100 years ago

At the York County Court Mr KET Wilkinson appealed on behalf of Mrs George Simpson against an execution levied upon her goods by the Yorkshire Discount Company in respect to a loan obtained by her husband.

Mr Wilkinson argued that the goods, household furniture, were bought by Mrs Simpson out of money left to her by her father. Mr W Dunn, who represented the Yorkshire Discount Company, asked for “chapter and verse” proving that the goods actually belonged to Mrs Simpson.

Separate proofs were required for each article of furniture. Mrs Simpson, in the witness box, said the furniture was bought at odd times about 30 years before and she had no receipts for her payments.

His Honour held the same views as Mr Dunn, and entered judgement against Mrs Simpson.


50 years ago

Seventy million American televiewers had watched the Beatles in action – with a screaming foot-stamping studio audience nearly drowning the famous Mersey Sound.

Screaming broke out among the audience when the mop-haired Liverpool foursome were introduced on the Ed Sullivan Show.

As they started into All My Lovin’, gum-chewing girls jumped up and down on their seats.

They gnawed at their knuckles, they tore at their hair. They clapped, stamped their feet, and shrieked continuously, all but blotting out the words and music for the audience in the Columbia Broadcasting company studio on Broadway.

The Beatles received mixed reviews from New York newspapers.

John Horn, of the Herald Tribune, thought the Beatles were “more of a site than a sound.” Minutes before they appeared on stage, the Beatles received a telegram from California from singing star Elvis Presley, who cabled: “Congratulations on your appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and your visit to America.”


25 years ago

A retired coachbuilder who had worked at British Rail Engineering in York for 30 years had died from asbestosis, the city’s deputy coroner, Mr Simon Hetherton, had decided.

Mr Charles Derek Kirby, aged 59, of Lesley Avenue, Broadway, Fulford, had started work at the Holgate Road plant in 1953 after his National Service.

His wife, Mrs Helen Rosemary Kirby, told the inquest that her husband’s work included stripping asbestos from carriages brought into the plant.

“I remember him coming home from work with asbestos on his overalls and in his hair. He said the dust was always in the air in the carriage shops where he worked. According to my husband, no protection methods were taken against asbestos because no one thought it was dangerous. It was only in the later part of his work that he wore protection.”