IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 3 - 9 NOVEMBER 1925
This week's many stories include the St Helens contribution to the proposed East Lancs road, the Duke Street car dealer with four-wheel brakes, the council election results, the Bold Street bother between neighbours, the West End smash No No Nanette comes to St Helens and the Bickerstaffe Street woman who attacked her bedridden husband.
We begin on the 3rd when William Tipton appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with indecently assaulting three girls aged between 5 and 7 years of age. The St Helens Reporter only devoted 10 lines to what they said had been a lengthy hearing in which the elderly man from Albert Street had been convicted and fined 40 shillings on each charge.
On the evening of the 4th, the Assembly Rooms in George Street were described as having been "gaily decorated" for the annual Post Office staff dance, which had attracted 125 persons.
Most of the cost of the proposed East Lancashire Road was coming from the government, with the Ministry of Transport paying 75%. Lancashire County Council and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board were also making significant contributions and, as the road would pass through the boundaries of Liverpool, Bootle, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan, these councils were all expected to pay something towards the cost. It was announced this week that the St Helens Parliamentary Committee had settled on the sum of £29,000 as the town's share of the scheme.
The Conservative Party-supporting Reporter on the 6th put a brave face on the results of the local elections. These had taken place four days before in which Labour had increased its majority on the council. The Tories – or Unionists as they were commonly called – had lost the Hardshaw ward that they had won back from Labour three years ago but increased their majorities in their heartland wards of Eccleston and Windle.
That, the Reporter described was the "particularly encouraging" aspect of the results. But the fact was that Labour now had a majority of three on the Town Council and the Conservatives negative campaigning against the people that they called the "so-called Labour party" had clearly not worked.
The Liverpool Daily Post in its report on the St Helens poll was disturbed that in some of the six wards in which elections had taken place, only half of the electorate had bothered to vote. I think they would be quite pleased if they got a 50% turnout today! However, the Reporter later stated that the overall turnout had been 69.5%.
The 1921 census lists 22-year-old David Caldwell – the owner of the D. Caldwell car dealership at 44 Duke Street – living with his parents in Dentons Green Lane and with his father listed as an organ builder. In the following year David was advertising vehicles for sale with these three attributes: 1) Equipped with electric starter motor; 2) Windows that won't rattle; 3) Positively no draught.
Clearly they must have been the big issues of the day for those riding in the early motor vehicles. Many drivers would have needed to hand-crank their motors to get them started and put up with vibrating windows that were allowing unwanted ventilation. But, of course, as time goes by new developments in motor cars are perceived as important.
In this week's Reporter, Caldwell was highlighting the Morris cars that he had for sale that possessed four-wheel brakes and "dipping head lamps". A bit of research informs me that hydraulic four-wheel brakes on cars only began appearing in 1921 and most cars on St Helens roads in 1925 would still have had brakes only applied to their rear wheels. Cowley cars were available from Caldwell from £162 and Oxfords from £240. Unusually, the firm had two telephone lines, which carried the numbers 502 and 486.
In May I wrote how until November, the British Empire Exhibition was taking place at Wembley Park and one of its star exhibits had been provided by Pilkingtons. They claimed to be displaying the largest sheet of plate glass in the world, which had been called the Window of the Empire. The pane was 14 feet high and 24 feet long and weighed 1,700 lbs. The Reporter described how the exhibition had now closed but said that in attempting to remove the huge window from the exhibition stand, it had got smashed. Better at the end of the exhibition than at its start, I suppose!
The Reporter carried a short piece about Thomas Schofield, who this week had been given 3 months hard labour. The 30-year-old St Helens miner had burgled the booking office of Ashton-in-Makerfield’s railway station stealing tickets and some cash. The Reporter pointed out that the man had during the war won the Military Medal but was now being described as a worthless fellow.
I immediately wondered whether there was any connection between his army service and subsequent criminality. But court records reveal that Schofield had 37 previous convictions for a wide range of offences, including assault, being an army absentee and wife maintenance arrears that dated back to 1914, when he was 19. It has been said that the most effective soldiers in wartime are criminals and Schofield appears to reinforce that belief.
Charlotte Wilson from Bickerstaffe Street sounds like a charming lady! She appeared in court this week charged with committing a breach of the peace. A police constable gave evidence that he had heard the woman bellowing at her bedridden husband, saying she would have his life. Upon going upstairs, the officer found the husband had a wound on his left eye, which the man claimed his wife had caused.
And Charlotte did not calm down with the police in her house. She was described as having swung her arms about and smashed some glass and had needed to be restrained. The sick husband was said to have been confined to his bed for over two years and his wife was bound over for six months.
With policemen on the beat it was common for officers to hear disturbances taking place inside houses and be able to intervene. They could also spot minor crimes taking place within shops. PC Griffin had been looking through the shop window of Thomas Roberts' shop in Oldfield Street when he saw two young children buying fireworks. As soon as they came out, the constable took them back into the shop and the shopkeeper ended up being fined 10 shillings and told by magistrates that he had done a dangerous thing.
When Mary Cunliffe was asked in court if she had any witnesses to support the claims that she was making, she replied "No. For what I have said is the truth." It was another silly neighbours row in which both sides told their one-sided versions of reality and expected the magistrates to automatically believe them. The squabble had taken place in Bold Street where both parties lived.
Margaret Stanley claimed that James Cunliffe had struck her with a bottle and she exhibited a wound on her elbow to the magistrates as evidence. But Cunliffe had his own war souvenir, claiming Margaret had hit him across his eye with a vase and he showed an ugly sore to the Bench as his proof. In the end one of the summonses was dismissed and Mary Cunliffe was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
From the 9th what was advertised as the "outstanding success of this generation" was performed at the St Helens Theatre Royal. It was a touring version of the West End hit 'No No Nanette'. The show at the Palace Theatre in London had been so popular that 11,000 people had even paid to stand and watch it, with nearly 300,000 having seen it so far.
The Reporter said the takings at each theatre where the touring version had played had been "phenomenal" and massive demand was expected at St Helens. A "special augmented orchestra" had been hired and what were described as special admission prices were in place. In fact there were seven different categories of seats to choose from, ranging from 1 shilling to sit in the gallery to 7s 6d for a box seat.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the scarlet fever outbreak in Rainford, the rent by auction of a butcher's stall in the Covered Market, criticism of the Peasley Cross flooding and the row at a fairground in St Helens Junction.
We begin on the 3rd when William Tipton appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with indecently assaulting three girls aged between 5 and 7 years of age. The St Helens Reporter only devoted 10 lines to what they said had been a lengthy hearing in which the elderly man from Albert Street had been convicted and fined 40 shillings on each charge.
On the evening of the 4th, the Assembly Rooms in George Street were described as having been "gaily decorated" for the annual Post Office staff dance, which had attracted 125 persons.
Most of the cost of the proposed East Lancashire Road was coming from the government, with the Ministry of Transport paying 75%. Lancashire County Council and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board were also making significant contributions and, as the road would pass through the boundaries of Liverpool, Bootle, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan, these councils were all expected to pay something towards the cost. It was announced this week that the St Helens Parliamentary Committee had settled on the sum of £29,000 as the town's share of the scheme.
The Conservative Party-supporting Reporter on the 6th put a brave face on the results of the local elections. These had taken place four days before in which Labour had increased its majority on the council. The Tories – or Unionists as they were commonly called – had lost the Hardshaw ward that they had won back from Labour three years ago but increased their majorities in their heartland wards of Eccleston and Windle.
That, the Reporter described was the "particularly encouraging" aspect of the results. But the fact was that Labour now had a majority of three on the Town Council and the Conservatives negative campaigning against the people that they called the "so-called Labour party" had clearly not worked.
The Liverpool Daily Post in its report on the St Helens poll was disturbed that in some of the six wards in which elections had taken place, only half of the electorate had bothered to vote. I think they would be quite pleased if they got a 50% turnout today! However, the Reporter later stated that the overall turnout had been 69.5%.
Clearly they must have been the big issues of the day for those riding in the early motor vehicles. Many drivers would have needed to hand-crank their motors to get them started and put up with vibrating windows that were allowing unwanted ventilation. But, of course, as time goes by new developments in motor cars are perceived as important.
In this week's Reporter, Caldwell was highlighting the Morris cars that he had for sale that possessed four-wheel brakes and "dipping head lamps". A bit of research informs me that hydraulic four-wheel brakes on cars only began appearing in 1921 and most cars on St Helens roads in 1925 would still have had brakes only applied to their rear wheels. Cowley cars were available from Caldwell from £162 and Oxfords from £240. Unusually, the firm had two telephone lines, which carried the numbers 502 and 486.
In May I wrote how until November, the British Empire Exhibition was taking place at Wembley Park and one of its star exhibits had been provided by Pilkingtons. They claimed to be displaying the largest sheet of plate glass in the world, which had been called the Window of the Empire. The pane was 14 feet high and 24 feet long and weighed 1,700 lbs. The Reporter described how the exhibition had now closed but said that in attempting to remove the huge window from the exhibition stand, it had got smashed. Better at the end of the exhibition than at its start, I suppose!
The Reporter carried a short piece about Thomas Schofield, who this week had been given 3 months hard labour. The 30-year-old St Helens miner had burgled the booking office of Ashton-in-Makerfield’s railway station stealing tickets and some cash. The Reporter pointed out that the man had during the war won the Military Medal but was now being described as a worthless fellow.
I immediately wondered whether there was any connection between his army service and subsequent criminality. But court records reveal that Schofield had 37 previous convictions for a wide range of offences, including assault, being an army absentee and wife maintenance arrears that dated back to 1914, when he was 19. It has been said that the most effective soldiers in wartime are criminals and Schofield appears to reinforce that belief.
Charlotte Wilson from Bickerstaffe Street sounds like a charming lady! She appeared in court this week charged with committing a breach of the peace. A police constable gave evidence that he had heard the woman bellowing at her bedridden husband, saying she would have his life. Upon going upstairs, the officer found the husband had a wound on his left eye, which the man claimed his wife had caused.
And Charlotte did not calm down with the police in her house. She was described as having swung her arms about and smashed some glass and had needed to be restrained. The sick husband was said to have been confined to his bed for over two years and his wife was bound over for six months.
With policemen on the beat it was common for officers to hear disturbances taking place inside houses and be able to intervene. They could also spot minor crimes taking place within shops. PC Griffin had been looking through the shop window of Thomas Roberts' shop in Oldfield Street when he saw two young children buying fireworks. As soon as they came out, the constable took them back into the shop and the shopkeeper ended up being fined 10 shillings and told by magistrates that he had done a dangerous thing.
When Mary Cunliffe was asked in court if she had any witnesses to support the claims that she was making, she replied "No. For what I have said is the truth." It was another silly neighbours row in which both sides told their one-sided versions of reality and expected the magistrates to automatically believe them. The squabble had taken place in Bold Street where both parties lived.
Margaret Stanley claimed that James Cunliffe had struck her with a bottle and she exhibited a wound on her elbow to the magistrates as evidence. But Cunliffe had his own war souvenir, claiming Margaret had hit him across his eye with a vase and he showed an ugly sore to the Bench as his proof. In the end one of the summonses was dismissed and Mary Cunliffe was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
From the 9th what was advertised as the "outstanding success of this generation" was performed at the St Helens Theatre Royal. It was a touring version of the West End hit 'No No Nanette'. The show at the Palace Theatre in London had been so popular that 11,000 people had even paid to stand and watch it, with nearly 300,000 having seen it so far.
The Reporter said the takings at each theatre where the touring version had played had been "phenomenal" and massive demand was expected at St Helens. A "special augmented orchestra" had been hired and what were described as special admission prices were in place. In fact there were seven different categories of seats to choose from, ranging from 1 shilling to sit in the gallery to 7s 6d for a box seat.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the scarlet fever outbreak in Rainford, the rent by auction of a butcher's stall in the Covered Market, criticism of the Peasley Cross flooding and the row at a fairground in St Helens Junction.
This week's many stories include the St Helens contribution to the proposed East Lancs road, the Duke Street car dealer with four-wheel brakes, the council election results, the Bold Street bother between neighbours, the West End smash No No Nanette comes to St Helens and the Bickerstaffe Street woman who attacked her bedridden husband.
We begin on the 3rd when William Tipton appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with indecently assaulting three girls aged between 5 and 7 years of age.
The St Helens Reporter only devoted 10 lines to what they said had been a lengthy hearing in which the elderly man from Albert Street had been convicted and fined 40 shillings on each charge.
On the evening of the 4th, the Assembly Rooms in George Street were described as having been "gaily decorated" for the annual Post Office staff dance, which had attracted 125 persons.
Most of the cost of the proposed East Lancashire Road was coming from the government, with the Ministry of Transport paying 75%.
Lancashire County Council and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board were also making significant contributions and, as the road would pass through the boundaries of Liverpool, Bootle, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan, these councils were all expected to pay something towards the cost.
It was announced this week that the St Helens Parliamentary Committee had settled on the sum of £29,000 as the town's share of the scheme.
The Conservative Party-supporting Reporter on the 6th put a brave face on the results of the local elections.
These had taken place four days before in which Labour had increased its majority on the council.
The Tories – or Unionists as they were commonly called – had lost the Hardshaw ward that they had won back from Labour three years ago but increased their majorities in their heartland wards of Eccleston and Windle.
That, the Reporter described was the "particularly encouraging" aspect of the results.
But the fact was that Labour now had a majority of three on the Town Council and the Conservatives negative campaigning against the people that they called the "so-called Labour party" had clearly not worked.
The Liverpool Daily Post in its report on the St Helens poll was disturbed that in some of the six wards in which elections had taken place, only half of the electorate had bothered to vote. I think they would be quite pleased if they got a 50% turnout today!
However, the Reporter later stated that the overall turnout had been 69.5%.
The 1921 census lists 22-year-old David Caldwell – the owner of the D. Caldwell car dealership at 44 Duke Street – living with his parents in Dentons Green Lane and with his father listed as an organ builder.
In the following year David was advertising vehicles for sale with these three attributes:
1) Equipped with electric starter motor; 2) Windows that won't rattle; 3) Positively no draught.
Clearly they must have been the big issues of the day for those riding in the early motor vehicles.
Many drivers would have needed to hand-crank their motors to get them started and put up with vibrating windows that were allowing unwanted ventilation.
But, of course, as time goes by new developments in motor cars are perceived as important.
In this week's Reporter, Caldwell was highlighting the Morris cars that he had for sale that possessed four-wheel brakes and "dipping head lamps".
A bit of research informs me that hydraulic four-wheel brakes on cars only began appearing in 1921 and most cars on St Helens roads in 1925 would still have had brakes only applied to their rear wheels.
Cowley cars were available from Caldwell from £162 and Oxfords from £240. Unusually, the firm had two telephone lines, which carried the numbers 502 and 486.
In May I wrote how until November, the British Empire Exhibition was taking place at Wembley Park and one of its star exhibits had been provided by Pilkingtons.
They claimed to be displaying the largest sheet of plate glass in the world, which had been called the Window of the Empire. The pane was 14 feet high and 24 feet long and weighed 1,700 lbs.
The Reporter described how the exhibition had now closed but said that in attempting to remove the huge window from the exhibition stand, it had got smashed. Better at the end of the exhibition than at its start, I suppose!
The Reporter carried a short piece about Thomas Schofield, who this week had been given 3 months hard labour.
The 30-year-old St Helens miner had burgled the booking office of Ashton-in-Makerfield’s railway station stealing tickets and some cash.
The Reporter pointed out that the man had during the war won the Military Medal but was now being described as a worthless fellow.
I immediately wondered whether there was any connection between his army service and subsequent criminality.
But court records reveal that Schofield had 37 previous convictions for a wide range of offences, including assault, being an army absentee and wife maintenance arrears that dated back to 1914, when he was 19.
It has been said that the most effective soldiers in wartime are criminals and Schofield appears to reinforce that belief.
Charlotte Wilson from Bickerstaffe Street sounds like a charming lady! She appeared in court this week charged with committing a breach of the peace.
A police constable gave evidence that he had heard the woman bellowing at her bedridden husband, saying she would have his life.
Upon going upstairs, the officer found the husband had a wound on his left eye, which the man claimed his wife had caused.
And Charlotte did not calm down with the police in her house. She was described as having swung her arms about and smashed some glass and had needed to be restrained.
The sick husband was said to have been confined to his bed for over two years and his wife was bound over for six months.
With policemen on the beat it was common for officers to hear disturbances taking place inside houses and be able to intervene. They could also spot minor crimes taking place within shops.
PC Griffin had been looking through the shop window of Thomas Roberts' shop in Oldfield Street when he saw two young children buying fireworks.
As soon as they came out, the constable took them back into the shop and the shopkeeper ended up being fined 10 shillings and told by magistrates that he had done a dangerous thing.
When Mary Cunliffe was asked in court if she had any witnesses to support the claims that she was making, she replied "No. For what I have said is the truth."
It was another silly neighbours row in which both sides told their one-sided versions of reality and expected the magistrates to automatically believe them.
The squabble had taken place in Bold Street where both parties lived.
Margaret Stanley claimed that James Cunliffe had struck her with a bottle and she exhibited a wound on her elbow to the magistrates as evidence.
But Cunliffe had his own war souvenir, claiming Margaret had hit him across his eye with a vase and he showed an ugly sore to the Bench as his proof.
In the end one of the summonses was dismissed and Mary Cunliffe was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
From the 9th what was advertised as the "outstanding success of this generation" was performed at the St Helens Theatre Royal. It was a touring version of the West End hit 'No No Nanette'.
The show at the Palace Theatre in London had been so popular that 11,000 people had even paid to stand and watch it, with nearly 300,000 having seen it so far.
The Reporter said the takings at each theatre where the touring version had played had been "phenomenal" and massive demand was expected at St Helens.
A "special augmented orchestra" had been hired and what were described as special admission prices were in place.
In fact there were seven different categories of seats to choose from, ranging from 1 shilling to sit in the gallery to 7s 6d for a box seat.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the scarlet fever outbreak in Rainford, the rent by auction of a butcher's stall in the Covered Market, criticism of the Peasley Cross flooding and the row at a fairground in St Helens Junction.
We begin on the 3rd when William Tipton appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with indecently assaulting three girls aged between 5 and 7 years of age.
The St Helens Reporter only devoted 10 lines to what they said had been a lengthy hearing in which the elderly man from Albert Street had been convicted and fined 40 shillings on each charge.
On the evening of the 4th, the Assembly Rooms in George Street were described as having been "gaily decorated" for the annual Post Office staff dance, which had attracted 125 persons.
Most of the cost of the proposed East Lancashire Road was coming from the government, with the Ministry of Transport paying 75%.
Lancashire County Council and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board were also making significant contributions and, as the road would pass through the boundaries of Liverpool, Bootle, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan, these councils were all expected to pay something towards the cost.
It was announced this week that the St Helens Parliamentary Committee had settled on the sum of £29,000 as the town's share of the scheme.
The Conservative Party-supporting Reporter on the 6th put a brave face on the results of the local elections.
These had taken place four days before in which Labour had increased its majority on the council.
The Tories – or Unionists as they were commonly called – had lost the Hardshaw ward that they had won back from Labour three years ago but increased their majorities in their heartland wards of Eccleston and Windle.
That, the Reporter described was the "particularly encouraging" aspect of the results.
But the fact was that Labour now had a majority of three on the Town Council and the Conservatives negative campaigning against the people that they called the "so-called Labour party" had clearly not worked.
The Liverpool Daily Post in its report on the St Helens poll was disturbed that in some of the six wards in which elections had taken place, only half of the electorate had bothered to vote. I think they would be quite pleased if they got a 50% turnout today!
However, the Reporter later stated that the overall turnout had been 69.5%.
In the following year David was advertising vehicles for sale with these three attributes:
1) Equipped with electric starter motor; 2) Windows that won't rattle; 3) Positively no draught.
Clearly they must have been the big issues of the day for those riding in the early motor vehicles.
Many drivers would have needed to hand-crank their motors to get them started and put up with vibrating windows that were allowing unwanted ventilation.
But, of course, as time goes by new developments in motor cars are perceived as important.
In this week's Reporter, Caldwell was highlighting the Morris cars that he had for sale that possessed four-wheel brakes and "dipping head lamps".
A bit of research informs me that hydraulic four-wheel brakes on cars only began appearing in 1921 and most cars on St Helens roads in 1925 would still have had brakes only applied to their rear wheels.
Cowley cars were available from Caldwell from £162 and Oxfords from £240. Unusually, the firm had two telephone lines, which carried the numbers 502 and 486.
In May I wrote how until November, the British Empire Exhibition was taking place at Wembley Park and one of its star exhibits had been provided by Pilkingtons.
They claimed to be displaying the largest sheet of plate glass in the world, which had been called the Window of the Empire. The pane was 14 feet high and 24 feet long and weighed 1,700 lbs.
The Reporter described how the exhibition had now closed but said that in attempting to remove the huge window from the exhibition stand, it had got smashed. Better at the end of the exhibition than at its start, I suppose!
The Reporter carried a short piece about Thomas Schofield, who this week had been given 3 months hard labour.
The 30-year-old St Helens miner had burgled the booking office of Ashton-in-Makerfield’s railway station stealing tickets and some cash.
The Reporter pointed out that the man had during the war won the Military Medal but was now being described as a worthless fellow.
I immediately wondered whether there was any connection between his army service and subsequent criminality.
But court records reveal that Schofield had 37 previous convictions for a wide range of offences, including assault, being an army absentee and wife maintenance arrears that dated back to 1914, when he was 19.
It has been said that the most effective soldiers in wartime are criminals and Schofield appears to reinforce that belief.
Charlotte Wilson from Bickerstaffe Street sounds like a charming lady! She appeared in court this week charged with committing a breach of the peace.
A police constable gave evidence that he had heard the woman bellowing at her bedridden husband, saying she would have his life.
Upon going upstairs, the officer found the husband had a wound on his left eye, which the man claimed his wife had caused.
And Charlotte did not calm down with the police in her house. She was described as having swung her arms about and smashed some glass and had needed to be restrained.
The sick husband was said to have been confined to his bed for over two years and his wife was bound over for six months.
With policemen on the beat it was common for officers to hear disturbances taking place inside houses and be able to intervene. They could also spot minor crimes taking place within shops.
PC Griffin had been looking through the shop window of Thomas Roberts' shop in Oldfield Street when he saw two young children buying fireworks.
As soon as they came out, the constable took them back into the shop and the shopkeeper ended up being fined 10 shillings and told by magistrates that he had done a dangerous thing.
When Mary Cunliffe was asked in court if she had any witnesses to support the claims that she was making, she replied "No. For what I have said is the truth."
It was another silly neighbours row in which both sides told their one-sided versions of reality and expected the magistrates to automatically believe them.
The squabble had taken place in Bold Street where both parties lived.
Margaret Stanley claimed that James Cunliffe had struck her with a bottle and she exhibited a wound on her elbow to the magistrates as evidence.
But Cunliffe had his own war souvenir, claiming Margaret had hit him across his eye with a vase and he showed an ugly sore to the Bench as his proof.
In the end one of the summonses was dismissed and Mary Cunliffe was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
From the 9th what was advertised as the "outstanding success of this generation" was performed at the St Helens Theatre Royal. It was a touring version of the West End hit 'No No Nanette'.
The show at the Palace Theatre in London had been so popular that 11,000 people had even paid to stand and watch it, with nearly 300,000 having seen it so far.
The Reporter said the takings at each theatre where the touring version had played had been "phenomenal" and massive demand was expected at St Helens.
A "special augmented orchestra" had been hired and what were described as special admission prices were in place.
In fact there were seven different categories of seats to choose from, ranging from 1 shilling to sit in the gallery to 7s 6d for a box seat.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the scarlet fever outbreak in Rainford, the rent by auction of a butcher's stall in the Covered Market, criticism of the Peasley Cross flooding and the row at a fairground in St Helens Junction.