17.—The first conviction under the new Act for preventing the extension of diseases in sheep was recorded at Norwich, when Mr.
Betts, cattle dealer, of Old Buckenham, was fined for exposing on the Castle Meadow sheep that were suffering from sheep-pox or variola ovina.
23.—The Adelphi Theatre, Norwich, was opened under the management of Mr. George Smith, formerly lessee of the Theatre Royal. The company included Mr. and Mrs. Sidney (Miss J. Trafford).
31.—St. Matthew’s church, Thorpe Hamlet, Norwich, at which building operations commenced in the second week in August, was “founded” by the chairman and members of the committee.
NOVEMBER.
9.—Mr. Samuel Bignold was elected Mayor, and Mr. Robert Chamberlin appointed Sheriff of Norwich.
13.—A salmon weighing 9 lbs. was captured in the river near Trowse Bridge, Norwich.
21.—Died at Richmond, Mr. William James Achilles Abington, M.A., barrister-at-law, of the Middle Temple, aged 41, the only surviving son of Mr. William Abington, of the East India House. The deceased gentleman was in 1845 lessee of Norwich Theatre.
28.—Madame Dulcken, pianist to the Queen, gave a grand concert at the Assembly Rooms, Norwich.
—Mr. Isaac Jermy, Recorder of Norwich, and Mr. Jermy Jermy, his son, were murdered at Stanfield Hall, Wymondham, by James Blomfield Rush. Mrs. Jermy Jermy and her maid, Elizabeth Chastney, alarmed by the report of the firearm, proceeded to the assistance of the victims, and were severely wounded, the former in the arm and the latter in the hip, by another shot fired by the murderer. Rush was apprehended the same night at his house, Potash Farm, by Police-constable Mortar, of the Norwich city police, and conveyed to Wymondham Bridewell. The first examination of the prisoner took place on the 29th, before the Hon. and Rev. R. Wilson, Mr. Cann, and Mr. Parker. He was afterwards taken to Stanfield Hall, where Mrs. Jermy Jermy identified him as her assailant. Rush was further examined at Wymondham Bridewell on the 30th. At the adjourned hearing on December 2nd, Emily Sandford, his housekeeper, gave evidence, and the prisoner was committed to Norwich Castle, where the third hearing was conducted in private on December 5th. The final examinations took place at the Castle on the 13th and 14th; on the latter date the depositions were publicly read, and the prisoner was formally committed to take his trial on the charge of wilful murder. On the 19th he was taken, under writ of habeas corpus, to Stanfield Hall, where Chastney gave evidence in his presence. The inquest on Mr. Jermy and Mr. Jermy Jermy was opened by Mr. Press at the King’s Head Inn, Wymondham, on November 30th, and adjourned sittings were held on December 1st, 2nd, and 5th. On the last-named day the Coroner issued a warrant for the detention of Emily Sandford in Wymondham Bridewell. The final sitting of the Coroner’s Court was held on December 19th, when the jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Rush. The funeral of Mr. Jermy and his son took place at Wymondham church, on December 5th. (See March 29th, 1849.)