1834.
Jan. 9th.—Samuel Tolver and Charles John Palmer, Esqs., had been appointed Perpetual Commissioners for the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.
Jan. 16th.—News had been received that the Lion, belonging to G. D. Palmer, Esq., had arrived at Civita Vecchia on the 26th ult.
Jan. 30th.—Two schooners of about 80 tons register, named the Norwich Trader and Lowestoft Merchant, had been launched from Mr. Thomas W. Branford’s yard.
A requisition was being signed for the purpose of having the “upper” ferry established.
Feb. 6th.—Messrs. Buckle and Hogg, two of H.M. Municipal Commissioners, had arrived for the purpose of holding an Inquiry into the doings of the Corporation.
A crowded meeting had been held to petition Parliament for an abolition of Church Rates. J. Shelly, Esq., was called to the chair, and the following gentlemen took part in the proceedings:—Rev. Mr. Betts, J. B. Palmer, Esq., Rev. T. Tait, Mr. D. Chapman, Rev. H. Squire, and Rev. A. Creak.
Feb. 20th.—Capt. Manby had given “an elegant and fully attended fete” at the Barracks.
Feb. 29th.—The Municipal Commissioners were sitting at the Tolhouse.
March 6th.—The Commissioners having finished their investigation were entertained by Alderman Bath at Dinner.
April 10th.—Mr. G. Garson had been appointed Lloyd’s Surveyor.
The annual silver cup, given by Mr. Bales to the members of the “Yarmouth British Yacht Club,” was to be sailed for in May.
April 17th.—A meeting had been held to oppose certain clauses in the proposed Haven and Pier Bill then before Parliament, Mr. Alderman Barth in the chair, the following took part in the proceedings:—Messrs. J. Brightwen, J. Shelly, A. Palmer, S. Cobb, R. Ferrier, G. D. Palmer, B. Dowson, P. Stead, and William Barber.
April 24th.—The Baltic (belonging to I. Preston, Esq.) and The Venus (belonging to G. D. Palmer, Esq.) had sailed with emigrants for North America.
May 1st.—A brig called the Friends, of 190 tons register, had been launched from Mr. A. Palmer’s yard.
May 15th.—The “New Proprietary Grammar School” had been opened, John Danby Palmer, Esq., being Chairman during the proceedings.
June 5th.—The Misses Seaman had been appointed postmistresses.
June 12th.—“A remarkably fine ship of 374 tons” had been launched from the dockyard of Ambrose Palmer, Esq.
June 26th.—Contains the following notice of an “Ingenious Invention”:—“A few weeks since a young lady having lost her left leg by amputation, four inches below the knee, applied to Mr. W. B. Neslen, shoe and last maker, of this town, complaining of the inconvenience she experienced from the wooden substitute she had procured. Mr. N. immediately set about remedying this, which he eventually accomplished by the making of a leg, which for useful purposes has in a very great measure supplied the loss of the original limb. It was composed of light sycamore wood, cased with leather, with elastic springs for the foot. It was shown to several mechanics in the neighbourhood, who all gave an opinion highly favourable to the ingenuity of its construction. It weighs 3lbs. (the former substitute weighed 7lbs.) and is connected with the knee by springs. The lady is enabled to make very nearly the same use of the artificial as she previously had done with the real limb.”
The anniversary of the King’s accession to the Throne had been observed, the Corporation attending divine service, when the Rev. T. Baker preached “an appropriate sermon.”
July 24th.—Mr. William Mabson had been chosen a Common Councilman in the room of Mr. John Robson, deceased.
July 31st.—The annual water frolic had been held, Mr. Stephen Miller’s Water Witch taking the prize.
Aug. 14th.—Messrs. C. Davie, Samuel Palmer, Frederick Paget, Capt. Todman, R.N., and the Rev. Mark Waters had been elected Paving Commissioners.
Aug. 21st.—A dinner had been given (G. D. Palmer, Esq., in the chair) to Messrs. T. Hammond and R. B. Fenn, as a compliment for services rendered by them to the fishing interest.
Aug. 28th.—The Stratheden, 400 tons register, had been launched from Mr. F. Preston’s yard.
Sept. 2nd.—The following had been chosen Corporate officers for the ensuing year:—Isaac Preston, jun., Esq., Mayor; Mr. J. E. Laws, Chamberlain; J. Danby Palmer, and E. H. L. Preston, Esqs., Churchwardens; Sir E. K. Lacon, Bart., Isaac Preston, Esq., and Messrs. R. Ferrier and William Yetts, Auditors; J. D. Palmer, Edmund Preston, Robert Cory, jun., William Barth, Esqs., and Messrs. E. H. L. Preston, S. B. Cory, C. J. Palmer, Vestry; J. Baker, Esq., and Mr. James Jay, Collectors; and Messrs. F. Preston and Samuel Jay, Muragers.
Oct. 2nd.—Contains the following report of the proceedings on the “Mayor’s Day”:—
Monday being the feast of St. Michael, the day was ushered in by ringing of Bells, flags at the New Hall, Church, &c. The Mayor-Elect (I. Preston, jun., Esq.) ordered twopenny buns to be given to the children of the different charity schools in the town, and it was really gratifying to observe the number of happy boys and girls, with cheers parading Gaol-street, the Quay, &c., with their gifts in their hands. About two o’clock in the afternoon the Mayor and Corporation attended divine service at St. Nicholas’ Church, where a sermon was delivered by the Rev. F. Baker (son of the Rector of Rollesby) from Acts, chapter 23rd, 4th and 5th verses, which in the days when passive obedience and non-resistance reigned might have been considered an excellent one. Happily, however, those days are past, and few, probably, of the rev. gentleman’s hearers accorded with him when they heard him denounce from the pulpit the great majority of those who sought Reform in the Church, and other acknowledged abuses as infidels, atheists, and anarchists, and those who aimed at the overthrow of the Church, the Altar, and the Crown. From the Church the Corporation proceeded to the Guildhall, where the Mayor-Elect (after having taken the oath of office) spoke to the following effect:—“Gentlemen, previous to assuming the chair of Chief Magistracy, which I am about to fill, you will allow me to thank you for the proof that you have given me of your confidence. Gentlemen, I sought not this office; I have accepted it only that I might endeavour to render myself useful to my fellow townsmen. Gentlemen, it is not the pageantry, the sword and mace (though even these may be of use in their way) that have allured me to this office—no; had I been capable of being actuated by such motives, I should have been indeed unworthy of taking (as I have just taken) the Holy Gospels in my hand, and to have sworn before my God, to execute to the best of my ability, the important duties of Chief Magistrate of my native town. I would now address myself to my proper brethren, I would address myself to all, high or low, rich or poor, and exhort them to do all that in their power lie to promote the decorum of social life, by cheeking vice, immorality, and debauchery. Gentlemen, I thank you very much for the patience with which you have heard me.” This address was delivered with much firmness, and at the same time with considerable emotion, and was received with great applause. After the ceremony of robing, and the other routine business had been gone through, the newly-elected Mayor, Deputy-Mayor, &c., proceeded (escorted by the town band, flags, &c.) to the New Hall, where a sumptuous dinner was served to a numerous and highly respectable assembly of the Body Corporate, and the friends of the Chief Magistrate. The dessert, which was fine and abundant, was, we understand, served by Mr. Brooks, of the Market Row.
Oct. 9th.—Harry Worship, Esq., had delivered a very interesting lecture on the “Philosophy of Dreams.”
Oct. 16th.—The frequency of robbery at sea had induced the fishermen to keep an unusually sharp look out.
Oct. 23rd.—Charles J. Palmer, Esq., had been elected an Alderman in the place of Dr. Bateman, deceased.
It appears from the report of the proceedings at the Revision Court that the lower ferry was then let at £30 a year only.
Oct. 30th.—The “Blues” claimed a gain of 50 on the revision of the Freeman’s list.
The fishing was reported as going on “very badly.”
Nov. 6th.—A public meeting had been held on the subject of the Port and Haven Bill, the Mayor in the chair, when Messrs. George Danby Palmer, Shelly, Brightwen, Ferrier, Barth, and Dowson took part in the proceedings.
Nov. 20th.—The Conservatives had held a meeting at Bammant’s Green, Mr. William Mabson in the chair, pledging themselves to support the Hon. W. H. Beresford and W. M. Praed.
Nov. 27th.—Col. Anson had spoken from the Committee Room in Regent Street, when Messrs. George Steward and J. Shelly took part in the proceedings.
The “Political Union” required Col. Anson and Mr. Rumbold to pledge themselves to support “Corporation Reform, Triennial Parliaments, Extension of the Suffrage, and Vote by Ballot.”
Dec. 4th.—A meeting of voters in the Blue interest had been held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, when it was determined “to sink all minor differences” in order to secure the return of Col. Anson and Mr. Rumbold. Mr. N. B. Palmer addressed a crowded assembly from the Committee Rooms.
Dec. 11th.—Thomas Baring, Esq., had arrived as Mr. Praed’s colleague, and both gentlemen had addressed the electors from the Newcastle Tavern, and a house on the South Quay, which they had engaged as a Committee Room.
Dec. 18th.—The contest was progressing, Col. Anson assuring his supporters “that at that moment their canvassing book stood better than he had ever known it to stand since he had known Yarmouth.”
Dec. 23rd.—There had been a “violent scuffle” between the Reds and the Blues, during which “the son of a Baronet was pulled from his horse and beaten violently.”