John Merryweather (1768-1862) was the keeper of Lincoln Castle’s red-brick Georgian Gaol between 1799 and 1830, and he left his mark on the castle. With a spacious and comfortable apartment within the Gaol, Merryweather set about gentrifying his surroundings. He built a summerhouse and a mock-Gothic bathhouse, and kept peacocks in the castle grounds. He also modified Cobb Hall to accommodate the ‘New Drop’ gallows. The authorities gave the bathhouse over to the prisoners, which can’t have pleased Merryweather, but he had another improvement in mind.

In the early 1820s, he applied to build a tall turret on top of an existing castle tower, using prison labour. Ostensibly, this was as a look-out post to prevent escape and maintain order. However, Merryweather had an ulterior motive. He was an amateur astronomer, and mounted his telescope on the top of the turret. It was a happy accident that his star-gazing also foiled escape attempts. Today, it is known as the Observatory Tower.

Possibly with one eye on a career away from the Gaol, in 1815 Merryweather was granted royal letters patent for ‘an improved means of propelling boats and vessels through water,’ intending to navigate steam vessels between Lincoln and Boston using his new machinery. If successful, he hoped this could be replicated on inland rivers and canals. Over a decade later, he was still trying to make it happen.

Samuel Bamford, arrested after taking part in the rally which became known as the Peterloo Massacre, was sentenced to imprisonment at Lincoln. There, he was treated as a debtor rather than a felon and got to know Merryweather well. He said of him that while he was not educated, he was adept at astronomy.’ Sir Francis Hill, in Georgian Lincoln, describes Merryweather as devious, and hints at his over-familiarity with female prisoners.

The longest serving governor of Lincoln Gaol, Merryweather resigned in 1830 ahead of an enquiry into his expenses. He moved to 10 Steep Hill before (by at least 1851) boarding with Frederick Burton, Clerk to the Gaol Sessions, at Lindum House on Sewell Road. It was there that Merryweather died, on 18 February 1862 at the age of 93. He is buried in Eastgate cemetery.

Sources

Clark, Johanthan, Garner-Lahire, Justin, Spall, Cecily, and Toop, Nicola, Lincoln Castle Revealed (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2021)
Hill, Sir Francis, Georgian Lincoln (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966)
Newcastle Courant, 23 December 1815
Stamford Mercury, 8 January 1830
Lincolnshire Chronicle, 21 February 1862
Sleaford Standard, 6 April 1978
Lincolnshire Echo, 18 January 1992