Jan. 16th. P.c. Edwards presented with a handsome timepiece and purse of £4 14s., by the salesmen, buyers, and boatowners, for his attention and courtesy to them at the Fishwharf.
Jan. 19th. The Stradbroke Road Board Schools, Gorleston, opened. Cost, with fittings, £3,000; accommodate 500 children. (See Nov. 9th, 1875.)
Jan. 30th. Very heavy gale and boisterous high tide, parts of the town being inundated. 18 Yarmouth smacks and over 100 hands were lost. The Yarmouth “Mark Lane” lifeboatmen bravely rescued the crew (12) of the barque “Constantia,” wrecked on Scroby. Fifty-five widows, 108 children, and 17 aged parents were left destitute in this locality. The local relief fund reached £2,540, and in London £6,800. The first grant voted for Yarmouth and district was £2,745.
Jan. 30th. Calico fancy dress ball at St. Andrew’s Hall, Gorleston.
Feb. 5th. Charles John Palmer, Esq., presented with a gold watch, a silver flower-basket, and a purse of 100 guineas, as a complimentary testimonial for his local literary researches &c.; 235 persons subscribed £233 9s. 6d. (See 1830.)
Feb. 18th. New oak pulpit in the parish church erected and used for the first time by the Vicar, the Rev. George Venables, S.C.L.
Feb. The Secretary of State for War decided on the formation of an Administrative Battalion, to consist of the 2nd Norfolk (Yarmouth), 4th Suffolk (Bungay), 14th Suffolk (Beccles), and 17th Suffolk (Lowestoft), under the title of the 1st Administrative Battalion Norfolk Rifle Volunteers, with headquarters at Yarmouth.
Feb. 19th. Sir James Paget, Bart., F.R.S., D.C.L., LL.D., appointed one of the Serjeant-Surgeons in Ordinary to the Queen, in the room of Sir William Fergusson, Bart., deceased. He is the son of the late Mr. Samuel Paget, of this town, and was born in 1814.
Feb. 21st. John Clowes, Esq., solicitor, died, aged 67 years. This gentleman formerly filled the office of Town Clerk of the Borough; he was also a member of the Council and Board of Guardians for many years, besides being Lord of the Manor of Caister. (See 1822 and 1840.)
Feb. The body of a male child, about five months old, sent from Liverpool Station to the Vauxhall terminus in a small black bag; but no clue was ever found to the supposed murderess or the gentleman to whom it was consigned.