IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (14th - 20th NOVEMBER 1922)
This week's stories include the General Election in St Helens, Oxleys Christmas grotto opens for business, the drunken ex-soldiers that went on the razzle in Prescot, how a missing Sutton Manor hammer led to a punch in the head, the Thatto Heath newsagent's gun and the Fingerpost man that stayed out boozing until the early hours.
We begin with a robbery in Duke Street during the night of the 14th. The premises of Corrin's jewellers were broken into and many small items in their front window were taken. But it had not been a noisy smash and grab that might have attracted the attention of a bobby on his beat. Instead the thieves had entered the shop from the roof and got clean away with £50 worth of goods (almost £3,000 in today's money).
A General Election was held on the 15th and in St Helens it was a straight fight between Labour's James Sexton (the incumbent MP) and Edward Wooll of the Conservatives. The Irish Sexton was a moderate who refused to use his parliamentary seat to promote sectional interests. That attitude upset the powerful O’Keefe family of doctors who were seen as leaders of the Irish Catholics in St Helens.
As well as being a member of parliament, James Sexton was also secretary of the Dockers Union. Two years earlier Dr Patrick O’Keefe wanted Sexton to bring all the Liverpool dockers out on strike in sympathy with Sinn Fein prisoners on hunger strike in Wormwood Scrubs. Sexton refused and O’Keefe threatened to organise the Irish of St Helens against him at the next election. But his attitude had mellowed over the intervening period – but not that of his son Tom.
On the eve of the election, Patrick O’Keefe attended a meeting at St Helens Town Hall in which he called on Irish Catholics to vote solidly for Sexton. But at the same time, in what the Liverpool Echo called a "St. Helens sensation", his eldest son Tom O’Keefe put out a statement accusing Sexton of betraying the Irish. O’Keefe Jnr was the president of the United Irish Societies and he declared that he would be voting against the Labour candidate. Despite mixed blessings from the town's Irish Catholic leaders and a fierce campaign by the Tories – in which they blamed Labour for every ill in St Helens – James Sexton, romped home with an increased majority of 6,144.
The result of elections in St Helens was always declared from the Town Hall steps and this year it was decided the announcement would embrace the latest technology. So the numbers of votes cast were going to be projected onto a screen half-way up the outside of the Town Hall. But it was a failure – because of thick fog!
The 17th was the grand opening of what was advertised as "Oxleys Xmas Attraction “Toyland – Underground”." The grotto at Oxleys was themed on 'Little Red Riding Hood'. The Big Bad Wolf was also there – but can't have been very frightening for the children, as he was in bed having a snooze! Oxleys advert said:
“This year's wonderful attraction, long looked forward to by hundreds who enjoyed last year's entrancing spectacle shows the cottage home of little Red Riding Hood and the wood in which roamed the cruel wolf. The latter spends most of his time in bed disguised as the grandmother and waiting to gobble up little Red Riding Hood, but he won't get her. Don't fail to visit this wonderful attraction. It is a treat for both young and old."
On the 17th the magistrates in St Helens Police Court were told that a dispute over a missing hammer had led to an assault at Sutton Manor Colliery. The trouble had begun when colliery fireman Robert Price missed his hammer while working down the mine and he suspected William Hancock of taking it. At that time all the workmen at coalmines had to provide their own tools and so would take great care of them, as they were expensive to replace.
Price asked Hancock's father to mention the missing hammer to his son, which he did at suppertime at their Forest Road home. That infuriated William Hancock's mother, Martha, who believed her son was wrongly being accused of theft – and so decided to give Robert Price a piece of her mind. However, she could only find his brother William Price and returned home claiming he'd been abusive to her.
So four of the Hancock men sought out William and threatened to kick him to death for cursing Martha, as it was alleged. But in the end despite all the big talk only a solitary punch was thrown. That was by 22-year-old George Hancock who claimed the much older Price had aggravated him by blowing cigarette smoke into his face. The magistrates ordered Hancock to pay a fine of £1 for his punch, along with court costs of 2 guineas.
During the evening of the 18th, three drunken former soldiers went on the razzle in Prescot Market Place. The men subsequently appeared in the police court where they were charged with being drunk and disorderly and assaulting the police. Superintendent Garvey told the magistrates that the affair had been organised and it was one of the worst that had taken place in Prescot for a long time.
"Being ex-servicemen", he said, "they shouted about what they had done during the war, and seemed to think they could do what they liked. By their hooliganism they brought disgrace upon the great mass of ex-service men." The men were each fined £2 for being drunk and disorderly and for the charge of assaulting the police, one of them was fined £10 and the other two fined £5 each.
Lax health and safety procedures at the United Alkali plant in St Helens were clearly responsible for causing the death of William McCormack. The 56-year-old chemical works labourer had fallen 30 feet after attempting to adjust a chain on a pulley. McCormack had needed something to stand on and so placed a plank of wood across from one girder to another. But the makeshift support broke and he went crashing down into scaffolding. The incident had happened in July but it took several months for the man to die from his injuries.
Peter Twist had two contrasting court appearances in 1920. A month after being fined £2 for publishing an illegal lottery, the Thatto Heath newsagent was praised as a hero. That was after he'd saved the life of a three-year-old boy who had fallen into a clay pit. The magistrates then presented Twist with a silver medal on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society. There were no medals dished out on the 20th when the Cairne Street newsagent returned to court. The police had heard that he possessed a revolver and on entering his shop Twist voluntarily surrendered his weapon.
Before the war gun possession was not treated very seriously. You simply bought a licence for the firearm like you would for a dog. Many soldiers had brought guns back from France after their military service and the Government – in the light of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and troubles in Ireland – was so concerned about the possibility of armed rebellion in Britain that a new Firearms Act was brought in.
However, Twist insisted that his gun was simply one his late father had given him as a souvenir – and it was around 30 years old. The newsagent insisted that he possessed no ammunition for the revolver but the police said it was in perfect working order. However, in the circumstances Twist was only fined £1.
Life was hard for many women with dull, monotonous lives and few pleasures. Some had uncaring husbands who thought the hard jobs that they undertook during the day entitled them to spend their evenings boozing their wages away with their mates. Such men seem to have married purely to have someone to look after them; to do their cooking and washing and care for their children. Wives that asked such husbands to moderate their behaviour were seen as nagging and could precipitate a row or a walk out. James McGuire of Bolton Street in Fingerpost appears to have been a typical example of such a man.
On the 20th he and his wife Ester appeared in St Helens Police Court, with the latter seeking a separation order from her husband. That would entitle the woman with five children to legally binding maintenance payments. Mrs McGuire explained to the court how for most of their married life, her husband did not come home until one or two o’clock in the morning. When his wife remonstrated with him about the late hour, he would walk out of the house and go to stay at his sister's.
The 40-year-old Corporation labourer said his wife's account of him regularly staying out late was "lies", claiming that it only happened occasionally. McGuire had left his wife for good in February 1920 but now said he would be prepared to return home. But Ester did not want him back at any price and the magistrates agreed on the separation order, ordering the husband to pay his wife 25 shillings per week maintenance.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the child molester at the Co-op cinema in Baldwin Street, the harsh sentences imposed on boy thieves, Oxleys Woodland Grotto and the dedication of Christ Church Eccleston's war memorial.
A General Election was held on the 15th and in St Helens it was a straight fight between Labour's James Sexton (the incumbent MP) and Edward Wooll of the Conservatives. The Irish Sexton was a moderate who refused to use his parliamentary seat to promote sectional interests. That attitude upset the powerful O’Keefe family of doctors who were seen as leaders of the Irish Catholics in St Helens.
As well as being a member of parliament, James Sexton was also secretary of the Dockers Union. Two years earlier Dr Patrick O’Keefe wanted Sexton to bring all the Liverpool dockers out on strike in sympathy with Sinn Fein prisoners on hunger strike in Wormwood Scrubs. Sexton refused and O’Keefe threatened to organise the Irish of St Helens against him at the next election. But his attitude had mellowed over the intervening period – but not that of his son Tom.
On the eve of the election, Patrick O’Keefe attended a meeting at St Helens Town Hall in which he called on Irish Catholics to vote solidly for Sexton. But at the same time, in what the Liverpool Echo called a "St. Helens sensation", his eldest son Tom O’Keefe put out a statement accusing Sexton of betraying the Irish. O’Keefe Jnr was the president of the United Irish Societies and he declared that he would be voting against the Labour candidate. Despite mixed blessings from the town's Irish Catholic leaders and a fierce campaign by the Tories – in which they blamed Labour for every ill in St Helens – James Sexton, romped home with an increased majority of 6,144.
The result of elections in St Helens was always declared from the Town Hall steps and this year it was decided the announcement would embrace the latest technology. So the numbers of votes cast were going to be projected onto a screen half-way up the outside of the Town Hall. But it was a failure – because of thick fog!
The 17th was the grand opening of what was advertised as "Oxleys Xmas Attraction “Toyland – Underground”." The grotto at Oxleys was themed on 'Little Red Riding Hood'. The Big Bad Wolf was also there – but can't have been very frightening for the children, as he was in bed having a snooze! Oxleys advert said:
“This year's wonderful attraction, long looked forward to by hundreds who enjoyed last year's entrancing spectacle shows the cottage home of little Red Riding Hood and the wood in which roamed the cruel wolf. The latter spends most of his time in bed disguised as the grandmother and waiting to gobble up little Red Riding Hood, but he won't get her. Don't fail to visit this wonderful attraction. It is a treat for both young and old."
On the 17th the magistrates in St Helens Police Court were told that a dispute over a missing hammer had led to an assault at Sutton Manor Colliery. The trouble had begun when colliery fireman Robert Price missed his hammer while working down the mine and he suspected William Hancock of taking it. At that time all the workmen at coalmines had to provide their own tools and so would take great care of them, as they were expensive to replace.
Price asked Hancock's father to mention the missing hammer to his son, which he did at suppertime at their Forest Road home. That infuriated William Hancock's mother, Martha, who believed her son was wrongly being accused of theft – and so decided to give Robert Price a piece of her mind. However, she could only find his brother William Price and returned home claiming he'd been abusive to her.
So four of the Hancock men sought out William and threatened to kick him to death for cursing Martha, as it was alleged. But in the end despite all the big talk only a solitary punch was thrown. That was by 22-year-old George Hancock who claimed the much older Price had aggravated him by blowing cigarette smoke into his face. The magistrates ordered Hancock to pay a fine of £1 for his punch, along with court costs of 2 guineas.
During the evening of the 18th, three drunken former soldiers went on the razzle in Prescot Market Place. The men subsequently appeared in the police court where they were charged with being drunk and disorderly and assaulting the police. Superintendent Garvey told the magistrates that the affair had been organised and it was one of the worst that had taken place in Prescot for a long time.
"Being ex-servicemen", he said, "they shouted about what they had done during the war, and seemed to think they could do what they liked. By their hooliganism they brought disgrace upon the great mass of ex-service men." The men were each fined £2 for being drunk and disorderly and for the charge of assaulting the police, one of them was fined £10 and the other two fined £5 each.
Lax health and safety procedures at the United Alkali plant in St Helens were clearly responsible for causing the death of William McCormack. The 56-year-old chemical works labourer had fallen 30 feet after attempting to adjust a chain on a pulley. McCormack had needed something to stand on and so placed a plank of wood across from one girder to another. But the makeshift support broke and he went crashing down into scaffolding. The incident had happened in July but it took several months for the man to die from his injuries.
Peter Twist had two contrasting court appearances in 1920. A month after being fined £2 for publishing an illegal lottery, the Thatto Heath newsagent was praised as a hero. That was after he'd saved the life of a three-year-old boy who had fallen into a clay pit. The magistrates then presented Twist with a silver medal on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society. There were no medals dished out on the 20th when the Cairne Street newsagent returned to court. The police had heard that he possessed a revolver and on entering his shop Twist voluntarily surrendered his weapon.
Before the war gun possession was not treated very seriously. You simply bought a licence for the firearm like you would for a dog. Many soldiers had brought guns back from France after their military service and the Government – in the light of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and troubles in Ireland – was so concerned about the possibility of armed rebellion in Britain that a new Firearms Act was brought in.
However, Twist insisted that his gun was simply one his late father had given him as a souvenir – and it was around 30 years old. The newsagent insisted that he possessed no ammunition for the revolver but the police said it was in perfect working order. However, in the circumstances Twist was only fined £1.
Life was hard for many women with dull, monotonous lives and few pleasures. Some had uncaring husbands who thought the hard jobs that they undertook during the day entitled them to spend their evenings boozing their wages away with their mates. Such men seem to have married purely to have someone to look after them; to do their cooking and washing and care for their children. Wives that asked such husbands to moderate their behaviour were seen as nagging and could precipitate a row or a walk out. James McGuire of Bolton Street in Fingerpost appears to have been a typical example of such a man.
On the 20th he and his wife Ester appeared in St Helens Police Court, with the latter seeking a separation order from her husband. That would entitle the woman with five children to legally binding maintenance payments. Mrs McGuire explained to the court how for most of their married life, her husband did not come home until one or two o’clock in the morning. When his wife remonstrated with him about the late hour, he would walk out of the house and go to stay at his sister's.
The 40-year-old Corporation labourer said his wife's account of him regularly staying out late was "lies", claiming that it only happened occasionally. McGuire had left his wife for good in February 1920 but now said he would be prepared to return home. But Ester did not want him back at any price and the magistrates agreed on the separation order, ordering the husband to pay his wife 25 shillings per week maintenance.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the child molester at the Co-op cinema in Baldwin Street, the harsh sentences imposed on boy thieves, Oxleys Woodland Grotto and the dedication of Christ Church Eccleston's war memorial.
This week's stories include the General Election in St Helens, Oxleys Christmas grotto opens for business, the drunken ex-soldiers that went on the razzle in Prescot, how a missing Sutton Manor hammer led to a punch in the head, the Thatto Heath newsagent's gun and the Fingerpost man that stayed out boozing until the early hours.
We begin with a robbery in Duke Street during the night of the 14th. The premises of Corrin's jewellers were broken into and many small items in their front window were taken.
But it had not been a noisy smash and grab that might have attracted the attention of a bobby on his beat.
Instead the thieves had entered the shop from the roof and got clean away with £50 worth of goods (almost £3,000 in today's money).
A General Election was held on the 15th and in St Helens it was a straight fight between Labour's James Sexton (the incumbent MP) and Edward Wooll of the Conservatives.
The Irish Sexton was a moderate who refused to use his parliamentary seat to promote sectional interests.
That attitude upset the powerful O’Keefe family of doctors who were seen as leaders of the Irish Catholics in St Helens.
As well as being a member of parliament, James Sexton was also secretary of the Dockers Union.
Two years earlier Dr Patrick O’Keefe wanted Sexton to bring all the Liverpool dockers out on strike in sympathy with Sinn Fein prisoners on hunger strike in Wormwood Scrubs.
Sexton refused and O’Keefe threatened to organise the Irish of St Helens against him at the next election.
But his attitude had mellowed over the intervening period – but not that of his son Tom.
On the eve of the election, Patrick O’Keefe attended a meeting at St Helens Town Hall in which he called on Irish Catholics to vote solidly for Sexton.
But at the same time, in what the Liverpool Echo called a "St. Helens sensation", his eldest son Tom O’Keefe put out a statement accusing Sexton of betraying the Irish.
O’Keefe Jnr was the president of the United Irish Societies and he declared that he would be voting against the Labour candidate.
Despite mixed blessings from the town's Irish Catholic leaders and a fierce campaign by the Tories – in which they blamed Labour for every ill in St Helens – James Sexton, romped home with an increased majority of 6,144.
The result of elections in St Helens was always declared from the Town Hall steps and this year it was decided the announcement would embrace the latest technology.
So the numbers of votes cast were going to be projected onto a screen half-way up the outside of the Town Hall. But it was a failure – because of thick fog!
The 17th was the grand opening of what was advertised as "Oxleys Xmas Attraction “Toyland – Underground”."
The grotto at Oxleys was themed on 'Little Red Riding Hood'. The Big Bad Wolf was also there – but can't have been very frightening for the children, as he was in bed having a snooze! Oxleys advert said:
“This year's wonderful attraction, long looked forward to by hundreds who enjoyed last year's entrancing spectacle shows the cottage home of little Red Riding Hood and the wood in which roamed the cruel wolf.
"The latter spends most of his time in bed disguised as the grandmother and waiting to gobble up little Red Riding Hood, but he won't get her. Don't fail to visit this wonderful attraction. It is a treat for both young and old."
On the 17th the magistrates in St Helens Police Court were told that a dispute over a missing hammer had led to an assault at Sutton Manor Colliery.
The trouble had begun when colliery fireman Robert Price missed his hammer while working down the mine and he suspected William Hancock of taking it.
At that time all the workmen at coalmines had to provide their own tools and so would take great care of them, as they were expensive to replace.
Price asked Hancock's father to mention the missing hammer to his son, which he did at suppertime at their Forest Road home.
That infuriated William Hancock's mother, Martha, who believed her son was wrongly being accused of theft – and so decided to give Robert Price a piece of her mind.
However, she could only find his brother William Price and returned home claiming he'd been abusive to her.
So four of the Hancock men sought out William and threatened to kick him to death for cursing Martha, as it was alleged.
But in the end despite all the big talk only a solitary punch was thrown. That was by 22-year-old George Hancock who claimed the much older Price had aggravated him by blowing cigarette smoke into his face.
The magistrates ordered Hancock to pay a fine of £1 for his punch, along with court costs of 2 guineas.
During the evening of the 18th, three drunken former soldiers went on the razzle in Prescot Market Place.
The men subsequently appeared in the police court where they were charged with being drunk and disorderly and assaulting the police.
Superintendent Garvey told the magistrates that the affair had been organised and it was one of the worst that had taken place in Prescot for a long time.
"Being ex-servicemen", he said, "they shouted about what they had done during the war, and seemed to think they could do what they liked. By their hooliganism they brought disgrace upon the great mass of ex-service men."
The men were each fined £2 for being drunk and disorderly and for the charge of assaulting the police, one of them was fined £10 and the other two fined £5 each.
Lax health and safety procedures at the United Alkali plant in St Helens were clearly responsible for causing the death of William McCormack.
The 56-year-old chemical works labourer had fallen 30 feet after attempting to adjust a chain on a pulley.
McCormack had needed something to stand on and so placed a plank of wood across from one girder to another.
But the makeshift support broke and he went crashing down into scaffolding.
The incident had happened in July but it took several months for the man to die from his injuries.
Peter Twist had two contrasting court appearances in 1920. A month after being fined £2 for publishing an illegal lottery, the Thatto Heath newsagent was praised as a hero.
That was after he'd saved the life of a three-year-old boy who had fallen into a clay pit.
The magistrates then presented Twist with a silver medal on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
There were no medals dished out on the 20th when the Cairne Street newsagent returned to court.
The police had heard that he possessed a revolver and on entering his shop Twist voluntarily surrendered his weapon.
Before the war gun possession was not treated very seriously. You simply bought a licence for the firearm like you would for a dog.
Many soldiers had brought guns back from France after their military service and the Government – in the light of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and troubles in Ireland – was so concerned about the possibility of armed rebellion in Britain that a new Firearms Act was brought in.
However, Twist insisted that his gun was simply one his late father had given him as a souvenir – and it was around 30 years old.
The newsagent insisted that he possessed no ammunition for the revolver but the police said it was in perfect working order. However, in the circumstances Twist was only fined £1.
Life was hard for many women with dull, monotonous lives and few pleasures.
Some had uncaring husbands who thought the hard jobs that they undertook during the day entitled them to spend their evenings boozing their wages away with their mates.
Such men seem to have married purely to have someone to look after them; to do their cooking and washing and care for their children.
Wives that asked such husbands to moderate their behaviour were seen as nagging and could precipitate a row or a walk out.
James McGuire of Bolton Street in Fingerpost appears to have been a typical example of such a man.
On the 20th he and his wife Ester appeared in St Helens Police Court, with the latter seeking a separation order from her husband. That would entitle the woman with five children to legally binding maintenance payments.
Mrs McGuire explained to the court how for most of their married life, her husband did not come home until one or two o’clock in the morning.
When his wife remonstrated with him about the late hour, he would walk out of the house and go to stay at his sister's.
The 40-year-old Corporation labourer said his wife's account of him regularly staying out late was "lies", claiming that it only happened occasionally.
McGuire had left his wife for good in February 1920 but now said he would be prepared to return home.
But Ester did not want him back at any price and the magistrates agreed on the separation order, ordering the husband to pay his wife 25 shillings per week maintenance.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the child molester at the Co-op cinema in Baldwin Street, the harsh sentences imposed on boy thieves, Oxleys Woodland Grotto and the dedication of Christ Church Eccleston's war memorial.
But it had not been a noisy smash and grab that might have attracted the attention of a bobby on his beat.
Instead the thieves had entered the shop from the roof and got clean away with £50 worth of goods (almost £3,000 in today's money).
A General Election was held on the 15th and in St Helens it was a straight fight between Labour's James Sexton (the incumbent MP) and Edward Wooll of the Conservatives.
The Irish Sexton was a moderate who refused to use his parliamentary seat to promote sectional interests.
That attitude upset the powerful O’Keefe family of doctors who were seen as leaders of the Irish Catholics in St Helens.
As well as being a member of parliament, James Sexton was also secretary of the Dockers Union.
Two years earlier Dr Patrick O’Keefe wanted Sexton to bring all the Liverpool dockers out on strike in sympathy with Sinn Fein prisoners on hunger strike in Wormwood Scrubs.
Sexton refused and O’Keefe threatened to organise the Irish of St Helens against him at the next election.
But his attitude had mellowed over the intervening period – but not that of his son Tom.
On the eve of the election, Patrick O’Keefe attended a meeting at St Helens Town Hall in which he called on Irish Catholics to vote solidly for Sexton.
But at the same time, in what the Liverpool Echo called a "St. Helens sensation", his eldest son Tom O’Keefe put out a statement accusing Sexton of betraying the Irish.
O’Keefe Jnr was the president of the United Irish Societies and he declared that he would be voting against the Labour candidate.
Despite mixed blessings from the town's Irish Catholic leaders and a fierce campaign by the Tories – in which they blamed Labour for every ill in St Helens – James Sexton, romped home with an increased majority of 6,144.
The result of elections in St Helens was always declared from the Town Hall steps and this year it was decided the announcement would embrace the latest technology.
So the numbers of votes cast were going to be projected onto a screen half-way up the outside of the Town Hall. But it was a failure – because of thick fog!
The 17th was the grand opening of what was advertised as "Oxleys Xmas Attraction “Toyland – Underground”."
The grotto at Oxleys was themed on 'Little Red Riding Hood'. The Big Bad Wolf was also there – but can't have been very frightening for the children, as he was in bed having a snooze! Oxleys advert said:
“This year's wonderful attraction, long looked forward to by hundreds who enjoyed last year's entrancing spectacle shows the cottage home of little Red Riding Hood and the wood in which roamed the cruel wolf.
"The latter spends most of his time in bed disguised as the grandmother and waiting to gobble up little Red Riding Hood, but he won't get her. Don't fail to visit this wonderful attraction. It is a treat for both young and old."
On the 17th the magistrates in St Helens Police Court were told that a dispute over a missing hammer had led to an assault at Sutton Manor Colliery.
The trouble had begun when colliery fireman Robert Price missed his hammer while working down the mine and he suspected William Hancock of taking it.
At that time all the workmen at coalmines had to provide their own tools and so would take great care of them, as they were expensive to replace.
Price asked Hancock's father to mention the missing hammer to his son, which he did at suppertime at their Forest Road home.
That infuriated William Hancock's mother, Martha, who believed her son was wrongly being accused of theft – and so decided to give Robert Price a piece of her mind.
However, she could only find his brother William Price and returned home claiming he'd been abusive to her.
So four of the Hancock men sought out William and threatened to kick him to death for cursing Martha, as it was alleged.
But in the end despite all the big talk only a solitary punch was thrown. That was by 22-year-old George Hancock who claimed the much older Price had aggravated him by blowing cigarette smoke into his face.
The magistrates ordered Hancock to pay a fine of £1 for his punch, along with court costs of 2 guineas.
During the evening of the 18th, three drunken former soldiers went on the razzle in Prescot Market Place.
The men subsequently appeared in the police court where they were charged with being drunk and disorderly and assaulting the police.
Superintendent Garvey told the magistrates that the affair had been organised and it was one of the worst that had taken place in Prescot for a long time.
"Being ex-servicemen", he said, "they shouted about what they had done during the war, and seemed to think they could do what they liked. By their hooliganism they brought disgrace upon the great mass of ex-service men."
The men were each fined £2 for being drunk and disorderly and for the charge of assaulting the police, one of them was fined £10 and the other two fined £5 each.
Lax health and safety procedures at the United Alkali plant in St Helens were clearly responsible for causing the death of William McCormack.
The 56-year-old chemical works labourer had fallen 30 feet after attempting to adjust a chain on a pulley.
McCormack had needed something to stand on and so placed a plank of wood across from one girder to another.
But the makeshift support broke and he went crashing down into scaffolding.
The incident had happened in July but it took several months for the man to die from his injuries.
Peter Twist had two contrasting court appearances in 1920. A month after being fined £2 for publishing an illegal lottery, the Thatto Heath newsagent was praised as a hero.
That was after he'd saved the life of a three-year-old boy who had fallen into a clay pit.
The magistrates then presented Twist with a silver medal on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
There were no medals dished out on the 20th when the Cairne Street newsagent returned to court.
The police had heard that he possessed a revolver and on entering his shop Twist voluntarily surrendered his weapon.
Before the war gun possession was not treated very seriously. You simply bought a licence for the firearm like you would for a dog.
Many soldiers had brought guns back from France after their military service and the Government – in the light of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and troubles in Ireland – was so concerned about the possibility of armed rebellion in Britain that a new Firearms Act was brought in.
However, Twist insisted that his gun was simply one his late father had given him as a souvenir – and it was around 30 years old.
The newsagent insisted that he possessed no ammunition for the revolver but the police said it was in perfect working order. However, in the circumstances Twist was only fined £1.
Life was hard for many women with dull, monotonous lives and few pleasures.
Some had uncaring husbands who thought the hard jobs that they undertook during the day entitled them to spend their evenings boozing their wages away with their mates.
Such men seem to have married purely to have someone to look after them; to do their cooking and washing and care for their children.
Wives that asked such husbands to moderate their behaviour were seen as nagging and could precipitate a row or a walk out.
James McGuire of Bolton Street in Fingerpost appears to have been a typical example of such a man.
On the 20th he and his wife Ester appeared in St Helens Police Court, with the latter seeking a separation order from her husband. That would entitle the woman with five children to legally binding maintenance payments.
Mrs McGuire explained to the court how for most of their married life, her husband did not come home until one or two o’clock in the morning.
When his wife remonstrated with him about the late hour, he would walk out of the house and go to stay at his sister's.
The 40-year-old Corporation labourer said his wife's account of him regularly staying out late was "lies", claiming that it only happened occasionally.
McGuire had left his wife for good in February 1920 but now said he would be prepared to return home.
But Ester did not want him back at any price and the magistrates agreed on the separation order, ordering the husband to pay his wife 25 shillings per week maintenance.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the child molester at the Co-op cinema in Baldwin Street, the harsh sentences imposed on boy thieves, Oxleys Woodland Grotto and the dedication of Christ Church Eccleston's war memorial.