Volume I Part 102 (1/2)
Frederick Vining, of the Haymarket Theatre, London, and his daughter, Miss Vining, appeared on the 16th in the parts of Benedict and Beatrice, and fulfilled an engagement of seven weeks. The season, one of the most successful that Mr. Smith had experienced, was chiefly remarkable for the large number of ”bespeaks” given, amongst others, by the officers of the 13th Light Dragoons, the Royal and Norfolk Hotel Wine Clubs, the Governor and Deputy-Governor of the Court of Guardians, &c.
5.-A heavy fall of snow on this day was accompanied by lightning and thunder.
6.-The first annual meeting of the Norfolk Flax Society, the object of which was ”to promote the cultivation of a plant for the produce of which vast sums of money are annually sent abroad,” was held at Norwich. It was stated that the soil and climate of the county were ”equal and perhaps superior to any in the world for the growth and perfection of the plant, and its cultivation would be more profitable than that of any other crop.” The method of ”forming linseed into compound to fatten cattle” was demonstrated in a booth on the Castle Meadow, and an exhibition of articles manufactured from flax was held at St. Andrew's Hall. The Hon. W. R Rous was President of the Society, to which about eighty prominent agriculturists belonged. M. Demann, a Belgian agriculturist, was engaged as the Society's agent, and many meetings were held in the county in furtherance of the movement.
7.-The promoters of the scheme for the erection of the Leicester monument appointed a ”committee of taste,” who recommended the building of a column, of artistic design. At a meeting held at the Norfolk Hotel, on January 21st, the much vexed question of the site was discussed and a decision was given in favour of Holkham Park, mainly by the votes of a number of subscribers of ten s.h.i.+llings each in the neighbourhood of Wells. Efforts were made to secure the erection of the monument at Norwich, and the supporters of either place were invited to vote upon the subject. After the poll a scrutiny was held, and on August 5th it was announced that 322 votes had been given in favour of Holkham, and 281 in favour of Norwich.
9.-Died, aged 60, at Birmingham, Mr. Vaughan, ”the highly respectable musician and once excellent tenor singer.” He was a native of Norwich, and when quite young was a member of the choir of St. George's Chapel, Windsor. He was afterwards engaged at Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Chapel Royal. On the death of Mr. Harrison, in 1812, Mr. Vaughan was appointed princ.i.p.al tenor at the King's Concerts of Ancient Music, he sang at most of the provincial musical festivals, and was a member of several musical clubs in the Metropolis.
FEBRUARY.
14.-The first touring circus in Norfolk at which performances were given under canvas was that belonging to Batty, ”sole proprietor of Astley's Royal Amphitheatre,” who on this date erected at Lynn Mart a tent 65 ft.
in height and 300 ft. in circ.u.mference. It was the same tent placed on the site of the Royal Exchange when Prince Albert laid the first stone of the new building, and on that occasion it afforded accommodation for 1,400 persons. In the autumn of the same year Richard Sands' American circus toured the county, giving one performance only in a ”s.p.a.cious pavilion” at each town visited. A procession of ”twenty-five caparisoned horses” was a feature of the show. After this date the circus touring system became general during the summer and autumn months.
22.-Died at Caen, Normandy, aged 76, the Rev. T. D'Eterville, ”a well-known and respected inhabitant of Norwich for upwards of forty years, who retired a few months ago to end his days in his native country.” [Borrow's ”preceptor in the French and Italian tongues.”]
23.-The coach from London to Norwich, driven by Thomas Wiggins, ran into a brewer's dray at Tasburgh, during a thick fog and was overturned. Mr.
Scott, of Newton Maid's Head, one of the outside pa.s.sengers, was jammed between the coach and a tree, which had to be cut down to extricate him, Wiggins was thrown head first off the box seat and severely injured, and the guard, Thomas, was dashed against a tree stump and killed outright, ”his head being completely split open.” It was not until January 22nd, 1844, that Wiggins was able to resume his duties. It was then stated: ”So highly is this excellent whip esteemed along the line of road, that at the several inns where the coach stopped to change horses it appeared as if the landlords had determined to celebrate the circ.u.mstance by making it a general gala day.”
26.-Died at Cheltenham, aged 60, Major-General Sir John Thomas Jones, Bart., K.C.B., of Cranmer Hall. He served in the Royal Engineers during the campaign in Calabria, and was present at the Battle of Maida and the attack on Scylla Castle; in the Peninsular campaign he was in the retreat to Corunna; he accompanied the expedition to Walcheren and was present at the reduction of Flus.h.i.+ng, served in the campaigns of 1810, 1811, and 1812 in the Peninsula, received the medal for Badajos, and was shot through the ankle joint at the siege of Burgos, in October, 1812. He entered the service as second-lieutenant on August 30th, 1798, and retired with the rank of major-general on January 10th, 1837.
27.-Yarmouth Orange Fair was held. ”Like the generality of fairs, it has fallen sadly out of repute, and but for the immense quant.i.ty of fruit from which it takes its name anyone might have pa.s.sed the Market Place without noticing it.”
MARCH.
17.-At a special meeting of the Norwich Town Council, on the motion of Mr. A. Dalrymple, a pet.i.tion to Parliament was adopted in opposition to the Income Tax, on the ground that it was ”unjust, unwise, repugnant, and unproductive.”
18.-The Watton coach, on its way from Norwich, with six female outside pa.s.sengers, stopped at Barford c.o.c.k. During the temporary absence of Allen, the coachman, the horses started off at full gallop, and were not stopped till they arrived at Hingham. With the exception of a wheel being taken off a pa.s.sing vehicle, no damage was done.
APRIL.
4.-At the Norwich a.s.sizes, before Lord Chief Justice Tindal, was tried the case, the Queen against Edward Painter. The prosecution, for a.s.sault, was inst.i.tuted by Mr. Jeremiah Cross, corn merchant, of Norwich.
An indictment had been preferred at the Norwich Quarter Sessions and a true bill returned, which the defendant removed by writ of _certiorari_, and the case now came on for trial on the civil side of the Court. The plaintiff, in June, 1842, was invited to the Rising Sun Inn, kept by Mr.
John Abel, and he was there met by Painter, who for several minutes thrashed him with an ash stick so severely that for a considerable time afterwards plaintiff was under medical treatment. For the defence it was alleged that Cross had grossly insulted the defendant's daughter, hence the thras.h.i.+ng. The jury found a verdict of guilty, and on May 10th, when defendant appeared before the Court of Queen's Bench to receive judgment, he was fined one s.h.i.+lling and discharged. On June 24th the following advertis.e.m.e.nt was published: ”Ned Painter having been subjected to the expense of wanton and persecuting litigation, his friends intend giving him a benefit at the Pantheon, Royal Victoria Gardens, on which occasion the Stars of the Fancy have resolved to rally round and support an old and tried veteran of the Prize Ring. Among the prominent professors of the Pugilistic Art who will appear are Tom Spring, Champion of England, and Ben Caunt, the modern champion.”
7.-Great excitement was created in Norwich by the conviction at the a.s.sizes before Mr. Justice Coleridge, of John Harper, a well-known auctioneer, on the charge of stealing cloth entrusted to him for sale at North Walsham by a Leeds manufacturer named Jonas Driver. Mr. S.
Bignold, Mr. Beckwith, solicitor; Mr. T. M. Keith, solicitor; the Rev. S.
Stone, the Rev. W. Hull, and other prominent citizens testified to the general honesty and integrity of the prisoner, who, amid a strong manifestation of feeling in Court, was sentenced to seven years'
transportation.
7.-Mr. Cobden, M.P., Col. Thompson, and Mr. Moore, representatives of the Anti-Corn Law League, addressed a large meeting held at St. Andrew's Hall, under the presidency of Mr. J. H. Tillett. A body of Chartists created some disorder. On the 8th a meeting of farmers ”of the most complete party complexion” took place at the Hall, when Mr. A. Morse, of Swaffham, ”author of one of the prize essays of the League,” presided, and addresses were delivered by Mr. Cobden and his friends. The League at this date was actively promulgating its principles in all parts of the county.