5.—The Norwich Philharmonic Society, established on the dissolution of the Hall Concert, gave its first concert.
22.—The Mayor of Yarmouth (Mr. S. Palmer), “assisted by the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons,” laid the first stone of the Victoria Hotel at Yarmouth. “Corn, wine, and oil, emblems of plenty, were offered and poured upon the stone.” The hotel, and adjoining houses known as Kimberley Terrace, were erected by the Victoria Building Company, “for the reception of families of the highest distinction.”
APRIL.
5.—At the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Justice Bosanquet, Charlotte Yaxley, alias Middleton, aged 22, was indicted for the murder of Lavinia Kerrison, the thirteen months old illegitimate child of her husband, by drowning it in a duck-pond at Yarmouth, on March 23rd. She was found guilty, and sentenced to transportation for life.
10.—Intelligence was received at Norwich of the massacre, by Malay pirates, in the Straits of Timor, of the crew of the Pilot Southseaman in June, 1840. The captain, first officer (Mr. Gidney, brother of Mr. J. W. Gidney, of East Dereham), and twenty-five seamen fell victims whilst gallantly defending the ship.
13.—Died, aged 85, John Rayson, of Pulham. “For nearly half a century he had been deprived of the use of his legs, but this did not prevent his travelling daily between Pulham and Harleston as postman or letter carrier, for 47 years.”
17.—A new “local drama,” entitled, “Rose Maynard, the Factory Girl of Norwich,” was produced for the first time at Norwich Theatre. “The piece is of home manufacture, but we cannot compliment the weaver of this dramatic warp and woof of his judgment in laying such a fabric before an audience in Norwich.” The scenery, by Thorne, included views of St. Saviour’s church, the Palace Gate, St. Martin-at-Palace Plain, and Whitefriars’ Bridge.
27.—Died at South Walsham, aged 75, Mr. Henry Codling. “Unassisted by the aid of any tutor, he acquired no mean degree of mathematical knowledge. He understood the doctrine of fluxions, and delighted in his favourite author, Maclaurin. He was a constant annual correspondent with the ‘Ladies’ Diary,’ to within a few years of the close of his life, and received prizes for the solution of the most knotty questions contained therein.”
28.—The headquarters of the 8th Royal Irish Hussars marched from Norwich for Manchester, and on the same day two troops of the 7th Dragoon Guards marched in, under the command of Major Bolton.
—Died at Chigwell Row, Mr. Luke Greaves Hansard, aged 61. “He was printer to the House of Commons, and eldest son of Luke Hansard, a native of Norfolk.”