28.—Mr. Henry Russell, “from America,” gave his entertainment at the Concert Room, Swan Inn, Norwich. The programme included most of the favourite songs of the popular composer. The performance was repeated on the 29th. Mr. Russell made a return visit to Norwich, and appeared at the Theatre on September 6th and 8th.
JULY.
1.—The railway from Reedham to Lowestoft was opened.
3.—The Norwich Chamber of Commerce was announced to be “in full activity.” It was formed for the purpose of associating bankers, merchants, and other persons interested in the trade and commerce of the city, “so as to enable them to promote such objects as may be best calculated to benefit and protect commercial interests, and to further the carrying out or attainment of such measures as the exertions of individuals may be less adequate to accomplish.”
5.—Feargus O’Connor, the leader of the Chartists, addressed a large meeting held at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich.
19.—Mr. and Mrs. Keeley commenced a week’s engagement at Norwich Theatre.
26.—Madame Céleste appeared at Norwich Theatre as Madeline (“St. Mary’s Eve”) and Julien (“The Cabin Boy”).
28.—The Marquis of Douro, Mr. Samuel Morton Peto, and Mr. John Humphries Parry were nominated candidates for the representation of Norwich. A poll was demanded, and the election took place on the 29th. The poll was declared on the 30th, as follows:—Peto, 2,448; Douro, 1,727; Parry, 1,572. The chairing of the successful candidates took place on August 2nd.
—Thetford Election: The Right Hon. W. B. Baring and the Earl of Euston were returned unopposed.
29.—Yarmouth Election: Lord Arthur Lennox, 834; Mr. Octavius Edward Coope, 813; Mr. Charles Edmund Rumbold, 729; Mr. Francis Henry Goldsmid, 698. The two first-named were returned. (See February 7th, 1848.)
—The Archæological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland commenced its annual meeting at Norwich. The proceedings concluded on August 5th.
30.—Lynn Election: Lord George Bentinck and Lord Jocelyn were returned unopposed.
AUGUST.
3.—East Norfolk Election: Mr. Edmond Wodehouse and Mr. Henry Negus Burroughes were returned unopposed.
6.—Mary Ann Havers, of Norwich, a girl in humble life, who possessed remarkable musical ability, died on this date. She was educated at a school supported by private subscription, where singing according to the Norwich Sol-fa system was taught, and she became one of the best organizers of village choirs ever sent out of the city. Before she was fifteen years old she went to Southampton to give instruction; thence she was invited to Salisbury, and met with successive engagements in Dorsetshire, the Isle of Wight, Staffordshire, Kent, and Warwickshire.
9.—The “London Gazette” announced that the Queen had granted to Robert Blake, of Swafield, her Royal license and authority, in compliance with a wish expressed in the will of the Rev. John Humfrey, of Wroxham, to take the surname of Humfrey immediately after that of Blake, and to quarter the arms of Humfrey with those of Blake.
10.—The railway extension from Narborough to Swaffham was opened.
10.—The nomination of candidates for the representation of West Norfolk took place at Swaffham. The Conservative procession started from Friars’ Thorns, headed by the candidates, Mr. William Bagge and Mr. H. L. S. le Strange. It extended two miles in length, and included 1,000 yeomen on horseback. The Whig procession, with the candidates, Mr. A. Hamond and the Hon. Ed. Keppel Coke at its head, started from Swaffham Splashes, and was in all respects as imposing as the other. At the nomination the show of hands was in favour of the Conservatives, and Sir William ffolkes demanded a poll for Messrs. Hamond and Coke. The polling took place on the 13th and 14th. The contest, one of the severest that had ever taken place in the county, resulted as follows:—Bagge, 3,113; Coke, 3,052; Hamond, 2,935; le Strange, 2,676.
17.—Mr. J. B. Wigham and Mr. J. L. Barber, members of the Norwich Amateur Rowing Club, launched their pair-oared boat at Villequier, on the Seine, at 2.30 p.m., and rowed to Paris, where they arrived at 9 a.m. on August 24th. The distance was upwards of 300 miles, and the actual time occupied in rowing was 57 hours 25 minutes. For more than 200 miles the men rowed against a current which flowed at four miles an hour. “Galignani’s Messenger” described it as an “unparalleled feat.”
28.—The New Adelphi Theatre, Victoria Gardens, Norwich, was opened, after extensive alterations and improvements, under the management of Mr. R. Gordon. “As You Like It” was produced, with Mr. Fred. Phillips in the part of Jacques. Mr. Phillips, who came from the Royal Pavilion Theatre, London, was subsequently editor of the “Norwich Argus.”
30.—Mr. Farren and his son, Mr. H. Farren, appeared, the former as Sir Anthony Absolute, and the latter as Captain Absolute, at the Theatre Royal, Norwich.
SEPTEMBER.
11*.—“At Deopham, near Hingham, a skeleton has been found, underneath the floor of an old barn, which was being pulled down, and it is supposed to be the remains of Thomas Jolly, aged 20, the heir of the estate, who was missing 52 years since, and is supposed to have been murdered. A piece of his dress and a small portion of his handkerchief were also found.”
22.—Mdlle. Jenny Lind, engaged by Mr. George Smith, late manager of the Theatre, and Mr. C. F. Hall, made her first appearance at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich. Mr. Gedge was responsible for the payment of her fee of £1,000, of which amount she gave £200 to the charities of the city. Mdlle. Lind was accompanied by Madame F. Lablache, Signor Gardoni, and Signor F. Lablache, and Mr. W. Balfe was director of the concert. She appeared again on the 23rd and 25th. Mdlle. Lind stayed at the Palace as the guest of the Bishop of Norwich.
30.—Died at Bath, aged 65, Mr. Benjamin Plim Bellamy, for many years lessee of the Assembly Rooms there. Mr. Bellamy, some 30 years previous to his death, was a favourite actor on the Norwich circuit. On vacating the stage in 1819 he took the editorship of the “Bury Herald,” but in 1823 went to Bath and resumed his original profession. He became manager of the Theatre there in 1827, which he soon after resigned on becoming lessee of the Assembly Rooms, and Master of the Ceremonies.
OCTOBER.
12.—Mr. George Dawson, of Birmingham, lectured at the Assembly Rooms, Norwich, on “The Characteristics of the Age.”
16.—The Catfield estates, formerly the property of Col. Cubitt, deceased, were sold by auction at the Norfolk Hotel, Norwich, by Messrs. Spelman and Sons, for £27,930.
—A report was presented to the Governors of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, upon the result of inquiries made into certain serious allegations by the Messrs. Dalrymple, who had asserted that, compared with other hospitals of the same size, the utility of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital was in an inverse ratio to its cost of maintenance. The meeting was adjourned for a week, but discussion upon the statement and report was avoided, on the understanding “that such regulations would be framed from the two documents as would improve the management of that noble institution.”
20.—Elihu Burritt, “the learned blacksmith,” of Massachusetts, U.S., delivered a lecture at St. Mary’s chapel, Norwich, on “The Organic Sinfulness of all War.”
23.—A high tide overflowed the salt marshes at Wells-next-the-Sea and drowned 240 ewes, the property of Mr. Hudson, of Warham.
25.—The East Anglian Railway, from Lynn to Ely, was opened.
NOVEMBER.
9.—Mr. G. L. Coleman was elected Mayor, and Mr. James Watson appointed Sheriff of Norwich.
23.—The Queen’s Speech was, for the first time, transmitted to Norwich by electric telegraph. “Through the politeness of the Rev. A. B. Power, the superintendent of the electric telegraph along the Norfolk line, the Queen’s Speech was transmitted to us before 4 h. p.m. The transmission commenced at 2 h. 15 m. p.m., and our reporter took it down till the transmission was finished at 3 h. 45 m.”
DECEMBER.
3.—Rajah Brooke of Sarawak was entertained by his old schoolfellows of the Free Grammar School, at a dinner held at the Royal Hotel, Norwich. During his stay in Norfolk he visited the Earl of Leicester at Holkham, the Earl of Albemarle at Quidenham, and Mr. H. S. Partridge at Hockham.
7.—Died in London, aged 76, Mr. William Dalrymple, “one of the most eminent of general practitioners in chirurgery and medicine in Norwich.”
24.—Died at Yarmouth, in his 81st year, Sir George Parker, K.C.B., Admiral of the Red. He entered the Navy at a very early age, and served under his uncle, Sir Peter Parker. He took part in the capture of the Cannanon on the Malabar coast, and was senior lieutenant of the Phœnix at the capture of La Resolve, French frigate, and of the Crescent in her gallant action and capture of the Rennon in 1793, previous to which he brought to England the despatches of Admiral Cornwallis. In 1805, when commanding the Stately, he, in company with the Nassau, destroyed, after a running fight of two hours, a line of battle ship of 74 guns. He was appointed, in 1808, to the command of the squadron in the Baltic, and on his return to England he was appointed to the Aboukir (74), which he commanded in the Walcheren Expedition. In 1841 he attained the rank of Admiral of the Red.
29.—Died at the residence of his son (the Rev. W. R. Crotch), at Taunton, “that eminent musician,” Dr. Crotch. He was born in Norwich in 1772, and in his twenty-second year was appointed professor of music in the University of Oxford. In 1822 he became principal of the Royal Academy of Music.
30.—Chloroform was, for the first time, used in a surgical operation at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. “A young woman had her leg amputated after having inhaled the fumes from a convenient apparatus. She became perfectly insensible to pain, and continued so throughout the operation. Her sensations were apparently of a very happy description, as she partly amused herself by singing psalms in a very clear and distinct voice, and partly by holding lively conversations with imaginary persons during the performance of this painful operation. The state of unconsciousness appeared to be more rapidly induced by the use of chloroform than is usually effected by spirits of ether. Its exhalation also was more easy and agreeable, and the duration of its influence longer.”
1848.
JANUARY.
1.—Methwold church was re-opened after restoration. “The centre of the nave has been given to the poor, and the outside aisles appropriated to the rich.”
3.—Mr. Aldridge, “the African Roscius,” appeared at Norwich Theatre in the character of Othello, and afterwards as Zanga (“The Revenge”), Fabian (“The Black Doctor”), and Bertram. He was a native of Africa, and was described as a very intelligent actor.
5.—At the Norfolk Quarter Sessions, at Norwich, George Thurtell (47), horticulturist, “who appeared like a dying man,” pleaded guilty to stealing various articles from the house of Mr. Farrer, of Sporle, where he had been entertained as a guest while engaged as a landscape gardener in laying out the grounds. The prisoner, who was a son of Mr. Alderman Thurtell, of Norwich, and brother of the notorious John Thurtell, the murderer of Mr. Wear, was sentenced to twelve months’ imprisonment. He died before the completion of his sentence (July 26th).
13.—The elephant belonging to Wombwell’s Menagerie died whilst being exhibited at Norwich. The animal was said to be 85 years old.
19.—Mrs. Butler, “once so celebrated as Fanny Kemble,” commenced an engagement at Norwich Theatre, in the character of Mrs. Beverley. She appeared also as Julia (“The Hunchback”) and Pauline.
28.—The Yarmouth Haven and Pier Commissioners determined to oppose at every stage the Norwich and Yarmouth Navigation Bill, by which it was sought to obtain powers for improving the navigation of the river Yare by straightening, widening, and deepening the channel, so as to admit of the passage of seaborne ships from Yarmouth to Norwich. Application was made in the Court of Chancery for an injunction to restrain the Corporation of Norwich from raising funds by means of the borough rate to forward the Bill, which went before a Committee of the House of Commons on May 2nd. Counsel for the promoters intimated on May 5th that they did not intend to offer further evidence in its support, whereupon the Bill was withdrawn.
FEBRUARY.
4.—The driver of the Brandon, Fakenham, and Wells coach, benumbed with cold, fell from the box seat unknown to the passengers, and was severely injured. The accident occurred at Toftrees. “The horses proceeded at their usual pace, turning all corners, crossing Hempton Common, up the narrow street into Fakenham, and passing several carts and other vehicles on the way. They pulled up at the Crown Inn, as usual, and waited for the porters and ostlers. The coach stops on alternate nights at the Crown and Lion Inns, and this was the proper night for it to stop at the Crown.”
7.—The Yarmouth election petition against the return of Lord Arthur Lennox and Mr. Octavius E. Coope, on the ground of corrupt practices, came before the Committee of the House of Commons. On the 14th the Committee found that “gross, systematic, and extensive bribery prevailed amongst the freemen at the last and previous elections, and considered it their duty to express to the House their unanimous opinion that the freemen should be disfranchised, and that no writ should be issued for the borough until legislative measures had been taken for the purpose of such disfranchisement.” The members were unseated. The Disfranchisement Bill received the Royal assent on June 30th, and the names of 1,106 voters were struck off the list, leaving the constituency at 876. On the same day the writ was issued for the election. Mr. C. E. Rumbold, Mr. Joseph Sandars, and Mr. Bagshaw were nominated candidates on July 7th; a poll was demanded, and the result was declared on the 8th, as follows:—Sandars, 416; Rumbold, 386; Bagshaw, 300.
27.—Died at Hill’s Farm, Attleborough, Mr. Theophilus Smith, aged 68. “He was a man of considerable talent and mechanical skill. In 1841 he had, through the kindness of the Earl of Albemarle, an introduction to Prince Albert at Windsor Castle, when a variety of ingenious models invented by Mr. Smith for improving the construction of the plough were submitted to and obtained the approbation of his Royal Highness, and a patent was subsequently taken out for what has become well known to agriculturists as ‘Smith’s Patent Albert Plough.’ Mr. Smith presented two poems to Prince Albert, addressed, ‘To the Queen’ and ‘To the Prince of Wales,’ and shortly after a beautiful family Bible, elegantly bound and emblazoned with the Royal Arms, was transmitted from Windsor Castle to Mr. Smith, with an inscription intimating that it was presented ‘by command of her Majesty.’ The Royal autograph and that of Prince Albert were, at Mr. Smith’s request, inserted.”
MARCH.
4.*—“Freehold building land is now freely selling on what is called Diss Common, for building purposes, at the rate of £700 per acre, which before the railway was barely worth the tillage.”
13.—The 16th Lancers arrived at Norwich, from Brighton. Men and horses came by special trains, and were under the command of Lieut.-Col. Smyth, C.B. The regiment had just returned from India, “where it had shared in the glorious battles of Aliwal and Sobraon.”
18.—Intelligence was received at Norwich that the Queen had given birth to a Princess (Princess Louise Caroline Alberta). The Corporation sent a congratulatory address.
22.—Died at Thetford, aged 107, Mrs. Catherine Brand. “She was a pious Roman Catholic, and her first marriage was on the day of the Coronation of George III., to Mr. Main, by whose name, in her second widowhood, she preferred to be called.”
23.—Died at his residence in Surrey Street, Norwich, Mr. Edward Temple Booth, aged 84. In 1820 he was appointed Sheriff, in 1821 Alderman, and in 1826 Mayor. He was president of the Norwich Union Fire and Life Insurance Societies.
30.—At the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Baron Pollock and a special jury was tried the action Jermy v. Rush. The plaintiff, who was Recorder of Norwich, sought to recover damages from the defendant for a breach of covenants in respect of the lease of a farm at Ketteringham. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff on all issues—damages £420.
APRIL.
11.—Madame Anna Thillon made her appearance at Norwich Theatre as La Catarina in Auber’s opera, “Crown Diamonds.” She also took the part of Roxalana (“The Sultana”).
13.—Died at Cromer Hall, aged 73, Mr. Henry Baring.
14.—Mr. Sims Reeves made his first appearance in Norwich at a concert given by Jullien at St. Andrew’s Hall, under the management of Mr. William Howlett.
MAY.
10.—Mr. G. V. Brooke, after an absence of several years, appeared at Norwich Theatre for one night, in the character of Othello.
15.—Mr. Webster, of the Haymarket Theatre, commenced a three nights’ engagement at Norwich Theatre as Stanislaus (“The Roused Lion”) and Michael Bradshaw (“Old Honesty”).
22.—Mr. Henry Russell, the favourite vocalist, gave his entertainment at Norwich Theatre.
23.—The enforcement of the regulation of the Poor Law Commissioners for the separation of married men from their wives in workhouses, gave rise to a serious disturbance among the inmates of Norwich Workhouse. The rioting was resumed on June 16th. A policeman named William Callow, while engaged in removing the refractory paupers from the Workhouse to the Police-station, was struck by a stone and received fatal injuries. A verdict of wilful murder against some person unknown was returned by the Coroner’s jury.
27.—The Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry assembled at Fakenham for their annual training—the last in the history of the regiment. (See May 19th, 1849.)
28.—Died at Castleacre, Ann Stanford, widow, in her 104th year.
30.—A military race-meeting was held by the 16th Lancers, on land near the Heart’s Ease Inn, Plumstead Road, Norwich. The “Citizens’ Races” took place over the same course on the 31st.
JUNE.
26.—A masquerade and fancy dress ball took place at Norwich Theatre. The pit was converted into a ball-room. “The attendance was moderate and not very select.”
—The foundation-stone of the Jewish synagogue in St. Faith’s Lane, Norwich, was laid by Mr. Joel Fox. The building was consecrated by the Rev. Dr. N. M. Adler, Chief Rabbi, on Sept. 6th, 1849.
JULY.
13.—The Rev. C. Turner was elected perpetual curate of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich.
28.—At the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Baron Parke, a libel action, Quarles v. Bacon and another, was tried. The plaintiff, a solicitor at Fakenham, claimed damages against the defendants, proprietors of the “Norwich Mercury,” for stating in that journal he was guilty of such conduct as to warrant his being struck off the rolls. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff—damages 40s.
AUGUST.
4.—A sculling match for £50 a side took place between Mr. J. L. Barber, of Norwich, and Mr. Knight, of Wymondham. The distance was fifty-five miles, namely, from Thorpe Gardens to Reedham, thence through the New Cut and Lake Lothing to Mutford Bridge, and back to the starting-point. Mr. Knight started at 6.56 a.m., and Mr. Barber at 7.1 a.m. On the return journey Mr. Barber’s boat was upset during a severe thunderstorm and squall. Resuming, he rowed to Cantley, where he was taken from his boat almost insensible and conveyed to the inn. Mr. Knight reached Thorpe Gardens at 3.39 p.m., having rowed the distance in 8 hrs. 43 mins.—1 hr. 34 mins. less than it had ever been covered before.
9.—Died at his house at Langham, Capt. Marryat, C.B. He was well-known as the author of several works of fiction, founded principally on the naval service. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of the county of Norfolk, and was in his 56th year.
11.—A singular accident occurred at Mattishall. A boy named Thomas Ireson, ten years of age, tied himself to the tail of a cow, and the infuriated animal kicked him to death.
24.—St. Nicholas’ church, Great Yarmouth, was re-opened after restoration. The sermon was preached by the Bishop of Oxford. Luncheon was served at the Town Hall, and was attended by the Bishops of Norwich and Oxford, Mr. Baron Alderson, M. Guizot, a former Prime Minister of France, and by many other distinguished guests.
SEPTEMBER.
6.—The Royal Victoria and Albert steam yacht, with the Queen and Prince Consort on board, passed off Cromer at 6.30 a.m., on her voyage to Aberdeen. The coastguard discharged rockets and fired from the mortars a salute of seven rounds.
—Died, aged 73, Mr. John Palmer, of St. Mary’s, Thetford. “He had been twenty years afflicted with rheumatic gout, and for the past sixteen years had never left his bed but once, on which occasion he was carried to the poll at the borough election in the summer of 1842, in the contest between the Earl of Euston and Sir James Flower, when his vote on the Conservative side carried the election.”
7.—A two-days’ cricket match, between the Marylebone Club and Ground and the County of Norfolk (with Wisden) commenced at Swaffham. The principal scores for the former were made by the Hon. E. Grimstone and the Hon. F. Ponsonby, and for the latter by Mr. Charles Wright, the Rev. F. French, and Wisden. Marylebone, 84-76; Norfolk, 106-56.
11.—The East Anglian Railway from Lynn and Swaffham was opened for passenger traffic to Dereham.
—Miss Helen Faucit commenced an engagement at Norwich Theatre. She was supported by Mr. W. Shelley, from the Park Theatre, New York, and by Mr. H. Farren.
—H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, who visited Norwich for the purpose of attending the Triennial Musical Festival, arrived at Trowse Station, where he was received by the Mayor (Mr. G. L. Coleman) and the Sheriff (Mr. J. Watson), who were attended by the principal officers of the Corporation, mounted. “The four whifflers, in proper dress, created much merriment by brandishing their weapons to keep a passage, but they had not the agile grace of the old retainers of our ancient Corporation, and the procession, though the best we have seen in Norwich since the Municipal Reform Act passed, fell short of that imposing dignity which graced our ancient displays of civic pomp.” His Royal Highness, who was the guest of the Bishop of Norwich, left the city on the 15th.
12.—The Norfolk and Norwich Triennial Musical Festival commenced at St. Andrew’s Hall, with a grand evening concert, at which selections from “Il Matrimonio Segreto” and from “Le Nozzi di Figaro” were given. The following were the principal items in the week’s programme:—Sept. 13th, “The Christian’s Prayer” and selections from “The Creation”; evening, “The First Walpurgis Night” and selections from “La Clemenza di Tito”; Sept. 14th, “Elijah”; evening, selection from “Fidelio,” &c.; Sept. 15th, “Davidde Penitente” and “Israel in Egypt.” In the evening a dress ball was given, at which Jullien’s band performed. The principal vocalists at the Festival were Madame Viardot Garcia, Madame Castellan, Mdlle. Alboni, Miss Anne Williams, Miss Martha Williams, Mr. Sims Reeves, Mr. Lockey, Mr. H. Phillips, Mr. H. Whitmore, and Signor Lablache. Mr. H. Blagrove was leader of the band, Mr. Benedict conductor, and Mr. Harcourt organist. The gross receipts were £5,266 4s. 2d.; the gross expenses £4,598 10s. 7d., and the net surplus £667 13s. 9d.
21.—Lord George Bentinck, M.P., was discovered dead on a footpath at Thoresby, about six miles from his seat at Welbeck. The Coroner’s jury found that death was due to heart disease. The deceased nobleman was first elected for King’s Lynn in 1828, in succession to his uncle, Lord William Bentinck. He had previously acted as private secretary to Mr. Canning, a near relative by marriage. His lordship was the recognised leader of the Protectionist party, and as a firm supporter of the Turf did much to reform the abuses which existed upon it in his time. The vacancy created by his death in the representation of Lynn was filled by the election of the Hon. E. H. Stanley, who was returned without opposition on December 22nd.
23.—Under the provisions of the new Tavern Act, the public-houses in Norwich were closed at 12 p.m. “The streets in the lower parts of the city and all round the Market Place were crowded with persons returning home with pots of malt liquor.” On the 25th informations were preferred against many publicans for failing to close their houses at the prescribed time.
28.—Died at Pulham, aged 43, Mr. R. B. Harvey, a well-known flock-master, who did much to improve the breed of sheep in Norfolk. He was a frequent exhibitor at the shows of the Royal Agricultural Society and of the local agricultural associations.
OCTOBER.
17.—The first conviction under the new Act for preventing the extension of diseases in sheep was recorded at Norwich, when Mr. Betts, cattle dealer, of Old Buckenham, was fined for exposing on the Castle Meadow sheep that were suffering from sheep-pox or variola ovina.
23.—The Adelphi Theatre, Norwich, was opened under the management of Mr. George Smith, formerly lessee of the Theatre Royal. The company included Mr. and Mrs. Sidney (Miss J. Trafford).
31.—St. Matthew’s church, Thorpe Hamlet, Norwich, at which building operations commenced in the second week in August, was “founded” by the chairman and members of the committee.
NOVEMBER.
9.—Mr. Samuel Bignold was elected Mayor, and Mr. Robert Chamberlin appointed Sheriff of Norwich.
13.—A salmon weighing 9 lbs. was captured in the river near Trowse Bridge, Norwich.
21.—Died at Richmond, Mr. William James Achilles Abington, M.A., barrister-at-law, of the Middle Temple, aged 41, the only surviving son of Mr. William Abington, of the East India House. The deceased gentleman was in 1845 lessee of Norwich Theatre.
28.—Madame Dulcken, pianist to the Queen, gave a grand concert at the Assembly Rooms, Norwich.
—Mr. Isaac Jermy, Recorder of Norwich, and Mr. Jermy Jermy, his son, were murdered at Stanfield Hall, Wymondham, by James Blomfield Rush. Mrs. Jermy Jermy and her maid, Elizabeth Chastney, alarmed by the report of the firearm, proceeded to the assistance of the victims, and were severely wounded, the former in the arm and the latter in the hip, by another shot fired by the murderer. Rush was apprehended the same night at his house, Potash Farm, by Police-constable Mortar, of the Norwich city police, and conveyed to Wymondham Bridewell. The first examination of the prisoner took place on the 29th, before the Hon. and Rev. R. Wilson, Mr. Cann, and Mr. Parker. He was afterwards taken to Stanfield Hall, where Mrs. Jermy Jermy identified him as her assailant. Rush was further examined at Wymondham Bridewell on the 30th. At the adjourned hearing on December 2nd, Emily Sandford, his housekeeper, gave evidence, and the prisoner was committed to Norwich Castle, where the third hearing was conducted in private on December 5th. The final examinations took place at the Castle on the 13th and 14th; on the latter date the depositions were publicly read, and the prisoner was formally committed to take his trial on the charge of wilful murder. On the 19th he was taken, under writ of habeas corpus, to Stanfield Hall, where Chastney gave evidence in his presence. The inquest on Mr. Jermy and Mr. Jermy Jermy was opened by Mr. Press at the King’s Head Inn, Wymondham, on November 30th, and adjourned sittings were held on December 1st, 2nd, and 5th. On the last-named day the Coroner issued a warrant for the detention of Emily Sandford in Wymondham Bridewell. The final sitting of the Coroner’s Court was held on December 19th, when the jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Rush. The funeral of Mr. Jermy and his son took place at Wymondham church, on December 5th. (See March 29th, 1849.)
DECEMBER.
22.—Mr. Prendergast, of the Norfolk Circuit, qualified as Recorder of Norwich, in the room of Mr. Isaac Jenny, deceased.
26.—Pablo Fanque’s Circus opened for the Christmas holidays at the Victoria Gardens, Norwich. (On September 15th, 1849, this circus proprietor was referred to as “our fellow-citizen, Mr. Darby, alias Pablo Fanque.”)
—Norwich Theatre was opened for the season, under the management of Mr. Charles Dillon. The pieces produced were “Virginius,” and the pantomime “The Naughty Boys, Smith, Brown, Jones, and Robinson, or Harlequin and the Great Sea Serpent.”
30.—St. Mary’s church, Norwich, was described as being in a most disgraceful and dilapidated condition. “It was re-pewed in 1827 by the Rev. Mr. Wodehouse, and was then one of the neatest parish churches in Norwich.”
1849.
JANUARY.
22.—Mdlle. Jenny Lind, assisted by Miss Dolby, Signor Belletti, and Signor Marras, gave an evening concert at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, in aid of the charities of the city. On the 23rd she sang at a morning concert in furtherance of the same object. The total receipts amounted to £1,859 11s., and £1,250 remained after the payment of expenses. The services of the famous singer were rendered quite gratuitously. The Mayor (Mr. Bignold) and members of the Corporation waited upon her at the Palace, where she was staying as the guest of Bishop Stanley, and presented to her an address expressive of the thanks of the citizens.
FEBRUARY.
2.—Mr. Michael Beverley, of Forncett St. Mary, a popular sportsman in South Norfolk, was killed whilst hunting with Mr. Fellowes’ hounds at Moulton. He was in his 60th year.
4.—Many hundred persons assembled at Bacton Wood Mill, North Walsham, to witness the baptism by immersion in the mill stream of several men and women “who had embraced the faith of Mormonites, or Latter-day Saints.”
13.—A public meeting was held at the Guildhall, Norwich, under the presidency of the Mayor, at which resolutions were adopted in favour of a national rate, and condemnatory of the laws of settlement and removal, “which drove the poor to reside in large towns and unjustly limited their field of labour.” Another resolution condemned the gross inequality in the assessments of the various parishes in England and Wales to the relief of the poor. A petition was ordered to be presented to Parliament in accordance with the terms of the resolutions.
17.—A severe outbreak of cholera was recorded at Rudham, where twenty-four deaths had occurred up to this date. “Extreme poverty and dirt had much to do with this awful visitation.”
27.—The agitation for the repeal of the Malt Tax was re-opened at a meeting of the farmers of West Norfolk, held at the Market Hall, Lynn. It was decided to petition Parliament in favour of the repeal. Many meetings were held with the same object in other parts of the county.
28.—Died at Leyton, aged 54, Mr. Charles Fox, engraver. He was a son of Robert Fox, a steward on the Costessey estate, received lessons in drawing from Charles Hodgson, at Norwich, and was apprenticed to Mr. Edwards, engraver, of Bungay. “His exquisite line engravings are well known by those who value the highest specimens of skill in that department and by the lovers of fine English prints.”
MARCH.
13.—Elihu Burritt addressed a public meeting at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, in favour of the settlement of national disputes by arbitration instead of by force of arms.
20.—The railway from Dereham to Fakenham was opened for passenger and goods traffic.
25.—Died at the Grove, Holt, in his 64th year, Major T. A. Girling, formerly of the 5th Fusiliers, with whom he served in the Peninsula War. He was for some years adjutant of the Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry.
29.—At the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Baron Rolfe, the trial commenced of James Blomfield Rush for the Stanfield Hall murders. Mr. Serjeant Byles, Mr. Prendergast, and Mr. Evans were counsel for the prosecution, and the prisoner conducted his own defence. The case was opened at nine a.m., and the Court adjourned at seven p.m. On the 30th Emily Sandford gave evidence, and was in the witness-box nine and a half hours. Her examination in chief lasted two hours, and the prisoner subjected her to seven and a half hours’ cross-examination, mostly on irrelevant matters. On the 31st the Court sat from nine a.m. to 7.30 p.m.; and the case for the Crown was completed on Monday, April 2nd. The prisoner commenced his address to the jury shortly after nine o’clock on the morning of the 3rd, and had not concluded when the Court rose at ten minutes to eight o’clock. “It was full of repetitions, and everything material might have been said in a tithe of the time.” The address was resumed at nine a.m. on April 4th, and concluded at twelve o’clock, the prisoner in the two days having spoken nearly fourteen hours. Mr. Serjeant Byles then replied for the Crown. The Judge summed up, the jury, after a few minutes’ consultation, returned a verdict of guilty, and sentence of death was passed. Throughout the trial the Court was densely crowded. The jury were conveyed each night to the Maid’s Head Hotel, where the assembly-room was specially fitted up for their accommodation as a sleeping apartment; and on Sunday, April 1st, they attended morning and afternoon service at the Cathedral, under the escort of the county officials. (See April 21st.)
APRIL.
2.—The garrison steeplechases of the 16th Lancers took place at Stanninghall, near Spixworth.
21.—The execution of James Blomfield Rush, for the Stanfield Hall murders, took place on the Castle Hill, Norwich, in the presence of an enormous gathering of spectators. Thousands of persons entered the city by road—“one woman who had been confined only three weeks travelled from the country on foot fourteen miles during the previous night, in order to be present”—and many thousands more were brought in by the trains. Cheap return tickets were issued from London to Norwich, and the persons who availed themselves of the facilities were principally members of the “swell mob.” At Attleborough station the London detectives who travelled by the train transferred the gang to an up-train; several who evaded the police were apprehended immediately on their arrival at Norwich and conveyed to the Police Station, where they remained in custody until after the execution. The culprit was hanged at noon, by Calcraft. “The greatest silence prevailed, the solemn stillness being only broken by the solitary shriek of a woman who had fainted in the crowd.”
MAY.
19.—Major Loftus, commanding Prince Albert’s Own Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry, announced to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, that the Earl of Leicester, as Lord Lieutenant, had advised the authorities that, in consequence of local circumstances, it was expedient to disband the regiment. Major Loftus complained that the Lord Lieutenant would assign “no cause for this unceremonious dismissal.” He added: “My duty is now to give you my last word of command, which is to obey the orders of her Majesty’s Secretary of State and to desire that you deliver up all your arms, clothing, and accoutrements to the respective captains of troops, who are hereby directed to forward the arms and sword belts to Cornet William Freeman, at my store-room at Billingford. And I have to request that your clothing, saddlery, &c., be conveyed to Holkham Hall, when his lordship will have the opportunity of disposing of them as he and Sir George Grey may think proper, for I shall give myself no further trouble in the matter after the ungracious manner in which I have been treated.”
20.—A telegram was received at Norwich, announcing that the Queen had been fired at on the previous (Saturday) evening, by an Irishman named John Hamilton. The National Anthem was played at the Cathedral and at most of the parish churches.
24.—The Queen’s birthday was celebrated with much rejoicing in Norwich. The Sheriff gave a dinner at St. Andrew’s Hall to the inmates of the Workhouse and Infirmary. The 16th Lancers paraded in the Market Place, and the Corps of Pensioners, under Capt. Cockburn, fired a feu de joie. The Mayor entertained a large party at luncheon at the Guildhall, and in the evening gave a dinner at the Assembly Rooms.
26.—Died at Montreal, Sir Benjamin D’Urban, Commander of her Majesty’s forces in British North America. He saw much active service during the Peninsula War, and in 1829 became Colonel of the 51st Foot. He was a native of Norfolk, and related to the D’Urban Blythes of Massingham.
26.*—“One day last week a fine sturgeon, weighing 3 st. 11 lbs., and measuring 5 ft. 9 in. in length, was caught in the river at Northwold, twenty-eight miles from the sea.”
JUNE.
5.—The Rev. R. S. Bayley, of Sheffield, the originator and promoter, gave the first of a series of addresses on the aims and work of a new institution in Norwich known as the People’s College. Commodious premises were taken in St. George Colegate, where students were instructed under competent masters.
11.—Mountjoy the pedestrian commenced the task of walking from Norwich to Yarmouth and back twice daily for six successive days, and completed it on the 16th.
20.—Mr. G. L. Coleman, of Norwich, was presented with a valuable piece of plate, in recognition of his efficient discharge of the duties of the Mayoralty in 1847–8. The presentation was made at a dinner given at the Norfolk Hotel, under the presidency of the Mayor (Mr. Bignold).
—The demolition of the old Guildhall (or Church Hall) at Yarmouth commenced. The building had been used as a National School.
JULY.
18.—The annual show of the Royal Agricultural Society of England was opened at Norwich. The show ground, which comprised about fifteen acres, was on the old Heath, near Ipswich Road; the trials of implements took place on Mr. Parker’s land at Bixley. H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge attended the show, and during his one night’s stay in the city was the guest of the Mayor. The society’s dinner, attended by 900 noblemen and gentlemen, was held at St Andrew’s Hall on the 19th, under the presidency of the Earl of Chichester. The show, which lasted two days, was visited by 22,000 persons.
20.—“A gentleman well known as Champion of the Yare” undertook to row 100 miles in twenty-four hours. He started at 12.35 a.m., and rowed to Beccles Bridge, a distance of 40 miles, and returned to Carrow Bridge; he then pulled down the river to Rockland Dyke, and back, a distance of 20 miles, finishing at 8.28 p.m., and completing the whole distance in 19 hrs. 53 mins. He rowed the last 20 miles under three hours.
23.—Mr. Martin William ffolkes, eldest son of Sir William ffolkes, Bart., of Hillington Hall, whilst fishing at Castle Rising, was killed by lightning. “His hands were not closed, and part of a cigar he had been smoking was in his mouth.”
24.—A lecture was given at St. Andrew’s Hall, by Professor Isham Baggs, of the Polytechnic Institution, London, on “The Economy and Philosophy of the Electric Light, and its present and prospective bearing on the vested interests of Gas Companies.” The electric light was shown by the aid of a powerful voltaic battery. It was described as “a light of dazzling lustre and surpassing brilliancy, on which no eye can steadily gaze. The figures on the various paintings in the Hall appeared to start from the canvas, and every living face displayed an almost supernatural brilliancy and expression. The gas seemed extinguished amid the new blaze of light.”
27.—Lieut. Gale, R.N., “of Cremorne celebrity,” made a balloon ascent from the Cellar Gardens, Pockthorpe, Norwich, accompanied by Mr. A. W. Pashley, of Harleston, and Mr. Nevey. “There was a second car or fake bottom attached by a rope to the balloon, and when at the altitude of about a mile this was lowered thirty or forty feet. A rope ladder was fixed to it from a trap door in the car, and by that the gallant aeronaut descended into the lower car, from which he discharged shells and other pyrotechnics.” The descent was made in a field near Coldham Hall.
AUGUST.
23.—A grand cricket match, between an eleven of All England and twenty of Norfolk commenced on the Norwich Ground. All England, 63-63; Norfolk, 118-11.
25.*—“Several of those new coins, the florin, have found their way to Norwich. It is a handsome piece of money, but we dislike the un-English name. We also protest against the omission of the words of the old legend intimating that our beloved Queen reigns by ‘the Grace of God,’ and that she is the defender of the faith.”
—Particulars were given on this date of the marriage of the notorious Lola Montez, “the ex-Countess of Lansfeldt,” with Mr. George Trafford Heald, a lieutenant in the Life Guards, and an owner of considerable landed property at Freebridge Marshland and Walpole St. Peter.
28.—The Rev. John Woolley, D.C.L., was elected head master of Norwich Free Grammar School, and on the same day the Rev. Henry Banfather, B.D., the former master, was, on his retirement, presented with a valuable piece of silver plate, subscribed for by the boys and his personal friends.
SEPTEMBER.
4.—A curious incident occurred at the Assembly Rooms, Norwich, at a lecture given by a Mrs. Hamilton, on “A phrenological analysis of the heads and speeches of three of the speakers at the soirée given on the 16th ult. to celebrate the opening of the People’s College.” The persons referred to were Mr. J. H. Tillett, Mr. Wheeler, and Mr. J. W. Dowson. The lecturer, amid much disturbance, stated that Mr. Tillett had “a large love of approbation, too little veneration, and a large portion of self-esteem”; Mr. Wheeler had “little veneration or philo-progenitiveness”; and Mr. Dowson’s head “showed beautiful Christian development.” Mr. Tillett rose from his seat and described the lecture as “a mass of rhodomontade, as an imposition, as non-conclusive, and as most of it foreign to the subject. He denounced this lecturing on heads, and asked what would be thought if he brought down a phrenologist to lecture on the heads of his opponents?”
4.—A balloon ascent was made from the Cavalry Barracks, Norwich, by Mr. Green, accompanied by Mr. Rush, of Elsenham Hall, Essex, “who was desirous of trying some experiments with a new instrument called an aneroid barometer invented by himself, and the first ever made on the new principle.” The balloon descended in a field at West Newton.
6.—The death of the Right Rev. Dr. Edward Stanley, Bishop of Norwich, occurred at Brahan Castle, near Dingwall, Ross-shire. The body was conveyed from Invergordon by sea by the steamer Duke of Sutherland, and landed at Yarmouth on the 19th. It arrived at Norwich on the same day, and was deposited in the Palace Chapel, where it lay in state on the 20th, and was interred in the centre of the Cathedral nave on the 21st. “Anthony Sparrow (50th Bishop), ob. 1685, was the last prelate buried in the Cathedral.” Bishop Stanley was the second son of Sir J. T. Stanley, of Alderley, Cheshire, and was born January 1st, 1779. He was elected to the vacant see of Norwich on the death of Bishop Bathurst in 1837. “His lordship was a Liberal in politics, but more of the Whig than the Radical, and although too conciliatory to Dissenters, he, of late years in particular, showed himself devoutedly attached to the Church.” He was Clerk of the Closet to the Queen, President of the Linnean Society, and one of the Commissioners appointed in 1848 to enquire into the state of the British Museum.
8.—A meeting of medical practitioners was held at the Guildhall, Norwich, to consider the best means of preventing the spread of cholera. Rooms were hired in different parts of the city for dispensing medicines, and special forms of prayer were used in all the churches and chapels. November 15th, the day appointed for thanksgiving “for deliverance from the scourge which has lately visited this land,” was observed in Norwich by the entire suspension of business. All classes of citizens attended the services held at the Cathedral and the parish churches.
OCTOBER.
2.—Victoria Gardens, Norwich, for so many generations the popular resort of the citizens, were dismantled on this date, when Mr. William Wilde, auctioneer, sold “the ranges of drinking boxes, seats and tables, the scenery, fittings, and machinery in the theatre, the fittings, benches, &c., in the circus and saloon, the materials of the firework house, the porter bar, cake-room, &c.” The sale was held by order of the directors of the Eastern Union Railway Company, who had acquired the property as the site for their Norwich terminus.
3.—Mr. Joseph Hume, M.P., Sir Joshua Walmisley, M.P., Mr. George Thompson, M.P., Mr. J. H. Parry, Mr. Feargus O’Connor, M.P., and other members of the National Reform Association, addressed a large meeting held at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, under the auspices of the local branch of the association. Mr. J. H. Tillett presided.
22.—Madame Sontag, Signor Calzobari, Signor Bolletti, Signor F. Lablache, and M. Thalberg appeared at a grand concert given at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich. A second performance took place on the 23rd.
—A public meeting was held at the Independent chapel, Diss, for the purpose of hearing statements from Mr. James Everett respecting the expulsion of himself and Messrs. Dunn and Griffith from the Wesleyan Conference. On the 24th a similar meeting was held at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, when resolutions were passed condemnatory of the action of the Conference and expressive of sympathy with the expelled ministers. The agitation was continued until June 22nd, 1850, on the 19th of which month another meeting took place at St. Andrew’s Hall, at which the Wesleyan Reformers uttered “violent tirades against the Conference, the Missionary Committee, and other ruling bodies of Wesleyanism.” In December, 1850, a series of disturbances occurred at Lenwade, where the services of the chapel were stopped and the preacher, the Rev. C. Povah, assaulted with stones and burnt in effigy. Magisterial proceedings at Reepham were followed by an application in the Court of Chancery for an injunction to restrain certain persons from interrupting Mr. Povah and other ministers in the performance of religious worship at the Wesleyan chapel, Cawston. The affidavits read disclosed a number of gross outrages upon the ministers, extending over the period of six months. Issue of the injunction was stayed upon the defendants entering into an undertaking not to disturb or molest the plaintiffs in the exercise of their duties.
26.—Immense quantities of fish were caught off Yarmouth. The herring boats had from 100,000 to 200,000 fish on board. Cartloads of fish were taken to Norwich and sold at the following rates:—Fresh herring, 10 for one penny; boaters, 25 for sixpence; cod, one penny per pound; soles, from three halfpence to twopence per pair.
30.—Died at Quidenham Hall, the Earl of Albemarle. Born on May 14th, 1772, he married, on April 9th, 1792, the Hon. Elizabeth Southwell, four years his junior, who became the mother of sixteen children. Mr. T. W. Coke, though old enough to be Lord Albemarle’s father, became his son-in-law in 1822, when he espoused Lady Anne Keppel. His lordship married secondly, on February 11th, 1822, Charlotte Susannah, daughter of Sir Henry Hunloke, Bart.
NOVEMBER.
5.—Downham Market was lighted with gas for the first time. The event was celebrated by a dinner at the Queen’s Head and by other rejoicings.
6.—The Oddfellows of the Norwich District, to the number of 700, dined at St. Andrew’s Hall, under the presidency of Mr. W. M. Kitton.
7.—The Norwich extension railway of the Eastern Union line, completing the communication with London via Ipswich, Colchester, and Chelmsford, was opened on this date. It was part of the plan of the Eastern Union Company, whose Act for making the railway from Ipswich to Colchester was obtained in 1844. The line was commenced in 1845, and opened on June 11th, 1846. In 1845 another Act was passed for making a railway from Ipswich to Bury St. Edmund’s, and in 1846 an Act was obtained for making the Ipswich and Norwich extension. In the latter year an Act was also passed for the amalgamation of the Eastern Union and the Ipswich and Bury Railway Companies, and by the two united the Norwich line was constructed. Mr. Locke was the engineer-in-chief, Mr. Bruff the resident engineer, and Messrs. Mackenzie and Brassey the contractors. The first train, conveying 550 ladies and gentlemen, the guests of the directors, started from the station (“constructed in part out of the old Pantheon”), and proceeded to Stowmarket, where refreshments were served. Trains from Bury, Colchester, and Ipswich brought 600 more passengers, and the three trains uniting ran to Norwich, where they arrived at 4.30, the band of the 16th Lancers playing the travellers into the city. A dinner took place at St. Andrew’s Hall, under the presidency of the Mayor (Mr. Bignold), and the Sheriff (Mr. Chamberlin) gave a ball in the evening, at the Assembly Rooms. The line was opened for the conveyance of cattle and goods on December 3rd, and of passengers on December 12th.
9.—Mr. Henry Woodcock was elected Mayor, and Mr. James Colman appointed Sheriff of Norwich. Mr. Bignold reminded the Council that when he took the office of Mayor a distinct assurance was given that there was to be a retention of the system of alternate Whig and Tory Mayors and Sheriffs. He would not have accepted office but for that assurance.
DECEMBER.
2.—The consecration of the Rev. Dr. S. Hinds, Bishop-elect of Norwich, took place at Lambeth Palace. His lordship was installed at Norwich Cathedral on January 24th, 1850.
—Intelligence was received of the death of the Queen Dowager. The day of the funeral, December 13th, was observed in Norwich by the partial closing of the shops.
20.—Died at Hampstead, the Ven. Philip Jennings, Archdeacon of Norfolk, aged 66. He was presented to his office in 1847 by Bishop Stanley.
27.—A severe gale from the N.N.W., a heavy fall of snow, and a high tide prevented railway communication with Yarmouth. The line was under water for a considerable distance. The trains on the lines to London were delayed by deep snowdrifts. An omnibus was run between Norwich and Yarmouth for the conveyance of passengers. “The people on the road stared with wonderment on seeing the six-in-hand drawing the ponderous vehicle through the snow.”
1850.
JANUARY.
3.—Mr. Sims Reeves took part in a performance of “the Messiah” at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich. The other vocalists included Miss Poole, Miss Kenneth, Herr Formes, and Master Mann.
10.—A sculling match from Bramerton to Whitlingham, for £10 a side, between R. Buttle, of Norwich, and Aldred, one of the crew of the “Young Company,” Yarmouth, was won easily by the former.
16.—Aylsham was for the first time lighted with gas, an event celebrated by the ringing of the church bells, by the distribution of beer, and by a dinner and ball at the Black Boys Hotel. A display of fireworks ended the festivities.
18.—Acts of disorder were committed by the female factory hands in Norwich, owing to an alteration being made in the working hours. They broke with snowballs the windows in the house of Mr. Douglas, one of the manufacturers, and waylaid him on St. Martin-at-Palace Plain. To save himself from being stripped naked, he took refuge in a neighbouring office.
20.—Died at Ranworth, the Rev. T. B. Greaves, for forty years vicar of South Lynn, and thirty-six years vicar of Wiggenhall St. Giles. He was the author of a volume of poems entitled, “Greaves’ Wilderness.”
28.—A meeting, convened by the High Sheriff (Col. Mason), on the requisition of 3,000 signatories, was held at Swaffham, “for the purpose of adopting means to secure the return of a Protective policy.” The railway companies ran special trains for the convenience of persons desirous of attending the meeting. The High Sheriff was supported by Lord Orford, Lord Sondes, and the members for the division. A resolution was adopted to the effect that the depression under which the agricultural, commercial, and industrial classes laboured was owing principally to legislative enactments, and nothing but a return to a protective policy could restore the permanent prosperity of agriculture, trade, and commerce. It was decided to present to the Queen and to Parliament a petition embodying these views.
FEBRUARY.
11.—A public meeting was held at the Guildhall, Norwich, to give the citizens the opportunity of expressing their opinion upon the new Water Works Bill. A resolution was adopted in its favour. On the 12th the Town Council agreed to petition the House of Commons in opposition to the Bill, on the ground principally that no provision was made for such a supply of water as the inhabitants required, and that the scale of rates was too high. On the 19th the Corporation authorised the expenditure of £250 “to defray the expense of defending the rights of the present Water Works Company and of opposing the new Water Works Bill in Parliament.” On March 27th Mr. David Stevenson, C.E., Edinburgh, held a public inquiry at the Guildhall respecting the application for the new Bill, and subsequently made a tour of inspection. He stated that Norwich was as badly supplied with water as any place he was ever in. The Bill went before the Committee of the House of Commons on May 2nd, and on the 16th was reported to the House of Lords. It passed its third reading in the House of Commons on June 3rd. The Town Council, on June 12th, appointed a committee to confer with the promoters of the Bill as to certain clauses; and on June 15th it was announced that the promoters had adopted a course that was satisfactory to the representatives of the Council. Opposition was then withdrawn. The first general meeting of the shareholders of the Norwich Water Works Company was held on October 15th, under the presidency of Mr. Bignold, chairman of the company.
MARCH.
13.—Festivities commenced at Shadwell Court, and were continued three days, in celebration of the coming of age of Sir Robert Jacob Buxton, who was presented by the tenantry with a massive silver salver. The band of the 2nd Life Guards was in attendance.
24.—Snow fell to the depth of 12 inches. A drift occurred in the chalk cutting between Narborough and Swaffham, and delayed railway traffic.
26.—Died at Lambeth, aged 66, Mr. William Bath, President of the Money Order Office, St. Martin’s le Grand. He was Mayor of Yarmouth in 1824 and 1826, and was the first Mayor of that borough after the passing of the Municipal Reform Act, when he occupied the civic chair during two successive terms.
APRIL.
5.—At the Norfolk Assizes, before Lord Chief Baron Pollock, Blofield John Rix and Henry Senior were charged with stealing, embezzling, and misappropriating various sums of money, to the amount of £10,589 18s., the property of their employers. Both prisoners were employed at the Diss Bank. The proprietor, Mr. Dyson, was taken seriously ill in the month of December, 1848, and an arrangement was made that Mr. Thomas Lombe Taylor, son of Mr. Meadows Taylor, a former partner with Mr. Dyson, should be taken into partnership, and the partnership commenced in 1849. On January 19th Mr. Dyson died, and Mr. Taylor intended to dispose of the business to the firm of Messrs. Harveys and Hudson. It became necessary to go through the accounts, and then the frauds were discovered. The prisoners were tried on a charge of simple larceny, whereupon they pleaded guilty, and were sentenced, Rix to 18 months’ and Senior to 12 months’ imprisonment.
—The action, Berney v. Delane and Co., was tried at the Norfolk Assizes, before Lord Chief Baron Pollock. The question at issue was the right to the use of the stream which worked Taverham Mills. The defendants manufactured the paper for “The Times” newspaper, “and their broadsheets were every day scattered round the terrestrial globe, and were to be found in every corner of the earth.” In order to carry on their business, the defendants had the right to raise the stream behind their mills; they had not only raised it to the height they were entitled to enjoy, but very much higher; so high that they had flooded the lands of Mr. Thomas Trench Berney, and had rendered them useless for sheep grazing. The case was ultimately referred to Mr. Russell Gurney, and a verdict for the plaintiff was taken on account of the damage laid in the declaration, subject to such reference.
17.—The Mayor of Norwich (Mr. Woodcock) having offered to provide an illuminated clock and clock turret at the Guildhall, on condition that the Corporation removed the false ceiling in the Council Chamber and laid open the old roof, it was unanimously resolved to accept the clock. It was made by Messrs. Moore, of Clerkenwell, London, and fixed in a turret designed by Mr. Kerr, in the month of October.
30.—The headquarters of the 16th Lancers marched from Norwich for Hounslow.
MAY.
1.—Sultzer’s public baths were opened in St. Augustine’s, Norwich. In the course of six months they were used by 10,943 persons.
4.—Attention was directed to the system then becoming more prevalent than ever, of driving dogs in trucks or small carts along the public roads. “To say nothing of the cruelty to the dogs, few horses will pass them without risk of accident.”
6.—The season terminated at Norwich Theatre. The house was under the management of Mr. Clarence (afterwards known as Mr. Clarence Holt).
14.—The Norwich Town Council adopted an address of congratulation to the Queen and Prince Albert upon the birth, on May 1st, of a Prince (Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught).
16.—Mr. W. Lee, C.E., one of the Inspectors of the Board of Health, opened, at the Guildhall, Norwich, a public inquiry into the sanitary state of the city. It lasted eight days.
—A sturgeon, measuring 6 ft. 2 in. in length and 3 ft. 6 in. in girth, and weighing 15 st. 3 lbs., was shot in the river Wissey, near Hilgay Bridge. “It is surprising how a fish of this size could get up the river so far, as it had to pass through several sluices.”
17.—Died at Mill Hill, Hendon, aged 57, Sir James Flower, Bart. He was a son of the first baronet, by the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Mr. James Squire, of Portsmouth. In 1816 he married the daughter of Sir Walter Stirling, Bart. He succeeded his father in 1834. In 1838 he filled the office of High Sheriff of Norfolk, and in 1843 was appointed a deputy-lieutenant for Herefordshire. A Conservative in politics, he contested the representation of Thetford with the Earl of Euston, when a “double return” resulted. On petition, Sir James was declared the sitting member. The first baronet was an alderman of the City of London, who filled the office of Lord Mayor in the year of the Jubilee.
19.—Lieut. John Allen, commander of the Prince of Wales Revenue cutter, boarded off Happisburgh a vessel named the Sea Flower, of Hull, and found her laden with 122 bales of contraband tobacco of 50 lbs. each, the duty upon which amounted to £900. The vessel and cargo were confiscated.
24.—The headquarters of the 11th Hussars arrived at Norwich, under command of Col. the Earl of Cardigan. “This regiment has a fine appearance. The uniform is blue jacket, braided, scarlet trousers, and bearskin cap.”
—The Queen’s birthday was celebrated at Norwich by the Pockthorpe “Corporation” parading in the Market Place, “the ‘Mayor’ and ‘Aldermen’ wearing their scarlet gowns and bearing themselves with all the conscious dignity of office.” The Sheriff of Norwich (Mr. James Colman) entertained the inmates of the Workhouse, the Infirmary, and the Boys’ Home to dinner at St. Andrew’s Hall, and the Mayor (Mr. Woodcock) gave a dinner at the Assembly Rooms.
29.—A new organ, the gift of Col. Mason, was opened at Necton church.
JUNE.
5.—An extraordinary will was left by Miss Margaret Creake, of St. Andrew’s, Norwich, whose death occurred on this date. She was the last of three sisters, very eccentric in their manners and parsimonious in their way of living. She directed that her relatives who chose to prove their identity should receive one shilling each; a legacy of £20 was left to one neighbour, and of £10 to another. She directed that £50 be given to each homeless person above 68 years of age in London, Ireland, and Scotland, and that all her real estate be employed in founding a hospital for aged persons, the hospital to be built and the inmates habited according to her directions. The property, valued at £20,000, being insufficient, the wishes of the testatrix could not be carried out. Upwards of 1,000 persons visited the late residence of the deceased, “the filthiness of which was beyond description.” Shortly after the death of Miss Creake, a chemist named Woolner, with whom she had been intimate, committed suicide by poisoning himself. It was then rumoured that the woman had met with her death by foul means. The Coroner (Mr. Wilde) ordered the exhumation of the body from St. Clement’s churchyard. An examination of the remains was made by Mr. T. W. Crosse, who attributed death to natural causes.
9.—Died at Norwich, aged 60, Mr. John Green Crosse, senior surgeon of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. Mr. Crosse was a native of Suffolk, and received his early professional education under Mr. Bailey, at Stowmarket. After a distinguished career as a medical student in London, he became demonstrator of anatomy in Dublin. He visited Paris, where he made himself sufficiently acquainted with the French schools of medicine to enable him on his return to publish “Sketches of the Medical Schools of Paris.” He settled in Norwich in 1815, and in the following year married a daughter of his former master and friend. In 1825 he was elected assistant-surgeon of the Hospital, and on the death of Mr. Bond succeeded to the surgeoncy on August 25th, 1826. There he gained for himself a surgical reputation which was described as “not local, not provincial, not British, not European, but universal.” Mr. Crosse was one of the founders of the Pathological Society; he was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Fellow of the College of Surgeons of England, a Doctor of Medicine in the Universities of Heidelberg and St. Andrew’s, a member of several scientific bodies, and the author of many valuable professional works and papers. His remains were interred on June 14th, in the burial ground of Norwich Cathedral.
JULY.
9.—Intelligence was received in Norwich of the death of H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge. The bells of the city churches were tolled.
29.—Mrs. Charles Gill (Miss Vining) appeared at Norwich Theatre, after an absence of five years, and was enthusiastically received by a crowded house.
AUGUST.
3.—Comment was made upon the altered circumstances of the Norwich Assize week:—“Alterations in our system of jurisprudence have caused some change in the character of our Assizes, and diminished the number attending them; whilst changes of our social system have led the higher classes to join less in the popular amusements of the people.”
10.—Potash Farm, formerly occupied by James Blomfield Rush, was sold by auction by Mr. Butcher, for £3,100. The purchaser was Sir J. P. Boileau, Bart.
17.*—“Messrs. E. and R. W. Blake, of Norwich, have purchased the Yarn Factory, with its machinery, for £14,000, under direction of the Master in Chancery, under the Winding-Up Act. The stock is valued at £7,219, making, with the purchase, the sum total of £21,219.”
—Died, Hannah Sarah Hancock, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Wigg Hancock, of St. Helen’s parsonage, Norwich. She was born on November 8th, 1781. At eight years of age she compiled a dictionary for children, and throughout her life took great interest in music and painting. She received the silver medal of the Society of Arts in 1805, and in 1807 was granted a second silver medal by the same society for an oil painting after the design by Rubens in the altarpiece at Antwerp.
—Considerable inconvenience was caused at Norwich by a strike of the firemen and engine-drivers on the Eastern Counties Railway.
24.—Died at Birkenhead, Lieut.-Col. Edwin Cruttenden. Of an old Norfolk family, he was born in 1784. He received a commission in the Royal Artillery in 1804, was stationed ten years in the Mauritius, and in 1814 was engaged in the capture of Oswego, North America. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel in 1841.
SEPTEMBER.
20.—At a special meeting of the Norwich Town Council, an address was ordered to be presented to the Bishop of Norwich on his appointment to the diocese. The presentation took place at the Palace, on October 4th.
28.—Died at his residence, James Street, Buckingham Gate, London, Mr. Thomas Amyot, F.R.S., F.S.A., in his 76th year. He was the eldest son of Mr. Peter Amyot, of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, and was articled to Messrs. Foster and Unthank, solicitors, of that city. On the accession to power, in 1806, of the Fox and Granville parties, the Right Hon. William Windham, Secretary for the Department of War and the Colonies, appointed Mr. Amyot his private secretary. On the dissolution of that short-lived Administration, he received a lucrative Colonial appointment as Registrar of Slaves in the British West India possessions, a position which he continued to hold until his functions gradually ceased on the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act. Mr. Amyot was interested in literary pursuits and archæological research. He married Jane, only daughter of Mr. Edward Colman, surgeon, of Norwich, by whom he had two sons and six daughters.
OCTOBER.
23.—A fine schooner was launched from Mr. T. Tyrrell’s shipyard at Wells-next-the-Sea.
24.—“The Times” was shamefully hoaxed on this date. A letter had been sent to the editor, with the intimation that a Protectionist meeting was to be held at Lynn, to be addressed by the Hon. E. H. Stanley, M.P., Mr. D’Israeli, and other gentlemen. “The Times” sent its representatives, who found that no such meeting had been announced or even contemplated.
27.—Died at Blickling Hall, the Dowager Lady Suffield. “She was born in the year 1767, her early life being passed during one of the most eventful periods, both socially and politically, which have marked our history.” Her father was John Hobart, second Earl of Buckinghamshire, who had been Ambassador at St. Petersburg, and was afterwards Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1792 she married William Assheton, second Lord Suffield, and in 1744 her youngest sister, Amelia Ann, was married to Lord Castlereagh. “In consequence of this union her connection with the political world was maintained even more intimately than before. Throughout her life she continued to take a lively interest in the politics of the county, and the influence of the united houses of Gunton and Blickling in the days of contested elections was not lightly esteemed by conflicting parties.” In 1821 she became a widow, and thenceforth devoted herself to charitable works. The family estates descended to the Marquis of Lothian, her grand-nephew.