Yarmouth Notes Part 22

On Sunday night, between 11 and 12 o'clock, there had been 19 feet 6 ins.

of water on the bar, being 10 ins. higher than any tide of which there was an official report. Southtown was flooded, and the water flowed up to the trees on the Quay.

Feb. 8th.-The Board of Trade had remitted 20 to the fund for the relief of the sufferers by the late storm.

Feb. 15th.-And her Majesty the Queen had sent a like sum to the same fund.

Feb. 22nd.-The Town Council had pet.i.tioned against the Income Tax, and in favour of the Waveney Valley Railway.

The rivers were "fast with frost."

March 1st.-A ball had been held at the Town-hall for the benefit of the Hospital. 130 persons were present, among whom were the Mayor and Mrs.

W. H. Palmer, Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Palmer, Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Marsh, Messrs. F. and W. Worship, the Misses Worship, Mr. Wm. Johnson, the Misses Johnson, Miss M. Lacon, Mr. C. Dowson, Mr. and Mrs. Playford, Mr.

and Mrs. F. Palmer, Messrs. Salmon Palmer, J. Richard, G. B. Costerton, Henry Danby-Palmer, &c.

March 8th.-Large quant.i.ties of wreck were floating in the Roads.

March 15th.-The subscription to the "Shipwreck (Phnix) Fund" amounted to 1,500 9s. 4d., and a suggestion had been made to form it into a "permanent fund," or to endow the Fishermen's Hospital with it.

March 15th.-A pet.i.tion had been adopted against the Dereham Railway Bill.

C. J. Harley, Esq., had bequeathed 100 to the Hospital.

There were only four cases at the Quarter Sessions.

March 22nd.-The case of "Hook against Davie" had been tried, and the Will prepared by Mr. Cory declared against, the Judge stating that Mr. Cory should have taken "a more correct view of his duty as a solicitor."

April 5th.-R. Rising, Esq., had taken, at Horsey, a pike measuring 3 feet in length, 2 feet in circ.u.mference, and weighing 28 lbs., it was supposed to be from 8 to 10 years old.

An accident had happened at Cooke's Circus, during the performance of "St. George and the Dragon," by the breaking down of a gallery, owing to which William Lilley, aged 33, had broken his leg in two places. Mr. F.

Palmer was treating this case at the Hospital.

April 12th.-Royal, Hall and Mapes, had been tried at the a.s.sizes for the murder of Harriet Chandler. Mr. Palmer and Mr. O'Malley appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Prendegast and Mr. Couch for the defence, which was an "alibi;" the jury acquitted all the prisoners.

April 19th.-S. Cobb, Esq., had laid the foundation stone of the Unitarian Chapel, which was to be built on the site of the "Old Meeting House" in Gaol Street.

April 26th.-"In the Bail Court, Sat.u.r.day, 19th April, 1845. Before Mr.

Justice Coleridge.

The Queen on the prosecution of Samuel Charles Marsh, Esq., v. Charles Cory Aldred.

Mr. Martin-My Lord, in the case of the Queen v. Aldred, my learned friend, Mr. Robinson, will address your Lordship.

Mr. Robinson-In this case, my Lord, Mr. Aldred has been indicted for having spoken certain words of the prosecutor; he has pleaded not guilty.

This gentleman, I have to state, used the words under some mistake, and he is now anxious to withdraw his plea of not guilty, and to express his regret for having used the words of which the prosecutor has complained.

I have now, therefore, to withdraw the plea of not guilty and to enter a plea of guilty.

Mr. Martin-My Lord, I appear on behalf of the prosecutor, the Mayor of Yarmouth, who felt himself compelled to bring the matter before the Court. He has no personal feeling in the matter, and is perfectly satisfied with the expression of regret made by my learned friend, and upon payment of the costs by the defendant, if your Lordship pleases, he will not proceed further.

Mr. Justice Coleridge-Very well."

Yarham (who figured in the Chandler murder case) had "at length been compelled, by the expression of public feeling, to quit the town."

May 3rd.-Only one tender had been sent in for the New Haven Bridge, and it was considered probable that the plans for it would be amended.

May 10th.-Reports the "Fall of the Yarmouth Suspension Bridge," (with a wood-cut of the wreck of that structure), which had happened on Friday, the 2nd inst. The following is extracted from such report:-

On the afternoon of the day on which this narration bears date, Nelson, the Clown at Mr. Cooke's Circus, had undertaken to swim in a tub, drawn by four geese, from the drawbridge on the Quay to the Suspension Bridge across the North river-a foolish exhibition-but it was one which, from its novelty in Yarmouth, was calculated to attract the mult.i.tude. As early as five o'clock, when the train arrived from Norwich, although raining smartly, thousands of spectators had already a.s.sembled to witness the feat on both sides of the river. The Bridge was then comparatively clear. The Clown commenced his feat with the flood tide at the drawbridge, and had entered the North river. There were many persons on the Bridge, and as he drew near, the mult.i.tude upon it endeavoured to obtain a full view as he should pa.s.s underneath. Already had he reached Bessey's Wharf, not far from the Bridge, when one or two of the rods were observed to give way; an instant alarm was given to quit the bridge.

Alas! the caution came too late. The chains broke, and quick as the pa.s.sing thought, one entire side fell, and the whole ma.s.s of the human beings, whose numbers were estimated from three to four hundred, were swept into the river below. The traffic road of the Bridge, which but an instant before was horizontal, had become nearly perpendicular.

The children, poor little things, of whom there were very many, and had naturally gathered to the bal.u.s.trade, were of course the first to sink, while the force with which the whole fell, caused those who were in the background to be hurled with terrific force into the water beneath, crushing and annihilating those under them.

Oh! who shall paint the one mighty simultaneous agonizing death-scream which burst upon the affrighted mult.i.tude around-re-echoing from earth to heaven-may the appeal not be made in vain. One instant and all was hushed, save the struggling of a few whose lives it pleased their Maker in his mercy to spare. The waters, we are told, as if gifted with a sudden impulse of horror, at this fell swoop of death, recoiled in the impetus of the fall and "boiled up" at the back of the Bridge, which hung perpendicularly below the surface of the river. As suddenly the struggle for life was past to all but a few.

Then came a scene scarcely less heartrending. With an energy, activity, and stern determination of purpose, which are among the wise and merciful provisions of the Almighty, twenty-seven children, all girls, were immediately rescued alive on the West side of the river, and as instantly put to bed at the "Vauxhall Gardens," who as soon as revived were replaced by others equally beneficially spared, or by some never to be recalled. Some scrambled out and rushed home to their own houses, not a few fainting after arriving safe at home.

On the East side numbers of bodies were taken into the adjoining houses, where all the a.s.sistance which medical skill, humane attention, in short all the aid which humanity would teach everyone to offer, was brought to bear. Alas how often in vain. In one house alone, at nine o'clock at night, out of sixty-eight bodies carried in only three were revived.

Many a touching scene was witnessed as the anxious mother, and the hardly less excited father or friend, recognised some missing one safely emerging from the crowd. Thousands thronged the North Quay-messengers were despatched in all directions to procure medical aid, and the communication with the West side of the water being cut off, hundreds were left in painful suspense respecting those who were safe on the opposite sh.o.r.e. Nothing could exceed the prompt.i.tude, activity, and attention of the surgeons and medical men of the town, all of whom were in immediate attendance doing all they could to afford relief to the sufferers, where the slightest chance of resuscitation appeared. Mr. Lacon and a number of the persons employed in his brewery were exceedingly active in supplying hot water for baths, which is not far distant. All the blankets from the Union House that could possibly be spared were in requisition.

The scene now presented is still most agonising. Children, mothers, and fathers, seeking one or other of their families, tracing and discovering in the pale face of some of the dead, one of their dearest ties. In every street are to be seen one or more bodies extended on biers, returning to that home from which but short minutes before they had pa.s.sed in health and life. The consternation-the agony of the town is not to be described-it is as if some dread punishment was felt to have fallen upon its inhabitants-every face is horror-stricken-every eye is dim.

Never since the devastating plague in 1664, which swept off 2000 of its inhabitants, has Yarmouth, notwithstanding its numberless shipwrecks, been visited with so dire a calamity, occurring too at the very moment a public meeting was about to be held to make arrangements for the distribution of the funds which have been received for the widows and families of the Beachmen who were lost in January last. How many are there added to this list? We dare not antic.i.p.ate-Time will show.

Numbers, it is believed, are entangled with the rods and other portions of the broken Bridge. At this hour it is impossible to say how many or who are called to their dread accounts. The escape of some was miraculous. One woman, of the name of Gillings, the wife of a carpenter, was on the Bridge with her child; when she was hurled into the water, with extraordinary presence of mind she seized her child's clothes with her teeth-thus preventing the rush of water, and paddled herself to a place of safety.

On the East side of the Bridge the greater number were taken to the "Norwich Arms Inn," where there were at one time fifty-three corpses.

Others were taken to the "Admiral Collingwood" and to the "Swan," and many to their own houses. Not a few of those who first got out of the water went away unnoticed, and their number is unknown. Up to a late hour last night, it was ascertained that seventy-five dead bodies had been taken out of the water; and up to midnight, from the enquiries made, it was ascertained that forty-five others were missing.

By far the greater number of those lost were females and children.

James Marshall, 16, escaped with a wound in the scalp. Two boys named Honorley, aged twelve and seventeen, were taken home, the younger died last evening, the elder is likely to recover.

The inquest on the bodies of the drowned was held next day at the "Church Hall," before W. S. Ferrier, Esq., coroner, when the following gentlemen were sworn on the Jury:-Samuel Palmer, Esq., (foreman), and Messrs. John Norman, John Orfeur, John Fenn, G. B.

Palmer, William Smith, William Spillings, Charles Barber, Charles Woolverton, Joseph Davy, James Emms, William Haylett, Mark Blowers, J. E. Laws, John Stagg, E. Garrod, Thomas Davy, and James Pratt, and after hearing evidence as to the identification of the bodies of the drowned was adjourned _sine die_. The following list of the victims is given:-

No. AGE.

1. Adams, Robert, Rainbow Corner 7 2. Augur, Caroline, Garden Row 10 3. Bussey, Harriett, Ferry Boat Row 26 4. Beloe, George John Henry, Fuller's Hill 9 5. b.u.t.tifant, Sarah Ann, Row 2 18 6. Borking, Emily Hanworth, George Street 5 7. Burton, Benjamin Patteson, Row 54 7 8. Barber, Christopher, Pudding Gates 11 9. Bradberry, Isaac, King Street, Norwich 20 10. Beckett, Ann, Priory 8 11. Barker, Leonard, Surrey Street, Norwich (not 22 yet found) 12. Buck, James Seaman, Row 17 (not yet found) 4 13. b.a.l.l.s, Reeder Thurston, Bath Place 16 14. Church, James, Rainbow Corner 7 15. Crowe, Eliza, Row 6 14 16. Church, Caroline, Horn Row 16 17. Conyers, Elizabeth, Row 13 13 18. Cole, Jane, Row 65 16 19. Durrant, William, Row 24 12 20. Ditcham, Mary Ann, Row 18 64 21. Duffield, Eliza, Rainbow Corner 10 22. Dye, Charles, Moat 2 23. Dye, Benjamin, Rainbow Corner 9 24. Edwards, Maria, Garden Row 12 25. Ebbage, David, Row 17 9 26. Field, Hannah, Row 14 12 27. Fulcher, James, Row 34 14 28. Fulcher Elizabeth, St. John's Head Row 16 29. Funnell, John, Wortwell (not yet found) 19 30. Fox, John Horace, Butcher's Row 19 31. Field, Susannah, Say's Corner Row 7 32. Gilbert, Sarah, Row 14 12 33. Gotts, Alice, Conge 52 34. Gotts, Alice, jun. 9 35. Grimmer, William, Moat 8 36. Hendle, William, Ferry Boat Row 10 37. Hunn, Sarah, Row 3 13 38. Hunnibal, Elizabeth Jane, Row 110 12 39. Hatch, Elizabeth, East Hill 11 40. Johnson, Elizabeth, Row 23 8 41. Johnson, Sarah Ann, Row 23 16 42. Johnson, Thomas (or Robert), Row 1 8 43. Jenkerson, Mary Ann, Row 1 10 44. Juniper, Maud, at Workhouse 9 45. King, Mary Ann, Apollo Walk 11 46. Lucas, Frederick, Row 21 62 47. Lake, Mary Ann, George and Dragon Row 2 48. Lyons, William, Row 1 6 49. Little, Harriet Mary, Market 13 50. Livingstone, Joseph, King Street 6 51. Livingstone, Matilda, King Street 7 52. May, Clara, Row 6 20 53. Mears, Susan, Ferry Boat Row 8 54. Manship, Elizabeth, Rainbow Corner 28 55. Morgan, Elizabeth, Row 1 62 56. Maze, Robert, Charlotte Street 26 57. Powley, Elizabeth, Row 2 21 58. Powley, Richard, Row 3 4 59. Parker, Charlotte, Row 13 8 60. Powley, Amelia, White Lion Opening 10 61. Richardson, Phbe, Row 99 17 62. Roberts, Lydia, Pudding Gates 12 63. Roberts, Mary Ann, Pudding Gates 19 64. Read, Elizabeth, Rainbow Corner 5 65. Scotten, Ann Maria, Row 3 20 66. Stolworthy, Maria, King's Arms Yard 14 67. Tann, Harriett, George and Dragon Row 15 68. Tennant, John, Railway Walk 11 69. Tennant, William, ditto 10 70. Thorpe, Heppy, Row 2 12 71. Trory, William Townshend, George Street 12 72. Thompson, Mary Ann, British Lion Alley 15 73. Utting, Louise, Row 33 (not yet found) 7 74. Utting, Sarah, Gaol Paved Row 18 75. Utting, Caroline, Row 33 9 76. Vincent, Maria, Apollo Walk 19 77. Vincent, Richard, missing - 78. Watts, William Walter, Coble's Buildings, - Pudding Lane (not yet found) 79. Young, Emily, Fuller's Hill 6 80. Yallop, Martha, George Street 20

The following is the list of persons who were rescued, as far as ascertained:-

Sarah Ann Thorpe, aged 13, who continues very ill.

Mary Ann Arnold, with child in her arms.

Mrs. Thomas Money, reported to be in great danger.

Rebecca Page.

Mary Church, was taken out near the lime kiln.