IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (18 - 24 SEPTEMBER 1923)
This week's stories include the midnight gambling in Parr, the indecent acts committed against women on the streets of St Helens, the blackberry-picking death of a Rainford boy, the street betting in Pocket Nook, the four schoolboys caught damaging trees in Thatto Heath Park, the real animal fur on sale in St Helens and the Lord Street man charged with assaulting his wife by cutting her head open with a basin.
We begin with the two issues that since the war were badly affecting life for many in St Helens – the high level of unemployment and the shortage of homes. Both problems could be greatly improved by a single act. That was the construction of many new houses in which jobless men were hired to build them. Everyone wanted new houses to be built, with one exception – the builders themselves.
At this week’s meeting of the council's Health Committee, its chairman Ald. Henry Bates explained the conundrum: "I find it increasingly difficult to get people to go in for building houses. It is not a paying concern for the speculative builder. We can only give £75 subsidy. Surrounding districts – Bootle, Wigan, Haydock, Whiston, and a lot of other places – are offering £100 to 120 and £130."
The builders complained of the high cost of materials and labour and accused some of their suppliers of profiteering. And the buyers – mainly councils and works employers – were limited in how much they could afford to pay for new houses to be built. The consequence was reluctance by developers to build new homes and consequently there was no end in sight for the overcrowding problems in St Helens – and the high unemployment.
On the 19th the council's Parks Committee met and considered the case of four schoolboys who had been caught damaging trees in Thatto Heath Park (pictured above). It was felt that instead of prosecuting the lads it would be better to bring them before the committee and give them a good talking to. However, Ald. Waring was the chairman of the School Attendance Committee and said he would have to report the Parks Committee to his own committee for keeping the boys off school for half a day!
Although fines for receiving betting slips and football coupons could be high, they were usually paid off by the boss of the gambling outfit and seen by him simply as an overhead. So it was a continuous cat and mouse game between the police and the bookies and with so many people out of work, there were plenty of willing volunteers to take bets. On the 19th William Bailey of Pocket Nook Street was charged with street betting after PC Holland had seen him at work on the corner of Gaskell Street in Parr.
Upon Bailey being searched by the constable a number of paying out sheets and six slips relating to 21 bets were found on him. Chief Inspector Roe told the court that Bailey worked for a well-known bookmaker and within a short time of his arrest the sum of £10 had been deposited as bail. The magistrates fined him a further £10 that, no doubt, the head bookie soon paid off.
On the 21st John Shacklady drowned in a pit of water in a field off News Lane in Rainford. The 13-year-old had lived just 100 yards away in Mackies Terrace and had been gathering blackberries. John had descended seven feet to a ledge 30 feet above the water and had seemingly tumbled in while reaching for some bushes. Twelve-year-old John Lydiate told the inquest that he had warned his friend that he should come back up, as it was slippery – but he had not taken any notice. A rope was procured and the body recovered but the artificial respiration that was carried out by Drs Prosser Snr and Jnr was to no avail.
The Reporter's account of the tragedy included the first newspaper reference I have found to Dr Oswald Llewellyn Prosser. He was then just 23 and so not probably qualified but went on to serve the medical needs of Rainfordians for five decades. In the 1921 census Oswald's father, Dr Francis Prosser, and mother Sarah had 13 children living in their home at Alpine House in Church Road. Unusually Oswald's two older brothers had not followed in their father's footsteps but instead become agricultural labourers on Rainford farms.
The peak times on the streets of St Helens for the playing of card games and pitch and toss were Sunday mornings and, sometimes, afternoons. That was when bored men with nothing to do on the Sabbath occupied themselves with what they considered to be harmless fun. Half-past midnight early on a Saturday morning was not when the police expected to find men gambling on the streets. However, PC Holland stumbled across a group in Parr at that time this week.
The constable told the Police Court that he'd been on duty near Providence Street when he heard voices discussing a sixpenny bet. PC Holland said he found five or six youths playing "banker" – aka baccarat – and in the dark they didn't see him until he was "practically upon them". He managed to grab William McDermott of Fleet Lane but the young man refused to give the officer his name and address. That was very foolish, as he then had to spend the rest of the night in a cell on a very hard bed before appearing before the Bench a few hours later. McDermott was fined five shillings.
It's odd how household names well known to one generation can quickly become less well known to another. The Reporter on the 21st was very excited about the presence of a famous scientist in the town writing in a very lengthy piece: "St. Helens, was honoured on Sunday by the visit to the Congregational Church, Ormskirk-street, of Sir Oliver Lodge, the scientist, whose name is a household word the length and breadth of the land, and Professor E. W. McBride, the eminent biologist."
I always find it frustrating when the newspapers censored their accounts of court cases concerning what were probably sexual assaults. I say "probably" because the blanket term "indecency" tended to be employed in the reports. That had a wide range of uses, including someone taking a public pee and consensual acts by couples. But reading between the lines of the newspaper account you did often have a reasonable idea of what had taken place.
This week under the headline "Many Complaints of Indecency – Stern Warning From St. Helens Bench", the Reporter described how Joseph Byrne of College Street had been brought to book for committing acts of indecency against young women. Youths would hang around the streets making lewd remarks to females passing-by and sometimes grab or touch them.
And it appears from the remarks made by the Chairman of the Bench, Ald. Arthur Rudd, that Byrne's crime had been of that nature. This is what he said: "We are having great complaints about this sort of thing. It is getting dangerous for girls to go about the town. We must put a stop to it." Byrne – who was 24 and so hardly a youth – insisted that it was a case of mistaken identity but he was fined 40 shillings or 14 days in prison.
The retailer calling itself the Palatine Arcade had opened in Church Street in September 1922. It was operated on department store lines, describing itself as a "market within a shop" and "the store St. Helens has waited for". This week in the Reporter they were advertising their range of animal furs, which included skunk, wolf and fox. Being advertised as a "real animal" fur was seen as a positive selling point, unlike today, of course.
On the 24th James Allen of Lord Street in St Helens was charged with assaulting his wife Teresa by cutting her head open with a basin – but he did not receive much of a punishment. The 41-year-old was ordered to find sureties to be of good behaviour for twelve months. Allen told the court that he had come home at half-past ten and found his wife out, his two daughters playing cards and the potatoes cooking on the fire were getting burnt.
So he had to get his own dinner and at that point his wife came into the house and had "exasperated him". Allen then told one of his daughters – probably Lucy the eldest aged about 15 – that if she did not find a job he would throw her out of the house. To that his wife Teresa said that he would have to throw her out first. And so after being suitably exasperated, he said he had hit her with his fist – but denied chucking a basin. It's strange how Allen seemingly thought it acceptable to punch his wife but not to throw a basin at her.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the problems with St Helens' proposed war memorial, the beginning of home ownership in St Helens, the betting house in Highfield Street in Sutton and a porter gets punched at Moss Bank station.
We begin with the two issues that since the war were badly affecting life for many in St Helens – the high level of unemployment and the shortage of homes. Both problems could be greatly improved by a single act. That was the construction of many new houses in which jobless men were hired to build them. Everyone wanted new houses to be built, with one exception – the builders themselves.
At this week’s meeting of the council's Health Committee, its chairman Ald. Henry Bates explained the conundrum: "I find it increasingly difficult to get people to go in for building houses. It is not a paying concern for the speculative builder. We can only give £75 subsidy. Surrounding districts – Bootle, Wigan, Haydock, Whiston, and a lot of other places – are offering £100 to 120 and £130."
The builders complained of the high cost of materials and labour and accused some of their suppliers of profiteering. And the buyers – mainly councils and works employers – were limited in how much they could afford to pay for new houses to be built. The consequence was reluctance by developers to build new homes and consequently there was no end in sight for the overcrowding problems in St Helens – and the high unemployment.
Although fines for receiving betting slips and football coupons could be high, they were usually paid off by the boss of the gambling outfit and seen by him simply as an overhead. So it was a continuous cat and mouse game between the police and the bookies and with so many people out of work, there were plenty of willing volunteers to take bets. On the 19th William Bailey of Pocket Nook Street was charged with street betting after PC Holland had seen him at work on the corner of Gaskell Street in Parr.
Upon Bailey being searched by the constable a number of paying out sheets and six slips relating to 21 bets were found on him. Chief Inspector Roe told the court that Bailey worked for a well-known bookmaker and within a short time of his arrest the sum of £10 had been deposited as bail. The magistrates fined him a further £10 that, no doubt, the head bookie soon paid off.
On the 21st John Shacklady drowned in a pit of water in a field off News Lane in Rainford. The 13-year-old had lived just 100 yards away in Mackies Terrace and had been gathering blackberries. John had descended seven feet to a ledge 30 feet above the water and had seemingly tumbled in while reaching for some bushes. Twelve-year-old John Lydiate told the inquest that he had warned his friend that he should come back up, as it was slippery – but he had not taken any notice. A rope was procured and the body recovered but the artificial respiration that was carried out by Drs Prosser Snr and Jnr was to no avail.
The Reporter's account of the tragedy included the first newspaper reference I have found to Dr Oswald Llewellyn Prosser. He was then just 23 and so not probably qualified but went on to serve the medical needs of Rainfordians for five decades. In the 1921 census Oswald's father, Dr Francis Prosser, and mother Sarah had 13 children living in their home at Alpine House in Church Road. Unusually Oswald's two older brothers had not followed in their father's footsteps but instead become agricultural labourers on Rainford farms.
The peak times on the streets of St Helens for the playing of card games and pitch and toss were Sunday mornings and, sometimes, afternoons. That was when bored men with nothing to do on the Sabbath occupied themselves with what they considered to be harmless fun. Half-past midnight early on a Saturday morning was not when the police expected to find men gambling on the streets. However, PC Holland stumbled across a group in Parr at that time this week.
The constable told the Police Court that he'd been on duty near Providence Street when he heard voices discussing a sixpenny bet. PC Holland said he found five or six youths playing "banker" – aka baccarat – and in the dark they didn't see him until he was "practically upon them". He managed to grab William McDermott of Fleet Lane but the young man refused to give the officer his name and address. That was very foolish, as he then had to spend the rest of the night in a cell on a very hard bed before appearing before the Bench a few hours later. McDermott was fined five shillings.
It's odd how household names well known to one generation can quickly become less well known to another. The Reporter on the 21st was very excited about the presence of a famous scientist in the town writing in a very lengthy piece: "St. Helens, was honoured on Sunday by the visit to the Congregational Church, Ormskirk-street, of Sir Oliver Lodge, the scientist, whose name is a household word the length and breadth of the land, and Professor E. W. McBride, the eminent biologist."
I always find it frustrating when the newspapers censored their accounts of court cases concerning what were probably sexual assaults. I say "probably" because the blanket term "indecency" tended to be employed in the reports. That had a wide range of uses, including someone taking a public pee and consensual acts by couples. But reading between the lines of the newspaper account you did often have a reasonable idea of what had taken place.
This week under the headline "Many Complaints of Indecency – Stern Warning From St. Helens Bench", the Reporter described how Joseph Byrne of College Street had been brought to book for committing acts of indecency against young women. Youths would hang around the streets making lewd remarks to females passing-by and sometimes grab or touch them.
And it appears from the remarks made by the Chairman of the Bench, Ald. Arthur Rudd, that Byrne's crime had been of that nature. This is what he said: "We are having great complaints about this sort of thing. It is getting dangerous for girls to go about the town. We must put a stop to it." Byrne – who was 24 and so hardly a youth – insisted that it was a case of mistaken identity but he was fined 40 shillings or 14 days in prison.
The retailer calling itself the Palatine Arcade had opened in Church Street in September 1922. It was operated on department store lines, describing itself as a "market within a shop" and "the store St. Helens has waited for". This week in the Reporter they were advertising their range of animal furs, which included skunk, wolf and fox. Being advertised as a "real animal" fur was seen as a positive selling point, unlike today, of course.
On the 24th James Allen of Lord Street in St Helens was charged with assaulting his wife Teresa by cutting her head open with a basin – but he did not receive much of a punishment. The 41-year-old was ordered to find sureties to be of good behaviour for twelve months. Allen told the court that he had come home at half-past ten and found his wife out, his two daughters playing cards and the potatoes cooking on the fire were getting burnt.
So he had to get his own dinner and at that point his wife came into the house and had "exasperated him". Allen then told one of his daughters – probably Lucy the eldest aged about 15 – that if she did not find a job he would throw her out of the house. To that his wife Teresa said that he would have to throw her out first. And so after being suitably exasperated, he said he had hit her with his fist – but denied chucking a basin. It's strange how Allen seemingly thought it acceptable to punch his wife but not to throw a basin at her.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the problems with St Helens' proposed war memorial, the beginning of home ownership in St Helens, the betting house in Highfield Street in Sutton and a porter gets punched at Moss Bank station.
This week's stories include the midnight gambling in Parr, the indecent acts committed against women on the streets of St Helens, the blackberry-picking death of a Rainford boy, the street betting in Pocket Nook, the four schoolboys caught damaging trees in Thatto Heath Park, the real animal fur on sale in St Helens and the Lord Street man charged with assaulting his wife by cutting her head open with a basin.
We begin with the two issues that since the war were badly affecting life for many in St Helens – the high level of unemployment and the shortage of homes.
Both problems could be greatly improved by a single act. That was the construction of many new houses in which jobless men were hired to build them.
Everyone wanted new houses to be built, with one exception – the builders themselves.
At this week’s meeting of the council's Health Committee, its chairman Ald. Henry Bates explained the conundrum:
"I find it increasingly difficult to get people to go in for building houses. It is not a paying concern for the speculative builder. We can only give £75 subsidy. Surrounding districts – Bootle, Wigan, Haydock, Whiston, and a lot of other places – are offering £100 to 120 and £130."
The builders complained of the high cost of materials and labour and accused some of their suppliers of profiteering.
And the buyers – mainly councils and works employers – were limited in how much they could afford to pay for new houses to be built.
The consequence was reluctance by developers to build new homes and consequently there was no end in sight for the overcrowding problems in St Helens – and the high unemployment.
On the 19th the council's Parks Committee met and considered the case of four schoolboys who had been caught damaging trees in Thatto Heath Park (pictured above).
It was felt that instead of prosecuting the lads it would be better to bring them before the committee and give them a good talking to.
However, Ald. Waring was the chairman of the School Attendance Committee and said he would have to report the Parks Committee to his own committee for keeping the boys off school for half a day!
Although fines for receiving betting slips and football coupons could be high, they were usually paid off by the boss of the gambling outfit and seen by him simply as an overhead.
So it was a continuous cat and mouse game between the police and the bookies and with so many people out of work, there were plenty of willing volunteers to take bets.
On the 19th William Bailey of Pocket Nook Street was charged with street betting after PC Holland had seen him at work on the corner of Gaskell Street in Parr.
Upon Bailey being searched by the constable a number of paying out sheets and six slips relating to 21 bets were found on him.
Chief Inspector Roe told the court that Bailey worked for a well-known bookmaker and within a short time of his arrest the sum of £10 had been deposited as bail. The magistrates fined him a further £10 that, no doubt, the head bookie soon paid off.
On the 21st John Shacklady drowned in a pit of water in a field off News Lane in Rainford.
The 13-year-old had lived just 100 yards away in Mackies Terrace and had been gathering blackberries.
John had descended seven feet to a ledge 30 feet above the water and had seemingly tumbled in while reaching for some bushes.
Twelve-year-old John Lydiate told the inquest that he had warned his friend that he should come back up, as it was slippery – but he had not taken any notice.
A rope was procured and the body recovered but the artificial respiration that was carried out by Drs Prosser Snr and Jnr was to no avail.
The Reporter's account of the tragedy included the first newspaper reference I have found to Dr Oswald Llewellyn Prosser.
He was then just 23 and so not probably qualified but went on to serve the medical needs of Rainfordians for five decades.
In the 1921 census Oswald's father, Dr Francis Prosser, and mother Sarah had 13 children living in their home at Alpine House in Church Road.
Unusually Oswald's two older brothers had not followed in their father's footsteps but instead become agricultural labourers on Rainford farms.
The peak times on the streets of St Helens for the playing of card games and pitch and toss were Sunday mornings and, sometimes, afternoons.
That was when bored men with nothing to do on the Sabbath occupied themselves with what they considered to be harmless fun.
Half-past midnight early on a Saturday morning was not when the police expected to find men gambling on the streets. However, PC Holland stumbled across a group in Parr at that time this week.
The constable told the Police Court that he'd been on duty near Providence Street when he heard voices discussing a sixpenny bet.
PC Holland said he found five or six youths playing "banker" – aka baccarat – and in the dark they didn't see him until he was "practically upon them".
He managed to grab William McDermott of Fleet Lane but the young man refused to give the officer his name and address.
That was very foolish, as he then had to spend the rest of the night in a cell on a very hard bed before appearing before the Bench a few hours later. McDermott was fined five shillings.
It's odd how household names well known to one generation can quickly become less well known to another.
The Reporter on the 21st was very excited about the presence of a famous scientist in the town writing in a very lengthy piece:
"St. Helens, was honoured on Sunday by the visit to the Congregational Church, Ormskirk-street, of Sir Oliver Lodge, the scientist, whose name is a household word the length and breadth of the land, and Professor E. W. McBride, the eminent biologist."
I always find it frustrating when the newspapers censored their accounts of court cases concerning what were probably sexual assaults.
I say "probably" because the blanket term "indecency" tended to be employed in the reports. That had a wide range of uses, including someone taking a public pee and consensual acts by couples.
But reading between the lines of the newspaper account you did often have a reasonable idea of what had taken place.
This week under the headline "Many Complaints of Indecency – Stern Warning From St. Helens Bench", the Reporter described how Joseph Byrne of College Street had been brought to book for committing acts of indecency against young women.
Youths would hang around the streets making lewd remarks to females passing-by and sometimes grab or touch them.
And it appears from the remarks made by the Chairman of the Bench, Ald. Arthur Rudd, that Byrne's crime had been of that nature. This is what he said:
"We are having great complaints about this sort of thing. It is getting dangerous for girls to go about the town. We must put a stop to it."
Byrne – who was 24 and so hardly a youth – insisted that it was a case of mistaken identity but he was fined 40 shillings or 14 days in prison.
The retailer calling itself the Palatine Arcade had opened in Church Street in September 1922.
It was operated on department store lines, describing itself as a "market within a shop" and "the store St. Helens has waited for".
This week in the Reporter they were advertising their range of animal furs, which included skunk, wolf and fox.
Being advertised as a "real animal" fur was seen as a positive selling point, unlike today, of course.
On the 24th James Allen of Lord Street in St Helens was charged with assaulting his wife Teresa by cutting her head open with a basin – but he did not receive much of a punishment.
The 41-year-old was ordered to find sureties to be of good behaviour for twelve months.
Allen told the court that he had come home at half-past ten and found his wife out, his two daughters playing cards and the potatoes cooking on the fire were getting burnt.
So he had to get his own dinner and at that point his wife came into the house and had "exasperated him".
Allen then told one of his daughters – probably Lucy the eldest aged about 15 – that if she did not find a job he would throw her out of the house.
To that his wife Teresa said that he would have to throw her out first. And so after being suitably exasperated, he said he had hit her with his fist – but denied chucking a basin.
It's strange how Allen seemingly thought it acceptable to punch his wife but not to throw a basin at her.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the problems with St Helens' proposed war memorial, the beginning of home ownership in St Helens, the betting house in Highfield Street in Sutton and a porter gets punched at Moss Bank station.
We begin with the two issues that since the war were badly affecting life for many in St Helens – the high level of unemployment and the shortage of homes.
Both problems could be greatly improved by a single act. That was the construction of many new houses in which jobless men were hired to build them.
Everyone wanted new houses to be built, with one exception – the builders themselves.
At this week’s meeting of the council's Health Committee, its chairman Ald. Henry Bates explained the conundrum:
"I find it increasingly difficult to get people to go in for building houses. It is not a paying concern for the speculative builder. We can only give £75 subsidy. Surrounding districts – Bootle, Wigan, Haydock, Whiston, and a lot of other places – are offering £100 to 120 and £130."
The builders complained of the high cost of materials and labour and accused some of their suppliers of profiteering.
And the buyers – mainly councils and works employers – were limited in how much they could afford to pay for new houses to be built.
The consequence was reluctance by developers to build new homes and consequently there was no end in sight for the overcrowding problems in St Helens – and the high unemployment.
It was felt that instead of prosecuting the lads it would be better to bring them before the committee and give them a good talking to.
However, Ald. Waring was the chairman of the School Attendance Committee and said he would have to report the Parks Committee to his own committee for keeping the boys off school for half a day!
Although fines for receiving betting slips and football coupons could be high, they were usually paid off by the boss of the gambling outfit and seen by him simply as an overhead.
So it was a continuous cat and mouse game between the police and the bookies and with so many people out of work, there were plenty of willing volunteers to take bets.
On the 19th William Bailey of Pocket Nook Street was charged with street betting after PC Holland had seen him at work on the corner of Gaskell Street in Parr.
Upon Bailey being searched by the constable a number of paying out sheets and six slips relating to 21 bets were found on him.
Chief Inspector Roe told the court that Bailey worked for a well-known bookmaker and within a short time of his arrest the sum of £10 had been deposited as bail. The magistrates fined him a further £10 that, no doubt, the head bookie soon paid off.
On the 21st John Shacklady drowned in a pit of water in a field off News Lane in Rainford.
The 13-year-old had lived just 100 yards away in Mackies Terrace and had been gathering blackberries.
John had descended seven feet to a ledge 30 feet above the water and had seemingly tumbled in while reaching for some bushes.
Twelve-year-old John Lydiate told the inquest that he had warned his friend that he should come back up, as it was slippery – but he had not taken any notice.
A rope was procured and the body recovered but the artificial respiration that was carried out by Drs Prosser Snr and Jnr was to no avail.
The Reporter's account of the tragedy included the first newspaper reference I have found to Dr Oswald Llewellyn Prosser.
He was then just 23 and so not probably qualified but went on to serve the medical needs of Rainfordians for five decades.
In the 1921 census Oswald's father, Dr Francis Prosser, and mother Sarah had 13 children living in their home at Alpine House in Church Road.
Unusually Oswald's two older brothers had not followed in their father's footsteps but instead become agricultural labourers on Rainford farms.
The peak times on the streets of St Helens for the playing of card games and pitch and toss were Sunday mornings and, sometimes, afternoons.
That was when bored men with nothing to do on the Sabbath occupied themselves with what they considered to be harmless fun.
Half-past midnight early on a Saturday morning was not when the police expected to find men gambling on the streets. However, PC Holland stumbled across a group in Parr at that time this week.
The constable told the Police Court that he'd been on duty near Providence Street when he heard voices discussing a sixpenny bet.
PC Holland said he found five or six youths playing "banker" – aka baccarat – and in the dark they didn't see him until he was "practically upon them".
He managed to grab William McDermott of Fleet Lane but the young man refused to give the officer his name and address.
That was very foolish, as he then had to spend the rest of the night in a cell on a very hard bed before appearing before the Bench a few hours later. McDermott was fined five shillings.
It's odd how household names well known to one generation can quickly become less well known to another.
The Reporter on the 21st was very excited about the presence of a famous scientist in the town writing in a very lengthy piece:
"St. Helens, was honoured on Sunday by the visit to the Congregational Church, Ormskirk-street, of Sir Oliver Lodge, the scientist, whose name is a household word the length and breadth of the land, and Professor E. W. McBride, the eminent biologist."
I always find it frustrating when the newspapers censored their accounts of court cases concerning what were probably sexual assaults.
I say "probably" because the blanket term "indecency" tended to be employed in the reports. That had a wide range of uses, including someone taking a public pee and consensual acts by couples.
But reading between the lines of the newspaper account you did often have a reasonable idea of what had taken place.
This week under the headline "Many Complaints of Indecency – Stern Warning From St. Helens Bench", the Reporter described how Joseph Byrne of College Street had been brought to book for committing acts of indecency against young women.
Youths would hang around the streets making lewd remarks to females passing-by and sometimes grab or touch them.
And it appears from the remarks made by the Chairman of the Bench, Ald. Arthur Rudd, that Byrne's crime had been of that nature. This is what he said:
"We are having great complaints about this sort of thing. It is getting dangerous for girls to go about the town. We must put a stop to it."
Byrne – who was 24 and so hardly a youth – insisted that it was a case of mistaken identity but he was fined 40 shillings or 14 days in prison.
The retailer calling itself the Palatine Arcade had opened in Church Street in September 1922.
It was operated on department store lines, describing itself as a "market within a shop" and "the store St. Helens has waited for".
This week in the Reporter they were advertising their range of animal furs, which included skunk, wolf and fox.
Being advertised as a "real animal" fur was seen as a positive selling point, unlike today, of course.
On the 24th James Allen of Lord Street in St Helens was charged with assaulting his wife Teresa by cutting her head open with a basin – but he did not receive much of a punishment.
The 41-year-old was ordered to find sureties to be of good behaviour for twelve months.
Allen told the court that he had come home at half-past ten and found his wife out, his two daughters playing cards and the potatoes cooking on the fire were getting burnt.
So he had to get his own dinner and at that point his wife came into the house and had "exasperated him".
Allen then told one of his daughters – probably Lucy the eldest aged about 15 – that if she did not find a job he would throw her out of the house.
To that his wife Teresa said that he would have to throw her out first. And so after being suitably exasperated, he said he had hit her with his fist – but denied chucking a basin.
It's strange how Allen seemingly thought it acceptable to punch his wife but not to throw a basin at her.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the problems with St Helens' proposed war memorial, the beginning of home ownership in St Helens, the betting house in Highfield Street in Sutton and a porter gets punched at Moss Bank station.