Boston Society Magazine

The "Boston Society" magazine ran from September 1899 to August 1902, here is a glimpse of the things it told us.

In the fashion column women were told not to wear bathing costumes that show too much skin and were advised that a black bodice and knickerbockers, worn beneath a short skirt that reached to the knee was neat and fashionable.

In the sports column Boston Cricket Club batsman W. Kitwoods total for the season was 218, and the best of the bowlers were Chambers, MacIntyre and Langley.

There appears, too, the interesting life story of Captain Rehoboth Robinson (not a Bostonian, but born in Lincolnshire) who at the time lived at No.1, Intrepid Cottages, Skirbeck, who was one of those who went in search of Sir John Franklin. He had been nine times wrecked, his wife was drowned at sea, he served in the Russian war and had two winters in the Arctic. He sailed in 100 ships, rising from cabin boy to master-mariner and ship owner and saved as many as 40 people from drowning.

Regarding the arrival of the telephone in Boston we read "The telephone has not been embraced as it ought to have been for at present only 17 machines are used in the town".

A scheme, which never came to be, is referred to in one issue - the proposal to introduce electric tram cars into the town. It was proposed by "The British Electric Traction Company Ltd.". The idea was to run trams from the junction of Brothertoft Road and Sleaford Road to the end of Spilsby Road and from the Dock to the Railway Station. Objections were raised by the Corporation and after a period of negotiation the project fell through.

There is also an article on Hussey Tower (below), which tells us, among other things, that the old ruin is believed to be haunted. The writer also states that in its time it has been used as a mill, a brewery stables and a sail making factory and at one time it was contemplated turning it into a gaol.

THREE FORGOTTEN NAMES

HALF CROWN HILL.

The Ostrich and Gaol, demolished to enlarge the churchyard.

In 1774, Mr. John Parish gave the Ostrich public house and several buildings and shops adjoining for the purpose of enlarging the churchyard upon the condition that the Corporation would give the old Gaol and two shops for the same use. Behind these houses there was part of the churchyard called Half Crown Hill which had long been used as the burial ground of the lower classes and where, in consequence, the ground had been raised, until it was level with the windows of the Ostrich looking into the churchyard. The hill was levelled, the houses taken down, and iron gates and palisades next to the Market Place were erected.

BETTY BARBER'S LANE.

Stells Lane.

Betty Barber's Lane was the old name for Stells Lane in London Road. The lane appears to have been an old footpath that ran along the boundary line of the town, dividing Boston from Skirbeck and years ago a young girl named Betty Barber was killed while crossing the railway by this path, hence the name. After this fatality the Railway Company was put to the great expense of erecting a high wooden bridge that carried the footway over the shunting yard. This was later taken down and a new concrete footbridge (now demolished) was built near the present Black Sluice.

PARADISE ROW.

Church Close (below) was once known as Paradise Row.

The head in the wall

In November 1951 the sudden appearance of a King’s head on the front of the newly constructed frontage of Stanwell’s Garage, near Vauxhall Bridge, in Main Ridge was causing a good deal of speculation.
It was reported at the time that “the head looks new but is of great antiquity and in a marvellous state of preservation and has the peculiarity of having eyes of marble, or some such substance, and strangely enough, the eyes are different in colour”.

Above: The head in 2011.

Below: The old garage in 2011, showing the position of the head.

The builders who placed the head as a front piece to the building said they searched the pages of history books to try to find out who the King was and at last they found a picture of Edward I bearing the same expression, a similar beard and an identical crown.

Mr. G.A. Boyes, who lived near to the new premises said that originally the wide area around the new garage was a nursery carried on by him for 42 years, he also said that over 100 years previous to 1951 the rear of the land was occupied by a Mr. Gurner, who was a dyer. The kings head he said was fixed in the wall of one of the dye houses which were later transformed into greenhouses. Interest centred on the walls around the property too for Mr. Boyes said that they came from the Prison that once stood in the Market Place and it was assumed that the kings head came from the old Gaol as well.
Another story is that the head is from an old fairground ride.

Below: The garage and the row of houses next to it named "Sea on Land Terrace".

George Aspland of Boston had a ride called “Sea-on-Land” which consisted of eight fully rigged boats, which pitched and tossed about as they revolved and reputedly caused the patrons to suffer real sea sickness! From the profits from the Sea on Land he built a row of houses in Main Ridge in Boston (which happen to stand next to the old garage with the head) and what better name for them to be called than 'Sea on Land Terrace', his workshops were behind this row of houses so there could be some truth in this story.

State of Boston Gaol

1808
AN ACCOUNT OF THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT STATE OF THE
SOCIETY FOR THE DISCHARGE AND RELIEF OF PERSONS IMPRISONED FOR SMALL DEBTS THROUGHOUT ENGLAND AND WALES.

The Flesh Market

This was the old Boston Flesh Market, or Butchery, it was drawn by William Brand and dated June 1806.

The Flesh Market was where all meat was bought and sold in those days, before the coming of butcher’s shops. The building was erected in 1707, and taken down in 1790. It stood near the Town Gaol forward of the present churchyard railings as can be seen on the extreme left of the picture below. Over the doorway was a symbolical coat of arms with poleaxes crossed , and a beast and sheep as supporters. Over the South entrance (to the left) was sculptured the Boston Borough Arms with the name Robert Vent, Mayor, 1707. The town stocks can be seen at the corner of the building.

The Gaol sale

The old Gaol is on the right of this drawing.

In September 1898 a set of gibbet irons (below, left) and a headsman's block from Boston Gaol were sold at an auction room in Covent Garden, London. They were bought by a Mr. Williamson, he paid £4. 17s. 6d. for the gibbet and 7s. for the block which was described as " a rotting discoloured stump, gashed and scarred, and altogether unlovely".

This particular set of gibbet irons were erected down Ralphs Lane.
The story of the last man "hanged in chains" in the neighbourhood of Boston is as follows:-

A man named Ralph Smith had, for some reason or other, a grudge against an old man named Sutton, living in a cottage in a field near to Wyberton Church. One day, so the story goes, the old man was going home to his dinner, when, as he opened the door, Smith hit him on the head with an axe, killing the old man on the spot.

Smith was taken to Lincoln, tried, sentenced to death and hanged. The body was then taken to Wyberton to be "hanged in chains" as a warning to others. The news quickly spread that the body was on the gibbet and the place became very lively, especially on Sundays, when it was more like a Fair.
An old resident of Boston named Polly Searby, who died in the 1860s/70s used the bone of the first finger of Smith's right hand as a tobacco stopper!
When the gibbet was removed it was stored in Boston Gaol, and when that building was pulled down, the chains were on view at Mr. Ball's museum at The Whale pub (Main Ridge).