3.--The Cricket Week theatrical performances commenced at Norwich
Theatre, and were continued on the 4th and 5th. The pieces produced by
Sir Kenneth Kemp's company of amateurs were "The Parvenue" and
"Woodcock's Little Game."
9.--Died, at 3, Belgravia Square, Edward Fellowes, first Baron de Ramsey.
His lordship, who was raised to the Peerage on July 5th, was the second
son of Mr. William Fellowes, of Ramsey Abbey, Huntingdonshire, by his
wife, Emma, fourth daughter of Mr. Richard Benyon, of Englefield House,
Berks. He was born in 1809, and entering Parliament for Huntingdonshire
in 1837, sat in the House of Commons without interruption until the
General Election in 1880, when his eldest son, Captain Fellowes,
succeeded to the seat which had been successfully defended against
Liberal assaults during forty-three years. For more than half a century
Mr. Fellowes was chairman of the Commissions which had the management of
the Middle Level and Ouse Outfall Works.
19.--Died, at Alfred Place, South Kensington, Mr. John Palgrave Simpson.
He was the second son of Mr. William Simpson, Town Clerk of Norwich and
Treasurer for the county of Norfolk, and of his wife Katherine, daughter
of Mr. William Palgrave, of Coltishall. Intended for the Church, he was
educated under a private tutor at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,
where he took the degree of B.A., and proceeded M.A. in due course.
Abandoning the idea of adopting the clerical profession, Mr. Simpson
travelled on the Continent and in the East. He was in Paris when a
sudden and severe reverse of fortune, consequent upon the failure of a
bank, compelled him to seek means of repairing his losses. Literary
occupation seemed the only course open to him, and, as he confessed, he
succeeded in his efforts beyond expectation. For some years he
contributed to the leading magazines--"Blackwood's," "Bentley's,"
"Frazer's," and others, and published three novels, "Second Love and
other Tales," "Gisella," and "The Lily of Paris, or the King's Nurse."
Mr. Simpson's career as a writer for the stage was mainly due to
accident. He seldom visited theatres, but it chanced one night that he
went to the Strand Theatre, and was so pleased with the performance of
William Farren, Leigh Murray, and Mrs. Stilling that he conceived the
idea of writing a play for them, and the result was the comedy drama in
one act, entitled "Poor Cousin Dick," which was played with considerable
success at the house on April 8th, 1850. Subsequently Mr. Simpson wrote
several successful plays, the principal of which was the famous three-act
comedy, "A Scrap of Paper," produced at St. James's Theatre on April
23rd, 1861.