The Battle of Bourne

A DISPUTE OVER MARKET TOLLS

The history books tell us that the market in Bourne is held under a royal charter granted by King Edward I in 1279 and we imagine that it has been held continually ever since without disruption. Although this amenity may appear to be a most uneventful occasion today with traders and customers going about their business in a peaceful manner, that has not always been the case and events ninety years ago attracted the attention of the entire nation.

The 13th century charter was granted to the Lord of the Manor of Bourne, Baldwin Wake, giving permission for a market to be held on a Saturday and this tradition has continued to the present day although a Thursday market was later added and this has become the more popular of the two. The manorial rights were subsequently acquired by the Cecil family whose distinguished member, William Cecil, was the first Lord Burghley, and this entitled his descendants, the Marquesses of Exeter, to receive the market rents. But in 1904, the then marquess agreed to hand over the rights to Bourne Urban District Council for the sum of £50 with the reservation in the lease that this should not interfere with Mr James Moisey, his collector of tolls, during his lifetime but the deed of conveyance was never signed.

At the time, the tolls were purely nominal but by 1921, the size of the market had increased considerably and a large sum was being derived from the weekly payments by dealers from around the country, from Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Northampton and other towns in the East Midlands.

The Thursday market was then held in the streets and a survey showed that there were 62 stalls occupying a frontage of some 225 yards while the support of the public was such that trading on some days often went on until late in the evening, much to the annoyance of people living nearby who had often complained about the noise.

It had therefore become a profitable undertaking and the council decided to resume their negotiations with the Marquess of Exeter to take over completely. "It is high time", said one councillor, "for the market to belong to the town." The marquess had told the council that he was quite willing to sell but by then, Mr Moisey had died and his son, Jim Moisey, had taken over collecting the tolls, claiming that it was a family tradition dating back three centuries which he refused to give up. The council therefore decided to settle the matter by calling a public meeting of ratepayers and all interested parties which was held at the town hall on Thursday 3rd November 1921.

Unfortunately, because of the dramatic increase in business, a rumour soon spread through the town that the council intended to put up rents for the stalls to a prohibitive level with the result that a large crowd attended the meeting which turned out to be a rowdy occasion, the proceedings being marked by considerable disturbances as speaker after speaker was interrupted. There were also accusations that there were too many tradesmen on the council who wanted to destroy the market by charging exorbitant tolls while keeping the prices in their own shops high.

The main opponents to the transaction were members and friends of the Moisey family but their claim to have held the market rights for more than three centuries was disputed. Alderman John T Swift, a noted local historian, was called in to give his opinion and he told the meeting that he had searched the church records but there was no such name as Moisey registered in Bourne 300 years before.

The meeting eventually closed with the resolution that the council should acquire the rights on behalf of the town for the future but Jim Moisey continued to exert his claim to collect the tolls, a persistence which led to a confrontation on market day, Thursday 8th December, an event which was headlined by one local newspaper as "The Battle of Bourne". The report went on:

"The first round of the big fight began yesterday. The marquess got to work early in the morning by sending a large body of men to erect stalls on his own. They put them up all along the usual spaces as though Mr Jim Moisey did not exist. But the town that claims Hereward the Wake as one of its natives is liable to produce other doughty persons. Mr Moisey walked down to the market place and became active. He quietly took all of the marquess's stalls down and packed them up in bundles very neatly against one of the market walls. Then he erected his own stalls and made the usual collection. He got every one of the tolls collected, except one that had been paid to the marquess's men earlier in the day and he went home feeling happy. Now the marquess's men have intimated that next Thursday they are going to attempt to collect the tolls in spite of Mr Moisey but that gentleman has replied that he intends to maintain his rights to the full. The marquess claims that the market rights have always belonged to him and says he allowed the Moisey family to collect the tolls out of kindness. This is the point of the deadlock. Meanwhile, the inhabitants of Bourne are awaiting the next market day with some curiosity."

But despite this bitter confrontation, the dispute ended amicably. Jim Moisey eventually withdrew his claim in March 1922 after agreeing a private financial settlement with the marquess who then decided to retain the market rights and he appointed a new collector of tolls, John Pool, to act on his behalf. To avoid any further confusion in the future, an official deed of contract was drawn up between them and signed by his lordship to this effect, a document which still exists and can now be seen on display at the Heritage Centre.

In 1923, Bourne Urban District Council renewed its attempt to take over the market rights but without success and a further approach was made in 1949 on the urging of the chairman, Councillor Thomas Revill. Negotiations on both occasions proved to be abortive and the rights remained with the marquess and administered through the Burghley Estates for a further period before a successful agreement was arrived at in 1961.

The rights subsequently passed to South Kesteven District Council in 1974 during the re-organisation of local government and this authority now collects the market tolls and is responsible for its administration.

WRITTEN JANUARY 2012

See also

John Pool, Collector of Tolls