IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (20th - 26th JANUARY 1920)
This week's stories include the Thatto Heath gambling house, the Liverpool Road saucepan assault, the problem of getting tarmac for St Helens' roads, the strange death of a Haydock pit man, the overcrowding of schools in Derbyshire Hill and Sutton and the Parr chauffeur that got smacked in the face by a rugby ball while he was driving a car.
We begin on the 20th at St Helens Town Hall where the inquest on John Makin was held. The man from South John Street had fallen thirty feet to his death at Pilkington's Cowley Hill glassworks.
There were reminders of the severe overcrowding in St Helens in a County Court hearing on the 21st. This was when Amelia Gordon sought possession of her property in Charles Street. She had bought the house last October and had offered to swap homes with her inherited tenant, Henry Wilson. Amelia had been living in a two-bedroom house in Pitt Street but Henry refused to move as his current home had three bedrooms.
Occupying these rooms were Henry and his wife, a son, a daughter, a granddaughter and three widows and their three children. However Amelia was living with her husband, two brothers and two sisters in their two-bedroom rented house. She also had a ten-year-old son living in lodgings, as she had no room for him in her own home. The judge told Henry Wilson that his landlady was worse off than him and gave the man a month to vacate.
Also on the 21st James Whittaker was killed while walking on the surface of Clock Face Colliery. The 18-year-old lampman from Station Road in Sutton was run down by a train despite the engine driver repeatedly blowing his whistle.
During the war many roads in St Helens had got into a poor state due to a shortage of men and materials. Fourteen months had now passed since the declaration of peace. However when the council's Highways Committee met on the 21st, its members were told that some roads were still in disrepair. The Borough Engineer blamed this on a difficulty in obtaining tarmac as a result of transportation problems. This was because the railway network was not yet running as in pre-war days and there was also a shortage of wagons. So the committee decided to look into buying their own plant in order to make their own tarmac.
The School Attendance Committee met on the 21st and discussed the serious overcrowding of schools in Derbyshire Hill and Sutton. As a result some children from Derbyshire Hill were forced to walk a mile and a half to school in all weathers. With upcoming changes to the school leaving age, it was expected that the number of pupils in St Helens would quickly increase by 1,000 and so new school accommodation would be needed.
It was common for miners that endured minor injuries down the pit to return to work on the following day. The men were a tough breed and reluctant to lose wages or have to pay a doctor's fee. However that toughness could also lead to their death, as in the case of John Briscoe. His inquest was held on the 21st in the presence of the seven doctors that had conducted his post-mortem. Such investigations did not happen very often and when they did take place, several doctors would often be in attendance.
The hearing at the Wagon and Horses Hotel in Haydock heard from John Briscoe's widow that her husband had worked at the Old Boston Colliery. On January 7th he had returned to his home in Park Road complaining of having been caught by the mine's haulage rope. As a result he was in great pain on his left side but continued to work for the next three days. However John was constantly complaining about the pain and had completely lost his appetite. By the 12th his condition had deteriorated and on the following day John was taken to Haydock Cottage Hospital where he died six days later from severe diarrhoea and vomiting.
The disadvantage of having seven doctors at a post-mortem is that you get seven sets of opinions and there was a dispute over whether the injury had led to John Briscoe's death. In the end the coroner ruled that the man had died from the diarrhoea and vomiting with the accident at least contributing to his death. However as was pointed out by a witness, the inability of the post-mortem to link the accident to the man's death, probably demonstrated the then limitations of medical knowledge.
In the Police Court on the 23rd Thomas Kilroy was charged with playing football in the street. However the circumstances were rather unusual. A chauffeur called William Standish from Bramwell Street in Parr told the court that he had been driving along Traverse Street and had just passed Parr Mount Church. He noticed two or three boys on the side of the road and suddenly a rugby football struck him in the face before passing right through the car.
One of the lads had kicked the ball across the street and the angry chauffeur summoned the police. Sgt. Whalley told the Bench that Thomas Kilroy had admitted the offence but said he had not meant to hit the man. The boy was fined twenty shillings.
Thomas Pickavance from Eccleston Street was also in the Police Court charged with deserting his wife. She wanted a separation order, which would entitle her to legally enforceable maintenance payments from her husband. The magistrates were often reluctant to grant such an order preferring to try and persuade couples to get back together. However Jane Pickavance's counsel made it clear from the outset that this would not happen. His client wanted nothing more to do with her husband after he had struck her and admitted having an affair with her sister. The magistrates decided to grant the woman the separation order and the maintenance payments.
In St Helens Police Court on the 26th William Pearce was charged with using his home in Thatto Heath for the purposes of betting. PC Redding gave evidence that he had visited the house in Heath Street on three occasions while in plain clothes. In total he had handed in three football coupons and two betting slips, paying a shilling for each of them. The constable had witnessed other men doing the same and seen many coupons, slips and much money piled up on a table.
Immediately after his third visit the police raided the house and while it was in progress, John O’Neill from Sandon Street stumbled in carrying two small parcels. These contained 51 football coupons and 14 betting slips for that day's racing but the man swore that he hadn't known what was inside the envelopes. The amount of money found inside William Pearce's house that had been staked for the racing amounted to £24 in total, with £15 5s 8d having been paid out. That left a profit of nearly £9 for the day.
A nice little earner, although William Pearce claimed he'd only been doing a small amount of business occasionally at weekends. Fines for running a gambling house were heavy and Pearce was fined £25. John O’Neill who had brought in envelopes stuffed full of coupons and betting slips had been charged with aiding and abetting. However he'd won the Military Medal in the war and been wounded and gassed. The Bench decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and discharged him.
There was another reference to the overcrowding of homes in St Helens in a Police Court hearing on the 26th. That was when Elizabeth Jones of 56 Liverpool Road (pictured above) was charged with assaulting Theresa Mellor, who lived at the same address. Five families were occupying what were described as furnished apartments – although in reality they were just single rooms. Mrs Mellor gave evidence that a drunken Mrs Jones had struck her on the top of her head with a saucepan, which had created a deep wound.
She had also stabbed her hand with a knife, used "obscene references" and threatened to kill her. Mrs Mellor then ran out of the house to get help and a police surgeon had dressed her wounds. When arrested by PC Johnson Elizabeth Jones had said: "I have done it with my fist. I did not use the saucepan; and I can do what I want to do with my fists. She came into my room and said I was thick with her husband, so I took it out of her." The Chief Constable told the Bench that the woman had been drinking very heavily and "causing a lot of bother". So after her arrest Mrs Jones had been remanded in custody for a week "in order to get the drink out of her".
In her defence Elizabeth Jones said she had lived "in purgatory" with her husband for 26 years, claiming she had been "knocked about". The woman claimed that the complainant Theresa Mellor was "carrying on all over the place" and had given her no peace. When asked by the Bench about the living conditions, the Chief Constable said: "There are five rooms, and there are five families, of varying size, all living and sleeping under the roof. I am told it is a proper inferno, quarrelling among themselves, and no wonder." As Elizabeth Jones had spent a week in prison on remand, the Bench decided to only fine her £1.
And finally the music hall acts at the Hippodrome from the 26th included: The Jovers ("The eccentric comedy musical act"); Jack Norman ("Great animal mimic"); Dave Bryant ("Hebrew comedian"); Roe Hampton ("Soldier baritone") and Nancy Davies ("Comedienne").
Next week's stories will include the Raglan Street beggar accused of living too well, an intruder at the Theatre Royal, the expert moocher in College Street, the rare sights and sounds of builders at work in Haydock and the curious death of a Widnes girl in the canal at Pocket Nook.
We begin on the 20th at St Helens Town Hall where the inquest on John Makin was held. The man from South John Street had fallen thirty feet to his death at Pilkington's Cowley Hill glassworks.
A couple of picture postcards from a century ago including one that skits the house overcrowding in St Helens
Picture postcards including one that skits the house overcrowding
A send up of house overcrowding
Occupying these rooms were Henry and his wife, a son, a daughter, a granddaughter and three widows and their three children. However Amelia was living with her husband, two brothers and two sisters in their two-bedroom rented house. She also had a ten-year-old son living in lodgings, as she had no room for him in her own home. The judge told Henry Wilson that his landlady was worse off than him and gave the man a month to vacate.
Also on the 21st James Whittaker was killed while walking on the surface of Clock Face Colliery. The 18-year-old lampman from Station Road in Sutton was run down by a train despite the engine driver repeatedly blowing his whistle.
During the war many roads in St Helens had got into a poor state due to a shortage of men and materials. Fourteen months had now passed since the declaration of peace. However when the council's Highways Committee met on the 21st, its members were told that some roads were still in disrepair. The Borough Engineer blamed this on a difficulty in obtaining tarmac as a result of transportation problems. This was because the railway network was not yet running as in pre-war days and there was also a shortage of wagons. So the committee decided to look into buying their own plant in order to make their own tarmac.
The School Attendance Committee met on the 21st and discussed the serious overcrowding of schools in Derbyshire Hill and Sutton. As a result some children from Derbyshire Hill were forced to walk a mile and a half to school in all weathers. With upcoming changes to the school leaving age, it was expected that the number of pupils in St Helens would quickly increase by 1,000 and so new school accommodation would be needed.
It was common for miners that endured minor injuries down the pit to return to work on the following day. The men were a tough breed and reluctant to lose wages or have to pay a doctor's fee. However that toughness could also lead to their death, as in the case of John Briscoe. His inquest was held on the 21st in the presence of the seven doctors that had conducted his post-mortem. Such investigations did not happen very often and when they did take place, several doctors would often be in attendance.
The hearing at the Wagon and Horses Hotel in Haydock heard from John Briscoe's widow that her husband had worked at the Old Boston Colliery. On January 7th he had returned to his home in Park Road complaining of having been caught by the mine's haulage rope. As a result he was in great pain on his left side but continued to work for the next three days. However John was constantly complaining about the pain and had completely lost his appetite. By the 12th his condition had deteriorated and on the following day John was taken to Haydock Cottage Hospital where he died six days later from severe diarrhoea and vomiting.
The disadvantage of having seven doctors at a post-mortem is that you get seven sets of opinions and there was a dispute over whether the injury had led to John Briscoe's death. In the end the coroner ruled that the man had died from the diarrhoea and vomiting with the accident at least contributing to his death. However as was pointed out by a witness, the inability of the post-mortem to link the accident to the man's death, probably demonstrated the then limitations of medical knowledge.
In the Police Court on the 23rd Thomas Kilroy was charged with playing football in the street. However the circumstances were rather unusual. A chauffeur called William Standish from Bramwell Street in Parr told the court that he had been driving along Traverse Street and had just passed Parr Mount Church. He noticed two or three boys on the side of the road and suddenly a rugby football struck him in the face before passing right through the car.
One of the lads had kicked the ball across the street and the angry chauffeur summoned the police. Sgt. Whalley told the Bench that Thomas Kilroy had admitted the offence but said he had not meant to hit the man. The boy was fined twenty shillings.
Thomas Pickavance from Eccleston Street was also in the Police Court charged with deserting his wife. She wanted a separation order, which would entitle her to legally enforceable maintenance payments from her husband. The magistrates were often reluctant to grant such an order preferring to try and persuade couples to get back together. However Jane Pickavance's counsel made it clear from the outset that this would not happen. His client wanted nothing more to do with her husband after he had struck her and admitted having an affair with her sister. The magistrates decided to grant the woman the separation order and the maintenance payments.
In St Helens Police Court on the 26th William Pearce was charged with using his home in Thatto Heath for the purposes of betting. PC Redding gave evidence that he had visited the house in Heath Street on three occasions while in plain clothes. In total he had handed in three football coupons and two betting slips, paying a shilling for each of them. The constable had witnessed other men doing the same and seen many coupons, slips and much money piled up on a table.
Immediately after his third visit the police raided the house and while it was in progress, John O’Neill from Sandon Street stumbled in carrying two small parcels. These contained 51 football coupons and 14 betting slips for that day's racing but the man swore that he hadn't known what was inside the envelopes. The amount of money found inside William Pearce's house that had been staked for the racing amounted to £24 in total, with £15 5s 8d having been paid out. That left a profit of nearly £9 for the day.
A nice little earner, although William Pearce claimed he'd only been doing a small amount of business occasionally at weekends. Fines for running a gambling house were heavy and Pearce was fined £25. John O’Neill who had brought in envelopes stuffed full of coupons and betting slips had been charged with aiding and abetting. However he'd won the Military Medal in the war and been wounded and gassed. The Bench decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and discharged him.
She had also stabbed her hand with a knife, used "obscene references" and threatened to kill her. Mrs Mellor then ran out of the house to get help and a police surgeon had dressed her wounds. When arrested by PC Johnson Elizabeth Jones had said: "I have done it with my fist. I did not use the saucepan; and I can do what I want to do with my fists. She came into my room and said I was thick with her husband, so I took it out of her." The Chief Constable told the Bench that the woman had been drinking very heavily and "causing a lot of bother". So after her arrest Mrs Jones had been remanded in custody for a week "in order to get the drink out of her".
In her defence Elizabeth Jones said she had lived "in purgatory" with her husband for 26 years, claiming she had been "knocked about". The woman claimed that the complainant Theresa Mellor was "carrying on all over the place" and had given her no peace. When asked by the Bench about the living conditions, the Chief Constable said: "There are five rooms, and there are five families, of varying size, all living and sleeping under the roof. I am told it is a proper inferno, quarrelling among themselves, and no wonder." As Elizabeth Jones had spent a week in prison on remand, the Bench decided to only fine her £1.
And finally the music hall acts at the Hippodrome from the 26th included: The Jovers ("The eccentric comedy musical act"); Jack Norman ("Great animal mimic"); Dave Bryant ("Hebrew comedian"); Roe Hampton ("Soldier baritone") and Nancy Davies ("Comedienne").
Next week's stories will include the Raglan Street beggar accused of living too well, an intruder at the Theatre Royal, the expert moocher in College Street, the rare sights and sounds of builders at work in Haydock and the curious death of a Widnes girl in the canal at Pocket Nook.
This week's stories include the Thatto Heath gambling house, the Liverpool Road saucepan assault, the problem of getting tarmac for St Helens' roads, the strange death of a Haydock pit man, the overcrowding of schools in Derbyshire Hill and Sutton and the Parr chauffeur that got smacked in the face by a rugby ball while he was driving a car.
We begin on the 20th at St Helens Town Hall where the inquest on John Makin was held.
The man from South John Street had fallen thirty feet to his death at Pilkington's Cowley Hill glassworks.
There were reminders of the severe overcrowding in St Helens in a County Court hearing on the 21st.
This was when Amelia Gordon sought possession of her property in Charles Street.
She had bought the house last October and had offered to swap homes with her inherited tenant, Henry Wilson.
Amelia had been living in a two-bedroom house in Pitt Street but Henry refused to move as his current home had three bedrooms.
Occupying these rooms were Henry and his wife, a son, a daughter, a granddaughter and three widows and their three children.
However Amelia was living with her husband, two brothers and two sisters in their two-bedroom rented house.
She also had a ten-year-old son living in lodgings, as she had no room for him in her own home.
The judge told Henry Wilson that his landlady was worse off than him and gave the man a month to vacate.
Also on the 21st James Whittaker was killed while walking on the surface of Clock Face Colliery.
The 18-year-old lampman from Station Road in Sutton was run down by a train despite the engine driver repeatedly blowing his whistle.
During the war many roads in St Helens had got into a poor state due to a shortage of men and materials.
Fourteen months had now passed since the declaration of peace. However when the council's Highways Committee met on the 21st, its members were told that some roads were still in disrepair.
The Borough Engineer blamed this on a difficulty in obtaining tarmac as a result of transportation problems.
This was because the railway network was not yet running as in pre-war days and there was also a shortage of wagons.
So the committee decided to look into buying their own plant in order to make their own tarmac.
The School Attendance Committee met on the 21st and discussed the serious overcrowding of schools in Derbyshire Hill and Sutton.
As a result some children from Derbyshire Hill were forced to walk a mile and a half to school in all weathers.
With upcoming changes to the school leaving age, it was expected that the number of pupils in St Helens would quickly increase by 1,000 and so new school accommodation would be needed.
It was common for miners that endured minor injuries down the pit to return to work on the following day.
The men were a tough breed and reluctant to lose wages or have to pay a doctor's fee.
However that toughness could also lead to their death, as in the case of John Briscoe.
His inquest was held on the 21st in the presence of the seven doctors that had conducted his post-mortem.
Such investigations did not happen very often and when they did take place, several doctors would often be in attendance.
The hearing at the Wagon and Horses Hotel in Haydock heard from John Briscoe's widow that her husband had worked at the Old Boston Colliery.
On January 7th he had returned to his home in Park Road complaining of having been caught by the mine's haulage rope.
As a result he was in great pain on his left side but continued to work for the next three days.
However John was constantly complaining about the pain and had completely lost his appetite.
By the 12th his condition had deteriorated and on the following day John was taken to Haydock Cottage Hospital where he died six days later from severe diarrhoea and vomiting.
The disadvantage of having seven doctors at a post-mortem is that you get seven sets of opinions and there was a dispute over whether the injury had led to John Briscoe's death.
In the end the coroner ruled that the man had died from the diarrhoea and vomiting with the accident at least contributing to his death.
However as was pointed out by a witness, the inability of the post-mortem to link the accident to the man's death, probably demonstrated the then limitations of medical knowledge.
In the Police Court on the 23rd Thomas Kilroy was charged with playing football in the street. However the circumstances were rather unusual.
A chauffeur called William Standish from Bramwell Street in Parr told the court that he had been driving along Traverse Street and had just passed Parr Mount Church.
He noticed two or three boys on the side of the road and suddenly a rugby football struck him in the face before passing right through the car.
One of the lads had kicked the ball across the street and the angry chauffeur summoned the police.
Sgt. Whalley told the Bench that Thomas Kilroy had admitted the offence but said he had not meant to hit the man. The boy was fined twenty shillings.
Thomas Pickavance from Eccleston Street was also in the Police Court charged with deserting his wife.
She wanted a separation order, which would entitle her to legally enforceable maintenance payments from her husband.
The magistrates were often reluctant to grant such an order preferring to try and persuade couples to get back together.
However Jane Pickavance's counsel made it clear from the outset that this would not happen.
His client wanted nothing more to do with her husband after he had struck her and admitted having an affair with her sister.
The magistrates decided to grant the woman the separation order and the maintenance payments.
In St Helens Police Court on the 26th William Pearce was charged with using his home in Thatto Heath for the purposes of betting.
PC Redding gave evidence that he had visited the house in Heath Street on three occasions while in plain clothes.
In total he had handed in three football coupons and two betting slips, paying a shilling for each of them.
The constable had witnessed other men doing the same and seen many coupons, slips and much money piled up on a table.
Immediately after his third visit the police raided the house and while it was in progress, John O’Neill from Sandon Street stumbled in carrying two small parcels.
These contained 51 football coupons and 14 betting slips for that day's racing but the man swore that he hadn't known what was inside the envelopes.
The amount of money found inside William Pearce's house that had been staked for the racing amounted to £24 in total, with £15 5s 8d having been paid out. That left a profit of nearly £9 for the day.
A nice little earner, although William Pearce claimed he'd only been doing a small amount of business occasionally at weekends. Fines for running a gambling house were heavy and Pearce was fined £25.
John O’Neill who had brought in envelopes stuffed full of coupons and betting slips had been charged with aiding and abetting.
However he'd won the Military Medal in the war and been wounded and gassed. The Bench decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and discharged him.
There was another reference to the overcrowding of homes in St Helens in a Police Court hearing on the 26th.
That was when Elizabeth Jones of 56 Liverpool Road (pictured above) was charged with assaulting Theresa Mellor, who lived at the same address.
Five families were occupying what were described as furnished apartments – although in reality they were just single rooms.
Mrs Mellor gave evidence that a drunken Mrs Jones had struck her on the top of her head with a saucepan, which had created a deep wound.
She had also stabbed her hand with a knife, used "obscene references" and threatened to kill her.
Mrs Mellor then ran out of the house to get help and a police surgeon had dressed her wounds. When arrested by PC Johnson Elizabeth Jones had said:
"I have done it with my fist. I did not use the saucepan; and I can do what I want to do with my fists. She came into my room and said I was thick with her husband, so I took it out of her."
The Chief Constable told the Bench that the woman had been drinking very heavily and "causing a lot of bother".
So after her arrest Mrs Jones had been remanded in custody for a week "in order to get the drink out of her".
In her defence Elizabeth Jones said she had lived "in purgatory" with her husband for 26 years, claiming she had been "knocked about".
The woman claimed that the complainant Theresa Mellor was "carrying on all over the place" and had given her no peace.
When asked by the Bench about the living conditions in the house, the Chief Constable said:
"There are five rooms, and there are five families, of varying size, all living and sleeping under the roof. I am told it is a proper inferno, quarrelling among themselves, and no wonder."
As Elizabeth Jones had spent a week in prison on remand, the Bench decided to only fine her £1.
And finally the music hall acts at the Hippodrome from the 26th included:
The Jovers ("The eccentric comedy musical act"); Jack Norman ("Great animal mimic"); Dave Bryant ("Hebrew comedian"); Roe Hampton ("Soldier baritone") and Nancy Davies ("Comedienne").
Next week's stories will include the Raglan Street beggar accused of living too well, an intruder at the Theatre Royal, the expert moocher in College Street, the rare sights and sounds of builders at work in Haydock and the curious death of a Widnes girl in the canal at Pocket Nook.
We begin on the 20th at St Helens Town Hall where the inquest on John Makin was held.
The man from South John Street had fallen thirty feet to his death at Pilkington's Cowley Hill glassworks.
A couple of picture postcards from a century ago including one that skits the house overcrowding in St Helens
Picture postcards including one that skits the house overcrowding
A send up of house overcrowding
This was when Amelia Gordon sought possession of her property in Charles Street.
She had bought the house last October and had offered to swap homes with her inherited tenant, Henry Wilson.
Amelia had been living in a two-bedroom house in Pitt Street but Henry refused to move as his current home had three bedrooms.
Occupying these rooms were Henry and his wife, a son, a daughter, a granddaughter and three widows and their three children.
However Amelia was living with her husband, two brothers and two sisters in their two-bedroom rented house.
She also had a ten-year-old son living in lodgings, as she had no room for him in her own home.
The judge told Henry Wilson that his landlady was worse off than him and gave the man a month to vacate.
Also on the 21st James Whittaker was killed while walking on the surface of Clock Face Colliery.
The 18-year-old lampman from Station Road in Sutton was run down by a train despite the engine driver repeatedly blowing his whistle.
During the war many roads in St Helens had got into a poor state due to a shortage of men and materials.
Fourteen months had now passed since the declaration of peace. However when the council's Highways Committee met on the 21st, its members were told that some roads were still in disrepair.
The Borough Engineer blamed this on a difficulty in obtaining tarmac as a result of transportation problems.
This was because the railway network was not yet running as in pre-war days and there was also a shortage of wagons.
So the committee decided to look into buying their own plant in order to make their own tarmac.
The School Attendance Committee met on the 21st and discussed the serious overcrowding of schools in Derbyshire Hill and Sutton.
As a result some children from Derbyshire Hill were forced to walk a mile and a half to school in all weathers.
With upcoming changes to the school leaving age, it was expected that the number of pupils in St Helens would quickly increase by 1,000 and so new school accommodation would be needed.
It was common for miners that endured minor injuries down the pit to return to work on the following day.
The men were a tough breed and reluctant to lose wages or have to pay a doctor's fee.
However that toughness could also lead to their death, as in the case of John Briscoe.
His inquest was held on the 21st in the presence of the seven doctors that had conducted his post-mortem.
Such investigations did not happen very often and when they did take place, several doctors would often be in attendance.
The hearing at the Wagon and Horses Hotel in Haydock heard from John Briscoe's widow that her husband had worked at the Old Boston Colliery.
On January 7th he had returned to his home in Park Road complaining of having been caught by the mine's haulage rope.
As a result he was in great pain on his left side but continued to work for the next three days.
However John was constantly complaining about the pain and had completely lost his appetite.
By the 12th his condition had deteriorated and on the following day John was taken to Haydock Cottage Hospital where he died six days later from severe diarrhoea and vomiting.
The disadvantage of having seven doctors at a post-mortem is that you get seven sets of opinions and there was a dispute over whether the injury had led to John Briscoe's death.
In the end the coroner ruled that the man had died from the diarrhoea and vomiting with the accident at least contributing to his death.
However as was pointed out by a witness, the inability of the post-mortem to link the accident to the man's death, probably demonstrated the then limitations of medical knowledge.
In the Police Court on the 23rd Thomas Kilroy was charged with playing football in the street. However the circumstances were rather unusual.
A chauffeur called William Standish from Bramwell Street in Parr told the court that he had been driving along Traverse Street and had just passed Parr Mount Church.
He noticed two or three boys on the side of the road and suddenly a rugby football struck him in the face before passing right through the car.
One of the lads had kicked the ball across the street and the angry chauffeur summoned the police.
Sgt. Whalley told the Bench that Thomas Kilroy had admitted the offence but said he had not meant to hit the man. The boy was fined twenty shillings.
Thomas Pickavance from Eccleston Street was also in the Police Court charged with deserting his wife.
She wanted a separation order, which would entitle her to legally enforceable maintenance payments from her husband.
The magistrates were often reluctant to grant such an order preferring to try and persuade couples to get back together.
However Jane Pickavance's counsel made it clear from the outset that this would not happen.
His client wanted nothing more to do with her husband after he had struck her and admitted having an affair with her sister.
The magistrates decided to grant the woman the separation order and the maintenance payments.
In St Helens Police Court on the 26th William Pearce was charged with using his home in Thatto Heath for the purposes of betting.
PC Redding gave evidence that he had visited the house in Heath Street on three occasions while in plain clothes.
In total he had handed in three football coupons and two betting slips, paying a shilling for each of them.
The constable had witnessed other men doing the same and seen many coupons, slips and much money piled up on a table.
Immediately after his third visit the police raided the house and while it was in progress, John O’Neill from Sandon Street stumbled in carrying two small parcels.
These contained 51 football coupons and 14 betting slips for that day's racing but the man swore that he hadn't known what was inside the envelopes.
The amount of money found inside William Pearce's house that had been staked for the racing amounted to £24 in total, with £15 5s 8d having been paid out. That left a profit of nearly £9 for the day.
A nice little earner, although William Pearce claimed he'd only been doing a small amount of business occasionally at weekends. Fines for running a gambling house were heavy and Pearce was fined £25.
John O’Neill who had brought in envelopes stuffed full of coupons and betting slips had been charged with aiding and abetting.
However he'd won the Military Medal in the war and been wounded and gassed. The Bench decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and discharged him.
That was when Elizabeth Jones of 56 Liverpool Road (pictured above) was charged with assaulting Theresa Mellor, who lived at the same address.
Five families were occupying what were described as furnished apartments – although in reality they were just single rooms.
Mrs Mellor gave evidence that a drunken Mrs Jones had struck her on the top of her head with a saucepan, which had created a deep wound.
She had also stabbed her hand with a knife, used "obscene references" and threatened to kill her.
Mrs Mellor then ran out of the house to get help and a police surgeon had dressed her wounds. When arrested by PC Johnson Elizabeth Jones had said:
"I have done it with my fist. I did not use the saucepan; and I can do what I want to do with my fists. She came into my room and said I was thick with her husband, so I took it out of her."
The Chief Constable told the Bench that the woman had been drinking very heavily and "causing a lot of bother".
So after her arrest Mrs Jones had been remanded in custody for a week "in order to get the drink out of her".
In her defence Elizabeth Jones said she had lived "in purgatory" with her husband for 26 years, claiming she had been "knocked about".
The woman claimed that the complainant Theresa Mellor was "carrying on all over the place" and had given her no peace.
When asked by the Bench about the living conditions in the house, the Chief Constable said:
"There are five rooms, and there are five families, of varying size, all living and sleeping under the roof. I am told it is a proper inferno, quarrelling among themselves, and no wonder."
As Elizabeth Jones had spent a week in prison on remand, the Bench decided to only fine her £1.
And finally the music hall acts at the Hippodrome from the 26th included:
The Jovers ("The eccentric comedy musical act"); Jack Norman ("Great animal mimic"); Dave Bryant ("Hebrew comedian"); Roe Hampton ("Soldier baritone") and Nancy Davies ("Comedienne").
Next week's stories will include the Raglan Street beggar accused of living too well, an intruder at the Theatre Royal, the expert moocher in College Street, the rare sights and sounds of builders at work in Haydock and the curious death of a Widnes girl in the canal at Pocket Nook.