27.--At the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Justice Maule, Samuel Yarham was
indicted for the murder of Harriet Candler, at Yarmouth, on November
18th, 1844. The prisoner, who at the Spring Assizes in 1845 turned
Queen's evidence against three other men (Hall, Mapes, and Royal) charged
with the murder, had made certain admissions which led to his
apprehension at Gloucester, where he had gone to work. The jury found
him guilty, and he was sentenced to death. The execution took place on
the Castle Hill, Norwich, on April 11th (Tombland Fair-day), in the
presence of 30,000 spectators. "Eight hundred persons came from
Wymondham in one train; it was found necessary to use bullock-trucks to
convey the people, there not being a sufficient number of regular
carriages." The fancy fair (the Sick Poor Repository) and all business
in the city was suspended during the morning. "After the execution,
gongs, drums, and other instruments commenced their uproar, mountebanks
and clowns their antics, the vendors of wares and exhibitors of prodigies
their cries, while the whirligigs and ups-and-downs were soon in full
swing. The public-houses round the Hill were crowded, and hundreds
finished the day in riot and intoxication. Royal and Hall were on the
Hill during the execution, and got jostled by the crowd. They were
turned out of the Golden Ball public-house and other houses where they
presented themselves." Owing to the scandalous character of the
proceedings, a public meeting was held at St. Andrew's Hall on April
17th, under the presidency of the Mayor, when it was decided to petition
Parliament for the abolition of capital punishment.