The Hanging of the third John Billington!

You may remember my blog post; ‘the The Hangmen and the Hanged man – what’s in a name’ . Well, this week , quite by chance, at a visit to the Goole Family History Society open day this week, I heard of John Billington, the actor , who had hailed from this tiny East Yorkshire City. Of course, this type of knowledge is always intriguing to me, with my 3rd Great Grandfather, of the same name and it also being my own middle name.

 

Coming from Newton Heath, part of Manchester, a place where the football team, Manchester United had been formed in 1878, the name John Billington combined with the profession ‘Block Cutter’ has always been difficult to develop for certain. There was even a Reverend John Billington, who was incumbent in the church in which one of my John’s daughter’s was baptised. The Reverend John’s name is actually commemorated in a prominent window at the church. The Victorian Champion Jockey of the same name has always been another curiosity.

 Learning of John Billington, the actor, I wanted to find out more