Ep44: Perambulating the Bounds (Sep 4, 2017)

09/03/17 • 34 min

HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

Since 1651, Boston has had a legal responsibility to mark and measure its boundaries every few years. Despite advances in technology, the practice of “perambulating the bounds” means that someone has to go out and walk the town lines. This law is one of the oldest still on the books, but when was the last time Boston perambulated its bounds?

Show notes: HUBhistory.com/044

Show notes: HUBhistory.com/044

Previous Episode

Ep43: The Case of the Somnambulist (Aug 28, 2017)

When young Albert Tirrell killed his lover Maria Bickford on Beacon Hill, it sparked a scandal that rocked Victorian Boston in the 1840s. It was a tale of seduction, murder, and the unlikeliest of defenses. In the end, he would be found not guilty, in the first successful use of sleepwalking as a defense against murder.

We apologize for Nikki’s head cold, some rough cuts that resulted from editing out her sniffles, and the couple of sniffles that made it into the final cut.

Show notes: HUBhistory.com/043

Next Episode

Ep45: The Skin Book (Sep 11, 2017)

The Skin Book was written by highwayman George Walton and dedicated to the only man to best him in combat. While he was a prisoner at Charlestown Penitentiary, Walton wrote a memoir. According to his wishes, after his death, the book was bound in Walton’s own skin and given to the man who defeated him. Today, this example of anthropodermic bibliopegy is a prized possession of the Boston Athenaeum.

Show notes: HUBhistory.com/045