Norfolk Annals
Chapter 49 : -Died at the house of Mr. Robert Marsham, at Stratton, Sir Edmund Bacon, premier barone

-Died at the house of Mr. Robert Marsham, at Stratton, Sir Edmund Bacon, premier baronet, of Raveningham. He was in his 71st year, and his death was occasioned by a fall from his carriage on August 30th. "Sir Edmund was director of the Loddon and Clavering Incorporation, and chairman of the committee of the Norfolk Lunatic Asylum. He had made unremitting exertions to improve the public roads. It was one of his fixed opinions that the roads might be kept in a good state of repair by the fair performance of the Statute duty without the imposition of tolls, and he practically evinced the truth of the opinion which he had formed. In the attainment of this important object he had to encounter the prejudices of the ignorant and the complaints of the interested, but he steadily pursued his course regardless of the unpopularity which he thus caused, and at length had the gratification of making converts of his most decided opponents."

12.-Miss Macauley, from the King's Concert Room, London, gave her literary and musical entertainment, _La Pet.i.t Souper_, at Norwich Theatre. On the 14th she gave a dramatic reading at the New Concert Room, St. George's.

18.-A fire broke out on the premises of Mr. Neale, coach maker, St.

Giles' Gates. The whole range of workshops was consumed, and damage done to the amount of 2,000.

24.-Died at his seat at Nackington, Kent, Mr. Richard Milles, of North Elmham, aged 85.

25.-Cossey bells, rehung by Messrs. T. and J. Hurry, of Norwich, were re-opened. "Five good hats" were offered for compet.i.tion.

29.-Mr. Henry Francis and Mr. E. T. Booth, Sheriffs of Norwich, gave a dinner to 130 guests at Chapel Field House. "A turtle, weighing 130 lbs., was dressed by Mr. Snow, and so highly relished that not a fragment remained."

Rear-Admiral Philip Wilkinson a.s.sumed this month the surname and the arms of Stephens, in compliance with the request contained in the will of his maternal great uncle, Sir Philip Stephens, Bart., for many years Secretary to the Admiralty.

OCTOBER.

1.-Died, aged 47, at Dunkirk, Mr. Charles William Jerningham, second son of Sir William Jerningham, of Costessey. "Mr. Jerningham had served eight camps in the Austrian Army with distinguished valour, being engaged in the great battles of Jemappe and Fleurus, and was several times wounded." His remains were interred at Costessey on October 23rd.

7.*-"It is with mingled feelings of shame and disgust that we state no less than four pugilistic battles were fought on Sunday morning last on Mousehold Heath, near Norwich, and that many hundreds of persons were present to witness the unchristianlike scene."

16.-At a dinner held at the King's Arms Inn, North Walsham, under the presidency of Capt. Simpson, Capt. Cooper was presented with a piece of plate by the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood as a testimony of their high esteem for his public conduct and private worth.

19.-At the opening concert of the Harmonic Society, Mr. and Miss Mori made their first appearance in Norwich. Mr. Mori is stated to have been "well known as one of the first violin performers of the present day."

21.-The Rev. Edward Bankes, LL.B., was installed a Prebendary of Norwich Cathedral, in place of the Rev. George Anguish, A.M., resigned.

-*"Died at her father's house in Gun Lane, in this city, aged 19, Miss Smith, daughter of Mr. Smith, of Norwich Theatre."

NOVEMBER.

3.-Died at Yarmouth, aged 70, Sir Edmund Lacon, Bart., senior alderman of the borough. He four times served the office of Mayor. He was succeeded by Mr. Edmund Knowles Lacon, of Ormsby.

11.-Soon after the arrival at Norwich of the coaches with the intelligence of the abandonment of the Bill of Pains and Penalties after its third reading in the House of Lords, the bells of "one or two of the minor parishes" were rung, a few houses illuminated, and parties paraded the streets with flambeaux, crying "Light up for the Queen." An attempt to make a bonfire on the Castle ditches was prevented by the magistrates, many of the torches were put out, and eight of the torch bearers taken to the watch-house. In view of a disturbance 1,000 special constables were sworn in on the 13th, on which evening a procession was formed on Tombland. In pa.s.sing through the city the mob groaned outside houses which were not illuminated, and an iron ball was hurled through the window of Dr. Reeve's house in St. Giles'. On the 23rd a public meeting was held at St. Andrew's Hall, presided over by the Mayor, when congratulatory resolutions and an address to the Queen were adopted.

(The address was subsequently presented to her Majesty at Bradenburgh House by Mr. N. Bolingbroke, who was accompanied by Mr. W. Smith, M.P., and Mr. Edward Taylor.) After the meeting a bonfire was lighted in the Market Place. "We understand that an impression of the NORFOLK CHRONICLE (surely not dishonoured by being obnoxious to such a crew) was committed to the flames." Demonstrations took place at Yarmouth, Lynn, and other towns.

13.-The Olympic Circus was opened by Mr. T. Cooke at the Pantheon, Norwich.

19.-Died in St. Andrew's, Norwich, aged 81, an eccentric person named Charles Archer. "It was his constant practice to be at his post every morning at four o'clock with his kettle of hot cocoa and saloop. His station was near the Two-Necked-Swan, and he was allowed half a pint of porter each morning for calling up the landlord at six, which custom continuing 14 years he drank at that house 2,556 half pints, or something more than 319 gallons. He had formerly been in the 12th Regiment of Foot, and lost a leg in the memorable siege of Gibraltar, for which he was granted a pension which he received 39 years. But what most affected his mind next to the misfortune of having his leg shot away was to see a hog, a circ.u.mstance related by himself, s.n.a.t.c.h it up in his mouth and run away with it without his being able to prevent it."

28.-Died, in his 82nd year, at the Great Hospital, Bishopgate Street, Norwich, Robert Davey, "who for several years was leader of the nocturnal band of musicians vulgarly called 'mumpers,' though their performances justly ent.i.tled them to a more respectable appellation. He personated Orpheus in the grand procession which took place in Norwich in honour of Bishop Blaize on March 24th, 1783."

29.-H.R.H. the Duke of York pa.s.sed through Norwich on his way to Gunton Hall, the seat of Lord Suffield. On the duke's approach to St. Stephen's Gates the horses were taken from his carriage, and it was dragged through St. Stephen's Street and Rampant Horse Street to the Market Place. After changing horses at the Angel Inn, his Royal Highness proceeded on his journey. On the following day the Duke of Wellington pa.s.sed through the city on his way to Gunton.

30.-Died, aged 102, Mr. John Walden, of Wells-next-the-Sea.

DECEMBER.

1.-A special a.s.sembly of the Norwich Corporation was held at which a loyal address to his Majesty was adopted. Similar addresses were pa.s.sed by the Corporations of Yarmouth and Lynn.

2.-At a special a.s.sembly of the Corporation it was resolved to grant the honorary freedom of Norwich to the Duke of York and the Duke of Wellington. These ill.u.s.trious personages arrived unexpectedly in the city on their return from Gunton on the following day (Sunday, 3rd).

After attending service at the Cathedral they proceeded to the Angel Inn, where the Mayor (Mr. William Burt), the Sheriffs, and other civic officials waited upon them. The Steward (Mr. Robert Alderson) read the address pa.s.sed on the previous day, and the admission to the freedom of the city was completed in due form. His Royal Highness and the Duke of Wellington returned thanks, and afterwards invited the company to luncheon. On their departure from Norwich the same afternoon they were enthusiastically cheered.

9.-The Duke of Gloucester visited Col. Dixon at Rainham, and afterwards proceeded to Holkham as the guest of Mr. T. W. c.o.ke, M.P.

10.-Died at Hethel, aged 68, Sir Thomas Beevor, Bart., D.L., one of the chairmen of Norfolk Quarter Sessions.

13.-A meeting of the owners, occupiers, and inhabitants of the hamlets was held at the Guildhall, Norwich, to take into consideration the expediency of establis.h.i.+ng an effective police for the district.

Resolutions were pa.s.sed asking the a.s.sistance of the city magistrates.

In consequence of the numerous highway robberies and burglaries, and other depredations committed in city and county, public meetings were held and resolutions pa.s.sed granting a reward of 5 to watchmen who apprehended offenders. It was stated that more burglaries had been committed within the three preceding months than in the former twenty years.

25.-The Hon. George John Watson, of North Elmham, second son of the Right Hon. Baron Sondes, deceased, a.s.sumed the surname and arms of Milles, in compliance with the will of his maternal grandfather, Mr. Richard Milles, of North Elmham, and of Nackington, Kent.

27.-A meeting, presided over by Mr. John Morse, Father of the City, was held at the Angel Inn, Norwich, at which resolutions expressive of attachment to his Majesty's person and Government, and to the established const.i.tution in Church and State were pa.s.sed, and a loyal address to the King adopted. The address, which received 1,634 signatures, was presented to his Majesty in the following January by Mr. Charles Harvey, M.P., Mr. John Harvey, alderman, and Sir Robert John Harvey. Similar addresses were adopted by the Corporations of Yarmouth and Lynn.

1821.

JANUARY.

2.-A meeting of the dyers, dressers, and manufacturers was held at the Guildhall, Norwich, under the presidency of Mr. John Harvey, chairman of the manufacturing interest, to consider "the most effectual means of checking the violation of the Sabbath, which has of late arisen to a most shameful height, in consequence of the recent increase in the trade of the city"; and the notice "on the part of the dyers and dressers of bombazines announcing to the manufacturers the conditions on which alone they had agreed to conduct their business, namely that of holding goods which they may have in hand at the time of any bankruptcy or failure as a lien for any balance due to them on their accounts." The meeting was adjourned _sine die_.

6.*-"The Rev. Alfred Inigo Fox, of Woodton Hall, has a.s.sumed the surname of Suckling only, with the arms of Suckling, quarterly, with his own, pursuant to the will of the late Robert Suckling, of Woodton Hall."

9.-Mr. Mathews appeared at Norwich Theatre in his entertainments, "At Home," "A Trip to Paris," and "Country Cousins."

-At Norwich Quarter Sessions, Sarah Powell, keeper of a boarding school, was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for cruelly ill-treating and wounding Mary Ann Phillips, aged 6 years.

13.-At the Norfolk Quarter Sessions, the case of the King on the prosecution of Robert Leamon, the younger, against Edmund Heagren Gibbs for a.s.sault, was tried. The defendant, an opulent farmer living at Quarles, pleaded guilty to the charge. The offence was committed in Fakenham Market Place, and it was alleged that the defendant several times struck the plaintiff with a jockey whip. He was fined 300.

22.-Mr. Dowton appeared at Norwich Theatre as Sir Peter Teazle and Restive ("Turn Out"). On succeeding evenings he took the parts of Job Thornberry, Sir Anthony Absolute, Barnaby Brittle, Old Drugget ("Three Weeks after Marriage"), Sheva ("The Jew"), &c.

27.*-(Advt.) "100 Reward. Whereas at about nine o'clock on the evening of the 22nd inst., Mr. John Thurtell was attacked in Chapel Field, Norwich, by three men, knocked down, and robbed of a pocket book containing 1,508 in notes, thirteen of which were of the Bank of England, value 100 each, and the name of John Thurtell is endorsed on them. Notice is hereby given that whoever will give information which might lead to the apprehension and conviction of the persons concerned in this robbery, shall be paid the above reward on applying to Mr. Thurtell; and any person concerned in the robbery who will give information of his accomplices will receive the reward and a free pardon. Norwich, January 23rd, 1821." (In the following week it was announced that a commission of bankruptcy had issued against John Thurtell and John Giddens, bombazine manufacturers, dealers, and chapmen. Soon afterwards Thurtell absconded.)

29.-The first anniversary of the King's Accession to the Throne was celebrated in Norwich by peals on the bells of St. Peter Mancroft, and of several of the minor parishes of the city. At Methwold a lad named T.

Coates, aged 11, rang second in a peal of single bob major, and "the company challenged England for his equal."

FEBRUARY.