1154/55: Following the death of Abbot Martin de Bec, 'all the congregation met to choose a man among them who should be their father and shepherd, and guardian lest by reason of their delay some stranger should make his way in by payment of bribes'. They chose William de Waterville. All formalities and procedures were followed and on this first Sunday of Lent, 'with a great procession he was welcomed into his own home of Burch (the name of Peterborough at that time)'. (Mellows, W.T.,The Peterborough Chronicle of Hugh Candidus, Peterborough Museum Society, 1980)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press,2014.
1869: St Paul's church - often called the Railwaymen's church - was consecrated at midday on this Friday by William Connor Magee, the Bishop of Peterborough. Built on land given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the church cost £4,600 of which £3,500 was given by the directors of the Great Northern Railway. The first vicar was the Revd Charles Ball, who stayed for seventeen years, during which time Peterborough continued its rapid growth. He then moved on to the new parish of All Saints, which had been founded out of pieces of the parishes of St Mark's, St Mary's and St Paul's. (Perry, Stephen, Peterborough Vol. 2 - a second portrait in old picture postcards, S.B. Publications, 1989)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.