IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 14 - 20 JULY 1925
This week's many stories include the man who told a provable lie in St Helens Police Court, the silly squabble in Phythian Street, the Bentinck Street man who threw his wife and kids out of their home late at night and why St Helens being one of the youngest towns in the country was not necessarily a good thing.
I wonder how many books St Helens libraries lend out these days? Probably not 16,000 per month but this week it was revealed that in June 1925 that many books had been borrowed at the various town libraries and 65 new members had signed up.
On the 15th at a meeting of the council's Parks Committee, a Mrs White was granted permission to erect a stand at the Queens Recreation Ground for the supply of refreshments to the "lady bowlers". Her rent was 5 shillings a week. However, the new bowling green at Victoria Park was no longer expected to be open to the public during the summer as planned, as the prevailing hot and dry weather was preventing grass sods from knitting together. But the new hard courts for playing tennis at Victoria Park, Sutton Park and Gaskell Park were now finished and would soon be available for public play.
There must have been an enormous number of lies told in St Helens Police Court! After all, a huge number of cases involved complainants, defendants and witnesses telling diametrically opposite stories, often baffling the Bench. But proving that perjury had been committed was another matter.
On the 15th at Manchester Assizes, William Oritt was sent to prison for six months after being convicted of making false statements in St Helens Police Court. The 29-year-old had foolishly claimed that he had not been receiving benefit under the National Health Act and that signatures on a document referring to payments being made to him were not in his handwriting. That led to the police making further enquiries and sufficient evidence was amassed to prove that he had lied in court.
Also on the 15th an inquest was held on John Martin from Morgan Street in Parr. The 40-year-old with a wife and family of eight had been fatally injured at Ashtons Green Colliery (pictured above) after a stone came down on him from the pit roof.
There weren't as many silly neighbours' squabbles that made the courts in the 1920s, as there had been 50 years before. But some daft ones still occurred. This week Jane Wilnecker took out a summons against Esther Maleedy, her neighbour in Phythian Street in Greenbank. She accused Mrs Maleedy of entering her home late on the previous Saturday night.
Mrs Wilnecker told the Bench that she had said to her neighbour, "We don't want any strags here", which I presume is a reference to a straggler or stray. In response Mrs Maleedy was accused of calling her "filthy and nasty names", which the woman on oath completely denied.
Then Maria Maleedy, the daughter of the defendant, gave evidence and complained that Jane Wilnecker had been going to hit her and then added, "But she was unfortunate and I hit her first." "It's lies!", declared Mrs. Wilnecker. The Bench decided that they had heard enough and dismissed the case.
A nasty but all too common practice was for a husband in a temper tantrum to throw his wife and children out of their home late at night. Doing such a thing to his family at 9:45pm one night led to William Roberts appearing in court this week. The man from Bentinck Street in Sutton was accused of a breach of the peace after a constable had entered his home to ask him to readmit his wife and kids.
"If you take me you will have to take me without my trousers", were the unusual comments attributed to Roberts. What happened to his pants was not revealed but perhaps not having fresh trousers to wear was the reason his wife and children were shown the door. Roberts was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
It might be a free country but you could not sit quietly on the benches in Victoria Square late at night – particularly if you had no money. Lawrence Hilliard had been doing just that and as a result appeared in court charged with lodging out in the open air in Victoria Square without visible means of support. PC Tinsley locked Mr Hilliard up after spotted him sitting quietly outside the Town Hall at midnight. The man had many other prior convictions and was sent to prison for a week.
The St Helens Reporter wrote on the 17th that the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin would be making an important speech at Knowsley Park in a week's time. A crowd estimated at 50,000 Conservatives from all parts of Lancashire and Cheshire was expected to attend.
The Reporter also stated that the final report on the 1921 census had just been released and it was revealed that the town was one of the youngest in the country with an average age of just over 27. That sounds good at first sight with child mortality reducing. But the average age in the town was being kept low because many people did not live long lives. The St Helens atmosphere, poverty and many work-based accidents were among a number of factors reducing the average age.
Whether you were married or not made a difference in many different ways. This week Arthur Knibb's failure to tell the Prescot Guardians that he had not undergone a marriage ceremony with his "wife" cost him a spell in prison. Arthur from Birkenhead had four children with Jessie Corrigan and, down on their luck in St Helens, he claimed first outdoor relief for his family. That was the small sum paid to the very poor living in the community.
Then they were moved into the Whiston Institution, which was the relatively new, politically correct name for Whiston Workhouse. But old habits died hard and the Liverpool Evening Express in their version of this story referred to the institution as Prescot Workhouse. The Prescot Guardians expended the large amount of £215 on the family but then made the shocking discovery that the couple were not wed.
Not that they would have been able to sleep together in Whiston – as families there were separated. But what was shocking for the authorities was that they were paying for a woman and her family that came from Birkenhead and it was the Guardians there that should have been coughing up.
The money for looking after paupers came from local ratepayers and it was common for the Prescot Guardians at Whiston to send paupers to workhouses in other districts if they possibly could. Jessie and her four children would have been sent packing to Birkenhead if it had been known that she wasn't the legal wife of Arthur Knibb.
The latter told St Helens Police Court this week that he had meant to marry the woman but could not find sufficient money to go through with the ceremony and because of his lie he was told to serve 28 days in prison.
There was a dilemma for motorists as to where to park their car. There were only one or two car parks and parking in the street was not permitted as it was considered likely to cause an obstruction. This week Albert Bellis was fined £1 in court for parking his vehicle in front of a pub in Higher Parr Street for 20 minutes.
More speeding motorists were booked in Greenfield Road than in any other street in St Helens. In the days before the East Lancs and Rainford By-pass an enormous amount of traffic journeying to places like Southport and Liverpool passed through St Helens town centre and departed (or entered) the town via Greenfield Road. Most of those prosecuted were from out of town and this week Edward Tetlow from Cheshire and John Hodkinson from Trafford Park were both fined £2 for speeding in Greenfield Road.
Children and youths playing ball games in the street would take to their heels at the sight of a policeman. But the bobby had longer legs and so would always be able to catch the slowcoach amongst the group. This week William Collins from Water Street was the unlucky one after being caught playing in Cross Street what the Reporter called ball tennis with "three other uncaptured youths". It was hardly the crime of the century but was taken seriously and the boy was fined 7s 6d despite his protestations that he had only just arrived at the place.
Lots of lads threw stones in the street, which clearly was potentially more dangerous than ball playing. But Edward Keating from Hardy Street insisted to the court that he didn't know he was doing wrong when caught throwing two large stones in Liverpool Street but was still fined 5 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the crippled children's annual treat, the man that was punched through a George Street chip shop's window, the tale of a coat tail on a motorbike sidecar and the woman driver who crashed in Hardshaw Street.
I wonder how many books St Helens libraries lend out these days? Probably not 16,000 per month but this week it was revealed that in June 1925 that many books had been borrowed at the various town libraries and 65 new members had signed up.
There must have been an enormous number of lies told in St Helens Police Court! After all, a huge number of cases involved complainants, defendants and witnesses telling diametrically opposite stories, often baffling the Bench. But proving that perjury had been committed was another matter.
On the 15th at Manchester Assizes, William Oritt was sent to prison for six months after being convicted of making false statements in St Helens Police Court. The 29-year-old had foolishly claimed that he had not been receiving benefit under the National Health Act and that signatures on a document referring to payments being made to him were not in his handwriting. That led to the police making further enquiries and sufficient evidence was amassed to prove that he had lied in court.
There weren't as many silly neighbours' squabbles that made the courts in the 1920s, as there had been 50 years before. But some daft ones still occurred. This week Jane Wilnecker took out a summons against Esther Maleedy, her neighbour in Phythian Street in Greenbank. She accused Mrs Maleedy of entering her home late on the previous Saturday night.
Mrs Wilnecker told the Bench that she had said to her neighbour, "We don't want any strags here", which I presume is a reference to a straggler or stray. In response Mrs Maleedy was accused of calling her "filthy and nasty names", which the woman on oath completely denied.
Then Maria Maleedy, the daughter of the defendant, gave evidence and complained that Jane Wilnecker had been going to hit her and then added, "But she was unfortunate and I hit her first." "It's lies!", declared Mrs. Wilnecker. The Bench decided that they had heard enough and dismissed the case.
A nasty but all too common practice was for a husband in a temper tantrum to throw his wife and children out of their home late at night. Doing such a thing to his family at 9:45pm one night led to William Roberts appearing in court this week. The man from Bentinck Street in Sutton was accused of a breach of the peace after a constable had entered his home to ask him to readmit his wife and kids.
"If you take me you will have to take me without my trousers", were the unusual comments attributed to Roberts. What happened to his pants was not revealed but perhaps not having fresh trousers to wear was the reason his wife and children were shown the door. Roberts was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
It might be a free country but you could not sit quietly on the benches in Victoria Square late at night – particularly if you had no money. Lawrence Hilliard had been doing just that and as a result appeared in court charged with lodging out in the open air in Victoria Square without visible means of support. PC Tinsley locked Mr Hilliard up after spotted him sitting quietly outside the Town Hall at midnight. The man had many other prior convictions and was sent to prison for a week.
The St Helens Reporter wrote on the 17th that the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin would be making an important speech at Knowsley Park in a week's time. A crowd estimated at 50,000 Conservatives from all parts of Lancashire and Cheshire was expected to attend.
The Reporter also stated that the final report on the 1921 census had just been released and it was revealed that the town was one of the youngest in the country with an average age of just over 27. That sounds good at first sight with child mortality reducing. But the average age in the town was being kept low because many people did not live long lives. The St Helens atmosphere, poverty and many work-based accidents were among a number of factors reducing the average age.
Whether you were married or not made a difference in many different ways. This week Arthur Knibb's failure to tell the Prescot Guardians that he had not undergone a marriage ceremony with his "wife" cost him a spell in prison. Arthur from Birkenhead had four children with Jessie Corrigan and, down on their luck in St Helens, he claimed first outdoor relief for his family. That was the small sum paid to the very poor living in the community.
Then they were moved into the Whiston Institution, which was the relatively new, politically correct name for Whiston Workhouse. But old habits died hard and the Liverpool Evening Express in their version of this story referred to the institution as Prescot Workhouse. The Prescot Guardians expended the large amount of £215 on the family but then made the shocking discovery that the couple were not wed.
Not that they would have been able to sleep together in Whiston – as families there were separated. But what was shocking for the authorities was that they were paying for a woman and her family that came from Birkenhead and it was the Guardians there that should have been coughing up.
The money for looking after paupers came from local ratepayers and it was common for the Prescot Guardians at Whiston to send paupers to workhouses in other districts if they possibly could. Jessie and her four children would have been sent packing to Birkenhead if it had been known that she wasn't the legal wife of Arthur Knibb.
The latter told St Helens Police Court this week that he had meant to marry the woman but could not find sufficient money to go through with the ceremony and because of his lie he was told to serve 28 days in prison.
There was a dilemma for motorists as to where to park their car. There were only one or two car parks and parking in the street was not permitted as it was considered likely to cause an obstruction. This week Albert Bellis was fined £1 in court for parking his vehicle in front of a pub in Higher Parr Street for 20 minutes.
More speeding motorists were booked in Greenfield Road than in any other street in St Helens. In the days before the East Lancs and Rainford By-pass an enormous amount of traffic journeying to places like Southport and Liverpool passed through St Helens town centre and departed (or entered) the town via Greenfield Road. Most of those prosecuted were from out of town and this week Edward Tetlow from Cheshire and John Hodkinson from Trafford Park were both fined £2 for speeding in Greenfield Road.
Children and youths playing ball games in the street would take to their heels at the sight of a policeman. But the bobby had longer legs and so would always be able to catch the slowcoach amongst the group. This week William Collins from Water Street was the unlucky one after being caught playing in Cross Street what the Reporter called ball tennis with "three other uncaptured youths". It was hardly the crime of the century but was taken seriously and the boy was fined 7s 6d despite his protestations that he had only just arrived at the place.
Lots of lads threw stones in the street, which clearly was potentially more dangerous than ball playing. But Edward Keating from Hardy Street insisted to the court that he didn't know he was doing wrong when caught throwing two large stones in Liverpool Street but was still fined 5 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the crippled children's annual treat, the man that was punched through a George Street chip shop's window, the tale of a coat tail on a motorbike sidecar and the woman driver who crashed in Hardshaw Street.
This week's many stories include the man who told a provable lie in St Helens Police Court, the silly squabble in Phythian Street, the Bentinck Street man who threw his wife and kids out of their home late at night and why St Helens being one of the youngest towns in the country was not necessarily a good thing.
I wonder how many books St Helens libraries lend out these days? Probably not 16,000 per month but this week it was revealed that in June 1925 that many books had been borrowed at the various town libraries and 65 new members had signed up.
On the 15th at a meeting of the council's Parks Committee, a Mrs White was granted permission to erect a stand at the Queens Recreation Ground for the supply of refreshments to the "lady bowlers". Her rent was 5 shillings a week.
However, the new bowling green at Victoria Park was no longer expected to be open to the public during the summer as planned, as the prevailing hot and dry weather was preventing grass sods from knitting together.
But the new hard courts for playing tennis at Victoria Park, Sutton Park and Gaskell Park were now finished and would soon be available for public play.
There must have been an enormous number of lies told in St Helens Police Court! After all, a huge number of cases involved complainants, defendants and witnesses telling diametrically opposite stories, often baffling the Bench.
But proving that perjury had been committed was another matter.
On the 15th at Manchester Assizes, William Oritt was sent to prison for six months after being convicted of making false statements in St Helens Police Court.
The 29-year-old had foolishly claimed that he had not been receiving benefit under the National Health Act and that signatures on a document referring to payments being made to him were not in his handwriting.
That led to the police making further enquiries and sufficient evidence was amassed to prove that he had lied in court.
Also on the 15th an inquest was held on John Martin from Morgan Street in Parr.
The 40-year-old with a wife and family of eight had been fatally injured at Ashtons Green Colliery (pictured above) after a stone came down on him from the pit roof.
There weren't as many silly neighbours' squabbles that made the courts in the 1920s, as there had been 50 years before. But some daft ones still occurred.
This week Jane Wilnecker took out a summons against Esther Maleedy, her neighbour in Phythian Street in Greenbank.
She accused Mrs Maleedy of entering her home late on the previous Saturday night.
Mrs Wilnecker told the Bench that she had said to her neighbour, "We don't want any strags here", which I presume is a reference to a straggler or stray.
In response Mrs Maleedy was accused of calling her "filthy and nasty names", which the woman on oath completely denied.
Then Maria Maleedy, the daughter of the defendant, gave evidence and complained that Jane Wilnecker had been going to hit her and then added, "But she was unfortunate and I hit her first." "It's lies!", declared Mrs. Wilnecker.
The Bench decided that they had heard enough and dismissed the case.
A nasty but all too common practice was for a husband in a temper tantrum to throw his wife and children out of their home late at night.
Doing such a thing to his family at 9:45pm one night led to William Roberts appearing in court this week.
The man from Bentinck Street in Sutton was accused of a breach of the peace after a constable had entered his home to ask him to readmit his wife and kids.
"If you take me you will have to take me without my trousers", were the unusual comments attributed to Roberts.
What happened to his pants was not revealed but perhaps not having fresh trousers to wear was the reason his wife and children were shown the door. Roberts was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
It might be a free country but you could not sit quietly on the benches in Victoria Square late at night – particularly if you had no money.
Lawrence Hilliard had been doing just that and as a result appeared in court charged with lodging out in the open air in Victoria Square without visible means of support.
PC Tinsley locked Mr Hilliard up after spotted him sitting quietly outside the Town Hall at midnight.
The man had many other prior convictions and was sent to prison for a week.
The St Helens Reporter wrote on the 17th that the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin would be making an important speech at Knowsley Park in a week's time.
A crowd estimated at 50,000 Conservatives from all parts of Lancashire and Cheshire was expected to attend.
The Reporter also stated that the final report on the 1921 census had just been released and it was revealed that the town was one of the youngest in the country with an average age of just over 27.
That sounds good at first sight with child mortality reducing. But the average age in the town was being kept low because many people did not live long lives.
The St Helens atmosphere, poverty and many work-based accidents were among a number of factors reducing the average age.
Whether you were married or not made a difference in many different ways. This week Arthur Knibb's failure to tell the Prescot Guardians that he had not undergone a marriage ceremony with his "wife" cost him a spell in prison.
Arthur from Birkenhead had four children with Jessie Corrigan and, down on their luck in St Helens, he claimed first outdoor relief for his family. That was the small sum paid to the very poor living in the community.
Then they were moved into the Whiston Institution, which was the relatively new, politically correct name for Whiston Workhouse.
But old habits died hard and the Liverpool Evening Express in their version of this story referred to the institution as Prescot Workhouse.
The Prescot Guardians expended the large amount of £215 on the family but then made the shocking discovery that the couple were not wed.
Not that they would have been able to sleep together in Whiston – as families there were separated.
But what was shocking for the authorities was that they were paying for a woman and her family that came from Birkenhead and it was the Guardians there that should have been coughing up.
The money for looking after paupers came from local ratepayers and it was common for the Prescot Guardians at Whiston to send paupers to workhouses in other districts if they possibly could.
Jessie and her four children would have been sent packing to Birkenhead if it had been known that she wasn't the legal wife of Arthur Knibb.
The latter told St Helens Police Court this week that he had meant to marry the woman but could not find sufficient money to go through with the ceremony and because of his lie he was told to serve 28 days in prison.
There was a dilemma for motorists as to where to park their car. There were only one or two car parks and parking in the street was not permitted as it was considered likely to cause an obstruction.
This week Albert Bellis was fined £1 in court for parking his vehicle in front of a pub in Higher Parr Street for 20 minutes.
More speeding motorists were booked in Greenfield Road than in any other street in St Helens.
In the days before the East Lancs and Rainford By-pass an enormous amount of traffic journeying to places like Southport and Liverpool passed through St Helens town centre and departed (or entered) the town via Greenfield Road.
Most of those prosecuted were from out of town and this week Edward Tetlow from Cheshire and John Hodkinson from Trafford Park were both fined £2 for speeding in Greenfield Road.
Children and youths playing ball games in the street would take to their heels at the sight of a policeman.
But the bobby had longer legs and so would always be able to catch the slowcoach amongst the group.
This week William Collins from Water Street was the unlucky one after being caught playing in Cross Street what the Reporter called ball tennis with "three other uncaptured youths".
It was hardly the crime of the century but was taken seriously and the boy was fined 7s 6d despite his protestations that he had only just arrived at the place.
Lots of lads threw stones in the street, which clearly was potentially more dangerous than ball playing.
But Edward Keating from Hardy Street insisted to the court that he didn't know he was doing wrong when caught throwing two large stones in Liverpool Street but was still fined 5 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the crippled children's annual treat, the man that was punched through a George Street chip shop's window, the tale of a coat tail on a motorbike sidecar and the woman driver who crashed in Hardshaw Street.
I wonder how many books St Helens libraries lend out these days? Probably not 16,000 per month but this week it was revealed that in June 1925 that many books had been borrowed at the various town libraries and 65 new members had signed up.
On the 15th at a meeting of the council's Parks Committee, a Mrs White was granted permission to erect a stand at the Queens Recreation Ground for the supply of refreshments to the "lady bowlers". Her rent was 5 shillings a week.
But the new hard courts for playing tennis at Victoria Park, Sutton Park and Gaskell Park were now finished and would soon be available for public play.
There must have been an enormous number of lies told in St Helens Police Court! After all, a huge number of cases involved complainants, defendants and witnesses telling diametrically opposite stories, often baffling the Bench.
But proving that perjury had been committed was another matter.
On the 15th at Manchester Assizes, William Oritt was sent to prison for six months after being convicted of making false statements in St Helens Police Court.
The 29-year-old had foolishly claimed that he had not been receiving benefit under the National Health Act and that signatures on a document referring to payments being made to him were not in his handwriting.
That led to the police making further enquiries and sufficient evidence was amassed to prove that he had lied in court.
Also on the 15th an inquest was held on John Martin from Morgan Street in Parr.
There weren't as many silly neighbours' squabbles that made the courts in the 1920s, as there had been 50 years before. But some daft ones still occurred.
This week Jane Wilnecker took out a summons against Esther Maleedy, her neighbour in Phythian Street in Greenbank.
She accused Mrs Maleedy of entering her home late on the previous Saturday night.
Mrs Wilnecker told the Bench that she had said to her neighbour, "We don't want any strags here", which I presume is a reference to a straggler or stray.
In response Mrs Maleedy was accused of calling her "filthy and nasty names", which the woman on oath completely denied.
Then Maria Maleedy, the daughter of the defendant, gave evidence and complained that Jane Wilnecker had been going to hit her and then added, "But she was unfortunate and I hit her first." "It's lies!", declared Mrs. Wilnecker.
The Bench decided that they had heard enough and dismissed the case.
A nasty but all too common practice was for a husband in a temper tantrum to throw his wife and children out of their home late at night.
Doing such a thing to his family at 9:45pm one night led to William Roberts appearing in court this week.
The man from Bentinck Street in Sutton was accused of a breach of the peace after a constable had entered his home to ask him to readmit his wife and kids.
"If you take me you will have to take me without my trousers", were the unusual comments attributed to Roberts.
What happened to his pants was not revealed but perhaps not having fresh trousers to wear was the reason his wife and children were shown the door. Roberts was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
It might be a free country but you could not sit quietly on the benches in Victoria Square late at night – particularly if you had no money.
Lawrence Hilliard had been doing just that and as a result appeared in court charged with lodging out in the open air in Victoria Square without visible means of support.
PC Tinsley locked Mr Hilliard up after spotted him sitting quietly outside the Town Hall at midnight.
The man had many other prior convictions and was sent to prison for a week.
The St Helens Reporter wrote on the 17th that the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin would be making an important speech at Knowsley Park in a week's time.
A crowd estimated at 50,000 Conservatives from all parts of Lancashire and Cheshire was expected to attend.
The Reporter also stated that the final report on the 1921 census had just been released and it was revealed that the town was one of the youngest in the country with an average age of just over 27.
That sounds good at first sight with child mortality reducing. But the average age in the town was being kept low because many people did not live long lives.
The St Helens atmosphere, poverty and many work-based accidents were among a number of factors reducing the average age.
Whether you were married or not made a difference in many different ways. This week Arthur Knibb's failure to tell the Prescot Guardians that he had not undergone a marriage ceremony with his "wife" cost him a spell in prison.
Arthur from Birkenhead had four children with Jessie Corrigan and, down on their luck in St Helens, he claimed first outdoor relief for his family. That was the small sum paid to the very poor living in the community.
Then they were moved into the Whiston Institution, which was the relatively new, politically correct name for Whiston Workhouse.
But old habits died hard and the Liverpool Evening Express in their version of this story referred to the institution as Prescot Workhouse.
The Prescot Guardians expended the large amount of £215 on the family but then made the shocking discovery that the couple were not wed.
Not that they would have been able to sleep together in Whiston – as families there were separated.
But what was shocking for the authorities was that they were paying for a woman and her family that came from Birkenhead and it was the Guardians there that should have been coughing up.
The money for looking after paupers came from local ratepayers and it was common for the Prescot Guardians at Whiston to send paupers to workhouses in other districts if they possibly could.
Jessie and her four children would have been sent packing to Birkenhead if it had been known that she wasn't the legal wife of Arthur Knibb.
The latter told St Helens Police Court this week that he had meant to marry the woman but could not find sufficient money to go through with the ceremony and because of his lie he was told to serve 28 days in prison.
There was a dilemma for motorists as to where to park their car. There were only one or two car parks and parking in the street was not permitted as it was considered likely to cause an obstruction.
This week Albert Bellis was fined £1 in court for parking his vehicle in front of a pub in Higher Parr Street for 20 minutes.
More speeding motorists were booked in Greenfield Road than in any other street in St Helens.
In the days before the East Lancs and Rainford By-pass an enormous amount of traffic journeying to places like Southport and Liverpool passed through St Helens town centre and departed (or entered) the town via Greenfield Road.
Most of those prosecuted were from out of town and this week Edward Tetlow from Cheshire and John Hodkinson from Trafford Park were both fined £2 for speeding in Greenfield Road.
Children and youths playing ball games in the street would take to their heels at the sight of a policeman.
But the bobby had longer legs and so would always be able to catch the slowcoach amongst the group.
This week William Collins from Water Street was the unlucky one after being caught playing in Cross Street what the Reporter called ball tennis with "three other uncaptured youths".
It was hardly the crime of the century but was taken seriously and the boy was fined 7s 6d despite his protestations that he had only just arrived at the place.
Lots of lads threw stones in the street, which clearly was potentially more dangerous than ball playing.
But Edward Keating from Hardy Street insisted to the court that he didn't know he was doing wrong when caught throwing two large stones in Liverpool Street but was still fined 5 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the crippled children's annual treat, the man that was punched through a George Street chip shop's window, the tale of a coat tail on a motorbike sidecar and the woman driver who crashed in Hardshaw Street.