Fragments of Two Centuries: Glimpses of Country Life when George III. was KingKingston, Alfred
History
Fragments of Two Centuries: Glimpses of Country Life when George III. was King
Kingston, Alfred
Country life -- England
1807. Between this year and 1814, for the particular year is
uncertain, Louis XVIII. of France paid a visit to Royston and descended
into the Old Cave. Louis, while in exile in England from 1808 to 1814,
a part of the time occupied Gosfield Hall, near Braintree, Essex, and
it was while here, apparently, that he came over to Royston to see the
Cave.
On the 25th October, 1809, was the Jubilee of the reign of George III.
I am not aware of anything being done in Royston, but if there was it
was probably a half-hearted affair and contrasting greatly with the
happy augury of the Jubilee of the reign of Queen Victoria in 1887.
1809. In June, 1809, Daniel Lambert, the famous fat man, was weighed
at Huntingdon and was found to weigh 52 stone, 1 lb.--14 lb. to the
stone. A few days afterwards he arrived from Huntingdon at {182}
Stamford where he was announced for exhibition, but he died about nine
o'clock the following morning.
1814. On January 14th, the deepest snow that had been known for 40
years began--was some days falling--and continued on the ground for
five weeks, and in places drifts were 15 feet deep. The frost
continued for 12 weeks, till March 20th. On the 8th of the month of
January the frost was of almost unexampled severity. A fair was held
on the Thames where a sheep was roasted. A card printed on the Thames
during that strange winter fair is now in the Royston Institute Museum.
Houses were in many cases snowed up, and the difficulties of traffic
were enormous. Large gangs of labourers toiled at mountains of snow in
order to open up the coaching routes. When the frost was 20 deg. below
freezing point, Benjamin Dunham, seventy years of age, was found frozen
to death between Barrington and Harlton.
The armed burglar was in evidence during the last and early years of
the present century as a terror to householders, with this difference
from the present system, that the offenders generally went in gangs.
One notable event of this kind is connected with the residence of
Squire Wortham (now Mr. J. E. Phillips) in Melbourn Street, Royston.
The party, approaching from the Dog Kennel Lane in rear of the
premises, disturbed the housekeeper, a Mrs. Cannon. She in her turn
called out to Old Matt, the huntsman, but that worthy slept so soundly
that she could not wake him; meanwhile the burglars seemed about to
effect an entrance, when the redoubtable Mrs. Cannon secured a
blunderbuss and, firing out of the window in the direction of the
visitors, they made off. It was generally believed that the
housekeeper shot one of the burglars, and years afterwards this was
verified in a curious way by one of the party who, just before he died,
made a confession to Mr. Stamford, then living at the Old Palace, to
the effect that he was one of the party and that one of them was shot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account