9.—Died in London, Lieut.-General Sir Archdale Wilson, G.C.B., Colonel commandant Royal Artillery. Born in 1803, he was a son of the Rev. George Wilson, of Kirby Cane (uncle of Lord Berners), by a daughter of the Rev. C. Millard, Chancellor of Norwich. He entered the service of the East India Company, and went through some of the earlier campaigns in India. For his eminent services during the Indian Mutiny he received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament, and was nominated in succession Companion, Knight Commander, and Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. General Wilson was granted a pension of £1,000 a year by the East India Company, and created a baronet. He was a brother of Mr. Philip Wilson, a Lynn solicitor, with whom he resided for some time after his return from India, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his nephew, Mr. Rowland Knyvett Wilson, Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge.
15.—Died at his residence, Unthank’s Road, Norwich, Mr. John Briggs, who for many years was connected with the firm of Messrs. Bullard and Sons. Early in life Mr. Briggs married a sister-in-law of Mr. Richard Bullard, and sailed for America, where he landed with only a few shillings in his pocket. He offered his services as an assistant in a lithographic establishment, and though practically unacquainted with the business beyond a taste for drawing, he not only secured the appointment, but in a short time acquired sufficient knowledge of the art to earn a fair competence for himself. Amongst other work which subsequently came into his hands was the drawing of plans for many of the streets and blocks of buildings in Chicago, of which the chief part were destroyed in the great fire. Mr. Briggs made several remunerative purchases of land in the United States. Ill-health compelled him to return to England, and, settling in Norwich, he joined his brother-in-law in the Anchor Brewery, the success of which was greatly promoted by his active business habits.
19.—At a meeting of the Norwich Town Council, certain members expressed strong disapproval of the action of the City Committee “in ordering the destruction of the chapel of Thomas à Becket, one of the archæological gems of the city.” Several members stated that they had never heard of the place, and the Town Clerk informed the Council that the chapel was “a vault at the back of the Dutch church,” and had been converted into a place of storage. The subject was discussed at a meeting of the Norfolk and Norwich Archæological Society, on the 20th, when Mr. Gunn referred to the members of the Town Council as “a pachydermatous set,” and Sir Francis Boileau described them as “ruthless Goths.”
25.—The Mayor and Sheriff of Norwich entertained, at St. Andrew’s Hall, 1,600 of the aged poor of the city, in celebration of the Queen’s birthday.
JUNE.
3.—Died, aged 69, Mr. John Oddin Taylor, of Norwich. He was an Alderman of the city, “and the grand Cattle Market and Prince of Wales Road, for which we are mainly indebted to him, are monuments of his far-seeing judgment and untiring zeal.” Descended from a long line of Norfolk yeomen, Mr. Taylor was born at Thuxton, on April 26th, 1805, and in due course was articled to Mr. T. Bignold and Mr. T. Brightwell. In politics he was one of the old school of Whigs, and on the passing of the Municipal Reform Act in 1835 became a member of the Corporation. Mr. Taylor was one of the Liberals who protested against the displacement of the old Corporation officials. He served the office of Mayor in 1861–62; was made a Deputy-Lieutenant of the county in acknowledgment of his political services as Liberal agent, and was a trustee of the Grammar and Commercial Schools, and an active member of the Committee of the Norfolk and Norwich Triennial Musical Festival. Mr. Taylor married the eldest daughter of Mr. Brewer, of Mile End House, Norwich, and of the marriage there were two sons and three daughters.
15.—A fire took place on the premises of Mr. Dixon, silversmith and jeweller, of London Street, Norwich, and did damage to the amount of £2,000.
17.—The annual show of the Norfolk Agricultural Association commenced at Norwich. It was held upon the grounds of the Sheriff (Mr. A. R. Chamberlin), on Ipswich Road, and the luncheon was under the presidency of Mr. J. J. Colman, M.P.
18.—A meeting of the Norfolk and Norwich Provident Building Society was held at the Bell Hotel, Norwich, under the presidency of Mr. H. S. Patteson, when it was reported that the secretary, Mr. Josiah Buttifant, had left the city on the 2nd inst., ostensibly for the purpose of taking a holiday; but it was afterwards discovered that he had committed defalcations to the amount of about £5,000. A committee was appointed to consider the best course to be adopted, and soon afterwards a petition was presented for the winding-up of the society, and a warrant issued for the apprehension of Buttifant. On July 6th William Frederick Fish, a clerk in the employment of Buttifant, was taken into custody, on the information of Samuel Beckett Hook, a shareholder in the society, on the charge of cheating and defrauding Agas Goose and others, trustees, of the sum of £10 7s., and on other days of divers other sums, amounting in the whole to £10,000. The accused was finally committed for trial on July 20th; and on July 27th Mr. Justice Blackburn granted an application for a writ of certiorari to remove the trial of Fish to the Central Criminal Court. On August 14th a telegram was received in Norwich, announcing that Buttifant had been arrested at Valentia. The arrest was effected on August 7th, by Detective Williamson, of the Norwich police. Buttifant and his son Archibald were staying, under the name of Biron, at the Hotel de Ville Madrid, Valentia. He was brought to England, viâ Marseilles, reached Norwich on August 14th, and underwent his preliminary examination before the magistrates on the 15th, on charges of forgery and embezzlement. After several remands he was committed for trial at the Norwich Assizes. At the Central Criminal Court, on November 25th, Fish was placed upon his trial, on the charge of stealing £39 2s., and of aiding and assisting Buttifant in the embezzlement, and was sentenced by Mr. Baron Pollock to sixteen calendar months’ imprisonment, with hard labour. (See March 25th, 1875.)