1833. January. The town clerk of this city received a circular from the secretary of state, requesting to be informed of the mode of electing members of the corporation. The town clerk forwarded his answer on the 21st.
March. Cleansing Week for ward elections. Conisford ward, no contest, J. Skipper, R. Merry, and B. Bunting (nominees). Mancroft ward, no opposition, J. Bennett, B. Boardman, H. Newton (nominees). Wymer ward, J. Culley, 486; J. Winter, 484; W. J. U. Browne, 486 (nominees); G. Kitton, 122; R. Miller, 122; C. W. Unthank, 121. Northern ward, S. S. Beare, 300; R. Shaw, 298; W. Enfield, 300 (nominees); T. Grimmer, 206; H. Steel, 204; J. Sinclair, 203.
May 1st. At the election for mayor, Aldermen Bignold and Turner were returned to the court without opposition, and S. Bignold, Esq., was chosen to serve the office. On the Guild day he was sworn in, and on this occasion he gave a magnificent banquet to about 1100 ladies and gentlemen in St. Andrew’s Hall. The same place was the scene of great festivity on June 20th and 21st, when dinners were given to the electors in the orange-and-purple interest, those in the Conisford and Northern wards to the number of 750 on the first day, and those of the Wymer and Mancroft wards 912 on the following day. Great was the rejoicing, but it was of short duration. The days of the old corporation were numbered.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Reform Era.
William IV. ascended the throne in 1830, in a period of great political excitement. During his short reign of seven years, there was the greatest political agitation ever known in this country about a Reform of Parliament, a measure which the people had long and earnestly desired. Many meetings were held in this city, and petitions were adopted in favour of reform, long called for and long deferred. In fact, the king, during the early part of his reign, had other and more pressing causes of anxiety. His accession to the throne brought him an inheritance of the jealousy, to which the country had been gradually roused, on the subject of the extravagance and corruption of the old systems of government. In the effort to reduce a vast expenditure, the House of Commons was in no mood to be so liberal to the new sovereign as he thought he had a right to expect. The ministry were withheld, by the very forcible opposition of one of its members, from asking the house to grant the expenses of the queen’s outfit, and the king himself had to submit to the mortification of finding the pensions charged on the public by former monarchs sharply criticised, and even his own household expenses commented on with severity.
On September 8th, 1831, the grand ceremony of the coronation of the king took place in Westminster Abbey. The auspicious event was celebrated in Norwich in a most loyal and joyous manner. The festivities of the day commenced with the merry chime of St. Peter’s bells, and the waving of banners from all the public buildings. The mayor and members of the corporation went in procession from the Guildhall to the Cathedral. After their return to the hall, the regiment of the First Royals marched into the Market Place and fired three vollies. The electors who had supported Gurney and Grant received £1 each, and a dinner was given to 600 of the freemen, who voted for Wetherell and Sadler, at Laccohee’s gardens. The citizens, in fact, have never lost an opportunity of displaying their loyalty, but they always expected something in return. Several petitions were sent from Norwich in favour of the Reform Bill; and the passing of the bill was celebrated here with great rejoicings, festivities, and a public procession on July 5th, 1832. This brief reign was remarkable, moreover, for the abolition of the slave trade after a violent agitation which convulsed the whole country, and ended in the passing of an act of emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies, at a cost of twenty millions; and it is also noted for the suppression of the rebellion in Canada, and the restoration of tranquillity to that colony.
An Act of Parliament received the royal assent on June 23rd, 1832, removing the assizes from Thetford to Norwich; and the corporation passed a vote of thanks to John Stracey, Esq., for his exertions in obtaining that measure, and also a vote of thanks to the lord chancellor for having granted two jail deliveries in the year. Since then the city assizes have been held at the Guildhall, and the Norfolk assizes at the Shirehall. The city sessions are held every quarter at the Guildhall, and the petty sessions daily at the same place.
The reformed House of Commons having presented an address to His Majesty, praying for the appointment of a commission to inquire as to the existing state of municipal corporations in England and Wales; the king, on July 18th, 1833, complied with the address, by issuing a commission; and notice was subsequently given to the mayor of this city, S. Bignold, Esq. (now Sir Samuel Bignold), of the intention of the commissioners appointed to investigate the affairs of the Norwich corporation, in compliance with a request from a meeting of 300 citizens, held on the 13th of May preceding. A special meeting of the corporation was at once convened to consider the course to be pursued, and the assembly determined on a reluctant submission to the inquiry, so far as regarded the production, by the corporate officers, of all “charters, books, deeds, accounts, papers, and muniments of title,” but at the same time protested against the commission as illegal and unconstitutional, and against the right of the commissioners to make any inquiry whatsoever. As may be supposed, the dominant party in the city did not like it, and the sheriffs especially protested against it. They declined to attend at the proposed enquiry, or to recognize the authority of the commissioners by any act, and addressed a letter to that effect to the commissioners, signing their names, W. J. Utten Browne, and Edward Steward, sheriffs of Norwich. Of course the commissioners were not very pleased at this ostentatious opposition to their authority, and in the course of their enquiry showed an evident hostility to the predominant party. Witnesses were allowed to make statements reflecting on the characters of the living and the dead, and every facility was afforded for the gratification of political, perhaps of private, revenge. This will appear in the following summary of the evidence, taken from the Digest, published soon afterwards.
The Inquiry Respecting the Old Corporation.
This inquiry was conducted by George Long and John Buckle, Esqs., and commenced on November 25th, 1833, at the Guildhall. Nearly all the officials of the corporation were examined, and many influential gentlemen. Some strange statements were made as to the effects of party spirit, and the enemies of the old corporation alleged, amongst their favourite charges, that the magistrates were biassed by party spirit, and that the funds of the corporation had been devoted to electioneering purposes. Evidence, however, was given to the contrary.