Pickpockets were again in town, and John Webb had been robbed by them of
£4 15s.
Mr. Smyth had been appointed Surgeon to the Gaol in the place of Mr. H.
Worship deceased.
1855.
Jan. 6th.—There had been a high tide and heavy flood; 130 yards of the
rails between Yarmouth and Reedham had been carried away by the latter.
The following gentlemen had been chosen as the Library Committee.—The
Mayor (C. J. Palmer, Esq.), Rev. J. B. Bampton, Rev. H. Squire, and
Messrs. B. Fenn, R. R. B. Norman, J. Bayly, and S. C. Burton.
It was considered too cold to drill the Militia on the South-denes.
Jan. 13th.—The following quantity of fish had been forwarded from
Yarmouth during the preceding year:—
Packages. Tons. Cwt.
From Jan. to Sep. 282,441 10,591 10
,, Oct. to Dec. 250,981 9,411 15
Total 533,422 20,003 5
During the week 20 men of the East Norfolk Militia had volunteered for
the line.
At the Tract Lenders’ Festival 400 persons had partaken of tea at the
Priory. They were addressed by the Rev. G. Hills, Rev. G. W. Grogan and
other friends.
Jan. 17th.—The Norfolk Artillery Militia had received an order to be
permanently embodied from the 23rd inst.
Jan. 20th.—Sixty more men had volunteered from the East Norfolk Militia
for the line, making a total of 300 of such volunteers in all.
Winter had set in “with all the vigour and severity peculiar to this
portion of the Eastern Coast.”
Jan. 24th.—The weather continued intensely cold, and the navigation of
the rivers were stopped by the accumulation of ice.
The District Visiting Society was doing great work in the way of
alleviating distress.
Pickpockets were still at work. A woman had been robbed by one of them
in the Market Row of 8s. 6d., and Mrs. Pole, of Burgh Castle, had
suffered a loss of £2 17s. in this way.
Jan. 27th.—The Norfolk Artillery Militia had assembled,—156
non-commissioned officers and men, with the following officers: Captain
Astley, Lieutenants Penrice, Tredcroft and North, Adjutant Gilberton, and
Surgeon C. C. Aldred. Lord Hastings had not yet joined them.
The Rev. Bowyer Vaux had announced to the Hospital Committee that the
Medical Library of the late Mr. Harry Worship would be presented to that
Institution.
Bro. William Lucia had been elected W.M. of Lodge “Friendship,” in
succession to Bro. Oswald Diver.
Feb. 14th.—The business of the Port had been much affected by the rigour
of the weather.
Feb. 17th.—Thirty-four men had volunteered from the Norfolk Militia
Artillery for the Royal Artillery.
The South-quay was blocked by the coal carts near the Town Hall, and
great complaints being made about this it was suggested that the colliers
should unload at a wider part of the quay.
Feb. 21st.—The Subscription Ball had been attended by the Mayor and Mrs.
Charles Palmer, Lieutenant-Colonel Mason, the Honourable Mr. Harbord, Mr.
Astley, Mr. Graver Brown, Mrs. E. Graver Brown, Reverend A. B. Smyth,
Captain Gay, Captain and Mrs. Rippingall, Captain and Mrs. Mathew,
Captain, Mrs., and Miss Pearson, Mr. and Mrs. Meadwell, Mr., Mrs., and
Miss E. H. L. Preston, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Marsh, Mr., Mrs., and the
Misses Steward, Mr. and Miss Chevallier, Mr. and Mrs. Freeman, Mr. and
Mrs. Ferrier, Mr. Smith, (East Norfolk Militia) Mr. Smyth (East Norfolk
Militia) and Mrs. Smyth, Mr. Palgrave, Mr. and the Misses Barber, Mr.
Boycott, Mr. Press, Mr. Aldred, Mr. Eyre, &c., &c.
The town was infested by a gang of thieves.
Four deserters from the Royal Navy had been captured in the town.
A meeting had been held for the relief of the poor, the Mayor presided,
and the Rev. G. Hills, and Messrs. R. Hammond, E. H. L. Preston, T.
Brightwen, S. Dowson, R. Steward, R. Ferrier, and W. N. Burroughs took
part in the proceedings. Mr. George Danby-Palmer sent £10 to the fund,
and more than £200 was then collected in the room.
Feb. 24th.—Full power to act as a Burial Board had been vested in the
Town Council, and the following Committee of that body appointed to carry
out the Act:—The Mayor, and Messrs. R. Ferrier, F. Worship, E. R. Aldred,
W. N. Burroughs, J. Jackson, C. E. Bartram, P. Pullyn, and T. Foreman.
Feb. 28th.—A thaw had commenced, and it was hoped that the River traffic
would soon be able to be resumed.
Mr. Gyngell had superintended a grand display of fireworks on the Star
Quay, which was witnessed by about 7,000 or 8,000 persons.
March 3rd.—A ship of war was likely to be stationed in the Roads to
protect the shipping there.
The first of the frozen-in wherries had been liberated at Reedham, and
the Steam Packet communication had been resumed with London.
March 10th.—The Norfolk Militia Artillery had been removed to London _en
route_ for Eastbourne; when 170 men and the following officers, Captain
Penrice, Adjutant Gilbertson, Lieutenants Tredcroft, North, and
Micklewaite, left the town.
A meeting, at the Angel Hotel, had been held for the purpose of
establishing a pack of harriers; Mr. H. Grimmer was chairman, Mr. Jex, of
Hopton, undertook to purchase the hounds, and Mr. J. L. Cufaude to act as
honorary secretary to the Committee.
March 14th.—The Market was to be held on Tuesday the 20th, as Wednesday,
the 21st, had been proclaimed a day for fasting and humiliation.
The Batteries were being armed with 24-pounders, and it was proposed to
construct a fort on Gorleston Cliff, to be armed with 68 pound guns.
March 17th.—Lectures had been delivered by the Rev. R. Cory on
“Jerusalem,” and by Mr Craft (a man of colour) upon “American Slavery.”
Bro. Robert Harmer had presided at the annual dinner of the “Druids,
Trinity Lodge, 220.”
March 21st.—Several complaints had been made of unprovoked assaults by
members of the East Norfolk Militia upon respectable inhabitants of the
town.
March 24th.—At the Quarter Sessions, the Grand Jury presented the foul
state of the Court House at the Tolhouse.
The national Fast Day had been strictly observed.
Robberies continued to be very frequently committed in the town.
April 4th.—H.M.S. “Harrier” (17 guns) was then stationed in the Roads,
and a rendezvous had been opened for Volunteers to the North Sea fleet.
Three hundred men of the East Norfolk Militia had claimed a right to be
dismissed, having served 56 days in the then year under the terms of
their enlistments, and they were dismissed accordingly.
April 7th.—Messrs. Green, Borking, Clayton, and Harbord had been
appointed Overseers, which, as a “partizan” step, was justified by Mr. C.
C. Aldred, and objected to by Mr. R. Hammond.
April 14th.—A militiaman had been buried with military honours.
Messrs. Aldred and Steward had been re-elected Churchwardens by the
Vestry.
The Vestry decided on the question of making a Church rate, when there
appeared 64 for and 87 against the rate, but the majority did not press
the matter any further, and ultimately a rate of 1½d. in the £ was agreed
to.