OCTOBER.
3.—The first Church Congress commenced at Norwich. The Congress sermon was preached at the Cathedral by the Archbishop of York, and the first general meeting was held at St. Andrew’s Hall, presided over by the Bishop of Norwich. The final meeting took place on the afternoon of the 5th, after which the members of Congress attended luncheon, given at the new bank by Mr. R. J. H. Harvey, M.P. Two thousand guests were present. On the morning of the 6th, the Bishop of Oxford preached the annual sermon at the Cathedral on behalf of the Five Religious Societies.
9.—Died at the house of Mrs. Church, Lady Lane, Norwich, Bartholomew Gattey, “the eccentric but clever flute-player at the Theatre Royal.” For forty years he had scarcely been absent from his place in the orchestra of the theatres in the Norwich circuit, “a position to which he fondly clung, in spite of many most favourable offers of engagement that were made to him, and which, if accepted, would, no doubt, have resulted in his obtaining a position in the musical world of honour and emolument. At length a mind never very strong gave way, and he was obliged to have recourse to the assistance of his friends. Mr. Hewlett and other gentlemen got up a concert for him in December, 1863, and £50 was realised, which, with Mr. Gattey’s simple habits, was sufficient for his maintenance until his death.” He was a son of Mr. Gattey, a yarn manufacturer, and a native of Norwich, and had attained his 64th year.
14.*—“Died at his residence, Bury St. Edmund’s, Mr. Frederick Ladbrooke, portrait painter. The deceased was the youngest son of the late Mr. Robert Ladbrooke, one of the founders of the celebrated Society of Norfolk and Norwich Artists. He was a painter of considerable power.”
18.—The ceremony of cutting the first sod of the East Norfolk Railway was performed on the estate of Mr. C. Jecks, Sheriff of Norwich, by Lady Suffield, in the presence of a large number of spectators. In the evening a dinner, attended by representatives of most of the principal families in the county, was held at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, in celebration of the event. Lord Suffield presided. (See August 13th, 1870.)
21.*—“The Queen has been pleased to grant to Edward John Stracey, of Sprowston, Lieut.-Colonel of the Scots Fusilier Guards, her Royal licence and authority that he and his issue may, in compliance with a clause contained in the last will and testament of James Clitherow, take and use the name of Clitherow in addition to that of Stracey.”
25.—A new lifeboat, named the James Pearce, was launched at Yarmouth. It was built at the cost of £350, subscribed by the artisans of Birmingham, and presented through the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to the Caister station.
30.—Died at Hilgay, aged 110 years (as was originally stated), Mr. John Naylor, formerly landlord of the Crown Hotel, Downham Market. An amended notice, published on November 18th, says: “The late Mr. John Naylor, who died on the 30th ult., and was supposed by his eldest son to be only 110 years of age, appears from the parish register of Welney to be 117, he having been born on the 29th of May, 1748. In 1825 the deceased retired from his business as a publican, he having kept the Crown at Downham and the George and Dragon at Hilgay in succession, and had since lived on a small property of his own in the latter village. He was always a smart, active man, and constant in taking his walk up to October, 1860. Since that time he had been confined to his house, but used to sit up in his chair for some portion of the day until June, 1864, when he did so for the last time. His sight had failed him, but his hearing was so good that he could distinguish the voices of his friends, and he was rational until within six weeks of his death.”
NOVEMBER.
1.—Died of apoplexy, at his residence, Acton Green, Middlesex, John Lindley, F.R.S., Ph.D., and formerly Professor of Botany at University College. He was born at Catton, near Norwich, in 1799, and was the son of a nurseryman. His first literary effort, after devoting much of his early youth to the practical details of botany, was the translation of Richard’s “Analyse de Fruit” from the French, and the contribution of some papers to the Transactions of the Linnæan Society. Afterwards he proceeded to London, where he was engaged by Mr. Loudon to assist in the production of the “Encyclopædia of Plants.” In 1832 he published his “Introduction to Systematic and Physiological Botany,” but his chef d’œuvre was the “Vegetable Kingdom.” For more than a quarter of a century Dr. Lindley filled the chair of Botany at University College, London, and in 1860 was appointed examiner in the University of London. He was a member of several learned bodies, and edited the horticultural department of the “Gardeners’ Chronicle” from its commencement in January, 1841, to the time of his death.