12.—Died, aged 60, Mr. Thomas Barber, attorney, 27 years secretary of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
19.—Tombland Fair took place. It was stated to be customary on the occasion of this annual event for military bands to play in the Upper Close, which was used as a fashionable promenade. The bands of the 5th Dragoon Guards and the Wiltshire Militia were present on this occasion.
23.—The Norwich, Aylsham, and Cromer coach commenced running from 21, Lobster Lane, Norwich, to the Red Lion Inn, Cromer. It left Norwich on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and returned on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The proprietor was Mr. W. Spanton.
28.*—(Advt.) “Cocking. A main will be fought at the Maid’s Head Inn, Norwich, on the 14th and 15th days of May next, between the gentlemen of Norfolk and the gentlemen of Ipswich, to show 27 mains for six guineas a battle and 100 guineas the odd; likewise six byes and two turn-outs for five guineas a battle, to make four in goes. A pair of cocks in the pit precisely at 12 o’clock. Feeders: Lamb for Norfolk, Smith for Ipswich.”
30.—A rare fish called the Opah or King-fish (Chætodes of Linnæus) was found on Mundesley beach.
—Mr. Patteson presented in the House of Commons a petition from the Mayor, Alderman, and Justices of Norwich, against the Bill to alter, explain, and amend the laws in force respecting bread, and for better regulating the mode of setting the price thereof out of London. The petition stated that the proposed Bill would add 4s. to the then allowance of 12s. for every quarter of wheat, and the baker for his labour, salt, &c., which would tend to raise the price of bread. The magistrates had consulted the master and wardens of the Norwich Bakers’ Company, who declared that the bakers were perfectly satisfied with the mode of regulating the assize and with the allowance of 12s. per quarter.
MAY.
2.—At the Norfolk Quarter Sessions, a man named Stebbing, of Wymondham, was indicted for using seditious language in the presence of several persons, some of whom were Militia men. The prisoner was alleged to have asserted that “if Buonaparte would come he would be the first man to join him” and that “Buonaparte was a better man to his country than King George was to this.” The jury, “to the surprise of the whole court,” returned a verdict of not guilty, “and several gentlemen on the bench expressed their strongest reprobation.” Sergt. Money, of the Militia, one of the principal witnesses for the prosecution, was afterwards appointed to an ensigncy in the 4th Garrison Battalion.
10.—The Victory, 100 guns, Vice-Admiral Sir J. Saumarez, and seven other sail of the line, sailed from Yarmouth for the Baltic.
16.—The First Eastern Regiment of the Local Militia, commanded by Lord Suffield, assembled at Aylsham and marched thence to Yarmouth for 20 days’ training. The dates and places of assembly of the other regiments were as follow:—2nd Eastern Regiment, Col. Patteson, Norwich, May 22nd; 1st Western Regiment, Col. Petre, Norwich, May 17th; 2nd Western Regiment, Col. Edmund Wodehouse, Lynn, May 21st; 3rd Western Regiment, Col. Chad, Swaffham, May 10th,