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It is 100 years ago that the nation celebrated the Coronation of George V and Queen Mary.  The actual day, 22 June 1911, was a holiday and the city of York took on an air of festivity with bunting and flags strung from shops and homes.  

By contrast, a visitor to Bishopthorpe who wrote about the day in the Parish Magazine was slightly disappointed.  The writer found, "So little had been done in the way of decoration of the houses or the village street.  A few inhabitants had made some effort in this direction, and they enabled one to see how good an effect could have been obtained if only more had cooperated."

However, he or she, writing under the pseudonym of 'An Outsider', soon realised that various leading parishioners were missing, although loyally engaged elsewhere.  This included Archbishop Lang who was attending the Coronation in Westminster Abbey with his chaplain, the vicar of Bishopthorpe, the Rev. Crawley.  The 'Outsider' excused the lack of decoration in the village as the locals soon showed that their "energies and loyalty had been exercised in other ways". He also admitted to having been indulgently and hospitably welcomed. 

So the day began with Divine Service at St. Andrew's Church which was well-filled; the children's aisle being particularly crowded.  The singing of the National Anthem brought the service to a close and the congregation then proceeded to the cricket field.  On the way, the schoolchildren entered the Palace grounds where they were given Coronation mugs filled with sweets; a gift from the Archbishop.   

On reaching the cricket field, sports and games followed thick and fast.  The tiny "dots" under the age of five ran the first race "manfully in the blustering wind."  The little girl who was blown in first won a doll.  Race after race followed with children winning tops, building bricks and teddy bears.  Disaster struck only one yard from home when the two leading girls in the three-legged race lost the handkerchief which tied their legs together. As a result, they were disqualified. 

The adults also took part in many races.  Most interest centred upon the tortoise bicycle races.  The women's race was won by Mary Lofthouse who showed remarkable skill in the manipulation of her free wheel.  Egg and spoon, thread-needle and mixed clothes races were, apparently, very amusing and popular.  The most remarkable race of the day was for men aged over 50 years when an old gentleman of 85 came in third. 

The races were followed by tea in Mr. Lofthouses's barn, which had been cleaned and decorated making it look like a huge tent.  The long tables were spread with a beautiful tea and house plants.  But the children were described as the nicest decorations: "so pretty they looked, and so well-behaved were they that it was no wonder Mr. Sutherland took a snapshot of them."  [What became of this rare photograph?] 

The children returned to the cricket field for more games and sports while the adults had their tea.  Sports continued until 8.00pm when the prize-giving took place.  Cheers rang out afterwards for His Majesty and for the Archbishop who had supplied the tea as well as the Coronation mugs.  While the Archbishop was, indeed, generous the funding for the festivities was raised by public subscription and organised by many willing helpers.

The evening, which was spent dancing to music by a "capable" band, ended with the lighting of a huge bonfire and a display of fireworks.  As the anonymous writer, 'Outsider' concluded: "This ended a day that will linger long in the minds of many who were fortunate to be there.  A happy day it was to all, and the reason was not far to seek, all with one accord seemed to mean to be happy, and right royally they succeeded." 

Linda Haywood

Bishopthorpe Parish Magazine, July, 1911.
The Yorkshire Gazette, 24 July 1911, p7.

Following on from Joanne Carter's search for her Bishopthorpe ancestors, the Leaf family, I found the following sad story: 

Richard Leaf was a 56 year-old tailor who lived in Main Street, Bishopthorpe.  On the afternoon of Tuesday, 21 April 1868, he called into The Woodman for a quiet drink and received a little more than he had bargained for.  His life came to an abrupt and unexpected end which necessitated a Coroner's Inquest. The case had excited much interest because of the reluctance of some witnesses to give a straightforward account of the mystery which, at first, seemed to surround Richard Leaf's death.

It was during this period that the York to Selby line of the North Eastern Railway was being built and the village pubs would have seen their fair share of navvies who were working in the area.  On the afternoon in question, Mr. Leaf found himself at The Woodman in the company of two navvies.  One of the men started to quarrel with his companion who refused to respond.  John Simpson, the landlord's son, told the inquest that Leaf spoke to the quarrelsome navvy who objected to his interfering in a private argument.  They argued for a short while and then Leaf jumped up and challenged the navvy to a fight.  The two men fought until Leaf took a blow which knocked him into a chair.  His opponent wished to continue but John Simpson would not let him. Simpson also remarked that Leaf received a blow on his right cheek near the eye.  Leaf got up, put on his coat, and walked out.  He appeared to be well and was not drunk as testified by Sarah Kezia Simpson, the landlord's daughter.  She stated that he had had two glasses of whisky, but added she noticed his face was bleeding.   

Later, witnesses found Richard Leaf lying on his face on the ground outside The Woodman.  Two men carried him into the pub, laid him on the floor where he slept and snored loudly.  His wife Charlotte arrived, assumed her husband was drunk, and promptly returned home.  A further fight broke out between the navvies while Leaf was unconscious on the floor but witnesses claimed he was not touched.  Charlotte returned to the inn and found two men lifting up her husband. It was then she noticed that his face was bleeding. 

The surgeon, Mr. J. I. F. Marshall of York, was sent for but, as he was not at home, he did not arrive at Bishopthorpe until a quarter-past nine in the evening.  By then, Richard Leaf was dead.  Mr. Marshall carried out a post mortem examination and discovered a small wound near the left eye and a bruise on the left cheek bone.  There were no other marks of violence on the body.  However, he found the body in a very diseased state and said he attributed death to apoplexy arising from the diseased condition of the brain.  Death might have been accelerated by excitement and, it was revealed, Leaf was also subject to apoplectic fits.
 
It was common practice to hold inquests on licensed premises and so The Woodman Inn served as the Coroner's Court.  The inquest was held there two days after Leaf's death and adjourned until the following Tuesday, for want of further evidence. In his closing remarks, the Coroner, J. P. Wood, Esq., said that, at one time, the case had assumed a very serious aspect.  There had been a great deal of discrepancy in the early stage of the evidence regarding the deceased being injured on the face.  He was particularly critical of the landlord, Thomas Simpson and his wife, from whom he had considerable difficulty in extracting the real history of the case.  However, following the surgeon's evidence, the jury could not come to any other conclusion than that the deceased died of apoplexy and, therefore, returned this verdict. 

Richard Leaf had lived and worked in the village since about 1834 raising many children from two marriages.  For the last few years of his life, he lived in the house next to The Ebor (currently no. 48 Main Street).  It's, perhaps, not surprising to learn from a letter, written by a villager on the day after Leaf died, that there was "quite a gloom cast over Bishopthorpe" as a result of the death.  He was laid to rest in St. Andrew's Churchyard down by the river.  

Sources:
Yorkshire Gazette, 25 April and 2 May 1868.
C.E.W. Brayley, The Annals of Bishopthorpe, (pamphlet 3, p2).
 

On June 7th, 1842, an occurrence befell the aristocratic Archbishop of York, Dr. Edward Harcourt, which may have caused harm to his dignity rather than his person.  The incident was reported with some glee in the local and national press, including that most respected of journals, The Times: 

On Tuesday the venerable prelate consecrated the [new] church and churchyard …. at Ardsley, whence his Lordship proceeded, shortly after 2 o'clock, by railway, to the palace at Bishopthorpe, accompanied by the Rev. W. H. Dixon, one of his Grace's chaplains [and vicar of Bishopthorpe].  Before dinner the Archbishop took a walk in the fields in the vicinity of the palace, accompanied by Mr. Dixon, and as they were crossing an ancient drain, arm in arm, the united weight of the two gentlemen caused the arch of the drain to give way, and they both instantly plunged into the filthy water and mud beneath, almost up to their chests. 

Fortunately, Mr. Egerton Harcourt, one of his Grace's sons, who was walking at a short distance in the rear of the two reverend personages, witnessed the occurrence and immediately hastened to their assistance.  Owing to the perpendicular construction of the drain, their release was a matter of some difficulty; but we are happy to say that it was effected without other injury, either to the venerable prelate or to his chaplain, than what may arise from their sudden and involuntary immersion. 

After undergoing the requisite lustration and changing his apparel, his Grace partook of dinner as usual, and was, we understand, not a little jocose upon the consternation which their sudden intrusion into the domains of the frogs and tadpoles must have occasioned the reptiles in the vicinity of the accident. 

His Grace consecrated the new church at Clifford on the following day (Wednesday); and we are glad to be able to say that his Grace had not experienced any unpleasant consequences from the accident. 

Indeed, the Archbishop's accident did not appear to have caused him any harm whatsoever.  He lived for a further five years, dying at Bishopthorpe Palace on 5th November 1847 at the age of 90, having served as northern primate for a record 40 years. 

 

The Times, 14 June 1842, p4.

York Herald, 18 June 1842, p2.