Buckden - a Huntingdonshire Village

40 K Katherine of Aragon (1485–1536) , an unfortunate Spanish princess, was married to Arthur, Prince of Wales, in 1501. Arthur promptly died. She was then betrothed to his brother the future Henry VIII and kept in seclusion and poverty until their marriage in 1509. Their only surviving child was Mary (later queen). The loyal support Katherine gave to her husband included making his shirts and leading an army northwards to fight invading Scots; but it was not reciprocated. Henry had their marriage annulled in 1533, having already married a pregnant Anne Boleyn, by whom he hoped to have a son. Katherine was downsized to 'princess dowager’ and exiled first to Ampthill in Bedfordshire and then to Buckden. The latter move particularly incensed her supporters, and continued to do so: ‘Ampthill is humid like the county of Bedford,’ wrote Jean Marie Dargaud in his Histoire de Jane Grey (Paris, 1863), ‘but less submerged than Buckden in fogs. At this time, Buckden was above all rendered almost pestilential by the pools of fetid, stagnant water that covered Lincolnshire [sic].’ Although the villagers are said to have faced down an attempt to transfer her to the even more unhealthy Somersham, they could not prevent her removal to Kimbolton the following year. Never a well woman, she fell ill in December 1535 and died the following month. She was buried in Peterborough Abbey (as it then was). Katherine was not the only distinguished ‘involuntary guest’ to be lodged in Buckden – see also Gilbert Bourne. Kaye, John (1783-1853) , churchman, Cambridge academic and supporter of the anti-slavery movement, lived in Buckden from 1830 to 1837 . In 1820 he had been made Bishop of Bristol, a run- down diocese so poor that he preferred to manage it from Cambridge, where he was a professor and Master of Christ’s College. This did not stop him from working actively to restore Bristol’s finances and improve the discipline of its clergy, or from preaching against the port’s dependence on the slave trade. In 1827 he was translated – spiritually, but again not physically – to the huge Diocese of Lincoln. However, he remained at Cambridge until 1830, when he moved to Buckden Palace. Here he continued the programme of repairs and improvements undertaken by his predecessor, George Pelham (q.v.). When Huntingdonshire was transferred to the See of Ely in 1837, Kaye had to leave Buckden and spent the rest of his life in Riseholme Palace, Lincoln. For a man who required the highest standards from his clergy, he was surprisingly kind to the candidates for ordination who came to Buckden. He would put them up in a local inn (the George) and on the eve of the ordination service would entertain them at the Palace with a good dinner: ‘sumptuous – venison – all kinds of wine etc’. The description ‘sumptuous’ was also applied to the hospitality of one of his 17thC predecessors, Bishop Williams; Williams was even said to have turned the palace hall into a theatre, where on one Sunday evening he entertained his newly ordained priests with a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Kidman, George (fl. late 18thC) was a ‘person of ill name and fame’ from, regrettably, Buckden. In 1782 he was involved in a conversation that must have gone something like this: Mrs May Bray of Stilton: Oi, George Kidman. You owe my husband four shillings. GK: So I do, missus. But bugger me, I’ve only got a guinea on me. (Brightens up) Tell you what, give us seventeen shilling and I’ll give ‘ee the guinea. Mrs MB: Oh, all right. (Pays over the money) GK: Thank’ee, m’duck. Isn’t that your old man coming now? Mrs MB (turning round) : Where? GK: (legs it) This trick works better if your victim doesn’t know who you are and where you live. At the Midsummer Quarter Sessions of 1782, Kidman was indicted for defrauding Mrs Bray of seventeen shillings, and sent for trial at the next sessions. King, Charles Richard (c. 1870-1950) was a cobbler whose premises consisted of what was described as a hut on the north road. He did sufficiently well to have a bungalow built in 1932 in Perry Road, where building plots were sold by the length of their frontage; the rate was £45 a foot. Mr King had been born in Yelling, where he lived until at least 1914, working with and in succession to his father in the family bootmaking business. In 1901 he married Agnes Annie Smith (1872-1959), the daughter of an Offord Cluny railway worker. The exact year they moved to Buckden has not been traced, but it must have been between 1920 and 1924. He was still active in 1940. King George Court, High Street, a quadrangular development of sheltered and retirement housing, was opened in 1997. It stands to the southwest of the George Hotel, and is built partly on land once down to orchard and partly on the site of demolished outhousing. Kirton Builders. This company was formed in 1969 by William Render and David Pope in partnership, with Mr Render being the developer and Mr Pope organising construction. The name may come from Kirton in Lincolnshire. Its first offices were on the upper floor of a converted warehouse behind Bowtell’s shop in the High Street. In the early 1970s, Kirton bought the building business of J. W. Smith (q.v.), successor to George Page and Son. The business was then being run by Jack Peacock, who had up to a dozen men on the books executing small works locally. Later that decade David Pope took over the whole Kirton business. Kirton did not wish to retain J. W. Smith’s scattered yards. They therefore built two maisonettes (Nos. 9A and 9B) on the Silver Street storeyard, and sold the yard behind the school to the education authority. They moved their