A reprint: with a chapter of more recent events by A. E. MURTON. LOWESTOFT. mdcccxcvii....

This island (lately become a peninsula) is situated in the most eastern part of Great Britain and in the northern corner of the County of Suffolk.  It is bounded by the German Ocean on the east, by the river Yare on the north, by the Waveney on the west, and by the beautiful and spacious water, the lake Lothing on the south; thus encircled by water on every side it is generally called the Island of Lothingland, and would strictly be so, did not a very narrow neck of land (near Lowestoft) interve

Lestoffe , Laystoft, Laistoe, or, as it was more anciently called Lothnwistoft, is supposed by some to have derived its name from Lothbroch, the noble Dane, on his arriving in this island about the year 864, and from wista, [23] a half-hide of land; but I apprehend, erroneously, as it is doubtful whether these several appellations be of any earlier date than the reign of Queen Elizabeth.  In the charter granted by Edward III. for uniting Kirkley road to the haven of Yarmouth, we find it expresse

The principal commerce subsisting at Lowestoft is derived from its herring-fishery.  The town most probably, received its very existence from the convenient situation of its coast for fishermen to exercise the several occupations of a life dependent on those employments; which in the more early ages, extended, very likely, to every kind of fish that the coast afforded; though now, in these more recent times, it is chiefly confined to the herring fishery.  The herrings appear on the coast of Shet

In order to discover the origin of those violent disputes and commotions which subsisted so long between Yarmouth and Lowestoft, respecting Kirkley road and the herring fishery, and to represent them in the clearest and most impartial manner, it may be necessary to advert to a preceding section, and to recapitulate from thence such circumstances as may tend to the better understanding the various transactions of the section we are now engaged in. It was there observed, that in early ages, even b

Lowestoft is a vicarage endowed with great tithes.  In the reign of Henry I the impropriation of this parish was given by that king towards augmenting the endowment of the priory of St. Bartholomew, in London, and continued in the possession of that house till the dissolution of the monasteries, in the reign of Henry VIII; when the site of this priory being granted to Sir Richard Rich, afterwards Lord Rich, probably the impropriation of Lowestoft, as part of the endowment of the priory, devolved

The church belonging to this parish standing at too great a distance from the general residence of the inhabitants to be frequented by the aged and infirm, it became necessary to erect places for public worship in a near, and consequently, more convenient situation.  It is evident that there have been two chapels in the town of Lowestoft, and both of them erected before the Reformation.  One of them was situated at the south end of the town, and was called Good-Cross Chapel.  This building was d

In consequence of there not having been any regular registers of the institutions to church benefices before the year 1299, it is impossible to obtain any information respecting those appointments prior to that period; but after the keeping of those registers, much light has been thrown on the ecclesiastical history of this country: and it is from the assistance derived from these registers that the regular succession of vicars of this parish can be given from the year 1308. Thomas Scrope, surna

The town of Lowestoft has been much distinguished in religious concerns, for its invoilable attachment to the establishment of the Church of England, as in civil affairs, for its unshaken loyalty to its sovereign.  Nevertheless, it is not without its sectaries, which, at different times, have arisen in the town; the principal of which sectaries is that society denominated Independents or Congregational Dissenters.  At what time it was that this religious sect first began to make its appearance i

Lowestoft being a maritime town, it is consequently more distinguished for memorable transactions relative to naval affairs, than for those respecting military. The town having always depended upon the herring fishery for its chief support, has rendered this fishery a constant nursery for seamen; and the great advantages which maritime powers have always received from their fisheries, are too many to be enumerated, as well as too evident to require a demonstration; for the constant protection an

The rise and progress of the herring fishery have been previously mentioned and further discussion would be superfluous, were it not to represent more clearly the attempts that were made by some new adventurers, who resided at Dunbar, Caithness, and other places in Scotland; at Liverpool, in the western part of England; and at the Isle of Man, in the Irish Channel; in order to deprive the town of the benefits arising from this antient fishery, and to monopolise them wholly to themselves. The dec

The Rev. Alfred Suckling, L.L.B., in his “History and Antiquities of the Hundreds of Blyth and part of Lothingland,” writes:—“There being no parsonage-house at Lowestoft, in consequence of the fire in 1606, the Rev. John Tanner, who died in 1759, left by his will £100 towards purchasing a residence for that at purpose: on condition, however, that his successors advanced another £100, and the purchase was made within a limited time.  But Mr. Arrow, who succeeded Mr. Tanner, not complying with the

On the 8th of January, 1832, a public notice was given at church of a town meeting to consider the propriety of building a new and more convenient chapel for the use of the inhabitants; to appropriate for its site a portion of the town land, and to provide the necessary funds.  In pursuance of which notice the inhabitants of Lowestoft met on Thursday, the 12th of January following, when it was resolved, that the present chapel having been found unsuitable in size and situation for the accommodat

In a Hand-book to Lowestoft, published by Mr. Thos. Crowe, in 1853, is the following: Lowestoft is, happily for the peace and cordiality of its people, neither a parliamentary Borough nor a corporate town: so that political and party feuds in no degree embitter the charities of private life.  These are advantages of which its inhabitants are fully sensible; and if they are disposed to forget them, they are abundantly admonished by the example of a town nine miles to their north, which is a prey

Tuesday Afternoon, 22nd September, 1885, was the time appointed for the official reception of the Charter of Incorporation.  The Town Hall was not sufficiently capacious to accommodate the large number of townsmen who sought admission. Chairs were ticketed for the following gentlemen, namely, to the right of Major Seppings, the Mayor—Rev. T. A. Nash, James Peto, Esq., Rev. J. F. Reeve, T. Lucas, Esq., E. K. Harvey, Esq., W. F. Larkins, Esq., H. G. Woods, Esq.  To the left of the Mayor—The Town C

BY A. E. MURTON. In compiling a history of any place, a stop must be made somewhere, owing to the exigencies of publication.  The details of Lowestoft’s past have been recorded, and brought up to, perhaps, the most important point in her career, viz., the granting of the Charter of Incorporation in 1885; and it only now remains to show how it has fared with the Borough since.  It may at once be said that its record has been one of steady progress.  It has continuously grown in favour as a health