1.--Mr. G. V. Brooke appeared at Norwich Theatre as Sir Edward Mortimer
("The Iron Chest"). During the short season he performed a round of his
favourite characters.
6.*--"We regret to find our anticipations that the Eastern Counties'
Railway is to terminate at Colchester have been realised, as it seems the
directors have come to the conclusion not to carry it further, in
accordance with the wishes of the Lancashire proprietors, who hare so
great a stake in the undertaking." On May 6th a rule _nisi_ was granted
in the Bail Court to compel the Company to proceed with the works in
accordance with their original contract with the public. (The Act of
Parliament was obtained upon the representation that the line should be
carried from London to Yarmouth.) In the Court of Queen's Bench on June
22nd Lord Chief Justice Denman, in delivering judgment on the points
raised, said: "Upon the whole, without coming to any final decision, we
think the case is involved in such doubt as to require the return of the
mandamus, and that a writ should go for that purpose."
9.--At the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Justice Vaughan, John Hall and Wm.
Palmer were indicted upon the unusual charge of stealing a bell from a
parish church. The bell was lying in the west end of North Walsham
church, and the prisoners, with the assistance of a man named John
Daniels (who turned Queen's evidence), took it away in a cart, broke it
up, and endeavoured to dispose of the metal in Norwich. The prisoners
were sentenced to one year's imprisonment, with hard labour. (For an
account of a similar theft see December 28th, 1839.)
10.--At the same Assizes, before Lord Chief Justice Tindal, an action was
brought against an overseer named Burrell, of Lynn, for the recovery of a
penalty of 50 pounds for failing to deliver a signed list of persons
claiming to be registered as voters under the Municipal Reform Act. A
verdict was given for the plaintiff, a Mr. King, for the amount claimed.
11.--Charles Daines was indicted at the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr.
Justice Vaughan, for the wilful murder of Elizabeth Daines, his infant
daughter, by poisoning her at Hempnall on March 11th. The prisoner was
acquitted. He was then charged with attempting to murder his wife by
poisoning her with arsenic, found guilty, and sentenced to death. The
execution took place on the Castle Hill, Norwich, on April 27th. "He
appeared to die an exceedingly hard death. He clasped his hands, and
raised his arms several times towards his breast, as if in the act of
prayer, unquestionably showing that consciousness had not left him. His
remains were buried in St. Michael-at-Thorn churchyard."
13.*--"We understand it is in contemplation to revive in Norwich under
different regulations and on a more extensive scale those annual art
exhibitions, which for the last six years have ceased to take place. It
is proposed to form a society, through the medium of which artists and
amateurs in Norwich and its neighbourhood may have the opportunity of
offering to public inspection and patronage productions in any department
of art. The large room in the building, lately occupied as a bazaar in
St. Andrew's, is to form the gallery." (The exhibition was opened on
August 16th.)
--*"An enormous eel was lately brought to Norwich Fish-market. It
weighed 25 lbs., and was sold to be placed in the collection of a London
naturalist."
13.--Died at Doughty's Hospital, Norwich, Elizabeth Bentley, "the Norwich
poetess," in the 72nd year of her age. She was born in the parish of All
Saints, and was the only child of Daniel Bentley, a journeyman shoemaker,
who died in 1783. Two years after her father's death she developed a
taste for versification, and in 1791 appeared the first volume of her
poems, dedicated to Mr. Wm. Drake, jun., M.P. The profits of the
publication (from the contributions of nearly 2,000 subscribers) enabled
her for many years, with the income arising from a small school, to
support the declining age of her mother. Another volume of her poems was
published in 1821.