Norfolk Annals Volume I Part 107

21.-Died at his official residence, Woolwich, Colonel Sir George C.

Hoste, C.B. He was the third son of the Rev. Dixon Hoste, rector of t.i.ttleshall, and was gazetted lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on December 20th, 1802. He was attached to the expedition to the Mediterranean commanded by General Sir J. Craig, and was present at the battle of Maida, and distinguished himself on other occasions in Sicily, Egypt, and Calabria. He was employed in the two attacks on Antwerp in 1813, and gained the rank of brevet-major for the skill and gallantry which he displayed in leading the Guards at the storming of Bergen-op-Zoom. At the battle of Waterloo he was attached to the corps led by the Prince of Orange, and was subsequently upon the personal staff of the Duke of Wellington. For his services during this campaign he received the distinction of C.B.

26.-At a meeting of the Norfolk and Norwich Shipwrecked Mariners'

Society, held at the Shirehall, Norwich, Mr. J. J. Gurney called attention to a new form of life-preserver made and presented to the society by a reporter of the NORFOLK CHRONICLE. "It consists of a linen jacket covered with oblong pieces of cork. The head is put through a circle, and the jacket falls down at the back and the front of the person wearing it, leaving the arms perfectly free, being suspended from the shoulders and strapped round the body. There is a semi-circular thick cork collar in front and coming under the chin, so that the jacket is not only calculated to keep any person afloat in the water, but also to keep his head at a sufficient elevation. It was agreed that the jacket should become the property of the society."

MAY.

2.-An appalling loss of life was occasioned at Yarmouth by the fall of the Suspension Bridge, which had been the subject of so much litigation between Mr. Cory and the Yarmouth and Norwich Railway Company. A clown named Nelson, belonging to Cooke's Equestrian Circus, had announced that he would perform the feat of sailing in a tub drawn by four geese from the old Draw Bridge to the Suspension Bridge. Thousands of persons a.s.sembled to witness the spectacle, and upon the bridge itself there were between 400 and 500. The bridge, which was the chief means of transit from the railway terminus to the town, and had been widened to admit of increased traffic by a footpath constructed on either side, was suspended from two piers. Just as the clown was entering the Bure, at ten minutes to six o'clock, there was a rush to the south side of the bridge, the suspension rods snapped, the chains gave way, and "the bridge fell on that side like the leaf of a table let down," pouring the crowd upon it into the water. A terrible scene ensued. As many as possible were rescued and conveyed to the Vauxhall Gardens, but notwithstanding the efforts made by watermen in boats and upon the river banks, there was fearful loss of life. An inquest was opened at the Church Hall on the 3rd, when Mr. Cooke, the proprietor of the circus, intimated that he would at once withdraw his company from the town. The inquiry was adjourned from time to time, and at the last sitting Mr. James Walker, C.E., who had been sent down to examine into the cause of the disaster, reported: (1) the immediate cause of the accident was a defect in the welding of the bar which first gave way; (2) that the quality of the iron and the workmanship were defective, and the accident would not have happened had the work been properly examined at the time of construction; (3) the widening of the bridge appeared to have been made without sufficient reference to its original strength and the weight which it had to support; and (4) that in the original construction of the bridge the casualty of a great load all on one side did not appear to have been contemplated. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with Mr.

Walker's conclusions. The number of dead bodies recovered was 77; some, however, were supposed to have been carried away by the current. Nearly all the sufferers were children or very young persons, but it was related as "a very extraordinary circ.u.mstance" that "Mr. Thomas Bowles, aged 84, who was on board the Royal George when she sank, and who is probably the only living survivor, should have been on the Suspension Bridge during the late accident. He was precipitated into the water, but was once more miraculously saved."

3.-The Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry a.s.sembled at East Dereham in stronger force than on any previous occasion, for eight days' permanent duty.

-The last troop of the 4th Dragoons marched from Norwich Barracks, and were, on the same day, replaced by the 7th Hussars.

5.-Died at West Somerton, aged 74, "Mr. William Hales, father of nine children, whose united heights amount to 57 ft. 6 in., including the Norfolk giant and giantess."

7.-The experiment was made at Norwich Theatre of still further reducing the prices of admission to 2s. 6d. for dress boxes, and to 1s. 6d. for the upper circle.

8.-Mr. Walter Morgan, aged 23, of the firm of Messrs. Morgan, of the King Street Brewery, Norwich, met with his death by falling into a vat of beer.

10.*-"A handbill has been published in Norwich showing that out of 1,664 persons who have had small-pox, 1,536 had not been vaccinated, and only 128 were vaccinated. Out of 506 who had escaped the disease altogether, only 84 had not been vaccinated, and 422 vaccinated. Of 141 who had died from small-pox, only four had been vaccinated, one a man 93 years old; the other three were suffering from teething or were otherwise ill when vaccinated."

24.*-"The Hanworth Hall estate, comprising a mansion, cottages, and 1,465 acres of land, has been disposed of by private contract to Mr. William Howe Windham, of Felbrigg Park, for 65,000."

26.-A series of lectures on phonography was commenced at the a.s.sembly Rooms, Norwich, by Mr. Joseph Pitman and Mr. Reid. "Mr. Reid appears to have mastered the system so far as to be able to follow a speaker, but no reporter has yet adopted it."

JUNE.

2.-Mr. Macready, accompanied by Mr. Ryder, "a highly respectable actor,"

commenced a three nights' engagement at Norwich Theatre. He appeared in the characters of Hamlet, Richelieu, and Macbeth.

JULY.

21.-Miss Fitzwilliam appeared at Norwich Theatre in the a.s.size week performances. She took the leading parts in "The Belle of the Hotel,"

"My Little Adopted," "Foreign Airs and Native Graces," &c. At the conclusion of the season, on the 26th, Mr. George Smith announced to the audience that he had resigned the management of the circuit. "He had been," he said, "thirty-one years a member of the Norwich Company. He had witnessed the drama in its high and palmy state; he had seen its gradual decline. Many had been the causes a.s.signed for this decay-the increase of Dissent and fanaticism on the one hand, errors of management on the other, and the reduction of prices."

29.-A prize-fight took place on Mousehold Heath, Norwich, between Jim Woods and Ben Clarke, "the Norfolk Slasher," for 5 a side. Woods was the favourite, at 5 to 2, and obtained "first blood," but in the second round Clarke struck him a severe blow on the temple and felled him. In the third round Clarke put in another blow, and as his opponent was falling, struck him behind the ear and laid him senseless. Clarke was declared the winner, after a contest which lasted only five minutes.

-The Norfolk Railway was opened. The directors ran a special train from Trowse to Cambridge, by which about 200 guests, including the Dean and Mayor of Norwich, were conveyed. A special train from London brought a like contingent to Cambridge, where luncheon was served, under the presidency of the chairman of the Eastern Counties Railway, Mr. Henry Bosanquet. One of the first projects for a long line was the proposal to construct a railway between London and Norwich, _via_ Thetford, with a continuation to Yarmouth. A prospectus was printed and partially circulated in 1825, but the scheme was abandoned. In 1835 the prospectus of the Eastern Counties (or Grand Eastern Counties) Railway appeared.

The requisite notices were published in November of that year, application was made in the ensuing session of Parliament for a Bill, and the first Act for the construction of the works received the Royal a.s.sent on July 4th, 1836. Up to 1840 this line was opened only as far as Warley Lane, between Brentwood and Warley Common. In 1843 it was completed as far as Colchester, but as the original capital was more than expended in carrying the line that distance, all hope of proceeding to Norwich was abandoned. In 1839 two Acts connected with the Northern and Western Company were pa.s.sed, and received the Royal a.s.sent on July 19th. The first was for the purpose of extending the time for the purchase of land as far as Bishop's Stortford, and the second was chiefly to confirm an agreement with the Eastern Counties Company as to the terms, &c., for pa.s.sing over their line. In 1840 another Act was pa.s.sed, receiving the Royal a.s.sent on June 4th, for reducing the joint stock capital to 700,000, giving the company power to raise 240,000 on debentures so soon as one moiety of the capital should be paid off, and abandoning that portion of the line between Bishop's Stortford and Cambridge. In 1840 the idea of railway communication between Norwich and the Metropolis was revived, and it was resolved to form a company, to be styled the Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge Railway Company. It was afterwards known as the East Anglian Railway Company. It received the support of the landowners'

committee in Norfolk, and the expense was estimated as follows: From Bishop's Stortford to Cambridge, 22 miles, 572,000; from Cambridge to Norwich, 63 miles, 1,126,695; from Norwich to Yarmouth, 18 miles, 291,512. After the opening of the Yarmouth and Norwich line according to the plan of Mr. Stephenson, the project for the East Anglian Railway was dropped for a time, and was revived by the promoters of the Norwich and Brandon Railway, the prospectus of which was published in 1843. The capital to be raised was stated to be 380,000, in 19,000 shares of 20 each. In the Session of 1844 an Act was applied for and received the Royal a.s.sent in the month of June. The line in connection with that from Yarmouth and with that from Ely to Brandon resulted, and it was known as the Norfolk Railway. Messrs. Grissell and Peto were the contractors, and Messrs. Stephenson and Bidder the engineers in chief. The works were commenced at Wymondham on May 17th, 1844, and finished on July 1st, 1845.

The first through train to London started from Trowse on the morning of July 30th. At that date the swing bridge at Trowse had not been completed. Of the travelling it was said it "cannot be rendered more comfortable than it is upon the Norfolk Railway."

AUGUST.

12.-The foundation-stone of the Leicester monument was laid in Holkham Park by Lord Coborne, in the presence of a large gathering of the n.o.bility and gentry and of the tenant-farmers of Norfolk.

15.-Died at his residence in Golden Ball Street, Norwich, aged 78, Mr.

John Angell, who served the office of Sheriff in 1825 and of Mayor in 1830.

16.*-"Within the last few days no less than 500 coach horses have been sent for sale at Aldridge's Repository, owing to the further opening of the Northern and Eastern Railway from Bishop's Stortford by way of Ely and Thetford to Norwich, and the consequent discontinuation of coaches."

SEPTEMBER.

6.-The Brundall estate, consisting of a mansion and 143 acres of land, the property of the Rev. L. B. Foster, was sold by Mr. Spelman, of Norwich, for 12,500, to Mr. T. G. Tuck.

-The Newmarket mail coach was overturned at Cringleford Gate, and of the six outside pa.s.sengers, all of whom were more or less cut and bruised, a lady had her arm broken and a gentleman sustained a fractured collar-bone and dislocated arm.

10.-The museum at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital was opened, under the presidency of the Lord Bishop of Norwich.

11.-A cricket match commenced at Swaffham, between the Marylebone Club and the Norfolk Club, and concluded on the 12th. "Fuller Pilch, the hope of Norfolk, was beautifully caught for seven runs. A great damper was thrown on their spirits by this untoward event, and the rest of the side did little to retrieve the misfortune." Marylebone, 162; Norfolk, 42-83.

16.-Died at Yarmouth, aged 69, Mr. Richard Sutton. "He was very eccentric, and had such a love for mathematics that though extremely poor he had often been known to sell his dinner in order to procure some old book on mathematics."

16.-The Norfolk and Norwich Triennial Musical Festival commenced. The princ.i.p.al vocalists were Madame Grisi, Madame Caradori Allan, Miss Dolby, Miss Poole, Sig. Mario, Sig. F. Lablache, Mr. Hobbs, Mr. Hawkins, Mr.

Machin, Mr. Bradbury, and Herr Standigl. Mr. T. Cooke was leader of the band, Mr. Benedict conductor, and Mr. Turle organist. The programme included selections from the "Stabat Mater," "The Seasons," "Il Don Giovanni," Purcell's "Jubilate," Mozart's "Requiem," "Calvary,"

"Midsummer Night's Dream," and "The Messiah." On the 19th a ball took place at St. Andrew's Hall. The gross receipts amounted to 5,432 9s.

6d., and expenses to 4,180 10s. 9d. The Sheriffs of London (Mr. Hunter and Mr. Sidney) attended the Festival, and were, on the 19th, entertained at dinner at the Royal Hotel.

27.*-"The Yarmouth and Norwich Railway Company has reduced the charge for the use of the telegraph and dispatching a messenger to any part of Norwich from 4s. 6d. to 2s. 6d."

OCTOBER.

7.-A meeting of the Wesleyan Methodists of the Norwich circuit was held at St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich, for the purpose of raising a consolidated fund to redeem the chapel debts, amounting to 6,900. It was proposed to create a capital to be raised in 6,900 shares of 1 each, the payments to be made at intervals of three months during the ensuing five years.

13.-Died "that excellent and philanthropic lady," Mrs. Fry, who for many years "devoted her time and her purse to ameliorate the miseries of the inmates of our various prisons."

14.-Lord Suffield was installed Grand-Master of Freemasons in the province of Norfolk.

NOVEMBER.

1.*-"Mr. Charles Fisher, who for the last two or three seasons has been a general favourite on the Norwich circuit, has accepted an engagement at the Prince's Theatre, London."

-*"The North Walsham Theatre, which eighteen years ago cost Mr. D. Fisher 1,800, has lately been sold for about 400, and is to be converted into a school, to be conducted on the National system." The school was opened on May 25th, 1846.