Norfolk Lunatic Asylum/St Andrew’s Hospital

Posted on June 7, 2018 by

Case notes for the Norfolk Lunatic Asylum show that the admission of a significant number of female patients in 1845-1870, was due to women’s mental health after childbirth. The notes suggest that their physical condition was frail and the physical demands of parturition and lactation further drained their strength, already weakened by hard labour and malnourishment.

Harriet D, a patient on five occasions, was first admitted when she was 25 years old in March 1858. She returned in 1859 following childbirth when ‘the attack was brought about by puerperal causes’ and was sent home recovered after eight months (NRO, SAH 262).  Five years elapsed before her next admission which was brief, just two months in the asylum before being discharged recovered, followed by another three years of mental health before admission in May 1867 with the cause listed as poverty.  On this occasion she remained in the asylum five years before discharge and her final admission was in September 1873, 16 months after her last discharge when it was stated she was the mother of seven children, the youngest 12 weeks old; her weight was 7 st 10 lbs, and she was ‘badly nourished’.  Immediately on admission her health improved: ‘She works very well in the laundry and is very useful. Is essentially being cheerful, rational, contented and no trouble whatever. Under ordinary circumstances she would therefore be discharged, but as she invariably relapses when sent out,…. she will at all events be kept on here for the present.’. (NRO, SAH 265)

Harriet D - SAH 265

Harriet D. Case book, St Andrew’s Hospital (NRO, SAH 265)

Another woman admitted with the cause of insanity stated as ‘accouchement’, i.e. the act of giving birth, was Lydia D. On admission Lydia D was ‘exceedingly thin and weak being unable to stand’. She was discharged recovered after nine months, having received regular meals, a consistent pattern of rest, and encouragement to participate in the daily routine of the asylum, which for Lydia included work in the laundry.

There was an additional factor in Lydia’s illness: ‘she is very bitter towards her husband who has ill-treated her and is much addicted to drink, she frets much about him’ and when he visited her two months after her admission ‘he threatened to go to London and put his children in the workhouse if she did not come out of the asylum’, causing Lydia to suffer a relapse. (NRO, SAH 264).

Jane F’s husband was identified as a contributory cause in her admission after the birth of her third child when she was aged 21.  She had ‘a very bad husband and she has no desire to return home where she is badly treated by him and is nearly starved.’ Fortunately for Jane, her father ‘came forward and offered her a comfortable home and she was therefore discharged recovered.’ (NRO, SAH 262).

It was not only the women admitted with post-natal conditions who made startling recoveries; many patients with diverse causes of insanity also responded positively to the combination of sufficient food, regular exercise and adequate rest; medication was rarely given, because there had been little developed for mental illness at this time.

Very few patients were admitted with poverty as the given cause of insanity, but many implications of poverty were cited such as ‘reduced circumstances’, ‘reverses’, ‘pecuniary problems’, ‘want’ and so on. Norfolk suffered a decline in craft employment in the mid-Victorian era and agriculture became the predominant means of making a living, despite offering poor wages and poor housing conditions.[i]  As patients at the Norfolk Lunatic Asylum were drawn from rural Norfolk the severe hardship suffered in terms of overwork, malnourishment and physical exhaustion may well have affected not only their physical health but also diminished their mental ability to cope with the harsh realities of life.

Today mental health problems remain as prolific as ever: depression, stress, an inability to cope with the requirements of modern living – the result of pressure continuing to have the same effect although the causes may have altered in the last hundred and fifty years. Physical exhaustion and starvation are less likely to be diagnosed as causes of mental illness nowadays, yet the pressure of daily living continues to affect our society: intense media pressure has been identified as just one contemporary cause of anxiety and distress.

 

Compiled by NRO Research Blogger, Julie Jakeway.

 

[i]       A. Armstrong, The Population of Victorian and Edwardian Norfolk (Norwich, 2000)

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Whales, Kidney Stones, and The Charming Sally: Records of Life on and off Board in the late 1700s

Posted on May 30, 2018 by

At first glance, a calendar regarding the petitions and decisions by the King’s Lynn port Trustees under the ‘Act for the relief of maimed and disabled seamen and widows and children of those killed in the merchant service’ may not seem like the most riveting document. The Act’s name alone proves quite the mouthful. Yet, once you start reading, there are countless glimpses into human journeys, feats, and tragedies. From cutlass wounds and battles with French privateers, to gruesome injuries and boats sunk by whale; to be a seaman in the late-18th to early 19th century required nerve and determination.

Image 1 - photo of documents

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/TS 8

The documents record the minutes from meetings of the port Board of Trustees. It spans from 1756 to 1809 and has over 150 petitions and cases. Often, and sadly, the petitions are made by widows whose husbands have been lost at sea – in so many cases the entire income and means for living lost along with their partner. Esther Booth is one such widow. In 1766 her husband, Thomas Booth, drowns while in the service of the Dixon leaving Esther with three children. Five years later she takes her family to Great Yarmouth and just a year later, in 1772, The Board stops her allowance. Two years pass and we learn that Esther is in very bad health – another petition is sent on her behalf by the minister and churchwardens of her parish in Great Yarmouth. Esther’s main worry throughout is her inability to support her children after the death of her husband and it is sad to know of her illness and struggle. The Act was clearly a lifeline for families who often had nothing to fall back on.

Image 2 - Esther Booth

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/TS 9

Some people have more easily resolved requests, such as sailors who’d lost weeks of work from illness or non-life-threatening injury. However, due to the nature of the Board and the terms of the Act they were working under, the minutes can be a harrowing read. On one occasion, a petition names Robert Wiggin as requiring assistance due to his foot having rotted from the rest of his leg. There are cases of small pox, falls causing broken limbs, ropes cutting fingers off, freezing alive on rigging, accidents resulting in blindness, various scrapes with the main sheet and main beam, two fractured skulls. Not for the faint hearted, on board the Partridge, James Harrison suffered a collapse and “voided a great deal of blood both before and after he died”. Perhaps more mysterious still, there are two cases of sailors dropping “dead by the visitation of God” – a phrase I now know to mean natural causes, but initially caused some surprise especially as one incident took place aboard the Enterprise.

Image 3 - Enterprise

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/TS 9

A handful have exciting, and sometimes tragic, stories of battles lost and men dispersed. The Charming Sally, a ship of King’s Lynn, has quite the adventure and there are 3 separate petitions to fill in the story. The first is from William Ayre on behalf of Thomas Trummel, who had tragically died from a cutlass wound. Their ship had been sailing under government orders to the coast of Africa, but from there they had headed to the West Indies on the merchant service. On the 30th November 1759, off the coast of Antigua, three French Privateers attacked the Charming Sally and captured her and presumably her crew too.

Image 4 - Trummel

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/TS 8

Thomas dies in this attack and another sailor, James Shelly, is also wounded by a cutlass. James’ petition is made by Richard Jenson, a mariner on board who survived the battle. He states that, during April 1760, James makes the journey from Guadeloupe in the Caribbean to Norfolk safely but due to his injury he is sent to St Thomas’ hospital in London. Unfortunately, James dies there. Both Thomas’ and James’ cases are endorsed by the Board.

Image 5 - Shelly

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/TS 8

However, in October 1760 Richard Jenson petitions his case to the Board. Being involved in the attack on the Charming Sally, he was imprisoned by the French in Martinique for five months causing him to catch a fever. Richard made it home to England but was still very sick and his request was for financial support due to the work he had missed while imprisoned and suffering from illness. The Board rejected his petition and that is the last time his name appears on the document.

Image 6 - Jenson

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/TS 8

When reading through the documents, it is occasionally frustrating to see just a glimpse of what must have been an epic tale. There are mentions of voyages across the Atlantic; to Halifax in 1759 (on the Richard & Mary) and another to New York in 1760 (on Fortune’s Industry) – both ships were lost but what a voyage it must have been for those King’s Lynn men. Later, in 1779, the Archangel was in Greenland (more likely off Svalbard, which was considered Greenland at the time) when it was overturned by the stroke of a whale tail. One would hope the whale survived to fight another day, but all we know is that two mariners drowned in the incident.

Image 7 - Whale

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/TS 9

Though there are countless tales of many injuries and fatalities, there is a petition that shows one man to be incredibly lucky. In mid-December 1755 Charles Broome boards the Norfolk for a journey from King’s Lynn to London and then onto Sunderland. His petition to the Board is put forward by Thomas Fayers, who states that on 20th January 1756 Charles is taken ill from kidney stones and is left in London at St Thomas’ hospital.

Image 8 - Broome

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/TS 8

Five days later, the Norfolk and all her crew sail from London but before reaching Sunderland the ship is lost. Three years later, in February 1759, Jane Adamson petitions the Board believing her husband, King Adamson, to be drowned along with the rest of the Norfolk crew. She has been left with two small children and has had no support for a very long while. Unfortunately the Trustees do not endorse her petition with a note at the bottom of the page stating “rejected not being within the Act”.

Image 9 - Adamson

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/TS 8

In the summer of 1759, two more widows come forward – Mary and Fayers and Francis Marshall. Mary is the wife of Thomas. The petition writes that “there was no word from them or the vessel for such a long time […] Whatever befell the vessel has deprived the two petitioners of their husbands and their means of supporting themselves”. There is no note to say whether their similar petition was endorsed or rejected.

Image 10 - Fayers&Marshall

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/TS 8

So many families – women and children – must have been affected by the loss of so many men. Lucky Charles Broome, and his kidney stones.

 

Compiled by Ellie Smith, Research Blogger

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Barbary Pirates near King’s Lynn!

Posted on May 17, 2018 by

The King’s Lynn Borough Archive has a wonderful series of large, leather bound books, called the Hall Books, recording the proceedings of the Town Council. This record, for 10th January, 1625, reports the “granting of twelve great pieces of ordinance for the defence of the town” following attacks by “pirates of Tangiers and Algiers” in 1612, 1619 and 1633 (KL/C 7/9, folio 249). Who were the Barbary Pirates and why did Lynn need protection from them?

1 Twelve pieces of great ordinance

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/C 7/9

In the 17th Century, as Dr Sam Willis said in a recent TV series, the Barbary pirates based themselves on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel.

For several centuries, from the 14th to the 19th, privateers from the Barbary Coast of North Africa were active, sailing to the British Isles and beyond. Privateers were authorised by their countries to attack the shipping of enemy countries- in other words, they were pirates with a licence. Their ships were lighter and faster than those of the North Sea nations, their purpose capturing crew and cargo.

At one stage, Dutch pirates were working in co-operation with the Barbaries, introducing them to North Sea rigging for their ships to give them greater capabilities in northern waters; several of these Dutch pirates converted to Islam and settled on what was known as the Barbary Coast. Some examples are Süleyman Reis, born Ivan Dirkie De Veenboer, who became admiral of the Algerian corsair fleet in 1617, and his quartermaster Murat Reis, born Jan Janszoon. It was Janszoon who captured Lundy in 1627; he held the island for 5 years and used it as a base for his raids. Both worked for the notorious Dutch corsair Zymen Danseker. Janszoon was known as Murat Reis the Younger, and lived from about 1570 to 1641. He was a Dutch pirate who, as the saying went, “turned Turk” when taken captive in 1618.

By the mid-1600’s the situation was so serious that it threatened England’s fishing industry- fishermen were unwilling to put to sea, leaving their unprotected families at home.

With the rigging introduced to them by their Dutch allies, they were able to raid villages around coasts of England and Ireland as well as other European countries, even as far as Iceland, taking their captives back to Africa as slaves. Men would be put to manual work on the land or at the oars of their galleys; women would be sent to the harems.

Estimates of the numbers taken into slavery amount to 850,000 between 1580 and 1680, and 1,250,000 between 1530 and 1780, though these figures are disputed in some quarters.

Devon and Cornwall were raided in 1625. Perhaps it was this expedition which gave rise to the requests for ordinance at St Anne’s Fort? Ireland was attacked in 1631 and King’s Lynn in 1633.

An early record of 1578, complied retrospectively in the early 18th century in a Mayoral Chronicle (BL/AQ 2/13), reports an Admiralty Court held at St George’s Hall in King’s Lynn, where 16 pirates were condemned to execution. Four were executed at the Guanock, just outside the South Gate, the rest being taken to Norwich.

In King’s Lynn, St Anne’s fort was built in 1570 where the Fisher Fleet meets the Ouse. It was a major part of King’s Lynn’s fortifications until it was replaced in 1839. A section of the original wall can still be seen opposite True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum. The fort was originally an earth work gun platform with some buildings and a gate access to Fisher Fleet. A plea led to the installation of a 12 gun battery in 1625 to defend King’s Lynn against pirate raids.

The above extract is from the volume which covers 1611 to 1637. Browsing reveals a number of references which give the impression that the town was very much on a military footing. In chronological order, we can read, with folio references in brackets:

  • 1612, barrels of gunpowder bought (18), with a reference to “pirates of Tangier” off the coast;
  • 1619, reference to “pirates of Algiers and Tunis”, along with costs and charges;(151)
2 barrel of powder for the Tiger

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/C 7/9

3 Pirate of Algiers

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/C 7/9

  • 1623, 12 muskets to be bought (206);
  • 1624, payment for 20 soldiers (230);
  • 1624 (224) and 1625 (240) saw the appearance of the Marshal of the Admiralty, presumably to preside over a Marine Court;
4 Marshal of the Admiralty

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/C 7/9

  • 1625, the “setting forth” of the 12 soldiers (235), and the extract shown above, also by proclamation of the king, the town to buy a barrel of gunpowder (234);
  • 1626, 3 barrels of gunpowder to be bought (261), the provision of 2 “shippes of warr” (255) and a 3rd one (263); a grant of 40 marks per annum was provided for arming and training soldiers (260); also mentioned this year was the purchase of 4 barrels of gunpowder and 48 muskets for the town’s defence (253) and the provision of muskets (254);
5 shipps fo warr

Norfolk Record Office, King’s Lynn Borough Archives, KL/C 7/9

  • 1627, reference to Captains of the Foot Companies of the Town, and costs of a ship of war (266); 1627 also saw money provided for 10 soldiers, their “improvement and apparel” and the purchase of pikes (271);
  • 1630, purchase of 2 barrels of gunpowder (327);
  • 1633, fitting out a ship of war (402), and again in 1635 (418); there was also this year the reimbursement of expenses for “conducting pirates to Marshalsea” (384);

Marshalsea prison, near London Bridge, dated from medieval times and was closed in 1842, being demolished soon afterwards.

6 Marshalsea wall

7 Marshalsea plaque

Going back to the Hall Book, we can read of the purchase in 1635 of barrels of gunpowder, and shot (412) and a warrant for 36 barrels of gunpowder (413); in 1636 reference was made to the provision for 3 officers at arms. As far as I can find out, at least by reference to the legal system in Scotland, officers at arms were legal enforcers with royal powers, and were not restricted to one area as were locally appointed sheriffs. I suppose a reasonable analogy might be in comparing the FBI with the local police department.

It is easy to see why the town, variously known as Lin, Lenne, Bishop’s Lynn and King’s Lynn through its history, would have been a tempting target. It was a member of the Hanseatic League- the Hanseatic Warehouse still stands- and trade brought wealth and status. It ranked as the 11th richest town in the country in 1334, and as a port of importance during the 14th century, was only surpassed by Southampton and London. It was a major staging post for pilgrims from Europe and the North of England who wished to avoid the uncertain routes across the Fens or the Wash on the way to Walsingham. Lynn Museum holds a collection of pilgrims’ badges second only in importance to that held in London. Wealth built fine churches and merchants’ houses- after visiting Stories of  Lynn in the Town Hall, an interesting walk takes in St Margaret’s, the Custom House, Queen Street and King Street, for the merchants’ houses, Tuesday Market, with the Witch’s Heart, and St Nicholas’.

 

Compiled by Pete Widdows, Research Blogger

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Railways, Changing Landscapes and Refugees – workshops for school children

Posted on May 4, 2018 by

We’ve had a busy start to the year with delivering lots of our school workshops to children all over the county.

In January, we hosted a group of students from Norwich School lower 6th history group, for some Archive Research training, during which they looked at documents relating to the First World War, and learnt how to use the record office. Some of these students have been back to the record office to carry out research of their own.

norwich-school.jpg

Norwich School pupil looking at original documents

We also visited Diss Junior School to deliver a local history workshop to two classes of year 3s, and St William’s Primary School in Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, to deliver a workshop on Railways to two classes of year 4s. The children learnt when the railways arrived in Cromer and Sheringham, and using census returns, saw how occupations of the towns folk changed as a result.

st-williams-primary-school.jpg

Pupils at St William’s Primary School, working on an exercise for the Railways workshop

March saw us visiting Preston Primary School in Tasburgh for our Refugee workshop. We delivered two workshops to classes of years 3-5, which involved the children looking at a timeline of refugees from 1500-present, hearing the real-life story of Lewis Ecker, a Jewish immigrant to Norwich in the late 19th century, and deciding what items they would choose to pack in a suitcase if they had to flee their home.

We’ll be repeating the refugee workshop at a number of schools for Refugee Week which runs from 18-24 June.

preston-primary.jpg

Pupils at Preston Primary School, Tasburgh, deciding what to pack in their suitcase

We also visited Toftwood Junior School and Little Plumstead Primary school for workshops on Changing Landscapes, using local maps to see how land use has changed over time. A trip to Redcastle Family School in Thetford was made, to deliver another Railway workshop to year 6 class.

Little Plum

Little Pumstead tithe map. Norfolk Record Office, DN/TA 314

In April, we went just up the road from our base at The Archive Centre, next to County Hall, to Lakenham Primary School, and then along the A47 to Necton, on both occasions for more Refugee workshops. One of the comments made by a child from Necton about the workshop was:

I have found out how hard it is because I have never had to leave my home and I’m not a refugee so I didn’t realise what people have to go through.

If you are interested in booking one of our school workshops, please get in touch!

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King’s Lynn Tank

Posted on May 2, 2018 by

Using documents held at the King’s Lynn Borough Archives.

When I was very young- and we’re talking now of the early 1950s- my grandad, who’d served in WW1 with the Bradford Pals in the West Yorkshire Light Infantry, gave me a German Iron Cross which he’d brought home from a battlefield- the Somme, if my memory serves me rightly. Later on, I realised from the Emperor’s name inscribed on it, that it was in fact Austrian. I still have it among the “heirlooms” in my “treasure box”.

I never really gave much thought as to how prevalent such souvenir collecting might have been until I was working on the History of King’s Lynn Museum, and saw from records just how much was offered to museums after the two World Wars.

Still less did I realise that similar activity happened on an official basis- I learned of the existence of the War Office Trophies Committee (WOTC), whose remit was the distribution of captured enemy booty. I was intrigued by the story of Lynn’s tank, and working in the Archive gave me the opportunity to find out more.

In 1919 the Town Clerk reported the distribution of captured enemy stores, and the receipt of a German machine gun as part of the allocation to King’s Lynn. In March 1919, the Mayor offered the gun, presented to the Town by the Lord Lieutenant of the county, to Lynn Museum Committee, and it was accepted. One assumes that the purpose of the offer was for it to be put on display, much, one could think, as the Ancient Romans did in their conquering generals’ Triumphs.

 

1 kl-tc_1-17 machine gun 1

2 kl-tc_1-17 machine gun 2

Norfolk Record Office, KL/TC 1/17

In May the same year, the WOTC offered another machine gun, claimed by the 9th Norfolk Regiment, “for safe custody and care of the corporation.” This was presumably for the corporation to take into custody, as with the previous one, rather than to ensure the “safe custody” of the corporation! Whatever, this gun was also accepted. It went to the Museum on 19/05/1919.

At the end of May 1919, the WOTC offered a captured German field gun and carriage to the town. It was recommended that the gun should be accepted, and housed in the same enclosure, next to the Public Library on Greyfriars’ Road, as the “Presentation Tank”, which had previously been offered. I initially misread the Museum Committee notes, and mistakenly assumed that the tank also was German.

In June, the Council had second thoughts, and decided not to accept either the tank or the gun, and in July, they decided to accept the tank, but not the gun. The tank was sited in a railed enclosure opposite the Library, next to the fountain in St James’ Park.

3 kl-tc_1-17 artillery and tank offer

Norfolk Record Office, KL/TC 1/17

Interestingly, there were various proposals to use part of St James’ Park for an aliens’ internment camp. There was much debate for and against, but eventually it was approved. It seems, to say the least, a little lacking in tact by today’s standards to place a tank in full view of captured enemy soldiers, smacking a little of triumphalism and jingoism, but then, the country had just gone through what was in effect the world’s first total war, with civilians being targeted, and Lynn itself being on the receiving end of air raids that caused civilian deaths and damage to property. One can only hope the tank was fully deactivated!

Further research, and my thanks here to Kevin Hitchcock of King’s Lynn Library Service, reveals that the tank was, in fact, a British Mark 1. The Town Council minutes of 9th July, 1919 simply refer to “The Presentation Tank”.

4 kl-tc_1-17 artillery no tank yes

Norfolk Record Office, KL/TC 1/17

In his book, A Portrait in Old Picture Postcards, Simon Massen describes the position of the tank as being near the fountain in St James Park. In this picture, a postcard from 1920, the tank can be seen in the distance, to the left of the fountain.

5 Massen full page cropped

11 Tank close up

It was placed there “as an attraction”, but rumour has it that it was, over the years, shall we say, “treated with disrespect” by men on their way home from the pub, and it began to rust away.

The tank was still there in 1928, when it was decided that the town should dispose of it. There had been considerable debate about its fate, as these letters from the Lynn News in 1927 show.

 

7 Lynn news 1

Lynn News, 1927

8 Lynn news 2

Lynn News, 1927

It was initially recommended that an offer of £2 from Messrs Savages Ltd should be accepted, provided that they should pay the cost of removal and be responsible for all damage, and that the corporation should remove the railings round the tank. In a way, it was like turning swords into ploughshares, I suppose- nice to think of a tank being transformed into part of Savages’ famous fairground rides, but it was not to be.

9 kl-tc_1-26 Savages offer combined

 

10 kl-tc_1-26 Palmer offer accepted

Norfolk Record Office, KL/TC 1/26

After further debate, Savage’s off was rejected in favour of that of £15 from Mr. R. E. Palmer, and there the story, for the time being, must rest.

 

Compiled by Pete Widdows, Research blogger

 

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A Tale of Two Spectres: Will the Real Syderstone Ghost Please Stand Up

Posted on April 13, 2018 by

Search online for the Syderstone Ghost (Syderstone is a village near Fakenham in Norfolk) and you will find one strong connection. Look a little closer and you will come across a less well-known contender. Fortunately, Norfolk Record Office has you covered for both. Continue reading →

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From Gunpowder to Fire Engines: The Role of the Cannonier in looking after Norwich’s seventeenth-century fire Fighting Equipment

Posted on March 20, 2018 by

Today, the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service protects Norwich, along with the rest of the county, using dozens of emergency vehicles and a range of advanced equipment. In the seventeenth century (when most buildings were made of wood) the technology involved was rather less advanced – but that did not mean there was no organised defence against fire. On the contrary: a court petition in the newly-catalogued Norwich City Records collection reveals that by 21 September 1691, the city of Norwich was protected by no less than six fire engines, all under the command of one man – Jonathan Barton, the city’s cannonier, or gunner.

NCR 12d-25-131

Petition of Jonathan Barton, Cannonier of Norwich, 1689. NRO, NCR 12d/25/131

The cannonier’s traditional responsibility was for matters concerning the city’s guns and gunpowder, chiefly fired during the celebrations of certain anniversaries, such as Guy Fawkes’ Night, and at other times as occasion required. One example of the duties a cannonier might be called upon to perform is an order from July 1685

‘to draw out the 5 brasse guns and cause them to be fyred upon the 26th daie instant beinge a daie of publique Thanks-giveinge… for the defeate of the Rebells in the West of Englande’ – that is, the Duke of Monmouth’s famous rebellion (NCR 16a/25, f. 187r).

Barton was not the one responsible for firing the guns to celebrate the defeat of Monmouth’s rebellion: he was appointed cannonier in February 1690 (1689 in Old Style dating). The record of this in the Mayor’s Court book says that it was ‘in the place of Burges, late deceased’, and that Barton was to have ‘such salary profits and advantages as his predecessors have had’ (NCR 16a/25, f. 262r ). But it seems this was insufficient, for his petition says he

‘hath ever since loked after the Engines to Quench fire belonging to this City being now six Engines. And hath been at great charge in playeing the said Engines att Heigham fire & for takeinge the same in peeces severall times & in giving his attendance & direction for the amending of such of them as have been out of Repaire & for oile & severall other thinges used about them to the great charge of your peticoner of which your peticoner hath not rec[eive]d any thinge’.

This was not Barton’s first stint as cannonier, nor was he unpractised in maintaining and deploying fire engines. Records of the Mayor’s Court show that as early as 1668, the Norwich Corporation had at its disposal an ‘engine’ which was kept at New Hall along with brooms and ladders for firefighting (NCR 16a/24, f. 73r). This machine was ordered to be repaired in October 1675 (NCR 16a/24, f. 330r). A record of 23 October 1675 finds Jonathan Barton being elected to the post of cannonier for the city. His salary, fixed on 30 October 1675, was ‘10s per annum for ye keepeine ye fyre engine fit to use, and when it is drawn out upon ocasion of Fyre he is to have for the same what ye Court shall iudge mete and 10s for each of 3 anniv[er]sarys of ye 5th of November, ye Coronation & ye restauration of his Maiesty & 40s of St Georges Companie as hath beene accustomed’ (NCR 16a/24, f. 332v).

A second engine was purchased in 1679. In July of that year, the Mayor’s Court resolved that Robert Bendish, esq, an alderman of the corporation, would ‘contract with Mr Fromantel of London for an Engine to Quench Fyre at the cheapest rate he can… which Engine is to be sent downe by Mr Fromantel at his charge to this City by sea or otherwise as he thinks fitt’ (NCR 16a/25, f. 51v). Fromantel was to be paid the agreed rate if the engine succeeded in a trial; if not, it would be returned at the city’s charge. The machine duly passed its trial in September, and on the 27th of the month, Bendish was ordered to pay out £9 for it. Fromantel, a clockmaker, was also contracted with for a steel pendulum for the New Hall clock. His son, Daniel Fromantel Jnr, who appears in the records of the Mayor’s Court in connection with the Dutch Congregation prior to taking this new employment, was hired to ‘take care of the two water engines to keepe them in good order & ready to worke’, as well as ‘from tyme to time to take care that the clocke at the New Hall be kept in good order and repaired by him when ocasion requires’ (NCR 16a/25, f. 54v). For these duties he was paid 40s per annum, quadruple Barton’s starting salary, but there is no mention of reimbursement for firefighting duties. The engines were ordered to be stationed at New Hall. It is not clear when the younger Fromantel ceased to look after the fire engines (and the clock). Perhaps it was once the corporation were satisfied that they could be operated and maintained by local officials.

As we have seen, in the twelve years between that second purchase and Jonathan Barton’s petition for remuneration, at least another four engines were bought. But, as Barton’s petition indicated, the machinery was by then in a bad state after years of service. That the corporation also considered their condition unsatisfactory at around this time appears from an order made in June 1691 to withhold the £9 remaining in hand for payment until ‘satisfaction be made… for defects found in and reparacions done to the said Engine and til security be given for keeping the same in Repair for 2 years according to the Agreement upon sale’ (NCR 16a/25, f. 277v). The £9 value of the engine that had not yet been paid for suggests a continuing business relationship with the Fromantels, who had charged that amount for the 1679 engine. The state of disrepair they had fallen into does not necessarily mean that Fromantel’s work was shoddy; perhaps Burgess, the cannonier who preceded Barton in the role, was negligent in looking after them. Besides, these early fire engines would undoubtedly have been complex and sensitive pieces of equipment.

The upshot of all this was as Barton’s petition describes: he footed the bill for repairs himself, and was forced to petition the city to reclaim his expenses. Not unreasonably, he also asked for an annual salary as a firefighter, as well as a cannonier. Sadly, it does not appear in the Mayor’s Court records that his petition was successful!

Compiled by Robert Smith, NRO Research Blogger.

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‘It was a dreadful sight to see!’ Descriptions of the Crimean War

Posted on March 7, 2018 by

‘It was a dreadful sight to see! Both to my left and right men were cut away from me. I thought it would be my turn every minute but, thank God I have escaped as yet.’

These words were written by Private Thomas Towner (NRO, BOL 4/28-31) to describe the culmination of the Battle of Alma on 20th September 1854 only six days after the French and English forces had landed in the Crimea. The words appear in a copy of the first letter to his parents dated, 22nd December 1854. He describes how they came under Russian fire within three miles of Alma on 19th September, and having rested for the night, began their march one hour after daybreak the following day until they came in sight of the Russian forces. The letter eloquently conveys the esprit de corps of the British forces as they faced what appeared to be impossible odds. Thomas Towner says:

‘We got orders to load our muskets: we all seemed in good spirits and all gave three cheers as we rushed towards the Russians.’

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