IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (9th - 15th DECEMBER 1919)
This week's stories include the remarkable number of cases of VD in St Helens, the hawker that was having a "nice scramble" in Westfield Street, Sutton Manor Colliery try to evict tenants, the police's sympathy for a Bold man who had attacked his wife and the corn merchant in Cotham Street who hid his horse from the Government.
We begin on the 10th when the council's Health Committee discussed their treatment centre at 18 Claughton Street for what the St Helens Reporter called the "scourge of to-day". That was venereal disease and free evening treatment "under conditions of secrecy" had been available for two years. Dr Joseph Cates, the town's Medical Officer of Health, said the number of patients that were now attending was "remarkable", explaining that for the first few weeks there'd only been about half a dozen a week.
At the present time there were about 40 patients at each session and several sessions were held each week. However Councillor Ellison criticised the lack of effort to stamp out VD and Councillor Jackson agreed, saying there were those in St Helens "spreading it right and left, and nothing whatever is done to prevent it."
Also on the 10th the Sutton Manor Colliery Company (pictured above) applied in St Helens County Court for possession orders for six of their houses. No actual addresses were stated in the newspaper account of the proceedings. However all of the tenants were living in houses that the company had recently bought. Over the last few years the colliery had built large numbers of new homes in Sutton Manor for its coal miners and their families. However more properties were needed as they had 100 vacancies to fill but couldn't recruit men through the remote location of their mine.
The first case heard was that of John Winstanley who had a family of eleven. He was employed at Clock Face Colliery and had lived in his house for almost six years. Another tenant was Annie Greeley, whose husband had worked at Sutton Manor for 15 years but had been killed in the war. Mrs Greeley told the court that she was not in good health and her daughter was seriously ill.
To this the company's estate agent remarked that she might be a "full-fledged invalid in court, but the way she carried on when I served the action to quit on her was abominable." The judge ruled in favour of five of the defendants but told them that they must try to find alternative accommodation. In the case of the "abominable" Mrs Greeley, the judge said the company should "do something" for the widow in the light of her circumstances and adjourned her case for three months.
There was a wide range of new memorials to the war dead being installed that were connected with churches, associations and even trades. This week a large gathering of the members of the St Helens branch of the National Painters Society met in the Nelson Hotel in Bridge Street. They were there to witness the unveiling of a Roll of Honour in tribute to their nineteen members that had lost their lives in the war.
It was reported on the 11th that several schools in St Helens had closed their infants department as a precautionary measure because of the measles outbreak.
Susannah Smith of Clyde Street appeared in the St Helens Police Court on the 12th charged with throwing down a bottle in Lowe Street. Sergeant Beaumont gave evidence that he had seen a group of women standing outside a public house. One of the women dropped a bottle of beer and Susannah picked it up. Seeing the bottle was empty and its neck broken, she threw it across the street. The woman told the court that as it was a broken bottle she had thrown it where it was least dangerous but was fined 5 shillings.
A man described as a notorious thief called David Stanley was given three months hard labour in the Police Court on the 13th. The labourer with 24 convictions had stolen two pairs of boys' boots from John Crowther's shoe shop, which appeared to be located in Corporation Street.
Also on that day Thomas Jacques of Nutgrove Road was killed in Sutton Heath Colliery. The 58-year-old had worked there for forty years and had been completely buried in an underground roof fall. At Thomas's inquest two days later it was revealed that it had taken 5½ hours to retrieve his body because of the continued fall of dirt. A 16-year-old haulage hand called Joseph Lunt from Beaconsfield Street in Prescot described how he had been "buried to the tips" by the roof fall but was rescued by the colliery manager and a group of miners.
In the County Magistrates Court on the 15th the police showed an extraordinary level of sympathy for a man who had attacked his wife. James Ormerod from Longfield Cottage in Bold was charged with unlawful wounding and attempted suicide. Superintendent Garvey told the Bench that Ormerod had brought up a respectable family and had not taken any drink for several weeks. The man did have a little financial trouble but it was not serious.
On the night in question a dispute arose within the family during which the mother took the part of the children against the father. This enraged Ormerod and at midnight after the children had gone to bed, he used an iron spittoon to strike his wife on her forehead. This created a wound two inches long and he also used a coffee pot to hit her on her arms and face. After making the assault Ormerod left the house and his family summoned a doctor and the police. Four hours later the man knocked on the back door of his house, saying to his son: "Open the door, Arthur, I am dying."
Ormerod's appearance was described by the Reporter as "pitiable", as his clothes were wet indicating he had been in water and blood was flowing from a cut in his throat. This had been caused by a piece of glass kept in the potting shed at the rear of the house and the injured man was conveyed to the infirmary at Whiston. In court Superintendent Garvey said he would be prepared to withdraw the charge of unlawful wounding if Ormerod agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of common assault.
He also suggested that the prisoner be given over to the care of his family, who had made arrangements to relieve his financial problems. The Chairman agreed to be as lenient as possible with Ormerod and only fined him £1, plus two doctors' court fees of a guinea each. Addressing the Bench, Ormerod said: "It won't occur again", to which Superintendent Garvey responded with: "You had better leave yourself in the hands of your wife and family, for they will look well after you."
Rainford Urban District Council met on the 15th and approved a plan to build a pavilion on the Recreation Ground behind the church. Major Guy Pilkington had agreed to present the pavilion to the Boy Scouts.
Joseph Bannister appeared in the Police Court on that day charged with breaching the peace and assaulting the police. The hawker from Queen Street was having a barney with his father in Westfield Street (pictured above on the right) when P.C. Higgs came onto the scene. The constable said the man was shouting and swearing and wanting to fight his father who was driving a cart. The officer described the pair as having a "nice scramble" between them. Bannister was told to desist but kept on cursing and was taken to the Police Station at the Town Hall struggling all the way. The Bench bound Bannister over for six months for the breach of the peace and he was fined £1 for assaulting the police.
A County Court hearing was also held on that day in which it was revealed that a well-known St Helens tradesman had hidden his horse from the Government. A corn merchant called Joseph Thierens had sub-let some premises in Cotham Street to a Mr Critchley. He in turn had allowed a man called Harold Williams to store some furniture in one of the rooms. Thierens found out about the furniture storage and demanded 5 shillings a week rent from Williams. No payments had subsequently been made and so the corn merchant brought the court action for 13 weeks' rent arrears totalling £3 5 shillings.
However during cross-examination Joseph Thierens had to admit that at one time he had hidden a horse inside the room. The 59-year-old explained that during the war the Government was requisitioning horses and paying a maximum of £40 compensation. However he claimed that his animal was worth £100 and so he had unpatriotically hidden it away behind some straw.
This was an embarrassing revelation for Thierens and if the horse had been discovered at the time it would likely have led to a prosecution. In delivering his verdict the judge said Critchley had no right to allow Harold Williams to use the room and gave judgement to Joseph Thierens for the rent of £3 5 shillings.
Next week's stories will include a war tank for Queen's Park, the precocious 13-year-old from Leach Lane, a disabled war veteran criticises St Helens' firms, Father Christmas visits the town's hospitals and the man who was tarred in the Lord Nelson by the woman that he jilted.
We begin on the 10th when the council's Health Committee discussed their treatment centre at 18 Claughton Street for what the St Helens Reporter called the "scourge of to-day". That was venereal disease and free evening treatment "under conditions of secrecy" had been available for two years. Dr Joseph Cates, the town's Medical Officer of Health, said the number of patients that were now attending was "remarkable", explaining that for the first few weeks there'd only been about half a dozen a week.
At the present time there were about 40 patients at each session and several sessions were held each week. However Councillor Ellison criticised the lack of effort to stamp out VD and Councillor Jackson agreed, saying there were those in St Helens "spreading it right and left, and nothing whatever is done to prevent it."
The first case heard was that of John Winstanley who had a family of eleven. He was employed at Clock Face Colliery and had lived in his house for almost six years. Another tenant was Annie Greeley, whose husband had worked at Sutton Manor for 15 years but had been killed in the war. Mrs Greeley told the court that she was not in good health and her daughter was seriously ill.
To this the company's estate agent remarked that she might be a "full-fledged invalid in court, but the way she carried on when I served the action to quit on her was abominable." The judge ruled in favour of five of the defendants but told them that they must try to find alternative accommodation. In the case of the "abominable" Mrs Greeley, the judge said the company should "do something" for the widow in the light of her circumstances and adjourned her case for three months.
There was a wide range of new memorials to the war dead being installed that were connected with churches, associations and even trades. This week a large gathering of the members of the St Helens branch of the National Painters Society met in the Nelson Hotel in Bridge Street. They were there to witness the unveiling of a Roll of Honour in tribute to their nineteen members that had lost their lives in the war.
It was reported on the 11th that several schools in St Helens had closed their infants department as a precautionary measure because of the measles outbreak.
Susannah Smith of Clyde Street appeared in the St Helens Police Court on the 12th charged with throwing down a bottle in Lowe Street. Sergeant Beaumont gave evidence that he had seen a group of women standing outside a public house. One of the women dropped a bottle of beer and Susannah picked it up. Seeing the bottle was empty and its neck broken, she threw it across the street. The woman told the court that as it was a broken bottle she had thrown it where it was least dangerous but was fined 5 shillings.
A man described as a notorious thief called David Stanley was given three months hard labour in the Police Court on the 13th. The labourer with 24 convictions had stolen two pairs of boys' boots from John Crowther's shoe shop, which appeared to be located in Corporation Street.
Also on that day Thomas Jacques of Nutgrove Road was killed in Sutton Heath Colliery. The 58-year-old had worked there for forty years and had been completely buried in an underground roof fall. At Thomas's inquest two days later it was revealed that it had taken 5½ hours to retrieve his body because of the continued fall of dirt. A 16-year-old haulage hand called Joseph Lunt from Beaconsfield Street in Prescot described how he had been "buried to the tips" by the roof fall but was rescued by the colliery manager and a group of miners.
In the County Magistrates Court on the 15th the police showed an extraordinary level of sympathy for a man who had attacked his wife. James Ormerod from Longfield Cottage in Bold was charged with unlawful wounding and attempted suicide. Superintendent Garvey told the Bench that Ormerod had brought up a respectable family and had not taken any drink for several weeks. The man did have a little financial trouble but it was not serious.
On the night in question a dispute arose within the family during which the mother took the part of the children against the father. This enraged Ormerod and at midnight after the children had gone to bed, he used an iron spittoon to strike his wife on her forehead. This created a wound two inches long and he also used a coffee pot to hit her on her arms and face. After making the assault Ormerod left the house and his family summoned a doctor and the police. Four hours later the man knocked on the back door of his house, saying to his son: "Open the door, Arthur, I am dying."
Ormerod's appearance was described by the Reporter as "pitiable", as his clothes were wet indicating he had been in water and blood was flowing from a cut in his throat. This had been caused by a piece of glass kept in the potting shed at the rear of the house and the injured man was conveyed to the infirmary at Whiston. In court Superintendent Garvey said he would be prepared to withdraw the charge of unlawful wounding if Ormerod agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of common assault.
He also suggested that the prisoner be given over to the care of his family, who had made arrangements to relieve his financial problems. The Chairman agreed to be as lenient as possible with Ormerod and only fined him £1, plus two doctors' court fees of a guinea each. Addressing the Bench, Ormerod said: "It won't occur again", to which Superintendent Garvey responded with: "You had better leave yourself in the hands of your wife and family, for they will look well after you."
Rainford Urban District Council met on the 15th and approved a plan to build a pavilion on the Recreation Ground behind the church. Major Guy Pilkington had agreed to present the pavilion to the Boy Scouts.
A County Court hearing was also held on that day in which it was revealed that a well-known St Helens tradesman had hidden his horse from the Government. A corn merchant called Joseph Thierens had sub-let some premises in Cotham Street to a Mr Critchley. He in turn had allowed a man called Harold Williams to store some furniture in one of the rooms. Thierens found out about the furniture storage and demanded 5 shillings a week rent from Williams. No payments had subsequently been made and so the corn merchant brought the court action for 13 weeks' rent arrears totalling £3 5 shillings.
However during cross-examination Joseph Thierens had to admit that at one time he had hidden a horse inside the room. The 59-year-old explained that during the war the Government was requisitioning horses and paying a maximum of £40 compensation. However he claimed that his animal was worth £100 and so he had unpatriotically hidden it away behind some straw.
This was an embarrassing revelation for Thierens and if the horse had been discovered at the time it would likely have led to a prosecution. In delivering his verdict the judge said Critchley had no right to allow Harold Williams to use the room and gave judgement to Joseph Thierens for the rent of £3 5 shillings.
Next week's stories will include a war tank for Queen's Park, the precocious 13-year-old from Leach Lane, a disabled war veteran criticises St Helens' firms, Father Christmas visits the town's hospitals and the man who was tarred in the Lord Nelson by the woman that he jilted.