The two book covers shown above are of a two-part publication produced by Malet Lambert Reprints in 1986 (Kingston upon Hull City Council having the copyright and both having an ISBN number). When Abraham de la Pryme compiled his manuscript of primary source material and commentary in, or around, 1700 he was employed as one of a number of curates at Holy Trinity church, Hull with the adjoining street Lowgate then the the Market Place and immediately west of the church the churchyard. West of the churchyard were properties owned by the Church and rented to those who worked there. Abraham’s manuscript was the first surviving comprehensive history of the town and port, his primary sources and, sometimes, his opinions and conclusions were utilised by later Victorian town historians. Although his manuscript is ‘of its day’ it provides a valuable introduction to the topic and is part of the history of Hull’s historiography. Other than a transcript by the Surtees Society in 1869 the above volumes are the only publication of his manuscript, a ‘feather in the cap’ of Malet Lambert Reprints which currently seem to have fizzled-out.
At the start of Part 1 are five pages of dates in chronological order compiled from dates in De la Pryme’s text; this valuable addition by the compiler means that specific events can be looked-up in the text as for each date a page number is given. The last date in the text is 1688.
Right from the start De la Pryme deals with the precarious nature of the site of Hull (the Old Town), albeit in an 18th century mindset.
to be continued.