IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (16th - 22nd JANUARY 1923)
This week's many stories include the despicable Lowe Street conman, the young man that fell into a vat of boiling water at a St Helens brickworks, the sale of Rainhill Hall, the strange "good night" fracas in Arthur Street, another tribute to Rainhill's top referee and an electric wizard performs at the Hippodrome music hall.
We begin on the 16th when Patrick Riley appeared in St Helens Police Court to face a charge of disturbing the peace. The 41-year-old Corporation carter from St Thomas Street in St Helens (which used to be near St Thomas’s Church) was accused of attacking a married couple in Arthur Street. Ellen Parkinson said the incident had occurred late on Saturday night when she and her husband Frank were returning home after visiting a friend.
When passing Riley in the street, she said the man suddenly knocked down Mr Parkinson without warning. Upon his wife picking him up, the attacker declared that he wanted a fight and knocked the woman down too. Some drunken men on Saturday nights did look to fight anyone just for the fun of it – and although Riley was well-oiled, he claimed provocation – and it was a curious one!
The 41-year-old father of seven reckoned that the Parkinsons had nudged him in the street and said "Good night". He then replied: "Don't speak to me, you dirty so-and-so". Riley then said they all started shoving each other, which led to a squabble and a fight. Magistrate Ald. Henry Bates then asked the defendant: "Do you mean to tell the Bench that a woman walking with her husband would speak to another man?" A woman simply saying "good night" to a stranger appeared to be the most shocking aspect of Riley's testimony!
However, his wife Ellen Riley backed up her husband's version of what had happened, saying she had distinctly heard him say: "Don't say good-night to me". She also claimed that the Parkinsons had separately come to their house later on with Frank Parkinson supposedly telling her he would be giving his wife "three sharp clouts" – presumably, for her familiarity with Patrick Riley. But she had brought no witnesses to support this claim and the Bench bound Patrick Riley over to keep the peace for six months.
On the 17th Jack Broadley returned to St Helens Police Court to plead guilty to a charge of attempting to obtain £1 by false pretences. The man from Accrington had claimed to be a warder at Walton Prison and had visited the wife of Thomas Dolan at her Lowe Street home. He was a bankrupt haulage contractor who had recently been sent to prison for 3 months for hiding some of his assets.
Jack Broadley claimed to be a warder called Walker and had told Mrs Dolan that if she gave him money, her husband would receive better food in prison. This is not the first time I've read of such a cruel scam. It hardly seems worth it for such small pickings but Broadley told the police that he needed some cash for his train fare back to Accrington. The Chairman of the Bench, Ald. Henry Bates, told the man that what had been done was a "most despicable thing". Broadley had a long criminal record and he was sent to prison for three months with hard labour.
We are so used to trees brightening up many of our streets and estates that it's hard to imagine a tree-less time. Although some roads a century ago would have trees, these tended to be of long-standing and when improvements were made to streets, tree planting was rarely considered. But things began to change in the 1920s and the council's Parks Committee on the 17th decided to get tenders for the supply of 360 trees. These would be planted on the new Windlehurst council house estate. The committee estimated that the trees would cost them in the region of £70 to £80.
Most parks in St Helens had what was referred to as an "old man's hut". They were of basic construction and only accommodated about 20 persons but they were places where the retired elderly could meet up and talk. The Parks Committee were told by their Borough Engineer that the present hut in Sutton Park was really an old polling booth that was worn out and not worth mending. And so the committee decided to provide the old men with a new one, although it would not until the next financial year before they could find the money.
Pressure from temperance movements to reduce the number of drinking houses in St Helens had led to the creation of a compensation scheme. All licensed houses in the town were forced to pay an annual levy into a compensation pot and when the licensing magistrates decided to close beerhouses or pubs, their owners received cash out of the fund. It also served as an inducement for the surrendering of licences.
The levy was quite a burden on licensees and during the past year only two houses had been closed under the scheme, allowing quite a surplus of compensation money to build up. So on the 18th St Helens magistrates considered a petition from landlords asking for a reduction in the levy. As a result it was decided to reduce the annual amount that they had to pay to a third of its present amount.
Job "Jock" Davies, Rainhill's top football referee, was highly respected and regularly praised in the newspapers for the way he handled matches. There was another tribute paid to him on the 19th when the Sheffield Daily Telegraph said this about his officiating of a match between Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest: "It would be as well to compliment Mr. J. Davies (Rainhill) on his admirable handling of the game. The clubs have paid him a compliment by asking the F.A. to nominate him for Monday's match – he could desire no greater testimony."
Monday's game was a replay of a replay of a first round FA Cup game. In fact the tie went to a fourth replay before the contest was settled! In the days before fixture bottlenecks and penalty shootouts, replays brought in much extra cash for football clubs. Jock Davies had a relatively short career as a referee but was so well thought of that he had already been in charge of an FA Cup Final. Later in 1923 he surprised the football world by giving up refereeing to become the licensee of the Coach and Horses in Rainhill.
A number of newspapers including the Gloucester Echo reported on the 20th that: "The Hall, Rainhill, Lancashire, for many generations the home of the Stapleton-Bretherton family, has been purchased by the Jesuit Fathers of the English province as a house of spiritual retreat for laymen." The sale of The Hall, aka Rainhill Hall (pictured above), included 44 acres of land and the Society of Jesus (more commonly known as Jesuits) would rename their retreat Loyola Hall. The building closed in 2014 and is now a hotel.
A century ago there were some really terrible ways for workers in St Helens to lose their lives. Falling down a deep pit shaft has to be one of the worst. Although the mineworker would have the knowledge that he was going to die, his demise when he hit the bottom of the shaft would likely have been instant. That was not the case for those workers who fell into vats of boiling liquid.
Lax safety procedures meant such deaths were fairly common in St Helens' factories. It's horrible to imagine the intense pain the man would have endured before death eventually brought their misery to an end. On the 20th the inquest on William Johnson of Havelock Street was opened and adjourned. The 18-year-old had been scalded from head to foot after falling into a vat of boiling water at the Ravenhead Pipe and Brick Co. and he died later in hospital.
I always find it curious how police in court felt able to make damning comments about those in the dock without offering a shred of evidence. So this week magistrates were told that William Davies was a "loafer of no fixed abode" whose parents would have nothing to do with him. A constable told the court that he had found Davies sleeping in an outhouse in Exchange Street in St Helens. Not long ago a prison sentence would have been automatic, especially as Davies had been before the court 25 times before. But the offence of sleeping out was now treated less severely and he was only fined 5 shillings.
After six nights of 'Dick Whittington', the Theatre Royal in St Helens swapped pantos and from the 22nd began a week’s performances of 'Little Jack Horner'. Meanwhile, the Hippodrome Music Hall had an extraordinary act in Dr Walford Bodie, a Scottish showman, hypnotist, ventriloquist and stage magician.
In the Reporter his show was described as a "Gigantic attraction. The event of the year" and Bodie himself was dubbed "The British Edison" and "King laughter maker of the world". An inspiration to both Harry Houdini and Charlie Chaplin, Bodie was famous for his mock electrocutions involving a replica of an electric chair. The advert said: "Assisted by Mdlle. La Tesla, the electric magnet girl, in new and startling wonders of electric wizardy."
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the wicked stepmother of Thatto Heath, the girl shoplifters in Bridge Street, the 30-year-old emaciated horse that was sold to a St Helens hawker and the Clock Face Colliery pit shaft scare.
We begin on the 16th when Patrick Riley appeared in St Helens Police Court to face a charge of disturbing the peace. The 41-year-old Corporation carter from St Thomas Street in St Helens (which used to be near St Thomas’s Church) was accused of attacking a married couple in Arthur Street. Ellen Parkinson said the incident had occurred late on Saturday night when she and her husband Frank were returning home after visiting a friend.
When passing Riley in the street, she said the man suddenly knocked down Mr Parkinson without warning. Upon his wife picking him up, the attacker declared that he wanted a fight and knocked the woman down too. Some drunken men on Saturday nights did look to fight anyone just for the fun of it – and although Riley was well-oiled, he claimed provocation – and it was a curious one!
The 41-year-old father of seven reckoned that the Parkinsons had nudged him in the street and said "Good night". He then replied: "Don't speak to me, you dirty so-and-so". Riley then said they all started shoving each other, which led to a squabble and a fight. Magistrate Ald. Henry Bates then asked the defendant: "Do you mean to tell the Bench that a woman walking with her husband would speak to another man?" A woman simply saying "good night" to a stranger appeared to be the most shocking aspect of Riley's testimony!
However, his wife Ellen Riley backed up her husband's version of what had happened, saying she had distinctly heard him say: "Don't say good-night to me". She also claimed that the Parkinsons had separately come to their house later on with Frank Parkinson supposedly telling her he would be giving his wife "three sharp clouts" – presumably, for her familiarity with Patrick Riley. But she had brought no witnesses to support this claim and the Bench bound Patrick Riley over to keep the peace for six months.
On the 17th Jack Broadley returned to St Helens Police Court to plead guilty to a charge of attempting to obtain £1 by false pretences. The man from Accrington had claimed to be a warder at Walton Prison and had visited the wife of Thomas Dolan at her Lowe Street home. He was a bankrupt haulage contractor who had recently been sent to prison for 3 months for hiding some of his assets.
Jack Broadley claimed to be a warder called Walker and had told Mrs Dolan that if she gave him money, her husband would receive better food in prison. This is not the first time I've read of such a cruel scam. It hardly seems worth it for such small pickings but Broadley told the police that he needed some cash for his train fare back to Accrington. The Chairman of the Bench, Ald. Henry Bates, told the man that what had been done was a "most despicable thing". Broadley had a long criminal record and he was sent to prison for three months with hard labour.
We are so used to trees brightening up many of our streets and estates that it's hard to imagine a tree-less time. Although some roads a century ago would have trees, these tended to be of long-standing and when improvements were made to streets, tree planting was rarely considered. But things began to change in the 1920s and the council's Parks Committee on the 17th decided to get tenders for the supply of 360 trees. These would be planted on the new Windlehurst council house estate. The committee estimated that the trees would cost them in the region of £70 to £80.
Most parks in St Helens had what was referred to as an "old man's hut". They were of basic construction and only accommodated about 20 persons but they were places where the retired elderly could meet up and talk. The Parks Committee were told by their Borough Engineer that the present hut in Sutton Park was really an old polling booth that was worn out and not worth mending. And so the committee decided to provide the old men with a new one, although it would not until the next financial year before they could find the money.
Pressure from temperance movements to reduce the number of drinking houses in St Helens had led to the creation of a compensation scheme. All licensed houses in the town were forced to pay an annual levy into a compensation pot and when the licensing magistrates decided to close beerhouses or pubs, their owners received cash out of the fund. It also served as an inducement for the surrendering of licences.
The levy was quite a burden on licensees and during the past year only two houses had been closed under the scheme, allowing quite a surplus of compensation money to build up. So on the 18th St Helens magistrates considered a petition from landlords asking for a reduction in the levy. As a result it was decided to reduce the annual amount that they had to pay to a third of its present amount.
Job "Jock" Davies, Rainhill's top football referee, was highly respected and regularly praised in the newspapers for the way he handled matches. There was another tribute paid to him on the 19th when the Sheffield Daily Telegraph said this about his officiating of a match between Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest: "It would be as well to compliment Mr. J. Davies (Rainhill) on his admirable handling of the game. The clubs have paid him a compliment by asking the F.A. to nominate him for Monday's match – he could desire no greater testimony."
Monday's game was a replay of a replay of a first round FA Cup game. In fact the tie went to a fourth replay before the contest was settled! In the days before fixture bottlenecks and penalty shootouts, replays brought in much extra cash for football clubs. Jock Davies had a relatively short career as a referee but was so well thought of that he had already been in charge of an FA Cup Final. Later in 1923 he surprised the football world by giving up refereeing to become the licensee of the Coach and Horses in Rainhill.
A century ago there were some really terrible ways for workers in St Helens to lose their lives. Falling down a deep pit shaft has to be one of the worst. Although the mineworker would have the knowledge that he was going to die, his demise when he hit the bottom of the shaft would likely have been instant. That was not the case for those workers who fell into vats of boiling liquid.
Lax safety procedures meant such deaths were fairly common in St Helens' factories. It's horrible to imagine the intense pain the man would have endured before death eventually brought their misery to an end. On the 20th the inquest on William Johnson of Havelock Street was opened and adjourned. The 18-year-old had been scalded from head to foot after falling into a vat of boiling water at the Ravenhead Pipe and Brick Co. and he died later in hospital.
I always find it curious how police in court felt able to make damning comments about those in the dock without offering a shred of evidence. So this week magistrates were told that William Davies was a "loafer of no fixed abode" whose parents would have nothing to do with him. A constable told the court that he had found Davies sleeping in an outhouse in Exchange Street in St Helens. Not long ago a prison sentence would have been automatic, especially as Davies had been before the court 25 times before. But the offence of sleeping out was now treated less severely and he was only fined 5 shillings.
After six nights of 'Dick Whittington', the Theatre Royal in St Helens swapped pantos and from the 22nd began a week’s performances of 'Little Jack Horner'. Meanwhile, the Hippodrome Music Hall had an extraordinary act in Dr Walford Bodie, a Scottish showman, hypnotist, ventriloquist and stage magician.
In the Reporter his show was described as a "Gigantic attraction. The event of the year" and Bodie himself was dubbed "The British Edison" and "King laughter maker of the world". An inspiration to both Harry Houdini and Charlie Chaplin, Bodie was famous for his mock electrocutions involving a replica of an electric chair. The advert said: "Assisted by Mdlle. La Tesla, the electric magnet girl, in new and startling wonders of electric wizardy."
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the wicked stepmother of Thatto Heath, the girl shoplifters in Bridge Street, the 30-year-old emaciated horse that was sold to a St Helens hawker and the Clock Face Colliery pit shaft scare.
This week's many stories include the despicable Lowe Street conman, the young man that fell into a vat of boiling water at a St Helens brickworks, the sale of Rainhill Hall, the strange "good night" fracas in Arthur Street, another tribute to Rainhill's top referee and an electric wizard performs at the Hippodrome music hall.
We begin on the 16th when Patrick Riley appeared in St Helens Police Court to face a charge of disturbing the peace.
The 41-year-old Corporation carter from St Thomas Street in St Helens (which used to be near St Thomas’s Church) was accused of attacking a married couple in Arthur Street.
Ellen Parkinson said the incident had occurred late on Saturday night when she and her husband Frank were returning home after visiting a friend.
When passing Riley in the street, she said the man suddenly knocked down Mr Parkinson without warning.
Upon his wife picking him up, the attacker declared that he wanted a fight and knocked the woman down too.
Some drunken men on Saturday nights did look to fight anyone just for the fun of it – and although Riley was well-oiled, he claimed provocation – and it was a curious one!
The 41-year-old father of seven reckoned that the Parkinsons had nudged him in the street and said "Good night". He then replied: "Don't speak to me, you dirty so-and-so".
Riley then said they all started shoving each other, which led to a squabble and a fight.
Magistrate Ald. Henry Bates then asked the defendant: "Do you mean to tell the Bench that a woman walking with her husband would speak to another man?"
A woman simply saying "good night" to a stranger appeared to be the most shocking aspect of Riley's testimony!
However, his wife Ellen Riley backed up her husband's version of what had happened, saying she had distinctly heard him say: "Don't say good-night to me".
She also claimed that the Parkinsons had separately come to their house later on with Frank Parkinson supposedly telling her he would be giving his wife "three sharp clouts" – presumably, for her familiarity with Patrick Riley.
But she had brought no witnesses to support this claim and the Bench bound Patrick Riley over to keep the peace for six months.
On the 17th Jack Broadley returned to St Helens Police Court to plead guilty to a charge of attempting to obtain £1 by false pretences.
The man from Accrington had claimed to be a warder at Walton Prison and had visited the wife of Thomas Dolan at her Lowe Street home.
He was a bankrupt haulage contractor who had recently been sent to prison for 3 months for hiding some of his assets.
Jack Broadley claimed to be a warder called Walker and had told Mrs Dolan that if she gave him money, her husband would receive better food in prison.
This is not the first time I've read of such a cruel scam. It hardly seems worth it for such small pickings but Broadley told the police that he needed some cash for his train fare back to Accrington.
The Chairman of the Bench, Ald. Henry Bates, told the man that what had been done was a "most despicable thing".
Broadley had a long criminal record and he was sent to prison for three months with hard labour.
We are so used to trees brightening up many of our streets and estates that it's hard to imagine a tree-less time.
Although some roads a century ago would have trees, these tended to be of long-standing and when improvements were made to streets, tree planting was rarely considered.
But things began to change in the 1920s and the council's Parks Committee on the 17th decided to get tenders for the supply of 360 trees. These would be planted on the new Windlehurst council house estate.
The committee estimated that the trees would cost them in the region of £70 to £80.
Most parks in St Helens had what was referred to as an "old man's hut". They were of basic construction and only accommodated about 20 persons but they were places where the retired elderly could meet up and talk.
The Parks Committee were told by their Borough Engineer that the present hut in Sutton Park was really an old polling booth that was worn out and not worth mending.
And so the committee decided to provide the old men with a new one, although it would not until the next financial year before they could find the money.
Pressure from temperance movements to reduce the number of drinking houses in St Helens had led to the creation of a compensation scheme.
All licensed houses in the town were forced to pay an annual levy into a compensation pot and when the licensing magistrates decided to close beerhouses or pubs, their owners received cash out of the fund.
It also served as an inducement for the surrendering of licences.
The levy was quite a burden on licensees and during the past year only two houses had been closed under the scheme, allowing quite a surplus of compensation money to build up.
So on the 18th St Helens magistrates considered a petition from landlords asking for a reduction in the levy.
As a result it was decided to reduce the annual amount that they had to pay to a third of its present amount.
Job "Jock" Davies, Rainhill's top football referee, was highly respected and regularly praised in the newspapers for the way he handled matches.
There was another tribute paid to him on the 19th when the Sheffield Daily Telegraph said this about his officiating of a match between Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest:
"It would be as well to compliment Mr. J. Davies (Rainhill) on his admirable handling of the game. The clubs have paid him a compliment by asking the F.A. to nominate him for Monday's match – he could desire no greater testimony."
Monday's game was a replay of a replay of a first round FA Cup game. In fact the tie went to a fourth replay before the contest was settled!
In the days before fixture bottlenecks and penalty shootouts, replays brought in much extra cash for football clubs.
Jock Davies had a relatively short career as a referee but was so well thought of that he had already been in charge of an FA Cup Final.
Later in 1923 he surprised the football world by giving up refereeing to become the licensee of the Coach and Horses in Rainhill.
A number of newspapers including the Gloucester Echo reported on the 20th that:
"The Hall, Rainhill, Lancashire, for many generations the home of the Stapleton-Bretherton family, has been purchased by the Jesuit Fathers of the English province as a house of spiritual retreat for laymen."
The sale of The Hall, aka Rainhill Hall (pictured above), included 44 acres of land and the Society of Jesus (more commonly known as Jesuits) would rename their retreat Loyola Hall. The building closed in 2014 and is now a hotel.
A century ago there were some really terrible ways for workers in St Helens to lose their lives. Falling down a deep pit shaft has to be one of the worst.
Although the mineworker would have the knowledge that he was going to die, his demise when he hit the bottom of the shaft would likely have been instant.
That was not the case for those workers who fell into vats of boiling liquid. Lax safety procedures meant such deaths were fairly common in St Helens' factories.
It's horrible to imagine the intense pain the man would have endured before death eventually brought their misery to an end.
On the 20th the inquest on William Johnson of Havelock Street was opened and adjourned.
The 18-year-old had been scalded from head to foot after falling into a vat of boiling water at the Ravenhead Pipe and Brick Co. and he died later in hospital.
I always find it curious how police in court felt able to make damning comments about those in the dock without offering a shred of evidence.
So this week magistrates were told that William Davies was a "loafer of no fixed abode" whose parents would have nothing to do with him.
A constable told the court that he had found Davies sleeping in an outhouse in Exchange Street in St Helens.
Not long ago a prison sentence would have been automatic, especially as Davies had been before the court 25 times before.
But the offence of sleeping out was now treated less severely and he was only fined 5 shillings.
After six nights of 'Dick Whittington', the Theatre Royal in St Helens swapped pantos and from the 22nd began a week’s performances of 'Little Jack Horner'.
Meanwhile, the Hippodrome Music Hall had an extraordinary act in Dr Walford Bodie, a Scottish showman, hypnotist, ventriloquist and stage magician.
In the Reporter his show was described as a "Gigantic attraction. The event of the year" and Bodie himself was dubbed "The British Edison" and "King laughter maker of the world".
An inspiration to both Harry Houdini and Charlie Chaplin, Bodie was famous for his mock electrocutions involving a replica of an electric chair.
The advert said: "Assisted by Mdlle. La Tesla, the electric magnet girl, in new and startling wonders of electric wizardy."
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the wicked stepmother of Thatto Heath, the girl shoplifters in Bridge Street, the 30-year-old emaciated horse that was sold to a St Helens hawker and the Clock Face Colliery pit shaft scare.
We begin on the 16th when Patrick Riley appeared in St Helens Police Court to face a charge of disturbing the peace.
The 41-year-old Corporation carter from St Thomas Street in St Helens (which used to be near St Thomas’s Church) was accused of attacking a married couple in Arthur Street.
Ellen Parkinson said the incident had occurred late on Saturday night when she and her husband Frank were returning home after visiting a friend.
When passing Riley in the street, she said the man suddenly knocked down Mr Parkinson without warning.
Upon his wife picking him up, the attacker declared that he wanted a fight and knocked the woman down too.
Some drunken men on Saturday nights did look to fight anyone just for the fun of it – and although Riley was well-oiled, he claimed provocation – and it was a curious one!
The 41-year-old father of seven reckoned that the Parkinsons had nudged him in the street and said "Good night". He then replied: "Don't speak to me, you dirty so-and-so".
Riley then said they all started shoving each other, which led to a squabble and a fight.
Magistrate Ald. Henry Bates then asked the defendant: "Do you mean to tell the Bench that a woman walking with her husband would speak to another man?"
A woman simply saying "good night" to a stranger appeared to be the most shocking aspect of Riley's testimony!
However, his wife Ellen Riley backed up her husband's version of what had happened, saying she had distinctly heard him say: "Don't say good-night to me".
She also claimed that the Parkinsons had separately come to their house later on with Frank Parkinson supposedly telling her he would be giving his wife "three sharp clouts" – presumably, for her familiarity with Patrick Riley.
But she had brought no witnesses to support this claim and the Bench bound Patrick Riley over to keep the peace for six months.
On the 17th Jack Broadley returned to St Helens Police Court to plead guilty to a charge of attempting to obtain £1 by false pretences.
The man from Accrington had claimed to be a warder at Walton Prison and had visited the wife of Thomas Dolan at her Lowe Street home.
He was a bankrupt haulage contractor who had recently been sent to prison for 3 months for hiding some of his assets.
Jack Broadley claimed to be a warder called Walker and had told Mrs Dolan that if she gave him money, her husband would receive better food in prison.
This is not the first time I've read of such a cruel scam. It hardly seems worth it for such small pickings but Broadley told the police that he needed some cash for his train fare back to Accrington.
The Chairman of the Bench, Ald. Henry Bates, told the man that what had been done was a "most despicable thing".
Broadley had a long criminal record and he was sent to prison for three months with hard labour.
We are so used to trees brightening up many of our streets and estates that it's hard to imagine a tree-less time.
Although some roads a century ago would have trees, these tended to be of long-standing and when improvements were made to streets, tree planting was rarely considered.
But things began to change in the 1920s and the council's Parks Committee on the 17th decided to get tenders for the supply of 360 trees. These would be planted on the new Windlehurst council house estate.
The committee estimated that the trees would cost them in the region of £70 to £80.
Most parks in St Helens had what was referred to as an "old man's hut". They were of basic construction and only accommodated about 20 persons but they were places where the retired elderly could meet up and talk.
The Parks Committee were told by their Borough Engineer that the present hut in Sutton Park was really an old polling booth that was worn out and not worth mending.
And so the committee decided to provide the old men with a new one, although it would not until the next financial year before they could find the money.
Pressure from temperance movements to reduce the number of drinking houses in St Helens had led to the creation of a compensation scheme.
All licensed houses in the town were forced to pay an annual levy into a compensation pot and when the licensing magistrates decided to close beerhouses or pubs, their owners received cash out of the fund.
It also served as an inducement for the surrendering of licences.
The levy was quite a burden on licensees and during the past year only two houses had been closed under the scheme, allowing quite a surplus of compensation money to build up.
So on the 18th St Helens magistrates considered a petition from landlords asking for a reduction in the levy.
As a result it was decided to reduce the annual amount that they had to pay to a third of its present amount.
Job "Jock" Davies, Rainhill's top football referee, was highly respected and regularly praised in the newspapers for the way he handled matches.
There was another tribute paid to him on the 19th when the Sheffield Daily Telegraph said this about his officiating of a match between Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest:
"It would be as well to compliment Mr. J. Davies (Rainhill) on his admirable handling of the game. The clubs have paid him a compliment by asking the F.A. to nominate him for Monday's match – he could desire no greater testimony."
Monday's game was a replay of a replay of a first round FA Cup game. In fact the tie went to a fourth replay before the contest was settled!
In the days before fixture bottlenecks and penalty shootouts, replays brought in much extra cash for football clubs.
Jock Davies had a relatively short career as a referee but was so well thought of that he had already been in charge of an FA Cup Final.
Later in 1923 he surprised the football world by giving up refereeing to become the licensee of the Coach and Horses in Rainhill.
A number of newspapers including the Gloucester Echo reported on the 20th that:
"The Hall, Rainhill, Lancashire, for many generations the home of the Stapleton-Bretherton family, has been purchased by the Jesuit Fathers of the English province as a house of spiritual retreat for laymen."
A century ago there were some really terrible ways for workers in St Helens to lose their lives. Falling down a deep pit shaft has to be one of the worst.
Although the mineworker would have the knowledge that he was going to die, his demise when he hit the bottom of the shaft would likely have been instant.
That was not the case for those workers who fell into vats of boiling liquid. Lax safety procedures meant such deaths were fairly common in St Helens' factories.
It's horrible to imagine the intense pain the man would have endured before death eventually brought their misery to an end.
On the 20th the inquest on William Johnson of Havelock Street was opened and adjourned.
The 18-year-old had been scalded from head to foot after falling into a vat of boiling water at the Ravenhead Pipe and Brick Co. and he died later in hospital.
I always find it curious how police in court felt able to make damning comments about those in the dock without offering a shred of evidence.
So this week magistrates were told that William Davies was a "loafer of no fixed abode" whose parents would have nothing to do with him.
A constable told the court that he had found Davies sleeping in an outhouse in Exchange Street in St Helens.
Not long ago a prison sentence would have been automatic, especially as Davies had been before the court 25 times before.
But the offence of sleeping out was now treated less severely and he was only fined 5 shillings.
After six nights of 'Dick Whittington', the Theatre Royal in St Helens swapped pantos and from the 22nd began a week’s performances of 'Little Jack Horner'.
Meanwhile, the Hippodrome Music Hall had an extraordinary act in Dr Walford Bodie, a Scottish showman, hypnotist, ventriloquist and stage magician.
In the Reporter his show was described as a "Gigantic attraction. The event of the year" and Bodie himself was dubbed "The British Edison" and "King laughter maker of the world".
An inspiration to both Harry Houdini and Charlie Chaplin, Bodie was famous for his mock electrocutions involving a replica of an electric chair.
The advert said: "Assisted by Mdlle. La Tesla, the electric magnet girl, in new and startling wonders of electric wizardy."
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the wicked stepmother of Thatto Heath, the girl shoplifters in Bridge Street, the 30-year-old emaciated horse that was sold to a St Helens hawker and the Clock Face Colliery pit shaft scare.