2.--The Girls' Home in Botolph Street, Norwich, established by the Board
of Guardians with the object of removing young children from workhouse
surroundings, was opened by the Mayor (Mr. C. R. Gilman).
6.--A sudden thaw accompanied by heavy rain caused extensive floods in
low-lying districts of the county. Great alarm was occasioned in Norwich
by the rising of the Wensum and the flooding of premises in Heigham
Street. The waters subsided on the 7th.
7.--Died at Luxor, Egypt, Mr. Alan Cozens-Hardy Colman, aged 30, son of
Mr. J. J. Colman, of Carrow House, Norwich. Mr. Colman, who was a member
of the Norfolk County Council, was of a studious disposition, and applied
himself to mechanics. Although in affluent circumstances he voluntarily
became a pupil at the Stratford works of the Great Eastern Railway
Company, was for a number of years an active confrere of the workmen
employed there, adapted himself to their conditions of labour, and made
himself generally popular.
11.--Died at Hackford Hall, Reepham, Georgina Frances Amy, widow of Mr.
John Collyer, and eldest daughter of Sir William Johnston, of that ilk,
of Hilton House, Woodside, Aberdeen. Mrs. Collyer, who was in her 92nd
year, was at the time of Wellington's great campaign being educated at
Brussels, where her parents resided, and were among the guests who
attended the Duchess of Richmond's ball on the night before Waterloo.
She had a vivid recollection of June 15th, 1815. With her younger
sisters, she in the early dawn watched from the windows of her parents'
house the troops passing to the field. Later in the day the girls
attended school as usual, and soon became aware that the battle had
begun. The servant sent to fetch her from school lost herself in the
crowd, and the children made their way home alone, groping by the walls
and passing through the throng of troops marching to the field and the
thickening stream of prisoners and wounded returning. On the 17th and
18th she was all day helping her parents to hand water and wine to the
wounded as they passed the door. Mrs. Collyer had personal recollections
of Mendelssohn, whose wife was long her intimate acquaintance, and of
Spohr, whose playing she had often heard and admired.
18.--The members at Norwich of the National Union of Boot and Shoe
Operatives resolved to go out on strike. On April 17th it was stated
"the desertions from the ranks of the shoe strikers and their return to
work have been steady and persistent during the week, although many
hundreds are still out." Several charges of intimidation from time to
time occupied the attention of the magistrates. On July 20th the Mayor
made an appeal to masters and men to endeavour to formulate a plan for
the settlement of their differences, but without effect. The strike
having lasted six months, a meeting of the men was held at the Victoria
Hall, at which it was stated that 10,000 had been expended in strike pay,
and it was resolved that the struggle be continued. After lasting
thirty-four weeks the strike came to an end on October 22nd, when terms
were signed by the representatives of the masters and of the men. The
last distribution of strike pay was made on the 23rd, and the men
returned to work on the 25th (St. Crispin's Day).