The Peterborough Show

10/07/1901

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The annual Peterborough Show was at its height when the Northampton Mercury reported on this year's three-day exhibition on its usual site. The weather was very suitable and the attendance a good one, whilst the exhibition was one of which the Peterborough Committee had every reason to be proud. This great show of the Midlands is noted for the grand collection of hunters and shires it yearly attracts, and on no previous occasion had a better lot of animals been drawn together. Judges were loud in their praise of the animals placed before them whilst those at the ringside - and these included many well versed in horse breeding - declared they had never seen a better show. The Royal 'was a mere county exhibition from a quality point of view compared with this,' exclaimed one well-known Yorkshire breeder who, presumably, knew what he was talking about. 'The Peterborough Show deserves all the success it obtains, for there is no better managed exhibition in the country. The committee, with their excellent secretary, Mr J.E. Little, are experienced and capable, and do their best to make everyone comfortable and everything pass off without a hitch. They offered about £1,400 in prizes, and the satisfaction of obtaining a good entry.

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.