—A boy of 13, named William Moore, was brutally murdered in a field at Brisley, by John Kenney, a lunatic, aged 24. The body was horribly mutilated. The prisoner was committed for trial on the Coroner’s warrant, on the charge of wilful murder, and at the Lent Assizes, held at Thetford on March 21st, before Mr. Baron Garrow, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, on the ground of the insanity of the accused.
22.*—[Advt.] “A main of cocks will be fought at the White Hart Inn, Swaffham, on Thursday, the 27th of December, 1827, for 50 guineas, between Mr. J. Farrer, of Necton, and Mr. G. Gould, of Swaffham. A very superior day’s play is expected, as there are several other matches besides.”
—*“Died lately, at Northrepps, Hannah Storey, in her 101st year.”
—Lieut.-Col. Harvey, commanding the 3rd Regiment of Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry, addressed a letter to the Marquis of Lansdowne, Secretary of State for War, detailing the services rendered by the regiment in quelling disturbances, &c., and expressing the hope that
the Government would not order the disbandment of the corps. His lordship replied that he had not lost sight of the valuable services of the Yeomanry, but that the Barracks at Norwich were then, and were likely to continue, a station for regular cavalry, and consequently he was unable to accede to the request to continue the pay and allowance to the regiment.
24.—Died at Lynn, Samuel Pearson, a journeyman cabinetmaker, “who, in the intervals of his labour, acquired a deep knowledge of mathematics, and possessed the faculty of communicating his knowledge to others. He established a mathematical academy, which had every prospect of success.”
29.—Miss C. Morgan’s Menagerie was exhibited on the Castle Hill, Norwich.
—Great excitement was caused in Yarmouth by the discovery that upwards of twenty recently interred bodies had been removed from the churchyard by resurrection men. “The churchyard was quickly crowded by the population. Wives were searching for the remains of their deceased husbands, husbands for those of their wives, and parents for their children.” Three men, Thomas Smith, alias Vaughan, William Barber, and Robert Barber, were apprehended, and committed for trial at Yarmouth Quarter Sessions, whence, on April 1st, 1828, the indictment was removed by writ of certiorari to the Court of King’s Bench. The case was tried at Norwich Assizes, before Lord Chief Baron Alexander, on August 11th, 1828, when only Vaughan (or Smith) was proceeded against. Robert Barker turned King’s evidence, and described the method by which the graves were robbed, and how the bodies were sent to London by the wain. A verdict of guilty was returned, and on November 14th, 1828, the prisoner was brought up for sentence in the Court of King’s Bench. He urged that he was driven by poverty to the commission of the offence, and was sentenced by Mr. Justice Bayley to six months’ imprisonment in the house of correction at Norwich.
31.—Miss Clark, a native of the city, commenced an engagement with her equestrian company at the Pantheon, Ranelagh Gardens, Norwich.