IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (3 - 9 JULY 1923)
This week's many stories include the Knowsley Road man that drowned in the bath with his socks on, the Thatto Heath family row that ended in death, the reckless newsboys furiously riding their bikes through St Helens, the scheme to boost employment of ex-servicemen and a ban is imposed on Saturday night dances in St Helens Town Hall during the summer.
We begin on the 3rd when the inquest was held on Henry Friar who had drowned in the bath at his home in Knowsley Road. An intriguing bit of detail revealed at the hearing in St Helens Town Hall was that the 73-year-old had died with his socks on. Some elderly people, it seems, liked to keep some of their underwear on whilst taking a bath. Although modesty might have something to do with it, I think it was more to do with giving the garment a good soaking.
Mr Friar was not actually having a bath but bathing his feet while wearing only his shirt and socks. His daughter Edith Grundy told the inquest that she had found her father in a kneeling position. The bath was full and his face was under the water. On three previous occasions Mr Friar had suffered seizures and Mrs Grundy felt he'd likely had another seizure in the bathroom. Upon the coroner questioning the old man's choice of footwear in the bath, his daughter said: "He always went with his socks on."
Inquests could be held in St Helens simply to allay rumours. Another hearing that took place at the Town Hall was to scotch suggestions that Tabitha Birchall's death had been caused by her daughter. The gossip had claimed that Phoebe White had bashed her 67-year-old mother over the head with a poker at her Crossley Street home in Thatto Heath. The inquest heard how there had been bad feeling between Phoebe and her two sisters, Elizabeth and Rachel, and on the previous Friday a row had taken place at their mother's home.
Although Phoebe had caught her mother with the poker, the act was thought to have been accidental. The real cause of Tabitha Birchall's demise had been her very bad heart and she had been told to avoid over-excitement. The St Helens Reporter's account of the inquest hearing and family row was extremely lengthy and ended with: "The verdict returned was that the deceased died from overstrain of the heart's action, due to fatty degeneration, death being brought about by nervous excitement. “They will have it in their minds that they may have contributed to their mother's death by this family squabble,” were the Coroner's concluding remarks."
At the St Helens Council meeting on the 4th a discussion was held on whether there should be a blanket ban on hiring the Town Hall's large assembly room on Saturday nights during July and August. Few events were held there during the summer and since the fire at the Parish Church in 1917, church services took place in the hall on Sunday mornings.
Councillor Ellison explained how it entailed very considerable expense to clear the hall after an event, and it was "extra labour for the attendants, who wanted liberty as well as anybody else." And Councillor McCormick added that the attendants had to work until two or 3 o’clock in the morning to get the place right for the Sunday morning service. There were objections to a complete ban being imposed and the Town Clerk suggested a compromise in which exceptions were allowed for special occasions, which was accepted.
In court at Garstang on the 5th, Annie Stevenson summoned her husband James for maintenance payments alleging desertion. However, the man denied leaving his wife, saying he had moved to St Helens to obtain work but the town's housing crisis meant his wife could not be accommodated. "There are no lodgings available in that town," he said. "The people are living one on top of another."
The St Helens Reporter on the 6th described how the Corporation had reached an agreement with a colliery company to keep the Watery Lane district of Sutton clear of floodwater. Pumping arrangements would ensure that roads and buildings were not flooded for ten years, although land was exempt.
The Reporter carried a large advert from the Donegal Tweed Co of Church Street who was offering made to measures suits during their summer sale for 50 shillings. The paper also described how the newly formed Rotary Club of St Helens had designed a scheme to boost employment of ex-servicemen. A small panel of Rotarians would meet each week and interview selected applicants that the St Helens Employment Exchange had nominated. The Rotarians were virtually all employers themselves – but they would not seemingly be hiring any of the men. Instead, those that they felt able to recommend would have their names advertised in the Reporter.
The St Helens paperboys of the past were known as newsboys and usually came from poor stock. They were more likely to sell papers on the streets than deliver them to houses and were a hive of activity first thing in the morning and also during mid-afternoon when the Echos arrived at the station. The sooner they had a stock of papers out on the streets, the more sales they could make and so there was much competition between the lads to be first in line.
Newsboys could be a danger to pedestrians as they pedalled furiously on bikes that were often old and not in a great condition. And so an increasing number of them were finding themselves in St Helens Police Court charged with “furiously riding a bicycle”. On the 6th it was the turn of Joseph Ellison of Clyde Street to face such a charge.
A policeman stated that he had seen the 16-year-old in Ormskirk Street riding "recklessly and dangerously". He was riding a bicycle, which, he said, appeared too large for him and he was swaying from side to side with a bundle of newspapers on his back, which he was taking to other newsboys. The Chairman of the Bench said he had seen "that kind of thing" going on near the station and he called it "a great nuisance". Ellison was fined 5 shillings.
Betting cases in St Helens were very common with many men out of work or on short time tempted to collect betting slips and dish out winnings on the street. Doing so did draw attention to them and it did not take long before their collar was felt and a hefty £10 fine imposed. But the bookie in the shadows paid off the fine and the cat and mouse game with the police rolled on.
Wilfred Northey from Graham Street in Fingerpost was this week’s bookie's runner in the dock. Within a 10-minute period Det. Cust had watched him receive betting slips in Parr Street (pictured above) from five men and pay another man his winnings. Northey was fined the usual £10.
It appears that William Durkin had accused his neighbour Elizabeth Naylor of Gilbert Street (which used to be near Waterloo Street) of having had illegitimate children. That was a common insult made against a woman during a row. What had led to Durkin's claim was not revealed when on the 9th the man was charged in St Helens Police Court with using abusive language. All we know is that at 10:30pm on one evening, Mrs Naylor had found Durkin standing in his doorway making remarks about her children, saying they were half-starved and it was then he called her a "very bad name".
The mother of Mrs Naylor asked Durkin if he could prove what he claimed and he said he could. He was given an opportunity of either proving what he said or apologising but did not do either – and so a summons was taken out against him. But as much as it was common to make wild accusations against women – it was just as common to deny having made them. William Durkin made a complete denial in court of uttering such words and even produced witnesses to support his case. Faced with such conflicting evidence, the magistrates felt obliged to dismiss the summons.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the gipsy woman accused of trickery in Sutton, the backward women swimmers of St Helens, the pawning of the Water Street washing and the huge crowd in Parr watching an angry woman beat up her husband.
We begin on the 3rd when the inquest was held on Henry Friar who had drowned in the bath at his home in Knowsley Road. An intriguing bit of detail revealed at the hearing in St Helens Town Hall was that the 73-year-old had died with his socks on. Some elderly people, it seems, liked to keep some of their underwear on whilst taking a bath. Although modesty might have something to do with it, I think it was more to do with giving the garment a good soaking.
Mr Friar was not actually having a bath but bathing his feet while wearing only his shirt and socks. His daughter Edith Grundy told the inquest that she had found her father in a kneeling position. The bath was full and his face was under the water. On three previous occasions Mr Friar had suffered seizures and Mrs Grundy felt he'd likely had another seizure in the bathroom. Upon the coroner questioning the old man's choice of footwear in the bath, his daughter said: "He always went with his socks on."
Inquests could be held in St Helens simply to allay rumours. Another hearing that took place at the Town Hall was to scotch suggestions that Tabitha Birchall's death had been caused by her daughter. The gossip had claimed that Phoebe White had bashed her 67-year-old mother over the head with a poker at her Crossley Street home in Thatto Heath. The inquest heard how there had been bad feeling between Phoebe and her two sisters, Elizabeth and Rachel, and on the previous Friday a row had taken place at their mother's home.
Although Phoebe had caught her mother with the poker, the act was thought to have been accidental. The real cause of Tabitha Birchall's demise had been her very bad heart and she had been told to avoid over-excitement. The St Helens Reporter's account of the inquest hearing and family row was extremely lengthy and ended with: "The verdict returned was that the deceased died from overstrain of the heart's action, due to fatty degeneration, death being brought about by nervous excitement. “They will have it in their minds that they may have contributed to their mother's death by this family squabble,” were the Coroner's concluding remarks."
At the St Helens Council meeting on the 4th a discussion was held on whether there should be a blanket ban on hiring the Town Hall's large assembly room on Saturday nights during July and August. Few events were held there during the summer and since the fire at the Parish Church in 1917, church services took place in the hall on Sunday mornings.
Councillor Ellison explained how it entailed very considerable expense to clear the hall after an event, and it was "extra labour for the attendants, who wanted liberty as well as anybody else." And Councillor McCormick added that the attendants had to work until two or 3 o’clock in the morning to get the place right for the Sunday morning service. There were objections to a complete ban being imposed and the Town Clerk suggested a compromise in which exceptions were allowed for special occasions, which was accepted.
In court at Garstang on the 5th, Annie Stevenson summoned her husband James for maintenance payments alleging desertion. However, the man denied leaving his wife, saying he had moved to St Helens to obtain work but the town's housing crisis meant his wife could not be accommodated. "There are no lodgings available in that town," he said. "The people are living one on top of another."
The St Helens Reporter on the 6th described how the Corporation had reached an agreement with a colliery company to keep the Watery Lane district of Sutton clear of floodwater. Pumping arrangements would ensure that roads and buildings were not flooded for ten years, although land was exempt.
The Reporter carried a large advert from the Donegal Tweed Co of Church Street who was offering made to measures suits during their summer sale for 50 shillings. The paper also described how the newly formed Rotary Club of St Helens had designed a scheme to boost employment of ex-servicemen. A small panel of Rotarians would meet each week and interview selected applicants that the St Helens Employment Exchange had nominated. The Rotarians were virtually all employers themselves – but they would not seemingly be hiring any of the men. Instead, those that they felt able to recommend would have their names advertised in the Reporter.
The St Helens paperboys of the past were known as newsboys and usually came from poor stock. They were more likely to sell papers on the streets than deliver them to houses and were a hive of activity first thing in the morning and also during mid-afternoon when the Echos arrived at the station. The sooner they had a stock of papers out on the streets, the more sales they could make and so there was much competition between the lads to be first in line.
Newsboys could be a danger to pedestrians as they pedalled furiously on bikes that were often old and not in a great condition. And so an increasing number of them were finding themselves in St Helens Police Court charged with “furiously riding a bicycle”. On the 6th it was the turn of Joseph Ellison of Clyde Street to face such a charge.
A policeman stated that he had seen the 16-year-old in Ormskirk Street riding "recklessly and dangerously". He was riding a bicycle, which, he said, appeared too large for him and he was swaying from side to side with a bundle of newspapers on his back, which he was taking to other newsboys. The Chairman of the Bench said he had seen "that kind of thing" going on near the station and he called it "a great nuisance". Ellison was fined 5 shillings.
Betting cases in St Helens were very common with many men out of work or on short time tempted to collect betting slips and dish out winnings on the street. Doing so did draw attention to them and it did not take long before their collar was felt and a hefty £10 fine imposed. But the bookie in the shadows paid off the fine and the cat and mouse game with the police rolled on.
It appears that William Durkin had accused his neighbour Elizabeth Naylor of Gilbert Street (which used to be near Waterloo Street) of having had illegitimate children. That was a common insult made against a woman during a row. What had led to Durkin's claim was not revealed when on the 9th the man was charged in St Helens Police Court with using abusive language. All we know is that at 10:30pm on one evening, Mrs Naylor had found Durkin standing in his doorway making remarks about her children, saying they were half-starved and it was then he called her a "very bad name".
The mother of Mrs Naylor asked Durkin if he could prove what he claimed and he said he could. He was given an opportunity of either proving what he said or apologising but did not do either – and so a summons was taken out against him. But as much as it was common to make wild accusations against women – it was just as common to deny having made them. William Durkin made a complete denial in court of uttering such words and even produced witnesses to support his case. Faced with such conflicting evidence, the magistrates felt obliged to dismiss the summons.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the gipsy woman accused of trickery in Sutton, the backward women swimmers of St Helens, the pawning of the Water Street washing and the huge crowd in Parr watching an angry woman beat up her husband.
This week's many stories include the Knowsley Road man that drowned in the bath with his socks on, the Thatto Heath family row that ended in death, the reckless newsboys furiously riding their bikes through St Helens, the scheme to boost employment of ex-servicemen and a ban is imposed on Saturday night dances in St Helens Town Hall during the summer.
We begin on the 3rd when the inquest was held on Henry Friar who had drowned in the bath at his home in Knowsley Road.
An intriguing bit of detail revealed at the hearing in St Helens Town Hall was that the 73-year-old had died with his socks on.
Some elderly people, it seems, liked to keep some of their underwear on whilst taking a bath.
Although modesty might have something to do with it, I think it was more to do with giving the garment a good soaking.
Mr Friar was not actually having a bath but bathing his feet while wearing only his shirt and socks.
His daughter Edith Grundy told the inquest that she had found her father in a kneeling position. The bath was full and his face was under the water.
On three previous occasions Mr Friar had suffered seizures and Mrs Grundy felt he'd likely had another seizure in the bathroom.
Upon the coroner questioning the old man's choice of footwear in the bath, his daughter said: "He always went with his socks on."
Inquests could be held in St Helens simply to allay rumours. Another hearing that took place at the Town Hall was to scotch suggestions that Tabitha Birchall's death had been caused by her daughter.
The gossip had claimed that Phoebe White had bashed her 67-year-old mother over the head with a poker at her Crossley Street home in Thatto Heath.
The inquest heard how there had been bad feeling between Phoebe and her two sisters, Elizabeth and Rachel, and on the previous Friday a row had taken place at their mother's home.
Although Phoebe had caught her mother with the poker, the act was thought to have been accidental.
The real cause of Tabitha Birchall's demise had been her very bad heart and she had been told to avoid over-excitement.
The St Helens Reporter's account of the inquest hearing and family row was extremely lengthy and ended with:
"The verdict returned was that the deceased died from overstrain of the heart's action, due to fatty degeneration, death being brought about by nervous excitement.
"“They will have it in their minds that they may have contributed to their mother's death by this family squabble,” were the Coroner's concluding remarks."
At the St Helens Council meeting on the 4th a discussion was held on whether there should be a blanket ban on hiring the Town Hall's large assembly room on Saturday nights during July and August.
Few events were held there during the summer and since the fire at the Parish Church in 1917, church services took place in the hall on Sunday mornings.
Councillor Ellison explained how it entailed very considerable expense to clear the hall after an event, and it was "extra labour for the attendants, who wanted liberty as well as anybody else."
And Councillor McCormick added that the attendants had to work until two or 3 o’clock in the morning to get the place right for the Sunday morning service.
There were objections to a complete ban being imposed and the Town Clerk suggested a compromise in which exceptions were allowed for special occasions, which was accepted.
In court at Garstang on the 5th, Annie Stevenson summoned her husband James for maintenance payments alleging desertion.
However, the man denied leaving his wife, saying he had moved to St Helens to obtain work but the town's housing crisis meant his wife could not be accommodated.
"There are no lodgings available in that town," he said. "The people are living one on top of another."
The St Helens Reporter on the 6th described how the Corporation had reached an agreement with a colliery company to keep the Watery Lane district of Sutton clear of floodwater.
Pumping arrangements would ensure that roads and buildings were not flooded for ten years, although land was exempt.
The Reporter carried a large advert from the Donegal Tweed Co of Church Street who was offering made to measures suits during their summer sale for 50 shillings.
The paper also described how the newly formed Rotary Club of St Helens had designed a scheme to boost employment of ex-servicemen.
A small panel of Rotarians would meet each week and interview selected applicants that the St Helens Employment Exchange had nominated.
The Rotarians were virtually all employers themselves – but they would not seemingly be hiring any of the men.
Instead, those that they felt able to recommend would have their names advertised in the Reporter.
The St Helens paperboys of the past were known as newsboys and usually came from poor stock.
They were more likely to sell papers on the streets than deliver them to houses and were a hive of activity first thing in the morning and also during mid-afternoon when the Echos arrived at the station.
The sooner they had a stock of papers out on the streets, the more sales they could make and so there was much competition between the lads to be first in line.
Newsboys could be a danger to pedestrians as they pedalled furiously on bikes that were often old and not in a great condition.
And so an increasing number of them were finding themselves in St Helens Police Court charged with “furiously riding a bicycle”.
On the 6th it was the turn of Joseph Ellison of Clyde Street to face such a charge.
A policeman stated that he had seen the 16-year-old in Ormskirk Street riding "recklessly and dangerously".
He was riding a bicycle, which, he said, appeared too large for him and he was swaying from side to side with a bundle of newspapers on his back, which he was taking to other newsboys.
The Chairman of the Bench said he had seen "that kind of thing" going on near the station and he called it "a great nuisance". Ellison was fined 5 shillings.
Betting cases in St Helens were very common with many men out of work or on short time tempted to collect betting slips and dish out winnings on the street.
Doing so did draw attention to them and it did not take long before their collar was felt and a hefty £10 fine imposed.
But the bookie in the shadows paid off the fine and the cat and mouse game with the police rolled on.
Wilfred Northey from Graham Street in Fingerpost was this week’s bookie's runner in the dock.
Within a 10-minute period Det. Cust had watched him receive betting slips in Parr Street (pictured above) from five men and pay another man his winnings. Northey was fined the usual £10.
It appears that William Durkin had accused his neighbour Elizabeth Naylor of Gilbert Street (which used to be near Waterloo Street) of having had illegitimate children.
That was a common insult made against a woman during a row. What had led to Durkin's claim was not revealed when on the 9th the man was charged in St Helens Police Court with using abusive language.
All we know is that at 10:30pm on one evening, Mrs Naylor had found Durkin standing in his doorway making remarks about her children, saying they were half-starved and it was then he called her a "very bad name".
The mother of Mrs Naylor asked Durkin if he could prove what he claimed and he said he could.
He was given an opportunity of either proving what he said or apologising but did not do either – and so a summons was taken out against him.
But as much as it was common to make wild accusations against women – it was just as common to deny having made them.
William Durkin made a complete denial in court of uttering such words and even produced witnesses to support his case.
Faced with such conflicting evidence, the magistrates felt obliged to dismiss the summons.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the gipsy woman accused of trickery in Sutton, the backward women swimmers of St Helens, the pawning of the Water Street washing and the huge crowd in Parr watching an angry woman beat up her husband.
We begin on the 3rd when the inquest was held on Henry Friar who had drowned in the bath at his home in Knowsley Road.
An intriguing bit of detail revealed at the hearing in St Helens Town Hall was that the 73-year-old had died with his socks on.
Some elderly people, it seems, liked to keep some of their underwear on whilst taking a bath.
Although modesty might have something to do with it, I think it was more to do with giving the garment a good soaking.
Mr Friar was not actually having a bath but bathing his feet while wearing only his shirt and socks.
His daughter Edith Grundy told the inquest that she had found her father in a kneeling position. The bath was full and his face was under the water.
On three previous occasions Mr Friar had suffered seizures and Mrs Grundy felt he'd likely had another seizure in the bathroom.
Upon the coroner questioning the old man's choice of footwear in the bath, his daughter said: "He always went with his socks on."
Inquests could be held in St Helens simply to allay rumours. Another hearing that took place at the Town Hall was to scotch suggestions that Tabitha Birchall's death had been caused by her daughter.
The gossip had claimed that Phoebe White had bashed her 67-year-old mother over the head with a poker at her Crossley Street home in Thatto Heath.
The inquest heard how there had been bad feeling between Phoebe and her two sisters, Elizabeth and Rachel, and on the previous Friday a row had taken place at their mother's home.
Although Phoebe had caught her mother with the poker, the act was thought to have been accidental.
The real cause of Tabitha Birchall's demise had been her very bad heart and she had been told to avoid over-excitement.
The St Helens Reporter's account of the inquest hearing and family row was extremely lengthy and ended with:
"The verdict returned was that the deceased died from overstrain of the heart's action, due to fatty degeneration, death being brought about by nervous excitement.
"“They will have it in their minds that they may have contributed to their mother's death by this family squabble,” were the Coroner's concluding remarks."
At the St Helens Council meeting on the 4th a discussion was held on whether there should be a blanket ban on hiring the Town Hall's large assembly room on Saturday nights during July and August.
Few events were held there during the summer and since the fire at the Parish Church in 1917, church services took place in the hall on Sunday mornings.
Councillor Ellison explained how it entailed very considerable expense to clear the hall after an event, and it was "extra labour for the attendants, who wanted liberty as well as anybody else."
And Councillor McCormick added that the attendants had to work until two or 3 o’clock in the morning to get the place right for the Sunday morning service.
There were objections to a complete ban being imposed and the Town Clerk suggested a compromise in which exceptions were allowed for special occasions, which was accepted.
In court at Garstang on the 5th, Annie Stevenson summoned her husband James for maintenance payments alleging desertion.
However, the man denied leaving his wife, saying he had moved to St Helens to obtain work but the town's housing crisis meant his wife could not be accommodated.
"There are no lodgings available in that town," he said. "The people are living one on top of another."
The St Helens Reporter on the 6th described how the Corporation had reached an agreement with a colliery company to keep the Watery Lane district of Sutton clear of floodwater.
Pumping arrangements would ensure that roads and buildings were not flooded for ten years, although land was exempt.
The Reporter carried a large advert from the Donegal Tweed Co of Church Street who was offering made to measures suits during their summer sale for 50 shillings.
The paper also described how the newly formed Rotary Club of St Helens had designed a scheme to boost employment of ex-servicemen.
A small panel of Rotarians would meet each week and interview selected applicants that the St Helens Employment Exchange had nominated.
The Rotarians were virtually all employers themselves – but they would not seemingly be hiring any of the men.
Instead, those that they felt able to recommend would have their names advertised in the Reporter.
The St Helens paperboys of the past were known as newsboys and usually came from poor stock.
They were more likely to sell papers on the streets than deliver them to houses and were a hive of activity first thing in the morning and also during mid-afternoon when the Echos arrived at the station.
The sooner they had a stock of papers out on the streets, the more sales they could make and so there was much competition between the lads to be first in line.
Newsboys could be a danger to pedestrians as they pedalled furiously on bikes that were often old and not in a great condition.
And so an increasing number of them were finding themselves in St Helens Police Court charged with “furiously riding a bicycle”.
On the 6th it was the turn of Joseph Ellison of Clyde Street to face such a charge.
A policeman stated that he had seen the 16-year-old in Ormskirk Street riding "recklessly and dangerously".
He was riding a bicycle, which, he said, appeared too large for him and he was swaying from side to side with a bundle of newspapers on his back, which he was taking to other newsboys.
The Chairman of the Bench said he had seen "that kind of thing" going on near the station and he called it "a great nuisance". Ellison was fined 5 shillings.
Betting cases in St Helens were very common with many men out of work or on short time tempted to collect betting slips and dish out winnings on the street.
Doing so did draw attention to them and it did not take long before their collar was felt and a hefty £10 fine imposed.
But the bookie in the shadows paid off the fine and the cat and mouse game with the police rolled on.
Wilfred Northey from Graham Street in Fingerpost was this week’s bookie's runner in the dock.
It appears that William Durkin had accused his neighbour Elizabeth Naylor of Gilbert Street (which used to be near Waterloo Street) of having had illegitimate children.
That was a common insult made against a woman during a row. What had led to Durkin's claim was not revealed when on the 9th the man was charged in St Helens Police Court with using abusive language.
All we know is that at 10:30pm on one evening, Mrs Naylor had found Durkin standing in his doorway making remarks about her children, saying they were half-starved and it was then he called her a "very bad name".
The mother of Mrs Naylor asked Durkin if he could prove what he claimed and he said he could.
He was given an opportunity of either proving what he said or apologising but did not do either – and so a summons was taken out against him.
But as much as it was common to make wild accusations against women – it was just as common to deny having made them.
William Durkin made a complete denial in court of uttering such words and even produced witnesses to support his case.
Faced with such conflicting evidence, the magistrates felt obliged to dismiss the summons.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the gipsy woman accused of trickery in Sutton, the backward women swimmers of St Helens, the pawning of the Water Street washing and the huge crowd in Parr watching an angry woman beat up her husband.