Norfolk Annals
Chapter 156 : 15.-Great consternation was caused in Norwich by a report that Sir Robert Harvey had c

15.-Great consternation was caused in Norwich by a report that Sir Robert Harvey had committed suicide in his grounds at Crown Point. As it subsequently proved, the rumour was well founded. Sir Robert was in his shrubbery when two pistol shots were heard. Two workmen employed upon the premises, on proceeding to the spot, found Sir Robert in a sitting posture, bleeding from a severe wound in the chest. He was at once removed into the house and placed in the library. Mr. Nichols, the family surgeon, and Mr. Cadge were summoned, and on arriving found Sir Robert in a critical condition. Dr. Copeman was subsequently called in, and every effort was made to preserve life. On the 16th the patient rallied slightly, and on the 17th he was p.r.o.nounced to be better, but on the 18th he became worse, and was visited by the Dean of Norwich, who prayed with him and afforded him spiritual consolation. Later his prostration increased, and he pa.s.sed away in an unconscious state on the 19th. With the report of the suicide was circulated the rumour that Sir Robert had speculated and lost heavily, and having been unable to meet his engagements, was posted a defaulter on the Stock Exchange. At an early hour on the 16th the following notice was exhibited upon the closed doors of the Crown Bank: "Norwich Crown Bank. In consequence of the lamentable catastrophe which has happened to Sir Robert Harvey, it has been determined by the other partners to suspend the business of the Bank for the present." This notice gave rise to increased anxiety. Messrs.

Gurneys offered to afford every possible accommodation to the customers of the Crown Bank, and a few hours later the National Provincial Bank made a similar offer. The affairs of the Crown Bank being inextricably involved, Mr. Allday Kerrison, one of the partners, signed, on the 16th, a declaration of insolvency, and on the same day the largest city creditor, Mr. George Gedge, presented a pet.i.tion for bankruptcy. The sale of the good-will and premises of the Bank was provisionally made to Messrs. Gurneys and Co. on the 18th. Mr. Allday Kerrison and his son, gentlemen of unsullied honour, had their fortunes shattered by one dire stroke, through the reckless speculations of their partner, speculations of which they were entirely ignorant. The inquest was held upon the body of the deceased baronet at Crown Point on the 20th, by Mr. W. H. N.

Turner, one of the Deputy Coroners for the Liberty of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, and the jury returned the following verdict: "The jury are of opinion that Sir Robert Harvey's death was caused by firearms discharged by himself while in a state of temporary insanity." A meeting of the princ.i.p.al creditors was held at the Royal Hotel on the 21st, under the presidency of the Mayor, and the following resolution was pa.s.sed: "That this meeting entirely approves of the steps taken by Messrs.

Kerrison in suspending the business of the Bank, the measures taken to protect the a.s.sets of the Bank by the immediate filing of a pet.i.tion in bankruptcy and the negotiations for the sale of the goodwill and the business and premises to Messrs. Gurneys and Co." On the 27th a meeting was held at the Royal Hotel for the purpose of considering and discussing the best course to be taken in liquidating the estate of the bankrupts.

Mr. E. C. Bailey was appointed trustee of the estate, and the Mayor and Messrs. F. E. Watson, H. S. Patteson, H. Woods, and C. Hornor a committee of inspection. The first general meeting of creditors was held on August 3rd, when it was reported that the total liabilities to rank for dividend would be 1,600,321, and the total a.s.sets 910,187. [Sir Robert John Harvey Harvey was the eldest son of General Sir Robert John Harvey, C.B., K.T.S., of Mousehold House, Norwich, by Charlotte (his cousin), daughter and heiress of Mr. Robert Harvey, of Walton, Suffolk. Born in 1817, he married, in 1845, Lady Henrietta Augusta, daughter of George, Viscount Kilcoursie, and granddaughter of the eighth Earl of Craven. He was High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1863, and represented Thetford in Parliament from July, 1865, to November, 1868, when the borough was disfranchised under the new Reform Act. His son and heir, Charles Harvey, was born at Bracondale in 1849.]

AUGUST.

1.-The Grand English Opera Company, under the management of Mr. Henry Corri, appeared at Norwich Theatre. The princ.i.p.al _artistes_ were Madame Ida Gilliers Corri, Miss f.a.n.n.y Harrison, Mr. Henry Corri, and Mr. Haydn Corri.

3.-In the Court of Common Pleas a pet.i.tion was filed by Mr. Gardiner C.

Stevens against the return of Mr. Jacob Henry Tillett, as member for Norwich. In addition to the usual allegations of bribery and undue influence at the last election, there was a special one of disqualification on account of corrupt practices at the election in 1868.

On November 3rd Mr. Tillett obtained an order in the Court of Common Pleas for the striking out of this clause, but leave was given to the pet.i.tioner to move the full Court for a rule to show cause why the order should not be rescinded. On November 23rd motion was made accordingly, and the Court unanimously ordered the clause which had been struck out to be restored. (_See_ January 5th, 1871.)

8.-Died at Great Yarmouth, in his 90th year, Mr. Edward Youell, a partner in the banking-house of Lacons, Youell, and Co. He retired from the firm in 1863, after having been in the house nearly 70 years, for 42 of which he was a partner. For several years he had been afflicted with total blindness.

13.-A half-yearly meeting of the East Norfolk Railway Company was held at Norwich. This company was formed for the purpose of constructing a railway from Norwich to North Walsham, and thence to Cromer. After commencing operations, it was unable to proceed from want of capital and other circ.u.mstances. It was reported that the estate of the contractor was in the Court of Chancery, a further survey of the proposed line was ordered, and steps were taken to ensure the resumption of the works.

(_See_ October 20th, 1874.)

30.-At a meeting of the Norwich Town Council, a proposed tramway scheme was discussed. The Wensum Valley railway scheme, for which an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1864, having been abandoned, it was considered that a tramway taking its place would prove useful for conveying produce from the several mills in the district to Norwich. The estimated cost of construction was 2,000 per mile, and the total estimated cost 14,000.

The matter was referred to the Paving Committee, and no further steps were taken.

SEPTEMBER.

2.-Mr. Sothern appeared at Norwich Theatre as Lord Dundreary ("Our American Cousin") and Hugh de Bra.s.s ("A Regular Fix"). On the 3rd he played the part of Colonel John White ("Home"), and appeared in "Dundreary Married and Settled," and "Whitebait at Greenwich."

3.-Mr. B. V. Winch was appointed Postmaster at Norwich, in place of Mr.

S. Base, retired.

15.-A three days' bazaar was opened at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, in aid of a fund for converting the Hospital field into an ornamental garden. The sum of 462 was realised.

27.-An explosion took place on the premises of Mr. George Coe, firework manufacturer, New Catton. Two persons were severely injured, and removed to the Hospital.

OCTOBER.

6.-Died at Landfort House, Portsmouth, Col. Edwin Wodehouse, C.B., commanding Royal Artillery in the Southern District. He was the eldest son of Vice-Admiral the Hon. Philip Wodehouse, and was born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on April 17th, 1817. Entering the Army as lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, on December 19th, 1834, he served in the campaign of 185455, was present at the battles of the Alma, Balaclava, and Inkerman (where his horse was killed beneath him), at the siege and fall of Sebastopol, and at the repulse and sortie of October 26th, 1854. Col.

Wodehouse was three times mentioned in dispatches, and received the medal with four clasps.

10.-The first number of the "Eastern Daily Press" was published. A rival newspaper, called the "Eastern Daily Journal," published at the price of one halfpenny, was issued this month, and had but a very brief existence.

31.-The first Diocesan Conference was held at Norwich. At the ruri-deca.n.a.l meetings held in the spring of the year, the question propounded by the Bishop for consideration was, "Is it desirable that there should be held in this diocese a Diocesan Conference, in which both the clergy and laity should be fully represented, for the purpose of considering and eliciting the opinions of Churchmen upon matters affecting the Church in general, or our own diocese in particular?" A large majority of the clergy and laity were in favour of the Conference, and the Bishop, considering the large area of the diocese, decided that the meetings should take place in five different centres. The first Conference was held at St. Andrew's Hall on this date; the second at Fakenham Corn Hall, on November 1st; the third at Ipswich Public Hall, on November 2nd; the fourth at Halesworth, on November 3rd; and the fifth at Lynn Athenaeum, on November 4th. At each Conference papers were read, followed by the moving of resolutions and by discussions.

NOVEMBER.

9.-Mr. Frederick Elwin Watson was elected Mayor (for the second time), and Mr. William Butcher appointed Sheriff of Norwich.

21.-The Prince of Wales arrived at Merton Hall, on a visit to Lord and Lady Walsingham.

29.-The building known as the temporary church in the parish of St.

Bartholomew, Norwich, was opened by the Bishop of the Diocese. It was intended for the accommodation of 500 persons, and was erected at the cost of 600.

DECEMBER.

14.-The Widow Steavenson, residing in St. Gregory's parish, Norwich, completed her 101st year. "Several of the paris.h.i.+oners called upon her, congratulated her on the event, and supplied her with all the needful viands and wine to enable her to entertain several old friends. Her daughter, now 77 years old, is a widow, having had to mourn the loss of three husbands, but is on the point of marrying again." (_See_ January 2nd, 1874.)

24.-Mr. Sidney produced his "farewell pantomime" at Norwich Theatre. It was ent.i.tled, "St. George, the Dragon, and the Seven Champions of Christendom."

31.-The Prince of Wales, on his journey from Gunton to Sandringham, lunched at the County Club, Norwich. The party travelled from Gunton to Norwich in sleighs and closed carriages, and his Royal Highness afterwards proceeded by rail from Thorpe station to Wolferton.

-Died at Merton Hall, the Right Hon. Thomas, Lord Walsingham. He was the eldest son of Thomas, fourth Lord Walsingham, by his wife Lady Elizabeth, fourth daughter of the Hon. and Right Rev. Brownlow North, Bishop of Winchester, and was born July 5th, 1804. On the death of his father, on September 8th, 1839, he succeeded to the barony, and married, on August 6th, 1842, Augusta Louisa, eldest daughter of Sir Robert Frankland Russell, Bart. Of this marriage he had issue a son, the Hon. Thomas de Grey. Lady Walsingham died in 1844, and his lords.h.i.+p married, secondly, on October 25th, 1847, the Horn Emily Elizabeth Julia Th.e.l.lusson, eldest daughter of John, second Lord Rendlesham, by whom he left issue three sons and three daughters. His lords.h.i.+p was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated M.A. in 1824, was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1827, and in 1842 was made LL.D. of his University. Although educated for the law, he devoted himself to agriculture, the improvement of his estate, and of his cattle and sheep.

He was a member of the leading agricultural societies and of the Smithfield Club, an excellent landlord, and one who carried out to the fullest extent the motto of his house, "Excitari non hebescere." His lords.h.i.+p was succeeded in his t.i.tle and estates by his son, the Hon.

Thomas de Grey, M.P. for West Norfolk, who was born in 1843.

-*"The December of 1870 has been no less remarkable for its cold than its heat. In the opening days of the month the temperature was unusually high, and only a fortnight before winter made its appearance in stern reality the thermometer registered in Norwich 55. On the 21st there were four degrees of frost, and on the 23rd the thermometer fell as low as 8.5. On Christmas Eve the cold was so intense that the register on the following morning was as low as 5.5. Christmas Day was the coldest experienced since Christmas Day, 1860, when the cold was more intense by some two or three degrees." There was a deep fall of snow throughout the county.

1871.

JANUARY.

5.-At the Norfolk Quarter Sessions, a memorial was received from the Norfolk Chamber of Agriculture, affirming the necessity of the revision and re-adjustment of the existing mode of a.s.sessment, and of inducing the Government to contribute more largely to the rates levied under the authority of Courts of Quarter Sessions. Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., moved, "That, inasmuch as many of the charges at present paid by county rates, such as police, lunatic asylums, military stores, coroners, gaols, &c., are rendered necessary not for the benefit of any particular cla.s.s or locality, but of the community at large, it is both just and politic that those charges should be much more liberally supplemented from the National Exchequer, and that a pet.i.tion from Quarter Sessions be presented to the House of Commons to this effect." The resolution was seconded by Mr. Dalrymple, M.P., and agreed to.

5.-The trial of the election pet.i.tion presented by Mr. Gardiner C.

Stevens against the return of Mr. Jacob Henry Tillett, as one of the members of Parliament for Norwich, commenced at the s.h.i.+rehall, Norwich, before Mr. Justice Keating. Mr. O'Malley, Q.C., and Mr. Griffits were counsel for the pet.i.tioner, and Mr. Rodwell, Q.C., Mr. Serjeant Ballantine, and Mr. Simms Reeve for the respondent. The case for the pet.i.tioner closed on the 6th, and on the 7th Mr. Rodwell commenced his address on behalf of the respondent. On the 10th Mr. Serjeant Ballantine summed up the respondent's case, and on the same day Mr. O'Malley replied. His lords.h.i.+p gave judgment on the 11th, declaring the election void, and stated that he should report to the House of Commons "the names of everyone engaged with this shameful and disgraceful bribery." (_See_ February 20th.)

18.-Died, in his 93rd year, at Alexandra Road, Norwich, Christopher Bunting. "He was present at the capture of the French s.h.i.+p Genereux, whose ensign now hangs in St. Andrew's Hall. In his early days he was a steward in the Royal Navy, and not only saw the ensign strike to the Foudroyant, but on the quarterdeck of that vessel saw it packed and addressed to Robert Harvey, Esq., then (1800) Mayor of Norwich, little imagining that he would subsequently reside in Norwich, and for more than half a century have the opportunity of seeing the flag decorating the walls of its princ.i.p.al building."

24.-Died, suddenly, at 2, Rectory Grove, Clapham, Mr. Henry Harrod, F.S.A., aged 53. Mr. Harrod was a native of Aylsham, and commenced practice as a solicitor, at Norwich, where he resided some years. He was best known for his devotion to antiquarian pursuits and by his contributions to the Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society, of which he was an honorary secretary, in conjunction with Mr. R. G. P. Minty. His princ.i.p.al work was "Gleanings from the Castles and Convents of Norfolk." Possessed of remarkable skill in deciphering old doc.u.ments, his services in this respect were taken advantage of by the Corporations of Norwich, Lynn, and other boroughs, whose ancient records he undertook to arrange. Mr. Harrod was local secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, of which he was a Fellow, and of the Archaeological Inst.i.tute, and a corresponding member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

27.-A new reservoir constructed by the Norwich Waterworks Company at Lakenham, from designs by Mr. Thomas Hawkesley, C.E., of London, engineer in chief to the company, was opened. It cost between 6,000 and 7,000, and was of 1,400,000 gallons capacity.

FEBRUARY.

4.-Died at Cambridge, Mr. Robert Steward, of Yarmouth. He served the office of Mayor of Yarmouth for four consecutive years, namely, from 1858 to 1861. In addition to being a borough magistrate, he was upon the Commission of the Peace for the county of Norfolk.