Norfolk Annals Volume Ii Part 21

23.-A vessel, named the Harmony, built by Messrs. Fellows and Son, of Yarmouth, for the Moravian mission in Labrador, was launched.

MAY.

18.-The census returns were published on this date. In Norwich the number of inhabited houses was 17,012; uninhabited, 786; building, 97.

The population consisted of 33,717 males, and 40,697 females; total, 74,414.

20.-A serious military riot took place at Yarmouth, between men of the Royal Artillery and of the East Norfolk Militia. Belts and stones were freely used. A party of 200 Artillerymen, armed with swords and knives, issued from the a.r.s.enal, and were going to the a.s.sistance of their comrades, when Mr. R. Steward, by persuasion and threats, kept the greater portion from proceeding further. Officers of both corps exerted themselves to quell the disturbance, and strong pickets were stationed at the bridge, to prevent the Artillery from entering Yarmouth and the Militia from crossing to Southtown.

JUNE.

13.-The Norwich Grammar School athletic sports were held for the first time.

18.-A memorial was presented to the Norwich Town Council, by farmers, graziers, dealers, &c., praying the Corporation to enlarge the Cattle Market. The Market Committee recommended the Council to adopt in its entirety a plan for executing the work, at a cost not exceeding 20,000.

This scheme involved the demolition of the notorious locality known as Pump Street.

20.-Mr. and Mrs. Ringer, of Walcot Green, near Diss, left their house in charge of a servant, named Susan Garrod, and on their return in the evening found her suffering from several gunshot wounds in the head and face, inflicted by a man named Charles Sheldrake, a returned convict, employed as a groom and gardener by Mr. Ringer. Sheldrake, after committing the deed, secreted himself in a wood. On being called on by the police to surrender, he placed the muzzle of a double-barrelled gun to his mouth and blew out his brains. At the inquest the jury returned a verdict of _felo de se_, and the Coroner gave a warrant for the interment of the body between the hours of nine and twelve o'clock. "The body was accordingly buried at ten o'clock at night, under one of the paths in the churchyard."

24.-The London Royal English Opera Company commenced a week's engagement at Norwich Theatre. The repertory included "four new successful operas never before performed in Norwich," namely, Balfe's "The Rose of Castille," Loder's "The Night Dancers," Macfarren's "Robin Hood," and Balfe's "Satanella, or the Power of Love." In addition to the above-named works, "Il Trovatore," "Martha," and "Maritana" were produced. The _artistes_ included Miss f.a.n.n.y Ternan, Miss Bronte, Miss Angel, Miss f.a.n.n.y Reeves, Mr. Edmund Rosenthal, Mr. J. Manley, Mr. E. D.

Corri, Mr. Oliver Summers, and Mr. Elliott Galer. Mr. W. Meyer Lutz was the conductor. The performances received very inadequate public support.

The company revisited Norwich for six nights, commencing on September 9th.

-Herr Kolisch, the celebrated chess-player, contested, at the Rampant Horse Hotel, Norwich, 13 games simultaneously against some of the best players in the neighbourhood. He won eight games, lost three, and two were drawn.

28.-Died, at Feniton Court, Devons.h.i.+re, the Right Hon. Sir John Patteson.

The second son of the Rev. Henry Patteson, and nephew of Mr. John Patteson, who for some time represented Norwich in Parliament, he was born in that city on February 11th, 1790. He was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, and, after talking his degree, removed to London and entered at the Middle Temple. On being called to the Bar, he went the Northern Circuit. "He had been only nine years a barrister, he had not a silk gown, he had never led a cause or once addressed a jury,"

when he was appointed to the Queen's Bench, and from that time to February 11th, 1852, continued to discharge the duties of his high office with a reputation for industry, learning, and integrity.

JULY.

20.*-"The first number of the NORFOLK CHRONICLE was published on the 18th of July, 1761. We are, therefore, as journalists, exactly 100 years old.

. . . The difference between the newspapers of the last and present century is, perhaps, more conspicuous in the quant.i.ty of s.p.a.ce occupied than in any other respect, and the present sheet is at least four times the size of our first publication."

27.*-"The repairs at St. Gregory's church, Norwich, the interior of which has been undergoing general restoration, have brought to light an interesting fresco, representing the renowned fight between St. George and the Dragon, a subject which has a local a.s.sociation, St. George being the t.i.tular saint of the city and patron of a once flouris.h.i.+ng civic company. The painting, which, in all probability, is of a date of the middle of the fifteenth century, was discovered on the removal of the organ at the west end of the north aisle, for the purpose of cleaning the wall. The figures are life-size, and the colours and drawing exceedingly good."

-At the Norfolk a.s.sizes, before Chief Justice Erle and a special jury, a libel action, Lane _v._ the Yarmouth Free Press and Printing Company, Limited, was tried. Damages were laid at 300. The declaration alleged that the defendants published in a paper called the "Yarmouth Independent," certain reflections upon the plaintiff in his capacity as collector of market tolls. The defendants contended that, at the request of and by agreement with the plaintiff, they had inserted in the newspaper a paragraph explaining the alleged libel, and had exonerated him from the imputations made against his character, and plaintiff had accepted it as satisfaction. The case ended with the withdrawal of a juror.

AUGUST.

1.-Died at the residence of his son-in-law, 48, Elgin Crescent, Notting Hill, in his 84th year, Philip John Money, formerly captain of the 17th Regiment. He was a magistrate of Norwich, and served the office of Mayor in 1839.

2.-The celebrated tight-rope walker, Blondin, made his first appearance at Norwich. The rope was fixed at an alt.i.tude of about 60 feet, in a field on Newmarket Road. "It is a very fortunate circ.u.mstance for M.

Blondin that he crossed Niagara and had the Prince of Wales for a spectator, for it has added a much greater interest to has performances than they would otherwise have acquired, and even, if we may judge from what we saw here, they deserved."

4.-Mr. Edward Ca.s.son, aged 33, medical superintendent of the County Lunatic Asylum at Thorpe St. Andrew, committed suicide by poisoning himself.

8.-Holy Trinity church, Norwich, was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. "The ceremony should have taken place three weeks previously, but at the eleventh hour the Bishop requested that a capital fund of about 300 should be provided prior to the consecration. As the committee were then about 1,000 in debt, it was felt to be indiscreet to increase their risk, and consequently it was determined to delay the opening of the church until they had received nearly all that they required. In less than three weeks more than 1,200 had been subscribed out of the 1,300 then supposed to be needed." The consecration was attended by the Mayor (Mr. W. J. Utten Browne) and several members of the Corporation.

29.-A troop of the 15th Hussars left Norwich, _en route_ to York; the remainder of the regiment marched on September 3rd.

SEPTEMBER.

12.-A great review of the whole of the Volunteer Companies in the county and city, with the Norwich Mounted Volunteers and the Yarmouth Artillery, was held at Holkham Park, by Major-General Sir Archdale Wilson, Bart., K.C.B. This was the first occasion on which the corps had been brigaded since their formation. The review was fixed for eleven o'clock, but in consequence of a breakdown in the railway arrangements, and the consequent detention of companies on their way to the _rendezvous_, the parade was not formed until 2.15 p.m. The troops numbered upwards of 1,700, and were divided into two brigades, commanded respectively by Lieut.-Col. Custance and Major the Hon. F. Walpole, West Norfolk Militia.

The railway company displayed the same incompetency in conveying the corps from Holkham as in taking them there, and the Norwich men did not reach the city until six o'clock on the morning of the 13th.

28.-The headquarters of the 5th Dragoon Guards arrived at Norwich Cavalry Barracks, from Aldershot. "It is known in the service as the 'Green Horse,' being the only cavalry regiment which wears green facings."

OCTOBER.

13.-Died, Sir William Cubitt, the eminent engineer. Born in Norfolk, in 1785, he was apprenticed to a joiner, and, becoming a very superior handicraftsman, he rapidly took a prominent position as a maker of agricultural implements. Within a short time he became a millwright, and about 1807 invented self-regulating windmill sails, and ultimately became connected with Messrs. Ransome and Son, of Ipswich. He was the inventor also of the treadmill for gaols and houses of correction. His reputation increasing his engagements, it became necessary for him to remove to the Metropolis in 1826, and after that period there was scarcely a port, harbour, dock, navigable river, or ca.n.a.l in the United Kingdom with which he was not in some way engaged. The South-Eastern Railway from London to Dover was designed and executed by him. He undertook the bold project of blowing away the face of the Round Down cliff, which he successfully executed by exploding 18,000 lbs. of gunpowder in one blast, and precipitated one million tons of chalk cliff into the sea. The great landing-stage at Liverpool, the deck of which was nearly one acre in extent, was a unique example of his work. As consulting engineer of the Great Northern Railway, he materially contributed to the production of one of the best lines in England. One of his last public works was the superintendence of the construction of the palace for the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park in 1851, which he undertook at the pressing instance of his coadjutors on the Royal Commission, and his services were recognised in a marked manner by the Queen and the Prince Consort.

22.-The Mayor of Norwich (Mr. W. J. Utten Browne) delivered a lecture to the members of the parochial library, Lakenham, on "The Times of King Charles the First."

24.-Died, suddenly, of apoplexy, at his residence, West Parade, Earlham Road, Norwich, in his 46th year, Mr. Edward Garrod, editor of the NORFOLK CHRONICLE.

28.-Charles d.i.c.kens gave the former of two readings at St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich. The work selected was "David Copperfield." On the 29th he read "Nicholas Nickleby at Mr. Squeer's School," and the Trial scene from the "Pickwick Papers." "Our opinion is," the NORFOLK CHRONICLE remarked, "that Mr. d.i.c.kens as a reader fails to do justice to himself as an author."

NOVEMBER.

6.-Norwich Theatre was opened, under the management of Mr. George Owen.

Mr. Sidney, however, retained the lessees.h.i.+p.

8.-Died at Hingham, in her 100th year, Mrs. Rebecca Houchen.

9.-The new Corn Hall at Norwich was opened for business. The contractors for the building were Messrs. Ling and b.a.l.l.s, of Norwich, and for the roof Messrs. Barnard, Bishop, and Barnards. The total cost was about 8,000. The work was executed from the designs of Mr. Barry, of Norwich, and Mr. H. Butcher, of 37, Bedford Row, London; and the roofs were adapted and carried into detail from the design of the architects by Mr.

E. A. Cowper, C.E., of Westminster. The first brick of the new building was laid on May 1st, 1861.

-Mr. John Oddin Taylor was elected Mayor, and Mr. Addison John Cresswell appointed Sheriff of Norwich.

10.-Died at North Runcton Rectory, in his 85th year, the Rev. James c.u.mming, M.A., professor of chemistry in the University of Cambridge, to which office he was elected in 1815. He was a Fellow of Trinity College, and had held the living of North Runcton for more than forty years.

22.-In the Court of the Lords Justices in Lincoln's Inn, a pet.i.tion was presented by Major-General Charles Ash Windham, Capt. Windham, the Marquis of Bristol, Lord Alfred Hervey, M.P., Lord Listowel, and others, praying that a writ _de lunatico inquirendo_ might issue against William Frederick Windham. In support of the pet.i.tion, affidavits were read which alleged a variety of eccentricities and extravagances on the part of William Frederick Windham, and laid great stress upon a marriage he had contracted with one Agnes Ann Rogers, better known by the name of Agnes Willoughby. The judges, after hearing the affidavits on the other side, considered that a _prima facie_ case had been made out, and allowed the prayer of the pet.i.tion. On December 4th, in the Vice-Chancellor's Court, a motion was heard for the committal of Mr. James Bowen May for contempt of court, in having, during the infancy of William Frederick Windham, and without the knowledge of his guardian or the sanction of the Court, drawn or sided and abetted in drawing the said William Frederick Windham into a promise of marriage with Agues Rogers or Willoughby, in which promises had been made of settlements or dispositions of his property in her favour. The motion was refused, with costs. On December 11th the Court of Chancery granted leave to William Frederick Windham to raise as a mortgage charge on his property the sum of 2,000, in order that he might defend himself before the Commission. The Commission held its first sitting in the Court of Exchequer, Westminster, on December 16th, under the presidency of Mr. Samuel Warren, Q.C., one of the Masters in Lunacy. Mr. Windham was the only son of Mr. Howe Windham, who died in 1854, and the great-grandson of Mr. Windham, the great politician. He became of age on August 9th, 1861, when he succeeded to the Felbrigg Hall estate, worth upwards of 1,200 a year, and to other properties in which he had a life interest, and which, in the year 1869, would yield him 9,000 a year more. During his minority he was under the guardians.h.i.+p of his uncle, General Windham, and of his mother, Lady Sophia Hervey. He married a woman of loose character, upon whom he bestowed jewellery of the value of 1,200 or 1,400, and upon whom he settled a present annuity of 800, with a further annuity of 1,500 contingent upon his coming in to the whole of his property in 1869. It was also alleged that he sold, in a wild and reckless way, and upon terms of the utmost disadvantage, the whole of the timber, ornamental as well as useful, on the Felbrigg estate. The inquiry lasted thirty-four days, and upwards of 150 witnesses were examined. It is said to have cost something like 160 per hour, or nearly 3 per minute, for all the leading talent of the Bar of England was engaged in the case. On January 30th, 1862, the jury returned the following verdict: "That the said Mr. William Frederick Windham, at the time of taking this inquisition, was a person of sound mind, so as to be sufficient for the government of himself, his manners, his messuages, his lands, his tenements, his goods, and his chattels."

The moment the verdict was uttered a loud and enthusiastic cheer rose from the audience, and was repeated again and again. When Mr. Windham left the Court he was received outside with the shouts of an admiring crowd, who almost carried him to the cab in which he drove away, amid a deafening cheer. In the Court of Equity, on April 23rd, 1862, the Lords Justices refused to exonerate the alleged lunatic from the payment of the whole of the costs, amounting to 20,000, consequent upon the enquiry.

30.*-"The portrait of Mr. J. H. Gurney, M.P., President of the Norfolk and Norwich Museum, has this week been placed on the walls of that inst.i.tution. It was painted by F. Grant, R.A., at the cost of 200 guineas."