Norfolk Annals
Chapter 178 : OCTOBER.5.-A meeting of the Wells and Fakenham Turnpike Trustees was held at Wells, fo

OCTOBER.

5.-A meeting of the Wells and Fakenham Turnpike Trustees was held at Wells, for the purpose of letting the toll-gates for a term of eleven months expiring on November 1st, 1881. The trust would have ceased in 1876, but Mr. E. B. Loynes, clerk to the trustees, was instructed to attend a Select Committee of the House of Commons, to give information on the subject. This resulted in a further period of five years being granted, and certain restrictions and conditions were imposed to be observed by the trustees. It was only in 1824 an Act was obtained for making this road. "Under no conditions, however, can the trust be maintained beyond November 1st, 1881, and therefore after that date the Wells and Fakenham Turnpike Trust will be a thing of the past."

11.-Died at Unthank's Road, Norwich, the Rev. John Hallett, aged 57, for twenty-four years minister of the Old Meeting House.

18.-The "Caste" Company, under the management of Messrs. Robertson and Bruce, commenced a farewell engagement at Norwich Theatre. Miss Cora Stuart (Mrs. T. W. Robertson) made her first appearance on the Norwich stage.

22.-A new organ, erected at St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich, by Messrs.

Bryceson Bros. and Ellis, Charlton Works, Islington, was formally handed over by Mr. Hugh Barclay, on behalf of the subscribers, to the Mayor (Mr.

Harry Bullard). The organ and its accessories cost 1,874. The receipts amounted to 1,841, and Mr. R. A. Gorell made up the deficiency by handing in a cheque for 35. Dr. Bridge, organist of Westminster Abbey, Dr. Bennett, and Dr. Gladstone played selections upon the new instrument, and the Mayor entertained the large company present on the occasion. The public opening of the organ took place on the 23rd, when Dr. Bunnett gave the first recital of his annual series.

26.-Died at Lowestoft, Mr. John Bathurst Graver-Browne, of Morley Hall, aged 43. He was a son of Mr. John Graver-Browne, by his wife Frances Bathurst, granddaughter of the Bishop of Norwich, and married, in 1871, Frances Julia, daughter of Sir Henry Stracey, Bart. Mr. Graver-Browne was a magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of the county, and served the office of High Sheriff in 1873.

29.-A dreadful disaster occurred at Wells-next-the-Sea. The Eliza Adams lifeboat, manned by thirteen men, capsized while going to a s.h.i.+p in distress, and eleven of the crew were drowned. Great public sympathy was expressed, and to the fund inaugurated for the relief of the bereaved families the Royal National Lifeboat Inst.i.tution contributed 1,000.

NOVEMBER.

4.-Chapel Field, Norwich, renamed Chapel Field Gardens, was re-opened for the use of the public. This. .h.i.therto neglected area had been tastefully laid out as a garden, and in the centre was erected the wrought-iron pavilion manufactured by Messrs. Barnards and Bishop, and exhibited by them four years previously at the Philadelphia Exhibition. It was designed by Mr. T. Jeckyll, and purchased for the city by public subscription. The Mayor (Mr. Harry Bullard) performed the opening ceremony, and after the band of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons had played the National Anthem, his wors.h.i.+p entertained a large company to luncheon at the Drill Hall.

-The Norwich Diocesan Conference commenced its sittings at Noverre's Rooms, Norwich, under the presidency of the Lord Bishop. The proceedings concluded on the 5th.

-Died at Tasburgh, Mr. Ernest H. Willett, only son of Mr. Henry Willett, of Norwich. He was a well-known cricketer, and although he fell away from the early promise of his Radley days, did good service as captain of the county eleven. With Mr. H. Birkbeck, jun., and the Rev. H. W.

Turner, Mr. Willett resuscitated the County Club, which played its first match with Ess.e.x, at Brentwood, on July 28th and 29th, 1876.

9.-Mr. Samuel Grimmer was elected Mayor, and Dr. Eade appointed Sheriff of Norwich.

14.-Died at Stow Hall, Downham Market, Sir Thomas Leigh Hare, Bart. Born July 18th, 1807, he was formerly captain in the 2nd Life Guards, and afterwards captain in the West Norfolk Militia. A magistrate and a Deputy Lieutenant for Norfolk, he had served the office of High Sheriff.

18.-The annual exhibition of the Norfolk and Norwich Christmas Show a.s.sociation opened at the Drill Hall and Chapel Field, Norwich, and was attended by the Patron, the Prince of Wales, who arrived from Horstead Hall, where he had been staying as the guest of Mr. Edward Birkbeck. His Royal Highness, after leaving the show, was entertained to luncheon by Mr. and Mrs. Colman, at Carrow House. The Prince, before returning to Horstead, inspected the various departments at Carrow Works.

20.*-"A final dividend of 9d. in the pound is announced in connection with the bankruptcy of Messrs. Harvey and Hudsons, bankers, Norwich, who failed for upwards of 1,700,000, in July, 1870. The total return to the creditors has been 14s. 3d. in the pound." (_See_ December 3rd.)

22.-The Prince and Princess of Wales arrived at Melton Constable, on a visit to Lord and Lady Hastings. Their Royal Highnesses left on November 26th.

-The dead body of Henry Jonathan Minns, lay clerk at Norwich Cathedral, and a well-known local tenor, was discovered suspended by the neck upon a ladder in the presbytery triforium over St. Luke's chapel at the Cathedral. At the adjourned inquest, held on the 26th, the jury returned a verdict to the effect that deceased committed suicide while of unsound mind. On the same day "a special service of humiliation" was held at the Cathedral, when an address was delivered by the Dean.

23.-The Duke of Edinburgh arrived at Didlington Hall, on a visit to Mr.

W. A. Tyssen-Amherst, M.P., and left on the 26th. His Royal Highness was engaged in the inspection of the Coastguard and Naval Reserves on the East Coast.

24.-A special choral service, in aid of the Choir Benevolent Fund, was held at Norwich Cathedral. Members of the choirs of her Majesty's Chapels Royal, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Ely, Norwich, and Peterborough Cathedrals, Eton College, and St. George's Chapel, Windsor, took part, and the sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Swainson, Canon of Chichester.

29.-The bells of Blofield church were re-opened, after re-hanging by the Redenhall firm of bell-founders-Captain Moore, Mr. Gervas Holmes, M.A., of Emanuel College, Cambridge, and Mr. Mackenzie, C.E.

-The Conservative party at Lynn presented to Lady Hamilton, wife of Lord Claud J. Hamilton, a valuable diamond bracelet, and congratulated his lords.h.i.+p, who formerly represented the borough, upon his election for Liverpool.

DECEMBER.

3.-Application was made in the Rolls Court for leave to bring an action in connection with the Harvey and Hudsons bankruptcy. It was alleged that a certain a.s.set of the firm (a life interest on property which had been sold by Mr. E. K. Harvey to his brother, Sir Robert) was disposed of for a sum far below its value; Messrs. Boswell and Baxter, wine merchants, who were creditors of Messrs. Harvey and Hudsons, claimed that the matter should be re-opened and re-adjusted. Divested of technicalities, the claim of the plaintiffs, who sued for themselves and other creditors of Sir R. J. Harvey's joint and separate estates, was to have the purchase of the life interest by the defendants set aside, and to have the benefit of the policies effected, and payment of the income arising from the life interest which had been already received by the defendants, after allowance had been made for the purchase-money and interest of the premiums paid on the policies; and also the costs of the suit. The Master of the Rolls granted the application to December 9th.

(_See_ December 7th, 1882.)

8.-Trinity Wesleyan chapel, Dereham, the foundation-stone of which was laid in the month of April, was opened for public wors.h.i.+p. The work, executed from designs by Mr. Edward Boardman, architect, Norwich, cost, inclusive of minister's house, &c., 3,400.

15.-A new warehouse, erected at the cost of many thousands of pounds, at Lynn docks, and stored with large quant.i.ties of cotton seed, belonging to different merchants, was destroyed by fire. The damage was estimated at 15,000.

18.-At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the county of Norfolk, held at the s.h.i.+rehall, Norwich, the Chairman (Mr. C. S. Read) reported an alarming outbreak of foot-and-mouth diseases affecting 1,754 cattle, 1,640 sheep, and 66 pigs. (_See_ February 28th, 1881.)

24.-The Christmas pantomime produced at Norwich Theatre by Messrs.

Herbert and Collingwood was ent.i.tled, "Robinson Crusoe and Harlequin Billee Taylor, or Man Friday among the Afghans." This was the last Christmas pantomime performed at the Theatre. At Messrs. John Sanger and Son's Circus, on December 27th, was produced, "Little Red Riding Hood, the Wicked Wolf, and the Princess's Fairy Garden Party."

1881

JANUARY.

8.-Dr. F. E. Gladstone, it was announced, had resigned the post of organist of Norwich Cathedral, upon receiving a similar appointment at Christ church, Lancaster Gate, London. He was succeeded by Mr. Frederic C. Atkinson, organist of Manningham church, Bradford, a native of Norwich and pupil of Dr. Buck.

12.-Winter set in with great severity, and during the night upwards of six inches of snow fell. The frost was intense. On the 17th the Yare was frozen over and navigation stopped, and on the 18th an extraordinary snowstorm and gale occurred. The thermometer registered 32 degrees of frost, and the wind, which during the preceding night had veered to the east, suddenly a.s.sumed the strength of a hurricane, which raged for nearly twenty-four hours. "A velocity of 548 miles was recorded, a force very rarely experienced in this part of the country." Little snow fell until about five o'clock in the afternoon, when the clouds discharged themselves with a virulence almost unprecedented. From six to eight inches of snow fell in a few hours, and in places there were drifts ten feet in depth. The traffic on most of the branch lines of the Great Eastern Railway was suspended nearly twenty-four hours. The mail train from Norwich to Yarmouth-four hours late-ran into a drift near Buckenham, and remained embedded six hours. The use of five engines and the efforts of sixty men proved unavailing, and there was no alternative but to take the train back to Norwich. Many of the roads being impa.s.sable, the mail-cart drivers abandoned their journeys. Terrible s.h.i.+pping disasters occurred off Yarmouth; thirteen vessels were wrecked, and nearly fifty lives lost. The surf lifeboat was capsized a few yards from the sh.o.r.e, and of the crew of ten who were entangled in the tackle beneath the craft six were drowned. From the 14th to the 21st never once did the thermometer rise above freezing-point. On the 26th the temperature rose to 38 degrees, and rain fell on the 27th.

17.-Prince's Street Sunday schools and Lecture Hall, Norwich, were opened, as an adjunct to the Congregational church. The fine block of buildings was designed by Mr. Edward Boardman, architect, and erected by Messrs. Downing and Sons, at the cost of about 12,600.

24.-The National Skating a.s.sociation held a race-meeting on Wroxham Broad. Fixed originally for the 18th, but postponed in consequence of the gale, it was attended, amongst other compet.i.tors, by George ("Fish") Smart, Champion of England, W. ("Turkey") Smart, and many prominent Fen skaters.

28.-Killed at the battle of Lang's Nek, South Africa, aged 21, Lieut.

Robert Hamond Elwes, Grenadier Guards, _aide-de-camp_ to Sir G. Pomeroy Colley. He was the eldest son of Mr. Robert Elwes, of Congham House, near King's Lynn.

FEBRUARY.

9.-A squadron of the 3rd Hussars arrived at Norwich Cavalry Barracks, from Colchester.

14.-The comic opera, "Les Cloches de Corneville," was performed at Norwich Theatre for the first time by a company under the management of Mr. Charles Bernard. A company of children presented the same opera at the Theatre on March 28th.

28.-In accordance with a resolution adopted at a meeting of the Norfolk Chamber of Agriculture on the 26th, a deputation waited upon Earl Spencer, President of the Privy Council, when Mr. C. S. Read, as president of the Chamber and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the County, expressed, on behalf of Norfolk agriculturists, the desire that, in view of the prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease, greater restrictions should be observed in regard to store cattle, and that a certain relaxation should be made in the case of fat cattle, which, it was proposed, should be sent direct from licensed sales and markets to slaughter-houses, to be killed within four days. It was also suggested that the Privy Council should prohibit the importation of live animals from countries where they knew disease existed. A further deputation, headed by the Mayor of Norwich (Mr. S. Grimmer), interviewed Earl Spencer on March 25th, with the view of obtaining such relaxation of the Orders in Council as to permit the sale of store stock at Tombland Fair. A fresh outbreak of the disease occurred in the autumn, and on October 28th the county authority pa.s.sed a resolution affirming that, notwithstanding its recurrence, the time had not arrived for the closing of the markets; that should the Privy Council consider it necessary to stop the spread of the disease by closing the store stock markets, such order should not take effect before the first week in December; that the existing regulations for preventing the importation of diseased cattle from foreign countries were entirely insufficient, and that until more stringent regulations were in force the system of closing markets was vexatious. (_See_ January 7th, 1882.)

MARCH.

8.-The Spring Show of the Norfolk Agricultural a.s.sociation was held at Lynn, but the change of venue resulted in a very small entry.