20.—At a special meeting of the Norwich Town Council, an address was ordered to be presented to the Bishop of Norwich on his appointment to the diocese. The presentation took place at the Palace, on October 4th.
28.—Died at his residence, James Street, Buckingham Gate, London, Mr. Thomas Amyot, F.R.S., F.S.A., in his 76th year. He was the eldest son of Mr. Peter Amyot, of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, and was articled to Messrs. Foster and Unthank, solicitors, of that city. On the accession to power, in 1806, of the Fox and Granville parties, the Right Hon. William Windham, Secretary for the Department of War and the Colonies, appointed Mr. Amyot his private secretary. On the dissolution of that short-lived Administration, he received a lucrative Colonial appointment as Registrar of Slaves in the British West India possessions, a position which he continued to hold until his functions gradually ceased on the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act. Mr. Amyot was interested in literary pursuits and archæological research. He married Jane, only daughter of Mr. Edward Colman, surgeon, of Norwich, by whom he had two sons and six daughters.
OCTOBER.
23.—A fine schooner was launched from Mr. T. Tyrrell’s shipyard at Wells-next-the-Sea.
24.—“The Times” was shamefully hoaxed on this date. A letter had been sent to the editor, with the intimation that a Protectionist meeting was to be held at Lynn, to be addressed by the Hon. E. H. Stanley, M.P., Mr. D’Israeli, and other gentlemen. “The Times” sent its representatives, who found that no such meeting had been announced or even contemplated.
27.—Died at Blickling Hall, the Dowager Lady Suffield. “She was born in the year 1767, her early life being passed during one of the most eventful periods, both socially and politically, which have marked our history.” Her father was John Hobart, second Earl of Buckinghamshire, who had been Ambassador at St. Petersburg, and was afterwards Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1792 she married William Assheton, second Lord Suffield, and in 1744 her youngest sister, Amelia Ann, was married to Lord Castlereagh. “In consequence of this union her connection with the political world was maintained even more intimately than before. Throughout her life she continued to take a lively interest in the politics of the county, and the influence of the united houses of Gunton and Blickling in the days of contested elections was not lightly esteemed by conflicting parties.” In 1821 she became a widow, and thenceforth devoted herself to charitable works. The family estates descended to the Marquis of Lothian, her grand-nephew.
NOVEMBER.
2.—The announcement was made of the engagement of Mr. and Mrs. F. Phillips as members of the Norwich Company, under the
management of Mr. Joseph Clarence. Mrs. Phillips, who was professionally known as Miss Ellen Daly, had acquired Metropolitan celebrity, and “was equally at home in serious work, in domestic comedy, and in fashionable life.”
8.—The ceremony of turning the first sod of the great undertaking known as the Norfolk Estuary Works was performed at Lynn by Sir William ffolkes. The Earl of Hardwick, the Earl of Leicester, Mr. R. G. Tounley, M.P., and Miss Wodehouse each deposited a spadeful of earth upon a barrow, which was wheeled away by the Mayor. It was estimated that 150,000 acres of land would be reclaimed from the sea by the completion of the work.