Pages from Palmer, Volume 3, Chapters VIII cont., and IX UNPDF

THE

erlustration

OF

GREAT YARMOUTH

WITH

GORLESTON AND SOUTHTOWN:

BY

CHARLES JOHN PALMER, F.S.A.,

Honorary Member of the Genealogical and Historical Society of New York.

“I pray you—satisfy your mind With the

memorials of the things of fame.

VOL. III.

PRINTED, AND PUBLISHED BY SUBSCRIPTION BY

GEORGE NALL, 182, KING STREET, MARKET PLACE.

1875.

Reprinted, Rarebook Co., The Orangery, Filby, NR29 3HN.

2007

Editor, Mark Rumble, M.A., M.B., Ch.B.

Which do renown this Borough.”

CHAPTER VIII.

Continued

HERE stood until the close of the last century, at the

south-east corner of Middlegate Street and fronting

Friars' Lane, an ancient house in which the youth of Dr.

F RANK S AYERS was passed. "It was, he says, "a stately

old-fashioned mansion, surrounding three sides of a

gloomy court; the hall was paved with chequered

marble; the large parlour was wainscotted with cedar,

and a spacious staircase of shallow steps led up to the drawing room, which was

a long narrow gallery lighted by seven windows. A Flemish folding screen,

covered with gilt leather, inclosed a private nook round the chimney, in which

the family sat when by themselves.

This house was the residence of John Morris, who "departed this life," says

Ives, sen., in his journal, "on the 8 th of March, 1729, to the great grief of all who

knew him. Three days after, he was buried at midnight as the custom then was.

"My father," continued Ives, "was a bearer, and had a ring, hatband, and

gloves." He was succeeded by John Morris, his son; and Sylas Neville in his

Diary records having supped with him, and been "very agreeably entertained."

He died in 1778, aged 72; and John, his only son, having died in 1759, aged 24,

the family became extinct in the male line.* Morris left four daughters.

*They claimed to have descended from the family of Morris of Chepstowe in

Monmouthshire, and bore their arms—sa., a cross saltire or., with an escutcheon of

pretence arg., a cross gu. Sarah, daughter of John Morris, sen., married John

Dowson, and died in 1729, aged 64 ; and Martha, another daughter, married Simon

Bendy and died in 1759 aged 23.

VOL. III .

2

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

Sarah, the eldest, married John Meek; Mary, the second, married James Alric

(of whom hereafter); Rachel, the third, married Erasmus Jary, and afterwards

John Hunter of Lisbon; and Anne, the youngest, married Francis Sayers, whose

handsome person was it is said, more agreeable to the daughter than his slender

patrimony was to the father. Sayers is described as a man of gaiety, wit, and

talent, singing a good song, and fond of prolonging to a late hour the pleasures

of the table; characteristics which were not unknown to other and later members

of his family. Shortly before the marriage he established himself in London as

an insurance broker; superintending the shipping concerns of his Yarmouth

connections. Soon after the birth of his son, baptised “Frank”, in 1763, the

father died; and the widowed mother with her child returned to Yarmouth, and

went to reside with her father at the old-fashioned house in Friars' Lane.

"This building," says the biographer of Sayers, " so like the palaces of

chivalrous romance, was probably not without its effect in impressing the

young poet's imagination with a taste for the lofty, the beautiful, and the

antique. Comic poets and artists have usually "been, low born, and accustomed

to the world in its undress; but those who have excelled in sublime

composition, have mostly originated amid the statelier monuments of art and

nature." In a snug corner within the Flemish screen little Frank received his first

lessons in reading and writing. When, old enough he was put to school under

the Rev. John Whitesides, a man of learning, but, as we have seen (vol. ii., p.

132), sadly given to hypochondriasis, which may have had a baneful influence

on this child's mind. In 1778 young Sayers was removed to the Grammar

School at North Walsham, where among his fellow pupils was Horatio Nelson,

destined within a few years to make the world resound with his exploits. Sayers

however remained there but a short time, for the Rev. Rochemont Barbauld,* 1

a unitarian preacher,

* He was descended from a family of French protestants. During the

persecutions under Louis XIV, his grandfather, then a boy, was carried on board a

ship concealed in a cask, and conveyed to England where he settled, and had a son, a

clergyman of the Church of England, who on the marriage of one of the daughters of

George II. to the Elector of Hesse, attended her to Cassel as private chaplain; and

in that capital young Rochemont was born and passed his childhood. Having been

1 Palmer’s addenda: Rochemont Barbould – see an account of his melancholy end in

the Memoirs of Mrs Barbould, published in 1874 by her great neice, Anna Letitia Le

Breton. Mrs Breton thus describes Mrs Beecroft of Norwich (mentioned in vol i, p.263)

“very good also has my dear and amiable Mrs. Beecroft been to me, whose lively

sweetness and agreeable conversation has at times won me to forget that my heart is

heavy”

GREAT YARMOUTH

3

having opened a school of great reputation at Palgrave in Suffolk, in the house

which, had been inhabited by "Honest Tom Martin," so often referred to in these

pages, the lad was removed there. Among his school fellows at Palgrave was

William Taylor of Norwich; and the latter was frequently invited to pass his

holidays at the quaint old house in Friars' Lane. Between these two boys a

friendship sprung up which was only terminated by death. Mrs. Barbauld,

herself a distinguished authoress, took infinite pains to instruct the pupils in

their own language, by reading to them a fable or short story, and then sending

them into the schoolroom to write it out from memory in their own words. Each

exercise was afterwards looked over by her, the faults of grammar corrected, the

vulgarisms chastened, the idle words spelled, and a distinct reason assigned for

every alteration; so that the arts of indicting and criticising were in some degree

learnt together, to the no small advantage of her scholars.* In 1778 Frank Sayers

was removed from school and placed in the counting house of Mr. William

Manning; and in the same year his grandfather died leaving him an estate at

Pakefield. Sayers erected a mural monument to the memory of Mr. Morris and

Ann his wife (who had died in 1774, aged (68), which still remains in the north

aisle of St. Nicholas' Church; and upon a sculptured scroll beneath are some

musical notes, with the words—

Hark from the tombs a doleful sound! "

My ears attend the cry;

Ye living men come view the ground, "

Where you must shortly lie;"

sent to Warrington to complete his education, lie there in 1776 married Anna Letitia, the

highly-talented daughter of Dr. Aikin and sister of Dr. Aikin of Yarmouth already

mentioned (vol. ii., p. 141). Her mother was Jane, daughter of the Rev. John Jennings of

Kibworth, descended on her mother's side from the ancient family of Wingate of

Hurlington in Bedfordshire. Barbauld on his marriage relinquished his previous intention

of taking orders in the church; and embracing the tenets of his father-in-law became a

Unitarian preacher and opened the above-mentioned school with great success, having

among his pupils the first Lord Denman, Sir William Gell, the Earl of Selkirk, and others,

many of whom afterwards distinguished themselves. In 1785 the school was relinquished;

and husband and wife devoted themselves principally to literature. He died in 1808, and

his widow in 1825, aged 81 years.

* It was also customary for the boys to perform, a play shortly before the vacation. On

these occasions young Sayers excelled all his companions. He had an unfaltering memory,

recited with much feeling and pathos, and was throughout life a fine reader.

4

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

and, beneath was the signature, "F. Sayers," which he some years

afterwards ordered to be erased, but it is still there.

Literary and philosophic pursuits had already such, an influence

over young Sayers that the occupations of the counting house became

distasteful; and soon after his grand father's death he placed himself

with Mr. Rix, a skilful agriculturist at Blundeston in Suffolk, with the

view, of acquiring such knowledge as would enable him to farm his own

estate; and the Yarmouth, house was then sold. In 1783 all thoughts of

farming were abandoned, and Sayers took a house at Thorpe, in which

picturesque village his mother was then residing to be near her sister

Mary married to Mr. Alric, a native of Geneva, who having acquired a

fortune while a partner in the house of Messrs. Harveys, master

manufacturers, had then retired from business.* Mr. Alric had in 1780

exerted himself to secure the return of Mr. John Thurlow f as Member

for Norwich, and when his brother, the Rev. Dr. Thurlow, was elevated

to the See of Lincoln, Mr. Alric had the offer of the bishop's patronage

if his nephew would enter the church; but bred up as he had been among

diss enters) and an attendant at the Octagon Unitarian Chapel at Norwich,

young Sayers declined the offer. In 1783 he went to Edinburgh, where

he studied medicine in company with Dr. Lubbock (afterwards a

physician of some celebrity at Norwich), and in the following year we

find him in London attending the lectures of that eminent surgeon, John

Hunter 1 . There he enjoyed the friendship of his cousin, James Sayers

(see vol i., p. 369, and vol. ii, p. 84), who was then a man well known in

society and in the zenith of his celebrity.

* On the death of Mrs. Alric, Dr. Sayers received a considerable addition to his

fortune. Mrs. Hunter, his aunt, also resided at Norwich, where she died in 1812. She was

the authoress of several novels and tales. To her he addressed some of his fugitive and

sportive pieces, one of which on the loss of a pair of slippers ends with:

------------------------ so vain,

" To hope to see your goods again.

Whether in man's or woman's power

''Be sure to thee they come no more;

For who's so proud as not to choose,

" To tread in Mrs. Hunter's shoes."

f John Thurlow, second brother of the Lord Chancellor, was an Alderman of

Norwich, and married Josepha, daughter of John Morse, Esq., of Norwich, and died in

1782 leaving an only son, the Rev. Edward South Thurlow. See vol, i., p. 285.

1 For once, we can really agree that John Hunter was indeed a truly eminent surgeon!

GREAT YARMOUTH

5

After a second residence in Edinburgh young Sayers went abroad, and

obtained a diploma from the not very famous or scrupulous University

of Harderwijk and after a continental tour and a residence for some

months in France, during which Dr. Sayers acquired a ready and exact

use of the French language, he returned to Norwich; and having

abandoned all intention of following the medical profession, gave him-

self up to literature for the remainder of his life. His Dramatic Sketches

of Northern Mythology at once established his fame as a poet. The Ode

to Aurora, which speedily followed was also greatly admired. After the

death of his mother, Dr. Sayers removed to an old-fashioned house in

the Lower Close, Norwich, where he passed the remainder of his days.

From the time of his mother's death he ceased to discuss, as he had

previously done, the fundamental doctrines of faith, and betook himself to

the study of the English divines, in whose works he found arguments

which convinced his judgment and satisfied, his heart; and renouncing

the philosophy of his youth, he became a churchman and was a constant

attendant at cathedral worship.* In 1793 he published his Disquisitions

Metaphysical and Literary, which greatly increased his reputation both at

home and abroad. Under the title of Nugæ Poeticæ he published several

of his minor poems. His prose works, which had appeared separately,

were in 1808 published in a collected form, enriched by many learned

notes. Archaeological pursuits also occupied, his time. He was in

frequent, communication with the Society of Antiquaries, and in 1803 his

Miscellanies Antiquarian and Historical made their appearance, and

displayed considerable research and knowledge. He was most intimate

with Thomas Amyot, the treasurer of the above society, who had

resided in Norwich, and with whom Dr. Sayers kept up a

correspondence. f Amyot, who was well able to judge, considered his

letters

* There is, as Mr. Taylor aptly expresses it, in chanted prayer a something which by

concealing the articulate phraseology, sheathes from notice any controversible

sentiments, and lends to the soul an harmonious expression for its own interior worship.

It was with satisfaction that Dr. Sayers found himself reconciled to a church into which

he had been baptized, and which had been that of his paternal ancestors.

f When a young man Amyot practised as a solicitor at Norwich, and attracted the

attention of Mr. Windham by the zeal and ability which he displayed at a con-

6

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

models of excellence. '' They have more ease," says he, “than Gibbon's,

more variety than Cowper's, they have the gaiety of Horace Walpole

without his arrogance; and the learning, taste, and spirit of Gay without

his fastidiousness," His conversational powers were very great; and

there was no table in or near Norwich whose host was not proud to seat

him among his guests ; but Dr. Sayers always preferred a small and

select party, often repeating the opinion of Atheæus that the number

should vibrate between the graces and the muses.* Translations of his

works having appeared abroad, his fame became known, on the

Continent, and especially in Germany; and no literary stranger ever

appeared in Norwich without coveting an introduction to Dr. Sayers.

Walter Scott esteemed him as one who "united the patience of the

antiquary with the genius of the poet;" and Bowles declared that his

Descent of Frea was far above anything in Gray. f Handsome in person,

with a melodious voice, and having the bearing and manners of a well-

bred gentleman, Dr. Sayers was formed to shine in society; but he was

not destined to be long lived. He had scarcely completed his 50th year

before his health began to decline. He continued his literary

occupations, but was much afflicted with hypochondriasis 1 , from which

he was only relieved by his death, which took, place on the 16th of

August, 1817, aged 55. He was buried in the south aisle of Norwich

Cathedral, where there is a long Latin inscription to his memory

composed by the Rev. Francis Howes. His books were bequeathed to

the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, and now form the greater portion of

tested election for that city. Windham rewarded him, with a place which required his

residence in London, where he lived highly esteemed especially by antiquaries. He wrote

and published a Life of Windham.

* He wrote to a friend—*

" Dinners of form I vote a bore,

" Where folks, who never met before,

" And care not if they ne'er meet more, "

Are brought together.

Packed close as herrings in their places,

" They eat with Chesterfieldian graces,

"Drink wine—and talk with sapient faces "

About the weather."

f Frea, the goddess of beauty, in the mythology of the Scandinavians, descended to

the dwelling of Hela, the goddess of the shades below, in search of her lover.

1 Since the poor man died of his evident illness, it seems more than a little unfair to

label him a hypochondriac. I have though come across many who cried “Wolf” too often,

and when the great event came, were then entirely ignored. Equally, even those in evident

pain and distress, especially in those days of quackery in medicine, may not have

benefited at all from constant moaning, and most medical attention in those days did more

harm than good.

GREAT YARMOUTH

7

that collection. His papers he left to Mr. William Taylor, his literary

executor, by whom the collective works of Dr. Sayers, prefixed by

some biographical particulars, were published in 1823.*

Soon after the sale of the house in Friars' Lane by Dr. Sayers it was

pulled down; and no vestige remains, unless it be an early

English archway which still stands,

leading from Middlegate Street to a

back court, of which a sketch is here

given. A portion of the site upon which

the old house stood has been added to

Friars' Lane.

N ATHANIEL A SHBY f rebuilt his

house in Friars' Lane in 1651, and was

allowed to enclose void ground east and

west of the same, and to erect a porch;

probably in anticipation of municipal

honors, J for in 1653 he was elected

bailiff, and during his year of office an

event occurred of singular significance.

Cromwell, in pursuance of the 7th

Article of the Protectorate Constitution , called a Parliament. The

bailiffs, Nathaniel Ashby and Isaac Preston, received the precept from

the high sheriff with a command to proclaim the election on the next

* There is a portrait of Dr. Sayers by Opie now in the possession of H. Amyot, Esq.,

of Newcastle, which has been engraved; and from which the annexed portrait is taken.

Dr. Sayers bore the arms mentioned Vol. ii., p. 87, quartered with those of Morris (ante

p. 1).

f The name is derived from the Parish of Ashby in Suffolk. A family so called

flourished at Lowestoft in the 17th century, of whom was Admiral Sir John Ashby

already mentioned (vol.- i., p. 270). After proving his bravery and skillfulness in naval,

affairs, he was made "Commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy" and General of Marines.

He died in 1603, and was buried in Lowestoft Church. The Ashbys bore a chev. betw.

three eagles displayed; and for a crest, on a wreath an eagle displayed.

j Ashby had been an alderman previous to the breaking out of the civil war; but

when the news arrived of the execution of Charles I. he resigned his gown. He was,

however, with others reinstated by a special order of the "Committee of Parliament for

Indemnity."

8

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

market day. This was resented as an infraction of the ancient custom

under "which the writs was sent direct from, the crown, office to the

bailiffs; and moreover it had been the practice, as we have seen, of

electing members by the votes of the corporation alone, and that body

resolved not to proclaim the election, but to proceed to a choice by

themselves. They were not however unanimous; for there was a party,

small in number but strong in resolution, who taking advantage of the

re-action which had already begun, advocated the rights of the freemen

at large to vote; and Benjamin Sayers, one of the corporation, "in

contempt of the assembly and contrary to their will, in a violent manner

pulled open the hall door and let in divers persons'' for which he was

dismissed, and Francis Spendlove elected in his place. * The assembly

* A family of this name had long resided in Yarmouth; and in the 17th century it

was to be found in different parts of Norfolk. They bore arg., a cross potent betw. four

cornish cloughs sa. John Spendlove, Rector of Stratton Strawless, was ejected by the

sequestrators in the time of the commonwealth, and was allowed only 2s. 6d. per week

for his maintenance, for which pittance he had to wait upon one Samuel Cowthorn, a

cutler, "a vile wretch, though much in the confidence of the then prevailing party," and

often had "to bear with his insolence," Soon after the restoration, Spendlove was arrested

for debts contracted during the sequestration and thrown into prison, where he languished

‘till 1666 when he died. He was a Prebendary of Norwich Cathedral; and his wife dying

in 1656 during the sequestration he wrote this epitaph over her grave:—

Dean Suckling's daughter, for afar better

Prebend Spendlove's wife, Chang’d this mortal life."

Christopher Spendlove was appointed lecturer in succession to Brinsley, and died in 1665,

aged 69. Christopher Spendlove, his son, was Minister of the Parish from 1665 to 1679.

Christopher Spendlove, "apothycary," youngest son of the minister, died in 1711, aged 37.

Ann his widow married, first, William Manthorpe, and afterwards John Grant, who died

in 1756, aged 84. She died in 1730, aged 53. Spendlove was succeeded in the incumbency

by the Rev. Luke Milbourne of Scole, who was appointed by the corporation after having

"preached six very learned sermons" on approval. He was a man "of good learning and

excellent parts," who had been lecturer at Shoreditch (P.C., p. 176). Among the M.S.S. in

the collection of W. R. Baker, Esq.. of Bayford in Hertfordshire, is a letter from Luke

Melbourne, dated from Yarmouth, 24th Nov., 1690, in which he sends to Tonson, the

bookseller, a poem which he had made on Dryden's Amphitrye, and asks Tonson to send

others of Dryden's works. He resigned the incumbency in the following year. A family of

this name, settled at Long Melford in Suffolk, bore per pale or. and gu., a, fesse betw.

three leopards' heads, all counterchanged; of which family was John Milbourne, father of

Sir John Milbourne, Lord Mayor of London in 1521.

GREAT YARMOUTH

9

adjourned till the following day (July 6th), when "at nine before noon "

three aldermen and twenty-six common council men elected Colonel

William Goffe, one of the regicides, and Thomas Dunne, one of their

body, to be the new members; the remainder of the corporation

refraining from voting. Ashby refused to sign their return as illegal; and

Bailiff Preston therefore alone signed it and sent the return to the

sheriff. Ashby, the prime bailiff, insisted that the freemen at large had

the right of voting and made a separate return; and the matter was

referred by the House of Commons to a committee of privileges, who

decided that the “commonalty” meant the "corporation," and declared

Goffe and Dunne duly elected* Ash by was summoned by the serjeant-

at-arms to appear at the bar of the House of Commons, where Lenthall

the speaker told him that he had "omitted his duty " and compelled him

to sign the return of Goffe and Dunne. Not content with this triumph,

the majority in the corporation dismissed Ashby from his place as an

alderman "for his perfidious misdemeanours; not thinking him," as they

said, "worthy of any farther trust therein;" but they had got the wrong

sow by the ear," for Ashby quickly applied for a writ of restitution,

alleging that he had "behaved and governed himself well, quietly, and

honestly," and had been removed "without any just or reasonable

cause," and the judges to their honor, for they acted in opposition to the

governing power, granted the writ, and Ashby was reinstated, the

corporation having to pay the costs.* In the charter of

* Goffe publicly thanked the corporation for ignoring the freemen; and General

Desborongh, Cromwell's brother-in-law, had probably some hand in the matter, as

the corporation voted him a congratulatory address. Goffe and Dunne, nevertheless,

hesitated to subscribe to Cromwell’s authority; and when the title of king was offered

to the protector, Goffe went to him and entreated him not to accept it. This Parliament

was dissolved in 1655, and Goffe offered himself again; but Cromwell would not then

call another; so the corporation thanked Goffe for his past services and presented him

with a silver tankard. At the restoration Goffe retired into Holland, where it is said he

was one of the plotters who vowed their intentions of "forcing Charles II. to perform the

promises made at Breda, to obtain liberty of conscience to all but Romanists, to abolish

excise, chimney money, and other taxes, and to restore a gospel magistracy and

ministry." These conspirators were sworn " to be secret and to destroy all who opposed

them, without mercy;'' says the government spy, who in a subsequent letter reports that

Goffe, Whalley, and others, were living at Vivay on the borders of the lake of Geneva,

where they charmed the Swiss by their

VOL. iii.

10

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

Charles II., Ashby was named to remain an alderman. When bailiff in

1653 he procured a warrant from General Monk, then in Aldborough

Bay, freeing the Yarmouth fishermen from impressment; and when in

1664 one of the bailiffs died of the plague, Ashby was elected to fill the

vacancy for the remainder of the year.

On the south side of Friars' Lam there is an old house, now divided into

three occupations, the original stack of round chimneys still remaining,

which was in the 17th century the property and residence of Jo HN

G AYFORD , who in 1664 was admitted a freeman on "condition" that he

furnished a substantial clock with a figure without and a bell as big as

could swing in the turret, and fix and place the same in the turret upon

the workhouse, and keep the same clock, bell, and dial in good

reparation gratis during his life." On the surrender of the charter of

Charles II. he was selected to fill the office of bailiff from the 8th of

November, 1688, to the 29th of September, 1689. He died in 1703, aged

69.* A branch of this family settled at Wretham in Norfolk. Frederick

Gayford, son of John Gayford of West Wretham (who

died in 1855), had a grant of arms— sa., three goats'

heads erased arg., armed or. (two and one); and for a

crest, a goat's head as in the arms. In 1663, when a

controversy was carried on between the corporation

and the Dean and Chapter of Norwich as to the right of

appointment to the incumbency, Dr. John Gayford

was, on the recommendation of Lord Chancellor Clarendon, then High

Steward of the Borough, accepted by the former and allowed to

officiate "during the pleasure of the House," and the chancellor was

thanked for his services. Dr. Gayford died in 1665, and the corporation

allowed his widow £100 in consideration of the pains he had taken in

the discharge of his pastoral duties. In 1770 John

devotion."— State Papers. It is a singular fact that all the regicides who signed the

warrant for tho execution of Charles I, sealed with their respective coats of arms.

Goffe's seal bears arg., a cross lozengy betw. four eagles displayed sa.

* John Gayford of Yarmouth was married at Norwich Cathedral in 1709 to Mary

Morley, also of Yarmouth. The above-mentioned house descended to Thomas Gayford,

whose only child, Mary, sold it in 1771. Mary, widow of Thomas Gayford, died in 1749,

aged 87 years.

GREAT YARMOUTH

11

Gayford was "desired to get passage at his conveniency for Holland, " and there

buy such an engine as he should think fit for to dydall or "depthen the haven."

From that time a didling engine has been worked for this purpose, first by hand,

afterwards by horse, and lastly by steam power, and in the mud brought up from

time to time have been found weapons, rings, and other articles.*

The two houses at the south-west corner of Friars' Lane, fronting the

Quay, No. 70 and 71, were erected early in the 18th century, and were severally

occupied by the Rev. James Hannot, already mentioned (vol. ii., p. 44), and Mr.

Samuel Wakeman, a member of the numerous and wealthy family of whom

some notice has been given. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher

Brightin, Esq., "by whom he had one son and seven daughters who all died in

their infancy. He died in 1749, aged 56; and on the death of Giles Wakeman in

1775, aged 68, the family became extinct.

At the south-west corner of Friars Lane there was a small public house

called the Hogarth’s Head, and afterwards the Britannia. It has been recently

rebuilt 1 .

In 1795 the first of the above two houses was in the occupation of Mr.

Nathaniel Palmer, a shipbuilder, who launched from his yard in 1806 the

Cygnet and Ariel, sloops of war, and also built many other vessels for

government.

Further south is a fine old Jacobian house, now divided into two

occupations, erected at the commencement of the 17th century by R OGER

D RURY , who, as we have seen, obtained the greater part of the possessions of

the Black Friars 2 . It has a front of squared smooth-faced flints, with stone

dressings; and in the centre is a porch with a room over it, and above the latter

were formerly the figures of three, naked boys cast in lead, whose behaviour in

rainy weather was not decorous. This house is depicted in Corbridge's map, with

an avenue of trees in front leading down to the river, the Quay as fair as the

South Gate being then an open space.

In the early part of the last century the above-mentioned house

* The editor has in his possession a small gold signet ring obtained in

this manner, tearing a fleur-de-lis. The Pastons scaled with a similar device.

1 Friar’s Lane was then quite narrow, and this building would now be

within the roadway. See RRH.

2 The only surviving part of Drury House or “Flint” house, is the

staircase, which is now adjacent to the tea-rooms at Blickling Hall. Flint

from the house was used to dress the face of the post office at Gorleston.

See RRH.

12

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

was occupied by Major Ferrier, who has already been mentioned (vol.

i., p, 237), as having played a leading part in local politics.* To this

house he brought his bride, as mentioned in vol. i. p. 302. f It was usual

in former times to reward political and other services by sinecure

offices in the customs and other public departments. Richard Ferrier,

the younger, enjoyed the place of "one of the waiters in the Port of

London. j " He died, said Ives in his Diary, "very much lamented by all

who knew him;" and there is a highly-laudatory

* He left one son, already mentioned vol. ii., p. 238, on whom the following

satirical epitaph was written:—

Here lies the body of Richard II.,

Whose genius and Manners of life being reckon'd;

We all must allow was daddy's own son,

As witness my hand — Tom Missenden.

The Rev. Thomas Missenden was appointed lecturer in. 1731, and died in 1744.

Doubtless "an unwarrantable use" was made of his name. The father's commission as

"Major of the Batallion of Fusiliers of Militia of Great Yarmouth" in 1713 was granted by

James, Duke, Marquis, and Earl of Ormonde, Earl of Ossory and Brecknock, Viscount

Thurles, Boron of Arklow, Dingwell, Langtheny, and Moore Park, Lord of the Regalities

and Liberties of the County Palatine of Tipperary, one of Her Majesty's most Honorable

Privy Council, Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter, Lord Lieutenant General

and General Governor of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Somerset, Lord

Lieutenant and Custos Rotalorum of the County of Norfolk, Chancellor of the

Universities of Oxford and Dublin, High Steward of the Cities of Westminster, Bristol,

and Exeter, Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, Captain General and

Commander-in-Chief of all Her Majesty's forces, &c." Such were the honors and offices

accumulated by this great man; and set forth in the above-mentioned commission.

f The name of Ferrier appears among the earliest entries on. the registers of this and

the neighbouring parishes. In 1630 there was an appeal to the Privy Council as to the

right of Mary, the wife of Robert Ferrier, to sit in a pew in St. Nicholas' Church

appropriated to the wives of aldermen. Such were the trifles about which people

quarrelled, and with which the Lords of the Privy Council were at that time troubled.

J On the accession of George I. this office was confirmed to him, "with all the

profits, perquisites, advantages, and emoluments" to the same belonging. The patent in

Latin, beautifully engrossed on vellum, with the king's portrait and a border elaborately

engraved, as also the commission last quoted, were in the possession of Richard Ferrier,

Esq., who died in 1868, aged 72 (not 68 as mentioned in vol.i., p. 239), and afterwards of

his eldest son, Richard Ferrier, Esq., who died at Boughton Manor House, Chester, on the

1st of January, 1874, aged 51, s.p., leaving two brothers, the Rev. Edward Ferrier,

Incumbent of St. Mary's, Castleton, Isle of Man, and Mr. F. W. Ferrier of Yarmouth.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

13

Latin inscription to his memory in St. Nicholas' Church; but here were those

who decried him, and by them "a free translation" was circulated, of which the

following are some of the verses : —

" Beneath this stone lies Richard Ferrier, Esquire,

" Of this Borough the ornament and the desire;

" Who in sweetness of manners, and genrous o’er flowing,

" Was in all that belongs to a gentleman, — knowing.

" His acquaintance this vouch,—for his politic skill

" We refer to his votes on, the French commerce bill.

" The posts he enjoyed, tho' quite different in, kind,

" Could not be more varied than was his own mind;

" The Mayor, — the Member, — the Placeman being proof,

" Till his country cried out he has liv'd long enough ;

"How transient is popular honour and glory,

"May be learn’ d from the sum ofthis famous man’s story."

In 1777 this house was occupied by R. Hales, Esq.; subsequently by Anthony

Taylor, Esq.; and in the latter part of the last century it was purchased by J ACOB

P RESTON , Esq., who filled the office of mayor in 1793, and again in 1801.* In

1813 he was again elected mayor, not however without a severe struggle. Eight

of the inquest were for choosing him; but four were determined if possible to

prevent his election. After being shut up all night, they at ten o'clock the next

morning agreed to make a double return, coupling the name of William Palgrave,

Esq., jun., with that of Mr. Preston. This verdict the mayor refused to receive,

and the inquest were informed that they could not be discharged until nine of the

twelve were agreed. After a while one of the four went over to the majority, and

so the election was made. f

* In this year the Marquis Townshend, Lord Bayning, Sir J. H. Astly, Bart.,

Admiral Dickson, General Albemarle, General Bertie, General Loftus, and Sir Roger

Kerrison were among the guests at the Michaelmas dinner; and. Captain Sheene, R.N.,

entertained the company with some "admirable singing."

f This opposition was not directed personally again at Mr. Preston, the matter in

difference being the old question as to whether upon St. John's day the mayor should

name all the commoners upon the inquest, or whether they should be appointed by

the aldermen seriatum (see vol. i., p. 282). To try this question a quo warranto was

filed against the newly-elected mayor which led to an arrangement, and a bye-law

was passed giving the power of nomination to the aldermen. The vacancies in the

14

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

In other respects hi a year of office was an eventful one. On the day of

his inauguration, Mr. Preston had the satisfaction of opening Regent

Street, the formation of which was justly considered a great public

improvement, and the ceremony attracted many visitors to the town.*

Before quitting office the Peace Festival was held, of which mention

has already been made. The mayor, although 74 years of age, occupied

the chair on that occasion. He died in 1827, aged 87. f

A family of the name of P RESTON flourished in Yarmouth in the

17th century. Isaac Preston filled the office of bailiff in 1653 when

Oliver Cromwell was declared Lord Protector of the Commonwealth,

on which occasion the church bells "sounded forth;" the ringers

receiving the then usual fee of 13s. 4d. J He probably came from the

county and settled in Yarmouth, as he had to purchase his freedom,

which he did in 1642 for £25, but got off for £8. 6s. 8d. When bailiff

corporation "which had been suffered to accumulate were then filled up by the friends of

the respective parties; after which there was no "lay" of any great continuance until the

custom was abolished. The annual allowance and emoluments of office at this time

amounted to £400, and the mayor was expected to disburse about as much more beyond

his ordinary expenditure. In former times the bailiffs, and after them the mayor, had (as

was the case elsewhere) numerous fees and petty emoluments, all of which have

disappeared. Down to the present time the Mayor of Weymouth claims as his due, two

"bushels from every cargo of grain discharged in that harbour.

* The "Feast" on this occasion was attended by the Marquis Townshend, the Hon.

Charles Townshend, and Lord Broome, eldest son of the Marquis Cornwallis; the

Marchioness Townshend, and the Hon. Mrs. Townshend with her two daughters at the

same time visited Yarmouth.

f There is a portrait of him in the possession of his grandson, Isaac Preston, Esq., and

one also of his wife, a lady whose maiden name was Abbot. His grandson, Mr. E. H. L.

Preston, already mentioned (vol. i., p. 256), died in 1872 while filling for a second time

the office of mayor, in which capacity he received the Prince of Wales when His Royal

Highness visited Yarmouth in June, 1872, He took his third baptismal name from Dr.

Lushington, who at the time of Mr. Preston's birth was returned as one of the Members for

Great Yarmouth, and was for many years Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, and died

in 1873, aged 91.

j Some account of the bells in St. Nicholas' Church from the earliest period will be

found in P. C, p. 141. The church books, still preserved, record all payments with great

minuteness. One of the earliest entries is for ringing the bells when Parkhurst, Bishop of

Norwich, visited the town in 1464. "Our fifty bell," says this record, was sent to Darby of

Ipswich in 1662, by water, "to be new run." Ringing vigorously for the restoration seems

to have cracked it,

GREAT YARMOUTH

15

he refused to supply the "Windsor herrings" according to ancient

custom to Col. Sparrow, who had purchased this perquisite of the state;

whereupon Preston was arrested by a serjeant-at-arms, and the chief

magistrate would have been carried to London in custody if the

corporation had not paid £50, with £10. 13s. 4d. the messenger's fees

and £1 8s. 6d. the colonel's costs. To understand this matter it is

necessary to state that in 1362 the corporation made a grant of a last of

red herrings to be delivered in perpetuity to the college at Windsor, then

recently established by Edward III., "that they might take the

corporation into their prayers," which were needed, if it be true that a

magistrate had then recently been killed in a fray. Preston probably

considered that as the college had been deprived of this payment in

kind, which the state had sold to a private person whose prayers the

town did not care for, he was justified in withholding the contribution;

and he certainly had reason if not law on his side. After this contest the

herrings continued to be delivered to the Dean and Chapter of Windsor,

who had obtained a restitution of this grant, until 1718 when it was

commuted to a yearly money payment of £8, which continues to be

made to this day.* It was through the influence of Preston that in 1654

Colonel William Goffe, one of the regicides, was returned to Parliament

for the borough by the corporation, in spite of the claim of the freemen

* In the Liber Feodorum is this entry :— "William Fitz Ralph and William of

Carcun hold a certain serjeanty in Carlton, by the service of carrying to the Lord the King,

wheresoever he may he in England, about the Feast of St. Michael, "twenty-four pasties

of fresh herrings, on behalf of the Bailiffs of Norwich." The Borough of Yarmouth, says

Blount in his Frag. Antig., 197, was bound to send one hundred herrings to the Sheriff of

Norfolk, whose duty it was to have them baked into twenty-four pasties. He probably

consigned them to William Fitz Ralph and his coadjutor. Blount adds, "they are still sent

to the Clerk of Kitchen's Office in St. James'." The herring pies, which it was customary

for the Corporation of Norwich to send to the king (see M, i., p. 356), were seasoned with

"half-an-ounce of grains of paradilly." This condiment is supposed to be the same as

"grains of paradise," which are the seeds of a species of cardanum (amomum melequeta)

imported from the coast of Guinea, where they are held in great esteem as a spice for

seasoning food, and are considered extremely wholesome. They are now used in

veterinary medicines, and for the purpose of imparting a fictitious appearance of strength

to malt and spirituous liquors. In 1816 the Sheriff of Norwich delivered to the Lord in

Waiting at Windsor the customary four-and-twenty herring pasties to his no small

bewilderment,

16

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

to vote; Nathaniel Ashby, his co-bailiff, as we have seen, refusing to

sign the return. Goffe, at the invitation of Preston, came to the town and

had the freedom of the borough conferred up on him. Preston was a

member of "Bridge's Church," and in 1655 he became one of the ruling

elders. At the restoration he was displaced for refusing, with more

consistency then some of his political friends, to take the oaths.* Mr.

Jacob Preston was, however, the founder of the present family of that

name. He had an elder brother, John Preston, who died in 1809, aged

70; and Isaac, younger brother, born in 1744, of whom we shall have

occasion to speak; and one sister who married Mr. John Neale of

Coltishall. f Mr. Jacob Preston had three sons, John, of whom hereafter,

and Isaac and Edmund, already mentioned (vol. i., p. 220 , and vol. ii., p.

82), and two daughters, Anne, who married F. R. Reynolds, Esq., and

died in 1848, and Elizabeth, who became the second wife of Mr.

Nathaniel Symonds, and died in 1787, at the early age of 21.

* Of the above family was probably Thomas Preston, who was buried in St. Peter's

(Mancroft), Norwich, in 1665, and had a monument erected there to his memory by John,

his youngest son, a "Chyrurgion in Yarmouth" in 1698. Harl. M.S.S. , No. 6762. By the 3

Henry VIII., c. xi., no person could practice as a physician or chirurgeon without a "letter

testimonial" under the seal of the Bishop of the Diocese. In 1661 the Bishop of Norwich

granted a license to Thomas Betts to "practise chirurgerie," and so late as 1785 the statute

was not obsolete, as appears by a licence printed in the Eastern Counties Collectanea, p.

252. Widows of physicians "left experienced in the art and mystery of physic" were

sometimes allowed to practice.

f She died at Christ-Church, Surrey, in 1820, aged 79, having survived her husband

twenty-one years. Their son, John Preston Neale, born at Worstead in Norfolk, being

when a lad on a visit to his maternal uncle, attracted by the excellence, of his pencil

drawings the notice of a gentleman than in Yarmouth on the business of the General Post

Office, who offered young Neale an appointment in that government department, in

which he ultimately rose to fill an important position. Fortunately for the public he did not

neglect the art through which ho had thus attained the first step in the business of life, as

is fully evinced by those numerous and beautiful works in which his drawings have been,

so exquisitely engraved by Le Keux. At a stall in Yarmouth Market place was sold in

1871, for 8d., a pocket book containing numerous sketches in pencil made by Neale in

different parts of England in 1825 and 1826, which display the marvellous facility with

which, by a few telling strokes, he transferred to paper whatever caught his attention, to

he afterwards worked into elaborate drawings. He died in 1848, aged 68. There is an

engraved portrait of him. His son, the Rev. Edward Pote Neale, was for many year Vicar

of Horsey in Norfolk, and died there in 1871, aged 70,

GREAT YARMOUTH

11

There is a portrait, of her. John Preston, the eldest son, who succeeded

his father in the occupation of the above-mentioned house, was for many

years Comptroller of Customs at the Port of Yarmouth. In 1816 he

published a Picture of Yarmouth illustrated by engravings of public

buildings from drawings by himself He filled the office of mayor in

1828, and again in 1831, and died in 1855, aged 83. He married, first,

in 1795, Mary, daughter of John Kerrison of Panxworth, who died in

1803, aged 32, leaving one son; and secondly, in 1805, Anne, daughter

of John Bloom of Wells, who died in 1854, aged 75, leaving issue. A

family of the name of Preston settled in Londonderry, and aided in the

memorable defence of that city in 1689. John Preston married Elizabeth,

daughter of Colonel James Patton of Donegal, and having passed over

to the United States in 1740, settled in the State of Virginia, and founded

a family which has greatly flourished there. A pamphlet entitled

"Memoranda of the Preston family" was published at Albany, U.S., in

1864, for private distribution.

On the north side of the house lastly described as having been built

by Roger Drury, were some warehouses (now taken down and

dwelling-houses erected on the site), which early in the last century were

the property of James Ward, and in 1736 were conveyed by his two

daughters, Susan and Mary, to Thomas Morris, already mentioned.*

All the ground between Drury's house and the town wall, also

parcel of the dissolved house of Black friars, was in 1671 acquired by

John Berney f on his marriage with Susan, daughter of John Steynes of

Great Yarmouth; and was sold in 1707 by their sons,

* Joseph Ward, who was town clerk from 1639 to 1661, married Lydia, a sister of

John Cosin D.D., Dean of Peterborough and Bishop of Durham from 1660 to 1672, when

he died, aged 77. The bishop was a native of Norwich. There is an engraved portrait of

him. A pedigree of Cosin of Norfolk will be found in Surtees’ Durham, vol. i. p. 114. The

town clerk left a son, Samuel Ward, and two daughters, Lydia Ward and Ellen Locke.

f The name is derived from Berney near Walsingham, Norfolk; where the family

have held an estate from the time of the conquest. Branches of this family had large

possessions at Reedham, Morton, and other parishes in Norfolk . They bore gu., and az.,,

over all a cross engrailed erm.; and for a crest, a plume of six ostrich feathers

alternatively az., and gu. Sir Hanson Barney, the eighth baronet, died in 1870, aged 90

years,

VOL. iii.

12

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

John Berney, Esq., of Westwich, and Richard Berney, Esq., of Norwich,

to Robert Scrutton. The last house next the town wall has for upwards

of a century been a public house, called in 1772 the Dolphin, after that

the Ship on the Stocks, and now the First and Last, being the first house

in one direction and the last in the other within the walls.* In that year it

was with some adjacent property purchased by R OBERT L ANCASTER ,

Esq., who filled the office of mayor in 1768. While entertaining some

friends at his house in 1783, "to see the old year out and the new year

in," and having drawn the cork of a bottle of wine, and being in the act

of giving a toast, he fell back and expired, being then 70 years of age.

His four sons left Yarmouth, where the name became extinct.

* A landlord of a house so called put up as a sign a cradle and a coffin.

f Elizabeth, his widow, married in 1794 the Rev. Thomas Martin of Colkirk;

and Elizabeth, one of his two daughters, married Edmund Tate. Mr, B. Lancaster

(a highly-esteemed member of the Friendly Society) was found drowned in the river in

1792, Capt. Richard Lancaster, a common councilman, died in 1794, aged 51.

Families of this name flourished in Norfolk and Suffolk.

GREAT YARMOUTH

19

CHAPTER IX.

The Town Wall

"Jernemutha urbs est murata. "— C AMDEN .

" The firmest fence this town can have

"From dangers best to save;

"Is not the flinty walls so strong,

" But men both wise and brave."

HE fortifications of our towns on the east coast have usually

been the work, and they have remained the property, of the

inhabitants.* On the petition of the burgesses a licence was

granted to them by Henry III. to enclose their town with a

wall and fosse. The works were not however commenced until 1275 at

the north end of the town; and a considerable period elapsed before the

same were finished. To enable them to carry on so expensive an

undertaking, the inhabitants were empowered by royal grant to collect

during limited periods certain duties under the name of murage, upon all

commodities imported and exported. These grants were renewed from

time to time, as occasion required, up to the year 1390; and the funds of

the muragers, annually elected, were augmented by legacies and

voluntary contributions. f The wall when completed encircled the old

town, except on the west side which was bounded by the river. It

admeasured 2,238 yards, was twenty-three feet

* The frontier town, of Berwick-upon-Tweed is the only exception. There the

Government some years ago granted a long lease of the fortifications for the use of the

inhabitants. At Hull during the civil war the citadel was seized by order of Parliament, and

has ever since the restoration been vested in the crown.

f The muragers had a distinct office for the transaction of their business. They kept

very exact accounts, which were audited yearly. Some of these accounts have been

printed by Swindon, and are curious as illustrating the prices of labour and materials.

Muragers continued to be elected down to 1835, although their duties and their revenues

had alike ceased. Among the Exchequer records may be found the accounts of Ed.

Widewell and Alex. Brigate of payments for the fortification and defence of the

inhabitants in 1457.

20

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

high, and was defended at intervals by sixteen towers. There were two

principal gates, north and south, with several smaller intermediate gates

along the east wall, "to let in her friends and keep out her enemies,"

quoth Manship. These fortifications were faced with smoothed Norfolk

flints, interspersed with occasional courses of hard thin bricks; Caen

stone being used for the loop-holes and ornamental work. Internally the

wall was sustained by a series of arches, within each of which was a

splayed loop-hole for the use of the cross-bowmen. These arches

supported a walk for those who defended the walls, and enabled them

to shoot from the upper and smaller loop-holes, and to pass from tower

to tower. The annexed

engraving shews the

interior of "the wall in

its original state, with

the double row of loop-

holes.* The

embattlement of Caen

stone surmounted only

a portion of the wall.

After the introduction

of cannon, and when the Duke of Norfolk was sent down by Henry

VIII. to put the town into a better state of defence, the lower arches

were all filled up with earth, the walls being "rampired" and rendered

impervious up to the above-mentioned walk; evidence of which remains

to this day.

L et us now take a survey of these fortifications, commencing at the south

end of the town. The first defence was a boom thrown across the river,

supported by a jetty on each side. This boom was kept closed during the night,

and the passage strictly guarded. The wall commenced from the river at this

point; and behind it was a high mound of earth, called the South Mount, which

commanded a view of

* The late Mr. Harrod compared the old wall at Yarmouth, as seen from the town

side, to that of Rome, as it appears from Monte Testaceo, in the vicinity of the pyramid of

Caius Cestius 1 .

1 see also, some Roman aspects of Yarmouth in RRH.

GREAT YARMOUTH

21

the river and South Denes down to the haven's mouth. In later times a

look-out was erected on this mount, which was not finally removed

until 1867. The mount has now been so much cut away that but little of

it remains. Fifty-eight yards from the river, and to the east of the mount,

stood the South Gate, called also the Great Gate. The portal, twelve feet

wide, was long and narrow, and was defended by a portcullis. Above

was an apartment having an embattled roof. It was flanked on each side

towards the south by a round projecting and embattled tower, the walls

of which were 3 feet 9 inches thick. The total breadth was 66 feet.*

This gate was wholly pulled down in 1812, except the base of the West

T OWER which was converted into a stable, and above it a cottage was

erected. In this fragment there remained a loop-hole for raking the

entrance with the crossbow, and the groove in which the portcullis

worked might also be seen. These slight remains were wholly removed

in 1867 when the road was widened. This gateway, which was

extremely picturesque, especially from the outer or south side, was built

of flints and bricks strongly cemented, and a considerable portion of the

exterior was formed into parallelograms, the squares being filled

alternately with smoothed flints and plaster, giving the whole a

chequered appearance. It was through this gate that William III. entered

the town in 1692. f Forty-two yards from the South

Gate, in a direct line eastward, was a tower 18 feet

in breadth; the upper part of which has been taken

down, and a sloping-tiled roof placed upon it.

Ninety yards further, in the same direction, is the

Friars' Tower, which is 16 feet in breadth. It is still

standing, but roofless, and completely gutted.

This tower

* When the deputy-lieutenants advised on the defence of

the town in 1625, they considered the East Tower of this gateway to be a very convenient

place upon which to plant a "murdering piece." In later times a telegraph was erected on

the West Tower.

f The ceremony of shutting this gate every night was continued down to the last

century, for in 1724 an order was made "to pay Goody Ely 35s. a year for cleansing,

opening, and shutting the South Gate."

22

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

has a flat face towards the town; on which side the remains of an

external staircase can still be traced leading to a door opening into the

guard chamber on the first floor. From this tower the wall runs due

north for 109 yards;* it then makes an oblique angle, and runs northeast

for 70 yards when it reaches the South-east Tower, which is a large one,

admeasuring 21 feet in breadth. It still remains standing entire; and is

inhabited. From the North-east Tower the wall is continued almost due

north for 70 yards, at which distance there was a small gate, 6 feet wide,

called Garden Gate, having a tower. It was afterwards called Moyse's

Gate, Colby's Gate, and Stevenson's Gate, and was pulled down in

1776. The wall is then continued for 178 yards further, where there was

another gate, also 6 feet wide, called Ropemakers' Gate. It was also

called Symonds' Gate and White-Lion Gate, and was demolished in

1785 when Mr. William Norfor had leave to pull it down f . At the

distance of 66 yards is another tower, 30 feet in breadth, called Harris’

Tower, the base of which only remains, the upper part having been

demolished and rooms belonging to a modern house erected upon the

base. Further north, at the distance of 61 yards, was another gate, which,

according to Ames the antiquary, writing in 1745, was called Ames'

Gate, in honor of his grandfather, Capt. Ames, mentioned vol. ii., p.

118, J who after retiring from the public service set up a brewery in

* Within, the wall at this spot, about 70 yards south of Friars' Tower, some

workmen employed in 1850 in levelling the earth with which the walls had been

strengthened or "rampired" on the west side, came upon ton skeletons lying about

15 feet from the wall and about 2 feet below the original level of the soil; and

beneath them was fine sand. They were found lying in a space of about 6 yards in

two tiers, each body being surrounded by the mouldering remains of wooden coffins,

secured by large iron nails much oxidised; the space between the coffins being filled

with rubbish, in which were many fragments of tiles and two Nuremberg counters.

f In 1775 the corporation made an order for the demolition of Moyse's Gate,

Norton's Gate, Colby's Gate, and Steel's Gate, giving as a reason that they were

"very hurtful to the fishing nets going on and off the Denes on account of the nails in

those gates projecting out." Surely if there had been no better reason, the nails

might have been removed.

J Following the example of his gallant commander, Capt. Ames asserted that

"state affairs were not his provence, and that it was his business to do his duty to

his country, whatever irregularities there might be in the counsels at home." He

commanded the ship which brought Charles II. to England, and which was thence-

forth called the Happy Return. He descended from Lancelot Ames of Norwich,

GREAT YARMOUTH

23

Yarmouth. John Ames, his son, the father of the antiquary, was, says the

latter, ''a master of several ships.'' He dwelt in Yarmouth, and made

some "small notes relating to that town."* It was also called Harris'

Gate, having a tower called Harris' Tower, the upper part of which was

taken, down in 1642 and a. platform, made for the planting of

ordnance; f also Little Mount Gate and Appleby's Gate (1677), and

whose son, John, died in 1647, aged 70, the latter being the father of Capt. Ames, instead

of John Ames, an officer in the Trained Bands, as mentioned in vol. ii., p.p. 118, 401, the

latter being probably the captain's elder brother.

* See a letter from Ames the antiquary to Blomfield the historian, published in the

appendix to the Foundation and Antiquitye of Great Yermouthe, p. 120. His daughter,

Mary, married Capt. Edward Dampier, Deputy-Surveyor of Shipping to the Honorable

East India Company, The name of Ames was find is to be found in many of the villages

of Norfolk. In a chapel on the south side of Barton Church is a quaint epitaph to the

memory of Thomas Amys, commencing with—

" Here are laid under this stone,—in clay,

" Thomas Amys—and his wife Margery."

"Sometimes," observes the antiquary, "they spelt the sir-name Amyas" but bore the same

arms. Dr. William Ames, a puritan Calvinistic divine, born in 1576, graduated at

Cambridge, and being turned out of his fellowship retired to Holland and became a

professor at Rotterdam, where he died in 1538. His sister, Elizabeth married the Rev. John

Phillips of Wrentham, mentioned vol. ii., p, 36. Br. Ames married Joan Burgess, daughter

of the chaplain to the English troops at The Hague. She and her children went to New

England, but returned with her son, William Ames, who became a minister at Wrentham,

was ejected in 1662, and died there in 1682. An old family of Ames has for many

generations been seated in Somersetshire, and there is strong; presumptive evidence of a

connection between them and those of the same name in Norfolk; but the former bear

arg., on a bend cottised sa., three roses of the field; and for a crest, a rose arg., stalked

and leafed vert. ex. Inf. Reginald Ames, Esq., of Cote House, Westbury-on-Wyn.

f Thomas Harris was bailiff in 1581; John Harris in 1590; and Ezechias Harris in

1620. The latter served again in 1631, when having assisted in committing the Minister of

the Parish to Gaol, he was himself ordered to be sent there by the Privy Council, but upon

submission "the messenger was stayed." (See vol. i., p. 36.) In 1740 John Harris lost his

ship on the bar on the 10th of January, and two of the crew were frozen to death. So

severe was the frost that all inland navigation was stopped, and coals had to be sent to

Norwich in carts and waggons. Ives says he saw "three score and seven" loading at one

time. Frosts are never so severe at Yarmouth as further inland; but occasionally the rivers

are frozen, and in 1830 the Yare could be crossed on the ice as low as the crane. In 1789

the pumps were all frozen. “ We buy water by the pail”, says a private letter of the time. In

April, 1799, so great was the scarcity of coals on account of the frost that the price rose to

four guineas a chaldron.

24

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

when demolished in 1804 was called Norfor's Gate.* Further on, at the

distance of 121 yards, is what was called the N EW M OUNT , which was

commenced in 1569 and was constructed by the labour of the

inhabitants, Manship himself, then "a grammar scholar," assisting;

being, as he says, "more willing to help in carrying a mound of earth in

my hand than a satchel of book on my shoulder." It was in length 222

feet, and in breadth without the wall 32 feet. An additional mount was

formed in 1577, and when the arrival of the Spanish Armada was

expected in 1588, Sir Thomas Leighton, an officer much trusted by the

queen, was sort down to attend to the defences ; and by his advice the

mount was enlarged and surrounded by a wall measuring 500 feet and

20 feet high. f In 1590 an inner wall was erected higher than the town

wall; and upon the mount and on this wall "great pieces of ordnance"

were placed "to scour the roads at the time of the enemy's approaching."

A sharp look out was kept, and when some vessels were discovered off

the coast near Yarmouth, sounding the depth of water, the suspicious

circumstance was reported by Sir Edward Clere to the Privy Council, at

the same time strong measures were taken to secure a supply of

provisions. J In more peaceful times and until the passing

* Subsequently this outlet was called Moyse's Opening, and also Drum Opening

from the sign of a neighbouring public house; and it is now called York Gate.

f The Lords of the Queen's Council addressed letters to the Deputy-Lieutenants for

Norfolk and Suffolk, requiring them to procure assistance towards defraying the very

heavy expenses to which the inhabitants of Yarmouth were subjected," seeing," say their

lordships, "that being neighbours, the people of Norfolk, Suffolk, and the City of

Norwich, are interested in the fortunes of the town, and that the charge "of a common

benefit should be borne by all." Norwich immediately subscribed £100; and upon the

representation of Sir Edward Clere, Sir William Heydon, and Sir John Peyton, three

deputy-lieutenants, the city agreed to find 300 soldiers, for the defence of Yarmouth, each

man being provided with a coat and arms, and paid vjs. viijd. The Yarmouth people at the

same time fitted out a ship-of-war called the Grace of God, which, under the command of

Capt. Musgrave, was sent to join the royal fleet; and it was arranged that any prize-money

obtained should be divided into thirds, one for the ship, one for the town, and one for the

adventurers.

J "William Smythe, collector, and Henry Manship, comptroller of customs, at this

time reported to the Privy Council that they had "stayed two ships laden with corn for

Rotterdam;" and Capt. Musgrave of Yarmouth offered to supply victuals for a vessel-of-

war at hit own cost.— State Papers,

GREAT YARMOUTH

25

of the Municipal Corporation Act in 1835, the corporation were

accustomed to use this mount for the stowage of anchors; for, up to that

period, they exercised the same jurisdiction in regard to derelict goods

as is now vested in the Board of Trade.

On the south side of the mount there was a gate, which was walled

up some time prior to 1643; and 41 yards to the north was another gate,

21 feet wide, having a tower on the north side. It was called New Gate,

because it was newly made through the town wall in the reign of

Elizabeth. It was also named Mount Gate from the adjoining mount;

and after the erection of St. George's Chapel it was called Chapel Gate

or St. George's Gate. The lower part of the tower may still be seen; all

the rest of the gate was removed in 1776, and in 1789 the opening was

further enlarged by the space of six feet. The wall is then continued for

82 yards, where there is another tower, 27 feet in breadth, the upper part

of which is used as a dwelling, and is covered with a conical, tiled roof,

surmounted by a vane bearing the date 1680. Eighty-three yards further

north was another gate, anciently called Oxney's Gate,* and in 1643

Steele's Gate. f It was also called Mitchelson's Gate. After the erection

of the Theatre on the adjoining plain

* After the family of that name already mentioned vol. i., p. 100. In 1376 William

Oxney represented the town in a Parliament summonsed to meet at eight o'clock in the

morning for the purposes of providing for the good government of the kingdom, its

defence against all enemies by sea and land, and to provide the means for carrying on the

war against France. The supplies they refused to give, unless certain reforms were made

and abuses corrected. They charged Richard Lyons, one of the Privy Council, with

having, to serve his own purposes, removed the staple from Calais, and of so raising the

prices of commodities that the common sort of people could scarcely live." Lyons,

"fearing for his skin," sent the Black Prince £1,000 in a barrel "as if it had been a barrel of

sturgeon," but the bribe was sent back and Lyons condemned to imprisonment. The

Commons then attacked William Ellis of Great Yarmouth, Lyons' deputy, accusing him

with extorting money from the master of a Scotch vessel, and also from the captain of a

Prussian ship laden with wax, iron, and other merchandize, both having been driven by

stress of weather into port. (Rol. Parl. m. 5, 31-32.) Ellis appears however not to have lost

the confidence of his townsmen, for he was returned to Parliament the very next year and

several times subsequently. ( P. C. p. 191.)

f Probably so called from William Steele, a. member of the corporation temp.

Charles II.

VOL. III.

26 THE PERLUSTRATION OF

it was called Theatre Gate or Playhouse Gate, although the gate itself

had then disappeared. Its tower, of the breadth altogether 21 feet, was

pulled down in 1776.* From this tower to the next, which is called the

Guard Tower, there is a distance of 76 yards. The latter tower

admeasures 24 feet in breadth, and upon it is built a private residence.

Behind, it, and extending to Market Gate, was the Main Guard, which

was constructed in 1626, and encompassed by a wall higher than the

town wall. The former has entirely disappeared and the ground greatly

levelled. Sixty-eight yards further is Market Gate, f which had a "four-

square tower," admeasuring altogether 54 feet. In 1797 Richard Miller,

Lessee of the Guard Yard, had permission to take down the top of the

Market Gate; and in 1830 it was demolished. Some of the original

stone-work might be seen on the south side until 1874, when it was

entirely removed. At a distance of 78 yards northward is another tower,

24 feet wide, called Hospital Tower, because it, with the adjoining wall,

bounded the grounds of St. Mary's Hospital. Within the wall between

the Market Gate and the last-mentioned tower is a Burial Ground

obtained, by the dissenters; and within its area lie interred many of the

most eminent among the local nonconformists of the last generation.

The town wall which forms the east boundary of this cemetery is in a

very perfect state of preservation. From Hospital Tower to Pudding

Gate J the distance is 78 yards. This latter had a tower and admeasured

24 feet. It was the last, which remained; not being pulled down until

1837. At that time its oaken and iron-bound

* In 1740 John Wallis, a common councilman, had liberty to use the tower as a

chaise house. On the Denes, opposite the above-mentioned gate, in 1550, and again

in 1579, booths were erected in the herring season for the convenience and safety of

the fishermen, the plague then raging in the town. Swinden, p. 442.

f It led from the Market Place to the Denes. The excellence of Yarmouth

Market has already been mentioned, vol. i., pp. 28, 83, but there is one peculiarity

which has not been noticed. In it butter is sold by the pint; which, despite the old

distich which says A pint's a pound

All the year round;

is somewhat in excess of that quantity.

j Why so called is unknown. The name appears at an early period, but is

sometimes spelt "Poding." The open space to the north, within the wall and

adjoining the precincts of the Priory, was called Pudding Yard.

GREAT YARMOUTH

27

folding doors remained sound and perfect, having in them, a small

grated

wicket through which the

warden could inspect all

who sought admittance. In

the arch above the gate

might be seen the groove

for the portcullis, and inside

the gate a turret stair led to

the ramparts.* In 1607 the

corporation allowed

Thomas Lacey to have the

rooms over this gate, he

first making them habitable.

The wall then takes a north-

east direction for 198 yards,

at which distance there was

another tower called St,

Nicholas' Tower, having a gate, and being in breadth together 30 feet.

This gate was bricked up at an early period j and in 1642 Nicholas Wyn

had liberty to take down, the upper part of the tower, retaining the

materials for his pains, and the lower part was filled with earth. Outside

the wall, between Hospital Tower and Pudding Gate, those who died of

the plague in 1579 were buried. f Between St. Nicholas' Tower and King

Henry's Tower the wall crosses the churchyard, dividing the old burial

ground from the new. The wall is demolished but its foundation can be

distinctly traced. In 1648 Walter Bullard had granted to him as "a place

of store" for the defence of the town, the "Little Vestry" in the

churchyard; which was the place appointed for the "cannoneers."

K ING H ENRY ' S T OWER stands at the north-west corner of the

churchyard, and was in breadth, "with the compass of the east side," 60

feet.

* The engraving here given is from a drawing by Mrs. Bowyer Vaux, taken

immediately before the demolition of this gateway.

f Their bones have been frequently disturbed by the sinking of wells and

digging foundations.

28

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

It was named, in honor of Henry III., who, as we have seen, first

permitted the burgesses to fortify their town.* This tower was

octagonal, the corners decorated with dressings of Caen stone; and so

lofty that in the 16th century it was a good sea-mark. The lower

chamber had a vaulted roof, and the springing stones of the groining

ribs still remain, but the arches which supported the floor are gone; and

the tower is now unroofed, and the interior open to the sky . The lower

part, forming as it were a huge well, is filled with human bones,

collected for centuries from the adjoining churchyard. Here at least

there is no distinction of persons, and we are reminded of the saying of

Diogenes who, when searching a charnel-house, declared he could find

no difference between the skull of King Philip and that of "any other

man." f From King Henry's Tower the wall takes a course due west,

bounding the churchyard on the north for 136 yards. It there makes an

acute angle, and again takes a northerly direction for 86 yards to a

corner tower, which is 24 feet in breadth. The wall then again runs due

west for 42 yards, at which distance was the N ORTH G ATE , built

principally of flints, which externally were smoothed and squared, the

quoins and dressings being of stone. In the upper part some bricks were

used; and the whole firmly set in cement. Over the portal, which was 12

feet wide, was a room surmounted by an embattled parapet, the north

front of which was ornamented with a canopied arcade of some

architectural pretention, having a niche in the centre. The gateway was

defended by stout doors and a double portcullis. On each side was a

loopholed rectangular tower, and the whole admeasuring 66 feet in

breadth. J There is a tradition that this gate was erected at the expense

of those who enriched themselves during the time of the great plague in

1348 by following the loathsome employment of burying the dead. In

1804 a passage was cut through the base of the West Tower for the con-

* Attached to the Parish. Church was King Henry's Chapel; and in the Church-

wardens' accounts payments are recorded in respect of it, 1607, to Friar William

for keeping King Harry's Chapel, xiij. iiij. Tanner's M.S.

f The ancient Chantry or Mortuary Chapel has been already mentioned (vol. i.,

p. 55). It is described in the "Particulars for Grants," 2 Ed. 6 , remaining in the

Augmentation Office.

J There is a very old engraving of this gate published by Hixon, 440, Strand.

GREAT YARMOUTH

29

venience of foot passengers; and in 1807, when a rage for demolition

had set in, the whole structure was taken down, but its exact position

may be seen by the remains of the town wall on each side. From the

North Gate the wall is continued straight to the river, being a. distance

of 196 yards. About midway was another tower, the base of which may

still be seen in Ramp Row; and within 11 yards of the "North Water" is

the last tower, called the N ORTH -W EST T OWER . It is still standing with a

high-conical roof, surmounted by a vane, and having a, most

picturesque appearance especially when viewed from the river; it has

long been a favorite subject with painters and engravers. There was no

gateway, but a passage has been cut through the adjoining wall to allow

the passage of carts.

In ancient times gardens were made within the lofty walls, and

being by them well protected on the east became very agreeable for the

inhabitants and extremely productive, until "grim-visaged war" doomed

them all to destruction. When hostilities were proclaimed both against

France and Scotland by Henry VIII, the Duke of Norfolk came down to

Yarmouth to look to the defences. He "disgardened" these pleasant

places, and then caused the wall from the Market Gate to Black Friars to

be "rampired " by heaping up earth against it to the extent of forty feet,

until the earth reached to within a few feet of the top, thus rendering it

almost indestructible. These works were commenced in 1544, and were

not finished until 1587, "which was in the year before the Spanish

intended invasion;"* and by arching over the roadway behind each gate

a pleasant and continuous walk was made along the rampired wall,

principally by the exertions of Mr. Greenwood, whereby several

persons could proceed abreast and enjoy an extensive sea view. f

Although in process of time the gates were "unram-

* Several very large vessels belonging to the Armada, were lost on the coast of

Argyle. Of their crews about five hundred were saved, who reached Edinburgh in a

manner naked; and out of charity were clothed by the inhabitants, who then shipped them

off for Spain. Their misfortunes however were not ended; for the ships in which they had

embarked wore forced by stress of weather into Yarmouth, and here the Spaniards were

detained until the queen in council, considering what miseries they had already endured,

sent down an order permitting them to continue their voyage.

f It is to be regretted that this walk was not preserved. An attempt was made to do so

in 1621, when the corporation passed a resolution that "the inhabitants

30

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

pired" and the earth heaped against the walls greatly lowered, yet it may

be seen to this day that the level of the ground within the walls is very

considerably above that without the walls. The wall throughout its

entire length was "compassed with a mighty main ditch passable with

boats and keels," as Manship informs us; traces of which might have

been, seen until within the last few years.*

For the safe-keeping of the town all the gates were watched day

and night by the inhabitants, who were compelled to serve in turn upon,

what was called " watch and ward " f and in pursuance of the 3 Ed. I. c.

23 (1275), the gates were closed from sun setting to sun rising. Upon

extraordinary occasions additional assistance was obtained. Thus in

1386, an invasion being apprehended, Sir Henry Percy and Sir Vaux

Percy were sent down, to man the walls with 300 men-at-arms and 600

archers; and in 1457 the French having fitted out two fleets with, it was

said, a design upon Yarmouth ( Hol. , vol. ii., fo. 645), proclamation was

made at Norwich for all men to arm themselves according to their

degree, and 200 men were sent to Yarmouth to assist in defending the

town, and an aid was levied on the city for their maintenance. In 1542,

on the requirement of the Duke of Norfolk, forty men, "well trymmed

in ev'y behalf," were sent from Norwich to assist in the defence of the

town. They came by water, and were placed under the command of Sir

John Clere. J In 1585 the town was required by the Privy

"should have the walks round the town walls as anciently, and fill places stopped should

be opened, notwithstanding; which the encroachers prevailed. The towers also should

never have been allowed to pass into private hands.

*Great care was taken to keep the moat in a navigable state; and the rolls of the leet

record many fines inflicted on persons for throwing rubbish therein.

f Ward-penny was a contribution made to defray the expenses of the watch. In a

petition to Henry VII., in which the inhabitants complain of the great charges to which

they were subjected for the defence of the town, they state in time of war the night watch

consisted of thirty persons.

J The ancient family of Clere has been already mentioned. (See vol. i., p. 11.) They

had a town house in Middlegate Street. Sir Robert Clere of Ormesby, High Sheriff of

Norfolk in 1501, attended Henry VIII. to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Sir Edward

Clere, who claimed "Yarmouth Island" (see vol. i., p. 316), was knighted at Norwich by

Queen Elizabeth in 1578. Abigail, his grandchild and sole heiress, married Col. John

Cromwell, third son of Sir Oliver Cromwell, and cousin to the Lord Protector,—an

unhappy match. (See Commons' Journal, vol. iv., pp. 532, 709.)

1 Just because rubbish was thrown into the moat, does not mean that it was navigable

or indeed ever had water in it. See RRH.

GREAT YARMOUTH

31

Council to provide ships to transport 400 soldiers to the low countries.

Each alderman subscribed £5, and each common councilman £2. 1ds.,

and the rest of the money was raised by assessment. In 1591 two ships

were required to carry out 150 soldiers to Normandy. In 1625 the

fortifications were inspected, and the walls, gates, and towers put into a

state of defence. In the towers flat roofs of lead were made, whereon

were placed "sachets," "culverins," and "murdering pieces," as the

ordnance then in use were termed.* Mention is also made of "slyngs"

and "hagbushes." John Shaw, a gunner from London, was hired in 1526

for three years, at £ 16 a year, to instruct the inhabitants; and when in

1626 there was a fear of an invasion from Dunkirk, 100 "musketeers"

were employed nightly in guarding the walls. When, in 1642, the town

declared for the Parliament, the defences were again strengthened,

especially towards the north; and a "court, of guard," or guard house,

was established in each tower, and the peaceable inmates expelled. A

large sum of money, raised by a rate on the inhabitants, was at that time

expended on the fortifications. To see that the works were properly

done, four members of the corporation personally attended by turns

daily to inspect them. During the civil war the gate-houses and towers

were used as prisons for captured royalists; and were often very much

crowded. This was especially the case when, in 1642, the bailiffs seized

a ship laden with gunpowder, arms, and ammunition for the service of

the king (which had been compelled by stress of weather to put into port

in a leaky state), and made prisoners of her crew and 150 soldiers.

* Cannon were first cast in England of iron about 1450, and of bronze in 1535. Eight

pieces of iron ordnance were sent to the town in 1569; and in 1597 the town purchased for

£45 two brass cannon of Sir Robert Southwell, which had been brought from Cadiz. In

1625 the deputy-lieutenants found in Yarmouth, thirteen pieces of ordnance, five being of

braes and eight of iron. Swinden (p. 113) gives the weight. The largest is called a

"curtall." Soon afterwards Government sent down seventeen pieces, thus increasing the

number to thirty; but the town being without powder the bailiffs petitioned the Privy

Council, praying that an order might be made for them to have of the patentee, Mr.

Evelyn, fifty barrels "out of his majesty's at his majesty's price." It was ordered to be

supplied at 10d. per lb.; and the clerk of the council, Mr. Becher, wrote a private note to

Mr. Evelyn "entreating" him to comply "rather," says the writer, "for my sake, which I

shall ever be ready to acknowledge." Such was the way of transacting public business in

those days!

32

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

The vigorous proceedings of the bailiffs were commended by the

Parliament, who requested them to "search for and disarm all persons in

Yarmouth, Southtown, and Gorleston, suspected of having passed over

from beyond sea to assist the king in this unnatural war." Again in 1646

so many prisoners were sent to Yarmouth by the "Sea Captains," and

also by the "Standing Committee" at Norwich, that the gate-houses and

towers were filled with them , and application was made to Parliament

for the means of their maintenance.* In 1650 the town received from

the Treasurers of Casualties at Norwich Quarter Sessions £100 toward

disbursements for sea prisoners in the towers. "When the Scottish Clans

rose in 1715 the "fortifications" were examined and repaired; five

barrels of gunpowder were bought, and a better system of watching was

organized. It was with joy that the corporation afterwards expended 18s.

"for ringing the bells for the good news that the rebells in Scotland were

dispersed, and the pretender fled out of that country."

A traveller, writing from Yarmouth in 1796, says,—"On July 10, a

violent firing was all at once heard from the Russian ships in the Roads,

which raised an alarm truly diverting when the cause was known. It

was the coronation day of the Empress. The bustle it occasioned was

extraordinary. In five minutes the old walls and platforms were filled

with people; and we all thought of nothing less than a French

engagement."

Southey, writing in 1798, when he visited Yarmouth, says,—"The

old walls and gates are yet standing." Since that time all the gates, as

we have seen, have been removed; but the remains of the wall and

towers can still be traced from one end of the town to the other.

* In the following" year Miles Corbet addressed a letter to Speaker Lenthall, "with

an account of the prisoners sent up from Yarmouth. Tanner M.S.S. Lxii. 213.

GREAT YARMOUTH

33

Rex et nostra Jura. —T OWN M OTTO .

N the preceding pages we nave Been the growth of Yarmouth during

seven centuries, from a email fishing station to a flourishing town; and

during that period we have traced the developement of those free

institutions to which we owe our greatness as a nation; and although the

immediate subject of this, work is local, still there are matters to be found in it

which have a wider interest. The first general description of the old town of

G REAT Y ARMOUTH is, of course, to be found in Domesday Book, but as this has

been repeatedly printed, it need not he inserted here. "What has been said by

Camden and Speed is also familiar;* but not so the following truthful

description, in the good latinity of Sir Thomas Smith :—

Yarmutha, portus et oppidum elegantissimum, loci ingenio et solerti opera

permunitum. Quamvis enim aquis pene circumvalletur ab occasu flumine quod

versatili ponte insternitur; ab aliis partibus oceano, nisi ad septentriones qua

continens est; moenibus tamen satis firmis, quae cum flumine form am

quadrilaterem oblongiorem efficiunt, pulcherrime.

*See S. p. 8, M. pp. 5, 6, and Notes p. 198. In Domesday occurs the words " et vice

comes h't iiij lib. et 1 accipit'e t. r. E. de gersuma; h. iiij lib. dant burgenses gratia et

amicitia;" which is translated, "and the sheriff had four pounds and one hawk, in the

time of King Edward, for a fine or income. These four pounds the "burgesses give

gratia and in friendship." It is contended that the word gersuma does not mean a fine

or compulsory payment as rendered by Bailey, but a gift. Rogers, On Prices, cites a

record of Imp. Edward I. where a gersuma is paid "by an alderman on his election.

Kennett derives it from the old Saxon "gears" and "sum," which, may mean. "ready

money" or "earnest money."

VOL. III.

34

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

Includitur; in quibus praeter turres, ad ortum moles eminet, unde

tormentis majoribus in mare subjectum, quod vis L pass. abest, longe

lateque effulminatur. Templum unicum habet, sed amplum et excelsa

pyramide conspicuum. Cives rei mercatoriae et praesertim capturea

halecum dant operam. itaque hic maximae et frequentissimae sunt

nundinae circa festum Michaelis. Portus magnis sumtibus contra oceani

vim defenditur. Oppidani ea humanitate sunt, ut veteri more, jam inde a

majoribus instituto, quoseunque melioris notae advenas hospitesque

comiter invitent, convivusque laute excipiant.*

Drayton, the poet, who died in 1631, says that in his time Yarmouth was

"the fourth town of all the land;" and he speaks of it as

" That hospitable place to the industrious Dutch,

Whose skill in making stuffs, and workmanship is such

For refuge hither came .f

De Foe, writing in 1742 under the name of "A Gentleman," published a

third edition of " A Tour through the whole Island of Great Britain. "

The following is his description of Yarmouth :—"It is situated on a

peninsula between the River Yare and the sea; the two last lying parallel

to one another, and the town in the middle. The river lies on the west

side of the town, and being grown very large and deep by receiving all

the rivers on this side the county, forms the haven; and the town facing

the west also, and open to the river, makes the finest Quay in England, if

not in Europe, at least equalling Marseilles itself. The ships ride here so

close, as it were keeping up one another, with their heads fast on shore,

that for half a mile together they go across the stream with their

bowsprits over the land, their bows or heads touching the very wharf; so

that one may walk from ship to ship as on a floating bridge all along the

shore

* In a little work, published in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, entitled Thomae,

Smithi Angli, De Republica Anglorum, and reprinted at Leydon in 1641.

f It is not improbable that the inhabitants may have been in some measure

indebted to the Dutch for an increased love of cleanliness, especially in the dwellings

of the poorer classes, which is characteristic of the town; and also for a love of

flowers which still prevails, although the gardens and small wooden summer houses

which delighted the inhabitants of a former generation have gradually disappeared

under the steady advance of brick and mortar.

GREAT YARMOUTH

35

side. The Quay, reaching from the drawbridge almost, to the south gate,

is so spacious and wide, that in some places 'tis near 100 yards from the

houses to the wharf." Defoe paid the following tribute to the integrity of

the inhabitants:— " To all this I must add, without compliment to the

town, that the merchants, and even the generality of traders of

Yarmouth, have a very good reputation in trade, as well abroad as at

home, for fair and honourable dealing, and their sea men, as well

masters as mariners, are justly esteemed among the ablest and most

expert navigators in England." He further says, "It is a very well

governed town and I have no where in England observed the sabbath

day so exactly kept, or the breach of it so constantly punished 1 , as in

this place.—which I mention to their honour."

Dr. Alexander Carlyle, who visited Yarmouth in 1745, says in his

Autobiography; p, 159, "The town is handsome and lies in a singular

situate in," and then proceeds to describe it, and particularly to eulogize

the Quay.

In a book published in 1777 entitled “ Les Delices de la Grande

Bretagne, &c, enrichi de très-belles figures, &c, dessim é es sur les

originaus," Yarmouth is thus described:— "La situation est des plus

avantageuses aussi elle est bien fortifi é e par L’art et par la nature, aiant

de bonnes murailles, flanqu é es d'un rempart du cote de 1’orient, avec

un train de grosse artillerie, pour tirer en cas de besoin sur 1'ocean, "qui

n'en est qu'a cinquante pas. Elle est grande, bien batie, et fort peupl é e.

On y voit une fort belle é glise, accompagn é e d’ un clocher magnifique.

Les habitans s' appliquent a la pèche, particulièrement a celle des

harangs, qui est leur plus riche commerce."

Dr. Aikin, writing in 1784, says that the town is recommended by

"a striking air of cheerfulness and neatness;" and he adds, "The

manners of the lower class are remarkably decent and civilized; and as

much of literature and refinement prevailed among the richer part of the

community, as could reasonably be expected in a commercial town of

the second rank, occupying a remote corner of the island."*

In 1798 Southey visited Yarmouth, and in one of his letters he says

"The town is certainly a pleasant one."

* Memoir of Dr. Aikin, vol. i., p. 100.

1 At that time, anyone found missing from church was placed in the stgocks

or the bridewell.

36

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

Accompanied by Leech, and Mark Lemon, Charles Dickens, in

January, 1849, visited Yarmouth, with which he was much pleased; and

described it as being "the strangest place in the wide world."

Our last description is that by Queen Victoria, who, writing in

1842, says "We passed Yarmouth at about a quarter to six—very flat

"—and looking, Albert says, like a Flemish, town."

Sir Thomas Smith in the work quoted also says, p. 91—" Norfolcae

" aer subtilior paulo et asperior, praesertim ad mare et in campestri "

regione; hine veris et messis adventus serior. Marslandia et Fleg "supra

modum opulenta; ilia quidem pascuis, haec frumento felicior."