Better to Hang an Innocent Man, Than Let a Guilty Person Escape.

The following is a story that appeared in the Lincoln Gazette on 2nd April 1864:

"LINCOLN now (1864) is not like the Lincoln of some 60 or 70 years ago. No railways were thought of, policemen were a scarce article, and highwaymen and footpads were plentiful.

"A long journey was a formidable affair, and a coach trip to London was an extraordinary occurrence. The family lawyer was often called in to make the testament of the excursionist, who almost despaired of seeing his own home again.

"Such a place was Lincoln.

"In the latter part of the 18th century, among the numerous commercials who visited the ancient city, was one old Jew, Abraham, who travelled with gold and silver articles. He supplied the majority of the Lincoln silversmiths with their wares.

"For many years the rich Jew had driven into Lincoln, done a good trade and reaped a large profit.

"It so happened that on one occasion he inadvertently informed the landlord of an inn that he was nearly always his own banker.

"The landlord asked whether he was not afraid of being robbed. He carelessly replied: “Why no, I carry fire-arms.”

"Abraham went his usual round and late in the Autumn season he left Lincoln, after 5pm, for Kirton Lindsey.

"If there ever was a place especially cut out for the perpetration of a dark deed, it was the Cocked Hat plantation at Burton.

"The plantation, in the form of a cocked hat, is on the eastern side of the road. It was a lonely, cheerless place in the day time; and it made the stoutest heart nervous at night.

"The convenient clumps of trees close upon the road secured just the nest for a highwayman.

"It is supposed that when Abraham arrived in the middle of this wood he was fired at from behind but was not struck.

"The shot was returned with like effect. The footpad then came from his lurking place  and grappled with the Jew.

"Just at this moment the moon shone out brilliantly and the footpad shot him dead.

"The thief then took from the dead man all the gold coin he had in his possession.

"Some time afterwards the body was found and carried to the city.

"In making a post mortem examination, the surgeons thought that they could detect upon the dilated pupil of the eyes of the deceased, a miniature likeness of a poor man who had long been, what in police phraseology is called, a suspected person.

"Rumour, with her many tongues, soon began to prattle, and it was hinted that Long Tom was suspected.

"The inquest ended with a verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown, but strong suspicion attached to Long Tom.

"Some few months afterwards the suspect changed a £10 note and the old constable, although not often very active, soon heard of this, and was quickly at Long Tom’s dwelling.

"A search was made of Long Tom’s premises and two other notes were found in his house.

"Long Tom was committed to Lincoln castle.

"After his committal many suspicious circumstances were brought forward against the prisoner, many of which would have equally held good against any other man.

"All these things were talked over at the smoke room of the inn where the Jew formerly put up.

"The landlord went so far as to say that he believed that on the very evening in question Long Tom had asked him for change for a note of considerable amount for a leather-dresser.

"Upon application to the well-to-do leather-dresser, it was found that he had never authorised or sent out Long Tom for change.

"The case went to trial before Mr justice Heath, who held that it was always better to hang an innocent man, than let a guilty person escape.

"Long Tom emphatically denied ever having asked for change of the landlord. The trial ended in the jury returning a verdict of guilty, and Justice Heath sentenced the prisoner to be hung, and then to  be hung in chains where the murder was committed.

"The condemnation of the prisoner was the talk of the town for a time, and the landlord particularly expatiated upon the enormity of the prisoner’s guilt. He added further, that he hoped he should be one who would assist to drag his body to the gibbet post.

"Long Tom was publicly executed in front of an excited and furious populace.

"After hanging the usual time, he was cut down, and then, gibbeted at Burton.

"Time passed on. The execution of Long Tom had given way to fresh scenes of a similar character; the old city was prospering, and its population increasing.

"The landlord had realised a fortune and was considered one of the wealthiest citizens of his time.

"The flourishing landlord, however, fell sick and in his delirium he made use of expressions tending to show that he had upon his mind some awful crime. Long Tom’s name was mentioned.

"He requested that a magistrate be sent for and before him  he made the confession that he had shot the poor old Jew and concocted the story of Long Tom changing money at his inn on the night of the murder.

"Soon after this confession the landlord died.

"State authorities took possession of his property and his  children were left homeless  and begged their bread. Kind friends helped them from the city.

"The Government, ever tardy a wrong committed, settled upon the widow of the unjustly executed Tom a handsome yearly pittance.

"The gibbet post was taken down and few people now living remember to have ever heard of the circumstances here related.

"To this day many believe that the Jew mounts guard at the Cocked Hat plantation and that he may be seen with grizzly beard and hair dodging after a guilty figure, supposed to be the landlord".

Map showing Cocked Hat Plantation.

This "story" is written in a typical florid style of newspaper reporting of the nineteenth century: Is it true? I don't know, if it is true it is a few years out.

Abraham Lamego was buried at St Mary's Stow on 14th August 1752, his abode was stated as London.  His Probate was completed on 22nd January 1753, it stated he lived in Edmonton, London.  

The Lost Houses of Lincolnshire - West Willoughby Hall

West Willoughby Hall was was originally built in 18th century in Queen Anne style architecture.  The Rev Charles Wager Allix (1749-1795) bought the West Willoughby Estate in the final years of the 18th century.      

The Rev Allix was coursing (chasing a hare on horseback with dogs) with his servant.  He decided there was time for a ride before dinner.  When they were about a mile from home he started to fall from his horse, his servant caught him and laid him on the ground.  The servant let his horse loose so it could return to the house and his family would know he was in trouble.  At the house no one knew where they were and, eventually the servant left the Rev Allix "senseless and speechless on the ground" and headed to the house on his master's horse to inform the family and bring assistance, then he returned to his master.  The horse smelled the Rex Allix snorted, ran back a few steps, fell on his side and died in less than two hours.  Rev Allix remained unconscious for a week when he passed away.

His son, Charles Allix (1783-1866) developed the farming potential of the estate.  Charles' son, Frederick William Allix, employed Lincoln architect William Watkins to design a new house in place of the original hall.  The new Hall was built in 1873 at a cost of £28,000 using local Ancaster stone.

 It was large and, like most of Watkins' work, elaborate and expansive. Jacobean in style and similar to Dutch and French Renaissance styles. For all its granduer the house was unloved by the Allix family and often tenanted, F W Allix and his wife spent most of their time living in Brussells

F W Allix died in 1894, his wife, Mary Sophia, died in Brussels in 1910.

In 1912 the estate was auctioned to several buyers, except for the house and park. The house was rented then bought by the Rev. H.W.Hitchcock, acting as agent for his eldest brother. 

Practically all of the West Willoughby Estate was sold off in fourteen lots

The house was auctioned in 1928 but withdrawn at £2,750.  

The house remained empty until World War II when it was occupied by the army, the Hall was badly damaged and even used for target practice. 

It lingered on in ruinous state until 1963 when dynamite was used to demolish it. All that remains is a stable block with a datestone of 1876.

The stable block has been renovated and is now (2010) converted to a family home. The extensive grounds have been incorporated as the lawns of the dwelling. The foundations of West Willoughby Hall have been observed by the current occupier (2010) of the stable block during landscaping work that has taken place over the past eleven years. The foundations lie approximately 50 metres to the south-east of the stables. Some former lodges to the hall remain but have been in private ownership for at least thirty years. The front (south) elevation has had an entrance door added beneath a new central Dutch gable which complements the original two. At the rear, large wooden entrance doors have been added to enclose what was previously an open arch, linking the front of the stable building with the rear. {5}

"In 1959 I described Willoughby Hall near Ancaster, Lincolnshire as ‘a tall, gaunt, French-style house of 1873, said to be by Watkins and in ruins’; in 1989 my text was revised to read, “Of the French-style house of 1873 by William Watkins only the stable block of 1876, with shaped gables, remains.’ Today I would further revise my stylistic judgement: I believe Willoughby was a very clever adaptation from local seventeenth-century Northamptonshire and south Lincolnshire models, and that it had also benefited from the Flemish taste of Frederick Allix’s wife Sophia. At the time he was working at Willoughby, Watkins had already built in 1867 the Town Hall at nearby Grantham.

"I had come to Willoughby in the late afternoon from Caythorpe, its walled park and funerary monuments so redolent of the Hussey tenure. Being Lincolnshire, this was RAF country, the domain of ‘Bomber’ Harris. My index card said ‘Mucked up by the RAF — from Cranwell’, but the army were billeted here too. I was puzzled by large numbers at least two feet high painted on the roof and thought of demolition, but learned later that the RAF used the numbers to practise precision bombing in their Mosquitoes. Even from a distance, a spookiness seemed to emanate from the ruin as I approached, a feeling not unlike that which I'd experienced at Bulwell in Nottinghamshire. I knew nothing then of Charles Hitchcock, a lunatic who, cared for by his brother the Reverend Harry, was incarcerated here from 1912 until his death in 1928. It is said that he would appear with a handkerchief on his head, and run away when approached. Another tale is attested to by old Mr Simkins, the Hitchcocks’ gardener. He reported that Charley had the run of the attic floor, and was allowed out into the garden at three o’clock each afternoon, superintended by a maid. Simkins could point to the gabled window on the garden front from which Charley would sing to and stare at the moon — it seems that he would get into a frightful state if there was no moon on a night when he needed its consolation. One such night, he ran up and down the stairs so many times that he finally collapsed exhausted at the bottom. Simkins also claimed that Charley had a passion for Mars bars, which his brother used to supply in bulk. This surprised me, and later enquiries made to the Mars bars people in Slough revealed that the bars had only been marketed from 1932. Maybe Charley’s ghost consumed them? The house was untenanted after Charley’s death in 1928. When the army moved in, a carved French chimney-piece was there one day and gone the next, and according to Simkins, no doubt a local myth-maker, the house was badly haunted. Objects would suddenly break, as if someone had smashed them. ‘A real nasty feeling the place gave,’ he confessed. There were noises in the night, but it was not clear if these were the gasps of soldiers in the embrace of WRACs, or Charley's ghost moaning at the moon.

"Looking back, I don’t believe I have never found a ruin so unpleasant. The back parts had been used as pigsties, and stank from the inevitable muck-heap. In the stables the walls were plastered with army notices. Each stall had housed not horses but soldiers, eating around a table, and the columnar divisions had all been broken up for firewood, as had the balusters of the upper main staircase and the panelling in the dining room. Upstairs, only accessible by sidling along a wall beam over a precipitous drop, the wet rot bulged out of walls like balloons, and the stench of decay was choking. I’m sure Charley had been harmless, but he left a legacy of evil emanations. I felt cold, on this warm summer’s evening"

-- No Voice From the Hall  John Harris

The Stable Block converted to a home

John of Gaunt's Mistress

Katherine de Rouet was born in about 1349 in the County of Hainult, now in Belgium, the daughter of a Flemish Herald, Sir Payne de Rouet.  She was educated at a convent in Romsey, Hampshire and later joined her sister Philippa, who became the wife of Geoffrey Chaucer. 

Katherine married Sir Hugh Swynford of Kettlethorpe and Coleby, Lincolnshire,  a knight in John of Gaunt's service, about 1366.  Sir Hugh died in 1371 in Gironde, Bordeaux.  Katherine and John of Gaunt began their relationship sometime after  Hugh's death. 

John of Gaunt, the 3rd son of King Edward III was born in Ghent in 1340.  He married his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, his third cousin, in 1359.  Blanche died of bubonic plague in 1368 at Bolingbroke castle.

After the death of John's first wife, Katherine became the lady-in-waiting to Blanche's daughters. She took care of them and managed the estates left to her by her late husband.

John married Infanta Constanza of Castile in 1371 at Roquefort near Bordeaux, assuming the title “King of Spain” in 1372.  In 1387 he tried, with the aid of King Joao I of Portugal, to conqueror Castile to make good his claim, but was unsuccessful.

During John of Gaunt’s marriage to Constanza he fathered four children by Katherine Swynford.  

Their relationship caused a scandal, leading to John being forced to break off their relationship in 1381. Katherine moved to Lincoln and lived in a rented house.  

The Chancery, Katherine's rented house

Despite the formal separation, Katherine maintained a cordial relationship with John and his family. In 1387, she was made a Lady of the Garter by King Richard II

Constanza died in 1394.

John married Katherine Swynford in Lincoln Cathedral in 1396/7.  Their marriage was recognized by a papal bull, legitimising their children, taking the surname of Beaufort, but were prevented from inheriting the throne.  The children were:

• John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (1373-1410)
• Henry Beaufort, Cardinal (c. 1374-1447)
• Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter (1377-1426)
• Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland. (1379-1440)

Henry Beaufort was bishop of Lincoln from 1398 to 1405 and was created Cardinal in 1426.

Although John of Gaunt didn’t inherit the English throne all sovereigns of England and Great Britain from Henry IV are his descendants.

John of Gaunt died in 1399, his estates were declared forfeit by King Richard II as John’s son and heir, Henry Bolingbroke, had been exiled.  

Henry returned to England to depose Richard and reigned as King Henry IV until 1413.

Katherine died on 10th May 1403 and is buried in Lincoln Cathedral.

Katherine Swynford's Tomb in Lincoln Cathedral

Katherine's children with John of Gaunt played significant roles in English history. Their descendants include Henry VII, the first Tudor king, and key figures in the Wars of the Roses

What Happened to Pond Street?

Over the years several streets in Lincoln have had name changes, Clay Lane to West Parade; New Road to Lindum Road; St Giles Gate to Wragby Road are just three. What seems at first like the most insignificant name change was that of Pond Street.

Pond Street,  parallel to West Parade and Newland Street West, joining both roads via Rudgard Lane, was built between the early 1870s and the late 1880s.  The fronts of the numbers 21 to 31 are built of brick but the back walls are of stone.  Windows in the stone wall have been replaced, but there are still some "original" windows of pointed arch design in the stonework. It may be that the builder re-used stone from a demolished building.

Why was the name of the street changed?  I have been unable to find a definite reason for the change of name, but it may be due to World War I.

Two soldiers living on Pond Street were killed during the war:

• George Christian, died 28th April 1917 age 19 , 8th Battalion
• Walter Henry Christian, 12th October 1918, age 22, 5th Battalion

George and Walter were sons of Charles (died 1912, age 44) and Hephzibah Christian, of 32, Pond St.  Leaving Hephzibah with one son, Leslie.  I believe the street name was changed to commemorate the sacrifice they made for King and Country.

The street was renamed St Faith Street about 1929, St Faith's Church stands behind the recently built houses at the end of the street (that may also the reason for the renaming).  There were 4 houses between number 11 and 13 which retained the name Pond Cottages, these have been demolished, together with numbers 7-17 (odd numbers only), and the area is now a green space.

Mr Arscott and the Baptist Sunday School

This is an architectural gem that thousands of people pass every week and most wouldn't notice it.  The former Baptist Sunday School was built by W Mortimer & Son of Lincoln in 1897, the ground floor shop was rented to tenants.

It was built with heavy clay Gault brick, very popular in the Victorian period.   Stone dressings enhance the Flanders Gothic Revival style.   Above the right door is a crested date stone inscribed "Baptist Sunday Schools 1897", although much of the wording has been eroded by time and weather.

After providing religious education for local children for over 70 years the first floor was converted into offices in about 1980.

c. 1905

R M Wright & Co were the first tenants of the shop, no 29 & 31, but in about 1905 William Arscott started his tailor's business there.  Willam was born in Wellington, Somerset. He moved to Lincoln in 1884 to take up a position as tailor's foreman.  William died in 1919 and Joseph Armscott carried on the business until at least 1942, although no 29 was by this time a ladies' hairdresser and a registry office for servants.

Fortunately it retains many of the architectural features that were built into it by our Victorian predecessors.  The building is Grade II listed so it should be preserved for many years to come.

 

How to Confuse the Visitor to Lincoln

 The wise Elders of earlier centuries of the City of Lincoln chose a unique way to name the streets of the city.

Castle Hill

Take, for instance, Castle Hill: Castle Hill is between Lincoln's castle and cathedral but try as I might I am unable to find much of an incline between those two buildings.  It's true that it stands at the top of the well-named Steep Hill and there is a slight slope from south to north, but a hill it is not.  It is often named by locals as Castle Square.

Staying on the subject of hills, what about Lindum Road, now that is a hill, unusually for Lincolnshire, quite a steep hill, 1 in 9 (or in modern terminology 11%), I believe.  Lindum Road perpetuates the lie that started when it was named New Road.

Yarborough Road is of a similar incline to Lindum Road, it would be a hill in many other cities.  Leading off Yarborough is Carline Road which is probably the second steepest hill in Lincoln.

A busy Cornhill

I nearly forgot the Cornhill, standing east of the High Street.  There may have been a hill of corn there (pre-EU) but a more accurate name would be Corn Square.

Moving to the south of the city Canwick Road heads south from Pelham Bridge (yes it is a bridge) and out into the country.  But as it leaves the city it climbs a steep hill but it is still called Canwick Road.

If we head south west from Canwick Road we come to Cross O' Cliff Hill - and it is a hill, obviously misnamed in a moment of forgetfulness.

Imagine someone on a cycling holiday, Lincolnshire is considered (wrongly) as being flat, and they would think they could get south to north through Lincoln without climbing a hill!

There are more examples of the special naming of roads in Lincoln and maybe in other parts of the country.

I think it's true to say the residents of Lincoln are more honest and call roads that give the impression of hills, hill: e.g. Lindum Hill, Yarborough Hill, etc.

Cold Harbours

 I have discovered 17 places in Lincolnshire named "Cold Harbour", many of them are names of farms, houses or just a patch of land. I have seen many suggestions for the name, the most common is 'a place where a Roman building once stood'.

Unfortunately it is not as exciting as that; if we remove the 'H' from the second word we get Arbour, which some keen gardeners build to make a pleasant shelter to sit beneath on a warm sunny day.

Historically a Cold Arbour is a clump of trees, a ruined building or a depression in the land where travellers could get some shelter from the weather.

The image below is a map showing the location (blue tag) of a cold arbour at the junction of the High Dyke and A52 near Grantham. It's interesting that the public house was called the Blue Harbour, possibly owned by the same Lord of the Manor who owned the "Blue" inns in Grantham.  See https://itsaboutlincoln.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-blue-inns-and-sign.html