Part 21 (1/2)
HENRY ALLISON.
Henry Allison, son of Mr. Allison, Miller, formerly residing in West Street, married a daughter of Mr. David Cussons, and leaving the town about 1848, settled in Hull, where he established a large business as paper manufacturer. He was elected Mayor of Hull; and died some years ago, leaving a widow, who resides in a large mansion, which he built on the outskirts of the town, Marlborough House, Anlaby Road. The business, with several branches, is still carried on by members of his family.
JOHN BROWN.
John Brown, the ”Poet Laureate” of Horncastle, has already been mentioned; he is chiefly known by the volume _Literae Laureat_, published in 1890, dedicated to Lord Tennyson, by permission, and containing most of his poetical productions. These are remarkable for his knowledge of Lincolns.h.i.+re dialect and local folk-lore. The volume was published, after his death, on behalf of his widow.
He was born in the first workhouse, adjoining St. Mary's churchyard, his parents being in charge of that inst.i.tution. Being first apprenticed to a cabinet maker, Mr. J. Williams, when only just ”in his teens,” he ran away to Hull, and took service on a vessel, the Margaret, bound for Cronstadt. His first voyage, however, was sufficient to disgust him with marine life. When about 15 he found employment with a theatrical scene painter from London, who settled in Horncastle. He afterwards went to London to learn his trade as a house decorator. He married in 1833 a Miss Gainsborough, of Alford. In 1838 he went to Lincoln, and for some years carried on his trade there. In 1848 he returned to Horncastle, and still carrying on his trade, became a member of a literary coterie, who used to hold meetings in the coffee room of the Bull Hotel. In 1860 he bought a house on the Louth Road, which he opened as the Globe Inn, and which became the resort of his literary friends. Literature, however, did not conduce to business. In 1872 his health failing, and his savings having evaporated, he was granted a residence in the Whelpton Almshouses, where he continued to employ his pen, in comfort, until his death in 1890. {159}
THOMAS BAKER.
The late Mr. Thomas Baker has already been referred to, but is worthy of a fuller account. He was not a native of Horncastle, but lived in the town more than 60 years, and became so identified with its interests, in many ways, that he may well be regarded as one of its ”worthies.” Born in 1814, at Braintree, in Ess.e.x, he was the son of a veterinary surgeon in that town, his family having previously there owned the once well-known coaching house, named The Horn Inn; although earlier members of his family had occupied a higher position; one of them, named Thorowgood, having founded the Grammar School at Oxford.
Before coming to Horncastle, in 1841, Mr. Baker was known on more than one county cricket ground, and had distinguished himself on the University ground at Cambridge, ”Parker's Piece.” On coming to Horncastle he immediately made his mark in cricket as a round-hand bowler; and the leading young men of the neighbourhood became his pupils.
One of his feats was, in a match between an 11 of All England and 22 gentlemen of the county; when he bowled out, with his first ball, Iddison, Captain of the All England team. The great matches in which he took part for many years were too many to tell. Among other things he had the distinction of being employed by Sir Evelyn Wood to train a village club in his parish.
Besides his cricketing skill he was remarkable for his ventriloquial powers; and the story was told, that, while sitting in conversation with two strangers, at the Bull Hotel, he threw his voice under the table.
The two sprang up to catch the supposed eavesdropper, when he at once calmed them by throwing his voice in another direction, and then letting them into the secret. He was also, in his way, a fair actor; and, with the late Mr. John Brown, the Horncastle Laureate, and others, he helped to amuse considerable audiences, in town and neighbourhood. In comedy he could take all the parts himself, rapidly changing his dress, and at one moment adopting the high falsetto tones of an old crone, and the next moment speaking in the deeper accents of a strong man. It is greatly to his credit that, only having for many years a small shop, famed chiefly for his two specialites, ”bull eyes” and ”Grantham ginger-bread,” he brought up a large family, who have taken good positions in various parts of the country. He was a staunch conservative and churchman.
In his later years he was often visited by strangers, who were entertained by his fund of anecdote and cricketing reminiscences. Among these we may name the novelist, Miss Marie Corelli, who, while staying at Woodhall Spa, sought his acquaintance, as being one of the ”characters”
of the neighbourhood, and to his delight she gave him her autograph. Mr.
J. J. Hissey, the author of _A Driving Tour in Lincolns.h.i.+re_, also visited him at his house in Horncastle, and says of him ”although wearing a shabby garb, he struck me with his perfect self-possession, and superior manners. . . . I have met many characters, but Mr. Baker struck me as being the most remarkable.” He died Feb. 12th, 1903, aged 88; and in his last illness letters poured in upon him from old friends and pupils, expressing their sympathy and their pleasant recollections of his company.
ODDITIES.
To these ”worthies” of the town we here add two or three of its ”oddities.” About 1844 Billy Boulton, who kept an inn in Millstone Street, now called North Street, named the Tom Cat, was noted for his great strength; for a wager he dragged a ”dung cart” on the turnpike road, from Lincoln, to his own yard in Horncastle, a distance of over 21 miles. It is said, however, that he suffered from rupture for the rest of his life, as a consequence of the great and continued exertion involved in this feat. The inn is now named The Cricketers' Arms, but it may be noticed that the figure of a cat is still engraven on a pane of the front window.
The same man bought the wife of a man named Rogers, a boatman, who put her up for auction, standing on a tub, with a halter round her neck, in the public street; the price paid being 20. She had a son and daughter by Boulton, who both lived to be married, but died early. In after years, having lost her (so called) husband, Boulton, she removed to Lincoln, and there meeting her former husband, Rogers, she became reconciled to him, and both again lived together, as man and wife, until death. {160}
A man, known as Aty Rushton (short for Horatio), who lived in Horncastle, on the West Ashby Road, about the same period, and let out horses on hire, being in Lincoln, laid a wager that he would set off from Lincoln, above hill, just after the moon rose, and ride to Horncastle, 21 miles, before the moon should rise there; which would be later, the town being in a hollow, with a steep hill in the west to hide the moon for some time; while Lincoln is on a hill, with a view to the west over low county, where the moon would be seen earlier. He rode a swift animal of his own. and strained all its powers in the effort. Unfortunately there was then a toll bar on the Lincoln road about a mile from Horncastle, where he found the gate closed, and was delayed two or three minutes before the keeper could pa.s.s him through. He pressed on with all speed, galloping through the town, shouting in his excitement ”Now me! now moon!”; but as he dashed into his own yard, he saw the moon s.h.i.+ning in a bucket of water, standing by the stable door. The delay at the toll-bar had lost him his wager.
A son of the above, Thomas Rushton, was a great fisherman, and not always particular where he followed his sport. Walking in the night to a certain lake in a park, about 6 miles from Horncastle, he fished it and landed two or three brace of good trout, and then about eight o'clock in the morning, he called at the hall, and sold them to the squire for his breakfast. He used to tell this anecdote to his confidants, with his well-known chuckle of satisfaction, as a satisfactory stroke of business.
Many other stories of his performances with ”the angle” could be also related, but this may suffice.
The following relates not to a native of Horncastle, but to one whom we may call an ”intruder,” although he was to play his part (not a very creditable one) in the town. We avoid, for obvious reasons, giving names and dates. There had occurred a number of petty thefts, which made, those who possessed anything of value, uneasy about their treasures, lest their turn for spoliation might come next. The police arrangements for the town were still of a very primitive character, and quite inadequate for due protection of the householder. The days of the ”bobby” and ”peeler” were not yet, at least in country districts; although Sir Robert Peel had done away with the old watchman, and established the present police system in the metropolis; and some other of our larger towns had followed suit. But in Horncastle the constable, by way of setting a thief to catch a thief, had, it was said, himself in his earlier years been a great smuggler, while in his age he was a spindle-shanked old man, whom a boy could knock down. Roused by the insecurity of property, the authorities decided to import a London detective, disguised in plain clothes. He came, and for a while marauders, among whom the secret soon leaked out, carefully stayed their hands. After a time, however, robberies began to recur; especially a corner shop near ”the far bridge,”
was the scene of considerable pilfering. The detective was called in to investigate. He took up the matter, but did not succeed in making any arrests.
It was noticed by someone that a bra.s.s b.u.t.ton was missing from the sort of gamekeeper's velveteen coat which he wore; and, strange to say, a b.u.t.ton of the exact kind was found behind the counter of the shop where the thefts occurred. No public action was taken in the matter, but it came to be strongly suspected that the professional thief-taker had himself been guilty of thieving. Other suspicious circ.u.mstances occurred, but he was a clever man, and nothing was brought home against him. It was believed, however, that something of the truth had become known at head quarters, as his appointment was a few months later cancelled, and he was not appointed elsewhere. He continued to reside in Horncastle and, having no employment, he accepted the post of water bailiff to the local angling a.s.sociation, which he filled for some time, until he eventually disappeared from the scene of his labours, which were thought by not a few to be somewhat ”fishy” in the unfavourable sense of being at least questionable in their nature.
He had not left the town very long when it became known that certain parties had received from him some of the goods which had disappeared from the grocer's shop, which had been robbed. Sundry hams were found concealed in a hay loft, and it was generally believed that the robbery of an inn in the town, not far from the shop in question, as well as other thefts in the country around, had been perpetrated by him.