Norfolk Annals
Chapter 189 : 22.-At the Norfolk a.s.sizes, before Mr. Justice Hawkins, John Thurston, 30, labourer,

22.-At the Norfolk a.s.sizes, before Mr. Justice Hawkins, John Thurston, 30, labourer, was indicted for the wilful murder of Henry Springall, an old man, at Hingham, on December 5th, 1885. The prisoner was found guilty, and received sentence of death. The execution took place at Norwich Castle on February 10th. The culprit was a nephew of Henry Webster, who was hanged at the same prison on May 1st, 1876, for the murder of his wife at Cranworth.

-St. Cuthbert's church, Sprowston, erected at the cost of 2,000, was opened by the Bishop of Norwich. The building was designed by Mr. A. R.

G. Flemming, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, and the contractor was Mr.

G. E. Hawes, of Norwich.

26.-A violent explosion, caused by an escape of gas, occurred at Victoria Station, Norwich.

FEBRUARY.

2.-Died, at St. Clement's Hill, Catton, the Rev. Richard Rigg, M.A., for forty-two years rector of St. Clement's, and some time rector of St.

Michael-at-Coslany and St. Edmund the King, Norwich, in his 81st year. A clergyman of the old school, he was a warm adherent to the Evangelical party, was for forty years secretary of the Norfolk and Norwich Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and one of the founders of the Norwich Church of England Young Men's Society.

-Mr. John Ellis, of Sprowston, received from the Treasury a grant of 150 "in consideration of his services to the nation in having been the founder of the first juvenile reformatory in England, that of Saltley, near Birmingham."

6.-It was announced that her Majesty the Queen had conferred upon Mr.

Edward Birkbeck, M.P., the honour of a baronetcy.

7.-Died, at Brockheath, Salisbury, General William Custance, C.B., colonel of the 11th Hussars, in his 75th year. The second son of Mr.

Hamilton Thomas Custance, of Weston House, he entered the Army in 1831, and served with distinction in the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny.

13.-A deputation of unemployed workmen waited upon the Mayor of Norwich at the Guildhall and urged upon him the necessity of steps being taken to relieve the exceptional distress then prevailing in the city. On the 17th a public meeting was held, at which a fund was opened. Relief works were shortly afterwards started on Mousehold Heath.

14.-Died, at St. Helen's House, Norwich, Mr. Edward Field, in his 75th year. He succeeded Mr. Thomas Bignold as solicitor to the Norwich Fire and Life a.s.surance Offices, and in 18578 served as Mayor of Norwich. On the death of Sir Samuel Bignold Mr. Field became leader of the Conservative party in the Town Council, and was for many years Chairman of the Board of Guardians. He drafted the Norfolk and Suffolk Fisheries Act, 1877, and was chiefly instrumental in getting it pa.s.sed; subsequently he became honorary secretary to the Board of Conservators, of which also he was a member. Mr. Field, who was a magistrate of the city, for several years held the rank of captain in the Norwich Rifle Volunteers.

20.-Died, at 49, Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, London, Mr. George William Pierrepont Bentinck, aged 82. He was the eldest son of Vice-Admiral William Bentinck (a representative of the junior branch of the family of the Duke of Portland), by marriage with Lady Frances Eliza Augusta Pierrepont, only daughter of Charles, first Earl of Manvers. In 1853 he was returned as Conservative member for West Norfolk, and retained the seat until March, 1868, when he retired on account of ill-health. He was, however, re-elected by the same const.i.tuency in 1871, and sat till February, 1884, when he finally retired from Parliamentary life. Mr. Bentinck, who was a Tory of the old school, and maintained his principles to the last, was a magistrate and a Deputy Lieutenant for the county.

22.-In the House of Lords judgment was given in the case, Coaks and others, appellants, and Boswell and others, respondents. Their lords.h.i.+ps held that there had been no fraud in the purchase of the Harvey life interest, and therefore reversed the order of the Court of Appeal and that of Mr. Justice Fry, dismissing the action with costs restored. The respondents were condemned in the whole costs of the case. On September 17th, 1887, it was announced: "The plaintiffs have discharged the taxed costs of the defendants. These amounted to 12,930 19s. 11d., of which 2,194 13s. 5d. was allowed in respect of the appeal in the House of Lords." Mr. M. S. Emerson, solicitor to the plaintiffs, stated, in a letter published on September 24th, 1887, that they had the opportunity of compromising the case. "It is a fact," he wrote, "that I refused 30,000 before the case came into court. . . . The six counsel engaged for the plaintiffs met, and were unanimous in their opinion that I was right in refusing the 30,000." (_See_ July 22nd, 1892.)

MARCH.

2.-At a special meeting of the shareholders of the Norwich Public Library, held for the purpose of taking into consideration the advisability of amalgamating the Library with the Literary Inst.i.tution, according to a scheme prepared and approved by the committees of both inst.i.tutions, it was agreed by 27 votes against 4 to adopt the proposal.

17.-The trial of the election pet.i.tion presented by Mr. Henry Birkbeck and others against the return of Mr. Harry Bullard as one of the members for Norwich, commenced at the s.h.i.+rehall before Mr. Justice Denman and Mr.

Justice Cave. Counsel for the pet.i.tioners were Mr. Charles, Q.C., Mr. R.

T. Reid, Q.C., and the Hon. Mark Napier; and for the respondent Mr.

Gully, Q.C., the Hon. Mr. Denman, and Mr. Blofeld. Bribery, treating, undue influence, and personation by agents, were alleged. The only case of bribery that was proved was the gift of a two-s.h.i.+lling piece by an alleged agent, to a voter, but it was sufficient to render the election void, and Mr. Bullard was unseated. The judges, however, declined to give the pet.i.tioners their costs, and Mr. Bullard's costs were defrayed by the subscriptions of men of all parties. (_See_ May 7th.)

18.-Died, at Marham Hall, Mr. Henry Villebois, aged 79. An excellent landlord, an ardent sportsman, and for some years Master of the West Norfolk Foxhounds, Mr. Villebois was one of the earliest friends in Norfolk of the Prince of Wales, whom he had the honour of several times entertaining at Marham. He married, in 1831, Maria, elder daughter of Mr. Thomas Philip Bagge, of Stradsett Hall, and was a magistrate and a Deputy Lieutenant for the county. Mr. Villebois commenced active duties as a M.F.H. about 1842, when he took the Vale of White Horse, purchasing the pack from the triumvirate, the Earl of Suffolk, Earl Bathurst, and Mr. Cripps, who had hunted the country conjointly. He likewise purchased the Herefords.h.i.+re Hounds from Sir Vevers Cornwall, and, with John Dinnecombe as huntsman, showed excellent sport until 1854, when, in consequence of a severe accident, he resigned the masters.h.i.+p to Lord Gifford, and sold his hounds to the Earl of Portsmouth. For the next three or four years he hunted with Lord Suffield, and in 1858 consented to hunt the West Norfolk. His lords.h.i.+p continued with the East Norfolk, but resigned in 1859; Mr. Villebois then hunted the entire country, but after two or three years resigned the Eastern portion to Lord Hastings.

In the spring of 1865 Mr. Villebois sold his hounds and horses at Albert Gate, when seven of the hunters, bought from Mr. Newcome Mason, of Hendon, his great ally in all hunting matters, realised 1,015 guineas.

After giving up the masters.h.i.+p he stuck to West Norfolk, and from 1871 to 1875 hunted the country round Marham with a small pack purchased from the Rev. "Jack" Russell. The shooting at Marham could not be excelled, for Mr. Villebois would have partridges and pheasants as well as foxes. His funeral at Marham on March 24th was attended by upwards of three thousand persons.

29.-The funeral took place, at the Rosary burial ground, Norwich, of Thomas Harrison, who was born in the city in 1795, and had seen much active service as a soldier. He joined the 69th Regiment at the age of 17, was taken prisoner at the bombardment of Antwerp, was present at Waterloo, went out to India, where he was under arms for fourteen years, took part in the first expedition to Burmah, and on returning to England in 1832 was rewarded with a pension of fifteen pence per day.

31.-A fire occurred at Browick Hall, near Wymondham, and did damage to the amount of 2,000.

APRIL.

7.-At the Guildhall, Norwich, Mr. Samuel h.o.a.re, of Cliff House, Cromer, was nominated a candidate to fill the vacancy caused in the representation of the city by the unseating on pet.i.tion of Mr. Harry Bullard. The Liberal party offered no opposition, and Mr. h.o.a.re was declared duly elected.

9.-Died, at Great Yarmouth, Mr. Oswald Diver, aged 59. When a young man he was renowned as an oarsman, won many sculling matches on the Thames, and at Norwich, Lynn, and other places, and in 1847 beat Playford, who then held the Thames Amateur Champions.h.i.+p.

22.-The Archbishop of Canterbury administered at Sandringham church the rite of confirmation to the Princess Victoria of Wales.

24.-The Prince of Wales visited Norwich for the purpose of inspecting the show-ground of the Royal Agricultural Society, and was entertained at Carrow House by Mr. J. J. Colman, M.P.

29.-A special meeting of the Norwich Diocesan Conference, convened by the Lord Bishop, in compliance with a numerously-signed requisition, was held at Noverre's Rooms to take into consideration the subject of Church Reform.

MAY.

1.-The new station erected by the Great Eastern Railway Company at Thorpe, Norwich, was opened for inspection, and on the 3rd was used by the public for the first time. It was built by Messrs. Youngs and Son, of Norwich, from designs by Mr. J. Wilson, the company's engineer, at the cost of 60,000, and replaced the old station, which had been in use since the opening of the line.

-A great meeting of "an entirely non-party character" was held at St.

Andrew's Hall, Norwich, under the presidency of the Earl of Leicester, Lord Lieutenant of the county, in support of the principles of the Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union. A resolution was adopted affirming that any proposals tending to invalidate the legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland would prove disastrous to the interests of both countries. On June 25th Lord Leicester wrote a letter which had an important influence upon the electorate of the county. "I have never been in the habit," he wrote, "of taking part in political matters of a purely party description, though if ever I should have been inclined to break through the rule it would be at a time like the present, when we are pa.s.sing through a great crisis in our national history, when the old party barriers have been broken down, and when Liberals, Radicals, and Conservatives meet on a common platform in a common cause. The question before the country is solely this: whether the loyalists and Protestants of Ireland should be legislated for by an independent Parliament composed of men whom Mr. Gladstone himself has termed as marching through rapine to the dismemberment of the empire, or whether the United Kingdom is to remain under one Queen and one Parliament. I cannot believe that Englishmen will ever consent to the former proposal. I trust that the electors of Norfolk, with those of the rest of England, will insist that their members shall be patriots and decline to support Mr. Gladstone's dangerous policy." Lord Suffield and other prominent Liberals also renounced their adhesion to Mr. Gladstone.

7.-At the combined Norfolk and Suffolk a.s.sizes, held at Ipswich, before Mr. Baron Pollock, Charles Edward Wigger, a shoemaker, was indicted for receiving from one Walter Banham, a bribe for voting, or agreeing to vote, for Mr. Harry Bullard at the Norwich election on November 25th, 1885, and was sentenced to three months' imprisonment with hard labour.

10.-George Edward Ray, 31, solicitor, of Norwich, was sentenced at the Norfolk and Suffolk a.s.sizes, at Ipswich, to seven years' penal servitude for forging the conveyance of a real estate with intent to defraud.

11.-At the same a.s.sizes Edward Burgess, of Norwich, the printer and publisher of a newspaper called "Daylight," was indicted for publis.h.i.+ng on February 20th a libel upon Mr. Joseph Stanley, solicitor, and Coroner for Norfolk. The trial occupied three days, and on the jury finding the defendant guilty he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment without hard labour, and ordered to pay the costs of the prosecution.

12.-The Mayor of Norwich (Mr. John Gurney), as chairman of the Conservators of Mousehold Heath, opened the new road constructed thereon, and dedicated the Heath to the free use of the people as a recreation park for ever.

19.-The sale of the Westacre shorthorns and s.h.i.+rehorses, the property of Mr. Anthony Hamond, was conducted by Mr. John Thornton and Mr. s.e.xton, respectively. Forty-five cows averaged 28 ls. 5d.; seven bulls averaged 34 16s., and 16 mares and seven stallions 53 16s. 3d. The total amount realised was 2,690 13s. 6d.

25.-At a meeting of the Norwich Town Council, Mr. E. S. Steward tendered his resignation of the office of City Treasurer. On June 8th it was decided that the resignation be not accepted, but that Mr. Steward be dismissed from office. Mr. Hugh Gurney Barclay was on June 16th appointed to fill the vacancy. At the Norwich a.s.sizes, on November 23rd, the late City Treasurer was indicted for falsifying and making certain false entries in the bankers' pa.s.s book belonging to the Mayor and Corporation, with intent to defraud them of 1,848 16s. 9d., and on the 24th was found guilty and sentenced by Mr. Justice Field to six months'

imprisonment, (_See_ January 25th, 1887.)

29.-The 19th (Princess of Wales' Own) Hussars, who had been on active service in Egypt since 1882, arrived at Norwich, and took over the Cavalry Barracks, vacated during the week by the 13th Hussars. The regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Combe, came by special train from Harwich, where they had disembarked from the transport Geelong, and at Thorpe station were received by the Deputy-Mayor (Mr. John Hotblack), the Sheriff (Mr. J. J. Dawson Paul), and other prominent citizens. The route from the station to the barracks was profusely decorated, and the regiment received an enthusiastic welcome from the citizens.

JUNE.

10.-Died, at Fincham Rectory, the Rev. William Blyth, rector of the parish and hon. canon of Norwich Cathedral. An ardent archaeologist, he was the author of a "History of Fincham," published in 1863. During his tenure of office as rural dean five new churches were built, fifteen restored, and thirteen greatly improved, out of a total of twenty-fire churches in his deanery. The total outlay upon this work was 45,000.

20.-Died, Mr. Henry James Lee Warner, of Walsingham Abbey. The eldest son of the Rev. Daniel Henry Lee Warner, he was born January 12th, 1809, and succeeded to the estate in 1858. Mr. Lee Warner served as High Sheriff in 1863, and some years previously successfully contested Canterbury in the Conservative interest.

JULY.