IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 4 - 10 DECEMBER 1923
This week's many stories include the brutal attack on a mother and daughter in Sutton, a woman stands for the first time in a General Election in St Helens, the raving madman that smashed up his home, the mystery artiste at the Hippodrome and the woman car driver praised for her skill in preventing an accident.
We begin on the 4th when James Grice returned to court to face a charge of brutally assaulting two women after being held on remand for four weeks. That was to give his two victims – Hannah Salt and her daughter Hannah Elizabeth Salt – time to recover from their ordeal. Grice from Leonard Street in Sutton was employed as a tarpaulin sheet repairer at the Sheeting Sheds at St Helens Junction.
The 38-year-old was accused of entering the Bold Road home of Mrs Salt and her daughter and for no reason striking them both on their heads with an iron bar. The daughter told the hearing that she'd recognised James Grice, as he was a friend of her brother's and she said she'd known him for some years. The man denied the offence but the police were starting to use more modern means of investigation.
A plaster cast of footprints that were similar to Grice's had been taken from the Salt's garden and some watch parts linked to the defendant had also been recovered. Mary Atherton was the sister of James Grice and she lodged with her brother in Leonard Street. She told the court that she recognised the iron bolt used in the attack as having previously been in their house. Mary also explained how her brother had not been the same since he had been in the army.
She said James used to be a jovial man, but he had "gone awfully quiet and strange in his ways" and had recently complained of pains in his head. Grice was committed for trial at Liverpool Assizes and on February 4th 1924 a jury found him guilty of the charge but insane. He was ordered to be detained as a criminal lunatic during His Majesty's pleasure.
In general the St Helens courts were becoming more enlightened in their sentencing – but they still harshly treated beggars. This week John Rigby was sent to prison for a month after being caught going from house to house in Kirkland Street (pictured above) asking for a copper. When arrested he had in his possession fifteen pennies and two halfpennies. It was stated in court that Rigby had a very bad record, without the newspaper report of the hearing specifying what his previous offences had been.
Compare his tough sentence with that of George Hawkins of Wilson Street who appeared in court charged with a breach of the peace. PC O’Hara said that at 1am last Sunday morning he had entered the defendant's house and found furniture and crockery lying about the floor. The constable said Hawkins was "like a raving, madman, shouting, and making a great disturbance".
In PC O’Hara's presence Hawkins had attacked another man and he said it had been with great difficulty that he was prevented from doing more damage. The Chairman of the Bench asked the prisoner how many times he had been in prison, but Hawkins said he did not know. Despite his violence and bad record he was only bound over to keep the peace for 12 months. And if Hawkins proved unable to find the required sureties, he would serve just a week in prison.
A general election was held on the 6th, which led to the creation of the country's first Labour government. In St Helens it was a straight fight between the incumbent Labour MP James Sexton and Evelyn Pilkington for the Conservatives. The latter had in 1920 become the first female councillor in St Helens and one of the first women to be appointed a magistrate. Evelyn was the youngest daughter of the late Colonel Richard Pilkington of Rainford Hall and on the day of the election the Liverpool Echo wrote:
"Election morning was bright and business bright at St. Helens, the good weather and the extraordinary interest taken in the contest promising a record poll. The dramatic decision of Miss Pilkington, the most popular lady in the district, to become the Unionist candidate, brought about a wonderful transformation in the election campaign, as for many years the Labour Party at election times have had matters pretty well their own way."
James Sexton had won the last election by 6,000 votes and would be a hard act to beat, particularly with his Irish background resonating with many voters. But Miss Pilkington was expected to appeal to many female voters with the Echo adding: "Never has enthusiasm run so high. The women seem to have taken a particular interest in the contest. Miss Pilkington, aided by her sister and other members of the family, has all her life gone in and out among the people. The sick and poor, and the distressed, have found in her a friend in need." But James Sexton was also popular and St Helens was becoming a firm Labour town and their man won the ballot by almost 4,000 votes.
It's hard to know how many "lady motorists" there were in St Helens – but I expect it was very few. Very rarely did women drivers make the newspapers – although that might have been because women were more careful drivers than men and so didn't end up in court so often! In the St Helens Reporter on the 7th a lady driver called Mrs Sherrard was praised for her skill in preventing a serious accident outside the Sefton Arms Hotel.
Last week I wrote how Greenall Whitley had agreed to rebuild the Sefton in order to make that dangerous spot safer. That was after a traffic census earlier in the year had counted 4,100 vehicles of all types passing that narrow place over a 12-hour period. The East Lancs Road was still in its planning stages and in the absence of any ring-road, large numbers of vehicles travelling to other towns were forced to journey through St Helens.
Where Mrs Sherrard had been heading was not stated in the report – but she was from Birmingham. She appeared in a Police Court hearing this week as a witness against Charles Dunne, a lorry driver from Bury. PC Robinson told the court that he had been on point duty outside the Sefton and had signalled Mrs Sherrard that her motor car could proceed into Ormskirk Street.
As she started to do so a large lorry driven by Dunne drove up Westfield Street at a speed of about 10 miles an hour. The constable said he raised his hand to order the lorry to stop – but instead the driver put on more speed. PC Robinson said he'd had to shout at Mrs Sherrard to slam on her brakes to prevent a collision and she'd reacted quickly and stopped just in time. "Had it not been for the skill of the lady, a very serious accident might have occurred," commented the constable.
When spoken to by PC Robinson, the lorry driver shouted at him and claimed he had not seen his stop command. Charles Dunne also blamed Mrs Sherrard, claiming she had been travelling at 30 mph. And in the court William Dixon, who had been a passenger in the cab with Charles Dunne, claimed their lorry had only been travelling at 3 mph! He added that his mate had stopped their vehicle as soon as he saw the constable's signal and that the roads in the vicinity were all clear.
That testimony did not impress the Bench. Its Chairman said: "That corner where the incident had occurred was a very dangerous one. The defendant had driven through the town before and should have kept a sharp look out as he approached the corner." Charles Dunne was fined £1 and told to pay 15 shillings witness expenses.
The retailer calling itself the Palatine Arcade had opened in Church Street in September 1922. It was operated on department store lines, describing itself as a "market within a shop" and "the store St. Helens has waited for". This week in the Reporter the Arcade was advising its customers to "shop early for Xmas gifts". Each department had its own "special Christmas show" with useful goods in mind – such as furs, hosiery, umbrellas, handkerchiefs, blouses, underwear etc.
And another large advert in the paper simply said: "Come in hundreds to the great China Auction Sale – Last two days, 2.30 and 6.0. 4, Hardshaw Street, St. Helens". Just how their customers were supposed to organise themselves into groups of hundreds was not, however, explained!
On the 10th the Savoy Picture House in Bridge Street and the Oxford in Duke Street both screened the new Charlie Chaplin film called 'The Kid'. A large advert in the Reporter called the production "The Greatest Masterpiece of the Cleverest Comedian in the World". Meanwhile, the Hippodrome Theatre, "The Home of Stars", was boasting the following turns:
David Poole ("The schoolmaster ventriloquist with ‘Jimmy Green’"); Norman Carrol ("Versatile comedian"); Halma ("Original crazy dancing juggler"); Happy Lilian Lee ("Dutch comedienne"); The Surprise Quartette ("In a refined vocal and musical act") and Howard Wyndham ("In song and dancing").
There was also the return visit to the Hippodrome of a mystery artiste that was described as "Who Is She? – The sweet singer of the streets, who created a furore on her last visit here". If the woman went singing on the streets of St Helens she would have been arrested and charged with begging! I wonder if that was what the furore had been about?
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the plans for a poor children's Christmas party in St Helens, the Peasley Cross bridge shower bath, the housing crisis in St Helens and the British Legion Club's lottery prosecution.
We begin on the 4th when James Grice returned to court to face a charge of brutally assaulting two women after being held on remand for four weeks. That was to give his two victims – Hannah Salt and her daughter Hannah Elizabeth Salt – time to recover from their ordeal. Grice from Leonard Street in Sutton was employed as a tarpaulin sheet repairer at the Sheeting Sheds at St Helens Junction.
The 38-year-old was accused of entering the Bold Road home of Mrs Salt and her daughter and for no reason striking them both on their heads with an iron bar. The daughter told the hearing that she'd recognised James Grice, as he was a friend of her brother's and she said she'd known him for some years. The man denied the offence but the police were starting to use more modern means of investigation.
A plaster cast of footprints that were similar to Grice's had been taken from the Salt's garden and some watch parts linked to the defendant had also been recovered. Mary Atherton was the sister of James Grice and she lodged with her brother in Leonard Street. She told the court that she recognised the iron bolt used in the attack as having previously been in their house. Mary also explained how her brother had not been the same since he had been in the army.
She said James used to be a jovial man, but he had "gone awfully quiet and strange in his ways" and had recently complained of pains in his head. Grice was committed for trial at Liverpool Assizes and on February 4th 1924 a jury found him guilty of the charge but insane. He was ordered to be detained as a criminal lunatic during His Majesty's pleasure.
Compare his tough sentence with that of George Hawkins of Wilson Street who appeared in court charged with a breach of the peace. PC O’Hara said that at 1am last Sunday morning he had entered the defendant's house and found furniture and crockery lying about the floor. The constable said Hawkins was "like a raving, madman, shouting, and making a great disturbance".
In PC O’Hara's presence Hawkins had attacked another man and he said it had been with great difficulty that he was prevented from doing more damage. The Chairman of the Bench asked the prisoner how many times he had been in prison, but Hawkins said he did not know. Despite his violence and bad record he was only bound over to keep the peace for 12 months. And if Hawkins proved unable to find the required sureties, he would serve just a week in prison.
A general election was held on the 6th, which led to the creation of the country's first Labour government. In St Helens it was a straight fight between the incumbent Labour MP James Sexton and Evelyn Pilkington for the Conservatives. The latter had in 1920 become the first female councillor in St Helens and one of the first women to be appointed a magistrate. Evelyn was the youngest daughter of the late Colonel Richard Pilkington of Rainford Hall and on the day of the election the Liverpool Echo wrote:
"Election morning was bright and business bright at St. Helens, the good weather and the extraordinary interest taken in the contest promising a record poll. The dramatic decision of Miss Pilkington, the most popular lady in the district, to become the Unionist candidate, brought about a wonderful transformation in the election campaign, as for many years the Labour Party at election times have had matters pretty well their own way."
James Sexton had won the last election by 6,000 votes and would be a hard act to beat, particularly with his Irish background resonating with many voters. But Miss Pilkington was expected to appeal to many female voters with the Echo adding: "Never has enthusiasm run so high. The women seem to have taken a particular interest in the contest. Miss Pilkington, aided by her sister and other members of the family, has all her life gone in and out among the people. The sick and poor, and the distressed, have found in her a friend in need." But James Sexton was also popular and St Helens was becoming a firm Labour town and their man won the ballot by almost 4,000 votes.
It's hard to know how many "lady motorists" there were in St Helens – but I expect it was very few. Very rarely did women drivers make the newspapers – although that might have been because women were more careful drivers than men and so didn't end up in court so often! In the St Helens Reporter on the 7th a lady driver called Mrs Sherrard was praised for her skill in preventing a serious accident outside the Sefton Arms Hotel.
Last week I wrote how Greenall Whitley had agreed to rebuild the Sefton in order to make that dangerous spot safer. That was after a traffic census earlier in the year had counted 4,100 vehicles of all types passing that narrow place over a 12-hour period. The East Lancs Road was still in its planning stages and in the absence of any ring-road, large numbers of vehicles travelling to other towns were forced to journey through St Helens.
Where Mrs Sherrard had been heading was not stated in the report – but she was from Birmingham. She appeared in a Police Court hearing this week as a witness against Charles Dunne, a lorry driver from Bury. PC Robinson told the court that he had been on point duty outside the Sefton and had signalled Mrs Sherrard that her motor car could proceed into Ormskirk Street.
As she started to do so a large lorry driven by Dunne drove up Westfield Street at a speed of about 10 miles an hour. The constable said he raised his hand to order the lorry to stop – but instead the driver put on more speed. PC Robinson said he'd had to shout at Mrs Sherrard to slam on her brakes to prevent a collision and she'd reacted quickly and stopped just in time. "Had it not been for the skill of the lady, a very serious accident might have occurred," commented the constable.
When spoken to by PC Robinson, the lorry driver shouted at him and claimed he had not seen his stop command. Charles Dunne also blamed Mrs Sherrard, claiming she had been travelling at 30 mph. And in the court William Dixon, who had been a passenger in the cab with Charles Dunne, claimed their lorry had only been travelling at 3 mph! He added that his mate had stopped their vehicle as soon as he saw the constable's signal and that the roads in the vicinity were all clear.
That testimony did not impress the Bench. Its Chairman said: "That corner where the incident had occurred was a very dangerous one. The defendant had driven through the town before and should have kept a sharp look out as he approached the corner." Charles Dunne was fined £1 and told to pay 15 shillings witness expenses.
The retailer calling itself the Palatine Arcade had opened in Church Street in September 1922. It was operated on department store lines, describing itself as a "market within a shop" and "the store St. Helens has waited for". This week in the Reporter the Arcade was advising its customers to "shop early for Xmas gifts". Each department had its own "special Christmas show" with useful goods in mind – such as furs, hosiery, umbrellas, handkerchiefs, blouses, underwear etc.
And another large advert in the paper simply said: "Come in hundreds to the great China Auction Sale – Last two days, 2.30 and 6.0. 4, Hardshaw Street, St. Helens". Just how their customers were supposed to organise themselves into groups of hundreds was not, however, explained!
David Poole ("The schoolmaster ventriloquist with ‘Jimmy Green’"); Norman Carrol ("Versatile comedian"); Halma ("Original crazy dancing juggler"); Happy Lilian Lee ("Dutch comedienne"); The Surprise Quartette ("In a refined vocal and musical act") and Howard Wyndham ("In song and dancing").
There was also the return visit to the Hippodrome of a mystery artiste that was described as "Who Is She? – The sweet singer of the streets, who created a furore on her last visit here". If the woman went singing on the streets of St Helens she would have been arrested and charged with begging! I wonder if that was what the furore had been about?
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the plans for a poor children's Christmas party in St Helens, the Peasley Cross bridge shower bath, the housing crisis in St Helens and the British Legion Club's lottery prosecution.
This week's many stories include the brutal attack on a mother and daughter in Sutton, a woman stands for the first time in a General Election in St Helens, the raving madman that smashed up his home, the mystery artiste at the Hippodrome and the woman car driver praised for her skill in preventing an accident.
We begin on the 4th when James Grice returned to court to face a charge of brutally assaulting two women after being held on remand for four weeks.
That was to give his two victims – Hannah Salt and her daughter Hannah Elizabeth Salt – time to recover from their ordeal.
Grice from Leonard Street in Sutton was employed as a tarpaulin sheet repairer at the Sheeting Sheds at St Helens Junction.
The 38-year-old was accused of entering the Bold Road home of Mrs Salt and her daughter and for no reason striking them both on their heads with an iron bar.
The daughter told the hearing that she'd recognised James Grice, as he was a friend of her brother's and she said she'd known him for some years.
The man denied the offence but the police were starting to use more modern means of investigation.
A plaster cast of footprints that were similar to Grice's had been taken from the Salt's garden and some watch parts linked to the defendant had also been recovered.
Mary Atherton was the sister of James Grice and she lodged with her brother in Leonard Street.
She told the court that she recognised the iron bolt used in the attack as having previously been in their house.
Mary also explained how her brother had not been the same since he had been in the army.
She said James used to be a jovial man, but he had "gone awfully quiet and strange in his ways" and had recently complained of pains in his head.
Grice was committed for trial at Liverpool Assizes and on February 4th 1924 a jury found him guilty of the charge but insane. He was ordered to be detained as a criminal lunatic during His Majesty's pleasure.
In general the St Helens courts were becoming more enlightened in their sentencing – but they still harshly treated beggars.
This week John Rigby was sent to prison for a month after being caught going from house to house in Kirkland Street (pictured above) asking for a copper.
When arrested he had in his possession fifteen pennies and two halfpennies. It was stated in court that Rigby had a very bad record, without the newspaper report of the hearing specifying what his previous offences had been.
Compare his tough sentence with that of George Hawkins of Wilson Street who appeared in court charged with a breach of the peace.
PC O’Hara said that at 1am last Sunday morning he had entered the defendant's house and found furniture and crockery lying about the floor.
The constable said Hawkins was "like a raving, madman, shouting, and making a great disturbance".
In PC O’Hara's presence Hawkins had attacked another man and he said it had been with great difficulty that he was prevented from doing more damage.
The Chairman of the Bench asked the prisoner how many times he had been in prison, but Hawkins said he did not know.
Despite his violence and bad record he was only bound over to keep the peace for 12 months.
And if Hawkins proved unable to find the required sureties, he would serve just a week in prison.
A general election was held on the 6th, which led to the creation of the country's first Labour government.
In St Helens it was a straight fight between the incumbent Labour MP James Sexton and Evelyn Pilkington for the Conservatives.
The latter had in 1920 become the first female councillor in St Helens and one of the first women to be appointed a magistrate.
Evelyn was the youngest daughter of the late Colonel Richard Pilkington of Rainford Hall and on the day of the election the Liverpool Echo wrote:
"Election morning was bright and business bright at St. Helens, the good weather and the extraordinary interest taken in the contest promising a record poll.
"The dramatic decision of Miss Pilkington, the most popular lady in the district, to become the Unionist candidate, brought about a wonderful transformation in the election campaign, as for many years the Labour Party at election times have had matters pretty well their own way."
James Sexton had won the last election by 6,000 votes and would be a hard act to beat, particularly with his Irish background resonating with many voters.
But Miss Pilkington was expected to appeal to many female voters with the Echo adding:
"Never has enthusiasm run so high. The women seem to have taken a particular interest in the contest.
"Miss Pilkington, aided by her sister and other members of the family, has all her life gone in and out among the people. The sick and poor, and the distressed, have found in her a friend in need."
But James Sexton was also popular and St Helens was becoming a firm Labour town and their man won the ballot by almost 4,000 votes.
It's hard to know how many "lady motorists" there were in St Helens – but I expect it was very few.
Very rarely did women drivers make the newspapers – although that might have been because women were more careful drivers than men and so didn't end up in court so often!
In the St Helens Reporter on the 7th a lady driver called Mrs Sherrard was praised for her skill in preventing a serious accident outside the Sefton Arms Hotel.
Last week I wrote how Greenall Whitley had agreed to rebuild the Sefton in order to make that dangerous spot safer.
That was after a traffic census earlier in the year had counted 4,100 vehicles of all types passing that narrow place over a 12-hour period.
The East Lancs Road was still in its planning stages and in the absence of any ring-road, large numbers of vehicles travelling to other towns were forced to journey through St Helens.
Where Mrs Sherrard had been heading was not stated in the report – but she was from Birmingham.
She appeared in a Police Court hearing this week as a witness against Charles Dunne, a lorry driver from Bury.
PC Robinson told the court that he had been on point duty outside the Sefton and had signalled Mrs Sherrard that her motor car could proceed into Ormskirk Street.
As she started to do so a large lorry driven by Dunne drove up Westfield Street at a speed of about 10 miles an hour.
The constable said he raised his hand to order the lorry to stop – but instead the driver put on more speed.
PC Robinson said he'd had to shout at Mrs Sherrard to slam on her brakes to prevent a collision and she'd reacted quickly and stopped just in time.
"Had it not been for the skill of the lady, a very serious accident might have occurred," commented the constable.
When spoken to by PC Robinson, the lorry driver shouted at him and claimed he had not seen his stop command. Charles Dunne also blamed Mrs Sherrard, claiming she had been travelling at 30 mph.
And in the court William Dixon, who had been a passenger in the cab with Charles Dunne, claimed their lorry had only been travelling at 3 mph!
He added that his mate had stopped their vehicle as soon as he saw the constable's signal and that the roads in the vicinity were all clear. That testimony did not impress the Bench. Its Chairman said:
"That corner where the incident had occurred was a very dangerous one. The defendant had driven through the town before and should have kept a sharp look out as he approached the corner." Charles Dunne was fined £1 and told to pay 15 shillings witness expenses.
The retailer calling itself the Palatine Arcade had opened in Church Street in September 1922.
It was operated on department store lines, describing itself as a "market within a shop" and "the store St. Helens has waited for".
This week in the Reporter the Arcade was advising its customers to "shop early for Xmas gifts".
Each department had its own "special Christmas show" with useful goods in mind – such as furs, hosiery, umbrellas, handkerchiefs, blouses, underwear etc.
And another large advert in the paper simply said: "Come in hundreds to the great China Auction Sale – Last two days, 2.30 and 6.0. 4, Hardshaw Street, St. Helens".
Just how their customers were supposed to organise themselves into groups of hundreds was not, however, explained!
On the 10th the Savoy Picture House in Bridge Street and the Oxford in Duke Street both screened the new Charlie Chaplin film called 'The Kid'.
A large advert in the Reporter called the production "The Greatest Masterpiece of the Cleverest Comedian in the World".
Meanwhile, the Hippodrome Theatre, "The Home of Stars", was boasting the following turns:
David Poole ("The schoolmaster ventriloquist with ‘Jimmy Green’"); Norman Carrol ("Versatile comedian"); Halma ("Original crazy dancing juggler"); Happy Lilian Lee ("Dutch comedienne"); The Surprise Quartette ("In a refined vocal and musical act") and Howard Wyndham ("In song and dancing").
There was also the return visit to the Hippodrome of a mystery artiste that was described as "Who Is She? – The sweet singer of the streets, who created a furore on her last visit here".
If the woman went singing on the streets of St Helens she would have been arrested and charged with begging! I wonder if that was what the furore had been about?
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the plans for a poor children's Christmas party in St Helens, the Peasley Cross bridge shower bath, the housing crisis in St Helens and the British Legion Club's lottery prosecution.
We begin on the 4th when James Grice returned to court to face a charge of brutally assaulting two women after being held on remand for four weeks.
That was to give his two victims – Hannah Salt and her daughter Hannah Elizabeth Salt – time to recover from their ordeal.
Grice from Leonard Street in Sutton was employed as a tarpaulin sheet repairer at the Sheeting Sheds at St Helens Junction.
The 38-year-old was accused of entering the Bold Road home of Mrs Salt and her daughter and for no reason striking them both on their heads with an iron bar.
The daughter told the hearing that she'd recognised James Grice, as he was a friend of her brother's and she said she'd known him for some years.
The man denied the offence but the police were starting to use more modern means of investigation.
A plaster cast of footprints that were similar to Grice's had been taken from the Salt's garden and some watch parts linked to the defendant had also been recovered.
Mary Atherton was the sister of James Grice and she lodged with her brother in Leonard Street.
She told the court that she recognised the iron bolt used in the attack as having previously been in their house.
Mary also explained how her brother had not been the same since he had been in the army.
She said James used to be a jovial man, but he had "gone awfully quiet and strange in his ways" and had recently complained of pains in his head.
Grice was committed for trial at Liverpool Assizes and on February 4th 1924 a jury found him guilty of the charge but insane. He was ordered to be detained as a criminal lunatic during His Majesty's pleasure.
In general the St Helens courts were becoming more enlightened in their sentencing – but they still harshly treated beggars.
When arrested he had in his possession fifteen pennies and two halfpennies. It was stated in court that Rigby had a very bad record, without the newspaper report of the hearing specifying what his previous offences had been.
Compare his tough sentence with that of George Hawkins of Wilson Street who appeared in court charged with a breach of the peace.
PC O’Hara said that at 1am last Sunday morning he had entered the defendant's house and found furniture and crockery lying about the floor.
The constable said Hawkins was "like a raving, madman, shouting, and making a great disturbance".
In PC O’Hara's presence Hawkins had attacked another man and he said it had been with great difficulty that he was prevented from doing more damage.
The Chairman of the Bench asked the prisoner how many times he had been in prison, but Hawkins said he did not know.
Despite his violence and bad record he was only bound over to keep the peace for 12 months.
And if Hawkins proved unable to find the required sureties, he would serve just a week in prison.
A general election was held on the 6th, which led to the creation of the country's first Labour government.
In St Helens it was a straight fight between the incumbent Labour MP James Sexton and Evelyn Pilkington for the Conservatives.
The latter had in 1920 become the first female councillor in St Helens and one of the first women to be appointed a magistrate.
Evelyn was the youngest daughter of the late Colonel Richard Pilkington of Rainford Hall and on the day of the election the Liverpool Echo wrote:
"Election morning was bright and business bright at St. Helens, the good weather and the extraordinary interest taken in the contest promising a record poll.
"The dramatic decision of Miss Pilkington, the most popular lady in the district, to become the Unionist candidate, brought about a wonderful transformation in the election campaign, as for many years the Labour Party at election times have had matters pretty well their own way."
James Sexton had won the last election by 6,000 votes and would be a hard act to beat, particularly with his Irish background resonating with many voters.
But Miss Pilkington was expected to appeal to many female voters with the Echo adding:
"Never has enthusiasm run so high. The women seem to have taken a particular interest in the contest.
"Miss Pilkington, aided by her sister and other members of the family, has all her life gone in and out among the people. The sick and poor, and the distressed, have found in her a friend in need."
But James Sexton was also popular and St Helens was becoming a firm Labour town and their man won the ballot by almost 4,000 votes.
It's hard to know how many "lady motorists" there were in St Helens – but I expect it was very few.
Very rarely did women drivers make the newspapers – although that might have been because women were more careful drivers than men and so didn't end up in court so often!
In the St Helens Reporter on the 7th a lady driver called Mrs Sherrard was praised for her skill in preventing a serious accident outside the Sefton Arms Hotel.
Last week I wrote how Greenall Whitley had agreed to rebuild the Sefton in order to make that dangerous spot safer.
That was after a traffic census earlier in the year had counted 4,100 vehicles of all types passing that narrow place over a 12-hour period.
The East Lancs Road was still in its planning stages and in the absence of any ring-road, large numbers of vehicles travelling to other towns were forced to journey through St Helens.
Where Mrs Sherrard had been heading was not stated in the report – but she was from Birmingham.
She appeared in a Police Court hearing this week as a witness against Charles Dunne, a lorry driver from Bury.
PC Robinson told the court that he had been on point duty outside the Sefton and had signalled Mrs Sherrard that her motor car could proceed into Ormskirk Street.
As she started to do so a large lorry driven by Dunne drove up Westfield Street at a speed of about 10 miles an hour.
The constable said he raised his hand to order the lorry to stop – but instead the driver put on more speed.
PC Robinson said he'd had to shout at Mrs Sherrard to slam on her brakes to prevent a collision and she'd reacted quickly and stopped just in time.
"Had it not been for the skill of the lady, a very serious accident might have occurred," commented the constable.
When spoken to by PC Robinson, the lorry driver shouted at him and claimed he had not seen his stop command. Charles Dunne also blamed Mrs Sherrard, claiming she had been travelling at 30 mph.
And in the court William Dixon, who had been a passenger in the cab with Charles Dunne, claimed their lorry had only been travelling at 3 mph!
He added that his mate had stopped their vehicle as soon as he saw the constable's signal and that the roads in the vicinity were all clear. That testimony did not impress the Bench. Its Chairman said:
"That corner where the incident had occurred was a very dangerous one. The defendant had driven through the town before and should have kept a sharp look out as he approached the corner." Charles Dunne was fined £1 and told to pay 15 shillings witness expenses.
The retailer calling itself the Palatine Arcade had opened in Church Street in September 1922.
It was operated on department store lines, describing itself as a "market within a shop" and "the store St. Helens has waited for".
This week in the Reporter the Arcade was advising its customers to "shop early for Xmas gifts".
Each department had its own "special Christmas show" with useful goods in mind – such as furs, hosiery, umbrellas, handkerchiefs, blouses, underwear etc.
And another large advert in the paper simply said: "Come in hundreds to the great China Auction Sale – Last two days, 2.30 and 6.0. 4, Hardshaw Street, St. Helens".
Just how their customers were supposed to organise themselves into groups of hundreds was not, however, explained!
A large advert in the Reporter called the production "The Greatest Masterpiece of the Cleverest Comedian in the World".
Meanwhile, the Hippodrome Theatre, "The Home of Stars", was boasting the following turns:
David Poole ("The schoolmaster ventriloquist with ‘Jimmy Green’"); Norman Carrol ("Versatile comedian"); Halma ("Original crazy dancing juggler"); Happy Lilian Lee ("Dutch comedienne"); The Surprise Quartette ("In a refined vocal and musical act") and Howard Wyndham ("In song and dancing").
There was also the return visit to the Hippodrome of a mystery artiste that was described as "Who Is She? – The sweet singer of the streets, who created a furore on her last visit here".
If the woman went singing on the streets of St Helens she would have been arrested and charged with begging! I wonder if that was what the furore had been about?
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the plans for a poor children's Christmas party in St Helens, the Peasley Cross bridge shower bath, the housing crisis in St Helens and the British Legion Club's lottery prosecution.