5.--A reminiscence of the old convict days was forthcoming in a case
tried before Lord Chief Baron Pollock at the Norfolk Assizes. Cornelius
Bradnum, a fruit dealer, was indicted for being feloniously and
unlawfully at large at Heckingham on February 6th, 1865, "he having been
transported for the term of his natural life, in pursuance of a certain
judgment against him at the Norfolk Assizes on July 21st, 1847, on an
indictment for burglary." The prisoner, in his defence, made a
remarkable statement, to the effect that in consequence of his having
given information of an intended mutiny of the convicts at Gibraltar, his
sentence was mitigated to fifteen years. From Gibraltar he was sent to
Swan River, Western Australia, where the Governor gave him his ticket of
leave, and after "serving his ticket" he received a free pardon. He then
went to Callao, in Peru. One evening, when standing on the Mole, he was
kidnapped, put upon an American ship, and brutally ill-used and crippled.
Sixty-five dollars had been paid for him, but as he was useless he was
put ashore at Hamburgh, whence, after remaining some time in hospital, he
came to England. Unfortunately, he had left at Callao the document
conveying to him his free pardon. The prosecution denied that a free
pardon had been granted. His lordship said it was for the prosecution to
show that the prisoner's statement was untrue, after using that statement
against him as evidence. The statement must be taken as true until it
was contradicted. It had not been contradicted, and, he added, turning
to the jury, "It is for you to say whether you believe it or not. I must
say I don't see why you should not believe it, and why he is not entitled
to a verdict of not guilty." The jury acquitted the prisoner.
5.--A large meeting of agriculturists was held at the Swan Hotel,
Norwich, for the purpose of considering what steps should be taken to
combat "a disease known as the Russian murrain, which had broken out
among the cattle of Norfolk." Mr. Clare Sewell Read, M.P., presided,
and, in the course of the proceedings, alarming reports were given of the
spread of the contagion and of the immediate steps that were necessary to
arrest its progress. A deputation, consisting of Mr. Read, Mr. Steeds,
Mr. W. Smith, and Mr. R. Leamon, was appointed to wait upon the Home
Office, and at a committee meeting on the 9th Mr. Read reported what had
taken place. It was resolved, on the motion of Sir Thomas Beauchamp, who
headed the list with a donation of 100, that a public subscription be
opened at once, and Professor Simonds, in a long address, showed that the
disease was of foreign importation, and was known in Russia, whence it
came, as rinderpest. At this meeting it was reported that in the
neighbourhood of North Walsham alone losses to the extent of 1,000 and
upwards had been sustained. Isolation of the herds and the slaughter of
diseased animals were the means advocated for stamping out the murrain.
A Norfolk Cattle Plague Association was at once formed, and at a large
and influential meeting, held at St. Andrew's Hall on the 12th, under the
presidency of Mr. Read, whose great services at this crisis were
acknowledged by the Earl of Leicester, resolutions were adopted (1)
recommending to the consideration of the public the means suggested by
Professor Simonds for dealing with the disease, and urging that no farmer
should purchase any store stock in any market for the period of six
weeks; (2) that a subscription be entered into for the purpose of meeting
the losses sustained by those who should conform to the resolutions drawn
up by the committee, and for defraying the expenses incurred in carrying
out the objects of the meeting; and (3) that no person who did not
subscribe to the amount of twopence in the pound on his assessment should
participate in the relief. At this meeting the Earl of Leicester
contributed a donation of 500. Meetings of the Cattle Plague Association
were then held weekly, reports were presented upon the state of the
disease in various parts of the county, and matters of detail received
attention. On October 21st a public meeting was held at St. Andrew's
Hall, under the presidency of the Earl of Leicester, "to consider the
desirability of closing all markets in the county of Norfolk." Sir
Thomas Beauchamp moved, and the Earl of Albemarle seconded, a resolution
in favour of the adoption of this course, which was agreed to. During
this month Mr. Read was appointed a member of the Royal Commission to
inquire into the causes of cattle plague and to suggest remedies. The
Commission recommended the slaughter of animals and the stringent
prohibition of the passage of cattle across public roads, &c. At Norwich
and elsewhere there were frequent magisterial proceedings against dealers
and others for contravention of the Orders of Council; medical men and
veterinary surgeons suggested many remedies for the disease, and quacks
advertised their nostrums, but the end of the year found the fatal
rinderpest more rampant than ever. Science seemed confounded by the
insidious character of the outbreak, and precautionary measures appeared
to be vain to prevent its extension. It was officially announced that
from September 6th to December 20th compensation had been given in
respect of 1,486 animals, to the amount of 9,448 3s. 11d. (_See_
February 23rd, 1866.)
8.--A barque named the Edgar, of 600 tons burthen, built by Messrs.
Fellows and Son, for the South American trade, was launched from their
shipyard at Southtown, Great Yarmouth.
11.--The Earl of Leicester issued to the tenants on his estate an
address, in which he referred to an election circular sent out to them
during his absence in Norway, the spirit of which he described as "a
flagrant contradiction of the principles and practices that have been
professed and followed on the Holkham estate for nearly a century." His
lordship had counselled not coercion in any form, but the adoption of
every legitimate measure to achieve the return of Mr. Gurdon and Sir
Willoughby Jones at the West Norfolk election; but the zeal of his agent
(Mr. Shellabear) in carrying out instructions which were only indicated
and not given in detail led him to issue a circular which had caused much
scandal, the impolicy and unfittingness of which no one now saw more
clearly than his lordship himself.
12.--Died at Kew, Sir William Jackson Hooker, K.H., F.R.S., F.L.S., &c.,
Regius Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow. Sir William was
a native of Norwich, where his father, Mr. Joseph Hooker, a manufacturer,
took much interest in horticulture, and possessed a rich collection of
succulent and other exotics. Hooker spent some of his earlier years in
the study of agriculture with Mr. Robert Paul, of Starston Hall, but the
death of a relative enabled him to devote himself to his favourite
pursuit, natural history. With his brother, Mr. Joseph Hooker, the Rev.
James Brown, and other naturalists, he thoroughly explored the rich
district of the Norfolk Broads in the study of ornithology. He was the
author of several works, and editor of the "Botanical Magazine."
Resigning the appointment of Regius Professor for the curatorship of the
Royal Gardens at Kew, he received the honour of knighthood in 1835, and
in 1845 had conferred upon him the degree of D.C.L. by the University of
Oxford. He married a daughter of Mr. Dawson Turner, of Yarmouth. His
eldest son, Dr. Hooker, F.L.S., was no less distinguished than his father
for his valuable works in natural history and for the scientific
explorations with which his name was associated.
13.--Died at Southwell, the Ven. Archdeacon Wilkins, D.D. He was born at
Norwich in 1785, and was the youngest son of Mr. William Wilkins, F.S.A.,
and brother of the Professor of Architecture in the Royal Academy.
Educated at the Grammar School, Bury St. Edmund's, under the
headmastership of Becher, he entered Caius College, Cambridge, in 1803,
and having received his degree, removed to Oxford to prosecute his
favourite study of divinity. He was ordained at Norwich in 1808, and was
ultimately presented to the vicarage of St. Mary's, Nottingham, where he
ministered single-handed to a population of 28,000. He was the author of
"A History of the Destruction of Jerusalem," and of several other works.
18.--A sculling match, known as the "Great Lynn Sweepstakes," was
contested over the Ouse championship course in the Eau Brink Cut, a
distance of 3,300 yards. The competitors were Robert Chambers, champion
of the Tyne and ex-champion of the Thames; Harry Kelley, who just
previously had wrested the championship of the Thames from his formidable
North country rival; and Robert Cooper, of Newcastle. The sweepstakes
amounted to 50, with 100 added by the Lynn Regatta Committee. The
conditions provided that if three competed the winner should receive 200
and the second man 50, and if only two came to the post a first prize of
200 only would be given. The race lay between Cooper and Kelley alone.
The former kept a slight lead, and as Kelley's efforts to pass him were
unavailing, he rowed past the winning-post a quarter of a length ahead.
The referee decided that Kelley had won, disqualified Cooper on the
ground that he had taken the other man's water, and awarded second prize
to Chambers. At a meeting presided over by the Mayor of Lynn (Mr. W.
Monement), a protest was lodged by Cooper's backers against the second
prize being awarded to Chambers. The Mayor decided to withhold the
second prize until the referee had been communicated with, and handed to
Kelley a cheque for 200. Cooper's protest was ultimately disallowed.
26.--The 13th Hussars, with headquarters, arrived at Norwich Cavalry
Barracks.