SIX STRIPES EACH, EXETER, 1876.

In August 1876:

"SYDNEY BOWDEN, WILLIAM BOWDEN, and WILLIAM SPARKS, three lads, the eldest being ten, living in Well-lane, were summoned for having placed stones on the rails on the incline between Lion's Holt and the tunnel.

"P. C. Leeworthy stated that about eight o'clock the previous evening he was on the railway bridge in Lion's Holt, and therefrom saw the lads picking up stones between the rails and placing them on the metals  On seeing him the eldest lad, William Bowden, knocked the stones off the metals and ran away.

"Mrs Sparkes said her child only placed pins on the metals, and produced some that had been crushed by the train,  The mother of the Bowdens said she had thrashed her boys.

"The parents reluctantly consented to have the childen whipped, and they were put behind to receive six stripes each.

"Mr. Rogers, who appeared on behalf of the Company, said that if the stones had been large they would have thrown the engine off the metals as it was a very steep incline, but as the defendants were young the Company were willing to leave the matter with the Magistrates"

The eldest of these boys, William Bowden, was ten!  How young, for humanity's sake!, were the others?  Their tender age did not spare them six stripes each in the cells behind the Exeter Guildhall.... and the Bowden boys, perhaps, were being thrashed for a second time!

When I wa s a little boy, in Mossley Hill, we liked to bend halfpennies by putting them on the line.  It was strictly forbidden.  I don't remember any thrashings but this was a long lifetime later.  

One doesn't often see therefrom these days.  Wherefore!?

Does anyone still speak of the metals of the track?

Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 30th August 1876. 

PUSHING FEMALES, EXETER, 1876

From The Exeter Flying Post, 23rd August, 1876:

"THOMAS HOOKWAY, a lad, was charged with misbehaviour in High-street the previous evening. (Sunday.)  Capt. Bent stated that the conduct of lads in High-street was so bad that he had to put on an extra force of officers to keep order.

"P.C. Ray saw defendant standing with others on the footpath and obstructing the thoroughfare.  He ordered them off.  Subsequently he saw defendant push two females from the inside to the outside of the path.

"Defendant said he knew the females and denied having pushed them.  He was convicted for a similar offence in March last.  The Bench fined him 3s., or a week."

Along Exeter's High-street in 1876 ran not the pavement nor the sidewalk but the footpath.  It was the footpath across which Thomas Hookway chose to push females but only those whom he knew.  It seems that this had become habitual misbehaviour.

Capt Bent, chief of the city police force, told the court that the conduct of lads was so bad that he had to put on an extra force of officers to keep order.  It would, however, seem that the worst example of misbehaviour that he could find was Thomas Hookway shoving a couple of girls.

I could wish that he and his extra force of officers might be along Queen Street, say, or in the Northernhay Gardens during the Exeter College term. 

 

HORROR-STRUCK, EXETER, 1867.

In July 1867, the Reverend J. C. Jackson of Hackney wrote a strong letter to The Times which was reprinted in The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette of 19th July:

"At Exeter some of the most interesting tombs in the country have been simply destroyed.  Of the Courtney tomb there is not a vestige of old work left, and the so-called restoration is partly in stucco.  The figures themselves are perfectly ridiculous.  More than this the monuments no longer stand over the places of interment.   Happily, at present, there have been few funds for restoring this charming building, or we might have to regret even geater loss than in the case of Lincoln.  Where cash has been forthcoming it has been worse than wasted.

When I heard of the proposed restoration of Bishop Oldham's tomb, I made a point of going down to Exeter to see how things really stood, and I was horror-struck.  This fine monument was thus treated.  First, all vestiges of old colour, of which much remained in its original comdition, were removed;  then all the stonework, except the sculpture, and it is said, though I can scarcely believe it, the effigy was re-tooled, and finally the whole was painted up in oil colours of the most distressing crudeness,  just as any village painter might do it.  The face has been aptly compared to a Guy Fawkes.  The furbishing up of the Carew monument is not a bit better; even the inscriptions are now of no sort of authority, except as possible copies."  

I am taking the Reverend  J. C. Jackson at his word and shall never again look at the monuments in the Exeter Cathedral with the same eyes.   

GROSS INGRATITUDE, EXETER, 1892.

"ELLEN JANE DAVEY, a married woman of West-street, was summoned on the information of Chief Inspector Short for stealing a pair of boots.

"The Inspector stated that a few days since the defendant and her husband were summoned for failing to send their child regularly to school.   The plea then put in was that the child could not go to school because it had no boots.  The Mayor ordered him (Inspector Short) to purchase a pair of boots.  He had done so, and gave them to the defendant.  Before he did so he gave her clearly to understand that the boots were not hers.

"The boy wore them for about a week when defendant pawned them at Mr. Linscott's, pawnbroker for half a crown.

"The defendant said she had not had any money for eleven years, and she was supported by her son.  She pawned the boots to get food for her husband who had been ill.

"The Mayor, addressing the defendant, said she had been guilty of a wicked and gross act of ingratitude.   He had no hesitation in saying that the boots were pledged for the purpose of getting drink,  The case would be adjourned for a month in order to see how she behaved herself."

Ellen Jane Davey's little boy could not go to school barefoot so the Mayor of Exeter shod him.   For a week he wore new boots.  The boots were not a gift but a loan so when Ellen Jane popped them at the pawnshop she committed theft and her son ran barefoot again. 

I am assuming the son who supported her was not the one with, or rather without, the boots.  But maybe not! 

Whether Mrs. Davey spent the money on drink or on food for her husband, such desperate poverty is mind-blowing and, happily, unthinkable in today's Exeter. 

Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 28th May, 1892.     

 .

CAPTAIN LOUISA CHRISTMAS, EXETER, 1888

 In 1888 the Salvation Army had only been known by that name for ten years but there was already a Salvation Army Hall established in Exeter.   On Saturday 31st March there were services which went on late into the night.  In the Hall were the Salvationists and those prepared to be saved but in the lobby were rowdy boys and young men come to disturb the peace,  

That same night Salvationist Halliwell Hutchinson, who was acting as doorman went into the lobby but there he was struck in the face by one rowdy and knocked down with a walking stick by another.

Captain Louisa Christmas (was she as lovely as her name?), however, was not afeared.   She was in charge of the services.  Like Major Barbara she was pepared to face down  disturbers of the peace.  The Western Times (5th April 1888) court report from Exeter'e Guildhall reads:  

"Charles Lyons, William Down, and Thomas Trump, young men, were charged with creating a disturbance at the Salvation Army Hall on Saturday night.

"Louisa Christmas, captain, stated that she was in charge of the services at the Hall on the night in question,  About twenty-five minutes to twelve o'clock she heard a noise in the lobby creating a disturbance.  She asked Downs personally to leave the lobby, as he was rather intoxicated.  But he refused to go, saying that his wife was in the Hall , and he was going in,   She told the other prisoners to be quiet and if they behaved themselves she would let them in to the Hall.  But as they continued making a noise a policeman was sent for." 

The offenders who had declined to behave themselves were appropriately shamed and fined by the Exeter magistrates.

"A DESTITUTE SCOTCHMAN", EXETER, 1883.

Under this title The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette (23rd November, 1883) told this story:

"At the Guildhall yesterday a plasterer from Scotland. named George Patton, applied to the Mayor for relief in order to assist him to get back to Scotland.

"He said that he was a widower with three children, whom he he had left in the care of his brother-in-law.   About a month ago he left home in search of work. and sailed to Plymouth from Glasgow.  He then had some money, and was able to pay his passage.  He could not get work, however, at Plymouth, and he had walked to Exeter, and all his money was gone.  He had tried in vain to obtain employment, and he now desired to be sent to Bristol, where there was a Scottish Society that would help him get home,

"In reply to the Bench, he said that of course he could walk to Bristol, but he had no money, and he was not allowed to beg or do anything else.

"The Mayor said that it was unusual to assist cases upon the mere statement of the applicant without any proof whatever, but in this instance the man was evidently from Scotland, and the Bench would therefore grant him 2s. 6d. from the Mayor's poor box. providing that he at once left the city and proceeded on his journey to Bristol.

"The applicant appeared excessively grateful for the assistance granted, and promised to start immediately." 

George Patton had walked from Plymouth and, of course, he could walk to Bristol where there was a Scottish Society which he seems to expect would help him in the manner of a consulate. The Mayor and magistrates of Exeter clearly did not want a penniless Scot on the streets.  It was worth half-a-crown from the poor box to send him on his way.

This was giving with two fingers.  The money would not  go far.  On the other hand the accessibilty and immediacy of the relief is impressive.   The 'Scotchman' walks into a city where the Mayor is in his Guildhall and is approachable for relief as well as for justice,   These days there would be delays and robots and form-fillings galore,

Poor George Patton!  After all that effort, he was going home to his motherless children with empty pockets.  I hope fortune smiled on him somehow or other.  

A NOTORIOUS LITTLE CUSTOMER, EXETER, 1874.

 Abraham Isaacs of Catherine-street was summoned to Exeter's Guildhall by the School Board for neglecting to send his son to school: 

"Isaacs said his lad was eight and a half years of age, and was a notorious little customer.  

"Mr Austin (the prosecutor) said he had known the lad to go to as many as four schools, but the masters could do nothing with him.  

"Defendant said he had punished the lad severely, had chained him up to the bed-post, but he would break away.

"The Inspector said he would go into public-houses and stand on his head to amuse the company. - (laughter).

"Mr Austin said he was a sharp little fellow, and ought to be educated.  If he had not really committed any crime he was on the high-road to it.  Several masters had refused to take him in consequence of his refractory conduct.

"Defendant said he had taken him to school, but during the morning he had been known to conceal his cap under his coat, and managed to get away.

"Mr Austin said the Board considered the case was out of their hands, and was more for the care of the parents.  It was rarely that they could keep him to school more than one day in the week.

"The Bench enforced a conditional fine of 2s 6d, to be enforced if the child was not regularly sent for the next fortnight,"

One senses the utter helplessness of the parents and the School Board, not to mention that of  the schoolmasters, faced with a sharp little fellow who wanted only to go into pubs and stand on his head, 

For all our 'social science' I don't think we have much more idea today how to deal with 'refactrory conduct' in children.  We don't chain them to bedsteads but the worst of them we lock away in the regional secure unit. 

And so, it would seem that, in Victoria's Exeter, schoolmasters, if they so wished, could refuse to take a difficult child into class.   What a prerogative!

Source: The Western Times, 1st September, 1874.

HILARIOUS SPIRITS, EXETER, 1861.

It was a sunny day in July and there has been a picnic for the working men of Exeter.  The Exeter Flying Post reports:

"The annual pic-nic of the Exeter Working Men's Mutual Improvement Society was held on Monday afternoon on the beautiful grounds of Stoke House, the residence of E.A.Sanders Esq. on the Old Tiverton-road.

"Tea, dancing, Militia and Rifle Corps music, kissing in the ring, archery, smoking and Aunt Sally were the amusements of the day, and in this way a very pleasant afternoon and evening werre passed by upwards of 2,000 persons.

"At the close of the day's amusements Mr.Sanders addressed the assemblage, expressing his entire satisfactiion with the manner in which they had all behaved, his cordial approval of the objects of the society, and promising a contribution of £10 towards its funds.  Three hearty cheers were given in response.  The band struck up, amid the cheering, 'For he's a jolly good fellow,' and in the most hilarious of spirits the assemblage quitted the grounds." 

2000 respectable, one feels, persons, working men and their wives and children, enjoying themselves without, it would seem, alcohol  but with a beneficent philanthropist  How the world has changed. 

Kiss in the ring sounds fun but I fear you had to be little to play. 

PITCH AND TOSS, EXETER, 1858.

At the Castle of Exeter on Thursday 2nd April 1858:

"Three lads, named SAMUEL DARCH, JOHN MERRIFIELD and JOHN VERSEY, were charged by P.C. Westcott, with playing at pitch and toss in the road leading from Paynter's Row to the Haven Banks, on Sunday last.

"The officer stated that he saw the defendants in the road on Sunday, and concealed himself in an adjoining garden to watch their movements.  Whllst there he saw the defendants playing at pitch and toss, and ultimately one of them threw up some coppers, and sang out 'two heads'  The officer then jumped into the road , and cried 'and I'll have the other.'

"For the defendants, Mr. Toby submitted that the allegation in the summons 'unlawfully gathered and wilfully obstructing the free passage' was not proved.  Mr Drake (magistrates' clerk) thought, however, that as there were several other persons present at the time, it was an unlawful gathering' and a 'wilfully obstructing the free passage.'

"The Bench then fined the defendants 1s each, and expenses." 

Playing at pitch and toss was the craze among the street boys of Exeter in the 1850s.  Here, three coppers had been thrown at a mark and the winner, i.e. the closest, had then tossed all three in the air. The ones that came down heads he could keep. The third coin should have gone to whomever threw the second closest but at this fateful juncture P.C. Westcot leapt from his ridiculous hiding place and spoiled their sport by charging them all three.

Pitch and toss was an offence because it involved gambling (but hardly!) and I think Mr. Toby was right to question the charge that they were wilfully obstructing  free passage but the Bench was resolved in its condemnation.. 

Source: The Western Times, 3rd April 1858

"SINGULAR FIDELITY", EXETER, 1843.

 Singular Fidelity was The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette's  (11th February 1843) title for the following long report from the Police Court at Exeter's Guildhall which is offered with little comment: 

"Charles Locke, a lad of very humble exterior. with a countenance that could not be called prepossessing, although containing an expression of great honesty, was charged by a female of the name of Lang, with an assault on the previous night, about 11 o'clock, -

"From the statement of the woman,  whose nose appeared to have received a remarkable depression from the effects of some recent manipulation, the prisoner was described as having interposed himself between her and the road she desired to take in Waterbeer-street, at the time in question, and wantonly committed the outrage complained of.

"In answer to questions from the Bench, the prisoner stated that he was a traveller with his master, an itinerant cheese-dealer, who had lodged at the Turk's Head Inn on the previous night.  His master had been in company of the girl before the assault took place, and had left her to go into the Inn, to his quarters. He was in a state of intoxication at the time, and the boy was fearful that the money which he carried about his person, amounting to some £10, would be obtained from him by her.

"On observing his master come into the inn-yard from Waterbeer-street, the boy went to the doorway there and obstructed the entrance of the woman, Lang, who wanted to follow, and he committed the assault by tendering her a 'back-handed smack.'  The boy had been six years with his master.   The brewer at the Turk's Head, who had witnessed the transaction, corroborated the lad's story.

"The master, who had been the cause of this fracas, but who seemed to entertain a very careless apathy as to what happened to his servant, was now sent for from the Turk's Head, and reluctantly admitted his acquaintance with the girl, but expressed the opinion that he could mind his own business better than his boy, who was a fool for interfering.

"The Bench were of opinion that the violence used by the boy exceeded the necessity of the case, and fined him 1s. and expenses, or a week's imprisonment.   The lad had no money, and was about to be carried off, when his master, touched by something like a feeling, said 'he 'ud rather pay the 4s. for'n, and so he did."

It's the way they tell them!

'

A SWINDLER, EXETER, 1842.

According to The Western Times of  Saturday, 22nd January 1842:

"On Tuesday evening, a man, who called himself Knox, went to the shop of Mr. Burrington, watch maker, and having examined some watches and other articles of jewellery, desired that some watches, chains, keys, and other articles, might be taken to his lodgings, at Mrs. Newman's, 14, Verney Place, St, Sidwells, in order that a selection might be made for a lady. Mr Barrington accompanied him with six watches, nine gold chains, twelve gold keys, and other articles, to the value of £170.

"When they arrived at the house Mr. Burrington was requested by the swindler to take a chair, and give him the articles, that he might show them to a lady in an adjoining room.  This was done and after Mr. Burrington had waited some considerable time, a thought flashed upon him that some trick might be in progress...."

Mr Burrington seems to have been a bit slow off the mark.   It took a while for that thought to flash upon him but he was quick enough to hire a chaise and set out on a Pickwickian pursuit of  Mr. Knox:

"and after much search and enquiry found the swindler and 'the lady' in bed together at the New Inn, on the road between Chudleigh and Ashburton."

Mr. Knox's sweetheart was an Exeter girl, Mary Ann Endicott of Spiller's Street, and she was deemed to be an innocent and discharged.   Things, however, were serious for the poor man who called himself  Knox.   He was committed to await trial, 

A GOOD WHIFF OF TOBACCO, EXETER, 1803.

In 1803 Exeter had an established tobacconist in a prime corner of the city, Wescomb's.  So established indeed, that it was able to advertise in the leader column of The Exeter Flying Post  (15th December, 1803.) verses and all!

"To a person of taste there is nothing so highly gratifying as an excellent pinch of Snuff, or a good whiff of Tobacco; - but where can they be had genuine?  why at Wescomb's Warehouse, in St. Martin's Lane, which is allowed by all ranks of people to contain a greater variety of Snuffs and Tobaccos than any one house in London,  where upward of two hundred different sorts are constantly kept on sale, for the accommodation of the nobility, gentry, and public in general.

Life is a smoke! if this be true

Tobacco will your life renew!

Then fear not death, nor killing care, 

But fill a Pipe with Wescomb's ware!"

Today Exeter still has a tobacconist but the nobility and gentry have fled beyond the city walls.  The hope of our nation, the up-coming generation, certainly fear not death. Too many young people are still finding a good whiff of tobacco highly gratifying.  Mostly, it seems, they choose to sit on the floor somewhere in public and roll their own  cigarettes with 'rizla paper' and with, no doubt genuine, tobacco but also other substances.   I have seen some of our many 'homeless' glean their tobacco from the fag-ends of the Exeter pavement and fill their pouches with their frugal gains.  

Persons of taste?  

 

SALUTARY MEASURES, EXETER, 1802.

 Thomas Floud was arguably Exeter's most successful Mayor of the century.   When he retired from office in 1802 The Exeter Flying Post (30thSeptember 1802)  reported , among other things, that he had removed an unbounded number of nuisances which, from their having been continued with impunity, had become habitual. Moreover he had changed the appearance of the public streets from the most disgusting filth to perfect cleanliness.    Thomas Floud was a strict disciplinarian and applied the regulations of the time with energy and commitment,   The week after his retirement, The Post published this Address which had been agreed by the Constables of the City at a special meeting in the Swan Tavern:     

"SIR,

"Sensible of the great Advantages that have arisen for the Citizens at large during your Mayoralty and the upright and independent Manner in which you have perfomed the  Duties of Chief Magistrate, permit us to offer you our warmest Thanks

"We not only feel. in common wuth our  fellow Citizens, the Benefits of those salutary Measures which you have adopted and carried into Effect, for removing Offences of all Descriptions, and thereby promoting  the Convenience and the  Healths of the Inhabitants but we also admire the great Attention that has been paid to every part of the Police of this City/

"We beg Leave to express our Acknowledgement of the very handsome Conduct you have exercised towards us as CONSTABLES in the Execution of our Office and we should more deeply lament your quitting the situation you have held , had we not the Assurance that your successor will follow up those Measures you have so beneficially adopted."

It must have been heartening for citizens and police to think and feel that somebody cared for the city of Exeter who had the will and the authority to introduce salutary measures. 

A TALKING HORSE, EXETER, 1801.

"Christopher Lee Sugg was an entertainer, a 'professor of internal elocution',  that is, a ventriloquist, patronised by not less than the Duke of Cumberland.   He performed in August,1801 at the Hotel Assembly Room in Exeter for the inhabitants of the city and tickets sold at three shillings a ticket.   The Exeter Flying Post of 20th August printed this story:

"LEE SUGG, wishing to embrace every opportunity of making his singular talents the subject of public conversation, created no inconsiderable alarm on the public road the other day, as he was riding from this city to Exmouth. 

"The turnpike gate being opened, he rode hastily through,when, of a sudden, stopping his voice to the horse's head, exclaiming,  'I'll not go any further.'  'Why not? says Lee Sugg.-  'Because you have not payed for me, replied the horse.

"The woman at the gate was much alarmed at so extraordinary a phenomenon; however, after a little altercation between L.S. and his horse, they set off. but had not proceeded many yards, when they overtook an old woman, whom Lee Sugg's horse 'swore he would kiss.'  The old woman cries out, 'For God;s sake,  do not hurt me.'  L.S. replies 'He won't hurt you; did you never hear of the talking horse?'  -'Oh! sir! (says she)  'I know as well as you it is no horse; if you have any power over him, for Heaven's sake keep him from me.'  ;Why, what do you think it is then?' says Lee Sugg -  "Oh! do not, do not let him approach me, for I know too well that it is the Devil, though in the shape of a horse.'  Then L.S. again throwing his voice to the horse's head, excliams, ;Well, good woman, since you know me, I shall leave you to yourself for the present.  Remember me.'  -  The old woman replies -  'remember,  I am sure I shall never forget you; and I am happy you are gone.'" 

   

A QUESTION OF DISCIPLINE, EXETER, 1896,

At an inquest on yet another drowned woman held at the Exeter Police Court reported in The Exeter Flying Post of 6th June 1896, there was a row between the Mace-Sergeant and the Coroner, thus:

"Mace-Sergeant Gillard was in attendance as Coroner's officer.  The Coroner said he had given the warrant to Inspector Wicks.- Gillard: He is out of town.- The Coroner: I don't care for that.- Gillard:  But I am here in his place. - The Coroner:  I can't allow you to appear here in the present state of affairs.- Gillard:  Very good, sir. - The Coroner:  The officer I gave the warrant to, Wicks; he is not here;  it is his duty. - Gillard:  Very well, sir, I don;t want to have an argument;  if you want to have Wicks I will go and look for him but he is is out of town, and I summoned the jurymen.  The Coroner: I don't care;  I gave the warrant to Wicks and gave him my instructions...."   And so on.

Inspector Wicks was not out of town he was in his lodgings in Sidwell Street and was soon winkled out.   Over the years you can still hear the not so dumb insolence, the surly voice of the bolshy mace-sergeant and the tremulous insistence of the Coroner.

The story of this trivial quarrel simmered on and was made much of by the City Council.   Most of them wanted to side with the mace-sergeant because he was their own man whereas the Coroner, perhaps, somewhat like Bernard Knight's wonderful 'Crowner John', was seen as the Queen's officer and an outsider. 

TOUCHSTONE of The Flying Post, however, had no doubt as to the rights of the matter.  The case was still being discussed by the Council a month later.   He wote in his column of 11th July 1896. 

"It is not a question of superior or inferior, or both losing temper.  It is not a question of animus or provocation.  It is simply a question of discipline - of respect for a high and ancient office,....Nothing can justify a subordinate returnng an insolent answer to a superior,  The relative position, too, of the two men now in question is not recognised by the majority of the Council.  It is not an altercation between those practically on an equality.  It is as though an Admiral and a petty officer, a General and a Corporal, or a Judge and an usher of the Court were concerned."  

THE BEDFORD CHURCH CHILDREN'S OUTING, EXETER, 1889.

"The children attending Bedford Church Select Bible-classes and the Day and Sunday Schools were favoured with fine weather on the occasion of their annual outings to Woodbury Common\.  The members of the Select Bible classes. numbering 90. went on Saturday, and the Day and Sunday Schools. numbering 130, on Monday.

On both occasions the parties were conveyed in breaks and wagonettes, supplied by Mr, Bickford, of the Bedford Mews, and great praise is due to the drivers for the careful way in which they did their work, the journeys there and back each day being accomplished without a hitch,

It is needless to say that one and all thoroughly enjoyed the drives.  The hedges, with the wild rose and honeysuckle in full bloom, and the newly-mown fields added fragrance to the beauty of the scene.  On ariving at Black-hill at 3 o'clock it was found that the bracing air had sharpened the appetites of the young folk, and each one was speedily served with a substantial ham sandwich, after which the company resolved itself into small parties, which roamed over the moor and through the woods, returning at 4.30 p.m. for tea.

The remainder of the days was spent in various games, prizes for which had generouly been given by members of the congregation.  Two of the prizes on Saturday were specially valuable, one being a pair of hand-embroidered braces and the other a silver pencil-case, the gift of the wardens.  The amusements and recreations were brought to an end by the ascent of fire-balloons after which the homeward journey was begun.

Bedford Church was reached at about 10 o'clock, and the enjoyable outings were brought to a close by the parties before leaving the breaks standing up and singing the Doxology." 

Glory, what an image!   At ten o'clock on that Monday, one hundred and thirty boys and girls in Bedford Square, were standing up on their 'breaks and wagonettes' and singing the Doxology! 

"Praise God from whom all Blessings flow!"

Source: The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 26th June, 1889.

A DISGRACEFUL OFFENCE, EXETER, 1819

 In May 1819 the 'active' Chief Magistrate (Mayor) of Exeter took a stand against a local custom that must have dated back to before Henry Vlll's break with Rome.

Maundy Thursday,  Holy Thursday,  Shere Thursday is associated with washing and cleansing.  This because it was the day, so the authors of the gospels tell us, Christ washed the feet of his disciples.   Shere carries the meaning bright or pure, hence cleansed. 

It appears that generations of Exonians, surely not only the idle and ill-disposed, thought it fun to go out on the streets on Holy Thursday and purify their neighbours by throwing water over them.   The Exeter establishment did not approve.   The Exeter Flying Post of 20th May 1819 informed its readers:

"It has long been a subject of just complaint with the inhabitants of this city, that they are prevented from walking the streets on Holy Thursday, in consequence of a most shameful and lawless practice which prevails with the idle and ill-disposed, of throwing water on the passengers, without distinction of age or sex.

"We are happy to find that our active Chief Magistrate has caused hand-bills to be issued declaring his determination to punish, with the utmost severity all who are found guilty of an offence so highly disgraceful." 

Is it not curious how nowadays we almost exclusively use  passenger for one who rides in cars, trains, planes and buses?  In 1819 it simply meant one who passes on his way.

I should like to see one of those hand-bills. 

A MISCHIEVOUS IDEA, EXETER 1889.

In March, 1889, the Managers of  The Exeter Training College (i.e. for schoolmasters.  Nobody seems to want to call it Saint Luke's yet.) met at the College for their Annual General Meeting.  There were more than forty of them.  Mr. Alexander Henry Abercromby Hamilton, who was only one of them, addressed the meeting.   He said....

"he would not underestimate learning , but they must remember that the duty of these young men must be that of imparting elementary education to children, and it was quite possible that men might do that work better even if they had not obtained a first class in classics or mathematics.  The chief object in this college was education in the principles and objects of the Church of England.

"The tendency which had arisen in the present day of separating religion from education must be guarded against in every possible way.  They could not teach children morality, honesty and temperence unless they based it on Christianity. He hoped they would always remember that religion was the one thing needful, and that the idea of separating morality from religion was dangerous and mischievous. - (Applause)" 

A.H.A. Hamilton I take to be the lawyer and legal historian who lived at Millbrook House, Exeter,   His contention, 'no morality without Christianity!' was altogether mainstream at the time.

Source: The Western Times, 22nd March 1889.   

THE STOKE HILL HEN, EXETER, 1817

"A gentleman residing on Stoke Hill, near this city, has in his possession a hen which answers the purposes of a cat, 

"She is constantly seen watching close to a corn rick, and the moment a mouse appears she seizes him in her beak and carries him to a meadow adjoining where she amuses herself by playing with her victim until he is dead:   She then leaves him, repairs again to her post, and is frequently known to catch four or five in a day'

"This has been her constant practice for months past, during which time she has killed a great number of those destructive vermin,"

The fact that the poor mouse is given a masculine pronoun seems to me to add terror and pathos to this mind-shattering story from 1817!  

This monstrous hen was clearly her master's pride and joy as well as being a celebrity who was reported in the newspaper.  There should, perhaps, hang a portrait of her in the parlour at the Stoke Arms.  

Source: The Exeter Flying Post,  30th January 1817 

IDLE AND VULGAR, EXETER, 1898.

"The idle and vulgar men and youths who find sport in annoying other people who enjoy a walk in Hoopern Fields had better take a hint if they desire to escape an appearance before the City Magistrates.  Their disorderly conduct,  and the damage to property of which they are the cause, have been communicated to the Council.

"The Watch Committee have had the complaints under consideration,  and they have instructed the Chief-Constable to send a few plain clothes men to the path fields at frequent intervals and especially on Sunday afternoons and evenings,   

"The order will be welcomed by all decent folk, and it is to be hoped the Magistrates, if they get any offenders before them, will so deal with them that they will not quickly forget that the pleasant and secluded walks in the city are no longer to be permitted to be a rendezvous for disorderly persons who fancy themselves licenced to be offensive to anyone they meet."

The pleasant and secluded walks in Hoopern Fields were a good way out of town.   Nowadays the equivalent annoyers of other people have taken over Exeter's city centre: the cathedral green, the parks. the gardens and even the open streets.  One has the impression that when decent folk complain to the so-called authorities about the anti-social behaviour of the idle and vulgar, such complaints  disappear like snow in summer and there is no chance at all that anything will ever be done about their disorderly conduct.  At least these Victorians made an effort and the newspapers published the progress of their determinations to the citizens, 

Not that I imagine the idle and vulgar were likely to read this Note of the Day in The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 8th June 1898.    

DISCHARGED BUT DISGRACED, EXETER, 1886.

 Thomas Pope, a twenty-seven year old musician, had come to Exeter and taken lodging with a Mr. Brice.  Mr. Brice had a sixteen year old daughter, Eva. The two young people fell in love and they ran off to nearby towns for three nights of passion,   Thomas Pope was apprehended and taken into custody.   It was 76 days confinement before he came before the visiting judge, Justice Stephens, at the City Assizes.  The case depended on whether or not Thomas Pope knew that Amy was not yet eighteen.   His defence was that she had told him that she was.  The prosecution brought powerful arguments to bear and the case was something of a cliffhanger.  In the end the jury found Thomas Pope not guilty.  It seems that the citizens who had come to see the trial agreed with the verdict:

"The jury acquitted the prisoner, and the verdict was greeted with an outburst of cheering and laughter.

"His Lordship, springing to his feet, said:  Take into custody one of the men who laughed and bring him to me.  No action was taken on this command. and his Lordship again said:  Policemen, take into custody any man you saw making a noise and bring him before me,- The policemen in the Hall, however, seemed not to have seen anyone making a noise, for no one was arrested, and his Lordship continuing, said:  I must say I never felt greater disgust in my life at hearing applause upon the acquittal of a man who has disgraced himself in a most infamous manner.  I don't criticise the verdict of the jury, but I say that those who are glad that a man has escaped punishment for a most filthy, a most treacherous, a most cruel and wicked action, share some of his guilt and would probably be capable of doing something of the same kind themselves.  To the prisoner:  You are discharged,  but you are disgraced."

I notice nobody thought to ask Eva anything about anything.

Let us pay tribute to the stalwart Exeter policemen who, in the tradition of Admiral Lord Nelson, did not see what they did not want to see.

Source:  The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette,  1st February, 1886.

NINEPENNYWORTH OF COKE, EXETER, 1893.

"HENRY ROGERS, aged 15, WILLIAM GLASS. aged 15, and EVA COOK, aged 13, were summoned for stealing ninepennyworth of coke and wood the property of Exeter Gas Light and Coke Company, on November 22nd at St. Thomas.

"....P.C.Rounsefell deposed that at 7.30 a.m., he saw the defendants with about twenty others in Haven Roads following the carts coming from the Gas Comany's premises and taking pieces of coke out.  Those who could not reach, knocked the coke out with a stick.

"On the three defendants taking their bags to go home, witness stopped and took them back to the Gas Works, where their bags were weighed,  Rogers's weighed 41 pounds, that of Glass fifteen pounds, and Cook's thirty-five pounds....Cook said what he (she) picked up was from the ballast heap. - The boys said they simply picked up what fell out of the carts.

"....The Bench fined defendants 2s 6d each or three days' imprisonement, and thought the company ought to be more careful." 

It had been half past seven of a November morning.  A small army of children had been chasing behind the Gas Company's laden coke-carts to glean fuel to take home.  They had come with their bags and, the little ones, with sticks.  P,C Rounsefell had nabbed  two fifteen-year-old boys and a thirteen-year-old girl and, at the Castle in Exeter, the Bench, consisting of an Admiral, a Knight, a Colonel, who was also a Lord, and a, no doubt distinguished, Commoner,  (viz:  Admiral White, CB,  Sir Dudley Duckworth King, Colonel Lord Courteney, and Mr. W. T. Bayne) condemned them as thieves. 

I only hope, by some miracle, the three children managed to find their get-out-of-jail half-crowns.

Source, The Exeter Flying Post, 9th December 1893.

GENERAL JOY. EXETER, 1812.

 The Exeter Flying Post of 10th September 1812 (in a leading article dated the 9th) resorded that:

 "Last evening a general illumination took place in this city, in celebration of the glorious victory obtained by the great Wellington and the British army on the plains of Salamanca, and on the recent capture of Madrid.  "Never have we witnessed on any former occasion more general joy than was diffused amongst all ranks of people.

"The morning was ushered in by the firing of cannon, ringing of bells, flags triuphantly waving in every direction, and the houses so decorated with laurel, as to form the appearance of a grove.  In the evening each endeavoured to outdo his neighbour; there were an immense number of coloured and other lamps displayed in various devices, whilst the name of the conquering hero shone conspicuously every where.

"Mr. Land, New London Inn, had a most brilliant crown, with the words, 'Wellington and the Army,' the whole length of the house in front, which took nearly one thousand lamps, and had a fine effect.  There were also an immense number of transparencies appropriate to the event....

"....The Cavalry Barracks, now occupied by the 88th regt. of foot, had a large transparency, and was otherwise brilliantly lighted.  The band of this regiment passed though the High-street in the course of the evening playing "God save the King" and "Rule Britannia," amidst the loud acclamations of thousands of people with whom the streets were thronged."

'General Joy' pervaded Exeter, or so it would seem  It was, writes The Post, a 'joyous scene, in which every individual seemed so highly interested.'  Nowadays, I suspect, half the citizens would have been grumpy about it and more or less offended.   How did the Georgian Exonians manage to be, to seem at least, so united?

I'm glad the Cavalry Barracks was 'lighted' and not 'lit'.     

96 HUNGRY CHILDREN, EXETER, 1809.

An advertisement appeared in The Exeter Flying Post of 31st August 1809, to this effect:

"There are in the Exeter Cavalry Barracks, FORTY WOMEN and NINETY-SIX  CHILDREN belonging to the Soldiers of the 9th Regt. of Light Dragoons who are now serving their country in the Expedition to Holland.   These women and children are in the greatest stress, being almost in a starving state, having nothing to subsist on, and their little property of cloathes, &c. they have been obliged to dispose of to maintain themselves since their husbands' departure.  

"They came to Exeter with the remainder of the regiment, to await the result of the Expedition; and in the interim the kindness of the public is appealed to, to relieve them from their present extreme want. - Whatever assistance the public may be disposed to render, will be received by Mr. W. Curson, library, High-street, Exeter, who will give any further particulars; and the subscriptions, as received, will be immediately transmitted to the Commanding-Officer, who has engaged to see them properly distributed and applied." 

The dragoons had left for the disastrous Walcheren Expedition,   They had only just landed in the marshes of that malaria-ridden island and they  needed  to clear it of French defenders.  Few of the 9th Dragoons died in battle but, by the end of the year, 152 of them had died of the 'Walcheren Fever' and many more were sickened for life.

Of the women and many children who were close to starving in the Exeter Higher Barracks and popping down town to pawn their 'cloathes &c.'  some would surely have been widows and orphans by the time the regiment came home. 

I hope the patriotic citizens of Exeter acted generouly towards them.   I'm sure they did.

I was intrigued to see the word stress being used in this context in 1809.

CLERICAL RAPACITY, EXETER, 1850.

 In June, 1850, the resourceful Messrs. Norris and Redway of South Street, Exeter, in agreement with the South Devon Railway Company laid on two excursion trains, one for Exonians to visit Plymouth and a second for Plymothians to visit Exeter. 

The novelty of rail travel was such that all tickets were soon sold and more than 650 people travelled from Exeter in a train of sixteen carriages pulled by two engines, 'The Brigand' and 'The Corsair' which were gaily decorated with flags and laurels:

"As it gracefully swept along, fast gathering speed, it was saluted with enthusiasm by hundreds and hundreds of spectators."

The citizens of Exeter had a fine old time in Plymouth but the next day, when an equivalent trainload of Plymouth folk arrived in Exeter,  there was, according to The Western Times, this very general and well-founded complaint:

"....the principal object of attraction in this city is the Cathedral, and the visitors felt indignant that they were not allowed to see it without a fee.  Such, however, was the case - the fee was ruthlessly enforced;  no one was permitted to enter 'God's House' without feeing the door keepers.  

"We are told that the Church of England is the Poor Man's Church, but we fancy this is only applicable to the extent that the Deans and Chapters are so poor, that they cannot afford to pay their servants, but suffer them to make a raree show of God's House, to obtain their bread and cheese.

"We are sorry that this should be the case, but we trust that visitors to the city will not put down this instance of clerical rapacity to the account of the inhabitants generally, who are not answerable for the meanness of the Dean and Chapter, and very much regret their conduct."

Source: The Western Times, 8th June 1850.

 

 

SILENT KILLERS, EXETER, 1878.

On Thursday 2nd May 1878, at the Exeter Police Court, before the commencement of the ordinary business, Captain Bent,  the Chief Constable, had a word or two to say about bicycles:

"Captain Bent said young men were in the habit of riding through the public streets after dark at the rate of 10, 12, and sometimes 14 miles an hour, to the great danger of pedestrians,  for they were unprovided with a lamp or bell, or anything that would give notice of their approach.

"The tires of the wheels of the machines were made of india-rubber, so they came very silently and unaware upon persons crossing the streets, and accidents had occurred and were often narrowly escaped.  A case of a death caused in this way had occurred in Surrey, and as many complaints had already been made by citizens, he thought a public caution would be of service. 

"....The Mayor said that one day he saw a child knocked down by a bicycle on Southernhay.  No serious harm was done but the child might have been killed.  He suggested that the attention of the Town Council should be drawn to the matter, so that they might make a by-law to protect the public from such danger."

And did the Town Council make a by-law?

And did the young men  (no young women mad cyclists!) take any notice of the by-law?  (This was, however, when the streets were policed, - ages before policemen lost the use of their legs,)

Today there are more Exeter by-laws than a dog has fleas but, alas, they are so seldom enforced they might as well not exist.

Tires, of course, have, in the UK at least, generally become tyres.  

Source:  The Exeter and Plumoth Gazette, 3rd May, 1878. 

DOCTOR GAMBLE'S PAPER BAG, EXETER, 1814

Balloon ascents were all the rage in the first decades of the nineteenth century,  Exeter saw its share and was impressed.   This one, however, was different!

"On Monday last, in consquence of public advertisement that a Balloon would be launched from the Castle-yard by a Doctor Gamble, curiosity was excited to the highest pitch, and thousands repaired to the surrounding hills and fields to witness the sight. -  Several hundred paid for admission to the Castle, where, having waited upward of an hour beyond the time appointed for the ascension, the company grew impatient.

At  length the Balloon, (or rather a paper bag), was produced, but so badly constructed, and the operation of filling it was so clumsily managed, that instead of taking the promissed aeriel flight of 20 miles, it instantly caught fire, and vanished in smoke,

The public indignation was now roused against the poor Doctor, and but for the interference of constables, he would probably been roughly handled.   He was, however, obliged to unburden himself of the cash he had collected, about twenty pounds, which has been disposed of...."

The poor Doctor was allowed his coach-fare home.   The rest of the money he had collected, after his creditors had been paid, was donated to the Exeter Eye Infirmary.

Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 10th February, 1814.

THE ART OF FAINTING, EXETER, 1800.

The Exeter Flying Post of 28th August, 1800, cautioned its readers that there was a vagrant in the city who was not altogether honest:

" A novel Imposter has made his appearance in this city.  He personates a sailor, and practices the Art of Fainting, and falling into a Fit, with great success.   He began his vocation here early on Saturday morning and continued it at proper distances the whole of the day,  The humanity of individuals supplied him with many comfortable refreshments and considerable sums of money.  

"In the evening, however, he was still 'faint for want of a bit of bread,' as he had spent his last two pence two days since.  The craft is so lucrative, that if some magistrate do not apply the proper remedy, it is to be feared the practitioner will go on fainting in every city, town and village in the kingdom.

"....He is a middle-aged man, somewhat marked with the smallpox, and produces a disabled sailor's discharge."

N.B. A rare 'subjunctive after if' for pedants to enjoy!

Centuries may pass but on the streets of Exeter there are still such petty impostures.  There is one  'homeless person' I meet who is forever needing ' just a cup of tea' and another who wants 'a pound for the bus home' with improbable regularity. 

I haven't yet met anyone subject to faints or fits and the petty imposters no longer get a mention in the newspapers but they are surely still with us and so are the individuals whose humanity supplies the imposters with many comfortable refreshments and considerable sums of money.

Plus ça change.... and all that.!    

  

CHILD DROPPING, EXETER, 1823.

 One Saturday in April 1823, at about half-past ten at night the door bell of Mrs Cosserat's house on Southernhay was rung in a violent manner.

"On the maid-servant opening the door, she perceived a band box, without any person appearing, and, on taking it up, she heard the cry of a child issue from it.  being alarmed, she set it down again, and hastened to the balcony, from whence she called to a chairman then passing, to ring the bell of Mr. Kingdon's (the adjoining) house.  Mr. K. being apprised of the circumstances, immediately took in the box, and found it contained a female child, about a fortnight old, dressed in new but plain clothes.

"The Corporation of the Poor are using every exertion to discover the unnatural mother, and the person by whom the child was dropped; and have offered a reward of five guineas for their apprehension."

"Child Dropping" was The Flying Post's title for this piece.  No doubt, in Georgian Exeter, everybody knew what that meant.

Band boxes, bandboxes, according to OED are so called because they  contained the 'bands' or 'ruffs' as worn in the 17th century.  Then they changed with the fashion to become hat boxes.  Do we still speak of bandboxes?

Was this desperate mother a romantic?  Did she hope for a better life for her baby daughter in Mrs Cosserat's posh house in Southernhay?  There would be not much chance of anything like that, I imagine, once the Corporation of the Poor was involved.

So much of this story remains untold.  One can only hope for happy endings!

Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 24th April 1823.

WHISTLING THE 'MASHER', EXETER, 1884

The Exeter Flying Post of 26th March 1884 reported how a young lad's complaint caused the Rector of St Olave's church, the Rev.John Ingle, to be summoned before the Exeter Police Court to answer a charge of assault.  It was affirmed in court that two boys, William Denham and Fred Harper,:both telegraph messengers with the Exeter Post-office, ....:

"...were walking up Fore-street on Wednesday afternoon.  Denham was whistling the familiar air of the 'masher' and on arriving outside St. Olaves Church they met the Rev. John Ingle.  The defendant then went near to the complainant, and said 'I don't pay you boys for whistling in the streets.' and he thereupon, as complainant stated 'fetched' him a blow in the mouth.  His fist was half closed,  The blow caused his mouth to bleed,  Complainant exclaimed 'That is the second time you have hit me today, and I shall report it this time.'   The complainant [in fact, the defendant!] rejoined, (wringing his fist) . 'If you don't go along I will give you another in the 'chops''   The boys then went on, followed by the rev. gentleman, and at the corner of Mary Arches-street the latter demanded Denham's number.  Denham subsequently complained to a constable that he had been assaulted, and he also went to the Station-house, where he saw Inspector Wotton.  His face was bleeding a little at the time."  

To their credit the police and subsequently, reluctantly, the Court , accepted young William Denham's claim that he had been assaulted by the Rector of St. Olave's and the Reverend.John Ingle was fined 5s and the expenses.  The magistrates made it clear that they were unhappy that the case had been brought forward.  The fine was nominal but the principle that grown men, even reverend ones, ought not to assault boys when they whistle in the streets had been established at the Exeter Police-court..

I wonder how it goes, that familiar air of  the 'masher'.   Does anybody know?

The chops = chaps, and, according to my Lloyds Encyclopaedic Dictionary, 1895,  means, curiously enough, the jaw.       

A SUMPTUOUS SUPPER, EXETER, 1826.

 "The Devon Glee Club gave a superb entertainment to the Ladies on Wednesday night, at the Subscription Rooms.  About three hundred of the rank and fashion of the county and city sat down to a most sumptuous supper,  in the arrangement of which the utmost taste and elegance were displayed. champaigne and costly 'vins de tout espece et de la premiere qualite,' were in great abundance and highly approved.  

"After supper 'Non nobis Domine' was sung and a series of the best old and modern glees, madrigals, and catches were introduced, in excellent style, by the members of the Glee Club.

"E. Divett, Esq. presided; and did the honours of his situation in a spirited and appropriate manner, introducing between the Glees a variety of loyal, national and complimentary toasts, which were followed by musical cheers.  J. Wentworth  Buller, Esq. was Vice-President.

"It was nearly two o'clock when the company separated, so highly delighted were they with their liberal and elegant entertainment, - It was certainly one of the most tasteful and handsome suppers ever served in Exeter,"  

No!, -  'to the Ladies' does not imply that this was a whopping-great, Georgian hen-party.

'Wasn't it Non nobis Domine'  that Kenneth Branagh was singing after he won the Battle of Agincourt?  Not the same tune though!

I admire the swank with which The Post casually offers to its readers a few words of French, (even if the printers can't hack the accents!). It wants its readers to leap like porpoises.   Today's papers seem to be digging down ever deeper in their search for the lowest common denominator.

Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 2nd February, 1826.

A TOAD TO THE BOSOM, EXETER, 1838.

In January 1838, Thomas Way was summoned to the Exeter Guildhall by Caroline McDermott who lived in Exe Lane :

"for having wantonly entered her room, and producing a toad, placed it, or attempted to place it on her bosom, which produced such a degree of terror on her mind that she was seized with fits, and for several days was under the care of a medical gentleman.

"The Magistrates condemned the defendant for his cruel act, but willing to afford him an opportunity to compromise, permitted the case to stand over, suggesting the payment on his part of £3, in order to cover the surgeon's bill, &c., allowing also a trifle out of it to complainant for loss of time;  the defendant having failed to do this the Mayor sentenced him to a fine of £5, or to be commited for two months to the House of Correction - when, unprepared with the cash he was taken into custody."

I would guess most women these days would be unfazed by a toad to the bosom and would either make a pet of it or cook it for supper but it would seem that Caroline McDermott and the Mayor of Exeter took Thomas Way's cruel act very seriously.   Perhaps the old superstition that toads are the familiars of witches was still lurking in the minds of mayors and maidens.

I suspect institutionalised sexism here.  Had it been a male bosom...! 

The House of Correction was no less a prison than the prison.  Two months in jail for messing with a toad seems a bit stiff. 

Source:  The Western Times, 3rd Febuary 1838.

FOG IN EXETER, 1891.

There was an admirable journalist who signed himself TOUCHSTONE who filled the back page of The Exeter Flying Post with 'Local Gossip'.  On 5th December 1891 he reported a great fog:

"People a good deal older than I am have assured me that they never saw in Exeter a more impenetrable fog than that which settled over the city - especially in the less elevated parts - on Sunday last.  It was absolutely impossible to see more than two feet ahead and many persons were literally lost.

A friend of mine told me he heard - he couldn't see - two young women discussing as to where they were, and eventually one of them declined to move a step further than where she was standing in the middle of the road until the mist lifted.   The fog came up the valley of the Exe in great banks, whose limits could be easily distinguished.  It filled the places of worship till the congregation on one side could scarcely see those on the other side, and being generally inhaled, the result was that 'coughing drowned the parson's saw' to an unusual extent..

I remember feeling my way through such dense, coal-dust-laden, poisonous fogs from the nineteen-forties, when I was a boy in Liverpool. We always found them exciting.  People do not fear them these days and many perhaps can hardly imagine them.  There's progress for you!  Such fogs, however, were a direct product of the Industrial Revolution.  There perhaps, was regression!  

'Touchstone' was no fool when it came to the plays of the Bard. I am always pleased when Victorians et.al. quote (in this case, misquote) from Shakespeare.  It is a kind of bonding exercise which still works across the centuries,  The coded message is: ''Let us rejoice in the genius of our National Poet!'

Nota Bene:  This impenetrable fog, it would seem, didn't stop the good people of Exeter filling the churches .    

A MAGNIFICENT SPECTACLE, EXETER, 1866.

 On Saturday 13th November 1866, a wild November night,  there was a  fire in Exeter which consumed the business premises of Messrs Moass, builders in Combe-street..  Shops, stores, stables and two cottages were compltely destroyed.  It was the fiercest fire Exeter had seen for many years and the citizens turned out to see the blaze..

"The gleam was seen in the country for miles around and from the hills towards Ide the spectacle was magnificent, only too terrible to enjoy.  Of course thousands of people turned into the street, notwithstanding the rain, the confusion, and the wild drift of sparks, carried by a strong wind over that side of the city.

"Down James-street rushed the arrivals, encountering and interrupting the poor souls who were flying from their houses, carrying with them such of their furniture, clothes , or valuables as they could lay their hands on - the women and children uttering distressful cries.

"It was said there were thieves base enough to steal even from people in such an extemity as this - that from one house the chair on which the careful wife had placed the childen's linen for airing, was walked off by some double-dyed villain who richly deserved a roasting himself.  

"No life was lost, the horses as well as the human beings all happily escaping."

The story was told how two of Moass's workmen were still in the workshops working late, making a coffin for the relative of one of their mates.  

"It was just as their mournful job was finished that the workshops took fire.- how has not been explained.  The men were unable to save even the coffin they had been working on." 

If we had a conflagration in Exeter these days, as indeed we did in 2016, the spectacle would not be so 'magnificent'.   Blatant light pollution ensures that we no longer fully appreciate the comet, the stars, the moon - or even a good blaze.

Source: The Western Times,  16th November 1866.

THE RIGHT END OF ENGLAND, EXETER, 1879.

In October 1879,  the City of Exeter laid on a grand banquet in the Victoria Hall to congratulate Colonel Redvers Buller, the gallant commander of the South African Light Horse, on the occasion of his safe return from the Zulu War.  Some four or five hundred ladies and gentlemen gathered to listen to the many toasts.   Colonel Buller, when he replied, said, among much else:

"I was passing through Maritzburg in August last year. The regiment I was commanding wanted a few recruits, and so many offered themselves that I had a good deal of difficulty in selecting them.  I asked some ten or a dozen their names.  The second man told me his name was Vinnicombe.  I said, 'That's good enough for me - (a laugh ) - you come from the right end of England at any rate.' 'Well," he replied, I come from Devonshire.'

" 'And he was good enough for me.  He stayed with me throughout the war, he was one of the very best men I had, and I had the greatest pleasure last week in witing to his mother to tell her that the Queen had been pleased to give him one of the most valuable decorations a soldier can receive - the medal for distinguished service and gallant conduct in the field' - (Loud applause\.)"

"Buller by name, buller by nature!" you might think, but is this not the trick of all great commanders, carefully  to remember and honour the men who serve them?   The conclusion of  Colonel Buller's speech went like this:

"I ask you now, therefore, to let me feel that the praises, the kind words , and the honours you have bestowed on me today are offered equally, and belong equally, to those men who gained for me the renown I now enjoy."  

Source, The Exeter Flying Post, 8th October 1879. 

"THE TRUNK OF THE ELEPHANT", EXETER, 1881.

On a Wednesday in August, 1881, the procession of Sanger's circus was passing along Exeter's High Street when  William Payne's cab drove out from Broadgate between the camels and the elephant.  The cab-horse reared high on his hind-legs and swung himself round on the pavement among the people, dragging the cab with him.  Three ladies were knocked down and one of them, Miss Mary Hill, aged 67, a schoolmistress, was rolled along the footpath for ten or twelve feet and the wheels of the fly passed over her chest. She was carried on a stretcher to the Turk's Head Inn where she died.  The police were of the opinion that no blame could be levelled at the driver and his horse.   

At the inquiry at The Papermakers' Arms, Exe-street:

"The Rev J.C. Rowlatt said that he and his family were in Payne's cab at the time of the accident, and, of course, he saw the whole of it.  He could substantiate the whole of what the policeman had stated, and he, too, maintained that it was a perfect accident.  The horse was not frightened at the camels but at the elephant; he passed the former without notice, but the trunk of the elephant alarmed him.

The jury unanimously returned a verdict of ' Accidental death,' and entirely acquitted the cabman of all blame." 

These days the heroes of Health and Safety might have saved the life of this unfortunate maiden lady but dampened, you can be sure, the joy of thousands. O the glory of the camels and the elephant waltzing up the High Street!  There is joy and bustle on the pavement.  No doubt there are musicians and flags processing..  The children are excited and perhaps even 67 year old Mary Hill is, for just a moment, a wondering child again   But death's chariot approaches from Broadgate at walking pace in the shape of William Payne's cabhorse with a cabful of Anglican passengers:  the family of the Reverend J.C. Rowlett.  The elephant is waving his trunk,  Truly, in the midst of life we are in death! 

We today might incorrectly say 'frightened by'. The Reverend Rowlett's 'frightened at' has elegance and logic to recommend it. 

Source: The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 5th August, 1881.

  

PLAUDITS OF DELIGHT, EXETER, 1823.

" Our Theatre closed on Monday Evening with the benefit of Mr. BRUNTON, under the worthy patronage of our worthy Chief Magistrate, JOHN HARRIS, Esq.; and the house as we anticipated was fully and fashionably attended on the occasion, - The feelings of the manager must have been highly gratified with the loud and repeated peals of applause with which he and his daughter were greeted on their entrance; indeed many minutes elapsed ere their enthusiastic admirers ceased their loud plaudits of delight and approbation.

".... -Between the Play and Interlude, Mr. BRUNTON came forward, and, in a neat and very appropriate speech, thanked his Friends and the Public, for the liberal patronage, kindness and support received by him, since he had had the pleasure of conducting the management of the Theatre, and at the same time, announced that he had made such arrangements with Mr. BENETT, the Proprietor , that he should have the honor of appearing before them next season, - which information was hailed by the whole house with loud and reiterated cheers.

"The delighted audience, after giving three cheers to the Mayor, unanimously called, a second time , for 'God save the King,'  which was sung by the corps dramatique, and, in the chorus of our national air every one in the house appeared to join hand and voice." 

Our theatre, our worthy Chief Magistrate, our national air!  The Flying Post's  and the theatre audience's commitment to civic and national harmony and unity is palpable.  Was it justified?  No, of course not,  George IV was hardly a popular figure, but Yes, in the sense that what people tell themselves is real, has real consequences.  There might be no harm in again our singing 'God save the Queen' at least once at the end of a visit to our theatre.  Twice might be too much! 

"THE HONOR OF THIS COUNTY," EXETER, 1807.

 The 26th August had been appointed to be observed as the anniversary of the Devon and Exeter Hospital and "the governors of that noble institution assembled in the board-room, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon ....to consider of the propriety of  'authorising the medical gentlemen of this institution to 'vaccinate any poor person, gratis, at this hospital.'

Mr. S.F Milford, the vice-president,  a worthy citizen whose speeches were even more ornate and pompous than the usual, proposed the motion in style,  after which the Rev. Jonas Dennis seconded:

"he stated, to the honor of this county, that the first discovery of vaccination, was made about 40 years ago, by a Mr. Bragge of Axminster, who ascertained that the cow pox was not only a preventative of the finall pox, but also that it might be communicated by means of innoculation.  He did not mean by this to detract from the merit of Dr.Jenner, since he had been the happy instrument of extending its practice, but it proved that vaccination was not so novel as some had imagined, yet as nothing was more difficult to remove than the prejudices of the lower order of society, when they found that this practice had been sanctioned by so large a number of governors as were now present, highly respected both as men of understanding and of independence, he doubted not but they would most willingly acquiesce in the measure proposed."

Bring back 'forenoon'!   It is so much more elegant than 'morning'.  And 'consider of'' has its charm.

I was jabbed gratis only a couple of forenoons ago - flu jab in one arm; covid booster in the other - and now both arms ache and I sleep on my back!   Don't misunderstand!   I am very grateful to the medical gentlemen and particularly, in my case, to the medical ladies at the Saint Leonard's vaccination centre.

Jabs world-wide, hey!  And to think it all started with cows in Axminster!

Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 27th August, 1807.

 

 

THE KEEPER OF EXETER CASTLE, 1872.

In July 1872 the business of the County was being examined by a large gathering of Worthies at the commencement of  the Exeter City Quarter Sessions,   Mr Snow, the keeper of Exeter's Castle and its town-crier, had died and a new keeper needed to be appointed.

 "In answer to Mr Coleridge as to the emoluments of the office, Sir J. DUCKWORTH said the fees as crier amounted to something under £37 a year, and the allowances as Castle keeper was £28 8s, besides which the County Court paid him £12 a year for cleaning the court for County Court purposes; besides that he had a house, candles, fire and garden."

It was a dream of a job! Three names were put forward including that of William Peter, "a policeman who had been in the force 14 years" and whose conduct had been exemplary.   His proposers argued that it would be a good precedent to establish, and one that would do good to the police force- to know that when there were such vacancies, claims of long and good servitude on their part should be fully considered and recognised."   William Peters was elected keeper of the Castle by a healthy majority and then was unanimously elected crier also.  The Castle of Exeter had a new keeper.  I hope he was happy living in his castle and dining by fire and candlelight at the City's expense.

Servitude is an odd word to have used here.  My 1895 dictionary gives: servitude:  the quality or condition of a slave; slavery, bondage.  Well,  I dare say police-service must feel like that sometimes.

What fun if the city of Exeter still had a Castle Keeper!

What fun if the city of Exeter still had a Castle!

Alas, we have sold our birthright for a mess of pottage!

Source: The Western Times, 5th July 1872.

  

THE BLESSED RESTORATION, EXETER, 1857.

On Oak Apple Day, 29th May, in 1857, the city remembered the  Restoration of the Monarchy but an Exeter custom that had lasted almost two hundred years was discontinued:  

"the bells of the cathedral and those of several of the parish churches in the city, according to the annual custom, rang merry peals in commemoration of the Restoration.  The ringing of the bell at the St. Katherine's Almhouse, Catherine-street, as was the practice on such occasion, and which was a source of annoyance to the residents in the neighbourhood, was discontinued.  The bell had been rung by one of the junior choristers of the cathedral, and a sum of money - half of which went to the occupiers of the almshouse, and the other half to the ten junior choristers - was received from funds left for that purpose by the will (proved 1663) of Edward Young, D.D., Dean of Exeter.  It was believed that the money was given only on the condition that the bell of the almshouse was rung, but this proved to be incorrect and the practice of ringing it has been discontinued.  The will in question provides that 40s. a year be given to the almshouses and 40s a year to the choristers, on the day of the blessed restoration of his sacred Majesty."

I would bet it was some big-wig residents in the Cathedral Close who complained about the noise and thus spoiled the fun of one of the junior choristers  for ever after. What's more I suspect some legal chicanery here.  I would recommend that someone re-examine the good Dean Young's will but it is hardly worth the effort seeing that, in Catherine Street, there is no longer an almshouse bell worth ringing, 

Source, The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 6th June 1857

TALE OF A HAT, EXETER, 1859.

This is a second story of this kind but I publish it because I think it re-inforces the essential daftness of some Victorian parsons.  To me, these silly tales of hats &c. echo faintly the sea of faith's melancholy, long, withdrawing roar.  (- Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach was being composed just about this time.) : 

"At the Mary Steps Easter meeting, when the business was concluded, Mr Upright put on his hat, The Rector (Rev. R Shutte) exclaimed 'Take off your hat, my good fellow!'  

Mr.U.- Never mind my hat. 

The Rector - Do take it off. 

Mr. U - Will you hold it then?  

The Rector - Yes, with pleasure.

Mr Upright took off his hat and handed it to the Rector, who dropped it on the floor at the foot of the font.

The incident caused a good laugh in the church.  Very shortly after, another amiable parishioner clapped his tile on and grinned, in expectation that the Rector would remove it, but his reverence took no notice of the offender."

One has to feel sorry for the grinning parishioner who was deemed unworthy of the rector's notice.

Source The Western Times, 30th April 1859.

HITTING A PROSTITUTE, EXETER, 1853.

At the Exeter Guildhall in March, 1853:

 "JANE WILLIAMS, a prostitute. was charged with using indecent language in the public streets.  P.C. Moore heard the cry of 'Stop Thief," whilst on duty in High-street; and presently he saw the defendant turn the corner of Paris-street, in full speed after a gentleman, who took refuge in the Bude Haven Hotel.  The door was shut, and defendant evinced great violence in attempting to push it open.  Mr. Southcott, landlord of the Bude Haven, stated that the defendant's conduct was very violent, and that it had caused much annoyance to his lodgers.

"In her defence, Williams said that she had accosted the gentleman in the street, who instead of replying to her kind enquiries after his health, had struck her twice across the head with his stick.  Being enraged at this assault upon her she followed the gentleman, who ran into the Bude Haven; and she now expressed contrition for having evinced such violent behaviour.

"The Bench fined her 5s and the expenses, informing her that if she came there again for a similar offence. she would be imprisoned, without being afforded the opportunity of paying a fine." 

These days we are more considerate of sex-workers.  The policeman, the landlord and the Bench seem to have been oblivious to the fact that an assault was alleged to have taken place.  They did not for a moment consider asking the 'gentleman', who perhaps was an incipient Jack the Ripper who got his kicks by hitting the women-of-the-streets over the head with a stick and then running like smoke to escape their wrath, to account for his extraordinary behaviour.

Source: The Western Times, 5th March 1853.                 

MISCHIEVOUS FOLLY, EXETER, 1811.

On Wednesday , 30th January 1811,  readers of the Exeter Flying Post could read, right at the top of the social column, the following announcement:

"On Monday last was married, at St. Paul's church by the Rev. J. P. Carrington, the Rev. William Warren of Ottery St. Mary, to Miss Hicks, only daughter of Mr. William Hicks, of this city, builder."

A week later they were informed by the Flying Post: 

"The Paragraph inserted in our last paper, announcing the marriage of Miss Hicks of this city, to the Rev, Mr Warren of Ottery, is totally void of foundation.  The editors of both the Exeter papers were imposed upon by the mischievous folly of a young man, of this city, who has since expressed his sorrow for having been guilty of so great an impropriety, and of having been the cause of so much unpleasantness to the parties concerned."

There are mysteries to be winkled out here!

 Of  William Warren I can find no trace.  (I haven't looked very closely)  A  Rev. John Warren was the head master of the King's school in Ottery and his wife was, at least by 1815, a Frances Hicks.  Can this be a coincidence?  

Was perhaps the young man a King's scholar?  He sounds to me like he might have been a younger brother. 

In any case the announcement in the papers must have given rise to much shaking of heads and, I hope, quite a lot of giggling, both at Exeter, especially in  the congregation of St. Paul, and at Ottery St. Mary.

Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 31st January/6th February, 1811. 

SPLASHING JOCKIES, EXETER, 1806.

 "Our lammas fair commenced yesterday,  there was a large shew of cattle, but the expectations of peace rendered the sale heavy at reduced prices.  The price of leather also experienced a considerable fall.  Good horses were scarce, those of the middling and inferior order abounded, and were cutting capers in all directions, to catch the eye of the inexperienced purchasers, but in general, the whip, the spur and the ginger were equally unavailing, as, tho' the spectators were many, the buyers were few.

"Two of  these splashing jockies, galloping to catch the eye of a customer, rode against each other. and were thrown; one of them had his thigh broken, the other was severely wounded on the head, and was otherwise much bruised.  - They were both taken to the Devon and Exeter hospital, where the formerr lies, in a fair way of recovery; the latter was soon enabled to be moved under the care of his own friends, his wounds being not dangerous.  We could wish this accident might operate as a caution, to deter others from such improper conduct in future." 

The tanning industry and the sale of hides were among the city's major sources of income.  A fall in the price of leather was therefore significant,   The Lammas Fair was the high spot of the year and people came in their thousands to Exeter.  What with horses cutting capers and splashing jockeys and ginger, in the sense of high spirits, the fair must have been an animated occasion even when sales were depressed.

I wonder if Lammas (traditionally 1st August) was, from the first, a particular holiday in Exeter because it coincides with the festival of Saint Peter in Chains.  Saint Peter being the patron of our city.

Source: The Exeter Flying Post. 31st July 1806.

A PLAIN CLOTHES POLICEMAN, EXETER, 1848.

 In February 1848 at the Exeter Guildhall before the Mayor and a full Bench of magistrates:

"several Irish and other vagrants, men, women and chldren, were brought up by Fulford, who had been sent out in civilian clothes to catch them, for begging in the streets.  The city is over-run with vagrants and charitable people act injudiciously in giving to persons whom they do not know.

"One or two persons were summoned for using obscene language in the public streets;  and the magistrates, having expressed their determination to put a stop to this disgusting practice, imposed heavy fines.

For example, the cases of Tom and Jerry.  First,  the case of Tom Hamlin and family:

"THOS. HAMLIN, MARY HAMLIN, and MARGARET HAMLIN, were charged with offering needles and laces for sale in Magdalen-road, on Saturday last.  The case was proved by Policeman Fulford, who had been perambulating the streets in private clothes for the last two or thee days for the purpose of detecting vagrants.  The Defendant complained that Fulford had not taken other beggars into custody, but had pounced on him and his family because they were Irish.  Fulford said he could not catch them, or he should have teken them into custody.   Sent to prison for a week, hard labour."

The case of Jeremiah Macarthy:

"A very old offender, who, Mr Justice Kingdon said had been before them 100 times, was brought up on this 101st time for vagrancy.  He had been convicted of using abusive language on the 7th and fined 5s. or a week's imprisonment, with a hint to make himself scarce.  He had not done so but had been found begging on Sunday.  He was sent to prson for a week, on the previous conviction at the expiratin of which he is to be brought up again."

And so on ad infinitum.  The truth would seem to be that there is no easy answer to clearing the streets of vagrants.  

Vagrant and beggar have both become boo-words these days but the 'homeless' are still with us.  Let's face it, they are still begging and still vagranting but at least nowadays they don't bring their little ones with them..  The injudicious giving by citizens to persons whom they do not know seems also to be a constant. .   How some other countries manage to keep their city streets clear of the homeless I do not know but I suspect their methods must be un-English.  Mind you, sending that Policeman Fulford out in civilian clothes to round them up also seems pretty un-English.

Source: The Western Times, 19th February 1848. 

 

DEALING WITH THE PAUPERS, EXETER, 1863.

 At a weekly meeting of the board of the Exeter Corporation of the Poor in Januay 1863 certain circumstances connected with the discipline of the workhouse were being considered:

"The master of the workhouse had reported that Caroline Gauntley had thrown a bucket of hot water over him. and used very offensive language towards him.  The woman accused the master of having had ciminal intercourse with her.  The committee had examined into the matter but thought the bulk of the evidence unfit for publication,  It appeared, however, that the alleged misconduct on the part of the master had taken place two years since, and taking into consideration the character of the witness in connnection with other circumstances, they did not think the charge against him had been proved.

"They, however, thought that the master had not used due forethought in dealing with the paupers.  The management of the female ward was the exclusive duty of the matron, and the master should only go there when urgent duty required his attendance.  The committee trusted that in future the master would give his orders with firmness, yet in such a manner as not to irritate those who were under him.

"The committee had unanimously come to the conclusion that the evidence should be laid before the general body of guardians"

The women in the workhouse were separated from the men but the master had access to the 'female ward.'   No good could come of that!  Life at 'the Union' was very dark and dreary.  How delighted the other workhouse 'females' must have been when Caroline Gauntley emptied her bucket over the master! 

It would seem that in 1863 some thought that crimes committed two years since didn't count for much and the thing to do with 'evidence unfit for publication' was to suppress it. 

Source, The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 23rd January 1863.

DESTITUTION, EXETER, 1856.

 Thomas Huxtable ,'a miserable, dirty-looking man', was a tin-plate worker who lived, 'immediately over the mill-leat' in Ewings' Lane.  In December, 1856, he appeared before the magistrates at the Guildhall in Exeter charged with neglecting his children.  His eldest child, his thirteen year old daughter, Jessy, had  gone to the Office of the Corporation because their father had neither provided sufficient food for her, nor for her three little brothers, for a week.  

Jessy Huxtable gave evidence that she had received from her father since Monday for herself and her brothers 'a half-quartern loaf, (a quartern loaf weighed four pounds) a conger, three cods' heads, a pennyworth of fat, and threepence in money.'

Mr Shutte, rector of Saint Mary Steps, said he knew the Huxtable's home.  "The winter before last there was a hole through the room which led to the mill-leat, and a great number of rats used to come up from the stream and carry off what food there was in the house."

Daniel Fildew, beadle to the Corporation, gave evidence that he had visited the Huxtables and "he found  nothing in the house for the children to make use of.  There was no bed for the children to sleep in, and no fire  (this was in December) - in fact there was no furniture in the house.....There were rags in the house in a very filthy state, for the children to lie on"  Huxtable had said to Daniel Fildew: ; I cannot help it - I have unfortunately broke out the whole of the week.'  ('breaking out' meant giving in to the demon drink.)

Thomas Huxtable said to the Bench: 'I cannot keep the children as clean as a woman;  but they are never without  bread and meat from Monday morning to Saturday night.'

"The MAYOR said the bench considered it a most shocking case. He thought the defendant should be ashamed of himself for squandering almost all his earnings in drink, he having four children dependent on him for maintenance.  The bench had come to the determination to commit him to prison for two months, and he hoped when he came out he would have some knowledge of what is due from a parent towards his children."

Source: The Western Times, 6th December 1856.

"THE SPEED OF TERROR", EXETER, 1847.

The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette of 27th November 1847 published this little cautionary tale:

"CAUTION. - A few days since, the servant of a respectable family in this city, being in North-street with her master's children, went into a shop to make a trifling purchase, which did not detain her many seconds.  A little one, four years of age, was left at the door, when, it appears, a woman enticed her away with an apple, enveloping her in her cloak, at the same time promising to take her to her papa's house, which the frightened girl implored her to do.

On coming out of the shop, the eldest girl missing her sister, in indescribable distress, not knowing in what quarter to direct her search, ran up the street, crossed the Fore-street, and with the speed of terror soon reached Combe-street, where she detected, from beneath a woman's cloak the dress of her little sister.  She immediately insisted on the child being given up; but too much occupied with the joy of the recovery, no attention was paid to the woman, who, it is supposed, fearful of detection, ran off towards the low haunts of Westgate."

This tale reads to me like it comes from Charles Dickens' notebooks (he was writing Dombey and Son at the time}:  the mysterious woman from the low haunts ominously cloaked who has brought a ,rosy surely, apple into the city and found the child 'of a respectable family' and whisked her away, the feisty elder sister running blind across the busy Fore-street and then, in distant Combe-street, miraculously recognising the hem of her sister's dress and rescuing the 'little one', the boundless 'joy of the recovery, why! -, all that's enough drama for a chapter or two. 

I do enjoy stories with  happy endings.  

A HOUSE OF CHARITY AND MERCY, EXETER, 1816.

The Governors of Exeter's, St Thomas's, Lunatic Asylum met on the first day of October 1816 to elect a new Resident Apothecary.  Mr. S. F. Milford addressed the meeting and referred to how in the course of the "investigations which had lately been set on foot by Committees of the House of Commons, relative to Institutions of a similar nature to this, many deeds of darkness had been brought to light, and scenes of the grossest abuse and most cruel inhumanity had been publicly revealed."

Mr. Milford, however, went on to say that he was persuaded:  

"there did not anywhere exist an Institution in which decorum, humanity and successful skill were more conspicuous than in this Asylum.  If anyone doubted the accuracy of this representation, he could only wish him to visit, as he had done this morning, every bed-chamber, every sitting-room, and every patient in the house, and, Mr. Milford said, he was sure that person would return convinced that the statement he had made was founded in sincerity and fact, and that it rather fell short of the truth.

"He did not say this to compliment any man, or set of men, but merely to do justice to ascertained merit; and to advance , as far as any feeble efforts of his could do so, the reputation of an Institution so honourable to this county; and so powerfully calculated to relieve human misery, and promote the public welfare."

"During the comparatively short period that this establishment had existed, he was happy to state, that in considerably more than three hundred instances where the lamp of reason had been extinguished in the human mind, it had been re-kindled within these walls.  In addition to this, it was a most gratifying circumstance to reflect on its being by no means an unusual thing for the patients, after they had returned home in the perfect enjoyment of their intellect, to re-visit this house of charity and mercy for the sole purpose of extending their gratitude for the humanity and kindness they had experienced under its roof."

Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 3rd October 1816.

A SUICIDE NOTE, EXETER, 1834.

 Mary Anne Tilour was a young woman, a servant, who 'made a hole in the water' in June 1834.  Hers was one of many such suicides.  She was found floating in the Exe near the Head weir.  An inquest was held at the Barnstaple Inn in North Street, Exeter.

Mary Anne could not write.  She had gone to the trouble of visiting an old shoemaker of her acquaintance, Charles Baker. in Brookgreen, St. Sidwell's, to ask him to write a note for her.  He was not too great a writer either.   The newspaper report claimed  'he  appeared to be one of the stupidest of men.'  No doubt he was offended.  He gave evidence at the inquest:

"She was a friendless girl, but had two uncles living at Heavitree.  I was writing when she came in; she asked me to write a note for her.  It did not excite my suspicion, she said she was going to send it seven miles away,  There had been stories that she was in the family way, and I thought this was to contradict it."

This was the bizarre note that was unpinned from Mary Anne's stays when she was taken from the river.:

"Mary an Tillor - this is Don be cose I  stated she is not in the famley waie when this you see you will now [know] what is bee come of me.   I have nothing Extr.y for the Present so this is the last fare well to you Aall."

An examination of Mary Anne's body confirmed she had not been pregnant.   The reasons for her suicide were largely unexplained  but  the jury needed no explanation.   Who cared?  They returned a verdict of found drowned. 

Whenever I read these pathetic stories of drowned women, and there are many of them, I find myself asking myself the question, warped no doubt: was this tragic young woman  pretty and charming?  Did she float on the waters like Ophelia in the Millais painting?

OK, Probably not!" 

Source: The Western Times, 7th June 1834.

WHAT IS DUE TO ORDER, EXETER, 1844

On 20th April 1844 there was a by-election in Exeter occasioned by the appointment of William Webb Follett  to the post of Attorney General of England and Wales.   The High Sheriff, when he addressed the electors and returned Follett to Parliament made a pretty little speech:

"Gentlemen, before I proceed in the discharge of my duty,  I cannot but make a single remark and that is that I do most cordially and sincerely congratulate you and the citizens of Exeter on the good temper and forbearance which has been displayed by all parties during this contest,  It reflects the highest credit on you, and shows to the country at large and to the world that however the citizens of Exeter may differ on political subjects they know what is due to each other as men - they know what is due to order, - and having manfully fought their political battle, heartily desire again to emerge in the character of neighbours and friends,  (Enthusiastic and general cheering.)

"Gentlemen:  Having said this much,  I will not detain you longer, but proceed at once to state, that the poll books having been made up and examined,  I find the numbers are -

"For Sir William Follett...........1,203

"For Major-General John Briggs...........529

"Being a majority in favour of Sir Wm Follett of 764

"It therefore becomes my duty, and I do hereby declare Sir William Webb Follett to be duly elected to serve as a citizen in the present Parliament for the City and Borough of Exeter."

It was a glorious victory for the Tories and a dignified occasion (When and why did we start having Loonies in tomato-coloured onesies as parliamentary candidates?) but Sir William was a sick man.  He died the next year and the citizens of Exeter soon had another opportunity to demonstrate their good temper and forbearance.

And, nota bene, Sir William went back to Parliament "to serve as a citizen" of Exeter.

Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 18th April 1844