7.—Trowse Swing Bridge, erected from a design by Mr. Bidder, was swung across the river for the first time. It underwent Government inspection on December 9th, and the first trains ran over it on December 15th.
7.—Sir Lawrence Jones, Bart., of Cranmer Hall, was murdered by robbers at Macri, in Turkey. He was in his 29th year. On July 8th, 1846, his remains were interred in the family vault at Sculthorpe.
10.—Mr. John Betts was elected Mayor of Norwich, and Mr. Jeremiah Colman appointed Sheriff.
16.—Died, aged 72, Gregory Robinson, of the Bull’s Head Inn, Ber Street, Norwich. “The deceased in early life entered the Navy, and was with Lord Howe on June 1st, 1794, and in several other engagements. He was one of the crew of the St. George when that vessel was wrecked on the coast of Jutland, on December 24th, 1811.”
DECEMBER.
3.—A public meeting was held at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, to consider the propriety of memorialising the Government to open the ports of Great Britain and Ireland for the admission of foreign grain free of duty, in consequence of the apprehended scarcity of food. The Mayor presided, and Mr. Tillett moved that a petition be presented to Parliament for the immediate repeal of the Corn Laws. A similar petition was adopted by the Norwich Town Council on the 9th.
12.—In the Arches Court, Sir H. Jenner Fust gave judgment in the suit Kitson v. the Rev. Arthur Loftus, vicar of Fincham St. Martin and rector of Fincham St. Michael. The case came before the Court by letters of request from the Bishop of Norwich, and the articles, in substance, charged Mr. Loftus with gross immorality. Sentence of deprivation was passed.
—A “remarkable and unprecedented” occurrence took place at the meet, on Mulbarton Common, of the Norfolk Subscription Pack of Staghounds. A bailiff, on behalf of the Rev. J. H. Steward, of Carlton House, served notices upon all who were suspected of being about to commit a trespass. “The eccentricity of such a proceeding created much amusement, and the consequence was a change of position was ordered.”
22.—The van of a menagerie travelling through Potter Heigham overturned into a ditch, and the bars of the tiger’s cage giving way, “the animal escaped, after biting off the head of an eagle.” The neighbouring farmers, armed with guns, and the labourers with pitchforks, went in pursuit of the beast. An unsuccessful endeavour was made to entangle him in a sheep-net. “A large hamper containing a piece of flesh was then placed in his way. Upon his jumping in to seize the food the lid was drawn down and soon secured, the animal uttering the most hideous yells.”
24.—A serious accident occurred on the Norfolk Railway near Thetford. The up-train from Norwich was proceeding at a rapid rate when the engine left the line and fell down the embankment. The engine-driver, named Pickering, was killed instantly, and the stoker, Richard Eager, had both legs broken, and died shortly after his removal from the scene of the accident. None of the passengers were seriously hurt. The accident was supposed to be due to the excessive speed at which the train was travelling—fifty-five miles an hour.