IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (1st - 7th April 1919)
This week's stories include a concert in aid of destitute children, the St Helens child molester on Runcorn Hill, the three men "intercepting" young women in Church Street, the port drinker causing trouble in North Road, John Davies from Peasley Cross receives his VC and there's a big increase in the number of unemployed in the town.
For forty years before the war St Helens had one of the lowest rates in the country. However the unprecedented levels of inflation over the past few years had put paid to that.
During the last two years the rates had risen by 5s 6d to 11 shillings in the pound and at a meeting of the Town Council on April 2nd it was decided to increase them by a further three shillings. This took the amount to be levied to 14 shillings in the pound, almost doubling the 7s 9d rate of 1913-14.
A common if curious feature of the behaviour of drunks that were brought to book in St Helens a century ago was the waving of their hands. That was regularly stated in evidence by the police, as in the case of Charles and Mary Knockaton from Prescot.
The couple were charged in St Helens Police Court on the 2nd with being drunk and disorderly in North Road. PC Houghton told the Bench that he had seen the pair under the influence of drink "shouting, waving their hands about, and using indecent language." The officer told them to behave themselves but as they persisted with their behaviour, he said he had no choice but to lock them up.
Mary Knockaton admitted having had some drink but said it had only been port wine. The Chairman Alderman Alfred Foote said port was one of the worst things you could get drunk on as it "sticks in your body". Chief Constable Arthur Ellerington chipped in with: "That is why they like it". The couple were each fined twenty shillings or 14 days in prison.
Three more Church Street "rowdies" were in court on the 4th. Collier Samuel Helsby from Graham Street, cleaner Thomas Lyon from Friar Street and miner Thomas Hightown from Ramford Street were charged with obstructing the footpath.
PC Manser and PC Taylor had been in plain clothes on the lookout for "obstructionists". These were the individuals who blocked the pavements in Church Street while the weekly parading took place. This was the long-standing Sunday evening tradition of young people walking along Church Street, as well as down Duke Street and along the perimeter of Sherdley Park.
However complaints had been made about horseplay that was forcing pedestrians off the pavement into the road. So a police campaign had been in place for some time using undercover officers.
The police gave evidence that they had watched the threesome at the corner of Church Street and Hardshaw Street "intercepting young women" as they were passing and making remarks that caused the women to walk into the road. All three men denied committing the offence but the magistrates fined them ten shillings each.
During the war there had been full employment in St Helens. However within weeks of the armistice signing two thousand people had become unemployed – mainly through the closure of munitions factories. Also returning soldiers were either adding to the list of the unemployed or going back to their old jobs and thus forcing out the women who had been doing their work.
The latest unemployment figures released this week showed that the number of jobless in St Helens had ballooned to 5,200, with 4,100 being women. In Lancashire and Cheshire almost a quarter of a million were now out of work. However there was no such thing as long-term unemployment as the meagre means-tested payment only lasted for three months, although ex-soldiers received it for longer.
Unions were now becoming more powerful and from the 3rd the brickmakers of St Helens moved to a 48-hour week, down from 56 hours. The Reporter said that before the war the town had been "the chief brickmaking centre of South Lancashire, and sent its products of that class all over the kingdom."
During the war years much organised sport in St Helens had been suspended for the duration. Now the town was at peace, some clubs appear to have had difficulty in getting back to normal.
This ad was in the St Helens Reporter on the 4th: "Eccleston Cricket Club require fixtures for the season; home and away (away preferable). – Sec. J. Parr, 75, Greenfield-road, St. Helens." Some grounds had been used for growing food during the war and so would not yet be in a great state – that might explain Mr Parr's preference for away fixtures.
"It seems a scandalous thing that children cannot play on the hill without being interfered with." So said Superintendent Sudlow at the Runcorn Police Court on the 5th. He was referring to the activities of Joseph Davies, who was described as a "foreman navvy" and a native of St Helens.
The 53-year-old had been charged with indecently assaulting two little girls on Runcorn Hill. Davies had given the children money and then "behaved objectionably". Davies promised the youngsters more pennies, as well as chocolate and bananas, if they returned on the following day. However the girls told their parents and the man was arrested.
This seemingly wasn't his first offence. A month earlier the police had received complaints about children being interfered with on the hill and Davies had been seen with little girls on several occasions. The man blamed drink for what had happened but the Bench said it was a very serious case and sent him to prison for six months.
During 2018 an exhibition toured St Helens libraries with its centrepiece being the above photograph of Victoria Cross winners John Molyneux and John Davies. They are pictured supposedly in Victoria Park in 1930 receiving their medals from the then Prince of Wales.
It clearly hadn't occurred to anyone that those awarded the VC don't wait 12 - 13 years to receive their medal. In addition the King almost always doled out the highest military honour at Buckingham Palace.
In actual fact the picture was taken in 1921 at the St Helens Recs football ground in City Road, when the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) shook hands with over 100 ex-servicemen. But apart from the date and the location and what was actually happening being wrong, the rest of the caption was correct!
Back to 1919 and this week on the 5th John Davies did receive his Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace. The former corporal in the St Helens Pals lived at Alma Street in Peasley Cross and last month at the Town Hall had received £650 of war bonds as a "thank you" from the people of St Helens.
Theatres and cinemas were not normally licensed to open on Sundays but an exception could be made for charitable events. On Sunday 6th a "Grand Sacred Concert" was held at the Theatre Royal in aid of the "St. Helens Police-Aided Scheme for Clothing Destitute Children" – as it was described in the ads.
More commonly it was known as the "Clog and Stocking Fund" that since it was founded in 1912, had helped around 6,000 youngsters through the issue of 5,000 pairs of clogs and 5,000 pairs of stockings. The police administered the fund and the concert featuring the St Helens Volunteer Band raised over £100 (around £6,000 in today's money).
Countless children in St Helens died after being burned in their own homes through their highly flammable clothing catching fire. Occasionally it happened to adults too, such as Edith Fenney from Langtree Street. The 24-year-old was preparing dinner on the 6th when her clothes ignited and she was badly burned. Edith was taken to Providence Hospital but died two days later.
On the 7th Alderman Alfred Foote – who was on the Bench five days earlier adjudicating on the port drinkers – died suddenly at his residence in Dentons Green. The 73-year-old retired wholesale grocer had served as Mayor of St Helens for two consecutive years from 1908.
From the week beginning the 7th the music hall acts on the bill at the Hippodrome were Stidder ("Versatile musical clown"); Betty Bruce ("Comedienne"); Tom Williams ("Favourite baritone"); "The Five Bombays ("Novelty dancers"); The Three Neslos ("Comedy gymnasts") and Master Horace Kirk ("Cornettist").
Stidder the clown had a "novel talking harp-cello", according to the Reporter's review, which added that he struck a note of originality. A Harpo Marx-type comedian, perhaps? Their review of the Three Neslos said the gymnasts were a "fruitful source of humour of the drollest description".
Also on the 7th Michael Mulligan from Derbyshire Hill Road and a Wigan man called Michael O’Brien were both fined ten shillings after being caught relieving themselves at the rear of a shop in Hall Street. A public convenience had only been a short distance away.
Next week's stories will include the boys who dived down a fanlight to steal from a Park Road shop, the Sutton Manor miner's victim who lost his memory, Sherdley Colliery coal thefts by boys, the Prescot naval deserter bicycle thief, Easter adverts in the Reporter and the Ravenhead Boys Hostel shop thieves.
For forty years before the war St Helens had one of the lowest rates in the country. However the unprecedented levels of inflation over the past few years had put paid to that.
During the last two years the rates had risen by 5s 6d to 11 shillings in the pound and at a meeting of the Town Council on April 2nd it was decided to increase them by a further three shillings. This took the amount to be levied to 14 shillings in the pound, almost doubling the 7s 9d rate of 1913-14.
A common if curious feature of the behaviour of drunks that were brought to book in St Helens a century ago was the waving of their hands. That was regularly stated in evidence by the police, as in the case of Charles and Mary Knockaton from Prescot.
The couple were charged in St Helens Police Court on the 2nd with being drunk and disorderly in North Road. PC Houghton told the Bench that he had seen the pair under the influence of drink "shouting, waving their hands about, and using indecent language." The officer told them to behave themselves but as they persisted with their behaviour, he said he had no choice but to lock them up.
Mary Knockaton admitted having had some drink but said it had only been port wine. The Chairman Alderman Alfred Foote said port was one of the worst things you could get drunk on as it "sticks in your body". Chief Constable Arthur Ellerington chipped in with: "That is why they like it". The couple were each fined twenty shillings or 14 days in prison.
Three more Church Street "rowdies" were in court on the 4th. Collier Samuel Helsby from Graham Street, cleaner Thomas Lyon from Friar Street and miner Thomas Hightown from Ramford Street were charged with obstructing the footpath.
PC Manser and PC Taylor had been in plain clothes on the lookout for "obstructionists". These were the individuals who blocked the pavements in Church Street while the weekly parading took place. This was the long-standing Sunday evening tradition of young people walking along Church Street, as well as down Duke Street and along the perimeter of Sherdley Park.
However complaints had been made about horseplay that was forcing pedestrians off the pavement into the road. So a police campaign had been in place for some time using undercover officers.
The police gave evidence that they had watched the threesome at the corner of Church Street and Hardshaw Street "intercepting young women" as they were passing and making remarks that caused the women to walk into the road. All three men denied committing the offence but the magistrates fined them ten shillings each.
During the war there had been full employment in St Helens. However within weeks of the armistice signing two thousand people had become unemployed – mainly through the closure of munitions factories. Also returning soldiers were either adding to the list of the unemployed or going back to their old jobs and thus forcing out the women who had been doing their work.
The latest unemployment figures released this week showed that the number of jobless in St Helens had ballooned to 5,200, with 4,100 being women. In Lancashire and Cheshire almost a quarter of a million were now out of work. However there was no such thing as long-term unemployment as the meagre means-tested payment only lasted for three months, although ex-soldiers received it for longer.
Unions were now becoming more powerful and from the 3rd the brickmakers of St Helens moved to a 48-hour week, down from 56 hours. The Reporter said that before the war the town had been "the chief brickmaking centre of South Lancashire, and sent its products of that class all over the kingdom."
During the war years much organised sport in St Helens had been suspended for the duration. Now the town was at peace, some clubs appear to have had difficulty in getting back to normal.
This ad was in the St Helens Reporter on the 4th: "Eccleston Cricket Club require fixtures for the season; home and away (away preferable). – Sec. J. Parr, 75, Greenfield-road, St. Helens." Some grounds had been used for growing food during the war and so would not yet be in a great state – that might explain Mr Parr's preference for away fixtures.
"It seems a scandalous thing that children cannot play on the hill without being interfered with." So said Superintendent Sudlow at the Runcorn Police Court on the 5th. He was referring to the activities of Joseph Davies, who was described as a "foreman navvy" and a native of St Helens.
The 53-year-old had been charged with indecently assaulting two little girls on Runcorn Hill. Davies had given the children money and then "behaved objectionably". Davies promised the youngsters more pennies, as well as chocolate and bananas, if they returned on the following day. However the girls told their parents and the man was arrested.
This seemingly wasn't his first offence. A month earlier the police had received complaints about children being interfered with on the hill and Davies had been seen with little girls on several occasions. The man blamed drink for what had happened but the Bench said it was a very serious case and sent him to prison for six months.
It clearly hadn't occurred to anyone that those awarded the VC don't wait 12 - 13 years to receive their medal. In addition the King almost always doled out the highest military honour at Buckingham Palace.
In actual fact the picture was taken in 1921 at the St Helens Recs football ground in City Road, when the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) shook hands with over 100 ex-servicemen. But apart from the date and the location and what was actually happening being wrong, the rest of the caption was correct!
Back to 1919 and this week on the 5th John Davies did receive his Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace. The former corporal in the St Helens Pals lived at Alma Street in Peasley Cross and last month at the Town Hall had received £650 of war bonds as a "thank you" from the people of St Helens.
Theatres and cinemas were not normally licensed to open on Sundays but an exception could be made for charitable events. On Sunday 6th a "Grand Sacred Concert" was held at the Theatre Royal in aid of the "St. Helens Police-Aided Scheme for Clothing Destitute Children" – as it was described in the ads.
More commonly it was known as the "Clog and Stocking Fund" that since it was founded in 1912, had helped around 6,000 youngsters through the issue of 5,000 pairs of clogs and 5,000 pairs of stockings. The police administered the fund and the concert featuring the St Helens Volunteer Band raised over £100 (around £6,000 in today's money).
Countless children in St Helens died after being burned in their own homes through their highly flammable clothing catching fire. Occasionally it happened to adults too, such as Edith Fenney from Langtree Street. The 24-year-old was preparing dinner on the 6th when her clothes ignited and she was badly burned. Edith was taken to Providence Hospital but died two days later.
On the 7th Alderman Alfred Foote – who was on the Bench five days earlier adjudicating on the port drinkers – died suddenly at his residence in Dentons Green. The 73-year-old retired wholesale grocer had served as Mayor of St Helens for two consecutive years from 1908.
From the week beginning the 7th the music hall acts on the bill at the Hippodrome were Stidder ("Versatile musical clown"); Betty Bruce ("Comedienne"); Tom Williams ("Favourite baritone"); "The Five Bombays ("Novelty dancers"); The Three Neslos ("Comedy gymnasts") and Master Horace Kirk ("Cornettist").
Stidder the clown had a "novel talking harp-cello", according to the Reporter's review, which added that he struck a note of originality. A Harpo Marx-type comedian, perhaps? Their review of the Three Neslos said the gymnasts were a "fruitful source of humour of the drollest description".
Also on the 7th Michael Mulligan from Derbyshire Hill Road and a Wigan man called Michael O’Brien were both fined ten shillings after being caught relieving themselves at the rear of a shop in Hall Street. A public convenience had only been a short distance away.
Next week's stories will include the boys who dived down a fanlight to steal from a Park Road shop, the Sutton Manor miner's victim who lost his memory, Sherdley Colliery coal thefts by boys, the Prescot naval deserter bicycle thief, Easter adverts in the Reporter and the Ravenhead Boys Hostel shop thieves.