26.—The railways from Lynn to Downham and from Lynn to Narborough were opened on this date.
NOVEMBER.
9.—Mr. Jeremiah Colman was elected Mayor, and Mr. Charles Winter appointed Sheriff of Norwich.
13.—The London markets were, for the first time, “expressed by electric telegraph” in the Norfolk Chronicle. Discussing the possibilities of “this wonderful medium of communication,” that journal observed: “A division in the House of Commons after any important debate may be communicated at all stations from London to Yarmouth in a few minutes.”
16.—The first recorded canary show in Norwich was held on this date, at the Greyhound Inn, Ber Street, when 300 specimens belonging to a canary club were exhibited.
24.—A trout, weighing 9½ lbs., was captured in a net near the New Mills, Norwich.
27.—The Norwich Corporation delegated their powers to the Watch Committee “to appoint a fire brigade of six men, whose business it will be to attend all fires in Norwich with the Corporation engine, which is to be managed by the brigade exclusively. The men in the daytime are to act as common policemen, and to sleep near the station house, where the engine is kept, each night, that they may be ready in case of alarm.”
DECEMBER.
5.*—“The directors of the Norfolk and Eastern Counties Railway, with the view of giving the poorer classes greater facilities, have started a fourth class. The return fare to London is 7s. 6d.”
7.—The Wymondham and Dereham Railway was opened for goods traffic. The Bill for the construction of this railway, which was applied for by the Norfolk Company, was strenuously opposed by Norwich traders, who considered that a direct line to Dereham would be to their greater advantage. The Act authorised the Company to make an extension of 22½ miles from Dereham to Wells, with a branch line of 6½ miles to Blakeney, making the total from Wymondham 40½ miles. Messrs. Grissel and Peto were the general contractors, and the electric telegraph was established under the superintendence of the Rev. A. Bath Power. (See February 15th, 1847.)