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It is truly a "Journey to Another Land" The book is based upon the writings of local people, from their Parish Registers to the Rolls of the Manor Court that controlled day-to-day lives. Over sixty of their Probate Inventories have been Translated and a Glossary is included to explain the many words used that have gone from our language. Other aids aim to assist those who want to try translation themselves. There are mapped reconstructions of the Parish with street and field names of the time, and the all important system of land-use that was so vital to the community of the time is explained. But no history would be complete without studies of the lives of individuals and major events. We study the life of Clement Burgess, a labourer whose Probate Inventory suggests that he lived near the bread line in a humble two-roomed cottage. But why then does his goods include an expensive four-poster bed? There are the stories of the self-made Gentleman who shocked his neighbours, and the Priest who, almost single- handedly rebuilt his ruined church. Then there was the Squire who was descended from England?s first Pirate and became a Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth. Several important events across the hundred years are looked at in depth. South Ferriby, Horkstow and Saxby played an important part in the Rising against Henry VIII of 1538, which ended with the execution at Tyburn of their local leader. Then there was the time of mass death when in 1559 the villagers lost nearly a third of their number in one month. The cause was not as simple as might at first appear. And there are surprises to be found in the causes and speed of recovery! But this is not the only story of despair and hope. There is a study of how the slow decline of the Village was stopped when Ferriby was the headquarters in the late 1630s of a great engineering project. But the attempt to drain the drowned AncholmeValley ended only in continuing hardship. |
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