Bates Tolliday - Cambridge Chronicle Article

Before the coming of the railway in 1847 and post the end of Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the local economy was based on agriculture. Most of the farms were owned by large and often absent landlords. Markets were depressed because of cheap imports and poor harvests following the end of the war. Many farmers faced bankruptcy. For most, the only work to be had was on the land and there was not much of it. Because of the uncertain nature of employment, most families struggled to feed and house themselves. Evictions were common. In August 1843, an article in the Cambridge Chronicle reported with barely disguised glee on the happenings at the ‘Cage’ (lock up) on Histon Green.

“EXTRAORDINARY CASE – At the County Courts, at this town (Cambridge), on Thursday week, before the Revd T. Combe, John Stead, the Constable of Histon, preferred a charge against a man named Bates Tolliday, under these circumstances. It appears the (forty five year old) defendant, with a remarkable instinct as to a befitting habitation for his peculiar habits and qualifications (Bates was reputed to be an oft unemployed labourer with a taste for the hop), had a long time since (taken) possession of the cage at Histon, and there, with his wife (Martha) and family (of five children), resided during the whole of the past winter (having been evicted from their cottage at Church End)! Frequent endeavours had been made to serve an ejectment on the defendant, but he had hitherto resisted all attempts to dislodge him; and, at last, those in authority, considering the defendants continued occupation of his singular mansion, reflected equal discredit on his taste (of abode) and their power, ordered the complainant (the constable) to turn the defendant out at all hazards. Accordingly, the defendant received an intimation that it was expected he should ‘quit’ by 12 o’clock on Thursday. The defendant, however, did not perceive the necessity of a removal, and when the appointed time came put the whole posse comitatus (eviction enforcers) at defiance, asserted that an Englishman’s house was his castle, no matter how he came by it, or what the style of the architecture might be – and knowing that possession was nine parts of the law, sought to make the tenth out of the point of a knife which he held in his hand, and wielded about with a continuance and determination not to be trifled with.

At last, overcome by superior forces and beer, the defendant was ejected; and taken nolen volens (willy nilly) before the magistrate. The complainant (the constable) having seen the serviceable effect which the previous potations had had on the defendant, suffered him to further weaken his resistance by imbibing an additional quart of beer on the road, so that by the time the parties appeared before the Rev. Magistrate, the defendant was unable to stand. The magistrate severely admonished the constable for his gross dereliction of duty, and remanded the case until the next day, when the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, and to answer any charge that was brought against him at the next sessions. Aug. 1843”

This tragic/comic tale is Dickensian in its portrayal of life without our welfare state. The homeless Bates Tolliday and family are not mentioned in the 1851 Histon census, but are recorded as living on Cambridge Road (now Station Road) in 1861. The cage was demolished c.1854 and was replaced with a brick out-building, which stood near the entrance to the present Junior School.