IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (4th - 10th MAY 1920)
We begin on May 5th when All Saints Church in Ellamsbridge Road in Sutton held their first open-air service. This took place in neighbouring Fisher Street.
The severe shortage of houses within the St Helens district was particularly problematic for those whose home was linked to their job. If they were sacked or forced to quit their position they and their families were faced with homelessness.
Also on the 5th Margaret Webster of Park Farm in Bold (off Liverpool Road) summonsed Alfred Jones to St Helens County Court for possession of her house. Jones had worked for Mrs Webster as a teamsman in charge of her horses. It was a tough, physical job, especially when having to plough fields.
On two occasions the man had strained his muscles and in March had taken the advice of his doctor and found a lighter job as a porter at Sankey Station. Mrs Webster needed to recruit another teamsman but could not hire one without being able to provide accommodation for the man and his family. In court Jones said that he had made every effort to find a new house and as well as his own family, he had his in-laws living with him.
The judge had no sympathy for Jones saying that when he ceased to be a servant of Mrs Webster the house should have been given up and so he made an order for possession. Sadly that's all we know of this case. Alfred Jones' story would only return to the newspapers if he continued to stay in the house and was then brought back to court.
The St Helens Tramways Committee would probably have to change its name soon. At the monthly Town Council meeting on the 5th it was revealed that they were moving into the bus business. Last year St Helens Corporation had taken over the trams from a private operator and now wanted to spend £22,000 (£1 million in today's money) on buying a number of omnibuses and building a garage to house them in.
Private operators currently ran a small number of motor bus services. These had started in 1914 and ran from Market Street in St Helens to Sutton Manor. As a result of buses being added to the council's portfolio, their Tramways Manager was going to be renamed General Manager, although I think Transport Manager would have been better.
The Echo also reported that the committee had discussed passing a by-law to allow children aged 12 to 14 to deliver milk and newspapers for up to an hour before going to school. An Act of Parliament had banned children from working in the morning before school and the newsagents and dairymen were far from happy. However after a long discussion the motion to introduce a bylaw was defeated by 16 votes to 12.
There was another case of street betting heard in the Police Court on the 7th. Henry Naylor of Church Street was a known bookmaker and so had been kept under police surveillance. PC Moore said Naylor had been seen taking six bets in Church Street and eight in a passage by the Raven Inn. He was fined £5.
Also in court was Michael Lea of Eliza Street in Sutton who was summoned for striking Michael McDermott from Nelson Street. The Irish stokers had shared a house until last Christmas when they fell out. The pair had not spoken until the previous Sunday when Lea approached McDermott near the Boundary Vaults in Bold Road.
Lea made comments about his former friend having a certain disease – presumably VD – which McDermott denied. This denial resulted in the latter being punched twice on the bridge of his nose. McDermott told the Bench that he did not retaliate: "Because it was Sunday and I wanted to keep myself respectable."
Michael McDermott had received a head wound during the war and his doctor had told him it was dangerous to have his head knocked about as it could bring on his death. This case had two unusual aspects. Neither man had been drunk at the time of the assault and Michael Lea pleaded guilty and failed to offer the court an alternative version of events. However Lea's solicitor did say there had been considerable provocation in the past.
To that the Bench commented that his client had not mentioned it when giving evidence. The solicitor replied: "We cannot judge these men by the same standards as ourselves. He is an excitable Irishman, and he had suffered from what he thought to be the fault of the complainant. His temper overcame him for the moment. He is a decent respectable man, who has borne an excellent character." Michael Lea was ordered to find sureties for his good conduct for six months and pay all the costs of Michael McDermott.
Thomas Berne had found a revolver on a battlefield in France and decided to bring it back to his home in College Street. This led to the glassworker's appearance in St Helens Police Court on the 10th where he was charged with carrying an unlicensed gun. The police had found Berne fast asleep on a doorstep in Traverse Street. The man was ringing wet after apparently spending some time in the canal. However Berne had been so drunk that he couldn't remember how he had got into the water.
Upon being searched at the police station the five-chambered revolver was discovered on his person. Berne told the court that he did not know that he needed a licence. The prosecution asked the magistrates to take a serious view of the case, due to the number of men that were now carrying guns. However he was only fined 10 shillings.
Anyone could own a gun as long as they obtained a licence from the post office – just like buying a dog licence. However they were not supposed to carry a firearm on the street without official permission. Later in the year firearm regulation would be introduced for the first time, as the government was concerned that the many guns now in Britain might be used in a Bolshevik-inspired revolution.
The acts appearing at the Hippodrome Theatre in Corporation Street this week were: Busoni ("The wonderful Anglo-Italian boy musician"); Victor Kelly ("The well-known quaint comedian"); Loch and Lomond ("Tenor vocalist and character comedienne of pleasing presence"); Harold Heath ("Comedian and eccentric dancer"); Ellis Riley ("A clever comic ventriloquist") and Lysbeth Leigh and Jean Maud ("In high class vocal entertainment").
Also on the 10th St Helens Police's campaign against street betting led to another bookmaker appearing in court. Robert Holcroft of Marshalls Cross Road was described as elderly and had been arrested in Peasley Cross Lane after being kept under observation. The man had been seen to take 39 bets opposite the Red Oxide works and when the police told him what they'd seen, Holcroft replied: "It is quite true; there is nothing strange about it".
Upon being searched he was found to be carrying 96 betting papers relating to 285 bets. In court the Chairman of the Bench asked Holcroft if he had been in Peasley Cross Lane taking bets. He replied: "Oh, yes, every day. I take them when I have been crossing the back roads. They have pushed them in my hand." The bookie was fined £10 but according to the police's calculations he would have still made a profit of £10 after paying the fine.
Attitudes to blind people had changed considerably since the war as many soldiers had been left blind. Recently a blind councillor had been elected to Rainford Council, which I expect would have been inconceivable in 1914. On the 10th the St Helens branch of the Society for the Welfare of the Blind presented its annual report at a meeting in the Town Hall.
As a result of a government grant, a home teacher had now been appointed to visit blind persons within the St Helens district. It was also revealed that 50 visually impaired individuals had taken up the council's offer of free travel on the trams. There were also hopes of establishing a workshop in the town that would pay blind workers a living wage.
Next week's stories will include the man who said he was "done up" in a Parr pawnbrokers, the Haresfinch horse that was beaten in a temper, the Sutton Manor ruckus over a drunken carter, the St Helens builders in great difficulty, the rat plague in the town and the banning of children from potato picking in Rainford.
This week's stories include the drunken man found ringing wet with a revolver in Traverse Street, St Helens Corporation moves into the bus business, cases of street betting in Peasley Cross and Church Street and the excitable Irishman in Sutton who punched his former friend.
We begin on May 5th when All Saints Church in Ellamsbridge Road in Sutton (pictured above) held their first open-air service. This took place in neighbouring Fisher Street.
The severe shortage of houses within the St Helens district was particularly problematic for those whose home was linked to their job.
If they were sacked or forced to quit their position they and their families were faced with homelessness.
Also on the 5th Margaret Webster of Park Farm in Bold (off Liverpool Road) summonsed Alfred Jones to St Helens County Court for possession of her house.
Jones had worked for Mrs Webster as a teamsman in charge of her horses. It was a tough, physical job, especially when having to plough fields.
On two occasions the man had strained his muscles and in March had taken the advice of his doctor and found a lighter job as a porter at Sankey Station.
Mrs Webster needed to recruit another teamsman but could not hire one without being able to provide accommodation for the man and his family.
In court Jones said that he had made every effort to find a new house and as well as his own family, he had his in-laws living with him.
The judge had no sympathy for Jones saying that when he ceased to be a servant of Mrs Webster the house should have been given up and so he made an order for possession.
Sadly that's all we know of this case. Alfred Jones' story would only return to the newspapers if he continued to stay in the house and was then brought back to court.
The St Helens Tramways Committee would probably have to change its name soon.
At the monthly Town Council meeting on the 5th it was revealed that they were moving into the bus business.
Last year St Helens Corporation had taken over the trams from a private operator and now wanted to spend £22,000 (£1 million in today's money) on buying a number of omnibuses and building a garage to house them in.
Private operators currently ran a small number of motor bus services. These had started in 1914 and ran from Market Street in St Helens to Sutton Manor.
As a result of buses being added to the council's portfolio, their Tramways Manager was going to be renamed General Manager, although I think Transport Manager would have been better.
The Liverpool Echo reported on the same day that the controversial plans to enlarge Cowley Boys School might be abandoned (schools pictured above).
The Cowley scheme was in doubt due to its cost, which was estimated at between £40,000 to £50,000 – around £2½ million in today's money.
The St Helens Education Committee was instead considering converting the Windlehurst mansion into a secondary school.
The council had acquired the house a year ago when they bought land from Sir David Gamble in order to build a large housing estate.
The Echo also reported that the committee had discussed passing a by-law to allow children aged 12 to 14 to deliver milk and newspapers for up to an hour before going to school.
An Act of Parliament had banned children from working in the morning before school and the newsagents and dairymen were far from happy.
However after a long discussion the motion to introduce a bylaw was defeated by 16 votes to 12.
There was another case of street betting heard in the Police Court on the 7th. Henry Naylor of Church Street was a known bookmaker and so had been kept under police surveillance.
PC Moore said Naylor had been seen taking six bets in Church Street and eight in a passage by the Raven Inn. He was fined £5.
Also in court was Michael Lea of Eliza Street in Sutton who was summoned for striking Michael McDermott from Nelson Street.
The Irish stokers had shared a house until last Christmas when they fell out.
The pair had not spoken until the previous Sunday when Lea approached McDermott near the Boundary Vaults in Bold Road.
Lea made comments about his former friend having a certain disease – presumably VD – which McDermott denied.
This denial resulted in the latter being punched twice on the bridge of his nose.
McDermott told the Bench that he did not retaliate: "Because it was Sunday and I wanted to keep myself respectable."
Michael McDermott had received a head wound during the war and his doctor had told him it was dangerous to have his head knocked about as it could bring on his death.
This case had two unusual aspects. Neither man had been drunk at the time of the assault and Michael Lea pleaded guilty and failed to offer the court an alternative version of events.
However Lea's solicitor did say there had been considerable provocation in the past.
To that the Bench commented that his client had not mentioned it when giving evidence. The solicitor replied:
"We cannot judge these men by the same standards as ourselves. He is an excitable Irishman, and he had suffered from what he thought to be the fault of the complainant.
"His temper overcame him for the moment. He is a decent respectable man, who has borne an excellent character."
Michael Lea was ordered to find sureties for his good conduct for six months and pay all the costs of Michael McDermott.
The forty members of Sutton Conservative Club that had served in the war were treated to a belated welcome home gathering on the 8th in their Edgeworth Street premises (pictured above).
I wonder if any of the soldiers returned to Sutton with souvenirs of their war service? Many did and quite a few brought guns back to Blighty.
Thomas Berne had found a revolver on a battlefield in France and decided to bring it back to his home in College Street.
This led to the glassworker's appearance in St Helens Police Court on the 10th where he was charged with carrying an unlicensed gun.
The police had found Berne fast asleep on a doorstep in Traverse Street.
The man was ringing wet after apparently spending some time in the canal.
However Berne had been so drunk that he couldn't remember how he had got into the water.
Upon being searched at the police station the five-chambered revolver was discovered on his person.
Berne told the court that he did not know that he needed a licence.
The prosecution asked the magistrates to take a serious view of the case, due to the number of men that were now carrying guns. However he was only fined 10 shillings.
Anyone could own a gun as long as they obtained a licence from the post office – just like buying a dog licence.
However they were not supposed to carry a firearm on the street without official permission.
Later in the year firearm regulation would be introduced for the first time, as the government was concerned that the many guns now in Britain might be used in a Bolshevik-inspired revolution.
The acts appearing at the Hippodrome Theatre in Corporation Street this week were:
Busoni ("The wonderful Anglo-Italian boy musician"); Victor Kelly ("The well-known quaint comedian"); Loch and Lomond ("Tenor vocalist and character comedienne of pleasing presence"); Harold Heath ("Comedian and eccentric dancer"); Ellis Riley ("A clever comic ventriloquist") and Lysbeth Leigh and Jean Maud ("In high class vocal entertainment").
Also on the 10th St Helens Police's campaign against street betting led to another bookmaker appearing in court.
Robert Holcroft of Marshalls Cross Road was described as elderly and had been arrested in Peasley Cross Lane after being kept under observation.
The man had been seen to take 39 bets opposite the Red Oxide works and when the police told him what they'd seen, Holcroft replied: "It is quite true; there is nothing strange about it".
Upon being searched he was found to be carrying 96 betting papers relating to 285 bets.
In court the Chairman of the Bench asked Holcroft if he had been in Peasley Cross Lane taking bets.
He replied: "Oh, yes, every day. I take them when I have been crossing the back roads. They have pushed them in my hand."
The bookie was fined £10 but according to the police's calculations he would have still made a profit of £10 after paying the fine.
Attitudes to blind people had changed considerably since the war as many soldiers had been left blind.
Recently a blind councillor had been elected to Rainford Council, which I expect would have been inconceivable in 1914.
On the 10th the St Helens branch of the Society for the Welfare of the Blind presented its annual report at a meeting in the Town Hall.
As a result of a government grant, a home teacher had now been appointed to visit blind persons within the St Helens district.
It was also revealed that 50 visually impaired individuals had taken up the council's offer of free travel on the trams.
There were also hopes of establishing a workshop in the town that would pay blind workers a living wage.
Next week's stories will include the man who said he was "done up" in a Parr pawnbrokers, the Haresfinch horse that was beaten in a temper, the Sutton Manor ruckus over a drunken carter, the St Helens builders in great difficulty, the rat plague in the town and the banning of children from potato picking in Rainford.
The severe shortage of houses within the St Helens district was particularly problematic for those whose home was linked to their job.
If they were sacked or forced to quit their position they and their families were faced with homelessness.
Also on the 5th Margaret Webster of Park Farm in Bold (off Liverpool Road) summonsed Alfred Jones to St Helens County Court for possession of her house.
Jones had worked for Mrs Webster as a teamsman in charge of her horses. It was a tough, physical job, especially when having to plough fields.
On two occasions the man had strained his muscles and in March had taken the advice of his doctor and found a lighter job as a porter at Sankey Station.
Mrs Webster needed to recruit another teamsman but could not hire one without being able to provide accommodation for the man and his family.
In court Jones said that he had made every effort to find a new house and as well as his own family, he had his in-laws living with him.
The judge had no sympathy for Jones saying that when he ceased to be a servant of Mrs Webster the house should have been given up and so he made an order for possession.
Sadly that's all we know of this case. Alfred Jones' story would only return to the newspapers if he continued to stay in the house and was then brought back to court.
The St Helens Tramways Committee would probably have to change its name soon.
At the monthly Town Council meeting on the 5th it was revealed that they were moving into the bus business.
Last year St Helens Corporation had taken over the trams from a private operator and now wanted to spend £22,000 (£1 million in today's money) on buying a number of omnibuses and building a garage to house them in.
Private operators currently ran a small number of motor bus services. These had started in 1914 and ran from Market Street in St Helens to Sutton Manor.
As a result of buses being added to the council's portfolio, their Tramways Manager was going to be renamed General Manager, although I think Transport Manager would have been better.
The Cowley scheme was in doubt due to its cost, which was estimated at between £40,000 to £50,000 – around £2½ million in today's money.
The St Helens Education Committee was instead considering converting the Windlehurst mansion into a secondary school.
The council had acquired the house a year ago when they bought land from Sir David Gamble in order to build a large housing estate.
The Echo also reported that the committee had discussed passing a by-law to allow children aged 12 to 14 to deliver milk and newspapers for up to an hour before going to school.
An Act of Parliament had banned children from working in the morning before school and the newsagents and dairymen were far from happy.
However after a long discussion the motion to introduce a bylaw was defeated by 16 votes to 12.
There was another case of street betting heard in the Police Court on the 7th. Henry Naylor of Church Street was a known bookmaker and so had been kept under police surveillance.
PC Moore said Naylor had been seen taking six bets in Church Street and eight in a passage by the Raven Inn. He was fined £5.
Also in court was Michael Lea of Eliza Street in Sutton who was summoned for striking Michael McDermott from Nelson Street.
The Irish stokers had shared a house until last Christmas when they fell out.
The pair had not spoken until the previous Sunday when Lea approached McDermott near the Boundary Vaults in Bold Road.
Lea made comments about his former friend having a certain disease – presumably VD – which McDermott denied.
This denial resulted in the latter being punched twice on the bridge of his nose.
McDermott told the Bench that he did not retaliate: "Because it was Sunday and I wanted to keep myself respectable."
Michael McDermott had received a head wound during the war and his doctor had told him it was dangerous to have his head knocked about as it could bring on his death.
This case had two unusual aspects. Neither man had been drunk at the time of the assault and Michael Lea pleaded guilty and failed to offer the court an alternative version of events.
However Lea's solicitor did say there had been considerable provocation in the past.
To that the Bench commented that his client had not mentioned it when giving evidence. The solicitor replied:
"We cannot judge these men by the same standards as ourselves. He is an excitable Irishman, and he had suffered from what he thought to be the fault of the complainant.
"His temper overcame him for the moment. He is a decent respectable man, who has borne an excellent character."
Michael Lea was ordered to find sureties for his good conduct for six months and pay all the costs of Michael McDermott.
I wonder if any of the soldiers returned to Sutton with souvenirs of their war service? Many did and quite a few brought guns back to Blighty.
Thomas Berne had found a revolver on a battlefield in France and decided to bring it back to his home in College Street.
This led to the glassworker's appearance in St Helens Police Court on the 10th where he was charged with carrying an unlicensed gun.
The police had found Berne fast asleep on a doorstep in Traverse Street.
The man was ringing wet after apparently spending some time in the canal.
However Berne had been so drunk that he couldn't remember how he had got into the water.
Upon being searched at the police station the five-chambered revolver was discovered on his person.
Berne told the court that he did not know that he needed a licence.
The prosecution asked the magistrates to take a serious view of the case, due to the number of men that were now carrying guns. However he was only fined 10 shillings.
Anyone could own a gun as long as they obtained a licence from the post office – just like buying a dog licence.
However they were not supposed to carry a firearm on the street without official permission.
Later in the year firearm regulation would be introduced for the first time, as the government was concerned that the many guns now in Britain might be used in a Bolshevik-inspired revolution.
The acts appearing at the Hippodrome Theatre in Corporation Street this week were:
Busoni ("The wonderful Anglo-Italian boy musician"); Victor Kelly ("The well-known quaint comedian"); Loch and Lomond ("Tenor vocalist and character comedienne of pleasing presence"); Harold Heath ("Comedian and eccentric dancer"); Ellis Riley ("A clever comic ventriloquist") and Lysbeth Leigh and Jean Maud ("In high class vocal entertainment").
Also on the 10th St Helens Police's campaign against street betting led to another bookmaker appearing in court.
Robert Holcroft of Marshalls Cross Road was described as elderly and had been arrested in Peasley Cross Lane after being kept under observation.
The man had been seen to take 39 bets opposite the Red Oxide works and when the police told him what they'd seen, Holcroft replied: "It is quite true; there is nothing strange about it".
Upon being searched he was found to be carrying 96 betting papers relating to 285 bets.
In court the Chairman of the Bench asked Holcroft if he had been in Peasley Cross Lane taking bets.
He replied: "Oh, yes, every day. I take them when I have been crossing the back roads. They have pushed them in my hand."
The bookie was fined £10 but according to the police's calculations he would have still made a profit of £10 after paying the fine.
Attitudes to blind people had changed considerably since the war as many soldiers had been left blind.
Recently a blind councillor had been elected to Rainford Council, which I expect would have been inconceivable in 1914.
On the 10th the St Helens branch of the Society for the Welfare of the Blind presented its annual report at a meeting in the Town Hall.
As a result of a government grant, a home teacher had now been appointed to visit blind persons within the St Helens district.
It was also revealed that 50 visually impaired individuals had taken up the council's offer of free travel on the trams.
There were also hopes of establishing a workshop in the town that would pay blind workers a living wage.
Next week's stories will include the man who said he was "done up" in a Parr pawnbrokers, the Haresfinch horse that was beaten in a temper, the Sutton Manor ruckus over a drunken carter, the St Helens builders in great difficulty, the rat plague in the town and the banning of children from potato picking in Rainford.