IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 4 - 10 MARCH 1924
This week's many stories include the animated throng inside Rainford Village Hall, the house merry-go-round in Junction Lane, what the St Helens MP thought of women being given the vote at 21, the St Helens miner charged with bigamy, the drawer at Alexandra Colliery who was crushed to death and the man who claimed to behave like a gentleman but punched his girlfriend in the face because she would not go for a walk.
We begin with this week's turns that were performing at the Hippodrome Theatre in St Helens. They included: The Flying Winskills ("Sensation and comedy aerial acrobats"); The 2 Van Wycks ("Club juggling devils"); The Elmar Trio ("Sensational balancing act featuring Elsie the wonder child"); Harry Whitehead ("The new comedian") and Tom Moss and Ethel Orrell ("Character vocal entertainers").
With the great scarcity of houses in St Helens a century ago, complicated chains could develop. These were rental chains unlike present-day house-buying chains, with tenants unable to move because they couldn't find anywhere else to live. Like today not all landlords had large numbers of properties on their books.
Quite a few people in St Helens owned just one or two houses, which they rented out with the owners sometimes living in rented accommodation elsewhere. However, as their own family circumstances changed, the owners might decide to move into the houses that they owned or want a family member to live there. That was easier said than done, as they had to get their tenants out first.
Above is a photograph of Junction Lane in Sutton. On the 5th in St Helens County Court, Frank Hawley of 83 Junction Lane sought possession of the house at no 81 next door that belonged to him. A Mr Woods was the tenant, and he owned the house next door to him, which was tenanted by a man named Kendrick. So Woods sought possession of the house occupied by Kendrick who said he was perfectly willing to leave but had nowhere to go.
And as eight of his ten children lived there with him, finding a large enough property to accommodate them all made it an even harder task. The judge made an order for Kendrick to vacate the house but appreciating his difficulties gave him six months to get out – at which time the other parties could transfer their homes as well.
Incidentally, next to the Liverpool Echo's report on the case, was an article about a Mrs Barber from London who had turned 102. She'd said: "People are less happy now than they were when I was young, and it is because in those days they were less selfish, and there were, as a consequence, fewer strikes."
On the 6th the Ormskirk Advertiser wrote: "On Shrove Tuesday the Rainford Cricket Club held their annual whist drive and dance at the Village Hall, when there was an unprecedented attendance. This function is one of the standing events in Rainford's social life, and is always well patronised. About 300 persons were present and the large room was crowded with an animated throng, the twenty-four hands of progressive whist passing very pleasantly, and in record time."
Also on the 6th the Rev. Dean Carr of St Bartholomew's Church in Rainhill died from pneumonia. The Runcorn Weekly News said Rev Carr's "untiring labours in the Rainhill district gained for him not only the love of his flock, but the respect and esteem of all who came in contact with him."
Welsh miner David Davies returned to St Helens Police Court on the 6th charged with bigamy. That was a crime that usually sent the offender to prison for a few months and caused considerable suffering to the two women involved. Davies had gone through the marriage ceremony with widow Leah Hughes of College Street in St Helens on December 23rd 1922, when he already had a wife alive in Wales.
The original Mrs Davies from Rhondda was described as having been "very distressed" when giving evidence in which she stated that her husband had left her five years earlier. Leah Hughes then explained how David Davies had also deserted her after 18 months of supposed marriage and the miner at Sutton Heath & Lea Green Collieries was committed for trial at the next assizes hearing.
On the 7th Joseph Carragher was charged in St Helens Police Court with assaulting Robina Mines at her Queen Street home by punching her in the face. The couple had been "keeping company" and the incident had occurred on a Sunday afternoon when Carragher asked Robina to go for a walk. She told him she had other things to do and he angrily claimed she was planning to go out with someone else.
Carragher said: "Dudley has done four years for you, and I will do eight for you; you are worth swinging the rope for." He then hit his young lady in the face, making her nose bleed and breaking one of Robina's teeth. Some men seemed to think that if they had not previously beaten a woman, then one lapse was quite acceptable and should be forgiven.
In court Carragher said to Robina: "Have I not always proved a gentleman with you, in regards gentlemanly and decent conduct?", which she agreed had been the case. A policeman said he had been called to the house on the Sunday afternoon and had seen the young woman's mouth swollen and her lips and nose bleeding. The defendant was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
The St Helens Reporter on the 10th described how James Sexton, the St Helens MP, had criticised his own Labour government. It had been left to an MP called Adamson to introduce a Franchise Bill that would allow women to vote at 21, the same age as men. Currently the minimum age was thirty. If the bill was passed the number of potential female voters at 12.4 million would outweigh male voters by almost two million.
The government had yet to give its support and private members bills often failed to get on the statute book. Sexton told the Commons that he had been a member of Labour for thirty years and adult suffrage had always been a key demand of his party and he said he could recall the days of open voting in the late 1860s. That was when Sexton was living in an overcrowded slum dwelling in Tontine Street in St Helens and his own father had then been involved in fixing elections. He told his fellow MPs:
"I have watched the progress of electoral reform with great interest, but it has never yet reached the zenith of adult suffrage with the true equality of the sexes. I am greatly disappointed that the Government has not boldly gone ‘the whole hog’". It was not until the Conservatives passed the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 that parity was finally created.
The inquest on William Flinn of Sandon Street was held in St Helens on the 10th. The 29-year-old had been a drawer at Alexandra Colliery (pictured above), which meant his job was to remove the coal that had been hewed from the face. That involved connecting boxes of coal to the rope haulage system, which pulled them on rails to the pit cage for taking up to the surface. The miner or hewer that Flinn worked for said his drawer had attached three boxes to the haulage rope and then signalled for the haulage to start.
But the boxes came off the rails and in doing so pulled down some timber that supported the underground roof. That caused a large stone to fall on Flinn, which pinned him by the neck to the side of a wall and when they lifted the stone off him he was found to be dead. A government inspector said that some rubble having fallen on the line was probably why the boxes had come off the rails.
One problem with illegal gambling was that a dissatisfied punter might get their revenge by tipping off the police. Thomas Dutton was unemployed and felt he had won £40 after placing bets on football scores with George Brown. The coal miner was using his home in Clarence Street in Peasley Cross to accept bets and after Dutton's protestations of being cheated came to nothing, he went to see the bookie in charge in Liverpool to get satisfaction.
That also proved unsuccessful and feeling that he had been swindled out of his £40 winnings – a huge sum for an unemployed man – Thomas Dutton went to the police. But when they raided George Brown's house in Peasley Cross, the police found no evidence of betting as their operations had switched to a house in Carter Street. But Dutton's evidence was seen as sufficient for a conviction and Brown was fined £10.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the music licence dilemma for Carr Mill Dam, the chance nabbing of a Sutton shirt thief, the two women fighting in Lyon Street and the West Park Catholic Grammar School lottery prosecution.
We begin with this week's turns that were performing at the Hippodrome Theatre in St Helens. They included: The Flying Winskills ("Sensation and comedy aerial acrobats"); The 2 Van Wycks ("Club juggling devils"); The Elmar Trio ("Sensational balancing act featuring Elsie the wonder child"); Harry Whitehead ("The new comedian") and Tom Moss and Ethel Orrell ("Character vocal entertainers").
With the great scarcity of houses in St Helens a century ago, complicated chains could develop. These were rental chains unlike present-day house-buying chains, with tenants unable to move because they couldn't find anywhere else to live. Like today not all landlords had large numbers of properties on their books.
Quite a few people in St Helens owned just one or two houses, which they rented out with the owners sometimes living in rented accommodation elsewhere. However, as their own family circumstances changed, the owners might decide to move into the houses that they owned or want a family member to live there. That was easier said than done, as they had to get their tenants out first.
And as eight of his ten children lived there with him, finding a large enough property to accommodate them all made it an even harder task. The judge made an order for Kendrick to vacate the house but appreciating his difficulties gave him six months to get out – at which time the other parties could transfer their homes as well.
Incidentally, next to the Liverpool Echo's report on the case, was an article about a Mrs Barber from London who had turned 102. She'd said: "People are less happy now than they were when I was young, and it is because in those days they were less selfish, and there were, as a consequence, fewer strikes."
On the 6th the Ormskirk Advertiser wrote: "On Shrove Tuesday the Rainford Cricket Club held their annual whist drive and dance at the Village Hall, when there was an unprecedented attendance. This function is one of the standing events in Rainford's social life, and is always well patronised. About 300 persons were present and the large room was crowded with an animated throng, the twenty-four hands of progressive whist passing very pleasantly, and in record time."
Also on the 6th the Rev. Dean Carr of St Bartholomew's Church in Rainhill died from pneumonia. The Runcorn Weekly News said Rev Carr's "untiring labours in the Rainhill district gained for him not only the love of his flock, but the respect and esteem of all who came in contact with him."
Welsh miner David Davies returned to St Helens Police Court on the 6th charged with bigamy. That was a crime that usually sent the offender to prison for a few months and caused considerable suffering to the two women involved. Davies had gone through the marriage ceremony with widow Leah Hughes of College Street in St Helens on December 23rd 1922, when he already had a wife alive in Wales.
The original Mrs Davies from Rhondda was described as having been "very distressed" when giving evidence in which she stated that her husband had left her five years earlier. Leah Hughes then explained how David Davies had also deserted her after 18 months of supposed marriage and the miner at Sutton Heath & Lea Green Collieries was committed for trial at the next assizes hearing.
On the 7th Joseph Carragher was charged in St Helens Police Court with assaulting Robina Mines at her Queen Street home by punching her in the face. The couple had been "keeping company" and the incident had occurred on a Sunday afternoon when Carragher asked Robina to go for a walk. She told him she had other things to do and he angrily claimed she was planning to go out with someone else.
Carragher said: "Dudley has done four years for you, and I will do eight for you; you are worth swinging the rope for." He then hit his young lady in the face, making her nose bleed and breaking one of Robina's teeth. Some men seemed to think that if they had not previously beaten a woman, then one lapse was quite acceptable and should be forgiven.
In court Carragher said to Robina: "Have I not always proved a gentleman with you, in regards gentlemanly and decent conduct?", which she agreed had been the case. A policeman said he had been called to the house on the Sunday afternoon and had seen the young woman's mouth swollen and her lips and nose bleeding. The defendant was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
The St Helens Reporter on the 10th described how James Sexton, the St Helens MP, had criticised his own Labour government. It had been left to an MP called Adamson to introduce a Franchise Bill that would allow women to vote at 21, the same age as men. Currently the minimum age was thirty. If the bill was passed the number of potential female voters at 12.4 million would outweigh male voters by almost two million.
The government had yet to give its support and private members bills often failed to get on the statute book. Sexton told the Commons that he had been a member of Labour for thirty years and adult suffrage had always been a key demand of his party and he said he could recall the days of open voting in the late 1860s. That was when Sexton was living in an overcrowded slum dwelling in Tontine Street in St Helens and his own father had then been involved in fixing elections. He told his fellow MPs:
"I have watched the progress of electoral reform with great interest, but it has never yet reached the zenith of adult suffrage with the true equality of the sexes. I am greatly disappointed that the Government has not boldly gone ‘the whole hog’". It was not until the Conservatives passed the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 that parity was finally created.
But the boxes came off the rails and in doing so pulled down some timber that supported the underground roof. That caused a large stone to fall on Flinn, which pinned him by the neck to the side of a wall and when they lifted the stone off him he was found to be dead. A government inspector said that some rubble having fallen on the line was probably why the boxes had come off the rails.
One problem with illegal gambling was that a dissatisfied punter might get their revenge by tipping off the police. Thomas Dutton was unemployed and felt he had won £40 after placing bets on football scores with George Brown. The coal miner was using his home in Clarence Street in Peasley Cross to accept bets and after Dutton's protestations of being cheated came to nothing, he went to see the bookie in charge in Liverpool to get satisfaction.
That also proved unsuccessful and feeling that he had been swindled out of his £40 winnings – a huge sum for an unemployed man – Thomas Dutton went to the police. But when they raided George Brown's house in Peasley Cross, the police found no evidence of betting as their operations had switched to a house in Carter Street. But Dutton's evidence was seen as sufficient for a conviction and Brown was fined £10.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the music licence dilemma for Carr Mill Dam, the chance nabbing of a Sutton shirt thief, the two women fighting in Lyon Street and the West Park Catholic Grammar School lottery prosecution.
This week's many stories include the animated throng inside Rainford Village Hall, the house merry-go-round in Junction Lane, what the St Helens MP thought of women being given the vote at 21, the St Helens miner charged with bigamy, the drawer at Alexandra Colliery who was crushed to death and the man who claimed to behave like a gentleman but punched his girlfriend in the face because she would not go for a walk.
We begin with this week's turns that were performing at the Hippodrome Theatre in St Helens. They included:
The Flying Winskills ("Sensation and comedy aerial acrobats"); The 2 Van Wycks ("Club juggling devils"); The Elmar Trio ("Sensational balancing act featuring Elsie the wonder child"); Harry Whitehead ("The new comedian") and Tom Moss and Ethel Orrell ("Character vocal entertainers").
With the great scarcity of houses in St Helens a century ago, complicated chains could develop.
These were rental chains unlike present-day house-buying chains, with tenants unable to move because they couldn't find anywhere else to live.
Like today not all landlords had large numbers of properties on their books. Quite a few people in St Helens owned just one or two houses, which they rented out with the owners sometimes living in rented accommodation elsewhere.
However, as their own family circumstances changed, the owners might decide to move into the houses that they owned or want a family member to live there. That was easier said than done, as they had to get their tenants out first.
Above is a photograph of Junction Lane in Sutton. On the 5th in St Helens County Court, Frank Hawley of 83 Junction Lane sought possession of the house at no 81 next door that belonged to him.
A Mr Woods was the tenant and he owned the house next door to him, which was tenanted by a man named Kendrick.
So Woods sought possession of the house occupied by Kendrick who said he was perfectly willing to leave but had nowhere to go.
And as eight of his ten children lived there with him, finding a large enough property to accommodate them all made it an even harder task.
The judge made an order for Kendrick to vacate the house but appreciating his difficulties gave him six months to get out – at which time the other parties could transfer their homes as well.
Incidentally, next to the Liverpool Echo's report on the case, was an article about a Mrs Barber from London who had turned 102. She'd said:
"People are less happy now than they were when I was young, and it is because in those days they were less selfish, and there were, as a consequence, fewer strikes."
On the 6th the Ormskirk Advertiser wrote: "On Shrove Tuesday the Rainford Cricket Club held their annual whist drive and dance at the Village Hall, when there was an unprecedented attendance. This function is one of the standing events in Rainford's social life, and is always well patronised.
"About 300 persons were present and the large room was crowded with an animated throng, the twenty-four hands of progressive whist passing very pleasantly, and in record time."
Also on the 6th the Rev. Dean Carr of St Bartholomew's Church in Rainhill died from pneumonia.
The Runcorn Weekly News said Rev Carr's "untiring labours in the Rainhill district gained for him not only the love of his flock, but the respect and esteem of all who came in contact with him."
Welsh miner David Davies returned to St Helens Police Court on the 6th charged with bigamy.
That was a crime that usually sent the offender to prison for a few months and caused considerable suffering to the two women involved.
Davies had gone through the marriage ceremony with widow Leah Hughes of College Street in St Helens on December 23rd 1922, when he already had a wife alive in Wales.
The original Mrs Davies from Rhondda was described as having been "very distressed" when giving evidence in which she stated that her husband had left her five years earlier.
Leah Hughes then explained how David Davies had also deserted her after 18 months of supposed marriage and the miner at Sutton Heath & Lea Green Collieries was committed for trial at the next assizes hearing.
On the 7th Joseph Carragher was charged in St Helens Police Court with assaulting Robina Mines at her Queen Street home by punching her in the face.
The couple had been "keeping company" and the incident had occurred on a Sunday afternoon when Carragher asked Robina to go for a walk.
She told him she had other things to do and he angrily claimed she was planning to go out with someone else.
Carragher said: "Dudley has done four years for you, and I will do eight for you; you are worth swinging the rope for."
He then hit his young lady in the face, making her nose bleed and breaking one of Robina's teeth.
Some men seemed to think that if they had not previously beaten a woman, then one lapse was quite acceptable and should be forgiven.
In court Carragher said to Robina: "Have I not always proved a gentleman with you, in regards gentlemanly and decent conduct?", which she agreed had been the case.
A policeman said he had been called to the house on the Sunday afternoon and had seen the young woman's mouth swollen and her lips and nose bleeding. The defendant was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
The St Helens Reporter on the 10th described how James Sexton, the St Helens MP, had criticised his own Labour government.
It had been left to an MP called Adamson to introduce a Franchise Bill that would allow women to vote at 21, the same age as men. Currently the minimum age was thirty.
If the bill was passed the number of potential female voters at 12.4 million would outweigh male voters by almost two million.
The government had yet to give its support and private members bills often failed to get on the statute book.
Sexton told the Commons that he had been a member of Labour for thirty years and adult suffrage had always been a key demand of his party and he said he could recall the days of open voting in the late 1860s.
That was when Sexton was living in an overcrowded slum dwelling in Tontine Street in St Helens and his own father had then been involved in fixing elections. He told his fellow MPs:
"I have watched the progress of electoral reform with great interest, but it has never yet reached the zenith of adult suffrage with the true equality of the sexes. I am greatly disappointed that the Government has not boldly gone ‘the whole hog’".
It was not until the Conservatives passed the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 that parity was finally created.
The inquest on William Flinn of Sandon Street was held in St Helens on the 10th.
The 29-year-old had been a drawer at Alexandra Colliery (pictured above), which meant his job was to remove the coal that had been hewed from the face.
That involved connecting boxes of coal to the rope haulage system, which pulled them on rails to the pit cage for taking up to the surface.
The miner or hewer that Flinn worked for said his drawer had attached three boxes to the haulage rope and then signalled for the haulage to start.
But the boxes came off the rails and in doing so pulled down some timber that supported the underground roof.
That caused a large stone to fall on Flinn, which pinned him by the neck to the side of a wall and when they lifted the stone off him he was found to be dead.
A government inspector said that some rubble having fallen on the line was probably why the boxes had come off the rails.
One problem with illegal gambling was that a dissatisfied punter might get their revenge by tipping off the police.
Thomas Dutton was unemployed and felt he had won £40 after placing bets on football scores with George Brown.
The coal miner was using his home in Clarence Street in Peasley Cross to accept bets and after Dutton's protestations of being cheated came to nothing, he went to see the bookie in charge in Liverpool to get satisfaction.
That also proved unsuccessful and feeling that he had been swindled out of his £40 winnings – a huge sum for an unemployed man – Thomas Dutton went to the police.
But when they raided George Brown's house in Peasley Cross, the police found no evidence of betting as their operations had switched to a house in Carter Street.
But Dutton's evidence was seen as sufficient for a conviction and Brown was fined £10.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the music licence dilemma for Carr Mill Dam, the chance nabbing of a Sutton shirt thief, the two women fighting in Lyon Street and the West Park Catholic Grammar School lottery prosecution.
We begin with this week's turns that were performing at the Hippodrome Theatre in St Helens. They included:
The Flying Winskills ("Sensation and comedy aerial acrobats"); The 2 Van Wycks ("Club juggling devils"); The Elmar Trio ("Sensational balancing act featuring Elsie the wonder child"); Harry Whitehead ("The new comedian") and Tom Moss and Ethel Orrell ("Character vocal entertainers").
With the great scarcity of houses in St Helens a century ago, complicated chains could develop.
These were rental chains unlike present-day house-buying chains, with tenants unable to move because they couldn't find anywhere else to live.
Like today not all landlords had large numbers of properties on their books. Quite a few people in St Helens owned just one or two houses, which they rented out with the owners sometimes living in rented accommodation elsewhere.
However, as their own family circumstances changed, the owners might decide to move into the houses that they owned or want a family member to live there. That was easier said than done, as they had to get their tenants out first.
A Mr Woods was the tenant and he owned the house next door to him, which was tenanted by a man named Kendrick.
So Woods sought possession of the house occupied by Kendrick who said he was perfectly willing to leave but had nowhere to go.
And as eight of his ten children lived there with him, finding a large enough property to accommodate them all made it an even harder task.
The judge made an order for Kendrick to vacate the house but appreciating his difficulties gave him six months to get out – at which time the other parties could transfer their homes as well.
Incidentally, next to the Liverpool Echo's report on the case, was an article about a Mrs Barber from London who had turned 102. She'd said:
"People are less happy now than they were when I was young, and it is because in those days they were less selfish, and there were, as a consequence, fewer strikes."
On the 6th the Ormskirk Advertiser wrote: "On Shrove Tuesday the Rainford Cricket Club held their annual whist drive and dance at the Village Hall, when there was an unprecedented attendance. This function is one of the standing events in Rainford's social life, and is always well patronised.
"About 300 persons were present and the large room was crowded with an animated throng, the twenty-four hands of progressive whist passing very pleasantly, and in record time."
Also on the 6th the Rev. Dean Carr of St Bartholomew's Church in Rainhill died from pneumonia.
The Runcorn Weekly News said Rev Carr's "untiring labours in the Rainhill district gained for him not only the love of his flock, but the respect and esteem of all who came in contact with him."
Welsh miner David Davies returned to St Helens Police Court on the 6th charged with bigamy.
That was a crime that usually sent the offender to prison for a few months and caused considerable suffering to the two women involved.
Davies had gone through the marriage ceremony with widow Leah Hughes of College Street in St Helens on December 23rd 1922, when he already had a wife alive in Wales.
The original Mrs Davies from Rhondda was described as having been "very distressed" when giving evidence in which she stated that her husband had left her five years earlier.
Leah Hughes then explained how David Davies had also deserted her after 18 months of supposed marriage and the miner at Sutton Heath & Lea Green Collieries was committed for trial at the next assizes hearing.
On the 7th Joseph Carragher was charged in St Helens Police Court with assaulting Robina Mines at her Queen Street home by punching her in the face.
The couple had been "keeping company" and the incident had occurred on a Sunday afternoon when Carragher asked Robina to go for a walk.
She told him she had other things to do and he angrily claimed she was planning to go out with someone else.
Carragher said: "Dudley has done four years for you, and I will do eight for you; you are worth swinging the rope for."
He then hit his young lady in the face, making her nose bleed and breaking one of Robina's teeth.
Some men seemed to think that if they had not previously beaten a woman, then one lapse was quite acceptable and should be forgiven.
In court Carragher said to Robina: "Have I not always proved a gentleman with you, in regards gentlemanly and decent conduct?", which she agreed had been the case.
A policeman said he had been called to the house on the Sunday afternoon and had seen the young woman's mouth swollen and her lips and nose bleeding. The defendant was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
The St Helens Reporter on the 10th described how James Sexton, the St Helens MP, had criticised his own Labour government.
It had been left to an MP called Adamson to introduce a Franchise Bill that would allow women to vote at 21, the same age as men. Currently the minimum age was thirty.
If the bill was passed the number of potential female voters at 12.4 million would outweigh male voters by almost two million.
The government had yet to give its support and private members bills often failed to get on the statute book.
Sexton told the Commons that he had been a member of Labour for thirty years and adult suffrage had always been a key demand of his party and he said he could recall the days of open voting in the late 1860s.
That was when Sexton was living in an overcrowded slum dwelling in Tontine Street in St Helens and his own father had then been involved in fixing elections. He told his fellow MPs:
"I have watched the progress of electoral reform with great interest, but it has never yet reached the zenith of adult suffrage with the true equality of the sexes. I am greatly disappointed that the Government has not boldly gone ‘the whole hog’".
It was not until the Conservatives passed the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 that parity was finally created.
The inquest on William Flinn of Sandon Street was held in St Helens on the 10th.
That involved connecting boxes of coal to the rope haulage system, which pulled them on rails to the pit cage for taking up to the surface.
The miner or hewer that Flinn worked for said his drawer had attached three boxes to the haulage rope and then signalled for the haulage to start.
But the boxes came off the rails and in doing so pulled down some timber that supported the underground roof.
That caused a large stone to fall on Flinn, which pinned him by the neck to the side of a wall and when they lifted the stone off him he was found to be dead.
A government inspector said that some rubble having fallen on the line was probably why the boxes had come off the rails.
One problem with illegal gambling was that a dissatisfied punter might get their revenge by tipping off the police.
Thomas Dutton was unemployed and felt he had won £40 after placing bets on football scores with George Brown.
The coal miner was using his home in Clarence Street in Peasley Cross to accept bets and after Dutton's protestations of being cheated came to nothing, he went to see the bookie in charge in Liverpool to get satisfaction.
That also proved unsuccessful and feeling that he had been swindled out of his £40 winnings – a huge sum for an unemployed man – Thomas Dutton went to the police.
But when they raided George Brown's house in Peasley Cross, the police found no evidence of betting as their operations had switched to a house in Carter Street.
But Dutton's evidence was seen as sufficient for a conviction and Brown was fined £10.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the music licence dilemma for Carr Mill Dam, the chance nabbing of a Sutton shirt thief, the two women fighting in Lyon Street and the West Park Catholic Grammar School lottery prosecution.