JANUARY.
5.—At the Norfolk Quarter Sessions, a memorial was received from the Norfolk Chamber of Agriculture, affirming the necessity of the revision and re-adjustment of the existing mode of assessment, and of inducing the Government to contribute more largely to the rates levied under the authority of Courts of Quarter Sessions. Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., moved, “That, inasmuch as many of the charges at present paid by county rates, such as police, lunatic asylums, military stores, coroners, gaols, &c., are rendered necessary not for the benefit of any particular class or locality, but of the community at large, it is both just and politic that those charges should be much more liberally supplemented from the National Exchequer, and that a petition from Quarter Sessions be presented to the House of Commons to this effect.” The resolution was seconded by Mr. Dalrymple, M.P., and agreed to.
5.—The trial of the election petition presented by Mr. Gardiner C. Stevens against the return of Mr. Jacob Henry Tillett, as one of the members of Parliament for Norwich, commenced at the Shirehall, Norwich, before Mr. Justice Keating. Mr. O’Malley, Q.C., and Mr. Griffits were counsel for the petitioner, and Mr. Rodwell, Q.C., Mr. Serjeant Ballantine, and Mr. Simms Reeve for the respondent. The case for the petitioner closed on the 6th, and on the 7th Mr. Rodwell commenced his address on behalf of the respondent. On the 10th Mr. Serjeant Ballantine summed up the respondent’s case, and on the same day Mr. O’Malley replied. His lordship gave judgment on the 11th, declaring the election void, and stated that he should report to the House of Commons “the names of everyone engaged with this shameful and disgraceful bribery.” (See February 20th.)
18.—Died, in his 93rd year, at Alexandra Road, Norwich, Christopher Bunting. “He was present at the capture of the French ship Généreux, whose ensign now hangs in St. Andrew’s Hall. In his early days he was a steward in the Royal Navy, and not only saw the ensign strike to the Foudroyant, but on the quarterdeck of that vessel saw it packed and addressed to Robert Harvey, Esq., then (1800) Mayor of Norwich, little imagining that he would subsequently reside in Norwich, and for more than half a century have the opportunity of seeing the flag decorating the walls of its principal building.”
24.—Died, suddenly, at 2, Rectory Grove, Clapham, Mr. Henry Harrod, F.S.A., aged 53. Mr. Harrod was a native of Aylsham, and commenced practice as a solicitor, at Norwich, where he resided some years. He was best known for his devotion to antiquarian pursuits and by his contributions to the Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Archæological Society, of which he was an honorary secretary, in conjunction with Mr. R. G. P. Minty. His principal work was “Gleanings from the Castles and Convents of Norfolk.” Possessed of remarkable skill in deciphering old documents, his services in this respect were taken advantage of by the Corporations of Norwich, Lynn, and other boroughs, whose ancient records he undertook to arrange. Mr. Harrod was local secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, of which he was a Fellow, and of the Archæological Institute, and a corresponding member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.
27.—A new reservoir constructed by the Norwich Waterworks Company at Lakenham, from designs by Mr. Thomas Hawkesley, C.E., of London, engineer in chief to the company, was opened. It cost between £6,000 and £7,000, and was of 1,400,000 gallons capacity.
FEBRUARY.
4.—Died at Cambridge, Mr. Robert Steward, of Yarmouth. He served the office of Mayor of Yarmouth for four consecutive years, namely, from 1858 to 1861. In addition to being a borough magistrate, he was upon the Commission of the Peace for the county of Norfolk.
6.—A new type of traction engine (Thompson’s patent) was tested in the streets of Thetford by Messrs. Burrell, of the St. Nicholas Ironworks. “The peculiarities of the engine consist of its wheels, three in number, being fitted with a length of indiarubber, six inches thick and twelve inches wide, covered with steel and kept on the wheels by endless chains. The great use of these indiarubber tyres is to give elasticity.”
8.—Mr. George William Perrepoint Bentinck, of Davies Street, Berkeley Square, London, was, at Swaffham, returned unopposed to fill the vacancy caused in the representation of West Norfolk by the elevation to the Peerage of the Hon. Thomas de Grey.