Extract from an obituary for Aircraftsman Sidney Sharpe (son of Mr. H. Sharpe, formerly of Rushden, now of Kempston):

The deceased aircraftsman was born in Rushden. His mother [Emma] died a few months later. His grandfather, Mr. Daniel Sharpe (born 111 years ago) lived in Rushden 70 years. He claimed to be the first man to make rivetted boots. He it was, also, who enticed crows to nest in trees at Rushden Hall. The late Mr. Sartoris had expressed a wish to have a rookery near the Hall, and Mr. Daniel Sharpe tried the idea of tying a few twigs together and putting them high up in a tree. Crows were deceived into thinking it was a real nest. There have been real crows' nests in the trees ever since!