Boston Hoaxed.

In 1921 the following was found in an old cutting book which, sadly, was dateless. The Peacock is mentioned and in the 1880's this hotel was renamed the Peacock and Royal after a son of Queen Victoria stayed there so it was obviously pre this date.

"................a military hoax was perpetrated on the Mayor and town of Boston (Lincolnshire) a good many years ago, and which made the town the laughing stock of the countryside for a good many years. One day a gentleman of smart bearing and military appearence arrived at the police station and asked to see the superintendent of the police. He informed this gentleman that he was Captain X--, and had arrived to prepare quarters for 500 troopers who were on the road, and would arrive in Boston the next day. The superintendent took the Captain to the Mayor, and the latter gentleman hastily summoned some of the Aldermen, and it was decided to give the troopers a public welcome. In the meantime the Captain, escorted by the superintendent, went to the chief hotel, the Peacock, and arranged for the officers quarters there, giving very generous orders right and left, even to the killing of several sucking pigs.

Every hotel and inn of the town was requisitioned, and the butchers were soon busy killing extra beasts and sheep. The Mayor decided that it would be the proper thing to meet the troopers on horseback, and invited those Aldermen and Councillors and prominent townsmen who could ride to do the same. The Mayor, leading the way with a numerous suite, all on horseback, started early, and reached Kirton, the first village south of Boston. There they waited, several hours elapsed, but no troopers ever arrived, and at last it dawned on the whole of the people assembled that they had been hoaxed, and very badly hoaxed too, as the captain had cashed numerous cheques which, like the soldiers, were bogus. Some of the butchers were very badly hit, and meat and provisions were very cheap for several days after."

The Dock site 1882

Mr. Walter Whyers (looking bck in 1935) remembers the beginnings of Boston Dock in 1882.

Mrs. Simonds, wife of the Mayor, cuts the first turf.

" I was present at the ceremony of turning the first sod for the commencement of the building of the dock. I well remember the grand time we had, the public tea to the school-children, the sports and the fireworks, but the most vivid recollection I retain of the building of the docks is taking a walk with three or four other lads to look at the progress that was being made during the excavations. On our way back we walked through the derelict gardens that had been attached to the old windmills. The ground was littered with planks, huge stones and heaps of earth and clay, dumped there by the navvies.

The two windmills that were demolished to make way for the dock.

There were, however, still a number of redcurrant bushes that appeared to have determined to let their last crop of berries be the most plentiful that they had ever borne. Since no one seemed to own them, or take the trouble to gather them, we set to and had the most glorious feed of fully ripened fruit that I ever remember having partaken of. The currant bushes would be situated near the centre of the present dock."

Two forgotten streets

MILL HILL.

Mill Hill was a cluster of buildings situated at the top end of Wide Bargate roughly opposite to the Red Cow pub on what is now a car park. In 1640 it is described as "one piece of waste land in Bargate whereupon was lately one windmill and tenement." In 1680 it is described as having "several tenements upon it."

John Gray sent me this picture that clearly shows the island of buildings known as Mill Hill. Top centre can be seen the Ram pub and top right the Cross Keys pub now re-named the New England Hotel. Mill Hill was demolished in 1959.

Mill Hill during demolition. The curved white building was The North Pole pub.

 Another view of Mill Hill.

CHEYNEY STREET.

Cheyney Street was a street off Botolph Street, it went through Grove Street and then came out at the top of Wide Bargate near to Mill Hill. On the first house on the east side of Cheyney Street the builder put into the brickwork a stone in which the name "Cheyney Street" was deeply cut. He evidently didn't want the name to be changed or forgotten but there was no way he could ever imagine a huge dual carriageway running through the centre of Boston and Cheyney Street being destroyed in its path.
The name Cheyney was a name honoured in the town for generations and frequently occurs in Corporation records. From 1489 when William Cheyney held land belonging to the Corpus Christi Guild to 1798 when Thomas Cheyney died during his year of office as Mayor. In the list of Mayors during the reign of George III the name appears seven times. It would appear that Thomas was the last of the Cheyneys for there's no more mention of the name. The name Cheyney also appears in the list of names of early settlers in Massachusetts.

There was also a "Tom Cheyney" who kept an inn in Boston in the 1890's, either the Carpenters Arms in Witham Street or the Little Peacock Tap in School Street.

Day's Cash Stores

Thank you to Kim Loos, who lives in Minnesota in the U.S., who e-mailed me to say that Day's Cash Stores (which was situated in West Street, and later the site of the Wimpy Bar) was founded by his Great Grandfather Charles W. Day. He says the original building was destroyed in a fire in 1910 and replaced within the year by the building that housed the Wimpy Bar and that Days went out of business when his Grand Uncles retired. Charles Day was also mayor of the borough in 1924/25. He and his wife donated the gates to Central Park and the electrified Five Lamps that stood in the Market Place and can now to be seen in Liquorpond Street. He also attached a 1925 photo of Charles and Ellen (nee Ward) Day.

Above: Day's Cash Stores. Below: The same site in 2012. Notice the left hand side pillar from the old shop didn't get destroyed in the demolition and is still to be seen today.

Charles and Ellen Day.

The lamps in the Market Place that Charles Day donated, they are now situated in Liquorpond Street.

 

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 Fair

The smell of candy floss and toffee apples, the caterpillar and speedway, the steam yachts, Rhona the Rat Girl and the boxing booth……….
Boston Mayfair has a very long history (to at least 1125) and traces it’s origins back to the great trading fair of medieval times although this was very different from the modern funfair that we know.

In the Middle Ages fairs were like markets and were held only once a year with merchants coming from all over Europe to buy and sell at the Boston fair.

However, by the 1890’s, the mix of fair rides and stalls that we know was certainly occupying both the Market Place and Wide Bargate and it is now one of the few remaining street fairs in the country.

The event, which has a Royal Charter, occurs in the first week of May (usually the 3^rd) and is surrounded by tradition and ceremony.

The Mayor declares the fair open at noon (see below) from the Assembly Rooms balcony overlooking the Market Place and the ceremony is attended by VIP guests including representatives of the Showmen’s Guild.

After the Fair has been declared open the mayor and guests tour with representatives from the Showmen’s Guild and are allowed to ride free on any of the attractions.

Families of showmen have been coming to Boston for generations, occupying the same pitches with their rides and stalls, which are jealously guarded. The Fair stays in the town for seven or eight days.

Below (1) Sideshows outside the Peacock and Royal Hotel in the 1940's.

Below (2) The Helter Skelter near the Post Office in Bargate in the 1920's.