NOVEMBER.
17.—The officers of the preventive service stationed at Brancaster seized a large tub-boat, containing 5,565 lbs. of tobacco and about 650 gallons of brandy and Geneva, the whole of which was lodged in the Customs-house at Wells-next-the-Sea.
DECEMBER.
2.—The body of Sarah Watling, buried in the churchyard of Swanton Abbot, was found to have been stolen from its grave. At the Norfolk Adjourned Quarter Sessions, held at Norwich on March 6th, 1833, George Ives and Nathaniel Canham were indicted for stealing the body. The prisoners were acquitted.
10.—The nomination of candidates at the first election in Norwich under the Reform Act took place at the Guildhall. The nominees of the “Purple and Orange” party were Lord Stormont and Sir James Scarlett, and of the “Blue and White” party Mr. Richard Hanbury Gurney, the former member, and Mr. Charles Henry Bellenden Ker. A poll was demanded, and the election was immediately proceeded with. In the afternoon a riot occurred in the Market Place; the “Purple and Orange” booth was pulled down, and a bonfire made of the débris. The “Blue and White” band, stationed near the fire, played their favourite tunes, and men carrying the banners of the party danced round the pile. Stones were thrown and bludgeons used, and a man had his arm broken. Many other persons sustained less serious injuries. The 7th Hussars, who had been removed from Norwich to Wymondham before the election commenced, were recalled to suppress the disturbance, and many citizens were sworn in as special constables. An officers’ guard of the Hussars was posted near the Guildhall throughout the night, and another polling-booth was erected. Voting recommenced at eight o’clock on the morning of the 11th, and continued all day; the books were again opened on the 13th, and at noon the poll finally closed, when the result was declared as follows:—Stormont, 2,016; Scarlett, 1,962; Gurney, 1,810; Ker, 1,766. The chairing of the new members took place on the 14th; on the same day their
friends and supporters dined at the Norfolk Hotel, and in the evening the election ball was held at Chapel Field House.
10.—Lord George Bentinck and Lord William Lennox were returned unopposed for Lynn.
—Lord James FitzRoy and Mr. Francis Baring were returned without opposition for the borough of Thetford.
13.—Mr. Shaw’s granaries on the Boal at King’s Lynn were destroyed by fire. The loss was estimated at upwards of £2,000.
15.—Sir Jacob Astley and Sir William ffolkes were nominated at Swaffham as candidates for the representation of the Western Division of Norfolk, and returned unopposed. Mr. T. W. Coke formally took leave of the electors, on his retirement from Parliamentary life. He had represented the county since the year 1785.