The town of Boroughbridge lies sixteen miles North-West of York, and historically, was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The town has a long history, and was first mentioned in 1155 in the Latin form pontem de Burgo and by 1298 in the English form Burghbrig, meaning the bridge near Burgh or Aldborough.[A.H. Smith, The Place-names of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Vol.5. (Cambridge University Press, 1961), p.81.] Morris Robinson Jr was MP for the town from 1790-96, and his illegitimate son died there in 1811 at the age of 19.

The town was an important stage for stagecoaches due to its proximity to the Great North Road and lying midway between London and Edinburgh. Elizabeth Montagu on her journeys from London to Newcastle stayed at the town’s coaching inn on Horsefair (formerly the Great North Road), now the Crown Hotel. The Grade II listed building was formerly the manor house of William Tankard, who in 1553, alongside Christopher Wray, returned as Boroughbridge’s first MP’s for 250 years. The manor house was the meeting place for the Council of the North, where local notables, led by the Earl of Northumberland and Westmoreland, planned to free Mary Queen of Scots and restore the Old Religion. The manor house became a Coaching Inn sometime in the 18th century.[http://www.boroughbridge.org.uk/History_3061.aspx]