Pages from Volume One, Palmer's Perlustration, Chapter 5

GREAT YARMOUTH.

225

Row, No. 36, from George Street to Charlotte Street. At a house on the

north side of this row, with a small enclosed garden in front, resided

for many years Cornelius Girling Harley, who died in 1843, aged 75.

Mr. Harley (son of Robert Harley of Yarmouth) was by nature endowed

with a vigorous mind, and was well read in many subjects; especially

chemistry, history, and geography. This was the more remarkable, as he

had from his birth been afﬂicted with a defect in the organs of sight, an

attempt to cure which in early life by an operation, had caused the loss

of one eye and was unproductive of beneﬁt to the other. In addition to

this misfortune, his frame was of so weak a nature as to unﬁt him for

many of the common employments of life j but he possessed a most active

and enquiring mind, and applied himself vigorously to its cultivation.

His inﬁrmity of sight was no barrier to the acquirements of knowledge,

for his friends were delighted to read to him; and they had in return the

beneﬁt of his pleasant and sage remarks. His memory was remarkably

retentive, and his judgment clear and sound. Many young people, sons

and daughters of his intimate friends, were also, much to their advantage,

accustomed to read with bim. These he attached by his cheerfulness and

kind-heartedness, while he rendered “dear up to her buzum, and if you’d

a seen the gowerous manner that it seized: the vummin’s breast you never

vuld have forgoritu I shornt I know. Veil, Ria saad “ the babe must be tuk

care on, and ven I told her Sally’s sister Tudn’t have nothin to do vuth

it, she saad, then, Money, you’d better fetch a policeman, vich I did, and

we all vent to the Stashun house vith the child, vich vos a sucklin all the

vay. Arterwards ve took it to the Verkus, where it is now well-looked

arter, I shall allus believe that if it hadn’t been for me and Ria, that child

wouldn’t a been alive at this precious moment.”

The inhabitants of Yarmouth being much isolated had a patois distinct

from that which prevailed in Norfolk and Suffolk, the three modes of

pronunciation being different. These peculiarities of language, once

prevalent to some extent in all ranks, are fast wearing away, but are still

observable. Sylas Neville says that when on a journey to Scotland in

1771, he having observed to the landlord “We are going away,” another

traveller said “I should have known you anywhere for a Norfolk man

by your drawing out the last syllable.” “However mistaken he was,”

says Neville, “in supposing me to be a Norfolk man, I will endeavour in

future to avoid any improper Norfolk words or tones.” Mr. John G. Nall,

who has been indefatigable in his researches on this subject, compiled an

Etymological and Comparative Glossary of the Dialect of East Anglia

which he appended to his Handbook to Great Yarmouth published in

1866.

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

good service by assisting them in their various studies; for his knowledge

was very extensive. With the assistance of his young friends he was

enabled to keep up a literary correspondence; and he was held in high

esteem by many eminent men. He was a strenuous advocate for civil and

religious liberty, and for the advancement of science. He was not wholly

blind; for there were gleams of light (seen in) one eye sufﬁcient to guide

his steps. Tall and very spare in person, the shoulders rounded and the head

slightly bent, scrupulously dressed in a black coat, white cravat and drab

breeches, his long thin legs clad in white cotton stockings, upon which no

speck could be found, with buckles in his well blacked shoes, Mr. Harley

might be seen daily wending his way, by the aid of his stick, to the public

library, or to the houses of his intimate friends, at which he was always

welcome, for, says one of his admirers, his presence “seemed to shed

sunlight around him.” His head was remarkably ﬁne. It was completely

bald except for a small fringe of hair behind from ear to ear, the white

skull shining like polished marble. The brow was full of intellect; and the

brown eyes deeply set, seemed, says the writer from whom this sketch is

cheiﬂy taken (a lady who had read with him for years), to look kindly on

all. It must, she says have been the warm heart within from which this love

beamed out, for one eye only could see, and that not clearly. Possessed of

a small but, for such a philosopher, a sufﬁcient competency, Mr Harley

resided for many years in the above row, his household being managed

by a most faithful and attached servant, usually known as “old Betty”,

whose greatest ambition was their humble abode and all belonging to it

a pattern of neatness. After many years at the row’s end, next and facing

Charlotte Street, was converted into a beer house. The idle and noisy

people by whom it was frequented would laugh at the “lank” ﬁgure of

Harley picking his way so carefully to and from his home. Their rude

jests vexed his ears, and the annoyances he met with at last compelled

to remove to a house on the Church Plain, adjoining the Guildhall, and

there he died suddenly without pain, and was buried in the chancel in

Yarmouth Church, where there is a ﬂat stone with an inscription to his

memory. For nearly half a century he kept a daily weather journal. By

his will he bequeathed £110 to the

GREAT YARMOUTH.

227

Yarmouth hospital; made a provision for his faithful servant, who had

resided with him more than ﬁfty years; and divided the residue of his

moderate fortune among those whose society he most esteemed. There

is an engraved portrait of him from a drawing by J . P. Davis. *

Row, No. 37, from North Quay to George Street, called Glasshouse

How, because early in the last century a glass manufactory was carried on

here 1 . f At the south-east corner are some very old malthouses extending

half way down the row on the south side. Some of these were, early in the

18th century, the property of Samuel Clifton, and afterwards (in 1752)

of Charles Le Grys, who died in 1764, aged 64, t “a very considerable

merchant,” adds the Norfolk Chronicle.

* The family of Harley had been of some continuance in the town, in connection with

the trade of a miller. In 1770 the corporation granted a lease for 60 years of a piece

of waste ground on the Denes to Mr. William Harley, with liberty to build a ﬂour mill

thereon. This was long known as Harley’s mill. Another piece was in 1775 granted to

Mr. Richard Harley, who died in 1791, aged 62; soon after which event the following

epitaph appeared in the Norfolk Chronicle :—

“ Stay, passenger, and let a tear

“ Bedew the heaving sod;

“ For here must rest for many a year,

“ The noblest work of God.

“ Yet when the dreadful trumpet’s sound,

“ Shall cause the dead to rise,

“ With never-fading glory

crown’d,

“ It shall ascend the skies.”

f An advertisement in the Norwich Mercury for 1758 gave notice that “The “ glasshouse

at Yarmouth has been at work for some time, where persons may be furnished with

the best goods of all sorts at reasonable prices.” When Lord Nelson was at Yarmouth,

Mr. Absolon presented the hero with two glasses of local manufacture. Glass is not

now made in Yarmouth; but large quantities of stones found on the beach are shipped

to Newcastle for that purpose.

t In 1737 a tallow-house belonging to him was burnt down by his servant leaving a

light in a hogshead of new made candles.

One of the daughters and co-heirs of Mr. Le Grys married Benjamin Randal, Esq., who

died in 1818, aged 84. A daughter of the latter married Major Stoddart, of the Inniskillen

Dragoons, who, when at Limerick in 1813, died in consequence of a fall from his horse,

in the arms of his brother ofﬁcer, C. F. Burton, Esq., of Great Yarmouth, who himself

died many years afterwards from the effects of a similar accident. The issue of the last

marriage was Lieut.-Col. Charles Stoddart, whose mysterious disappearance at Bokhara

(where he is supposed to have been murdered in prison),

1 Absolon’s glass factory, which later moved to Southtown.

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

Fronting George street on the west side there is a house, standing back,

having a paved yard in front, which at the commencement of the present

century was the residence of William Palgave, Esq., jun., before he

removed to the house built for him on the South Quay. This house was

afterwards occupied as a boarding school for young ladies. In 1852 when

some workmen were digging a sawpit, in what had previously been a

garden at the back of this house, they, at about ﬁve feet and a half below

the surface, came to a perfect skeleton lying about six inches above the

sand, which is found at a depth of about six or seven feet every where

in this locality. Fragments of stone mouldings, mullions, and other

carvings of an ecclesiastical character have also been turned tip here,

which circumstances lead to a belief that this locality is not far from the

site of the church and convent of the White Friars, of which no vestige

above ground remains.

The White Friars.

HE Friars of the Order of the Blessed Mary the Virgin

of Mount Carmel, commonly called Carmelites, *

and also White Friars on account of their dress

which consisted of a white mantle with a loose hood,

established themselves in the north part of the town

of Yarmouth about

created a great sensation; and to ascertain whose fate the celebrated traveller, Dr. Wolfe,

undertook a journey to the East, a narrative of which he published. Colonel Stoddart

was well known in Yarmouth ; as was also Dr. Wolfe, who preached several sermons

in St. Nicholas’ church. He was a converted Jew; and married the Lady Georgiana

Walpole, daughter of the Earl of Orford. Another daughter of Mr. Randall married

Thomas Starling Norgate, Esq.

* By an inadvertency the word Cistercians was used for Carmelites, in some copies

of the preface ﬁrst printed for this work. The Cistercians were a reformed Order

of Benedictine Monks, who ﬁrst settled at Cisteaux in the diocese of Chalons. The

Carmelites established themselves in Scotland in the reign of Alexander III., and

obtained considerable property in the Royal burgh of Banff, which they “fewed” to

the inhabitants, many of whom were of rank and station. In 1559 the prior being, as

he said in a great “stait,” by reason of the then “present contrawersie,” as he termed

the Reformation, made over all the possessions of the convent to Sir Walter Ogilvy,

of Dunlugus, a knight, of great inﬂuence, who had then a residence in Banff. He was

the direct ancestor of the Lords Banff; the last of whom (the eighth) died in 1803;

GREAT YARMOUTH.

229

the year 1278; but the precise sites of their convent and church have

never been ascertained. Their possessions were large; and appear to have

extended from the north part of the Market place to the river, where there

was a quay called Whitefriars’ quay. * These friars, although professing

poverty, and holding indeed no individual property, left no means

untried to obtain riches for their houses. Their constant attendance at

divine worship, their perpetual austerities and labours, their preachings,

and their visits to the sick and dying, acquired for them a reputation for

holiness among those large classes who are ever inﬂuenced by externals.

One means of gain used by them, was the granting letters of fraternity

whereby, for a sum of money, rich persons were admitted to some of the

supposed spiritual advantages of the brethren, without being compelled

to reside within the conventual walls or observe the rules; and to them

and to others the privilege of interment within the Conventual church

was conceded, for which a higher price was paid than for a burial within

the Parochial church;— the daily masses performed by the friars for the

souls of the dead, being by many esteemed more effectual than those

offered by the secular clergy, f

Those who purchased the “Franchise of Sepulchre,” as it was called, were sure that

their bodies would come in contact with no ignoble dust; as none were buried within

the conventual precincts but such as paid handsomely for the privilege, and the holy

brethren themselves. x This privilege was obtained circa 1309 by Nicholas Castle, for

himself and Elizabeth his wife, by Dame Maude, the wife of Sir Thomas Huntingdon,

in 1330, and by Sir John de Monte Acuto

* Some account of the White Friars “will be found in the Appendix to Manship”s

History, p. 425.

f Kennett informs us, p. 626, that Edmund Rede paid the Abbott of Dorchester £20 for

letters of fraternity.

X The custom still lingers in Scotland; for down to the present day members of the

Episcopal and the Roman Catholic churches still continue to be buried within the

precincts of former religious houses. Thus within the walls of the rooﬂess and ruined

Abbey of Beauley near Inverness, the Mackenzies of Gairloch 1 , the Chisholms of

Chisholm, and the Frasers of Lovat are still interred, their monuments exposed to all

the fury of the elements.

1 Palmer wrote this as Gairlock, but this is Gairloch, Wester Ross, 70 miles north-west

of Inverness, where lived the Mackenzies. They have now left their family home,

“Flowerdale” House, empty for about 10 years (prior to 2006).

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

(Montague) In 1382. * In 1377 the Carmelites received permission to

enlarge their Yarmouth house; and by the end of the fourteenth century

they became very rich and powerful; and, if we are to judge by their

frequent appearance in the local courts, very arrogant and litigious. In

1309 William de Gaysele pardoned Friar Thomas Bamert, Friar Allan

Paston, and Friar John de Martham of this order, for “every trespass

committed by them upon his person;” and he agreed not to prosecute them

in the Court Christian. Large sums were also gained for saying masses for

the souls of the dead and celebrating obits, and annuals or anniversaries,

f In 1363 Roger Stodeye, apothecary, gave by will four marks of silver

to celebrate an annual for his soul and the soul of Agnes his late wife;

and John de Beverley gave by will ﬁve marks, in 1393, for a similar

object; and in the following year Petronilla his wife left the friars twenty

shillings to pray for her soul. Other gifts were also numerous. In 1349

William Hutte gave two coverlets and a silver cup “with a pelican;” and

John de Yarmouth, a plume bed and other furniture. In the Continuation

to Manship’s History, p. 364, there is a list of the priors and sub-priors

of this house. In a roll of the 8th Edward IV., William Stanninghall is

called Vicarius Ordinis Fratrum Carmelitorum; and in the 12th of the

same king, Henry Bokenham is

* M.S.S. College of Arms, F. 9., Interments. We know not what epitaph was placed

over the grave of this knight, but the following would have been appropriate : —

“ When I was young, I ventur’d life and blood,

“ Both for my king, and for my country’s good;

“ In later years my care was chief to be

“ Soldier of Him, who shed His blood for me.”

John de Montacute was Steward of the Household to Richard II., and was one of the

attesting witnesses to the charter granted to Yarmouth by that monarch, as was

William de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury. The latter was Plenipotentiary to

Hainault; and in 1337 the Yarmouth navy was sent to convey the earl and others to

England, which it did; and on its way home captured two Flemish, ships laden

with men, money, and provisions for Scotland, having the Bishop of Glasgow on

board, who died of his wounds.

f To observe with prayers, oblations, and alms, the recurrence of the day upon which

any person had died, was termed “keeping the obit.” Anniversaries were the yearly

returns of the days of the deaths of founders and benefactors; and were to be observed,

in gratitude to them, with prayers for the repose of their souls.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

231

mentioned as Reclusus Ordinis fratrum Carmelitorum; and in one of the

14th of the same king, Robert Carleton and Henry Bokenham are recorded

as executors to the will of John Jolly, Nuper Anachorotae Ordinis.* John

Tylney, who was prior of this house in 1435, 1437, and 1455 (both the

prior and sub-prior being elected annually) is said by Bale to have adopted

“a new kind of preaching,” which probably fore-shadowed some of the

reformed doctrines. f In 1509 the church and convent were burnt to the.

ground, there being, it was said, a deﬁcient supply of water;” t thereby,

quoth Manship, saving a labour to those by whom, a few years later, all

the conventual buildings in the town were destroyed. Thomas Denton

and Robert Nottingham, in 1544, had a grant of all the property which

had belonged to the White Friars; and in 1567 they obtained a licence

from the Crown until the same was divided and sold.

At the north-east corner of Row, No. 37, there is a large house, the north

part of which was, in 1825, ﬁtted up as a chapel for Roman Catholics;

the rest of the house being occupied by the resident priest, who at that

time was the Rev. Joseph Tate. At the extreme end of the present shop

may be seen two carved Corinthian pilasters in wood, which were on

each side of the recess which contained the altar, These are said to have

been brought from some other chapel; and are good specimens of wood

carving. Here mass was celebrated for the ﬁrst time in this town since

the reformation. Behind this house there was a large

* By a tablet which was in the Carmelite church at Yarmouth, a copy of which has

been preserved, it is to be inferred that one of these friars became Bishop of Upsala in

Sweden, and lies buried at Abo in Finland.

f At Cambridge, where he ﬁlled the divinity chair with much applause, he was called

John of Yarmouth. He wrote An Exposition of the Apocalypse, a Compendium of

Sentences, forty-four Sermons, some Scholastic Lectures, and several tracts.

Robert Bale, of the Carmelite Order in Norwich, studied both at Oxford and Cambridge,

and became Prior of the Carmelites at Burnham Norton, where he died in 1503. He

wrote Annates breves ordinis Carmelitorum. He is not to be confounded with John

Bale (biliosus Balaeus), who was born at Covehithe in Suffolk, and became a carmelite

at Norwich, but was afterwards protestant Bishop of Ossory in 1552, and died in 1558.

Of him there is an engraved portrait.

f ., p.p. 21, 79. Sloane M.S.S., British Museum.

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

garden, extending about two-thirds of the way down the row, and at the

extreme west end there was a summer house. The chapel was dismantled

and the premises sold after the erection of the church of St. Mary on

Regent road in 1850. The above house is depicted in Corbridge’s map

as it appeared at the commencement of the last century. It was then in

the occupation of Samuel Artis, who died in 1748, aged 67.

At the north-west corner is an old house, now divided into two occupations

(No. 5), which was the property and residence of Christopher Eaton,

merchant and malster, who died in 1799, aged 76.*

Between this Row and Row, No. 45, there are two houses which were for

many years residences of the F ISHER family. The southward-most house,

now divided into two occupations, No.56 and 57, was built about the

year 1756 by William Browne, Esq., an opulent merchant and brewer. He

was a native of Framlingham, and came to Yarmouth to seek his fortune,

in which pursuit he was eminently successful, f He took an active and

energetic part in the politics of the borough, putting himself in direct

opposition to those who then had the rule, and who were supporters of

the Walpole and Townshend interest. He entered the corporation; and in

1744 was elected mayor after the severest struggle on record; the inquest

by which he was chosen, according to the custom, already mentioned,

having been shut up for ten days before they could arrive at a verdict;

by which time his opponents who had formed the majority were starved

into submission. t Elated with this

* He was buried at Bradwell. In 1867 an advertisement appeared in the public papers

enquiring for his heir-at-law, who still remains undiscovered. A family of this name

had long resided in Yarmouth. Lawrence Eaton, a member of the corporation in 1660,

was the third in succession from father to son who had the same baptismal name. In

1757 Christopher Eaton 1 was plaintiff in an action against the collector of customs,

which sheds a curious light upon trade as at that time conducted. In order to encourage

the manufacture and exportation of malt, and by that means the growth of barley,

Government undertook to pay a bounty of 2s. 6d. per quarter upon all malt exported

where the barley had been purchased at less than 24s. per quarter. As might have been

anticipated, endeavours were unduly made to obtain the bounty; and Eaton succeeded

in compelling payment in a case where it was proved that the barley had originally

been sold at a price beyond the stipulated amount.

f Nicholas Browne was one of the churchwardens at Framlingham in 1661.

1 Christopher Eaton lived just up the street from Browne, at 51 North Quay.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

233

success, Mr. Browne, at the general election of 1754, joined his inﬂuence

in the town to that of Mr. Fuller, and personally opposed the re-election

of the Right Honorable Charles Townshend, the brilliant wit and orator,

and Sir Edward Walpole, K.B., son of the late prime minister. * In this he

was not successful; and probably convinced of the hopelessness of

a length of time unless the following oath taken by the Serjeants, “ to keep the inquest,”

had been, by some means or other, violated. “You, shall keep this inquest without

meat, drink, ﬁre, and candle (other than what is usually allowed by the town). You

shall not suffer them, nor any of them, to speak to any person nor any one to speak to

them, unless it is yourselves, and that only to ash them whether they be agreed of their

verdict or not,” Persons who expected to be on the inquest, and to have a “ long lay,”

provided themselves with provisions in their pockets, or handed the same to those of

their friends who were chosen. Refreshments were also transmitted in great coats,

ostensibly sent by anxious wives to comfort their husbands shut, up for the night; and

when a contest was expected a system of signals was arranged, so that those outside

might know the state of affairs within, and be able to advise what to do. It is believed

that many men seriously, if not fatally, injured their health by this folly. The names of

the superlatively obstinate men, who secured the mayoralty for Mr. Browne, deserve

to be recorded; They were

Thomas Colby Christopher Taylor Thomas Reeve

Richard Spurgeon Pexall Forster Edward Wilcock

John Ramey : Robert Gimmingham Robert Bird

John Wright John Fisher James Milleson

The usual formula in the corporation books annually records the election of the inquest

“according to ancient custom;” and after giving the names of those chosen proceeds

to say that, after being sworn, and “going together upon the said business and staying

thereupon a good time, they brought in their verdict,” which verdict is then entered.

The wording is unaltered whether the inquest were engaged for one hour or ten days;

but the latter time was so extraordinary that a note was made of it in the margin of the

council book.

* In 1732 Sir Robert Walpole “ kindly proposed “ that his second son, then the Hon.

Edward Walpole, should be a candidate at the next election; for which “ extraordinary

favor the corporation thanked the minister, and made the required return in 1734. He

was re-elected in 1741, 1747, 1754, and 1760, by which time he had become a Knight

of the Bath, and had ﬁlled the ofﬁce of Chief Secretary for Ireland. In 1767 Sir Edward

Walpole, in a letter addressed to John Hurry, Esq. (printed in P. C, p. 221), announced

his intention of retiring from Parliament, and the corporation voted an address thanking

him for his upright conduct and long services. He left three illegitimate daughters. The

eldest married the Hon. and Rev. Frederick Keppel; the second married, ﬁrstly, the

second Earl of Waldegrave, and afterwards Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester,

by whom she was the mother of the late Duke of Gloucester; and the third daughter

married the fourth Earl of Dysart 1 ,

1 It is noteworthy that illegitimacy was certainly no bar to advancement, as long as the

parent was sufﬁciently prominent.

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

upsetting the “Walpole and Townshend interest in the borough,” a change

came o’er the spirit of his dream, and to the inﬁnite disgust of their

quondam friends, Mr. Browne and some of his immediate supporters

went over to the enemy; for which he was rewarded with the lucrative

place of Receiver General of Taxes for Norfolk. In 1734, Mr. Browne

erected upon that part of the North quay adjoining the river, which now

forms the immediate approach to the railway bridge, a brewery plant;

and, having purchased a number of public houses in the town, he for

many years conducted with great proﬁt the business of a brewer. * Mr.

Browne died in 1769, aged 81. He bore for his arms, as appears by a

shield on his sepulchral slab remaining in the south chancel aisle of St.

Nicholas’ church, g u., a chev. ar g. betw. three lions’ gambs. ppr.; and

for a crest, a hand and arm erect grasping a lion’s gamb. The same arms

are on some, family plate now in the possession of W. R. Fisher, Esq.,

except that the gambs. are erect. He left one son who died unmarried;

and two daughters, who eventually inherited his great wealth, namely,

Mary, who married William Fisher, Esq., and Abigail, who married John

Ramey, Esq. Upon a division of property the above-mentioned houses

on the North quay became vested in Mr. Fisher.

It might have been supposed that in a town having such a piscatorial

origin the name of F ISHER would have been a common one; but it was

not so. The ancestor of the family which, during the eighteenth century,

became so wealthy and inﬂuential in Yarmouth, probably came from a

distance. John Fisher died in 1728, leaving two sons, John, who married

Margaret Seagoe, f and James. John died in 1769, aged 77. His

* This brewery, about the commencement of the present century, became the property

of Messrs. Paget and Turner; and after the retirement of Mr. Dawson Turner from the

ﬁrm, the business was conducted solely by Mr. Samuel Paget. Ultimately it, for the most

part, passed into the hands of Messrs. Steward, Patteson, and Company, who sold the

above brewery buildings to the Yarmouth and Norwich Railway Company, by whom

they were taken down to form the present approach to their bridge. To the north of this

brewhouse were the town muckheaps, which were allowed to remain until 1776 when

they were removed, and the ground divided and leased.

f The name of Seagoe is probably Scandinavian. It has been of long continuance.

Sampson Seagoe voted at the Norfolk election in 1714 for Astley and De Grey. His

GREAT YARMOUTH.

235

eldest son, John Fisher, obtained the mayoralty in 1767 after a severe

struggle; the inquest being shut up for three days and three nights before

they could agree on a verdict. He died in 1775. William Fisher, the

second son of the second John Fisher, married, as has been stated * one

of the two daughters of Mr. Browne, and ultimately succeeded to the

Receiver Generalship of the County. He resided in the northwardmost of

the above two houses. He was a ﬁrm and able supporter of the Walpole

and Townshend inﬂuence in the borough; and ﬁlled the ofﬁce of mayor

in 1766, and again in 1780. Being a man of ready wit, great urbanity of

manners, and “given to hospitality,” he was extremely popular; and is said

to have “led the corporation with a silken string “for many years. In 1792

he became the “father of the corporation,” being its oldest member; and

dying in 1811, aged 86, that body paid him an unusual mark of respect

by attending his funeral. He left two sons, “William and James, and three

daughters; Mary Anne, who married John Watson, Esq.; Elizabeth, who

married. Thomas Burton, Esq.; and Sophia, who married Thomas Cotton,

Esq. William Fisher, the eldest son, succeeded his father in the occupation

of the northward-most house, and also in the Receiver Generalship. He

ﬁlled the ofﬁce of mayor in 1786, 1799, and 1806; and died in 1835, aged

82. He married Ann, daughter of Benjamin Gibbs, Esq., by whom he

had an only son, William, who died in 1806, aged 19; and two surviving

daughters, Maria, who married Capt. Alexander Nesbitt, R.N., and died

in 1855, aged 65; * and Mary Ann, who died at Hammersmith

wife died in 1724; aged 28. William Seagoe voted at the same election for the same

candidates. Mary his wife died in 1733, aged 49; and Clementina, the wife of Richard

Seagoe, in 1770, aged 59. Richard Seagoe was a master-mariner, and voted in 1754

for “Walpole and Townshend. Benjamin Seagoe compelled the corporation in 1740,

by Mandamus, to admit him to his freedom.

* They had two sons William Fisher Nesbitt, who died in 1834 a minor, and Philip

Blundell Nesbitt, who entered a dragoon regiment, and died in 1862, unmarried. Captain

Nesbitt, the father, was the second son of Richard Nesbitt, Esq., of Tiverton, who

married, in 1773, Anne Blundell, who was lineally descended from Peter Blundell, the

muniﬁcent founder of the Free Grammar School at Tiverton. Mr. Richard Nesbitt was

Major, of the 63rd Foot, in which regiment the grandfather of the present lord chancellor

also served. They were both wounded at the battle of Bunker’s Hill, and

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

in 1868, aged 82, unmarried. James Fisher, Esq., the second son of the

above-named William Fisher, served the ofﬁce of mayor in 1788 * and

1797, and died in 1837, aged 81. He married Helen, one of the two

daughters and co-heirs of Samuel Ketridge otherwise Kittridge. f They

had an only son, the Rev. Charles Fisher, Rector of Oulton, Suffolk, who

died in 1836, aged 51, leaving two sons, the Rev. Charles James Fisher,

who died at Norwich in 1851, aged 33, and James Fisher of Dalston.

James and Helen Fisher had also three daughters, namely, Helen Sophia,

who married. George Weller Poley, Esq.; Mary Elizabeth, who married,

Edward Tompson, Esq., and secondly, Charles Fisher Burton, Esq.; and

Charlotte Maria, who married the Rev. Edward Missenden Love. The

arms borne

came home invalided together. William Blundell Nesbitt, his eldest son, was in the naval

service of the East India Company, and died at Bombay in 1807. He married Sarah,

daughter of Webb Smith, Esq., of Bath (who married, secondly, Capt. Price of the 57th

Foot), and by her had an only son, Richard Blundel Nesbitt, Esq of Great Yarmouth,

who was ﬁrst cousin to and ultimately heir-at-law of the above-named Philip Blundell

Nesbitt. This family bears arg., a chev. betw. three wolves’ heads erased gu. ; and for

a crest, a hand erect ppr.

* The “Michaelmas feast” on this occasion was unusually sumptuous, Mr. Fisher sending

a yawl to Holland to bring over fruit; and a boat to Cromer for a supply of lobsters,

for which delicious edible that part of the coast of Norfolk has been justly celebrated

down to the present time. During his mayoralty there was a general thanksgiving for the

recovery of the king. The occasion was celebrated by a sermon at church, and a dinner

at the Wrestlers; and in the evening there was a general illumination. The trees leading

from the Market place to the church were illuminated, and transparencies displayed on

the church gate and railings and at the Parsonage.

f This was a Lowestoft family. John Kittridge, surgeon, died in 1757, aged 29, and

Jane Kittridge in 1769. They both lie buried in the chancel of St. Nicholas’ church,

and escutcheons of their armorial bearings are sculptured on the ﬂat slabs which cover

their graves; Elizabeth, the other daughter and co-heir of Samuel Kittridge, married

the Rev. Christopher Taylor, and died in 1797, leaving her sister, Mrs. Fisher, her heir-

at-law. The latter survived her husband, arid died in 1840, aged 75. Samuel Kittridge

died in 1770; and Helen his widow in 1791aged 65. The, arms of Kittridge., W ere sa.,

a lion ramp.. or.; : and, for a crest,: issuingfrom a mural crown gu., a demi lion couped

or. and sa. Motto— Ne pars sincera trachetur. Mary, widow of John Kittridge, married

(secondly) John Meek, Esq., and died in 1815, aged 83, surviving her last husband,

who died in 1807, aged 76.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

237

(as appears by old family plate) were arg., a chev. vaire arg. and az. betw.

three demi lions ramp. gu.; and for a crest, an eagle displayed. *

Opposite to these houses is an open quay still called Fisher’s Quay.

The gardens adjoining the river which, in the time of the Fishers, were

opposite to their residences, are now built upon.

Row, No. 38, from Charlotte Street to the Market Place, called Ferrier’s

Row, the house at the south-east corner, No. 22, Market place, having

been for many years the property of a family of that name. The F ERRIERS

of Yarmouth descend from Richard Ferrier or Ferrour, Mayor of Norwich

in 1473. Robert, his son, was mayor of that city in 1536, and left a son,

Richard, who was Mayor of Norwich in 1596. Robert Ferrier, his son,

was the ﬁrst of the name who settled in Yarmouth, where he acquired

considerable property. He ﬁlled the ofﬁce of bailiff in 1643, and died

in 1648, aged 52, leaving an elder son, Robert, who married Elizabeth,

second daughter of Sir George England, KG., and died in 1695, aged 66,

and of him there are no descendants; Benjamin, his only surviving son,

having died in 1753, aged 71, s.p. f Richard, the second son of Robert

Ferrier, ﬁlled the ofﬁce of bailiff in 1693, and had the honor of receiving

at his house Dr. Moore, Bishop of Norwich, on his primary visitation. t

He married Judith Wilde, and died in 1695, aged 61, leaving an only son,

Richard Ferrier, who enjoyed a considerable estate at Hemsby, where

he had a house in which this family partially resided for generations.

He took a leading part in local politics, Leading what was then known

as the Jacobite or High Church party. He was Major of the Yarmouth

Fusiliers (the volunteers of that day), and ﬁlled the ofﬁce of mayor in

1706 and 1720. In 1708 he was returned to Parliament for the borough

with Colonel the Hon. Roger Townshend,

* Anthony Fisher of South. Pickenham in Norfolk, who died in 1679, bore gu., a chev.

betw. three lions passant or. He married Ann, daughter of Sir Thomas Willys of Fen

Ditton in Cambridgeshire, who bore party per fesse gu. and arg., three lions ramp,

counterchanged, in a bordure erm.

f He voted at the Norfolk election in 1714 for Sir Ralph Hare and Erasmus Earle.

t The bishop had previously been waited upon by a deputation of the corporation,

who presented his lordship with half a tun of wine, and “desired him to take a bed at

Mr. Bailiff’s.”

238

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

second son of the ﬁrst Viscount Townshend, who had represented the

county in several previous Parliaments. The furor excited in the nation by

the injudicious prosecution of Dr. Sacheverell * by the whigs, followed

by the dismissal of the Lord Treasurer Godolphin and the re-accession

of Harley to power, extended to Yarmouth; and at the general election in

1710 “Capt. Farrier as he was then called, was returned at the head of the

poll; having Benjamin England, Esq., for his colleague The charges for

the booths were paid by the corporation, f He was returned a third time

in 1713, and died in 1728; aged 57; when he was, says Ives, “interred in

St. Nicholas’ church with great pomp and, splendour.” He is supposed by

his profuseness to have greatly injured the family property. He married

Ellen, daughter of Robert Longe, Esq., of Reymerstone, by Ellen his

wife, daughter and heir of Thomas Gournay, Esq., of West Basham, §

by whom he had one son who, in a satirical poem of the day, is called

Richard II. He ﬁlled the ofﬁce of mayor in 1724, and died in 1739, aged

44. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Joshua Smith, Esq. by whom he

had issue two sons, Richard Ferrier, who died unmarried, and Robert

Ferrier, who died in 1768, and was buried in Starston church where there

is a mural monument to his memory. The latter possessed considerable

landed estates in Norfolk and Suffolk. Robert England Ferrier, his only

son, who was of Caius College, Cambridge, married Mary Webber and

dying

* There was at this period a family named Sacheverell residing at Norwich.

f The numbers were—Ferrier, 278; England, 269 Townshend, 231; Ellys, l73.

T The Longes are of, a good family in Norfolk and Suffolk. Robert Longe of

Reymerstone, by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Sir Francis Bacon, Chief Justiceof

the King’s Bench, was father of Francis Longe, who became Recorder of Yarmouth in

1712. He married Susannah, daughter and heir of Tobias Frere of Redenhall, and died

in 1724, aged 76, and was buried at Spixworth, and in the hall there the portrait of the

recorder in his robes of ofﬁce still remains. The Longes bear gu., a saltier eng. or.and

on a chief or. three cross crossletsof the ﬁrst; and: for a crest, a lion sejant gu.holding

a saltier engrailed or.

‘’ § The Ferrier family had an ancient seal with the coat of Gurney, which is now in the

possession of Daniel Gurney, Esq., of North Runton.

Catherine his widow married Philip Walker of Attleborough. Elizabeth his daughter

married, in 1780, Robert Purvis of Beccles, surgeon, had a numerous family, two of

GREAT YARMOUTH.

239

in 1800 was buried at Hemsby, leaving two sons, Robert, who died in

1809, s. p., and Richard, who resided in the house above mentioned,

and died in 1814, aged 55, and was buried at Hemsby, leaving a son,

Richard Ferrier, who for many years took an active part in the politics of

the borough, and died in 1868, aged 68, leaving, three sons, the eldest of

whom, Richard Ferrier, Esq., now resides at the Manor house, Boughton,

near Liverpool.* The arms, borne by this family are arg., on.a bend sa.

three horse shoes of the ﬁrst. Robert Ferrier was appointed town clerk in

1739 and elected mayor in 1750, when he was permitted to perform the

duties of the ﬁrst ofﬁce by deputy. In 1753 he was required to resign his

aldermanic gown, which he refused to do, and was thereupon dismissed

from the town clerkship, f Mary, sister of Robert Ferrier, who died in

1768, married John Burton, water bailiff, by whom she had a son, Robert

Ferrier Burton; and a daughter, Lorina, who, in 1778, married Nathaniel

Palmer who died in 1799. She died in 1838. John Burton Palmer, their

second son (who died in 1839), married Elenor Hotson (who, died in

1858), and by her had an only son, William Hurry Palmer 1 , who ﬁlled

the ofﬁce of mayor in 1844.

At the north-west corner of Row, No. 38, is a house which was the

property of the. Lovedays. In 1712 it was the subject of a settlement by

Thomas Loveday upon a son of the same name and Priscilla his wife,

who survived and married, secondly, John Parson.

Between this Row and Row no. 40, there is an old house, fronting

Charlotte street, No. 21 which bears the letters N.E.L.

Row No. 39, from George Street to Charlotte Street, called Blowers’s

Row, f rom the house and shop in Charlotte street, long occupied by

* He has in his possession several family portraits. Also a plan of the Manor of Burgh

Castle, made by Amos Hacon in 1596 : ; and some very ancient court books, beautifully

written 2 . He has also a seal of the last, century bearing the arms of Gurney impaling

those of Smith, of Yarmouth, gu. t on a chev. arg., between three handfuls of barley,

each containing ﬁve ears or, as many him prop.

f By the Municipal Corporation Act, 1835, no member of a town council, nor any

partner of a member, can hold the ofﬁce of town clerk.

1 Hurry Palmer was on of the partners in Palmer’s store in the Market Place. See

RRH.

2 An attempt should now be made to locate these, either through the family or at the

240

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

Mark Blowers, upholsterer, who afterwards went to reside at Reading,

where he died in 1871, aged 80. On the north side there are some old

malthouses which in the last century were the property of Barry Love,

Esq.; also some ﬁsh ofﬁces the property of Jeffery Ward, which were

converted into malthouses and became the property of William Manning.

The house and shop at the south-east corner were, at the commencement

of the present century, occupied by Mr. Beckham, a grocer, the father of

Lieut.Col. Beckham. *

* He entered the army as an Ensign in the 43rd Foot in 1809, and served with that

regiment in Spain; was present at the battles of Salamanca, Vittoria, the Pyrenees, and

Toulouse; and having been made a lieutenant came home in 1814. In the same year

he went with his regiment to North America, and was at, the siege of New Orleans.

Returning to England he was sent to join the Duke of Wellington’s army, and was

engaged in the advance upon and occupation of Paris. On the withdrawal of the army

from France in 1818, he was placed on half pay; but soon exchanged into the 79th Foot.

The army being reduced, he was again placed on half pay, and was appointed Adjutant

of the Norfolk Yeomanry Corps. By giving the difference he obtained a Lieutenancy in

the 66th Foot; and in 1833 purchased a company in the 1st West India Regiment, and

was subsequently appointed Captain in the 19th Foot then serving in the West Indies,

where he remained until the return of his regiment to Cork in 1835. In consequence

of serious riots at Newport in 1839 he was ordered to Wales, and was the ofﬁcer in

charge of the Chartist prisoners, Frost, Williams, and Jones. In 1840 went to Malta

where he served several years; and on his return in l845 was appointed staff ofﬁcer of

pensioners at Preston. In 1846 he was made brevet-major, resigned his appointment

in 1350, was placed on half pay in 1851, was gazetted lieutenant colonel in 1854, and

in 1856 sold out of the service. He then returned to Yarmouth, where he occupied a

house on the North Beach, and passed his time principally in ﬁshing and yachting on

the rivers. His daughter married Capt. Cholmondeley, then renting a house at Cantley.

Having left Yarmouth, and lost what fortune he possessed, he had in his old age to

endure great privations. The name of Beckham is derived from a parish in Kent 1 .

Roger Beckham, son of Sir Roger Beckham, Knt., sold his estates there and came into

Norfolk, where his three sons settled in various parts of the county. They bore chequy

or. and sa., a fess erm. which arms were exempliﬁed to them in 1562. Sarah, daughter

of Robert Beckham, married William Stone of Bedingham in Norfolk, and together he

devised an estate at Topcroft in the same county. The Stones were an ancient : family

at Bedingham. Thomas Stone, who died in 1689, was, by Audrey his wife, daughter of

William Cook of Bromehall, father of William Stone, who acquired the Lordship of

Bedingham by marrying Catherine,daughter and heir of William Stanhaw, who died

in 1659; and Thomas, their son, and heir, married Lucy, daughter of Robert Suckling

of Wooton; The Stanhaws of Bedingham were a family whose wills are recorded far,

back as 1414.

1 It may be worth recording for posterity that the current favourite son of the English,

at the turn of the millenium, is their football hero, David Beckham, England midﬁelder

GREAT YARMOUTH.

241

Row, No 40, from Charlotte Street to the Market Place. The house at

the north-east corner was for many years occupied by Robert Wall,

woollen draper, a ﬂuent speaker who took a leading part in the politics

of’ his day. He inherited the house from his father, Thomas Wall,* and

devised it to his only son, the Rev. Thomas Wall, who was instituted to

the Vicarage of Edgeware in 1848, on the presentation of Dr. Lee, at the

request of the inhabitants. At the south-west corner of this row some

very old houses were pulled down in 1839 and rebuilt. In one of them

was discovered a fragment of carved oak, which had apparently been

the front part of a chest. On it is represented, in high relief, on one side,

the combat between St. George and the dragon; and on the other, a stag

chase, with a man on foot blowing a horn.

Row, No. 41, from George. Street to Charlotte Street, called Rose and

Crown Row, from the sign of a public house at the north-east corner, f

The house at the south-east corner, now divided into two occupations,

was at the commencement of the last century the property of Thomas

Baret of Horstead. It descended to his son, Robert Baret, t and to his

* Anne his daughter (born in 1773), married the Rev. John Forster ; whereupon Mr;

Wall purchased the Vicarage of Gorleston with the intention of presenting him to it;

but in 1799 he sold his preferment to Mr. Upcher. The Forsters we shall have occasion

to mention farther on.

f The Tudor badge of the Rose,and Crown, was composed by impaling the Red Rose

of the house of Lancaster with the White Rose of the house of York, surmounted by a

crown; and, was borne by Henry VII on his marriage, with Elizabeth of York. Another

heraldic principle was followed, when Henry Till, placed the White Rose of York in

the centre of the Red Rose of Lancaster, in the same way as he might have placed an

escutcheon of pretence for York on a shield of Lancaster. Tradesmen formerly used

signs as well as publicans. Dean Davies, writing on,the 27th June, 1689, says “Went,

to Mr. Chiswell (the original publisher cf .Burnet’s, History) at the Rose and Crown

in St. Paul’s Churchyard, where I bought, some books value £14, and gave him a note

to be paid at Christmas.”

t This family descended from the Barets of Westhall Suffolk. John Baret of Bury St.

Edmunds by his will, made in 1463 directed the bellman to go about the town on his

year day; “that they that hear it may say ‘God have mercy upon his soul’, which greatly

may relieve me.” Robert Baret was Bailiff of Yarmouth in 1496: Thomas Baret, son of

Christopher Baret of Yarmouth died in 1721, and was buried in St. Helen’s, Norwich,

where there is a monument to his memory, bearing

242

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

grandson, Robert Baret, both of Horstead; and by the latter it was in

1799 conveyed to Joseph. King, who died in 1824. *

Row No. 42, from George Street to Charlotte Street, called Jews’ Row,

because a Synagogue has long been there. f At the north-west

the arms of Baret. The last mentioned Robert Baret (in the text) died in 1813, aged

78, and was buried in Horstead church, where there is a monument on which are his

arms— arg., a bend as. betw. three mascle buckles gu. , crest a helmet between two

feathers by way of plume. Peter Baret marriedElizabeth, daughter of Joshua Smith by

Judith his wife, daughter of Richard Ferrier, Esq., and by her he acquired the Manor of

Burgh Castle, and also an estate, which included the Roman camp, called G ARIANONUM .

This property descended to their only child, Lydia Baret 1 , who died in 1845, unmarried.

The manor and estates were then sold; and the site of the castle was purchased by Sir

John P. Boileau, Bart.; and thus, as was said by Mr. Bancroft, minister to this country

from the United States of America, in a speech delivered at the Town hall, “the castle,

raised by imperial power, upon whose walls Rome planted her triumphant banners, as

if to defy the world she had conquered, came an humble supplicant to the bounty of an

English gentleman to be preserved from destruction,”

* Third son of Thomas King, who died, in 1767, aged 5 6 . The latter in his will says “

I give and bequeath my silver watch, shoe and knee buckles, and also my silver stock

buckle unto my youngest son, Joseph.” This testator was the great-grandfather of

Thomas William King, Esq., York Herald. See ante, p., 182.

f The present Synagogue was erected in 1847 on the site of a former one ; but for some

time past there has not been a sufﬁcient number of inhabitants of that persuasion to

form a congregation for which purpose ten males are necessary. Sir Francis Goldsmith,

Bart., attended the opening of the new building. He, in the same year, contested the

representation of the borough, although the then form of oath prevented Jews from

sitting in Parliament. Sir Francis was defeated; but in the same year Baron Rothschild

was returned for the City of London; and Alderman now Sir David Salomons contested

Greenwich. It was not however until 1858 that the words “ on the true faith of a christian”

were omitted from the bath.

The Goldsmids were a Jewish family settled at Cassel in Germany, who emigrated to

London in the last century. Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid was created a baronet in 1841.

Sir Francis, his son, was the ﬁrst of his persuasion admitted to the English bar, and the

ﬁrst to take his place in the courts as one of Her Majesty’s Counsel. In 1860 he was

returned for Reading.

In 1845 the ceremony of a Jewish wedding took, place at the Town hall. On account of

the many visitors at a Jewish wedding (all of whom are expected to give something),

a large public room is frequently hired. On this occasion about three

1 Palmer’s Addenda: Lydia Baret was 85 years at the time of her death.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

243

corner of this row there is an old house with a cut-ﬂint front, facing

George street, now in two occupations (No. 43 and No. 44), which has

the date, 1592, in iron ﬁgures Upon the front and at the south-west

corner there is a very old house, No. 45, with a modern front, having

on the ground ﬂoor a room, now used as a shop, in which there is a

moulded ceiling somewhat similar in design to the ceiling in the Nelson

room at the Star Hotel.

Row, No. 43, from. Charlotte Street to the Market Place. This is a narrow

and very gloomy row, built over at the east end and having lofty houses

on each side. Sir Thomas Medowe had property in this row.

On the east side of Charlotte street there was a house the property of

the Dasset family. John Dasset,* early in the reign of Charles I., took

a leading part in the endeavour to change the form of goverment from

two bailiffs to a mayor, which seems to have been the object of the court

party. He preferred a petition to the king in council, complaining of “the

disorderly and factious government of the town,” which resulted in the

issuing of a Quo warranto. He died in 1637, aged 67. Upon a pillar at

the south-west corner of the north aisle of the chancel, there is a small

mural monument of curious workmanship, exhibiting a reclining female

ﬁgure, above which is an oval of brass with a latin inscription to the

memory of Hannah Dasset, who died in 1631, aged 27. Above, is a shield

emblazoned with the arms of Dasset.

hundred spectators attended ; by invitation.The Rabbi, Morris Cohen, delivered a

discourse in English from Genesis ii.,Verse 13; after which the nuptials took place.

When the late Mr. David Falcke erected Sutherland house on the South beach for a

family residence, a religious ceremony took place according to the custom of the Jews.

The family with their servants, and accompanied by a few of their friends (not all of

their own persuasion), assembled in the drawing room, where the Rev. Dr. Marks (the

Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Synagogue in St. Mary Axe, London) read some of the

Psalms of David, and some portions of the Old Testament, he then addressed the family,

pointed out the duties of their several stations, exhorting them to perform them, and

concluded by imploring a blessing on the house and its inhabitants. According to the

Talmud, Jewish maidens ought to be married on Wednesdays only.

* Desiring leave to erect a porch and a cellar door to his house, “in the Middle street,”

as it was then : called a committee was appointed to view the premises and report

thereon to the next assembly; so strict were the corporation at that time in preventing

any encroachments.

244

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

On the east side of Charlotte street was a house belonging to John Manby,

who died in 1754, aged 67. He married Theodosia, daughter of Jonathan

Calthorpe, who died in 1777, aged 84. Another John Manby married

Mary, daughter of Robert Moore, yeoman, of Burgh Saint Margaret, and

they had an only daughter, Virtue, who married David Absolon, linen

draper.* James Manby, from Yorkshire, settled in Yarmouth early in the

18th century, and died at St. Saviour’s, Southwark, leaving a son, Edward

Manby of Amersham, whose son, James Manby, was in the Secretary of

State’s ofﬁce in 1781.

Row, No. 44, from Charlotte Street to the Market Place, called Angel

How, because an ancient Inn with that sign stands at the south-east corner .

f It is one of the oldest Inns in the town. “A bulke before the house called

the Angel was (in 1652) ordered to be pulled down.” Dean Davies, writing

in 1689, says “Oct. 16. Dined at Mr. Bailiff Thomas England’s, and after

dinner with Mr. Milbourn, spent the evening with Dr. Conant (ofﬁcial

of the Archdeacon of Norwich) at the Angel” And on another occasion,

“after dinner took a walk towards the haven’s mouth with Mr. Crow. At

our return we visited and sat some time at Lieut. Ellys’, until I was sent

for, with an account that Dean Sharpe and his lady were at the Angel,

whither I immediately went”. t The Angel Inn is depicted on Corbridge’s

map, with a sign projecting from the front; § and a balcony to the ﬁrst

ﬂoor windows, which were not then brought out as they now are. It then

belonged to Mr. John Sheall, and was occupied by John Moore.

* He was a common councilman, was appointed parish clerk in 1814, and died in

1831, aged 75.

f The Angel (derived from the Salutation or Annunciation) is one of the oldest signs

both in this country and on the continent. The Hotel de I’Ange was the best hotel in

Paris in the 16th century.

t It would be thought indecorous in the present day for a clergyman to be a frequenter of

taverns, but it was not so formerly. It was customary for clergymen to resort of an evening

to a tavern, and to attend his club. Congregations complained to the Commonwealth

Parliament of some of their ministers for frequenting taverns. After the restoration this

clergy again resorted to taverns, sometimes “more than became them,” down to the

commencement of the present century.

§ It remained until long into the 19th century. Upon it was represented an angel holding

a scroll.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

245

In 1767 the “ publick inn or tavern known by the sign of the Angel,”

was the property of John Smith; who, in that year, on the marriage of

his “only son and heir apparent,” John Smith the younger, with Ann*

youngest daughter of William Meek of Ludham, yeoman, made a settle-

ment of the property in their favour. At this time the corner next the row

was occupied as a Barber’s shop; an almost indispensable adjunct in the

days of wigs and powder. In the latter part of the last century this Inn was

kept by Absolom Darke, who went to Tewksbury for the recovery of his

health, and died there in 1792, aged 60, probably of grief for the loss of

his wife, Amelia, who expired in the previous year, aged 58. There is

a highly eulogistic epitaph to her memory in St. Nicholas’ church, from

the pen of James Sayers, the caricaturist and political poet, who also

wrote the following epigram :—

“At the Angel at Yarmouth — a singular Inn,

“ There’s the shadow without, and the substance within;

“ This paradox proving, in punning’s despite,

“That an Angel, tho’ Dark, is an Angel of Light.”

The Angel was for many years afterwards kept by Edward Warner, who had been head

waiter. Public performers in the 18th century held their entertainments at taverns. “I

went,” says Ives, in 1736, to see the famous Mr. Laisser, the conjuror, at the Angel”

Among other uses to which Inns were applied was that of receiving subscriptions to

publications. Thus when Corbridge, in 1728, proposed to publish his “Actual Survey,”

subscriptions were “to be taken at Yarmouth by Mr. John Moore at the Angel, and Mr.

Appleyard at the Wrestlers.” In 1813 a philanthropic gentleman, named Webb, arrived

at the Angel Inn, with the avowed purpose of distributing a considerable sum of money

in charity. He had previously visited Norwich and other places. After disposing of

£200 the “confusion and inconvenience “ became so great that he was compelled to

desist; and left the town after depositing a further sum in the hands of a committee for

a more judicious application. King William IV., when Duke of Clarence, accompanied

by his duchess (afterwards better known as Queen Adelaide), landed at Yarmouth and

slept at the Angel. On the following morning they departed for London by road. The :

approach to the stables, which are at the back of this Inn, is through a passage under

the south end of the house. In 1836, as the

246

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

Rev. Richard Pillans of Larling was driving his carriage into this

passage, his head caught the beam, which supports the house, and the

sudden jerk broke his neck and caused instant death.*

For many years previously to the election of 1865, the Angel was

the head quarters of the tory or conservative party; j and from the

“ leads” of this house their candidates were accustomed to address the

crowds assembled below in the Market place. The most eloquent of all

was Winthrop Mackworth Praed 1 , whose ready wit and biting satire

made him very popular as a speaker. t Whenever he appeared

“the crowd, witch’d with the moment’s inspiration; vexed the still air

with laughter loud, and clapp’d their noisy approbation.”

* He was the son of William Cooch Pillans of Bracondale 2 . His sister, Amelia, married

the Rev. “William Humble Ward, who succeeded to the barony of Ward in 1833, and was

father of the present Earl Dudley. The Rev. W. H. Ward was the only child of Humble

Ward, Esq., barrister-at-law, by Susannah Beecroft his wife.

f It was the remark of an old politician in the opposite interest, that whenever he saw

the ladies with their red ribbons begin to leave the windows of the Angel, he came to

the conclusion that they had received a hint that the election was going against their

colour.

t He was born in London in 1802, the son of Serjeant Praed, sometime Chairman

of the Audit Ofﬁce. At an early age he was sent to Eton, where he associated with

Coleridge, Moultrie, and other kindred spirits; and became a contributor to the Etonian,

a periodical which in a collected form went through four editions. Entered at Trinity

College, Cambridge, he carried away an unprecedented number of prizes for Greek

and Latin odes and epigrams, and for English poems. After leaving the university he

became a write in Knights’ Quarterly Magazine and the New Monthly; and in 1829 he

was called to the bar. At college he had advocated liberal opinions; but he now joined

the conservative party, and supported their policy in the Morning Post. In 1831 he was

returned to Parliament for St. German’s. Having been appointed a revising barrister,

he visited Yarmouth in his ofﬁcial capacity, and dining at the Michaelmas feast in 1834

he made a telling Speech. A change of ministry soon afterwards took place, “Why sit

you here all the day idle,” said a friend who found him one morning at his chambers,

when your country is calling for you ?” He was then, informed that a dissolution would

immediately take place, and it was desired by his party that he should ﬁnd a seat in the

new Parliament. He turned his attention to Yarmouth, where his relative by marriage, the

Hon. and Rev. Edward Pellew, was incumbent; and he and Capt. Beresford (afterwards

Lord Decies) came down to canvass the electors. The latter retired in favor of Mr.

Thomas Baring, and

1 Palmer’s Addenda: An edition of the poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed, with a

memoir by the Rev.Derwent Coleridge, was published in 1864.

2 Mr W. Cooch Pillans had raised the driving seat of his carriage since a former trip to

the Angel Inn. He had forgotten this, and hence the catastrophe. He lived for a day or

two afterwards.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

247

When addressing the multitude

“ His talk was like a stream which runs,”

“With rapid change from rocks to roses,”

“It slipp’d from politics to puns;”

“It passed from Mahomet to Moses.”

“Let us have one more story,” was often heard from the crowd when

they feared he was about to close his discourse. His popularity certainly

greatly conduced to the return of Mr. Thomas Baring * and himself;

defeating, for the ﬁrst time, the Hon. George Anson and Mr. Rumbold. At

the south-west corner, fronting Charlotte street, is a public-house called

the City of London Tavern. Here in 1865 a foul murder was committed.

Some foreign seamen belonging to a Dutch galliot, named Secundus,

then delivering wheat at Watling’s Quay (on the west side of the haven

above bridge), were drinking there at about ten o’clock in the evening

when the master required them to go on board their vessel. One of the

seamen, a young man named Erenshussen, refused to do so. Heusman,

a comrade, endeavoured to persuade him to comply; upon which the

former drew his knife, which had a sharp blade six inches long, and

plunged up to the hilt into the heart of Heusman, who instantaneously

fell dead. This public house was formerly called The Green Man and

Boot. Foresters were great frequenters of ale houses; and hence the sign

of the Green Man ; f but whence comes the Boot f may it not have been

from the French boute —a cask or tub? or bot, a bundle of sticks? After

a severe contest Praed and Baring were returned. Praed was rewarded

by the Secretaryship at the Board of Control. He also “became Deputy

High Steward of Cambridge University and Recorder of Barnstaple.

Politics now so much engrossed his attention, that he was obliged to lay

aside the pen which had dropped so many gems upon the pages of our

newspapers and periodicals. Honours crowded upon him; and he seemed

destined to ﬁll some of the highest position of the state—when his health

began to fail him. It was the old story; the sword was wearing out the

scabbard. There was the playful fancy—the restless mind—the heroic

heart—the hectic cheek—the bright eye—consumption—and death at

the early age of 36.

* Mr. Thomas Baring, second son of Sir Thomas Baring, Bart., and nephew of the ﬁrst

Lord Ashburton, afterwards sat for many years.for Huntingdon.

f The sign of the Green Man and Still, Dr. Davy, Master of Cains College, Cambridge,

considered to mean a man who sold herbs to brewers!

248

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

In the Angel row there was a public house, called The Cross Keys,* which

in 1752 was devised by Robert Ward, Esq., to his son, Gabriel Ward.

There was also, in 1808, a public house called the Nag’s Head.

The house and shop at the north-east corner has for a long period been

occupied by a chemist and druggist. It formerly belonged to Mr. Stacey,

and was purchased of him by Mr. Francis Markland of Cheltenham, and

was occupied by his son, Mr. Edwin Markland.

Row, No. 45, from North Quay to George Street, called St. John’s Head

Row, from the sign of a public house at the south-west corner, which some

years since represented the severed head of the Baptist on a charger or

large dish. f A favorite pilgrimage in former times was to the cathedral at

Amiens 1 where, if the story be true, the head of St. John the Baptist (found,

according to monkish writers, at Jerusalem in 1448, and transferred to

Amiens in 1206), was preserved on a salver of gold having a rim of pearls

and precious stones. The tenant of this house in late years was a person

who bore the Saxon name of Purkis; being that of the hind who carried

the body of William Rufus, in his cart, from the New Forest where the

king was slain, to Winchester Cathedral where it was buried. A family

of this name, have, it is said, continued to exist in the New Forest from

that time to this, following the occupation of charcoal burners. In old

deeds the name of this row is written “ Syngen” the writer being guided

by sound alone; proving the antiquity of this pronunciation of St. John.

In 1796 leave was given to “box out” the front.

Christopher Harbord had a house, in this row. His only child, Hannah,

married Timothy Steward, the founder of the Steward family in Yarmouth,

of whom we shall have occasion hereafter to speak. Tobias Harbord, his

brother, t voted at the Norfolk Election in 1714 for

* This well-known, emblem of St. Peter was frequently adopted as a sign by publicans

who were tenants or servants of religious houses,

f Hogarth, in his picture of Noon, represents a tavern with this sign; and underneath

are the words (frequently exhibited at such places) “ Good eating.”

t There was another brother, Thomas Harbord. Timothy Steward and Hannah his wife

had a daughter, Hannah, who married the Rev. Peter Van Sarn, and they had an only

child, Peter Van Sarn.

1 Leonard Ley visited Amiens in 1915, see memoirs; also, as photographed 2006, see

RRH.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

249

Sir Jacob Astley and Mr. De Grey. By his will made in 1755 he devised

to Mrs, Steward his dwelling-house, and he also made a settlement in

favor of her son, Timothy Steward, of which Charles Le Grys, Esq., and

John Barney, Esq., were the trustees.

The house adjoining the St. John’s Head to the south, was, at the

commencement of the last century, the property of Benjamin Engle,

Esq. * At the south-east corner are three houses (one now the Golden

Ball) which in 1687 were the property of Edmund Thaxter., Esq., who

married Sarah, daughter of Sir George England. His granddaughter,

Mary, who died in 1723, aged 50, in her epitaph still remaining on a ﬂat

stone on the north side of the church yard (towards the wall and nearly

opposite the north transept) is described as “daughter of that cruel father,

Mr. Thomas Osborne, grandchild of that worthy gentleman, “ Major

Thaxter, widow of George Ward 1 , and the loving and tender “ wife of

Robert Hurnard,” f There is a tradition that this imputation on the father

was recorded on the tomb of the daughter because her lover had by his

contrivance been seized by a press gang, hurried on board a man-of-war,

and soon afterwards killed in action. If this were so, the lady instead of

dying in despair, as she ought to have done by all the rules of romance,

consoled herself by marrying successively two husbands. There is a ballad

(published in 1775, but of a much older date) entitled “The Yarmouth

Tragedy; showing how by the cruelty of their parents two lovers were

destroyed.” It is too long to quote in exstenso, but a few extracts may be

amusing. It begins by stating that Nancy

“ was a merchant’s only daughter,”

“Heir to ﬁfteen hundred a year,”

“A young man courted her for his jewel,”

“Son of a gentleman who lived near.”

* He was the son of Richard Engle who died in 1690, aged 75. Benjamin Engle was

for many years a member of the corporation. He ﬁlled the ofﬁce of bailiff in 1693, and

was the ﬁrst Mayor of Yarmouth, under the charter of Queen Anne granted in 1703.

f Swinden, p. 781; P. C, p. 313.) Elizabeth, his daughter, married John .Barker, Esq.,

of Shropham, who died High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1766. She died in 1770, aged 60,

and was buried at Shropham. There is a portrait of the wife of Benjamin Engle in the

possession of the Rev. Hanbury Frere.

George Ward had the above-mentioned property; and his eldest son, George Osborne

Ward, dying a minor, it descended to his only other son, Thomas Ward.

1 In 1990, another George Ward, was the cheif ofﬁcer of the Great Yarmouth ambulance

station, based at Churchill Road.

250

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

From infancy

“ Their tender hearts were link’d together,”

“Which when their parents that did hear,”

They to their darling and beautiful daughter,

“Acted a part that was base and severe.”

They remonstrate; telling their child that she was a match

“ For any lord in Christendom.”

The young lady could not however be persuaded to give up

“her dearest Jemmy” upon which, said her father

“it’s my resolution,”

“Altho’ I have no daughters but thee;”

“ If that with him you resolve for to marry,”

“ Banish’d for ever from me you shall be.”

At last in answer to her entreaties the father consented to their union

if the young man would ﬁrst “go a voyage,” in the secret hope that,

something would occur to prevent the match.

“Then, said the father, a trip to the ocean,”

“You shall ﬁrst go in a ship of my own;”

“And I’ll consent that you have my daughter,”

“Whenever to Yarmouth you shall return.”

After a passionate exchange of vows and pledges

“With a sorrowful sigh he departed;”

“The wind the next day blew a pleasant gale;”

“All things being ready, the fam’d MaryGal-

ley,”

For the Isle of Barbadoes straight away did

sail.”

The young man being thus got rid of

“Many a lord of high birth and breeding”

“Came to court this beautiful maid;”

“But all their rich presents and favors she slight’d,”

“Constant I’ll be to my jewel,’ she said.”

Meanwhile her lover had also his trials, for “a Barbadoes lady,”

whose fortune was great, “ﬁxed her eyes upon him” and endeavoured

to attract him to her.

“Come, noble sailor, she said, can you fancy”

“ A lady whose riches are very great;”

“A hundred slaves shall ever attend you,”

“And music shall lull you each night to sleep.”

He resists the temptation, avowing that in England there was “a fair

lady” who on his return would become his bride. Driven to distraction

GREAT YARMOUTH.

251

by his refusal, the ﬁery Barbadoan destroyed herself, which caused

“great lamentations,” upon, which he took ship and sailed for England.

“ But when the father found him returning,” “A letter he wrote to the

boatswain, his Mend, “Saying, a handsome reward I will give you,” “ If

you the life of young Jemmy will end.”

“Void of all grace, for the sake of the money,” “ The cruel boatswain the

same did complete” “ As they on the deck were carelessly walking,

“He suddenly turned him into the deep.”

“In the dead of the night when all were asleep,”

“His troubl’d ghost to his love did appear;”

“Crying, ‘arise my beautiful Nancy,”

“Perform now the vows you made to your dear.”

“You are my own—pray tarry no longer,”

“Seven long years for y r sake I did stay,”

“Hymen doth watch to crown us with pleasure,”

“The bridegroom, is ready—then pray come away.”

“She cry’d—’who is he that is under my window

“Surely it must be the voice of my dear,”

“She lift’d her head from her soft downy pillow,

“ And straight to the casement she did repair.”

“By the light of the moon, then shining brightly,”

“She spied out her lover, who then thus did say:”

“Your parents are sleeping—before they awake,”

“O, my dear creature, you must come away.”

“O Jemmy,’ she said, ‘if my father should hear thee,”

“We should be ruin’d, pray therefore repair”

“To the sea side, where I’ll instantly meet you,”

“With my two maidens I’ll come to you there.”

“Having thrown on her clothes she did so, and then”

“Close in his arms, the spirit enfolded her,”

“‘Jemmy,’ she shriek’d, ‘you are colder than clay;”

“Surely you’re not the man I admire,”

“Paler than death, in the break of the day.”

“Yes, fairest creature, I am your lover,”

“Dead or alive you know you are mine;”

“I come for my vow, my dear you must follow”

“My body to join in its watery tomb.”

252

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

After telling her how he had refused gold and beauty for her sake, he

continues—

“ Your cruel parent has been my undoing,”

“And now I must sleep in a watery grave,”

“Now for your promise, my dear I am sueing,”

“For dead or alive, your love I must have.”

“ The trembling maiden was sore affrighted, “

Amazed she stood on the brink of the sea;”

“With eyes lifted up, she cried; heartless parents, “

“Heaven requite you for this cruelty.”

“ Indeed I did promise you, my dear creature,”

“Dead or alive I would be your own,”

“And now to perform my vows I am ready

“To follow at once to your watery tomb.

“ The maidens they heard her sad lamentation,

“But no apparition indeed could they see;”

“Thinking their lady full of distraction,”

“They strove to persuade her contented to be.”

“ But still she kept crying, ‘my dear, I am coming,”

“Now on thy bosom I’ll soon fall asleep;”

“When thus she had spoken words so becoming,”

“She suddenly plung’d herself into the deep.”

“ When this to her father, the maidens had told,”

“He wrang his hands, crying ‘ O what have I done;”

“Surely I must to perdition be sold,”

“My child thus to send to a watery tomb.”

“ Two or three days then being expired,”

“These two unfortunate lovers were seen”

“Link’d to each other, on the waves ﬂoating”

“By the side of the ship on the watery main.

“ The cruel boatswain was then struck with horror,”

“And straight did confess the deed he had done;”

“Shewing the letter that came from the father,”

“Which was the cause of these lovers’ sad doom,”

“ On board of the ship he was tried for murder,”

“And at the yard-arm was hanged for the same;”

“The father then broke his heart for his daughter,”

“Before that ﬁne ship into harbour came.”

GREAT YARMOUTH.

253

After denouncing an inordinate craving for riches, this singular bal-

lad, a copy of which is in the library of the British Museum, thus

concludes—

“True love is better than jewels or trea-

sure,”

“It cannot by riches be purchas’d I know,

“ “But his young couple loved out of all

measure,”

“And this was the cause of their sad over-

throw.”

Row, No. 46, from Charlotte Street to the Market Place,

called Sewell’s Row, from the house at the north-east corner,

fronting the Market place, which was for more than half a century

occupied as a grocer’s shop by a family named S EWELL , members

of the Society of Friends, the last of whom was Edward Sewell,

who died at Ware in 1870, aged 79. Early in the last century the

above-mentioned, house belonged to William Taylor, Esq., and

afterwards to Bracey Taylor, Esq.; and was in 1767 in the occupa-

tion of Joseph Sparshall, grocer.

Row, No. 47, from North Quay Road to George Street, called

Page the Pipemaker’s Row. * Between this and the next row,

fronting North Quay road, is a half-timbered house, being one of

the very few now remaining in a conspicuous position. Fronting

George street, No. 69, is a public house called the Golden Ball. f

In 1805 it was known as the White Swan, and was then the prop-

erty of Lieut. Edmund Bennett, R.N., and Elizabeth his wife, and

Henry Edward Hall, of Spackerston in Leicestershire and Ann

Lumley his wife.

Row, No. 48, from North Quay Road to George Street,

called Wheat-sheaf Row, from an old public house at the south-

east corner, lately

* There was a manufactory of clay pipes In this row. When the practice of smoking

was almost universal and cigars and German pipes unknown, the consumption of these

“yards of clay “ must have been enormous.

f The Golden Ball is a very ancient sign. It was used by the silk mercers. Constantine the

Great adopted a golden ball as the emblem of his imperial dignity. When he embraced

Christianity he placed a cross upon it; and with this addition it continues as one of the

insignia of royalty to the present day.

254

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

pulled down, and rebuilt, and now called the Mitre.* On the south side, in

1670, was a house occupied by Thomas Blackboard. Most of the buildings

on the north side of this row as far as George street, and extending north

to Row, No. 45, were in the 17th century the property of Sir Thomas

Medowe, who had a “capital messuage” here, which had been the house

of his father, who in 1631 had a grant of ground in front of the same

from, the corporation. The house at the north-west corner of this row,

the site of which formed part of the above property, was in 1745 in the

possession of Francis Morse, merchant, who died in 1755, aged 61. He

settled it upon his son, Francis Morse the younger, on his marriage with

Margaret, daughter and heiress of Mrs. Margaret Carter, f There was no

issue of this marriage; and Morse in 1766 devised this house J with his

estates at Lound, Blundeston, Flixton, Belton, and Bradwell in Suffolk,

to his half-brother, Thomas Morse, whose son Thomas Morse 1 , Esq., of

Lound, died in 1844, aged 100.

A family of the name of Morse had ﬂourished at Yarmouth in the previous

century. George Morse was elected a member of the corporation in 1625,

but, refusing to serve., paid a ﬁne of £10. He, in 1642, gave in money

£20 “for the defence of king and parliament.” In 1648 he presented the

corporation with silver plate weighing 250 oz., and in 1665 he gave them

£40 “to buy a basin and ewer.” In 1737 Mr. George Morse’s gift of a

silver salver and tankard was exchanged

* The Wheatsheaf is an old and common sign, especially in country places.”

“Behold you have here, the Wheatsheaf so ﬁne,”

“Its glories in autumn resplendently shine;”

“How rich are the honors of these hanging ears,”

“The crown of our labors, our hopes, and our fears.”

It was adopted by the bakers.The Mitre was one of those ecclesiastical signs which

prevailed before the Reformation; and are still used, although all signiﬁcance is now

lost. It was the sign of several famous taverns and booksellers’ shops in London in the

17th century.

f He and his wife were buried at Belton, and in the nave of Belton church is a slab to

their memory, bearing—party per pale, a chev. between three mullets pierced; and for

a crest a demi ﬁgure in mail grasping a battle axe, with the motto Pro Patria.

t There was at this time a large yard to the east of this house, called The Three Cranes

Yard.

1 The Morse family graves are in a line along the east boundary of Lound churchyard.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

255

for a silver drinking cup, still in the in the possession of the town council,

and in the custody of the mayor for the time being, and resembles the

“loving cups” which possessed by most corporations, and are still used by

the Livery Companies of London. Drinking from the same cup in token

of amity was a custom in antiquity. The Romans inscribed on such cups

“Ex hoc amici bibunt” The health-drinking Saxons transmitted the loving

cup to the middle ages. At the tables of abbots it was called “ Poculum

charitatis ”and colleges still retain what they call the “grace cup”. The

cup above mentioned has a cover, as had all such cups * . In 1793, the

above-mentioned house was purchased by Peter Upcher, Esq.,of Sudbury,

who married Eliza, one of the two daughters and co-heirs of John Ramey,

Esq., it being then in the occupation of Joseph Ramey, Esq. f Upcher,

in 1795, devised the house and also the premises opposite, adjoining

the river to his “dear and amiable wife” who died in 1799, leaving by

this marriage an only child, Abbott Upcher, who was an unsuccessful

candidate for the representation of the borough in 1807. t This house was

purchased in 1861 by the town council, who pulled down the old house,

which projected into the road, which was by then

* The custom was, and it is still observed at corporate feasts, in London, for the person

who pledges with the loving cup to stand up and bow to his neighbour, who, also standing

removes the cover of the cup,with his right hand, and holds it whilst the other drinks; a

practice said to have originated in theto keep the right, or dagger hand employed, that

the person who drinks may beassured of no treachery. Timbe mentions this in his “ Nooks

and Corners ”. There is an old Norfolk saying that “He caught him napping, as Morse

did his mare” implying that an endeavour to take another unawares was doomed to

disappointment One Morse had a mare most difﬁcult to catch. One day, seeing her lying

in a ditch, and supposing her to be asleep, he exultingly exclaimed “ I’ve caught thee

napping at last” , but on preparing to seize her, he found the mare was dead. Sometimes

the phrase runs “as Morse caught his mare”, implying a disappointment.

f He had the “ patent ofﬁce “ of searcher of the customs, which meant good pay and

no work. He was also a surgeon in extensive practice, ﬁlled the ofﬁce of mayor in

1778, and died in 1794, aged 73.

t Manby, in his Reminiscences, says he was poetry, his productions being chaste, el-

egant, akd tasteful, especially on subjects of sentiment, and in praise of the fair sex,”

and his coming of age was commemorated by a ball and supper, the like of which

had never before been seen in Yarmouth.”

256

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

widened, and upon part of the site the present house has been erected.

The house on the opposite side of the road, with a garden extending to

the river, was, in the early part of the present century, in the occupation of

John Close, Esq., the stepson of Dr. Girdlestone. The house at the south-

west corner of this row, standing in a garden, was, early in the present

century, occupied by Captain Richard Curry, C.B., when ﬂag-captain

to the port-admiral. * It was for some years the residence of Benjamin

Dowson, Esq., and is now that of Edward Harbord Lushington Preston,

Esq., f the present mayor.

The following is the succession of mayors since the list published in the

Continuation to Manship’s History, p. 319.

1856. Charles Cory Aldred 1863. Robert Steward

1857. Francis Worship 1864. Robert Steward

1858. Robert Steward 1865. Charles Cory Aldred

1859. William Worship 1866. Edward Pitt Youell

1860. Samuel Nightingale 1867. William Worship

1861. Robert Steward 1868. Samuel Nightingale

1862. Robert Steward 1869. Charles Woolverton

T o the east of the last-mentioned house, fronting the south, and

extending nearly as far as George street, is Quay house, for many years

a residence of the L ACON family. j Daniel Sheppard, merchant, sometime

previous to 1670, rebuilt the messuage then standing on this site, and in

that year he sold it to Thomas Osborne, who devised it to his grandson

and heir, Thomas

* He entered the navy in 1780, and after some distinguished services was, in

1806, appointed to the command of the Roebuck,44; and in 1811 to that of the Sole-

bay, 32; both being ﬂag-ships stationed at Yarmouth. He resided here till the peace

of 1814; and died an admiral in 1856, aged 83. Dixon Whidbey Currey, his youngest

son, served with the marine battalion from their ﬁrst landing in the Crimea, com-

manded a battery under Sir Colin Campbell at Balaklava, and was acting adjutant to

a detachment at Inkerman. Two days after the fall of Sebastopol he was removed to

the hospital at Therapia, where he died, aged 24.

f In recognition of his services as Consul for Belgium for 28 years, he received

in 1867 from the Belgian Government the decoration of the Order of Leopold.

J The site has already been mentioned as probably that of the town house of Sir

John Fastolfe, K.G. Among other appointments which this valiant knight held was

that of Governor of the Bastile.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

257

Ward. The latter, in 1738, conveyed it to James Ward, who in the previous

year had married Catharine Evans of Bury St. Edmund’s. * He was a man

of property, holding landed estates at Belaugh, Coltishall, Hoveton, and

Horstead in Norfolk, and at Holton, Halesworth, Thradiston, Mutford,

and Lowestoft in Suffolk. He devised the above-mentioned house to his

son, James Ward, who ﬁlled the ofﬁce of mayor in 1751. At that time

the property extended to George street (then called Middlegate street),

and he let a portion of it, with the vaults, to Government for the purpose

of a custom house, he himself being collector of customs. Ward died by

his own hand in 1765; and by his will devised this property to his son,

James Ward of Bury St. Edmund’s, of whom it was purchased by John

Lacon, Esq. J (See p. 192.)

L ACON was the name of a Roman Senator who presided over the

nightly guard. He was Procurator of Gaul when Claudius made the

conquest of Britain; and in honor of that event the Roman Emperor

* The Wards of Gorleston and Homersﬁeld in Suffolk bore as., a cross between four

eagles displayed arg. ; and for a crest on a mount vert, a hind couchant arg. The above-

named James Ward sealed with these arms, which had been conﬁrmed to his ancestors

by Robert Cook, Clarenceux, in 1598, a copy of which, grant is in the possession of

Mr. A. W. Morant. Neale Ward, his brother, resided at Bury St. Edmunds.

j The death of the collector was communicated to the commissoners in London by

Thomas Barber, the Yarmouth antiquary, then an ofﬁcer in the custom house, in the

following manner:— “We have thought it our duty to acquaint your honours of this, by

express, as no post goes out this Evening. Mr. Negus the customer has been acquainted

with the circumstance, whom we expect here in a few hours.” The customer’s was

a patent ofﬁce, with little to do beyond taking the salary. It was then held by Henry

Negus, Esq., of Hoveton St. Peter, who was High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1740, and died

in 1794, aged 86. He was descended from Henry Negus, Esq., who married Sarah,

daughter of John Fowle, Esq., of Norwich, barrister-at-law, by Sarah his wife, widow of

William Burton, Esq., of Great Yarmouth, and eldest daughter of Sir George England,

Knt. Christabel, daughter and heir of the above-named Henry Negus, married in 1789

James Burkin Burroughes, Esq., of Burlingham, and by him was the mother of Henry

Negus Burroughes, Esq., many years M.P. for East Norfolk. The arms of Burroughes

are arg., two, chevrons betw. three chaplets vert. ; and for a crest, a grifﬁn’s head erased

arg., charged with two-chevrons vert. Colonel Negus, in the reign of Queen Anne,

ﬁrst made the mixture, which has since gone by his name. Negus bore mm. on a chief

nebule m., three eschallops or.

258

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

decreed him a statue, and advanced him to consular honors. It is not

improbable that the Romans, when they occupied Shropshire, in which

county they have left so many interesting memorials, may have given this

name to the small township so-called which lies within two miles of Wem.

Certain it is that the Lacons took their name from the above-mentioned

place, and were lords there in the reign of Edward I. Sir Francis Lacon

was High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1612. He and his son, Sir Rowland

Lacon, adhered to Charles I., and their estates, were conﬁscated. They are

now represented by William Lacon Childe, Esq., of Kinlet in Shropshire. *

A branch of the Shropshire family migrated to Yorkshire, and settled at

Ottley in the West Riding in the 17th century. Edmund Lacon (or Laycon

as the name was sometimes spelt) died at Ottley in 1726. He states in his

will that his brother, Thomas Barker, had left to the testator’s eldest son.,

Edmund Lacon, a legacy on his attaining twenty-one, “he following the

profession of an attorney;” but says the father, my son will be entitled to

a considerable real estate under his mother’s marriage settlement, besides

the Yorkshire estates which I have devised to him. f Edmund Lacon the

son married Martha, daughter of the Rev. William Beevor, and sister of

Caroline who married Robert Ward, as already stated (p. 192), and by

her he had three sons, t of whom John Lacon came to Yarmouth where

he married, as has been stated (p.192), the eldest daughter and co-heir

of Robert Ward, Esq., and settling here purchased Quay house as above

mentioned.

* He is a Magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant for Shropshire, and ﬁlled the ofﬁce of High

Sheriff of that County in 1828, and has represented Wenlock in Parliament. He also

represents the old Shropshire families of Baldwin, and Brampton of Kinlet. He bears

for Childe— gu. s a chev. erm. betw. three eagles close org. ; and for Baldwin - arg., a

saltier sa.

f Testator bequeathed, to this son “ all the books in his study; and also his seal with

his coat of arms.”

t Thomas, another son of Edmund Lacon of Ottley and Martha Beevor his wife, assumed

the name of Barker, and left two co-heiresses, of whom Caroline married Charles Wood,

E SQ ., of Bowling Hall, Yorkshire (inherited from his kinsman, Thomas Pigot, Esq.),

an eminent naval ofﬁcer, who died of his wounds received in action,

GREAT YARMOUTH.

259

The eldest (and eventually the only surviving) son of this marriage was Sir

Edmund Lacon, Knt. and Bart., who for many years took a prominent part

in the mercantile and municipal affairs of the town. Besides the brewery,

which devolved upon him at the death of his father, he conducted a large

business as a corn merchant and malster, and took considerable interest

in forming a company for the prosecution of the whale ﬁshery. In 1785

he, then Mr. Lacon, presided at an inﬂuential meeting of corn merchants

at Vincent’s tavern, at which a petition to the House of Commons was

adopted against certain regulations then proposed to be enforced as to

the exportation and importation of corn to and from Ireland. * He also, in

conjunction with Mr. James Fisher, established the bank now known as

Lacons, Youell, and Co. f A dissolution of Parliament took place in 1790,

and at “a numerous and respectable meeting of independent freemen “Mr.

Lacon was called upon to offer himself as a candidate. He did so; but

although “the prospect of success upon the canvass was a very ﬂattering

one “he withdrew, “being apprehensive,” as he said, “of possibly injuring

his friend, Mr. Townshend.” The fact was a compromise had been effected

between the whigs and tories, under which it was arranged that a contest

should be avoided, and that Mr. Beaufoy, t one of the sitting

9th October, 1782. He was the son of Francis Wood, Esq., of Barnsley in Yorkshire,

by Mary Dorothy Iris wife, daughter of the Rev. Charles Palmer, D.D., Prebendary of

York. The issue of the marriage of the above-named Charles Wood and Caroline his

wife was Sir Francis Lindley Wood, Bart., the father of Sir Charles Wood, Secretary of

State and ﬁrst Lord of the Admiralty, now Lord Halifax, who married the Lady Mary,

daughter of Charles, Earl Grey, KG. William, a third son of Edmund Lacon and Martha

Beevor his wife, was Vicar of Winsford near Minehead, and died in 1781. William,

his son, held a commission in the army, and died leaving two daughters, one of whom

married the Rev. W. Williamson, Minister of Knockbain, Munlocky, Invernesshire,

who died in 1870.

* In the above petition it is stated that the average exportation of malt and barley into

Ireland was 24,500 qrs., and of wheat and wheat ﬂour 19,931 qrs., all the growth and

produce of Norfolk and Suffolk, and occasioning the employment of a very great

number of ships and seamen. A copy is in the British Museum.

f Mr. Fisher retired from the ﬁrm at a very early period. The bank was ﬁrst opened

where the General Steam Navigation Company now have their ofﬁce.

t Mr. Beaufoy was a man of great eloquence and an advanced reformer. He,

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

members should be re-elected, on Mr. Townshend being permitted to

regain the seat of which at the previous election he had been deprived by

Sir John Jervis. Coalitions are never popular, and some feeble attempts

were made by disappointed electors to get up a contest. Capt. Webb of

Woodbridge offered his services; but meeting with no support retired. At

last a “church and state” candidate was found in the person of Mr. John

Thomas Sandys, then living near Ipswich, who came forward and went

to a poll, but was in a miserable minority, (see P. C, p. 226) mustering

only 182 “sons of freedom,” as they styled themselves, but causing a

considerable amount of money to be spent. “The election,” says the

Norfolk Chronicle, “was carried on with the greatest spirit and liberality

on both sides—with manly perseverance, but without rancour or tumult.”

After his defeat Mr. Sandys, says the same authority, used “every effort

in his power to quell those turbulent emotions that, on such occasions,

are but too apt to break out in those who ﬁnd themselves disappointed,

in a matter upon which they had set their hearts. With the utmost good

nature did he chat with the more fortunate candidates; and as they were

chaired he congratulated them with that unaffected cheerfulness of heart,

which at once spoke the man of sense and the gentleman!”

In the same year (1790) “in consideration of the large trade and business

as a merchant, which he had for many years carried on, and the very

considerable portion which in consequence thereof he bore of the public

burthens of the town,” the corporation presented Mr. Lacon with the

freedom of the borough, and immediately afterwards he was elected into

that body of which, for the remainder of his life, he was a

in 1787, moved a partial repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, but was opposed by

Lord North, and defeated by 176 to 98. He became Secretary to the Board of Control,

and died at Clifton in 1795. There is an engraved portrait of him. His widow married

Joseph Pycroft, Esq., a banker at Burton-on-Trent. Paley, in his History of Boroughs,

cites the return of Mr. Beaufoy and Sir John Jervis as a proof of the independence of

the borough, notwithstanding the powerful inﬂuence of the Townshend and Walpole

families. On the death of Mr. Beaufoy, Sir Robert Anislie was invited to become a

candidate, but declined; and ultimately a contest ensued, between Colonel Stephens

Howe, who was recommended by the Townshend family and George Anson, Esq.,

who stood on the whig interest, the latter being defeated by a majority of 136. See

P. C., p.p. 226, 228.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

261

leading member. * In 1792 Mr. Lacon was elected mayor, and during his

year of ofﬁce a serious riot took place in consequence of the high price

of provisions. Some of the ringleaders were lodged in gaol; whereupon

the mob collected and an attempt was made to break it open. The mayor

was roughly handled while striving to disperse the people, f and several

persons were severely injured. At last the military were called out, and

the riot was quelled. The mayor afterwards carried up an address to the

king, and was knighted at St. James’. In 1795 Sir Edmund Lacon was

re-elected to the ofﬁce of mayor, t and in April following he had the honor

of entertaining in the above-mentioned house the Hereditary Princess of

Orange and her infant son, on their coming to Yarmouth to embark for the

continent. The mayor, accompanied by the deputy-mayor (Wm. Taylor,

Esq.), went to Lowestoft to meet the Princess, and thence escorted her

to Yarmouth, which she reached at about six o’clock in the evening and

was received with military honors. The populace took the horses from the

carriage, and drew it into the town to Sir Edmund Lacon’s house, where

Her Serene Highness remained until the arrival of the frigate appointed

to escort the packet in which the princess was to embark. § At length

H.M.S. Melampus, Capt. Sir Richard Strahan, appeared, and the princess

and her suite embarked on board the Prince of Orange packet, Capt.

Bridge, where she took leave of her host and hostess, and proceeded on

her way. He again ﬁlled the ofﬁce of mayor in 1798 and 1812, in which

latter year his eldest son was returned to Parliament for the borough. Sir

Edmund Lacon was a Deputy-Lieutenant for the counties of Norfolk

* He had, in 1786, been presented with the freedom of the borough of Cambridge.

f Capt. J. Young, of the Lord Walsingham, East Indiaman, warded off a blow directed

at the mayor, and secured a rioter in the act of seizing hold of his worship.

t The Michaelmas feast was attended by the Marquis Townshend, Lord Feilding, Lord

Frederick Townshend, Lord Charles Townshend, General Stephens Howe, the Hon.

Charles Townshend, Sir Edmund Bacon, Bart., General Johnstone, then commanding

the Inniskillin Dragoons, Sir Berney Brograve, Bart., &c.

§ The hospitality thus afforded has been repeatedly acknowledged by the royal family of

Holland. The weather being remarkably ﬁne, the princess during her stay in Yarmouth

took daily airings, and was everywhere treated with respect and attention.

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

and Suffolk; and in 1318 was created a baronet. * He married, ﬁrstly in

1779, Eliza, youngest daughter and co-heir of the Rev. Thomas Knowles,

D.D., f Prebendary of Ely, by whom he had one son, his successor, Sir

Edmund Knowles Lacon, second baronet. This lady dying in 1782, Sir

Edmund married, secondly in 1783, Sarah, daughter of John Mortlock,

Esq., of Abington, Cambridgeshire, M.P. for Cambridge in 1788 , t by

whom he had two sons and several daughters, of whom, hereafter. Sir

Edmund Lacon died in the above-mentioned house in 1820, aged 69.

There is an oil painting of him at Ormesby house, from which the annexed

portrait is taken,

Edmund Knowles Lacon, his eldest son and successor, was born in 1780.

He was presented with the freedom of the borough in 1803 j in which

year also he was appointed Captain Commandant of a troop of

* On this occasion he obtained a conﬁrmation of arms very similar to those of the

Shropshire family. Quarterly per fesse indented Erminois and az., in the second quarter

a wolf’s head, erased or.; and for a crest, on a wreath of the colours a mount vert.,

thereon a falcon ppr. belled or., charged on the breast with a cross ﬂory and gorged

with a collar gu. Motto— Probitas verus honor.

f This excellent divine died in 1802, aged 78, leaving two daughters; the eldest of whom

married the Rev. Benjamin Underwood, Rector of Great Barnet. The numerous works

of Dr. Snowies, principally of a controversial character, exhibit great learning and are

written in a perspicuous style. The arms of Knowles— az., semee of cross crosslets

and a cross recerell, voided, or. —were conﬁrmed on the application of Sir Edmund

Lacon in 1818.

t He died in 1816, aged 61. He was a son of Thomas Mortlock, Esq., an eminent banker

at Cambridge. John Cheetham Mortlock, eldest son of the above-named John Mortlock,

was Lieut.-Col. Commandant of the Cambridge Volunteers, raised on the threatened

invasion by Napoleon. He ﬁrst held the ofﬁce of Comptroller of the General Post Ofﬁce;

and was afterwards for thirty years a Commissioner of Excise. He was knighted by

the Prince Regent in 1816, and died, in 1845, aged 67. Arms.—E rm., a fret az. on a

chief engrailed gu., three ﬂeurs de lis or. William Mortlock, sixth and youngest son of

the above-named John Mortlock, was M.P. for Cambridge. He rebuilt the alms houses

there, founded by Elizabeth Knight in 1647. He died in 1848, aged 57. Eliza, eldest

sister of Sir John Mortlock, married Dr. Kaye, Master of Christ’s College, Cambridge,

and successively Bishop of Bristol and Lincoln, who died in 1853, aged 70.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

263

yeomanry cavalry which he had raised. * Subsequently he was for many

years Major of the 2nd or East Norfolk Regiment of Militia. He ﬁlled

the ofﬁce of mayor in 1807; and in 1812 he was returned to Parliament

for the borough at the head of the poll, having for his colleague Lieut.-

General Loftus, who represented the Townshend interest, having married

the Lady Elizabeth, daughter of the then late Marquis Townshend. They

were unsuccessfully opposed by Sir Giffen Wilson, all three candidates

being ministerialists. f I n 1818 Sir E. K. Lacon and his colleague were,

after a severe contest, defeated by the Hon. Thomas William Anson J

and Charles Edmund Rumbold, Esq. An attempt was made by some of

the freemen, in his absence and without his consent, to return him at the

general election in 1826, but it was unsuccessful. He was High Sheriff

of Norfolk in 1823, § and died at Bath in 1839. There is a portrait of

him at Ormesby house. He married in 1804 Eliza Dixon, eldest of the

three daughters and co-heirs of Thomas Beecroft, Esq., of Saxthorpe

hall in Norfolk.

|| Lady Lacon died at Clifton in 1865, aged 79. By her will she bequeathed

£1,000 to the poor of Ormesby, £200 to the Yarmouth hospital, and

£100 to the Fisherman’s hospital . The eldest son of this marriage is Sir

Edmund Henry Knowles Lacon, the present and third baronet. He was

born on

* The ﬁrst. Act embodying mounted volunteers was passed in 1794, the provisions

of-which, were continued and enlarged in 1803, when these troops were for the ﬁrst

time called “yeoman cavalry.”

f Many of the advanced whigs (such as the Hurrys) abstained from voting, there being

no candidate “to their mind.” See P. C., p. 232.

J He was the eldest son of Viscount Anson, and grandson of Thomas William Coke of

Holkham, who was created Earl of Leicester. On the accession of the whigs to power

Lord Anson was created. Earl of Lichﬁeld, and in 1836 was chosen High Steward of

Yarmouth. See P. C, p. 335. He died in 1854, aged 58.

§ Very few Yarmouth men have ﬁlled this ofﬁce, the election to which, prior to the 9

Ed. II., was by the freeholders at large. The ﬁrst was Ralph Ramsey, who was bailiff

in 1385 and high sheriff in 1408. The Ramseys of Norfolk bore, gu ., three rams’ heads

caboshed arg.

|| He died in 1787, aged 33. His widow, whose maiden name was Dixon, was an

accomplished woman, and was admitted into the distinguished literary circle which

then ﬂourished at Norwich. Mrs. Opie mentions “ her plump good-humoured face;

264

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

the 14th of August, 1807, and educated at Eton and atEmmanuel college,

Cambridge, of which university he was M. A. in 1831. He is a Magistrate

for the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, a Deputy-Lieutenant for Norfolk,

Lieut.-Col. of the 2nd or East Norfolk Regiment of Militia (with the

honorary rank of colonel), and Commandant of an Administrative

Brigade of Volunteers. At the general election in 1852 he was returned to

parliament for the borough at the head of the poll, having for his colleague

Mr. Rumbold, after a sharp contest in which Mr. William Torrens

McCullagh and Admiral Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B., were defeated. *

This parliament was dissolved in 1857, and at the ensuing election Mr.

McCullagh f obtained the seat, having for his colleague Mr. Edward W.

Watkin, J at that time Managing Director of the Manchester, Shefﬁeld,

and Lincolnshire Railway Company, defeating Sir E. H. K. Lacon and the

Hon.Charles Smythe Vereker; § Mr. Rumbold, warned by the approach

of old age, having retired from political life. This election was declared

void by a committee of the House of Commons; and Sir Edmund issued

an address, but not ﬁnding a colleague he retired, and Serjeant Mellor

of Otterspool house in Hertfordshire (now Mr. Justice Mellor), and

Mr. Adolphus William Young of Hare-Hatch house, Waregrave near

Maidenhead in Berkshire, were returned in the liberal interest without

opposition. They did not sit long, for in 1859 a dissolution of parliament

took place, when a severe contest ensued between Sir E. H. K. Lacon

and Sir Henry Josias Stracey, Bart., of Rackheath park, Norfolk, on the

part of the conservatives, against Mr. Watkin and Mr. Young on the other

side, the former being returned. The numbers were:

Lacon, 693 ; Stracey, 653 ; Watkin, 568 ; Young, 537.

* In the Continuation to Manship’s History, p. 189, there is an account of the

representation of the borough in parliament from the earliest times down to the above-

mentioned election.

f He subsequently took the name of Torrens, and sat in Parliament for Finsbury.

J He was subsequently knighted, and sat in parliament for Stockport.

§ Eldest son of Viscount Gort, by his second marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of John

Palliser, Esq., of Derryluskan. He was Lieut.-Colonel of the Limerick (city) Militia, and

bore the motto C oloony by royal grant, his father having defeated the French forces

under General Humbert at that place when they landed in Ireland in 1798.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

265

A petition was presented, but a committee of the House of Commons

declared the sitting members duly elected. This parliament sat for nearly

the whole of its legal term, not being dissolved until 1865. Another

contest then took place, Sir Henry Stracey retired in favor of Mr. James

Goodson, at that time Chairman of the Great Eastern Railway Company,

and he and Sir Edmund were opposed by Mr. Alexander Brogden * and

Mr. John Clarke Marshman. The latter retired a few days before the

election, his place being supplied by Mr. Philip Vanderbyl, a London

merchant, who afterwards sat for Bridport. The declared numbers were:

Lacon, 828 ; Goodson, 784 ; Brogden, 634 ; Vanderbyl, 589, Against

this return a petition was presented, and the committee to whom it was

referred declared the sitting members duly elected, but reported that there

was reason to believe corrupt practices had prevailed on both sides, and

a commission of inquiry followed which ended in the disfranchisement

of the borough, f

The Parliamentary Reform Act of 1868 having divided the County of

Norfolk into three parts, Sir Edmund was returned at the head of the poll

for the northern division, having for his colleague the Hon. Frederick

Walpole (third son of the late Earl of Orford, who had been High Steward

of Yarmouth from 1833 to 1836), defeating Edmond R. Wodehouse, Esq.

(son of a former member for Norfolk when the county was undivided),

and Robert T. Gurdon, Esq.

Sir Edmund married Eliza Georgina, daughter of James Esdaile Hammet,

Esq., of Battersea, third son of Sir Benjamin Hammet, some time M.P.

for Taunton, of which borough he at that time possessed a full moiety. J

Of this marriage there is a numerous family.

* Of Ulverstone, Lancashire. An iron master in Wales, son of John Brogden o£ Sale

near Manchester. He was returned for the newly-enfranchised borough of Wednesbury

in 1868.

f In recognition of his political services and in token of personal esteem, Sir E. H. K.

Lacon was presented in 1868 with a piece of plate weighing nearly 900 ounces, and

costing £600.

J He had also a large estate in Cardiganshire, and was Constable of Taunton Castle.

His son, Mr. John Hammet, represented Taunton in 1807, and in several subsequent

parliaments. He married a daughter of Sir Ralph Woodford, Bart., of

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

John Edward Lacon, second son of Sir E. K. Lacon, died unmarried, in

1848 ; and Henry James Lacon, the-third son, a post-captain in the royal

Cavalry in Somersetshire. Capt. Henry Lacon Hammet, R.N., son of the

above-named James Esdaile Hammet, was killed in the trenches before

Sebastopol, while serving with the naval brigade in 1856, aged 35. In 1792

Eliza, daughter of Sir Benjamin Hammet, married Richard Walpole, Esq.,

eldest son of the Hon. Richard Walpole, who had represented Yarmouth

in parliament. The arms of Hammet (granted in 1803) are—per fess arg.

and gu., a pale counterchanged, over all a lion ramp, erminois, on a canton

az. t ﬁve ﬂeurs de lis or. Crest, from the battlements of a castle of three

towers ppr., a demi lion double quene issuant erminois, between the paws

a pellet. The above-named J. E. Hammet married Emma, daughter of

Thomas Foster, Esq., of the Grove, Chalfont St.. Giles, Bucks, descended

from Sir John Foster, Warden of the Marches and Governor of Bamburgh

Castle for Queen Elizabeth, to whose family the Castle and Manor of

Bamburgh were granted by James I., they having also obtained a grant of

the adjacent monastic lands, all of which possessions were forfeited by

Thomas Foster, who was a member for the County of Northumberland

in 1710, and who in 1715 was one of the leaders in the ill-considered

enterprise of that year in favor of the House of Stuart. He proclaimed the

pretender at Warkworth, and produced a commission from the Earl of

Mar, authorizing him to act as general in England. Aftera brief success

Foster, with the young Earl of Derwentwater and many other noblemen

and gentlemen, surrendered at Preston, and were conveyed to London.

Derwentwater was sent to the Tower; Foster to Newgate; and several

of their humble followers, including a servant of the earl, to Norwich

Castle. Foster, like his fellow prisoner, Lord Nithsdale, was indebted to

a woman’s devotion for his escape from the scaffold. His sister disguised

as a servant rode from Bamburgh to London behind a blacksmith, and

having procured an impression of the key of the strong room in the

keeper’s house, another was made; and she contrived when visiting the

prisoner not only to let her brother out but to lock the keeper in, thereby

allowing the former time to escape; and within twenty-four hours he was

a refugee at Calais. He lived abroad till his death; but was attainted by

Act of Parliament.

The valiant squire could therefore boast, That he was loyal to his cost; The banish’d

race of Kings rever’d, And lost his lands — but saved his beard. The forfeited estates

were purchased by Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, who had married Foster’s aunt,

Dorothea, the daughter of his grandfather, Sir William Foster, and by him in 1720

they were (including Bamburgh Castle) devoted to charitable purposes, the annual

income being now upwards of £9,000 per annum. The name is derived from Forestier.

Latterly they spelt it Forster. They bore arg., a chev. vert. between three bugle horns

sa. ; and for a crest, an arm in armour ppr. holding a broken tilting spear or j with the

motto Si fractus fortis*

GREAT YARMOUTH.

267

navy, who had served on the west coast of Africa, in China, and in the

Black Sea, died at the Goldrood near Ipswich in 1867, leaving one son,

Henry Edmund, now a Lieutenant in the 71st Highlanders, and two

daughters. On the death of the ﬁrst Dowager Lady Lacon in 1829, the

above-mentioned house on the quay descended to John Mortlock Lacon 1 ,

Esq., the eldest son by the second marriage of the ﬁrst baronet. He entered

the army; and before attaining the age of twenty-one was a captain in

the 72nd Regiment of Foot (Highlanders). When quartered at Dumfries

in 1808 he had the freedom of that place presented to him. He retired

from the army soon after his marriage with Jane, one of the two sisters

and eventual co-heirs of William Stirling Graham, Esq., of Duntrune,

Forfarshire, * and took up his residence in Yarmouth. In

* The Grahams of Duntrune , and the Grahams of Claverhouse were descended from

a common ancestor. John Graham of Claverhouse was the second son of Sir Robert

Graham of Fintry 1 , who was descended from Sir William Graham, Lord of Kincardine

and chief of the name (ancestor of the Dukes of Montrose), who in 1406 married the

Lady Mary, daughter of Robert III., King of Scotland. When the line of the Grahams of

Claverhouse, Viscounts Dundee, became extinct, the Grahams of Duntrune succeeded

as next of kin. Many relics of the “ Great Dundee,” his commissions, patent of nobility,

marriage settlement, and other family papers are preserved at the House of Duntrune 2 ,

where there was also a ring presented by James II. to the hero, containing some of the

king’s hair, with the letters V. D. surmounted by a coronet, and on the inside of the ring

were engraved a skull and the posey “Great Dundee, for God and me, J. Rex;” but this

ring has by some means been lost. See Letters of John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount

Dundee, printed for the Bannatyne Club in 1826 ; Notes and Queries, 1859, p. 70 ; and

Douglas’ Barona ge. “ The bloody Glavers,” as he was called by his opponents, fell at

Killiecrankie in 1689, leaving by his wife, Jean, youngest daughter of William Lord

Cochrane, an only son, James, Viscount Dundee, who died young and was succeeded by

his uncle, David Graham of Claverhouse, third Viscount Dundee, who had also fought

at Killiecrankie, and was outlawed. Upon his death s.p. in 1700 the representation of the

Grahams of Claverhouse devolved on William Graham of Duntrune, who assumed the

title of Viscount Dundee as next heir male. He was out “in the 15,” and was attainted of

high treason by Act of Parliament. His eldest son, James Graham of Duntrune, likewise

assumed the title of Viscount Dundee, and having joined the Pretender “ in the 45 “

was likewise attainted of high treason. He had however previously conveyed the estate

of Duntrune to his uncle, Alexander Graham, by which means it was preserved, and is

still enjoyed by the family. He died in 1782, and on the decease of his last surviving

son, Alexander

1 Fintry is now a northern suburb of Dundee, that was in 1970, a “no go area”, where

it was not safe to travel alone on a bus at night.

2 Duntrune is a hamlet just north-west of Dundee, (presently in the county of Angus)

north of Broughty Ferry, where I stayed some nights with Stuart and Pauline Farmer

(who have a dental practice at Dundee and St.Andrews) for the D.U.G.S. annual golf

match v the University team that I organised annually. (DUGS = Dundee Golﬁng

Society, formed by me 1982).

1 Palmer’s Addenda: The repreentative of Sir Edmund by his second marriage, is

now Frederick Graham Lacon, Lieutenant of the 17th regiment of foot, only son

of John Edmund Lacon of Starston Grove, by Louisa Matilda, daughter of Edward

Shewell of Lewes. Lieut Lacon married in 1874, Annie Margaret, eldest daughter of

The Venerable, Augustus Macdonald Hopper, rector of Starston, and Archdeacon of

268

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

1825 he was presented, with, the freedom of that borough and elected into

the corporation, and in 1827 ﬁlled the ofﬁce of mayor. He was a Deputy-

Lieutenant for the County of Norfolk. There is an engraved portrait of him

(private plate). He died in 1853, aged 66 , and was buried in the family

vault at South Walsham, * Norfolk, leaving the above-mentioned house to

his widow for life, who died in 1868, aged 84. The only other son of the

ﬁrst baronet by his second marriage was Henry Lacon, Esq., who was for

many years in the civil service of the East India Company. He married,

ﬁrst, a daughter of the Rev. Wm. Graham, in 1804, the estates devolved

on his daughters as co-heirs, of whom the eldest, Amelia, married Patrick

Stirling, Esq., of Pittendreich; and Clementina, the youngest, married

Capt. Gavin Drummond of Keltie., and their only child, Clementina,

married the Earl of Airlie. William Stirling, the only son of the eldest

daughter of Alexander Graham, inherited the estate of Duntrune, and

assumed the name and arms of Graham by royal authority, and on his

death in 1844, aged 50, unmarried, his eldest sister, Clementina Stirling

Graham, succeeded, by whom the estate is now held. She is the author

of Mystiﬁcations, ﬁrst printed privately at Edinburgh in 1859. See H orae

Subsecivee, p. 315. The Grahams of Duntrune bear or. on a chief sa.,

three escallops or., the base surrounded by a double tressure to mark the

royal descent, and issuing from the chief three piles sa., wavy in point as

representing the family of Lovel of Balumbie; quartering arg., on a bend

gu., three buckles or., and on the sinister side a rose ppr. for Stirling. Sir

Robert Graham, above-named, married Janet, daughter and heir of Sir

Richard Lovel of Balumbie (a branch of the extinct Earls of Egmont),

by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Sir Henry Douglas of Lochleven, so

celebrated for using her arm as a bolt in the endeavour to prevent the

murder of James I. of Scotland.

* It adjoins the chancel of the church of St. Lawrence, and was made by the ﬁrst baronet

after he had purchased a considerable estate in the neighbouring parish of Fishley. In it

the widow of Mr. J. M. Lacon was buried; and also their fourth son, Mortlock Lacon,

who died in 1865, aged 48. Henry, their second son, died of fever on the coast of Africa

while serving in the royal navy; Graham, their ﬁfth son, M.D. of the University of

Edinburgh, a Surgeon in the 9th Regiment of Native Infantry, died at Allighur, Hindostan,

in 1857. He was present with his regiment at the battle of Aliwal, for which he received

a medal. Charles, their sixth son, died at Duntrune in 1855, aged 36, and was buried

at Dundee. Richard, their seventh son, died young. Frank, their eighth son, entered the

royal navy, and died at sea in the West Indies in 1841, aged 16; and George Willes, their

ninth and youngest son, died an infant. An account of the above place of sepulchre at

South Walsham has been privately printed.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

269

Dampier; and, secondly, Miss Mary Roberts, but left no issue by

either. Of the daughters of the ﬁrst baronet by his second marriage,

Henrietta Maria married E. S. Ommanney, Esq., of whom hereafter;

Anne Elizabeth married in 1814 Capt, George WickensWilles,R.N

who had commanded H.M.S. Bacchus on the Yarmouth station, and

died at Brighton in 1871, aged 81; Louisa Sarah married the Rev.

Fisher Watson, and Mary Anne married Fuller Farr, Esq., and are both

deceased.

At the north-east corner of Row, No. 48, facing George Street and op-

posite the Old Broad Row, surrounded by a garden to the

south and west, there stood a house with a squared cut-ﬂint front,

having inserted therein a stone tablet, upon which was carved the

following inscription : —

1581. - ]. B.

IF - IT - PLEASE

- GO D - THIS - HOVSE - M AY

- STAND - AND - T H EY - WHO -

DWEL - THERIN - MAY - BE- ABLE-

TO MAINTAYNE -IT.

It was erected in 1581 by John Bartlemews, who ﬁlled the of-

ﬁce of bailiff in 1582 and again in 1595, in which year he died,

and whose widow, Alice, in 1601 presented to the corporation

the great iron chest in which, under the name of the H UTCH , *

they were afterwards accustomed to keep their charters, money,

and valuable effects. The above-mentioned house subsequently

became the property of Sir Thomas Medowe, and afterwards of

Thomas Morse, Esq. The ground to the south which had been a

garden, was sold, and a dwelling house with a shop erected there-

on which in 1777 was occupied by one Peckover, a grocer; and

this house (No. 62) has probably been a grocer’s shop ever since.

The old house was at that time divided into two occupations and

nine dwelling houses were erected on the ground at the back. The

front of No. 63 was some years since modernized by the projec-

tion

* Probably the identical church chest, purchased by John Bartlemew in 1548 when the

270

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

of a bay window, and upon removing the above-mentioned tablet (which

is still preserved), it was found that the inscription had been cut upon

a fragment obtained from some ecclesiastical building, probably the

church of the Whitefriars, as the remains of rich carving were found on

the back.

Between this row and the North Foreland there is a public house, fronting

North Quay Road (rebuilt in 1868), formerly called the Turkey Cock, *

and afterwards: the Pleasure Boat. The renowned Garibaldi is said to

have lodged in this house when the small merchant vessel which, he

commanded for some years was in this port.

Fronting the quay are two houses, one of which was recently partly

pulled down to widen the road and foot pavement. That to the east was

in 1766 in the occupation of Thomas Utting, gent. There have been

several families of this name in Yarmouth. f John Utting of Lowestoft,

cooper, married Alice, sister and co-heir of Admiral Sir John Ashby,

knt., of Lowestoft, who greatly distinguished himself at the sea-ﬁght in

Bantry Bay in 1689, and died in 1693. Their eldest son and heir, Robert

Utting, settled in Yarmouth, and his eldest son and heir, Ashby Utting,

a captain in the royal navy, left no issue. Elizabeth, his sister, married

James Reeve of Lowestoft, merchant, the progenitor of the present family

of that name, who died in 1758, aged 55. She survived her husband for

thirty years, dying in 1788, aged 83. Robert Reeve, their son, married

Pleasance, daughter of Thomas Clarke of Saxmundham by Pleasance

his wife, daughter of Thomas Hunt of Oulton, (who died in 1728,) by

Pleasance his wife, daughter of Richard Jenkinson, which said Thomas

Hunt was the son of Thomas Hunt of Oulton, who died in 1683 . x

The R EEVES have been of long standing in Lowestoft. James Reeve, son

of William Reeve of Carlton, “a physician most skilful in his profession,”

died in 1678, for, as his epitaph informs us, “The power of death no

medicine can withstand.” He married a daughter

* This is an unusual sign. There is however a public house so called, at Nor-

wich.

f Arthur Utting, an astronomer and mathematician, resided in Yarmouth, and

died there in 1849, aged 69. Mr. B. B. Utting, the excellent wood engraver to whose

labors this work is much indebted, [Mr Utting produced the wood cut illustrations

for Palmer’s book]was born at a house in King Street.

X This family of Hunt had in their possession three full-length portraits, by

Mirevodt, of Princes of the House of Orange, commencing with William I. They are

GREAT YARMOUTH.

271

of Martin Folkes of Rushbrook, Suffolk, grandfather of Sir Martin Folkes,

President of the Royal Society, and by her had a son, Richard Reeve, a

surgeon of great skill and ability, who died without issue, and with him

this branch became extinct. Martin Brown, a native of Lowestoft, was

put out as an apprentice by his relation, the above-named Martin Folkes,

and became an opulent merchant at Rotterdam. He married a Dutch

lady, on whose death half of his large fortune, by the laws of Holland,

went to her relations, and the other half to the heirs of Martin Folkes.

Robert Reeve, solicitor, son of the above-named Robert and Pleasance

Reeve, made extensive collections relating to the history of Lowestoft

and the adjoining hundreds. He was a good numismatic, was possessed

of a cabinet of coins and medals which ranked among the best in the

kingdom, and at his death in 1840 left an extensive and valuable library.

His only sister married in 1796 Sir James Edward Smith, founder and

ﬁrst President of the Linnaean Society, who died in 1828. Lady Smith.,

of whom there is an engraved portrait, still survives. His only brother

was James Reeve, who by Lorina his wife, daughter of John Parr, Esq.,

of Cove, had a numerous family. They bear az : a chev. betw. three pairs

of wings conjoined and elevated or *

Old Broad Row leads from George Street to Charlotte Street.

It was called in ancient writings Le Broade Row, on account of its

comparatively great width. When a New Broad Row was formed

in the south part of the town (since called Queen Street), this

row acquired the appellation by which it is now distinguished. It

was also called Kingston-house Row, * In 1341 Robert Mogge of

Martham and Margaret his wife conveyed to Sir William Grey,

chaplain, premises on the south side of “ a common lane called

Le Kyngestone-house Row,” which had been enfeoffed to them

by John de Donyngton, clerk. These premises were bounded by

others of Adam de Waynﬂete, east, and of John Finey, west, f

Thomas

* By the sessions roll of 1295 it appears that Letitia, the daughter of

Thomas le Meiser, was convicted of a burglary in the house of John Allen,

situate in Kingston-house rowe. Allen or Alleyn was one of the bailiffs in

1298.

t One of the witnesses to this deed is Simon Perebrown, probably a rela-

tion to John Perebrown, the distinguished admiral already mentioned, ante, p.

272

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

Medowe, Esq., “a Burgess and Alderman of Yarmouth,” as he describes

himself in his will, father of Sir Thomas Medowe, knt., already mentioned,

had a house in “the Brode Bow,” which he devised to Thomasyne his wife.

When ﬁlling the ofﬁce of bailiff in 1638 he entertained Dr. Montague,

the newly-elected Bishop of Norwich, on his ﬁrst visit to Yarmouth. The

prelate was received with much ceremony; a large committee having been

appointed to “ride to meet his lordship” as he approached the town.

The houses, No. 2 and 3, on the south side were the property of the

Bransby family. In 1669 Thomas Bransby, son and heir of Thomas

Bransby (a family we shall have occasion to mention), sold his houses in

Kingston Row to Edmund Smith, mariner. The deed of conveyance has a

pendant seal bearing the arms of Bransby. In Manship’s time there was,

in the possession of the corporation, a box containing “many writings

touching the howse in the Broaderow late Lansdale’s.” *

In 1699 Alderman Green and Bruce his wife gave to the poor a

coomb of wheat and a chaldron of coals, charged on their house in the

Old Broad Row, to be delivered yearly by the owners. He was bailiff in

1631 with Ezechias Harris; and during the tenure of ofﬁce this incident

occurred. It appears that in 1622 a benevolence was collected towards

the recovery of the Palatinate which amounted to £120. Instead of paying

this money into the exchequer, Mr. Hardware, the bailiff, in whose hands

it was, gave it to Mr. Benjamin Cooper, merchant, who delivered it to

the chamberlains, “to remain in the town’s hands for the beneﬁt of the

haven and piers” until demanded; and it was entered in the corporation

books “as a gift by the town’s friend unknown.” Ten years afterwards the

transaction came to the knowledge of government, and the lord treasurer

applied to the corporation for the money, whereupon Mr. Bailiff Green

was requested “to ride up to London, to answer or shew cause to the

contrary.” On his return Green reported that the lord treasurer had referred

him to the attorney general, “who notwithstanding all that could be said

to the contrary, declared that the town was to pay it, and

* There was also another box containing “ sixteene late Lansdale’s near the Redd Well,”

wherever that ma writings tonchinge the howse ty have been.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

273

should pay it,” and gave instructions for proceedings to be taken in the

Court of Exchequer; whereupon the corporation “not otherwise knowing

the true owner of the said £120,” wisely paid the money, taking Mr.

Hardware’s indemnity against any other claim. We have already seen

that Green was one of the magistrates who committed the Minister of

the Parish to gaol, for an alleged disturbance in church, for which he was

himself sent to prison by order of the king in council; but after a week’s

conﬁnement, was liberated on the intercession of the Dean and Chapter.

It might naturally be supposed that the Minister of the Parish would be

the proper person to determine when a conﬁrmation should be held, but

it was not so at Yarmouth in the seventeenth century. In 1682 the bailiffs

(Ezechias Harris and Thomas Green) were requested by the corporation

to invite Dr. Corbet, then Bishop of Norwich, to attend on the following

St. Bartholomew’s day for the purpose of a conﬁrmation, and it was

ordered that he should be entertained at the town’s charges.

When the civil war broke out, Alderman Green subscribed £10 in plate

and money in aid of the parliament. He was one of those who resisted the

claim of Sir Henry Woodhouse of Walsham, Vice-Admiral of Norfolk,

“for composition ﬁsh;” who required yearly “ towards the provision of

his house, one hundred of island haberdine, one-half hundred “of island

lyngs, one barrel of white herrings of the brand, and two cades of full

red herrings, and one porpoise in the herring ﬁshing and another in the

mackerel ﬁshing,” which he sets forth in his bill of complaint had been

paid to his predecessors, Vice-Admirals of Norfolk “without grudging

or denial,” in consideration of their holding Vice-Admiralty Courts at

Great Yarmouth, but which payment was then refused and his messenger

shaken off “with scornful and proud words.” In their reply the bailiffs

pleaded their charters, and that the alleged “provision of ﬁsh had been

made “upon curtesy and out of good will,” and the suit was determined

in favor of the town. Green again ﬁlled the ofﬁce of bailiff in 1640; after

which we hear no more of him. He appears to have been a sturdy and

somewhat unscrupulous asserter of the rights of the town, and a strenuous

supporter of civil and religious liberty as then understood.

274

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

On the 8th of January, 1735, there was the “ biggest shower of rain that

could be remembered for thirty or forty years. The Old Broad Row was

impassable 1 .” In 1762 the house and shop of one Barker was burnt to the

ground; and in the following year “some villains broke open the shop

of Mr. Richardson, and stole three or four pair of breeches,” says the

Norfolk Chronicle.

The Braceys, a family of whom we shall have occasion to speak

elsewhere, held property on the north side of this row. On the south

side, No. 7, there was a very old house with a cut-ﬂint front, which was

pulled down in 1867.

In this row in the 18th century lived Samuel Kittridge, a book-seller

and printer. In 1770 he published “a complete and cautionary advice to

young gentlemen intended for mercantile pursuits,” entitled “Parables;

or Honest Christopher in the Counting House, containing a variety of

interesting anecdotes founded on fact.” * Kittridge was the author of the

Theological Quack, or Falsehood Detected. f He died in 1780, Rose his

wife predeceased him in 1764, aged 49: there was a tablet to the memory

of her and seven of her children in the Baptist Chapel.

In the Old Broad Row resided John Brown, an upholsterer, who also had

the Cacoethes Scribendi. Ives mentions in a private letter that he had (in

1770) a pamphlet in the press.

The houses at the north-east corner of this row were in the 17th century

in the possession of a family named Wilcock. They are described as then

abutting north upon houses which were, and still are, the property of the

church. t In 1652 John Willcock was ordered to

* It was intended as a satire upon Christopher Eaton, a corn merchant.[see 51 North

Quay for more about Eaton.]

f Ives, in one of his letters written in 1770, in what he calls his lackadaisical way, and

with a minuteness which he says was pondent that “Samuel Kittridge, hatter and hosier,

“ entitled The Theological Quack, the entire produce of his teeming brain, in which

“lofty terms, sounding - words, ill spelling, and worse grammar fal foul of a poor devil

of a fellow that nobody ever heard of till now, one Johnathan Saul a Methodist preacher

at Lessingham. I will shortly contrive a “ performance, and then you will he able to

judge for for yourself of its extraordinary merits.”

t The corner house was in 1777 purchased by Rachel Barber, widow, who died leaving

two daughters, Rachael, whom married James Hayward, by whom she had

1 Similar to the ﬂash ﬂood of 25th September 2006, in Northgate Street, Caister Road

and Southtown, see Revised History of Great Yarmouth Vol.2, pp.228, 229.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

275

remove a gallery and post which he had set up at the east end of his house

in the Broad Row, and if he delayed doing so the chamberlains were to

take them away and were to be saved harmless for so doing.

A family named Hunt has property here. Thomas Hunt was bailiff in

1553. When the town resolved to proclaim, the Princess Mary, he was

sent to wait upon “the queen’s grace,” and inform her majesty’s council

of their resolution. Mr. E. H. Hunt, the proprietor and editor of the

Universal Yacht List and the Yachting Magazine, who died in 1870, was

born at Yarmouth in 1796, and there ﬁrst acquired the taste for yachting,

which became a passion, and led him to devote, his zeal, energies, and

resources to the advancement of his much-cherished pastime. There was

also a family named Brand who had houses there. John Brand, who had

lands at Martham, settled in Yarmouth prior to 1781. In the 18th century

Richard Chicheley, stationer, had a shop in the Old Broad Row; as had

afterwards Mr. Keymer*, printer.

To the north of, and adjoining the last house on the north side of the Old

Broad Row, there are seven houses and shops, fronting west on Charlotte

Street, which belong to the Parish Church. The northward-most of these

houses had been the property of “ The Gild of our Lady of St. Nicholas,”

and in it the brotherhood held their meetings. On the general suppression

of gilds, and the disposal of their property, this house was appropriated

to the church. The early English gilds f were

two daughters, Rachel who died unmarried in 1809, and Helen who married Mr.

O. V. Beart of Gorleston. Mary, the second daughter, married Samuel Gilbird. Mrs.

Hayward died in 1700, aged 81. There was a family of Hayward of long continuance

at Lowestoft. John Hayward, who died in 1719, aged 63, gave 52s. a year in bread for

the poor. Alice, daughter of James Wilde of Lowestoft by Helen his wife, daughter of

Henry Stone of Bedingham, Norfolk, married Robert Hayward, and left a son, James

Hayward, and two daughters, Mary who married William Bass, and Helen who married

Samuel Kittridge.

* Keymer published the best edition ever printed of Burkitt’s Expository Notes with

Practical Observations upon the New Testament, in royal 4to, with ﬁne plates. He also,

in 1813, published The African Princess and other poems by Mary Elizabeth Capp,

dedicated to Dawson Turner, Esq. The book contains “an elegy” addressed to her father,

who was at that time a prisoner of war at Arras.

f It has already been seen that the word guild or more properly gild meant a rateable

payment, and was applied to these societies because they had the power of

276

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

institutions for mutual help as well as good fellowship; and performed

the functions which now devolve on friendly or beneﬁt societies. There

being then no diversity of religious sects, each gild had a patron saint,

and maintained, where they could afford to do so, a chapel in the parish

and a chaplain or ofﬁciating priest.* They were not trading companies;

and they endeavoured to set up something higher than mere gain, and

taught the love of one’s neighbour not as a mere moral dogma, but as a

virtue to be felt and acted upon. “Craft Gilds,” formed for the protection

of trade in a manner somewhat similar to the trade unions of the present

time. Such at Yarmouth was the Gild of St. Crispin for cordwainers; and

their master in 1525 was Alderman William Scarburgh. f Each gild had

its appointed days of meeting (usually four in a year) for the election

of new members and the transaction of business, one being a grand day

for choosing a master or warden, and was more especially devoted to

festivity and usually held on the feast day of the patron saint. J Allowances

from the common stock were made to sick members. The member of

each gild wore when they met on public occasions a distinctive dress,

and this is why the London gilds, which still exist, are called “Livery”

Companies. It was the alleged religious character of the gilds which

brought about their

enforcing a regular rate from the members; whilst it also meant a brotherhood.

Danish gilde signiﬁed a feast, and the same word in Dutch meant a number of persons

eating together.”

* One of the clergy was specially appointed to be the Trinity Mass priest with a salary

which was contributed to by the members of the Trinity Gild. The chaplain appointed

to each gild was expected to attend the sick and afford spiritual consolation to the

members.

f The ordinances of the Gild of the Cordwainers at Exeter are published by Toulmin

Smith in his English Gilds, p. 331. Every member not paying his share towards the

priest and the chisel was subject to a penalty.

X Robert Palmer was Steward, of the Gild of St. Nicholas, Lynn, which was formed

in 1359. The ordinances provide that there should be four meetings every year to which

all should come, or be ﬁned half a pound of wax; and if he grumbled he was to pay a

pound. Any one ill-behaving at a feast was to pay a ﬁne, and was liable to expulsion.

The allowance of all was regulated; and no one was to enter the buttery where the ale

was kept. No one was to attend a feast with bare legs or bare feet, nor stay in the gild

house after the alderman was gone. These were common regulations. The wax was

used for the candles kept burning in the chapel of the gild.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

277

ruin; for they were all included in the 37 Henry VIII. c. 4, which enabled

the king to seize their possessions in order that the revenues might be

used and exercised to more godly and virtuous purposes,” which act was

rendered more complete by the 1st Edward VI., c. 14, Sir Frederick Eden

in his State of the Poor, vol. 1, p. iii, is of opinion that “notwithstanding

the unjustiﬁable conﬁscation of the property of gilds,” there is reason

to suppose that private associations for similar purposes continued to

exist in various parts of England.* Benevolent and friendly societies

some measure occupied subsequently the the ground left vacant by the

suppression of the gilds. Among these may be reckoned the “Foresters”

and and the “Odd Fellows,” who have long had lodges in Yarmouth.

In 1766 a Society of Friends was established in Yarmouth “for the

promotion of good fellowship,” and for maintaining “a box” for the

support of such members as should become incapacitated by sickness

or lameness. Some of the rules are curious. Members were to meet once

a month and subscribe 1s. and spend 3d. At Christmas, box masters and

a clerk were annually appointed. Sick members were allowed 6s. per

week, and £5 to the widow or children of a deceased member, and if

there were none then the money to be expended on his funeral, which the

members were to attend or forfeit 6d. Any person at a meeting cursing

or swearing, offering to game or quarrel, or “check” any member for

receiving charity, to forfeit one penny for the ﬁrst offence, two pence

for the second, and so on in proportion on pain of expulsion. Here we

have a relic of the old gild regulations which punished insults offered

by one member to another. This appears to have been the forerunner of

those friendly or beneﬁt societies which afterwards gradually became

developed. In 1810 a society met at the Two-necked Swan, (ante, p. 194)

called The Brotherly Society of Friendship and Good Will, for mutual

relief in sickness, old age, or inﬁrmity.

* Some villages had their gilds; and it is a chapel belonging to the Gild of St. James

in Pulham is still standing by the side of the road leading from that place to Harleston,

and now used as a school. See Blomeﬁeld’s Norfolk, vol. 5, vol. 4, p. 229.

t The “Ancient Order of Foresters” was formed in 1745, and has so increased that

in 1865 it numbered upwards of 300,000 members, and is one of the ﬁrst of the great

beneﬁt societies in respect of the amount of funds in their possession.

278

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

Market Row leads from Old Broad Row to the Market Place, and is nearly

opposite to the site of the old Market Cross. Although much frequented

by foot passengers, it remained open for carts so long as 1784, when,

upon the petition of the inhabitants, the corporation ordered one of their

old cannons then lying near to the playhouse to be put down as a post

at the west end; and at a subsequent period this row was paved with

ﬂag-stones, and became a favorite place for shops.

At the north-west corner there was an old fashioned pastry cook’s shop

kept, in the early part of the present (19 th ) century, by Press Turner 1 , who

subsequently had the Wrestlers, and ultimately removed to Norwich. The

site is now occupied erected by Messrs. William Johnson and Sons

At No. 20 resided for many years Mr. David Abraham Gourlay who

ﬁlled the ofﬁce of mayor in 1849.* He gave £1000 for the erection of

schools for the Wesleyan Methodists built on Deneside and died in 1871,

aged 88.

Another house on the north side of century the property of a family

named De Boys.

Near the north-east corner is a house which in the early part of the

present (19th) century was in the occupation of Mr.Kendall, haberdasher.

f

At the south-east corner is a house century was occupied by

Messrs. Barker and Fenn, grocers and subsequently for many years by

the surviving partner, Mr. Fenn, a member of the corporation. Mention

has already been made of families bearing this name. Samuel Fenn, who

was mayor in 1687, had £130 allowed him for entertaining the Duke of

Norfolk. t

* As such he attended the dinner given by the Lord Mayor of York in 1851 for all the

Mayors in England, each of whom took with him a banner and his insignia of ofﬁce.

He was the son of David Gourlay, who died in 1838, leaving Susanna his widow, who

died in 1851, aged 89; both buried in St. Nicholas Church.

f His descendants now reside at King’s Lynn. Thomas Kendall who was a member of

the corporation in 1626, voted against the scheme for changing the government of the

town; and was a supporter of Brinsley. Maurice Kendall of North Walsham (whose

family held lands at Banham and New Buckenham in Norfolk) was sub-steward in

1693, and recorder from 1702 to 1712. He bore or. ﬁve mascles in cross, and a chief

indented gu.

t Some members of a Norfolk family of Fenn emigrated to Virginia in the “old

1 Palmer’s Addenda: Press Turner, the pastry cook - Among the lounges, says the

guide of 1876, “Turner’s at the bottom of the Market Row, cannot be overlooked”.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

279

Same year he carried up an address to James II, assuring him of the

attachment of the corporation to his person and government; and on his

return the Mayor reported that his majesty had been graciously pleased

to receive the address and to thank the corporation for the same, advising

them when he called a parliament to elect such members as would concur

with him in taking off the penal laws and tests. They soon afterwards had

a specimen of the King’s regard for freedom of thought, for by an order

in council he dismissed six aldermen and eleven common councilmen,

and by his arbitrary will, nominated others to ﬁll their places. This order

when read in assembly (Mr Mayor and all present being “uncovered

and standing” was “dutifully and unanimously submitted to, and

obeyed.”*

The house, No. 3, on the south side was, early in the present century,

occupied by Edward Branthwaite Jay, who sold the property to William

Kemp, boot and shoe maker; and in 1868, when occupied by Frederick

Pigg, hosier, this house was burnt to the ground and Mrs. Pigg and two

children perished in the ﬂames.

At No. 17, on the south side of the row, lived John Short, called by

sportsmen the “Emperor of Boot makers.”

He was strongly commended by Lieut.-Colonel Hawker in his

Instructions to Young Sportsmen , especially for water boots, which Short

sent to all parts of the kingdom. He purchased this house in 1796, and

died in 1845 . f After the death

colonial time.” Their descendants were royalists, and lost much of their property during

the war of independence. Three sisters returned from America; two died unmarried at

Yarmouth; and the third, Ann, married Robert Ward.

* The king had taken the precaution of sending some soldiers to the town, under

the command of Lieut.-Colonel Billingsley, for whose maintenance the corporation

had to provide under promise of re-payment.

f He was a man of quaint humour and ready wit, willing to converse on any subject,

and, as he said, to give “ the short and the long of it.” Consequently his shop was much

frequented by the Quidnuncs of the time. Mr.Frederick Burton once entered his shop

and asked Short whether his friend, Mr. Day, had been there. “ Which of the Days,” said

the bootmaker. “I call him the Lord’s Day,” said the enquirer, “because he is always

talking of great people.” “Nay,” replied Short, “ I know whom you mean, but, for the

same reason, I call him the week day.” A lady once complaining that her shoes did not

ﬁt, Short retorted, “Madam, they may not ﬁt your eyes, but I am certain they ﬁt your

feet.” The lady, who was possessed of a good understanding, said no more.

1 Palmer’s Addenda: John Short - his only surviving grandson is the Rev. John Lettis

Short, of Bath, to which city he retired, after having ofﬁciated as minister of a chapel

at Bridport for 17 years and afterwards at one in Shefﬁeld for ten years, and at both

places he received substantial testimonials of the esteem in which he was held by his

several congregations.

280

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

of Short, these premises were purchased by Charles Dolman of

Basingstoke, linen draper.*

In the latter part of the last century there was a respectable tradesman,

named Blanchard Blanchard, f who was born at Yarmouth in 1803.

Row, No., 49, from Howard Street to the Market Place, is narrow

and dismal, there being few dwelling houses in it. This row and Row

No. 50, divide the Regent ward from the Market Ward, which division is

carried is carried from Row No. 49 across the Market and thence down

Regent road by Apsley Terrace to the sea; and from Row 50 across the

quay to the river. Between this Row and Market row, facing Howard

street, there was the Maid’s Head, now pulled down and houses and

shops built on the site.

* The Dolmans of Basingstoke trace their descent from Thomas Dolman of Newbury,

cloth maker, who was a competitor with the famous Jack of Newbury. Sir Thomas

Dolman, his grandson, was the possessor of Shaw Place, by building a ﬁne mansion,

was the envy of his neighbours, which had expression in the following couplet:

“Lord have mercy upon us, miserable sinners

“ Dolman has built a house, and turn’d away all his spinners.

In 1587 he had a grant of arms was, seven garbs or. His grandson, Sir Thomas Dolman,

was the possessor of Shaw when it was the head-quarters of Charles I. before the last

battle of Newbury the password was: “ King and law,” which the Dolmans took for

their motto:

“ King and law,”

“ shouts Dolman of Shaw,”

t At a very early age Leman Blanchard evinced as nothing could suppress. He

began his career as reader in the establishment of Messrs. Cox, printers, Great Queen

street, London. He married Miss Anne Gates who had some relationship with Sir

Stamford Rafﬂes, and Mr. Vigors, M.P. for Carlow; and by their exertions he was

elected Secretary to the Zoological Society. In 1828, Blanchard published his ﬁrst work,

a small volume, entitled Lyric offerings. In 1831, he resigned his secretaryship for the

more congenial employment of acting editor of the monthly Magazine, then conducted

by Dr. Croly. He edited in succession several newspapers until 1841, when he became

connected with the Examiner and wrote for that paper until his death, which happened

in 1845, aged 41. He was buried at Norwood cemetary, and his funeral was attended

by a large number of literary friends. Mark Lemon as he used to say that he was not

the only Lemon ﬂavouring the original bowl of Punch 1 , since Leman Rede and Leman

Blanchard were associated with him.

1 Punch magasine.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

281

Row, No. 50, from the south-west corner of George Street to Howard

Street.* At the south-west corner, and occupying the space southward

to Row No. 52, there is a ﬁne old house having a cut-ﬂint front towards

the quay. All the principal rooms were lined with wainscot, and there

were other decorations peculiar to mansions of the 17th century. It is now

divided into two occupations; shop windows have been thrown out, and

the tiled roof has given place to one of slate. During the last century it

was the property of the L OVE family. They came from Ireland, and had a

good estate in the County Cork (which has passed through females to the

Vincents of Limerick), and were seated at Castle Saffron near Doneraile.

Samuel Love was Mayor of Cork in 1695. The founder of the Yarmouth,

family was the Rev. Barry Love, who was the son of John Love, Esq., of

Castle Saffron, and was born in 1663. He ﬂed from Ireland to London

in 1689, in company with the Rev. Rowland Davies, afterwards Dean of

Cork (already mentioned p. 135), to escape the persecutions which the

protestants then suffered in Ireland under the then lord lieutenant, the

Earl of Tyrconnel, who was in arms for James II. When Dean Davies

resigned his lectureship at Yarmouth in 1690 in order to return to Ireland,

he recommended one of his friends, the Rev. Mr. Ryder, to supply his

place; but the bailiffs with whom the appointment was then vested,

gathering wisdom from experience, refused to nominate him unless he

promised to stay “after Ireland was reduced.” To this Mr. Ryder would

not assent; whereupon the dean recommended another of his friends, the

above-named Barry Love, who not only made the required promise but

kept it; much to his own advantage and to be given great satisfaction

as lecturer, the corporation, who then held the patronage under a lease

granted by the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, presented him in 1691 to

the Incumbency of the Parish; and he soon afterwards consummated his

good fortune by marrying (in 1698) Anne, the rich widow of George

Ward, Esq. f He appears to have discharged

* This street was called Blind Middle Street in 1522, when a grant of a piece of land

was made to Richard Platen 1 . In 1636 Thomas Browne had leave to put up two posts

at his door in Blind Middle Street.

f He presented his bride with a Bible (Oxford Edition, 1697), which is still preserved,

and in which many family events remain recorded.

1 The Platten family have for a century or more run a successful general store in several

shops on both sides of the Broad Row, towards the west end. In the 1970’s and 80’s they

supplied the school uniforms for all the local schools, even as far aﬁeld as Southwold.

Richard Platten the last owner, was grandson of the founder. In 2006, Plattens’ stores

have been closed down and empty for about 5 years. At this time most of the shops in

Broad Row have closed, and the burned down shops at the west end of Market Row

have only now in December 2006, had their concrete foundations laid.

282

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

his duties as Minister of the Parish in an exemplary manner, for in 1701

the corporation presented him with £40, “for his great pains taken in

expounding the catechism and preaching four preparatory sermons for

the sacrament” for two years then, last past; and they agreed to allow

him £20 a year so long as he continued such exposition and preaching.

In 1700 he was presented to the Rectory of Fulmodeston, in Norfolk,

which he held for ﬁve years. “When St. George’s chapel was erected in

1715 he preached the opening sermon, which has been printed. At the

Norfolk election of 1714 he voted for Sir Ralph Hare and Erasmus-Earle,

in respect of a freehold at Tunstall. His ﬁrst wife dying in 1721 he, in the

following year, married Mary, relict of the Rev. Wm, Peters of Weeting

in Norfolk, but only survived his second marriage a few months, dying

in 1722, aged 60. There is a portrait of him dressed in a black gown and

bands, with a full ﬂowing wig, in the possession of his descendants. The

minister’s was the eldest son, Barry Love* Aspiring to the mayoralty

in 1733, a severe contest ensued. The inquest, who were shut up on St.

John’s Day (29th August), did not deliver their verdict till Sunday, the

2nd of September, when Mr. Love was declared “New Elect.” At the

ensuing St. John’s Day, a fracas took place respecting the election of

two commoners. f “Mr. Barry Love, the mayor’s son,” says Ives in his

diary, “would have drawn his sword but was hindered; notwithstanding

that, the mayor took Mr. Nathaniel Symonds by the nose, upon which he

stroke Mr. Love on the head with his cane.” These indecorous proceedings

were protracted until one o’clock the following morning, when having

sat eleven hours the contending parties

* He had for his godfathers, Capt. Gabriel Ward and Capt. John Carlowe.

f The dispute about “commoners” was this: when a sufﬁcient number of the common

council did not attend on St. John’s Day, it was necessary to ﬁll up the vacancies from

the commonalty or freemen. This was done by the mayor, who nominated whom

he pleased, and by this means he might in some measure inﬂuence the choice of his

successor; to prevent which the aldermen sought the right of nominating each one a

commoner, according to the number of vacancies. Counsel advised that the right was

in the mayor who, as presiding ofﬁcer, was presumed to act impartially, whilst each

alderman would avowedly nominate a partizan ; but, as this was the object in view,

such opinion was not satisfactory, and after a century of agitation and contention the

demand of the aldermen was conceded.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

283

became exhausted, and agreed to adjourn until two o’clock in the

afternoon of that day. When they again met they were “in a much better

mind,” and at last an inquest was chosen and shut up. The latter could

not however agree, and so “laid all that night,” the following day, and

all the following night, until the morning of the 1st of September, when

they chose Mr. Samuel Wakeman, mayor. This did not please Mr. Love,

for he refused to dine with the new mayor on the following Michaelmas

day; and he and his party “dined by themselves at Mrs. Barnaby’s”

(probably the Ship tavern). It was a contest for supremacy between the

two great political parties; Mr. Love representing the government or

whig party, and Mr. Wakeman the opposition or Jacobite party. During

his year of ofﬁce Mr. Love entertained Dr. Butts, Bishop of Norwich, on

his primary visitation, “in the accustomed manner.” During his mayoralty,

the gold chain, still worn by the Mayors of Yarmouth, was purchased

by subscription among the members of the corporation. It had at ﬁrst

a gold medal attached, which was afterwards exchanged for additional

links. Mr. Love married Virtue, one of the two daughters and co-heiresses

of Christopher Brightin, Esq., with whom he acquired a considerable

fortune. She died in 1782, aged 82. Barry Love was a county magistrate,

had a country seat at Ormesby, and was Sheriff of Norfolk in 1745.

He died in 1748, aged 52, possessed of extensive estates in Ormesby,

Tunstall, Repps, Filby, and Hemsby in Norfolk, and in the towns of

Cambridge and Great Yarmouth. He devised the principal part of these

possessions to his son, Barry Brightin Love, charged with the payment

of £5,000 to his daughter, Margaret, “within ten days after his decease.”

Barry Brightin Love died in 1760, aged 40, unmarried, having survived

his only brother, Christopher Love, who died young. He left two sisters.

Margaret, the elder, married John Beevor, Esq., of Norwich, M.D.; * and

Elizabeth, the younger, married George Robertson, Esq., of London. f

* Dr. Beevor, by his second marriage with Mary Russell, was father of Edward Beevor,

Esq., who took the name of Lombe by Act of Parliament. He had a son, Edward Lombe,

who died s.p. By his ﬁrst marriage Dr. Beevor had an only daughter, Margaret, who

married James Crowe, Esq., of Norwich. Dr. Beevor died in 1816, aged 88.

f Lillias, their daughter, died unmarried, at Norwich, in 1858, aged 90.

284

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

John Goslin Love, the second son of the minister, was Mayor of

Yarmouth in 1763. He married in 1742 Mary, daughter of Dr. Macro,

the incumbent. She died in 1777, aged 55, surviving her husband ten

years, he dying in 1767, aged 46. Their eldest son, John Love, was born

in 1743, and had for his godfathers Dr. Macro and Mr. George Ward,

and for his godmother Lady Whichcote. He graduated at Caius college,

Cambridge, where he obtained a Perse fellowship, and in 1770, shortly

after being ordained priest, was by Sir Thomas Allin presented to the

Rectories of Somerleyton and Blundeston in Suffolk, which he held for

the long term of 46 years. In 1790 the corporation appointed him to be

one of the Ministers of St. George’s chapel, which enabled him to reside

in Yarmouth; and this preferment he held till his death in 1816, aged

74. He was reputed to be a “worthy gentleman of the good old school.”

He married Susan Jane, daughter of the Rev. Edward Holden, Rector of

Barsham, who died in 1824, aged 75. * Another daughter of Mr. Holden

married Admiral Sir John Lawford. The eldest son of the Rev. John Love,

by the above marriage, was John Macro Love, “a young man of the most

amiable and endearing qualities,” who, while serving as a Lieutenant in

the 29th Regiment, died in 1795, of a pestilential fever at the Island of

Granada in the West Indies, aged only 19 years, f Their second son, the

Rev. Edward Missenden Love, so named from his god-father, Edward

Missenden Holden, Esq., also graduated at Caius college, Cambridge, and

on the death of his father was instituted to the Rectories of Somerleyton

and Blundeston, which he held for nearly ﬁfty years, J dying in 1865,

in his 83rd year. He married, in 1811, Charlotte Maria,

* The arms of Holden are sa., a fesse betw. two chev. erm. ; and for a crest, a moor cock

sa., winged or., with, this appropriate motto Teneo et tenior. John Holden, of Yarmouth,

voted at the County Election in 1714 for a freehold at Martham, in favour of Sir Ralph

Hare and Erasmus Earle.

f He was born at Browston Hall,—or Browston White House, as it was called, then the

residence of Mrs. Margaret Le Grys, who stood godmother; the Rev. Edward Holden

and Francis Sclintz, Esq., of Grillingham Hall, Suffolk, being his god-fathers. (See

Ante, p. 113.)

j Father and son therefore holding the same church preferments for nearly a century.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

285

daughter of James Fisher, Esq. ( see p. 236 ), by whom he had a numerous

family. John Henry, the eldest son, took holy orders, but died young and

unmarried. Edward Missenden Love, the second son, a Captain in the

60th Riﬂes, died in 1868, aged 50; and Charles Holden, the youngest

son, died at Geelong in Australia in 1868. Henry Love, the third son

of the Rev. John Love, was born in 1792, and had for his godmother

Mrs. Leathes of Herringﬂeet hall. He was a Lieutenant in the Royal

Navy, and died in 1842, aged 49, unmarried. Charlotte Jane, the eldest

daughter of the Rev. John Love, born in 1775 (having for her godmother

Mrs. Beckford, then residing at Somerleyton hall), married Stackhouse

Tompson, Esq. Susanna, the next daughter, born in 1777, married in

1810 the Rev. Edward South Thurlow, Prebendary of Norwich (nephew

of Lord Chancellor Thurlow and of the Bishop of Durham), who died in

1847, leaving issue one daughter (who died in 1843, having married in the

same year the Rev. Henry Symonds, Precentor of Norwich) and one son,

Octavius Thurlow. Mrs. Thurlow died in 1851. Anna Maria and Amelia,

twin daughters born in 1785, “a quarter of an hour between them,”

and “the handsomest children as ever were born,” as parental affection

describes them, died young.* The arms born by this family of Love are

vert., a lion rampant regardant arg; and for a crest, a greyhound erect,

couped, having a collar and chain or. Motto, Pro deo et virtute . f

Subsequently this house was purchased by Charles Costerton 1 , surgeon,

who ﬁlled the ofﬁce of mayor in 1825, and lived here until his death in

1851, aged 61. J He married, ﬁrst, Harriet, daughter of

* The Rev. Seymour Love, Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, died at Yarmouth, in

1793, aged 44, and was buried in St. Nicholas’ church. In 1743 John Love, Collector

of Customs at Cork, seized a Yarmouth vessel called the Virtue, with Mr. Gains, the

ship’s master. The ship was laden with a cargo of provisions, supposed to be destined

for the King of Spain. An appeal was made to the High Court of Admiralty, but it

appearing that the master had a Spanish pass, the judge, Sir Henry Penrice, condemned

the vessel as a legal prize.

f There are portraits of John Goslin Love and Mary his wife in the possession of their

descendants. He is represented in a blue coat with gold lace.

X His most distinguished pupil was Sir James Paget, Bart., F.R.S., consulting surgeon

at St. Bartholomew’s hospital, and Surgeon Extraordinary to the Queen and

1 Palmer’s Addenda: Charles Costerton , In a speech delivered at Norwich in 1874,

Sir James Paget described him as “a man of admirable sagacity in his profession, a

good anatomist, a good practitioner, and above all one who set a good example of

continual study and helped me in all the work I was disposed and some of that I was

indisposed to undertake”.

286

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

James Wenn, Esq., of Ipswich, who died in 1836, aged 40; and, second,

Susannah Shouldham, widow of Capt. Harmer, R.N. By the ﬁrst marriage

he had issue (of) several sons, but had no child by the latter.

At the south-west corner of the above row is a public house called the

Buck; and in the neighbourhood was a public house called the Sir Samuel

Hood *

Between this row and Old Broad row there is a house, erected early in

the 17th century, which has a square cut-ﬂint front. It is now known as

No. 65, George street. In 1749 this house was the property of John Eules,

upholder; at which time the house to the north was occupied by William

Pacey, f and that to the south by John Bradford. j They are described as

fronting west on Middlegate 1 street. Towards the close of the last century

this house was purchased by Mr. Samuel Higham Aldred, who was

Adjutant of two separate corps of Volunteers formed in 1798. They were

increased to six companies in 1803, and united into a regiment of local

militia, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Gould, Mr. Aldred retaining

his post as adjutant. He married, in 1796, Ann,

Surgeon to the Princess of Wales, who here acquired the rudiments of that profession

in which he has become so highly distinguished.

* In honor of the popular naval commander upon whom, in 1782, the corporation

conferred the freedom of the borough. See P. C, p. 267.

f The Pacey family were from Lowestoft, where they were inﬂuential dissenters. Samuel

Pacey was, in 1695, a trustee of the ﬁrst meeting house there, with Sir Robert Rich of

Rose hall and Thomas Neale of Bramﬁeld. He prosecuted two women for witchcraft;

and they were tried, convicted, and executed at Bury St. Edmund’s. William Pacey,

his son, died at Yarmouth in 1727, aged 64. He served the ofﬁce of mayor in 1722.

His daughter married, in 1724, the Rev. Roger Donne, Rector of Catﬁeld, Norfolk,

and, dying in 1727, was buried at Ludham. The latter was the son of Roger Donne of

Ludham, and grandson of William Donne of Letheringsett, Norfolk, descended from the

famous Dr. Donne. The pedigree is recorded at (the) Herald’s college, and the family

bore ens., a wolf salient arg,

j The Yarmouth family of this name bore for their arms— az., three stags’ heads erased

or., with a stag’s head erased for a crest. Thomas Bradford was nominated an alderman

in the charter granted by Charles II. He was bailiff in 1675, and mayor in 1685; and died

in 1703, aged 74, leaving a sum of money wherewith to erect a huge gallery which ﬁlled

the nave of the Parish church; two pillars on the north side of the nave being removed

to afford light to it. This monstrosity was allowed to remain until 1846, when it was

removed and the pillars replaced.

1 Surely this is a misprint, as it can never have been Middlegate, but George Street.

Either that, or these are completely the wrong deeds. (This is not noted in Palmer’s

addenda.)

GREAT YARMOUTH.

287

daughter of Mr. John Daniel, a common councilman, and died in 1859,

aged 84, leaving the above lady a widow who still survives.*

Row, No. 51, from the last row to the Market Place, formerly called

Lamb Row f and more recently Black Swan Row, from an ancient public

house at the south-west corner fronting Howard street, lately rebuilt. At

the north-west corner is a public house called The Vine. x In 1687 Mrs.

Elizabeth Witch, widow, gave a tenement in this row for the habitation

of poor widows.

To the south of this row, fronting the Market place, No. 36, is a public

house, which in 1763 was called The Old Plow (sic), and was then the

property of Spencer Lane. It is now called The British Lion. On the south

side of this house is a row, not numbered, called British Lion Alley, which

is of the shape of a dog’s hind leg, and runs into Row No. 51, near the

west end of the same.

The next house fronting the Market place (No. 37) was in the ﬁrst quarter

of the present century occupied for many years by Joseph Hunton, linen

draper, a dapper little man, always dressed in strict quaker costume, he

being a, member of the Society of Friends. He was active in mind and

body; and might literally be called a “counter jumper;” for the facility with

which he sprung from one part of his shop to another was marvellous.

In 1811, when there was a great scarcity of silver, he issued tokens to

pass as shillings, “payable at J. Hunton’s, Yarmouth, and at Blyth’s and

Co., Bury.” Having, as it

* The name of Aldred has been of some continuance in Yarmouth. Robert Aldred was

a member of the corporation, and dismissed at his own request in 1661. On the 22nd

of May, 1763, at Oulton, C.W. Caleb Aldred of Carleton was married to Miss Martha

Lane, “an accomplished lady with £15,000,” says the Norfolk Chronicle. The immediate

ancestor of Mr. S. H. Aldred was one of the owners of the Lowestoft China Manufactory,

of which we shall have occasion to give an account farther on.

t Probably from a public house with this sign, which is an ancient one derived from

the holy symbol of the lamb and ﬂag.

X Almost every tavern where wine was sold used formerly to exhibit a bunch of

grapes carved in wood. “Without there hangs a noble sign, “Where golden grapes in

image shine,” says The Compleat Vintner, written, in 1729.

288

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

is believed, acquired by his industry some property, he sought a wider

ﬁeld of enterprize by removing to London, where he opened a shop in

Bishopsgate street, and entered largely into the trade of a drysalter, living

himself with his family at Low Leyton. Deceived it is said by his partner,

as other men have been, and losing largely by a speculation, in Spanish

bonds, he thought to retrieve his fortune by means of bills of exchange

accepted and endorsed by imaginary ﬁrms; whereby he sustained his

credit for some time, but at last the deception was discovered and he

was prosecuted, and suffered the extreme penalty of the then law. This

happened in 1831, when he was 58 years of age. *

Row, No. 52, from the Quay to Howard Street; at the south-west corner

of which, fronting the quay, is the Buck Inn (No. 8). The next house (No.

9) was, early in the last century, the property of John March, merchant f

and in 1771 it was purchased by Richard Bygrave, saddler, who resided

in it for many years, He was a very popular tradesman, and his shop was

a favorite resort for all who desired to hear the news of the day. After

his death it was converted into a druggist’s shop, and occupied for many

years by Mr. Cufaude Davie, who, after

* See Annual Register, vol. 70, p.p. 150, 173; and P. C , p. 104.

As a specimen of quaker writing on a matter of business, the following copy of a letter

addressed by Hunton to a gentleman in Yarmouth, who had lent money on his Low

Leyton property, is inserted.

16, Bread Street Hill, 12 Oct., 24.

Esteemed Friend,

I am informed by my sol. that thou wished to have 6 months’ notice before the mortgage

of my Leyton estate is paid off. I do not wish to deprive thee of the regular notice, and I

made thee the ﬁrst offer of encreasing the amount; but as the deeds of the new mortgage

are nearly ready, if not quite complete, I propose to deposit with thee the writings of

my two freehold houses in Yarmouth, and any time when thee require it, the money

shall be paid thee on giving me a few days’ notice, and if more agreeable to thee the

£2,000 shall be paid thee immediately. On these terms I shall be obliged by thy giving

to my sol. the writings of the estate at Leyton when he applies for them.—I am, very

respectfully, thy friend, J OSEPH H UNTON .

f John March, his son, who was a printer and bookseller here and at Norwich, settled

in George Town near Washington, where he died in 1804, aged 50, “a man of great

urbanity, and much regretted.” Thomas March, a burgess in the 14th century, held a

piece of land and a garden abutting upon the port of Yarmouth towards the west, which

he devised to Ada his wife, who by her will made in 1418 desired the same to be sold

and the proceeds applied for her soul’s health.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

289

the passing of the Municipal Reform Act in 1835, was elected church-

warden in open vestry, and ﬁlled that ofﬁce for several years.* George

Davie, born at Richmond in Yorkshire, became a freeman of Newcastle on

Tyne, and afterwards settled in Yarmouth, where he had a son (Gershom

by name) born to him in 1677. The latter married Mary Alison, f by

whom he had an only surviving son, Gershorom Davie, who married

Ann Worts, and died in 1783. His widow died in 1798, aged 90. Their

eldest son, Gershom Davie, died in the same year as: his father, aged

49, having had two sons, both of whom were drowned at sea vita patris,

and with him this elder branch became extinct. Alison Davie, second

son of Gershom Davie and Ann his wife, died in 1816, aged 75, having

married Susannah Holland, and had by her a son, William Davie, who

died in 1828, aged 62, leaving by Ann Cufaude his wife the above-

mentioned Cufaude Davie, who by Margaret Bensly his wife left one son,

the Rev. Wm. Cufaude Davie, M.A., Chaplain to the Diocesan Female

Training Institution at Norwich. William Davie, second son of the above-

named Wm. Davie by Ann his wife, was for many years Agent for the

Corporation of the Trinity House and a Sub-commissioner of Pilotage.

He is a freeman of the borough of Newcastle on Tyne, his forefathers

having from the time of their settling in Yarmouth invariably claimed

their right by birth to that franchise, which at one time was of value as

it exempted them from certain dues which other traders to Newcastle

had to pay. The arms uniformly borne by this family are— az., on a fesse

arg., betw. three boars’ heads erased or., three cinquefoils sa.; and for a

crest a talbot’s head erased arg., ducally crowned, collared, and eared

or. After the death of Mr. Cufaude Davie in 1851, t the above-mentioned

premises were purchased by the present

* Previous to the passing of the above-mentioned act, the right of electing two

churchwardens annually, unlike the general custom, was vested in the corporation, who

by means of the inquest chosen on St. John’s day (ante p. 71), selected two of their

body, one from the aldermen and the other from the common councilmen.

f The name of Alison has been of some continuance in Yarmouth. Edmund and Thomas

Alison voted at the Norfolk election in 1714 for Astley and De Grey.

X His collections of books, prints, and pictures were sold by auction in that

290

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

proprietor, Mr. John Owles, who has an extensive and valuable collection

of porcelain and other wares, a portion of which he exhibited at the Town

hall in 1865, in conjunction with a selection from the South Kensington

Museum.

Between this house and the next to the south, which is a public house

called the Barge, there was a row which has long since been stopped up.

The house last mentioned belonged to Mallett’s brewery 1 , and was ﬁrst

licensed in 1773 when it was called the Yarmouth Barge, because it was

opposite the quay at which the barges which plied between Yarmouth

and Norwich embarked and landed their passengers and goods. This quay

was also called the Wherry quay, because here wherries and keels took

in and landed their cargoes as the practice still is. *

Before the invention of the stage coach, the most commodious

conveyance from Yarmouth to Norwich was by barge; which was not

however free from danger, for in 1712 a wherry carrying passengers to

Norwich was upset on Breydon and twenty persons were drowned. (See

ante, p. 182,) In 1809 the barge from Norwich was unable to proceed in

consequence of the marshes being so ﬂooded by a rapid thaw that the

course of the river could not be followed.

From the above quay in former times it was customary for the

bailiffs twice in every year, in order to preserve their rights over the

rivers, to embark in their barge, and accompanied by the “Inquests of the

Liberties” and many of their brethren, and taking with them musicians and

other ofﬁcers, amid, the sound of trumpets, beating of drums, playing of

ﬁfes, “and otherwhiles sweetly singing,” to pass up the river. Arriving at

the mouth of the Waveney the senior bailiff proceeded up to St. Olave’s,

while the junior continued his course up the Yare to Hardley Gross, and

at both places proclamation was made claiming the

year. Among the latter was a portrait, by De Vos, of the Painter’s Mother; and the

Woodland Ferry, by Lee, R.A., the latter being a £150 prize obtained by Mr. Davie in

1846 from the Art Union. He was a Justice of the Peace for the Borough. There is a

monument to his memory in an inclosure on the west side of the north transept in St.

Nicholas’ churchyard. His age was 53.

* In 1793 Isaac Ayton, corn merchant, of Norwich, whilst “stepping into his keel which

had been laid by the quay-side in order to return home,” slipped from the plank and

was drowned.

1 Mallett lived at 43 King Street, see Revised History of Great Yarmouth.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

291

right of free passage, ﬁshing, and fowling, and denouncing unlawful nets,

encroachments, and nuisances. The inquests were further to acquire and

due presentment make of all assaults, affrays, and blood letting upon

“ the queen’s said streams.” The business of the day being ended, the

“ dinner which,” says Manship in his quaint style, “their kind wives “

had, in most plentiful sort provided, was placed before them; where, “in

their boats, after thanksgiving to G OD for their liberties,” they enjoyed

the good things of this life, and each bailiff meeting the other where

they had parted, they returned amid “great applause of the people, “ and

much shooting of ordnance.” Not content however with their day’s work,

each bailiff took his company home to supper, so that “if any cheer was

wanting at dinner, the same at their houses might be largely supplied.”

On the following day the bailiffs, both in one boat, with a select party of

friends went up to Weybridge, where they had “a hair of the dog that bit

them,” * and then, quoth Manship, “there was an end of the business.”

This “going to the narrow waters,” as it was called, was made a general

holiday. Every boat which could be procured was put in requisition, and

everyone being bent on enjoyment, it was called by the appropriate name

of the “Water Frolic” f

Dean Davies gives the following description of the frolic at which he

was present on the 7th of August, 1689. “I broke my fast,” says he, “with

Mr. Bailiff England, and at about nine o’clock went with him on board

a wherry, made into the form of a barge. As we marched three drums

were beat, and as many colours ﬂourished before us all along the street;

and as we went up the water a drum was beat at the head and a colour

ﬂoated at the stern of our boat. We were attended by above twenty other

boats full of people; and if the seamen had been at home, and dared to

have appeared, I was assured we should have had double the number. The

ﬁrst boat which led the way was full of young men in white, with caps

made like those of our grenadiers. Next followed our boat with the king’s

colours at the mast.Then another, alike in all things, wherein was the

* Applied to a second drinking bout.

f The custom of going the bounds of the river was no doubt observed at a very early

date, but it is ﬁrst mentioned as a “frolic” in 1577, made into the form of a barge. As we

marched three drums were beat, and as many colours ﬂourished before us all along the

street; and as we went up the water a drum was “ beat at the head and a colour ﬂoated at

the stern of our boat. We were attended by above twenty other boats full of people; and

if the seamen had been at home, and dared to have appeared, I was assured we should

have had double the number. The ﬁrst boat which led the way was full of young men

in white, with caps made like those of our grenadiers. Next followed our boat with the

king’s colours at the mast. Then another, alike in all things, wherein was th e

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other bailiff; after which two wherries followed each other, having the

alms of the town for their ﬂag, in each of which was one of the foremen,

and the Quest for each end of the town, they being persons sworn in the

nature of a grand jury to enquire into all abuses, and all the privileges

of the town, and to make presentments as they found occasion. After

them came our victualling wherries—and then the mob. Having passed

over Breydon, we parted, and went up the Waveney as far as St. Olave’s

bridge, where is the ruin of an old priory, the prior and monks whereof

used formerly to bear a part in this solemnity.* Having laid our boat

across the great arch of the bridge, an ofﬁcer made proclamation, called

over the Quest, and required all persons grieved by any nuisance or

injury done them on the water to come forth, and they should be heard;

after which we came back a little way, then moored our boats and went

to dinner, and were highly treated. When we had dined we returned to

Breydon “where we met the other bailiff, who went up the Yare as far as

the Cross towards Norwich, and did the same thing we had done at St.

Olave’s. At our meeting; there was a stir in ﬁring guns, huzzaing, and

drinking healths; and so we returned in the evening as we had set out,

accompanying each bailiff to his house, where I left Mr. Bailiff England

in good company, making an end of the day. On the following morning,

continues the dean, I waited at breakfast on Mr. Gayford, it being the

custom of the town to do so, and went up in his wherry on the Bure, at

least ten miles, to Weybridge, f as I did the day before with his partner

to St. Olave’s, only now we did not part at all, but went together in an

entire ﬂeet all the way. At the

* This was a Priory of Augustine or Black Canons, founded by Roger Fitz Osbert, the

then possessor of Somerleyton in the reign of Henry III. The dismantled buildings

remained standing until 1784, but only a few detached fragments can now be seen.

What is believed to have been the refectory, a large apartment having a handsome roof

of open timber-work, adorned with bosses and pendants, was converted into a barn;

and there was a vaulted crypt, supposed to have been an undercroft to the Chapel of

St. Mary, of which a drawing is given by Suckling in his History of Suffolk. See also

Notes to Manship, p. 218.

f As Acle bridge was then called. At a short distance was Weybridge Priory, founded in

the reign of Edward I. by Roger Bigod, for regular Canons of the Order of St. Augustine.

See Blomeﬁeld, vol. xi., p. 92.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

293

bridge we did the same thing as the day before, and so dined. At night

I did the same as with the other bailiff, and so returned home. This

ceremony continued to be observed for a long series of years, but the

festivities were somewhat shortened. When the two bailiffs were suc-

ceeded by a mayor, there was but one barge instead of two, and the

ceremonies at St. Olave’s bridge and Weybridge were dispensed with.

James Sayers, the caricaturist, wrote the following admirable

account of a Water Frolic at which he was present in August,1777.

Our frolic last week, both on board and on shore,

Was the best frolic known since the days of old

Noah,— And shall he recorded,—and therefore I

choose To describe it in verse,—for it beggars all

prose.

The morn treading lightly on Somnus’ heel,

Was ﬁrst ushered in by an excellent peal—

Whether thunder, or bells, or aught else made the pother,

’Twas a monstrous good peal, Sir, of something or other.

Then the barges—but stop only one barge

was there, The rest were unluckily out of

repair; So the mayor, resolv’d that his friends

should be merry, Set on foot a subscription

to ﬁt up a wherry, Where the whole corpo-

ration with tables before ‘em, Were stow’d

in the hold with the nicest decorum: And

the Headborough inquest, to shew that they

merit so exalted a station, like men of true

spirit from their own private purses provided

another, Where each honest juryman sat with

his brother; While many an invalid stranger

invited, Jostled in with the rest, and seem’d

highly delighted.

As soon as provisions and gentry were all in,

Each wherry was roofed with a handsome

tarpaulin; And the mayor waved a handker-

chief out of his ark, As a sign for the rest of

his friends to embark.

When lo ! from the quay and the opposite shore,

A huge ﬂeet of galleys; was seen to unmoor;

And skiffs, yawls, and bumboats, in inﬁnite numbers,

All press’d round the mayor like canoes round Columbus.

Then the wherries set sail, and the captain

O’ Smack, His popguns discharged with a

terrible crack;—

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

Such a crack! that the shore with the echoes resounded,

Each Naiad was frightened,

Old Yare was confounded,

While on each side his stream many thousand spectators

Hail’d with loud acclamations these great navigators ;—

E’en Neptune himself had been proud to have known ‘em,

So sweetly they sail’d by old Garianonum.

When arrived at the bounds they made loud proclamation,

And asserted the rights of this great corporation.

The business thus settled, the mayor gave the word

To open the hampers arid cover the board;—

Now the feast that young Ammon gave Thais the sinner,

Compared with this feast was a family dinner.

Oh! had I but, Anstey! one spark of the ﬁre

That so nobly distinguish’d the lays of thy squire,

With rapture I’d sing how each epicurean

Stuck his blade in the haunch with the skill of Acteon ;

How each poor invalid, who, for many a day,

Had sent the best viands untasted away,

Licked his lips at the beef, and with stomach canine,

E’er the grace was half over, fell foul of sirloin;—

How they ripp’d up the pasties, and scrambled for crust,

Dismember’d the turkeys, the capons untrussed,

And unbutton’d their waistcoats for fear they should burst;—

Then how briskly they clear’d away dishes and spoons,—

How the Dons clapp’d a match to their pipes in platoons,—

How reﬁn’d was their wit, and how brilliant each joke,

Tho’ the atmosphere round ‘em was all in a smoke ;—

How with inﬁnite judgement, distinctly and loud,

“Rule Britannia” was sung by a voice from the cloud,—

How each juryman, stranger, and principal burgess

Drank, choruss’d, and shouted like true Boanerges ;—

But alas! ’tis a subject too high for my muse,

And she never shall pilfer from naval reviews.—

Then the mayor stood up and commanded the ﬂeet

To drop from their moorings and sound a retreat;—

When each ﬂute, ﬁfe, and ﬁddle was instantly played on,

And so they sail’d sweetly again over Breydon.

Meanwhile some good gentlemen, proud of the charge,

With fruit, wine, and sweetmeats had victualled a barge,

And each lady of rank had the compliment paid her,

Of a ticket to meet the returning Armada:—

Thus invited, thro’ crowds to the galley they came,

And were placed on each aide; while a beautiful dame,

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295

With the curtains undrawn that the people might see her

At the head of the barge, sat like Queen Oberea.

Then they sail’d from the shore, s,nd without hesitation

The ladies began to eat up the collation ;

But scarce had each youth hob-nobb’d with his fair,

When the pilot announced the approach of the mayor;—

Then the ladies rose up, and, before he came to ‘em,

Their calashes threw back, that his worship might view ‘em;—

The mayor paid the compliments due to their graces,

And the boats press’d around ‘em, and haul’d up their braces,

And ﬁr’d every popgun they had in their faces,—

And I ne’er shall forget with what sweet approbation

The ladies received this polite salutation :

The beaux wav’d their hats, and each belle wav’d her hand,

And so ﬁne a concerto was play’d by the band,

That e’en Handel himself, the renowned Bunoncini,

The great Doctor Catgut, or Doctor Manini,

Or the Eastern Battalion’s fam’d ﬁfers and drummers

Compar’d with this band, were a set of mere thrummers.

Thus attended like gods of the ﬂoods they ap-

peared, Each breeze was a zephyr, each cloud

disappeared, The glass circled briskly, the songs

were encored,— So bright was the wine, and so

festive the board;— Till the sun, having ﬁnished

his gallop diurnal, Set down by his Thetis to

shew her his journal; When each boat, barge, and

wherry, without an embargo, Ran up to the Quay,

and delivered her cargo.

Dr. Glover, who was a guest on board the mayor’s barge in 1779,

gives the following description:—

“ At nine in the morning his worship the mayor,

“ With his corporate train to the bridge did repair,

“ The Serjeants at mace clear’d the way to the harge,

“ And the ﬁfes sweetly played, whilst the drums- beat a charge.

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“ When such fasting, began as few folks can remember

“ Who ne’er din’d at Guildhall on the 9th of November.

“ Shades of evening descending the gallies unmoor

“ And pass’d The Cross stake we have mention’d afore,

“ Now arrived at the Quay from this watery roam t

“It was midnight ‘ere most of the parties got home.”

The frolic was not always however without peril and discomfort. On the

3rd of August, 1737, says Ives, “Father and I and several other gentlemen

went; up the water with Mr. Mayor, it being a very ﬁne morning, but at

three o’clock the wind came to the E.N.E., and blew very hard. Wherries

and boats were obliged to lay in Burgh dyke all night. We got down by

seven o’clock but with no dry threads about us. Next day it rained and

blew very hard, wherries could not get over Breydon, and the gentlemen

had to come home on foot or in coaches.” In 1793 the gaff on board the

mayor’s barge, falling suddenly, struck Mr. Robert Norfor, one of the

guests, on the head and instantly killed him. He was a solicitor, aged 32.

This sad event caused the frolic to be discontinued for many years.

Dr. Sayers viewed the scene with, the eye of a poet. It is an occasion

he says “when all the many river pleasure boats assemble, and the

commercial craft are put in requisition to stow spectators, waft music, and

vend refreshments. There are sailing matches and rowing matches, and

spontaneous evolutions of vessels of all sorts—a dance of ships—their

streamers ﬂying and their canvas spread. It is a fair aﬂoat where the voice

of revelry resounds from every gliding tent; and when the tide begins to

fall and to condense the various ﬂeets on their return, the bridge, quays,

balconies, and meadows of Yarmouth are thronged with spectators.

The boys who have climbed the masts and rigging of the moored ships

add to the crowd on shore a rocking crowd above—and the gathering

boats mingle their separate concerts in one chorus of jollity—guns ﬁre,

and loyalty and liberty shout with rival glee—the setting sun inﬂames

the waters—and the scene becomes surpassingly exhilirating and

magniﬁcent.”

The Municipal Corporation Act of 1834 prevented the application of the

borough fund to the maintenance of this pageant, the ofﬁcial expenses

of which had increased from a modest 30s., allowed to the

GREAT YARMOUTH.

297

bailiffs in the 16th century, to about £ 100 a year. The mayor is no longer

present in his ofﬁcial capacity, but in other respects the Water Frolic, or

River Regatta as it is now termed, is continued to the present time.*

At the Regatta in 1863 a singular and fatal accident occurred. A wherry

had been ﬁtted up for passengers by lifting the hatches and forming a

large cabin in the hold. As the boats in the race sailed past, the people

who stood upon the hatches crowded to see them, and by their weight

caused the supports to give way, whereby those who were so standing

were precipitated into the river, whilst the heads of those who were

looking out from the cabin below were crushed, thereby causing the

instantaneous death of two men.

Adjoining and to the south of the Barge is an Elizabethan house long

occupied as an Inn, called the Duke’s Head. f It has a cut-ﬂint front with

stone dressings. The rooms are wainscotted in panels, divided by pilasters,

with ornamental chimney pieces from the ceiling to the ﬂoor. The wood

work has been painted, but the rooms are otherwise in good preservation.

In one of the bedrooms there is a chimney piece elaborately carved. On

the front of this house there is a stone tablet inserted, bearing the date

1600. The two houses already described, to the north, had cut-ﬂint fronts

like this house; but in the ﬁrst quarter of the present century they were

modernized. The Duke’s-Head was in the last century the property of

the E LDRIDGE family.

* It is asserted that the lively description which Lady Wortley Montagu gave of a regatta

which she witnessed at Venice, ﬁrst stimulated the English to have something of the

kind on the Thames, in 1775; after which such fetes became very general wherever

there was sufﬁcient space of water for a display.

f The head has been changed several times to meet the popular feeling of the day. At

one time it represented the Duke of Cumberland, for there were great rejoicings in

Yarmouth when the “unnatural rebellion” of 1745 was suppressed; the inhabitants

being for the most part strong supporters of the House of Hanover. It subsequently

became the Duke of Clarence, and lastly the Duke of Wellington, the sign in front

being as often repainted.

t Richard Burrough Eldridge, a Baron of the Court of Exchequer, and Senior Member

of the House of Assembly for the Island of Antigua, was a native of Yarmouth. He died

in 1852. His sister married Charles Taylor, a baker in King Street, who afterwards kept

the Bath Rooms at Yarmouth, and lastly the Bowling Green Hotel at Norwich. In 1770

the Rev. Thomas Howe preached a

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In the latter part of the last century the Ship-masters’ Society held their

meetings at the Duke’s Head. From this Inn, more than a century since,

the London stage when ﬁrst established set out on its journey. When we

hear people grumbling and growling at being detained four or ﬁve hours

on the road between London and Yarmouth, it is as well to reﬂect upon the

time formerly occupied by this journey. Dean Davies thus describes his

journey down:— ‘July 1, 1689. About an hour before four in the morning

I took coach for Yarmouth, and came by twelve o’clock to Bishop’s

Stortford, where we dined; thence we passed through Newmarket and

came to Bury St. Edmund’s, and lodged that night at the Inn. The next

morning I came forward with Mr. Bendish to the place where we dined,

and at about half-past seven o’clock, came to Yarmouth, where I no

sooner was than Mr. Symonds and another gentleman came to me, and

after a kind salutation, told me that they were sent by one of the bailiffs

to conduct me to his house, whither we went, and there I was kindly

received by Mr. England the bailiff and detained to supper; after which

I was accompanied by Mr. Ellys to his house, where I lodged that night.”

Ives, the antiquary, having invited the Rev. John Bowie* of Idemestone,

in Wiltshire, to visit him in 1773, advises him how to travel in the most

convenient and expeditious manner in the following words:—”When

you come to town enquire for the Norwich coach, ascend it at twelve

o’clock at night, the next evening at seven you will arrive at Norwich,

there I will meet and conduct you to Yarmouth. And in a second letter

he says, I hope you have not laid aside all thoughts of eating Norfolk

dumplings in perfection. The journey from London hither is really so

easy and may be performed in so short a time that, on that head, I think

you cannot form any objection.”

The “up”journey was still more tedious. It is thus described by the Dean.

“21st Oct. 1689. At ﬁve in the morning took coach

sermon (from Rom. viii. v. 34) on the death of Mrs. Persia Eldridge (aged 76); and in

1773, on the death of Mr. John Eldridge (in his 80th year), Mr. Howe preached another

sermon (from Job. v. 26), and both sermons were published.

* See an amusing account of this learned man in Warner’s Literary Recollections, V O L

i. p. 99. He learned the Spanish tongue for the express purpose of reading Don Quixote

in the original.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

299

for London, in company with Mr. George England, Capt. Fuller, Mr.

Albertson, and Mr. Ingram. About nine we came to Broome, Sir William

Cooke’s house, where we stopped and drank a glass of sherry, and then

took him with us. Alderman Ellys, Mr. Luson, Mr. Ferrier, and several

others came with us to St. Thule’s, and Mr. Melbourn to Bungay. We

dined at Harlston where it cost me a shilling. About six we came to

Botesdale, where we lodged, and it cost me at supper two shillings. The

next morning, very early, we left Botesdale and came to Bury about ten

o’clock, where we stayed an hour and refreshed ourselves, and changed

a horse, when I spent one shilling. Thence to Newmarket, where we

dined, and it cost me one shilling and sixpence; and at eight at night we

got to Bishop’s Stortford. The next morning we set out at eight o’clock,

having paid four shillings each for our entertainment. As we entered

Epping Forest, our coach stuck fast in a slough, so that we were forced

to come out and walk in the dirt and rain to Epping, being each of us

wet almost to the knees. At Epping we dined and refreshed ourselves to

the expense of each, man’s shilling. Then our coach coming up to us we

came a.bout two o’clock to Lea Bridge, where we were entertained barely;

but, having dined and paid a shilling each, we drove very hard and came

to London at seven at night. At the Green Dragon my brother Aldworth

and Mr.Brown met me, and the latter slept with me. In the morning I

paid three shillings and a penny, and then went with Mr. Brown to the

Archbishop of Tuam, who received me very kindly.”

In 1739 the Norwich stage was advertized to set out from John Godfrey’s,

at the Duke’s Palace, Norwich, every Wednesday morning, and to perform

the journey to London in two days only, “there being a sufﬁcient quantity

of horses laid upon the road,’’ and it was promised that ‘moons’ should

be carried before the coach when dark, “every morning and evening, for

the safety of travellers.”

In 1762 the Norwich ﬂying coach was stopped in Epping Forest by a

highwayman, who informed the company that he was very poor and

that a little money would be very useful, whereupon they collected six

guineas, and the parties separated; mutually satisﬁed.

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

The Yarmouth “machine,” in the endeavour this year to cross Earsham

dam when there was a ﬂood, stuck fast. Fortunately there was but one

passenger, a woman, and she was got out of the window, but the coach

had to be left till the water subsided.

When inviting Mr. James Hammond 1 of Dover, Ives says “ My house is

at your service; and I can put you into a way of performing the journey

in only three days.” And in 1774, when writing to Dr. Ducarel, he says

“By the Yarmouth coach which goes out hence on Saturday next, and

arrives at the Bull in Bishopsgate street on Tuesday evening, I shall do

myself the pleasure of sending you a brace of wild fowl, for which this

obscure corner of the world is reckoned famous.” This must have been

a ‘slow coach’; not one of the “ﬂying machines” travelled in by Sylas

Neville, who thus describes his journey to Yarmouth:— 10 October,

1768. At 7 set out from the Black Bull, Bishopsgate street, in the coach

for Norwich. Breakfasted at the Crown at Epping. Dined at the Crown at

Chesterford. Supped and lay at the Red Lion, Newmarket. Oct. 11.—Set

out at 5 o’clock. Break- fasted at the Blue Bell, Thetford. Dined at the

Cock at Attleburgh, and lay at the Maid’s Head, Norwich, and at 9 o’clock

the nest morning set off in the stage for Yarmouth.” The return journey

was thus performed:— Oct. 14.— At 4 o’clock set off in the coach from

Yarmouth, breakfasted at the Tuns, Bungay. Dined at the Greyhound,

Botesdale, “ay at the Greyhound, Bury St. Edmund’s. Oct. 15.—Set out

from Bury at 4. Breakfasted at Bocking. Dined at the Swan, Ingatestone.

“Got to London at 7 o’clock p.m.”

Gradually the rate of travelling was improved, and in the ﬁrst quarter

of the present century the journey by the “Telegraph,” as the coach was

called, via Ipswich to London, occupied sixteen hours only. *

At the south-east corner of Row, No. 52, fronting Howard

street, there stood a large house, now divided into two occupations, the

south-wardmost portion being a shop, in which an atrocious murder

was committed in 1844. It was then kept by an old lady named Harriet

Chandler, who sold, groceries. Some men went into the house one evening

under

* William Cable, the last driver of this coach, died at Norwood in 1869, aged 76. His

son now holds an appointment at the Grosvenor Hotel.

1 In 2006, there remains in Dover, a “Hammond Road”, and “Hammond Motor Co.”

GREAT YARMOUTH.

301

pretence of purchasing goods, and while being served these villains

struck her a fatal blow on the head, robbed the till, and made their escape

by running up the opposite row. For this crime three men named Royal,

Hall, and Mapes were tried and acquitted; but Samuel Yarham 1 , who

had been the principal witness against them, was himself subsequently

convicted of this crime and hanged at Norwich in 1845. The cost of these

prosecutions was £542, 8s. 6d.

Row, No. 53, from the Quay to Howard Street, called Bank Paved

Row and Turner’s Row. At the north-west corner is a house depicted in

Butcher’s View as having a cut-ﬂint front similar to that of the Duke’s

Head, to which it adjoins. It was in the last century the property of

John Gillain, and in 1807 was purchased for the use of a Gentleman’s

Club. The old front was then removed and a modern one of white brick

erected and brought out close to the pavement. This building was for

many years called The Coffee Rooms, although in fact no coffee was ever

drank there; * 2 but subsequently the Subscription Rooms. The number of

members was limited to 90, elected by ballot; and admission, was sought

for and difﬁcult of attainment. In time, however, the number of members

fell off, and in 1840 the club was dissolved. From that time until 1871

the premises were occupied by government as a Post Ofﬁce.

At the south-west corner, fronting the Quay and extending to Row. No.

55, is the bank of Messrs. Gurney and Co. This building was erected in

1854 from a design by Salvia. In the 17th century the site was occupied

by an Elizabethan house, which is depicted in Corbridge’s Map. It had

a large porch with a room over it; and was enclosed by high wooden

palisades. f Early in the last century this old house was in the possession

of Joshua Smith, Esq., son of John Smith of Great

* Following the old name used in London, where clubs were originally formed at

coffee-houses. The ﬁrst coffee-house in London was opened about the year 1652.

“After dinner I went to the coffee-house,” says Dean Davies in 1690, and there are

several similar entries in his diary. Sylas Neville also mentions going to the Yarmouth

coffee-house “ to hear the news.”

f Some remains of the original building were discovered when the present house was

erected, particularly a very ﬁne Elizabethan window of sixteen lights in a frame of

oak, the woodwork of the central division being richly carved. There is a drawing of

it by Winter.

1 In 1986 ther was practising in Yarmouth, a Dr Yarham, descended of this family. see

Revised History of Yarmouth.

2 This prompts me to note that in 1998 when there was passed a bylaw that prohibited

the drinking of alcoholic drinks in the park and in public places, it was noticeable that

the well known alcoholics and drug addicts suddenly sported branded bottles of soft

drinks, which if tested would have undoubtedly contained the banned substance, but

no police or ofﬁcial was seen to make a challenge.