1916: It was on this day that William Cliffe - at 82 the oldest person ever to be elected Mayor of Peterborough when he took office in 1910 - passed away aged 88 years. The highlight of his year in office was probably when, on 11 May 1910, he proclaimed King George V's accession to the throne of Britain. In many ways he was a classic Peterborian businessman. Starting his working life as a groom, he moved on to being a porter and warehouse man at Griffin's Ironmongers in Narrow Street. His next move was to become foreman for Joseph Thompson in his general store next to the Bull in Westgate. In 1854, he left Peterborough to open his own general store in the Deepings. He didn't stay long because in 1860, together with a partner, he bought out his old boss in Westgate. Not long after, he moved across the road, where his general store was two individual shops with a large yard between them. He stayed totally involved with his business until his death. The next time you walk through the Westgate end of the Westgate Arcade, just pause and think of William Cliffe - Peterborough's oldest mayor and dedicated shopkeeper. (Mellows, W.I., 'Peterborough's Municipal Jubilee', Peterborough Standard, 1924)

Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.