Gosberton has the – surely unique – distinction of having not one, but two, former natives who went on to become Lord Mayor of London. This is something all Gosbertonians can be justly proud of.
SIR GEORGE BOLLES 1538-1621
The first of these – George Bolles – was born in Gosberton, around 1538 or 1539. This was during the Tudor period in English history, when King Henry VIII was on the throne. George’s parents were Thomas Bolle and Jane Winter.
Nothing is known of George’s childhood, which was presumably spent in Gosberton. As the son of a gentleman, he was bound to have received a sound education (a paid-for luxury in those days).
By the time George was in his teens, he began his apprenticeship as a grocer. Don’t be fooled, however, into thinking this was a humble beginning for George, selling groceries in a shop or from a market stall. The term ‘grocer’ had a completely different meaning back in his day. Beginning as early as the 14th century, a grocer was a dealer in comestible dry goods such as spices, peppers, sugar, and cocoa, tea and coffee. These items were bought in bulk, hence the term grocer from the French “grossier” meaning wholesaler, this term derived from Medieval Latin “grossarius” from which we also derive the word gross.
In the book, “From Grossers to Grocers: The History of the Grocers Company,” author Helen Clifford tells us:
“While George Bolles invested his capital in joint stock companies, whose officers and employees conducted the actual trading overseas (including the Levant, East India, Virginia and Muscovy companies), his primary occupation seems to have been the domestic grocery trade, perhaps in London but certainly in the provinces. By the 1590s he was the main supplier of general commodities including, though not limited to, foodstuffs, to Hull and Kings Lynn. He may have shared this business with his father in law…
John married well. In 1579, at the age of 41, he married Joan, the daughter of John Harte of Scampton. Harte was a wealthy and influential merchant (a grocer, like George), who, like George, would go on to be one of the founders of the East India Company, and Lord Mayor of London.
George’s career path would reach its zenith in 1617, when he was elected Lord Mayor of London, for the traditional term of one year. Within the City, the lord mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powers, rights, and privileges, including the title and style The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London. At the grand age of 79, George had made it to the top of the civic tree. He was knighted on 31 May 1618, after serving the traditional one year in office.
SIR THOMAS BOOR CROSBY 1830 – 1916
Gosberton’s second Lord Mayor of London was Sir Thomas Boor Crosbby.
Thomas was born at Gosberton Risegate on 26 October, 1830, the son of William Crosby (farmer) and Mary Boor. He was the youngest of five boys, and one step-sister Mary (his mother having previously been married to one John Garner).
Thomas’ father was a farmer of fair standing, and the Crosby family had been associated with Gosberton for at least a century before Thomas’ birth.
Thomas received his education initially at Spalding Grammar School, under Mr. Loughland, until the age of about 15. He then went to University College in London and he gained a degree in natural history at the London University.
Returning to Gosberton, Thomas became apprenticed to Dr. Henry Morris, a surgeon.
After his time with Dr. Morris in Gosberton, he returned to London once more, and completed his medical and surgical training at St. Thomas’ Hospital, from where he gained his degrees in medicine and surgery in 1852 (aged 22). Thomas spent some time as house surgeon at St. Thomas’ and was a demonstrator of anatomy.
In 1859, at the age of 28, he married Anne Ryan at St. Pancras, London. Together they had three children; Ada (1860), Charles William (1861) and Herbert Thomas (1863).
In 1860 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. (F.R.C.S.) and in 1862 graduated as a doctor of medicine at St. Andrew’s University. He joined a firm of medical practitioners in Fenchurch Street, London, where he remained for the rest of his life.
In 1877, Thomas began his civic life, nominated and elected as one of the Court of Common Council (the chief decision-making authority of the City of London Corporation) for the ward of Langbourn, purely by chance. He happened to be present at a by-election for the ward, where he was an elector. He was persuaded to become a candidate, which he only consented to do on the understanding that if his seat were wanted later on by a better man he would retire. Clearly he was modest, and was re-elected year after year, serving that ward until 1898, when on the retirement of Alderman Sir Joseph Savory, Thomas was unanimously elected to the Court of Aldermen, in his place.
He served the office of Sheriff in 1906-7, and was knighted after King Edward’s visit to the City for the opening of the new Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) in 1907. On top of this, he was the recipient of a number of foreign awards, including the French Legion of Honour.
The pinnacle of his achievements, however, was being elected Lord Mayor of London. Similar to when he was elected an Alderman in 1898, Sir Thomas had at first offered, in view of his age, to give way to any of his younger colleagues who might be anxious to become Chief Magistrate (Lord Mayor), but none took up his proposal – there being a great desire by members of the medical profession that one of their number should, for the first time, become Lord Mayor. All Lord Mayors only serve a term of one year, his holding of office running from November 1911 to November 1912.
It was during his term of office that he heard news of one of the twentieth century’s greatest maritime disasters. On 15 April 1912, during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, RMS Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean, and sank. More than 1,500 passengers and crew lost their lives. Sir Thomas immediately set up the Mansion House Relief Fund for the relief of dependants of passengers and crews of the Titanic. It raised an incredible £450,000. This was one of Sir Thomas’ crowning achievements during his term of office.
Sir Thomas died on 7 April, 1916, at his residence at 19 Gordon Square, London.
A fuller biography of both of Gosberton’s Lord Mayors of London appears in Book One of the ‘Bygone Gosberton: A Miscellany’ series by local historian Stuart Henderson.
