ROW THIRTEEN - SOUTH GARDEN ROW *1
Row number thirteen,
from North Quay to George Street, was called South Garden Row, because it
adjoined the garden already mentioned in the description of Row 11, which in
the early part of the eighteenth century was in the occupation of Robert Ward
Esq., from whom it passed to John Lacon, who erected the malt-house upon it,
and this row was then called "Lacon's Row".*1 On the south side of
this row there was an open space long known as the 'Green Yard'. There were
several old houses in that row inhabited by families named Abbot, Eldridge, and
Thirkettle. The last was a Danish name
spelt also Thirkle and Thurketel. A General named Thurkettle employed by Canute
expelled the English Earl Olfkettle, and amongst other possessions obtained the
keeping of the Camp*3 at Caistor near
Norwich, a part of which he gave up to the Monastery of St. Bennet at Holme, and by an exchange, the
Holme became vested in the Abbot of St. Bennet of Bury St. Edmund's. Robert
Thurkyld of Yarmouth, was in 1242 appointed Captain of one of the King's ships,
Thomas Thurkyld was Bailiff in 1269 and William Thurkyld in 1316, and he also
was a Member of Parliament representing the Borough in the first Parliament of
Edward the Third.
The large garden to the
south can plainly be seen midway of this row on the 1758 map, and subsequently
is completely within the centre of the Brewery Stores. In a house next but one to the south-west
corner, which is beyond the garden, resided for many years Mr. Lily Wigg. For
more than half a century he was engaged in the continual investigation of the
plants peculiar to the district. The
Fucus discovered by and named after him
forms, said Paget, one of the greatest gems in herbarium. He had been born on Christmas Day 1749 at
Smallburgh in Norfolk, where his father was a shoemaker. He migrated to
Yarmouth, opened a school in Fighting Cock Row, and later he became a clerk in
the bank of Gurney's and Turner. (Dawson Turner's Bank, later Barclay's) Although he worked all day at the bank he
never-the-less managed to learn Latin, French and Greek. He was skilled in arithmetic and had
brilliant hand writing according to Palmer.
He was for many years a Fellow of the Linnaean Society, and left behind
him a large accumulation of valuable notes on botany and natural history, which
are now lost to the world. He died in
1828 aged seventy nine. The Carmelite
Friary*2 had run from the Market Place to the Quay, and had been destroyed by fire in 1509, owing to a
defective water supply. The whole area was built upon by licence from the crown
in 1567.
In 1928 Johnson wrote- "There is an open
space, the site of old houses midway on the north side, and a passage leading
to Row 11. This row is fairly steep, leading from George Street to Bessey's
Piece or Bessey's Paddock. In earlier times when open spaces were abundant,
"The piece" and "The bleach", were common terms. William Bessey owned the large plot of land
on which St.Andrew's (the Wherrymen's) Church had been built in 1859, through
the exertions of John Gott, later Dean of Worcester. This family of Bessey
probably dates back to the freemen of that name in the 16th.Century". W.H.Bessey took part in the memorable
investigation by the H.M.Municipal Commissioners on the Corporate affairs of
Yarmouth in 1834. W.H.Bessey was on page 124 of Barrett's report, speaking of
his father, and the ballasting of ships. Mention is made in this report of a
Mr.Bessey having the mud dredging contract and also "trespassing on the
north river by throwing a craft load of mud overboard and causing a bank. He
was ordered to take up and remove the soil."
Lacons Brewery Store,
demolished and then rebuilt in a “similar” style as Aldi Store.
Mr.W.H.Bessey said, (see page 227 of the report) "my father held
for many years a small piece of the town waste, for which he paid 8 shillings a
year. He petitioned to have a lease of it and paid 10 guineas. He put a paling
round, but was restricted from
building". The Bessey family used this space as a store for masts, spars,
timber and so on, and later a saw-pit occupied some of the ground. Prior to the
introduction of the steam mill and circular saw, a pit 6 feet deep, 10 feet
long and four feet wide was dug in the ground*3, the tree trunk or timber was
laid lengthways above, and two men
operated a pit saw, one man from below and his mate at the top above ground.
This was tedious work for the sawyer, and it is hard to understand the motives
which prompted the violent opposition to the introduction of the saw mill into
this country. Saw mills were erected near London in about 1770. At one time it
is to be presumed that this saw-pit was a flourishing business. The tavern on
Fullers Hill looking east, prior to losing its licence, was known as the "Albion", and
formerly the "Sawyer's Arms". It was described at the Corporation
Investigation as a house for vagrants. The circus and wild beast show was at
times camped on this site. In the early 19th.Century, a show was billed as
being held in the market place, but the Corporation banned it. The watchmen met
the caravans on Southtown Road, and forbade the circus people to cross the
bridge. News reached the keeper of the huge elephant, and this gentle creature
was brought to the front of the procession, and with swinging trunk led the
procession across the bridge, and along North Quay. The circus-folk held their
show triumphantly on Bessey's piece. At
the south-west corner of the row was the "Lord Nelson" Tavern, and
next door for many years resided Mr. Lilly Wigg F.L.S., the well-known
botanist, naturalist, and Latin scholar, until his death in 1928. He was a
friend of such as Dawson Turner, Dr. Aiken, Hon. T.Wenman, Mr. Woodward, Sir
James Smith, Rev. Norton Nicholls, and other prominent scientists. He had been
born in Smallburgh Christmas day 1749, and later came to Yarmouth, opening a
school in Fighting Cock Row - No. 25.
Irene Newman lived at the Albion from age of 7 with her family until it
was pulled down. (see Fuller's hill*4)
*1 Palmer
*2 Johnson
*3 see Jewson's, North Quay
*4 interview, 1991 22.
THE CARMELITE FRIARY. (see also
under its own heading) Manship relates
how the Carmelites, or Friars of the Blessed Mary the Virgin, of Mount Carmel,
came to England in 1240, and settled at Norwich in 1256. At Yarmouth, the founding of their convent
was ascribed by Speed, Weaver and Tanner*5, to the year 1278, in the reign of
Edward I. They had leave to enlarge their house in 1377. Their possessions are
supposed to have extended from the west side of the Market Place, including the
"Half-Moon Tavern", to the North Quay. The White Friars Monastery was
destroyed by fire in 1509. One of the Priors, John Tylney, also known as John
of Yarmouth, prior in 1435, 1437, and 1455, was professor of divinity at
Cambridge, and wrote many famous and well used sermons and lectures.*6
*5 Bishop Tanner bought items in
an auction at Norwich in 1731, which are now in the Bodleian Library,
Oxford
*6 ref. Manship I , p. 427.
The Occupants, Row Thirteen, 1886
(from 107 George Street to North Quay)
Burrell, H. Greengrocer
Savage, Mrs.
Hales, Mrs.
Diboll, Mrs.
Botwright, Mrs.
Hodds, J., bootmaker
Barrow, G. carpenter
Read, R.G., blacksmith
Smith, Mrs.
Brister, W., cooper
carver, G.
Harley, G.
Redgrave, Mrs.
Watson, Mrs.