IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (21st - 27th FEBRUARY 1922)
This week's many stories include the origins of Nevin's grocers, more criticism of St Helens' businesses for putting temptation in the way of thieves, the St Helens benefit cheats, a butcher woman's sad suicide, concern over a measles epidemic and the curious claim made at the Scala that millions now living would never die.
We begin at St Helens Police Court on the 22nd when Bridget Byrne was accused of stealing a pair of second-hand boots from the doorway of Fletcher's pawnshop in Junction Lane (pictured above). Mrs Byrne, of Highfield Street in Sutton, later pledged the boots at Hunter's pawnshop in Peckers Hill Road – although she strongly denied stealing them.
She claimed she'd bought them and another pledged pair from two St Helens' shops some time ago – however, the managers concerned gave evidence that they had never stocked those types of shoes. In fining Mrs Byrne 20 shillings, the Chairman of the Bench had these words for traders: "We think the man who hangs boots out at the doors and gives this temptation should suffer the loss. We think it a great temptation to hang these things out for people to pick up in these hard times."
The St Helens Health Committee met on the 22nd and heard that another measles epidemic threatened the town. Measles was a notifiable disease and the numbers of notifications during the past five weeks had been 7, 1, 21, 13 and 35. However, households were only obliged to inform the health authorities that they had measles on one occasion – and multiple persons in each home could catch it. And so if an average of three persons in each house had contracted measles over the past week, the number of actual cases would be over 100, and not just 35.
The infants' departments at Windle Pilkington School and Thatto Heath Council School had closed to prevent spread of the disease. However, so far only two persons had died from measles. That in itself was good news considering that during the ten-year period before 1917, there had been over 1,000 deaths from the disease in St Helens. But the St Helens Medical Officer of Health, Dr Hauxwell, reminded the committee that measles in children was dangerous – not only because of the danger of death – but also through the many disabled children that the contagious condition created.
The St Helens Reporter's headline on the 24th to their account of a tragic suicide was: "A Victim To Melancholia". That euphemistic way of representing depression, perhaps sums up the way the condition was treated in the 1920s. There were no anti-depressants; no talking therapies and not many understanding family and friends. As it was a crime to attempt to take your own life, suicidal people rarely told others of their intentions.
Margaret Price had lived at Brownlow Street (which used to be near Salisbury Street) and since her husband's death three years earlier had run his butcher's shop. A domestic servant called Elizabeth Shawcross gave evidence at the inquest that she had found Mrs Price lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. The 52-year-old widow's throat had been cut and a table knife and an open razor lay nearby. She was taken to Providence Hospital but died two days later.
Dr Latham had sent the coroner a letter explaining that Mrs Price had been under his care for eight weeks suffering from "melancholia and general mental depression". Although I expect care was little more than prescribing so-called tonics, which were basically placebos with vitamins. It was also stated at the inquest that the gable end of her house had collapsed during the last fortnight and the cost of re-building had prayed on Mrs Price's mind. Such suicides – a few years after the death of a husband or wife – were then quite common and I expect that the lack of any bereavement counselling played a big part.
The term "benefit cheat" had not yet entered newspaper lexicon and the Reporter's article on three such individuals began: "Three cases, showing how the public funds had entered into improper channels, came before the justices at the St. Helens Police Court on Monday". By improper channels, the paper essentially meant that claimants for the so-called outdoor or parish relief dishonestly filled in their application forms and received more cash than they should.
Dole money for the unemployed was only available for a limited time and once entitlement ran out, an application for relief could be made to the Prescot Guardians, who administered the Poor Law. However, the amount payable was entirely dependent upon total household income and some claimants failed to declare what other family members were earning.
The first case was against a Mrs Bradshaw from Edge Street who had received £9 for which she was not entitled. She had failed to declare that her husband was in receipt of unemployment benefit. In fining her £5, with the alternative of a month's imprisonment with hard labour, the Chairman of the Bench said the public had to be protected from people like her.
The second case was against Hugh Farrell of Bolton Street, who was another claimant who did not realise that the authorities might check up on his claims. He also got the £5 fine and although his case was said to be the worst of the three, his 28-day alternative prison sentence was without hard labour – unlike Mrs Bradshaw. It did appear that some magistrates then punished women more harshly than men. Joseph Swann from Derbyshire Hill Road was the final relief case before the magistrates. He pleaded not guilty claiming he had made up the application form to the best of his ability.
However, he had failed to mention that his wife and daughter ran a newsagent's from their home and were making up to £3 a week. Swann's defence was that he had not claimed for his wife. But that did not matter, as the income of everyone in the household was combined in the eyes of the authorities. The Chairman said the case against Swann was a very bad one, as he had made a deliberate attempt to receive money by making false statements. Swann also received the £5 fine or 28 days – but, again, no hard labour.
A century ago if you gave money to a cause there was an expectation that there would be an acknowledgement in the newspapers. So in this week's Reporter there was a long list of folk who had donated to the St Helens fund to mark the forthcoming marriage of Princess Mary. The target was £1,500, which would be used to purchase memorial cots for the town's two hospitals and nursing home.
Of course, having your name and amount of donation included in a lengthy list meant that people could see who had been generous – and also who had been a bit stingy. So Dr James Reid's donation of five guineas placed him in the benevolent camp – but Canon Baines' gift of £1 suggested that the Vicar of St Helens was a bit mean. Though the real meanies could be said to be the ones that gave nothing at all – but their names would not appear in the paper.
In 1968 the Reporter wrote that a Michael Nevin had founded Nevin's stores in 1920, which his son Jack later took over. However, this week the paper described how a grocer called Thomas Nevin from Victoria Street had been fined in St Helens Police Court for selling adulterated butter. The police who were then in charge of weights and measures had caught Mr Nevin in a spot check. He could be considered rather unlucky, as the manufacturer had added the water to the butter and not him. But the name is more interesting than the crime, as records show that he was the father of Michael Nevin. So Thomas's small grocer's shop that he'd kept for over 30 years appears to be the real origin of Nevins.
Two years ago I mentioned how the International Bible Students Association were claiming that those who lived until 1925 would never die. They were not absolutely certain of that year but thought it quite likely, as 1925 was, they claimed, referred to in the Bible as the year when an upheaval was going to happen. Since then lots of lectures entitled "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" had been given throughout the country and at 8pm on the 26th, one was presented in Griffin's Picture House in St Helens. In 1924 the Ormskirk Street cinema would be renamed the Scala and the free lecture was advertised as one of thousands that would took place on the same day "in every land". A Mr W Dorvin from Liverpool also presented one in Prescot.
Next week's stories will include the furious riding of a bicycle in Thatto Heath, the muddy approaches to St Helens' schools, the half-finished Hardshaw playing fields, the window smasher who wanted a bed for the night and the motor bike revolution in St Helens.
She claimed she'd bought them and another pledged pair from two St Helens' shops some time ago – however, the managers concerned gave evidence that they had never stocked those types of shoes. In fining Mrs Byrne 20 shillings, the Chairman of the Bench had these words for traders: "We think the man who hangs boots out at the doors and gives this temptation should suffer the loss. We think it a great temptation to hang these things out for people to pick up in these hard times."
The St Helens Health Committee met on the 22nd and heard that another measles epidemic threatened the town. Measles was a notifiable disease and the numbers of notifications during the past five weeks had been 7, 1, 21, 13 and 35. However, households were only obliged to inform the health authorities that they had measles on one occasion – and multiple persons in each home could catch it. And so if an average of three persons in each house had contracted measles over the past week, the number of actual cases would be over 100, and not just 35.
The infants' departments at Windle Pilkington School and Thatto Heath Council School had closed to prevent spread of the disease. However, so far only two persons had died from measles. That in itself was good news considering that during the ten-year period before 1917, there had been over 1,000 deaths from the disease in St Helens. But the St Helens Medical Officer of Health, Dr Hauxwell, reminded the committee that measles in children was dangerous – not only because of the danger of death – but also through the many disabled children that the contagious condition created.
The St Helens Reporter's headline on the 24th to their account of a tragic suicide was: "A Victim To Melancholia". That euphemistic way of representing depression, perhaps sums up the way the condition was treated in the 1920s. There were no anti-depressants; no talking therapies and not many understanding family and friends. As it was a crime to attempt to take your own life, suicidal people rarely told others of their intentions.
Margaret Price had lived at Brownlow Street (which used to be near Salisbury Street) and since her husband's death three years earlier had run his butcher's shop. A domestic servant called Elizabeth Shawcross gave evidence at the inquest that she had found Mrs Price lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. The 52-year-old widow's throat had been cut and a table knife and an open razor lay nearby. She was taken to Providence Hospital but died two days later.
Dr Latham had sent the coroner a letter explaining that Mrs Price had been under his care for eight weeks suffering from "melancholia and general mental depression". Although I expect care was little more than prescribing so-called tonics, which were basically placebos with vitamins. It was also stated at the inquest that the gable end of her house had collapsed during the last fortnight and the cost of re-building had prayed on Mrs Price's mind. Such suicides – a few years after the death of a husband or wife – were then quite common and I expect that the lack of any bereavement counselling played a big part.
The term "benefit cheat" had not yet entered newspaper lexicon and the Reporter's article on three such individuals began: "Three cases, showing how the public funds had entered into improper channels, came before the justices at the St. Helens Police Court on Monday". By improper channels, the paper essentially meant that claimants for the so-called outdoor or parish relief dishonestly filled in their application forms and received more cash than they should.
Dole money for the unemployed was only available for a limited time and once entitlement ran out, an application for relief could be made to the Prescot Guardians, who administered the Poor Law. However, the amount payable was entirely dependent upon total household income and some claimants failed to declare what other family members were earning.
The first case was against a Mrs Bradshaw from Edge Street who had received £9 for which she was not entitled. She had failed to declare that her husband was in receipt of unemployment benefit. In fining her £5, with the alternative of a month's imprisonment with hard labour, the Chairman of the Bench said the public had to be protected from people like her.
The second case was against Hugh Farrell of Bolton Street, who was another claimant who did not realise that the authorities might check up on his claims. He also got the £5 fine and although his case was said to be the worst of the three, his 28-day alternative prison sentence was without hard labour – unlike Mrs Bradshaw. It did appear that some magistrates then punished women more harshly than men. Joseph Swann from Derbyshire Hill Road was the final relief case before the magistrates. He pleaded not guilty claiming he had made up the application form to the best of his ability.
However, he had failed to mention that his wife and daughter ran a newsagent's from their home and were making up to £3 a week. Swann's defence was that he had not claimed for his wife. But that did not matter, as the income of everyone in the household was combined in the eyes of the authorities. The Chairman said the case against Swann was a very bad one, as he had made a deliberate attempt to receive money by making false statements. Swann also received the £5 fine or 28 days – but, again, no hard labour.
A century ago if you gave money to a cause there was an expectation that there would be an acknowledgement in the newspapers. So in this week's Reporter there was a long list of folk who had donated to the St Helens fund to mark the forthcoming marriage of Princess Mary. The target was £1,500, which would be used to purchase memorial cots for the town's two hospitals and nursing home.
Of course, having your name and amount of donation included in a lengthy list meant that people could see who had been generous – and also who had been a bit stingy. So Dr James Reid's donation of five guineas placed him in the benevolent camp – but Canon Baines' gift of £1 suggested that the Vicar of St Helens was a bit mean. Though the real meanies could be said to be the ones that gave nothing at all – but their names would not appear in the paper.
In 1968 the Reporter wrote that a Michael Nevin had founded Nevin's stores in 1920, which his son Jack later took over. However, this week the paper described how a grocer called Thomas Nevin from Victoria Street had been fined in St Helens Police Court for selling adulterated butter. The police who were then in charge of weights and measures had caught Mr Nevin in a spot check. He could be considered rather unlucky, as the manufacturer had added the water to the butter and not him. But the name is more interesting than the crime, as records show that he was the father of Michael Nevin. So Thomas's small grocer's shop that he'd kept for over 30 years appears to be the real origin of Nevins.
Two years ago I mentioned how the International Bible Students Association were claiming that those who lived until 1925 would never die. They were not absolutely certain of that year but thought it quite likely, as 1925 was, they claimed, referred to in the Bible as the year when an upheaval was going to happen. Since then lots of lectures entitled "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" had been given throughout the country and at 8pm on the 26th, one was presented in Griffin's Picture House in St Helens. In 1924 the Ormskirk Street cinema would be renamed the Scala and the free lecture was advertised as one of thousands that would took place on the same day "in every land". A Mr W Dorvin from Liverpool also presented one in Prescot.
Next week's stories will include the furious riding of a bicycle in Thatto Heath, the muddy approaches to St Helens' schools, the half-finished Hardshaw playing fields, the window smasher who wanted a bed for the night and the motor bike revolution in St Helens.
This week's many stories include the origins of Nevin's grocers, more criticism of St Helens' businesses for putting temptation in the way of thieves, the St Helens benefit cheats, a butcher woman's sad suicide, concern over a measles epidemic and the curious claim made at the Scala that millions now living would never die.
We begin at St Helens Police Court on the 22nd when Bridget Byrne was accused of stealing a pair of second-hand boots from the doorway of Fletcher's pawnshop in Junction Lane (pictured above).
Mrs Byrne, of Highfield Street in Sutton, later pledged the boots at Hunter's pawnshop in Peckers Hill Road – although she strongly denied stealing them.
She claimed she'd bought them and another pledged pair from two St Helens' shops some time ago – however, the managers concerned gave evidence that they had never stocked those types of shoes.
In fining Mrs Byrne 20 shillings, the Chairman of the Bench had these words for traders:
"We think the man who hangs boots out at the doors and gives this temptation should suffer the loss. We think it a great temptation to hang these things out for people to pick up in these hard times."
The St Helens Health Committee met on the 22nd and heard that another measles epidemic threatened the town.
Measles was a notifiable disease and the numbers of notifications during the past five weeks had been 7, 1, 21, 13 and 35.
However, households were only obliged to inform the health authorities that they had measles on one occasion – and multiple persons in each home could catch it.
And so if an average of three persons in each house had contracted measles over the past week, the number of actual cases would be over 100, and not just 35.
The infants' departments at Windle Pilkington School and Thatto Heath Council School had closed to prevent spread of the disease.
However, so far only two persons had died from measles. That in itself was good news considering that during the ten-year period before 1917, there had been over 1,000 deaths from the disease in St Helens.
But the St Helens Medical Officer of Health, Dr Hauxwell, reminded the committee that measles in children was dangerous – not only because of the danger of death – but also through the many disabled children that the contagious condition created.
The St Helens Reporter's headline on the 24th to their account of a tragic suicide was: "A Victim To Melancholia".
That euphemistic way of representing depression, perhaps sums up the way the condition was treated in the 1920s.
There were no anti-depressants; no talking therapies and not many understanding family and friends.
As it was a crime to attempt to take your own life, suicidal people rarely told others of their intentions.
Margaret Price had lived at Brownlow Street (which used to be near Salisbury Street) and since her husband's death three years earlier had run his butcher's shop.
A domestic servant called Elizabeth Shawcross gave evidence at the inquest that she had found Mrs Price lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.
The 52-year-old widow's throat had been cut and a table knife and an open razor lay nearby. She was taken to Providence Hospital but died two days later.
Dr Latham had sent the coroner a letter explaining that Mrs Price had been under his care for eight weeks suffering from "melancholia and general mental depression".
Although I expect care was little more than prescribing so-called tonics, which were basically placebos with vitamins.
It was also stated at the inquest that the gable end of her house had collapsed during the last fortnight and the cost of re-building had prayed on Mrs Price's mind.
Such suicides – a few years after the death of a husband or wife – were then quite common and I expect that the lack of any bereavement counselling played a big part.
The term "benefit cheat" had not yet entered newspaper lexicon and the Reporter's article on three such individuals began:
"Three cases, showing how the public funds had entered into improper channels, came before the justices at the St. Helens Police Court on Monday".
By improper channels, the paper essentially meant that claimants for the so-called outdoor or parish relief dishonestly filled in their application forms and received more cash than they should.
Dole money for the unemployed was only available for a limited time and once entitlement ran out, an application for relief could be made to the Prescot Guardians, who administered the Poor Law.
However, the amount payable was entirely dependent upon total household income and some claimants failed to declare what other family members were earning.
The first case was against a Mrs Bradshaw from Edge Street who had received £9 for which she was not entitled.
She had failed to declare that her husband was in receipt of unemployment benefit.
In fining her £5, with the alternative of a month's imprisonment with hard labour, the Chairman of the Bench said the public had to be protected from people like her.
The second case was against Hugh Farrell of Bolton Street, who was another claimant who did not realise that the authorities might check up on his claims.
He also got the £5 fine and although his case was said to be the worst of the three, his 28-day alternative prison sentence was without hard labour – unlike Mrs Bradshaw.
It did appear that some magistrates then punished women more harshly than men.
Joseph Swann from Derbyshire Hill Road was the final relief case before the magistrates.
He pleaded not guilty claiming he had made up the application form to the best of his ability.
However, he had failed to mention that his wife and daughter ran a newsagent's from their home and were making up to £3 a week.
Swann's defence was that he had not claimed for his wife. But that did not matter, as the income of everyone in the household was combined in the eyes of the authorities.
The Chairman said the case against Swann was a very bad one, as he had made a deliberate attempt to receive money by making false statements. Swann also received the £5 fine or 28 days – but, again, no hard labour.
A century ago if you gave money to a cause there was an expectation that there would be an acknowledgement in the newspapers.
So in this week's Reporter there was a long list of folk who had donated to the St Helens fund to mark the forthcoming marriage of Princess Mary.
The target was £1,500, which would be used to purchase memorial cots for the town's two hospitals and nursing home.
Of course, having your name and amount of donation included in a lengthy list meant that people could see who had been generous – and also who had been a bit stingy.
So Dr James Reid's donation of five guineas placed him in the benevolent camp – but Canon Baines' gift of £1 suggested that the Vicar of St Helens was a bit mean.
Though the real meanies could be said to be the ones that gave nothing at all – but their names would not appear in the paper.
In 1968 the Reporter wrote that a Michael Nevin had founded Nevin's stores in 1920, which his son Jack later took over.
However, this week the paper described how a grocer called Thomas Nevin from Victoria Street had been fined in St Helens Police Court for selling adulterated butter.
The police who were then in charge of weights and measures had caught Mr Nevin in a spot check.
He could be considered rather unlucky, as the manufacturer had added the water to the butter and not him.
But the name is more interesting than the crime, as records show that he was the father of Michael Nevin.
So Thomas's small grocer's shop that he'd kept for over 30 years appears to be the real origin of Nevins.
Two years ago I mentioned how the International Bible Students Association were claiming that those who lived until 1925 would never die.
They were not absolutely certain of that year but thought it quite likely, as 1925 was, they claimed, referred to in the Bible as the year when an upheaval was going to happen.
Since then lots of lectures entitled "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" had been given throughout the country and at 8pm on the 26th, one was presented in Griffin's Picture House in St Helens.
In 1924 the Ormskirk Street cinema would be renamed the Scala and the free lecture was advertised as one of thousands that would took place on the same day "in every land".
A Mr W Dorvin from Liverpool also presented one in Prescot.
Next week's stories will include the furious riding of a bicycle in Thatto Heath, the muddy approaches to St Helens' schools, the half-finished Hardshaw playing fields, the window smasher who wanted a bed for the night and the motor bike revolution in St Helens.
Mrs Byrne, of Highfield Street in Sutton, later pledged the boots at Hunter's pawnshop in Peckers Hill Road – although she strongly denied stealing them.
She claimed she'd bought them and another pledged pair from two St Helens' shops some time ago – however, the managers concerned gave evidence that they had never stocked those types of shoes.
In fining Mrs Byrne 20 shillings, the Chairman of the Bench had these words for traders:
"We think the man who hangs boots out at the doors and gives this temptation should suffer the loss. We think it a great temptation to hang these things out for people to pick up in these hard times."
The St Helens Health Committee met on the 22nd and heard that another measles epidemic threatened the town.
Measles was a notifiable disease and the numbers of notifications during the past five weeks had been 7, 1, 21, 13 and 35.
However, households were only obliged to inform the health authorities that they had measles on one occasion – and multiple persons in each home could catch it.
And so if an average of three persons in each house had contracted measles over the past week, the number of actual cases would be over 100, and not just 35.
The infants' departments at Windle Pilkington School and Thatto Heath Council School had closed to prevent spread of the disease.
However, so far only two persons had died from measles. That in itself was good news considering that during the ten-year period before 1917, there had been over 1,000 deaths from the disease in St Helens.
But the St Helens Medical Officer of Health, Dr Hauxwell, reminded the committee that measles in children was dangerous – not only because of the danger of death – but also through the many disabled children that the contagious condition created.
The St Helens Reporter's headline on the 24th to their account of a tragic suicide was: "A Victim To Melancholia".
That euphemistic way of representing depression, perhaps sums up the way the condition was treated in the 1920s.
There were no anti-depressants; no talking therapies and not many understanding family and friends.
As it was a crime to attempt to take your own life, suicidal people rarely told others of their intentions.
Margaret Price had lived at Brownlow Street (which used to be near Salisbury Street) and since her husband's death three years earlier had run his butcher's shop.
A domestic servant called Elizabeth Shawcross gave evidence at the inquest that she had found Mrs Price lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.
The 52-year-old widow's throat had been cut and a table knife and an open razor lay nearby. She was taken to Providence Hospital but died two days later.
Dr Latham had sent the coroner a letter explaining that Mrs Price had been under his care for eight weeks suffering from "melancholia and general mental depression".
Although I expect care was little more than prescribing so-called tonics, which were basically placebos with vitamins.
It was also stated at the inquest that the gable end of her house had collapsed during the last fortnight and the cost of re-building had prayed on Mrs Price's mind.
Such suicides – a few years after the death of a husband or wife – were then quite common and I expect that the lack of any bereavement counselling played a big part.
The term "benefit cheat" had not yet entered newspaper lexicon and the Reporter's article on three such individuals began:
"Three cases, showing how the public funds had entered into improper channels, came before the justices at the St. Helens Police Court on Monday".
By improper channels, the paper essentially meant that claimants for the so-called outdoor or parish relief dishonestly filled in their application forms and received more cash than they should.
Dole money for the unemployed was only available for a limited time and once entitlement ran out, an application for relief could be made to the Prescot Guardians, who administered the Poor Law.
However, the amount payable was entirely dependent upon total household income and some claimants failed to declare what other family members were earning.
The first case was against a Mrs Bradshaw from Edge Street who had received £9 for which she was not entitled.
She had failed to declare that her husband was in receipt of unemployment benefit.
In fining her £5, with the alternative of a month's imprisonment with hard labour, the Chairman of the Bench said the public had to be protected from people like her.
The second case was against Hugh Farrell of Bolton Street, who was another claimant who did not realise that the authorities might check up on his claims.
He also got the £5 fine and although his case was said to be the worst of the three, his 28-day alternative prison sentence was without hard labour – unlike Mrs Bradshaw.
It did appear that some magistrates then punished women more harshly than men.
Joseph Swann from Derbyshire Hill Road was the final relief case before the magistrates.
He pleaded not guilty claiming he had made up the application form to the best of his ability.
However, he had failed to mention that his wife and daughter ran a newsagent's from their home and were making up to £3 a week.
Swann's defence was that he had not claimed for his wife. But that did not matter, as the income of everyone in the household was combined in the eyes of the authorities.
The Chairman said the case against Swann was a very bad one, as he had made a deliberate attempt to receive money by making false statements. Swann also received the £5 fine or 28 days – but, again, no hard labour.
A century ago if you gave money to a cause there was an expectation that there would be an acknowledgement in the newspapers.
So in this week's Reporter there was a long list of folk who had donated to the St Helens fund to mark the forthcoming marriage of Princess Mary.
The target was £1,500, which would be used to purchase memorial cots for the town's two hospitals and nursing home.
Of course, having your name and amount of donation included in a lengthy list meant that people could see who had been generous – and also who had been a bit stingy.
So Dr James Reid's donation of five guineas placed him in the benevolent camp – but Canon Baines' gift of £1 suggested that the Vicar of St Helens was a bit mean.
Though the real meanies could be said to be the ones that gave nothing at all – but their names would not appear in the paper.
In 1968 the Reporter wrote that a Michael Nevin had founded Nevin's stores in 1920, which his son Jack later took over.
However, this week the paper described how a grocer called Thomas Nevin from Victoria Street had been fined in St Helens Police Court for selling adulterated butter.
The police who were then in charge of weights and measures had caught Mr Nevin in a spot check.
He could be considered rather unlucky, as the manufacturer had added the water to the butter and not him.
But the name is more interesting than the crime, as records show that he was the father of Michael Nevin.
So Thomas's small grocer's shop that he'd kept for over 30 years appears to be the real origin of Nevins.
Two years ago I mentioned how the International Bible Students Association were claiming that those who lived until 1925 would never die.
They were not absolutely certain of that year but thought it quite likely, as 1925 was, they claimed, referred to in the Bible as the year when an upheaval was going to happen.
Since then lots of lectures entitled "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" had been given throughout the country and at 8pm on the 26th, one was presented in Griffin's Picture House in St Helens.
In 1924 the Ormskirk Street cinema would be renamed the Scala and the free lecture was advertised as one of thousands that would took place on the same day "in every land".
A Mr W Dorvin from Liverpool also presented one in Prescot.
Next week's stories will include the furious riding of a bicycle in Thatto Heath, the muddy approaches to St Helens' schools, the half-finished Hardshaw playing fields, the window smasher who wanted a bed for the night and the motor bike revolution in St Helens.