18.—Died at North Walsham, Mary Doughty, aged 101 years.
28.—At the Norfolk Assizes, before Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, was tried a remarkable action for assault, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. The plaintiff, Mr. Albert Pell (son of Sir Albert Pell, of Northamptonshire), with his brother, while on a visit to Yarmouth, crossed the fields of the defendant, Mr. Mayes Wigg, at Caister. They had with them a Skye terrier, and defendant, alleging that they were poaching, gave them into the custody of a policeman, who, after detaining them at his cottage, took them before a magistrate at Thrigby. The charge was dismissed, whereupon the present action was commenced. The jury found for the plaintiff on the first count, charging assault and false imprisonment, and awarded damages £5; and for defendant on the second count, charging malicious prosecution.
APRIL.
4.—Died at Yarmouth, Mr. George Danby Palmer, aged 77. In early life Mr. Palmer was an active supporter of the Tory party, but previous to the passing of the Reform Bill he adopted Liberal principles, and after the introduction of the Municipal Reform Act became decidedly Radical. He was the oldest member of the borough Bench, and a justice of the peace for the county. “Possessed of large property, he lavished his wealth with unsparing hand upon those whom he deemed worthy of his assistance, but as it was rendered so unobtrusively, with the exception of the recipients of his bounty, the world was not aware of his generosity. He was a straightforward Englishman, and was greatly lamented by all classes in Yarmouth.”
17.—The English Grand Opera Company, under the management of Mr. G. B. Loveday, commenced an engagement at Norwich Theatre. Madame Haigh-Dyer, Miss Annie Kemp, Miss Ada Taylor, Mr. Brookhouse Bowler, Mr. Grantham, Mr. E. Connell, Mr. Oliver Summers, and Mr. Henry Rowland were the principal artistes, and the works produced included “Faust,” “Dinorah,” “The Crown Diamonds,” “Lucrezia Borgia,” “The Lady of Lyons” (burlesque), “Satanella,” and “Norma.”
MAY.
17.—The Snettisham Hall estate of 2,600 acres and a rental of £3,600 was offered for sale at Garraway’s. The highest bid was £99,000, and the reserve was declared at £130,000.
20.—In the Court of Queen’s Bench, the action, le Strange v. Rowe, which raised an important question as to sea-shore rights, came on for hearing. The defendant was proceeded against for taking shingle, sand, and shell-fish from the sea shore in the manor of Snettisham, belonging to the plaintiff. About twenty special pleas were set up by the defendant and demurred to in point of law, on the broad ground that there could not be in law any such rights as alleged, “either in all the subjects of the realm or by Royal grant or by custom or by prescription in inhabitants or occupiers.” The Court deferred judgment, and ultimately referred the case to the Norfolk Assizes for decision as to questions of fact. At Norwich, on August 4th, the case was adjourned to enable the plaintiff to amend the declarations. The case came before Lord Chief Justice Erle at the Norfolk Assizes on August 13th, 1866, when the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, damages one shilling. In the Court of Queen’s Bench, on May 28th, 1867, application was made for a new trial, on the ground of misdirection and that the verdict was given for the plaintiff against the weight of evidence. The application was refused.
23.—An earthquake shock was distinctly felt along the coast from Scratby, on the north of Yarmouth, to Lowestoft, on the south.
24.—The Queen’s birthday was observed as a general holiday at Norwich. A detachment of the 16th Lancers and the Volunteers were reviewed in Chapel Field, and fired a feu de joie in the Market Place; the Mayor gave a luncheon at the Guildhall, and the Volunteers were entertained at the Corn Hall. The Mayor’s ball took place in the evening, at St. Andrew’s Hall.