No Seated Queen!

01/04/1964

Information

When in 1963, the market moved from its centuries-old site in the middle of the city, the council set about realigning the road to ease traffic flow. This involved taking down the Gates Memorial, the drinking fountain monument to the city’s first mayor, Henry Pearson Gates. It had been donated to the city by his wife and erected in 1898. The public were asked to suggest a new name for the site and ‘Cathedral Square’ was selected. However, the council had its own ideas about what should replace the memorial. It asked four sculptors to submit ideas and designs. In February, it had brought in three art experts to advise which was best. They unanimously selected one called ‘The Seated Queen’. The council promptly put a model of ‘The Queen’ on display for public approval, despite one councillor saying: ‘anything of a modern sort is going to create comment from those that don’t understand it’. How right he was. Nobody wanted to ‘understand’ it, the ‘locals’ couldn’t understand it and didn’t want it anyway. It was on this rather appropriate day 1 April that the council finally erased ‘The Seated Queen’ from their plans and cost estimates! (Harper-Tee, John, ‘The Peterborough Story’, Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 1992)

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

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Last Public Hanging

04/05/1812

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At the end of April 1812, Revd Mr Myers submitted a petition to the Prince Regent on behalf of his 'unfortunate nephew' D.T. Myers, then under sentence of death in Peterborough gaol. At the prince's command, a copy was sent to Peterborough magistrates requesting details of the circumstances of the case. The information was sent and a reply received stating that 'his Royal Highness would not reverse the decision'. As a result, Daniel Thomas Myers was hanged on this day, having been found guilty of committing an unnatural offence with another man in Burghley Park. The Revd Hinde accompanied the prisoner in the post-chaise to the gallows. That was preceded in the procession by a hearse and a coffin, and moved slowly amidst a concourse of 5,000 to 6,000 spectators to the usual place of execution on Peterborough Common. There a new drop had been erected under the gallows for the occasion. On the platform, Myers joined the clergymen in a prayer composed by the reverend gentleman, with whom the wretched man parted in a way that drew tears from the eyes of every beholder. Time will show that he was the last person to have this fate in Peterborough. (Stamford Mercury) Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.