Some Oddments.

 An old bottle.

Thanks to Tony Pygott who informed me that William Towell was landlord at the Lord Nelson in 1841, the pub having previously been in the hands on Ann Towell in the 1820's and 30's. The pub brewed its own beer and was still brewing 30 years later. This dates the bottle to the middle of the 1800's. 

 A Steam train at the station.

 A jug with the Stump printed on it.

 A model of a Boston Deep Sea Fishing and Ice Co. goods wagon, the type that would have been used in Boston.

 A mug with the Boston Coat of Arms.

 Boston station, looking toward West Street crossing, c. 1965.

 Above and below: Boston Barracudas speedway badges.

 Below: The Boston Bowling Club badge.

Below: A postcard c. 1917.

Below: A platform ticket for Boston Station.

Around Boston. Matthew Flinders.

Matthew Flinders (March 16, 1774 - July 19, 1814) was born in Donington, a village about 10 miles from Boston, he was an explorer, naval officer and navigator and he circumnavigated Australia and mapped much of its coastline.
Flinders first sailed to Australia in 1795 for the British Navy aboard a ship called the "Reliance." He and his friend George Bass (the ship's surgeon who had lived in Boston) bought an 8-foot-long boat called the "Tom Thumb" in order to explore the treacherous coastline of southern Australia. They first sailed south of Sydney (to Botany Bay) and rowed up the Georges River. During the years 1795 to 1798, they mapped much of the southeast coast of Australia and sailed completely around the island of Tasmania. Flinders returned to England on the "Reliance" in 1800.

Matthew Flinders.

In 1801, Flinders returned to Australia as captain of the 334-ton ship called the "Investigator." He first sighted land at Cape Leeuwin (the southwest tip of Australia). On this second trip, he mapped Australia's entire southern coast, from Cape Leeuwin to the Spencer Gulf (which he sailed up) to the Bass Strait (named for his friend George Bass, it separates mainland Australia from the southern island of Tasmania). On July 22, 1802, he sailed to the east coast of Australia, mapping the coastline from Port Jackson (where Sydney is located) up to the Gulf of Carpentaria. He continued west and then south, sailing completely around Australia; he returned to Port Jackson on June 9, 1803, even though his boat was leaking badly. This was the first time anyone had sailed around Australia.

On his way back to England in the autumn of 1803 (on a different ship, the "Cumberland"), Flinders had to make a stop for ship repairs at Île de France (now called Mauritius) in the western Indian Ocean. Thinking he was a spy, the French kept him prisoner for six and a half years and stole his charts and papers (he was released when the British took over the island). He didn't arrive home until 1810, and reached home sick and a forgotten man. He wrote an account of his travels, called "Voyage to Terra Australis Undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the Discovery of that Vast Country," and died the day after it was published.

The bronze statue below, erected in Donington Market Place in March 2006, also features Trim, his cat, which travelled on voyages to Australia with him but disappeared on Mauritius.

Boston man in U.S. Civil war

On Sunday October 25^th 1925, precisely as the clock was striking midnight, Mr. William Edward Newton, eighty years of age, of 7, Colley Street Boston, passed away. For a number of years he had suffered from gout and in his later years from total blindness but when he died he left a remarkable story.
He was born in Boston in 1845 and, after bearing what he considered the drudgery of school life until he had reached the age of 13, he decided to run away. He loved the sea, and at once decided to head for Liverpool, where he was successful in gaining a position with a Mr. Moss, a merchantman. Mr Newton was apprenticed to this merchantman, and he visited many parts of the world in his ships.
The spirit of adventure in this Bostonian could not be quenched, and on one visit to San Francisco he was enamoured with the sights of the town and decided to “give his ship a miss” and earn a living in America. He secured a position in some big lumber mills at Seattle, and he was employed there when the American Civil War broke out in 1861. The nationality of a man did not exempt him from fighting and it was not long before Mr. Newton was in the ranks of the American Navy.

Above : The "North Carolina", one of the ships that Mr. Newton served on.

His knowledge of the sea stood him in good stead, and he very quickly worked his way up to the position of quartermaster. The ships he served on were the “North Carolina”, the “Vermont” and the “Corwin”, and whilst serving on one of these vessels he met another Bostonian a Mr. Hodgson.
Both returned to England and their native town, Boston, and both were somewhat surprised in 1910 to receive a notification from the U.S. President that they would receive a pension. Mr. Newton’s amounted to 12 dollars a month and Mr. Hodgson, as he had received a wound to his foot, got a larger amount. However when President Wilson was in control in 1915 this pension was, for some unknown reason stopped.
When Mr. Newton returned to Boston he continued his life as a sea-faring man, and for many years he was employed as a wire splicer with the Boston Deep Sea Fishing Company.
He had many friends in Boston and earned the nickname of “Cody” because he could relate all his American stories.