IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (11th - 17th JANUARY 1921)
This week's many stories include a Royal stay at Knowsley Hall, the departure of the pioneering St Helens medical officer, the tragedy of the Golborne home alone child and the human gramophone performs at the Hippodrome.
As the amount of motor traffic increased on the mostly narrow St Helens' roads, so the pedestrian death toll rose. For most of Margaret Bradley's life there had been no such thing as a motor waggon and although horse-driven vehicles did kill people in the street, the victims were mainly children that ran into their path. On the 12th a motor lorry struck down the 75-year-old from Mount Street (pictured above off Liverpool Road) and although Margaret was seemingly taken quickly to Providence Hospital, she soon died from her injuries.
The New Year sales were still underway in some stores. John Noble had a small chain of fashion stores in Lancashire and Yorkshire. This week their St Helens branch at 19 Church Street was continuing its half-price sale of tweed coats and tweed costumes. Across the road at no. 27 Church Street the clothes store known as the L & C Rubber Company was on the 12th advertising an unusual promotion:
"During the next 5 days we are going to show in our windows for sale, one article that is the latest style at a quarter the original price; this will be sold to the first customer that comes in after 11 a.m. To prove that this is absolutely genuine, we shall be pleased to give the names of the persons, also the cost invoice, to any genuine person." The firm said a gent's fawn double-breasted coat that normally sold for £2 10s was being sold for 12/6 and then on the following day a ladies Macintosh would be available at 11am for 13/6.
There was some bad news for the people of St Helens on the 12th with the announcement that Dr Joseph Cates had resigned. The departure of the town's pioneering Medical Officer of Health was unlikely to have been linked to last week's public meeting when his plans for enhanced powers to prevent the spread of infectious disease were defeated. That was a setback but presumably Cates had applied for his new position as Medical Officer for Surrey well before. But he would now be receiving the huge salary of £1,200 when the average yearly income for a working man was then of the order of £120 to £150.
Those in charge of the southern county would no doubt have been impressed with what Cates had achieved in a poor northern town. In St Helens the doctor had had to fight against ignorance and some resentment to the measures he'd introduced. At one point Cates had complained that some parents didn't call in the doctor until their diseased children were "practically dead". At times Dr Cates would upset landlords by declaring their rented properties unfit for human habitation and annoy shopkeepers with his insistence on good sanitation.
The medical officer's fight against measles had been particularly impressive. During the ten-year period before 1917 there had been more than 1,000 deaths from the disease in St Helens. However the proactive measures that Dr Cates had introduced had hugely reduced the number of fatalities. His campaign against venereal disease would also have won over the Surrey bosses. Many returning soldiers brought VD back from the front but despite the stigma, Cates established a free clinic in Claughton Street and provided confidential treatment.
It was announced on the 12th that King George V and Queen Mary, along with the Prince of Wales and possibly Marshal Ferdinand Foch – the French general who served as Supreme Allied Commander during the war – were coming to Knowsley Hall. The Royal party would be staying with Lord Derby in order to visit the Grand National at Aintree. The King and Queen had visited St Helens in 1913 and later in 1921 the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII) would visit St Helens Recs football ground in City Road and shake hands with over 100 ex-servicemen.
It was panto time this week at the St Helens Theatre Royal & Opera House – to give the Corporation Street theatre its full name. 'Robinson Crusoe' was the chosen show. The Hippodrome tended to start their short panto season later in January and this week the music hall was offering the twice-nightly delights of these artistes:
Razza ("The human gramophone"); The Bounders ("The human grasshoppers, funny antics in an act characterised by entertaining bouncing feats"); Tina Paynola ("An excellent mimic, those of children being particularly well done"); Talbot O’Farrell ("The popular singer and raconteur from Hull"); Ralph and Mabel ("An exhibition of syncopated music") and The Femina Quartette, including Miss Lillian Burgess ("A brilliant vocal and instrumental ensemble").
I'm intrigued as to how Razza mimicked a gramophone. One paper describing his performance in another town said: "Razza's imitation of the phonograph is novel and realistic". Another described it as "a clever and interesting performance".
On the 13th the Liverpool Echo wrote that Adrian Beecham – the 16-year-old son of conductor Sir Thomas Beecham of the St Helens pill-making family – was to have his opera 'The Merchant of Venice' performed in London on February 1st. The young man had been composing since the age of six and I expect as the child of affluent parents, young Beecham had never been left at home on his tod. However that often occurred in the poor, working-class homes of children within the St Helens district.
That was usually only for brief periods while their mother popped out to the shops and as long as a fireguard was in place, she would rarely be criticised for doing so. However older toddlers could be more inquisitive and stronger than younger kids and prove a greater danger to themselves.
On the 14th it was reported that Joseph Cardwell of Dam Lane in Golborne had been "temporarily" left alone by his mother. When she returned home she found that her son aged nearly three had managed to get his clothes on fire and was so badly burnt that he soon died. The fireguard had been in position when Mrs Cardwell left home but for some reason Joseph had moved it to one side of the fire.
Under the headline: "25 Years Ago – Widnes – Noted Character's Death", the Runcorn Weekly News wrote on the 14th: "A noted character who held the record for the number of appearances at Widnes Police Court, died in the Whiston Institution [workhouse] on January 9th, 1896. Altogether she had been convicted at Widnes 124 times, including 80 for drunkenness, 17 for breach of the peace, five for wilful damage, and once for hawking without a licence. In addition to these cases there were a number of convictions against her at St. Helens." The paper also mentioned that a 16-year-old girl who could neither read nor write had been the defendant in a court case at Runcorn recently and both her parents were similarly illiterate.
Lancashire was going through a cold snap and Saints game at Salford on the 15th had to be cancelled, as the pitch was frost-bound and underground heating was many years away.
Two days later Rivington Road Infants was advertising in the Manchester Guardian for a new assistant mistress. Over the last few years the salaries of teaching staff had considerably improved and female teachers were no longer being paid a pittance and forced to quit their jobs upon marrying. The successful applicant for the position at Rivington Road Council School would be paid a minimum of £170. For every completed year of teaching experience the offered salary would increase by increments of £12 10s to a maximum of £304. For a woman with more than ten years teaching experience that was a weekly wage of nearly £6 – which was good money.
And finally this story in the Liverpool Echo made me laugh this week. Commenting on the activities of 84-year-old Charles Thorn – who in front of a cheering crowd had climbed up a ladder to the roof of the Globe Cinema at Portsmouth – the Echo wrote:
"The spirit of adventure dies hard, and we are intrigued by the episode of the old man of 84 who climbed on to the roof of a cinema, in order, as he stated, “to have a good look round.” Probably he got a little tired of Portsmouth on the level, and longed for a bird's-eye view. He is of the stuff of which pioneers and adventurers are made. Psycho-analysts might offer the explanation that he was suppressed in his youth, and now that he has reached old age he is bent on self-determination. But these fanciful plights usually have a prosaic ending. He descended from the heights on a policeman's back, and was removed to the workhouse infirmary."
Apparently Mr Thorn fought with the bobby all the way down the ladder! Next week's stories will include the Ormskirk Street shop fraudster and wife deserter, the death of a Pilkington boss through a broken leg, there are hard times for workers in St Helens and a drunk performs a war dance on Prescot Road.
The New Year sales were still underway in some stores. John Noble had a small chain of fashion stores in Lancashire and Yorkshire. This week their St Helens branch at 19 Church Street was continuing its half-price sale of tweed coats and tweed costumes. Across the road at no. 27 Church Street the clothes store known as the L & C Rubber Company was on the 12th advertising an unusual promotion:
"During the next 5 days we are going to show in our windows for sale, one article that is the latest style at a quarter the original price; this will be sold to the first customer that comes in after 11 a.m. To prove that this is absolutely genuine, we shall be pleased to give the names of the persons, also the cost invoice, to any genuine person." The firm said a gent's fawn double-breasted coat that normally sold for £2 10s was being sold for 12/6 and then on the following day a ladies Macintosh would be available at 11am for 13/6.
There was some bad news for the people of St Helens on the 12th with the announcement that Dr Joseph Cates had resigned. The departure of the town's pioneering Medical Officer of Health was unlikely to have been linked to last week's public meeting when his plans for enhanced powers to prevent the spread of infectious disease were defeated. That was a setback but presumably Cates had applied for his new position as Medical Officer for Surrey well before. But he would now be receiving the huge salary of £1,200 when the average yearly income for a working man was then of the order of £120 to £150.
Those in charge of the southern county would no doubt have been impressed with what Cates had achieved in a poor northern town. In St Helens the doctor had had to fight against ignorance and some resentment to the measures he'd introduced. At one point Cates had complained that some parents didn't call in the doctor until their diseased children were "practically dead". At times Dr Cates would upset landlords by declaring their rented properties unfit for human habitation and annoy shopkeepers with his insistence on good sanitation.
The medical officer's fight against measles had been particularly impressive. During the ten-year period before 1917 there had been more than 1,000 deaths from the disease in St Helens. However the proactive measures that Dr Cates had introduced had hugely reduced the number of fatalities. His campaign against venereal disease would also have won over the Surrey bosses. Many returning soldiers brought VD back from the front but despite the stigma, Cates established a free clinic in Claughton Street and provided confidential treatment.
It was panto time this week at the St Helens Theatre Royal & Opera House – to give the Corporation Street theatre its full name. 'Robinson Crusoe' was the chosen show. The Hippodrome tended to start their short panto season later in January and this week the music hall was offering the twice-nightly delights of these artistes:
Razza ("The human gramophone"); The Bounders ("The human grasshoppers, funny antics in an act characterised by entertaining bouncing feats"); Tina Paynola ("An excellent mimic, those of children being particularly well done"); Talbot O’Farrell ("The popular singer and raconteur from Hull"); Ralph and Mabel ("An exhibition of syncopated music") and The Femina Quartette, including Miss Lillian Burgess ("A brilliant vocal and instrumental ensemble").
I'm intrigued as to how Razza mimicked a gramophone. One paper describing his performance in another town said: "Razza's imitation of the phonograph is novel and realistic". Another described it as "a clever and interesting performance".
On the 13th the Liverpool Echo wrote that Adrian Beecham – the 16-year-old son of conductor Sir Thomas Beecham of the St Helens pill-making family – was to have his opera 'The Merchant of Venice' performed in London on February 1st. The young man had been composing since the age of six and I expect as the child of affluent parents, young Beecham had never been left at home on his tod. However that often occurred in the poor, working-class homes of children within the St Helens district.
That was usually only for brief periods while their mother popped out to the shops and as long as a fireguard was in place, she would rarely be criticised for doing so. However older toddlers could be more inquisitive and stronger than younger kids and prove a greater danger to themselves.
On the 14th it was reported that Joseph Cardwell of Dam Lane in Golborne had been "temporarily" left alone by his mother. When she returned home she found that her son aged nearly three had managed to get his clothes on fire and was so badly burnt that he soon died. The fireguard had been in position when Mrs Cardwell left home but for some reason Joseph had moved it to one side of the fire.
Under the headline: "25 Years Ago – Widnes – Noted Character's Death", the Runcorn Weekly News wrote on the 14th: "A noted character who held the record for the number of appearances at Widnes Police Court, died in the Whiston Institution [workhouse] on January 9th, 1896. Altogether she had been convicted at Widnes 124 times, including 80 for drunkenness, 17 for breach of the peace, five for wilful damage, and once for hawking without a licence. In addition to these cases there were a number of convictions against her at St. Helens." The paper also mentioned that a 16-year-old girl who could neither read nor write had been the defendant in a court case at Runcorn recently and both her parents were similarly illiterate.
Lancashire was going through a cold snap and Saints game at Salford on the 15th had to be cancelled, as the pitch was frost-bound and underground heating was many years away.
Two days later Rivington Road Infants was advertising in the Manchester Guardian for a new assistant mistress. Over the last few years the salaries of teaching staff had considerably improved and female teachers were no longer being paid a pittance and forced to quit their jobs upon marrying. The successful applicant for the position at Rivington Road Council School would be paid a minimum of £170. For every completed year of teaching experience the offered salary would increase by increments of £12 10s to a maximum of £304. For a woman with more than ten years teaching experience that was a weekly wage of nearly £6 – which was good money.
And finally this story in the Liverpool Echo made me laugh this week. Commenting on the activities of 84-year-old Charles Thorn – who in front of a cheering crowd had climbed up a ladder to the roof of the Globe Cinema at Portsmouth – the Echo wrote:
"The spirit of adventure dies hard, and we are intrigued by the episode of the old man of 84 who climbed on to the roof of a cinema, in order, as he stated, “to have a good look round.” Probably he got a little tired of Portsmouth on the level, and longed for a bird's-eye view. He is of the stuff of which pioneers and adventurers are made. Psycho-analysts might offer the explanation that he was suppressed in his youth, and now that he has reached old age he is bent on self-determination. But these fanciful plights usually have a prosaic ending. He descended from the heights on a policeman's back, and was removed to the workhouse infirmary."
Apparently Mr Thorn fought with the bobby all the way down the ladder! Next week's stories will include the Ormskirk Street shop fraudster and wife deserter, the death of a Pilkington boss through a broken leg, there are hard times for workers in St Helens and a drunk performs a war dance on Prescot Road.
This week's many stories include a Royal stay at Knowsley Hall, the departure of the pioneering St Helens medical officer, the tragedy of the Golborne home alone child and the human gramophone performs at the Hippodrome.
As the amount of motor traffic increased on the mostly narrow St Helens' roads, so the pedestrian death toll rose.
For most of Margaret Bradley's life there had been no such thing as a motor waggon and although horse-driven vehicles did kill people in the street, the victims were mainly children that ran into their path.
On the 12th a motor lorry struck down the 75-year-old from Mount Street (pictured above off Liverpool Road) and although Margaret was seemingly taken quickly to Providence Hospital, she soon died from her injuries.
The New Year sales were still underway in some stores. John Noble had a small chain of fashion stores in Lancashire and Yorkshire.
This week their St Helens branch at 19 Church Street was continuing its half-price sale of tweed coats and tweed costumes.
Across the road at no. 27 Church Street the clothes store known as the L & C Rubber Company was on the 12th advertising an unusual promotion:
"During the next 5 days we are going to show in our windows for sale, one article that is the latest style at a quarter the original price; this will be sold to the first customer that comes in after 11 a.m. To prove that this is absolutely genuine, we shall be pleased to give the names of the persons, also the cost invoice, to any genuine person."
The firm said a gent's fawn double-breasted coat that normally sold for £2 10s was being sold for 12/6 and then on the following day a ladies Macintosh would be available at 11am for 13/6.
There was some bad news for the people of St Helens on the 12th with the announcement that Dr Joseph Cates had resigned.
The departure of the town's pioneering Medical Officer of Health was unlikely to have been linked to last week's public meeting when his plans for enhanced powers to prevent the spread of infectious disease were defeated.
That was a setback but presumably Cates had applied for his new position as Medical Officer for Surrey well before.
But he would now be receiving the huge salary of £1,200 when the average yearly income for a working man was then of the order of £120 to £150.
Those in charge of the southern county would no doubt have been impressed with what Cates had achieved in a poor northern town.
In St Helens the doctor had had to fight against ignorance and some resentment to the measures he'd introduced.
At one point Cates had complained that some parents didn't call in the doctor until their diseased children were "practically dead".
At times Dr Cates would upset landlords by declaring their rented properties unfit for human habitation and annoy shopkeepers with his insistence on good sanitation.
The medical officer's fight against measles had been particularly impressive. During the ten-year period before 1917 there had been more than 1,000 deaths from the disease in St Helens.
However the proactive measures that Dr Cates had introduced had hugely reduced the number of fatalities.
His campaign against venereal disease would also have won over the Surrey bosses.
Many returning soldiers brought VD back from the front but despite the stigma, Cates established a free clinic in Claughton Street and provided confidential treatment.
It was announced on the 12th that King George V and Queen Mary, along with the Prince of Wales and possibly Marshal Ferdinand Foch – the French general who served as Supreme Allied Commander during the war – were coming to Knowsley Hall.
The Royal party would be staying with Lord Derby in order to visit the Grand National at Aintree.
The King and Queen had visited St Helens in 1913 and later in 1921 the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII) would visit St Helens Recs football ground in City Road and shake hands with over 100 ex-servicemen.
It was panto time this week at the St Helens Theatre Royal & Opera House – to give the Corporation Street theatre its full name.
'Robinson Crusoe' was the chosen show. The Hippodrome tended to start their short panto season later in January and this week the music hall was offering the twice-nightly delights of these artistes:
Razza ("The human gramophone"); The Bounders ("The human grasshoppers, funny antics in an act characterised by entertaining bouncing feats"); Tina Paynola ("An excellent mimic, those of children being particularly well done"); Talbot O’Farrell ("The popular singer and raconteur from Hull"); Ralph and Mabel ("An exhibition of syncopated music") and The Femina Quartette, including Miss Lillian Burgess ("A brilliant vocal and instrumental ensemble").
I'm intrigued as to how Razza mimicked a gramophone. One paper describing his performance in another town said:
"Razza's imitation of the phonograph is novel and realistic". Another described it as "a clever and interesting performance".
On the 13th the Liverpool Echo wrote that Adrian Beecham – the 16-year-old son of conductor Sir Thomas Beecham of the St Helens pill-making family – was to have his opera 'The Merchant of Venice' performed in London on February 1st.
The young man had been composing since the age of six and I expect as the child of affluent parents, young Beecham had never been left at home on his tod.
However that often occurred in the poor, working-class homes of children within the St Helens district.
That was usually only for brief periods while their mother popped out to the shops and as long as a fireguard was in place, she would rarely be criticised for doing so.
However older toddlers could be more inquisitive and stronger than younger kids and prove a greater danger to themselves.
On the 14th it was reported that Joseph Cardwell of Dam Lane in Golborne had been "temporarily" left alone by his mother.
When she returned home she found that her son aged nearly three had managed to get his clothes on fire and was so badly burnt that he soon died.
The fireguard had been in position when Mrs Cardwell left home but for some reason Joseph had moved it to one side of the fire.
Under the headline: "25 Years Ago – Widnes – Noted Character's Death", the Runcorn Weekly News wrote on the 14th:
"A noted character who held the record for the number of appearances at Widnes Police Court, died in the Whiston Institution [workhouse] on January 9th, 1896.
"Altogether she had been convicted at Widnes 124 times, including 80 for drunkenness, 17 for breach of the peace, five for wilful damage, and once for hawking without a licence. In addition to these cases there were a number of convictions against her at St. Helens."
The paper also mentioned that a 16-year-old girl who could neither read nor write had been the defendant in a court case at Runcorn recently and both her parents were similarly illiterate.
Lancashire was going through a cold snap and Saints game at Salford on the 15th had to be cancelled, as the pitch was frost-bound and underground heating was many years away.
Two days later Rivington Road Infants was advertising in the Manchester Guardian for a new assistant mistress.
Over the last few years the salaries of teaching staff had considerably improved and female teachers were no longer being paid a pittance and forced to quit their jobs upon marrying.
The successful applicant for the position at Rivington Road Council School would be paid a minimum of £170.
For every completed year of teaching experience the offered salary would increase by increments of £12 10s to a maximum of £304.
For a woman with more than ten years teaching experience that was a weekly wage of nearly £6 – which was good money.
And finally this story in the Liverpool Echo made me laugh this week.
Commenting on the activities of 84-year-old Charles Thorn – who in front of a cheering crowd had climbed up a ladder to the roof of the Globe Cinema at Portsmouth – the Echo wrote:
"The spirit of adventure dies hard, and we are intrigued by the episode of the old man of 84 who climbed on to the roof of a cinema, in order, as he stated, “to have a good look round.” Probably he got a little tired of Portsmouth on the level, and longed for a bird's-eye view.
"He is of the stuff of which pioneers and adventurers are made. Psycho-analysts might offer the explanation that he was suppressed in his youth, and now that he has reached old age he is bent on self-determination. But these fanciful plights usually have a prosaic ending. He descended from the heights on a policeman's back, and was removed to the workhouse infirmary."
Apparently Mr Thorn fought with the bobby all the way down the ladder! Next week's stories will include the Ormskirk Street shop fraudster and wife deserter, the death of a Pilkington boss through a broken leg, there are hard times for workers in St Helens and a drunk performs a war dance on Prescot Road.
For most of Margaret Bradley's life there had been no such thing as a motor waggon and although horse-driven vehicles did kill people in the street, the victims were mainly children that ran into their path.
On the 12th a motor lorry struck down the 75-year-old from Mount Street (pictured above off Liverpool Road) and although Margaret was seemingly taken quickly to Providence Hospital, she soon died from her injuries.
The New Year sales were still underway in some stores. John Noble had a small chain of fashion stores in Lancashire and Yorkshire.
This week their St Helens branch at 19 Church Street was continuing its half-price sale of tweed coats and tweed costumes.
Across the road at no. 27 Church Street the clothes store known as the L & C Rubber Company was on the 12th advertising an unusual promotion:
"During the next 5 days we are going to show in our windows for sale, one article that is the latest style at a quarter the original price; this will be sold to the first customer that comes in after 11 a.m. To prove that this is absolutely genuine, we shall be pleased to give the names of the persons, also the cost invoice, to any genuine person."
The firm said a gent's fawn double-breasted coat that normally sold for £2 10s was being sold for 12/6 and then on the following day a ladies Macintosh would be available at 11am for 13/6.
There was some bad news for the people of St Helens on the 12th with the announcement that Dr Joseph Cates had resigned.
The departure of the town's pioneering Medical Officer of Health was unlikely to have been linked to last week's public meeting when his plans for enhanced powers to prevent the spread of infectious disease were defeated.
That was a setback but presumably Cates had applied for his new position as Medical Officer for Surrey well before.
But he would now be receiving the huge salary of £1,200 when the average yearly income for a working man was then of the order of £120 to £150.
Those in charge of the southern county would no doubt have been impressed with what Cates had achieved in a poor northern town.
In St Helens the doctor had had to fight against ignorance and some resentment to the measures he'd introduced.
At one point Cates had complained that some parents didn't call in the doctor until their diseased children were "practically dead".
At times Dr Cates would upset landlords by declaring their rented properties unfit for human habitation and annoy shopkeepers with his insistence on good sanitation.
The medical officer's fight against measles had been particularly impressive. During the ten-year period before 1917 there had been more than 1,000 deaths from the disease in St Helens.
However the proactive measures that Dr Cates had introduced had hugely reduced the number of fatalities.
His campaign against venereal disease would also have won over the Surrey bosses.
Many returning soldiers brought VD back from the front but despite the stigma, Cates established a free clinic in Claughton Street and provided confidential treatment.
The Royal party would be staying with Lord Derby in order to visit the Grand National at Aintree.
The King and Queen had visited St Helens in 1913 and later in 1921 the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII) would visit St Helens Recs football ground in City Road and shake hands with over 100 ex-servicemen.
It was panto time this week at the St Helens Theatre Royal & Opera House – to give the Corporation Street theatre its full name.
'Robinson Crusoe' was the chosen show. The Hippodrome tended to start their short panto season later in January and this week the music hall was offering the twice-nightly delights of these artistes:
Razza ("The human gramophone"); The Bounders ("The human grasshoppers, funny antics in an act characterised by entertaining bouncing feats"); Tina Paynola ("An excellent mimic, those of children being particularly well done"); Talbot O’Farrell ("The popular singer and raconteur from Hull"); Ralph and Mabel ("An exhibition of syncopated music") and The Femina Quartette, including Miss Lillian Burgess ("A brilliant vocal and instrumental ensemble").
I'm intrigued as to how Razza mimicked a gramophone. One paper describing his performance in another town said:
"Razza's imitation of the phonograph is novel and realistic". Another described it as "a clever and interesting performance".
On the 13th the Liverpool Echo wrote that Adrian Beecham – the 16-year-old son of conductor Sir Thomas Beecham of the St Helens pill-making family – was to have his opera 'The Merchant of Venice' performed in London on February 1st.
The young man had been composing since the age of six and I expect as the child of affluent parents, young Beecham had never been left at home on his tod.
However that often occurred in the poor, working-class homes of children within the St Helens district.
That was usually only for brief periods while their mother popped out to the shops and as long as a fireguard was in place, she would rarely be criticised for doing so.
However older toddlers could be more inquisitive and stronger than younger kids and prove a greater danger to themselves.
On the 14th it was reported that Joseph Cardwell of Dam Lane in Golborne had been "temporarily" left alone by his mother.
When she returned home she found that her son aged nearly three had managed to get his clothes on fire and was so badly burnt that he soon died.
The fireguard had been in position when Mrs Cardwell left home but for some reason Joseph had moved it to one side of the fire.
Under the headline: "25 Years Ago – Widnes – Noted Character's Death", the Runcorn Weekly News wrote on the 14th:
"A noted character who held the record for the number of appearances at Widnes Police Court, died in the Whiston Institution [workhouse] on January 9th, 1896.
"Altogether she had been convicted at Widnes 124 times, including 80 for drunkenness, 17 for breach of the peace, five for wilful damage, and once for hawking without a licence. In addition to these cases there were a number of convictions against her at St. Helens."
The paper also mentioned that a 16-year-old girl who could neither read nor write had been the defendant in a court case at Runcorn recently and both her parents were similarly illiterate.
Lancashire was going through a cold snap and Saints game at Salford on the 15th had to be cancelled, as the pitch was frost-bound and underground heating was many years away.
Two days later Rivington Road Infants was advertising in the Manchester Guardian for a new assistant mistress.
Over the last few years the salaries of teaching staff had considerably improved and female teachers were no longer being paid a pittance and forced to quit their jobs upon marrying.
The successful applicant for the position at Rivington Road Council School would be paid a minimum of £170.
For every completed year of teaching experience the offered salary would increase by increments of £12 10s to a maximum of £304.
For a woman with more than ten years teaching experience that was a weekly wage of nearly £6 – which was good money.
And finally this story in the Liverpool Echo made me laugh this week.
Commenting on the activities of 84-year-old Charles Thorn – who in front of a cheering crowd had climbed up a ladder to the roof of the Globe Cinema at Portsmouth – the Echo wrote:
"The spirit of adventure dies hard, and we are intrigued by the episode of the old man of 84 who climbed on to the roof of a cinema, in order, as he stated, “to have a good look round.” Probably he got a little tired of Portsmouth on the level, and longed for a bird's-eye view.
"He is of the stuff of which pioneers and adventurers are made. Psycho-analysts might offer the explanation that he was suppressed in his youth, and now that he has reached old age he is bent on self-determination. But these fanciful plights usually have a prosaic ending. He descended from the heights on a policeman's back, and was removed to the workhouse infirmary."
Apparently Mr Thorn fought with the bobby all the way down the ladder! Next week's stories will include the Ormskirk Street shop fraudster and wife deserter, the death of a Pilkington boss through a broken leg, there are hard times for workers in St Helens and a drunk performs a war dance on Prescot Road.