Hullwebs History of Hull

This is a story from a collection of manuscripts, commenced in 1640, by Thomas Johnson as a result of a request made by his father, Mindrum Johnson. He in turn requested his son, Matthew, to continue the work and subsequently grandson Lawrence Thomas Johnson, great grandson David Johnson and great-great grandson George did likewise.

Published in 1875, having been arranged by William A. Gunnell. It was printed by Messrs. Walker and Brown, Scale Lane, Hull.

However, the book is a well-known forgery, but to what extent is unknown. Many of the characters and their houses existed and there is certainly nothing wrong with the glossary, but more research is needed to confirm whether or not a tightrope walker fell to his death and the game of Merrils is still played - you can even buy a board and instructions for the game.

These pages should be thought of as folk tales rather than as facts. They are, however, an interesting look at the times when they where written. The GLOSSARY is useful for examining the meanings of obsolete words; some of which are still in common use (2001) but were deemed to be obsolete in Hull in 1875.