Category: Tales from the past

The British library holds a letter written in February 1477, the writer refers to her fiancé as her “right beloved valentine“. She is writing about her dowry which she hopes her father will improve, and equally she hopes that if her fiancé loves her, as she trusts he does, he will marry her regardless. The letter is believed to be the oldest surviving Valentine correspondence full of love and concern, desperate for news of his decision.

Fast forward four hundred years and Valentines not only conveyed sentiments of love and longing but rejection and loathing. The influences of satirical artists such as James Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson and George Cruickshank were introduced to the populace in popular print form , their humour disseminating their social observations.

Cruickshank worked on some satirical valentines , these greetings were extremely popular from the 1840s and sometimes included prank parcels of soot and rotting fish.

By 1871 over seven and a half thousand greetings were delivered through Spilsby Post Office, the numbers grew year on year and advertisements of chocolate, porcelain novelties and fancy articles recommended them as Valentine gifts.

Alford: The birthday of St. Valentine’ was observed on Monday with due form, some thousands of the expressive messages were distributed. Tuesday morning’s delivery, however, proved to be the largest. Tradesmen were exceedingly busy on Saturday night supplying the ardent lovers, and Monday was all day selection for replies. _{Boston Guardian Saturday 19th Feb 1881}

For those who wished to personalise their satire the 1875 publication “Love Lyrics and Valentine Verses for young and old” encouraged the use and adaptation of the prose contained within its 638 pages:

“It is intended that persons of either sex , who wish to address those they love in suitable terms, or to indulge in a little harmless satire without descending to vulgarity, should find suggestive matter in [these] pages.“

This publication had 120 pages of satirical verses, they reflected the society of the time :

A Tinted Venus

To a Cod-eyed Spinster

The very last that I should take
 To Village church or minster,
For purposes connubial,
Would be a cod-eyed spinster.

I'm fond of cod for dinner,
'tis With me a favourite dish,
But I shouldn't like to own a wife
With eyes just like a fish.

Time's hourglass now is running low,
So be no longer jealous,
Make way for younger girls
and cease to hunt up us smart fellows.

I'd sooner marry a giraffe,
Hedgehog, or porcupine,
Than from the female sex select
A cod-eyed Valentine.

Happy Valentines Day

In 1882 a curious war of words began in Lincolnshire Notes and Queries with an enquiry into the author of a poetry book entitled “The Harpings of Lena”. The first person to respond provides an outline of a young Bill Baitman and delivers a scathing indictment of his treatment at the hands of the Alford youth. These words elicit an equally strong defense of Alford. The correspondents provide very different perspectives and reveal some interesting information on Billy Baitman and Alford. The letters are long, I have highlighted a swift path of the most interesting elements for those of you with less inclination to trawl through it all.

For those unfamiliar with this local character Bill Baitman frequently receives a few sentences in books on Alford, he is renowned for selling his soul to the devil, frequently connected to the site of a hawthorn bush on Miles Cross Hill.

The letters of 1882

Clearly R.R of Boston was not a fan of Alford, however his lengthy diatribe was strongly rebuffed by J.A. of Alford …

Unfortunately R.R. was not about to take that response lightly …

Unfortunately that was not an end to the matter, JMT chose to wade in and muddy the waters even further …

I well remember Bateman in my schoolboy days and after, and I think my old friend J.A. and R.R. are mistaken in the orthography of his name, as one of his crazes was that he was connected with the family Bateman, the then head of which was Mr Bateman Dashwood , of Well Vale, the magistrate to whom R.R refers as distributing the prizes at the National School. … It may be satisfactory to know that he was not without friends, and his occasional visits to the neighbouring vicarage of … the late Felix Laurent procured for him the loan of books and other little kindnesses which rendered his latter days less dreary than they might have been, and for which I believe he was not ungrateful. As to the peltings, I well remember he was frequently hooted in the streets , but I never saw him pelted, and this annoyance he brought on himself by his unfortunate irritability of temper. The origin of the notion that he had sold himself to the devil was, no doubt, the fact of his being an avowed atheist – a character , happily, less common at that time than in the present advanced state of civilisation. _J.M.T

J.M.T. does raise a good point on the name, the poetry books are published using the spelling Baitman and we know that he was able to read and write well, but he is referred to under both spellings and may have promoted that himself.

The above letter was the final one in 1882 but this was not the end of the discussion. It was revived again some SEVEN years later by Lister Wilson, an Alford solicitor, who had recently read a review on the Harpings of Lena by R.R. Boston. For the incrediby tenacious among you I have reproduced these final letters at the bottom of this piece, headed accordingly, they are very convoluted but do provide a little more insight into Baitman and the circumstances which may have led to his downfall.

Official Records on Bill Baitman

In February 1828 the sensitivities of both young poets received praise in the Stamford Mercury. Just four months later the same paper reported the death of Edward Lenton (juvenile poet) in Alford, leaving the young Bill Baitman to face the world alone.

The 1882 letters understandably caused some consternation in Alford and others wrote to the local papers with more details on Baitman denouncing RR’s version of events.

One local explained that Baitman was not born in Alford, but in Manchester, being brought up by his grandmother,“an Old Wesleyan” in Alford .The writer continues that Baitman was a notorious cadger, always begging, and the story of his connection with the Devil originated with Baitman himself as a begging tactic.

This part of Baitman’s story can be substantiated, Louth Prison records from 1857 show Baitman as an inmate and also record him as being born in Manchester and brought up in Alford, of course it is possible that Baitman may have been the originator of this information too. He is described as lame in the right leg, aged 46 he was over 5’2″ with long pale hair. Baitman was incarcerated as a rogue and a vagabond for one month, he could read and write well and was a seller of tracts.

The 1857 prison records indicate a previous sentence, in April 1840 at the April Sessions in Louth a William Baitman was sentenced to 3 months hard labour for stealing hankerchiefs and other items at Langton. The prison records again record William Baitman as being able to read and write well which is less common than “imperfect”, with the surname spelling this suggests this may have been Bill’s first sentence.

The nature of William Baitman’s life makes it hard to track him through any official records. More than one person throughout the correspondence has confirmed that he did die in Alford, a few years prior to the 1882 letters. I have searched the civil registration death registers, for the Spilsby District, from 1862 to 1882 for a William Baitman / Bateman who died at Alford and there is only one record. Baitman yields no results. The Spilsby District reveals just one William Bateman: an Alford death and burial. This William Bateman: died in the presence of Ann Johnson at South End: his occupation is listed as a retired schoolmaster! Is this the death certificate for our Bill Baitman, the details provided by the woman who stayed at side and believed in him. I hope it is, for a man who continually reinvented himself what a perfect ending.

Robert Roberts claims that “In summer months [Bill] used to lie about the fields , and under the hedges by the roadsides, for whole days together” … was it during one of these times that the strange tale of him selling his soul to the devil at the site of a hawthorn bush on Miles Cross Hill , known to generations of locals as Bill Baitman’s bush, came about ?

I would love to know more …

As promised these are the final letters which reveal a little more about the poems and the support of Alfred Tennyson.

The Final Letters : 1887

The final words in the matter came from the first responder R.R. believed to be Robert Roberts, stationer and printer of Boston. The contents of this letter suggest that the claim by Miss West (that her brother was actually the poet not Baitman) had, shortly after the publication of the book, caused Baitman further distress in the face of his piers.

I have been considering whether I should make any answer to Mr Wilson’s communication or not, for I think those who can read between the lines will easily see it is the amount of truth in the account of Alford in former days which rankles. Only think ! it is just seven years since the Baitman papers first appeared. What a deal has happened in seven years and yet “society” in Alford has not recovered its equanimity. It is sad; but on looking over the articles, I cannot withdraw anything of importance. I might have put things less offensively; which some may consider a mistake. Mr Wilson’s lady friend confirms part of the account, and says, “…there was plenty of poaching and smuggling going on …” So that portion of the indictment must be considered proved, not withstanding a former correspondent had said “The statement is too remote from the truth to give serious offence”. It is very satisfactory to see the witnesses for the defence demolishing each other in this fashion. As to Baitman having been ” a low ignorant fellow ” a worthless vagabond and an imposter” ” quite incapable of writing any of these poems, or a line correctly” one of the leading men of Alford (J.A.) says ” I remember being present … at the distribution of prizes … the first prize was adjudged to Baitman” . What ! To that “low ignorant worthless fellow” ? The best boy in Alford School “a low, ignorant fellow”?

R.R. does a good job of restating the content of the previous articles to contradict the points in Lister Wilson’s letter, but he saves his wrath for R U West….

Mr Wilson is forced to acknowledge that Baitman did “somehow” get into the society of the two geniuses of the place, West and Lenton. And West was a gentleman, with a “paddock” and a “hermitage” mind, you. To refute the inconsistent and contradictory statements of Baitman’s detractors is so delightfully easy that it is difficult to treat them seriously; but I now come to a graver aspect of the case. A lady rather ruffled in defence of her brother may be excused when not quite logical; but the same plea will not avail for her legal advisor, who might be expected to be a man trained to weigh evidence and to look at all sides of a question. Cannot Mr Wilson see how seriously the statements he now publishes reflect on his friends and on society in Alford ? He represents Mr West as a kind of man-cuckoo. For as a cuckoo lays its eggs in a smaller bird’s nest , so this big “poet”, Mr West, is said to place his poems in the nest of the little birds Lenton and Baitman; and afterwards he does not attempt to throw out the eggs, but worse , he throws out and tramples on Baitman, the layer of most of them. … afterwards when West found the poems “very much admired” he claimed “all those unsigned”. There are three poems in HOL professing to be written from “Alford Workhouse” and not signed Lenton. Now, if this “low ignorant, worthless fellow … could not write a poem, or even a line correctly” how came these poems to be dated from Alford Workhouse ? Is it contended they were also written by West, and that he falsely dated them as a further precaution against the real author being found out ?

Here is a dilemma . Either Mr West wrote what was false … or Baitman did actually write those three poems. And if he did he may well have written most of the others, for they are of the same quality. Another puzzle. It is said “Baitman … persuaded West to assist him in publishig the Harpings of Lena.” In whatever manner they were obtained, Mr West not only asssisted him but if he was the author he must have given the MSS to Baitman. The poems were published as [original poems by Lenton and Baitman] although it is now asserted that none of the poems were by Baitman, but by West, and that they were not “original”, … is there any evidence that Mr West resented this fraudulent contact ? Not a bit of it. On the contrary, two or three years afterwards when Baitman published another volume, “Poetics and Prosaics”, RU West esq , who had then moved to Hogsthorpe, subscribed four copies.

In the preface to this book the writer says:- “When I made my first appearance in the literary World, it was manacled and gyved by difficulties under which many would have sunk, to rise not again. But cheered on by hope, and two kind individuals, I persevered, and found that I did so not in vain. …. Of the present work , it is enough to say , that it has been prepared amid much domestic affliction, with the sick and the dying around me”. And now it asserted that this touching preface was a fraud, that it was penned by an “ignorant fellow”, a “worthless scamp” who had laid claim to poems in the first book which were known to be written by another. If he were an imposter about to deceive the public a second time, what must be thought of RU West ( now brought forward as the real author) who again aided and abetted theis “worthless scamp” and by having his name printed in the list of subscribers sanctioned the statements made in the preface. … Alfred Tennyson, Montgomery, Miss Priscilla Taylor, and many other distinguished people subscribed.

Mr Wilson and his friend must have written hastily and without carefully looking over the previous correspondence. For it is a curious way of showing respectability of Alford”society” by trying to prove that an eminent professional man there, when he was from twenty three to twenty five years of age, not only associated with a fellow he knew to be “a worthless scamp” but also gave manuscript poems to him to be falsely printed in the name of that “scamp”, for the curious reason that their real author “never posed as a poet and did not care to have his name affixed, because he was half afraid they were not good enough to be published”; but when he found they were “praised by the public”, he meanly claimed them, although he still left the lame diseased young pauper to pay for printing one, if not both of the books.

I can speak positively as to the second of them; for poor Baitman has repeatedly , when he secured a subscriber, given me fifteenpence to take to Mr Cussans , of Horncastle, to pay for a copy. Would it not have been more magnanimous for Mr West to have kept the secret, and not claimed authorship at the price of the utter ruin and degradation of the poor fellow, thus made a handle of, and who appears never to have overcome the mortification he felt ? It did not enrich West, but it made Baitman poor indeed. No stricture which has been passed upon former generations of Alford people is half so damaging to their reputation as the character now given to them by some of themselves. To imagine that a man could act as Mr West is said to have acted without meeting with universal reprehension is sufficient to mark the tone of the place. That some of its best society could even imagine an educated man doing such a thing is not complimentary. I am really sorry to be forced by the indiscreet advocacy of Mr West’s friends to show how his conduct in this matter may strike other people. This was a grievous mistake made in the youth of a man who afterwards deservedly bore a high charecter; and probably most readers will think silence had been the best policy.

Having pleaded Baitman’s cause to the best of my ability, I wish to be fair even to those who seem not to have treated him as they should have done. I therefore freely confess I see no reason to doubt that Miss West is right in claiming the half dozen poems which she names as the work of her brother. He either wrote them or so polished and altered them as to be entitled to the joint authorship at least; but to claim all the unsigned poems for her brother is manifestly wrong. Some of them would be no credit to a man in his position, and are only tolerable as the work of a self-taught pauper. Many of them have words and phrases and awkward forms of expression, such as might be expected in the writing of an imperfectly educated man, but which Mr West could not have been guilty of. … the poem ” A Minstrels Lay” …. carries conviction … it is autobiographic and naturally and correctly describes what must have been the state and feelings of Baitman; and I am convinced it was written by no one else. It would have been untrue of Mr RU West. It is very difficult to harbour unkind feelings against a whole community for seven years, especially when some of them are your friends and acquaintances, and I now gladly (and freely) bear testimony to the fact that Alford is a very pleasant, bright, “superior” little town, certainly not behind any of its neighbours. … It is not to be supposed that the upper classes of Alford ever wished to be cruel to Baitman; but he was an anomoly. “Writing fellows” – especially common writing fellows – were not much appreciated in any small agricultural town at that date, as I well know, and as the surreptitious it is now alleged that Mr West got his poems published serves to prove.

Besides, Baitman, although clever, was an impracticable fellow, who persistently sinned against the conventionalities and prejudices of the place, and indulged in much [kicking over the traces] , for which he was made to pay very dearly. But the poor, unhappy, much-afflicted man is in his grave; there, for charity’s sake, let him rest. _{RR Boston Lincolnshire}

A report from the County Police office in Alford, January 1848, adds to previous items suggesting a somewhat bawdy element in Alford at this time, first discovered in the stories from Alford Fair.

Having dealt with four boys for obstructing the thoroughfare and creating a noise during Sunday Service, followed by two bastardy orders, the Reverends Dodson, Vyner and Travers turned their attention to Eliza …

Eliza Maidens of Alford appeared against; Robert Bell of Bilsby, rat-catcher, and general dealer, Sam Rhodes, of Alford and person called ” Red Eye,” who had been working on the East Lincolnshire railway, for entering her house on Saturday night the 15th inst, and damaging property therein of the value of 10s. the complainant begged permission of the bench to be allowed to settle the matter with the parties out of court, which was granted: the parties all left the court together, and adjourned to the Windmill inn tap.; where after settling the affair amicably they had a regular jollification, during which the fair complainant was thrown into a state of somnolency, and conveyed to her domicile minus her exterior and nether garments which were subsequently found by the police, and restored to their unconscious owner. _{Stamford Mercury – Friday 28 January 1848}

The reverend gentlemen fined labourer Jas. Frankish for being drunk and disorderly in the street before they turned their attention to the matter of Ann Richardson’s complaint against Miss E Buffham, Alford beer -seller for having assualted her in public: Miss Buffham was fined 1s. and 5s. costs.

Alford appears to have had some miseries of its own.

I recently came across evidence of a charming rural custom being practised locally. Although it is very apparent that the writer did not appreciate the old ways.

Though not generally known in more enlightened districts, it is a fact worthy of note throughout the Marsh, that little industrious insect the “Bee” is supposed to possess a knowledge of human affairs; as an instance about two years ago , a well to do farmer died in a village not many miles from Alford. I had occasion to visit his house the night after his decease, and in passing through the garden was astonished to find some of the domestics at the bee-house. On inquiring of their errand, I was told they were informing the bees of the death of their master, otherwise they stated the bees would all die. I inquired if they received an answer , when they replied the bees gave a “solemn hum” a certain sign that they understood the message. Of course none of the bees died. I was very much amused at the circumstance and tried to convince them of their ignorance. About a month ago, another farmer died and – fatal mistake – the bees are all dead, the ceremony of informing them of their master’s death having been omitted – never once thinking that the ungenial summer and the late severe winter has been the death of the contents of hundreds of hives. The last case of course , is another proof in the opinion of these superstitious sages of the almost human instinct of their idolised bee. And surely it is another proof of the necessity of greater exertions in the spreading of sound education and common sense amongst the rising generation of the Marsh. _{Louth and North Lincs Advertiser: 1861}

The custom is widely documented across Europe and American Quaker John Greenleaf Whittier ensured an awareness of the tradition in New England with his poem ” Telling the Bees” in 1858, an excerpt is below :

Personally I find these tales reminiscent of Flora Thompson’s character “Old Queenie” familiar to many of us from the BBC adaptation Larkrise to Candleford, based on an old neighbour.

Alford’s past is littered with so many marvellous characters.

All Hallows Eve

I started with Halloween. In the 1880s Queen Victoria was reported to have enjoyed the “Scottish” festival with processions of sprites and goblins at Balmoral, followed by dancing around the bonfire into the early hours but that was it. Some customs may have been followed quietly, if at all, in nineteenth century Lincolnshire but community events were not commented upon, with the “Spring Halloween” of St Mark’s Eve receiving more attention. The few mentions of the October festival are from the early twentieth century and relate old superstitions and folklore which are no longer practised.

Today is all hallows eve, the eve of all saints day, and to-night churchyards yawn and graves give up their dead, or at least their ghosts walk if old tales be true. To-night too those who have the temerity to eat an apple before the looking glass will see their future spouse looking over their shoulder in the glass, and other forms of divinations may be practised to the same end. What is the connection , by the way, between apples and all hallows eve, that so many spells and games with apples form art of the old celebrations? Biting the twirling apple hung by a string or the apple floating in a tub of water are the most characteristic of the latter. But all these things are a memory nowadays and there is probably not a house in Lincoln in which the eve will be anything but Tuesday night. In the colonies old English Customs thrive the better, as it were, for exile. All Hallows Eve a mere name in England is observed in Canada, throughout the length and breadth of the land. Apples will be bobbed for “candy” will be pulled, and large parties and “socials” for charitable purposes given to-night. _{Lincolnshire Echo – Tuesday 31 October 1905}

A later, 1956, article revisits the “old Halloween” before providing an insight into the contemporary experience.

I would like to write about one of the strange facts that people associate with October. On the last night of this month, so people say, witches ride their broomsticks high above the trees and chinmney pots, goblins come in from the woods and turn the milk sour and ghosts wander the earth under the light of the moon. It is the night for strange tales by the light of the fireside and the night for jack o’lanterns and roasting chestnuts, the night when fortunes are told and the long dead superstitions come to life again. At this time of year people associate themselves with supernatural influences, that is mostly superstitious. We know that Halloween was celebrated in Britain before the arrival of christianity. The people who took part in the celebrations were mainly druids …  But to-day it is the children and young people who really take part in this anvcient festival. … Boys and girls go from door to door wearing weird coloured masks and carrying turnip lanterns, turnips through whose hollowed out eyes and mouth glow eerily. Halloween parties are held in rooms with decorated silhouettes of witches and broomsticks, apples are roasted or  bobbed for, and people gather round to have their fortunes told. _{Boston Guardian – Wednesday 07 November 1956}

While Halloween seems to have been pretty quiet in the 19th Century, people did come together to appreciate the countryside and woodlands.

Nutting Parties

One Autumn pastime that quickly came to the fore was nut gathering, it was clearly common place. Frequent mention of the practice appears in the press, sometimes to prohibit it, on other occasions a couple of sentences simply referred to an outing having taken place and “a good time was had by all“. I was intrigued by the phrase “Nutting Party” this was about more than a small family outing to gather hazlenuts and filberts.

There seem to be various types of party undertaking this venture which varied from pleasant community outings to the wanton destruction of woodland. Although this may have depended on your viewpoint.

The following Lady’s Own article embodies the fondness of a certain class for the venture.

Nutting : Those … who have passed the spring time of life …. Who can remember without regret the pleasures of his earlier years – the sports, the freedom, the exuberence of delight which accompanies youth … The seasons as they pass fleetly on bear with them recollections of past enjoyments, which it is some relief in our chequered career to cherish. With September comes our excursions in the green fields, before the cold winds of coming winter have robbed the trees of their freshness – when the clustering fruit of the hazel would tempt our longing palates, and would create as much joy as that which Aladdin experienced in the enchanted cave of precious stones. Many a nutting expedition in thick woods can we remember! Many a day passed with companions, lightsome and careless as ourselves in the fastnesses of nature. Surpassingly beautiful is the rich mellowness of Autumn. … It is difficult to account for the many ceremonies practised anciently with nuts. They were then thrown in all the avenues  leading to the nuptial apartment, before the feet of the passing bride; and the ceremony of strewing nuts was the conclusion of the wedding day. … nuts are very useful under different point of view … giving light, warmth and food.. Numerous divinations and superstitious practices were formerly done with nuts, particularly about the eve of all hallows. _{Lady’s Own Paper – Saturday 08 October 1853}

An article in the Lincolshire Chronicle at around the same time provides a different perspective, revealing a possible cause for the controversies surrounding the practise.

The Nutting Season: what a fine season for nutting parties; and where we should like to know is the place presenting such facilities for this autumnal enjoyment as Bourne? A large and well ordered wood, within a mile of the town is, through the kindness of the noble proprietor , at the service of the inhabitants. We are gratified to add that this indulgence is duly appreciated, as nothing annoys those who enjoy this privilege more than wanton mischief. The author of the “year book” says ” of all places at this season give me the nut wood, and the old umbrageous lanes, with the tall hazel thickets and hedges. How many delightful days spent in these places with young hearts and congenial souls come back upon the memory. They set out a la gipsy in a common cart or waggon containing eatables and drinkables, sundry rheumatic old maids and young wives to whom the talk would be too exhausting; the eternal gabbling of the damsels and the screeching and screaming at getting over the stiles; the arrival in the wood; the rushing away to pull down the brown clusters; the meeting to show plunder and take tea on the grass; the sentimental song in a trilling voice by the young lady of the party; what pleasures of the city and artificial life are worth one day of this description! Alas the game laws should have thrown their baleful interdict on even the pleasure of nutting. Alas! that in thousands of woods and woodland places throughout the kingdom, the nuts should fall and rot by the bushels lest pheasants should be disturbed”. Should we not then appreciate the privilege vouchsafed to us by the “Lord of Burghley” _{Lincolnshire Chronicle – Friday 26 September 1851}

Having established the usual approach and outline for the pastime I looked more closely at a couple of local stories which resulted in events which were clearly not so commonplace. In October 1820 a nut gathering party from Louth set out for Burwell. It has to be said that the composition of the group suggests they sought monetary gain rather than the light relief described above. They certainly encountered a very different experience.

Throughout the period landowners and estate managers posted warnings in the press about the destruction of trees and threatened the prosecution of nutting parties. In 1857 another notice relating to Burwell Wood appeared announcing the complete closure of the wood to strangers due to the damage done by nutting parties.

The practice continued locally as a report in the 1891 York Herald underlines.

A skeleton in a Lincolnshire wood: A party of ladies and gentlemen were nutting in Greenfield woods, near Alford, Lincolnshire when to their horror they discovered the clothed skeleton of a man. They immediately gave notice to the police , and Superintendent Wood and Dr Handsley proceeded to the spot and found a body as described. It was afterwards identified as that of Henry Taylor, a labourer, lately residing at Ailby, near Alford, who had been missing since the 28th May last. This wood had previously been searched by the police , and also by the deceased friends but the body had been overlooked owing to the fact that it was lying in a small grip or ditch, and was concealed by the overhanging nut trees and long grass.

Guy Fawkes Celebrations

The history of November 5th is one peppered with the twists and turns of political and religious divides. Dissenters used it as a night of riot and violence, carrying effigies of their enemies off to the bonfires. In the early 1800s The Times first reported the appearance of children begging in the street seeking recompence for their “Guy”.

Lincolnshire was no exception to these events, local newspaper reports slowly reveal the transition from early days of mischief to more organised community events. Boston, Spalding and Stamford among others, saw tar barrels set alight and rolled through the streets. Policeman were attacked and injured and various fires set. Guys were displayed for coin in order to purchase fireworks for the evenings entertainment.

On 5th November 1813 the Rev. William Chaplin of Thorpe Hall, South Elkington celebrated the capture of Guy Fawkes along with the more recent news of the allied defeat of Napolean at the Battle of Leipzig with two suitable effigies.

In rural Lincolnshire the firing of pistols was a particular problem and Alford was no exception in struggling with an unruly element.

When shall we mend ? a question that we may reasonable ask when the youth of a Christian community are retrograding into a state of semi barbarism … last Sunday evening, in leaving a place of worship, a woman with a child in her arms was seized and thrown down in the street and this is not a solitary case. … On the 5th November a large bonfire was made and squibs etc. were thrown about until near midnight, near to a number of thatched houses. Happily no other mischief was done than the stealing of kids, wood, doors and anything else these ill taught urchins could lay their hands upon. Everynight since the report of pistols has been heard in the streets ; and the question now seems to be are we to quietly submit to these nightly molestations or will some kindly gentlemen come forward, act the part of the philanthropists, and use their influence to stem the torrent of immorailty? _{Stamford Mercury – Friday 15 Nov. 1839}

The above article was followed immediately by the information that a spacious Temperance Hall had been recently erected at Alford.

Nationally legislation was introduced to prevent the disruption of the riotous behaviour on November 5th, this dampened spirits in the towns but the festivities frequently moved slightly further afield.

Gradually the community took back November 5th working together to organise the event, although the intention to burn one effigy remained a step to far for some.

Guy Fawkes Day was celebrated in Alford on monday last. a figure on horseback representing the much talked of Egyptian rebel was a prominent part of the make up of the procession. Arabi was preceded by a sais, or running footman, according to Eastern Custom; next came the Excelsior brass band , followed by a misc. body carrying torches. The music was of an inspiring character. At the large bonfire built in Mr Hibbitt’s field, near to the Grammar School, boys great and small enjoyed themselves as is usual on such occasions. Later in the evening the procession returned through the town but the torches this time were coloured ones, supplied by Brook and Co of London. The rain fell fast during the whole evening which considerably marred both effect and pleasure as well as curtailing the procedings. It really was too bad of some of our radical friends to object to the supposed indignity said to be intended by the burning of Arabi, which atrocity however was not carried out. All’s well, it is said, that ends well and we shall be able to congratulate sympathisers with the great rebel upon the feelings they exhibited if through supineness or lack of spirit of our own or any other authority he does not receive his deserts. _{Lincolnshire Chronicle – Friday 10 Nov. 1882}

Guy Fawkes day arrangements for Alford are upon a scale not previously attempted. The volunteer and excelsior bands will combine and form one monster band , and a procession will be lighted with coloured and brilliant lights one way through the town and the other way by ordinary torches , and during the evening balloons are to be despatched. An application was made to the magistrates on Tuesday last for sanction to be given to these arrangements , but the chairman observed there was no power to do this: if however all was orderly carried out, there would be no interference. _{Lincolnshire Chronicle – Friday 02 Nov. 1883}

The event continued in the same vein, a later article reveals that it was in the hands of a committee and supported by community donations.

Guy Fawkes Celebration.—This was held on Wednesday last and so far the weather permitted proved success. The Committee were very successful In their appeal for cash as well in kind : for which they desire to testify their thanks, to the respective donors- Tolerably punctual to the time announced, the procession started led by number of men carrying flambeaux, next in order came the band, formed by the amalgamation of the Excelsior with the Rifle Corps Band. Then came the only and original Guy (Guido Fawkes) who was represented being taken prisoner by some stalwart myrmidions of the law, when in the very act of attempting to fire his train of powder which was to have sent the Houses of Parliament to immortal smash. The procession was brought up by number of boys carrying torches, formed thus the procession attended by an immense number of people marched to a field at the West End of the town where a large fire had been kindled. Here the continuance of such nefarious practices on the part of Guido Fawkes were successfully put an end to, by his incineration, amid the plaudits of the whole of the spectators. The procession reformed and marched back the market place, coloured fires being burnt on the journey, the effect being very pretty, seen from short distance. At this time the rain began to decend somewhat heavily but the procession crowded on to the Market-place attended an immense number of spectators, where after listening to a few tunes played by the band the crowd to the strains the National Anthem quickly dispersed. _{Boston Guardian – Saturday 15 Nov. 1884}

Alford Winter Fair

Early November was the season for the Alford Winter Fair, as with the descriptions of the Guy Fawkes festivities the earlier reports of the fair bring to mind scenes more akin to a frontier town that a Lincolnshire farming community. Primarily about livestock the fair was a large draw and grew to include the elements of the large Bartholomew Fair.

Alford: the 8th November being our fair we had a large arrival of pickpockets. The fair seemed more remarkable for bustle and pocket emptying than for business ; several unsuccessful and some successful attempts were made; two small farmers were left to return home sans money, one being robbed of 6l, the other of 35l. _{Stamford Mercury – Friday 15 Nov. 1839}

Alford: the Winter Fair held here on Monday last was considered larger and better attended than on any former occasion. A considerable impetus was given to the stock trade of all descriptions by the unprecedented number of buyers in attendance. There were upwards of 1000 sheep penned , which met with a brisk demand … About 1200 beast were exposed for sale. The fair was held as last year in Mr Hibbitts close and in Mr Rose’s paddock adjoining the sheep market. The farmers and dealers grumbled very much (and not without cause) at the inconveninece of having so frequently during the day to pass from one lot to another. It is hoped before the next winter fair such arrangements will be effected as to remove all cause for complaint on the part of the public. Hordes of itinerant chapmen with dog carts and “ladies of easy virtue” came int town the evening before the fair, and so crowded were the common lodging houses that many had to put up with very inconvenient accomodation. During the fair we heard of nothing demanding the immediate attention of the police , except a small transaction that took place in the suburbs of the town , between a gentleman from a neighbouring parish ( who has arrived at the venerable age of three score and ten) and a young frail one in her “teens” , in which the old lothario was relieved of his purse and cash amounting to 15l. What a lesson for youth, and how disgraceful to old age ! At what period may we ask do mankind turn wise? _{Stamford Mercury – Friday 12 Nov 1852}

Alford Winter Fair – the stock fair was as usual held in the fields belonging to the Windmill and the White Horse Hotels, and attracted a large company. The pleasure portion of the fair consisted of a shooting gallery, an art exhibition and Ginnetts circus. The circus was well patronised and the performances received merited applause. _{Lincolnshire Chronicle – Friday 10 November 1882}

Alford Fair was held on Sat last, Nov 8th. The ground was well filled with stalls, shooting galleries, swings and roundabouts, the last named with the inevitable organ which music (?) was ground out to the no small delight of the many patrons but somewhat to the annoyance of the inhabitants, who thought it was just possible to have too much of a good thing. There was very large attendance of visitors throughout the whole the day and taken altogether the business done was satisfactory. The various public houses certainly had no room for complaint as unceasing stream of thirsty souls were to be seen doing a pilgrimage to the shrines of Bacchus, whence after paying their ablations, they emerged borne down by the weight of the penance imposed by his high priests, as evidenced by their somewhat erratic and unsteady gait. Many, too, paid court to terpischore at the various inns, much to their own enjoyment and we hope also to the satisfaction and profit of the musicians. _{Boston Guardian – Sat 15 Nov 1884}

Alford Fair is once more upon us—and the Market-place and its approaches are in the possession of vendors of all sorts. Booths where all kinds of possible and seemingly impossible feats ef endurance are watched; shooting galleries with their everlasting popping and bell-ringing; ring throwing. Aunt Sally, bazaars, &c., &c. And then there is the roundabout, where the patrons sit a-horseback according to their own sweet will, and are whirled around and around to the strains, “Oh, shade of Orpheus”—strains they are—of barrel organ that emits sounds comparable to something between a foghorn and a set of broken-winded bagpipes. As an accompaniment to these dulcet strains (?) a small boy incessantly belabours drum, to the no small annoyance of the surrounding inhabitants. Hurrah for an English fair and its accompanying saturnalia. _{Boston Guardian – Saturday 14 November 1885}

Reports reflect the gradual decline of business at the fair around the turn of the century. A brief 1916 article confirms the existence of the stock fair but the amusements are expectedly absent at this time. While in 1925 mention is made of children dressing “grotesquely” on the 5th November to obtain coins for the fair, the reporter however indicates that this is preferable to their carolling which will inevitably follow.

So to return to the beginning, what would we have been missing in a 19th Century lockdown ? Well, while we may have been pleased to avoid some of the more violent and bawdy aspects of venturing out in the early 1800s, I truly believe we would still have missed the opportunity to get together, after all there was a lot to talk about.

The Historic Vehicle Day was a successful happy occasion! The weather was very warm and sunny and “Smoke and Mirrors” performed on the lawn accompanied by nostalgic period music whilst visitors enjoyed tea and cakes, in front of the Manor House. An idyllic late summer’s day!

Eleven assorted Austins and their owners from the Pre War Austin Seven Club visited and some other  Classic Cars came along too.

 James Howe and Claire brought Ruby the three year old Shire Horse. They had been up early plaiting her mane and polishing the bells and brasses that were part of the gleaming harness. Ruby towed a 1925 hay turner from Tothby Manor and back! This was the first time she had been harnessed to this machine, but she took it all in her stride with no fuss!

The Museum of Rural Life demonstrated the Massey Harris combine, and ran it up several times. Both the Cook’s Elevator and the Maldon Elevator were running most of the time, as well as several of our Stationary Engines, and there was a steady stream of visitors in the “Barn”

Two days earlier the second container arrived from Hansard’s Haulage, and the driver skillfully re positioned the original container before unloading the “new” one. Grant supervised with a tape measure!

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A few days later, a working party of volunteers assembled the cover that fits between the two containers in less than four hours! It fitted perfectly! Gordon’s site work and Grant’s measuring were spot on!

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We spent a busy Friday morning using the Fordson to move both of our elevators and the McCormick binder under the new shelter. It is great to have all them properly protected from the elements, and another benefit is that restoration work can be easily undertaken in dry conditions without the need to remove sheets.

A Ransomes Sims and Jefferies lawn mower was rescued from a damp shed, and donated to the Museum very recently. Tony discovered that it had a “spark” from the magneto, so lots of activity took place cleaning thick tarry deposits from the fuel system, and freeing off the seized up clutch mechanism. Grant made some new wooden front rollers as the originals had literally turned to dust! The machine was then duly reassembled and after a couple of swings of the starting handle, the engine purred into life! Tony couldn’t resist a trial run on the grass even though it was raining!

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We have discovered via the internet, that this mower is a Minor Mk 6, 12” cut model and dates from about 1951, has a brass flywheel and, unusually, is started with a handle. It is actually in very good condition and still has most of the original green paint and decals in place.

 After this success, Tony may look at some of the other motor mowers in the Barn, which we have never had running, with some enthusiasm – watch this space!

Another arrival this month is a market barrow which once stood outside Stevenson’s green grocers shop in Louth. We were advised that it needed a little tlc…………………!

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Austin agreed to renovate it, and dismantled it to rebuild at home. The pictures show that underneath the green and yellow paint, there are problems! When completed, it will be used in conjunction with our existing market barrow for selling our produce.

As always many thanks to Clive Sutton for his fabulous photos.

Ashley 30/09/2020

In June 1828 a young woman wandered through Alford leading a horse, she was looking for someone to help her. Eventually she engaged a man called Greenfield, he was to sell the mare at market. Frances Stephenson stood just 5’2″ high, with dark hair and grey eyes and may well have looked older than her 20 years. Life had already been hard and things were about to get worse, something had aroused suspicion and Frances was detained for horse stealing, a capital offence, she must have been desperate to risk a second conviction in Alford that day. Frances was committed to the Georgian Gaol at Lincoln Castle on 13th June 1828 to await trial at the Summer Assizes, she would spend close to 12 months there.

Frances Stephenson was no stranger to hardship, one of five children born to Dinah (Grime) and Soloman Stephenson of Huttoft her mother had died in July 1810 leaving four young children to be cared for. Frances and her sister, also called Dinah, were the youngest; both of them were under three years old. Soloman had to seek Parish Relief to pay for his wife’s burial and some time later he applied to the Parish for money once more, to buy shoes for Frances. ¹ Soloman married again the following year, Ann Tinker is recorded as having children prior to the marriage and twins were added to the family in 1815. Soloman died in 1824.

Newspaper reports reveal that Frances and her sister had turned to stealing clothes in their late teens. In December 1826 Frances Stephenson (alias Grime) was sentenced to 3 weeks in the new House of Correction at Spilsby for stealing a pair of shoes from George Holmes of Hundleby. While confined Frances gave birth to her son, John, he was baptised by the prison chaplain on 16th January. A few months later, in July, Dinah was sentenced to 6 months hard labour at Spilsby for stealing two petticoats, a lace collar and various other items of clothing from Mary Booth of Ingoldmells.

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The Spilsby House of Correction, along with the newly extended Louth House of Correction, were a product of the prison reform movement of John Howard in the late 1700s, built upon by Elizabeth Fry and the Quakers in the 1820s. Mrs Fry and her brother Joseph Gurney had travelled British towns extensively reporting on the state of prisons in the towns which were not covered by the first reform bill in 1823. The new rules sought cleaner surroundings and better ventilation, clothing was provided along with rules on bathing and matrons were employed to oversee female prisoners. In new builds such as Spilsby there was the provision of an infirmary. In some circumstances the situation in the House of Correction was an improvement on the harsh realities of daily life. The new regimes were also based on ensuring more punitive measures and industry for the prisoners, for women this would mean sewing, laundry and oakham picking.

It was just 18 months after her time in Spilsby House of Correction that Frances found herself inside the walls of Lincoln Castle, and expecting another child. The Georgian Gaol was built in 1788 and comprised separate areas for felons and debtors. Each felon was allowed a rug, three blankets and straw for bedding. The night cells were 10′ by 8’6″ and 11′ high. Each accomodated two prisoners on the wooden bedsteads fastened to the floor. There were four day rooms with fireplaces in them each with a communicating courtyard of approx. 10yds by 15 yds enclosed by a 24′ wall. These rooms were for different classifications of prisoners.

Initially Frances shared with Ann Smith², who had been convicted at the Grimsby Sessions and sentenced to seven years transportation. Ann (Boyes) was born in Beesby, she married Thomas Smith of Hundleby in 1813, he was a respected gamekeeper by 1828. Her conviction caused a stir, a former professor of Religion, with good connections, she had swiftly fallen from grace when she stole various articles of linen from the shop of her friend Mr Dales. The Stamford Mercury reported :

No person has been transported from Grimsby Borough Sessions for upwards of a century; which circumstance, together with the peculiar nature of the theft, and the reputable sphere of life in which the prisoner moved, excited mingled feelings of indignation and compassion … she has fallen a victim to disgrace. _{9th May 1828}

It is interesting to wonder how the two women, from such different walks of life, got on together during the their few weeks in that small cell. They may have been able to hear the construction of the new tread-mill. It was close to completion by the end of June when the Stamford Mercury reported that it had “attracted various visitors who have been essaying the effects of the punishment , and it is described as being a sickener for the idle who may stand in need of such an instrument to rouse them to useful exertion.” The treadmill had been adopted as a means of creating hard labour at prisons across the Country since 1817.

Ann Smith received a full Pardon on Sunday 6th July, rather than transportation she returned to her two children, leaving Frances at the Castle to face her fate.

On 26th July Frances stood before the Grand Jury at the Crown Court held in the Gothic Court House built within the castle walls for the assizes in 1826. The Stamford Mercury reported on her trial.

Following her conviction Frances was returned to a shared cell at the Castle Gaol to await the birth of her child before her sentence was carried out. Shortly after her conviction the treadmills at Lincoln Castle Gaol were set in motion.

The tread-wheels at Lincoln gaol commenced their revolutions last week: four culprits are at present occupied upon them, one of whom is always in reserve as a relief. There are two wheels each of about 12 feet in length. The total number of persons who may be kept in occupation by them is about 18, allowing for the necessary reliefs; but one on each wheel is sufficient to keep it employed, and the machinery is so constructed (by a self adjusting principle) that whether there be one or six on the wheel , it revolves at the same rate. The workmanship of the machinery, ( by Mr Isaac Aydon, of Wakefield ) is considered to be of superior quality: it does not turn any mill , nor is intended to answer any productive object, beyond what may proceed from amending the manners of the prisoners.    Stamford Mercury – Friday 29 August 1828

Records on 2nd October reveal that Alice Cater² of Freiston was her cellmate. Alice was 39 years old, a mother of two, she had been convicted of stealing at the Boston Sessions in July and had been sentenced to 7 years transportation. Later in October she was removed from the Castle to the notorious Millbank Penitentiary in London to await her fate. In 1832 prison petition records list Alice Cater among those who were granted a free pardon, her location is simply stated as “penitentiary” suggesting she may have spent over three years at Millbank, Alice may have avoided transportation but those three years would have been spent in dreadful conditions.

On 17th November 1828 Frances Stephenson gave birth to a daughter, Dinah, her second child born in prison. The whereabouts of her son John is unknown and criminal registers after 1828 refer to her as a mother of just one child. Prior to the birth of her son Frances had named a farm servant from Binbrook, Joseph Wildman, as the father of her unborn child. The assizes had made Joseph responsible for the upkeep of the child for its first 8 years. Lincoln Prison Surgeons² recorded the birth of her daughter and scant notes on the health of Dinah and her Mother continue into February when the little girl was vaccinated. On March the 14th 1829 Frances recieved “her Majesty’s most gracious pardon on condition of being transported beyond the seas for the term of her natural life.”

Two months later, on 14th May, Frances and her young daughter were removed from Lincoln Castle and transported to Woolwich to board the convict ship ” the Lady of the Lake”. The method of transfer for Frances and baby Dinah is uncertain, the reports of the quakers reveal many methods of transfer for those to be transported. Some transfers from Lincoln Castle were undertaken by way of the Steam Packet from Hull but this method of transfer was not successful and somewhat short lived.

At Woolwich Frances would have truly entered the realm of prison reformer Elizabeth Fry. Frances was exactly the kind of person that Mrs Fry was so determined to help. Sustained by her faith as a Quaker she worked tirelessly to improve conditions based on her belief that no one was beyond redemption. She first visited Newgate prison in 1813, the horrors she had already seen tending to the poor and destitute in London and then in Plashet (East Ham) became displaced in the face of the suffering she found in the prisons. In 1817 she began her task in earnest, winning the women over with her care of their children.

The situation Frances found herself in is revealed in the correspondence of Elizabeth Fry. The convict ships at Woolwich had already fallen under the watchful gaze of the Association for the Improvement of Female Prisoners created by Mrs Fry in 1817. Building on her successes at Newgate Mrs Fry applied her methods of classification (by character), employment and instruction. The “comparatively uncontaminated” should not mix with the “most abandoned“. From 1818 the ships were a key focus of Mrs Fry’s attention, her companion Mrs Pryor was particularly devoted to this cause, visiting all but one of the female convict ships that sailed until her final illness in 1841. Every aspect of the convict’s situation was examined and the Ladies then worked tirelessly to improve their circumstances and their outlook.

Their reports to Government began with the condition of the prisoners on arrival at Woolwich. In the 1820s the groups of prisoners arrived at the vessels from around the Country. Some marched, others arrived on carts or the exterior of coaches, while more arrived on small coasters. Some were handcuffed , chained together and heavily ironed this made the breaks in the journey even harder to manage. In one reported incident the women had to descend the exterior of the stage coach as a group and manage the children they carried, despite being handcuffed and chained together, without any assistance from the attending turnkey. They had travelled to Woolwich from Lancaster Castle in this way. Many arrived in a dishevelled state with equally destitute children, or were distraught at having been separated from a young child.

Liaisons aboard the convict ships between the women and crew were notorious, tales abound of “delayed ships”, one in particular where children were conceived and born before arrival. Penny dreadful stories and images such as the one below leave little to the imagination. Similarly the situation for the female convicts upon arrival was not conducive to following the righteous path advocated by Mrs Fry.

During the voyage the women were in originally in the care of the Master and crew with the exception of the Naval Surgeon Superintendent. There was no instruction in reading or religion and no provision to enable them to keep clean or ensure proper clothing. Mrs Fry worked closely with Admiral Young of Deptford and Admiral Byam Martin Comptroller of the Navy. These gentlemen respected her motives as just and humane and admired her relentless pursuit of the cause. On one occasion Mrs Fry and Mrs Pryor had to be rescued from a small rowing boat when returning from one visit to a hulk on the Thames. Admiral Young’s department was responsible for fitting out the convict ships, he had suggested the provision of patchwork for the employment of the women during the voyage. The instruction in sewing and provision of materials for patchwork among other skills followed.

In a letter written in 1820 to Admiral Martin Mrs Fry thanks him for the increased provision of soap and towels for the female convicts during their voyage. When one request is met with disdain by a Navy Surgeon Mrs Fry writes

I believe I may say for all the ladies of our Association , that we do not desire indulgences or increased comforts for convicts, except so far as good and orderly conduct may conduce it. Some of our prisons we think decidedly too comfortable ; and our great wish is, that by employment and instruction, with habits of cleanliness and order , the time of their imprisonment may be a time of reformation, not of indulgence. … I believe kindness does more in turning them from the error of their ways than harsh treatment; and that many a poor creature claims a compassion and tenderness that is little known, but to those who visit prisons; as there are many of whom it may be said that, they were driven into guilt , and only want the way to be made open , to return with joy into the paths of virtue. Surely for their welfare … and hope that even the worst may be preserved from futher evil as well as for the sake of the colony , the women’s morals should be protected on the voyage; it is worth the effort to make the convict ship a place for industry, instruction and reform. extract from : _{Memoir of the Life of Elizabeth Fry 1847}

During the voyage 2 female convicts had died, one fell overboard, and three infants died. Frances and Dinah had survived this terrible ordeal, they now faced their life in Hobart, much of which had also seen the guiding hand of Elizabeth Fry during the planning but on the other side of the World the diligent attention of the Quaker reformers was lacking when it came to reporting and influencing the reality.

Elizabeth Fry had first become aware of the hopeless situation, which met female convicts in New South Wales, through her visits to Newgate. The Reverend Samuel Marsden subsequently appealed to her for help from his home in Parramatta in February 1819. He cited the plight of these women whom he saw frequently in his roles both as a missionary and as a magistrate, underlining that they had no righteous paths open to them upon their arrival, with no shelter, no work and children to feed they quickly fell into disreputable ways.

“I meet with those wretched exiles who have shared your attentions and who mention your maternal care with gratitude and affection. From the measures you have adopted, and the lively interest you have excited in the public feeling , on behalf of the of these miserable victims of vice and woe, I now hope the period is not very distant when their miseries will in some degree be alleviated. … For the last five and twenty years many of the convict women have been driven to vice, to obtain a loaf of bread or a bed to lie upon. To this day there has never been a place to put the female convicts in when they land from the ships. … All female convicts have not run the same lengths in vice, all are not equally hardened in crime . And it is most dreadful that all should alike, on their arrival here be liable and exposed to the same dangerous temptations without remedy.” _{Rev. Samuel Marsden: Memoirs Elizabeth Fry}

Throughout the 1820s Mrs Fry championed the cause of these women. In 1823, following the opening of a building for female convicts in Paramatta 2 years previously, she wrote to her friend the Right Honourable R Wilmot Horton on the need for a similar building in Hobart:

I take the liberty of stating in writing our views relative to the female convicts in Van Diemen’s Land; in order that they may be submitted to the consideration of Lord Bathurst as we cannot but feel anxious that the care we extend to this degraded class of the community, not only in different prisons but also on the voyage , should be rendered permanently beneficial through the co-operation of government in the colonies. In the first place we deem it expedient that a building be erected at Hobart Town for the reception of female convicts. … That a respectable Matron be there stationed to superintend the whole estabishment. Part of the building be appropriated to the use of an adult and girl’s school and that the school mitresses be selected by the Matron from among the reformed prisoners, provided they be sufficiently qualified. That immediately upon arrival of the ship , after it has been visited either by the Governor or by some other person appointed by him, for the purpose of inspecting its general condition; the convicts be quietly (and as privately as possible) conducted from the ship to the said building, where the deportment of every prisoner shall be scrutinised with exactness. If the Secretary of State for the Home Department were to direct, that the surgeon superintendent should be furnished by the magistrates with a written account of the general conduct and character of every individual seen previously to their commitment, together with the nature and extent of their offence; we think it would greatly aid the Governor in his decision with regard to the proper disposal of the prisoners on the colony. That those who merit a favourable report be selected and allowed to be taken into service , by respectable inhabitants under such retraints and regulations as may be considered needful. The other to remain confined receiving at the same time suitable instruction and employment until they evince sufficient amendment in habits and dispostions to warrant the grant of a similar indulgence. We would also propose that a sufficient supply of strong and decent clothing ( not parto coloured) be provided for them during the voyage; to be put on when they enter the ship in exchange for their own. [All kept under inventory to be returned on discharge from prison] Great advantage during the voyage and while in the river that the women should wear a simple uniform dress, indispsensable for establishing order and for enforcing the regulations on board the ship that a matron be stationed there constantly whilst they remain in the river, to attend to clothing and search female visitors in order that no spiritous liquors or anything else improper be introduced. Could a person in that capacity accompany them on the voyage. …We are pleased to understand that the factory in Paramatta has more than cleared its expenses during the last year. …we are fully aware that much has been accomplished ; that many of our requests have been granted with obliging readiness, and we shall feel our sense of gratitude much increased if Lord Bathurst will condescend to peruse these remarks and to act in compliance, as far as his judgement can approve, and his authority enforce. _{Elizabeth Fry Memoirs 1847}

_{John Skinner Prout 1844}

The building sought by Mrs Fry was completed in December 1828. The Cascades Female Factory was a repurposed distillery at the foot of Mount Wellington and despite the noble ideals behind its creation the reality fell a long way short. Those women previously housed in the town were moved into the new building first and then classified according to the new regime.

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The building Frances and Dinah would have seen in 1829 consisted of one rectangular yard. Surrounded by high walls with just one entrance. Within the courtyard internal walls created seven smaller yards, one for the entrance and the offices, one for each of the hospital kitchen and nursery and three more separated the different classes of women, their yards adjacent to their sleeping quarters and dayrooms. The two storey buildings lined the external yard walls, and also housed staff. A chapel and further sleeping rooms extended into the centre. 12 solitary confinement cells underlined the harsh regime.

The classification of the women was as follows:

Class 1: Women arrived from England with a good behaviour report from the Superintendent Surgeon, along with those who had returned to the Factory from Service with good characters. This class of women were assigned to service as soon as possible.

Class 3: The lowest classification was reserved for those transported for a second time, noted as disorderly by the surgeon or had committed offences within Cascades. The second class was comprised for those women between the other two classes some of whom were working their way up while others were slipping down.

As suggested by Elizabeth Fry the classifications designated the work of the women. Those ranked in the higher class would be assigned to better families and for better duties such as cooks or overseers. Second class convicts would be provided work on site making and mending clothes, while the lower criminal class would be employed carding and spinning wool.

Despite previous convictions for stealing, along with lewd and disorderly behaviour, Frances Stephenson had good behaviour reports from the gaol and the ship’s surgeon. Unable to read or write she was categorised as a farm servant / housemaid, able to wash and iron, capable of plain cooking and milking. Her convict records reflect that she is likely to have been among those assigned on arrival, depending on when Dinah was weaned. Frances’ records do show that she spent some time at cascades but this may have been between service assignments. Young Dinah would by necessity be left in the care of the nursery at Cascades. In February 1829 the Hobart Times³ reported on the arrangements in relation to the arrival of the convict ship The Harmony in January:

The new House of Correction is likely to be attended with much advantage, an instance of which already sensibly appears in the disposal of the female prisoners by the Harmony. Many of the best servants, it is well known, were necessarily kept in the late Factory, owing to the children, which there was no means of disposing of, but by leaving them in the charge of the mother; for few, if any families could be expected to incur the expense and trouble of one or two little children for the sake of the small attendance. In the new establishment, however, this inconvenience is wisely provided for. Matrons, or proper persons are appointed in apartments for that purpose, to nurse and educate the children as soon as they can with propriety leave the mother, who is thus left at liberty to go to service. By this means a large proportion of the prisoners from the Harmony, who had children with them, and who on the former system must have remained a charge on the public, have been assigned to service. _{February 1829 the Hobart Times}

A newspaper article in 1892 related the reality of these separations. George Pullen was the nephew of the assistant superintendent at Cascades and he wrote of his childhood recollections of the Cascades Factory from its opening in 1828 to his uncle’s resignation in April 1831:

For some days after the arrival of a female prison ship, a stranger, looking on from the outside, would have concluded that the ‘Factory’ was en fete. Vehicles of every description then used might be seen driving up to the gates and setting down the—well, I will make one word do for the wives of the wealthy, the middle class and the
humble artisan, and style them all ladies. The ladies, then, alighted from their
vehicles, and producing their orders for servants on assignment, the women
were called in one by one and put through their catechism. “Can you wash?”
“Can you sew?” “Can you get up fine linen?” “Can you cook?” “Are you fond
of children?” etc. After thus examining some half-dozen a choice was made,
and mistress and servant drove off together. Before the close of a week by far
the larger portion of the human consignment was distributed amongst and in the
homes of their masters in both town and country. … The Colonial
Surgeon, Dr. J. Scott, R.N., made periodical visits for the purpose of reporting
on the sanitary condition of the whole place and its inmates. The hospital was
never overcrowded; many of the cases only helping to swell the expenses of
the nursery and Orphan School. To these cases Colonel Arthur showed no
mercy. The unfortunate creature nursed her child for nine or twelve months,
after which it was taken from her arms, and consigned to the tender mercies of
strangers in the nursery. The mother was then sentenced to an imprisonment of
eighteen months before she became eligible for assigned service. Many of the
poor mites seemed discontented with the new world into which they had been
ushered, and left it altogether; while those of stronger constitutions, but less
fortunate, pined within the stone-wall enclosure, with only occasional peeps for
a short time at nature’s verdure outside, fighting for life against the neglect and
peculation of their convict nurses for two or three years, when they were
removed to the less confined and more healthy atmosphere of the Orphan
School at New Town. The scenes witnessed at the separation of mother and
child were sometimes very harrowing. _{Backward Glances : Launceston Examiner 1892}

The cascades factory quickly became notorious for the poor state of those confined there , in particular the children.³ The buildings were already in the shadow of Mount Wellington and the high yard walls ensured a state of permanent damp and shade prevailed. Inadequate rations, cramped conditions and poor hygiene took their toll with death rates in the nurseries four times higher than in the town. Reports abound on the poor state of the conditions; children crowded by the dozen into small rooms, buildings piled with rubbish and crawling with bugs, while settlers complained that the women arrived from the factories in a filthy state.

In March 1830 young Dinah succumbed to these conditions, born in Lincoln Castle Gaol in November 1828 she had been transported for months across the seas to the terrible conditions in the convict nursery, where ,separated from her mother, she gave up her fight for life.

Frances continued along the dictated path. In December 1830 a marriage application is recorded for Frances Stephenson, Lady of the Lake, and Henry ( Harry) Sherwood, Hibernia. Harry had been transported for sheep stealing in 1818, the two were married in March 1831.

Harry and Frances went on to have eight children between 1832 and 1847.

The 1832 and 1833 musters record Frances as assigned to a Mr R Barker. In 1835 she received a ticket of leave, with a conditional pardon in 1840 and a free pardon being fully approved in 1842, records reveal that she was “recommended by several persons of respectability in her neighbourhood as an exceedingly well conducted and steady woman”. Although one newspaper report in April 1840 suggests that her life remained complicated ; Samuel Barton had his ticket of leave suspended and was given three months hard labour on the roads for carrying out an illicit correspondence with a married woman and assaulting her husband, Harry Sherwood.

Frances would later marry again, following the death of Harry she married Joseph Haywood in 1875, subsequently widowed once more she married Richard Price in 1887 at the age of 80. Frances died in October 1889 , she is buried in Yarram, Victoria.
She endured the absence of John and the loss of Dinah, out living three of her husbands and five of her eight¹ children with Harry Sherwood.

The young woman who had reportedly looked around the court of assizes with such effrontery, 60 years before, seems to have been in possession of a remarkable inner strength which provided her with a dogged determination to just keep going.

Notes

1. Many thanks to Carol Mayall for giving me permission to use information sourced from “tangible” documents in the form of parish registers.
2. As above Carol Mayall provided the names of Frances’ cell mates from Lincoln Castle records; accessed while researching “one of [her] most colourful ancestors“.
3. The Female Convicts Research Centre Website contains a wealth of information on the subject of Cascades and many other Factories and stories. https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au

In 2020 the VE Day anniversary celebrations were necessarily muted or cancelled, the blog below was written In May 2020 and began by looking at the new regulations we were facing. On 14th & 15th August 2021 Alford’s 1940s Weekend will finally take place. As this fantastic event approaches it seems like a good time to look back to life in and around Alford during those war years …

As we approach the 75 Year anniversary of Germany’s Surrender we find ourselves in strange times. Original plans for  VE Day Memorial Celebrations have been cancelled across the Country as our Government tells us we are at war once more. This time the enemy is invisible,  we are fighting on the Home Front, and our hospitals are  all too frequently the theatres of war. Once again community spirit is strong , connected in a primarily virtual world, people have come together to sing, to play, to offer advice for the garden and to organise tangible help for those in need.

For the first time in generations we have been subject to strict Government orders controlling our movements, the campaign slogan, has become the rallying cry of the daily briefings from Westminster.

Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives

If we are forced to venture out instructions are ever present as we are led through different working practices, enter medical establishments with trepidation, or warily face the food queues. Posters have been a key element of this campaign, stark, concise and emphatic in their message. They provide a swift insight into what is happening and what is expected of us, as we have moved through the last few weeks they have changed to reflect the latest requirements.

Similarly the posters of World War II provide an insight into the key campaigns throughout the six long years of war. Over 75 years later the success of the slogans is confirmed by our familiarity with them today.

Among the campaigns to promote the good health of the Country, botanists pharmacists and doctors worked alongside ministry officials on the Vegetable Drugs Committee to ensure the active ingredients for important medicines were available.

70 County Herb Committees were created along with 250 drying centres . Volunteers were recruited via institutions such as the Scouts, Girl Guides and the WI to forage for the required plants.

In May 1944 the Skegness Standard included a brief paragraph at the end of a WI report relaying information from the Lincolnshire County Herb Committee:

Stinging nettles are among the plants asked for in abundance this year to help Britain’s home produced medical supplies. Urgently needed are foxglove leaves and seeds for the heart. Autumn crocus seeds for rheumatism and deadly nightshade for the nerves.  

Humour was widely used to engage the public although this approach was understandably measured against the issue being addressed. The importance of moving children to safer rural areas, and allowing them to stay there, was approached with a mixture of encouragement and a suggestion of fear.

Children from the towns were moved to safety at the outbreak of war but, as the first few months remained quiet in the skies, problems were widely encountered as mothers sought the return of their children to the family home. Children from Grimsby began arriving in Skegness at the outbreak of hostilities, with over 300 arriving by bus on Friday 1st December 1939. Ladies of the WVS, councillors and other volunteers were on hand at the Tower Pavilion Distribution Centre to welcome the children and see them settled. In 1944 Alford councillors called for additional help at the school which was trying to cope with an additional 60 school meals due the accomodating evacuee children.

The evacuation of children from the towns and the blackout were among the earliest major changes to life on the homefront. Plans had been place for months with the local press reporting on Blackout preparations in April 1939. Alongside the report was confirmation that the evacuation census was virtually complete. Fifty six thousand from Leeds and 21,000 from Hull , mostly children, would be evacuated into the Lindsey area in the event of war.  A warning …

… that isolated Lincolnshire villages could not regard themselves as being perfectly safe from the effects of air raids was given by Major James Henry Hadfield, of Alford, secretary of the North Lincolnshire branch of the Red Cross, this week. A great number of aerial battles would take place over Lincolnshire in war time because of the network of aerodromes, he said, and the probability would be that enemy bombers, en route for the densely populated areas, would, when attacked by fighter aircraft, discard their bombs in a hurry before reaching their objective. No one could foretell where a bomb might drop, and it was necessary, therefore that first-aid measures should be perfected both in the villages and in the towns.         Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian – Sat. 15 April 1939

In the event the Blackout led to a large rise in accidents and personal injuries safety campaigns were extensive to encourage people to wear elements of white to help them to be seen.

The Punch Cartoonist Fougrasse designed The Blackout (below) free of charge for the Ministry of Information posters, he went on to do many more.

Time Flies was connected to the push for being productive in all areas of life. The Careless Talk Costs Lives poster is one of eight by the popular artist  related to the anti-gossip campaign for the ministry of information.

The British Government mobilised the civilian population for work desperately needed to support the war. The co-ordinated campaigns prescribed a way of life which lasted for many years beyond the war, elements of which remain ingrained within the fabric of our society today, allbeit diminishing down the generations. The Ministry of Information was created on 4th September 1939, the day following the outbreak of war, the control of information at home was a key responsibility, both in promoting campaigns and support for war work while suppressing news and censoring the press.

The civilian population must be kept fed and healthy in order to provide the labour for the huge war machine the Country had to become. Food rationing began in January of 1940, followed by clothing in June of 1941. Campaigns to Grow your Own , Dig for Victory and Make Do and Mend  were presented throughout Britain at a local level through institutions such as the Women’s Institute, the Scout Movement and local Horticultural Societies and gardening Clubs.

Funding the war effort was  the basis of more campaigns, the public were encouraged to save their money and buy war bonds to support the war, squandering cash on unrequired goods was frowned upon and recycling became the order of the day. At a local level the campaigns are reflected in snippets of news from the War years.

In 1939 Britain was reliant on food imports, lessons learned from the the blockades of WW1 ensured that rationing was quickly introduced and families were encouraged to grow their own produce to supplement their diet with produce which was not on ration. Imported fruits and vegetables disappeared from the nation’s diet for some years. In December 1945 a Fyffe ship docked at Avonmouth with a consignment of 10 million bananas from Jamaica. They were the first bananas to reach Britain since 1940.

One relative who grew up in Skendleby recalls vividly her first sight of this strange fruit.  One of four children, all of the siblings were very reluctant  to try this new addition to their diet.

In January 1940 everyone received a ration book with coupons, including children. Sugar, meat and cheese purchases needed a coupon, other items worked on a points system that altered according to availability. Children and expectant mothers were a priority, from 1942 they received an increased milk ration. The provision of free milk to school children continued until 1971.

Local newspapers carried the declarations from the Ministry of Food explaining the food rationing system, registrations required with local butchers and grocers and, inevitably, the fines issued to both traders and housewives when the system had been abused. As the system was updated new information advertisements appeared.

In April 1940 the Skegness Standard reported on the Lindsey Federation of Women’s Institutes recent meeting in Louth: The produce guild had enrolled 175 members whose … first task  was to distribute the remarkably good collections of vegetable seeds purchased co-operatively the National Federation. They had had the help of Mr. Murray with their gardening, and he had drawn up a vegetable chart for them. In June it is proposed to hold several day conferences on ‘From Garden to Kitchen,’’ where they could learn in the morning how to grow their vegetables, and in the afternoon see how they could be cooked to the best advantage. Fruit preservation was perhaps the best side of the guild, which appeals to most members, and the County was prepared to arrange half-day schools in jam-making and fruit bottling or canning. Initially, to allow members to see the concrete results of this season’s work, a series of small produce exhibitions are to be held in September at some twelve different centres.                               Skegness Standard Wednesday 17th April 1940

Victory Garden Shows and competitions took place across the Lindsey district throughout the war years, as well as promoting the food campaign they raised also funds. In 1943 a series of shows across Lindsey raised over £5,700 for the Red Cross.

In June 1941 clothes rationing was introduced, manufacturing had been moved over to the production of weapons. The Make Do and Mend campaign was launched by the Board of Trade in 1942.  At a local level the WI picked up the baton for this campaign organising series of exhibitions on thrift craft. One such exhibition in Spilsby in 1944 was opened by Mrs P Godsmark who commended the thought, skill and ingenuity involved. The make and mend exhibits also received a special mention with dressmaking, renovations, gloves, slippers and household jobbery included.

The war on waste continued with a series of recycling campaigns. Rags were recycled for use in the creation of soldiers blankets and uniforms. Salvage campaigns for scrap metal large and small were also tremendously successful across the County.

In August 1940 the Lindsey Women’s Volunteer Services reported on their work in relation to the National Salvage Campaign to a correspondent from the Standard:

First all she said she was very pleased to be able to say that after one and a half years’ work there were now 3,300 members of the W.V.S. in Lindsey. She is full of admiration for not only the amount of work the women have done, but the way they stick to it, sometimes in the face of great difficulties. … Regarding salvage, the work has increased enormously in the last two months. For instance. W.V.S. has agreed to do all the collecting, sorting and baling of paper for the Caistor R.D.C. Quite recently the Horncastle Rural area was organised to assist the Council with their salvage scheme, and the W.V.S. Organiser  visited 70 villages and organised a salvage scheme in each one of them in under three weeks. The Sanitary Inspector is very pleased at the clean and tidy way in which the paper is coming in from the majority of the villages. In Skegness, the organiser had sets of pots and pans on the doorstep her office within ten minutes of  the radio broadcast, and within an hour she had an appeal on at one of the local cinemas from that afternoon. Another got permission to disply the wreckage of a German plane to explain to the public what the aluminium was needed for.  All of this work is in addition to all the usual Civil Defence work —A.R.P., Hospital Services, Evacuation, and Transport. National Savings groups, canteens for the Forces, and many jobs that cannot be classified. For instance, apart from doing thousands of ration cards for the Food Controller, the women in one big coastal town have been disinfecting gas masks. Seventy women are working, and the greatest achievement was the disinfecting of 112 in one evening and the dismantling of 60 babies’ gas masks in the afternoon. Regarding the Civil Nursing Reserve,- 300 nursing auxiliaries have been interviewed by the W.V.S. Apart from endless work connected with evacuation all over the county, the Communal and Social Centre at ‘The Woodlands,” Woodhall Spa, has now been run by W.V.S. since September 11th. All the cooking, waiting, etc., has been entirely voluntary. W.V.S. have also been helping with the hostels for unbilletable children at Gainsborough and Linwood Rectory and Caistor.   

Skegness Standard -Wednesday 14th August 1940

The National Salvage Campaigns included the scheduled requisition of iron railings across the Nation. Compensation of 25s / ton was available but people were urged to donate their railings to  the war effort. All railings were scheduled for removal unless their retenion was essential for reasons of safety; the enclosure of cattle or were deemed to be of historic or artistic merit. The last option provided the basis of an appeal for the owner but the local authority decision was final.  

In February of 1944 the Standard reported ” much dissatisfaction” in Alford regarding those railings which were not removed. The Parish Council was keen to underline that railings preventing cattle from accessing the poisonous yew trees and hedges were kept in place but the decisions were not theirs.

Along with details of the scheduled removals, notices explained that the steel merchants and contractors were not benefiting from the metal removals.

In May of 1943 the Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guradian reported that the Ministry of Work team had completed their scheduling in Lincolnshire.

As a result this comprehensive undertaking, some thousands tons of scrap metal have been scheduled, collected, trucked and dispatched to foundries to be transformed into ships, planes, tanks and guns. Although the locators’ task is over the work recovery of the scrap metal will continue in Lincolnshire for some weeks. [ they were still discussing the issues in Alford in 1944 ! ] In addition to the lifting of much heavy metal, and the dismantling of various buildings, there are still thousands of tons of light scrap and tins from destructor yards in different areas. The business of sorting, pressing and trucking this is difficult, and the percentage of tins collected in Lincolnshire has been abnormally high, three or four times higher than that usually encountered. Over 700 tons tins and light scrap have been removed from Lincoln destructor yard alone and a correspondingly heavy tonnage, also of tins and light scrap, have come from Caistor. Louth RDC, Alford Urban,  Barton-on-Humber, Horncastle, Spilsby and Woodhall Spa. 

In addition to the salvage campaigns National Savings Campaigns were relentless …

The Squanderbug was created by artist Phillip Boydell, an employee of the National Savings Committee. The Committee raised funds by urging the public to save their own money and invest it in the war effort. The cartoon bug appeared in press adverts and poster campaigns as a menace who encouraged shoppers to waste money rather than buy war savings certificates.

Alford frequently topped County tables for the various savings campaigns throughout the war.

In April 1940 the WI were counting up their collections for the War Finance Campaign, £63,000 was attributed to the Alford National Savings

In the War Weapons Week in June 1941 Alford raised a staggering £59,400 representing an average of £27 per person.

In 1942 they came top once again during Warship Week with a total of £31,427, raised by Whist Drives, Amateur Productions and Dances. In May 1944 the ” Salute the Soldier ” Campaign saw Alford receive the County Flag for their contribution of £6 16s 1d per head, in relation to £4 14s 5d for Market Rasen and £3 10s and 6d for Lincoln.

The pressure to feed the Country and protect shipping required more cultivation and women were encouraged to work on the land, enabling the men to join up. The Women’s Land Army was originally set up in 1917 but had disbanded at the end of the Great War. It was reformed in 1939 and volunteers were recruited, from December 1941 women could also be conscripted. As in the First World War the Land Girls undertook all aspects of work on the land and could be sent to any part of the Country.

In February 1943 The Standard reported on the the issues facing the Lincolnshire Farmers as discussed at the monthly NFU meeting. The labour shortage continued to be an issue;

The considerable help that had been given by school children was agreed, but it was felt that the boys from secondary schools might do more if the headmasters would permit it. Various instances were given of how readily offers of help had come from the masters of elementary senior schools, while too great stress was laid by the masters of secondary schools on the interference which land work had the boys’ preparations for examinations. It was felt that the Education Authorities might help in pointing out to the masters of secondary schools how helpful their boys could be.

It was also felt that the machinery for obtaining Italian Prisoners of war as land workers should be speeded up. At present it took from four to six weeks  to get a prisoner for billeting on a farm. It was very necessary to procure them in this way to emable them to start work with the other men. To employ them in gangs meant that they did not arrive on the farm until 10am and they were away again shortly after  4 p.m.

One of the assembly also drew the attention of the Executive to the Ministry Labour order directing farm men to leave the land and seek employment in tin and coal mines. It had been suggested that woman could do land work, but this was not altogether his experience. 

Skegness Standard – Wednesday 10th Feb 1943

The introduction of the Land Girls and Prisoners of War on the Farms did cause some  problems. In November 1943 a young man was convicted of maliciously wounding a land girl at Market Rasen. Frederick Cross had taken offence at her friendliness towards the Italian Prisoners of War following her refusal to go out with him on several occasions. The young woman received knife wounds.

A brief notice to the Home Guard in the Skegness Standard, August of 1940 suggests that during the heightened tensions of war the absence of spoken English was understandably a problem.

Home Guard

Dont forget that French, Polish, and Czech airmen are flying with the Royal Air Force. A solitary parachutist may be one of these and unable to speak English. If you see five or less they may be our own men.

The work done by the various defence organisations on the ground is too vast a subject to adequately cover here. A brief overview of the subject has been provided below taken from information in the Alford Town books published by Cooke and Crome in 1988/90 .

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Alford’s Royal Observer Corps opened in June 1936 and had been mobilised on 24th August 1939. A Civil Defense unit was formed in Alford in 1939 which comprised 4 sections; Air Raid Wardens; First Aid; Ant-Gas Squad and a Rescue Squad. Training was frequently in conjunction with local Army Units. The Home Guard were formed in 1940, training took place on a Wednesday and Thursday supplemented by night exercises and Sunday parades in the Market Place.

Servicemen responsible for coastal defences were housed in local camps or in in family homes. An Artillery Training Battery was set up at Bilsby Park.

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The warnings issued by Major Hadfield in April of 1939 were of course correct and Alford was no exception  In June 1940 a Heinkel flew along West St. firing randomly. The first enemy aircraft shotdown in Lincolnshire were three Dornier 17Zs in August 1940. One dropped into the North Sea, the other two crashed in Bilsby.

In June 1941 a Heinkell 111 was hit close to Alford, the pilot crash landed down at Reston. The aircraft was displayed in Alford Market Place.

On 7th September 1941 an enemy bomber machine gunned Alford Station, dropping an bomb on a large goods shed there. Arthur Bush, a railway porter on firewatch was killed.  Arthur and his wife Ellen had lived at 16 Commercial Road, he was 65 years of age, they had been married for over 40 years. the Civil Defense Rescue Squad worked through the night

In May 1942 Compulsory Enrolment in the Home Guard was announced in the Skegness Standard. All men in the County not already involved in the Civil Defense Service would be required to assist.

In July 1942 bombs were dropped on the lineside South of Willoughby Station. Around 500 tonnes of debris blocked the lines comprising of clay bricks, concrete, trees and hedging. The Stationmaster called in the gangers and the line to Grimsby was cleared in under three hours for the mail train. The permanent gang from Alford worked to clear the other line.

In 1945 the Lincolnshire Echo posted a series of extracts from a County Constabulary booklet : Air Raids in Lincolnshire. The reports reveal the extraordinary disruption caused by thousands of Butterfly Bombs dropped accross Lincolnshire during the war years. These anti-personnel bombs detonated when touched.  In June 1943 Grimsby, Cleethropes and the outlying rural areas suffered a major air attack which included over three thousand Butterfly Bombs. The devices lay everywhere , fitted with clockwork fuse and a 30 minute delay mechanism. The large number of bombs required extensive searches in town and country by police, wardens and the Fire Service involving over 10,000 man hours in Grimsby alone.  In August 1943 a further 750 of the devices were dropped in one raid on rural districts, close to Horncastle.

The disruption in rural areas was complicated by the importance of protecting the crops, harvest was suspended until extensive searches had been carried out the brunt of which fell onto the police service. Many areas of Corn, Barley , Peas Clover and Grassland were systematically searched before being declared safe. Some areas were left as the floiage was too dense. In three areas tanks were used to tow reapers to gather  a crop which would otherwise have been lost.

Life on the Home front during WWII was one of deprivation and hard work.  Shortages were widespread, the war effort demanded time, money and hard work. The poster campaigns of the 1940s were very clear staying at home was not an option.

By the end of WWII 384,000 soldiers had been killed in combat, the civilian civilian death toll was 70,000 largely due to German bombing raids during the Blitz: 40,000 civilians died in the seven-month period between September 1940 and May 1941, almost half of them in London.

On 6th December 1944 the Skegness Standard reported on the stand down of the Home Guarrd. The final parade of the 10th (Lindsey Battalion) took place in Alford, large crowds gathered to watch the march past and stand down. The men assembled at Alford Town Station and marched to the school grounds. A dais had been erected in front of the White Horse Hotel to be used as a salute base. Representations of 7 Companies, 27 Platoons, numbering 1300 officers, NCOsand men marched past headed by the band of the Louth British Legion. The stand down took place in the senior school playground. Following a service by the Rev. Draper the hymn Onward Christian Soldiers was sung. Field Marshall Sie AA Montgomery-Massingberd read a message from the King:

… for more than 4 years you have borne a heavy burden. Most of you have been engaged in long hours of work necessary to the prosecution of war or to maintaining the healthful life of the nation: and you have given a great portion of the time which should have been your own, to learning the skilled work of the soldier. By this patient and ungrudging effort you have built a force able to play an essential part in the defence of our threatened soil and liberty…

The National Anthem brought proceedings to a close, and as the battalion dispersed the British Legion band played Auld Lang Syne.

In December 1945 the Lincolnshire Echo reported that between June 5th 1940 and March 3rd 1945 116,384 bombs were dropped on Lincolnshire alone killing 408 people and injuring 1,233.

The Alford war memorial commemorates twenty two fallen  in WWII, 8 of whom lost their lives in 1944, Sapper Stanley Wheatley died in Italy in October 1945 following the end of the War. railwayman Arthur Bush appears in the book of Civilian fallen.

Messrs Cooke and Crome inform us that on 8th May 1945 the Church bells were rung for an hour, following a short informal service of Thanksgiving.

Later in the day a public bonfire took place on Park Lane Field where an effigy of Hitler was burned.