Descriptions of Hull, 16th to 18th centuries. (16/9/’20).

In 1985 the East Yorkshire Local History Soc. published a booklet edited by Donald Woodward and entitled Descriptions of East Yorkshire: Leland to Defoe. Dr. Woodward extracted the descriptions of Hull from various travel writers across the two centuries, in some cases also extracts on the rest of East Yorkshire and, as in the case of John Leland, beyond the East Riding. In the case of John Leland Dr. Woodward credits the compilation of his Itinerary to that of Lucy Toulman-Smith as published in 1908 ( Years The Itinerary of John Leland in or about the 1535 – 1543). Lucy Toulman-Smith (1838-1911) was a writer, antiquarian and librarian with a number of publications to her name. She had been born in New England but grew-up in England and in her later years became chief librarian at one of the Oxford colleges (see the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). The bust above is, I believe, the only known image of Leland.

John Leland was ‘in with’ Henry VIII and was given the job of collecting ancient books and manuscripts from monastic establishments during the Reformation. As such he acquired the title of King’s Antiquary and so took to travelling around the country that he continued doing so until his death, keeping copious notes along the way, these being the stuff of the later publication Itinerary.

John Leland’s travelogue notes are particularly valuable because he could not have been guided by a previously published map nor by information from previous writers. Indeed, it is clear from some phrases used that he relied on what he saw and heard along the way, this being a reason sometimes to be cautious as to the reliability of his evidence. His was very much a journey of discovery and as such has led Leland to be termed ‘the father of English topography’, a term perhaps somewhat misleading as his landscape descriptions are often minimal.

So what did Leland have to say about Hull?

(to be continued).