built on Drury Lane in 1777. The sampler carries the name of Sarah Clayworth and is dated 1797 but it has not been possible to identify this woman with certainty. Cuurent research suggests she was from Nottingham and had been 14 years old when she worked the sampler.

Boyhood Memories of World War 1 in Wainfleet
J E Swaby
Details to follow

John Swan of Stonefield House
Dennis Mills and Victoria Thorpe

John Swan(1831-1907), a Lincoln solicitor, lived at Stonefield House behind Church Lane and Newport in the city. He ran a successful dairy farm at this site and owned a brickworks off Burton Road with his legal business partner, Thomas Bourne. Swan was also an officer in the First Lincolnshire Rifle Volunteers.

Ruston Proctor Steam Navvy No.306
Charles Parker
This crane navvy or steam shovel is the oldest survivor of its type in the world. Built in Lincoln in 1909 it worked in a chalk pit at Arlesey, Befordshire until the 1920s. Between 1977 and 1980 it was rescued, restored and put on display at Lincoln's Museum of Lincolnshirde Life. In 2011 it was donated to the Vintage Excavator Trust at Threlkeld Quarry Museum in Cumbria where it is occasionally gets up to steam and once more moves large loads.

Short articles
* A narrow strip of land south of the A158 in North Greetwell was originally in Nettleham parish and the exceptionally poor quality of the soil may result from the deposit of more than two centuries of road sweepings beginning from the Enclosure Act of 1777, speculates Pearl Wheatley.
* Query: where is the illustration of the carving over a mantelpiece in Castle Farm, Swayfield, published? The two elements of the illustration depict Adam and Eve and Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. It is signed E.W.S. and dated 1864.

* The ferry between Barton and Hessle, the shortest crossing of the Humber, was much used by drovers for their cattle for centuries. It was outlived by the later New Holland to Hull ferry (illustration: PS Lincoln Castle)

Book Reviews

 

No.109 Autumn 2017

Who were the Lincolnshire Cunning-Folk?
Paul Hickman

Up to the late nineteenth century, many people believed that their lives were ruled by supernatural forces. Their world was a mysterious place and there were those who preyed on it: the 'cunning folk'. These magical practitioners have remained fairly elusive from the pages of history but evidence for their activities and their influence can be drawn from many primary sources.

Lazy Brass Bands - More from Coleby and its Feast
Chrysanthe J  Marriott

The committee minute book from 1903-1929 reveals fascinating detail of the annual Feast. Hiring a local band proved to be troublesome and relatively expensive; organising a skittle competition with its prizes (a pig or a trurkey) was a major concern; with the help of the village's rifle club a shooting contest was arranged for a while. The demise of the Feast is discussed and compared with experiences in other Lincolnshire villages.

Robert Carnaby from North Kelsey - a WWI Soldier
Eric Hare
A letter, here transcribed in full, was sent from the front by John Robert Carnaby to his father shortly before he was killed in action at Passchendaele in October 1917. This article includes the letter from his lieutenant notifying the family of his death and describes in outline the battle at Passchendaele.

Was this Nathaniel Clayton's Apprentice Piece?
Sara Basquill
A very fine model steam-driven beam engine at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life is attributed to Nathaniel Clayton, supposedly made when he was an apprentice. Features of the model tally with Clayton's dates but there is no independent supporting evidence for this attribution. (Rob Wheeler and Chris Page were consulted over this puzzle.)

Cholera in Collingham, 1854
Helena Pielichaty

At the time of the national cholera epidemic of 1853-54 six adults from two families died from the disease in Collingham (in Nottinghamshire close to the Lincolnshire border). Records held locally (a village history, newspaper reports) refer to these events and highlight the role of two local doctors.

Social Life in Glentworth in the Early Twentieth Century
James Foster
Account to follow.

Fred Richardson of Surfleet
Frances Richardson
Fred, the author's grandfather, medically unfit for military service, moved from Surfleet to Lincoln to work as a railway wagon builder with Clayton & Shuttleworth during the First World War. In 1920 he returned to the Fens to build his own wooden bungalow and work as a smallholder.

David N Robinson (1927-2017) - Obituary

A former SLHA President, David Robinson OBE was widely known and highly regarded as an editor, author (over 20 books), tutor and speaker. He played a leading role in several wildlife and heritage organisations and was a prominent layman in the Methodist Church.

Beryl Jackson (1933-2017) - Obituary
Beryl, from Long Sutton, was a keen student of her local area and its history. She wrote a number of articles about the Fens and generously shared her knowledge with other authors and researchers.

Book Reviews

No.108 Summer 2017

The Name of the Battle (The Battle of Lincoln, 1217)
Erik Grigg

An explanation of how the civil war battle between the factions supporting Henry III and Louis of France came to be known as the Battle of Lincoln Fair and, given the nature of fairs and tournaments, why it is perhaps better simply called the Battle of Lincoln 1217.

Joseph Gilbert: An Underrated Lincolnshire Seafarer, 1732-1821
John Almond

Joseph Gilbert, originally from the Kirton-in-Holland, sailed twice with the renowned Captain James Cook. This relatively overlooked seaman attained the rank of master in the navy and was involved in survey work along the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador with Cook. The Gilbert Islands in the Pacific were named after him by Cook.

The Victorian Farm Labourers of Mere Oaks Cottages in Branston Parish
Dennis Mills and Victoria Thorpe
A detailed investigation of the occupancy and ownership of cottages at the extreme eastern edge of Branston parish in Potterhanworth Booths using census and other local records. The livelihood (road mending) of the authors' ancestor who lived in the cottages in the late 19th century is also described in some detail.

The Clayton Heirs
Rob Wheeler
Nathaniel Clayton, the hugely successful Lincoln industrialist, only had daughters, but two of these produced sons. Robert Clayton Swan and Nathaniel Cockburn inherited considerable wealth from their grandfather; they were well educated but, as this detailed study shows, they achieved very little. Hunting and other sports were their principal occupations.

The Show Houses (by Lincoln City Council)
Richard Skipworth
Account to follow

Education and Employment Opportunities for Girls
Debbie Fisher
Account to follow

World War One Record of Service - Fulbeck
Stewart Squires
A specially printed record book in St Nicholas's church at Fulbeck contains details of the First World War service of all the men of the parish. This is an excellent record, although some of the information may be incomplete or incorrect.

Short Articles
* The early history of Lincolnshire County Council Offices, Newland, Lincoln (contributor: Neville Birch)
* Cumberworth Primitive Methodist Chapel (mentioned in LP&P107): further information
* Obituary: Ruth Tinley (1926-2017), longstanding SLHA member and highly regarded local and family historian.

* Procession of City of London Livery Companies in Lincoln, June 2017 and examples of work at associated Skills Festival (photographs)

Book Reviews

No.107 Spring 2017

Remembering the Champions of 1931-32
Mark Acton

Ronald Tointon, a Methodist Minister born in Lincoln in 1908 and life-long supporter of Lincoln City FC, compiled a record of the team that finished first in the Third Division (North) in 1931/32. Personal notes are given on key players, comparing some to national stars of the day.

Sleaford - a Sporting 'What might have been'
Ron Price
Immediately after the Second World War plans were put forward to create a sports stadium alongside the A153 three miles north of Sleaford. This ambitious scheme might have provided arenas for a wide range of sports and have become a 'White City' to match other regional sports venues, but it fell at the first hurdle when an application to the local planning authority for permission to build greyhound and speedway tracks was turned down.

The Diversion of the Roman Road at Littleborough-on-Trent
Pat Jones
The accidental discovery of a stone causeway which grounded a boat in the Trent near Littleborough in 1994 led to a detailed investigation of the diversion of Till Bridge Lane (Roman Road) around Littleborough on the west bank of the river and the existence of two crossing points in close proximity.

Telegraph Poles
Peter Stevenson
The writer looks back to his youth in the 1930s when, bit by bit, he came to understand the new technology of the telephone: the mystery of wires and insulators, and the essential role of the linesmen who scaled telegraph poles in all weathers.

Arthur Galton, Vicar of Edenham
Margaret McKay
An account of the chequered career of a gifted scholar (born 1852) who trained to be an RC priest, later read history at Oxford and then embarked on an ill-fated literary career. Later he held a post in Australia and then back in England, in his 40s, became an Anglican priest, serving Edenham and Grimsthorpe (home of the Dukes of Ancaster) until his death in 1921. There is much added local flavour - the story of a gun kept under Galton's pillow; his friendship with Frederic Manning - to make this a very valuable and readable article.

Riches to Rags in the Early Eighteenth Century (William Thornton of Bloxholm)
Helen Forde
William Thornton (1693-1728) inherited the Bloxholm estate in 1716 but was soon in serious financial difficulty and had to sell Bloxholm Hall in 1721. He was involved in further significant legal disputes - described here in some detail - until his early death at the age of 35. The Thornton family, which had risen to some prominence in the county after the Civil War, was effectively wiped out at the death of William.

Ray Carroll (1930-2017) - Obituary
Ray had been a professional librarian working in the public sector, holding the post of County Librarian in Lincolnshire when he retired. He was the highly regarded and hard working Reviews Editor for SLHA from 1997 until his death. He was also an active participant in several other county societies, notably the Tennyson Society and the Lincoln Record Society.

Short Articles
* An extremely small Primitive Methodist chapel, built in 1859, has been adapted as a single-room extension to a house. (It is at Cumberworth about 3.5 miles SE of Alford)
* Photographs of Lincoln street furniture (manhole covers, gratings and the like) made by former iron founder, Richard Duckering.
* Family recollection of a 5-year-old Grantham boy who had to live with an strict aunt in Sheffield during WW1 to release space at home for billeted soldiers.

Book Reviews

 

No.106 Winter 2016-17

The Forest of Kesteven and the Charter of the Forest
Erik Grigg

The Charter of the Forest, issued in 1217, moderated the laws governing the Royal Forests, one of which was the Forest of Kestevn in south Lincolnshire, established in the early twelfth century. The article outlines the process of deforestation of this huge (largely treeless) area into the fourteenth century.

Goates and Draynes: Dikereeves' Accounts from the Seventeenth Century
Meryl Foster and Ian Simmons
A study of documents from the parishes of Wainfleet, Friskney, Bratoft and Firsby reveals interesting detail of work done to maintain and improve inland drainage. Both technical and financial information can be gleaned from accounts deposited at Lincolnshire Archives.

Pte James A W Foster: a soldier in the First World War
James R Foster
Foster, an apprentice steelworker from Scunthorpe, served with the Sherwood Foresters as a Lewis Gunner at Passchedaele and survived the war. Ironically most of his service records were destroyed in a WW2 air raid.

An Explosive Discovery: Ruston Proctor ZLH Locomotive
Sara Basquill
Ruston Proctor & Co developed a small, spark-proof locomotive with an internal combustion engine which ran on paraffin and was supplied to the Ministry of Munitions at the time of WW1. A rare example was rescued from a scrapyard in the 1960s and with the help of restorer Brian Clifford and Ruston & Hornsby Information Manager Ray Hooley was added to the collection at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life.

Leadenham on the Lincoln and Honington Railway
Nick Moore
A fine print which appeared in the Illustrated London News in May 1867 (copied here) shows interesting detail of the newly opened Lincoln-Honington railway line where it is crossed by the A17 road at Leadenham. The background to the line's constuction is discussed and mention is made of its subsequent role in the Lincolnshire ironstone industry.

Boston Road Camp: Sleaford's forgotten Prisoner of War Camp
Simon Pawley
Initially the site of a searchlight battalion in 1939, this Sleaford site housed about 300 German PoWs who worked as manual labourers in the town until repatriation (1946-47). The hutted accommodation was then occupied by workers from the Baltic states (European Voluntary Workers), who were drafted in to meet local labour shortages. Their numbers gradually diminished and the camp closed in 1954 to be replaced by the St Giles Avenue estate from 1958.

Short Articles
* Lincolnshire-made machines in the tea industry: a photograph of a Marshall of Gainsborough machine at the Ceylon Tea Museum, originating from the Hantane Tea Factory, near Kandy.
* Archbishop Edward White Benson (1829-1896): Edward Benson was chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral between 1872 and 1877 and was the first bishop at Truro. In several ways he retained connections with Lincoln.
* 1910 Elections and postcards: Personal reflections in response to the article in LP&P105. Also query changes in colours traditionally associated with main political parties.
* Former skating rink in Ramsgate Road, Louth: detailed note of changes of ownership and uses since 1909, most notably as Thompson's bus coachwork builder in the 1920s.

Book Reviews

No.105 Autumn 2016

The Grand Sluice, Boston
John Almond
The sluggish river Witham and the low-lying fens caused severe drainage problems in the area around Boston. New cuts for the river and construction of the Grand Sluice on the northern edge of the town in 1766 were key eighteenth-century improvements.

The Tale of an Unsuccessful Bookseller
Nick Moore

John Cole, born and died in Northamptonshire, had a bookselling business in Lincoln between about 1817 and 1820 among other short-lived businesses. One of the many books he himself wrote and published was a book on the history of Lincoln, a rare copy of which has recently come to Jews' Court. Of particular interest are the many additional, 'one-off', illustrations of local buildings and archaeological artefacts.

Elizabethan Mittens: A Royal Gift
Sara Basquill
The Museum of Lincolnshire Life holds a pair of very old mittens made of velvet and silk. The fine embroidered pattern (a white falcon on a tree trunk) on the cuffs has helped identify their date of about 1600 and suggests a connection with royalty.

Lincoln Schoolgirls Support the war effort
Ken Redmore
The termly magazine of Lincoln High School at the time of WW1 shows how staff and pupils raised money for wartime causes both at home and abroad. Part of the school grounds were also given over to growing vegetables in response to the national campaign for home grown food. 

1910: Two Elections and Two Postcards
Mark Acton
Postcards from the Boston and Louth areas indicate strong local interest in the general election of 1910, both in the images and the handwritten messages (illustrated in full alongside the article). The ins and outs of both national and local politics are briefly considered. 

Natty Clayton at Play
Rob Wheeler
Nathaniel Clayton, wealthy owner of one of Lincoln's large engineering firms, bought a small country house on the Isle of Wight in 1861 and indulged his passion for yachting. Ten years later he purchased a second house - much larger - nearby. Soon afterwards he also bought a large agricultural estate at Withcall in the Lincolnshire Wolds where he brought in several technical innovations, though he probably spent little time there himself. 

Obituary: Jeanne Furnival
Jeanne Furnival (1924-2016) was a longstanding member of the Sleaford Group who did valuable working transcribing and writing about Sleaford's history of the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Short Items
* Photo of a large building with half-timbered front in Ramsgate Road, Louth. What was its original use?
* Verena Holmes (1889-1964): She worked at Ruston & Hornsby in LIncoln during WW1 and had a distinguished career in mechanical engineering.
* The word 'aber' was occasionally used at the beginning of a spoken sentence by a south Lincolnshire man 50+ years ago. What is the origin of this word?
* A wigwam for a goose's bridle: What is the origin of this phrase - possibly from Lincolnshire?
* Gibney Building, Lincoln: this building on Monks' Road, originally the Lincoln School of Science and Art, was built in 1885-86 with a flexible design to allow for alternative uses in the future.

Book Reviews

No.104 Summer 2016

A True and Unexaggerated Account (WW1 diaries) - Part 3
Chris Ward
This is the final collection of extracts from Robert Fieldend's wartime diary - a robust and compelling account of life in the trenches in 1915. A serious facial injury sees him leave the battle front but (we are told in an end note) he recovers to lead a full and productive life until his death in 1971.

Wartime Cinema [in Lincoln]
Richard Skipworth
Lincoln's three cinemas in 1916 are described and the article goes on to give details of the programme of films shown in the city that year. This includes the significant doumentary The Battle of the Somme.

Success to the Coleby Sports
Chryanthe J Marriott
The annual feast at Coleby was a large and well attended event up to the early 1900s. Here is a detailed account of feast days - the participants, the locations, the notable incidents - based on a variety of local records.

19th Century Ruffians of Ruskington
Sara Basquill
Details to follow shortly

Visiting Churches: Change and Continuity in SLHA
Pearl Wheatley
Details to follow shortly

Banking to end on an Historiuc Lincoln Site
Neil Wright
Details to follow shortly

Short Articles
* Details to follow shortly

Book Reviews

No.103 Spring 2016

A True and Unexaggerated Account (WW1 diaries) - Part 2
Chris Ward
The author's great-uncle Robert Stainton Fieldsend from Stainton le Vale joined the 5th Lincolnshire Territorial Regiment in 1915. Further vivid details of daily life for the soldiers on the Western Front.

Lincoln Gasworks in World War 1
Ken Redmore
The two gasworks in Lincoln struggled to maintain domestic and war industry supplies, especially with coal in short supply. Many gasworkers served in the war but replacement staff kept these important plants going.

Peter Efford: 'Thrice Mayor of Lincoln'
Brian Hodgkinson
Efford (or Effard) was an important ecclesiastical lawyer and administrator in Lincoln in the early 16th century. In 1536 was closely associated the people and places involved in the Lincolnshire Rising.

A Rural Remedy for Witchcraft
Sara Basquill
A damaged piece of moulded green glass, recently found in Navenby and acquired by the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, has been identified as a witch bottle dating from the 1830s.  Bottles were filled with urine and pins and then buried with the aim of nullifying the power of a witch.

Alfred George Webster (1852-1916, Artist
Jean Fanthorpe
Webster was Lincoln School of Art's second headteacher; his paintings were frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy and a good collection are held at the Usher Gallery in Lincoln. He was a nephew of Isaac Pitman and brother-in-law to George Clausen.

It was Harder for us in the Old Days
Stewart Squires
On a summer's day in 1871 the Lincoln Architectural Society made a tour of ten churches close to the GNR Lincoln-Honington line south of Lincoln. The author muses on their long and demanding day, especially the arrangements for travel and refreshment.

2016 - Railway Anniversary
Neil Wright
The first railway line in Lincolnshire opened between Newark and Lincoln in August 1846. It was also the year when Stamford was reached by rail and other lines were being seriously considered.

Short Articles
* Regulations for Binbrook Allotments (1899). A copy of 6 detailed regulations in this document.
* Lincoln Symphony Orchestra rehearsing in the Wesleyan Chapel, Clasketgate, Lincoln in c.1939. (A photograph published in LP&P102)  The conductor is Gordon Slater, Cathedral Organist; also present are two relatives of Chris Hewis.
* A 1930's advertisement for Duckering's hardware shop in Monks Road, Lincoln.
* The Lincolnshire Bagpipe is mentioned in Henry IV Pt 1 and there are images of pipes in two Lincolnshire churches and the Cathedral.

Book Reviews

No.102 Winter 2015-16

A True and Unexaggerated Account (WW1 diaries)
Chris Ward
The author's great-uncle Robert Stainton Fieldsend from Stainton le Vale joined the 5th Lincolnshire Territorial Regiment in 1915. This is a vivid account - with sketch maps - of the action in his first month of service on the Western Front.

The Two Halls of Glentworth: a Sequel
James Foster
Further information about Glentworth House, built 1566 for the Wrays, and its successor, Glentworth Hall, built 1733 by the Earls of Scarbrough. This is based on the archaeological assessment by the late Tony Sumpter in 2006 and includes several previously unpublished photographs. (This supplements the author's previous articles about Glentworth's halls in LP&P 82 and 83)

The Lincolnshire Poacher - 1201
Nigel Burn
Alexander of Torksey, a minor cleric, rashly hunted in Stow Park in 1201 when King John himself was at Stow. Alexander was fined 50 marks plus his horse and greyhounds - a massive penalty, much more than expected for a minor offence of poaching or trespass. 

Rainforths of Lincoln
Adam Cartwright
Information about this Lincoln engineering firm's final years of business between the wars has been provided by the daughter of the last owner, Sidney Thorne (1897-1972). A detailed history of Rainforths by Adam Cartwright was published in Lincolnshire History and Archaeology 45 (2010).

Welsh Connections: Richard Charles Fenton
Margaret Redfern
Fenton, son of the famed Welsh antiquarian and topographer of the same name, held the curacies at Waltham and Scartho from 1816; the parish registers record the baptisms of his 9 children. Correspondence with the Bishop of Lincoln gives intriguing details of Fenton's dispute with the curate of as neighbouring parish. He later took the living of St Leonard's South Cockerington.

The Hoyles at Heighington
Chris Adams
Two generations of Hoyles were surgeons or medical practitioners in Heighington; both were eccentric, drank too much and fell into serious debt. Local newspapers give details of the sorry history of the family.

The Shrine of St Hugh
Kevin Best

Bringing a Roman Bull back to Life
Antony Lee

Short Items
* John Farrow, toll bar keeper: More information about the toll bars in the Lincoln area (see LP&P99). Also comment on William Marrat of Sibsey, eminent mathematician and son-in-law of John Speed, toll bar keeper.
* C C Ellison of Bracebridge: extracts from letters in the period 1858-1866 by Revd Charles Penrose to his son in which Ellison is mentioned.
* A short poem, written by Peter Wylon in 1996, reflects on the fate of George III's bust, once on top of Dunston Pillar.
* Parson's Fortnight: several correspondents gave definitions in response to the query raised in LP&P101.
* Bricklayers' Arms: the location of the pub shown in the photo in LP&P101 is confirmed as North Somercotes
* The photograph of George Giles included in Dennis Mill's book Effluence and Influence is by H Lenthall of 222 Regent Street, London
* A photograph of an orchestra in rehearsal, probably in Lincoln during the 1930s.  Where was it taken?  Who are the musicians?

Book Reviews

 

No.101 Autumn 2015

The Travels of our Magna Carta
The Very Revd Philip Buckler, The Dean of Lincoln
The Dean has taken Lincoln's copy of the Magna Carta to USA in the past year. This same copy, following display at the 1939 World Fair in New York, was kept safe in the US Library of Congress during WW2 and only returned to Lincoln in 1946. Over the past 40 years it has been displayed in many American cities as well as Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Cowbit Church Clock gets a Well Deserved Revamp
Shirley Pugh
A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund enabled the turret clock in the 14th century St Mary's church in Cowbit to be restored.  At the same time a church trail aimed at school children has been devised and published.  The clock was built by J B Joyce, a well known clockmaker of Whitworth, Shropshire, and installed in 1907.

C C Ellison of Bracebridge (1834-1912)
Rob Wheeler
Charles Ellison, younger son of Richard Ellison of Boultham Hall, served as vicar of Bracebridge following curacies in Newark and Wrawby.  He became very skilful in fashioning turned ornamental objects on a lathe, was a keen horticulturalist and a competent cricketer. 

The Hidden Secret of the First World War Tank
Sara Basquill
The tank exhibited at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life for over 25 years has hitherto been identified as Flirt II, a veteran of the Battle of Cambrai.  Recent investigation of serial number and paint colour reveals that the tank is probably Daphne, a veteran of the Third Battle of Ypres, which was put on display in Gloucester after the war.

The Birth of the Tank
Ros Beevers
A short account of the building, testing and approval of Foster of Lincoln's 'Mother' prototype tank in 1915. Also a note about a child's model tank; the new tank sculpture on Tritton Road, Lincoln; and the 'Tank Anthem'.

Short Items
* Parson's Fortnight: Does anyone know what this expression, used in Tennyson family correspondence in 1824, means?
* Lincoln Cathedral stained glass: Continuation of the discussion in LP&P 99 about the decaying Cathedral Angel Choir window in 1939 and its preservation
* Steam road roller in Sri Lanka: A contemporary photograph of a road roller which may have been made in Lincoln.
* Lincoln pawnbrokers: A request for more information about this trade which declined from 6 businesses to 2 between 1900 and 1940.
* Bricklayers' Arms, North Somercotes: A photo from 1969 and a brief recollection of the landlord and his family.
* Photographs of Lincoln's 2015 events (Barons, Steampunk festival, sand sculpture) and Boston (St Botolph's Church, Artisan Mannerism house in Wormgate)

Book Reviews

No.100 Summer 2015

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Aaron's Tower
Nigel Burn
What was the Observatory Tower at Lincoln Castle called before the observatory was built?

Where have we come from and where are we going?
Pearl Wheatley
The story of the Society's magazines over 170 years

The Life and Death of Dr John Willis
Chris Adams

Lincoln Copy of the Magna Carta?
Kathleen Major
Reprint of an article by the former Lincoln Diocesan Archivist first published in The Lincolnshire Magazine in 1939

The Roman Villa at Scampton
Antony Lee

The Shuttleworth Heirs
Rob Wheeler

Apparatus for Restoring the Apparently Drowned
Sara Basquill

Book Reviews

No. 99 Spring 2015

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The Haunted House
Richard Skipworth
The women's suffrage movement in Lincoln and the involvement of an able young politician, Laura Webber.

Belgian Refugees at Belton
Terry Fulton

Male Forenames on Lincolnshire WW1 Memorials
Michael Credland & David Start

What Did the Romans Ever Do for Me?
Richard Lucas
Architects and builders of Roman times spared little thought for their twentieth-century counterparts.

Toll Bar Keeper on the Lincoln to Barton Turnpike
Angela Downs

Potato Memories
Beryl Jackson

Obituary: Rex Russell, 1916-2014

No. 98 Winter 2014-15

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Lost and Found
James Foster
Sarah Jane Wilkinson, born Barnoldby le Beck in 1864, married Herbert Cook (a metal worker) and emigrated to Australia in 1882.  They settled in Rockampton (Queensland) and raised eight children, maintaining contact with their Lincolnshire relations until 1909.  Searches by the writer has revealed more of their life 'down under' - Herbert died 1927, Sarah Jane 1952.

Jesse Houlden
Esme Osborne
After training in the Machine Gun Corps at Belton Park, Houlden fought at the Somme and Arras, and gained the Military Medal in 1918.  He was seriously wounded in September 1918 but survived to marry and lead a successful civilian life in Lincoln.  He died in 1878, aged 81, one of countless men who served in WW1.

The Choirboy
Norman Clarke

More on the Rhodes Brothers and Sleaford
Michael Turland

Welsh Connections
Giraldus Cambrensis

In the Land of the Giants
Peter Stevenson

Eagle Moor, an Industrial Hamlet
Maureen Birch

Neolithic Jadeite Axe from Potterhanworth
Antony Lee

Short Items
* Uffington Village Hall: Is this the only surviving village hall in Lincolnshire with a thatched roof (good photo shown)?
* Three 'Lancs' [Lancaster bombers] together at East Kirkby in September 2104 - an illustrated note of a memorable occasion.
* Fine photographs are shown of celebrations in Lincoln's High Street when the Royal Show came in June 1907.
* A further note about the connection between Methodists of Raithby and South Africa through Revd Barnabas Shaw (see also LP&P97)
* Query about the removal and storage of stained glass in the Cathedral during WW2.  Also some fine colour photographs of 4 Cathedral windows.

No. 97 Autumn 2014

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Avro Lancaster Crash at Scredington, 1943
John Porter

Rabbits, Sheep and Cows, and Four Farmers named John Grant
Chris Adams

Parish Conflict (in Stow in Lindsey)
Peter Leonard

Edward Chaplin and the General Election of 1874
Mark Acton

Jack Thornalley and his Brothers and Cousins
Brian Thornalley

Sir John Franklin's Snowshoes
Antony Lee

Short Items
* Brickworks on Cross O'Cliff Hill, Lincoln
* Raithby by Spilsby and its South African Connection
* Examination questions set in 1914
* Newport Arch photograph c.1907
* Ruston-Bucyrus crane in Australia
* Making fishermen's clogs
* Restoration of Newport Arch, 1825/26

No. 96 Summer 2014

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The Repair of Newport Arch, Lincoln, 1825
David Stocker
A handbill published in 1825 (illustrated here in full) sought public support and finance for a significant repair to the Roman arch in Lincoln.  This document provides important new evidence about the state of the arch and its surroundings in the early 19th century and also lists the subscribers to the repair fund.

The Curtois Family of Branston
Chris Adams
A succession of Curtoises, a wealthy and well-connected family, held the living at Branston for over 200 years until the 1890s.  Four Curtois daughters from the rectory in the mid-19th century became, respectively, notable painters, writers, sculptors and philanthropists.

Living at Bolingbroke Castle in the Thirteenth Century
Patrick Mussett & Ian Simmonds
Castle accounts for 1275 set out both income and expenditure for the year and include detail of crops, farm animals, fish and dairy products.  Special purchases of food and wine were made and alterations to the castle's fabric undertaken in preparation for the visit that year of the 24-year-old Earl of Lincoln, Henry de Lacy.

Wilderspin National School, Queen Street, Barton
John French
It has been a long and difficult process to create a museum from this important Grade II* building, with its significant 19th century furnishings and its historic connection with Samuel Wilderspin, a pioneer of infant education.  The author has been closely associated with these changes - as trustee, committee member and hands-on caretaker.

Glentworth Cliff Local Defence Volunteers
James Foster
An account of the successful - and amusing - creation of a 'Black Bombard' mortar by the Home Guard unit close to RAF Hemswell.  Locals still recall the individuals who formed the platoon and the inadvertent target of their missile firing - a shed in the pub car park.

Lincoln School and the 4th Northern General Hospital
Peter Harrod & Chris Williams
The newly opened Lincoln Grammar School on Wragby Road was taken over as a military hospital in 1914, with the addition of numerous wooden-built wards (with over 1100 beds) on the playing field. The school did not return to the site until 1920; the last 'hut' was removed in the 1990s.  The current school archive holds detailed information about the hospital and the men who occupied it.

Late Medieval Reliquary Pendant
Antony Lee
A small lozenge shaped pendant, made from gilded silver, has been found in Wragby.  Its faces have incised designs depicting the face of Christ and the Agnus Dei, and it contained two 15th century coins.

Short Articles
* The Royal Agricultural Show was held on Lincoln's West Common in June 1907 and was visited by King Edward VII.
* A photograph of the main pavilion at the Royal Show, Lincoln, 1907.

No. 95 Spring 2014

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A TRIBUTE TO HILARY HEALEY (1935-2013)

1 Hilary of the Fens
Tom Lane
The wide range of Hilary's work on the archaeology of the Fens, especially on medieval salterns, is highlighted.

2 Cottages and Open Doors
Liz Bates
Hilary was involved with the Heritage Open Days project from its inception.  She had a particular enthusiasm for the vernacular buildings of the County, which she recorded in fine line drawings and photographs.

ARTICLES AND ARTWORK BY HILARY HEALEY

Hilary Healey was an accomplished artist.  Many of her line drawings are reproduced in this magazine and the centre page spread shows water colour paintings of cottages in Kirkby Laythorpe and Harrison's Drove

1 The Merry Month of May (1987)
Lincolnshire has a wide range of traditions, sayings and customs relating to May, several, inevitably, concerned with the weather, and other to do with romance, framing and food.

2 The Pottery Industry of Bourne
This small Lincolnshire town, between the Fens and Limestone Uplands, was a centre for pottery making in Roman times.  A wide range of pots and bowls - and pottery kilns - from the Medieval and Post-medieval periods have also been discovered in the town.  (Accompanied by Hilary's sketches.)

3 Food Recollections during the War
A personal account of meals at home in the Vicarage in Nocton and away at a Staffordshire boarding school. Foods vividly brought to mind include bottled fruit and vegetables, pork products, bread and dripping, cocoa and dried egg - and of course the use of ration books.

4 A Marsh for All Seasons (1998)
A short but sensitive portrait of the Lincolnshire Marsh - the landscape and wildlife.

5 Medieval Saltmaking
An extract from The Archaeology of Quadring which explains the process and describes the excavated sites in the area.

6 Recollections of the City and County Museum (2005)
An insight into the artefacts and displays of the former museum in Greyfriars, Lincoln.  Museum keepers, assistants and archaeologists from the 1950s and 60s are recalled.

-------------------------------------------------

Lincoln on the Eve of War
Andrew J H Jackson
Bernard Gilbert, born at Billinghay in 1882, wrote a series of 19 articles for the Lincolnshire Echo from January 1914. These evocative pieces commented on the contemporary Lincoln scene from horse racing to the new library, from the dominating engineering works of the City to the impending war.  The articles were later published as a collection.

Obituary: Brian Dawson (1939-2013)
Brian was a much-loved traditional singer and song collector who took Lincolnshire music and culture to festivals across the country.  He gave hundreds of performances in Lincolnshire halls and clubs.  (A copy of Fiddlers Green, a folk song by Tom Connelly and sung by Brian Dawson is printed after Tom Lane's warm tribute.)

Treasures of The Collection
Antony Lee
A medieval pendant made from a Gaulish Iron Age silver coin was found by a metal detectorist in Horncastle in 2012.  It had been made into the item of jewellery in the 6th or 7th century with gilding and the added decoration of green glass and a garnet.

Short Items
* A photograph of an unknown event, possibly associated with Horncastle.  Can anyone identify the locatlon and suggest what the celebration was?
* An envelope, dated 1819 and sent by J Gordon, bears a free franking mark.  What was Gordon's status? Free mail could be sent by MPs, bishops and some other important office holders.
* A brick chimney, now capped, stands close to the former brickworks near the foot of Cross O'Cliff Hill, Lincoln.  It apeears not to relate to the brickworks buildings shown on the OS map of 1920.

No. 94 Winter 2013-14

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The Lady and the Engine Driver
Chris Padley
The story of a titled lady who pursuaded an attractive young engine driver to teach her how to drive a steam locomotive on the Lincoln to Barnetby line in the 1870s is well known.  The author re-examines Alfred Bennett's tale (in The Chronicles of Boulton's Siding) and finds evidence to suggest that it was actually based on the Lincoln to Louth line via Bardney.

Getting into the Navy in 1952
Dennis Mills
Undertaking National Service in the Royal Navy was relatively rare, but the author gained admission to the RNVR on the strength of his willingness, as a school leaver with A Levels in French and Latin, to learn Russian.  Following thorough checks and tests, two years of service - briefly described here - were spent at various places in Western Europe.

The Redbourn Garden Village Trust
James Foster
Housing developments in the Frodingham area of Scunthorpe were funded by the major iron and steel companies of the town. Small, closely packed terrace houses were built by Rowland Winn in the late 19th century; shortly after the First World War the more spacious and attractive garden village was developed by the Redbourn Hill Ironworks Trust. 

St Catherine's Church, Lincoln: A Site of Historical Importance
John Ketteringham
A brief history of the site, starting with its 12th century origins as a Gilbertine Priory, its role in Queen Eleanor's protracted funeral procession, its transmogrification to a Methodist Church, and finally as a Heritage and Cultural Centre.

Public Libraries in Sleaford
Simon Pawley
An account of the attempts by the philanthropic men of Sleaford to raise the aspirations of working men from cribbage, billiards and whist to the more intellectual pursuits offered by public lectures and a library.

An Anglo Saxon Runic Inscription
Antony Lee (The Collection)
A pair of damaged gilded silver tweezers (or candle snuffers?) from the Anglo Saxon period, recently unearthed at Barkston, carry a runic inscription thought to be from an Old English poem dating from between AD725 and AD825.

Obituary: Joan Thirsk
A brief personal tribute by Dennis Mills to this hugely influential economic historian who died in October 2013.  She was general editor of the early volumes of the History of Lincolnshire series and author of Peasant Farming

Short Articles
* The competition to compose a letter that might have been written by Richard Ellison (see LP&P 93) was won by Brian Thornalley.  The text of the letter actually written by Ellison is given.
* Location of a roadside water hydrant at Croxton Kerrial (just over the county boundary in Leicestershire) is given (SK 833290)

 

 

No. 93 Autumn 2013

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Peopling a Village: Bigby in the 19th Century
Janet Tierney
An overview of the chief elements of the population of the rural parish of Bigby, on the wolds close to Brigg, and how they fared during the economic upheavals of the 19th century

Kathleen Doris Johnson, MBE - An Obituary

A knowledgable and keen participant in SLHA events, and with a wide range of other cultural and historical interests, Kathleen Johnson died at the end of July 2013

A Tailor's Victory
Richard Skipworth
Arthur Taylor, a Lincoln tailor, became the first Labour Member of Parliament for Lincoln in 1924 by a slender margin.  This article examines both the national and local contexts in which he achieved this remarkable result.

Tom Otter - Fact or Folklore
Chris Hewis
The tale of a man who murdered his pregnant wife on their wedding night in 1805 is well known, but is much embellished.  Original documents and newspaper reports help to distinguish truth from folklore.

An Awkward Letter
Rob Wheeler
Three upper class familes (Ellison of Lincoln, Wise or Wyse of Devon and Hele of Bedfordshire) become connected by marriage.  The suicide through prussic acid poisoning of maltreated Jane Wyse in 1851 creates a crisis; how will Richard Ellison write to cancel an invitation to Jane's guardians? 

Cecil Rhodes Plays Cricket at Sleaford
Michael Turland
Cecil Rhodes and his brother Frank regularly visited their aunt Sophia Peacock, who lived in the Manor House, Sleaford. Newspaper reports in the 1860s and 70s record many appearances on the cricket field and make occasional reference to other activities of Rhodes in the Sleaford area.

To a Land Beyond the Seas
Bill Painter
Between 1786 and 1851, 135 Lincolnshire women were convicted and transported.  Ann Harrad, common wife of a Boston surgeon was found guilty in 1834 of receiving stolen sovereigns and was transported for 14 years to New South Wales.

Short Articles

• Roadside Water Supply: several stand pipes have been located in rural locations beside the road where farm water carts would have been filled 
• A bronze boar figurine, 37mm long, from Great Sturton has recently been acquired by The Collection in Lincoln.  Its significance is discussed.
• The Pelican is the name of a former public house in Dembleby and the name survives; coincidentally the pelican features in the coat of arms of the Pell family, once lords of the manor of the village.
• Two buildings in Sleaford by Kirk and Parry carry an image of the wyvern.  The origin may be the coat of arms of Leicester, birthplace of Charles Kirk.
  

No. 92 Summer 2013

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Hilary Healey (1935-2013) - Obituary
Hilary was an art teacher who switched to a career in archaeology, making a wide and lasting impact on the Lincolnshire scene.  She played many active roles within SLHA, notably as editor of Lincolnshire Past & Present.

Nurse's Cottage, Branston
Joan Mills
A stone cottage close to the church in Branston was home to the local nurse for the first half of the 20th century.  Intriguingly, the two-storey wing of the building was described as the "common hall" in 17th and 18th century documents.  Are such halls found elsewhere?  What was its function?

Getting out of the Army 200 Years Ago
Rob Wheeler
A tenant farmer's son from Skellingthorpe gained release from the army in 1813 through a lengthy sequence of contacts, each coming closer to the Adjutant-General himself who alone could make the decision.

Scarlet Fever Devastates Tealby
Jean Fanthorpe
During the Summer months of 1841 nineteen young people - mainly aged 5 or under - died of scarlet fever in the small Wolds village of Tealby. Typhus fever also struck, and some of the tragic personal stories of the village families are told here.

Celebrating Grantham's Heritage Again
Marion Ellis
A second article (see LP&P 87) celebrating eminent personalities connected with the town: Augusta Montanari (1818-64, doll maker); Charles Dickens (resident at the George Hotel while writing Nicholas Nickleby); Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727, who attended King's School); William Wand (1885-1977, Bishop of London).

Newland House (Lincoln)
Pearl Wheatley
The main offices of Lincolnshire County Council on Newland, built in 1932 for Lindsey County Council, incorporate part of a substantial early nineteenth century house.  Its location in the northern of two courtyards hide it from public view.

The Sleaford Family of North Lincolnshire
James Foster
Based largely on family sources, the writer uncovers the lives of recent Sleaford ancestors in Glentworth, Caenby, Owmby, Spital in the Street, Glentham, Fillingham and South Scarle (much further afield).  It is a story of ups and downs of small farmers.

Ermine (Lincoln) Estate's Community Newspaper, 1957-1965
Andrew Jackson
Ermine News, though a locally produced community monthly magazine, set a very high standard in design and content.  It was printed by the parish church and editied by the incumbent, Rev John Hodgkinson.  It is a valuable source of information about community life on an urban council estate 50 years ago.  Much of the 9-year run of issues is accessible through the St John's website.

Short Items

• A Ruston Proctor stationary steam engine featured in the recent centenary celebrations in Paraguay.
• Photographs of of several Lincoln locations - principally water features - at the time of the typhoid outbreak in 1904/05.
• Poem (Welcome to the Fens) and drawings by the late Hilary Healey.
• A medieval silver coin, found at Rauceby in 2010, is the first recorded example in Britain of the conversion of a foreign coin into jewellery.  Loop and catch plate have been fixed to one side and there is evidence that the coin was also gilded.
• Brief note and photographs of the European Stone Festival which took place on the East Green, Lincoln Cathedral, in June.
• Recent archaeological work at Lincoln Castle - including Roman finds - is being featured in the Channel 4 Time Team programme.

No. 91 Spring 2013

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A Lincolnshire Waterfall?
Eric Newton
An artifically created complex of lakes based on the Cringle Brook close to Stoke Rochford Hall includes a cascade or waterfall about 3 metres in height.  This feature only appears after heavy rain and when the water table is high.  The top pond above the fall was originally created as a source of water to be pumped by hydraulic ram to the Hall's garden and the village of Stoke Rochford.

Enforcing Speed Limits on the Witham, 1828-29
Rob Wheeler
Widening and deepening the Witham south-east of Lincoln in the 1820s caused temporary difficulties to the three steam packet owners offering transport on the river.  These were compounded when a superior vessel, working from Boston, provided competition. Then, with the work complete, the Navigation Company imposed speed limits and the passenger trade on the river was altered once more.

War Ags in Lincolnshire
Ken Redmore
Two local examples are given of the control exercised over farm crops by the War Agricultural Executive Committees during and immediately following the Second World War.

1836: A Terrible Year for Tealby
Jean Fanthorpe
In the course of a single year this small and picturesque village in the Wolds suffered a serious fire which destroyed a wheelwright's house and workshop; an unusual drunken disturbance; and an epidemic of smallpox affecting many families.

The Witham Shield: An Icon Returns to Lincoln
Antony Lee
Under national Spotlight Loan funding The Collection in Lincoln has been exhibiting the Witham Shield, a superbly decorated item from the 3rd century BC which was dredged from the Witham in 1826. It is the bronze facing of a shield and was probably made for ceremony or display; maybe it was associated with the other spectacular finds at the timber causeway at Fiskerton.

St Anne's: Medieval Bedehouse or Contemporary Almshouse?
Helen Caffrey
Almshouses for 13 females were built on the then north-east edge of Lincoln in 1847-48 to designs by Pugin; Butterfield was architect for a chapel built six years later.  This article looks closely at the architectural features of the buildings and the way the institution was run, making useful comparisons with other English almshouses.

The Ambitions of William Haddon Owen (1854-1924) of Louth
Stephen Roberts
This son of a Lincolnshire rector became a successful solicitor in Louth, a business entrepreneur and an active Conservative politician.

Short Items

• A transcription of the message on the reverse of the farmyard post card illustrated in LP&P No.90.
• The broken stem of a clay pipe found in Saxilby bears the maker's mark "D.G.".  Who was this and where did he come from? asks Chris Hewis.
• A photograph supplied by Derek Broughton shows a Ruston-Bucyrus dragline working in front of a large country house which has so far been unidentified.
• Wallace Collyer points out that the steelwork of the Jodrell Bank telescope was rolled at the Appleby-Frodingham Steel Company and then fabricated on the same site in Scunthorpe by the United Steel Structural Company.
• Erik Grigg is trying to trace Samuel Samuels of Lincoln, a collector of antiquities in the late eighteenth century.
• The High Bridge Cafe in Lincoln was restored in 1902. Joan Smith draws attention to the heads of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, carved in wood, which are displayed at upper storey level.

No. 90 Winter 2012-13

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Transportation of Grain
Ruth Tinley
Before the operation of modern bulk transport, sacks were used for carrying corn from farm to merchant and market.  Distinctive measures of weights and volume were used.  Hiring sacks was a complex and sometimes difficult operation, as the author knows from long personal experience.

The Decline and Fall of Clayton and Shuttleworth (Part 2)
Rob Wheeler
Of two early twentieth century continental agents for the Lincoln firm, one, Zettelmeyer of Konz in Alsace-Lorraine, made a successful transition into a 100% German firm producing road rollers (1930s) and other machinery (after WW2).  The other, Helfferich-Sadet of Kharkov, failed in the 1920s, despite C&S investment and energetic leadership from Charles Blakey, a Lincoln man.

Bill Blakey: A Life Cut Short
Richard Skipworth
Blakey, a farm foreman from Thornton near Horncastle, was recruited to the Lincolnshire Regiment in 1916. He served first in Gallipoli and then in the Somme where he was killed on 27 November 1916.  Blakey was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal, but his career was undistinguished, just one of thousands who played their part and paid the ultimate price.

In Service
James Foster
Laura Havercroft, a farmer's daughter, worked as maidservant first at Northorpe Vicarage and then at a steelworks director's house in Scunthorpe.  Further work in the town led to a waitress's post before her marriage and full-time commitment to a wife and mother's role.

Short Items

• Two libraries were built in Scunthorpe with the aid of Carnegie grants, writes David Lambourne. The one in Ashby (1906) survives as a fitness centre; the other in Scunthorpe (1902) was demolished in 1985.
• The Story of the Stones highlights the exhibition at St Lawrence Church Bardney of sculpted stones recently excavated from local Abbey site.
• Hilary Healey provides an undated postcard (shown here) with farmyard illustration and cryptic message referring to Nettleham and Bicker.
• Lincolnshire War Memorials: Gary Taylor summarises the range of memorials found across the county.
• Wellingore Footpath: Patient field investigation allowed Chris Padley to identify the location of an old photograph.  He found that the postcard had been printed from the wrong side of the negative!
• An aerial view shows that Grange Crescent (off Hykeham Road, Lincoln) has the shape of the tank which originated in the City during WW1.
• Croft Meadow is the title of a postcard image, but is this a Lincolnshire scene?
• The Lamplighter is a 25-year-old account by Norman Clarke of the evening street scene in Rasen Lane, Lincoln, in the 1920s.
• Improvements in Sleaford in the 1830s: Michael Turland has used newspaper sources through the British Library website to discover that local contractors Charles and William Kirk paved the Sleaford's streets in the 1830s.  The work was initiated by Preston, surveyor of the turnpike trusts, on behalf of the Vestry.
• Robey's and RAF Fylingdale: Adrian Bailey speculates that the bearings at this redundant site were made by Robey's of Lincoln, as were similar ones at Jodrell Bank.
• Willingham Roadman's Hut: The small ruined brick building which survives close to the road between North Willingham and Market Rasen was erected as a shelter and store for the local roadman (daily maintenance) by Miss Boucherett of Williungham Hall (writes Chris Padley).
• Short Ferry: Sally Scott provides detailed historical background to the location, its inn and farm.
• Bronze Age Penannular Ring: Antony Lee describes a recent addition to the Collection; it is of gold/silver alloy and was found by a metal detectorist at Welton, only the second of its kind in the county.
• Details of the family and career of Page Woodcock (of wind pill making fame) are set out by descendant Ray Woodcock.
  

No. 89 Autumn 2012

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The Decline and Fall of Clayton & Shuttleworth
Rob Wheeler
The firm's threshing machines and portable steam (traction) engines, in particular, were hugely successful before the First World War but, as an analysis of the sales records of the company makes clear, the failure to change the product range and reach new markets led to a collapse of the company in the 1920s.

Jodrell Bank and Robey�s
Peter Stevenson
It is not widely known that the dish tilting gearing for the huge Jodrell Bank telescope - previously used for the operation of gun turrets on a battleship - was made by Robey's.  The Lincoln company also made the telescope's roller bearings, the largest in the world at the time of its construction in 1957.

150 Years of History: The Lincolnshire Co-operative Society
Andrew Jackson
The society's records are now digitised and accessible through its website.  Beginning in 1861, detailed balance sheets, members' magazines, advertisements and annual reports can be examined.

Life in Lincoln during the Depression
Debbie Fisher
An analysis of census information, newspaper articles, council reports and personal reminiscences builds up an understanding of daily life in Lincoln during the 1920s and 30s.

Samuel Thornalley: From First to Last
Brian Thornalley
The writer chooses the family name 'Samuel' as the common thread linking characters and episodes from his family's history.

Lincolnshire and the FA Challenge Cup
Ron Price
A detailed analysis of the records of Lincolnshire clubs - small and large - in the FA Cup, starting from the 4th qualifying round.

Short items

• Stamford library: a note about the construction and funding of a Carnegie library (fifth of a series of articles by David Lambourne
  
  
• A steam road roller by Marshall's of Gainsborough has been spotted in a small museum in Sri Lanka
  
  
• A 1947 newspaper report describes a pair of fustian trousers made in Swaby in 1840 and still being worn
  
  
• Photograph of the rock garden at Lincoln Bracebridge Gasworks at a special opening event in 1938 (see Magazine Issue No.88)
  
  
• A brief tribute to Jessie Boucherett (1825-1905) of North Willingham, who played a leading role in movements for women's suffrage and employment
  
  
• Personal recollections of the landscaping work in North Hykeham's village green in the 1950s to 70s which resulted in the "humps and bumps" seen today (see Magazine Issue No.88)
  
  
• The Portrait of Isabella Carre (see Magazine Issue No.87) has been identified as the work of Sir Arthur Stockdale RA (1857-1940)
  
  
• Information is sought about the origins of Short Ferry on the Witham between Fiskerton and Bardney

No. 88 Summer 2012

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Charles F Booth and Telstar

Ken Redmore & Chris Lester
July 2012 sees the fiftieth anniversary of the first experimental communications satellite, Telstar, which successfully transmitted analogue visual information across the Atlantic. Charles Booth (1900-75), educated in Lincoln and one time Ruston & Hornsby apprentice, was head of the British technical team which worked with the French and Americans on this ground-breaking project.

Fields, Castles, Colleges and Changing Land Use in Tattershall
Ian Hogg
Excavations in 2011 at Blacksmith's Corner, a small site close to the Market place in Tattershall, revealed Roman occupation (field markings, greyware) and activity throughout the medieval period (pits, postholes, bricks, tiles, iron objects). By coincidence there is early association with a smithy.

A Polymath of Boston: W H Wheeler, Engineer, Architect, Author
John Almond
Wheeler was responsible for the People's Park (1871, the first such in Lincolnshire), the General Hospital (1874) and the Docks (opened 1884). He was also architect for work in local schools and churches, but he is best known as an authority on fenland drainage. His notable book A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire (1868) has been re-published in recent years.

The History of a Road: A57 Lincoln to Dunham Bridge
Chris Hewis
The road running west from Lincoln, alongside canal and railway for some of its route, became an important turnpike in the 18th century and remains an important route today. Tollbars and bridges - especially at Saxilby - are examined.

From Chaos to Beauty [The Garden at Lincoln Gasworks]
Joan Smith
In 1933 an extension to the City of Lincoln Gasworks in Bracebridge were accompanied by a large and imaginative scheme of landscaping and planting around the gasholders, devised by the City's Allotments Superintendent. The Lincolnshire Echo gives full details.

Short Items

• The library at Boston, completed in 1904, was built as part of a block of municipal buildings which also included the mayor's office, school of art, police and fire stations. Andrew Carnegie contributed £500 towards this.
  
  
• The Market Rasen Roman Catholic Register provides important information about the prominent recusant Young family of West Rasen and Kingerby in the 18th century.
  
  
• Two contributors reach the same conclusion: the Red Lion pub referred to in (Magazine Issue No.87) located at Stickford (despite significant changes to the building).
  
  
• Annie Beevers (from LP&P Editor Ros Beevers' family) was the midwife who delivered Queen Elizabeth II in 1926. Information is sought about Annie's husband Edwin, who died in a rugby accident in 1890.
  
  
• A photograph of Upton vicarage is shown - but is this a Lincolnshire Upton?
  
  
• Two recent acquisitions at The Collection (Lincoln's museum for art and archaeology): a gold Romano-British bracelet terminal with snake motif found at Marton, and a Chinese 'Hell' banknote issued for burning in a funeral pyre to ensure a well-resourced after-life.
  
  
• A copy of a beacon symbol from a 16th century map of Holbeach Marsh thought to be related to preparations for the Armada. 

No. 87 Spring 2012

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A Portrait of Isabella Carre
Michael Turland
The attractive portrait (copied on the magazine cover, left) which has hung in Carre's Grammar School in Sleaford since 1904 is the subject of a detailed investigation into the archives of the Herveys (later Earls of Bristol) at Ickworth House in Suffolk, and requires reference to the National Portrait Gallery. However, despite the family links to several artists of the early eighteenth century, the portrait in Sleaford is thought to be a modern copy.

A Middle-Class Honeymoon of 1827
R C Wheeler
The diary of a young bride from Lincoln gives intriguing details of a journey on honeymoon to Liverpool. Several country houses are noted; dioramas and other entertainments are enjoyed; a few purchases are also made.

Heighington's War Memorial
Brenda Webster
A clock commemorating the villagers who served in the Great War was erected on the tower of Heighington's Endowed School in 1924. This was not the original preference of the majority and it remains uncertain why this choice was made and how the work was funded.

Celebrating Grantham's Heritage
Marion Ellis
Four blue plaques have recently been unveiled in Grantham: Captain Albert Ball, WW1 fighter pilot; Joseph Tombs VC; Thomas Paine, political writer; Lance Corporal Walter Parker, Gallipoli Campaign stretcher bearer. Three further plaques will be unveiled in 2013.

The Mere 'Y' Station
Peter Stevenson
One of the earliest listening stations set up by the RAF before the Second World War was at Mere, just beyond the eastern perimeter of Waddington's airfield. During the war messages received here were taken first to Cheadle and later to Bletchley for analysis. It continued to operate into the 1950s and some buildings of this later period survive on private land.

Killingholme Flying Boat Jetty
Terry Hancock
During the First World War the Royal Naval Air Service operated flying boats and seaplanes from a base at Killingholme, just north of Immingham. Their important task was to patrol a large area of the North Sea looking for U-boats and Zeppelins. Remains of one of the three jetties can still be seen.

Lock, Stock and Barrel: Moving Farms in 1915
James Foster
In March 1915 the Havercroft family moved from their farm In Goxhill to Glentworth, a distance of 33 miles. On a two-day trek across the Wolds they herded cows and sheep, and used the farm horses to pull heavily laden wagons and the precious reaper-binder. Two years later, as anticipated, they were able to buy their new holding, Low Farm Glentworth, from the Earl of Scarbrough and all the effort was considered worthwhile.

Dickens's Lincolnshire
Stewart Squires
In his novel Nicholas Nickleby Dickens describes a wintertime coach journey along the Great North Road. The coach stops briefly at The George in Grantham and then, late in the evening, it overturns in the snow before reaching Newark. Details of the story make it difficult to locate this spot and its nearby inn with any certainty, but it may well be that Dickens had Foston or Long Bennington in mind.

Highlights of The Collection
Antony Lee
In 2007 a metal detectorist uncovered a Roman knife handle at Syston, near Grantham. It is made of copper alloy and has a remarkable open-work design depicting three interacting figures in erotic poses. It is a very unusual example and the exact meaning of the imagery is a mystery.

Lincolnshire's Carnegie Libraries: Lincoln Central Library
David Lambourne
The City's first public library was in Silver Street. The present one, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, was funded largely by Andrew Carnegie.

Short Items

• A challenge to identify a ruined Lincolnshire country house from a photograph taken in the 1960s.
  
  
• An Old Wives' Tale: spreading conkers around the house keeps spiders away.
  
  
• The bus shown in the photograph accompanying the article about James Foster (No.86 Winter 2011-12) is identified as a Straker-Squire of 1921-22.
  
  
• A photograph shows innkeeper William Seward and his wife outside the Red Lion Inn, which is possibly in the Mablethorpe area, but where exactly?
  
  
• A mystery picture shows a large walled garden with a tower (dovecot?) behind.
  

 

No. 86 Winter 2011-12

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A History of the Public Houses in Market Rasen
Brian Ward
This illustrated account gives details of the principal pubs in the town, including their origins and history. Directories and a range of other local sources are extensively used.

'Gormless', the Farmers' Boy
James R Foster
James A Foster (1899-1972), forbear of the writer, was a bus driver in the Scunthorpe area. Although a Yorkshireman by birth, he became well-known in Lincolnshire church halls and theatres for his humorous monologues in Lincolnshire dialect which he delivered in the guise of a simple farmworker.

Eamon de Valera's Daring Escape from Lincoln Prison
Erik Grigg
De Valera, leading dissident Irish Republican, was arrested in 1918 and imprisoned at Lincoln. His subsequent escape, organised by fellow IRA members, reveals the incredible ineptitude of the prison staff.

William Bedford (1782-1841)
Ruth Tinley
The remarkable story of a Lincoln tailor who, through diligent study and discussion at the Lincoln Mechanics Institution, eventually became a member of the British Asasociation for the Advancement of Science and in 1841 delivered a lecture to the Lincolnshire Topographical Scoiety on the geology of Lincoln.

Stones and Moats: Medieval Remains in Scredington
John Porter
The likely origins and significance of two walls - south of the churchyard and as part of a farm house - are discussed, together with the five reputed moats in the village.

Highlights of The Collection
Antony Lee
Description and illustrations of two elegant items of jewellery: a Roman ring (discovered at Revesby) and an Anglo-Saxon pendant (Horncastle, 2003).

Grantham Library: a Carnegie Library
David Lambourne
This fine building, latterly the town museum, was opened in 1926. The campaign to have it built was very protracted: for years the townspeople opposed the extra penny on the rates, despite the generous capital funding offered by the Carnegie Trust.

No. 85 Autumn 2011

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Spilsby St James: the Church and its Family Connections
John Almond
This church, with its sixteenth century tower and Victorian nave and chancel, contains remarkable monuments to the Willoughby family who occupied nearby Eresby House (demolished by fire in 1769) before moving to Grimsthorpe in the south of the county. The explorer Sir John Franklin, native of the town, is also commemorated.

Skendleby Psalter - Medieval Deer Park?
Ian Simmons & Patrick Mussett
The late Arthur Owen held the view that this feature between the parishes of Skendleby and Claxby near Alford was originally a deer leap or salter (sic). The local topography, especially the stategically placed woods, supports this supposition.

The Ether: an Early Encounter with the Wireless
Peter Stevenson
Amusing and informative memories around the introduction of wireless in the home, with its new vocabulary (leaking signals, juice, low tension) and mysterious equipment (crystals, cat's whiskers, condensers) which intrigued the writer in his youth.

Lincolnshire Roads and Road Signs
Ray Carroll
This is an introduction to the complex changes in road classification and signage introduced in the 1920s. Progress under the three Lincolnshire highway authorities is examined, with some useful supporting photographs.

New Acquisitions at The Collection
Antony Lee
Lincoln's fine museum of art and archaeology has recently acquired three exceptional gold coins from the Roman period AD 378 to 392. Another significant new arrival is a bronze boar statuette, dating from 100BC to 100AD, and found at Rothwell

Short Items

• Gainsborough Library, opened in 1905, is one of several in Lincolnshire sponsored by Andrew Carnegie (£4000, in this case).
   
• Caroline Martin: Further infornation about this pioneering woman, who featured in a recent conference at the University of Lincoln.
  Also see Magazine Issues No.67 (Spring 2007) and No.72 (Summer 2008)
   
• Recollections of growing up in the Louth area in the 1950s. David Vinter lived at Dog Kennel Farm, Hubbard's Hills, before moving to Cadney, near Brigg.
   
• An illustration of "a fen kitchen in olden days" from a Boston cookery book.
   
• Evidence that St Hugh's Well at Jews' Court was in fact dug in 1911 by the building's new owner.
   
• The illustration featured in Magazine Issue No.83 (Spring 2011) probably shows an overturned Leyland bus (N type) in 1922. But who was the operator of Service 8?
   
• Emily Langton Massingberd (1847-97) of Gunby Hall, remarkable feminist and temperance campaigner, bought The Massingberd Arms at Burgh le Marsh and turned it into a "dry" hostel.
   
• More information about Dernstall House or "The Dunston Lock" at the top of High Street, Lincoln.
  See Magazine Issue No.84 (Summer 2011)
   
• An unusual headstone carving from south Lincolnshire is illustrated. What biblical or allegorical scene does this represent?
   

 

No. 84 Summer 2011

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Girls and Swimming: Lincoln and beyond, 1918-1945
Deborah Fisher
An exploration of the beginnings of organised provision for swimming in the city; and a useful comparison with the national picture. Lincoln had two specially constructed open air baths or lidos, as well at least two dedicated places on the Witham. The slow introduction of mixed bathing provides an interesting theme.

Gainsborough 'Biffs': the Bristol F2B fighter made by Marshalls
Peter Stevenson
Marshalls, Gainsborough's huge engineering firm, used one of their sites to build what was probably the most successful fighter plane of the First World War. This illustrated account highlights the significance of this work, describes the site and follows its subsequent history.

Memories of Louth in 1947
David Vinter
Vivid recollections include the exceptional snowfall, primary school, Louth swimming pool, school dentist, 1947 Royal Show, the East Coast railway.

A First County Cricket Championship
Ronald Price
The story of Lincolnshire County Cricket Club's most successful period - 1966 - when they became Minor County Champions for the first time.

Short items

• Brayford Wharf East: a copy of a 1935 illustration shows commercial properties (identified); this is contrasted with today's view.
   
• Part of the original lettering on the face of the Great Central Warehouse near Brayford has been lost. Does anyone have a photo showing the full inscription?
   
• Details of a framed presentation from the Wraggoe Branch of the Girls' Friendly Society to Florence Giles (a member) on her marriage to Walter Rutland on 25 May 1910.
   
• Discussion of the origins of the name Dunston (or Dernstall) Lock between top of High Street and The Strait in Lincoln.
   
• A letter from Joan Gibbons to Terence Leach in 1969 about bricks made in Dunholme and in neighbouring areas.
   
• A brief note (1777) about Lord Clinton's house near Market Deeping.
   
• Rules of the Lincolnshire Topographical Society, 1841. Also details of the programme of lectures and a document about the foundation of the Gild of Corpus Christi in the parish of St Michael on the Hill.
   
• Report from the Jewish Chronicle of a visit to Lincoln by the Jewish Historical Society in 1934.
   
• The legend of Little St Hugh and the possible association with Jews' Court.
   
• The Coningsby, Tattershall & District History Society celebrate 60 years of activity.
   
• Timber for the church of St James at Louth came from Louth Park (2 yews) and Thorpe Hall (2 ashes).
  See Magazine Issue No. 83 (Spring 2011)
   

 

No. 83 Spring 2011

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The Steel Family of Alford during the 19th Century
Ellen Shelly
A picture is painted of a small Lincolnshire market town and, through the close examination of census and parish records, the births, marriages, deaths, occupations and dwellings of the Steels are presented.

The Two Glentworth Halls: Part 2 (The Earls of Scarbrough Mansion 1753)
James Foster
The hall built in 1753 differed markedly from the deposited plans (in the John Soane archive). The subsequent development, ownership and decay of the building up to 2008 are outlined.

The Gwynne's Pumps at Wiggenhall St Germans
Chris Lester
The pumping station, constructed in 1934 a few miles south of Kings Lynn, was once the largest of its type in the country. It delivered up to 4000 tonnes of water per minute using four pumps manufactured by Gwynne of Lincoln. This is a brief report (with photographs) of a survey by SLHA Industrial Archaeology Team shortly before the demolition of the building.

Lost Roads of Lincoln
David Bower
Evidence is marshalled from present road layouts, property and parish boundaries to propose Roman and Medieval roads which would have offered oblique and gently graded routes between the lower and upper areas of the city.

The Chapman Family and the Building of St James's Church, Louth
Philip Vickers
A fifteenth century document states that Chapman de Louth built the parish church. This article details the origins and movement of the family in the Louth area and elsewhere in Lincolnshire.

70 Years of Waiting: Sneath's Mill, Lutton Gowts
David Clowes
Built in 1779 and working until the 1930s, this remarkable brick-built mill, with its octagonal plan, remembles a smock mill. Work is now underway to secure its future.

Short Items

• A Blue Plaque has been placed on the home of Lincolnshire antiquarian William Stukeley in Stamford.
   
• Query raised about the origin of the stone arch with Romanesque decoration in the late-nineteenth century brick-built Girls' High School (now part of Lincoln University) on Lindum Hill. Also information is sought about the gateway with pointed arch close by on Greestone Stairs.
   
• There is a Midland Railway WW1 memorial tablet re-erected at Lincoln Central Station, but there does not appear to be a similar memorial to GNR employees.
   
• A new School of Engineering opens at the University of Lincoln later in 2011. This important initiative has been taken in partnership with Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery, who themselves are about to open new works in North Hykeham.
   
• Further information, including a photograph, is given about Weavers Cottage close to the A52 in Heydour parish. It was demolished in the 1950s or 60s.
   
• More information is provided about Bishop Richard Fox (of Exeter) and the funding of the porch at Ropsley Church in 1483.
   
• Charles, brother of the well known Lincoln mathematician George Boole was manager at Kirk and Parry's flour mill in Sleaford. Charles Kirk studied under George Boole in Lincoln.
   
• An overturned bus on the way to the County Show at Skegness is depicted in a post-card (reproduced here). What happened, when and where?
   
• A further note about negroes in the eighteenth century, especially in the Boston area.
   
• A brief, colourful account of shopping in the Second World War: the grocer, butcher, baker, ironmonger, stationer and hairdresser.
   
• The outstanding memorials to the St Paul family in Snarford Church are described. Of the many photographs several are reproduced in colour on the front and back covers of the magazine.
   
• An account of the recent celebrations for the eightieth birthday of Dr Dennis Mills, highly regarded local author and academic. A festscrift - a collection of essays about Lincoln and area - was presented to him.

 

No. 82 Winter 2010-11

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George Boole: a short tour of his Lincoln
Dave Kenyon
George Boole (1815-1864), born in Lincoln, was largely self-taught but developed a system of mathematics which underlies the logical process behind every one of today's computers. He taught at schools in and around Lincoln for several years before becoming a professor at the university in Cork, Ireland.

Racing at Lincoln
Ronald Price
This is the story of the historic racecourse on Lincoln's West Common during the twentieth century, with particular reference to the Lincolnshire Handicap, the first race of the flat racing season. It was the Horseracing Betting Levy Board's decision - not the City Council's - which led to the abrupt closure of the course in 1964. In compensation the course at Market Rasen received much stronger support and was allowed to expand its activities.

The Two Halls of Glentworth
James Foster
From the 16th to the 19th centuries Glentworth was the parish in which first the Wrays and then the Scarbroughs (both eminent families) built their fine country houses. This article builds on the work of Terence Leach published in his book Lincolnshire Country Houses and their Families, Volume 1.

Mary Jane Lovell
John Ketteringham
An outline of the life of a former African missionary (born 1848 in Stickney) who later worked with blind girls in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It was through her initiative and hard work that the Lovell homes were established in Palestine and are still highly regarded today.

Short Items

• Memories of winter at school in Lincolnshire from David Vinter.
  
  
• Stephen Roberts provides comments on a cartoon of Colonel Charles de Laet Sibthorp (1783-1855) - reproduced here.
  
  
• Photographs of the former Mawer & Collingham store (now House of Fraser) before and after 1960s' curtain walling.
  
  
• Black people in Boston (Magazine Issue No.81 Autumn 2010): Alison Lord queries whether the 18th century references may have actually been to swarthy individuals, not negroes.
  
  
• Beryl Jackson cites several instances of inaccurate and unreliable information about Sutton Bridge printed in 19th century trade directories.
  
  
• Brief notes and photographs about Ropsley St Peter and Oxcombe All Saints provided by John Almond.

 

No. 81 Autumn 2010

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The Solomons: a 17th Century Yeoman Family
Celia & Norman Whiting
With the aid of church records, wills and inventories the family is traced from the village of Pickworth and the life of its members is pieced together. It is a story of improving fortune culminating in the business success of Michael Solomon (1663-1704) who made a substantial bequest in Grantham.

The Grimsby Ice Factory: Threat of Demolition
Neil Everitt et al
The Grimsby Ice Factory was built in 1900 and is the only remaining building of its type in the country. The Grade II* listed structure still contains early 20th century refrigeration equipment, whose operation are described and illustrated. It had a crucial role to play in Grimsby's once huge fishing industry but its future is uncertain.

Rex Russell Honoured with National Achievement Award
The British Association for Local History made a special award this year to Rex Russell for his vast contribution to local history both as a tutor and writer. This brief account of Rex's life and work is illustrated by photographs of the presentation ceremony in Nettleton.

Lincoln's Lost Sewerage Petition Rediscovered
Beryl George
The method of disposing of Lincoln's sewage was hotly debated in 1874. A list of 205 names recently "discovered" by the writer in Lincolnshire Archives is probably one of several petitions submitted to the Local Government Act Office. The full list is appended.

Short Items

• Richard Lucas recalls early memories of Steve Race in the St Catherine's area of Lincoln. The two families were neighbours.
   
• Goxhill had a four-field system before enclosure in 1775. Maurice Brawn presents extracts from the memorandum book of local farmer, Thomas Hardy, which describes cropping and other aspects.
   
• Rod Ambler is seeking information about Weavers Lodge, Heydour. (A fine photograph is shown).
   
• The former Mawer & Collingham (subsequently Binns, then House of Fraser) store in Lincoln's High Street was founded in 1810. A paper bag with the M&C name and image on has recently been found.
   
• Neil Wright notes the appearance of black people in Boston. Firstly, George Driver, a negro sailor, married a Boston woman in 1784. Secondly, George Starr was arrested on suspicion of stealing a mare in 1790.
   
• The church of St Andrew at Irnham is described and illustrated by John Almond.
   
• David Winter recalls autumn sights and sounds in the countryside in the north-east of the county.
   

 

No. 80 Summer 2010

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Early Football in Lincolnshire
Ronald Price
The Lincolnshire FA was set up in 1881. This article deals with the early history of the county association - its leagues and cup competitions - and the principal town clubs. Lincolnshire clubs were also involved in the regional Football Alliance and the FA Cup from the 1870s.

A History of the World: a BBC and Museum Partnership
Dawn Heywood
The Collection, Lincoln's principal museum, is working with the British Museum and the BBC to celebrate objects with a story to tell. These include: snow shoes used by the Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin of Spilsby; a Roman tombstone from Lincoln; a painting by Tom Warrener of Lincoln; an 11th century seal matrix; a medieval wool weight; the Balaclava Bugle from the Crimean War; and an alms badge from Revesby. Items from other Lincolnshire museums are: WWI tank (Museum of Lincolnshire Life); Lancaster bomber (Battle of Britain Memorial Flight); and a blue suit once worn by Margaret Thatcher. (Grantham Museum).

Thomas Ball
Sandra Firth
Ball, born in Brigg in 1809, was an active Congregational church member much involved in local politics. In 1859 he emigrated to New Zealand with his family and 134 other people from the area. He established a farm on the North Island and took part in several other commercial ventures. He retained his commitment to non-conformist religion and a small wooden octagonal church at which he often preached is conserved at a museum in Mangonui (illustrated on the front cover of this issue).

Genetics as an Aid to History
I G Simmons
A useful survey of recent work on gene pools and historical immigration, with particular reference to Lincolnshire and the invasions by Anglo-Saxons and Vikings.

Horncastle, Methodism and the Kipling Family
June Benton
A short but absorbing article about a notable family. Rudyard Kipling's grandfather, Joseph, was a Methodist minister in Horncastle from 1838 to 1842. Rudyard's father, Lockwood, married well and taught art at a college in Bombay. Rudyard grew up under the influence of both father and grandfather.

Short Items

• The county trade directories are not always to be relied on (says Chris Hewis). In Saxilby the mound of a former post-mill was repeatedly described as a Roman barrow.
   
• The car driven by Wallis Byron Jevons (see Magazine Issue No.78 Winter 2009-10) was a 15/20hp Flanders (writes Tony Wall). Later cars owned by Jevons are also noted.
   
• Gary Taylor is searching for memorials to Old Contemptibles (those who served in the British Army between 19 Aug and 22 Nov 1914). Examples are found in Lincoln (2), Sleaford and Fulbeck. Are others known to survive in Lincolnshire?
   
• A photograph and notes of a 1904 De Dion Bouton car, BE188, owned by A A Padley of Market Rasen. Chris Padley (grandson) gives details of other family cars.
   
• An octagonal blockwork structure - now demolished - at Addlethorpe (near Skegness) was possibly the base of a wartime Direction Finder (D/F) Homer. Mike Osborne describes the function of the homer and asks for further information about the Addlethorpe building and any others in the county.
   
• A photograph and brief note about the 'Wild Mare' or treadmill used to lower and raise the bells in St James's Church, Louth. It is still in place, though not accessible to the public, writes David Vinter.
   
• A concise history of Welton by Lincoln from the Anglo-Saxons to WWI, plus two contemporary photographs (Bob Wise).
   
• Recycled architectural items noted by Joan Smith: doorway from Hartsholme Hall now at 'The Cardinal's Hat', High Street, Lincoln; Boultham Hall bridge relocated to Russell Street, Lincoln; 'Old Kate' bell St Benedict's Lincoln moved to St Mark's and then back to St Benedict's.
   
• Photographs of organised fish poaching in the Bourne area in 1920s, published as postcards. The men wear masks and some have blackened faces. Explanation sought (Andrew Jenkins).
   
• Further information - with illustrations - about George Beale, photographer from Spalding - see Magazine Issues No.5 (Autumn 1991) and No.79 (Spring 2010). It appears that he also traded in Wisbech and Boston (John Porter).

 

No. 79 Spring 2010

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Cartes de Visite
Illustrations of five cartes, four of which are from George Beales of Spalding, a well known photographer in the Edwardian period. The fifth advertises William Henry Redshaw's business (saddlery, later portrait photography) in Bourne.

Edwardian Photographs of Spalding
Neil Wright
Four half-page examples from a small collection of Edwardian glass negatives provide excellent illustrations of the centre of Spalding (the Sheep Market thronged with people and an equally busy New Road) and the 4-sailed windmill on Spalding Common.

Spalding Castle: Fact or Fiction
Nancy Snowdon
Ivo Taillebois, a Norman soldier knight, was made the first Baron of Kendal in Westmoreland following his sterling work with King William in quelling the Scots. He also helped suppress Hereward the Wake and the fenlanders in 1070 and soon acquired land around Spalding. There is 18th century cartographic evidence - but no physical remains - of a castle he built close to the road to Pinchbeck.

Lincoln's Municipal Leisure Services: 1900-1950
Deborah Fisher
This extract from the writer's MA thesis looks at Lincoln's libraries, museums, art gallery, swimming pools, sports facilities, parks and commons in relation to the national picture of expenditure and legislation supporting leisure services in cities and towns. There are detailed data on library membership and book loans in Lincoln.

Hair Haulage History
Stephen Pullen
Len & Ron Hair began a haulage business moving a wide range of produce in the Brigg/Scunthorpe area in early 1930s. Ownership and location of the family business has changed over the years but Hairs hauliers continue carrying products to and from places such as Immingham Docks today. Many photographs of lorries illustrate the article.

Humber Radio
David Hopcroft
Humber radio, based originally at Grimsby Docks but for most of its existence at Trusthorpe, was one of 8 ship-to-shore radio stations operating from WW1 days until 2000. A former radio operator (later manager), with the aid of 18 photographs, outlines the history and function of the station.

The Missing Years (Story of Charles Tennyson Turner)
Diane Impey
A fictional account of the undocumented life of the priest and poet during the six years 1843-1849. (Charles was brother to Alfred Tennyson and married to the sister of Emily Sellwood, Alfred's wife. He was vicar of Grasby near Caistor.)

Short Items

• Information is sought about Fred Kennewell of Brant Broughton who was involved in the local plough play in the 1930s.
   
• Individuals (Dawson/Kirk) and location (Metheringham) are identified in the photograph shown in Magazine Issue No.77 (Autumn 2009) and discussed in Magazine Issue No.78 (Winter 2009-10).
   
• Killing the Pig - Lincolnshire Style: text of a poem - used by Fred Dobson and published in 1964.
   
• Report and photograph of Association for Industrial Archaeology awards following the 2009 Lincoln conference which were made to Dogdyke Steam Preservation Trust and Lincolnshire Film Archive.
   
• Lucy: a sonnet by Charles Tennyson Turner.

 

No. 78 Winter 2009-10

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Steve Race: Obituary
John Ketteringham
Steve Race OBE, who died in June 2009, was born in Lincoln in 1921 and educated in the city. He was a gifted and eclectic musician who became well known for his many appearances on radio and television, especially as chairman of the longrunning My Music programme. He retained a strong affection for his native city and county.

Gilbert & Son Ltd and the Richardson Car
Annabel Carle and Tony Wall
As a follow up to previous articles - see Magazine Issues No.73 (Autumn 2008) and No.75(Spring 2009) - a conversation with the last managing director of Gilberts indicated that there was no link between the Lincoln firm and the Saxilby made cars. However, a fine photograph (reproduced with the article) intriguingly showns two Richardson cars driven by Gilbert staff and parked outside their premises. The same picture also hung in the Gilbert boardroom.

Wallis Byron Jevons: 1860-1912
Rosalind Boyce
Jevons was a chemist (pharmacist) in Market Rasen and reputedly the first man in Lincolnshire to own a car, a Benz. A number of his hair-raising motoring experiences are described; photographs of two of his cars illustrate the article. (Mrs Emily Parkinson of Spalding, also photographed here, is thought to have been the first Lincolnshire woman car-owner.)

Dog Kennel Farm, Glentworth Cliff
James Foster
The detailed history of a modest Georgian farmhouse, its owners and tenants, together with drawings and a plan. The author demonstrates an intimate knowledge of the building in the 1940s. Today it is the site of a private mental hospital.

Alford at the Time of the 1851 Census
Ellen Shelly
An analysis of age profile, household size, occupation, birth location in this small market town (pop. 2229). Schools, churches, railway, police are noted. Links are made with data from the parish registers. The author also expands on the information about her own family, the Steels.

The Moorby Font Story
Hilary Healey
The medieval font from Moorby is now in Greatford Church near Stamford, 60 miles away, following the demolition of Moorby church in 1983. Various authorities describe the font's fine decoration but its full iconography remains a mystery.

Short Items

• Dr Martin Lister 1639-1712, Royal Physician to Queen Anne, owned Burwell Park. Dr Anna Marie Roos, University of Oxford, is seeking whereabouts of his portrait.
   
• Early photographs and/or drawings of St Peter's Church, Barton on Humber - especially of the interior - are sought by Professor Warwick Rodwell for a forthcoming book on the church.
   
• The bus shelter on the B1398 near Hemswell was probably erected during WWI. It has recently been refurbished by the PC.
   
• The distance record breaking aircraft shown in Magazine Issue No.77 (Autumn 2009) were photographs of scale models made by the author, Peter Stevenson.
   
• Hester Tuxford, who lived in Tattershall at one time, wrote a "best selling" recipe book in the 1920s. Did she have other Lincolnshire connections?
   
• Entries in a WWI nursing sister's album include short poems by two Lincolnshire men, Pte H Wray and Pte Wallace Hewison, both subsequently killed in the war. Is more known about them?
   
• Biographical notes on the SLHA vice-chairmen, Stewart Squires and Chris Lester.

 

No. 77 Autumn 2009

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Thomas Paine: Popular Champion of the Common Man
David Lambourne
In the year of the bicentenary of his death, this is an account of Paine's significant contribution to the international democratic movement, especially through his writing. Born in Thetford, Norfolk, he worked in the English excise service first in Grantham (1762) and later, for about twelve months, in Alford. A plaque on the Windmill Hotel records his second Lincolnshire posting.

The Long Range Development Flight at Cranwell: 1926-38
Peter Stevenson
The fascinating story of the efforts of the RAF to wrest the long distance flight record first from the French and later from the Americans and the Russians. Remarkable technical developments were matched by personal feats of bravery and endurance. (Photographs of three of the author's fine models illustrate the article.)

Two Lincolnshire Families: De Louth and Vickers
Philip Vickers
Part 2 deals with the Vickers family of Nettleham. The author considers the origins of the name and traces in some detail the succession of family members in the area close to the north of Lincoln. (The first part of this account was published in Magazine Issue No.75, Spring 2009).

Steps from High Bridge to Waterside North, Lincoln
Dennis Mills
A detailed reponse to the query raised in LP&P76 re William Watkins's drawing of 1902. An engraving of 1836 and photographs of 1885 and 1907 are discussed.

The Lincoln Beet Root Distillery
Chris Page
Two men, Richard Toynbee and William Best, established a distillery off Lincoln's lower High Street in 1857. (Backing on to the Witham, it was later to be the site of Rustons' woodworks.) No illustrations of the distillery survive but the dimensions of the plant and many details of the apparatus are known. The output of the plant was almost 6000 gallons of proof spirit in 1858 but the operation was not financially viable and it closed in early 1860.

Mosley in Lincolnshire
Norman Whiting
A brief report of fascist Oswald Mosley's visit to Grantham in 1934. He gave a "stirring speech" at an open-air meeting in Wide Westgate attended by an audience of several hundred.

Heritage Under the Hammer
Philip Earnshaw and Mal Jones
Brian Ayres of Middle Rasen, long-time collector of local memorabilia, died a few months ago. This is an account of how the local heritage society managed to buy most of the locally significant items at the auction sale of the collection.

Short Items

• Lincolnshire poem about killing the pig. Does anyone know its origin?
   
• Mystery picture showing a group of people including lady in a bathchair in an unknown village street. Identification is sought.
   
• Are there records of Peculiar People carrying out mission work in Lincolnshire? It is thought there were some members of this religious group in Burgh le Marsh during the late 19th or early 20th centuries.
   
• Is it known how strong the British Union of Fascists was in rural area like Lincolnshire and what local interest the movement created?
   
• The old story of a dragon at Buslingthorpe was passed on to General Loft in 1832. He suggests in his Lincolnshire Notes that it was probably a wolf rather than a dragon; he made the same interpretation of similar legends at Carlton and Walmsgate.
   
  

No. 76 Summer 2009

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From Penny-Farthings to Daimlers
Annabel Carle & Tony Wall
In 1885 at the age of 20 Walter Pennell (Annabel's grandfather and son of nurseryman, Charles Pennell) twice rode to London from Lincoln on a penny-farthing bicycle. He later owned a string of early motor cars (De Dion Bouton, Locomobile, Siddeley Deasy, Mass, Wolseley, Standard, Scott) all illustrated in these biographical notes about a motoring man.

Sir Anthony Irby: 1605-1681: A Lincolnshire Knight
John Almond
Born at Whaplode in a wealthy family, Irby married successively into four notable families and was MP for Boston from 1628 until his death. He was a strong and active anti-royalist in the Civil War period 1642-43. Among his many contacts at a national level were the founders of the new Boston and the early government of Massachusetts.

Beet-root Distillers in Lincolnshire
Chris Page
A distillery for extracting alcohol from white Silesian beet was set up in Louth in 1857 by local young entrepreneurs Henry Fridlington Kemp and William Skey. The distillation process had been pioneered in France and was developed in the UK by William Dray & Co of London. The Louth project only lasted 3 years.

Internet Sources for Lincolnshire Landscape History
Ian Simmons
A brief introduction to the many documents and books now accessible through the internet. These include books on the history of the county; the first 58 volumes published by the Lincoln Record Society; the single Lincolnshire VCH volume; national and local archives; Wright's Dialect Dictionary.

Short Items

• The font in St Thomas a Becket's Church, Greatford. Was this moved here from outside the county after 1989?
   
• Tealby postcard - the image of Bayons Manor and the personal message on the reverse in which Harold writes to Cissy (no date).
   
• Edward Mansel Sympson, the antiquarian. Details of his Lincoln birth (1724), parents and siblings. His obituary in the BMJ.
   
• Biographical details of Marjorie Christine Bates, painter of the scene of Steep Hill, Lincoln, on the cover of Past & Present No. 75. Comments about two watercolours of a similar view by A C Webster, 1907.
   
• A copy of William Watkins's plan for the refurbishment of High Bridge, Lincoln, 1902. A Norman bridge carried Tudor buildings; the chapel of St Thomas Becket once stood on the east side; the later obelisk (1762) was removed in 1939; finally the humble urinals. The plan raises questions.
   
• Pen portrait of the new SLHA Chairman, Neil Wright, DMA. Neil was born in Boston and has been an SLHA member for almost 50 years. His main interests are industrial archaeology and the history of Boston and the Holland division of Lincolnshire.
   
• Angels in the hammer-beam roof at St Mary's Church, Horncastle are being refurbished this year. They will be re-gilded and available for inspection at ground level in the late summer.
   
• Revd Joseph Kipling, grandfather of the poet Rudyard, was Wesleyan minister in Horncastle in 1840s. Kipling's father, John, was born near Pickering but three later children were born at Horncastle.
   
• FLARE: A brief history and tribute; see full text in Archaeology Features.
   
  

No. 75 Spring 2009

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Beer & Bribery or The Baker's Boy Undone
Mark Acton
After Charles Seely was elected as one of Lincoln's two MPs in 1847, one of the defeated candidates raised a petition against the result on the grounds of corruption. A detailed account of the Select Committee hearing concludes with Seely's disqualification - he was found guilty of bribery.

The Story of FE1: Lincoln's First Car Registration Number
Annabel Carle & Tony Wall
The Pennell family have retained ownership of the much sought after FE1 plate and most of the vehicles which have carried the treasured plate are known. The owners of FE2 (Herbert Newsum) and FE3 (another Pennell) and their cars are also noted.

Violet Van Der Elst
John Ketteringham
Mrs Van der Elst (1882-1966) created a very successful beauty product business and between 1937 and 1948 lived at Harlaxton Manor. She is best known for her indefatigable campaigning against capital punishment.

Two Lincolnshire Families: De Louth and Vickers
Philip Vickers
Part 1 deals with the de Louths, who descend from Norman Conquest and are strongly linked to Louth. The coat of arms is discussed and the family is traced through to the present day.

Incendiarism in the Fens
Beryl Jackson
Based on original documents, a brief account of Swing Riots and other disturbances in the Wisbech and Long Sutton areas in the early 1830s.

Hiring Fairs at Market Rasen and Caistor
Ivan Baker
Details of May Market - including annual wages - taken from copies of the Market Rasen Mail, 1887

Short Items

• Peace Leverton: a photograph of the woman referred to in previous issues.
   
• The Charter of the Forest: a document of 1217 held by Lincoln Cathedral which restored common access to royal lands and repealed the death sentence for taking royal game.
   
• Workers Education Association: an account of the current organisation and a reminder of its much valued work.
   
• Sir Joseph Banks Society: progress report on the new society (based in Horncastle) and the Banks Archive at Nottingham Trent University.
   
• Fake Lead Lincolnshire Tokens: a recollection of the tallyman and the London Co-operative Society.
   
• Lincolnshire Dragons: the legend of the dragon at Castle Carlton in the 12th Century.
   
• Henry Winn of Fulletby: an appeal by his great-great-grandson for "lost" archives about the long-lived poet.
   

No. 74 Winter 2008-09

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Old House in Corporation Street (in Pump Court, Hungate Passage), Lincoln

Joan Mills
The large and impressive stone house shown in Magazine Issue No.71 (Spring 2008) is identified and located. It was purchased by the Lincoln Corporation in 1894 and demolished to make way for the new Corporation Street between West Parade and High Street.

A Dovecote at Canwick
Eric Hair
A fine rectangular stone dovecote with over 1000 surviving nesting boxes and a potence; it was one of three on the Sibthorp estate in Canwick.

The Croft Bakers of Cleethorpes
Chris Page
The story of Henry Croft Baker (b1864) and his descendants, owners of Grimsby fishing fleets.

The Centenary of Old Age Pensions
Ken Redmore
The impact of state pensions in Lincoln and district as reported in the press.

The Fenland Draglines and their Drivers
Peter Stevenson
The maintenance of fenland drains and how Lincoln-built machinery tackled the job.

Lincolnshire Weather: Past and Present
Peter Stevenson
A personal account of significant changes to the weather over a lifetime, with photographs of snowdrifts in winter 1947.

Recovering from World War Two
(original document from The Lincolnshire Historian, 1947)
A report circulated with the first issue of the Lincolnshire Local History Society magazine underlines the healthy state of the society despite wartime stringencies.


Short Items

• Gainsborough Old Hall and Friends; the fine flower and herb garden.
   
  
• The library at Jews' Court; a summary of the newly organised facilities.
   
  
• Bayons Manor, Tealby, and the Drakes family.
   
  
• Windmill graffiti in at St Denys's Church, Sleaford (see Magazine Issue No.72, Summer 2008); other graffiti in the church are described.
  
  
• The Isthmian Football League and their cup medal. Louth Swifts were the first winners in 1905/6, and the badge on the medal is similar to the Louth coat of arms.
   
  
• Unknown medieval church font in a Victorian (?) church (photograph).
  
  
• Fake lead Lincolnshire tokens, mid-C20? They relate to genuine Lincolnshire companies but were not issued by them (illustrated).
  
  
• WW2 air raid shelter in Holborn, London, later used by MI6 during the cold war. It contains Lincoln-built generators from the 1940s.
   
• Peace Leverton family details in 1881 (see Magazine Issues No.72, Summer 2008, and No.73, Autumn 2008).
  
  
• Extracts from C18 recipe book (facsimile copies of 4 pages).

Obituaries

• Philip Towell of Boston, local historian, concert goer and supporter of Boston Parish Church.
  
  
• Pat Jakes of Long Sutton, long standing SLHA member and keen amateur archaeologist.

No. 73 Autumn 2008

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1832: Mixed Fortunes for Colonel Sibthorp: Part 2 : Sibthorp loses the election but gains a ring

Mark Acton
Details of the election in December 1832, in which Sibthorp was well beaten by Heneage and Bulwer. However, the ladies of Lincoln presented him with a fine ring in compensation. Copies of contemporary documents illustrate the account.

Jack Richardson and the Lincoln Motor Manufacturing Company
Annabel Carle
This company, founded in 1903 with showrooms in Lincoln and works in Saxilby, initially made three 'Richardson' models (6.5hp, 12hp and 24hp). J R Richardson was the engineer, Charles W Pennell, his brother-in-law (of the local, long-established seed company) the chairman. The cars had some success, e.g in hill climbing events, but the company folded in 1907. The article is accompanied by several fine, previously unpublished photographs of cars and personalities.

Emma Cheetham of East Keal, 1844-1936
Copy of a newspaper tribute at the time of her 90th birthday in 1934. One of a family of 12, she first worked in domestic service and then, as a young widow, built up a market gardening business. Later she was village postmistress. The longest journey in her life was to Skegness, 15 miles away!

Lincolnshire in Britannia Curiosa, 1777
Extracts from the book about (i) Market Deeping, and (ii) duck decoys. There is much detail about the construction and operation of these widely used devices for catching wildfowl, plus an illustration of a decoy pipe.

Peace Leverton and the Hagerups
Chris Page
More informatiom and details of the references used in the previous article in Lincolnshire Past and Present No. 72

Short Items

• Laceby Sanatorium (photo, see Magazine Issue No. 72 (Summer 2008) and possible identification of doctor and chaplain, 1930s.
  
  
• Mystery picture of house, stables and family (possibly Spalding area, c1890).
  
  
• Bayons Manor, Tealby, and a meet of the Southwold Hunt (photo). More information is sought.
  
  
• Radio Bungalows, Trusthorpe (1961 photo); named after the ship-to-shore radio.

No. 72 Summer 2008

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1832: Mixed Fortunes for Colonel Sibthorp: Part 1 : The Reform Act Provokes Electioneering

Mark Acton
Lincoln's three candidates for the 1832 General Election (Sibthorp, G F Heneage, E L Bulwer) are introduced and the local political turmoil described, supported by contemporary portraits and documents.

Peace Declared!
Chris Page
An account of the Hagerup family of Pelham Road, Grimsby and their female house servants, including the cook, Pease Leverton. The head of the family, Fred Hagerup, a Norwegian by birth, owned ships and was a Grimsby corn agent in the 1890s. (This responds to a query raised in Magazine Issue No.70 (Winter 2007-08).

A Leader in its Field
Bob Wise
Description of Mrs Smith's Cottage in Navenby, a simple dwelling of the 1840s, still furnished as left by the eponymous Mrs Smith who died a few years' ago. It is one of North Kesteven's most popular visitor attractions.

Leonard Cheshire and a Notable Tree at Fleet
Joan Woolard
Hovenden House at Fleet was built by the Worth family in 1911 and donated to the Leonard Cheshire Foundation in 1957. The magnificent western red cedars along the drive are a striking feature.

Windmill Graffiti in Churches
Catherine Wilson & David Start
Examples from Aslackby church porch and Thornton Abbey are shown and discussed (medieval post mills). Can these be accurately dated? Are there other examples of similar graffiti elsewhere in Lincolnshire?


Short items

• Use of stocks in Lincoln, c1840.
  
  
• Mrs Capp and Mrs Grantham and their school in Lincoln in C19.
  
  
• Mystery group photograph from Holton le Clay or Laceby area.
  
  
• Lincoln horse-drawn tramway cars, 1882-1905 - the first and last driver (illustrated).
  
  
• Claribel (Charlotte Allington Pye) 1830-1869. Query about location of the archive of her correspondence.
  
  
• Blackstone engine found at Hereford waterworks.

No. 71 Spring 2008

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The Story of a House and Garden

Richard Lucas
Southcliffe House, Cross O'Cliff Hill, Lincoln was a substantial mid-Victorian house close to the South Common, owned at one time by the writer's grandparents. Alongside the house and garden was a large brick pit, used in the early C20 as a boating lake.

A Tale of Two Farmsteads
Shirley Brook
The fact that near identical farmsteads at Coleby (near Lincoln) and Bishop Burton (East Yorks) were built in the 1880s/1890s is probably based on the proximity of the men who commissioned their construction, rather than a reference to a pattern book. Other examples are sought by Dr Brook.

Poet in the Shadow: Charles (Tennyson) Turner of Grasby
Diane Impey
The poet in question, the brother of the more famous Alfred, was the vicar of Grasby, near Caistor. This brief article follows his life and relationship to the rest of the family.

Volcanic Eruption in Iceland in 1783
Maurice Brown
Dust from the Laki Fissure Eruption severely reduced sunlight and warmth in 1783. The detailed records of yields and income form the memorandum book of Thomas Hardy of Goxhill demonstrate the significant impact this had in a north Lincolnshire parish.


Short items

• 'Beaumont Court' : The probable location of a Lincoln school for young ladies.
  
  
• Caroline Eliza Derecourt Martin : The subject of a book by Lena Wallis.
  
  
• Stocks : What is the record of their last use in Lincolnshire?
  
  
• Langrick Bridge : Two photographs of the ferry which preceded the eponymous bridge.
  
  
• House in Corporation Street, Lincoln : article and photo from 1897 Lincolnshire Notes and Queries.
  
  
• St Helen's Church, Benington : an engraving (solution to mystery picture in Magazine Issue No.69 (Autumn 2007).

No. 70 Winter 2007/8

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Padley's Large Plan of Lincoln: New Discoveries

Rob Wheeler
J S Padley's plan of Lincoln at 20 inches to the mile was published in 1842 and updated in 1851, 1868 and 1883. Rob Wheeler, co-author of the recently published Historic Town Plans of Lincoln 1610-1920 (Lincoln Record Society, 2004), examines the sequence of maps and their production. Reference is made to other contemporary maps and how these and Padley's maps kept abreast of new buildings and other developments in Lincoln.

South Lincolnshire Jekyll Origins
Joan Woolard
The Jekyll name (brought to fame by R L Stephenson and Gertude Jekyll, the gardener) originated in Yarburgh, near Louth, and more significantly in South Holland. This article examines the origin of the name and points to the many local features which bear the name or a derivation of it (e.g. Jekils Bank). Detail is given of the branch of the Jekyll family which includes Gertude (1843-1932); it has had several distinguished members who have played roles in the national scene.

George Eliot in Lincolnshire
Margaret Crompton
This article is based on a lengthy study on the same theme undertaken by the author and her husband (copies at Gainsborough Library and at West Lindsey District Council). Eliot's journals throw fascinating light on the long held supposition that The Mill on the Floss is based entirely on Gainsborough. There is evidence of several other visits by Eliot to the county to visit friends, e.g. the Otters of Ranby Hall.

The Butchery - A Lost Community
Darren Stockdale
The tiny street in Barton upon Humber - now a barren open space - shows evidence of its 18th Century origins and the 1851 Census reveals the wide range of trades and businesses it once housed.

Short Items

• The Penitent Females' Home, Lincoln: An extract from The Strangers' Illustrated Guide Through Lincoln (1856) describes its aims and activities.
  
• Stixwould Priory Keys: Photographs of 4 old keys, claimed in 1882 to originate from the Priory. Is this feasible? Where are the keys now?
  
• "Friend" Peace: A letter, written from Grimsby in 1897, is thus signed. Brian Thornalley asks for further information.

No. 69 Autumn 2007

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Henry Stone of Skellingthorpe

Ruth Tinley
Henry Stone (1631-1693) inherited the Skellingthorpe estate from his father and made numerous bequests, including a substantial one to Christ's Hospital for the Mathematical School. Another educational bequest led ultimately to the founding of Newark High School (for girls), Lilley and Stone Foundation, which opened in 1910. Skellingthorpe churchyard contains the family tomb and the village still retains several associations with his name.

Compulsory Marriages
Beryl Jackson
An example of the effect of the 1733 Bastardy Act as described in John Peck's diaries (1818-1851) and the poetry of George Crabbe (1758-1851). The Peck diaries are held in the Wisbech and Fenland Museum.

An Unusual Vice - a Spiral Staircase in Harmston Church
R C Wheeler
The tower of Harmston church, built about 1100, contains a spiral staircase which was evidently constructed at a later date. The materials and methods used to create the staircase, whilst unusual, can be understood when carefully examined. One can only speculate on the original purpose of this staircase up to the bell chamber.


Short Items

• Langrick Bridge Centenary: A small but enthusiastic event was held locally in 2007; photographs of bridge, steam roller and traction engine give a flavour of the day.
  
  
• The Strangers' Illustrated Guide through Lincoln, 1856: Extracts and illustrations from the book held at SLHA Jews' Court library.
  
  
• Historical Notes in Spalding: A contemporary account of a severe storm in the Spalding area on 10 November 1810.
  
  
• The Grantham Canal: Pieces of Axminster carpet used to create a watertight seal at Willis's Lock have been discovered.
  
  
• Eleanor Nannestad: The Local Studies Group of the Library Association has awarded the prestigious Dorothy McCulla Award to Eleanor for her work in the field.

No. 68 Summer 2007

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Brinkhill, South Ormsby & District Pig Club

Tony Baker
Based on local records and recollections, an illustrated account of a pig club which operated from 1876 to 1966 in a pair of villages in the Lincolnshire Wolds.

Colonel Sibthorp versus the Public Libraries Act, 1850
Mark Acton
The famously eccentric Lincoln MP blasts off against a proposal to levy a half-penny rate for the establishment of public libraries.

Wooden souvenirs of Lincolnshire
Dr Ian MacFeeters
A general account of Mauchline Ware (Ayrshire, Scotland) and examples of the boxes decorated with Lincolnshire scenes, with 12 illustrations.


Short Items

• Bernard Reeves wrote 'Rambles in Lincolnshire', an intriguing c1936 book published by LNER, giving details of 15 walks. Who was Bernard Reeves?
  
  
• Cleethorpes Artist : A family portrait (c1830) of a Cleethorpes Methodist is by an competent but unknown, local artist. Who was he?
  
  
• Lincoln Racecourse 1756 : What connection was there between Dunston Pillar and Pleasure Grounds (1751) and the nearby racecourse?
  
  
• Decorated English fonts : The Society has acquired a fine book of etchings by J Simpson, engraved by Robert Roberts, dated c1830.
  
  
• Naval recruiting in Lindsey : An article from the English Historical Review, April 1928, gives details of many local problems in c1800.
  
  
• Lincolnshire Recipes : 3 examples from Mrs E H Rudkin's book (Satisfaction Pudding, For the Cramp, For a Hoarseness which cured Betty).
  
  
• Lincolnshire Music on Air : Horkstow Grange, a Lincolnshire folk tune collected by Percy Grainger was recently used at title music on Radio 4 for a George Eliot serial. What was the connection?

No. 67 Spring 2007

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Story of a Community Dig: Branston Sheepwash Uncovered

Jennifer Jackson
This sheepwash, in the centre of Branston, was managed and maintained by the Washdike Committee under the Parish Council in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was excavated early in 2006 by a community group under the direction of Archaeological Project Services.

The Cow Paddle, Lincoln 1855
Dennis Mills
This low-lying grazing land, part of the South Common adjacent to Canwick, became the site of Lincoln's cemetery in 1856. Contemporary accounts and a large scale map of the area are the primary sources used. Earlier uses of the site are indicated, including possibly soap-making.

From Victorian Lincolnshire to L 'Epoque de Worth in Paris
Albert Schmidt
The story of Charles Frederick Worth, who was born at Bourne in Lincolnshire in 1825 and became a celebrated fashion designer and 'father of haute couture'.

Short Items

• Chester's Mill, Woodhall Spa: the photograph in Magazine Issue No. (66 Winter 2006-07)  is identified and the individuals identified.
  
  
• Caroline Eliza Derecourt Martyn, 1867-1896: biographical details of a Lincoln woman, who became a leading socialist of her day.
  
  
• Lincoln's lost medieval theatre: evidence put forward for the site of a theatre in Tower gardens, adjacent to the Usher Gallery.
  
  
• Cogglesford Mill, Sleaford: the proposed conversion of part of the mill into a shop and cafe threatens the unique character of this working mill.
  
  
• Spalding Gentlemen's Society: a brief account of the society (founded 1712) which is now to admit lady members.
  
  
• Obituary of Les Gostick (1911-2007) local historian and writer.

No. 66 Winter 2006/07

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Stewton's Treasure

Michael Wright
The history of St Andrew's Church at Stewton near Louth, with particular reference to its restoration.

Evening papers
Peter Stevenson
A first-hand story of the arrival and distribution of the Nottingham Evening Post at Grantham in the 1920s/30s - a significant daily event for the town.

Potterhanworth Water Tower
Stewart Squires
A brief note about the origins of the tower, technical details, and its conversion into a dwelling in 1995.


Short Items

• Ethel Rudkin's account of the traditional use of the breast-bone of a Christmas goose for predicting weather until the end of March.
   
• Post-card illustrations of Jews' House, Lincoln (1915) and the Alkborough turf maze (1932).
   
• Christian Pacifist Forestry and Land Units: John Makin (johnlester@coldkeld.fsnet.co.uk) is seeking information about the communities set up by this organisation during WWII in Bardney and Willingham Forests - and possibly elsewhere.
   
• The campaign mounted by the clerk to the governors at Horncastle Grammar School to resist a drop in salary in 1932.
   
• A request for identification of a watermill and a group of bystanders shown in two photographs - possibly at Kirkby on Bain.
   
• A photograph of 12 officers of Royal Artillery 237th/60th Lincoln Field Regiment in 1939. Can readers identify them?

 

No. 65 Autumn 2006

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Boston's Guild of St Mary

David Lambourne
A brief history of the most important of Boston's many medieval guilds from the 13th century to its dissolution in 1545.

Where was the Bay Horse in Barton?
Darren Stockdale
A public house in Whitecross Street, Barton-on-Humber, proves to be elusive despite extensive research in trade directories and 19th century census returns.

Strangers' Illustrated Guide through Lincoln, 1856
Fascinating extracts and contemporary illustrations from a little known publication throw new light on familiar City historic landmarks.

The Irish Connection
M Rossiter
There is evidence that the Rossiters, originating in Normandy, migrated to both County Wexford and Lincolnshire during the early Middle Ages. Their pedigree is fascinating, their family history very eventful.

This Most Melancholy Intelligence : Henry W J Sibthorp 1784-1807
Michael Trott
The brief life story of the young naval lieutenant, eccentric son of an eccentric family, who drowned when HMS Ajax was destroyed by the Turks at the Dardenelles.

No. 64 Summer 2006

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GAG: The Story of the Grantham Archaeology Group
David Hibbitt
21 years of enterprising fieldwork and study, including filming and TV links, are summarised in this well-illustrated account.

Family Links in Hidden England
Richard Voss
A personal account of a visit to Spilsby and Halton Holegate, with details of links to the eminent Richardson and Franklin families.

River Trent Bridge, Gainsborough
Stewart Squires
The old road bridge of 1787 with its quaint tollhouses was the only river crossing at Gainsborough for almost 200 years. It remains little changed. Historic photographs support the text of this article.

The Mayor's Visit
Part of a contemporary written account of the Mayor of Lincoln's visit to USA and Canada in 1930, including allusions to a possible donation of $10,000 towards city improvements.

Railway Building in 1881
Michael Turland
Sleaford builders and architects Kirk and Parry were awarded the contract to build the railway from Spalding to Ruskington. Here is a short but well-researched piece on the logistics of the construction of a rural railway line.

 

No. 63 Spring 2006

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William Watkin's house and the Lincoln Register of plans and buildings

Dennis Mills

SLHA Study Trip to South Wales, July 2005

Michael McGregor

Brocklesby Park Racecourse
Stewart Squires

A Potterhanworth philosopher
Brenda Webster

Tubular Bells at Weston Hills
John Ketteringham

Prehistoric tracks and Roman roads on the North Lincolnshire Wolds
Geoffrey Bryant


Short Items

• Caistor old fire station;
• Dicky Rainton and Laughton;
• Maurice Beresford, Garland Grylls, obituaries;
• Conservation do's and don'ts, oral history project.

 

No. 62 Winter 2005

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The bog bodies of Lincolnshire: the finding of a skull at Fiskerton

Eric Grigg

Urns Farm, Baston, 8th century, Spalda and 21st century Spalding
John Cleary

Thatching (mainly corn stacks)
Reg Dobbs

Lincoln University Library - the Great Central Warehouse
Jez Ashbury

No. 61 Autumn 2005

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The villages of Braceby and Ropsley and their connection to Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Marion Ellis

Insight into the C19 Pennell family of Lincoln
Annabel Carle

Recollections of the old City and County Museum (Greyfriars, Lincoln)
Hilary Healey


Short items

• RAF Gletton, 1945;
• C W Pennell, Sir William Tritton and the tank.

 

No. 60 Summer 2005

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History of museums in Lincoln

Lincoln Race Course
Robert Wheeler & Dennis Mills

Lincolnshire Commemorative mugs

A Lincolnshire Farmer's Daughter : Elsie Holmes (1896-1952) of Kirkstead

Were the Pilgrim Fathers Ever Tried in Boston's Guildhall?
David Lambourne

The Sinking of the 'RMS Lusitania' in 1915 : A Tealby Tragedy
James Murray

Poem about Boston


Short items

• Ewerby Centenarian (Margaret Vickers, 1905-1005);
• Commemorative Mugs;
• Model of the tank;
• Blue plaque to Sir William Tritton.

 

No. 59 Spring 2005

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Recollections of the Romans in Canwick

Dennis Mills

The building of the church of St Michael on the Mount, Lincoln, 1845-71
Michael Wright

Wartime memories: the night sky
Peter Stevenson

Horncastle Manorial Court Leet By-Laws, 1673 (original document)


Short Items

• Moorby and Honington POW Camps;
• Temple Bruer commemorative mugs;
• Fires at Stoke Rochford Hall and Broughton House;
• Dehio guides;
• Patents relating to the internal combustion engine taken out by Charles Barnes;
• Apprentice rules (Horncastle);
• Archive copies of Lincoln Rutland and Stamford Mercury;
• William and Mary Richardson (William of the Nile).

No. 58 Winter 2004/2005

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Prisoner of War camps in Lincolnshire

John Turner

Lincolnshire Archaeological Research Committee: its history 1945-59
Pearl Wheatley

South Witham Archaeological Group
Peter Ball

Amy Johnson and Tealby
Jim Murray

Road Signs in Lincolnshire
David Start

Shop rules for the Horncastle draper, Eve Ranshaw and Mawer (early C20)
Pearl Wheatley


Short items

• The inspiration behind Pevsner;
• William (Richardson) of the Nile;
• Moulton mill;
• Nocton Hall fire;
• Oral history recordings;
• Boston Angling Association.

 

No. 57 Autumn 2004

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Hainton and the Heneages

Charles Rawding

John Samuels, 1953-2004: obituary

Four Fabulous Beasts: the De Mouton Sheep
Nancy Snowdon

A view of Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, 1902-1983
Linda Crust

The SLHA Study Tour of North Wales, July 2004
Stewart Squires

Improvements to Sleaford in the 1830s
Michael Turland

Cow Club Rules (Goxhill) - an original document


Short Items

• Dickey Rainton and Laughton by Gainsborough;
• Commemorative mugs (Leadenham et al);
• G F Watts;
• Charles Hayes of the Lincoln School of Art;
• A Jewish wedding at Jews' Court;
• Fenscape - visitor centre, Spalding.

 

No. 56 Summer 2004

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St John's Church, Scunthorpe, 1891-1984

J E Swaby

The Skegness stone lion
Winston Kime

Boston Parish Library
Pauline Napier

'The City by the Pool'
Assessment of a comprehensive book on Lincoln's archaeology by Michael Jones, David Stocker and Alan Vince.

Short Items

• Letter boxes;
• Library charges;
• St Hybald and Hibaldstow;
• Glass at South Kyme;
• Plaster relief wall plaques;
• Sempringham and Princess Gwenllian;
• Damage to Newport Arch, Lincoln.

 

No. 55 Spring 2004

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Cold War remains in Lincolnshire (Fiskerton & other ROC posts)

John Turner

A History of the Methodist Church in Swinderby
Christine E Carnell

The deserted village of Skinnand and the Woolfitt family
Jennifer Cox

Roman Caistor
I S Davies

Horncastle Horse Fairs
J N Clarke


Short Items

• Symbols of trees on gravestones;
• Lincolnshire giant (Balthasar Mackensfield);
• Lucky charms to protect a house;
• Sophie Farrell (b1861) and Ranby.

 

No. 54 Winter 2003/4

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Sleaford Maltings

Stewart Squires

Cranwell's runways and the M1 motorway
Peter Stevenson

Two black people in Georgian Lincolnshire
Neil R Wright

From Northorpe to Holkham in the early C19
E M Emminson

A Lincolnshire Artist: Alfred Ernest White (1873-1953)
Jean M Fanthorpe

Deserted Medieval Villages
Rex C Russell


Short items

• Dunston Pillar;
• Steam threshing accident at Bardney, 1857;
• Tit = small horse, possibly for coal mines;
• Medieval stained glass at South Kyme;
• Lost parish churches, Roxholm.

 

No. 53 Autumn 2003

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Lincolnshire in the Dark Ages

J B Reavill

Market Rasen Coal and Clothing Club
Douglas Boyce

The early days of steam powered threshing
Ken Redmore

Domesday ploughlands in the Boothby wapentake
R C Wheeler

Wragby's "William of the Nile"
Keith Thomas

Lost parish churches in Lincolnshire
J E Swaby

Frederick Flowers (1810-1886)
Jim Murray and Jean Fanthorpe


Short Items

• Aitches in Lincolnshire dialect;
• Sir Ninian Comper;
• Tribute to Flora Murray on her 90th birthday;
• Refurbishment of Jews' Court;
• Sid Gott (1912-2003), obituary.

No. 52 Summer 2003

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Tamar Theaker - survivor of breast surgery at the age of 74 in 1847

C J Marriott

Shell corner at Blyborough
Sarah P Taylor

The Sleaford Picturedrome
Maureen Birch

Dunston Pillar
David Start

The Lincolnshire Illustrations Index
Rosalind Boyce

Whittons' Mill, Gainsborough
Stewart Squires

The Shuttleworth family of Lincoln and the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden
John Williams

Short Items

• David Cuppleditch, Sam Scorer - obituaries;
• Rosemary Lane Methodist School, Lincoln.

 

No. 51 Spring 2003

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Brayford Villa, Lincoln: Where was it, What was it, When was it?
Dennis Mills
A discussion, illustrated by maps and photographs, of the origin, nature and ownership of a property which first appeared in Lincoln City maps of the 1840s. It was significantly affected by the Nottingham and Lincoln Railway and later swept aside by industrial development to the south-west of the city centre.

The Lucas Freelite
Barry Barton
A simple DC generator turned by pole-mounted propeller was used throughout the Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire Fens at isolated properties for lighting or battery charging, chiefly in the 1940s and 50s. No current examples are known. Technical details with drawings and a photograph (1976).

Dogdyke Pumping Station
Chris Lester
A brief account of the history of this station and note of the recent boiler replacement and subsequent reopening. Close to Tattershall Castle, it is open from May to October on the first Sunday in the month between 2pm and 5pm.

Floods : East Coast 1953
Betty Kirkham, Hilary Healey and Ethne Kingsley
Three personal recollections, illustrated by photographs, of the devastating floods along the Lincolnshire coast at Woolla Bank, Sutton-on-Sea and Ingoldmells on 31 January 1953.

The Perils of Publishing Lincolnshire's Heritage
John Ketteringham
A successful and prolific local author who has published 13 titles in the past 18 years recommends a painless way of getting into print. Some practical tips are given.

The Lincolnshire Methodist History Society
Jim English
The Wesley Historical Society inaugurated in 1888 eventually spawned local branches, including the Lincolnshire branch in 1963. This is a brief account of its activities - lecture programme, journal, preservation of records and buildings.

Peerage for a Poet: Voyage of the "Pembroke Castle" September 1883
Jim Murray
Based on the journal of Tennyson's son, Hallam, an account of the maiden voyage of a 4-masted steamship to the Western Isles of Scotland, the Orkneys, Norway and Denmark. Alfred Tennyson and W E Gladstone were the principal passengers. Tennyson's peerage followed 3 moths later.

Henry Cross: a Lincolnshire Drover
Gordon Taylor
In the late 18th century thousands of cattle were driven annually from Scotland for summer grazing on the rich salt marshes of Lincolnshire and East Anglia. This article describes the practice and follows the life of Henry Cross, born in the Lincolnshire Marshes in 1740 and buried at Darfield, South Yorkshire, 41 years later.

Young Archaeologist of the Year 2002
Clemency Cooper of Spalding was the winner of the 13 -15 age group with a project entitled 'A Roman Dinner Fit for an Emperor'

Coal in Lincolnshire
A Lincolnshire map of 1775 marks the site of a trial coal shaft between Claxby and Normanby on the scarp face of the Wolds. Is anything more known?

Obituary : Douglas Boyce
Former mathematics teacher at De Aston School, Market Rasen; also local historian and author of books on Market Rasen and war memorials.

Obituary : Sue Gates
A librarian who played a key role in developing and promoting the Tennyson Research Centre at Lincoln Central Library. Also noted for her work on newspaper archives and the Lincolnshire County Council Illustrations Index.

 

No. 50 Winter 2002/03

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Clayton, Shuttleworth & Co - early successes and a strike

Neville Birch
Describes the early days of this Lincoln firm's manufacture of portable steam engines (later they were the world's leaders) and an early dispute over pay and working conditions. Also a list of customers in 1850.

John Wray (1776-1851): Vicar of Bardney, 1806-1851
June Benton
Wray, son of a former Bardney schoolmaster, took the living of the village and proceeded to bankrupt himself by re-building the vicarage and extensively restoring the church. A fascinating account of his attempt to avoid penury and imprisonment.

Shop Blinds
Peter Stevenson
A short piece recalling these ubiquitous, attractive and useful features of yesterday's shopping street.

Childhood Memories of Grantham
C Ayre
Personal recollections of the home and lifestyle of writer's grandparents in the 1940s and 50s. A vivid picture is also painted of the streets of Grantham.

Digging at Old Seaford - a letter from Margaret Jones, 1960
Margaret Jones was the joint leader of the archaeological dig at Old Sleaford, which identified a medieval church and found famous Iron Age coin moulds. The letter, written in a lively personal style is addressed to Dr Dorothy Owen.

George Tennyson and the Clergy Daughters' School
Jim Murray
Describes the association of George Tennyson (grandfather of Alfred) and William Gray of York and how both had links with Casterton Hall, Kirkby Lonsdale, school for daughters of impoverished clergymen and, famously, attended by the Bronte sisters.

News from New Zealand: Colonial Secretary Alerted
Brian T Thornalley
Account of the author's family from the Burgh/Wainfleet area and in particular of Samuel (1835-1881) whose untimely accidental death in a gravel pit near Auckland led to a lengthy inquest and ultimately action by the Colonial Secretary to prevent similar accidents in the future.

Coal in Lincolnshire
Les Gostik
A brief account of trial digging in 1798 at Quarrington, near Sleaford, giving the constituents of the various strata to a depth of 479 feet. Excellent potable water was produced, but no coal.

Short items

• Great Tom (Lincoln, St Paul's);
• Photographs of council housing;
• The Coronation Channel, Spalding;
• Page Woodcock, Lincoln pharmacist;
• Lincolnshire folklore and customs.
  

Obituary

Jim English of Gainsborough author and local historian, who gave valuable service to Lincolnshire Libraries, Lincolnshire Methodist History Society, SLHA, Friends of Gainsborough Old Hall and the annual Brackenbury Event.

No. 49 Autumn 2002

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A Note on an 1895 Advertisement for a Nostrum (wind pills by Page Woodcock of Lincoln)

Peter Richards
Points are made about the advertising, labelling and pricing of patent medicines100 years ago. An account of the career of Page Woodcock, a Lincoln chemist and Methodist, who manufactured and sold 'wind pills'.

Lincolnshire Books: a Library Publishing Programme
Eleanor Nannestad
For 25 years the Lincolnshire Library Service has produced books on the County written by its staff and local authors. A note of the outstanding titles from this wide-ranging collection.

Memories of Mablethorpe
J E Swaby
The author, a substantial contributor to Lincolnshire local history, recalls his time as Rector of Mablethorpe for 7 years in the 1950s. His first day in the resort in 1953 immediately followed the disastrous East Coast flood.

A Nostalgic Evening
Pearl Wheatley
An account of celebrations for Woodhall Spa's Kinema-in-the-Woods' 80th anniversary and the launch of the book telling the story of this unique cinema.

The M.O.'s Report - transcription of a document
Douglas Boyce
The Medical Officer of the 8th Lincolnshire Regiment reports from the trenches in the summer of 1916. Casualties had been high and there serious problems moving the wounded away from battle area.

Factory Hooters
Peter Stephenson
A graphic account of the complex range of hooters that punctuated the working day when Grantham's industries flourished between the wars.

The Louth, Mablethorpe and Sutton Permanent Building Society
Tony E Merriman
A history of this small society from incorporation in 1877 to take over in 1991. This is also the story of local business men involved with the construction of the Louth and East Coast Railway seeking to stimulate development in the area. Throughout its century of existence it remained essentially a local institution, run by and for the community.

Statute or Hiring Fairs in Lincolnshire
C T Mackinder
The tradition of hiring domestic and farm servants at annual events in Lincoln and elsewhere in the County is examined. A range of useful information about both employer and employee is included in the records held at Lincolnshire Archives. There are also contemporary newspaper reports of these colourful annual gatherings.

The City of Boston?
John Beckett
Based on local and national documents this is an account of the unsuccessful - and little publicised - bid made by the Corporation of Boston to acquire city status in 1945.

Obituary

• Fred Felstead of Bourne, aged 73, professional signwriter, local historian, book collector and amateur photographer.

No. 48 Summer 2002

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How Lincolnshire Celebrated Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee

Ken Redmore
Extracts from The Lincolnshire Chronicle of June 1887 describe the amusing and varied Jubilee celebrations in Lincoln and other communities in Victorian Lincolnshire. Includes a photograph of Lincoln worthies at a suitably bedecked Newport Roman Arch.

A letter to Rev Richard Fawssett from his mother Charlotte, 1833
John Fawssett
A letter dated 1833 from the author's great-great-grandmother, a respectable doctor's widow of Horncastle, reveals a mother's anxiety about her daughter's proposed marriage. The author is able to deal with some but not all of the intriguing questions raised by this document.

How I found Sheath's Bank (an important C18 bank in Boston)
Neil Wright
The author uses his considerable knowledge of early nineteenth-century Boston to track down the location of a small banking business founded by the Sheaths, who were also timber merchants, ship owners and landowners. In the process we learn much about the commercial centre of this important Lincolnshire town.

World War I Hangars at Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln
Charles Parker
A description, with photographs, of the last original and unique Belfast truss hangars, which were demolished in September 2001 despite their Grade II Iisting and widespread local opposition. On this site, close to Lincoln's southern boundary, aircraft were assembled or repaired and flown during both World Wars.

Gainsborough Riverside Walk (the industrial archaeology)
Andrew Crabtree
An illustrated description of the historic buildings and sites along the River Trent at Gainsborough. This account of the development and later decline of a Lincolnshire port ends on an optimistic note about the current huge waterfront regeneration project and the introduction of recreational rivercraft.

The sounds of Grantham, early C20
Peter Stevenson
An evocative and colourful account of the street noises of Grantham in the inter-war years of the author's youth. The identification - and description - of sounds emanating from vehicles (trains, cars, lorries, horse and carts, cycles, planes) as well as men and animals, paints an attractive and nostalgic picture.

Hill House, Bracebridge Heath (built 1934)
Peter Young
The author's former home in Bracebridge Heath from 1963 until 1999 stands on a site once owned by Colonel Charles de Laet Waldo Sibthorp, Lincoln's notoriously eccentric MP in the mid-nineteenth-century. (Sibthorp hated foreigners and was an implacable opponent of the early railways.) We read an account of the development of the house from its construction in 1933 to the present day.

St Gilbert and St Hugh CE Church
Gosberton Clough
A photograph and brief description of this fine 1902-04 building which has recently been restored. It is timber-framed, with brick chancel, rendered walls, and Collyweston slated roof.

Short Items

• Allotments in Binbrook, 1877;
• Lantern slides of Lincolnshire, 1898;
• Obituary for Ronald Drury;
• MBE for Dr John Ketteringham, local historian and author.

 

No. 47 Spring 2002

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Freda Starbuck (of Market Rasen) and her legacy of Photographs

Rosalind Boyce

A brief history of Scredington
John Porter

A letter from France (by Captain Harry Thornalley, 1891-1917, of Burgh Le Marsh)
Brian Thornalley

The Captain's Bell (John Adams, 1854-1927, captain of the Try, sloop from Saltfleet)
John Adams


Short Items

• Graffito, Metheringham Church;
• Gunworth Ferry near Castor, Peterborough;
• Coronation sluice gates, Spalding;
• Caythorpe Court;
• C19 paving of Sleaford streets.

No. 46 Winter 2001/02

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Cold War remains in Lincolnshire (Underground Regional Government Headquarters at Skendleby, near Spilsby)

John T Turner

Lincolnshire Aristocratic Landscapes: the view from the 1790s
Charles Rawding

The Mystery of George William Thomas (excavation in Sleaford, 1881)
Michael Turland

Way Down on the Fens
Douglas Hoare
(The estate at Gedney Fen and Gedney Hill, which provided income to Carre's School, Sleaford)

Glebe Terriers and evidence of enclosure
Brenda Webster

Leasingham's silent history of enclosures revealed
Sheila Stevens

A curious Chancery Case

R C Wheeler
(A case taken out by the vicar of Harmston in 1555 against 3 parishioners.)

Short Items

• Sale of Fulbeck Hall;
• Friends of the Old Hall, Gainsborough;
• Obituaries: Norman Leveritt (President of Spalding Gentlemen's Society) and Adrian Oswald (clay pipe researcher);
• Guidepost at Branston Mere;
• Milestone at Fosdyke;
• 'A Day at Horncastle Fair', C19 poem.

 

No. 45 Autumn 2001

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St Hybald of Hibaldstow

Ian Thompson

A John Harrison Puzzle (when did he move to London from Lincolnshire?)
G Bryant

Lincolnshire in the Industrial Period (Part 3)
Neil Wright

Rubbish and the Pinfold (at Branston)
Jennifer Jackson

Report on Social History Conference
Moving house - David Hey; vernacular housing - Philip Dixon; Tudor wills - Mary Lucas; inventories - Brenda Webster; living in an old house - Chris Medley; earth-built houses - Rodney Cousins.


Short items

• John de Toynton and Walter Barde;
• Brocklesby tenants and voting in 1835;
• Uphill Lincoln;
• Lincolnshire tornado.

 

No. 44 Summer 2001

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Almshouses of Lincolnshire - a general survey

Linda Crust

Were Wigford, Canwick and Bracebridge parts of a single early estate?
Dennis Mills

Lincolnshire in the Industrial period - Part 2
Neil Wright

Sullivans (coal cutting machine makers) at Grantham, 1936-1947
Peter Stevenson


Short items

• Historic urinal in Lincoln;
• Rycote and Grimsthorpe;
• Abbey Ward Neighbourhood History Group (Lincoln).

 

No. 43 Spring 2001

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Gosberton Recollections (especially the wheelwright)

J W Braybrooks

Lincolnshire in the Industrial Period - Part 1
Neil Wright

The Ruston's Extravaganza at the Museum of Lincolhsire Life (Sept 1990)
Jon Finch


Short items

• Auston Lee (d1965), clergyman and writer;
• Medieval walls in Flaxengate and Danesgate, Lincoln;
• Lincolnshire subscribers to William Dorman's twelve sermons, 1743;
• Why yellow bellies?;
• Ernest Terah Hooley;
• Monkey on the ridge;
• Hoard or deposit?

No. 42 Winter 2000/01

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Baldwin Brown's 'sheels' at Great Hale (Anglo-Saxon sculpture)

Paul Everson & David Stocker

Recollections of Ethel Rudkin (local historian, archaeologist, collector)
Flora Murray

The Brackenbury Memorial Lectures
Jim English

A Willoughby connection in Oxfordshire
Hilary Healey

Shipwrecks and school attendance (based on log books)
Rex Russell

The Louth Imps (stone carvings in St James's Church, Louth)
J E Swaby

Norman fonts at Clee and Holton le Clay (pen and ink drawings)
Eagles


Short items

• Lord Harrowby's estate at Digby;
• Belfast truss hangar at Bracebridge Heath;
• Monkey astride the ridge;
• Plaster plaques;
• George Frederick Devaliant;
• Railway Operating Division of Royal Engineers;
• Counting sheep;
• Samson Meanwell;
• Betjeman's Lincolnshire church;
• Terah Hooley.

 

No. 41 Autumn 2000

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The Ethel Rudkin Memorial Collection in the North Lincolnshire Museum

Eileen Elde

'Ramblings' (Radio 4 programme) visits Lincolnshire
Hilary Healey

Belfast truss aircraft hangar at Bracebridge Heath
Stewart Squires

The mystery of a tombstone at St Peter's Asterby (Samson Meanwell)
Angela Auger

Anglo-Saxon cruciform brooches at Sleaford in 1916
M J Turland

Anne's Spring, Branston
L N Parkes

North Lincolnshire chalk buidings
Rex Russell


Short items

• Bishop Swayne and care of churchyards;
• 'Made in Lincoln' event;
• Plaster wall plaques;
• Counting sheep;
• Lincolnshire clockmakers;
• Memoirs of Charles Gunthorpe;
• Frank Bramley, Lincolnshire artist, born Sibsey 1857;
• Medieval crosses (Dunsby);
• Welton cross;
• Lincolnshire woods;
• Stamford tapestry;
• Beehive Inn, Grantham;
• C B Nunnington (obituary);
• Documents referring to wheat, flour and bread.

No. 40 Summer 2000

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The Caistor Walk (about proposed closure of Caistor Grammar School), February 1960

Rosalind Boyce

Horncastle and District Baptists
J N Clarke

Betjeman's Lincolnshire Church (St Mary's, Huttoft)
Michael Wright

The evaluation of clergy livings - with Lincolnshire examples
Brian Williams

South Kyme priory: stained and painted glass
Hilary Healey

The story of Helpringham School (Part 2)
A J Ashton


Short items

• Lincolnshire woodlands;
• Matthew Flinders;
• John Reynolds Anthony, planner (obituary);
• 'Three Queens' public house;
• Lincoln Science Day School;
• Halstead Hall;
• Lincolnshire Regiment Museum.

 

No. 39 Spring 2000

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The strange death of Coningsby Sibthorpe (political assassination in Lincoln?)

Michael Trott

The story of Helpringham School (Part 2)
A J Ashton

Zeppelin Raid on Sleaford, 31 January 1916
Les Gostick

Memories of World War I in Wainfleet
J E Swaby

Maundy Money comes to Lincoln
Geoffrey Humphries


Short Items

• Betty Coy (Obituary);
• SLHA Visit to Goole Docks;
• William Marwood, Public Hangman of Horncastle;
• John Harris and country houses;
• Sir Neil Cossons at Alstom in Lincoln.

 

No. 38 Winter 1999/2000

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Made in Lincoln (preview of Millennium industrial heritage project)

Stewart Squires

A railway tease (a hoax advert for a railway project in 1845)
Neil Wright

King Stephen and the Zeppelin (rescue off the Lincolnshire coast in 1916)
Jim Murray

Correspondence from/to William Marwood of Horncastle, executioner (original documents)

A technical education in Lincoln in 1902
Ralph Bates

An early reference to tobacco pipes at Stamford
Gary Taylor


Short items

• Raithby Chapel;
• Hewitt's Mill, Heapham;
• Flinder's Bicentenary medal;
• Deeping St James market cross;
• Leather bottle (jack) and black boy bust in Lincoln;
• Richard Lawton Gales, poet, Gedney;
• Greenwich meridian markers;
• Gainsborough, Stamford and Boston libraries;
• Lost water towers (Mablethorpe, Quadring).

 

No. 37 Autumn 1999

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Quicksets (hawthorn) and hedges at Enclosure : original documents from Stamford Mercury, c1800

Rex Russell

Gainsborough Library remembered (personal recollections)
Rosalind Boyce

The reliability of farm names on Bryant's map of Lincolnshire 1828
Robert Wheeler & Joan Mills

Jews' Court and the Jew's House
Maureen Birch

Industrial Archaeology visit to North Yorkshire (near Staithes)
Stewart Squires

C19 religious history of Swaby
Eileen Elder

Bardney before 1940 (a personal recollection)
Mary Wallace

Touches of Tennyson (a variety of incidents and connections)
J E Swaby


Short items

• Poachers at Heckington (1834);
• Local history summer school, 1938;
• Font at St Denys church, Silk Willoughby.

 

No. 36 Summer 1999

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Countess Lucy (Saxon heiress) and Frances, Dowager Duchess of Warwick: connections with Alkborough

Edna Barnard

Crown Mill (Le Tall's Mill), Lincoln
Ruth Tinley

C19 documents about South Ormsby and Driby
Margaret Goodrich

Rich trade in poor things (documents from Stamford Mercury 1800-10)
Rex Russell

Personal recollections of Irby Top Farm, near Laceby
Ruby M Clark

Thoroton Society and SLHA : report of a joint event
Sheila Stevens


Short items

• Activities at Jews' Court;
• W H Chester steam engine;
• Water towers at Billingborough, Brigg, Burton Pedwardine, and others;
• Field names;
• Mother Carey's chickens;
• Stout family of Bassingham;
• WWI tank models;
• Cathedral library improvements;
• Obituaries: Michael Pointer (Grantham industrial history writer), Duke of Rutland, Jeremy Elwes;
• Sleaford and Gainsborough cinemas;
• City and County Museum;
• Kirkby on Bain church (1801).

No. 35 Spring 1999

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The storm-prone Lincolnshire coast

Geoffrey Humphrys

Historic buildings at risk in Lincolnshire
Stewart Squires

Our Old Town revisited (Thomas Miller's 1857 book about Gainsborough)
Ian Waites

Brief WW2 career of Derek Clinkard, New Zealander, who flew from RAF Hemswell
John Williams

St Benedict's Square, Lincoln
Cynthia Overton

Help for the historian - sources about C19 changes to towns and villages
Rex Russell

Making up history (with reference to Market Rasen)
Douglas Boyce

Memories of a boy at the Records Office
John Fines

Finger (direction) signposts in Lindsey


Short items

• Fonts at St Mary, Tetford, and St Mary Magdalen, Rothwell;
• Origins of Friends of Gainsborough Old Hall;
• Steam engine by W H Chester of Lincoln;
• Croob or curb used by well diggers;
• Earl's Bridge near Mablethorpe;
• Donkey carts;
• Stoke Rochford College of Education film, c1960;
• Lincolnshire glazier in Kings Lynn in C15;
• Toynton pots;
• Flinders, Bass and Australia.

No. 33/34 Autumn/Winter 1998

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NOTE: This is a double issue

The Old Warehouse in Navigation Yard, Sleaford

Wendy J Atkin

Jubilee of Lincolnshire Archives Office
Dorothy Owen, Dennis Mills, Bob Kershaw

Listed Buildings Information Service
Stewart Squires

Horncastle Bicycle Club
J N Clarke

The Railway Comes to Market Rasen (150th anniversary)
Douglas Boyce

Tackling Nineteenth Century Local History: suggestions
Rex Russell

The Fawssett Family of Holbeach, Horncastle, Louth, etc
Dennis Mills

Henry James Herbert Dyer (1902-1995): obituary
John Ketteringham

The Silk Willoughby Pig Club
Bill Collin


Short Items

• Lincolnshire Old Churches Trust;
• Crowland's glass tower (proposed visitor centre for the Abbey);
• Ordnance Survey maps and the Charles Close Society;
• A T E Lawrence trail by bicycle;
• Interment of Sir Frank Whittle's ashes at Cranwell;
• Award of OBE to Geoff Bryant, WEA tutor organiser at Barton on Humber;
• Deeping St James tithe barn (photographs, 1963);
• An early record of fenland soils;
• Lincolnshire lavatory doors (illustrated);
• Meaning of the word "ollier";
• Hudson's bus company, Horncastle;
• John Francis of Silver Street, Lincoln;
• Burgh le Marsh Local History Day;
• Great-Grandmother Cooling's Christmas Plum Pudding (origin and recipe);
• Church fonts (Thorganby and Barnoldby le Beck);
• Steam Engine Builders of Lincolnshire (launch of reissue of Ronald Clark's book);
• Two Gainsborough concidences;
• Medieval coffin at Pinchbeck.

 

No. 32 Summer 1998

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Manorial Rights and Parliamentary Enclosure

Rex C Russell

Lincolnshire Ladies (Sarah Annne Swift, Katherine Swynford, and many more)
Rosemary Lester

Cold War Revelations (ROC at Fiskerton)
Roger Audis

A rabid dog and seven children
John Williams

St Mary's Church, Riseholme: a special service
G F Sleight

Airfield control tower, Fulbeck
Stewart Squires

Year Eight's (Walton Girls' High School, Grantham,) history experience
Samantha Cross


Short Items

• Illustrations of windmills by Karl Wood;
• RAF Waddington Air Show;
• 617 Squadron events;
• Drawings of fonts (Grainsby and Swallow);
• Barnetby inventories;
• The word "gipple";
• Rhyme about safety of ice;
• Banks of Silver Street, Lincoln;
• Meaning of term "OLAS";
• Beef eating contest, 1931;
• Cattle plague 1747;
• Severe weather in Sleaford area, 1918;
• RAF Digby Operations Room Museum.

No. 31 Spring 1998

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Helpringham Board School Minutes: Establishing the School

A J Ashton

Memoirs of Charles Gunthorpe: 1830s - 1860s (original document)

Some Lincolnshire religious censuses
Jim English

The union of benefices (Lincolnshire examples)
J E Swaby

The parish of St Michael on the Mount, Lincoln
W Jacob

Memories of the Second World War in Grantham
Bill Taylor


Short Items

• National Wildlife and Farming Award;
• Gainsborough commemorative plaques;
• Alterations at Butlin's, Skegness;
• RAF Digby Operations Room;
• Violent weather near Surfleet in 1871;
• Meaning of the word "gipple" or "gappel";
• Spalding-Sleaford railway;
• Museum of Entertainment;
• Charles Hodgson Fowler, architect, 1840-1910;
• Spring-heeled jacks;
• Medieval tile from Revesby;
• Gascoyne winged lions;
• Sutton Bridge song, 1783;
• Illustration of font at Great Limber;
• Holy wells in Lincolnshire.
  

Obituaries

• Arthur Pentelow, local historian;
  
• David Roberts, architectural historian;
• Geoffrey Taylor, archaeologist.

 

No. 30 Winter 1997/98

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Report on 4 short lectures: Ploughs

Maureen Birch

Survey of Wigford (Lincoln)
Mary Lucas

Lincoln Urban Archaeological Database
Ian George

Chain Home Radar Station,RAF Stenigot
Chris Lester

Learning can be fun (at Gainsborough Old Hall)
Heather Cummins

A cautionary tale (set in Gainsborough), first published in 1942

Lincoln's Nineteenth Century Working Class Housing
Neville Birch

Archaeology from the air - report on one-day conference

Obituary

Chris Sturman (1950-1997), Teacher, scholar and historian


Short items

• Glanville's cottage (near Tattershall);
• Growing flax and peppermint;
• Henry Burton of Stamford (photographer);
• Henry Teague of Lincoln (water engineer);
• Spring-heeled Jack;
• Visit to RAF Cranwell;
• Lincolnshire haslet;
• Origin of word gipple;
• Ewerby cross;
• Lincolnshire Gang;
• Poetry of Charles Tennyson Turner;
• Signposts for C roads;
• Edward Ingledew, ironfounder of Gainsborough;
• Recruiting for the Navy from Lincolnshire villages;
• Poem about the excise man.

 

No. 29 Autumn 1997

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Prehistoric barrows in the Witham valley at Canwick

Joan and Dennis Mills

The Fossdyke Navigation 1741-1846 : the era of the Ellisons
Ray Carey

Articles of the 1960s from The Church Times under the heading '100 Year Ago'
J E Swaby

Billy Wright (of Gainsborough) and his Donkey
Jim English

Woodcraft by Emma Chambers of Ruskington
Ros Beevers

Obituaries:

Eric Spurr of Boston (farmer); Tom Hayes, aerial photographer.


Short items

• Ewerby cross;
• Lincolnshire weather (tornadoes);
• Medieval burials at Boston, Old Sleaford, Deepings;
• Joseph Ruston (centenary of death);
• Fulbeck Hall;
• Gainsborough and District Heritage Centre;
• Contractors for the poor (Thimbleby, Horncastle).

 

No. 28 Summer 1997

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An artist's life in Lincoln Prison (Karl Wood, windmill artist)

Tony Shaw

Waterways and their uses in Lincolnshire
Neville Birch

Rev Arthur Roland Maddison, 1843-1912, antiquarian - a brief biography

False start or trial run - story in Lincolnshire dialect
Fred Dobson

Westgate School, Lincoln: a brief history

The Kirton in Lindsey Society: 1986-1997
Nick Lyons

Gleaning in Stamford's open fields (original document, 1838)


Short items

• Sandar's maltings, Gainsborough;
• St Rumbold's church, Lincoln;
• Bouncing bombs and Grantham;
• Right Revd David Cartwright (d 1997) and Lincolnshire;
• Roy Reynolds of Louth and his ancestor, Sir Joshua Reynolds;
• Great-great-grandson of Sir George Gilbert Scott;
• Fatal accident of Witham ferry at Washingborough, 1916;
• Fast train at Market Rasen;
• Church Building Society archives;
• Medieval coins at Grantham; Victoria Inn, Sleaford;
• Modern street names;
• Marriage advice (poem);
• Drawing of workings of church clock.

 

No. 27 Spring 1997

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The Lincoln Obelisk (on the High Bridge)

Neville Birch

River Trips on the River Trent
Jim English

Four Brothers and a Name: Field Flowers (1804-1877) of Tealby
Jean Fanthorpe and Jim Murray

Lincolnshire Mills Group: a progress report
Les Osborne

The Case of the House Detectives (Dunsby)
Hilary Healey

Lincolnshire and the empire : wireless communication
Stewart Squires


Short items

• Sutton Marsh;
• T E Lawrence in the RAF;
• Fast train at Market Rasen;
• Tank traps in Nettleham Road, Lincoln;
• Sutton swing bridge centenary;
• Peppermint distillery, Market Deeping;
• Thomas Treadgold and Stephen Langton;
• Flax growing in Spalding area;
• Ada Mayfield and Sturton by Stow;
• Local History Summer School at Stamford, 1938;
• Half-timbered church at Gosberton Clough;
• Matthew Flinders' cat;
• Trees in the Fens;
• Exceptional weather in Quadring, Wootton and Holbeach, various dates.

Obituaries

• Oliver Anderson, journalist and author;
• John C Mossop, solicitor and amateur archaeologist;
• Jean and Fred Shaw of East Keal