2.--A ten mile match, for 20 pounds a side, was run at the Green Hill
Gardens, between Robert Bunn, of Norwich, and John Lovett, of London.
The first-named won; time, 58 minutes.
3.--The West Norfolk Militia, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Custance,
left Norwich for Aldershot. In December the regiment was transferred to
Dublin.
--Great festivities took place at Ellingham Hall, in celebration of the
coming of age of Mr. Henry Smith, son and heir of Lieut.-Col. Smith. A
dinner, at which 160 guests were present, was followed by sports, and in
the evening dancing was opened upon the lawn by Mr. Smith and Miss Foster
in a "Sir Roger de Coverley."
5.--The marriage took place at East Dereham, of Captain William Earle
Gascoyne Bulwer, late Scots Fusilier Guards, eldest son of Mr. William E.
Lytton Bulwer, of Heydon Hall, and Mary Anne Dering, only daughter of Mr.
William Wilson Lee Warner, of Quebec House. The officiating clergy were
the Rev. G. Dashwood, rector of Stow Bardolph, and the Rev. B. J.
Armstrong, vicar of East Dereham.
7.--Mr. Edmond Wodehouse, M.P., announced that it was his intention to
retire from the representation of East Norfolk, in consequence of his
continued ill-health. Mr. Henry Josiah Stracey was adopted as the
Conservative candidate, and was returned unopposed on the 17th.
8.--Died at Ems, Sir William Edward Parry, R.N., Lieut.-Governor of
Greenwich Hospital. He was an LL.D. of Oxford, a F.R.S. of London and
Edinburgh, a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St.
Petersburg, and author of a work entitled, "Thoughts on the Parental
Character of God." He married first, on October 23rd, 1826, Isabella
Louisa, fourth daughter of Lord Stanley of Alderley, by whom he had issue
two sons and two daughters. She died on May 13th, 1839. On June 29th,
1841, he married, secondly, Catherine Edwards, daughter of the Rev. R.
Hankinson, of Walpole, and widow of Mr. Samuel Hoare, jun., of Hampstead,
by whom he had issue two daughters. Sir William was an honorary freeman
of the city of Norwich. He had commanded four Arctic expeditions, in all
of which he gained high professional renown. For these services he
received the honour of knighthood, and was presented by the Government
with 1,000 pounds, his portion of a reward for reaching the meridian of
110 degs. W. within the Arctic circle.
18.--Died, at an advanced age, at Norwich, John Osborne. "He was a
well-known character, and for many years drove the Yarmouth coach, and
for some time the mail coach between Norwich and Ipswich. The railway,
however, put an end to his vocation. Every morning he attended service
at the Cathedral. Even when he was the driver of the coach to Yarmouth
he stipulated he should have his Sunday, in order that he might be in his
accustomed place at the Cathedral."
26.--At the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Baron Parke and a special jury,
was tried the action, Fisher _v._ Nisbett. This was a will case, which
excited considerable interest on account of the large amount of property
in dispute and the number of persons concerned. The plaintiff was Miss
Mary Ann Fisher, and the nominal defendant Mr. Philip Blundell Nisbett.
The actual defendant was Mr. Richard Blundell Nisbett. The question at
issue was the validity of the will of a lady named Nisbett. The amount
in dispute was between 20,000 and 30,000 pounds in real property, and a
larger amount in personal property. The father of Mrs. Nisbett was a Mr.
Fisher, a banker, of Yarmouth. Mary Ann Fisher, the plaintiff, was one
of his daughters. All the children were dead in 1854 with the exception
of Mary Ann Fisher. In the year 1811, when the deceased Mrs. Nisbett
married, her father settled on her the sum of 10,000 pounds, and gave her
during life an annuity of 500 pounds, while all that Mr. Nisbett brought
was the sum of 7,000 pounds. In 1824 Mr. Nisbett died. Of the marriage
there were three sons; two had died, and at the time of the trial the
only one living was the eldest, Philip Blundell Nisbett, a confirmed
lunatic. In the year 1835 Mr. Fisher died, leaving property to the
amount of about 100,000 pounds. Mrs. Nisbett, after her father's death,
left the bulk of the property to Philip Blundell Nisbett. There now
appeared on the scene Mr. Richard Blundell Nisbett, a son of Mr.
Nisbett's brother, and nephew by marriage to Mrs. Nesbitt. He took out a
commission of lunacy against Philip, who was found to be a lunatic and
incapable of managing his own affairs. Then he endeavoured to get a
commission of lunacy against Mrs. Nisbett, but the Lord Chancellor, on
receiving the report of the medical men who examined her, dismissed the
petition, with costs. As soon as Mrs. Nisbett discovered the course that
Richard was pursuing, she made a new will, the effect of which was that
the property went to Miss Fisher, the plaintiff, for life, and after her
death to blood relations. On November 10th, 1854, Mrs. Nisbett died
suddenly, and these legal proceedings commenced. After evidence had been
given by medical men and others, the Attorney-General (Sir Alexander
Cockburn) who appeared for the defendant, unexpectedly withdrew from the
case, and a verdict was entered for the plaintiff.