4.--A fire occurred at Hunstanton Hall. The rooms were quickly cleared
of the paintings and furniture, which were safely deposited in the school
house. There being no possibility of saving the south and west sides,
great efforts were made to preserve the north and east sides, with which
object the communicating portions of the building were broken down, and
the flames thus prevented from extending. In a few hours the roof of the
west side fell in. "The bed in which it is generally believed Queen
Elizabeth slept was not injured in the slightest degree." The damage to
the hall was estimated at 10,000 pounds.
7.--Intelligence was received at Norwich of the birth of a Prince (Prince
Leopold), at Buckingham Palace. Flags were hoisted on the public
buildings, and peals rung upon the bells of St. Peter Mancroft.
19.--The men enrolled to serve in the First or West Norfolk Regiment of
Militia assembled at Norwich for twenty-eight days' training. The
officers were: Col. the Earl of Orford, Lieut.-Col. Nelthorpe, Major
William E. Lytton Bulwer, Captains Hamilton F. Custance, Charles
Bedingfeld, the Hon. Fred. Walpole, George A. Marsham, Mordaunt Glasse,
H. L. Styleman le Strange; Lieutenants M. Gooda, Gordon Calthrop, Thomas
S. Clarke, H. D. Walff, C. Girling, Chas. E. Bignold, John Edwin Day, A.
W. Smith, Robert G. Hawtayne; Ensign Thomas Edward Baker; Adjutant and
Acting Paymaster and Acting Quartermaster A. W. Smith; Surgeon Thomas W.
Crosse; Assistant Surgeon T. E. Baker. The mess was at the Swan Hotel.
"The corps consists of 612 men, and notwithstanding the vulgar sneers,
reproaches, ridicule, and even hooting which they experienced from the
rabble on their first appearance in the streets, in no instance was this
conduct resented. We are glad that the conduct of our Liberals, by
publicly parading disgusting flags, and the Peace Society in circulating
exciting and seditious handbills, with the view to holding up this force
to contempt and ridicule, has signally failed." The East Norfolk Militia
assembled at Yarmouth on the same date. "Their appearance was much more
respectable than might have been expected, and many of those who were
prepared to ridicule them acknowledged that they were a much better class
than they expected." The officers were: Col. the Hon. Berkeley
Wodehouse; Lieut.-Col. William Mason; Major Sir E. K. Lacon; Captains
John Longe, the Hon. Bertram Wodehouse, John Marcon, Henry Cormick,
George Grenville Glover, John Gay; Lieutenants William Robert Freeman,
Richard Hall, Henry Thomas Knapman, William Danby Palmer, Richard Lee
Mayhew, William Reed, Frederick John Reyne, George Chester Wood,
Alexander Robert Chamberlin; Adjutant William P. K. Browne; Surgeon John
Capern Smith; Assistant-Surgeon Spencer Thomas Smyth. Of the 612 men
enrolled, 571 appeared on parade. The Earl of Leicester, as Lord
Lieutenant of the county, inspected the East Norfolk Regiment at Yarmouth
on May 12th, and the West Norfolk Regiment at Norwich on the 13th. The
men of the latter corps were entertained at dinner at St. Andrew's Hall
after the inspection. The cost of the entertainment was defrayed by
public subscription.
26.--The foundation-stone of the Wayland Hall, Watton, was laid by Lady
Walsingham. The hall was opened on November 3rd, on the occasion of the
annual meeting of the Wayland Society, at which Lord Walsingham presided.
27.--A fine schooner, named the Ocean Child, was launched from the
ship-yard of Mr. Southgate, at Wells-next-the-Sea.
30.*--"Died lately at Bergh Apton, at an advanced age, Mr. John Dawson,
deputy registrar for the Loddon Union. He was likewise known as an
active peace officer. Previous to the establishment of the police force,
the whole business of thief-taking devolved upon petty constables, but as
the requisite tact and intelligence was not found in every parish, what
was called a running constable was usually appointed in each petty
sessional division, who was considered the detective-officer of the
district. Mr. Dawson was justly considered one of the first of his
profession. Upon the formation of the new force these hitherto
indispensable functionaries were entirely superseded, and Dawson, among
others, found his occupation gone."