19.--A deputation of Norfolk magistrates and members of the Norwich Town
Council waited upon the Home Secretary (Sir William Harcourt) on the
subject of the proposed provision of a new prison site at Norwich. Lord
Walsingham explained the objects of the deputation. The county prison at
Norwich, with the Castle and a portion of the ground on which it stands,
having been offered under Section 34 of the Prisons Act, 1877, for
re-purchase by the original prison authority, _i.e._, the county of
Norfolk, at the statutory price fixed by the Act (amounting in this case
to 10,569), a committee was appointed by the Court of Quarter Sessions
for the county, and another committee by the Town Council of Norwich.
The county authority would not consent to take money out of the pockets
of the heavily-burdened ratepayers for the repurchase of property which
they had been compelled by law to part with for nothing; but they asked
that this ancient and interesting piece of county property should be
restored to its original owners "that it might be by them preserved to
the best advantage in all its imposing dignity and grandeur." The Mayor
of Norwich (Dr. Eade) stated that Mr. John Gurney had gone so far as to
offer, free of cost, another site for a prison. The Home Secretary
replied that the Prison Commissioners would not abandon the site, but
would continue to occupy it, unless an offer were made which they could
accept. If it was desired that they should go elsewhere, it should be
made worth their while to do so. At a meeting of the Norwich Town
Council on April 10th it was reported that the Home Secretary was willing
to accept 5,000 for the Castle, and that a still further reduction was
probable. On June 17th the Mayor announced to the Corporation that the
Government had agreed to sell to the city the Castle and its environments
for 4,000; and it was resolved to purchase the property for that sum.
(_See_ October 19th, 1886.)
20.--Mr. C. S. Read was returned unopposed to fill the vacancy in the
representation of the Western Division of the county, caused by the
resignation of Mr. Bentinck, M.P. Mr. Read took his seat in the House of
Commons on the 21st, and had a very cordial reception. "The Premier
shook his hand when he came to the table, and a score of members behind
the chair greeted him as heartily."