IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 10 - 16 AUGUST 1926
This week's many stories include the conman at Saints who claimed to be a famous rugby union player, a boy's brave canal rescue of another boy, the series of break-ins in St Helens, the miners' dispute over safety coal, the Parr miners carnival and the criticism of speeding trams in St Helens.
We begin on the 10th when the annual St Helens Crippled Children's outing took place and over 100 disabled kids were taken in a convoy of 50 private motor cars to Southport. The youngsters were reported as having been "delightfully happy" and the weather kept beautifully fine for them.
The miners had now been out on strike for several months and must have been getting bored. So on the 11th an impromptu carnival, concert and sports meeting took place in Gaskell Park. The St Helens Reporter said there had been "as much fun as any pleasure ground could boast of."
The event began with a procession through the streets of Parr, composed of about 60 miners and their wives, all in fancy dress and "armed with some instrument designed to make a noise – musical or otherwise." The makeshift jazz ensemble, followed by a large crowd, then entered Gaskell Park where they danced and played a comic cricket match. Hotpots were later served to the adults in the clubroom of the Blue Bell Inn in Broad Oak Road and then the children enjoyed tea in some of the houses on Fry Street.
On the 12th in St Helens Police Court, three young Sutton men were charged with a number of cases of breaking and entering. Richard Proudlove of Powell Street was charged with entering a house in Junction Lane and breaking into the St Vincent Club in Derbyshire Hill and stealing bottles of whisky, among other articles.
John Davies of Houghton Road was also charged and John Grice was accused of receiving some of the stolen property and having involvement in a break in at the Mill House Inn. Superintendent, Dunn said there were other charges that needed investigating and the case was remanded for a week.
The mother and father of John Grice then appealed to the Bench for their son to be given bail. The magistrates granted their request but they would have to find the hefty sum of £30 for him to be set free.
Although there was many canal drownings in St Helens, particularly during the summer months, there were also many heroic rescues. In St Helens Police Court on the 12th, the Chairman of the Bench, on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, presented Robert Porter from Earl Street in Parr with a reward for rescuing an 11-year-old child called William Edwards of Shaw Street.
The police told the magistrates that 12-year-old Robert was small for his age but when told that the other boy was drowning, he had immediately dived into the water and rescued him. At that particular spot in Pocket Nook, the canal was 12 feet wide and 12 feet deep. The brave boy received a gift of ten shillings, a certificate and the praise of the magistrates.
The Liverpool Evening Express in their account of the presentation said Robert was so small that he could hardly see above the magistrates' bench and ended their report by writing: "Porter left the court with one hand hugging his rewards and the other clasped in that of his mother. Both seemed very proud of each other."
Although the St Helens miners had been out on strike for three months, some staff were still in the pits conducting safety work. Undertaking such tasks as pumping out water would ensure that when the strike eventually ended, coal mining would soon be able to resume. But these safety operations required the use of some coal to be burnt and it was reported on the 12th that a number of collieries in the St Helens district had exhausted their supplies.
As a result some safety workers had been bringing coal to the surface in order to keep their pumping engines going. Although the union had agreed to the safety work being undertaken, they did not approve of fresh coal being cut. The mistrust between the mines' management and the men was so great that the latter were concerned that the newly-mined safety coal might be sold. And so a letter had now been sent out to all the collieries warning that the safety men would be withdrawn if any more coal was brought to the surface. This would be the genesis of several weeks of trouble in St Helens, particularly in Parr.
There were two letters of interest in the St Helens Reporter on the 13th. One complained that not enough people in the town at the conclusion of an event, such as at the pictures, would stand, take off their hats and join in the singing of 'God Save The King' – or "the King", as the anthem was generally known. Some were said to prefer to sing "The Red Flag" instead!
The other letter criticised the speed traps that were regularly run by St Helens police. Greenfield Road was the most popular place for these to be conducted but Prescot Road and Marshall Cross Road were also used to trap motorists breaking the 20 mph limit. That was then done by two officers in line of sight of one another using stop watches and then doing a bit of maths.
But the anonymous letter writer complained that motorbike riders on their small machines were unfairly being targeted while bigger, more dangerous trams were allowed to travel at whatever speed that they chose. The individual claimed that using a speedometer he had clocked trams going at 27 mph.
He also repeated the often-made complaint that there was a lack of warning signs in St Helens. To that remark the editor of the Reporter added a comment that the Chief Constable of the town had repeatedly asked the council to provide such road signs, but they had failed to do so.
The age of criminal responsibility was then as low as 7, leading to this piece in the Reporter: "The scared little boy of eight, with reddish hair and a bewildered look on his face, who appeared at the Juvenile Police Court on Tuesday, made it seem absurd that he should be an ordinary little thief, but it was so."
The unnamed boy wearing "well-worn boots" and blue jersey "ventilated with holes" had stuffed two bottles of pop up his jersey and then ran out of Annie Burrows' Shaw Street shop. He was with a five-year-old boy who, after being caught, was simply handed over to his parents by the police.
The 8-year-old who was in court had also stolen two new caps from Edward Coop's of Church Street. He had placed one on his head and stuffed the other up his jersey – along with the pop, presumably! The boy was put on probation for two years and bound over in two sureties of £1.
There was an extraordinary court case on the 13th when a conman called William Rosslyn appeared before the St Helens Bench. The man from Padgate had visited St Helens Rugby Club claiming to be Dai Thomas of Newport, the famous international rugby union player. Rosslyn told the club's secretary that he was thinking of turning professional, having been invited to join the Wigan Rugby League Club.
Questioned about his career, Rosslyn mentioned the names of several well-known rugby union players and also said he had played with "the famous Dr Bell". Instead of being impressed, that appears to have rung an alarm bell with the Saints' secretary, as there was no such player. But the secretary still advanced Rosslyn £5, supposedly to pay off a debt to Wigan.
However, the man was soon found to be a fake and police inquiries revealed that he had carried out similar cons at Rochdale Hornets and in Hull. In his defence William Rosslyn submitted a written statement in which he said he had never had a chance in life and asked for leniency. He said his mother had died when he was a baby and he had young children belonging to his sister to bring up.
Rosslyn pleaded with the Bench to be given another chance, claiming he was prepared to give up his wrongdoing and would join the Salvation Army, sign the pledge and "endeavour to come back to true Christian ways". But a convicted conman in court had little chance of being believed and Rosslyn was sentenced to three months with hard labour.
And finally, in describing the behaviour of John Connolly in Church Street, PC Hickson on the 14th told the magistrates in St Helens Police Court: "With his back against the parish church he said ‘All policemen are alike to me’ and he refused to budge". Connolly from Tontine Street had also shouted, "I am one of the lads and I am frightened of nothing".
In his curious defence, the man claimed he was unable to move: "There were half a dozen men holding me with my back against the boards." To that remark the constable replied: "There wasn't a soul near him". Connolly was fined 5 shillings for being drunk.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the building of the East Lancs Road, the withdrawal of Sutton Manor Colliery safety men, the fish that caught a fisherman, the Sutton burglar trio are brought to book and the police compassion for a troubled family.
We begin on the 10th when the annual St Helens Crippled Children's outing took place and over 100 disabled kids were taken in a convoy of 50 private motor cars to Southport. The youngsters were reported as having been "delightfully happy" and the weather kept beautifully fine for them.
The miners had now been out on strike for several months and must have been getting bored. So on the 11th an impromptu carnival, concert and sports meeting took place in Gaskell Park. The St Helens Reporter said there had been "as much fun as any pleasure ground could boast of."
The event began with a procession through the streets of Parr, composed of about 60 miners and their wives, all in fancy dress and "armed with some instrument designed to make a noise – musical or otherwise." The makeshift jazz ensemble, followed by a large crowd, then entered Gaskell Park where they danced and played a comic cricket match. Hotpots were later served to the adults in the clubroom of the Blue Bell Inn in Broad Oak Road and then the children enjoyed tea in some of the houses on Fry Street.
On the 12th in St Helens Police Court, three young Sutton men were charged with a number of cases of breaking and entering. Richard Proudlove of Powell Street was charged with entering a house in Junction Lane and breaking into the St Vincent Club in Derbyshire Hill and stealing bottles of whisky, among other articles.
John Davies of Houghton Road was also charged and John Grice was accused of receiving some of the stolen property and having involvement in a break in at the Mill House Inn. Superintendent, Dunn said there were other charges that needed investigating and the case was remanded for a week.
The mother and father of John Grice then appealed to the Bench for their son to be given bail. The magistrates granted their request but they would have to find the hefty sum of £30 for him to be set free.
Although there was many canal drownings in St Helens, particularly during the summer months, there were also many heroic rescues. In St Helens Police Court on the 12th, the Chairman of the Bench, on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, presented Robert Porter from Earl Street in Parr with a reward for rescuing an 11-year-old child called William Edwards of Shaw Street.
The police told the magistrates that 12-year-old Robert was small for his age but when told that the other boy was drowning, he had immediately dived into the water and rescued him. At that particular spot in Pocket Nook, the canal was 12 feet wide and 12 feet deep. The brave boy received a gift of ten shillings, a certificate and the praise of the magistrates.
The Liverpool Evening Express in their account of the presentation said Robert was so small that he could hardly see above the magistrates' bench and ended their report by writing: "Porter left the court with one hand hugging his rewards and the other clasped in that of his mother. Both seemed very proud of each other."
Although the St Helens miners had been out on strike for three months, some staff were still in the pits conducting safety work. Undertaking such tasks as pumping out water would ensure that when the strike eventually ended, coal mining would soon be able to resume. But these safety operations required the use of some coal to be burnt and it was reported on the 12th that a number of collieries in the St Helens district had exhausted their supplies.
As a result some safety workers had been bringing coal to the surface in order to keep their pumping engines going. Although the union had agreed to the safety work being undertaken, they did not approve of fresh coal being cut. The mistrust between the mines' management and the men was so great that the latter were concerned that the newly-mined safety coal might be sold. And so a letter had now been sent out to all the collieries warning that the safety men would be withdrawn if any more coal was brought to the surface. This would be the genesis of several weeks of trouble in St Helens, particularly in Parr.
There were two letters of interest in the St Helens Reporter on the 13th. One complained that not enough people in the town at the conclusion of an event, such as at the pictures, would stand, take off their hats and join in the singing of 'God Save The King' – or "the King", as the anthem was generally known. Some were said to prefer to sing "The Red Flag" instead!
But the anonymous letter writer complained that motorbike riders on their small machines were unfairly being targeted while bigger, more dangerous trams were allowed to travel at whatever speed that they chose. The individual claimed that using a speedometer he had clocked trams going at 27 mph.
He also repeated the often-made complaint that there was a lack of warning signs in St Helens. To that remark the editor of the Reporter added a comment that the Chief Constable of the town had repeatedly asked the council to provide such road signs, but they had failed to do so.
The age of criminal responsibility was then as low as 7, leading to this piece in the Reporter: "The scared little boy of eight, with reddish hair and a bewildered look on his face, who appeared at the Juvenile Police Court on Tuesday, made it seem absurd that he should be an ordinary little thief, but it was so."
The unnamed boy wearing "well-worn boots" and blue jersey "ventilated with holes" had stuffed two bottles of pop up his jersey and then ran out of Annie Burrows' Shaw Street shop. He was with a five-year-old boy who, after being caught, was simply handed over to his parents by the police.
The 8-year-old who was in court had also stolen two new caps from Edward Coop's of Church Street. He had placed one on his head and stuffed the other up his jersey – along with the pop, presumably! The boy was put on probation for two years and bound over in two sureties of £1.
There was an extraordinary court case on the 13th when a conman called William Rosslyn appeared before the St Helens Bench. The man from Padgate had visited St Helens Rugby Club claiming to be Dai Thomas of Newport, the famous international rugby union player. Rosslyn told the club's secretary that he was thinking of turning professional, having been invited to join the Wigan Rugby League Club.
Questioned about his career, Rosslyn mentioned the names of several well-known rugby union players and also said he had played with "the famous Dr Bell". Instead of being impressed, that appears to have rung an alarm bell with the Saints' secretary, as there was no such player. But the secretary still advanced Rosslyn £5, supposedly to pay off a debt to Wigan.
However, the man was soon found to be a fake and police inquiries revealed that he had carried out similar cons at Rochdale Hornets and in Hull. In his defence William Rosslyn submitted a written statement in which he said he had never had a chance in life and asked for leniency. He said his mother had died when he was a baby and he had young children belonging to his sister to bring up.
Rosslyn pleaded with the Bench to be given another chance, claiming he was prepared to give up his wrongdoing and would join the Salvation Army, sign the pledge and "endeavour to come back to true Christian ways". But a convicted conman in court had little chance of being believed and Rosslyn was sentenced to three months with hard labour.
And finally, in describing the behaviour of John Connolly in Church Street, PC Hickson on the 14th told the magistrates in St Helens Police Court: "With his back against the parish church he said ‘All policemen are alike to me’ and he refused to budge". Connolly from Tontine Street had also shouted, "I am one of the lads and I am frightened of nothing".
In his curious defence, the man claimed he was unable to move: "There were half a dozen men holding me with my back against the boards." To that remark the constable replied: "There wasn't a soul near him". Connolly was fined 5 shillings for being drunk.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the building of the East Lancs Road, the withdrawal of Sutton Manor Colliery safety men, the fish that caught a fisherman, the Sutton burglar trio are brought to book and the police compassion for a troubled family.
This week's many stories include the conman at Saints who claimed to be a famous rugby union player, a boy's brave canal rescue of another boy, the series of break-ins in St Helens, the miners' dispute over safety coal, the Parr miners carnival and the criticism of speeding trams in St Helens.
We begin on the 10th when the annual St Helens Crippled Children's outing took place and over 100 disabled kids were taken in a convoy of 50 private motor cars to Southport.
The youngsters were reported as having been "delightfully happy" and the weather kept beautifully fine for them.
The miners had now been out on strike for several months and must have been getting bored.
So on the 11th an impromptu carnival, concert and sports meeting took place in Gaskell Park.
The St Helens Reporter said there had been "as much fun as any pleasure ground could boast of."
The event began with a procession through the streets of Parr, composed of about 60 miners and their wives, all in fancy dress and "armed with some instrument designed to make a noise – musical or otherwise."
The makeshift jazz ensemble, followed by a large crowd, then entered Gaskell Park where they danced and played a comic cricket match.
Hotpots were later served to the adults in the clubroom of the Blue Bell Inn in Broad Oak Road and then the children enjoyed tea in some of the houses on Fry Street.
On the 12th in St Helens Police Court, three young Sutton men were charged with a number of cases of breaking and entering.
Richard Proudlove of Powell Street was charged with entering a house in Junction Lane and breaking into the St Vincent Club in Derbyshire Hill and stealing bottles of whisky, among other articles.
John Davies of Houghton Road was also charged and John Grice was accused of receiving some of the stolen property and having involvement in a break in at the Mill House Inn.
Superintendent, Dunn said there were other charges that needed investigating and the case was remanded for a week.
The mother and father of John Grice then appealed to the Bench for their son to be given bail.
The magistrates granted their request but they would have to find the hefty sum of £30 for him to be set free.
Although there was many canal drownings in St Helens, particularly during the summer months, there were also many heroic rescues.
In St Helens Police Court on the 12th, the Chairman of the Bench, on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, presented Robert Porter from Earl Street in Parr with a reward for rescuing an 11-year-old child called William Edwards of Shaw Street.
The police told the magistrates that 12-year-old Robert was small for his age but when told that the other boy was drowning, he had immediately dived into the water and rescued him.
At that particular spot in Pocket Nook, the canal was 12 feet wide and 12 feet deep.
The brave boy received a gift of ten shillings, a certificate and the praise of the magistrates.
The Liverpool Evening Express in their account of the presentation said Robert was so small that he could hardly see above the magistrates' bench and ended their report by writing:
"Porter left the court with one hand hugging his rewards and the other clasped in that of his mother. Both seemed very proud of each other."
Although the St Helens miners had been out on strike for three months, some staff were still in the pits conducting safety work.
Undertaking such tasks as pumping out water would ensure that when the strike eventually ended, coal mining would soon be able to resume.
But these safety operations required the use of some coal to be burnt and it was reported on the 12th that a number of collieries in the St Helens district had exhausted their supplies.
As a result some safety workers had been bringing coal to the surface in order to keep their pumping engines going.
Although the union had agreed to the safety work being undertaken, they did not approve of fresh coal being cut.
The mistrust between the mines' management and the men was so great that the latter were concerned that the newly-mined safety coal might be sold.
And so a letter had now been sent out to all the collieries warning that the safety men would be withdrawn if any more coal was brought to the surface.
This would be the genesis of several weeks of trouble in St Helens, particularly in Parr.
There were two letters of interest in the St Helens Reporter on the 13th.
One complained that not enough people in the town at the conclusion of an event, such as at the pictures, would stand, take off their hats and join in the singing of 'God Save The King' – or "the King", as the anthem was generally known.
Some were said to prefer to sing "The Red Flag" instead!
The other letter criticised the speed traps that were regularly run by St Helens police.
Greenfield Road was the most popular place for these to be conducted but Prescot Road and Marshall Cross Road were also used to trap motorists breaking the 20 mph limit.
That was then done by two officers in line of sight of one another using stop watches and then doing a bit of maths.
But the anonymous letter writer complained that motorbike riders on their small machines were unfairly being targeted while bigger, more dangerous trams were allowed to travel at whatever speed that they chose.
The individual claimed that using a speedometer he had clocked trams going at 27 mph.
He also repeated the often-made complaint that there was a lack of warning signs in St Helens.
To that remark the editor of the Reporter added a comment that the Chief Constable of the town had repeatedly asked the council to provide such road signs, but they had failed to do so.
The age of criminal responsibility was then as low as 7, leading to this piece in the Reporter:
"The scared little boy of eight, with reddish hair and a bewildered look on his face, who appeared at the Juvenile Police Court on Tuesday, made it seem absurd that he should be an ordinary little thief, but it was so."
The unnamed boy wearing "well-worn boots" and blue jersey "ventilated with holes" had stuffed two bottles of pop up his jersey and then ran out of Annie Burrows' Shaw Street shop.
He was with a five-year-old boy who, after being caught, was simply handed over to his parents by the police.
The 8-year-old who was in court had also stolen two new caps from Edward Coop's of Church Street. He had placed one on his head and stuffed the other up his jersey – along with the pop, presumably!
The boy was put on probation for two years and bound over in two sureties of £1.
There was an extraordinary court case on the 13th when a conman called William Rosslyn appeared before the St Helens Bench.
The man from Padgate had visited St Helens Rugby Club claiming to be Dai Thomas of Newport, the famous international rugby union player.
Rosslyn told the club's secretary that he was thinking of turning professional, having been invited to join the Wigan Rugby League Club.
Questioned about his career, Rosslyn mentioned the names of several well-known rugby union players and also said he had played with "the famous Dr Bell".
Instead of being impressed, that appears to have rung an alarm bell with the Saints' secretary, as there was no such player.
But the secretary still advanced Rosslyn £5, supposedly to pay off a debt to Wigan.
However, the man was soon found to be a fake and police inquiries revealed that he had carried out similar cons at Rochdale Hornets and in Hull.
In his defence William Rosslyn submitted a written statement in which he said he had never had a chance in life and asked for leniency.
He said his mother had died when he was a baby and he had young children belonging to his sister to bring up.
Rosslyn pleaded with the Bench to be given another chance, claiming he was prepared to give up his wrongdoing and would join the Salvation Army, sign the pledge and "endeavour to come back to true Christian ways".
But a convicted conman in court had little chance of being believed and Rosslyn was sentenced to three months with hard labour.
And finally, in describing the behaviour of John Connolly in Church Street, PC Hickson on the 14th told the magistrates in St Helens Police Court:
"With his back against the parish church he said ‘All policemen are alike to me’ and he refused to budge".
Connolly from Tontine Street had also shouted, "I am one of the lads and I am frightened of nothing".
In his curious defence, the man claimed he was unable to move: "There were half a dozen men holding me with my back against the boards."
To that remark the constable replied: "There wasn't a soul near him". Connolly was fined 5 shillings for being drunk.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the building of the East Lancs Road, the withdrawal of Sutton Manor Colliery safety men, the fish that caught a fisherman, the Sutton burglar trio are brought to book and the police compassion for a troubled family.
We begin on the 10th when the annual St Helens Crippled Children's outing took place and over 100 disabled kids were taken in a convoy of 50 private motor cars to Southport.
The youngsters were reported as having been "delightfully happy" and the weather kept beautifully fine for them.
The miners had now been out on strike for several months and must have been getting bored.
So on the 11th an impromptu carnival, concert and sports meeting took place in Gaskell Park.
The St Helens Reporter said there had been "as much fun as any pleasure ground could boast of."
The event began with a procession through the streets of Parr, composed of about 60 miners and their wives, all in fancy dress and "armed with some instrument designed to make a noise – musical or otherwise."
The makeshift jazz ensemble, followed by a large crowd, then entered Gaskell Park where they danced and played a comic cricket match.
Hotpots were later served to the adults in the clubroom of the Blue Bell Inn in Broad Oak Road and then the children enjoyed tea in some of the houses on Fry Street.
On the 12th in St Helens Police Court, three young Sutton men were charged with a number of cases of breaking and entering.
Richard Proudlove of Powell Street was charged with entering a house in Junction Lane and breaking into the St Vincent Club in Derbyshire Hill and stealing bottles of whisky, among other articles.
John Davies of Houghton Road was also charged and John Grice was accused of receiving some of the stolen property and having involvement in a break in at the Mill House Inn.
Superintendent, Dunn said there were other charges that needed investigating and the case was remanded for a week.
The mother and father of John Grice then appealed to the Bench for their son to be given bail.
The magistrates granted their request but they would have to find the hefty sum of £30 for him to be set free.
Although there was many canal drownings in St Helens, particularly during the summer months, there were also many heroic rescues.
In St Helens Police Court on the 12th, the Chairman of the Bench, on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, presented Robert Porter from Earl Street in Parr with a reward for rescuing an 11-year-old child called William Edwards of Shaw Street.
The police told the magistrates that 12-year-old Robert was small for his age but when told that the other boy was drowning, he had immediately dived into the water and rescued him.
At that particular spot in Pocket Nook, the canal was 12 feet wide and 12 feet deep.
The brave boy received a gift of ten shillings, a certificate and the praise of the magistrates.
The Liverpool Evening Express in their account of the presentation said Robert was so small that he could hardly see above the magistrates' bench and ended their report by writing:
"Porter left the court with one hand hugging his rewards and the other clasped in that of his mother. Both seemed very proud of each other."
Although the St Helens miners had been out on strike for three months, some staff were still in the pits conducting safety work.
Undertaking such tasks as pumping out water would ensure that when the strike eventually ended, coal mining would soon be able to resume.
But these safety operations required the use of some coal to be burnt and it was reported on the 12th that a number of collieries in the St Helens district had exhausted their supplies.
As a result some safety workers had been bringing coal to the surface in order to keep their pumping engines going.
Although the union had agreed to the safety work being undertaken, they did not approve of fresh coal being cut.
The mistrust between the mines' management and the men was so great that the latter were concerned that the newly-mined safety coal might be sold.
And so a letter had now been sent out to all the collieries warning that the safety men would be withdrawn if any more coal was brought to the surface.
This would be the genesis of several weeks of trouble in St Helens, particularly in Parr.
There were two letters of interest in the St Helens Reporter on the 13th.
One complained that not enough people in the town at the conclusion of an event, such as at the pictures, would stand, take off their hats and join in the singing of 'God Save The King' – or "the King", as the anthem was generally known.
Some were said to prefer to sing "The Red Flag" instead!
The other letter criticised the speed traps that were regularly run by St Helens police.
That was then done by two officers in line of sight of one another using stop watches and then doing a bit of maths.
But the anonymous letter writer complained that motorbike riders on their small machines were unfairly being targeted while bigger, more dangerous trams were allowed to travel at whatever speed that they chose.
The individual claimed that using a speedometer he had clocked trams going at 27 mph.
He also repeated the often-made complaint that there was a lack of warning signs in St Helens.
To that remark the editor of the Reporter added a comment that the Chief Constable of the town had repeatedly asked the council to provide such road signs, but they had failed to do so.
The age of criminal responsibility was then as low as 7, leading to this piece in the Reporter:
"The scared little boy of eight, with reddish hair and a bewildered look on his face, who appeared at the Juvenile Police Court on Tuesday, made it seem absurd that he should be an ordinary little thief, but it was so."
The unnamed boy wearing "well-worn boots" and blue jersey "ventilated with holes" had stuffed two bottles of pop up his jersey and then ran out of Annie Burrows' Shaw Street shop.
He was with a five-year-old boy who, after being caught, was simply handed over to his parents by the police.
The 8-year-old who was in court had also stolen two new caps from Edward Coop's of Church Street. He had placed one on his head and stuffed the other up his jersey – along with the pop, presumably!
The boy was put on probation for two years and bound over in two sureties of £1.
There was an extraordinary court case on the 13th when a conman called William Rosslyn appeared before the St Helens Bench.
The man from Padgate had visited St Helens Rugby Club claiming to be Dai Thomas of Newport, the famous international rugby union player.
Rosslyn told the club's secretary that he was thinking of turning professional, having been invited to join the Wigan Rugby League Club.
Questioned about his career, Rosslyn mentioned the names of several well-known rugby union players and also said he had played with "the famous Dr Bell".
Instead of being impressed, that appears to have rung an alarm bell with the Saints' secretary, as there was no such player.
But the secretary still advanced Rosslyn £5, supposedly to pay off a debt to Wigan.
However, the man was soon found to be a fake and police inquiries revealed that he had carried out similar cons at Rochdale Hornets and in Hull.
In his defence William Rosslyn submitted a written statement in which he said he had never had a chance in life and asked for leniency.
He said his mother had died when he was a baby and he had young children belonging to his sister to bring up.
Rosslyn pleaded with the Bench to be given another chance, claiming he was prepared to give up his wrongdoing and would join the Salvation Army, sign the pledge and "endeavour to come back to true Christian ways".
But a convicted conman in court had little chance of being believed and Rosslyn was sentenced to three months with hard labour.
And finally, in describing the behaviour of John Connolly in Church Street, PC Hickson on the 14th told the magistrates in St Helens Police Court:
"With his back against the parish church he said ‘All policemen are alike to me’ and he refused to budge".
Connolly from Tontine Street had also shouted, "I am one of the lads and I am frightened of nothing".
In his curious defence, the man claimed he was unable to move: "There were half a dozen men holding me with my back against the boards."
To that remark the constable replied: "There wasn't a soul near him". Connolly was fined 5 shillings for being drunk.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the building of the East Lancs Road, the withdrawal of Sutton Manor Colliery safety men, the fish that caught a fisherman, the Sutton burglar trio are brought to book and the police compassion for a troubled family.