11.--Lord Stanley, on his appointment as Foreign Secretary in the new
Conservative Administration, was re-elected without opposition member of
Parliament for the borough of King's Lynn.
16.--A meeting was held at the Rampant Horse Hotel, Norwich, to consider
what steps should be taken to prevent the intended closing of Victoria
Station, under the Great Eastern Railway (Additional Powers) Bill. A
memorial was addressed to the Town Council, calling attention to the fact
that this was the fourth attempt made by the company to close the
terminus, and that by the Act of Parliament which sanctioned the
amalgamation of the Eastern Union with the Eastern Counties Railway a
special clause was inserted for the sufficient maintenance of the
station. On these grounds the Corporation were asked to oppose the Bill.
At a meeting of the Town Council on the 17th, a letter was read from the
company, in which they offered, in consideration of being permitted to
close the station, to contribute 1,000 towards the improvement of Foundry
Bridge. The Council were not prepared to accede to the proposition.
When the Company's Bill was before the Committee of the House of Commons,
in March, 1867, the clause providing for the abandonment of the station
was disallowed.
19.--St. Giles' church, Norwich, was re-opened, after extensive
restoration. A new chancel had also been built, and a new organ, costing
350, erected. The scheme included the widening of the street by the
giving up of a portion of the churchyard. The restoration was carried
out, under the direction of Mr. R. M. Phipson, by Mr. J. W. Lacey,
conjointly with Messrs. Atkins and Hawes. The total cost of the work was
about 4,000, of which 1,000 was given by the rector (the Rev. W. N.
Ripley).
25.--The National Archery meeting commenced at Crown Point, Norwich, and
was continued on the 26th and 27th. The show of the Norfolk and Norwich
Horticultural Society was held in the grounds on the 26th (when the band
of the 1st Life Guards was present), and a ball was given at St. Andrew's
Hall in the evening.
28.--Died at Bramerton, in his 76th year, Mr. William Wilde, Coroner for
Norwich. "In Mr. Wilde the city has lost an active and intelligent
public officer and a useful citizen, and the Liberal party a most
efficient agent. To his shrewdness, accurate judgment, and devotion to
their interests, the Liberals of Norwich and elsewhere have been indebted
for many a triumph." Mr. Wilde was a member of the Court of Guardians,
and for some time its chairman, and a member of the Festival Committee.
He had been Coroner for thirty years.
31.--A new lifeboat, named the Leicester, was launched at Gorleston. It
was purchased by a fund amounting to 900 inaugurated by the Mayoress of
Leicester (Mrs. Hodges), and was lodged in a new lifeboat house built at
the cost of 250.