Volume Ii Part 28 (1/2)
17.-The English Grand Opera Company, under the management of Mr. G. B.
Loveday, commenced an engagement at Norwich Theatre. Madame Haigh-Dyer, Miss Annie Kemp, Miss Ada Taylor, Mr. Brookhouse Bowler, Mr. Grantham, Mr. E. Connell, Mr. Oliver Summers, and Mr. Henry Rowland were the princ.i.p.al _artistes_, and the works produced included ”Faust,” ”Dinorah,”
”The Crown Diamonds,” ”Lucrezia Borgia,” ”The Lady of Lyons” (burlesque), ”Satanella,” and ”Norma.”
MAY.
17.-The Snettisham Hall estate of 2,600 acres and a rental of 3,600 was offered for sale at Garraway's. The highest bid was 99,000, and the reserve was declared at 130,000.
20.-In the Court of Queen's Bench, the action, le Strange _v._ Rowe, which raised an important question as to sea-sh.o.r.e rights, came on for hearing. The defendant was proceeded against for taking s.h.i.+ngle, sand, and sh.e.l.l-fish from the sea sh.o.r.e in the manor of Snettisham, belonging to the plaintiff. About twenty special pleas were set up by the defendant and demurred to in point of law, on the broad ground that there could not be in law any such rights as alleged, ”either in all the subjects of the realm or by Royal grant or by custom or by prescription in inhabitants or occupiers.” The Court deferred judgment, and ultimately referred the case to the Norfolk a.s.sizes for decision as to questions of fact. At Norwich, on August 4th, the case was adjourned to enable the plaintiff to amend the declarations. The case came before Lord Chief Justice Erle at the Norfolk a.s.sizes on August 13th, 1866, when the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, damages one s.h.i.+lling. In the Court of Queen's Bench, on May 28th, 1867, application was made for a new trial, on the ground of misdirection and that the verdict was given for the plaintiff against the weight of evidence. The application was refused.
23.-An earthquake shock was distinctly felt along the coast from Scratby, on the north of Yarmouth, to Lowestoft, on the south.
24.-The Queen's birthday was observed as a general holiday at Norwich. A detachment of the 16th Lancers and the Volunteers were reviewed in Chapel Field, and fired a _feu de joie_ in the Market Place; the Mayor gave a luncheon at the Guildhall, and the Volunteers were entertained at the Corn Hall. The Mayor's ball took place in the evening, at St. Andrew's Hall.
27.-Considerable opposition was manifested, not only by the villagers, but by the citizens of Norwich, to an attempt made by Capt. Bellairs to enclose Mulbarton Common. A meeting was held in the village, at which a strong protest was made against the proposal, and it was a.s.serted that if ever the ancestors of Capt. Bellairs had possessed the power to effect the enclosure, they had allowed their rights to lapse.
JUNE.
2.-The detachment of the 16th Lancers, _en route_ to India, marched from the Cavalry Barracks, Norwich, accompanied to the city boundary by the officers and band of the Norfolk Light Horse Volunteers.
7.-Mr. A. Dennison, brother of the Speaker of the House of Commons, visited Norwich, for the purpose of hearing the bells of St. Peter Mancroft. ”He rang the tenor in good style, and was highly delighted with the quality of tone of this far-famed peal of twelve.”
9.-In the Court of the Queen's Bench, application was made in the action, the Queen _v._ the Middle Level Commissioners, for a rule calling upon them to show cause why a mandamus should not issue commanding them to make and maintain a bridge with a commodious road or hailing path in the place formerly occupied by their sluice which was destroyed in the great inundation in 1862. A rule was granted. (_See_ January 7th, 1867.)
13.-At a special meeting of the Norwich Town Council, a report was received from Mr. Bazalgette, C.E., who had visited Norwich with the view of determining what steps could be taken for the immediate purification of the river Wensum in the vicinity of the city. He stated that it would be impossible to render the river pure so long as it continued to be a receptacle for the town refuse; and he had examined the city and suburbs to ascertain how to improve the drainage and to dispose of the sewage.
The time would come, he added, when a drainage scheme would be urgently necessary, and very costly. The Council authorised the Sanitary and River Committees to expend a sum not exceeding 50 in obtaining levels and plans and other information required by Mr. Bazalgette, ”to a.s.sist him in the preparation of his scheme for diverting the drainage from the river.” On October 17th Mr. Bazalgette's scheme was laid before the Council. It provided for two intercepting sewers, one for the higher and the other for the lower parts of the city, both forming a junction on the opposite side of the river near Trowse Station, whence the sewage would be conveyed to a point on Mr. Harvey's estate at Crown Point, to the east of the old Whitlingham Road. The plan also comprised the completion of the drainage of the western part of the city, then unconnected with the main sewers. For the first part of the scheme 50,000 was required, and for the latter 30,000. On October 31st the Council adopted a recommendation of the Sanitary and River Committees, that it was desirable to try more fully the possibility of cleansing the river by flus.h.i.+ng and sluicing or otherwise before proceeding to carry out Mr.
Bazalgette's report; that the City Engineer be instructed accordingly; and that immediate steps be taken to improve the drainage on the south side of the city, at a cost not exceeding 10,000. (_See_ April 21st, 1866.)
15.-The first two-days' show of the Norfolk Agricultural a.s.sociation commenced in Chapel Field, Norwich. The society's dinner was held at the Royal Hotel, and was presided over by the Marquis Townshend.
17.-Died at Elm Lodge, near Hampton, Lord Charles FitzRoy, second son of the fourth Duke of Grafton. His lords.h.i.+p was born on February 28th, 1791, and married, in 1825, Anne, eldest daughter of George Augustus Henry, first Earl of Burlington. Lord Charles was at the battle of Corunna, and served in the Walcheren Expedition with the Guards. In 1811 he joined Lord Hill's staff, and was present at the siege and capture of Badajoz, and at the battles of Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Othes, Toulouse, and Waterloo, and received the war medal with eight clasps.
For two years he served with the army of occupation in France. His lords.h.i.+p sat in Parliament, as member for Thetford, from 1818 till the pa.s.sing of the Reform Bill, and at the General Election which ensued was elected for Bury, in the Liberal interest. He was Vice-Chancellor of the Household from 1835 to 1839, and was also appointed a Privy Councillor.
In four successive Parliaments he represented Bury, and resigned his seat in 1847.
JULY.
1.-The 5.30 p.m. express from London to Norwich had a narrow escape. On reaching a portion of the line near Harford Bridges, the engine, on running down the incline, left the metals, and, tearing up the permanent way for some distance, stopped on the wooden bridge which crosses the Yare a little below Old Lakenham. ”One of the carriages was overturned, and the occupants, among whom was Lord Stafford, had to make their escape by climbing through the windows which were then uppermost.” None of the pa.s.sengers were seriously hurt.
7.-At a Liberal meeting held at St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich, certain accusations founded upon letters received from Mr. John Bright, M.P., were made against Mr. Robert Edmond Chester Waters, one of the Conservative candidates for the representation of the city. The princ.i.p.al charges were that Mr. Waters (previously a Liberal) had been compelled to resign his members.h.i.+p of the Reform Club for cheating at cards, and that while he came before the Norwich electors as a Protestant Churchman, in Rome he professed to be a Roman Catholic. Mr. Waters declared these statements to be scandalous and false; and on the 8th announced that he had authorised legal proceedings to be taken against Sir William Foster and the Rev. George Gould for making imputations on his personal character. On the 10th a deputation, consisting of Messrs.
H. S. Patteson, Edward Field, D. Dalrymple, and J. H. Tillett, proceeded to London to investigate at the Reform Club the truth of the allegations, and in the course of the day the following telegram was received simultaneously by Sir Samuel Bignold and Sir William Foster: ”We have the minutes. They have been produced before us, and we find that it is true that Mr. Waters was accused of cheating at cards at the Reform Club, and unanimously called upon by the committee to resign to prevent expulsion, and further that he did, on receiving that communication, resign on the 23rd November, 1860.” The telegram was dated from the Reform Club, and signed by the deputation. In consequence of the telegram, Messrs. Fred Brown, J. B. Morgan, F. E. Watson, and Henry Ling issued a notice stating that they felt it their duty to withdraw their support from Mr. Waters as one of the candidates for the city. Mr. Waters thereupon stated that he would stand independently. The nomination took place at the Guildhall on the 11th. The other candidates were Sir William Russell and Mr. Edward Warner, Liberals; and Mr. Augustus Goldsmid, Conservative. The polling took place on the 12th, and was officially declared on the 13th, as follows:-Russell, 1,845; Warner, 1,838; Goldsmid, 1,466; Waters, 1,363.
Mr. Waters, who was exceedingly popular with what the NORFOLK CHRONICLE described as ”the lower order of Conservatives,” made a return visit to Norwich on October 10th, and was escorted by a torchlight procession round the city. Thirty thousand people a.s.sembled in the Market Place, the bells of St. Peter Mancroft were rung, and the late candidate, after making a complimentary call upon Sir Samuel Bignold, proceeded to the Norfolk Hotel and addressed from the window a dense crowd a.s.sembled in St. Giles' Street. On the 11th he was entertained at dinner by the Eldon Club; and at St. Andrew's Hall, on the 12th, was received with the utmost enthusiasm by a crowded audience. Mr. Waters, who was accompanied by Lord Henry Thynne and Sir Alfred Slade, was presented with a ma.s.sive silver epergne, ”by a very large number of the Conservatives of Norwich, as an expression of their cordial sympathy and regard, and in appreciation of the gallant and chivalrous spirit in which, under difficulties unprecedented, he fought the battle of the Conservative cause loyally, courteously, and fearlessly at the Parliamentary election for Norwich, 1865.” A ”testimonial dinner” was given to Mr. Waters at the Norfolk Hotel on the evening of the 13th, when the Norwich Conservative a.s.sociation was inaugurated. Upwards of 100 members were at once enrolled, and on the 14th Sir Samuel Bignold, in response to the request of a deputation, accepted the presidency.
8.-A meeting of the independent electors of East Norfolk was held at the Swan Hotel, Norwich, for the purpose of selecting a candidate to contest the const.i.tuency in the interests of the supporters of the movement for the repeal of the Malt Tax. Mr. Clare Sewell Read, who had been for some time prominently identified with the party in favour of the repeal, was unanimously chosen. Mr. Jacob Henry Tillett attended the meeting and made a remarkable speech. If Mr. Read were nominated, he said, he would help him to the utmost of his power; and he added, ”If you want money, if you want help, if you want what enthusiasm I can put into the cause, let your chairman write to me and I will respond with all my heart.” The nomination took place at the s.h.i.+rehall on the 15th. Several times the proceedings were stayed and consultations held by the leaders of the respective parties, with the view of effecting a compromise. The candidates nominated were Mr. Edward Howes, Sir Thomas Beauchamp, and Col. c.o.ke. Mr. Robert Leamon offered not to proceed with the nomination of Mr. Read if the Liberal party would pledge themselves to return to Parliament a Malt Tax repealer; in the absence of that a.s.surance he nominated Mr. Read, whose candidature was seconded by Mr. H. S. Grimmer.
It was subsequently agreed by the friends of Mr. Howes to permit the name of Mr. Read to appear upon the election cards and posters issued by the former. The poll was opened on the 18th, and was officially declared on the 20th, as follows:-Howes, 3,100; Read, 2,985; Beauchamp, 2,150; c.o.ke, 1,994
11.-The nomination of candidates for the representation of Yarmouth was held at the Town Hall. Sir E. H. K. Lacon, Bart., and Mr. J. Goodson, Conservatives, and Mr. Philip Vanderbyl and Mr. Brogden, liberals, were nominated. The polling took place on the 12th, and resulted as follows:-Lacon 828; Goodson, 784; Brogden, 634; Vanderbyl, 589. (_See_ March 20th, 1866.)
11.-At Thetford, the Hon. Alexander Hugh Baring and Mr. Robert John Harvey Harvey, Conservatives, and Mr. Thomas Dakin (Alderman of London and Sheriff of Middles.e.x), Liberal, were nominated to represent the borough. The poll, on the 12th, resulted as follows:-Harvey, 193; Baring, 137; Dakin, 69.