9th May 1901. A violent thunder storm passed over Grimston on a Wednesday afternoon. Several men were gossiping on the village green and when they saw the storm approaching they went into the nearby Chequers Inn. One of the men was 25 year old single man Robert Collison. He lived at home with his recently widowed mother, but had been in South Africa as a private with the Norfolk Militia. He was struck down with fever and invalided back home and has been here for a few months. A few days earlier he had fallen backwards from a donkey cart and broken a bone in his left arm, which was now in splints.

Landlord of the Chequers was Charles Cobb, who also had a harness making business which he conducted from the adjoining shop. The men from the green entered the tap room, bringing the total number of occupants to eight. While the storm raged outside, they sat drinking and talking. Collison was on a bench by an open window with his right arm resting on the sill. Beside him was Grimston man William Grimes, whose left arm was resting on the same sill. On Collison’s other side was Gaywood man S Elsegood. The storm had been raging overhead for just a short time when a flash of lightning struck the west gable of the pub, knocking loose a few bricks. At that moment all three men on the bench suddenly pitched forward and Collison hit the floor. A man called William Bunting picked Collison up, but Collison gave one gasp and died. A small scorch mark could be seen on the right side of Collison’s head and it was thought that he had been struck by the lightning. After a few moments the other two men who had been sat on the bench recovered but were badly shaken up.

At the time of the lightning strike, Mrs Cobb had been closing a window in a room at the rear of the property, when she felt a hot, oppressive sensation in her head. She hurried into the tap room and said “I believe I have been struck.” Elsegood replied “I think I have too.” Grimes had felt a stab of pain across his left hand as he fell and that hand was now numb. Elsegood had felt a pain down one side of his body and upon examining himself saw a red crescent shaped mark.

Meanwhile Charles Cobb had been in the adjoin workshop with an assistant called William Bannell. Charles was a few feet away from an open doorway and was going towards it when what he described as a small ball of fire the size of a walnut, flashed through the door. It struck a brick close to his left foot and then it was gone, leaving no trace. He felt a numbing sensation along his left leg, followed by a prolonged attack of what felt like pins and needles, with the keg also feeling hot.

Bannell had also felt a shock on his own left leg and his trousers were singed, leaving a small cloud of smoke near his ankles. Charles went into the pub and upon hearing what had happened he harnessed his horse and set off to find the surgeon, Mr A L Saunders. Unfortunately the surgeon was attending a patient at Bilney and did not arrive for two hours, but it would have made no difference. Inspector Bayfield was also contacted and he telegraphed the coroner, W M Barton, in Dereham. An inquest was held at The Chequers the next morning and a verdict of “died from being struck by lightning” was given.

[I met Charles’, then very elderly, granddaughter Millie circa 2010. She remembered that her grandfather had a stick and walked with a slight limp, but did not know why. Could this have been caused by the lightning strike?]