Norfolk Annals
Chapter 186 : 20.-It was announced that the Mousehold site for the new brigade depot for the Norfolk

20.-It was announced that the Mousehold site for the new brigade depot for the Norfolk Regiment had been handed over to the military authorities, and plans were in hand for the erection of the barracks.

(_See_ June 18th, 1888.)

29.-A new lifeboat was launched at Cromer, and was named by Mrs.

Bond-Cabbell the "Benjamin Bond-Cabbell." It was built by Messrs.

Beeching, of Yarmouth.

OCTOBER.

6.-The Eastern and Midland Railway extension to Holt was inspected and approved by Major-General Hutchinson.

14.-The Norfolk and Norwich Musical Festival commenced with an evening performance of "Elijah." The other productions were: On the 15th "The Redemption," first time of performance in Norwich; the 16th the dramatic oratorio, "The Rose of Sharon," the music composed expressly for this Festival by A. C. Mackenzie; the 17th "The Messiah." Grand miscellaneous concerts were given on the evenings of the 15th, 16th, and 17th. The princ.i.p.al vocalists were Miss Emma Navada, Miss Anna Williams, Madame Patey, Miss Damian, Mr. Edward Lloyd, Mr. Maas, Mr. H. E. Thorndike, and Mr. Santley. Mr. Alberto Randegger conducted. The balance, after the payment of expenses, amounted to 953 1s. 3d., of which amount 700 was distributed among the local charities.

15.-The Prince and Princess of Wales arrived at Norwich from Melton Constable, where they were on a visit to Lord and Lady Hastings, and attended the Musical Festival. Their Royal Highnesses arrived at the City Station of the Eastern and Midlands Railway at 11.40 and were received by the Mayor (Dr. Eade), the Sheriff (Mr. J. Farrar Ranson), and the Deputy-Mayor (Mr. C. R. Gilman), and were escorted to St. Andrew's Hall by a detachment of the 4th (Queen's Own) Hussars. During the interval in the performance of "The Redemption" their Royal Highnesses and a distinguished company were entertained to luncheon by the Mayor.

On leaving the hall the Prince and Princess visited the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, and later returned to Melton Constable. Their Royal Highnesses again visited the city on the evening of the 17th, and attended the Festival concert, at the conclusion of which they proceeded to Melton Constable, and ended their visit to Lord and Lady Hastings on the 18th.

NOVEMBER.

6.-The Norwich Diocesan Conference commenced its sittings at Noverre's Rooms, Norwich. The proceedings ended on the 7th.

7.-The new building erected on St. James's Road by the Corporation of Lynn, for the reception of the Stanley Library, was opened. The Bishop of Carlisle (Dr. Harvey Goodwin, son of Mr. Charles Goodwin, of Lynn) delivered an inaugural address, in the course of which he reviewed the changes and improvements in his native town since he last visited it twenty-five years previously.

10.-Mr. John Hotblack was elected Mayor and Mr. William Howard Dakin appointed Sheriff of Norwich.

18.-At a meeting of the Norwich Town Council the Parliamentary and Bylaws Committee reported that counsel was of opinion "that the Corporation should for the present hold its hand and not make any further distribution among the freemen of the funds arising from the Town Close Estate." The recommendation of the Committee "that the question of payment remain in abeyance until the next meeting," was adopted by 45 votes against 11. At an adjourned meeting held on December 16th "to consider the case submitted to the Solicitor-General and Mr. Asquith,"

Mr. Hackblock moved the adoption of the recommendation of the Parliamentary and Bylaws Committee "that the City Treasurer be directed to carry the amounts of the rents of the Town Close Estate in his hands to a separate account, with the view of affording an opportunity for obtaining a judicial decision as to the rights of the freemen to the estate." Mr. Joseph Stanley moved "That the freemen be paid as usual."

The amendment was defeated by 26 votes against 21. On the adjournment of the Council a writ issued by Mr. Stanley on behalf of four freemen, and directed against the Mayor, Aldermen, and Councillors and her Majesty's Attorney General, was served upon the Town Clerk. It claimed for the freemen a declaration that the Corporation was seized and ent.i.tled to the receipt of the rents and profits of the Town Close Estate upon trust only for the benefit of the plaintiffs and others the freemen of the city, and an account of the rents and profits of the estate which had been received by the Corporation. The appointment of a receiver was asked for, and in addition the plaintiffs sought an injunction to restrain the Corporation from admitting to the freedom of the city by servitude any persons who had served only under articles of clerks.h.i.+p to a solicitor for not exceeding five years, and had not served seven years' apprentices.h.i.+p to a freeman trader. The Corporation was also desired to furnish an account of all persons so admitted from September 9th, 1835, it being contended by the freemen that the profession of law was not a trade or business as required by the Act, and that no man could be admitted under less than a seven years' apprentices.h.i.+p. (_See_ March 21st, 1887.)

30.-Died, at Costessey Park, the Right Hon. Henry Valentine Baron Stafford. He was a son of George William, eighth lord (in whose favour an attainder was reversed in 1824), by his first wife, Frances Henrietta, youngest daughter and co-heiress of Mr. Edward Sulyarde, of Wetherdon, Suffolk, and was born January 2nd, 1802. His lords.h.i.+p was twice married, first on February 13th, 1829, to Julia, second daughter of Mr. Edward C.

Howard, F.R.S., and niece of the 12th Duke of Norfolk, who died in November, 1856; and, secondly, in September, 1859, to Emma Eliza, daughter of Mr. Frederick S. Gerard, of Aspull House, Lincolns.h.i.+re, and niece of Robert Lord Gerard, by whom he was survived. He was one of the first Roman Catholics who sat in the House of Commons after the pa.s.sing of the Roman Catholic Relief Bill, when he was chosen member for Pontefract. On the occasion of the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Queen of Denmark, and the Duke of Edinburgh to Norwich, in 1866, Lord Stafford entertained them at Costessey Park. In recognition of his munificent liberality on that occasion a subscription was inaugurated by the Corporation of Norwich for a full-length portrait of his lords.h.i.+p, which was placed in St. Andrew's Hall. Lord Stafford was the courtliest of gentlemen and the most liberal of landlords.

DECEMBER.

2.-Died, at Bacton Grange, North Walsham, in his 67th year, Mr. William Partridge Cubitt. He was born at Bacton, where the Cubitt family had been for many generations tenants under the Wodehouses. As a coal merchant he owned s.h.i.+ps which traded between Bacton and the North. For many years he was captain of the Bacton lifeboat crew, and had received medals and certificates for courageously saving life on the Norfolk coast. On one occasion he swam his horse out to a wreck and brought the sailors to sh.o.r.e hanging to the stirrup-leathers of his saddle. "He was not only a good sailor, a good farmer, and a sharp and wise merchant, but he was also a splendid horseman across country." In politics Mr. Cubitt was strongly Liberal.

2.-A meeting was held at King's Lynn, at which was formed for West Norfolk a branch of the National Fair Trade League. The principles of the League were, for a time, advocated in this and other parts of Norfolk, but the movement was short-lived.

3.-Died, at the Close, Norwich, Mr. John Orfeur, in his 80th year. He was a son of Lieutenant Abdiel Orfeur, R.N., of Great Yarmouth, a descendant of the family of Orfeur in c.u.mberland. By business a timber merchant, he devoted his leisure time to scientific pursuits, was one of the promoters of the Norwich Geological Society, and of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, and a warm supporter of the Norfolk and Norwich Museum.

6.-The Norfolk Chamber of Agriculture adopted a resolution affirming its belief that the long-continued depression in agriculture injuriously affected all other industries, and its desire that a Committee of the two Houses of Parliament should enquire into the causes of the distress and recommend such practical remedies as might be found advisable. Mr. C. S.

Read, M.P., moved a similar resolution at a meeting of the Central Chamber of Agriculture, on December 10th.

16.-Died, at Houghton Hall, his seat in Norfolk, the Marquis of Cholmondeley. His lords.h.i.+p, who was born August 31st, 1800, was the younger of the two sons of George James, fourth earl and first Marquis of Cholmondeley, by his marriage with the Lady Georgina Charlotte Bertie, second daughter and co-heiress of Peregrine, third Duke of Ancaster. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, and at the age of 22, as Lord Henry Cholmondeley, he entered the House of Commons as one of the members for the pocket borough of Castle Rising, in the place of his brother, Lord Rocksavage, who was called to the Upper House in his father's Barony of Newburgh. In 1832 Castle Rising was disfranchised under Lord John Russell's Reform Act, and Lord Henry remained out of Parliament until 1852, when he was returned as one of the members for South Hamps.h.i.+re. In May, 1870, on his elder brother's death, he succeeded to the Marquisate and the rest of the family honours, and to the estates of Cholmondeley Castle in Ches.h.i.+re, and of Houghton Hall, Norfolk. He was an excellent and considerate landlord, and did his best to encourage agricultural improvements on his estates.

17.-An extensive fire occurred in the drapery establishment of Mr. Alfred Jermyn, High Street, Lynn. A range of buildings was entirely destroyed.

The premises were valued at 6,500, and the stock in trade at 20,000.

26.-Messrs. T. W. Robertson and H. Brace's Comedy Company appeared at Norwich Theatre in the farcical pieces, "Nita's First" and "My Milliner's Bill." At Messrs. John Sanger and Son's Circus, at the Agricultural Hall, was produced the Christmas spectacle, "Aladdin, or an Old Lamp with a New Face."

29.-Died, at Bridewell Alley, Norwich, aged 53, Mr. Arthur Dale Ventnor, a well-known portrait painter.

30.-Died, at his residence, Surrey Street, Norwich, Mr. Richard Makilwaine Phipson, F.S.A., aged 57. He commenced practice as an architect in London, and in 1849 took an office at Ipswich. In 1859 he was appointed to the post of County Surveyor of Norfolk, and afterwards became one of the diocesan surveyors under the Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Act, 1871. Much of the work of church restoration carried out during the quarter of a century preceding his death had been entrusted to him, and he was the architect of the Norwich City Asylum.

Mr. Phipson was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, and took great interest in the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society.

1885.

JANUARY.

2.-The Hon. T. W. H. Pelham, one of the Commissioners appointed to inquire as to the boundaries to be a.s.signed to the divisions of the several counties under the Redistribution of Seats Bill, attended at the s.h.i.+rehall, Norwich, for the purpose of receiving suggestions and of hearing objections as to the const.i.tution of the divisions of the county of Norfolk. On February 28th it was announced that the Commissioners had issued their report and had determined the areas of the six divisions into which the county would be divided, with one member to each. These were known as South, South-West, East, North, Mid, and North-West.

Yarmouth and King's Lynn were allotted one member each.

6.-Died, at Cathedral Street, Norwich, Mrs. Emily Stannard, widow of Joseph Stannard, artist, and daughter of Daniel Coppin, aged 82. Mrs.

Stannard was a clever painter of fruit, flowers, and still life. In 1821 she was presented with the large gold medal of the Society of Arts for an original painting of fruit, and in 1828 received a gold medal for a painting of game.

8.-The coming of age of Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward of Wales, eldest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, was marked by great rejoicings not only at Sandringham, but throughout the county. Addresses and gifts were presented by the tenantry, and by the Corporations of Norwich and Lynn; Sanger's circus company from Norwich gave performances for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the villagers; and in the evening a grand ball took place at Sandringham House. The Mayor of Norwich (Mr. John Hotblack) invited 600 children to a fancy dress ball given at St. Andrew's Hall in honour of the event.

15.-The Mayor and Corporation of Norwich attended at St. Andrew's Hall to inaugurate an art loan exhibition in aid of St. Peter Mancroft church restoration fund, and of the churchyard improvement. The exhibition remained open for three weeks, and realised a balance of 517.

21.-At the Norfolk a.s.sizes, before the Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Hamon le Strange brought an action against the Corporation of Lynn for the purpose of determining the boundary between his fishery and the fishery of the Corporation, which were coterminous. It was alleged that the defendants wrongfully cut away and removed two buoys belonging to the plaintiff.

The defendants denied the act, but subsequently justified it on the ground that the buoys were an interference with the fishery of the Corporation. The hearing concluded on the 24th, when the jury found for the plaintiff and allowed 40s. damages in order to carry costs. The defendants gave notice of motion for a new trial on the ground of misdirection of the jury. On June 24th the application was made in the Queen's Beach Division, and was refused.

21.-Died, at All Saints' Green, Norwich, Thomas Frederick Armes, bugle-major of the 1st Volunteer Battalion Norfolk Regiment. Formerly in the 4th Light Dragoons, he took part in the famous light cavalry charge at Balaclava, in which he was wounded and left for dead on the field.

26.-The Prince of Wales attended the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Norfolk Freemasons at Lynn, and was present at the banquet presided over by Lord Suffield.

29.-A widow, named Elizabeth Everitt, 50 years of age, of Wormegay, near Downham Market, was murdered by her son, William Everitt. The murderer was certified to be insane, and was removed to the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

-Died, at Hill House, Surlingham, Mr. Frederick Anthony Mills, in his 85th year. Born at Pulham St. Mary, where for many years his father practised as a surgeon, he received his early education under Valpy at Norwich Grammar School, and was one of the last survivors of the Valpeian Club. A taste for natural history and anatomical investigation rendered his studies when a pupil at Guy's both congenial and promising. For some time he practised surgery in Norwich in partners.h.i.+p with Mr. Cadge, and after the death of his wife, settled at Surlingham with his old friend and fellow-sportsman, Mr. Robert Pratt, and indulged in his favourite pursuits of fis.h.i.+ng and shooting. Mr. Mills was a Liberal of the old school, "but his contempt for mere party triumphs led him to speak with more pride than regret of his never having been a member of the Norwich Town Council."

FEBRUARY.

2.-Died, at Surrey Street, Norwich, Mrs. Louisa Mary Barwell, widow of Mr. John Barwell. She was the eldest daughter of Mr. Richard Mackenzie Bacon, and was born March 4th, 1800. In early life she showed great taste and talent in music, became one of the finest amateur singers of her day, and a.s.sisted her father in editing the "Musical Review." In 1824 she married Mr. John Barwell, and soon afterwards contributed articles to the "Journal of Education" and other similar periodicals.

Mrs. Barwell in 1833 published her first book, "Little Lessons for Little Learners." Her works on educational subjects numbered fourteen.

11.-The "Tichborne Claimant" (who was released from Pentonville Prison on October 20th, 1884) appeared at Sanger's Circus, Norwich, and addressed the audience on his life and adventures. He made a second appearance on the 12th.