A History of Horncastle Part 21

HENRY ALLISON.

Henry Allison, son of Mr. Allison, Miller, formerly residing in West Street, married a daughter of Mr. David Cussons, and leaving the town about 1848, settled in Hull, where he established a large business as paper manufacturer. He was elected Mayor of Hull; and died some years ago, leaving a widow, who resides in a large mansion, which he built on the outskirts of the town, Marlborough House, Anlaby Road. The business, with several branches, is still carried on by members of his family.

JOHN BROWN.

John Brown, the "Poet Laureate" of Horncastle, has already been mentioned; he is chiefly known by the volume _Literae Laureat_, published in 1890, dedicated to Lord Tennyson, by permission, and containing most of his poetical productions. These are remarkable for his knowledge of Lincolnshire dialect and local folk-lore. The volume was published, after his death, on behalf of his widow.

He was born in the first workhouse, adjoining St. Mary's churchyard, his parents being in charge of that inst.i.tution. Being first apprenticed to a cabinet maker, Mr. J. Williams, when only just "in his teens," he ran away to Hull, and took service on a vessel, the Margaret, bound for Cronstadt. His first voyage, however, was sufficient to disgust him with marine life. When about 15 he found employment with a theatrical scene painter from London, who settled in Horncastle. He afterwards went to London to learn his trade as a house decorator. He married in 1833 a Miss Gainsborough, of Alford. In 1838 he went to Lincoln, and for some years carried on his trade there. In 1848 he returned to Horncastle, and still carrying on his trade, became a member of a literary coterie, who used to hold meetings in the coffee room of the Bull Hotel. In 1860 he bought a house on the Louth Road, which he opened as the Globe Inn, and which became the resort of his literary friends. Literature, however, did not conduce to business. In 1872 his health failing, and his savings having evaporated, he was granted a residence in the Whelpton Almshouses, where he continued to employ his pen, in comfort, until his death in 1890. {159}

THOMAS BAKER.

The late Mr. Thomas Baker has already been referred to, but is worthy of a fuller account. He was not a native of Horncastle, but lived in the town more than 60 years, and became so identified with its interests, in many ways, that he may well be regarded as one of its "worthies." Born in 1814, at Braintree, in Ess.e.x, he was the son of a veterinary surgeon in that town, his family having previously there owned the once well-known coaching house, named The Horn Inn; although earlier members of his family had occupied a higher position; one of them, named Thorowgood, having founded the Grammar School at Oxford.

Before coming to Horncastle, in 1841, Mr. Baker was known on more than one county cricket ground, and had distinguished himself on the University ground at Cambridge, "Parker's Piece." On coming to Horncastle he immediately made his mark in cricket as a round-hand bowler; and the leading young men of the neighbourhood became his pupils.

One of his feats was, in a match between an 11 of All England and 22 gentlemen of the county; when he bowled out, with his first ball, Iddison, Captain of the All England team. The great matches in which he took part for many years were too many to tell. Among other things he had the distinction of being employed by Sir Evelyn Wood to train a village club in his parish.

Besides his cricketing skill he was remarkable for his ventriloquial powers; and the story was told, that, while sitting in conversation with two strangers, at the Bull Hotel, he threw his voice under the table.

The two sprang up to catch the supposed eavesdropper, when he at once calmed them by throwing his voice in another direction, and then letting them into the secret. He was also, in his way, a fair actor; and, with the late Mr. John Brown, the Horncastle Laureate, and others, he helped to amuse considerable audiences, in town and neighbourhood. In comedy he could take all the parts himself, rapidly changing his dress, and at one moment adopting the high falsetto tones of an old crone, and the next moment speaking in the deeper accents of a strong man. It is greatly to his credit that, only having for many years a small shop, famed chiefly for his two specialites, "bull eyes" and "Grantham ginger-bread," he brought up a large family, who have taken good positions in various parts of the country. He was a staunch conservative and churchman.

In his later years he was often visited by strangers, who were entertained by his fund of anecdote and cricketing reminiscences. Among these we may name the novelist, Miss Marie Corelli, who, while staying at Woodhall Spa, sought his acquaintance, as being one of the "characters"

of the neighbourhood, and to his delight she gave him her autograph. Mr.

J. J. Hissey, the author of _A Driving Tour in Lincolnshire_, also visited him at his house in Horncastle, and says of him "although wearing a shabby garb, he struck me with his perfect self-possession, and superior manners. . . . I have met many characters, but Mr. Baker struck me as being the most remarkable." He died Feb. 12th, 1903, aged 88; and in his last illness letters poured in upon him from old friends and pupils, expressing their sympathy and their pleasant recollections of his company.

ODDITIES.

To these "worthies" of the town we here add two or three of its "oddities." About 1844 Billy Boulton, who kept an inn in Millstone Street, now called North Street, named the Tom Cat, was noted for his great strength; for a wager he dragged a "dung cart" on the turnpike road, from Lincoln, to his own yard in Horncastle, a distance of over 21 miles. It is said, however, that he suffered from rupture for the rest of his life, as a consequence of the great and continued exertion involved in this feat. The inn is now named The Cricketers' Arms, but it may be noticed that the figure of a cat is still engraven on a pane of the front window.

The same man bought the wife of a man named Rogers, a boatman, who put her up for auction, standing on a tub, with a halter round her neck, in the public street; the price paid being 20. She had a son and daughter by Boulton, who both lived to be married, but died early. In after years, having lost her (so called) husband, Boulton, she removed to Lincoln, and there meeting her former husband, Rogers, she became reconciled to him, and both again lived together, as man and wife, until death. {160}

A man, known as Aty Rushton (short for Horatio), who lived in Horncastle, on the West Ashby Road, about the same period, and let out horses on hire, being in Lincoln, laid a wager that he would set off from Lincoln, above hill, just after the moon rose, and ride to Horncastle, 21 miles, before the moon should rise there; which would be later, the town being in a hollow, with a steep hill in the west to hide the moon for some time; while Lincoln is on a hill, with a view to the west over low county, where the moon would be seen earlier. He rode a swift animal of his own. and strained all its powers in the effort. Unfortunately there was then a toll bar on the Lincoln road about a mile from Horncastle, where he found the gate closed, and was delayed two or three minutes before the keeper could pa.s.s him through. He pressed on with all speed, galloping through the town, shouting in his excitement "Now me! now moon!"; but as he dashed into his own yard, he saw the moon shining in a bucket of water, standing by the stable door. The delay at the toll-bar had lost him his wager.

A son of the above, Thomas Rushton, was a great fisherman, and not always particular where he followed his sport. Walking in the night to a certain lake in a park, about 6 miles from Horncastle, he fished it and landed two or three brace of good trout, and then about eight o'clock in the morning, he called at the hall, and sold them to the squire for his breakfast. He used to tell this anecdote to his confidants, with his well-known chuckle of satisfaction, as a satisfactory stroke of business.

Many other stories of his performances with "the angle" could be also related, but this may suffice.

The following relates not to a native of Horncastle, but to one whom we may call an "intruder," although he was to play his part (not a very creditable one) in the town. We avoid, for obvious reasons, giving names and dates. There had occurred a number of petty thefts, which made, those who possessed anything of value, uneasy about their treasures, lest their turn for spoliation might come next. The police arrangements for the town were still of a very primitive character, and quite inadequate for due protection of the householder. The days of the "bobby" and "peeler" were not yet, at least in country districts; although Sir Robert Peel had done away with the old watchman, and established the present police system in the metropolis; and some other of our larger towns had followed suit. But in Horncastle the constable, by way of setting a thief to catch a thief, had, it was said, himself in his earlier years been a great smuggler, while in his age he was a spindle-shanked old man, whom a boy could knock down. Roused by the insecurity of property, the authorities decided to import a London detective, disguised in plain clothes. He came, and for a while marauders, among whom the secret soon leaked out, carefully stayed their hands. After a time, however, robberies began to recur; especially a corner shop near "the far bridge,"

was the scene of considerable pilfering. The detective was called in to investigate. He took up the matter, but did not succeed in making any arrests.

It was noticed by someone that a bra.s.s b.u.t.ton was missing from the sort of gamekeeper's velveteen coat which he wore; and, strange to say, a b.u.t.ton of the exact kind was found behind the counter of the shop where the thefts occurred. No public action was taken in the matter, but it came to be strongly suspected that the professional thief-taker had himself been guilty of thieving. Other suspicious circ.u.mstances occurred, but he was a clever man, and nothing was brought home against him. It was believed, however, that something of the truth had become known at head quarters, as his appointment was a few months later cancelled, and he was not appointed elsewhere. He continued to reside in Horncastle and, having no employment, he accepted the post of water bailiff to the local angling a.s.sociation, which he filled for some time, until he eventually disappeared from the scene of his labours, which were thought by not a few to be somewhat "fishy" in the unfavourable sense of being at least questionable in their nature.

He had not left the town very long when it became known that certain parties had received from him some of the goods which had disappeared from the grocer's shop, which had been robbed. Sundry hams were found concealed in a hay loft, and it was generally believed that the robbery of an inn in the town, not far from the shop in question, as well as other thefts in the country around, had been perpetrated by him.

PUBLICHOUSES

One of the remarkable features of Horncastle is the number of its publichouses, and these were far more numerous formerly than at the present day. This was, of course, mainly due to the great number of dealers who attended the horse fairs, not only from all parts of England and Ireland, but from most countries on the continent; especially the great August fair, which formerly lasted no less than three weeks. The present facilities for rapid travel, by rail, and quicker means of communication, which now enable dealers to hear of horses for sale, and to visit them in their owners stables, before they are brought to the fair, has altered all this, and the fairs now last only a few days at the most.

These publichouses had also generally attached to them large yards, and extensive stabling (as may still be seen), where the best horses were shewn and tried, without appearing in the streets. In consequence of the reduced need for such accommodation many of these publichouses have disappeared. Among the names of those which have been lost, are the Royal Oak, the Peal of Bells, c.o.c.k and Breeches, Chequers, Hammer and Pincers, Dolphin, Pack Horse, Woolpack, Fox and Goose, Marquis of Granby, Blue Bell, Horseshoes, Axe and Cleaver, Three Maids' Heads, Queen's Head, the George, and others which are only traditionally remembered. {162}

Several of these were almost contiguous. For instance, on the west side of the market, on the site of No. 1, now (1908) occupied by Mr. R. W.

c.l.i.therow, formerly stood a good-sized publichouse, which was destroyed by fire. Being rebuilt, it became the private residence of Mr. H.

Sellwood, Solicitor, father-in-law of the late Poet Laureate, Lord Tennyson. Separated from this, northward, by only two houses, was the Black Horse Inn, still existing, and next to this, on what is now part of the shop of Messrs. Lunn and Dodson, was the Peal of Bells, and not more than half-a-dozen yards distant, on the opposite side of the street, was the very old Saracen's Head, still existing.

On the north side of the Market Place, next to what is now Mr. Cammack's cycle depot, was the Queen's Head Inn, now gone; and at the north-east corner of the Market Place, one door removed from St. Lawrence Street, was the Nelson Inn, still existing; while at the south-east corner stood the large George Inn, no longer existing; and near the churchyard, under the same roof with the old vicarage, was a much patronized dram shop, kept by a Mrs. Clayton, long since removed.

Of some of these we are able to give particulars, not without interest.

The c.o.c.k and Breeches was kept by Roland Oliver, a breeches maker, whose daughter migrated to London, and, as Mrs. Hibbert, kept an inn, the Elephant, in Fenchurch Street, City. At the Queen's Head were, early last century, barracks for volunteers or soldiers, with their drill sergeants; who performed their drill and practiced with "Brown Bess" in a chalk pit, on the west side of the Edlington Road, now disused, but still represented by a deep depression in the field below the footpath to Thimbleby, and at the back of the gardens of Mr. Frank Heane, of the Garth House, and other adjoining residents.

At this same inn, the Queen's Head, some 20 years or more ago, on removing the bricks of the kitchen floor, the workmen found a skeleton, probably that of a man who had been murdered for his money at the August fair, and in connection with this, it was remembered that a farmer living at Stourton, who used to frequent this inn, had some years before attended the fair, but never returned home, nor could enquiring friends find any trace of him.

The Nelson Hotel, on the same side of the Market Place, was formerly kept by an old man named Vesey, who was said to have been, in his earlier years, a great smuggler on the coast, but coming to Horncastle, he reformed, and was appointed constable. The sign of this inn is a portrait of the great hero of Trafalgar and the Nile, originally well painted by the artist, Northouse, but it has recently been repainted in the worst style, and almost "improved" out of recognition.

The George stood on the sites now occupied by the Post Office, and the adjoining shop of Messrs. Salter, Shoemakers, the original archway of the inn yard still remaining between them. This was formerly one of the principle inns of the town, equal in size to the Bull and the Red Lion; and from it, before the railway line was opened to Horncastle, the landlord, Mr. Hackford, ran a coach, to meet the train at Kirkstead. An incident, in connection with the George may here be mentioned, which is not likely to occur again. A wealthy lady, Miss Heald (who had also a house in London, where the writer, as a boy, visited her), occupied in those days the old hall (now demolished) in Edlington Park. She was of the family of Chancellor Heald, to whose memory there is a marble tablet, on the north wall of the chancel of St. Mary's Church. She had a nephew, who was an officer in the fashionable regiment of the Guards. He became enamoured of the once famous courtesan, Lola Montez, who had been mistress to the King of Bavaria, attracted by her beauty, it was said, as she drove, and he rode, along Rotten Row, the resort of fashion, in Hyde Park, London. She wished to make the most of the opportunity to regain a respectable position, and pressed her attentions of the young officer too persistently. She was a woman of daring and reckless temperament; and his love and admiration gradually, on closer acquaintance, gave way to fear. At length he did all he could to avoid her, which roused her bitter resentment, and at length he became in daily terror of her revengeful nature. Coming down from London to Horncastle, to collect his rents, he put up at the George, and was there found, by a friend who called upon him, sitting at his luncheon, but with a brace of pistols lying on the table, fully expecting that she would follow him, and force him into matrimony. It is said that she ended her days in an American prison, after perpetrating a murder in a railway carriage.

[Picture: Old Thatched Inn in the Bull Ring]

Another inn worthy of mention here is the Fighting c.o.c.ks. Here this once fashionable but cruel sport used to be practised, until it was made illegal by Act of Parliament, in 1849, and it is said to have been clandestinely continued for some time longer, although a penalty of 5 was imposed. An old man working on the premises in 1902 could remember the last fight. The "pit" was in the present garden, at the rear of the inn yard.

In the Fighting c.o.c.ks yard were formerly the kennels of the South Wold hounds, and the writer can well remember going frequently, as a boy, while he attended the Grammar School, to see them fed, as well as occasionally being mounted by the whips on one of the horses of the hunt, when, after the hunting season, they went out for exercise. Mr. "Jack"

Musters, the whilom rival of Byron for the hand of Miss Chaworth, was at that time Master.

In the yard of this inn there still remain two large scythe blades affixed to the wall of an outhouse. The history of these is that they were formerly on the front of the inn, facing the street, because was annually held, on August 21st, what was called the Scythe Fair, when the county blacksmiths gathered to purchase scythes, to supply the Irish, and other reapers, for the coming harvest. This was discontinued when the machinery for reaping came into use.

The Three Maids' Inn was situated in the High Street, on part of the site now occupied by the Corn Exchange, and was demolished when that building was erected. A small inn, on the east side of North Street, now called the Cricketer's Arms, was formerly named the Tom Cat, because here was sold the strong old gin of the well-known distillers, Swagne and Borde, whose trademark was a cat. Hence gin took its name of "Old Tom." There is still the figure of a cat engraven on the front window, with the words "Unrivalled Tom" beneath it.

Opposite the Bull, the leading hotel in the town, replete with all modern requirements, stands the King's Head, an old "public," still remarkable for its low thatched roof; the reason for which is said to be, that by the forms of the will of a former owner, it was bequeathed to his successor, with the condition attached, that it should continue to be thatched: a condition which the advance of civilization may, in a few years' time, make it difficult to fulfil.

And here we may make the concluding remark that 100 years ago most of the houses in Horncastle were thatched. It is on record (Overton MS.) that the first slated house in the town was built for a Mr. Storr, a gardener, in what is now the back pa.s.sage from the Bow Bridge to the Wong, near the Baptist Chapel. This was afterwards occupied (17901800) by Mrs. L'Oste, widow of a former Rector of Langton. The next house to be slated was that of Mr. t.i.tus Overton, lately the residence of Mr. John Overton, Grocer.

APPENDIX.

THIMBLEBY.