Trouble & Strife Multi-Cache
Busy Lissy Bunch: Sadly gone and no time to maintain at the moment. Thanks to all who wrote fun or newsy logs on this cache.
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Size: 
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Beverley appears as a prosperous and genteel market town, so it is hard to imagine that just 140 years ago it was at the centre of a National Scandal and had a reputation for disagreeing with authority. This cache takes you through the town centre to discover some of the history of that time and earlier.
*******NOTE: NEW FORMULA FROM 16 OCTOBER 2010 ********
Start at N 53 50.502 W 000 25.674. The cache is not here but is at:
N 53 A (F-G). E (K-C) (H+I) W BBB F L. (L-G) D (J-I)
To find the digits, follow the trail and answer the questions.
At the starting point
1. Election Corruption
Previous to the Reform Acts of 1832, only the Freemen of Beverley were entitled to vote. The status of Freeman of the town was either inherited or could be bought by tradesmen, or earned through being apprenticed to a freeman and granted upon becoming a qualified tradesman with his own business. In the 1863 election of the Pasture Masters it became apparent that some freemen had their £2 10s Freemen application fee paid by current Tory Freemen if they agreed to vote Tory.
The Reform Act of 1832 gave the vote for parliamentary elections to householders who paid a rent of £10 and leaseholders for 21 years of property over the value of £50. In 1831, 1204 Freemen had voted out of a population of 7,432 and after the Reform act 833 Freemen retained their vote while 138 extra people gained a vote. This was a high percentage of the population showing the prosperity of the town.
The 1867 Reform Act reduced increased the potential number of voters further. In 1868 it was believed that out of 1,100 voters, 800 consistently supported one party or the other, the rest could be bought. A bribe of 2s 6d or even 10s per vote was tempting to a skilled worked who earned £1 per week.
One landlord of the establishment in front of you, was a certain Daniel Boyes who was active in Beverley’s corrupt elections. He was also vociferous in opposing several changes in the town brought about by Acts of Parliament. When the old workhouse in Minster Moorgate was found by inspectors to be inadequate, he loudly opposed the plans to replace it on the grounds of cost and the worried that the inspectors always felt the need to recommend “something new and absurd”.
Daniel Boyes also led many members of the council in opposition to a private company setting up a piped water supply to the town. They felt that it would involve the council in unnecessary expense and give large profits to the water company rather than the Borough Council. A parliamentary committee agree with the council on the provision that the Borough Council provide some sort of water supply. However this was not done and Parliament passed an Act in 1881 to build the waterworks.
The building in front of you was built in circa 18AB to replace and older pub. What is AB?
Now go to N 53 50.479 W 000 25.788
2. Police Matters
In 1812 the Beverley Corporation started to meet the costs of the 12 constables who kept a watch just three nights a week. The police guardhouse was based at the Guildhall where the magistrates courts were based.
The County and Borough Police Act of 1856 determined that government would pay for 25% of the clothing and wage bills for all police forces so long as they were deemed to be efficient in numbers and discipline. Beverley Corporation considered this to be unnecessary interference by Government and declared “What could the gentlemen of Whitehall know about Beverley?”. They petitioned parliament to no avail and the following year when the police force was inspected it was found not to be “of the character contemplated by the Act”. The superintendent of police sacked and his replacement met a similar fate after the failed inspection in 1861. It was then determined that the inspector should also be the town gaoler and to this end 14 cells were housed in the building attached to the Guidhall.
The Guildhall is open on Fridays and is worth a visit.
When was the present building built? This is CDEF
Go to N 53 50.557 W 000 25.891
3. Election Scandals
The next building was also a pub with a reputation during the elections scandal. It was a stronghold of the Liberals and acted as an open house where votes were bought with money or drink. Voters were known to be escorted in an inebriated state from here to the polls to cast their “bought” vote. In 1860 Tory followers had rounded up intoxicated Liberal supporters & “sobered them up” with tea – that was laced with laudanum & rum so making them compliant to Tory wishes!
The author Anthony Trollope, came last in the 1868 Parliamentary elections and managed to obtain a royal commission to investigate the extent of the corruption in Beverley. This case received National press coverage and the judge concluded that “the place was a mass of corruption from beginning to end and that Beverley was “a town which is unfit to send members of Parliament”. Beverley lost both its seats in Parliament and in 1872 the Secret Ballot Act was passed so that bribers could not see if their targets had voted as instructed.
When was this pub closed? 19GH.
Now go to N 53 50.648 W 000 26.001
4. Danish Law
Look north from where you are standing and you should see a plaque that commemorates and unfortunate event where the law of Denmark was imposed on British shores. Two men fought resulting in a death but because they were Danish soldiers they followed their own law and the victor lost his life by his own sword as his kinsmen deemed him guilty.
What day of the month did this occur (IJ)?
Now head north to North Bar N 53 50.696 W 000 26.157
5. North Bar
Although Beverley had several bars (gates) it was never a walled or fortified town. After Sir John Hotham, governor of Hull, had refused entry into Hull to Charles I on 23rd April 1642, the king stayed in North Bar with Lady Gee. This was the first rebuff that the King suffered from Parliament. The king returned to Beverley in July to lay siege on Hull, but his three week stay ended when a group of parliamentary soldiers broke into the town whilst the king was at supper. Charles realised that the town could not be defended and left leaving a small garrison of soldiers who were soon driven out by parliamentary forces. (Sir John Hotham later changed sides and was arrested in Beverley before being taken to London for execution 17 months later.)
By 1643 Beverley was housing parliamentary forces and so became a target for the Earl of Newcastle’s troops from York. The parliamentary cavalry prepared to meet the Royalist forces on the Westwood and a after heavy fighting the remaining parliamentarians fled through the North Bar and shut the gates behind them. They knew that the town could not be defended and prepared to retreat to Hull but before they could leave, the Royalists broke through the gates of North Bar and there was much fighting in the streets. The Earl of Newcastle’s troops won the day but the peace was soon shattered as the Royalist forces returned to vent their wrath on the people of Beverley who had sheltered the parliamentarians. It was claimed that shops were destroyed, houses stripped, clothes ripped, cattle driven from the town and surrounding area and people imprisoned. The Council claimed that £20,000 worth of damage was done that day.
The bars were more entrances that marked the boundaries within which visiting traders had to pay Tolls in order to attend and trade at the various fairs that were held in the town. North Bar is the only remaining gate and was built in 1409.
How much did it cost to build in £ (ignore shillings and pence)? This is KL.
Why not take your answers to one of Beverley’s many cafes or hostelries while you work out the final location. When you have the location why not walk back to the Saturday Market and do Westwood Ho! as the final cache can be found from there on a pleasant circular walk back into town.
The cache is at
N 53 A (F-G). E (K-C) (H+I)
W BBB F L. (L-G) D (J-I)
NOTE: CO-ORDs FOR NORTH BAR ADDED FOR ANYONE WHOSE GPS DES NOT AUTO LOAD WAYPOINTS
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Uhzcgl Qhzcgl - gb yrsg bs juvgr fgbar. ABG va n ubyr cyrnfr ercynpr rknpgyl nf sbhaq naq rafher vg vf pbirerq.
Treasures
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