NORFOLK ANNALS. VOLUME I. 1801–1850. (continued 12)

19.—Died, Mr. Thomas Bray, farmer, of Diss, aged 79. “He was the sole proprietor of Bray’s Diss waggon, which has travelled over the road under the same name for upwards of a century. He was interred on the 26th, when the hearse was followed by his children and descendants in eight gigs.”

22.—Henry Pettett, a convict under sentence of fifteen years’ transportation for horse stealing, broke out of his cell at Norwich Castle. “He made a rope of his blanket, which he tied round a ring in his cell and the rest round his irons, to prevent their clanking, and let himself down into the arch. Thence he proceeded to the top of the Castle, but suddenly falling down he pitched his head into a bucket, by which he was somewhat seriously injured.”

28.—In a letter addressed to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of the Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry, Lord Sondes announced that the Government had disbanded a great part of the Yeomanry force raised under precisely similar conditions to their own. He added that he had resigned his commission as Major-Commandant, and advised the regiment to disband themselves and not wait to be dismissed. The Lord Lieutenant afterwards appointed Capt. Loftus to the vacant command; and the Dereham troop, partially disorganized by Lord Sondes’ resignation, was re-formed in the Eastern division as the Hingham troop, and placed under the command of Captain Ives. The uniform of the regiment at this date “was like that of the 2nd Life Guards, with silver instead of gold lace.”

—Sir James Flower, of Eccles Hall, accompanied by Lady Flower, arrived in Norwich to attend the Judges of Assize as High Sheriff of Norfolk. He was escorted to the Swan Inn by a cavalcade of farmers. At Attleborough and Wymondham crowds of people welcomed the High Sheriff with bands of music. Throughout the Assize week he gave official and other dinners, upon a scale of princely magnificence, and the festivities, for such they were, concluded with a bespeak at the Theatre, where “Mr. Martin sang the song of the Eccles Hunt, ‘The Apple-green Coats with the Collars of Blue.’”

30.—Died at Little Walsingham, Mrs. Elizabeth Jackson, aged 82. “She was one of the earliest supporters of the Wesleyan Methodists in Lynn, and often enjoyed the honour of entertaining the venerable founder of the society, the late Rev. John Wesley, Dr. Coke, and others.”

31.*—“Last week was buried, at Diss church, Susanna Baldry, widow, in the 104th year of her age. She was born in the year 1734, in the seventh of George II., and was a subject of four Kings and a Queen.”

—*“We regret to announce the death, in his 77th year, of Lord Berners, so long known as the sporting Col. Wilson, of Newmarket. His lordship’s falconry establishment at Didlington was also well known, as he gave annually several flights of hawks at the Newmarket meetings.” His horse Phosphorus won the Derby in 1837. His lordship was succeeded in his title and estates by his brother, the Rev. Henry Wilson.

APRIL.

4.—At the Norwich Assizes, before Mr. Baron Bolland, Jonathan Whitley Cooper, gentleman, was placed at the bar charged with the wilful murder of Cornelius Moor, at Catton. Mr. Byles and Mr. Roberts were for the prosecution, and Mr. Fitzroy Kelly, Mr. O’Mally, and Mr. William Cooper for the defence. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter. A verdict of acquittal was taken in the further charge against the prisoner of maliciously shooting at a man named Ford. He was sentenced to be imprisoned in the House of Correction for one year.

11.—An election petition, presented by Mr. T. O. Springfield and others, against the return of Mr. Edmond Wodehouse and Mr. H. N. Burroughes for East Norfolk, was withdrawn.

16.—The popular burletta, “Jim Crow, or the Flight to America,” was produced at Norwich Theatre. Mr. Dunn appeared as Jim Crow, and “gave the celebrated song as sung by him upwards of 3,000 times.” “We dare scarcely give our opinion of this composition, finding ourselves, as we do, at such complete variance with the taste of the great Metropolis, which has run wild in ecstatic enthusiasm over this precious piece of jingling nonsense.”

18.—Died at Binham, aged 89, Thomas Row, “the last of a body of woolcombers who had been employed there from time immemorial.”

23.—The cuckoo was not heard until this date, “being the latest indication of the vernal season since 1767, in which year it did not sing till May 7th, and the latest ever known in 51 years, according to the late Mr. Marsham’s observations at Stratton Strawless.”

28.—The hearing of the petition against the return of Mr. C. E. Rumbold and Mr. William Wilshere, as members for Yarmouth, commenced before a Committee of the House of Commons. “A compromise was effected, by which one of the members vacates, and Mr. Baring is to succeed. Counsel for the petitioners unfolded a scene of profligate corruption to an unparalleled extent. If the petition had been prosecuted with the vindictive feeling and party spirit exhibited on a former occasion, the committals to Newgate would have been so numerous and the prosecutions so sweeping as to have carried ruin into many of the principal families.” At the election, which took place on August 23rd, Mr. Baring was opposed by Mr. Wilshere, and the poll was declared as follows:—Wilshere, 735; Baring, 702. “A poor man who felt much interest in the result of the election declared that if Mr. Baring lost he would hang himself in less than an hour after the poll closed, and he actually did it.”

MAY.

7.—Mr. Sinclair, of Drury Lane and Covent Garden, appeared for a short season, commencing on this date, in a round of operatic parts at Norwich Theatre, after an absence of seventeen years.

9.—The Norwich Town Council adopted, on the motion of Mr. Barwell, a memorial to the Board of Trade in favour of the establishment of a school of design.

11.—A Committee of the House of Commons commenced the hearing of the petition of Isaac Wiseman and others against the return of the Hon. Robert Campbell Scarlett and the Marquis of Douro, as members for the city of Norwich. The principal allegations were bribery and corruption and the improper keeping of the poll. On May 12th, after an examination of the poll-books, the Committee passed the following resolution:—“That Arthur Wellesley, commonly called the Marquis of Douro, is duly elected; that Robert Campbell Scarlett is not duly elected; and that Benjamin Smith is duly elected, and ought to have been returned.” The Orange and Purple Club, at a meeting held at the Norfolk Hotel, on May 30th, under the presidency of Mr. W. J. Utten Browne, voted an address to Mr. Scarlett, acknowledging the services he had rendered to the Conservative cause.

18.—At a meeting of the Norwich Town Council, Mr. Brightwell moved that a petition be presented to the House of Commons in favour of a national system of education. The proposed petition stated that “every individual in the country in early life, without regard to sect or party, should be afforded the opportunity of obtaining the elements of useful knowledge and an acquaintance with the sacred Scriptures.” Mr. Barwell seconded. Mr. Seppings moved, as an amendment, the insertion of the clause: “Your petitioners pray that you will not sanction any schemes of education which do not include with the daily reading of the Holy Scriptures a full measure of religious instruction based upon the Word of God, nor any general system of national education which does not secure the careful assistance and superintendence of the National Church.” The amendment was negatived, and the original motion adopted.

24.—At Norwich Theatre was performed for the first time a drama entitled, “The Siege of Lynn.” Another new piece was produced on May 31st, called “Pickwick, or the Sayings and Doings of Sam Weller.”

26.—John Folker, a mariner, who had seen much active service, died at Lynn at the age of 86. “He was the only survivor of the many Lynn seamen who fought in the memorable battle of April 12th, 1782, when the British Fleet, under the command of Sir George Bridges Rodney (afterwards Lord Rodney), engaged and defeated the French Fleet, under Count de Grasse, in the West Indies. Folker steered Admiral Rodney’s flagship through the whole of that eventful conflict. He was buried in St. Margaret’s churchyard, and was carried to the grave by six seamen on a bier over which was the Union flag, supported by six naval warriors who had served on board the British Fleet.”

JUNE.

2.*—“It was Mr. George Borrow, formerly of this city, who was arrested in Spain for publishing the Testament in Spanish and the translation of the Gospel of St. Luke into the gipsy language, but was liberated at Sir George Villiers’ request. Count Ofalia declared that Mr. Borrow had been discharged from his confinement with unspotted honour and reputation. He, moreover, ordered the policeman on whose evidence he had been arrested to be punished, and promised the expenses should be paid by the Government.”

17.—Upwell church was opened after restoration. The Bishop of Norwich, who preached the sermon, referred to “the boundless munificence of the Rev. W. Gale Townley, through whose exertions and mainly at his expense had been produced one of the most richly ornamented edifices in the kingdom.”

19.—Pockthorpe Guild was held at Norwich. “The annual amusements took place, and the ‘Mayor,’ upon taking office, delivered an address on the green at Patteson’s Cellar House, to the effect that he would endeavour to remove the duty off tea and sugar, which was received with great cheering. The evening terminated with the accustomed sports, as climbing the greasy pole, grinning through collars, and a variety of other entertainments. The celebration of the anniversary of Pockthorpe Guild can be traced as far back as the year 1772.”

28.—The Coronation of Queen Victoria was celebrated in Norwich with great rejoicings. At half-past ten the Mayor and members of the Corporation assembled at the Free School, and proceeded thence to the Cathedral, where the sermon was preached by the Rev. Samuel Stone, the Mayor’s chaplain, from the text, “And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther iv. 14.) The “Hallelujah Chorus” was rendered. At noon a troop of the 4th Dragoon Guards, under Major Makepeace, formed up in the Market Place “and fired a feu de joie with their pistols, and afterwards gave three cheers, flourishing their drawn swords above their heads in honour of the Queen.” The officers then retired to the Guildhall, where the Mayor, in the presence of a large company, proposed the Queen’s health. The parishioners of St. Peter Mancroft entertained, at the Corn Exchange, 750 poor persons, and similar feasts were given to the poor of other parishes. One thousand workpeople employed at the Yarn Factory dined in ten parties at ten public-houses, and formed afterwards an imposing procession, with Mr. Bignold at their head. In the evening the city was illuminated, and there was a grand display of fireworks in the Market Place. The Mayor entertained 160 guests at dinner at Chapel Field House, and the members of the Orange and Purple Club dined at the Theatre, “which, by throwing a flooring of boards from the stage over the pit, was converted into a commodious banqueting room. In the background was a drop scene, giving a view of St. Andrew’s Hall on a banqueting day.” Mr. W. J. Utten Browne presided, and many ladies who graced the gathering by their attendance were provided with seats in the dress circle. Similar celebrations took place at Yarmouth, Lynn, and other towns in the county. Every village commemorated the event, “and everywhere it was a joyous day, for

The squire’s wide hall And the cottage small Were full of good English cheer.”

On the 29th the Corporation of Norwich held a special meeting, and voted an address to the Queen, “after a long and angry debate, in consequence of the address containing sentiments in which the Conservative party could not concur.” The result was the framing of another address, signed by 5,000 freemen, freeholders, and citizens, praying her Majesty “to preserve inviolate the Union between Church and State.”

28.—The Norwich Race Meeting, called on this occasion the “Coronation Races,” took place on Mousehold Heath, and was attended by 30,000 spectators.

JULY.

6.—At the county magistrates’ meeting, at Norwich, a resolution was adopted for the erection of a new Shirehall at Swaffham, and at the meeting on October 9th a committee was appointed to further the scheme, which was estimated to cost £1,750. On January 4th, 1839, the justices ordered the carrying out of plans prepared by Mr. Browne, the cost not to exceed £2,141.

7.*—“A handsome boat, completely fitted out as a phaeton, has been built by Mr. Philip Neale, of St. Giles’s Gates, and is now exhibited to the public. It is built for a sporting gentleman, and is capable of containing bedding and luggage, the fore part being enclosed by hatches, and altogether of a novel description.”

11.—A meeting of Norwich camlet weavers was held at the Green Hill Gardens, for the purpose of hearing a report from the deputation sent to Yorkshire by the union to enquire into the truth of the statement of the employers with reference to the cause of the reduction of wages, namely, the great quantity of camlets manufactured in and exported from Yorkshire. It was resolved, after hearing the deputation, “that the proposed reduction was perfectly unnecessary, and that they were determined to support a strike by all legal means in their power.” The business of Mr. Robberds was obstructed by persons being prevented from taking work at reduced prices. On August 27th a number of weavers complained to the magistrates that they had been subjected to intimidation on proceeding to work at Mr. Robberds’, and on the 29th they were escorted to the factory by a large force of police. The military were held in readiness in case of disturbance. In consequence of work having been cut from the looms, the houses of all the weavers were strongly guarded.

19.—Mr. Owen, of New Lanark, expounded “his visionary projects for the new organization and classification of society,” in a series of lectures which commenced at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, on this date.

23.—A remarkable case of body-stealing came before the Norwich magistrates. Mary Maxey, the widow of John Maxey, complained that Mr. George Perowne, a veterinary surgeon, practising in the parish of All Saints, had gone to her house during her absence and removed the body of her husband, who died on July 8th. On the 12th she saw the body at Mr. Perowne’s, where the deceased had formerly worked; and on the 14th she saw it again, but the heart had been taken out and the corpse otherwise “cut and hackled.” On the 15th, accompanied by the mourners, she went to take the body away for burial, but Mr. Perowne drove them out of the yard with a gun, alleging that the corpse was his property, and that he had paid for it sixteen years previously. It was afterwards taken to the steeple of All Saints’ church, where it remained without a shroud. Mr. Perowne was too drunk to appear at court on that day, but he was apprehended, and on the 24th taken before the magistrates, to whom he stated that he had purchased the body of the deceased during his lifetime, and contended that it was his property. He had “cut it up” in the interests of science. The magistrates reminded Mr. Perowne that his practice did not require a knowledge of the anatomy of the human body, and that his premises were not licensed for anatomical studies. Mr. Perowne replied that he was a member of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. The Bench committed him for trial at the Assizes, which were held on August 6th, before Mr. Justice Littledale, who said he understood that no bill would be presented in the case. The accused was called upon and formally discharged.

30.—Mr. Farren, of Drury Lane and Covent Garden, commenced a six nights’ engagement at Norwich Theatre, as Lord Ogleby (“The Clandestine Marriage”). His other characters were Uncle Foozle, Sir Peter Teazle, Pierre Galliard (“The Soldier of 102”), Admiral Kingston (“Naval Engagements”), Robert Bramble (“The Poor Gentleman”), Odbody (“Advice Gratis”), Sir Abel Hardy (“Speed the Plough”), &c. Mr. Farren afterwards performed at Yarmouth Theatre.

—Violent hailstorms, accompanied by thunder and lightning, occurred in many parts of the county. At Cockley Cley great damage was done. “Pieces of ice as big as walnuts were found lying under the hedges next morning, and the turnips were out into shreds.”

AUGUST.

1.—This being the day on which the “negro apprentices” of the West Indies were admitted to freedom, the event was commemorated by a united prayer meeting, presided over by Mr. Alexander, at Prince’s Street chapel, Norwich.

2.—A “foot-steeplechase” took place at Whitlingham. The competitors had to pass several times through the river. The event was chiefly remarkable for “the perfect deluge of base coin put in circulation by the swell mob from London.” The landlord of Whitlingham Gardens alone took £4 worth of bad silver. In the disturbance which ensued a constable named Hansell had his leg broken.

3.—The High Sheriff (Sir James Flower) arrived at Norwich to attend the Judges of Assize, Mr. Justice Parke and Mr. Justice Littledale. With Lady Flower he took up his quarters at the Norfolk Hotel, and, as at previous Assizes, dispensed hospitality with most ostentatious liberality.

13.—Died in Norwich, aged 38, Mr. Horatio Beevor Love, portrait painter.

17.—Died at her house in Surrey Street, Norwich, in her 96th year, Miss Elizabeth Lany, the last survivor of the three daughters and sole children of the Rev. Benjamin Lany, rector of Mulbarton. “On both paternal and maternal sides she was allied to some of the best families in Norfolk and Suffolk.”

21.—A grand bazaar was held at the New Inn, Cromer, in aid of the fund for maintaining the “defence wall.” After the sale “the jetty, the Victoria Parade (between the walls), and the cliffs were thronged with fashionable promenaders,” and in the evening “120 ladies and gentlemen repaired to the New Inn ball room, where quadrilles and waltzes were got up.”

28.—This was the hottest day of the summer. The thermometer stood at 83° in the shade. A thunderstorm occurred in the evening, and Mrs. Roach, a schoolmistress at Wroxham, was killed by lightning. The weather on the 29th was cold, wet, and boisterous.

SEPTEMBER.

1.—A white sparrowhawk was shot in Lakenham valley.

6.—The “London Gazette” of this date contained the announcement that the Queen had granted to Mr. Isaac Preston, of Stanfield Hall, Recorder of Norwich, her Royal licence and authority to use the surname of Jermy, in lieu of that of Preston.

8.*—“A porpoise, weighing 1 cwt. and upwards, was lately taken at West Somerton, near the free staith adjoining lands occupied by Mr. H. M. Thompson. Its length was 5 ft. 3 in., and after being boiled it produced 5½ gallons of oil. The distance from the sea is at least 25 miles.”

10.—Mdlle. Placci gave an Italian concert at the Assembly Rooms, Norwich. She was assisted by Signor Paltoni, Signor Bogrey, Signor Puzzi (horn), and Mr. Harcourt (pianoforte).

12.—A public meeting was held in Surlingham parish church, presided over by the Rev. E. Day, rector of Kirby, in aid of the Church Missionary Society. Addresses were given by the Hon. and Rev. J. T. Pelham, the Rev. E. C. Brewer, Mr. W. Sparkes, and the Rev. J. Patteson. Similar meetings, some of a purely secular character, were held in parish churches at this date.

20.—Mr. Joseph Wiggins, a well-known and popular coachman, was presented, at the Norfolk Hotel, Norwich, with a handsome silver cup, “in testimony of the respect for his general good conduct during his dragmanship of eleven years on the Norwich and Lynn road.”

21.—The Norwich fillover weavers passed a resolution “that the system of copying patterns from manufactured fillover work, as is now practised by Scotch manufacturers, is the principal cause of the depression of our branch of the manufacture, and loudly appeals to the Legislature for their interference.”

24.—An extraordinary riot occurred at Stanfield Hall, the seat of Mr. Isaac Jermy. The mob, led by a person named Larner, who professed to be a claimant to the Stanfield property, took forcible possession of the mansion. The 4th Dragoon Guards were summoned from Norwich to aid the civil power. The intruder and his followers were expelled from the premises, and about 80 taken into custody and lodged in Norwich Castle. At the Norfolk Assizes, on April 13th, 1839, before Mr. Justice Vaugham, 70 of the accused were sentenced to one week’s imprisonment, and the remainder to terms varying from three months to two months.

OCTOBER.

6.*—“A female specimen of the Peregrine falcon was lately shot by Mr. Walter Roper, of Norwich, whilst it was in the act of stooping at some pigeons at Duke’s Palace Bridge. It is almost an unprecedented occurrence for a bird of retired habits like the peregrine, and so rare in Norfolk, to have been killed in the centre of a large city.”

11.—During a gale in the night, 2,000 sail of ships sought refuge in Yarmouth Roads. “To supply their wants more than £3,000 were laid out in Yarmouth on Saturday alone, and the butchers were obliged to kill every bullock, sheep, &c., that they could get.”

15.—The Hingham Troop of Yeomanry Cavalry, commanded by Capt. Ives, were presented with a standard by the Lord Lieutenant of the county.

20.*—“The match trade, which for many years has been an excuse for begging, is likely soon to be ruined by the superior demand for lucifers for obtaining an instantaneous light, which are now selling at so cheap a rate. One tradesman alone in Norwich (Mr. Wiles, of Exchange Street) has had delivered this week by water and land carriage 20,000 boxes.”

28.—The Chartist movement commenced in Norwich. Mr. J. R. Stephens, from Ashton, and Mr. Julian Harney addressed meetings in the Market Place in support of the “people’s charter,” which, amongst other things, demanded universal suffrage, annual Parliaments, the ballot, and the non-property qualification for members of Parliament. On the 29th a meeting was held at St. Andrew’s Hall, the use of which was granted by the Mayor.

NOVEMBER.

5.—A meeting was held at Yarmouth in furtherance of the movement for decreasing the hours of shop assistants. The employers were asked to close their shops at eight o’clock from Michaelmas to Lady Day, and at nine in the summer months, except on Saturday, when they should close at ten o’clock in the evening. Like meetings were held at Norwich and Lynn.

9.—Mr. John Marshall was elected Mayor of Norwich, and Mr. Henry Woodcock appointed Sheriff.

10.—The completion of the building of the new chimney of the Yarn Factory near Whitefriars Bridge, Norwich, “was celebrated by a band of music placed on the top playing national airs and ‘God save the Queen,’ accompanied by the workmen joining in chorus, when a flag was hoisted and several guns fired from the top. The shaft is 165 feet high, with a coping of cast-iron weighing upwards of 4 tons.” The builders were Mr. Everett Cattermoul and Mr. C. Darkins.

22.—Tom Allen, “the faithful servant of Lord Nelson,” died at Greenwich Hospital. He was born at Burnham Thorpe, in 1764, and joined the Navy in 1793. He first served on board the Agamemnon, under the command of Captain Nelson. After the death of Nelson, Allen entered the service of Sir William Boston, R.N., at Costessey, and by the influence of Sir Thomas Hardy, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, was enabled to end his days at Greenwich.

24.—Died in Norwich, Mr. James Lambe, aged 56. “He was well known to the managers of the Festivals and to many musical people as a noted and accurate copyist. His endowments were not of an ordinary kind. He was a ready versifier, with considerable humour and some share of imagination. With the works of Shakespeare, Milton, and the poets of Queen Anne’s time he was intimately acquainted. He had lived on terms of familiarity with Crabbe, to whom he had acted as amanuensis. Like many other sons of genius, he had endured the extremes of poverty; but under every privation and under many temptations he uniformly preserved his cheerfulness and his integrity. His latter years were passed in comparative comfort, through the kindness of a professional gentleman, who gave him constant employment.”

26.—North Walsham was lighted with gas for the first time, in celebration of which a band of music paraded the town and a dinner took place at the King’s Arms Inn. The gas works were erected by Mr. John Malem.

—The sloop Volharden, of Flushing, with a crew of nine hands, was brought into Yarmouth Roads by the Badger Revenue cutter, Lieut. R. Perceval, R.N., on suspicion of smuggling. Spirits in large quantities were found on board. Two of the crew were sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by the Yarmouth magistrates on December 7th. Lieut. Perceval recommended them to mercy, on the ground that they had rendered valuable assistance to the Badger when she was in difficulties, and the sentences were commuted to three months’ imprisonment.

DECEMBER.

3.—A fine specimen of the little bustard was shot in a turnip field at Old Buckenham.

—Cushing and Smith, Norwich pugilists, seconded by Cricknell and Perowne, fought 13 severe rounds on Mousehold Heath. Throughout Cushing had the advantage of his opponent, and won.

6.—The Royal Amphitheatre and Circus at the Pantheon, Ranelagh Gardens, Norwich, opened for the season, under the management of Mr. Atkins. In addition to the circus performance, equestrian spectacles, ballets, “musical soirées,” and comic pantomimes were produced.

14.—The “London Gazette” of this date contained the announcement that the 4th Royal Irish Dragoons, a portion of which regiment was then stationed in Norwich, had permission to wear upon their standards and appointments the harp, crown, and star of the most illustrious Order of St. Patrick.

18.—Died in Friar’s Street, Lynn, Mrs. Ann Larner, aged 100 years.

22.—The weight of turkeys sent by Messrs. Mack and Co.’s. van from Norwich to London on this day was 6 tons 18 cwt.; before the end of the journey the load was increased to 10 tons.

26.—The Theatre Royal, Norwich, was occupied during the Christmas holidays by Mr. Ducrow’s equestrian company from the Royal Amphitheatre, London. Among the pageants produced were “Charlemagne,” “St. George and the Dragon,” “Mazeppa,” and “Timour the Tartar.” The season closed on January 26th, 1839.

1839.

JANUARY.

5.—Died at Braconash, aged 85, Elizabeth, widow of Mr. Thomas Berney, and third and last surviving daughter of Sir George Duckett, Bart., of Hartham, Wilts. “Mrs. Berney was a true representative of an English lady of times past, in its dignified and most attractive form.” At the funeral at Braconash, on the 15th, the hearse was preceded by “a canopy of plumes of feathers, borne by a mute with two others, one on each side.”

7.—A severe gale raged on the Norfolk coast, and many vessels were wrecked. Thirteen sail of vessels belonging to Yarmouth, with 100 hands on board, were missing, and at a public meeting held in the borough on the 23rd, a fund was started for the relief of the widows and children.

14.—At Lynn Quarter Sessions, before the Recorder (Mr. Martin John West), an indictment was preferred by Dr. John Tweedale, of that town, against Mr. William Drake, of East Dereham, and Mr. James Bowker, charging the defendants with provoking him to fight a duel, and with common assault. Mr. Drake, a solicitor, was employed by the Conservative party in the borough to attend the revision of the municipal voters’ lists, and a quarrel arose in consequence of certain evidence given by Dr. Tweedale as a charity trustee. The defendant Drake was found guilty of a common assault, and fined £5; and Bowker was acquitted.

—The agitation for the repeal of the Corn Laws was commenced in Norwich by the holding of a preliminary meeting, at which a petition in favour of the movement was agreed to. A common hall was held on February 7th, presided over by the Mayor (Mr. J. Marshall), when the Chartists attended and created a great disturbance. A resolution in favour of repeal was adopted. The Town Council discussed the subject on February 8th and 11th, and a motion for petitioning both Houses of Parliament for a total repeal was carried by 26 votes to 20. Meetings with the same object became general throughout the county.

16.—Heigham Episcopal chapel, Norwich, was consecrated by the Bishop of the Diocese, and was known afterwards as the chapel of the Holy Trinity.

21.—Died at Catton, aged 38, the Rev. Dacre Barrett Lennard, sixth son of Sir Thomas Barrett Lennard, of Belhus, Essex, rector of St. Michael at Plea, Norwich, and chaplain to H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex and Lord Western. His remains were interred on the 28th “in a vault near the altar of his church.”

28.—Died at Hampstead, Sir William Beechey, R.A., aged 86. He was a native of Burford, Oxfordshire, and in early life settled and married in Norwich. Elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1793, he painted in the same year a full-length portrait of Queen Charlotte, who honoured him with the appointment of Queen’s portrait painter. In 1798 he painted an equestrian portrait of George III., with the Prince of Wales and Duke of York, reviewing the 3rd and 10th Dragoons, attended by Lieut.-General Dundas, General Sir William Fawcett, and Major George Goldsworthy. In the same year he received the honour of knighthood, the first instance of its being conferred on an artist since the time of Sir Joshua Reynolds. At St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, there are four portraits by Sir William, namely, those of Admiral Lord Nelson, Mr. John Patteson, Mr. Elisha de Hague, and Mr. J. S. Patteson. His son, Capt. Beechey, R.N., was one of Capt. Sir Edward Parry’s lieutenants in his second expedition towards the North Pole.

FEBRUARY.

3.—This day (Sunday) a prize-fight took place on Costessey Common, between Rix and Clarke, of Norwich, seconded by Cricknell and Blanchflower, “of the new scientific school.” Sixty-three rounds were fought, in 1 hr. 20 mins. Rix was the victor. “Never were two men more severely punished by each other.”

6.—The Rev. W. J. Bakewell, upwards of eleven years minister of the Unitarian chapel, Norwich, “who is about to embark for America,” was presented by his congregation with a purse of 105 sovs.

10.*—“The week before last, in a little more than three days, Sir Richard Sutton, Bart., and a small party of friends shot 1,313 pheasants and an immense quantity of hares, rabbits, partridges, and woodcock, on his estate at Lynford and Tofts.” (This was described as “killing, not sporting.”)

—Mr. William Dalrymple resigned office as one of the surgeons of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, and Mr. J. Godwin Johnson was elected in his place.

11.—A trotting match took place at Attleborough, between a horse named Scroggins, belonging to Mr. Ling, of Besthorpe, and a cob the property of Mr. Robert Large, of Ellingham. The match was run in two mile heats, and was won by the former, in the presence of upwards of 3,000 spectators.

19.—Mr. Hotson, solicitor, of Long Stratton, while driving to Norwich, was robbed of a purse of money and a case of bank notes, near Harford Bridges. One of his assailants pulled him back in the gig and covered his mouth with his hand while three others rifled his pockets. At the Norwich Quarter Sessions, in April, a man named Daniel Archer was charged with the offence, and acquitted.

21.—The litigation respecting the Norwich charities entered upon its final stage in the House of Lords, when the appeal, Bignold and others v. Springfield came on for hearing. Lord Wynford said the question he had to propose was that the judges should state their opinion whether, having reference to the 74th section of the Municipal Corporation Act, the administration of the charities continued in the old Corporation after August 1st, 1836. Mr. Justice Littledale asked for time to consider the question. On June 24th the House decided in favour of the then trustees. Lord Chief Justice Tindal said: “Upon the whole we think the administration of the charity estates did not continue in the persons described in the 71st section of the 5th and 6th William IV. after August 1st.” The order was confirmed, with costs against the appellants.

—The Marquis of Douro presented to the House of Commons a petition signed by 1,600 of the inhabitants of Norwich for leave to bring in the Norwich Improvement Bill. The Bill was read a first time. It passed its second reading on March 21st, and was read a third time on June 19th. The object of the Bill was to repeal the then existing Acts and to substitute a more effectual provision for the better paving, lighting, and improvement of the city. At a special meeting of the Town Council on July 16th it was agreed to petition the House of Lords in opposition to the Bill “in the way it should come from the Commons.” When the Bill was before the Committee of the House of Lords on July 23rd objection was taken that the notices on the part of the promoters were insufficient, and the Bill was consequently lost. At a meeting of the Paving Commissioners on December 17th it was reported that costs amounting to £1,500 had been incurred in opposing the Bill.

MARCH.

2.—Smallpox was reported to be very prevalent in Norwich. Within the preceding month one hundred persons died of the disease.

5.—An alarming report was circulated about the arming of the Chartists in Norwich, where, it was stated, a club had been formed for the more extensive distribution of pikes and other weapons. “Some are formed like a common halbert, others have a crescent at the bottom and the blade pointed forward, with a sharp edge, supposed to be designed for cutting the girths or reins of horses. It is said that about 60 will leave Norwich armed with these weapons, and some of them with pistols, for the north of England.” At a meeting of the Town Council on March 11th the Mayor said, in reply to questions by Mr. Bignold, that the report had been greatly exaggerated. Pikes had been manufactured, but there was not a great number of them. Meanwhile the Chartists held meetings in Norwich Market Place, on Mousehold Heath, and elsewhere. In August pikes and guns were taken by the police from various persons, and on the 10th of that month John Dover, the keeper of a beer shop in St. Paul’s, was apprehended on the charge of giving an order to James Tillett, a smith, to make pikes for unlawful purposes, and was bound over to appear at the Assizes. On the 14th the Chartists made a demonstration on Mousehold Heath; the police force was strengthened in consequence, special constables sworn in, and the staff of the West Norfolk Militia held in readiness for immediate action. On Sunday, the 18th, the Chartists attended the Cathedral service in a body, and were appealed to by the Bishop to take to heart the words of advice he addressed to them. On the evening of the same day they attended St. Stephen’s church and interrupted the preacher, the Rev. P. Booth, with hisses and noise. The church of SS. Simon and Jude was visited on Sunday, the 25th, and hundreds were unable to gain admission in consequence of the crowd. “A text had been sent to the Rev. John Owen by some of the Chartists, with a respectful request that he would preach from it, and the greatest order prevailed.”

8.—A heavy fall of snow took place. The Birmingham mail coach arrived in Norwich ten hours late, and on the 9th several carriers were unable to reach the city.

11.—At a meeting of the Norwich Town Council a petition “from certain persons, denominating themselves anglers,” was read, requesting that means should be taken to prevent the dragging of the river for fish. It was stated that fishing for smelts was at one time a source of income to many persons, several boats having earned as much as £23 a year. The petition was referred to the magistrates, who were asked to prohibit illegal fishing.

16.*—“A fine white-tailed eagle was last week shot on Beachamwell Warren. It measured between the tips of the wings 7 ft. 5 ins., and weighed 10¾ lbs. It has been preserved by the Rev. H. Dugmore, of Swaffham.”

20.—Fakenham Steeplechases took place. Among the other meetings this season were Eccles Hunt Steeplechases, March 26th; North Walsham, April 12th; and Barnham Broom, April 18th.

21.—Died at his apartments in London, Mr. Edmund Henry Barker, of Thetford. “He had rendered valuable services to literature; in early life he was an intimate and respected friend of Dr. Parr; and his labours on the Thesaurus of Stephens will remain a noble monument of his indefatigable zeal in the cause of Greek literature.” He was buried at St. Andrew’s, Holborn.

24.—Died, aged 85, Mary, wife of Captain Richard Browne, of the Cathedral precincts, Norwich, and eldest daughter of Dr. John Murray.

26.—The troop of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, stationed at Norwich, marched thence for Clifton. They were replaced in April by two troops of the 9th Lancers, commanded by Capt. Fullarton.

APRIL.

1.—Mr. G. V. Brooke appeared at Norwich Theatre as Sir Edward Mortimer (“The Iron Chest”). During the short season he performed a round of his favourite characters.

6.*—“We regret to find our anticipations that the Eastern Counties’ Railway is to terminate at Colchester have been realised, as it seems the directors have come to the conclusion not to carry it further, in accordance with the wishes of the Lancashire proprietors, who hare so great a stake in the undertaking.” On May 6th a rule nisi was granted in the Bail Court to compel the Company to proceed with the works in accordance with their original contract with the public. (The Act of Parliament was obtained upon the representation that the line should be carried from London to Yarmouth.) In the Court of Queen’s Bench on June 22nd Lord Chief Justice Denman, in delivering judgment on the points raised, said: “Upon the whole, without coming to any final decision, we think the case is involved in such doubt as to require the return of the mandamus, and that a writ should go for that purpose.”

9.—At the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Justice Vaughan, John Hall and Wm. Palmer were indicted upon the unusual charge of stealing a bell from a parish church. The bell was lying in the west end of North Walsham church, and the prisoners, with the assistance of a man named John Daniels (who turned Queen’s evidence), took it away in a cart, broke it up, and endeavoured to dispose of the metal in Norwich. The prisoners were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment, with hard labour. (For an account of a similar theft see December 28th, 1839.)

10.—At the same Assizes, before Lord Chief Justice Tindal, an action was brought against an overseer named Burrell, of Lynn, for the recovery of a penalty of £50 for failing to deliver a signed list of persons claiming to be registered as voters under the Municipal Reform Act. A verdict was given for the plaintiff, a Mr. King, for the amount claimed.

11.—Charles Daines was indicted at the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Justice Vaughan, for the wilful murder of Elizabeth Daines, his infant daughter, by poisoning her at Hempnall on March 11th. The prisoner was acquitted. He was then charged with attempting to murder his wife by poisoning her with arsenic, found guilty, and sentenced to death. The execution took place on the Castle Hill, Norwich, on April 27th. “He appeared to die an exceedingly hard death. He clasped his hands, and raised his arms several times towards his breast, as if in the act of prayer, unquestionably showing that consciousness had not left him. His remains were buried in St. Michael-at-Thorn churchyard.”

13.*—“We understand it is in contemplation to revive in Norwich under different regulations and on a more extensive scale those annual art exhibitions, which for the last six years have ceased to take place. It is proposed to form a society, through the medium of which artists and amateurs in Norwich and its neighbourhood may have the opportunity of offering to public inspection and patronage productions in any department of art. The large room in the building, lately occupied as a bazaar in St. Andrew’s, is to form the gallery.” (The exhibition was opened on August 16th.)

—*“An enormous eel was lately brought to Norwich Fish-market. It weighed 25 lbs., and was sold to be placed in the collection of a London naturalist.”

13.—Died at Doughty’s Hospital, Norwich, Elizabeth Bentley, “the Norwich poetess,” in the 72nd year of her age. She was born in the parish of All Saints, and was the only child of Daniel Bentley, a journeyman shoemaker, who died in 1783. Two years after her father’s death she developed a taste for versification, and in 1791 appeared the first volume of her poems, dedicated to Mr. Wm. Drake, jun., M.P. The profits of the publication (from the contributions of nearly 2,000 subscribers) enabled her for many years, with the income arising from a small school, to support the declining age of her mother. Another volume of her poems was published in 1821.

MAY.

6.—At the sale of effects at Gunton Hall, very high prices were realised for the wine, liquors, and ale. Griffith’s port (1830) sold at 81s. per dozen; Fontignac, at £8 per dozen; curaçoa, £13 per dozen; brandy, £9 per dozen; ale, £4 per barrel. At Tattersall’s, 49 horses and colts belonging to Lord Suffield produced £4,400, and the pack of 47 couples and 13 bitches with their whelps £280.

9.—The Yarmouth Town Council accepted the tender of the Rev. Mark Waters for the presentation to St. George’s chapel. The minimum price fixed was £620; the highest tender £661.

14.—The Purple and Orange Club, at a meeting presided over by Mr. W. J. Utten Browne, and held at the Maid’s Head Inn, adopted an address to the Queen, expressing regret at the threatening aspect of affairs in our Colonial possessions, and of sedition manifest in England, and imploring her Majesty to summon to her counsels “all those upright and enlightened statesmen whose consistent advocacy of Conservative principles has obtained for them the respect and confidence of the nation.” On the 23rd the Norwich Town Council adopted a counter address, “thanking her Majesty for her choice of ministers who deserve the regard of the nation by righteous taxation, by extending commerce, by improving criminal and civil laws, by commuting tithes, by amending the Poor-laws, by granting self-government to the people by municipal corporations, and by making provision for national education.”

15.—By the fall of a floor at Taverham paper-mills, a man and a woman were killed.

25.*—“A tomb of novel construction has lately been erected in Diss churchyard. It is constructed entirely of cast-iron, and for neatness, security, and durability excels anything of the kind we have ever noticed.”

27.—The Norfolk and Norwich Literary Institution closed its rooms at the Assembly House, Norwich. The library was opened at the new rooms adjoining the Museum in St. Andrew’s Street, on July 8th.

—The Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry mustered on Thornage Green and marched to Holt for six days’ permanent duty, under the command of Major Loftus.

JUNE.

1.*—“A respectable young man a few days since, at Norwich, undertook for a wager that he would take the sum of five shillings in one hour by travelling the city with a basket containing threads, tapes, cottons, &c., which he accomplished, and proceeded on the second hour, when he took 4s. 6d. more.”

5.—The Norwich Tonnage Bill was read a third time in the House of Commons. This measure was intended to provide a new mode of application of the tolls and dues, first to defray the expenses of obtaining the Act; secondly, to pay interest on all sums borrowed under the powers of the Act, and to promote an accumulative fund for the purpose of paying off all the principal monies; and thirdly to keep in repair bridges, &c., to free Carrow Bridge, Duke’s Palace Bridge, and Foundry Bridge, to keep in repair St. Andrew’s Hall and the Guildhall, and to pay for any permanent improvement, such as widening streets, &c.

7.—Died at Shadwell Lodge, in his 86th year, Sir Robert John Buxton, Bart. He had successively represented in Parliament for several years the borough of Thetford, and the borough of Bedwin, Wilts.

11.—A prize-fight for £25 a side was fought at Pulham, between Brassey and Bailey, of Norwich. In 1 hour 8 minutes 72 rounds were contested, “during which time Bailey never had a chance.” Brassey was seconded by John Stanfield and Charles Utting, and Bailey by Jem Perowne and Bounce Brown. “On Sunday, the 9th inst., no less than five of these disgraceful scenes took place in the parish of Earlham.”

15.*—“A full length portrait of the rector, the Rev. William Manning, by Mr. Thomas Ronds, of London, formerly of Diss, has been placed in the committee room of the Diss Hospital, the result of a subscription set on foot by the inhabitants.”

22.*—“‘The Tour,’ a poem written anonymously, published by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., and printed by Gowing, of Swaffham, is, independent of its literary merits, highly creditable to the West Norfolk press. The frontispiece, Lake Lucerne, is drawn by Wright, of Swaffham.”

26.—A fire occurred on the premises of Mr. Bush, cabinet maker, Roach’s Court, Fisher’s Lane, Norwich, and was one of the most destructive that had taken place in the city for many years. The factory was destroyed, and with it the adjoining house, occupied by a silk weaver, who lost his stock of silk and machinery. “The fire engines were not in a state for such an emergency, and many of the leather pipes had to be tied up with handkerchiefs.”

JULY.

6.*—“Mr. Smith, who has managed the Norwich Theatre for the last 25 years, has retired altogether from the concern, which is now in the hands of his son, Mr. George Smith.”

13.—A person of eccentric character, named John Coe, of Chapel Street, Crook’s Place, Norwich, died on this date. “For 34 years he was a trunk maker in St. Lawrence’. Deceased had made his own coffin five years ago, of old soap chests and tea chests, and had polished it up so that it looked like mahogany. It was composed of 165 pieces, and on the lid was a black plate, bearing a quotation from the Burial Service. The deceased had also made a coffin for his wife, who survives him, but this had to be disposed of to inter the remains of a poor woman whose friends could not find the money to purchase one.”

15.—A prize-fight took place on Mousehold Heath, Norwich, between Brundell and Thetford, who were seconded respectively by Perowne and Cricknell. Fifty-two rounds were fought, in 1 hour 15 minutes. Both men were severely punished. Brundell was the winner.

—Died at his house, Chester Square, London, Mr. Praed, M.P. for Aylesbury. The deceased, who was in his 37th year, was Deputy High Steward of Cambridge University, and formerly Conservative member for Great Yarmouth.

16.—The “London Gazette” of this date contained the announcement: “The Queen has been pleased to grant unto Henry le Strange Styleman, of Hunstanton Hall, Esquire, her Royal licence and authority that he and his issue may, out of respect for the memory of his great grandmother, Armine Styleman, eldest of the two daughters of Sir Nicholas le Strange, take and use the name of le Strange in addition to and after that of Styleman.”

17.—Two musical artistes who afterwards achieved much local celebrity, Madame de Belleville Oury (pianist to H.R.H. Princess Frederick of Prussia) and Mr. Oury (principal violinist at the Italian Opera in Paris), made their first appearance in Norwich at a matinée musicale, given at the house of Madame Oury Crook, Chapel Field, Norwich.

20.*—“A fine specimen of that rare and exquisitely beautiful fish, the Opah, or Zeus Imperialis was taken alive at Hunstanton. It measured 3 ft. 3 ins. in length, 1 ft. 10 ins. across, and 7 ins. thick. It was purchased for Wisbech Museum.”

25.—Died, aged 66, Mr. William Snow, many years master of the Black Bull Coffee House, in Norwich Market Place. “He was a man of superior ability in his profession as a cook and purveyor for festive parties.”

29.—Mr. George Smith commenced the first season of his management at Norwich Theatre by engaging Madame Vestris and Mr. Charles Mathews. The pieces produced during the visit of these eminent performers were “The Welsh Girl,” “Patter versus Clatter,” and “Loan of a Lover.”

AUGUST.

6.—A correspondent, in a letter of this date, called attention in the Norfolk Chronicle to the use of dogs as animals of draught. “I saw,” he wrote, “in a big, overloaded baker’s cart this week a disproportioned dog, willing but quite unable to pull his cruel load up Market Place Hill. Let the inhabitants of Norwich withdraw their custom from any baker who is guilty of this barbarism.”

14.—The Fakenham coach, on its journey to Norwich, was descending Guist Hill, when one of the leaders fell, the pole broke, and the coach was overturned. The only person seriously injured was a Mrs. Flowers, of London, who sustained a broken thigh and received a severe wound in the neck.

28.—The Cley estate, the property of Mr. John William Tomlinson, was sold by auction in London by Mr. W. W. Simpson, for £32,000.

SEPTEMBER.

2.—Died at Annesley Place, Cambridge, aged 61, Mr. W. Wilkins, M.A., R.A. He was the architect of Downing College and of the new buildings at King’s, Trinity, and Corpus Christi Colleges; the University College, London, and the National Gallery were erected from his designs, as were also the Shirehall and the Theatre Royal at Norwich. Mr. Wilkins graduated as a member of Caius College, of which he was afterwards Fellow. He was the author of “Magna Græcia” and other works on architecture. With his father, Mr. William Wilkins, F.S.A., he resided some years in Norwich.

15.—A cuckoo, in fine plumage, was shot in the garden of Messrs. Howes, Red Lion Street, Norwich.

17.—At the Norfolk and Norwich Musical Festival, which began on this date, the programme included “Israel in Egypt,” the new oratorio “Calvary,” produced on the 19th and conducted in person by the composer, Spohr; selections from the “Redemption,” and the “Messiah.” A miscellaneous concert took place each evening, and the Festival concluded with a fancy dress ball. The principal artistes were Signora Persiani, Signora Placci, Miss Birch, Miss Hawes, Madame Stockhausen, Mr. Hobbs, Mr. H. Phillips, Mr. Balfe, Mr. Young, Mr. Francis, Signor Tamburini; Mr. F. Cramer was leader of the band, and Professor Taylor conducted. The gross receipts were £5,639 0s. 5d., and the gross expenses £4,343 4s. 2d.

—A two days’ race meeting commenced on Mousehold Heath, Norwich, and was attended by 30,000 persons.

23.—The foundation-stone of Yarmouth Hospital was laid by Mr. Simon Cobb, Mayor of the borough.

25.—Mr. Hampton made a balloon ascent from the Gas Works, Bishop Bridge, Norwich, at 4.30 p.m., and descended prematurely in a field at Rackheath. A parachute containing a monkey was detached from the car as the balloon passed over Mousehold Heath.

OCTOBER.

2.—A great demonstration took place at Norwich, on the occasion of the third anniversary of the “Teetotalist” Society. A procession, headed by a band of music, started from Castle Meadow, paraded the principal streets of the city, and arrived at St. Andrew’s Hall at five o’clock. After tea the Bishop addressed the meeting, and “declared in the most positive manner his deep conviction of the value of the society.” Mr. Samuel Wiseman and Mr. James Jarrold were presented with silver medals by the temperance workers in the city.

8.—The Norwich Paving Commissioners adopted ground plans and elevations for the widening and improvement of Briggs Street, and it was agreed that the cost be met proportionately by the trustees of D’Oyley’s fund, the Paving Commissioners, and the Tonnage Commissioners. At a meeting of the Paving Commissioners, on December 10th, it was decided to carry out the contemplated improvements on the east side of the street, and that conjointly with the Tonnage Commissioners, they should spend a sum not exceeding £2,000.

9.—Mr. Hampton made a second balloon ascent at Norwich. The balloon was filled at the Gas Works, and floated thence by means of guide ropes to the yard of the Cavalry Barracks. Among the persons who availed themselves of the opportunity of ascending in the balloon while in its captive state was Col. Harvey, who, on September 7th, 1825, made an ascent from Richmond Hill Gardens with Mrs. Graham (q.v.). Mr. Hampton was accompanied by Mr. William Shalders, jun., and the balloon descended on the estate of the Rev. T. Mack, of Tunstead, ten miles distant from Norwich. On October 16th Mr. Green, the celebrated aeronaut, then on a visit to Mr. R. Crawshay, of Honingham, ascended in his “Coronation” balloon, from Norwich Gas Works. “A parachute with a cat in the basket was thrown out, and descended at Catton.” The balloon descended at Trunch, after a journey of twenty-five minutes’ duration.

16.—At the Norfolk Quarter Sessions, William Wales was indicted for maliciously shooting cattle, the property of Mr. Robert Mack, jun., at Hainford, on August 18th. It was proved that the prisoner had shot several valuable beasts. He had already served seven years’ transportation, and, on being found guilty, was sentenced to transportation for the term of his natural life.

—Died in London, Mr. Charles M. Curtis, aged 44, an artist of considerable merit. He was a native of Norwich, a brother of the accomplished author of “British Entomology,” and for several years devoted his talents to drawing objects of natural history and to the illustration of scientific works.

25.—The centenary of Wesleyanism was commemorated at Norwich. On the 28th 1,000 members of the body had tea at St. Andrew’s Hall, which was also attended by 1,200 children from the Wesleyan Sunday schools in the city.

30.—St. Mary’s Baptist chapel, Norwich, which had been closed for four months, for the purpose of enlargement, was re-opened for public worship. The preachers were the Rev. Dr. Andrew Reed, of London, and the Rev. Eustace Giles, of Leeds. “The chapel, which is now one of the most elegant in this part of the kingdom, and is capable of seating more than one thousand persons, was densely crowded by a congregation amounting to nearly 1,600 persons.”

NOVEMBER.

5.—At Yarmouth Quarter Sessions, before the Recorder, Mr. N. Palmer, Fortunatus Robert Townshend Crisp was indicted for publishing, in a paper called the “Paul Pry,” a slanderous and malicious libel upon Henry Holmes Baker. Many persons in Yarmouth had, it was stated, been grossly libelled in this notorious publication. Defendant was found guilty, and ordered to pay damages amounting to £5.

9.—Capt. Philip John Money was elected Mayor, and Mr. John Barwell appointed Sheriff, of Norwich.

11.—Mr. Arrow, auctioneer, of Lynn, was served with an Exchequer writ under peculiar circumstances. Proceedings had been taken against several individuals in St. Margaret’s parish for non-payment of Church rates, and their goods were distrained and put up for auction in the Saturday Market Place. Among other articles offered was a silver-cased watch. Mr. Arrow not having a licence to sell plate, offered the works only, and proposed to make a present of the case to the person who purchased the works, and in this manner the watch was disposed of. On receiving the writ, Mr. Arrow wrote to the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes, giving a full explanation of the circumstances, whereupon further proceedings were stayed.

16.*—“A new Paving Bill is being prepared by Mr. C. S. Gilman, and its entire management is to be entrusted to a committee of inhabitants and owners of property in Norwich and the hamlets.” Among its objects were the prevention of the erection or maintenance of any toll-gate in any part of the hamlets, the acquisition of powers to widen Briggs Street, Theatre Street, and London Street; to open a carriage way through the Back of the Inns from London Street to White Lion Street; to afford public carriage communication from the Back of the Inns through Angel Street to the Castle Ditches, and to effect other improvements conducive to the health, cleanliness, and security of the inhabitants. (See January 31st, 1840.)

22.—At a meeting of the county magistrates, held at the Shirehall, Norwich, the Hon. and Rev. R. Wilson moved, Lord Wodehouse seconded, and it was resolved by a large majority to adopt the new Constabulary Act throughout the county. The force, known as the “Rural Police,” was constituted as follows:—One chief constable, at the salary of £500 per annum; 12 superintendents, at £100 each; and 120 petty constables, at £1 each per week. Each superintendent was allotted a district of twelve square miles. On January 3rd, 1840, Lieut.-Col. Richard Montague Oakes was appointed Chief Constable.

23.—Ducrow’s Circus was opened at the Ranelagh Gardens, Norwich.

26.—A meeting of the insurers in the Norwich Union Life Office was held at the Assembly Rooms, Norwich, “to take into consideration the examiners’ report, agreeable to the resolutions of the meeting held on the 6th inst.” These proceedings arose mainly because of long-continued personal attacks made upon Mr. Bignold by Mr. Bacon, editor of the “Norwich Mercury.” “The character of Mr. Bignold was placed on the highest pinnacle of unimpeachable honour and good fame; and the present state of the society’s affairs is founded on that firm and equitable basis of adjustment which fully warrants its members in looking forward to years of increasing prosperity and success for the establishment.”

DECEMBER.

21.—Wombwell’s Menagerie was exhibited at Norwich. The collection had largely increased in extent since its previous visit, and included three elephants. “In consequence of the rapid growth of the enormous elephant, G. W. has been obliged to erect the largest machine in the form of a waggon that was ever built, so ponderous as to require six roller wheels to support it, and from 12 to 18 horses to draw it.”

21.—Died in St. Stephen’s, Norwich, aged 65, Mr. William Moore. He served the office of Sheriff in 1824, and of Mayor in 1835. Mr. Moore was the last Mayor elected by the old Corporation before the Municipal Corporations Act came into force.

24.—The weather on this day was only ten degrees colder than on June 24th. “The thermometer out of doors remained at 50.”

28.*—“One night last week some persons stole from the church at Swardeston one of the bells. The rogues broke the bell to pieces on the spot, and although the blows must have made a great noise, the villagers were not alarmed, and the sacrilegious depredators were enabled to carry off their booty unmolested.”

1840.

JANUARY.

1.—At the Norwich Quarter Sessions, before the Recorder, Mr. Jermy, James Ollett Marshall and James Darkin were indicted for publishing in a paper called “The Searcher” a libellous article on Mr. Sparkall, of Norwich. Marshall was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment, and Darkin fined £5.

4.—Died at Hempnall, in his 101st year, William Reed, cordwainer.

7.—A prize-fight took place on Pulham North Green, between Cricknell and Cain. After six rounds had been fought, Cricknell was taken into custody by the “Rural Police,” conveyed to Harleston, and bound over to keep the peace for twelve months. “The concourse of persons was not so numerous as has been noticed on similar occasions. Whether this arose from the necessary secrecy of the scene of action, on account of the declared intentions of the magistrates to put a stop to these demoralising sights, or the early hour (ten o’clock) the combatants set-to, cannot be fully determined. But that these brutal attacks are fast declining in the estimation of the middle classes may be fairly presumed by the paucity in number and the circuitous route taken by many of them to the battlefield.”

10.—The Penny Postage “came into operation this day, according to the official regulations. Our advertising friends and correspondents will also be pleased to observe that unless the penny postage be prepaid the expense of them will be double on their orders or communications. Since the ‘schoolmaster has been abroad’ the plural of penny is twopence. A letter not exceeding half-an-ounce in weight may be sent from any part of the United Kingdom to any other part for one penny, if paid when posted, or for twopence if paid when delivered.” On January 18th it was announced “the penny postage reduction has about trebled the number of letters in Norwich and in other towns, but printed circulars have formed a great proportion of this temporary increase. A tradesman in this city, we are informed, has sent out several thousands of such penny postpaid circulars.”

15.—Died, Mr. J. Purdy Beacham, aged 70, for 54 years a highly-respected member of the Norwich Theatrical Company.

19.—A severe thunderstorm occurred. A stack of barley at Overstrand was struck by lightning and entirely consumed; and on the 20th, during a heavy gale at Carlton Forehoe, a barn was blown down. On the 21st the thunderstorm raged with increased fury at Carlton Rode, where the lightning struck the premises of Mr. James Ringer, a miller, and set the thatch roof on fire. “His married daughter (Mrs. Matthews) was struck, and her clothes set on fire in twenty different places. Her sister was also enveloped in flames. The lightning inflamed her neck and shoulders, ran down her back, her side and breast, ran down her legs, and burned her heels, even the bottoms thereof, but neither her stockings nor boots were the least injured. Of her upper apparel, every article was burnt through and through.”

23.—A fine schooner, named the Lady Sondes, was launched from the shipyard of Mr. Lubbock, at Wells-next-the-Sea. The vessel was built for Messrs. R. and R. Brereton, of Blakeney, and was intended for the foreign trade. This was a very busy year for Norfolk shipbuilders. From Mr. J. Parker’s yard at the same town was launched, on May 20th, the Saucy Lass schooner; from Mr. Joseph Hastings’ yard at Yarmouth, on June 16th, a vessel of 200 tons burden; from Mr. F. Preston’s yard at Yarmouth, on July 16th, a fine vessel named the Maid of Athens; from Mr. Fellowes’ yard at Yarmouth on September 15th, the Earl of Leicester brig; and from the yard of Mr. Ambrose Palmer, Yarmouth, on October 28th, a vessel of 400 tons, called the Hamlet.

28.—Steeplechases took place at Long Stratton. Among the other meetings this season were the military steeplechases by the officers of the 9th Royal Lancers at Shimpling Hall on March 3rd; the Fakenham Steeplechases on March 13th, over a four-mile course, with the winning-post on Hempton Green, where, in the heavy weight race, the silver cup, value £100, with 50 sovs. added, was won by Mr. Skelton’s ch.h. Colonel, ridden by Wright (sixty-five years of age), and Mr. J. Elmere’s br.h. Lottery (winner of the Liverpool stakes) was unplaced; the Norfolk and Suffolk Steeplechases, at Diss, on March 17th; the Loddon Steeplechases, on March 27th; and the Yarmouth Steeplechases, on March 31st.

31.—The petition for the new Norwich Improvement Bill was presented in the House of Commons by the Marquis of Douro, who, on February 26th, introduced the Bill. On the previous day (February 25th) a common hall was held at the Guildhall, at which it was resolved that there was no necessity for the Bill, and a petition was drawn up in opposition to it.

FEBRUARY.

1.—Norwich Theatre opened for the season with the production of “The Lady of Lyons,” in which the part of Claude Melnotte was played by Mr. G. V. Brooke. “When we see the huge amphitheatre which is now in rapid progress towards completion on the Castle Meadow, under the sanction of the constituted authorities, for the reception of another batch of horse riders so soon after the visit of Ducrow’s troupe, and just at the very moment the players are come, we are constrained to observe that the jewel of fair play does not appear likely to be awarded as it ought to be to a class of her Majesty’s servants.” On February 4th Mr. J. Russell, of Drury Lane and Covent Garden, appeared in the parts of Dominique (“The Deserter”) and Pat Murphy (“The Happy Man”). Before the end of the season it was announced that Mr. G. V. Brooke had been added to the permanent strength of the Norwich Company.

2.—A remarkable case of somnolence was reported at Norwich. John Browne, master of the Yarmouth Bridge public-house, Red Lion Street, who died on this day, aged 39, and was reputed to be the heaviest man in the city, had been constantly afflicted with sleepiness. “He weighed at the time of his death nearly 27 st., and had generally slept away his time. He kept awake only a few minutes at a time, and even in conversation fell asleep. Browne was several years turnkey at the City Gaol, and was then by no means a man of over size, but he had been increasing in bulk for several years, notwithstanding the rigid temperance which he observed, living entirely upon dry toast and tea. His coffin was 3 ft. across, 6 ft. long, and 1 ft. 9 in. in height.”

10.—The marriage of her Majesty the Queen was celebrated in Norwich. The Mayor and members of the Corporation, wearing white favours, attended service at the Cathedral, where the sermon was preached by the Rev. Prebendary Wodehouse. After service the quarterly meeting of the Town Council was held at the Guildhall, when congratulatory addresses to her Majesty and Prince Albert were adopted. At one o’clock the 9th Lancers, under the command of Capt. Arthur Williams, entered the Market Place and fired a feu de joie with their pistols; “the trumpeters played ‘God save the Queen,’ and the soldiers gave three hearty cheers, flourishing their sabres in the air.” Luncheon was afterwards served in the Council Chamber, “the principal object on the table being a large wedding-cake, lavishly decorated.” At five o’clock one hundred gentlemen dined at the Swan Inn, under the presidency of the Mayor. At night there was a firework display in the Market Place. On the staging at the north-east angle of the Market Place the fireworks were prematurely exploded; a rocket was driven through the shutters of a shop on the Walk, and another entered the second storey window of a house in London Street. A man was severely wounded in the face, and others were also injured. A ball took place at the Assembly Room, “and in conformity with the wishes of the committee of the Council, the pit and gallery of the Theatre were thrown open gratis.” The pieces performed were “The Wedding Day” and “The Illustrious Stranger,” followed by the pantomime, “The House that Jack Built.” There were many parochial celebrations. At Yarmouth the vessels in the harbour were decorated with flags, the Revenue cutter in the Roads fired a royal salute, and a public dinner was held at the Town Hall. At a county meeting held at the Shirehall, Norwich, on March 21st, at which Mr. Henry Villebois, High Sheriff, presided, congratulatory addresses were ordered to be sent to her Majesty and Prince Albert.

12.—At the Norfolk and Norwich Museum, Mr. William Stark delivered a lecture on “The functions of the brain phrenologically considered.” It was really a defence of the theory of phrenology, and gave rise to much adverse comment.

15.—Died, aged 31, Mr. George Stannard, younger brother of Mr. A Stannard, the Norwich artist. The deceased was described as “an artist of superior talents.”

19.—Died, in his 108th year, Richard Pattle, of Rudham. “He was a poor but honest man, and had through life earned his bread by the sweat of his brow, and was so respected by his neighbours that they some time ago employed an artist to take his likeness, from which a print was published, and is now in possession of most of the neighbouring gentry and farmers.”

27.—A fire occurred on the newly-erected premises of Mr. Thorrold, engineer and ironfounder, near Foundry Bridge, Norwich, “and totally consumed all but the bare walls.”

MARCH.

2.—Batty’s Royal Circus commenced a season in “the most elegant, spacious, and substantial building ever erected in Norwich.” Its site was on the Castle Meadow. One of the principal productions of the season was the spectacle, “The Council of Clermont,” in which trained lions and leopards were introduced.

7.—At a meeting of the owners and occupiers of land in the Hundred of Henstead, held at the Bell Inn, Orford Hill, Norwich, under the presidency of Mr. Robert Fellowes, it was determined to present a petition to Parliament against any alteration in the Corn Laws. The question was discussed at a meeting of the Norwich Town Council on March 24th, on a motion by Mr. Marshall that a petition be presented to Parliament “to repeal the present laws affecting the importation of foreign corn, and to substitute such a duty as shall secure to the agriculturists of the country present protection, with the prospect of a progressive diminution of that duty as well as of others which form our commercial code.” The motion was negatived. Mr. Bell, of the “Farmers’ Journal,” delivered a lecture in Norwich Corn Hall at the close of the market on March 28th, and argued that the theory of Free Trade was false in the principle on which it professed to be founded. On the 11th a public discussion took place at St. Andrew’s Hall between Mr. Bell and Mr. Ackland, one of the lecturers of the Manchester Anti-Corn Law League. Many meetings were held, for and against repeal, in different parts of the county.

—*“Died, lately, Mr. Robin Wade, of Ditchingham, aged 102.”

—*“Mr. William Bagge, M.P. for West Norfolk, has lately purchased Col. Say’s estate at Crimplesham, for £35,000, including the timber.”

14.—At the Norfolk Sheriff’s Court at Norwich, a jury was empanelled to assess damages in a case of crim. con., in which the plaintiff was Mr. Edward William Trafford, and the defendant Mr. Ellis, a lieutenant in the 9th Royal Lancers stationed at Norwich in 1839. The Attorney-General (Sir John Campbell) was one of the counsel for the plaintiff, Mr. Thesiger was leading counsel for defendant, and Mrs. Opie was a witness in the case. Mr. N. Palmer, barrister, was deputed by the High Sheriff to preside. The damages were laid at £5,000, and the special jury, composed of county gentlemen, assessed them at £500. On August 4th the Royal assent was given to Mr. and Mrs. Trafford’s Divorce Bill.

20.—At a meeting of the county magistrates, held at the Shirehall, Norwich, Mr. Henry Champion Partridge and Mr. Isaac Jermy, Recorder of Norwich, were elected Chairmen of the Norfolk Quarter Sessions.

29.—Died in St. Giles’ Street, Norwich, aged 47, Mr. Christopher Edwards, formerly a solicitor. “The deceased was better known by the appellation Cutty Edwards, and was possessed of considerable talent and natural wit. No man experienced more the vicissitudes of fortune. He once had a comfortable property, but latterly felt the bitter pangs of want.”

30.—Norman’s School, erected in the parish of St. Paul, Norwich, by the trustees of Alderman Norman, who died May 10th, 1724, “he bequeathing his property upon trust for ever for the purpose of boarding, clothing, and educating the sons of his own and his first wife’s relations,” was opened. The “claimants,” with their children, marched in procession from Chapel Field to the bowling-green of the New Inn, St. Augustine’s Gates, where the boys were regaled with buns. A party numbering 500 was entertained to tea in the school-room, when Mr. Samuel Daynes proposed “The Memory of Alderman Norman.” On July 28th the “claimants” presented a silver cup to Mr. Daynes, “as a memorial of their esteem for his indefatigable exertions in obtaining and establishing the claims of those who could prove descent from their munificent benefactor.”

31.—The Judges of Assize, Sir James Parke and the Hon. Sir Edward Hall Alderson, arrived at Norwich. Their lodgings on this occasion were at St. Catherine’s Hill.

APRIL.

1.—A match against time took place on Swaffham Racecourse. “Mr. B. Land’s celebrated chestnut mare Lady Jane was backed to do 20 miles in an hour for 100 guineas.” Odds of 5 to 4 were laid against the mare, “but she accomplished the task with the greatest ease, having one minute and a half to spare, and trotted in the last few yards.”

6.—A meeting of the freemen of Norwich was held at St. Andrew’s Hall, for the purpose of petitioning Parliament “to repeal so much of the Municipal Reform Act as debars freemen of the right to be enrolled as burgesses under the same, and to confer on the freemen and burgesses of all cities, boroughs, and towns corporate within the operation of the Act the right to vote at all municipal elections.” Mr. John Culley presided, in the absence of the Mayor, and the petition was adopted. On May 4th the freemen went in procession with a band of music and numerous flags and banners, from the Pope’s Head to the Greyhound Inn, Surrey Street, where, through Col. Harvey, they presented the petition to the Marquis of Douro, M.P., who promised to support it in the House of Commons. The petition to the House of Lords was presented by Lord Mansfield, formerly Lord Stormont, one of the members for Norwich.

17.—Died in St. George Colegate, Norwich, aged 41, Emily, eldest daughter of John Crome, founder of the Norwich Society of Artists. “In her pictures of fish, fruit, and flowers it may be justly said that no one has represented these objects with greater fidelity to nature, combined with a tasteful and picturesque manner of grouping them.”

18.*—“Children who are sickly are taken to a woman living in St. Lawrence, Norwich, for the purpose of being cut for a supposed disease called the spinnage. The infants are on a Monday morning taken to this woman’s, who, for threepence, with a pair of scissors cuts through the lobe of the right ear, then makes a cross with the blood upon the forehead and breast of the child. On the following Monday the same barbarous and superstitious ceremony is performed upon the left ear, and on the succeeding Monday the right ear is again condemned to undergo the same ceremony, and in some cases it is deemed necessary to perform the ridiculous operation nine times.”

MAY.

2.*—“Married lately at St. Peter’s, in London, by the Rev. Thomas Grose, George Henry Borrow, Esq., for many years a resident in Spain, and a native of Norwich, and only surviving son of the late Captain Borrow, to Mrs. Mary Clarke, of Oulton Cottage, in Suffolk.”

3.—Died at Bath, Mr. Thomas Manning, of Orange Grove, Dartford, and formerly of Diss. “An eminent linguist, he accompanied Lord Amherst’s embassy to China, and was considered the best Siamese scholar in Europe, Dr. Morrison and Mr. St. Julien being his only rivals. He was able to speak fluently fifteen languages, and maintained a correspondence with the literati of the world. For months he resided at H’lassa, in the kingdom of Thibet, and was the only Englishman who had ever penetrated to the metropolis of the Lama. There he spoke during his sojourn only Latin, and on his departure received the benediction of the Lama.”

6.—Died, aged 76, Mr. James Sillett, of King Street, Norwich. “As an artist he stood unrivalled in his minute and accurate delineations of fish, fruit, and flowers. From 1781 to 1790 he studied from the figure at the Royal Academy, under Professors Reynolds, Barry, and others, whose lectures he also attended. He began to exhibit at Somerset House in 1796, which he continued at intervals for upwards of 30 years, part of which time he practised as a miniature painter with great success. He afterwards settled in his native city, and gained pre-eminence in his skilful and faithful delineations in oil and water colours. In later days he undertook architectural subjects. In 1815 he was President of the Norwich Artists’ Society, of which he was one of the original members, but, in consequence of disputes arising, he and two other of the original members quitted it. He continued annually to exhibit, although he never afterwards joined the society, which, from want of encouragement, gradually dissolved in a few years.”

7.—A public meeting was held at the Guildhall, Norwich, “to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning Parliament to afford to every part of the United Kingdom the advantage now enjoyed by the Metropolis of not having any post delivery on the Sabbath day.”

9.*—“Married lately at Catfield, by the Rev. J. Prowett, Mr. John Curtiss, aged 85, to Miss Rogers, an agreeable young lady. The morning was ushered in with the ringing of bells and firing of guns. A large barge was prepared for the accommodation of the company to row on the lake in front of his mansion. In the evening an excellent band of music tended to the great amusement of hundreds who assembled on the cheerful occasion, when all the younger ones joined in the rustic dance, which was kept up till a late hour, after which there was a grand display of fireworks.”

13.—Matthew Rackham, over seventy years of age, started from Norwich at four o’clock in the morning and walked to Yarmouth, where he arrived at nine o’clock, and returned to Norwich by six o’clock in the evening, “without experiencing any fatigue, although he had to contend with an adverse wind accompanied with rain during the whole of his journey out.”

18.—Mr. G. V. Brooke took his benefit at Norwich Theatre as Hotspur in “King Henry the Fourth” (Part 1). “The degree of estimation in which this young actor is held was displayed in a general call for him at the end of the piece, a proceeding which is frequently resorted to in London, but which we are not aware of having seen occur here before.”

22.—The remaining troop of the 9th Royal Lancers marched from Norwich Barracks, under the command of Capt. Whalley. Two troops and the headquarters of the 8th Royal Irish Hussars, commanded by Col. the Hon. G. B. Molyneaux, took over the Barracks on June 5th.

25.—The Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry, commanded by Major Loftus, commenced permanent duty at Cromer. The regiment consisted of three troops, namely, the Rainham Troop (Capt. H. B. Caldwell); the Hingham Troop (Capt. Ferdinand Ives); and the Holt Troop (Capt. John Mott). “The uniform and appointments assimilate closely in cut and other details with those of her Majesty’s regiments of Dragoon Guards.”

JUNE.

1.—Died at Thetford, aged 63, Mr. Thomas Withers Gill, an alderman of the borough, who had twice served the office of Mayor.

—The publication commenced in bi-monthly shilling parts of “The Eastern Arboretum: a new Botanical Work on the Trees of Norfolk,” by James Grigor; illustrated by T. Ninham. London: Longman and Co.; Norwich: John Stacy, Old Haymarket.

4.—A public meeting, presided over by the Dean, was held in Norwich, “to receive a report on the city National Schools, established in the year 1708, and to consider the best means of advancing the benevolent objects of these most ancient charitable institutions.” Resolutions were passed pledging the meeting to support the schools, “which were the first and for a long time the sole means of educating the children of the poor, and also the cause of similar institutions in later years.”

5.—The tender of the Rev. Mr. Kent, of East Winch, for the purchase of the patronage of St. Mary’s Church, Bury St. Edmund’s, at 3,000 guineas, was opened and accepted by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

9.—Mr. W. M. Warcup, surgeon, of East Dereham, was presented with a piece of plate by the inhabitants of Swanton Morley, “in testimony of their respect for his skilful and successful treatment of the poor of that parish during fourteen months when typhus fever of a very malignant character extended itself into the family of almost every poor person in the village.”

—The question of the practicability of paving Guildhall Hill, Norwich, with wood, “in order to prevent the noise and interruption from carriages passing up and down the hill during the holding of Quarter Sessions, Assizes, and magistrates’ sittings,” was introduced by the Mayor (Capt. Money) and referred to a Committee of the Paving Commissioners, who, on October 13th, reported that “a wood pavement was not suitable for declivities.” A macadamised road was thereupon ordered to be made.

13.*—“We regret to find some of the finest parts of the antient church of Yarmouth are doomed to destruction. Handbills inviting tenders for the work have for some time been in circulation. The principal object of demolition is the splendid east window of the south isle, one of the most elaborate examples of a highly-enriched style of architecture in the county. This capacious building has long been suffering from the effects of mutilations which every admirer of our antient ecclesiastical architecture must lament. The modern and ghastly eastern windows of the north isle and chancel are deformities which would disgrace a dilapidated church of the meanest village.”

15.—Mr. Farren, of Covent Garden, and Mr. J. Vining, of the same theatre, formerly a favourite actor in the Norwich Company, commenced a short engagement at Norwich Theatre. The plays in which they appeared included “The Clandestine Marriage,” “The Day after the Wedding,” “The School for Scandal,” &c.

—A public meeting, convened by the Mayor, was held at the Guildhall, Norwich, “for the purpose of congratulating her Most Gracious Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert on their late most happy escape from the atrocious attempt at assassination.” The address was moved by Col. Harvey, and seconded by Dr. Wright. The notorious Chartist, Dover, moved a direct negative, which the Mayor refused to accept. The address was then adopted. An address was also agreed to by the Town Council on the 15th, and on the 21st the Mayor and Corporation attended the thanksgiving service at the Cathedral. Addresses were adopted by the Corporations of Yarmouth and Lynn, by the clergy of the diocese, and by various public bodies in the city and county, and a special form of prayer was used at all the churches. A county meeting took place at the Shirehall, Norwich, on June 27th, at which congratulatory addresses to the Queen, the Prince Consort, and the Duchess of Kent were adopted. Dover and a party of Norwich Chartists occupied the gallery and created much disturbance.

16.—John Mountjoy, the pedestrian, commenced a series of remarkable feats at Norwich. At Ranelagh Gardens he performed the task of taking up with his mouth, without touching the ground with his knees, 100 eggs placed a yard apart and dropping them into a bucket of water without breaking them, and leaping over 50 hurdles 4 ft. high placed ten yards apart, making a distance of 6½ miles. He undertook to do this in one hour, and accomplished it in 58 minutes 56 seconds. On June 22nd he began his walk from the Shirehall Tavern, Castle Ditches, to Symonds’ Gardens, Yarmouth, and back twice a day for six successive days, a distance of 76 miles. He finished the undertaking on Saturday, June 27th. After he had crossed Foundry Bridge on his last return journey he was followed by a tremendous crowd, who bore the toll collectors before them and made a free passage. The only remuneration Mountjoy received for his self-imposed task were the contributions prompted by the generosity of the public. On July 13th, at Ranelagh Gardens, he ran a mile, walked backwards a mile, ran a wheelbarrow half a mile, trundled a hoop a mile, hopped 200 yards, picked up with his mouth 40 hazel nuts placed a yard apart without putting his knees to the ground, and jumped over 30 hurdles ten yards apart within five minutes of the time stipulated, one hour. On August 31st he started to walk to London and back, by way of Cambridge, in 48 hours. Leaving Ranelagh Gardens at four o’clock in the morning, he reached Wymondham at 5.5 and Thetford at 9.20, Barton Mills before 11, and Newmarket at 12.45. After leaving Newmarket, he incautiously drank some cold water, which had such an effect upon him that he lay for an hour and a quarter outside the Swan Inn at Bottisham. Having somewhat recovered, he resumed his walk and reached Cambridge a little before five o’clock, and Melbourne at nine, where he was again taken ill and obliged to lie down for an hour. He then struggled on to Royston, where “he was obliged to lie down under a hedge, with none but strangers around him.” On reaching Buntingford he was advised to give in, but he pursued his course to within a mile of Ware, when he was obliged to relinquish the undertaking. Mountjoy, on September 10th, jumped 144 hurdles and ran twelve times round the racecourse on Mousehold Heath in 1 min. 4 sees, under the hour (distance not stated); and on September 13th walked 20 miles backwards and 20 forwards on the Catton Road, starting at 9 a.m. and finishing at 7.4 p.m.

18.—Died at Coltishall, aged 62, Mr. Thomas Stallard Webb, historical engraver to the Queen. “For the long term of 38 years this eminent artist most assiduously devoted his great talents, in conjunction with the late Thomas Holloway and Richard Slann, who survives, exclusively to the engraving of the celebrated cartoons of Raphael from the original paintings in the possession of her Majesty, the last plate of which series was completed only a few weeks before his death. This splendid work will carry down his name to posterity amongst the first artists of the age.”

23.—The foundation-stone of Christ church, New Catton, was laid by the Hon. and Very Rev. Dean Pellew, after a special service at the mother church of St. Clement, at which the sermon was preached by the Hon. and Rev. J. T. Pelham, rector of Bergh Apton. The architect was Mr. Brown, the contractors Messrs. Wright and Cattermoul and Messrs. Watson and Neale, the site was given by Mr. S. D. Page, and the entire cost of the work was £2,400. “More than 300 years have elapsed since a parish church has been raised in this city. Of the 36 churches, St. Andrew’s is the last that was erected, or rather rebuilt, about the year 1500, on the site of an ancient church.”

JULY.

1.—On the opening of the Eastern Counties Railway from Shoreditch to Brentwood, the London coaches from Norwich, Yarmouth, and other places in Norfolk and Suffolk there transferred their passengers and mails to the trains in communication with the Metropolis.

4.*—“The very antient lectorium or reading-desk which has for many years lain neglected in Norwich Cathedral has, by order of the Hon. the Very Rev. the Dean, recently been restored, and is now placed in the choir. It was originally adorned with figures, which, in the time of the usurpation, were destroyed or mutilated. These figures have been replaced by others cast in brass and elaborately chased by Mr. John Herbert, from models furnished by Mr. Ollett.”

9.—Died in St. Stephen’s, Norwich, aged 81, Mr. John Stafford, “a man well known in the sporting world, having been many years a noted cock-feeder.”

18.*—[Advt.] “The public are respectfully informed that the Angel Inn, Market Place, Norwich, having been recently disposed of, is now refurnishing and fitting up with every convenience for the reception of families and commercial gentlemen, and will in future be known as the Royal Hotel.”

23.—In recording the anniversary of an Oddfellows’ Lodge at Lynn on this date, the Norfolk Chronicle stated: “The name ‘Oddfellows,’ by which the Order is distinguished, scarcely does justice to the institution, as corresponding with its importance and its noble and generous principles. To those who are unacquainted with the real merits of the society, there is a sort of peculiarity in the title of ‘Oddfellows’ which may seem to imply something of buffoonery united with thoughtless revelling.”

30.—Died, aged 50, Mr. B. Harrison, many years a popular actor on the Norwich stage.

31.—Married, Mr. Charles Fisher, of the Norfolk and Suffolk Company of Comedians, to Miss Richardson, only daughter of Richard Richardson, gent., of Swafield, North Walsham.

—The non-commissioned officers and men of the East Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry presented to Major Charles Loftus a silver candelabrum, in “testimony of the sincere regard and admiration which they bear towards him both as their commanding officer and as a private gentleman.” The presentation was made by Lord James Townshend, at a dinner given at the King’s Arms Inn, East Dereham, under the presidency of Quarter-Master Wood.

AUGUST.

1.—Sir John Patteson and Sir Edward Hall Alderson, the Judges of Assize, arrived at Norwich.

3.—Mr. Yates, Mr. and Mrs. Keeley, and Mr. Paul Bedford commenced a six nights’ engagement at Norwich Theatre for the Assize week, in the new drama, “Jack Shephard.” Mrs. Keeley appeared in the title rôle, Mr. Yates as Abram Monday, and Mr. Bedford as Joe Blueskin. Mrs. Keeley (née Goward) was formerly a member of the Norwich Company. On the 10th Miss Ellen Tree and Mr. George Bennett, of Covent Garden and Drury Lane, appeared in Sheridan Knowles’ play, “Love.” Mr. Bennett was the son of an old actor on the Norwich stage, and of Miss Tree it was said: “She is indeed one of Nature’s noblesse, an histrionic genius of the first order, an ornament to her arduous, anxious, and ill-requited profession.”

—At the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Justice Patteson, John Randalsome, aged 40, was indicted for the murder of his wife, at Thwaite, on June 19th. A singular feature of the case was that none of the murdered woman’s relatives were aware that she was married to the prisoner. Randalsome had formed an illicit acquaintance with a girl named Punchard, and desired to be rid of his wife. Having enticed her from the house of her father, with whom she resided, he wounded her severely about the head and face with a hedge stake, and threw her into a pond. The medical evidence proved that death resulted from drowning. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the prisoner was executed on the Castle Hill, Norwich, on August 22nd.

—The new Amphitheatre and Royal Albert Saloon, Ranelagh Gardens, St. Stephen’s Gates, Norwich, was opened. “The building is after a new design, constructed with great solidarity, and on a considerably increased scale of dimensions. The circle is about 150 feet in circumference, lighted up with a splendid chandelier of 20 gas burners, suspended from the centre of the cone, which is glazed from the top downwards about 15 ft. Round the spacious arena rise lower and upper tiers of boxes splendidly fitted up. The entrance to the circle and boxes is through a lofty and well-proportioned saloon, about 70 ft. long and 30 ft. wide. The façade of the building presents above the principal entrance an open portico of three arches looking into the gardens; and there is an exactly similar arcade opening internally towards the theatre.” A portion of the building here described is now the Victoria Station of the Great Eastern Railway.

SEPTEMBER.

2.—At the King’s Head Inn, Diss, the brewery, public-houses, mansion, farm, and other property of Mr. Robert Sheriffe, of Diss, were sold by auction by Mr. W. W. Simpson, of London. The brewery and public-houses were purchased by Mr. Samuel Farrow, and the amount realised by the three days’ sale was £50,000. “The great increase in the value of country public-houses apparent from the enormous prices which have lately been realised for this description of property leads us to believe that the shook which the trade suffered on the passing of the Beer Bill some years since has been entirely recovered, and that country public-houses are now even of greater value than they were antecedent to the passing of that measure.”

9.—The two days’ annual race meeting commenced on the Mousehold course, Norwich.

10.—A “great ringing festival” took place at Heydon, to celebrate the opening of the new peal of bells put up by Thomas and Joshua Hurry, of Norwich. Prizes were competed for by the ringers, and a “farmers’ ball” concluded the festivities.

12.—On this date was reported the discovery of the remains of Sir Thomas Browne, in the church of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich. “The bones of the skeleton were found to be in good preservation, particularly those of the skull. The brain was considerable in quantity, but changed to a state of adipocere resembling ointment of a dark brown hue. The hair and the beard remained profuse and perfect, though the flesh of the face as well as of every other part was totally gone. With respect to the formation of the head, we are informed that the forehead was remarkably low, but the back of the cranium exhibited an unusual degree of depth and capaciousness. Sir Thomas Browne died on October 12th, 1682.”

14.—Died at Honing, Thomas Holt, aged 105.

21.—M. Liszt, the celebrated pianist, performed at two grand concerts at Norwich, in the morning at the Assembly Rooms, and in the evening at the Theatre. The other artistes were Mr. Mori, Mdlle. de Varny, Miss Louisa Bassano, and Mr. J. Parry.

22.—Under the management of Messrs. Hewlett and Trory, a morning concert was given at the Assembly Rooms, and an evening concert at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, at which the performers were Madame Persiani, Signor Negri, Signor Rubini, and Signor Puzzi. “In two consecutive days we have had four concerts and heard four of the greatest performers of the present day—Persiani, Puzzi, Rubini, and Liszt.”

24.—From a meadow near Bishop Bridge, Norwich, Mr. Charles Green ascended in the Nassau balloon, accompanied by Mr. R. Crawshay and his sons, Messrs. F. and E. Crawshay, Mr. Nicholas Bacon, Mr. Shalders, and Mr. Andrews. The balloon rose at four o’clock, and descended at five o’clock, at Metton, near Felbrigg.

OCTOBER.

1.—Died at his residence in the Lower Close, Norwich, aged 90, Sylas Neville, M.D. “Of this venerable gentleman, for a great many years an inhabitant of this city, living as he did in a state of perfect seclusion, there is little to record beyond the fact of his having been born in London and having taken his doctor’s degree at Edinburgh, in 1775. His inaugural essay, ‘De Prognosi in Febribus,’ delivered on the occasion, is in print, and bears testimony to his acquirements both as a classic and as a pathologist. During many years and to the last moments of his existence, Dr. Neville was chiefly indebted to the kindness of friends around him for the means of subsistence.”

5.—George Edward Seales, known as a common informer, procured the conviction of a coach proprietor, at the Norwich Police Court, for carrying more than the regulation number of passengers. Seales, on leaving the Guildhall, was violently assaulted by the mob, and was escorted to his home by twenty police-officers.

6.—Col. Petre, of Westwick, presided at a meeting at the Assembly Rooms, Norwich, at which was formed, for the prevention of cruelty to animals, a society known as “The Animals’ Friend Society.”