Norfolk Annals Volume I Part 113

AUGUST.

4.-A sculling match for 50 a side took place between Mr. J. L. Barber, of Norwich, and Mr. Knight, of Wymondham. The distance was fifty-five miles, namely, from Thorpe Gardens to Reedham, thence through the New Cut and Lake Lothing to Mutford Bridge, and back to the starting-point. Mr.

Knight started at 6.56 a.m., and Mr. Barber at 7.1 a.m. On the return journey Mr. Barber's boat was upset during a severe thunderstorm and squall. Resuming, he rowed to Cantley, where he was taken from his boat almost insensible and conveyed to the inn. Mr. Knight reached Thorpe Gardens at 3.39 p.m., having rowed the distance in 8 hrs. 43 mins.-1 hr.

34 mins. less than it had ever been covered before.

9.-Died at his house at Langham, Capt. Marryat, C.B. He was well-known as the author of several works of fiction, founded princ.i.p.ally on the naval service. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of the county of Norfolk, and was in his 56th year.

11.-A singular accident occurred at Mattishall. A boy named Thomas Ireson, ten years of age, tied himself to the tail of a cow, and the infuriated animal kicked him to death.

24.-St. Nicholas' church, Great Yarmouth, was re-opened after restoration. The sermon was preached by the Bishop of Oxford. Luncheon was served at the Town Hall, and was attended by the Bishops of Norwich and Oxford, Mr. Baron Alderson, M. Guizot, a former Prime Minister of France, and by many other distinguished guests.

SEPTEMBER.

6.-The Royal Victoria and Albert steam yacht, with the Queen and Prince Consort on board, pa.s.sed off Cromer at 6.30 a.m., on her voyage to Aberdeen. The coastguard discharged rockets and fired from the mortars a salute of seven rounds.

-Died, aged 73, Mr. John Palmer, of St. Mary's, Thetford. "He had been twenty years afflicted with rheumatic gout, and for the past sixteen years had never left his bed but once, on which occasion he was carried to the poll at the borough election in the summer of 1842, in the contest between the Earl of Euston and Sir James Flower, when his vote on the Conservative side carried the election."

7.-A two-days' cricket match, between the Marylebone Club and Ground and the County of Norfolk (with Wisden) commenced at Swaffham. The princ.i.p.al scores for the former were made by the Hon. E. Grimstone and the Hon. F.

Ponsonby, and for the latter by Mr. Charles Wright, the Rev. F. French, and Wisden. Marylebone, 84-76; Norfolk, 106-56.

11.-The East Anglian Railway from Lynn and Swaffham was opened for pa.s.senger traffic to Dereham.

-Miss Helen Faucit commenced an engagement at Norwich Theatre. She was supported by Mr. W. Sh.e.l.ley, from the Park Theatre, New York, and by Mr.

H. Farren.

-H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, who visited Norwich for the purpose of attending the Triennial Musical Festival, arrived at Trowse Station, where he was received by the Mayor (Mr. G. L. Coleman) and the Sheriff (Mr. J. Watson), who were attended by the princ.i.p.al officers of the Corporation, mounted. "The four whifflers, in proper dress, created much merriment by brandishing their weapons to keep a pa.s.sage, but they had not the agile grace of the old retainers of our ancient Corporation, and the procession, though the best we have seen in Norwich since the Munic.i.p.al Reform Act pa.s.sed, fell short of that imposing dignity which graced our ancient displays of civic pomp." His Royal Highness, who was the guest of the Bishop of Norwich, left the city on the 15th.

12.-The Norfolk and Norwich Triennial Musical Festival commenced at St.

Andrew's Hall, with a grand evening concert, at which selections from "Il Matrimonio Segreto" and from "Le Nozzi di Figaro" were given. The following were the princ.i.p.al items in the week's programme:-Sept. 13th, "The Christian's Prayer" and selections from "The Creation"; evening, "The First Walpurgis Night" and selections from "La Clemenza di t.i.to"; Sept. 14th, "Elijah"; evening, selection from "Fidelio," &c.; Sept. 15th, "Davidde Penitente" and "Israel in Egypt." In the evening a dress ball was given, at which Jullien's band performed. The princ.i.p.al vocalists at the Festival were Madame Viardot Garcia, Madame Castellan, Mdlle. Alboni, Miss Anne Williams, Miss Martha Williams, Mr. Sims Reeves, Mr. Lockey, Mr. H. Phillips, Mr. H. Whitmore, and Signor Lablache. Mr. H. Blagrove was leader of the band, Mr. Benedict conductor, and Mr. Harcourt organist. The gross receipts were 5,266 4s. 2d.; the gross expenses 4,598 10s. 7d., and the net surplus 667 13s. 9d.

21.-Lord George Bentinck, M.P., was discovered dead on a footpath at Th.o.r.esby, about six miles from his seat at Welbeck. The Coroner's jury found that death was due to heart disease. The deceased n.o.bleman was first elected for King's Lynn in 1828, in succession to his uncle, Lord William Bentinck. He had previously acted as private secretary to Mr.

Canning, a near relative by marriage. His lordship was the recognised leader of the Protectionist party, and as a firm supporter of the Turf did much to reform the abuses which existed upon it in his time. The vacancy created by his death in the representation of Lynn was filled by the election of the Hon. E. H. Stanley, who was returned without opposition on December 22nd.

23.-Under the provisions of the new Tavern Act, the public-houses in Norwich were closed at 12 p.m. "The streets in the lower parts of the city and all round the Market Place were crowded with persons returning home with pots of malt liquor." On the 25th informations were preferred against many publicans for failing to close their houses at the prescribed time.

28.-Died at Pulham, aged 43, Mr. R. B. Harvey, a well-known flock-master, who did much to improve the breed of sheep in Norfolk. He was a frequent exhibitor at the shows of the Royal Agricultural Society and of the local agricultural a.s.sociations.

OCTOBER.

17.-The first conviction under the new Act for preventing the extension of diseases in sheep was recorded at Norwich, when Mr. Betts, cattle dealer, of Old Buckenham, was fined for exposing on the Castle Meadow sheep that were suffering from sheep-pox or variola ovina.

23.-The Adelphi Theatre, Norwich, was opened under the management of Mr.

George Smith, formerly lessee of the Theatre Royal. The company included Mr. and Mrs. Sidney (Miss J. Trafford).

31.-St. Matthew's church, Thorpe Hamlet, Norwich, at which building operations commenced in the second week in August, was "founded" by the chairman and members of the committee.

NOVEMBER.

9.-Mr. Samuel Bignold was elected Mayor, and Mr. Robert Chamberlin appointed Sheriff of Norwich.

13.-A salmon weighing 9 lbs. was captured in the river near Trowse Bridge, Norwich.

21.-Died at Richmond, Mr. William James Achilles Abington, M.A., barrister-at-law, of the Middle Temple, aged 41, the only surviving son of Mr. William Abington, of the East India House. The deceased gentleman was in 1845 lessee of Norwich Theatre.

28.-Madame Dulcken, pianist to the Queen, gave a grand concert at the a.s.sembly Rooms, Norwich.

-Mr. Isaac Jermy, Recorder of Norwich, and Mr. Jermy Jermy, his son, were murdered at Stanfield Hall, Wymondham, by James Blomfield Rush. Mrs.

Jermy Jermy and her maid, Elizabeth Chastney, alarmed by the report of the firearm, proceeded to the a.s.sistance of the victims, and were severely wounded, the former in the arm and the latter in the hip, by another shot fired by the murderer. Rush was apprehended the same night at his house, Potash Farm, by Police-constable Mortar, of the Norwich city police, and conveyed to Wymondham Bridewell. The first examination of the prisoner took place on the 29th, before the Hon. and Rev. R.

Wilson, Mr. Cann, and Mr. Parker. He was afterwards taken to Stanfield Hall, where Mrs. Jermy Jermy identified him as her a.s.sailant. Rush was further examined at Wymondham Bridewell on the 30th. At the adjourned hearing on December 2nd, Emily Sandford, his housekeeper, gave evidence, and the prisoner was committed to Norwich Castle, where the third hearing was conducted in private on December 5th. The final examinations took place at the Castle on the 13th and 14th; on the latter date the depositions were publicly read, and the prisoner was formally committed to take his trial on the charge of wilful murder. On the 19th he was taken, under writ of _habeas corpus_, to Stanfield Hall, where Chastney gave evidence in his presence. The inquest on Mr. Jermy and Mr. Jermy Jermy was opened by Mr. Press at the King's Head Inn, Wymondham, on November 30th, and adjourned sittings were held on December 1st, 2nd, and 5th. On the last-named day the Coroner issued a warrant for the detention of Emily Sandford in Wymondham Bridewell. The final sitting of the Coroner's Court was held on December 19th, when the jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Rush. The funeral of Mr. Jermy and his son took place at Wymondham church, on December 5th. (_See_ March 29th, 1849.)

DECEMBER.

22.-Mr. Prendergast, of the Norfolk Circuit, qualified as Recorder of Norwich, in the room of Mr. Isaac Jenny, deceased.

26.-Pablo Fanque's Circus opened for the Christmas holidays at the Victoria Gardens, Norwich. (On September 15th, 1849, this circus proprietor was referred to as "our fellow-citizen, Mr. Darby, _alias_ Pablo Fanque.")

-Norwich Theatre was opened for the season, under the management of Mr.

Charles Dillon. The pieces produced were "Virginius," and the pantomime "The Naughty Boys, Smith, Brown, Jones, and Robinson, or Harlequin and the Great Sea Serpent."

30.-St. Mary's church, Norwich, was described as being in a most disgraceful and dilapidated condition. "It was re-pewed in 1827 by the Rev. Mr. Wodehouse, and was then one of the neatest parish churches in Norwich."

1849.

JANUARY.

22.-Mdlle. Jenny Lind, a.s.sisted by Miss Dolby, Signor Belletti, and Signor Marras, gave an evening concert at St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich, in aid of the charities of the city. On the 23rd she sang at a morning concert in furtherance of the same object. The total receipts amounted to 1,859 11s., and 1,250 remained after the payment of expenses. The services of the famous singer were rendered quite gratuitously. The Mayor (Mr. Bignold) and members of the Corporation waited upon her at the Palace, where she was staying as the guest of Bishop Stanley, and presented to her an address expressive of the thanks of the citizens.

FEBRUARY.

2.-Mr. Michael Beverley, of Forncett St. Mary, a popular sportsman in South Norfolk, was killed whilst hunting with Mr. Fellowes' hounds at Moulton. He was in his 60th year.

4.-Many hundred persons a.s.sembled at Bacton Wood Mill, North Walsham, to witness the baptism by immersion in the mill stream of several men and women "who had embraced the faith of Mormonites, or Latter-day Saints."