20.—A serious military riot took place at Yarmouth, between men of the Royal Artillery and of the East Norfolk Militia. Belts and stones were freely used. A party of 200 Artillerymen, armed with swords and knives, issued from the arsenal, and were going to the assistance of their comrades, when Mr. R. Steward, by persuasion and threats, kept the greater portion from proceeding further. Officers of both corps exerted themselves to quell the disturbance, and strong pickets were stationed at the bridge, to prevent the Artillery from entering Yarmouth and the Militia from crossing to Southtown.
JUNE.
13.—The Norwich Grammar School athletic sports were held for the first time.
18.—A memorial was presented to the Norwich Town Council, by farmers, graziers, dealers, &c., praying the Corporation to enlarge the Cattle Market. The Market Committee recommended the Council to adopt in its entirety a plan for executing the work, at a cost not exceeding £20,000. This scheme involved the demolition of the notorious locality known as Pump Street.
20.—Mr. and Mrs. Ringer, of Walcot Green, near Diss, left their house in charge of a servant, named Susan Garrod, and on their return in the evening found her suffering from several gunshot wounds in the head and face, inflicted by a man named Charles Sheldrake, a returned convict, employed as a groom and gardener by Mr. Ringer. Sheldrake, after committing the deed, secreted himself in a wood. On being called on by the police to surrender, he placed the muzzle of a double-barrelled gun to his mouth and blew out his brains. At the inquest the jury returned a verdict of felo de se, and the Coroner gave a warrant for the interment of the body between the hours of nine and twelve o’clock. “The body was accordingly buried at ten o’clock at night, under one of the paths in the churchyard.”
24.—The London Royal English Opera Company commenced a week’s engagement at Norwich Theatre. The repertory included “four new successful operas never before performed in Norwich,” namely, Balfe’s “The Rose of Castille,” Loder’s “The Night Dancers,” Macfarren’s “Robin Hood,” and Balfe’s “Satanella, or the Power of Love.” In addition to the above-named works, “Il Trovatore,” “Martha,” and “Maritana” were produced. The artistes included Miss Fanny Ternan, Miss Bronte, Miss Angel, Miss Fanny Reeves, Mr. Edmund Rosenthal, Mr. J. Manley, Mr. E. D. Corri, Mr. Oliver Summers, and Mr. Elliott Galer. Mr. W. Meyer Lutz was the conductor. The performances received very inadequate public support. The company revisited Norwich for six nights, commencing on September 9th.
—Herr Kolisch, the celebrated chess-player, contested, at the Rampant Horse Hotel, Norwich, 13 games simultaneously against some of the best players in the neighbourhood. He won eight games, lost three, and two were drawn.
28.—Died, at Feniton Court, Devonshire, the Right Hon. Sir John Patteson. The second son of the Rev. Henry Patteson, and nephew of Mr. John Patteson, who for some time represented Norwich in Parliament, he was born in that city on February 11th, 1790. He was educated at Eton and King’s College, Cambridge, and, after talking his degree, removed to London and entered at the Middle Temple. On being called to the Bar, he went the Northern Circuit. “He had been only nine years a barrister, he had not a silk gown, he had never led a cause or once addressed a jury,” when he was appointed to the Queen’s Bench, and from that time to February 11th, 1852, continued to discharge the duties of his high office with a reputation for industry, learning, and integrity.
JULY.
20.*—“The first number of the Norfolk Chronicle was published on the 18th of July, 1761. We are, therefore, as journalists, exactly 100 years old. . . . The difference between the newspapers of the last and present century is, perhaps, more conspicuous in the quantity of space occupied than in any other respect, and the present sheet is at least four times the size of our first publication.”