29.—At a meeting of the Norwich Town Council, the resignations of Aldermen Sir W. Foster and Gibson were accepted, and Mr. R. J. H. Harvey and Mr. Fred Brown were elected to fill the vacancies. “The abolition of political ascendancy in the Town Council has been accomplished by the general consent of the influential men of each party, and duplicate agreements have been signed by at least three-fourths of the Corporation. To the Mayor (Mr. J. H. Tillett) belongs the honour of having taken the initiative in this laudable effort.”
NOVEMBER.
3.—A description was published of an iron lighthouse, completed by Messrs. Barnard, Bishop, and Barnards, of the Norfolk Iron Works, Norwich, for the Brazilian Government. It was designed by Messrs. Bramwell and Reynolds, of Westminster, for erection on the island of Abrolhos, on the coast of Brazil. Made in sections, it was temporarily erected by the riverside near St. George’s Bridge. The tower was circular in form, and constructed of 144 iron plates. Its base was 17 ft. in diameter, it was 46 ft. in height, and the lantern at the summit was 16 ft. high.
—A fearful boiler explosion occurred on the steamship Tonning, off Yarmouth, by which eight persons were blown out of the vessel and never again seen, three subsequently died, and several were seriously injured. The Tonning was an iron vessel of 734 tons register, belonging originally to the North of Europe Steam Navigation Company, and was afterwards employed in the conveyance of cattle and passengers between England and the Continent.
9.—Mr. W. J. Utten Browne was elected Mayor, and Dr. Dalrymple appointed Sheriff of Norwich.
10.*—“The Queen has been pleased to grant unto Edward Evans, of Great Melton and of Bylaugh, clerk, her Royal licence and authority that he may, in compliance with a proviso contained in the will of his great uncle, Sir John Lombe, henceforth take and use the surname of Lombe only, and use and bear the arms of Lombe in lieu of his present surname and arms of Evans.”
—*“Mr. George Allen, of St. Stephen’s, has introduced to Norwich the manufacture of elastic cloth, a fine material which has hitherto only been made in the West of England.”
17.—During a strong gale from the n.n.w., several vessels lying off Yarmouth parted from their anchors and were driven ashore and wrecked. Several lives were lost.
DECEMBER.
1.—A gunpowder explosion occurred at the shop of Mr. Marrison, gun maker, Little Orford Street, Norwich. The entire shop front was wrecked, as also was that of the adjoining shop, occupied by Mr. Frankland, photographer and dealer in art materials. Two lives were lost. Mrs. Dady, sister of Mr. Frankland, was sitting in a room over Mr. Marrison’s shop, and was dashed by the force of the explosion to the ceiling. She fell through the chasm in the floor to the burning ruins beneath, where she was fearfully injured. Charles Hill, a shop boy in the employment of Mr. Marrison, was killed outright, and terribly mangled. The force of the explosion shattered the windows of the Bell Hotel and of other houses in the vicinity. At the Norwich Assizes on March 26th, 1861, before Chief Baron Pollock, Mr. Marrison brought an action against the London Union Fire Office, for the recovery of £300 under a policy of insurance on his stock and furniture. The plaintiff had been offered and had refused £100 in settlement of the claim. The company then proved that the plaintiff had kept more gunpowder on his premises than was allowed by the terms of his contract, whereupon the judge ordered a non-suit.