John Harrison Yallop
Yallop is a very interesting character to explore in this project, There are some almost comic moments within his life which seperate him from other commissioners who were perhaps more philanthropically minded. He became the agent for Government lottery tickets and then after finding an unsold ticket in his safe (all unsold tickets were to be returned to London) he decided to purchase it. The ticket was found to be a winning ticket, but exactly how much was won is unknown. Although he doesn’t appear to been concerned with social matters such as soup kitchens or poor relief he has been noted in record books related to the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, with another commissioner Philip Meadows Martineau who I will write about tomorrow. Yallop was well known and powerful within Norwich, elected as Alderman, Sheriff and Mayor (twice) all rounded off with a knighthood in 1831.
My personal associations with the name Yallop are with the old Yallop shoe shop that used to be towards the top of St Augustines in Norwich, just up the road from my studio.
