1941: On this day, 814 20-year-old city girls responded to their call-up papers - although some forgot their registration card! Many of the girls had come with their mothers, while others had their boyfriends for company. Some are described as arriving 'with an army escort on either side'. Quite a few perambulators are also recorded as being parked outside the building. (Gray, David, Peterborough at War 1939-1945, David Gray, 2011)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.
Peterborough Cathedral has two well-known connections to Tudor Queens. The tombs of both Katherine of Aragon and Mary Queen of Scots could for a while both be found in the Cathedral. Sadly, Mary Queen of Scots was moved down to Westminster, but Queen Katherine is still resting in peace.
Most people think that is where the connections to Tudor royalty end, but that is not so. In 1560 William Lattimer or Latymer, became Dean of Peterborough Cathedral. He had been chaplain to Anne Boleyn during her reign and had smuggled French religious books into the country for her. Later, he became chaplain to Elizabeth I and wrote the Chronickille of Anne Bulleyne (Chronicle of Anne Boleyn) a biography of her life. He wrote the book for Elizabeth I, her daughter.
Lattimer died in 1583 and was buried in Peterborough Cathedral.