A. D. Bayne

“ Nothing contributed more to advance the prosperity of the city than the arrival of the industrious Dutch people, who brought with them arts before unknown in this land.
For centuries the action of government in reference to trade was simply in the way of protection, creating monopolies under charters, and sometimes for subsidies. This was especially the case in Norwich, which was made one of the royal cities of England, and had a market every day in the week, as well as annual marts for all sorts of merchandise. ”

“ Bishop Hooper was born in the year 1495, and was burnt in the reign of Queen Mary. The sixty years of his life formed the most important period of English history. When he was born, the Reformation had just begun; when he died it had struck such deep roots amongst the people, especially of Norwich and Norfolk, that neither force, nor persecution, nor argument could stop its progress. In Bishop Hooper’s time, and in his diocese of Gloucester, the ignorance of the clergy was amazing. ”

“ No one can have turned over a bookseller’s catalogue of local historical publications without observing how few they are in comparison with the extent and importance of the particular district in view. The fact is, that most of the productions of the early authors are either very scarce or are entirely out of print. No city or county can boast of so many industrious topographers and antiquarians as Norwich and Norfolk. ”

“ The Church of Rome reigned supreme over all Europe for a thousand years, but in the 15th century, reason revolted against her authority. Lutheranism and Calvinism were the first forms of the revolt on the Continent, and they assumed the names of Presbyterianism and Puritanism in England and Scotland. Norwich, in common with Norfolk and Suffolk, eventually took up the cause of the Reformation with a zeal and vehemence which make them stand alone in the annals of history. ”

“ These local contests at length prevented capital being employed in manufacturers, and made politics the first object of all the influential citizens, who, if they were not, strove to become, members of the old corporation, not from any consideration of public duty, not to promote the welfare of the citizens, but to serve their own political or personal interests. There is abundant evidence that the prosperity of the city, and private friendships, were alike poisoned by the party spirit, engendered by frequent ward elections ”

“ We have now to view the philanthropist not only in the varied relations of private life, but also in the very important character of a christian minister. He gradually became the most distinguished member of the Society of Friends in all England, and he often delivered exceedingly impressive discourses in Norwich and other large towns, preaching the gospel with a peculiar grace of manner which fascinated every audience. ”

“ For centuries there are not even legendary accounts of East Anglia or of its capital. But instead of legends, there are permanent memorials of the past; great earthworks, fortifications, camps, strongholds, buildings, churches, ruins of monasteries and abbeys. The soil has yielded up relics of the dead—weapons, utensils, coins, ornaments, and sepulchral urns, showing the presence of the Iceni, the Romans, the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Danes, and Normans, at different periods. All these energetic nations were concerned in events that took place in Norfolk and Norwich. ”

“ Under her benign sway the old semi-barbarous state of society has passed away like a dream, and we live in a new social era, the result of the progress of education, of the march of improvement, and of the spread of true religion.
As it has been often stated by local historians that Norwich formerly contained a very large population, and as this statement is very generally believed, we may here correct the mistake by giving the returns, which show a very gradual, and very slow increase from the earliest period to the present time. ”

“ Great were the preparations for the contest. A sort of civic press-gang prowled the streets by night for the purpose of “cooping chickens,” which, being done into English, means carrying men off by force, and keeping them drunk and in confinement, so that if they could not be got to vote “for” it would be impossible for them to vote “against.” If they could not be safely secured in the city, they were “cribbed, cabined, and confined” in wherries on the river, or the broads, or even taken to Yarmouth and carried out to sea. ”

“ Accurate views of local history afford the clearest insight into the state of society at different periods. Thus the records of Norwich Castle prove that nearly all the land in the country was either assigned to bear, or was chargeable with, the castle guard of some castle or other in ancient times. The castles being fortresses were the centres around which large towns arose, and where people most congregated for protection in lawless ages. ”

“ But including all the parties not then chargeable to the property and income tax, and who would be fairly liable to the poor rates, the annual rate would not amount to more than half that sum. This would be a most important difference to the great mass of the rate-payers, whose payments to the relief of the poor would be greatly diminished, whilst they would have the pleasure of knowing that the poor would be better cared for, and that those comforts which they had a right to expect, as producers of wealth, would be placed more immediately within their reach. ”

“ Another strong point in favour of Norwich having been the Venta Icenorum is, that all the roads radiated from the city to all parts of East Anglia.
In tracing the rise and progress of the city we must remember that it was in the centre of a vast common, and that it was the nucleus of an agricultural community, at first without any trade or any kind of manufactures. ”

“ When he crossed the threshold, the young loved to caress and to be caressed by him, whilst to the others the cares of life seemed lessened, and the burden lightened, as he spoke to them a few words of loving sympathy or wise counsel, and left them with his soft tones of benediction treasured in their hearts and vibrating on their ears. ”

“ On all the great truths of revealed religion, honest men could never be long at variance. On disputable points they had learned a salutary forbearance, which enabled them, while they thought for themselves, to let others do the same. The only resources of those who wish to stir up religious animosity, is to bring forward something that no one can determine. ”

“ Here is the mustard mill, and amid all the noise within we are shewn the process by which the well-known condiment, mustard, is produced in such immense quantities, and in the greatest perfection. The mustard seed, which is grown extensively in some parts of this country, is crushed between iron rollers, and is then pounded in large mortars, a long row of which stand on one side of the mill. The pestles consist of long wooden rods with heavy balls of iron. They are set in rapid motion by means of steam power, and the mustard seed is speedily reduced to the condition of flour and bran. ”

“ Woodward regarded Norwich as the Venta Icenorum of the Romans for several reasons, and particularly because it was plain from the occurrence of these Ventas in Britain, and none in any other part of the Roman world, that this was the name of a British town, which its being called the Venta of the Iceni strongly confirmed—even, in fact, a British stronghold, constructed according to the custom of that people in parts of the country without hills. In hilly countries the strongholds were entrenchments round the summits of the hills, but then there were small tracts of land surrounded by marshes. ”

“ The establishment of mills in Yorkshire, where coal, provisions, and labour were cheaper than in Norfolk, gave a heavy blow to the trade of the city, which would have been more severely felt, but for the fluctuations of fashion having created a great demand for bombazines, for which Norwich was famous. The Yorkshire workmen and the substitution of machinery for female hands, reduced the manufacture of the old kinds of goods to a low point, and the trade was chiefly maintained by the orders of the East India Company for large quantities of camlets for the Chinese market. ”

“ Roads and railways are as necessary as rivers for the carrying trade, and even more so. Formerly, roads were the chief means of transit, and the great roads in the eastern counties were among the best in England. The Romans made all the great roads from Norwich to Ipswich, Colchester, and London; also from Norwich to Newmarket and London; and many others.
After the commencement of the railway system, the merchants of Norwich and other towns felt that they must be placed on an equality with other parts of the kingdom. ”

“ Norwich men took an active part in all the great movements of the day,—in the Reformation, the Civil Wars, the Commonwealth, and all the agitations of more modern times. Therefore, the story of the city is interesting and important in every period, and it is identified with the whole course of events in East Anglia. Indeed, it is difficult to separate the history of Norwich, the capital of East Anglia, from that of the whole district. ”

“ The Princess Mary was proclaimed here on July 18th, 1553, and was the first English Queen in her own right, and the people of Norwich and Norfolk rushed to her standard, impelled by the memory of Kett’s rebellion. The queen was a bigoted Roman Catholic, and in her reign popery was revived in its worst form, associated with all the atrocities of the most sanguinary persecution. Protestants were gathered like fuel for burning; and as for the Puritans, no fate could be too severe for them. ”

“ In the dark ages, they preserved learning to some extent, and were houses of refuge for the destitute. No doubt there were many good self-denying men and women amongst the monks and nuns, who did some service to the poor who then abounded in the land. But in time the monasteries sunk for the most part into dissolute confraternities; stupid and sleepy, where not vicious; and banded together against the liberties of the nation; and there were constant broils between the monks and the citizens in Norwich. ”

“ Norwich and Yarmouth must ever be united in the carrying trade by water, as the river Yare flows into the sea. From the statements already made, it will be seen that for centuries past Yarmouth has been the chief port of the city and county; that from the city, and various towns in East Norfolk, vast quantities of goods have been annually conveyed along the Yare, Bure, and Waveney, to that port, to be thence shipped to all parts of England; and that Norwich merchants have brought in the larger proportion of their goods viâ Yarmouth. ”

“ The British and Foreign Society was established shortly before upon the principles advocated by Lancaster, of allowing the bible to be read in the schools without note or comment.
A great change has taken place as regards the intelligence and morals of the people, and this may be attributed to the vast increase in the number of day and Sunday schools. Popular education is almost the creation of the present century, although the day-school epoch may be dated from the year 1796, when the youthful quaker, Joseph Lancaster, began to teach children in his father’s house at Southwark. ”

“ The king sent nearly a thousand men to Yarmouth for the defence of the coast; and so imminent was the peril, that the king commanded the authorities of Norwich to place the walls, towers, and gates in full and able condition to repel all who might appear in opposition to the king’s authority, or crush a design to injure the city. The towers were therefore filled with engines of defence, the walls rendered perfect, and the ditches made as wide and as deep as the necessities of the case demanded. ”

“ After becoming settled in Norwich and Norfolk, they doffed the black colour, and became effeminately gay in their dress, and often changed their attire.
The Normans and Flemings who came over with the Conqueror into England, and those who followed him in great numbers, were remarkable for their love of finery, according to our early historians. The dresses of the common people of course continued to be much the same from age to age, but the habits of the nobility were more influenced by fashion; and the reign of William Rufus is stigmatised by many writers of the period for shameful abuses. ”

“ The first Revolution in France produced a wonderful effect on the political and religious worlds. In the year 1790 commenced those great and important events in France, which laid the foundation of the long war that afterwards raged between that unfortunate empire and this country, and which almost ruined Norwich. Party spirit here began to rage with increased violence. The Tories were vehemently against the Revolution, and the Whigs were equally earnest in its favour. ”

“ The introduction of cotton and silk goods too has nearly superseded the old stuff fabrics of the city. Machinery in Norwich is also behind that in the north. The wool grown in Norfolk and Suffolk has, moreover, been sent to Yorkshire to be spun, and has been repurchased as yarn for Norwich goods; and lastly, Norwich weavers have not the energy of those in Bradford. Fashion also has been one of the causes of the loss of trade, for the fashions are continually changing, and Norwich firms have to compete with all England, Scotland, and France ”