[29] Major Kelly was highly esteemed and at the time of his death (when the Indian Mutiny was not yet quelled) the following lines were published in a local newspaper:—
A MONODY ON THE LATE MAJOR KELLY
Peace to the virtuous brave!
Another son of chivalry lies low:
Not in the flush of youth he finds a grave,
Not stricken to the dust by foreign foe
He fainting falls;—but laden with full years,
With white-hair’d glory crown’d, he lays him down
In earth’s maternal lap, and with him bears
Benevolence, high honour, renown,
And love-begetting mem’ries, such as throw
A halo round the thoughts of mortals here below.Earth! keep thy treasured dead
Awhile, in holy trust! Not with vain tears
Wail we the loss of him who bravely bled
For England’s might and weal, in early years,
When life’s warm pulse beat high, and buoyant hopes
On tip-toe look’d afar at distant fame;
When views of greatness fill’d his vision’s scope,
And daring deeds lent glory to a name:
Here on our soldier’s grave no tear should fall;
All hidden be our grief, as ’neath a funeral pall.O! that in this, our need,
This hour of trial, when the swart Sepoy
Blurs the fair front of nature, with each deed
Of villainy conceiving; when the joy
That, like the sun, lights up affection’s eyes,
Is blotted out by Indian hate and lust—
O! that a host of Kellys could arise,
And with avenging steel, unto the dust,
Smite down the Smiter, that the world might know
How true the Briton as a friend, how mighty as a foe!O. P.
The Peterborough Advertiser, 13th February 1858.
This monody not only shows the esteem in which the Major was held by the local poet and his neighbours, but in the last stanza it revives the memory of a crisis in the history of the empire, and of the throes of the Indian Mutiny, from which our country was suffering when Major Kelly died.
[30] Auctioneer’s Catalogue (Peterborough: G. Robertson, Bookseller. 1816!)
[31] The most valuable direct evidence as to the appearance of the barracks and prison which I was able to obtain in 1891, was from an old Mr. Lewin of Yaxley, who was born in 1802, and had been very familiar with the Depot in his childhood. He used frequently to ride in through this west gate in the tradesmen’s carts, but he spoke always of the entrance on the south front as the main entrance. This old gentleman’s memory was wonderfully clear, and his accounts I regarded as thoroughly trustworthy.
[34] The well-known Stilton cheese was never made at Stilton, which was not in a dairy district; it was made in Leicestershire and sent to Stilton, where Mr. Cooper Thornhill, the sporting landlord of the old sixteenth-century coaching inn, The Bell (he once for a wager rode 218 miles on horseback in 12 hours and 15 minutes), used to supply it to his customers, selling the cheeses, it is said, at half a crown a pound.
[38a] To the post of agent at Norman Cross there were appointed, during the seventeen years in which the prison was occupied, two civilians and four naval officers. Of the two civilians, Mr. John Delafons sent in his formal resignation eight days after his appointment.
Mr. James Perrot, appointed on the 7th April 1797, held his office until January 1799.
Captain Woodriff, R.N., appointed January 1799, held his office until the Peace of Amiens, April 1802 (see Appendix B).
Captain Thos. Pressland, R.N., was appointed after the War was renewed in May 1803, and served from 18th June 1803 until August 1811.