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The Tale of Beggar’s Bridge The proof of Thomas Ferres’s rags-to-riches tale is quite literally written in stone, but popular lore adds some tantalising and romantic detail.
1619
King James I 1603-1625 to King Charles I 1625-1649
Music: George Frideric Handel

© Simon Armstrong, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0. Source

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‘Beggar’s Bridge’ over the River Esk at Glaisdale in North Yorkshire. It is marked ‘TF’ and dated 1619.

The Tale of Beggar’s Bridge
The rags-to-riches story of Thomas Ferres (d. 1631) has blended fact with a good deal of romantic fiction. But Thomas was a real historical figure, and however he came by his wealth, the way he used it to help the poor and vulnerable is deeply moving.

A GRACEFUL bridge over the Esk at Glaisdale bears the date 1619, and the initials T.F., for Thomas Ferres, Mayor of Hull. Thomas amassed a fortune plying the east coast as master of a trading-ship called the Francis, which he poured into housing, education and apprenticeships for the poor.

The story goes that when he was a penniless farm-labourer, Thomas would cross on stepping-stones just here, to meet secretly with the daughter of a local Squire.

But the Squire forbade any marriage, and on the very night he was to leave for an apprenticeship in Hull, the Esk flooded, and Thomas could not bid her farewell.

After making enough money to buy his own ship - some say, by serving with Sir Francis Drake against the Spanish Armada, and plundering Spanish galleons - he returned to marry the Squire’s daughter, and build a bridge over the stepping-stones, so that no more lovers might be parted by the Esk in flood.

Suggested Music

Violin Sonata No. 13 in D, HWV 371

III. Larghetto

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Performed by Emilio Percan.

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