Volume Ii Part 81 (1/2)

15.-The Rev. O. W. Tanc.o.c.k, it was announced, had resigned the headmasters.h.i.+p of King Edward VI. School, Norwich, on accepting the living of Little Waltham, near Chelmsford. He was succeeded by the Rev.

E. F. Gilbard.

18.-Mr. Melton Prior, special artist on the staff of the ”Ill.u.s.trated London News,” lectured at Noverre's Rooms, Norwich, on ”What I saw in Burmah.”

21.-Two large granaries at North Walsham, belonging to Messrs. Cubitt and Walker, were destroyed by fire. The damage amounted to 4,000.

22.-Died, at the residence of her sister, at Weybridge, Surrey, Lady Sophia Jane Beevor, in her 66th year. She was the daughter of the Rev.

Clement Chevallier, of Bedingham, Suffolk, and was twice married. Her first husband was Mr. Isaac Jermy Jermy, one of the victims of the terrible murders committed by James Blomfield Rush at Stanfield Hall on November 28th, 1848. In that outrage Mrs. Jermy Jermy narrowly escaped with her life; she was. .h.i.t in the arm by a bullet, and the limb was afterwards amputated. In 1850 she married Sir Thomas Beevor, Bart., and became greatly esteemed at Hingham, where she resided for many years.

24.-A military tournament given by the 20th Hussars in aid of the city charities, commenced at the Agricultural Hall, Norwich, and was continued until March 1st.

25.-The Norwich Town Council addressed a memorial to the Postmaster-General praying for the cessation of the Sunday delivery of letters. The Post Office authorities declined to accede to the request.

-The City Committee recommended the Norwich Town Council to sanction the opening of St. Andrew's Hall on Sunday evenings for two months for the purpose of giving recitals of sacred music therein by and under the direction of the committee. A memorial, signed by the clergy and Nonconformist ministers, was presented, protesting against the proposal, and requesting the Corporation to receive a deputation upon the subject.

The meeting declined to accede to the latter request, and the recommendation of the committee was deferred. Meanwhile sermons were preached in churches and chapels for and against the proposal, and public meetings were held at which remarkable opinions were expressed. At the adjourned meeting of the Council, held on March 4th, the committee's recommendation was negatived by 30 votes against 14.

MARCH.

1.-Severe wintry weather was experienced in Norfolk; snow fell heavily on the 2nd, accompanied by a keen north-east wind and frost of great intensity.

-The Rev. Ambrose Johnson, rector of Toftrees, arrived at Norwich for the purpose of consulting a firm of solicitors about bankruptcy proceedings.

After transacting his business he was seen walking in Prince of Wales Road in the direction of Thorpe railway station; then all trace was lost of him. On the 12th the unfortunate gentleman was discovered in a shrubbery at Bramerton Hall, in a weak and emaciated condition. He was at once removed to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, and upon recovering somewhat, stated that he took shelter in the shrubbery during a heavy snowstorm on the 1st or 2nd, and had remained there up to the time of his discovery. His feet were severely frostbitten and he was in a most feeble state of mind and body, the result of starvation and exposure.

One foot dropped off upon his admission to the Hospital, and it was found necessary to amputate the other. Mr. Johnson lingered until May 2nd, when death put an end to his sufferings.

5.-The course of ”Science Lectures for the People,” arranged by the Corporation of Norwich, was continued at St. Andrew's Hall. The lecturer was Mr. Louis f.a.gan, of the Prints and Drawings Department, British Museum, and the subject, ”Egyptian, a.s.syrian, and Babylonian Antiquities.” The concluding lecture was given on the 26th by Mr. Henry Seebohm on ”Adventures in Siberia.” It was descriptive of the lecturer's travels with Captain Wiggins, whom he described as ”a Norwich man whose father drove one of the coaches which ran between Norwich and London in those dark days before railways were introduced. Captain Wiggins as a young man did not think that driving a coach was sufficiently ambitious for him, and he therefore made up his mind to drive a s.h.i.+p.” Another course was commenced on November 13th, when Sir Robert Ball lectured on ”An Astronomer's Thoughts about Krakatoa.” (_See_ January 6th, 1891.)

7.-The Norwich School Board agreed by a majority to pet.i.tion Parliament to enact that public elementary schools be thrown open free of all charge, and that they be placed under ”popular control.”

12.-Died, at Old Post Office Street, Norwich, Mr. John Goldsmith Atkinson. A son of Mr. Funnell Goldsmith Atkinson, he was born July 14th, 1814, and was admitted a solicitor in the Easter Term of 1836. He represented the Second Ward as a Conservative from 1872 to 1881, and had served for twenty-nine years in the Norwich Artillery Volunteers, of which he was honorary quartermaster.

12.-Died, at Oby Rectory, the Rev. Wm. Cufaude Davie, M.A. He was born at Yarmouth on November 13th, 1822, and educated at the Grammar School in that town and at St. John's College, Cambridge. After fulfilling for two years the duties of a.s.sistant mathematical master at Eton, he was in 1846 appointed headmaster of Yarmouth Grammar School. In 1852 he became curate-in-charge of Intwood and Keswick, and from 1858 to 1875 was princ.i.p.al of the Norwich Diocesan Training College. Mr. Davie was closely identified with educational work in the diocese, and was a candidate for the headmasters.h.i.+p of Norwich Grammar School in opposition to the Rev. Dr. Jessopp.

23.-Father Ignatius held a mission service at the Agricultural Hall, Norwich, and on the 24th preached to a crowded congregation at the church of St. John de Sepulchre.

26.-Died, at Rokeles, Watton, Mr. Henry Woods, agent for the Merton estate. He was a well-known authority upon the breeding and management of sheep.

APRIL.

2.-A meeting was held at the Guildhall, Norwich, for the purpose of furthering the efforts made by Mr. T. W. Richardson and Mr. W. S.

Warlters for the formation in the city of a bearer company of the Volunteer Medical Staff Corps. A few weeks afterwards Mr. Richardson was gazetted surgeon, Mr. Warlters acting surgeon, and Mr. Frederic Mills quartermaster.

10.-The Norwich Diocesan Conference met at Noverre's Rooms, Norwich, under the presidency of the Lord Bishop. The session was concluded on the 11th.

20.-Died, at Northrepps Hall, Mr. John Henry Gurney, in his 71st year.

The only son of Joseph John Gurney, of Earlham Hall, so prominently a.s.sociated with Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton in his efforts to abolish slavery in the West Indies, Mr. Gurney married Mary Jary, daughter of Richard Hanbury Gurney, of Thickthorn. Of the marriage there were two sons, Mr. J. H. Gurney and Mr. Richard J. H. Gurney. In 1854 he entered Parliament as member for King's Lynn, and sat for that borough until his resignation in 1865. As a naturalist Mr. Gurney was a recognised authority both in Europe and America, more especially on raptorial birds, and the magnificent collection in the Norfolk and Norwich (now the Castle) Museum owes its existence almost entirely to his energy and liberality. He was for many years a member of the East Anglian banking firm of Gurneys and Birkbecks, a justice of the peace for Norfolk, senior member of the Norwich Bench, and a magistrate for Lynn.