IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 24 - 30 MARCH 1925
This week's many stories include the swingboat assaults in Sutton, the conundrum of why there was a shortage of bricks in a brickmaking town, the foxtrot contest held at the Hippodrome, the carrot and stick approach to defaulting maintenance payers, the first public telephone is installed in Eccleston and the father and son that were fighting on their doorstep in Lascelles Street.
We begin at the council's Health Committee meeting on the 24th when the Medical Officer of Health reported that he had carried out more tests on sampled milk and found several cases of adulteration, fat deficiency and high levels of sediment. Many of the milk suppliers in St Helens were farmers that distributed their milk directly to shops and some were not averse to adding water or sending milk low on fat. It was decided that the matter be reported to the Town Clerk for him to conduct prosecutions.
The Housing Committee also met on that day and it was stated that the building of new Corporation houses at Windlehurst was being slowed because their contractors complained they could not get sufficient bricks. And as St Helens had a large industry in brickmaking (such as Roughdales above) that was seen as a curious situation to be in. Alderman Peter Phythian told the committee that bricks were going out of St Helens continually day by day to Liverpool, Warrington and other places, yet in the town itself they were being held up. The Borough Engineer said he would take up the matter with the brickmakers.
Whist drives were hugely popular in St Helens and were often organised alongside a dance. On the 25th such a whist drive and dance was held in the Town Hall on behalf of the St Helens RFC Supporters Club which was described as having been well patronised.
The St Helens Reporter on the 27th described how St Helens Amateur Operatic Society had also recently held their annual whist drive and dance in the Town Hall, with the Manhattan Syncopated Orchestra playing what was described as the latest jazz music.
The Reporter also explained how at the annual meeting of Eccleston ratepayers, it was revealed that the first public telephone had been installed in the village. But it was not situated in a kiosk in a street but contained within Eccleston Lane Ends post office. The GPO was also being petitioned to erect a pillar-box in either Kiln Lane or Millbrook Lane "to meet the requirements of the fast-growing population in that area".
W. and J. Wallace was advertising in the Reporter that during the following week they had a "Wizard foot expert" at their Church Street boot store to advise on good fitting footwear. "Sore and tender feet spell martyrdom", said the ad, explaining that the smartest looking boots that did not fit well become "nothing less than an abomination" for the wearer.
Last week I described how a youth called William Riley from Bootle had appeared in St Helens Police Court accused of wounding George Bradley with intent to cause the boy bodily harm. Supt Dunn had told the Bench that at 6pm on the previous evening, Riley had thrown a stone at some little children playing in Sutton. The missile had struck 6-year-old George on his forehead causing a severe wound that extended to his skull. Riley was remanded for eight days and reappeared in court this week where the full story was told.
The youth had been in charge of some swingboats on what was known as the Sutton Show Field. This was a rectangular piece of grassless ground, 100 yards long by 50 yards wide, sandwiched between the rears of Edgeworth Street, Peckers Hill Road and Robins Lane and, at its opposite end, by Fisher Street and Taylor Street.
Swingboats used to be hugely popular but were not powered by electricity – or even steam. Instead they were propelled by the riders themselves or by an assistant on the ground with motion crudely achieved by the pulling of ropes that passed over a pulley. Riley said he had thrown a stone at a swingboat on the ground to ward off the children who had been playing with them. But it had bounced off it and struck little George on his head.
The little lad had gone home bleeding and told his dad what had happened and the father immediately went to the fairground and gave Riley a black eye. These days, of course, the father would be prosecuted but only William Riley was in the dock where in the light of the circumstances he only received a small fine.
If a father and son in St Helens engaged in a fight there was a strong chance that the young man was defending his mother. When at midnight PC Hinchcliffe found Thomas Anders Snr and Jnr having a punch up on the doorstep of their Lascelles Street home, he was told that the father had called his wife a "foul name". Their son had taken exception to the name-calling and the father resented his intervention, telling the constable: "This is not the first time the bobbies have been here, and I shall not be dictated to in my own home." Both father and son were bound over for six months.
Men that failed to pay their separated wife's maintenance payments, as ordered by the court, would ultimately be sent to prison. But that did not help their wife who remained in need of the cash. And so by the 1920s a carrot and stick approach was seen as the best solution, with offenders handed a prison sentence that would be suspended as long as they continued to pay off their arrears.
When John Bellingham appeared in court this week he was charged with being £25 in arrears on his maintenance payments to his wife Mary. She told the Bench: "He has been living with another woman for two years and she has had a child by my husband. When he left he gave me a black eye and was fined £2 for it."
"Any chance of your coming together again?", was the highly optimistic question asked by the Chairman of the Bench. Upon being answered very firmly in the negative, he said Bellingham would be committed to prison for 28 days but the sentence would be suspended as long as he paid 2s 6d off the arrears each week, on top of his regular payments. "You must make the best of a bad job", added the Chairman to John Bellingham, which seems to have been exactly what his wife Mary had been forced to do for the past two years.
In December 1916 St Helens Parish Church had burnt down as the result of an electrical fault. While a replacement church was being built, services had been taking place in the Assembly Room of the Town Hall until the new building could be opened in 1926. The Reporter described how at last Sunday's service, the Vicar of St Helens, Canon Albert Baines, had attempted to abate criticism of the new church.
Religion was always controversial and the Vicar of St Helens was expecting some worshippers to find fault with the design when the building was eventually finished. And so he said he was expecting criticisms that the church stood too much to the east and that the building was far too wide. But Canon Baines blamed these aspects on the difficulties of building a church in such a position.
The Hippodrome held a special foxtrot competition at each of their nightly performances from the 30th to decide the champion foxtrot couple of St Helens and district. A total of £10 in prize money was available, including £5 for the winning couple.
Also on the bill were Percy Honri ("A concert in a turn – concertina player"); Five Chicago Girls ("Vocal and spectacular acrobatic dancing act"); King & Allen ("Musical, vocal and comedy act"); Andy & Irving ("In their comedy gymnastic novelty"); The 6 Olracs ("Those wonderful acrobatic comedians") and Billy Matchett ("The king of mirth from Liverpool").
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Easter charabanc trips, a couple's indecency near Rivington Road, the rugby game on the Cowley Hill streets, the attempt to fleece a cabman out of his fare and St Helens Orchestral Society's charity fundraising.
We begin at the council's Health Committee meeting on the 24th when the Medical Officer of Health reported that he had carried out more tests on sampled milk and found several cases of adulteration, fat deficiency and high levels of sediment. Many of the milk suppliers in St Helens were farmers that distributed their milk directly to shops and some were not averse to adding water or sending milk low on fat. It was decided that the matter be reported to the Town Clerk for him to conduct prosecutions.
Whist drives were hugely popular in St Helens and were often organised alongside a dance. On the 25th such a whist drive and dance was held in the Town Hall on behalf of the St Helens RFC Supporters Club which was described as having been well patronised.
The St Helens Reporter on the 27th described how St Helens Amateur Operatic Society had also recently held their annual whist drive and dance in the Town Hall, with the Manhattan Syncopated Orchestra playing what was described as the latest jazz music.
The Reporter also explained how at the annual meeting of Eccleston ratepayers, it was revealed that the first public telephone had been installed in the village. But it was not situated in a kiosk in a street but contained within Eccleston Lane Ends post office. The GPO was also being petitioned to erect a pillar-box in either Kiln Lane or Millbrook Lane "to meet the requirements of the fast-growing population in that area".
W. and J. Wallace was advertising in the Reporter that during the following week they had a "Wizard foot expert" at their Church Street boot store to advise on good fitting footwear. "Sore and tender feet spell martyrdom", said the ad, explaining that the smartest looking boots that did not fit well become "nothing less than an abomination" for the wearer.
Last week I described how a youth called William Riley from Bootle had appeared in St Helens Police Court accused of wounding George Bradley with intent to cause the boy bodily harm. Supt Dunn had told the Bench that at 6pm on the previous evening, Riley had thrown a stone at some little children playing in Sutton. The missile had struck 6-year-old George on his forehead causing a severe wound that extended to his skull. Riley was remanded for eight days and reappeared in court this week where the full story was told.
The youth had been in charge of some swingboats on what was known as the Sutton Show Field. This was a rectangular piece of grassless ground, 100 yards long by 50 yards wide, sandwiched between the rears of Edgeworth Street, Peckers Hill Road and Robins Lane and, at its opposite end, by Fisher Street and Taylor Street.
Swingboats used to be hugely popular but were not powered by electricity – or even steam. Instead they were propelled by the riders themselves or by an assistant on the ground with motion crudely achieved by the pulling of ropes that passed over a pulley. Riley said he had thrown a stone at a swingboat on the ground to ward off the children who had been playing with them. But it had bounced off it and struck little George on his head.
The little lad had gone home bleeding and told his dad what had happened and the father immediately went to the fairground and gave Riley a black eye. These days, of course, the father would be prosecuted but only William Riley was in the dock where in the light of the circumstances he only received a small fine.
If a father and son in St Helens engaged in a fight there was a strong chance that the young man was defending his mother. When at midnight PC Hinchcliffe found Thomas Anders Snr and Jnr having a punch up on the doorstep of their Lascelles Street home, he was told that the father had called his wife a "foul name". Their son had taken exception to the name-calling and the father resented his intervention, telling the constable: "This is not the first time the bobbies have been here, and I shall not be dictated to in my own home." Both father and son were bound over for six months.
Men that failed to pay their separated wife's maintenance payments, as ordered by the court, would ultimately be sent to prison. But that did not help their wife who remained in need of the cash. And so by the 1920s a carrot and stick approach was seen as the best solution, with offenders handed a prison sentence that would be suspended as long as they continued to pay off their arrears.
When John Bellingham appeared in court this week he was charged with being £25 in arrears on his maintenance payments to his wife Mary. She told the Bench: "He has been living with another woman for two years and she has had a child by my husband. When he left he gave me a black eye and was fined £2 for it."
"Any chance of your coming together again?", was the highly optimistic question asked by the Chairman of the Bench. Upon being answered very firmly in the negative, he said Bellingham would be committed to prison for 28 days but the sentence would be suspended as long as he paid 2s 6d off the arrears each week, on top of his regular payments. "You must make the best of a bad job", added the Chairman to John Bellingham, which seems to have been exactly what his wife Mary had been forced to do for the past two years.
In December 1916 St Helens Parish Church had burnt down as the result of an electrical fault. While a replacement church was being built, services had been taking place in the Assembly Room of the Town Hall until the new building could be opened in 1926. The Reporter described how at last Sunday's service, the Vicar of St Helens, Canon Albert Baines, had attempted to abate criticism of the new church.
Religion was always controversial and the Vicar of St Helens was expecting some worshippers to find fault with the design when the building was eventually finished. And so he said he was expecting criticisms that the church stood too much to the east and that the building was far too wide. But Canon Baines blamed these aspects on the difficulties of building a church in such a position.
The Hippodrome held a special foxtrot competition at each of their nightly performances from the 30th to decide the champion foxtrot couple of St Helens and district. A total of £10 in prize money was available, including £5 for the winning couple.
Also on the bill were Percy Honri ("A concert in a turn – concertina player"); Five Chicago Girls ("Vocal and spectacular acrobatic dancing act"); King & Allen ("Musical, vocal and comedy act"); Andy & Irving ("In their comedy gymnastic novelty"); The 6 Olracs ("Those wonderful acrobatic comedians") and Billy Matchett ("The king of mirth from Liverpool").
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Easter charabanc trips, a couple's indecency near Rivington Road, the rugby game on the Cowley Hill streets, the attempt to fleece a cabman out of his fare and St Helens Orchestral Society's charity fundraising.
This week's many stories include the swingboat assaults in Sutton, the conundrum of why there was a shortage of bricks in a brickmaking town, the foxtrot contest held at the Hippodrome, the carrot and stick approach to defaulting maintenance payers, the first public telephone is installed in Eccleston and the father and son that were fighting on their doorstep in Lascelles Street.
We begin at the council's Health Committee meeting on the 24th when the Medical Officer of Health reported that he had carried out more tests on sampled milk and found several cases of adulteration, fat deficiency and high levels of sediment.
Many of the milk suppliers in St Helens were farmers that distributed their milk directly to shops and some were not averse to adding water or sending milk low on fat.
It was decided that the matter be reported to the Town Clerk for him to conduct prosecutions.
The Housing Committee also met on that day and it was stated that the building of new Corporation houses at Windlehurst was being slowed because their contractors complained they could not get sufficient bricks.
And as St Helens had a large industry in brickmaking (such as Roughdales pictured above) that was seen as a curious situation to be in.
Alderman Peter Phythian told the committee that bricks were going out of St Helens continually day by day to Liverpool, Warrington and other places, yet in the town itself they were being held up.
The Borough Engineer said he would take up the matter with the brickmakers.
Whist drives were hugely popular in St Helens and were often organised alongside a dance.
On the 25th such a whist drive and dance was held in the Town Hall on behalf of the St Helens RFC Supporters Club which was described as having been well patronised.
The St Helens Reporter on the 27th described how St Helens Amateur Operatic Society had also recently held their annual whist drive and dance in the Town Hall, with the Manhattan Syncopated Orchestra playing what was described as the latest jazz music.
The Reporter also explained how at the annual meeting of Eccleston ratepayers, it was revealed that the first public telephone had been installed in the village.
But it was not situated in a kiosk in a street but contained within Eccleston Lane Ends post office.
The GPO was also being petitioned to erect a pillar-box in either Kiln Lane or Millbrook Lane "to meet the requirements of the fast-growing population in that area".
W. and J. Wallace was advertising in the Reporter that during the following week they had a "Wizard foot expert" at their Church Street boot store to advise on good fitting footwear.
"Sore and tender feet spell martyrdom", said the ad, explaining that the smartest looking boots that did not fit well become "nothing less than an abomination" for the wearer.
Last week I described how a youth called William Riley from Bootle had appeared in St Helens Police Court accused of wounding George Bradley with intent to cause the boy bodily harm.
Supt Dunn had told the Bench that at 6pm on the previous evening, Riley had thrown a stone at some little children playing in Sutton.
The missile had struck 6-year-old George on his forehead causing a severe wound that extended to his skull.
Riley was remanded for eight days and reappeared in court this week where the full story was told.
The youth had been in charge of some swingboats on what was known as the Sutton Show Field.
This was a rectangular piece of grassless ground, 100 yards long by 50 yards wide, sandwiched between the rears of Edgeworth Street, Peckers Hill Road and Robins Lane and, at its opposite end, by Fisher Street and Taylor Street.
Swingboats used to be hugely popular but were not powered by electricity – or even steam.
Instead they were propelled by the riders themselves or by an assistant on the ground with motion crudely achieved by the pulling of ropes that passed over a pulley.
Riley said he had thrown a stone at a swingboat on the ground to ward off the children who had been playing with them. But it had bounced off it and struck little George on his head.
The little lad had gone home bleeding and told his dad what had happened and the father immediately went to the fairground and gave Riley a black eye.
These days, of course, the father would be prosecuted but only William Riley was in the dock where in the light of the circumstances he only received a small fine.
If a father and son in St Helens engaged in a fight there was a strong chance that the young man was defending his mother.
When at midnight PC Hinchcliffe found Thomas Anders Snr and Jnr having a punch up on the doorstep of their Lascelles Street home, he was told that the father had called his wife a "foul name".
Their son had taken exception to the name-calling and the father resented his intervention, telling the constable:
"This is not the first time the bobbies have been here, and I shall not be dictated to in my own home." Both father and son were bound over for six months.
Men that failed to pay their separated wife's maintenance payments, as ordered by the court, would ultimately be sent to prison. But that did not help their wife who remained in need of the cash.
And so by the 1920s a carrot and stick approach was seen as the best solution, with offenders handed a prison sentence that would be suspended as long as they continued to pay off their arrears.
When John Bellingham appeared in court this week he was charged with being £25 in arrears on his maintenance payments to his wife Mary. She told the Bench:
"He has been living with another woman for two years and she has had a child by my husband. When he left he gave me a black eye and was fined £2 for it."
"Any chance of your coming together again?", was the highly optimistic question asked by the Chairman of the Bench.
Upon being answered very firmly in the negative, he said Bellingham would be committed to prison for 28 days but the sentence would be suspended as long as he paid 2s 6d off the arrears each week, on top of his regular payments.
"You must make the best of a bad job", added the Chairman to John Bellingham, which seems to have been exactly what his wife Mary had been forced to do for the past two years.
In December 1916 St Helens Parish Church had burnt down as the result of an electrical fault.
While a replacement church was being built, services had been taking place in the Assembly Room of the Town Hall until the new building could be opened in 1926.
The Reporter described how at last Sunday's service, the Vicar of St Helens, Canon Albert Baines, had attempted to abate criticism of the new church.
Religion was always controversial and the Vicar of St Helens was expecting some worshippers to find fault with the design when the building was eventually finished.
And so he said he was expecting criticisms that the church stood too much to the east and that the building was far too wide.
But Canon Baines blamed these aspects on the difficulties of building a church in such a position.
The Hippodrome held a special foxtrot competition at each of their nightly performances from the 30th to decide the champion foxtrot couple of St Helens and district.
A total of £10 in prize money was available, including £5 for the winning couple.
Also on the bill were Percy Honri ("A concert in a turn – concertina player"); Five Chicago Girls ("Vocal and spectacular acrobatic dancing act"); King & Allen ("Musical, vocal and comedy act"); Andy & Irving ("In their comedy gymnastic novelty"); The 6 Olracs ("Those wonderful acrobatic comedians") and Billy Matchett ("The king of mirth from Liverpool").
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Easter charabanc trips, a couple's indecency near Rivington Road, the rugby game on the Cowley Hill streets, the attempt to fleece a cabman out of his fare and St Helens Orchestral Society's charity fundraising.
We begin at the council's Health Committee meeting on the 24th when the Medical Officer of Health reported that he had carried out more tests on sampled milk and found several cases of adulteration, fat deficiency and high levels of sediment.
Many of the milk suppliers in St Helens were farmers that distributed their milk directly to shops and some were not averse to adding water or sending milk low on fat.
It was decided that the matter be reported to the Town Clerk for him to conduct prosecutions.
The Housing Committee also met on that day and it was stated that the building of new Corporation houses at Windlehurst was being slowed because their contractors complained they could not get sufficient bricks.
Alderman Peter Phythian told the committee that bricks were going out of St Helens continually day by day to Liverpool, Warrington and other places, yet in the town itself they were being held up.
The Borough Engineer said he would take up the matter with the brickmakers.
Whist drives were hugely popular in St Helens and were often organised alongside a dance.
On the 25th such a whist drive and dance was held in the Town Hall on behalf of the St Helens RFC Supporters Club which was described as having been well patronised.
The St Helens Reporter on the 27th described how St Helens Amateur Operatic Society had also recently held their annual whist drive and dance in the Town Hall, with the Manhattan Syncopated Orchestra playing what was described as the latest jazz music.
The Reporter also explained how at the annual meeting of Eccleston ratepayers, it was revealed that the first public telephone had been installed in the village.
But it was not situated in a kiosk in a street but contained within Eccleston Lane Ends post office.
The GPO was also being petitioned to erect a pillar-box in either Kiln Lane or Millbrook Lane "to meet the requirements of the fast-growing population in that area".
W. and J. Wallace was advertising in the Reporter that during the following week they had a "Wizard foot expert" at their Church Street boot store to advise on good fitting footwear.
"Sore and tender feet spell martyrdom", said the ad, explaining that the smartest looking boots that did not fit well become "nothing less than an abomination" for the wearer.
Last week I described how a youth called William Riley from Bootle had appeared in St Helens Police Court accused of wounding George Bradley with intent to cause the boy bodily harm.
Supt Dunn had told the Bench that at 6pm on the previous evening, Riley had thrown a stone at some little children playing in Sutton.
The missile had struck 6-year-old George on his forehead causing a severe wound that extended to his skull.
Riley was remanded for eight days and reappeared in court this week where the full story was told.
The youth had been in charge of some swingboats on what was known as the Sutton Show Field.
This was a rectangular piece of grassless ground, 100 yards long by 50 yards wide, sandwiched between the rears of Edgeworth Street, Peckers Hill Road and Robins Lane and, at its opposite end, by Fisher Street and Taylor Street.
Swingboats used to be hugely popular but were not powered by electricity – or even steam.
Instead they were propelled by the riders themselves or by an assistant on the ground with motion crudely achieved by the pulling of ropes that passed over a pulley.
Riley said he had thrown a stone at a swingboat on the ground to ward off the children who had been playing with them. But it had bounced off it and struck little George on his head.
The little lad had gone home bleeding and told his dad what had happened and the father immediately went to the fairground and gave Riley a black eye.
These days, of course, the father would be prosecuted but only William Riley was in the dock where in the light of the circumstances he only received a small fine.
If a father and son in St Helens engaged in a fight there was a strong chance that the young man was defending his mother.
When at midnight PC Hinchcliffe found Thomas Anders Snr and Jnr having a punch up on the doorstep of their Lascelles Street home, he was told that the father had called his wife a "foul name".
Their son had taken exception to the name-calling and the father resented his intervention, telling the constable:
"This is not the first time the bobbies have been here, and I shall not be dictated to in my own home." Both father and son were bound over for six months.
Men that failed to pay their separated wife's maintenance payments, as ordered by the court, would ultimately be sent to prison. But that did not help their wife who remained in need of the cash.
And so by the 1920s a carrot and stick approach was seen as the best solution, with offenders handed a prison sentence that would be suspended as long as they continued to pay off their arrears.
When John Bellingham appeared in court this week he was charged with being £25 in arrears on his maintenance payments to his wife Mary. She told the Bench:
"He has been living with another woman for two years and she has had a child by my husband. When he left he gave me a black eye and was fined £2 for it."
"Any chance of your coming together again?", was the highly optimistic question asked by the Chairman of the Bench.
Upon being answered very firmly in the negative, he said Bellingham would be committed to prison for 28 days but the sentence would be suspended as long as he paid 2s 6d off the arrears each week, on top of his regular payments.
"You must make the best of a bad job", added the Chairman to John Bellingham, which seems to have been exactly what his wife Mary had been forced to do for the past two years.
In December 1916 St Helens Parish Church had burnt down as the result of an electrical fault.
While a replacement church was being built, services had been taking place in the Assembly Room of the Town Hall until the new building could be opened in 1926.
The Reporter described how at last Sunday's service, the Vicar of St Helens, Canon Albert Baines, had attempted to abate criticism of the new church.
Religion was always controversial and the Vicar of St Helens was expecting some worshippers to find fault with the design when the building was eventually finished.
And so he said he was expecting criticisms that the church stood too much to the east and that the building was far too wide.
But Canon Baines blamed these aspects on the difficulties of building a church in such a position.
The Hippodrome held a special foxtrot competition at each of their nightly performances from the 30th to decide the champion foxtrot couple of St Helens and district.
A total of £10 in prize money was available, including £5 for the winning couple.
Also on the bill were Percy Honri ("A concert in a turn – concertina player"); Five Chicago Girls ("Vocal and spectacular acrobatic dancing act"); King & Allen ("Musical, vocal and comedy act"); Andy & Irving ("In their comedy gymnastic novelty"); The 6 Olracs ("Those wonderful acrobatic comedians") and Billy Matchett ("The king of mirth from Liverpool").
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Easter charabanc trips, a couple's indecency near Rivington Road, the rugby game on the Cowley Hill streets, the attempt to fleece a cabman out of his fare and St Helens Orchestral Society's charity fundraising.