13.—“As You Like It” was for the first time performed locally as a “pastoral play” in the grounds of Mousehold House, Thorpe Hamlet, the residence of Mr. W. H. Hackblock. The comedy was represented by amateurs on the occasion of a garden fête.
16.—The new prison on Plumstead Road, Norwich, designed by the surveyor to the Prison Department, and built by Messrs. W. and T. Denne, of Walmer, Kent, was completed on this date. The prisoners were transferred from the Castle to the new prison on August 2nd. On September 12th the Prison Commissioners gave formal possession of the Castle to the Mayor and Corporation. The late Governor (Mr. A. E Dent), in handing the keys to the Town Clerk (Mr. H. B. Miller), remarked that the Castle had for many generations—since 1345, when it was first used as a county prison, been in the hands of governors, and he was glad, as the last of that long line, to hand over the building to the Corporation to be employed for a different purpose in the future. (See July 27th, 1891.)
20.—Mr. Henry Chaplin, M.P., was the principal speaker at a great Primrose League fête given in Melton Constable Park by Lord Hastings.
25.—Died, at his resident, at Sevran, in the environs of Paris, Mr. William Bateman, aged 75. He was second son of Mr. John Bateman, of Norwich, and brother of Dr. Bateman. At the age of 29 he settled in Paris as a merchant and acquired an ample fortune. During his mercantile career Mr. Bateman established extensive commercial operations in Spain, and in 1870 King; Amadeus conferred upon him the dignity of Knight of the Order of Charles III. of Spain. Mr. Bateman married the eldest daughter of Mr. William Harrison, of Yarmouth.
27.—The Premier (Lord Salisbury) visited Norwich. His lordship was received at Thorpe station by the High Sheriff (Sir Alfred Jodrell, Bart.), the Mayor (Sir Harry Bullard), and Lieutenant-Colonel Bignold, the leader of the Conservative party in the city. Escorted by a cavalcade of fifty horsemen, among whom were several leading residents in the county and city, Lord Salisbury drove to Harford Lodge, the residence of Colonel Bignold. In the evening the Premier addressed a great meeting, held at the Agricultural Hall, under the presidency of Colonel Bignold, and at the conclusion of the proceedings travelled by special train to Coltishall, whence he drove to Horstead Hall as the guest of Sir Edward Birkbeck, M.P., and the Hon. Lady Birkbeck. Lord Salisbury returned to Norwich on the 28th, and after attending a luncheon given at the Guildhall by the Mayor, proceeded to the Agricultural Hall, where he received addresses presented by deputations from many Conservative associations in East Anglia. Having delivered a further address his lordship departed from Thorpe station by the 3.25 train for London.
AUGUST.
3.—The Cricket Week theatrical performances commenced at Norwich Theatre, and were continued on the 4th and 5th. The pieces produced by Sir Kenneth Kemp’s company of amateurs were “The Parvenue” and “Woodcock’s Little Game.”
9.—Died, at 3, Belgravia Square, Edward Fellowes, first Baron de Ramsey. His lordship, who was raised to the Peerage on July 5th, was the second son of Mr. William Fellowes, of Ramsey Abbey, Huntingdonshire, by his wife, Emma, fourth daughter of Mr. Richard Benyon, of Englefield House, Berks. He was born in 1809, and entering Parliament for Huntingdonshire in 1837, sat in the House of Commons without interruption until the General Election in 1880, when his eldest son, Captain Fellowes, succeeded to the seat which had been successfully defended against Liberal assaults during forty-three years. For more than half a century Mr. Fellowes was chairman of the Commissions which had the management of the Middle Level and Ouse Outfall Works.
19.—Died, at Alfred Place, South Kensington, Mr. John Palgrave Simpson. He was the second son of Mr. William Simpson, Town Clerk of Norwich and Treasurer for the county of Norfolk, and of his wife Katherine, daughter of Mr. William Palgrave, of Coltishall. Intended for the Church, he was educated under a private tutor at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he took the degree of B.A., and proceeded M.A. in due course. Abandoning the idea of adopting the clerical profession, Mr. Simpson travelled on the Continent and in the East. He was in Paris when a sudden and severe reverse of fortune, consequent upon the failure of a bank, compelled him to seek means of repairing his losses. Literary occupation seemed the only course open to him, and, as he confessed, he succeeded in his efforts beyond expectation. For some years he contributed to the leading magazines—“Blackwood’s,” “Bentley’s,” “Frazer’s,” and others, and published three novels, “Second Love and other Tales,” “Gisella,” and “The Lily of Paris, or the King’s Nurse.” Mr. Simpson’s career as a writer for the stage was mainly due to accident. He seldom visited theatres, but it chanced one night that he went to the Strand Theatre, and was so pleased with the performance of William Farren, Leigh Murray, and Mrs. Stilling that he conceived the idea of writing a play for them, and the result was the comedy drama in one act, entitled “Poor Cousin Dick,” which was played with considerable success at the house on April 8th, 1850. Subsequently Mr. Simpson wrote several successful plays, the principal of which was the famous three-act comedy, “A Scrap of Paper,” produced at St. James’s Theatre on April 23rd, 1861.