IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (2nd - 8th DECEMBER 1919)
This week's stories include a robbery at a St Helens hotel, the violent end to a wedding party in Corporation Street, the "abominable nuisance" of Silcock's in Sutton, a triumphal memorial to fallen soldiers, the disgraceful condition of St Helens' schools, plans for two new cinemas and the lads in trouble for playing tag in Church Street.
We begin on the 3rd when a painter from Wavertree called Richard Keal appeared in St Helens Police Court. The 33-year-old faced charges of stealing £150 worth of jewellery, a revolver and other property from the Wellington Hotel in Naylor Street South, near the market. The stolen jewellery included gold watches and diamond and gold rings belonging to Ted and Annie Cawley, the owners of the hotel. Keal also faced a charge of attempting to obtain a horse, wagon and harness worth £130 by means of a worthless cheque.
The man had booked into the Wellington for a 3-night-stay claiming he was in St Helens to buy cattle. But a few hours after his arrival Keal told Ted Cawley he'd changed his mind and had decided to leave. However the hotel proprietor noticed a lady's handbag sticking out of the man's pocket, which Keal claimed to be his. "You are a liar", exclaimed the owner. "It is my daughter's."
After removing the handbag Cawley found a revolver on the man. So he got his customers to hold Keal's arms while he gave him a thorough search and the watches and pieces of jewellery were found on him. The revolver belonged to Frank Lennon who kept a shop in Park Road and for some reason was staying in the hotel. The magistrates committed Richard Keal to the next Liverpool Assizes for trial and on January 26th 1920 the man with three aliases was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
At the St Helens Town Council meeting on the 3rd it was revealed that the ex-mayor of St Helens, Ald. Dr. Henry Bates, had presented to the town a bronze tablet memorial to those that had died in the war. It could also be termed a tribute to triumphalism, as opposed to reconciliation with the Germans. This is how the gift was described:
"The bronze centrepiece represents the entrance to a mausoleum, containing the remains of those who died for freedom. Draped over the studded door is freedom's flag, the Union Jack of the Motherland. Guarding the door lies the symbol of our Empire, the British Lion, holding down beneath his paw the dead eagle of Prussianism, from whose head the Crown (the symbol of kingship) has fallen. In front of the British Lion stands the Angel of the Resurrection holding in his hand the trumpet whose call shall bring the dead to life. His right hand is on the door of the tomb. He and the lion are intently watching the heavens for the coming of the Victor of Death."
At the same council meeting Councillor Tinker protested against the actions of the Sutton Manor Colliery Company. He claimed they had recently bought houses in Sutton and were giving notice to those tenants who were employed at other collieries in order to house their own workers. It was decided that a three-man deputation would meet with the company to discuss the situation.
The Town Council meeting also heard that there would soon be an increase in tram fares – what the St Helens Reporter dubbed a "drastic revision". The Corporation had only taken over the running of the tramway system a few weeks earlier from a private operator. Interestingly when Southport Corporation took over the running of their trams in March 1917 they immediately hiked their fares by 25%.
The Education Committee also met on the 3rd and discussed the poor state of many schools, as not much limewashing had taken place during the war. Councillor Hamblett said it reflected badly on the committee that the schools had been allowed to get into such a disgraceful condition and he mentioned St Joseph’s and Parr Mount schools as examples. It was decided to advertise for tenders and have the limewashing work undertaken during the Christmas holidays.
A disturbance at a wedding party was described in St Helens Police Court on the 5th when John Bannister appeared in court. The hawker from Crook Street was accused of breaching the peace, two charges of assault and doing wilful damage to a set of false teeth. The celebration took place at the Assembly Rooms in Corporation Street where many events and meetings were held.
PC 103 (as he was described) gave evidence of finding Bannister standing in the middle of the room "in a fighting attitude" and threatening people. Sarah Collins from Brynn Street was the wife of the licensee of the Assembly Rooms. She told the court that she'd locked the door when the trouble began and all the time it was locked Bannister was "thumping someone". Sarah said the man had even struck her in the face and broken her false teeth, although Bannister said it had been an accident.
He claimed to have been pushed while walking down the stairs and had accidentally fallen against Mrs Collins. She described his story as a lie and said the attack on her had taken place in a corner of the room and not on the stairs. Mrs Collins even invited the magistrates to inspect the blood on the floor, an offer they did not take up. John Bannister strongly denied all the offences. However he was found guilty and bound over for six months and fined just over £2.
Thomas Sharkey was also in court having gone to the police station while drunk to see Bannister after he’d been locked up. After not being allowed to see his friend, Sharkey attacked two police officers outside the station. Sergeant Pratt said he behaved like a "raving lunatic" and it took three or four officers to hold him down. For that the labourer was fined £2 10 shillings.
Also in court were three young men aged about 17 called Arthur Rigby from Lyon Street (off Eccleston Street), Alfred Leyland from Halefield Street (near North Road) and Joseph James from Chapel Street. They had noisily been playing "tig" (we might call it "tag") on a Sunday evening in Church Street (pictured above) and making it difficult for people to walk on the pavement. The police took these so-called "obstructionists" seriously, having kept the lads under observation for an hour to gather evidence prior to intervening. The magistrates fined them between 7s 6d and 10 shillings.
The St Helens Peace Eisteddfod took place on the 6th at a packed Town Hall with choral and solo competitions, recitations etc. The proceeds went to provide a new organ for the Welsh Presbyterian Church in Hardshaw Street.
At the Theatre Royal for six days from the 8th the St Helens Amateur Operatic Orchestral Society performed 'Merrie England'. Meanwhile the music hall turns at the Hippodrome from that day were: Rich Taylor ("The whistling ventriloquist"); Maple and Burnell ("In their latest burlesque scream"); Flora & Bijou ("Foolish but funny"); Victor and Velma ("Athletes in a speciality act"); Chas E. Sherwin ("Comedian") and Miss Adelaide Gretton ("Contralto").
The Licensing Justices considered applications for two new luxury cinemas on the 8th. The first was from a Mr Jackson of the Clarence Hotel in Bolton who planned a picture house and billiard hall in Corporation Street. The council's Cinema Committee had already approved the plans after a revision. The building would now be set further back from the street to allow more space on the pavement.
The second application was for a grand picture palace scheme in Church Street, near the White Lion Hotel, which would also include three shops. An objection had been raised by the businesses on either side of the proposed site that persons might use a passageway for "objectionable purposes" i.e. as a lavatory. However it was agreed that the passageway would be fenced off and both applications were approved.
The magistrates also considered an application from Edward Silcock for a music licence for a site that Suttoners called the "Show Field". This was a rectangular piece of grassless ground, 100 yards long by 50 yards wide, sandwiched between the rears of Edgeworth Street, Peckershill Road and Robins Lane and, at its opposite end, by Fisher Street and Taylor Street. Silcock wanted a licence to play his barrel organs in order to attract punters to his other amusements.
However a number of residents from Robins Lane were in court to object. Railway signalman John Gibbons said he did shift work and the noise during the day prevented him from sleeping. He also complained of an "abominable nuisance" that was created by large numbers of people flocking to the place with no toilets for half a mile. Mr Gibbons added that it was unfit for ladies or children to go out of their back doors while the shows were on.
A resident called Mrs Turner said she objected to the "noise of the rabble and the so-called music grinding for hours together." She said in the past the music had been playing from six o’clock until ten or eleven, five days a week, and then there were the sounds of a shooting gallery until midnight. "The last time we were nearly driven to distraction", Mrs Turner added, complaining of the sound of the trams at the front of the house and then the noise of the fair at the back. The magistrates said they had given careful consideration to the application and unanimously decided to reject it.
Next week's stories will include the remarkable number of cases of VD in St Helens, the hawker having a nice scramble in Westfield Street, Sutton Manor Colliery's evictions, the police's sympathy for a Bold man that attacked his wife and the corn merchant in Cotham Street who hid his horse from the Government.
We begin on the 3rd when a painter from Wavertree called Richard Keal appeared in St Helens Police Court. The 33-year-old faced charges of stealing £150 worth of jewellery, a revolver and other property from the Wellington Hotel in Naylor Street South, near the market. The stolen jewellery included gold watches and diamond and gold rings belonging to Ted and Annie Cawley, the owners of the hotel. Keal also faced a charge of attempting to obtain a horse, wagon and harness worth £130 by means of a worthless cheque.
The man had booked into the Wellington for a 3-night-stay claiming he was in St Helens to buy cattle. But a few hours after his arrival Keal told Ted Cawley he'd changed his mind and had decided to leave. However the hotel proprietor noticed a lady's handbag sticking out of the man's pocket, which Keal claimed to be his. "You are a liar", exclaimed the owner. "It is my daughter's."
After removing the handbag Cawley found a revolver on the man. So he got his customers to hold Keal's arms while he gave him a thorough search and the watches and pieces of jewellery were found on him. The revolver belonged to Frank Lennon who kept a shop in Park Road and for some reason was staying in the hotel. The magistrates committed Richard Keal to the next Liverpool Assizes for trial and on January 26th 1920 the man with three aliases was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
At the St Helens Town Council meeting on the 3rd it was revealed that the ex-mayor of St Helens, Ald. Dr. Henry Bates, had presented to the town a bronze tablet memorial to those that had died in the war. It could also be termed a tribute to triumphalism, as opposed to reconciliation with the Germans. This is how the gift was described:
"The bronze centrepiece represents the entrance to a mausoleum, containing the remains of those who died for freedom. Draped over the studded door is freedom's flag, the Union Jack of the Motherland. Guarding the door lies the symbol of our Empire, the British Lion, holding down beneath his paw the dead eagle of Prussianism, from whose head the Crown (the symbol of kingship) has fallen. In front of the British Lion stands the Angel of the Resurrection holding in his hand the trumpet whose call shall bring the dead to life. His right hand is on the door of the tomb. He and the lion are intently watching the heavens for the coming of the Victor of Death."
At the same council meeting Councillor Tinker protested against the actions of the Sutton Manor Colliery Company. He claimed they had recently bought houses in Sutton and were giving notice to those tenants who were employed at other collieries in order to house their own workers. It was decided that a three-man deputation would meet with the company to discuss the situation.
The Education Committee also met on the 3rd and discussed the poor state of many schools, as not much limewashing had taken place during the war. Councillor Hamblett said it reflected badly on the committee that the schools had been allowed to get into such a disgraceful condition and he mentioned St Joseph’s and Parr Mount schools as examples. It was decided to advertise for tenders and have the limewashing work undertaken during the Christmas holidays.
A disturbance at a wedding party was described in St Helens Police Court on the 5th when John Bannister appeared in court. The hawker from Crook Street was accused of breaching the peace, two charges of assault and doing wilful damage to a set of false teeth. The celebration took place at the Assembly Rooms in Corporation Street where many events and meetings were held.
PC 103 (as he was described) gave evidence of finding Bannister standing in the middle of the room "in a fighting attitude" and threatening people. Sarah Collins from Brynn Street was the wife of the licensee of the Assembly Rooms. She told the court that she'd locked the door when the trouble began and all the time it was locked Bannister was "thumping someone". Sarah said the man had even struck her in the face and broken her false teeth, although Bannister said it had been an accident.
He claimed to have been pushed while walking down the stairs and had accidentally fallen against Mrs Collins. She described his story as a lie and said the attack on her had taken place in a corner of the room and not on the stairs. Mrs Collins even invited the magistrates to inspect the blood on the floor, an offer they did not take up. John Bannister strongly denied all the offences. However he was found guilty and bound over for six months and fined just over £2.
Thomas Sharkey was also in court having gone to the police station while drunk to see Bannister after he’d been locked up. After not being allowed to see his friend, Sharkey attacked two police officers outside the station. Sergeant Pratt said he behaved like a "raving lunatic" and it took three or four officers to hold him down. For that the labourer was fined £2 10 shillings.
The St Helens Peace Eisteddfod took place on the 6th at a packed Town Hall with choral and solo competitions, recitations etc. The proceeds went to provide a new organ for the Welsh Presbyterian Church in Hardshaw Street.
At the Theatre Royal for six days from the 8th the St Helens Amateur Operatic Orchestral Society performed 'Merrie England'. Meanwhile the music hall turns at the Hippodrome from that day were: Rich Taylor ("The whistling ventriloquist"); Maple and Burnell ("In their latest burlesque scream"); Flora & Bijou ("Foolish but funny"); Victor and Velma ("Athletes in a speciality act"); Chas E. Sherwin ("Comedian") and Miss Adelaide Gretton ("Contralto").
The Licensing Justices considered applications for two new luxury cinemas on the 8th. The first was from a Mr Jackson of the Clarence Hotel in Bolton who planned a picture house and billiard hall in Corporation Street. The council's Cinema Committee had already approved the plans after a revision. The building would now be set further back from the street to allow more space on the pavement.
The second application was for a grand picture palace scheme in Church Street, near the White Lion Hotel, which would also include three shops. An objection had been raised by the businesses on either side of the proposed site that persons might use a passageway for "objectionable purposes" i.e. as a lavatory. However it was agreed that the passageway would be fenced off and both applications were approved.
The magistrates also considered an application from Edward Silcock for a music licence for a site that Suttoners called the "Show Field". This was a rectangular piece of grassless ground, 100 yards long by 50 yards wide, sandwiched between the rears of Edgeworth Street, Peckershill Road and Robins Lane and, at its opposite end, by Fisher Street and Taylor Street. Silcock wanted a licence to play his barrel organs in order to attract punters to his other amusements.
However a number of residents from Robins Lane were in court to object. Railway signalman John Gibbons said he did shift work and the noise during the day prevented him from sleeping. He also complained of an "abominable nuisance" that was created by large numbers of people flocking to the place with no toilets for half a mile. Mr Gibbons added that it was unfit for ladies or children to go out of their back doors while the shows were on.
A resident called Mrs Turner said she objected to the "noise of the rabble and the so-called music grinding for hours together." She said in the past the music had been playing from six o’clock until ten or eleven, five days a week, and then there were the sounds of a shooting gallery until midnight. "The last time we were nearly driven to distraction", Mrs Turner added, complaining of the sound of the trams at the front of the house and then the noise of the fair at the back. The magistrates said they had given careful consideration to the application and unanimously decided to reject it.
Next week's stories will include the remarkable number of cases of VD in St Helens, the hawker having a nice scramble in Westfield Street, Sutton Manor Colliery's evictions, the police's sympathy for a Bold man that attacked his wife and the corn merchant in Cotham Street who hid his horse from the Government.