IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (7th - 13th January 1919)
This week's stories include the girl pickpockets at the Baldwin Street Co-op, two dreadful deaths down Sutton Manor Colliery, the Blinkhorn Rooms in Sutton, Ford cars for sale at a Duke Street dealer's, the Vincent Street fire tragedy, the New Year sales in St Helens and the town's poor lighting.
But first a film and theatre guide. During the early part of this week DW Griffith's 'Hearts of the World' was screened at the Bridge Street Picturedrome. The man responsible for the racist 'Birth of a Nation' had been persuaded by the British Government to make the film to change public opinion in America over the war.
Griffith's "Third and Greatest Triumph" (as it was advertised in the St Helens Reporter) starred Lillian and Dorothy Gish and the 'Bridge Street Picturedrome Augmented Orchestra' accompanied the otherwise silent film. Meanwhile in Corporation Street the Hippodrome dropped their usual mix of music hall acts for performances of 'Bo Peep', which they described as the "Christmas Old English Pantomime".
During the war car sales had virtually dried up with petrol rationed and only essential business travel permitted. Those shackles had now been lifted and C & A McClean of Duke Street was advertising Ford 1919 Touring Cars in the St Helens Reporter's Tuesday edition on the 7th. Orders were being taken for early delivery with a price tag of £250. This was the equivalent of about two years wages for most people who could only dream of owning a car.
The New Year sales were in full swing and some shops linked them to the end of the war. The L. & C. Rubber Company of 27 Church Street was advertising a "Great Victory Sale" offering gents raincoats for 32/6 and ladies raincoats for 27/6. A few doors down at number 19, John Noble was offering "handsome coats with large fur collars" from 84 shillings and other "smart coats" from 41 shillings, with all garments at less than half price.
Grocer Frank Lennon appeared in St Helens County Court on the 7th after being sued by fruit merchant Thomas Berry for £36 10s. Lennon kept a shop in Park Road and also ran a very popular stall in the covered market with Berry keeping a neighbouring stall.
The fruiterer had let Lennon have a horse on trial and claimed that the grocer had agreed to buy the animal but then changed his mind. The judge ruled in favour of the defendant, saying no sale had been made.
A notice was published in the Lancashire Evening Post on the 7th stating that the visiting of patients at the County Asylum at Rainhill was being resumed now that the flu epidemic had subsided.
The St Helens Town Council met on the 8th and again the poor lighting in the town was discussed. At their December meeting the councillors heard that only 325 of the 2,127 street lamps in the borough were being lit due to the coal shortage.
At the January meeting Alderman Henry Peet called for some light in the middle of Greenfield Road, saying that residents could not find their way on dark nights. The retired butcher claimed that some locals were forced to grope their way home by feeling against the wall.
Alderman Crooks replied that improvements were slowly being made with an additional 143 street lamps being lit since the last council meeting. However that still meant 78% of St Helens was in darkness.
The recent flooding in the town was also discussed with ratepayers having made many complaints, particularly in the Gerards Bridge and Sutton districts. The councillors also considered proposed new police stations for Clock Face and Derbyshire Hill and whether they should include lock ups.
On the 9th Annie Ferris from Newton Road was told by the magistrates to pay a fine and costs amounting to 7s 6d for stealing a pennyworth of coal from a siding at the Southport Colliery in Parr.
On the following day John Quinn from Jersey Street in Clock Face injured his thumb in a roof fall down Clock Face Colliery. The thumb became septic and thirteen days later the 55-year-old died in St Helens Hospital. However at John's inquest Dr Unsworth stated that the cause of the man's demise was sudden heart failure through the diseased condition of his heart – which was then a common explanation for death.
The St Helens Reporter announced on the 10th that Private Norman Harvey from Newton-le-Willows had been awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in Belgium last year. A statue of Norman was unveiled in Mesnes Park last October.
The Reporter carried a large advert for 'Woman's World' magazine, which was offering a free tea cup fortune-telling booklet in its next edition. Fortune telling was very popular, although if money changed hands the fortune-tellers could be sent to prison. The price of the magazine was 2d.
Many Suttoners have fond memories of the Blinkhorn Rooms in Waterdale Crescent where church and social activities took place. Numerous married couples first met there and it was also the home of the 8.15 Club. This was for teenagers from All Saints and St Nicholas churches who met there on Sundays at quarter past eight – hence the name.
A few lines in the Reporter this week stated that Mrs W. F. Jones, the daughter of the late Mrs Blinkhorn, was buying the Waterdale Parish Room. She would then present it to the church with improvements soon to be carried out. In time it would become known as the Blinkhorn Room, with William Blinkhorn senor and junior having both been managers of the Sutton Glassworks.
The newspaper also stated that hollies and poplars had been planted in the All Saints churchyard, paid for by the wife of Colonel Lee Pilkington. The police were said to be telling local children that the churchyard was not a playground and not to damage the growing trees. Also on the 10th the Times reported that Alderman Henry Bates, the Mayor of St Helens, had been awarded the Order of the British Empire.
Collier Edward Anders from Wilson Street and Stephen Allen from Salisbury Street were each fined £5 on the 10th for causing a rumpus in the Red, White and Blue Inn in Westfield Street. Anders was fined an additional £1 for breaking a window in the patriotically named hostelry that closed in 1950.
Two inquests were held on the 11th at the Clock Face Hotel into two mineworkers killed in separate accidents at Sutton Manor Colliery. James Rimmer worked on the surface as foreman in the coal screens department that sifted the dirt from coal and graded it by size. The so-called "pit-brow girls" were usually employed to undertake those tasks. The poor man suffered a dreadful death after getting caught on some shafting. After being whirled round several times his clothing was ripped off and he was dropped naked into the coal scraper conveyor.
William Kelly from Phythian Street was killed down the Higher Florida mine of the colliery after a large stone weighing 10 cwt. fell on him from the pit roof. The 26-year-old was pinned to the ground and instantly killed. Countless miners died that way, often through the roof not being sufficiently propped.
On the 11th four girls appeared in St Helens Police Court. One was charged with going into the Co-operative Stores in Baldwin Street for the purpose of theft and the others with assisting. There had been many complaints about pockets being picked in a number of shops, including the Co-op. So when Teresa Cardwell was seen looking into people's pockets, one of their managers questioned her.
The 10-year-old blamed her older sister Martha for sending her into the Stores and the 14-year-old confessed to the police that she had also previously stolen a purse. Martha had a prior conviction for theft and the magistrates sent her to a reformatory for five years. These were for children who had been convicted of serious crimes and were the forerunners of approved schools..
Corporal Jack Davies of the St. Helens Pals – who was awarded the Victoria Cross last May – returned to his his home at Alma Street in Peasley Cross on the 11th. Jack had been a prisoner of war in Germany for eight months and was so exhausted after his journey that he wasn't able to see anyone outside of his family.
The fur would have been flying at the Fleece on the 11th as the Church Street hotel hosted the St Helens, Prescot & District Poultry, Pigeon and Fur Association's annual show with a remarkable 2,350 entries.
There is a sad story to end this week with the death of Raymond Else, which took place in Providence Hospital on the 12th. The three-year-old had been burnt at his Vincent Street home after his mother had left her son alone while she'd gone out shopping. Because the child had a cold, Emma Else had placed a shawl around her son's shoulders and left him playing with an orange in front of a small fire.
Upon the woman's return fifteen minutes later, she found the kitchen full of smoke and asked Raymond what he'd been doing. His reply was "Burning mama". Emma told the inquest that she thought her son had been throwing orange peel into the fire and his shawl had somehow got set alight. It was after all winter which County Coroner Samuel Brighouse used to call the "burning season" for children. This was because of the countless deaths of youngsters from house fires that set their highly flammable clothing alight.
Next week's '100 Years Ago' stories will include sibling bloodshed in Parr, the clog and stocking fund, a murderous outburst in Peckers Hill Road, the treatment of VD in St Helens, Rainford's plans for displaying captured German guns, the boys causing trouble on trams and the "perversity of human nature" at Ashtons Green Colliery.
But first a film and theatre guide. During the early part of this week DW Griffith's 'Hearts of the World' was screened at the Bridge Street Picturedrome. The man responsible for the racist 'Birth of a Nation' had been persuaded by the British Government to make the film to change public opinion in America over the war.
During the war car sales had virtually dried up with petrol rationed and only essential business travel permitted. Those shackles had now been lifted and C & A McClean of Duke Street was advertising Ford 1919 Touring Cars in the St Helens Reporter's Tuesday edition on the 7th. Orders were being taken for early delivery with a price tag of £250. This was the equivalent of about two years wages for most people who could only dream of owning a car.
The New Year sales were in full swing and some shops linked them to the end of the war. The L. & C. Rubber Company of 27 Church Street was advertising a "Great Victory Sale" offering gents raincoats for 32/6 and ladies raincoats for 27/6. A few doors down at number 19, John Noble was offering "handsome coats with large fur collars" from 84 shillings and other "smart coats" from 41 shillings, with all garments at less than half price.
Grocer Frank Lennon appeared in St Helens County Court on the 7th after being sued by fruit merchant Thomas Berry for £36 10s. Lennon kept a shop in Park Road and also ran a very popular stall in the covered market with Berry keeping a neighbouring stall.
The fruiterer had let Lennon have a horse on trial and claimed that the grocer had agreed to buy the animal but then changed his mind. The judge ruled in favour of the defendant, saying no sale had been made.
A notice was published in the Lancashire Evening Post on the 7th stating that the visiting of patients at the County Asylum at Rainhill was being resumed now that the flu epidemic had subsided.
The St Helens Town Council met on the 8th and again the poor lighting in the town was discussed. At their December meeting the councillors heard that only 325 of the 2,127 street lamps in the borough were being lit due to the coal shortage.
At the January meeting Alderman Henry Peet called for some light in the middle of Greenfield Road, saying that residents could not find their way on dark nights. The retired butcher claimed that some locals were forced to grope their way home by feeling against the wall.
Alderman Crooks replied that improvements were slowly being made with an additional 143 street lamps being lit since the last council meeting. However that still meant 78% of St Helens was in darkness.
The recent flooding in the town was also discussed with ratepayers having made many complaints, particularly in the Gerards Bridge and Sutton districts. The councillors also considered proposed new police stations for Clock Face and Derbyshire Hill and whether they should include lock ups.
On the 9th Annie Ferris from Newton Road was told by the magistrates to pay a fine and costs amounting to 7s 6d for stealing a pennyworth of coal from a siding at the Southport Colliery in Parr.
On the following day John Quinn from Jersey Street in Clock Face injured his thumb in a roof fall down Clock Face Colliery. The thumb became septic and thirteen days later the 55-year-old died in St Helens Hospital. However at John's inquest Dr Unsworth stated that the cause of the man's demise was sudden heart failure through the diseased condition of his heart – which was then a common explanation for death.
The St Helens Reporter announced on the 10th that Private Norman Harvey from Newton-le-Willows had been awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in Belgium last year. A statue of Norman was unveiled in Mesnes Park last October.
The Reporter carried a large advert for 'Woman's World' magazine, which was offering a free tea cup fortune-telling booklet in its next edition. Fortune telling was very popular, although if money changed hands the fortune-tellers could be sent to prison. The price of the magazine was 2d.
Many Suttoners have fond memories of the Blinkhorn Rooms in Waterdale Crescent where church and social activities took place. Numerous married couples first met there and it was also the home of the 8.15 Club. This was for teenagers from All Saints and St Nicholas churches who met there on Sundays at quarter past eight – hence the name.
A few lines in the Reporter this week stated that Mrs W. F. Jones, the daughter of the late Mrs Blinkhorn, was buying the Waterdale Parish Room. She would then present it to the church with improvements soon to be carried out. In time it would become known as the Blinkhorn Room, with William Blinkhorn senor and junior having both been managers of the Sutton Glassworks.
The newspaper also stated that hollies and poplars had been planted in the All Saints churchyard, paid for by the wife of Colonel Lee Pilkington. The police were said to be telling local children that the churchyard was not a playground and not to damage the growing trees. Also on the 10th the Times reported that Alderman Henry Bates, the Mayor of St Helens, had been awarded the Order of the British Empire.
Collier Edward Anders from Wilson Street and Stephen Allen from Salisbury Street were each fined £5 on the 10th for causing a rumpus in the Red, White and Blue Inn in Westfield Street. Anders was fined an additional £1 for breaking a window in the patriotically named hostelry that closed in 1950.
An early photo of Sutton Manor Colliery where two mineworkers were killed and their inquests held this week
An early photo of Sutton Manor Colliery where two mineworkers were killed
An early photo of Sutton Manor Colliery
William Kelly from Phythian Street was killed down the Higher Florida mine of the colliery after a large stone weighing 10 cwt. fell on him from the pit roof. The 26-year-old was pinned to the ground and instantly killed. Countless miners died that way, often through the roof not being sufficiently propped.
On the 11th four girls appeared in St Helens Police Court. One was charged with going into the Co-operative Stores in Baldwin Street for the purpose of theft and the others with assisting. There had been many complaints about pockets being picked in a number of shops, including the Co-op. So when Teresa Cardwell was seen looking into people's pockets, one of their managers questioned her.
The 10-year-old blamed her older sister Martha for sending her into the Stores and the 14-year-old confessed to the police that she had also previously stolen a purse. Martha had a prior conviction for theft and the magistrates sent her to a reformatory for five years. These were for children who had been convicted of serious crimes and were the forerunners of approved schools..
Corporal Jack Davies of the St. Helens Pals – who was awarded the Victoria Cross last May – returned to his his home at Alma Street in Peasley Cross on the 11th. Jack had been a prisoner of war in Germany for eight months and was so exhausted after his journey that he wasn't able to see anyone outside of his family.
The fur would have been flying at the Fleece on the 11th as the Church Street hotel hosted the St Helens, Prescot & District Poultry, Pigeon and Fur Association's annual show with a remarkable 2,350 entries.
There is a sad story to end this week with the death of Raymond Else, which took place in Providence Hospital on the 12th. The three-year-old had been burnt at his Vincent Street home after his mother had left her son alone while she'd gone out shopping. Because the child had a cold, Emma Else had placed a shawl around her son's shoulders and left him playing with an orange in front of a small fire.
Upon the woman's return fifteen minutes later, she found the kitchen full of smoke and asked Raymond what he'd been doing. His reply was "Burning mama". Emma told the inquest that she thought her son had been throwing orange peel into the fire and his shawl had somehow got set alight. It was after all winter which County Coroner Samuel Brighouse used to call the "burning season" for children. This was because of the countless deaths of youngsters from house fires that set their highly flammable clothing alight.
Next week's '100 Years Ago' stories will include sibling bloodshed in Parr, the clog and stocking fund, a murderous outburst in Peckers Hill Road, the treatment of VD in St Helens, Rainford's plans for displaying captured German guns, the boys causing trouble on trams and the "perversity of human nature" at Ashtons Green Colliery.