A Comprehensive History of Norwich

by A. D. Bayne

The old corporation was more ornamental than useful to the city for 400 years. Under it the sanitary state of the city was so bad, the drainage of the city so defective, and the supply of water so insufficient, that plagues and pestilences, which carried off thousands of the citizens, were of frequent occurrence. Ward elections were so often contested, that bribery, treating, and intimidation, were quite common, and the corruption of the freemen and lower classes was universal. Physically and morally the city was for centuries in the worst possible condition. The ward elections were carried on with a spirit which was surpassed in no other place. They were considered as trials of strength between different parties; and if they happened at a period when a general election was anticipated, an enormous sum of money was spent in treating and bribery. Indeed, it has been asserted on good authority that no less a sum than £16,000 was wasted in the contest for a single ward in 1818! The city was divided into four great wards, each of which was subdivided into three small wards. The mayor was elected by the freemen on May 1st, and sworn into his office on the Guild day, which was always the Tuesday before Midsummer day. He was chosen from the aldermen, and afterwards he was a magistrate for life. One of the sheriffs was chosen by the court of aldermen, the other by the freemen on the last Tuesday in August. The twenty-four aldermen were chosen for the twelve smaller wards, two for each ward, whose office was to keep the peace in their several divisions. When anyone of them died, the freemen of that great ward in which the lesser ward was included, for which he was to serve, elected another in his place within five days. The common councilmen were elected by the freemen dwelling in each of the four great wards separately; for Conisford great ward on the Monday; Mancroft on the Tuesday; Wymer on the Wednesday; and the Northern ward on the Thursday in Passion week, thence called “cleansing” week. They chose a speaker yearly, who was called speaker of the commons. The old freemen therefore formed the whole of the local constituency for municipal purposes.

Memoirs are often the best sources of information respecting public matters, as they let us behind the scenes and show us what the actors really thought and did. A good memoir of the late Professor Taylor, which appeared in the Norfolk News, of March 28th and April 4th, 1863, contained the following, “So far back as 1808 we find Mr. Taylor recording that he was ‘elected a common councilman for the fourth time.’” He also states that the contest for nominees in the Long ward was “the severest ever remembered.” Few people now-a-days could realize the import of those few words. Few understand how much was implied by the once common phrase “a battle for the Long ward.” The combatants would have scorned such mealy-mouthed appellations, as “conservative” and “liberal,” or indeed any name but that of the colors under which they fought. They were “blue-and-whites,” or “orange-and-purples;” the former being what would now be called the “liberal,” and the latter the “conservative,” party. To be a blue-and-white or an orange-and-purple, was to be an angel or a devil, as the case might be; the angels being of course those of your own side, to whichever you belonged. Great was the potency of colors: though not supposed to be worn at municipal elections, they were a rallying cry, and they were always at hand to be flouted, like a red rag at a turkey, in the face of the enemy. Even housemaids and children concealed them about their persons, in readiness to show them slyly from some window, both to encourage their friends and exasperate their enemies, whenever a procession passed. Great were the preparations for the contest. A sort of civic press-gang prowled the streets by night for the purpose of “cooping chickens,” which, being done into English, means carrying men off by force, and keeping them drunk and in confinement, so that if they could not be got to vote “for” it would be impossible for them to vote “against.” If they could not be safely secured in the city, they were “cribbed, cabined, and confined” in wherries on the river, or the broads, or even taken to Yarmouth and carried out to sea. When the day of battle came, great was the shouting, the drinking, the betting, the bribing, and the fighting, till the longest purse contrived to win the day. Of course, the dirty work was done by dirty men. But leading men on both sides were so used to see this sort of thing, that they considered it only as a necessary part and parcel of an election. It was regarded rather as a limb which could not be safely severed from the body, than as a shabby coat which disgraced the wearer. Besides, palliating rhetoric was not absent. Better do a little evil than surrender a cause essential to the welfare of the state! “What we did,” we honest orange-and-purples, or we pure blue-and-whites, “was done in mere self-defence.”

Leading Events in the Nineteenth Century.

1801. January 1st, 1801, being the first day of the nineteenth century, and the day on which the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took place, the 13th Regiment of Light Dragoons dismounted, and the Militia fired a feu de joie in the Market Place.

January 3rd. The old Theatre (built in 1757) was re-opened after extensive improvements. The alterations were executed after the designs of William Wilkins, Esq., the patentee. This theatre was formerly a good school for young actors, and many promising performers have first appeared on these boards. Of late, operatic performances appear to be most in favour with the gentry.

February 24th. Charles Harvey, Esq., the steward, was unanimously elected Recorder of Norwich, vice Henry Partridge, Esq., resigned.

April 4th. Mrs. Lloyd, widow of the Rev. Dean Lloyd, died at Cambridge, aged 79. This lady painted the Transfiguration, and other figures in the eastern windows of the Cathedral.

In April, the ward elections were the causes of great contention. In consequence of objections being made to the elections of two nominees of the Wymer ward, and three of the Northern ward, on the ground of their being ineligible under the corporation act, having omitted to receive the sacrament within a year previous to the election of the common council, the mayor did not make the returns till several days after the usual time. At a court held April 4th, after the objections had been fully heard by counsel, the recorder (Mr. Harvey) declared that the persons objected to who had the majority of votes, having omitted to come into court according to summons, were not duly elected, but as no regular notice had been given previous to the election, the candidates in the minority could not be returned. A new election for the above wards accordingly took place on May 25th and 26th.

June 16th. Jeremiah Ives, Esq., of Catton, was elected mayor a second time. There was no guild feast this year at St. Andrew’s Hall.

June 25th. An awful fire, which lasted two hours, broke out on the roof of the Cathedral, and in less than an hour, 45 feet of the leaded roof, towards the western end of the nave, were consumed. Some plumbers had been at work repairing the roof, and set fire to it either accidentally or intentionally. The damage was about £500. The Lord Bishop (Dr. Sutton) was present, and distributed refreshment to the soldiers and people who assisted in arresting the progress of the conflagration.