Alford is steeped in history and we are very proud of our historic connections. It doesn't take long before you realise how important Alford has been not just to England but also the whole world.

Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643)

Anne Hutchinson is said to be "One of the greatest women to go out to America in the Colonial Age” and is considered one of the first important female religious leaders. She fought for religious freedom in the North American Colonies and openly challenged the male-dominated government and church authorities, making her a religious and feminist role model.

Anne was born in Alford and her family home still stands on West Street opposite Needles and Pins shop.  She then moved to London, before returning to Alford to live for a further 22 years.  Anne moved with her family to Boston, Massachusetts in 1634.  

She was a strong woman with even stronger Christian beliefs, and it wasn’t long before she began to challenge the Puritan teachings of the colony and she took about reforming it with Rev John Wheelwright, her brother-in-law.  With reform always comes opposition, and this was very much the case with Anne, as she was tried and banished from Massachusetts! 

Anne and her husband William had 15 children. Sadly, she lost two of her children to the Plague in 1630.  In 1642 William died, and after her banishment Anne and her seven younger children moved to a secluded place called Split Rock, which was eventually to become the Bronx area of New York. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as peaceful as Anne had hoped. In the summer of 1643, Anne and six of her children were killed by a band of Indians. Her daughter Susanna was captured and returned four years later to her friends.

Famous descendants of Anne Hutchinson include former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, George H. Bush and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

Thomas Paine was an English-American political writer whose Common Sense and other writings influenced the American Revolution and helped pave the way for the Declaration of Independence. 

Paine was born in Thetford, Norfolk in 1737.  He joined the Excise Service at Grantham in 1762 and on completing his apprenticeship he was posted to Alford from 1764 to 1765.  His offices were within, what is now, the Windmill Hotel, in the Market Place. It was a time of great smuggling on the Lincolnshire coast and Thomas was abruptly dismissed as an Excise Officer for "claiming to have inspected goods he did not inspect".  Later, he was reinstated as an Excise Officer in Lewes, Sussex, before emigrating to America on the encouragement of Benjamin Franklin. 

Paine has a claim to the title ‘The Father of the American Revolution’ based on his pamphlets, especially Common Sense, which promoted American Independence from British rule in 1776.  It became an immediate success, and during the American Revolution, a total of about 500,000 copies were sold.  Starting in April 1777, Paine worked for two years as Secretary to the Congressional Committee for Foreign Affairs and then became Clerk for the Pennsylvanian Assembly at the end of 1779.  In March 1780, the Assembly passed an abolition act that freed 6,000 slaves – a cause supported fiercely by Paine.

He returned to Europe and went to France in 1792 where he supported the French Revolution.  On returning to America in 1802 he found that despite his earlier influence his work by then was largely forgotten.  He died in 1809. 

Alford is very proud of the part that Thomas Paine played in American history and you can see a plaque dedicated to him on the wall of the Windmill Hotel. This was dedicated by The Alford Civic Trust on 4th July 1981, American Independence Day. 

Captain John Smith (1580-1631)

John Smith was born in Willoughby, three miles from Alford, and was baptised in the village church of St Helena.  The son of a farmer, it is thought that he may have been a pupil at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Alford before completing his education at King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth.

Smith had a great taste for adventure, and after the death of his parents he travelled abroad as a soldier of fortune.  Between September 1608 and August 1609, he became an important leader of the first permanent settlement in the New World at Jamestown, Virginia.  He trained the first settlers to work at farming and fishing, thus saving the colony from early devastation. With Smith's leadership, Jamestown survived and eventually flourished. 

He ensured the survival of the colony by building a relationship with Virginian Indians – one of whom was the legendary Pocahontas, the daughter of the chief of the Powhatan tribe, who saved Smith’s life when he was due to be executed by her father.

Smith led an exploration along the rivers of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay, during which he became the first English explorer to map the Chesapeake Bay area. Later, he explored and mapped the coast of New England. 

He was forced to return to England after being injured by an accidental explosion of gunpowder in a canoe. 

Smith’s books and maps were important in encouraging and supporting English colonization of the New World.  He died in London in 1631.

Miss Dorothy Higgins (1892-1979) 

Miss Higgins was born in 1892 to Frederick Higgins and his wife Agnes (nee Lamb, who was related to the well-known family of Lambs Navy Rum). Dorothy’s childhood home was in Park Lane, Alford and was educated in Hertfordshire, and after leaving school trained as a Radiographer. 

During World War One Miss Higgins served as V.A.D. Nurse at a Military Camp in France and as a keen gardener wrote home many times requesting plants to be sent out to France so she could create a garden at the Hospital where she was working. On her return from France she went to the Military Camp at Catterick and later to the Royal Free Hospital in London where she worked as a Radiographer. Upon retiring Miss Higgins came back to her childhood home town and lived for many years in Church Street. 

Miss Higgins was well remembered locally for her eccentric and forthright manner and for her devotion to Alford and served for many years on Alford Urban District Council, as well as being well known for reciting Lincolnshire Dialect poetry at local events. 

A very keen sportswoman she was a founder member of the Alford Ladies Hockey Club and was also a renowned Hockey Umpire being placed on the A list of Umpires. Miss Higgins was official umpire of the touring team to Amsterdam in 1948 and was manager of the England team in 1950 travelling to South Africa for a hockey tournament, the World Cup of its day. In 1912 she had the honour of kicking off an Alford Football Match in aid of the Titanic Relief Fund. 

Miss Higgins’ lasting legacy to Alford was her purchase of The Manor House on West Street which she gave to the town and is run by Alford and District Civic Trust. The House, dating back to 1611, is open for visitors and regularly puts on exhibitions depicting Alfords History and Rural Life

Dr Arthur Edward Smith CBE MA (1920-2015)

Dr Arthur Edward Smith CBE MA (always known as Ted) was born in August 1920 in Alford. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Alford and gained a Masters degree in English at Leeds University.  After a spell teaching in the city and then Norfolk, Ted returned to Lincolnshire in 1948 as a resident tutor in adult education.

In the 1940s Ted Smith recognised the urgent need to save Lincolnshire’s most special places for nature. In 1948 he was the founding Honorary Secretary of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and went on to be Chairman and then President. He fought to save our unspoiled coast, ancient meadows and heaths and to halt the destruction of native woodland. Ted campaigned on almost every front from saving roadside flowers from being sprayed with chemicals to pressing for legislation to protect otters.

His influence extended far beyond Lincolnshire. He travelled the length and breadth of Britain, lecturing on his vision for nature and for local Wildlife Trusts to champion it. Most importantly, he saw the need for local nature organisations which could own land and for them to derive support from a wide section of the community. He served as the first General Secretary of the Royal Society of Nature Conservation and was also Chairman of the England Committee of the Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England). He was made an OBE for services to nature conservation in 1963, advanced to CBE in 1998, the year he also received an Honorary Doctorate of Science at the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside (now University of Lincoln). He was the first recipient of the Christopher Cadbury Medal for service to nature conservation.

In 2010, Gibraltar Point was dedicated to Ted in celebration of his lifetime commitment to the reserve. Established in 1949, Gibraltar Point was the first Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve. It was a new kind of nature reserve that promoted nature conservation, survey and research, as well as public enjoyment and access.

In 2012 he was presented with The Wildlife Trusts Centenary Award by Sir David Attenborough. Talking about Ted Smith’s dedication and presenting The Wildlife Trusts’ centenary award in 2012, Sir David Attenborough commented on the profound impact that Ted had on the first 100 years of nature conservation:

This countryside of Britain may not be as rich as Ted knew it as a child in the 1920s and 30s, but it is immeasurably better than it would otherwise have been without him and The Wildlife Trusts. Generations to come are going to benefit more than they will know. Ted Smith died in 2015.

Text used with the permission of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

Ted Smith with David Attenborough (photo by Tom Marshall used with the permission of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust)