Tortoise Terror

23/08/1873

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When does fact become fiction? Why won't people let the truth get in the way of a good story? I'll leave you, the reader, to decide on this one. The Peterborough Standard on this day decided to tell the story of 'The Peterborough Tortoise'. It said that the tortoise died in 1831, having lived for over 200 years and seen off seven bishops in that lifetime. Therein lies a problem, because seven bishops take us back to 1747 - a mere eighty-four years! A lifespan of 200 years in fact covers sixteen bishops. In 1936, an expert noted that the shell was in a good state of preservation but made no comment on its age. Sometime around 1990, the shell was found in a cupboard and was given to the museum. Experts tell us that she - for they say it is a female shell - was a large specimen, some 12in long. Over the years she was often described as a 'little terror'. It appears the tortoise was continually playing havoc with the plants in the bishop's garden. Apparently she loved strawberries and we are told that she followed the gardeners when they were gathering fruit, but was normally kept in check by being tied to a tree! (Peterborough Local History Society Magazine)

Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.

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Burial of a Controversial Bishop

08/05/1839

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Bishop Herbert Marsh was buried on this day in a prepared vault behind the altar in the 'New Building' part of the cathedral - the last bishop to be buried there. His wife Marianne was buried alongside him eight years later. He had died on May Day, after twenty years as bishop. Referred to by some as an 'enfant terrible', and others as 'the Peterborough Theological Laboratory' - the latter due to his deep knowledge and firmly held beliefs as an 'old-fashioned High Churchman'. He had been the centre of a controversy a few weeks before his death for taking up a political position in Peterborough - but that was nothing new. His obituary in The Gentleman's Magazine referred to his unpopularity: 'His attempts to repress Calvinism in his diocese soon rendered him obnoxious to the evangelical portion of the clergy, and several publications appeared on the subject that were ultimately brought before the House of Lords - but without material result.' Balancing this is a comment in the Stamford Mercury of 24 May 1839, attributed to the cathedral sexton, who supposedly said that 'the Bishop liked his pipe and many hours of the day were spent inhaling Greek and tobacco'. (Carnell, Geoffrey, The Bishops of Peterborough, RJL Smith & Associates, 1993; Jenkins, Eric, Victorian Northamptonshire: The Early Years, Cordelia, 1993) Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.