OCTOBER.
4.—The headquarters of the 7th Dragoon Guards arrived at Norwich, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Peyton. The Cavalry Barracks being under repair, the officers took up their quarters at the Royal Hotel.
6.—Great excitement was caused at Diss by the closing of the doors of Messrs. Fincham and Co.’s Bank. In a circular issued shortly afterwards, Mr. Simpson stated that he was compelled to adopt this course owing to the continued strain upon his resources. On the 7th it was announced that arrangements were being made by which it was hoped the business of the Bank would be carried on; and on the same day Messrs. Gurneys intimated that they would afford banking facilities to the customers of Messrs. Fincham and Simpson during the temporary suspension of business. A meeting of the creditors was held on the 10th, and a committee appointed; and representatives of the London and Provincial Bank carried out negotiations which resulted in the Bank being re-opened on the 11th. Another meeting was held on November 2nd, for the purpose of proving debts and of realising the estate. Payment to the creditors of 10s. in the pound was arranged, it being understood that further dividends would be paid as the estate was realised. The liabilities were reported to be £87,305 5s. 6d., and the assets £54,491 18s. 2d.
13.—Sir Samuel Bignold, on the completion of his 80th year, was presented by the clerks at the Union Offices with a silver inkstand and an illuminated address. Several of the Conservative Ward Associations adopted congratulatory addresses, and, on the 17th, a resolution was passed by the Town Council expressive of the congratulations of that body. On January 9th, 1872, the proprietors of the Norwich Union Fire Office presented Sir Samuel with a service of plate and his portrait, painted by Ventnor.
15.—Died at his residence, Buckingham Palace Road, London, Mr. Richard Young, who, on the 13th inst., had been re-elected by the Livery of the Corporation Sheriff of London and Middlesex. Mr. Young, who was a merchant and shipowner, and a director of the Great Eastern Railway and other companies, was born at Scarning, in 1809, and was a self-made man.
16.—Died at the house of her nephew, Mr. H. Wilkin, West Pottergate Street, Norwich, Sarah Nolbrow, aged 100 years.
17.—The Norwich Town Council accepted a portrait of Mr. Jacob Henry Tillett, painted by Sandys, to be placed in St. Andrew’s Hall.
—The Sanitary Committee reported to the Norwich Town Council that the number of outbreaks of small-pox in the city was such as to occasion considerable alarm. It was stated that the necessary precautions had been taken, and, in case of death, burial within forty-eight hours had, as far as possible, been enforced, and arrangements made to prevent the bodies of children being carried to the Cemetery in cabs. Dr. Eade, at a meeting of the Town Council on November 28th, referred to the alarming spread of the disease, and urged the necessity of enforcing vaccination. During this and the succeeding month several persons were prosecuted for neglect of precautionary measures. On December 19th it was reported to the Town Council that the Marchioness of Lothian had munificently given to the city a small-pox hospital. (See March 23rd, 1872.)
18.—A new Corn Hall, erected through the enterprise of Mr. J. W. Davey, was opened at Yarmouth. It was designed by Mr. J. B. Pearce, and built by Mr. J. W. Lacey, at the cost of £3,800. “For many years past the corn merchants had met in all weathers in front of the Duke’s Head Hotel, without the slightest shelter, and transacted their affairs at great inconvenience to themselves and to the annoyance of the general public.”
26.—At Norwich Quarter Sessions, before the Recorder, Mr. O’Malley, Q.C., Henry Brown Woolsey (36), formerly a clerk at Carrow Works, pleaded guilty to feloniously embezzling £558, the monies of his employers, Mr. J. J. Colman and others, and was sentenced to five years’ penal servitude, although recommended to mercy by the prosecutors. Considerable comment was made upon the disparity of the sentences in this and in the Hoskins case (q.v. page 210).