What it was like to live in Boston in the past

1. What it was like to live in Boston in the past History of Boston

2. History of Boston A high tide, severe storms and weak sea defences caused one of the worst floods on record in and around Boston 30,000 people died. Boston is an old market town, even today on a Wednesday and Saturday .The Dock was very important to the local area and the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from here. It has a population of 55,750. The most well known landmark in the area is the stump, the largest parish church in England, which also has one of the highest towers in England.

3. Events • In 1931 Boston was flooded 6 and ¾ inches fell in a period of 24 hours. • In 1762 acts of parliament were passed to allow embanking and straightening of the fenland stretch of the River Witham. • In 1281 Boston suffered a fire, which destroyed much of the town. • In 1607 a group of Puritans from the Gainsborough area, led by William Brewster, attempted to escape to Holland from Boston.

4. Famous People Herbert Ingram was born 27th May 1811 in Boston. He was the founder of the Illustrated London news in 1842. His statue stands next to the Boston Stump. He was an MP for Boston until 1856. He died on a ship in America in 1860. Jean Ingelow was born in Boston in 1820. She began writing verse and contributed to Youth’s magazine before becoming an editor. In 1850 she published a set of poems with the name “A rhyming chronicle in incidents and feeling“. Jean died in 1897 and her most famous poem was “High tide on the coast of Lincolnshire. Catherine Mumford (1829-1890) her family came from Boston and she was born in Ashbourne, Derbyshire on January 17th 1829. She was the co-founder of The Salvation Army and known as the ‘Army and known as the army mother. At twelve years old she became secretary of the Boston Juvenile Temperance Society and later founded the Christian Mission in Whitechapel, London.

5. Important buildings • Boston stump was built in 1309 it is a famous land mark in the country and is the areas largest church. It is used for Religious Ceremonies today as it was many years ago. It was used in world war I and II as a landmark for both German and British planes. • In 1713 a charity school opened called The Blue Coat School. They taught a lot of the poorest freeman’s sons to learn English, to write and to cash up accounts. Classes were initially held in the stump, in 1865 the pupils were transferred to a house down Wormgate. A new school was then built in 1862 for the boys and a girls school was built in 1875 and by 1892 the boys school was replaced by Carlton Road school

6. Transport in our area • One of Boston’s main transportations was railways there is still an old railway today, allow it has declined importance since the 1960’s. Railways carried people and a lot of goods came in and out of Boston this on the steam engines. Over 50 staff were employed at most stations. Boston station was once an important junction, which had two lines leaving in either direction . • The River Witham joined the Haven after the Flood of September 1014. The waterways were used to transport goods to towns all over the country. By 1300’s Boston traded all over Europe on the rivers. They exported wool, salt, grain and lead. • Howden developed steam engines for boats and threshing engines in the 19th century. • The railway reached Boston in 1848 and it was the main line from London to the North. It continues to move produce from the area and trade from the dock. • The Haven Bridge was opened in 1966 and the new road was built in the early 70’s.