The jury found the prisoners not guilty. On the 26th they were indicted for setting fire to a stack the property of Richard Ducker, of the same place. Nockolds was found guilty, and sentenced to death; Josiah Davidson was convicted of being an accessary before the fact, recommended to mercy, and afterwards respited; Hunt and David Davidson were acquitted. Nockolds was executed on the Castle Hill, Norwich, on April 9th. His body was subsequently exhibited at his cottage opposite the Barrack gates, Pockthorpe, “and a considerable sum of money was in this way raised for the widow.”
26.—A Bill “for the better management of the Poor in the several parishes and hamlets of the city of Norwich,” had, it was announced on this date, been presented in the House of Commons. The principal object of the measure was to abolish the right of the Corporation to elect Guardians. It was read a first time in April, passed through its remaining stages during the first Session of the new Parliament, and the first meeting of the Court of Guardians elected under the new Act was held at the Guildhall on October 4th.
APRIL.
5.—Lynn Market Cross was sold by auction for £160. It had long been dilapidated. “The Market Place in its present state, covered with vegetation sufficient to graze sheep, presents a most melancholy appearance.”
8.—Mr. Henry Dover was elected a chairman of Norfolk Quarter Sessions, in the room of Sir E. H. Alderson, appointed one of his Majesty’s Judges.
11.—Miss Smithson appeared at Norwich Theatre in the character of Juliet; and on three subsequent evenings as Mrs. Simpson (“Simpson and Co.”), Belvidera, Mrs. Oakley (“The Jealous Wife”), and Theresa (“The Orphan of Geneva”).
13.—The new road from Acle to Yarmouth, saving a distance of three miles five furlongs, was opened for public inspection, and was shortly afterwards used for traffic.
14.—A ballot for filling up the peace establishment of the East Norfolk Militia was held at the Guildhall, Norwich, before Mr. Isaac Preston, D.L. “Substitutes were easily obtained from £2 to £3 per man.”
29.—The nomination of Parliamentary candidates for Norwich took place. Mr. R. H. Gurney and the Right Hon. Robert Grant were proposed by the “Blue and White” party, and Sir Charles Wetherell and Mr. Michael Thomas Sadler by the “Purple and Orange” party. A poll was demanded, and opened on April 30th. The polling-booths closed on May 3rd, when the result was declared as follows:—Gurney, 2,158; Grant, 2,163; Wetherell, 977; Sadler, 964.
—Yarmouth election commenced on this date, and the poll closed on the 30th. Result:—Col. Anson, 904; Mr. Rumbold, 903; Mr. Colville, 549; Mr. Bliss, 543.