29.—At the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Baron Rolfe, the trial commenced of James Blomfield Rush for the Stanfield Hall murders. Mr. Serjeant Byles, Mr. Prendergast, and Mr. Evans were counsel for the prosecution, and the prisoner conducted his own defence. The case was opened at nine a.m., and the Court adjourned at seven p.m. On the 30th Emily Sandford gave evidence, and was in the witness-box nine and a half hours. Her examination in chief lasted two hours, and the prisoner subjected her to seven and a half hours’ cross-examination, mostly on irrelevant matters. On the 31st the Court sat from nine a.m. to 7.30 p.m.; and the case for the Crown was completed on Monday, April 2nd. The prisoner commenced his address to the jury shortly after nine o’clock on the morning of the 3rd, and had not concluded when the Court rose at ten minutes to eight o’clock. “It was full of repetitions, and everything material might have been said in a tithe of the time.” The address was resumed at nine a.m. on April 4th, and concluded at twelve o’clock, the prisoner in the two days having spoken nearly fourteen hours. Mr. Serjeant Byles then replied for the Crown. The Judge summed up, the jury, after a few minutes’ consultation, returned a verdict of guilty, and sentence of death was passed. Throughout the trial the Court was densely crowded. The jury were conveyed each night to the Maid’s Head Hotel, where the assembly-room was specially fitted up for their accommodation as a
sleeping apartment; and on Sunday, April 1st, they attended morning and afternoon service at the Cathedral, under the escort of the county officials. (See April 21st.)
APRIL.
2.—The garrison steeplechases of the 16th Lancers took place at Stanninghall, near Spixworth.
21.—The execution of James Blomfield Rush, for the Stanfield Hall murders, took place on the Castle Hill, Norwich, in the presence of an enormous gathering of spectators. Thousands of persons entered the city by road—“one woman who had been confined only three weeks travelled from the country on foot fourteen miles during the previous night, in order to be present”—and many thousands more were brought in by the trains. Cheap return tickets were issued from London to Norwich, and the persons who availed themselves of the facilities were principally members of the “swell mob.” At Attleborough station the London detectives who travelled by the train transferred the gang to an up-train; several who evaded the police were apprehended immediately on their arrival at Norwich and conveyed to the Police Station, where they remained in custody until after the execution. The culprit was hanged at noon, by Calcraft. “The greatest silence prevailed, the solemn stillness being only broken by the solitary shriek of a woman who had fainted in the crowd.”
MAY.
19.—Major Loftus, commanding Prince Albert’s Own Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry, announced to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, that the Earl of Leicester, as Lord Lieutenant, had advised the authorities that, in consequence of local circumstances, it was expedient to disband the regiment. Major Loftus complained that the Lord Lieutenant would assign “no cause for this unceremonious dismissal.” He added: “My duty is now to give you my last word of command, which is to obey the orders of her Majesty’s Secretary of State and to desire that you deliver up all your arms, clothing, and accoutrements to the respective captains of troops, who are hereby directed to forward the arms and sword belts to Cornet William Freeman, at my store-room at Billingford. And I have to request that your clothing, saddlery, &c., be conveyed to Holkham Hall, when his lordship will have the opportunity of disposing of them as he and Sir George Grey may think proper, for I shall give myself no further trouble in the matter after the ungracious manner in which I have been treated.”
20.—A telegram was received at Norwich, announcing that the Queen had been fired at on the previous (Saturday) evening, by an Irishman named John Hamilton. The National Anthem was played at the Cathedral and at most of the parish churches.
24.—The Queen’s birthday was celebrated with much rejoicing in Norwich. The Sheriff gave a dinner at St. Andrew’s Hall to the inmates of the Workhouse and Infirmary. The 16th Lancers paraded in
the Market Place, and the Corps of Pensioners, under Capt. Cockburn, fired a feu de joie. The Mayor entertained a large party at luncheon at the Guildhall, and in the evening gave a dinner at the Assembly Rooms.