Remembering the 1833 Christmas Tragedy of Stillingfleet

On Boxing Day 1833 tragedy struck at the village of Stillingfleet, near York when an accident on the River Ouse resulted in the drowning of 10 church singers and the parish clerk.

The 11 unfortunate victims were drowned when their small boat capsized after being caught by the towline of a larger vessel, the Perseverance, which was being towed by a horse. The River Ouse, being tidal and fast-flowing, added to the peril of the situation.

The singers, had embarked on a journey to sing at the grand houses and farms around the parish and township, as part of the Boxing Day tradition, which comprised the townships of Acaster-Selby, Kelfield and Stillingfleet with Moreby, and therefore involved crossing the river.

The deaths of the following individuals are commemorated on two large headstones in the Stillingfleet churchyard:

THOSE WHOSE NAMES ARE HERE RECORDED

WERE ACCIDENTALLY DROWNED IN THE RIVER OUSE,

WHILST RETURNING FROM SINGING THE PRAISES OF THEIR SAVIOUR

IN THE NEIGHBOURING TOWNSHIPS,

ON DECEMBER THE 26TH 1833.

 “GODS WILL BE DONE” !

AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT TO THE MEMORY OF THE SUFFERERS

AND OF DEEP COMPASSION FOR THEIR SORROWING FAMILIES,

THEIR COMMON LANDLORD, BEILBY THOMPSON OF ESCRICK PARK

HAS ERECTED THIS MONUMENT.

WILLIAM BRISTOW                         AGED     55           YEARS                   PARISH CLERK

HENRY SPENCER                             -              44           -              }

SARAH SPENCER                             -              16           -              }

ELIZABETH SPENCER                      -              14           -              }

CHRISTOPHER SPENCER                -              36           -              }

JOHN TURNER                                 -              55           -              }              CHURCH

JANE TURNER                                  -              16           -              }              SINGERS

ELIZABETH BUCKLE                         -              15           -              }

CLARISSA STURDY                           -              17           -              }

THOMAS WEBSTER                         -             44           -              }

SARAH ECCLES                                -              16           -              }

The bodies of Sarah Spencer and Sarah Eccles both aged 16 were never recovered

Three individuals survived the accident:

• John Fisher

• George Eccles

• Richard Toes

Following the incident, inquests were conducted by York’s coroner, John Wood, and a group of jurors who went from house to house to view the recovered bodies. The inquest concluded at the White Swan with a verdict of accidental drowning. The parish burial register noted that Sarah Spencer and Sarah Eccles were “accidentally drowned and not yet found.”

This tragic event remains a poignant part of Stillingfleet’s history, commemorated by the headstone and remembered in local lore.