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Attempted Murder

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07/03/1828

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The Times newspaper recorded the story of 21-year old Elizabeth March, who appeared in court in Northampton having been indicted for having maliciously and feloniously set fire to the dwelling house of her husband John March, with intent to injure him. It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner had been living separately from her husband, who lived in Peterborough, for the past two or three years. A short time before the transaction in question took place she was heard to say, speaking of her husband, that she 'would not mind toasting the d....d old slip-shod to death'. The proven facts were that, on Sunday 11 November, she had thrust a lighted candle under the roof thatch of her husband's house and run away. A woman who lived opposite had seen the action and called out to the accused's husband. He 'jumped out of bed and pulled the still lighted candle and some burning straw out of the thatch, which he immediately extinguished by stamping his foot upon them'. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and the accused was sentenced to death. The Times commented that 'the prisoner, who was rather a good-looking woman, behaved with great levity in the dock'. (Huntingdon, Bedford and Peterborough Gazette)

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

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An Olympic Gymnast (and Dancer!) Born

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1989

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Louis Smith was born in Peterborough on 22 April 1989 and was educated at Arthur Mellows Village College. He is an artistic gymnast and won a bronze medal on the pommel horse at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It was the first time a British gymnast had placed in an Olympic event since 1928.  There was disappointment at the London Olympics in 2012 where he fell just short of gold. He tied with Kristian Berki, but took silver for a lower execution score. At the 2016 Rio Olympics he again won a silver medal, this time finishing behind his teammate, Max Whitlock.

Smith was also part of the Great Britain team that took the bronze in the men's artistic team all-around at the 2012 London Olympics. He is the only British gymnast to win Olympic medals in three separate Games, and only the second gymnast to win three successive Olympic pommel horse medals.

As well as his talents in the gym he showed his versatility by winning the 2012 series of  Strictly Come Dancing.

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Aston Merrygold Wins Christmas Strictly Special

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2018

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Aston Merrygold was born in Peterborough on 13th February 1988. He attended Jack Hunt secondary school where he developed talents for singing and football. Being unable to pursue his football ambitions to a higher level, Aston put all of his effort into his creative talents and first appeared on television in Stars in Their Eyes in 2002, as Michael Jackson.

Spring forward to 2008 and Aston Merrygold was one quarter of the group JLS, who came second to Alexandra Burke in the X Factor final. Together they carved a short but successful career as a boy band, deciding to part in 2013. This allowed all of the band members to follow their own creative paths, with Aston making the most of his slick dance moves. He took part in Strictly Come Dancing in the 2017 series, sadly departing earlier than was expected. However, he returned in the Strictly Christmas Special in 2018 and after receiving a perfect 40 score from the judges, went on to win the episode. After the success of Louis Smith in the 2012 series of Strictly, Peterborough can claim to be the birthplace of two Strictly Come Dancing Champions!

Aston has recently added another success to his career after coming third in the 2021 series of The Masked Singer, whilst dressed as a robin. He wowed the judges with renditions of six songs including 'Can't Stop the Feeling' by Justin Timberlake and 'For Once in My Life' by Stevie Wonder, being beaten by Ne-Yo and Joss Stone to the top spot.

Picture credit: Sueisfine [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

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An Odd Christmas Ball

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1816

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Christmas traditions have changed constantly over the centuries, but a Christmas celebration has usually featured. In regency England – the time of Jane Austen – balls were very popular and Christmas was the perfect excuse to throw one.

In 1816 a Peterborough Christmas Ball was held at the Angel Inn on Narrow Bridge Street. The ball was held on January 29th with dancing starting at 8 pm. The ball was held on a Monday, which also coincided with the new moon, when the sky was at its darkest. This flies on the face of the belief that Regency balls usually occurred on a full moon to provide light for people returning home late at night. It seems rather a strange affair to plan a Christmas ball for a Monday, at the end of January, when the sky is at its darkest. We can only assume there was some sense of irony in the plan!

Reference:

Stamford Mercury, 19 January 1816, p. 3.

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