IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 12 - 18 MAY 1925
This week's many stories include how the Scala Cinema manager's generous deed towards Sacred Heart Church backfired, a sad suicide takes place in St Helens Canal, the Liverpool Road stabbing case, a court victory for a Thatto Heath mineworker, the death of a well-known fruit merchant at St Helens Junction station and the story of the Gerards Bridge linnet.
The Hippodrome, the Theatre Royal and all the St Helens' cinemas were not allowed to open on Sundays unless the performance was considered religious in nature – usually in the form of what was called a sacred concert. And express permission for the show needed to be obtained from the licensing justices.
This week Rev Fr Fitzgerald of Sacred Heart Church in Borough Road appeared in court charged with aiding and abetting Robert Benson in opening the Scala Cinema on a Sunday without permission. Benson was the manager of the Ormskirk Street picture house and he was also charged, as were the cinema's owners.
Sgt Beaumont told the court that he had visited the Scala at 8:30pm on a Sunday evening and found a concert in progress. He said he saw Father Fitzgerald and asked him if he had obtained permission from the magistrates and his reply was that he had forgotten to do so. Permission had originally been obtained for the Palladium Cinema in Boundary Road to host the concert but due to some building work taking place there the show had been switched to the Scala.
Fr Fitzgerald had said he would arrange with the magistrates for the permission to be transferred but had not done so. His solicitor told the court that his client was a busy priest and ought to be excused because of his lack of memory. He also stated that the cinema manager was blameless in the affair having kindly lent his cinema to the church and then left it up to Fr Fitzgerald to arrange the permission. But that was not how the magistrates saw it. They fined the generous manager Robert Benson £3 and, not wanting to convict a priest, dismissed all the other charges.
Under the headline "A Gerards Bridge Linnet", the St Helens Reporter described how in the Police Court a collier from Stanley Street had strongly denied a charge of committing a breach of the peace. PC Dillon told the court that he had found Fred Gough minus his coat and vest "inviting everybody in the Gerards Bridge district to have a scrap with him".
But Gough somewhat indignantly insisted that he had only been singing on his doorstep and had then gone inside his house. Turning to the constable in the courtroom he said: "You followed me and reported me for nothing. I was singing and the constable said I was swearing. He was trying to cause crime [on the following day] by serving me with a summons among several fellows in the street. He handed it to me saying ‘There, that will tame you’."
Upon being asked by a magistrate what song he was singing, Fred replied: "Oh, all sorts of songs. I am always singing them." He was bound over to keep the peace for six months but would have to pay one surety of £2 and find another person prepared to put up £1. Fred then asked the Bench if the sureties could not both be placed in his own name, explaining: "I have been taken up twice as a mental case and nobody will stand surety for me." The Reporter said his request was refused and he left the witness box "still muttering protests".
When a carter's horse was not working, their owner was not earning and so there was a tendency for some to keep their nag on the streets, even when in a sickly condition. Also in court was James Marsh of Roby Street who was fined £1 and ordered to pay a vet's fee of a guinea after being found guilty of working his horse in an unfit state. An RSPCA inspector gave evidence of seeing Marsh in charge of a two-wheeled spring cart laden with 7 cwt of firewood.
The animal's back appeared to be causing it pain and upon removing the saddle he found two large wounds. Carters did not like to admit ill-treating their horse and Marsh strenuously denied any suggestion of cruelty. He said he had carefully treated the sores and made two special pads to keep the weight off the horse's back but was still fined.
Due to the danger of explosions being caused, miners were searched before going down the pit to check that they were not carrying any smoking materials. On the 12th Harold Davies was fined 10 shillings after being discovered with matches in his pocket at Clock Face Colliery (pictured above). The youth living in Clock Face Road was treated leniently as he had only been working at the mine for three days and he said he hadn't yet got used to all the rules.
On the same day Peter Campbell appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with stabbing Mary Chadwick, with whom he had been living at a Widnes lodging house for the past 10 months. While in St Helens the couple had been walking up Liverpool Road when Campbell got out his pocket-knife and said to Mary, "I have brought this on purpose to do you in."
He then stabbed her in the back and although she was being treated in Providence Hospital, the wound was not considered life threatening. Campbell claimed that he was merely cutting some tobacco at the time and had accidentally caught Mary. The defendant was remanded for a week to give Mary time to recover and give evidence.
During the evening of the 12th there was another drowning in St Helens Canal. Most deaths were accidental but Annie Pye of Victoria Street was seen to leap into the water and before she could be rescued the young woman was dead. The 21-year-old had suffered regular epileptic fits and had left a note saying, "Good-bye, dad and mam, and all of you. I will not worry anyone on this earth any more. God bless you all."
Although compensation for accidents at work was now largely automatic, some employers would do their best to get out of paying. In St Helens County Court on the 13th Geoffrey Nown claimed £17 15s 9d compensation from a colliery firm. The fitter from Elephant Lane in Thatto Heath had developed a hernia after turning the crank of an engine.
His employer had refused to pay compensation because they had not been informed of the accident until Geoffrey had been operated on in hospital. That, they said, prevented them from procuring their own medical evidence that might show that the man had had the condition for some time. But Judge Dowdall said he believed Geoffrey's statement and gave judgment for the claimed amount – which presumably was for loss of earnings and his medical expenses.
At St Helens Junction station on the 15th a well-known fruit merchant on St Helens Market called John Boardman was killed by a Liverpool express train. Although a footbridge was provided, Mr Boardman had some mobility problems and preferred to walk on the level crossing. One witness stated that he had been reading a newspaper at the time and had not noticed the approaching train. The Liverpool Echo said his death had created a sensation on St Helens Market.
And finally, the 35th annual Prescot Show took place in Knowsley Park on the 18th. There were competitive classes for all sorts of critters from pigeons and rabbits to heavy horses and pigs.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the stone throwing in Victoria Park, the May horse parade, more on the Liverpool Road stabbing case, the annual inspection of St Helens Police and the toy guns sold in Duke Street capable of firing bullets.
The Hippodrome, the Theatre Royal and all the St Helens' cinemas were not allowed to open on Sundays unless the performance was considered religious in nature – usually in the form of what was called a sacred concert. And express permission for the show needed to be obtained from the licensing justices.
This week Rev Fr Fitzgerald of Sacred Heart Church in Borough Road appeared in court charged with aiding and abetting Robert Benson in opening the Scala Cinema on a Sunday without permission. Benson was the manager of the Ormskirk Street picture house and he was also charged, as were the cinema's owners.
Sgt Beaumont told the court that he had visited the Scala at 8:30pm on a Sunday evening and found a concert in progress. He said he saw Father Fitzgerald and asked him if he had obtained permission from the magistrates and his reply was that he had forgotten to do so. Permission had originally been obtained for the Palladium Cinema in Boundary Road to host the concert but due to some building work taking place there the show had been switched to the Scala.
Fr Fitzgerald had said he would arrange with the magistrates for the permission to be transferred but had not done so. His solicitor told the court that his client was a busy priest and ought to be excused because of his lack of memory. He also stated that the cinema manager was blameless in the affair having kindly lent his cinema to the church and then left it up to Fr Fitzgerald to arrange the permission. But that was not how the magistrates saw it. They fined the generous manager Robert Benson £3 and, not wanting to convict a priest, dismissed all the other charges.
Under the headline "A Gerards Bridge Linnet", the St Helens Reporter described how in the Police Court a collier from Stanley Street had strongly denied a charge of committing a breach of the peace. PC Dillon told the court that he had found Fred Gough minus his coat and vest "inviting everybody in the Gerards Bridge district to have a scrap with him".
But Gough somewhat indignantly insisted that he had only been singing on his doorstep and had then gone inside his house. Turning to the constable in the courtroom he said: "You followed me and reported me for nothing. I was singing and the constable said I was swearing. He was trying to cause crime [on the following day] by serving me with a summons among several fellows in the street. He handed it to me saying ‘There, that will tame you’."
Upon being asked by a magistrate what song he was singing, Fred replied: "Oh, all sorts of songs. I am always singing them." He was bound over to keep the peace for six months but would have to pay one surety of £2 and find another person prepared to put up £1. Fred then asked the Bench if the sureties could not both be placed in his own name, explaining: "I have been taken up twice as a mental case and nobody will stand surety for me." The Reporter said his request was refused and he left the witness box "still muttering protests".
When a carter's horse was not working, their owner was not earning and so there was a tendency for some to keep their nag on the streets, even when in a sickly condition. Also in court was James Marsh of Roby Street who was fined £1 and ordered to pay a vet's fee of a guinea after being found guilty of working his horse in an unfit state. An RSPCA inspector gave evidence of seeing Marsh in charge of a two-wheeled spring cart laden with 7 cwt of firewood.
The animal's back appeared to be causing it pain and upon removing the saddle he found two large wounds. Carters did not like to admit ill-treating their horse and Marsh strenuously denied any suggestion of cruelty. He said he had carefully treated the sores and made two special pads to keep the weight off the horse's back but was still fined.
On the same day Peter Campbell appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with stabbing Mary Chadwick, with whom he had been living at a Widnes lodging house for the past 10 months. While in St Helens the couple had been walking up Liverpool Road when Campbell got out his pocket-knife and said to Mary, "I have brought this on purpose to do you in."
He then stabbed her in the back and although she was being treated in Providence Hospital, the wound was not considered life threatening. Campbell claimed that he was merely cutting some tobacco at the time and had accidentally caught Mary. The defendant was remanded for a week to give Mary time to recover and give evidence.
During the evening of the 12th there was another drowning in St Helens Canal. Most deaths were accidental but Annie Pye of Victoria Street was seen to leap into the water and before she could be rescued the young woman was dead. The 21-year-old had suffered regular epileptic fits and had left a note saying, "Good-bye, dad and mam, and all of you. I will not worry anyone on this earth any more. God bless you all."
Although compensation for accidents at work was now largely automatic, some employers would do their best to get out of paying. In St Helens County Court on the 13th Geoffrey Nown claimed £17 15s 9d compensation from a colliery firm. The fitter from Elephant Lane in Thatto Heath had developed a hernia after turning the crank of an engine.
His employer had refused to pay compensation because they had not been informed of the accident until Geoffrey had been operated on in hospital. That, they said, prevented them from procuring their own medical evidence that might show that the man had had the condition for some time. But Judge Dowdall said he believed Geoffrey's statement and gave judgment for the claimed amount – which presumably was for loss of earnings and his medical expenses.
At St Helens Junction station on the 15th a well-known fruit merchant on St Helens Market called John Boardman was killed by a Liverpool express train. Although a footbridge was provided, Mr Boardman had some mobility problems and preferred to walk on the level crossing. One witness stated that he had been reading a newspaper at the time and had not noticed the approaching train. The Liverpool Echo said his death had created a sensation on St Helens Market.
And finally, the 35th annual Prescot Show took place in Knowsley Park on the 18th. There were competitive classes for all sorts of critters from pigeons and rabbits to heavy horses and pigs.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the stone throwing in Victoria Park, the May horse parade, more on the Liverpool Road stabbing case, the annual inspection of St Helens Police and the toy guns sold in Duke Street capable of firing bullets.
This week's many stories include how the Scala Cinema manager's generous deed towards Sacred Heart Church backfired, a sad suicide takes place in St Helens Canal, the Liverpool Road stabbing case, a court victory for a Thatto Heath mineworker, the death of a well-known fruit merchant at St Helens Junction station and the story of the Gerards Bridge linnet.
The Hippodrome, the Theatre Royal and all the St Helens' cinemas were not allowed to open on Sundays unless the performance was considered religious in nature – usually in the form of what was called a sacred concert.
And express permission for the show needed to be obtained from the licensing justices.
This week Rev Fr Fitzgerald of Sacred Heart Church in Borough Road appeared in court charged with aiding and abetting Robert Benson in opening the Scala Cinema on a Sunday without permission.
Benson was the manager of the Ormskirk Street picture house and he was also charged, as were the cinema's owners.
Sgt Beaumont told the court that he had visited the Scala at 8:30pm on a Sunday evening and found a concert in progress.
He said he saw Father Fitzgerald and asked him if he had obtained permission from the magistrates and his reply was that he had forgotten to do so.
Permission had originally been obtained for the Palladium Cinema in Boundary Road to host the concert but due to some building work taking place there the show had been switched to the Scala.
Fr Fitzgerald had said he would arrange with the magistrates for the permission to be transferred but had not done so.
His solicitor told the court that his client was a busy priest and ought to be excused because of his lack of memory.
He also stated that the cinema manager was blameless in the affair having kindly lent his cinema to the church and then left it up to Fr Fitzgerald to arrange the permission.
But that was not how the magistrates saw it. They fined the generous manager Robert Benson £3 and, not wanting to convict a priest, dismissed all the other charges.
Under the headline "A Gerards Bridge Linnet", the St Helens Reporter described how in the Police Court a collier from Stanley Street had strongly denied a charge of committing a breach of the peace.
PC Dillon told the court that he had found Fred Gough minus his coat and vest "inviting everybody in the Gerards Bridge district to have a scrap with him".
But Gough somewhat indignantly insisted that he had only been singing on his doorstep and had then gone inside his house. Turning to the constable in the courtroom he said:
"You followed me and reported me for nothing. I was singing and the constable said I was swearing.
"He was trying to cause crime [on the following day] by serving me with a summons among several fellows in the street. He handed it to me saying ‘There, that will tame you’."
Upon being asked by a magistrate what song he was singing, Fred replied: "Oh, all sorts of songs. I am always singing them."
He was bound over to keep the peace for six months but would have to pay one surety of £2 and find another person prepared to put up £1.
Fred then asked the Bench if the sureties could not both be placed in his own name, explaining:
"I have been taken up twice as a mental case and nobody will stand surety for me."
The Reporter said his request was refused and he left the witness box "still muttering protests".
When a carter's horse was not working, their owner was not earning and so there was a tendency for some to keep their nag on the streets, even when in a sickly condition.
Also in court was James Marsh of Roby Street who was fined £1 and ordered to pay a vet's fee of a guinea after being found guilty of working his horse in an unfit state.
An RSPCA inspector gave evidence of seeing Marsh in charge of a two-wheeled spring cart laden with 7 cwt of firewood.
The animal's back appeared to be causing it pain and upon removing the saddle he found two large wounds.
Carters did not like to admit ill-treating their horse and Marsh strenuously denied any suggestion of cruelty.
He said he had carefully treated the sores and made two special pads to keep the weight off the horse's back but was still fined.
Due to the danger of explosions being caused, miners were searched before going down the pit to check that they were not carrying any smoking materials.
On the 12th Harold Davies was fined 10 shillings after being discovered with matches in his pocket at Clock Face Colliery (pictured above).
The youth living in Clock Face Road was treated leniently as he had only been working at the mine for three days and he said he hadn't yet got used to all the rules.
On the same day Peter Campbell appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with stabbing Mary Chadwick, with whom he had been living at a Widnes lodging house for the past 10 months.
While in St Helens the couple had been walking up Liverpool Road when Campbell got out his pocket-knife and said to Mary, "I have brought this on purpose to do you in."
He then stabbed her in the back and although she was being treated in Providence Hospital, the wound was not considered life threatening.
Campbell claimed that he was merely cutting some tobacco at the time and had accidentally caught Mary.
The defendant was remanded for a week to give Mary time to recover and give evidence.
During the evening of the 12th there was another drowning in St Helens Canal. Most deaths were accidental but Annie Pye of Victoria Street was seen to leap into the water and before she could be rescued the young woman was dead.
The 21-year-old had suffered regular epileptic fits and had left a note saying, "Good-bye, dad and mam, and all of you. I will not worry anyone on this earth any more. God bless you all."
Although compensation for accidents at work was now largely automatic, some employers would do their best to get out of paying.
In St Helens County Court on the 13th Geoffrey Nown claimed £17 15s 9d compensation from a colliery firm.
The fitter from Elephant Lane in Thatto Heath had developed a hernia after turning the crank of an engine.
His employer had refused to pay compensation because they had not been informed of the accident until Geoffrey had been operated on in hospital.
That, they said, prevented them from procuring their own medical evidence that might show that the man had had the condition for some time.
But Judge Dowdall said he believed Geoffrey's statement and gave judgment for the claimed amount – which presumably was for loss of earnings and his medical expenses.
At St Helens Junction station on the 15th a well-known fruit merchant on St Helens Market called John Boardman was killed by a Liverpool express train.
Although a footbridge was provided, Mr Boardman had some mobility problems and preferred to walk on the level crossing.
One witness stated that he had been reading a newspaper at the time and had not noticed the approaching train.
The Liverpool Echo said his death had created a sensation on St Helens Market.
And finally, the 35th annual Prescot Show took place in Knowsley Park on the 18th.
There were competitive classes for all sorts of critters from pigeons and rabbits to heavy horses and pigs.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the stone throwing in Victoria Park, the May horse parade, more on the Liverpool Road stabbing case, the annual inspection of St Helens Police and the toy guns sold in Duke Street capable of firing bullets.
The Hippodrome, the Theatre Royal and all the St Helens' cinemas were not allowed to open on Sundays unless the performance was considered religious in nature – usually in the form of what was called a sacred concert.
And express permission for the show needed to be obtained from the licensing justices.
This week Rev Fr Fitzgerald of Sacred Heart Church in Borough Road appeared in court charged with aiding and abetting Robert Benson in opening the Scala Cinema on a Sunday without permission.
Benson was the manager of the Ormskirk Street picture house and he was also charged, as were the cinema's owners.
Sgt Beaumont told the court that he had visited the Scala at 8:30pm on a Sunday evening and found a concert in progress.
He said he saw Father Fitzgerald and asked him if he had obtained permission from the magistrates and his reply was that he had forgotten to do so.
Permission had originally been obtained for the Palladium Cinema in Boundary Road to host the concert but due to some building work taking place there the show had been switched to the Scala.
Fr Fitzgerald had said he would arrange with the magistrates for the permission to be transferred but had not done so.
His solicitor told the court that his client was a busy priest and ought to be excused because of his lack of memory.
He also stated that the cinema manager was blameless in the affair having kindly lent his cinema to the church and then left it up to Fr Fitzgerald to arrange the permission.
But that was not how the magistrates saw it. They fined the generous manager Robert Benson £3 and, not wanting to convict a priest, dismissed all the other charges.
Under the headline "A Gerards Bridge Linnet", the St Helens Reporter described how in the Police Court a collier from Stanley Street had strongly denied a charge of committing a breach of the peace.
PC Dillon told the court that he had found Fred Gough minus his coat and vest "inviting everybody in the Gerards Bridge district to have a scrap with him".
But Gough somewhat indignantly insisted that he had only been singing on his doorstep and had then gone inside his house. Turning to the constable in the courtroom he said:
"You followed me and reported me for nothing. I was singing and the constable said I was swearing.
"He was trying to cause crime [on the following day] by serving me with a summons among several fellows in the street. He handed it to me saying ‘There, that will tame you’."
Upon being asked by a magistrate what song he was singing, Fred replied: "Oh, all sorts of songs. I am always singing them."
He was bound over to keep the peace for six months but would have to pay one surety of £2 and find another person prepared to put up £1.
Fred then asked the Bench if the sureties could not both be placed in his own name, explaining:
"I have been taken up twice as a mental case and nobody will stand surety for me."
The Reporter said his request was refused and he left the witness box "still muttering protests".
When a carter's horse was not working, their owner was not earning and so there was a tendency for some to keep their nag on the streets, even when in a sickly condition.
Also in court was James Marsh of Roby Street who was fined £1 and ordered to pay a vet's fee of a guinea after being found guilty of working his horse in an unfit state.
An RSPCA inspector gave evidence of seeing Marsh in charge of a two-wheeled spring cart laden with 7 cwt of firewood.
The animal's back appeared to be causing it pain and upon removing the saddle he found two large wounds.
Carters did not like to admit ill-treating their horse and Marsh strenuously denied any suggestion of cruelty.
He said he had carefully treated the sores and made two special pads to keep the weight off the horse's back but was still fined.
Due to the danger of explosions being caused, miners were searched before going down the pit to check that they were not carrying any smoking materials.
The youth living in Clock Face Road was treated leniently as he had only been working at the mine for three days and he said he hadn't yet got used to all the rules.
On the same day Peter Campbell appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with stabbing Mary Chadwick, with whom he had been living at a Widnes lodging house for the past 10 months.
While in St Helens the couple had been walking up Liverpool Road when Campbell got out his pocket-knife and said to Mary, "I have brought this on purpose to do you in."
He then stabbed her in the back and although she was being treated in Providence Hospital, the wound was not considered life threatening.
Campbell claimed that he was merely cutting some tobacco at the time and had accidentally caught Mary.
The defendant was remanded for a week to give Mary time to recover and give evidence.
During the evening of the 12th there was another drowning in St Helens Canal. Most deaths were accidental but Annie Pye of Victoria Street was seen to leap into the water and before she could be rescued the young woman was dead.
The 21-year-old had suffered regular epileptic fits and had left a note saying, "Good-bye, dad and mam, and all of you. I will not worry anyone on this earth any more. God bless you all."
Although compensation for accidents at work was now largely automatic, some employers would do their best to get out of paying.
In St Helens County Court on the 13th Geoffrey Nown claimed £17 15s 9d compensation from a colliery firm.
The fitter from Elephant Lane in Thatto Heath had developed a hernia after turning the crank of an engine.
His employer had refused to pay compensation because they had not been informed of the accident until Geoffrey had been operated on in hospital.
That, they said, prevented them from procuring their own medical evidence that might show that the man had had the condition for some time.
But Judge Dowdall said he believed Geoffrey's statement and gave judgment for the claimed amount – which presumably was for loss of earnings and his medical expenses.
At St Helens Junction station on the 15th a well-known fruit merchant on St Helens Market called John Boardman was killed by a Liverpool express train.
Although a footbridge was provided, Mr Boardman had some mobility problems and preferred to walk on the level crossing.
One witness stated that he had been reading a newspaper at the time and had not noticed the approaching train.
The Liverpool Echo said his death had created a sensation on St Helens Market.
And finally, the 35th annual Prescot Show took place in Knowsley Park on the 18th.
There were competitive classes for all sorts of critters from pigeons and rabbits to heavy horses and pigs.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the stone throwing in Victoria Park, the May horse parade, more on the Liverpool Road stabbing case, the annual inspection of St Helens Police and the toy guns sold in Duke Street capable of firing bullets.