Volume I Part 116 (1/2)
30.-The headquarters of the 16th Lancers marched from Norwich for Hounslow.
MAY.
1.-Sultzer's public baths were opened in St. Augustine's, Norwich. In the course of six months they were used by 10,943 persons.
4.-Attention was directed to the system then becoming more prevalent than ever, of driving dogs in trucks or small carts along the public roads.
”To say nothing of the cruelty to the dogs, few horses will pa.s.s them without risk of accident.”
6.-The season terminated at Norwich Theatre. The house was under the management of Mr. Clarence (afterwards known as Mr. Clarence Holt).
14.-The Norwich Town Council adopted an address of congratulation to the Queen and Prince Albert upon the birth, on May 1st, of a Prince (Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught).
16.-Mr. W. Lee, C.E., one of the Inspectors of the Board of Health, opened, at the Guildhall, Norwich, a public inquiry into the sanitary state of the city. It lasted eight days.
-A sturgeon, measuring 6 ft. 2 in. in length and 3 ft. 6 in. in girth, and weighing 15 st. 3 lbs., was shot in the river Wissey, near Hilgay Bridge. ”It is surprising how a fish of this size could get up the river so far, as it had to pa.s.s through several sluices.”
17.-Died at Mill Hill, Hendon, aged 57, Sir James Flower, Bart. He was a son of the first baronet, by the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Mr.
James Squire, of Portsmouth. In 1816 he married the daughter of Sir Walter Stirling, Bart. He succeeded his father in 1834. In 1838 he filled the office of High Sheriff of Norfolk, and in 1843 was appointed a deputy-lieutenant for Herefords.h.i.+re. A Conservative in politics, he contested the representation of Thetford with the Earl of Euston, when a ”double return” resulted. On pet.i.tion, Sir James was declared the sitting member. The first baronet was an alderman of the City of London, who filled the office of Lord Mayor in the year of the Jubilee.
19.-Lieut. John Allen, commander of the Prince of Wales Revenue cutter, boarded off Happisburgh a vessel named the Sea Flower, of Hull, and found her laden with 122 bales of contraband tobacco of 50 lbs. each, the duty upon which amounted to 900. The vessel and cargo were confiscated.
24.-The headquarters of the 11th Hussars arrived at Norwich, under command of Col. the Earl of Cardigan. ”This regiment has a fine appearance. The uniform is blue jacket, braided, scarlet trousers, and bearskin cap.”
-The Queen's birthday was celebrated at Norwich by the Pockthorpe ”Corporation” parading in the Market Place, ”the 'Mayor' and 'Aldermen'
wearing their scarlet gowns and bearing themselves with all the conscious dignity of office.” The Sheriff of Norwich (Mr. James Colman) entertained the inmates of the Workhouse, the Infirmary, and the Boys'
Home to dinner at St. Andrew's Hall, and the Mayor (Mr. Woodc.o.c.k) gave a dinner at the a.s.sembly Rooms.
29.-A new organ, the gift of Col. Mason, was opened at Necton church.
JUNE.
5.-An extraordinary will was left by Miss Margaret Creake, of St.
Andrew's, Norwich, whose death occurred on this date. She was the last of three sisters, very eccentric in their manners and parsimonious in their way of living. She directed that her relatives who chose to prove their ident.i.ty should receive one s.h.i.+lling each; a legacy of 20 was left to one neighbour, and of 10 to another. She directed that 50 be given to each homeless person above 68 years of age in London, Ireland, and Scotland, and that all her real estate be employed in founding a hospital for aged persons, the hospital to be built and the inmates habited according to her directions. The property, valued at 20,000, being insufficient, the wishes of the testatrix could not be carried out.
Upwards of 1,000 persons visited the late residence of the deceased, ”the filthiness of which was beyond description.” Shortly after the death of Miss Creake, a chemist named Woolner, with whom she had been intimate, committed suicide by poisoning himself. It was then rumoured that the woman had met with her death by foul means. The Coroner (Mr. Wilde) ordered the exhumation of the body from St. Clement's churchyard. An examination of the remains was made by Mr. T. W. Crosse, who attributed death to natural causes.
9.-Died at Norwich, aged 60, Mr. John Green Crosse, senior surgeon of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. Mr. Crosse was a native of Suffolk, and received his early professional education under Mr. Bailey, at Stowmarket. After a distinguished career as a medical student in London, he became demonstrator of anatomy in Dublin. He visited Paris, where he made himself sufficiently acquainted with the French schools of medicine to enable him on his return to publish ”Sketches of the Medical Schools of Paris.” He settled in Norwich in 1815, and in the following year married a daughter of his former master and friend. In 1825 he was elected a.s.sistant-surgeon of the Hospital, and on the death of Mr. Bond succeeded to the surgeoncy on August 25th, 1826. There he gained for himself a surgical reputation which was described as ”not local, not provincial, not British, not European, but universal.” Mr. Crosse was one of the founders of the Pathological Society; he was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Fellow of the College of Surgeons of England, a Doctor of Medicine in the Universities of Heidelberg and St. Andrew's, a member of several scientific bodies, and the author of many valuable professional works and papers. His remains were interred on June 14th, in the burial ground of Norwich Cathedral.
JULY.
9.-Intelligence was received in Norwich of the death of H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge. The bells of the city churches were tolled.
29.-Mrs. Charles Gill (Miss Vining) appeared at Norwich Theatre, after an absence of five years, and was enthusiastically received by a crowded house.