3.--Hannah Manfield (or Saddler), aged 50, a woman of eccentric habits,
residing on Denver Common, was found dead in her cottage, with her throat
cut. A considerable quantity of plate had been taken from a cupboard,
and a sum of money, supposed to be nearly 20 pounds, was also stolen. On
the 14th Mr. Wright, a police-officer of Lynn, apprehended at Doncaster
John Smith, aged 25, John Varnhem, 23, and George Timms, 22, who were
committed for trial on the capital charge. (_See_ April 6th, 1837.)
5.--In consequence of a resolution passed at a special meeting of the
Town Council, the Mayor of Norwich convened a meeting at the Guildhall on
this date, "to take into consideration the sufferings of the poor in this
inclement season, and to adopt measures for relieving the same." A
public subscription was opened. At a general meeting of the subscribers,
on March 21st, Mr. W. G. Edwards, one of the secretaries, reported that
the amount subscribed was 2,008 pounds 7s. 3d., out of which a grant of
300 pounds was made to the Sick Poor Society; 20,093 coal tickets, and
37,831 bread tickets were distributed, and 423 pounds 3s. 5d. was placed
in the treasurer's hands to meet future emergencies.
7.--Wombwell's Menagerie was exhibited on the Castle Meadow, Norwich.
The proprietor presented to the Museum fine specimens of a lioness, boa
constrictor, racoon, and kangaroo.
13.--In the Rolls Court, Lord Langdale gave judgment in the action the
Attorney-General _v._ the Corporation of Norwich. He said that, as far
as regarded the _quo warrantos_, if a Corporation was not allowed to
defend an election duly made, the interests of corporations would be
hazarded in every case where a Mayor or other officer did not chose to be
at the expense of defending his own election against a rule _nisi_. It
was not a reasonable construction of the new statute that corporations
had no interests whatever in the charitable trusts of boroughs. It was
true that the administration of charitable estates was distinct from the
administration of borough funds, and that neither a corporation as a body
nor any member thereof in his corporate capacity ought to be trustees of
such estates; still, a corporation, in attending to the public benefits
of the inhabitants of a borough, had a due interest in the appointment of
those trustees. Under all the circumstances of the case, therefore, he
was of opinion that the demurrers must be allowed. At Norwich Assizes on
April 6th, before Mr. Justice Parke, the case Rex _v._ Brightwell was
tried by a special jury. This was an information in the nature of a _quo
warranto_, calling upon the defendant to show by what authority he
exercised the office of Alderman. Mr. Andrews, for the defendant,
contended that if he was not a good Alderman he was not a good Mayor; and
if he had not been legally elected Alderman, then all the other Aldermen
who had been elected in the same way were elected equally contrary to the
law, and all the proceedings which had taken place respecting the police
and borough rates would be bad, and the Corporation of the city entirely
dissolved, and nothing could cure the defect but a fresh Act of
Parliament. Mr. Kelly, for the Crown, urged that the law of England had
fixed from time immemorial that corporate officers should not be elected
in one batch, but that they must be proposed and voted for separately,
and that all elections conducted in any other way were null and void.
The jury returned a verdict for the Crown. In the Court of King's Bench,
on April 19th, application was made to move a rule to show cause why the
verdict for the Crown could not be set aside, on the ground that the
election was perfectly fair, and there was no pretence for saying that
the wishes and intentions of the electors had not been carried into
effect. A rule was granted. In the Court of Chancery, on May 6th, the
case assumed another phase. An information was filed against the
Corporation by Mr. Samuel Bignold, alleging that they intended to divert
their funds from corporate purposes by paying the expenses incurred by
the Town Clerk and other persons who had proceeded to London to support a
petition presented to the Lord Chancellor, in order to secure the return
of certain persons as trustees of the charities hitherto vested in the
old Corporation; and by paying the expenses arising out of the
proceedings by _quo warranto_ in the cases of Mr. Springfield and Mr.
Brightwell. The further hearing was adjourned till next term. On May
22nd it was reported to the Court of King's Bench that at a meeting of
the Town Council on the 19th, an order was passed "that 1,000 pounds be
paid to the Town Clerk on account of disbursements by him relative to law
proceedings," such law proceedings being the matter in which the
injunction had been applied for. The Lord Chancellor, on the 24th,
granted an order to restrain the payment of the amount. The appeal from
the decision of the Master of the Rolls, allowing a demurrer on the
information filed by Mr. Bignold, came before the Court of Chancery on
May 27th. The Lord Chancellor, after adjournment, gave judgment on the
demurrer against the injunction, and confirmed the decision of the Master
of the Rolls, with costs. At a meeting of the Town Council on June 2nd,
Mr. Bignold expressed his intention to carry the case to the House of
Lords.
13.--Died at St. Gregory's, Norwich, aged 81, Mr. William Lorkin. "He
was for 65 years a member of the Wesleyan Methodist body, having joined
them soon after Mr. Wesley first visited Norwich." In 1825 he published
a work entitled "A concise history of the establishment of Wesleyan
Methodism in Norwich."
28.--The influenza epidemic at this date prevailed in city and county,
and cases occurred in almost every family.
--An omnibus "upon the London plan" commenced running between Norwich and
North Walsham.
--The Magnet coach, from the Swan and Rampant Horse Inns, was advertised
to do the journey from Norwich to London, through Thetford and Newmarket,
every night, in twelve hours. "The proprietors, in returning thanks for
the very liberal patronage bestowed on them, beg most respectfully to
inform their friends and the public that they have, at an additional
expense, fixed a light inside this coach, which, having given such
universal satisfaction, will be continued."
31.--At a meeting of the Conservative party at the Norfolk Hotel,
Norwich, held under the presidency of Col. Harvey, the Marquis of Douro
was asked to become a candidate for the representation of the city, in
place of Lord Viscount Stormont, M.P., who had acceded to the request of
the electors of his own county, Perthshire, to offer himself as their
candidate on the dissolution of Parliament. The requisition to the
Marquis was signed by 1,600 of the electors of Norwich; his lordship
complied with the request and issued his address on February 13th. Lord
Douro and the sitting member, the Hon. Robert Campbell Scarlett,
commenced a personal canvass of the city on June 16th, and in the evening
attended a meeting of the Orange and Purple Club, at the Maid's Head
Hotel, at which they were unanimously adopted Conservative candidates.