Way we were

100 years ago: An intense cold had been succeeded by a snowstorm of unusual severity in the Castle Howard district, which commenced after midnight, falling heavily and by morning lay several inches thick. The housing of clipped sheep became an immediate necessity, and lambs, where possible, were got into secure shelter without delay, and all work on the land was suspended. It had been many years since such a heavy fall had been experienced so late in the season. Telegrams from various other parts of the country reported heavy falls of snow during the night and it was feared young lambs and early vegetation had suffered considerably.

50 years ago: Work had begun on the restoration of the Blessed Margaret Clitherow's house in Shambles, York, and to raise funds for the continuation of the work on the historic building, members of the city's Catholic community were holding a coffee party in St Wilfrid's Hall. The house was one of the focal points of the Whitsuntide Catholic pilgrimage to York, and local Catholics were anxious to restore the house. In the 16th century, an act was passed ordering all Jesuits and seminary priests to leave the country, and making it treason, punishable with death, and forfeiture, to receive, relieve or maintain them. About this time an era of executions began, provoked by plots concerning Mary Stuart (also known as Mary, Queen of Scots), and by the menace of war with Spain. The first to suffer the death penalty at York were Richard Kirkman and William Lacy in August, 1582, and from this time the number of local executions rose steadily. In 1586, the year of the plot to dethrone Elizabeth and substitute Mary in her place, two laymen and two priests were executed in York, and Margaret Clitherow was pressed to death for refusing to plead when arraigned before the Council in the North. The charge against her was that of harbouring priests. The last execution at York took place in 1592, the city's record of deaths in this era of persecution being 41, consisting of 26 priests and 15 lay persons.

25 years ago: The inventor of the Hansom cab, York architect Joseph Aloysius Hansom, was to have a second plaque erected to his memory. York Tourist Development Association planned to unveil the new one at St George's Roman Catholic Church later in the month, the first one having been erected by York Civic Trust in 1973 to mark his birthplace on Micklegate. Hansom designed the church, which was completed in 1850 after nine months building work at a cost of £3,500.

Updated: 16:09 Wednesday, April 06, 2005