IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 23 - 29 MARCH 1926
This week's many stories include the strange anomalies in house-building in St Helens, the fighter with a wooden leg returns to court, a call for the German Kaiser to be banished to St Helens, the opening of the new St Helens power station and the Parr farmers who decided to use sulphuric acid to treat their sore horse.
We begin on the 23rd when what was described as an electrical exhibition took place in the YMCA Hall in North Road in which demonstrations of using electricity for cooking and general domestic tasks were given. "The modern way of housekeeping – The electric way", was the advertising slogan used in the advert.
The St Helens Glee Club was a male voice choir that had been founded in 1905 by surgeon Stanley Siddall of Prescot Road. During its two decades of existence more than 1,000 singers had been on the club's membership list. It was reported this week that to celebrate its 21st anniversary, the club was establishing a testimonial for Mr Siddall and was inviting contributions to be made. In 1923 the St Helens Glee Club had taken to the airwaves, performing an hour-long concert on the British Broadcasting Company's Manchester station.
On the 23rd the Mayor of St Helens, Alderman Thomas Hamblett, opened St Helens Corporation's new electricity powerhouse extension in the traditional manner. That was not by switching on some power generator but by being presented with a gold key for him to open up the premises and then take home as a keepsake. A large number of people assembled to watch the ceremony in Carlton Street on Croppers Hill and listen to the speeches and then enjoy lunch in the Town Hall.
In August 1925 the St Helens Reporter had described John Traynor as a "shabbily-dressed cripple with a wooden leg". That was after he had appeared in court charged with breaching the peace after brawling outside the White Hart Hotel in Church Street. A policeman gave evidence of seeing Traynor take off his coat and cap and after throwing them down on the footpath he had shouted, "I will fight the blinking lot of you".
The incident had begun when the landlord of the White Hart had put the man out of his house for begging from customers. Chief Inspector Roe told the Bench that the police had experienced considerable trouble with Traynor. He said they had done everything possible to help him out of a feeling of pity. Told by the Chairman that he would be bound over for 12 months and have to find sureties and pay a doctor's fee, Traynor had replied: "Where is the money to come from?" To that Chief Inspector Roe had said: "Drink less beer". Traynor was described as having left the defendant's box muttering to himself.
But one way or another he managed to find the money and two persons willing to put up £1 as sureties guaranteeing Traynor's good behaviour. However, I don't think they would do the same again after what happened on the 23rd of this week. That was after the wooden-legged rag gatherer from Waine Street was convicted of another offence while still being bound over. That meant he and his guarantors lost their sureties.
St Helens Police Court was told that the police had discovered Traynor fighting four men outside the Salisbury Street lodging house late at night. He was drunk and as the police intervened he continued to fight. While being taken to the police station, Traynor was accused of throwing himself to the ground and the officers required the assistance of a civilian to help get him to the station.
Traynor denied being drunk and claimed his wooden leg had broken which had caused him to fall. But the Bench told him that he had acted like a fool and would have to forfeit his own surety and those of two others, which the Chairman described as a "perfectly dirty trick" on those that had entrusted him with their cash. Traynor was also fined a further 5 shillings.
Since the end of the war, house building had become a major issue in St Helens. The Corporation had built their first council estate in Windlehurst but by 1926, 1,400 people were still on their waiting list. Inflation had led to a huge rise in the cost of house building and contractors would only build homes if they received a council subsidy.
At a meeting of the St Helens Housing Committee this week these issues and others were again discussed, prompted by a letter that they had received from the Ministry of Health. The government said they objected to the high price at which local contracts for house building had been set. One councillor asked the reason for the high tenders and Mr Statham, the deputy surveyor, said he could not account for it.
Bricks, he explained, were £1 a thousand cheaper in places other than in St Helens, which had a huge brickmaking industry of its own. Another councillor said he had been told that at Pocket Nook four new houses would be ready next week but they had only one painter and one boy working there and they had come from Warrington.
Seeing they had forty painters walking about St Helens out of work, the councillor said he thought it strange that they had workers from Warrington doing the job. The committee chairman said a clause ought to be put into their contracts insisting that local labour should be employed when building council houses. The discussion then turned to alternative methods of construction and the committee said they would never be able to build a sufficient number of brick houses and they would have to consider building some out of wood instead.
The Liverpool Daily Post on the 26th quoted a Dr Ritson, who, at a gathering in Liverpool recently, had told a story about two Lancashire men who had been heard talking together in a Wigan pub. The paper wrote: "The topic was the Kaiser. “If I had my way,” said one man in broad Lancashire dialect, “I would chop his yed off.” Said the other, “I'd do worse than that. I'd do what the Government did to Napoleon – banish him to St. Helens.”"
Also on the 26th, Nevins opened their new store in Duke Street. Whether that was in the same premises that existed for many years post-WW2, I can't be certain.
t was quite common for carters and others to be charged in St Helens Police Court with working a horse in an unfit state. Often the animal had a sore on its back and although the owner might be treating it, there was a temptation to still work the horse as he was losing money when in the stable.
And so what brothers Richard and Edward Whitehead of Moss Side Farm in Parr did in putting their poorly horse to work was unfortunately common. However, how they had treated their animal was far from normal. They admitted to an RSPCA inspector that they had applied sulphuric acid, black lead and alum (aka potassium aluminum sulphate) to their horse. On the 29th in St Helens Police Court both men were fined 10 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unveiling of the St Helens War Memorial, the stone throwing at a train in Clock Face, the woman who caused a commotion in the County Court and the man dubbed a recurring decimal makes his 55th court appearance.
We begin on the 23rd when what was described as an electrical exhibition took place in the YMCA Hall in North Road in which demonstrations of using electricity for cooking and general domestic tasks were given. "The modern way of housekeeping – The electric way", was the advertising slogan used in the advert.
The St Helens Glee Club was a male voice choir that had been founded in 1905 by surgeon Stanley Siddall of Prescot Road. During its two decades of existence more than 1,000 singers had been on the club's membership list. It was reported this week that to celebrate its 21st anniversary, the club was establishing a testimonial for Mr Siddall and was inviting contributions to be made. In 1923 the St Helens Glee Club had taken to the airwaves, performing an hour-long concert on the British Broadcasting Company's Manchester station.
On the 23rd the Mayor of St Helens, Alderman Thomas Hamblett, opened St Helens Corporation's new electricity powerhouse extension in the traditional manner. That was not by switching on some power generator but by being presented with a gold key for him to open up the premises and then take home as a keepsake. A large number of people assembled to watch the ceremony in Carlton Street on Croppers Hill and listen to the speeches and then enjoy lunch in the Town Hall.
In August 1925 the St Helens Reporter had described John Traynor as a "shabbily-dressed cripple with a wooden leg". That was after he had appeared in court charged with breaching the peace after brawling outside the White Hart Hotel in Church Street. A policeman gave evidence of seeing Traynor take off his coat and cap and after throwing them down on the footpath he had shouted, "I will fight the blinking lot of you".
The incident had begun when the landlord of the White Hart had put the man out of his house for begging from customers. Chief Inspector Roe told the Bench that the police had experienced considerable trouble with Traynor. He said they had done everything possible to help him out of a feeling of pity. Told by the Chairman that he would be bound over for 12 months and have to find sureties and pay a doctor's fee, Traynor had replied: "Where is the money to come from?" To that Chief Inspector Roe had said: "Drink less beer". Traynor was described as having left the defendant's box muttering to himself.
But one way or another he managed to find the money and two persons willing to put up £1 as sureties guaranteeing Traynor's good behaviour. However, I don't think they would do the same again after what happened on the 23rd of this week. That was after the wooden-legged rag gatherer from Waine Street was convicted of another offence while still being bound over. That meant he and his guarantors lost their sureties.
St Helens Police Court was told that the police had discovered Traynor fighting four men outside the Salisbury Street lodging house late at night. He was drunk and as the police intervened he continued to fight. While being taken to the police station, Traynor was accused of throwing himself to the ground and the officers required the assistance of a civilian to help get him to the station.
Traynor denied being drunk and claimed his wooden leg had broken which had caused him to fall. But the Bench told him that he had acted like a fool and would have to forfeit his own surety and those of two others, which the Chairman described as a "perfectly dirty trick" on those that had entrusted him with their cash. Traynor was also fined a further 5 shillings.
Since the end of the war, house building had become a major issue in St Helens. The Corporation had built their first council estate in Windlehurst but by 1926, 1,400 people were still on their waiting list. Inflation had led to a huge rise in the cost of house building and contractors would only build homes if they received a council subsidy.
At a meeting of the St Helens Housing Committee this week these issues and others were again discussed, prompted by a letter that they had received from the Ministry of Health. The government said they objected to the high price at which local contracts for house building had been set. One councillor asked the reason for the high tenders and Mr Statham, the deputy surveyor, said he could not account for it.
Bricks, he explained, were £1 a thousand cheaper in places other than in St Helens, which had a huge brickmaking industry of its own. Another councillor said he had been told that at Pocket Nook four new houses would be ready next week but they had only one painter and one boy working there and they had come from Warrington.
Seeing they had forty painters walking about St Helens out of work, the councillor said he thought it strange that they had workers from Warrington doing the job. The committee chairman said a clause ought to be put into their contracts insisting that local labour should be employed when building council houses. The discussion then turned to alternative methods of construction and the committee said they would never be able to build a sufficient number of brick houses and they would have to consider building some out of wood instead.
The Liverpool Daily Post on the 26th quoted a Dr Ritson, who, at a gathering in Liverpool recently, had told a story about two Lancashire men who had been heard talking together in a Wigan pub. The paper wrote: "The topic was the Kaiser. “If I had my way,” said one man in broad Lancashire dialect, “I would chop his yed off.” Said the other, “I'd do worse than that. I'd do what the Government did to Napoleon – banish him to St. Helens.”"
Also on the 26th, Nevins opened their new store in Duke Street. Whether that was in the same premises that existed for many years post-WW2, I can't be certain.
And so what brothers Richard and Edward Whitehead of Moss Side Farm in Parr did in putting their poorly horse to work was unfortunately common. However, how they had treated their animal was far from normal. They admitted to an RSPCA inspector that they had applied sulphuric acid, black lead and alum (aka potassium aluminum sulphate) to their horse. On the 29th in St Helens Police Court both men were fined 10 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unveiling of the St Helens War Memorial, the stone throwing at a train in Clock Face, the woman who caused a commotion in the County Court and the man dubbed a recurring decimal makes his 55th court appearance.
This week's many stories include the strange anomalies in house-building in St Helens, the fighter with a wooden leg returns to court, a call for the German Kaiser to be banished to St Helens, the opening of the new St Helens power station and the Parr farmers who decided to use sulphuric acid to treat their sore horse.
We begin on the 23rd when what was described as an electrical exhibition took place in the YMCA Hall in North Road in which demonstrations of using electricity for cooking and general domestic tasks were given.
"The modern way of housekeeping – The electric way", was the advertising slogan used in the advert.
The St Helens Glee Club was a male voice choir that had been founded in 1905 by surgeon Stanley Siddall of Prescot Road.
During its two decades of existence more than 1,000 singers had been on the club's membership list.
It was reported this week that to celebrate its 21st anniversary, the club was establishing a testimonial for Mr Siddall and was inviting contributions to be made.
In 1923 the St Helens Glee Club had taken to the airwaves, performing an hour-long concert on the British Broadcasting Company's Manchester station.
On the 23rd the Mayor of St Helens, Alderman Thomas Hamblett, opened St Helens Corporation's new electricity powerhouse extension in the traditional manner.
That was not by switching on some power generator but by being presented with a gold key for him to open up the premises and then take home as a keepsake.
A large number of people assembled to watch the ceremony in Carlton Street on Croppers Hill and listen to the speeches and then enjoy lunch in the Town Hall.
In August 1925 the St Helens Reporter had described John Traynor as a "shabbily-dressed cripple with a wooden leg".
That was after he had appeared in court charged with breaching the peace after brawling outside the White Hart Hotel in Church Street.
A policeman gave evidence of seeing Traynor take off his coat and cap and after throwing them down on the footpath he had shouted, "I will fight the blinking lot of you".
The incident had begun when the landlord of the White Hart had put the man out of his house for begging from customers.
Chief Inspector Roe told the Bench that the police had experienced considerable trouble with Traynor. He said they had done everything possible to help him out of a feeling of pity.
Told by the Chairman that he would be bound over for 12 months and have to find sureties and pay a doctor's fee, Traynor had replied: "Where is the money to come from?"
To that Chief Inspector Roe had said: "Drink less beer". Traynor was described as having left the defendant's box muttering to himself.
But one way or another he managed to find the money and two persons willing to put up £1 as sureties guaranteeing Traynor's good behaviour.
However, I don't think they would do the same again after what happened on the 23rd of this week.
That was after the wooden-legged rag gatherer from Waine Street was convicted of another offence while still being bound over. That meant he and his guarantors lost their sureties.
St Helens Police Court was told that the police had discovered Traynor fighting four men outside the Salisbury Street lodging house late at night. He was drunk and as the police intervened he continued to fight.
While being taken to the police station, Traynor was accused of throwing himself to the ground and the officers required the assistance of a civilian to help get him to the station.
Traynor denied being drunk and claimed his wooden leg had broken which had caused him to fall.
But the Bench told him that he had acted like a fool and would have to forfeit his own surety and those of two others, which the Chairman described as a "perfectly dirty trick" on those that had entrusted him with their cash. Traynor was also fined a further 5 shillings.
Since the end of the war, house building had become a major issue in St Helens.
The Corporation had built their first council estate in Windlehurst but by 1926, 1,400 people were still on their waiting list.
Inflation had led to a huge rise in the cost of house building and contractors would only build homes if they received a council subsidy.
At a meeting of the St Helens Housing Committee this week these issues and others were again discussed, prompted by a letter that they had received from the Ministry of Health.
The government said they objected to the high price at which local contracts for house building had been set.
One councillor asked the reason for the high tenders and Mr Statham, the deputy surveyor, said he could not account for it.
Bricks, he explained, were £1 a thousand cheaper in places other than in St Helens, which had a huge brickmaking industry of its own.
Another councillor said he had been told that at Pocket Nook four new houses would be ready next week but they had only one painter and one boy working there and they had come from Warrington.
Seeing they had forty painters walking about St Helens out of work, the councillor said he thought it strange that they had workers from Warrington doing the job.
The committee chairman said a clause ought to be put into their contracts insisting that local labour should be employed when building council houses.
The discussion then turned to alternative methods of construction and the committee said they would never be able to build a sufficient number of brick houses and they would have to consider building some out of wood instead.
The Liverpool Daily Post on the 26th quoted a Dr Ritson, who, at a gathering in Liverpool recently, had told a story about two Lancashire men who had been heard talking together in a Wigan pub. The paper wrote:
"The topic was the Kaiser. “If I had my way,” said one man in broad Lancashire dialect, “I would chop his yed off.” Said the other, “I'd do worse than that. I'd do what the Government did to Napoleon – banish him to St. Helens.”"
Also on the 26th, Nevins opened their new store in Duke Street. Whether that was in the same premises that existed for many years post-WW2, I can't be certain.
It was quite common for carters and others to be charged in St Helens Police Court with working a horse in an unfit state.
Often the animal had a sore on its back and although the owner might be treating it, there was a temptation to still work the horse as he was losing money when in the stable.
And so what brothers Richard and Edward Whitehead of Moss Side Farm in Parr did in putting their poorly horse to work was unfortunately common. However, how they had treated their animal was far from normal.
They admitted to an RSPCA inspector that they had applied sulphuric acid, black lead and alum (aka potassium aluminum sulphate) to their horse.
On the 29th in St Helens Police Court both men were fined 10 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unveiling of the St Helens War Memorial, the stone throwing at a train in Clock Face, the woman who caused a commotion in the County Court and the man dubbed a recurring decimal makes his 55th court appearance.
We begin on the 23rd when what was described as an electrical exhibition took place in the YMCA Hall in North Road in which demonstrations of using electricity for cooking and general domestic tasks were given.
"The modern way of housekeeping – The electric way", was the advertising slogan used in the advert.
The St Helens Glee Club was a male voice choir that had been founded in 1905 by surgeon Stanley Siddall of Prescot Road.
During its two decades of existence more than 1,000 singers had been on the club's membership list.
It was reported this week that to celebrate its 21st anniversary, the club was establishing a testimonial for Mr Siddall and was inviting contributions to be made.
In 1923 the St Helens Glee Club had taken to the airwaves, performing an hour-long concert on the British Broadcasting Company's Manchester station.
On the 23rd the Mayor of St Helens, Alderman Thomas Hamblett, opened St Helens Corporation's new electricity powerhouse extension in the traditional manner.
That was not by switching on some power generator but by being presented with a gold key for him to open up the premises and then take home as a keepsake.
A large number of people assembled to watch the ceremony in Carlton Street on Croppers Hill and listen to the speeches and then enjoy lunch in the Town Hall.
In August 1925 the St Helens Reporter had described John Traynor as a "shabbily-dressed cripple with a wooden leg".
That was after he had appeared in court charged with breaching the peace after brawling outside the White Hart Hotel in Church Street.
A policeman gave evidence of seeing Traynor take off his coat and cap and after throwing them down on the footpath he had shouted, "I will fight the blinking lot of you".
The incident had begun when the landlord of the White Hart had put the man out of his house for begging from customers.
Chief Inspector Roe told the Bench that the police had experienced considerable trouble with Traynor. He said they had done everything possible to help him out of a feeling of pity.
Told by the Chairman that he would be bound over for 12 months and have to find sureties and pay a doctor's fee, Traynor had replied: "Where is the money to come from?"
To that Chief Inspector Roe had said: "Drink less beer". Traynor was described as having left the defendant's box muttering to himself.
But one way or another he managed to find the money and two persons willing to put up £1 as sureties guaranteeing Traynor's good behaviour.
However, I don't think they would do the same again after what happened on the 23rd of this week.
That was after the wooden-legged rag gatherer from Waine Street was convicted of another offence while still being bound over. That meant he and his guarantors lost their sureties.
St Helens Police Court was told that the police had discovered Traynor fighting four men outside the Salisbury Street lodging house late at night. He was drunk and as the police intervened he continued to fight.
While being taken to the police station, Traynor was accused of throwing himself to the ground and the officers required the assistance of a civilian to help get him to the station.
Traynor denied being drunk and claimed his wooden leg had broken which had caused him to fall.
But the Bench told him that he had acted like a fool and would have to forfeit his own surety and those of two others, which the Chairman described as a "perfectly dirty trick" on those that had entrusted him with their cash. Traynor was also fined a further 5 shillings.
Since the end of the war, house building had become a major issue in St Helens.
The Corporation had built their first council estate in Windlehurst but by 1926, 1,400 people were still on their waiting list.
Inflation had led to a huge rise in the cost of house building and contractors would only build homes if they received a council subsidy.
At a meeting of the St Helens Housing Committee this week these issues and others were again discussed, prompted by a letter that they had received from the Ministry of Health.
The government said they objected to the high price at which local contracts for house building had been set.
One councillor asked the reason for the high tenders and Mr Statham, the deputy surveyor, said he could not account for it.
Bricks, he explained, were £1 a thousand cheaper in places other than in St Helens, which had a huge brickmaking industry of its own.
Another councillor said he had been told that at Pocket Nook four new houses would be ready next week but they had only one painter and one boy working there and they had come from Warrington.
Seeing they had forty painters walking about St Helens out of work, the councillor said he thought it strange that they had workers from Warrington doing the job.
The committee chairman said a clause ought to be put into their contracts insisting that local labour should be employed when building council houses.
The discussion then turned to alternative methods of construction and the committee said they would never be able to build a sufficient number of brick houses and they would have to consider building some out of wood instead.
The Liverpool Daily Post on the 26th quoted a Dr Ritson, who, at a gathering in Liverpool recently, had told a story about two Lancashire men who had been heard talking together in a Wigan pub. The paper wrote:
"The topic was the Kaiser. “If I had my way,” said one man in broad Lancashire dialect, “I would chop his yed off.” Said the other, “I'd do worse than that. I'd do what the Government did to Napoleon – banish him to St. Helens.”"
Also on the 26th, Nevins opened their new store in Duke Street. Whether that was in the same premises that existed for many years post-WW2, I can't be certain.
Often the animal had a sore on its back and although the owner might be treating it, there was a temptation to still work the horse as he was losing money when in the stable.
And so what brothers Richard and Edward Whitehead of Moss Side Farm in Parr did in putting their poorly horse to work was unfortunately common. However, how they had treated their animal was far from normal.
They admitted to an RSPCA inspector that they had applied sulphuric acid, black lead and alum (aka potassium aluminum sulphate) to their horse.
On the 29th in St Helens Police Court both men were fined 10 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unveiling of the St Helens War Memorial, the stone throwing at a train in Clock Face, the woman who caused a commotion in the County Court and the man dubbed a recurring decimal makes his 55th court appearance.