—Mr. John Oddin Taylor was elected Mayor, and Mr. Addison John Cresswell appointed Sheriff of Norwich.
10.—Died at North Runcton Rectory, in his 85th year, the Rev. James Cumming, M.A., professor of chemistry in the University of Cambridge, to which office he was elected in 1815. He was a Fellow of Trinity College, and had held the living of North Runcton for more than forty years.
22.—In the Court of the Lords Justices in Lincoln’s Inn, a petition was presented by Major-General Charles Ash Windham, Capt. Windham, the Marquis of Bristol, Lord Alfred Hervey, M.P., Lord Listowel, and others, praying that a writ de lunatico inquirendo might issue against William Frederick Windham. In support of the petition, affidavits were read which alleged a variety of eccentricities and extravagances on the part of William Frederick Windham, and laid great stress upon a marriage he had contracted with one Agnes Ann Rogers, better known by the name of Agnes Willoughby. The judges, after hearing the affidavits on the other side, considered that a prima facie case had been made out, and allowed the prayer of the petition. On December 4th, in the Vice-Chancellor’s Court, a motion was heard for the committal of Mr. James Bowen May for contempt of court, in having, during the infancy of William Frederick Windham, and without the knowledge of his guardian or the sanction of the Court, drawn or sided and abetted in drawing the said William Frederick Windham into a promise of marriage with Agues Rogers or Willoughby, in which promises had been made of settlements or dispositions of his property in her favour. The motion was refused, with costs. On December 11th the Court of Chancery granted leave to William Frederick Windham to raise as a mortgage charge on his property the sum of £2,000, in order that he might defend himself before the Commission. The Commission held its first sitting in the Court of Exchequer, Westminster, on December 16th, under the presidency of Mr. Samuel Warren, Q.C., one of the Masters in Lunacy. Mr. Windham was the only son of Mr. Howe Windham, who died in 1854, and the great-grandson of Mr. Windham, the great politician. He became of age on August 9th, 1861, when he succeeded to the Felbrigg Hall estate, worth upwards of £1,200 a year, and to other properties in which he had a life interest, and which, in the year 1869, would yield him £9,000 a year more. During his minority he was under the guardianship of his uncle, General Windham, and of his mother, Lady Sophia Hervey. He married a woman of loose character, upon whom he bestowed jewellery of the value of £1,200 or £1,400, and upon whom he settled a present annuity of £800, with a further annuity of £1,500 contingent upon his coming in to the whole of his property in 1869. It was also alleged that he sold, in a wild and reckless way, and upon terms of the utmost disadvantage, the whole of the timber, ornamental as well as useful, on the Felbrigg estate. The inquiry lasted thirty-four days, and upwards of 150 witnesses were examined. It is said to have cost something like £160 per hour, or nearly £3 per minute, for all the leading talent of the Bar of England was engaged in the case. On January 30th, 1862, the jury returned the following verdict: “That the said Mr. William Frederick Windham, at the time of taking this inquisition, was a person of sound mind, so as to be sufficient for the government of himself, his manners, his messuages, his lands, his tenements, his goods, and his chattels.” The moment the verdict was uttered a loud and enthusiastic cheer rose from the audience, and was repeated again and again. When Mr. Windham left the Court he was received outside with the shouts of an admiring crowd, who almost carried him to the cab in which he drove away, amid a deafening cheer. In the Court of Equity, on April 23rd, 1862, the Lords Justices refused to exonerate the alleged lunatic from the payment of the whole of the costs, amounting to £20,000, consequent upon the enquiry.
30.*—“The portrait of Mr. J. H. Gurney, M.P., President of the Norfolk and Norwich Museum, has this week been placed on the walls of that institution. It was painted by F. Grant, R.A., at the cost of 200 guineas.”
DECEMBER.
7.—Died, in his 73rd year, Mr. Charles Turner, who was Sheriff of Norwich in 1824, elected Alderman in 1832, and was Mayor in 1834. He was the last Mayor who served the full term of office under the old Corporation.
9.—A six miles race for £50 was run at the Green Hill Gardens, Norwich, between Deerfoot, the celebrated Seneca Indian, Brighten, the “Norwich Milk Boy,” and Long, of Middlesbrough. This was one of the so-called matches run during a provincial tour by these pedestrians. Deerfoot wore his Indian costume, decorated with shells and feathers. He stood 5 ft. 11 in., was of muscular frame, but not well knitted, and his limbs were long and loose, contrasting badly with the neat, compact figure of the “Milk Boy.” Among the spectators of the “match,” which was, of course, won by the Indian, were the Duke of Wellington and Sir Samuel Bignold.
15.—Intelligence was received in Norwich of the death of the Prince Consort. Early on the following morning (Monday) the Mayor requested the citizens to partially close their business establishments until after the funeral. On the day of the funeral (December 23rd), business was entirely suspended, and the Mayor and Corporation, accompanied by the Rifle Volunteers, attended service at the Cathedral. The Nonconformist bodies held a united service at St. Andrew’s Hall, at which the Rev. John Alexander delivered an address. Addresses of condolence with the Queen were voted by the Norwich Town Council, on December 30th, and by a county meeting, held at the Shirehall, under the presidency of the High Sheriff (Mr. J. T. Mott), on January 18th, 1862.
26.—Mr. George Owen produced the Christmas pantomime, “Puss in Boots,” at the Theatre Royal, Norwich; and Mander’s Royal Menagerie was exhibited on the Castle Meadow. The African “lion tamer,” Maccomo, whilst performing at the latter show, on the 28th, was severely attacked by a young lion, and narrowly escaped with his life.