Norfolk Annals, Vol. 2: A Chronological Record of Remarkable Events in the Nineteeth CenturyMackie, Charles
History
Norfolk Annals, Vol. 2: A Chronological Record of Remarkable Events in the Nineteeth Century
Mackie, Charles
Norfolk (England) -- History
1.—Died at his residence, Thickthorn, near Norwich, in his 71st year, Mr.
Richard Hanbury Gurney. He was the son of Mr. Richard Gurney, of
Keswick, and in early life was a member of the Society of Friends. In
1818 Mr. Gurney was elected member for Norwich in conjunction with Mr. W.
Smith; he was re-elected in 1820, in 1830, and in 1831. At the General
Election in 1832 he and the other Liberal candidate, Mr. Ker, were, after
a very severe contest, defeated by Lord Viscount Stormont and Sir James
Scarlett. Mr. Gurney was a patron of the Turf and a genuine lover of old
English sports, but he was never known to bet. His remains were
interred, on January 9th, at the Rosary Burial-ground, Norwich.
3.—A heavy snowstorm, accompanied by a severe gale from the north, passed
over the Eastern district. The snow was deeper than had been known for
many years previously; all the roads were blocked, and railway
communication between Yarmouth and London was stopped. The telegraph
poles were blown down, and the wires broken. A train which left Fakenham
at 6 a.m. did not reach Norwich till 5.15 p.m. At the Norfolk Quarter
Sessions, at Norwich, on the 4th, it was found impossible to form a grand
jury, in consequence of the non-attendance of those who had been
summoned. All travelling by road was suspended for some days; the port
of Lynn was frozen up, and several ships were driven ashore at Yarmouth.
5.—A serious collision occurred on the line near Thetford. A train
conveying sixty navvies, who were employed to clear away the snowdrifts,
ran into the down train from London. “The engines rose up into the air,
and two men on them were instantly killed; two others in the train from
Norwich were also killed by the tender being driven through the carriage
in which they were seated.” The Rev. Joseph Bell, of Barningham, a
passenger in the London train, died on the 8th from the injuries he
received, and Mr. Thomas Ellison, of Dove Street, Norwich, another
passenger, succumbed on the 14th. The Coroner’s jury, after repeated
adjournments, returned, on February 6th, a verdict of manslaughter
against Mr. Peter Ashcroft, superintendent of the permanent way, and Mr.
John Latham, locomotive superintendent, who, it was alleged, had acted
contrary to the orders of Mr. King, station-master at Harling Road. At
the Norfolk Assizes, on March 24th, before Lord Chief Baron Pollock, the
jury, without hearing the defence, acquitted the defendants.
15.—Died at Heigham Hall (private lunatic asylum), Norwich, aged 84, Mr.
Cockle, “the original proprietor of the antibilious pill which goes by
his name, and who some years ago sold the recipe for several thousand
pounds.”
21.*—“An invention calculated to prove of great national benefit has been
recently patented by Mr. Samuel Rainbird, carpenter, of Norwich. It is
described in the specifications as an apparatus for grappling and raising
sunken vessels and other submerged bodies.”
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