Mike Covell’s Blogg

On Monday November 26^th 2012 I set off from Hull on the Hull to Beverley train with a view to visiting the East Riding Archives, at the Treasurers House, Beverley.  The reason for the trip was two fold.  The first part of my research was aimed at investigating a local paranormal mystery that is relevant to the Sculcoates area of Hull.  As Sculcoates fall under the jurisdiction of the East Riding Council, many of the records are kept at the East Riding Archives.  The second leg of my research trip was to investigate two Jack the Ripper scares that had occurred in Beverley during the 19^th century.

Jack the Ripper Scares

I first discovered the two scares in The Hull Daily Mail archives and searching further a field discovered more reports in the National press, I was, however, hoping to find the source material from Beverley, so at some point a trip across to the archives was on the cards.  The two reports were from the years 1891 and 1894 and covered two unsavoury characters that had visited Beverley and been arrested after Jack the Ripper Scares in the district. 

At the East Riding Archives I searched the old back issues of The Beverley Guardian, which at the time was published every Saturday.  It wasn’t long before the search turned up several articles from 1891 and 1894.  In the past The Beverley Guardian has provided me with details on Frederick Bailey Deeming, under his alias Harry Lawson, and in their February 1890 editions featured announcements of his marriage at St. Mary’s Church in Beverley.  His subsequent career in Hull, and trial for fraud also featured, as well as his arrest in Australia and trial for murder.  The Beverley Guardian was also a great source of information in the search for material on Mary Jane Langley and her unsolved murder on the outskirts of Marfleet and Preston.  Having the local slant on these cases proved valuable as it mentioned other names and locations as well as being more in depth.   

The Paranormal Mystery

Without giving too much away on this little mystery, I visited the archives to obtain several historical documents from the early 19^th century that shed new light on an age old mystery.  I have been investigating and researching this particular location for years now, but with little published about it, and less written on the internet I decided to find the historical documents that pertain to the location when it was first mooted and eventually built.  A couple of books have tackled this location, but they give very little in the way of historical facts.  My aim was get back to the local acts that made the construction of this location and start researching the history from that point.

In the East Riding Archives search room I was very pleased to be shown several historical documents dating back to 1817 that showed the meetings and acts that were set in place for the construction of this location.