IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (12th - 18th DECEMBER 1922)
This week's stories include the Town Hall meeting about mental defectives, the upgrade to Boundary Road baths, the boy who died after a cross-country run, the sheep stealing at Crank, the policeman that risked his life to save a dog, Cholerton's announce that BBC broadcasting has commenced and the magistrates that refused to give a wife a separation order from her husband.
Without antibiotics people often died from the most minor of accidents. On November 18th Robert Kilgour had taken part in a cross-country run and afterwards complained of having caught his foot on a bush or hedge. The 15-year-old Pilkington worker became very ill and was taken to hospital where he died on December 12th from septic poisoning.
Also on the 12th a meeting was held in St Helens Town Hall to discuss setting up a voluntary organisation that would support young persons deemed "mental defectives". "Mentally deficient" and "feeble minded" were the alternative terms for such individuals and the meeting heard that as many as three persons in a thousand were categorised as defectives.
However, the support that would be on offer appeared little more than deciding what institution such persons should be placed in. Although those present at the meeting did discuss the possibility of forming occupation centres where such "defectives" might receive training in suitable work. But it was not made clear in the reporting of the meeting whether such employed persons would be allowed to live in the community.
The organisation was formed under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 – an infamous piece of legislation that led to many vulnerable girls being labelled "feeble-minded" simply for bearing an illegitimate child. They were often placed in institutions like Rainhill Asylum, sometimes for the rest of the girls' lives.
There might be an austerity drive in place in 1922 but the council still needed to find cash for essential work. On the 13th the St Helens Water Committee decided to improve and repair the Corporation Baths in Boundary Road at a cost of nearly £9,000. Some of the members objected to the spending of the equivalent of about £500,000 in today’s money. But it was pointed out that if the repairs were not undertaken the baths would have to close. Also the installation of a new filtration plant would create efficiencies and eventually pay for itself.
"It is a considerable number of years since there was a case of sheep-stealing in the vicinity of St. Helens." So wrote the Reporter on the 15th in describing how the sending of three Billinge miners to prison to each serve three months hard labour had broken that record. The three stolen sheep had been taken from Fenny Lane Farm in Crank and it was while investigating the crime that the police stumbled across three men in the act of poaching.
One was James Garner who had been part of another group that had participated in the sheep stealing and he led the police to the others involved. It appeared that the men had come across the three sheep while poaching game and had decided to kill them in order to feast on lamb, as two of their number were out of work.
The Reporter also described how John Wilson of Windleshaw Road (pictured above) had been summoned to St Helens Police Court by his wife Florence to answer a charge of desertion. These cases were effectively applications for maintenance orders, which the magistrates would eventually grant – but not before lurid details of the couple 's relationship were aired in a lengthy public hearing. But occasionally the magistrates saw themselves as marriage guidance counsellors and refused to give the wife the order that she sought.
Wilson vs. Wilson was one such case in which the Bench declined the woman's application on the grounds that the couple were young and had only been married 2½ years. The magistrates, perhaps, had a point, as overcrowding in the home seemed to be the root cause of their trouble. During the couple's short time together, John and Florence had lived at her mother's house in Dunriding Lane – but didn't sleep together. Instead John kipped in a bed with Florence's brother and she and their 2-year-old child slept with her mother.
Just four months after their marriage, John said he was going to visit his sick sister in Providence Hospital – but did not return home to his wife for seven weeks. And then it was only to collect his clothes, which Florence refused to let him have. The husband had only given his wife a total of £5 maintenance during the whole of 1921, as he wanted her and their son to come and live with him at his own family's house where there was a spare bedroom – but Florence had refused.
The husband said he was fed up with the way he had been treated while living at his mother-in-law's home. Although the wife said she would not be happy returning to live with her husband, he wanted a reconciliation – but only on his terms. But seeing there was a possibility that the marriage might be saved, the magistrates dismissed the maintenance order application. That could have been hard on Florence if her mind was set on separation – but she could always re-apply to the court at another time.
Cholerton's of St Helens are best remembered for their photography business situated in premises in Duke Street. But in 1922 under the ownership of Francis Cholerton the shop was located in Bridge Street and also dealt in the new wireless equipment. This week Cholerton's had this ad in the Reporter:
"Broadcasting has commenced. You can now sit in your own house and listen to speech, music, weather reports and latest news items sent out nightly from the British Broadcasting stations. I have now a complete stock of wireless receivers. Cosmos radiophones, £4 10/- complete."
There was an illustration of a wireless set included within the ad complete with headphones. It was certainly not radio as we know it, as it was housed inside a box with a lid. The picture reminded me somewhat of Dansette record players – but they were still 30 years away. Although the BBC as the British Broadcasting Company had begun broadcasting in London in October, it would not have been until November 15th when a Manchester station had opened that wireless listening would have become a reality for a few in St Helens.
The Reporter also described how Thomas Callaghan from Waterloo Street had appeared in court charged with committing a breach of the peace. The man was clearly a bit of a comic. In answer to the charge of creating a disturbance by shouting, the defendant said: "They are all deaf. You have to shout to them there!" Then when PC Tuck described Callaghan's language at the time as having been "a bit rough", the defendant replied: "Don't come it!"
The constable said the man had been standing on his doorstep shouting and creating a disturbance and had refused his instruction to keep quiet. When he had spoken to him about his behaviour, he said Callaghan invited him to go inside and have a drink with him. The defendant was bound over to be of good behaviour for 18 months.
Also in court was Frank Lennon of West Park who was charged with failing to report the change of colour of his motor car. The defendant said it had been an oversight and the case was dismissed upon payment of costs. Frank Lennon was a grocer whose son Terence would later develop the business into a chain of supermarkets.
The St Helens Flying Club held a show on the 16th. One might assume that would involve lots of planes taking off and landing in the town. But aeroplanes were still a recent invention and pigeons had being flying a lot longer – and were a lot cheaper to run and safer! So the event was a bird show for fanciers.
On the 18th popular St Helens elocutionist Wilson Nicholson performed his annual reading of Dickens' 'Christmas Carol' at the Town Hall. Nicholson was well known for his recitals and dramatic readings during the ‘20s and ‘30s, which he gave in many towns in the north of England to large audiences.
On the 18th the RSPCA honoured Sergeant Ballantyne of the St Helens police force for risking his life to save a dog. The society's bronze medal was presented to the officer in a ceremony held at St Helens Town Hall. The dog had been found at the bottom of an old pit shaft at Jockey's Brow in Ravenhead. The shaft was 52 ft deep and Sergeant Ballantyne could see that the dog was in a bad way and starving to death. So the officer was lowered down the shaft by rope and, with considerable difficulty, he descended to the bottom and brought up the dog.
And finally, for a week from the 18th the Hippodrome Theatre dropped its usual music hall fare for a circus. Its advert in the Reporter said: "Including a magnificent stud of 12 horses, ponies and mules which will parade the town daily. Also wonderful clowns, gymnasts and acrobats."
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the poor children's Christmas party, the female bigamist who asked her husband for a certificate of freedom, Father Christmas visits St Helens hospitals and the children involved in a St Helens gambling house.
Without antibiotics people often died from the most minor of accidents. On November 18th Robert Kilgour had taken part in a cross-country run and afterwards complained of having caught his foot on a bush or hedge. The 15-year-old Pilkington worker became very ill and was taken to hospital where he died on December 12th from septic poisoning.
Also on the 12th a meeting was held in St Helens Town Hall to discuss setting up a voluntary organisation that would support young persons deemed "mental defectives". "Mentally deficient" and "feeble minded" were the alternative terms for such individuals and the meeting heard that as many as three persons in a thousand were categorised as defectives.
However, the support that would be on offer appeared little more than deciding what institution such persons should be placed in. Although those present at the meeting did discuss the possibility of forming occupation centres where such "defectives" might receive training in suitable work. But it was not made clear in the reporting of the meeting whether such employed persons would be allowed to live in the community.
The organisation was formed under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 – an infamous piece of legislation that led to many vulnerable girls being labelled "feeble-minded" simply for bearing an illegitimate child. They were often placed in institutions like Rainhill Asylum, sometimes for the rest of the girls' lives.
"It is a considerable number of years since there was a case of sheep-stealing in the vicinity of St. Helens." So wrote the Reporter on the 15th in describing how the sending of three Billinge miners to prison to each serve three months hard labour had broken that record. The three stolen sheep had been taken from Fenny Lane Farm in Crank and it was while investigating the crime that the police stumbled across three men in the act of poaching.
One was James Garner who had been part of another group that had participated in the sheep stealing and he led the police to the others involved. It appeared that the men had come across the three sheep while poaching game and had decided to kill them in order to feast on lamb, as two of their number were out of work.
Wilson vs. Wilson was one such case in which the Bench declined the woman's application on the grounds that the couple were young and had only been married 2½ years. The magistrates, perhaps, had a point, as overcrowding in the home seemed to be the root cause of their trouble. During the couple's short time together, John and Florence had lived at her mother's house in Dunriding Lane – but didn't sleep together. Instead John kipped in a bed with Florence's brother and she and their 2-year-old child slept with her mother.
Just four months after their marriage, John said he was going to visit his sick sister in Providence Hospital – but did not return home to his wife for seven weeks. And then it was only to collect his clothes, which Florence refused to let him have. The husband had only given his wife a total of £5 maintenance during the whole of 1921, as he wanted her and their son to come and live with him at his own family's house where there was a spare bedroom – but Florence had refused.
The husband said he was fed up with the way he had been treated while living at his mother-in-law's home. Although the wife said she would not be happy returning to live with her husband, he wanted a reconciliation – but only on his terms. But seeing there was a possibility that the marriage might be saved, the magistrates dismissed the maintenance order application. That could have been hard on Florence if her mind was set on separation – but she could always re-apply to the court at another time.
Cholerton's of St Helens are best remembered for their photography business situated in premises in Duke Street. But in 1922 under the ownership of Francis Cholerton the shop was located in Bridge Street and also dealt in the new wireless equipment. This week Cholerton's had this ad in the Reporter:
"Broadcasting has commenced. You can now sit in your own house and listen to speech, music, weather reports and latest news items sent out nightly from the British Broadcasting stations. I have now a complete stock of wireless receivers. Cosmos radiophones, £4 10/- complete."
There was an illustration of a wireless set included within the ad complete with headphones. It was certainly not radio as we know it, as it was housed inside a box with a lid. The picture reminded me somewhat of Dansette record players – but they were still 30 years away. Although the BBC as the British Broadcasting Company had begun broadcasting in London in October, it would not have been until November 15th when a Manchester station had opened that wireless listening would have become a reality for a few in St Helens.
The Reporter also described how Thomas Callaghan from Waterloo Street had appeared in court charged with committing a breach of the peace. The man was clearly a bit of a comic. In answer to the charge of creating a disturbance by shouting, the defendant said: "They are all deaf. You have to shout to them there!" Then when PC Tuck described Callaghan's language at the time as having been "a bit rough", the defendant replied: "Don't come it!"
The constable said the man had been standing on his doorstep shouting and creating a disturbance and had refused his instruction to keep quiet. When he had spoken to him about his behaviour, he said Callaghan invited him to go inside and have a drink with him. The defendant was bound over to be of good behaviour for 18 months.
Also in court was Frank Lennon of West Park who was charged with failing to report the change of colour of his motor car. The defendant said it had been an oversight and the case was dismissed upon payment of costs. Frank Lennon was a grocer whose son Terence would later develop the business into a chain of supermarkets.
The St Helens Flying Club held a show on the 16th. One might assume that would involve lots of planes taking off and landing in the town. But aeroplanes were still a recent invention and pigeons had being flying a lot longer – and were a lot cheaper to run and safer! So the event was a bird show for fanciers.
On the 18th popular St Helens elocutionist Wilson Nicholson performed his annual reading of Dickens' 'Christmas Carol' at the Town Hall. Nicholson was well known for his recitals and dramatic readings during the ‘20s and ‘30s, which he gave in many towns in the north of England to large audiences.
On the 18th the RSPCA honoured Sergeant Ballantyne of the St Helens police force for risking his life to save a dog. The society's bronze medal was presented to the officer in a ceremony held at St Helens Town Hall. The dog had been found at the bottom of an old pit shaft at Jockey's Brow in Ravenhead. The shaft was 52 ft deep and Sergeant Ballantyne could see that the dog was in a bad way and starving to death. So the officer was lowered down the shaft by rope and, with considerable difficulty, he descended to the bottom and brought up the dog.
And finally, for a week from the 18th the Hippodrome Theatre dropped its usual music hall fare for a circus. Its advert in the Reporter said: "Including a magnificent stud of 12 horses, ponies and mules which will parade the town daily. Also wonderful clowns, gymnasts and acrobats."
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the poor children's Christmas party, the female bigamist who asked her husband for a certificate of freedom, Father Christmas visits St Helens hospitals and the children involved in a St Helens gambling house.
This week's stories include the Town Hall meeting about mental defectives, the upgrade to Boundary Road baths, the boy who died after a cross-country run, the sheep stealing at Crank, the policeman that risked his life to save a dog, Cholerton's announce that BBC broadcasting has commenced and the magistrates that refused to give a wife a separation order from her husband.
Without antibiotics people often died from the most minor of accidents. On November 18th Robert Kilgour had taken part in a cross-country run and afterwards complained of having caught his foot on a bush or hedge.
The 15-year-old Pilkington worker became very ill and was taken to hospital where he died on December 12th from septic poisoning.
Also on the 12th a meeting was held in St Helens Town Hall to discuss setting up a voluntary organisation that would support young persons deemed "mental defectives".
"Mentally deficient" and "feeble minded" were the alternative terms for such individuals and the meeting heard that as many as three persons in a thousand were categorised as defectives.
However, the support that would be on offer appeared little more than deciding what institution such persons should be placed in.
Although those present at the meeting did discuss the possibility of forming occupation centres where such "defectives" might receive training in suitable work.
But it was not made clear in the reporting of the meeting whether such employed persons would be allowed to live in the community.
The organisation was formed under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 – an infamous piece of legislation that led to many vulnerable girls being labelled "feeble-minded" simply for bearing an illegitimate child.
They were often placed in institutions like Rainhill Asylum, sometimes for the rest of the girls' lives.
There might be an austerity drive in place in 1922 but the council still needed to find cash for essential work.
On the 13th the St Helens Water Committee decided to improve and repair the Corporation Baths in Boundary Road at a cost of nearly £9,000.
Some of the members objected to the spending of the equivalent of about £500,000 in today’s money.
But it was pointed out that if the repairs were not undertaken the baths would have to close.
Also the installation of a new filtration plant would create efficiencies and eventually pay for itself.
"It is a considerable number of years since there was a case of sheep-stealing in the vicinity of St. Helens."
So wrote the Reporter on the 15th in describing how the sending of three Billinge miners to prison to each serve three months hard labour had broken that record.
The three stolen sheep had been taken from Fenny Lane Farm in Crank and it was while investigating the crime that the police stumbled across three men in the act of poaching.
One was James Garner who had been part of another group that had participated in the sheep stealing and he led the police to the others involved.
It appeared that the men had come across the three sheep while poaching game and had decided to kill them in order to feast on lamb, as two of their number were out of work.
The Reporter also described how John Wilson of Windleshaw Road (pictured above) had been summoned to St Helens Police Court by his wife Florence to answer a charge of desertion.
These cases were effectively applications for maintenance orders, which the magistrates would eventually grant – but not before lurid details of the couple 's relationship were aired in a lengthy public hearing.
But occasionally the magistrates saw themselves as marriage guidance counsellors and refused to give the wife the order that she sought.
Wilson vs. Wilson was one such case in which the Bench declined the woman's application on the grounds that the couple were young and had only been married 2½ years.
The magistrates, perhaps, had a point, as overcrowding in the home seemed to be the root cause of their trouble.
During the couple's short time together, John and Florence had lived at her mother's house in Dunriding Lane – but didn't sleep together.
Instead John kipped in a bed with Florence's brother and she and their 2-year-old child slept with her mother.
Just four months after their marriage, John said he was going to visit his sick sister in Providence Hospital – but did not return home to his wife for seven weeks.
And then it was only to collect his clothes, which Florence refused to let him have.
The husband had only given his wife a total of £5 maintenance during the whole of 1921, as he wanted her and their son to come and live with him at his own family's house where there was a spare bedroom – but Florence had refused.
The husband said he was fed up with the way he had been treated while living at his mother-in-law's home.
Although the wife said she would not be happy returning to live with her husband, he wanted a reconciliation – but only on his terms.
But seeing there was a possibility that the marriage might be saved, the magistrates dismissed the maintenance order application.
That could have been hard on Florence if her mind was set on separation – but she could always re-apply to the court at another time.
Cholerton's of St Helens are best remembered for their photography business situated in premises in Duke Street.
But in 1922 under the ownership of Francis Cholerton the shop was located in Bridge Street and also dealt in the new wireless equipment. This week Cholerton's had this ad in the Reporter:
"Broadcasting has commenced. You can now sit in your own house and listen to speech, music, weather reports and latest news items sent out nightly from the British Broadcasting stations. I have now a complete stock of wireless receivers. Cosmos radiophones, £4 10/- complete."
There was an illustration of a wireless set included within the ad complete with headphones. It was certainly not radio as we know it, as it was housed inside a box with a lid.
The picture reminded me somewhat of Dansette record players – but they were still 30 years away.
Although the BBC as the British Broadcasting Company had begun broadcasting in London in October, it would not have been until November 15th when a Manchester station had opened that wireless listening would have become a reality for a few in St Helens.
The Reporter also described how Thomas Callaghan from Waterloo Street had appeared in court charged with committing a breach of the peace.
The man was clearly a bit of a comic. In answer to the charge of creating a disturbance by shouting, the defendant said: "They are all deaf. You have to shout to them there!"
Then when PC Tuck described Callaghan's language at the time as having been "a bit rough", the defendant replied: "Don't come it!"
The constable said the man had been standing on his doorstep shouting and creating a disturbance and had refused his instruction to keep quiet.
When he had spoken to him about his behaviour, he said Callaghan invited him to go inside and have a drink with him. The defendant was bound over to be of good behaviour for 18 months.
Also in court was Frank Lennon of West Park who was charged with failing to report the change of colour of his motor car.
The defendant said it had been an oversight and the case was dismissed upon payment of costs.
Frank Lennon was a grocer whose son Terence would later develop the business into a chain of supermarkets.
The St Helens Flying Club held a show on the 16th. One might assume that would involve lots of planes taking off and landing in the town.
But aeroplanes were still a recent invention and pigeons had being flying a lot longer – and were a lot cheaper to run and safer! So the event was a bird show for fanciers.
On the 18th popular St Helens elocutionist Wilson Nicholson performed his annual reading of Dickens' 'Christmas Carol' at the Town Hall.
Nicholson was well known for his recitals and dramatic readings during the ‘20s and ‘30s, which he gave in many towns in the north of England to large audiences.
On the 18th the RSPCA honoured Sergeant Ballantyne of the St Helens police force for risking his life to save a dog.
The society's bronze medal was presented to the officer in a ceremony held at St Helens Town Hall.
The dog had been found at the bottom of an old pit shaft at Jockey's Brow in Ravenhead.
The shaft was 52 ft deep and Sergeant Ballantyne could see that the dog was in a bad way and starving to death.
So the officer was lowered down the shaft by rope and, with considerable difficulty, he descended to the bottom and brought up the dog.
And finally, for a week from the 18th the Hippodrome Theatre dropped its usual music hall fare for a circus. Its advert in the Reporter said:
"Including a magnificent stud of 12 horses, ponies and mules which will parade the town daily. Also wonderful clowns, gymnasts and acrobats."
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the poor children's Christmas party, the female bigamist who asked her husband for a certificate of freedom, Father Christmas visits St Helens hospitals and the children involved in a St Helens gambling house.
Without antibiotics people often died from the most minor of accidents. On November 18th Robert Kilgour had taken part in a cross-country run and afterwards complained of having caught his foot on a bush or hedge.
The 15-year-old Pilkington worker became very ill and was taken to hospital where he died on December 12th from septic poisoning.
Also on the 12th a meeting was held in St Helens Town Hall to discuss setting up a voluntary organisation that would support young persons deemed "mental defectives".
"Mentally deficient" and "feeble minded" were the alternative terms for such individuals and the meeting heard that as many as three persons in a thousand were categorised as defectives.
However, the support that would be on offer appeared little more than deciding what institution such persons should be placed in.
Although those present at the meeting did discuss the possibility of forming occupation centres where such "defectives" might receive training in suitable work.
But it was not made clear in the reporting of the meeting whether such employed persons would be allowed to live in the community.
The organisation was formed under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 – an infamous piece of legislation that led to many vulnerable girls being labelled "feeble-minded" simply for bearing an illegitimate child.
They were often placed in institutions like Rainhill Asylum, sometimes for the rest of the girls' lives.
On the 13th the St Helens Water Committee decided to improve and repair the Corporation Baths in Boundary Road at a cost of nearly £9,000.
Some of the members objected to the spending of the equivalent of about £500,000 in today’s money.
But it was pointed out that if the repairs were not undertaken the baths would have to close.
Also the installation of a new filtration plant would create efficiencies and eventually pay for itself.
"It is a considerable number of years since there was a case of sheep-stealing in the vicinity of St. Helens."
So wrote the Reporter on the 15th in describing how the sending of three Billinge miners to prison to each serve three months hard labour had broken that record.
The three stolen sheep had been taken from Fenny Lane Farm in Crank and it was while investigating the crime that the police stumbled across three men in the act of poaching.
One was James Garner who had been part of another group that had participated in the sheep stealing and he led the police to the others involved.
It appeared that the men had come across the three sheep while poaching game and had decided to kill them in order to feast on lamb, as two of their number were out of work.
These cases were effectively applications for maintenance orders, which the magistrates would eventually grant – but not before lurid details of the couple 's relationship were aired in a lengthy public hearing.
But occasionally the magistrates saw themselves as marriage guidance counsellors and refused to give the wife the order that she sought.
Wilson vs. Wilson was one such case in which the Bench declined the woman's application on the grounds that the couple were young and had only been married 2½ years.
The magistrates, perhaps, had a point, as overcrowding in the home seemed to be the root cause of their trouble.
During the couple's short time together, John and Florence had lived at her mother's house in Dunriding Lane – but didn't sleep together.
Instead John kipped in a bed with Florence's brother and she and their 2-year-old child slept with her mother.
Just four months after their marriage, John said he was going to visit his sick sister in Providence Hospital – but did not return home to his wife for seven weeks.
And then it was only to collect his clothes, which Florence refused to let him have.
The husband had only given his wife a total of £5 maintenance during the whole of 1921, as he wanted her and their son to come and live with him at his own family's house where there was a spare bedroom – but Florence had refused.
The husband said he was fed up with the way he had been treated while living at his mother-in-law's home.
Although the wife said she would not be happy returning to live with her husband, he wanted a reconciliation – but only on his terms.
But seeing there was a possibility that the marriage might be saved, the magistrates dismissed the maintenance order application.
That could have been hard on Florence if her mind was set on separation – but she could always re-apply to the court at another time.
Cholerton's of St Helens are best remembered for their photography business situated in premises in Duke Street.
But in 1922 under the ownership of Francis Cholerton the shop was located in Bridge Street and also dealt in the new wireless equipment. This week Cholerton's had this ad in the Reporter:
"Broadcasting has commenced. You can now sit in your own house and listen to speech, music, weather reports and latest news items sent out nightly from the British Broadcasting stations. I have now a complete stock of wireless receivers. Cosmos radiophones, £4 10/- complete."
There was an illustration of a wireless set included within the ad complete with headphones. It was certainly not radio as we know it, as it was housed inside a box with a lid.
The picture reminded me somewhat of Dansette record players – but they were still 30 years away.
Although the BBC as the British Broadcasting Company had begun broadcasting in London in October, it would not have been until November 15th when a Manchester station had opened that wireless listening would have become a reality for a few in St Helens.
The Reporter also described how Thomas Callaghan from Waterloo Street had appeared in court charged with committing a breach of the peace.
The man was clearly a bit of a comic. In answer to the charge of creating a disturbance by shouting, the defendant said: "They are all deaf. You have to shout to them there!"
Then when PC Tuck described Callaghan's language at the time as having been "a bit rough", the defendant replied: "Don't come it!"
The constable said the man had been standing on his doorstep shouting and creating a disturbance and had refused his instruction to keep quiet.
When he had spoken to him about his behaviour, he said Callaghan invited him to go inside and have a drink with him. The defendant was bound over to be of good behaviour for 18 months.
Also in court was Frank Lennon of West Park who was charged with failing to report the change of colour of his motor car.
The defendant said it had been an oversight and the case was dismissed upon payment of costs.
Frank Lennon was a grocer whose son Terence would later develop the business into a chain of supermarkets.
The St Helens Flying Club held a show on the 16th. One might assume that would involve lots of planes taking off and landing in the town.
But aeroplanes were still a recent invention and pigeons had being flying a lot longer – and were a lot cheaper to run and safer! So the event was a bird show for fanciers.
On the 18th popular St Helens elocutionist Wilson Nicholson performed his annual reading of Dickens' 'Christmas Carol' at the Town Hall.
Nicholson was well known for his recitals and dramatic readings during the ‘20s and ‘30s, which he gave in many towns in the north of England to large audiences.
On the 18th the RSPCA honoured Sergeant Ballantyne of the St Helens police force for risking his life to save a dog.
The society's bronze medal was presented to the officer in a ceremony held at St Helens Town Hall.
The dog had been found at the bottom of an old pit shaft at Jockey's Brow in Ravenhead.
The shaft was 52 ft deep and Sergeant Ballantyne could see that the dog was in a bad way and starving to death.
So the officer was lowered down the shaft by rope and, with considerable difficulty, he descended to the bottom and brought up the dog.
And finally, for a week from the 18th the Hippodrome Theatre dropped its usual music hall fare for a circus. Its advert in the Reporter said:
"Including a magnificent stud of 12 horses, ponies and mules which will parade the town daily. Also wonderful clowns, gymnasts and acrobats."
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the poor children's Christmas party, the female bigamist who asked her husband for a certificate of freedom, Father Christmas visits St Helens hospitals and the children involved in a St Helens gambling house.