Illustration Christine Fuller
The following article was published in the Bury & Norwich Post on Wednesday 21st November, 1832:
A daring robbery was committed on Saturday evening, about seven o'clock, in St Stephen's Street, upon a cattle dealer from Great Ellingham, who was holding his horse at the door of the Two-necked Swan, when he was knocked down by one man and instantly surrounded by several others, who rifled his pockets and stole therefrom a purse containing one £10 and three £5 notes, some gold and silver, amounting in all to £44 2s. Eleven persons are in custody on suspicion.
The relatively short article throws up several questions.
Who was the cattle dealer from Great Ellingham? Why was he carrying money, gold and silver?
Unfortunately, there are no clues to the victim’s identity other than he was a cattle dealer.
Nevertheless, ‘Mr Cattle Dealer’ had probably been in Norwich ‘on business’. With £44 in 1832 roughly equating to a buying power of around £5,000 today, it was certainly a hefty sum of money/gold/silver to have in one’s pocket! Maybe he was on his way to the bank, but decided to stop off for some refreshment at the ‘Two-necked Swan’?
It seems reasonable to think that his assailants knew that ‘Mr Cattle Dealer’ had such a sum in his possession. Perhaps the attackers followed Mr Cattle Dealer. They took the opportunity to ambush him as he was about to go into the ‘Two-necked Swan’.
With eleven persons arrested, this appears to be an organised crime rather than an impromptu event!
Sources:
21 November 1832 Bury & Norwich Post. Viewed via The British Newspaper Archive
Measuring Worth website accessed 10.09.2024