IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 22 - 28 APRIL 1924
This week's many stories include a Rainhill man's curious ham fraud, the stand-up fight in Liverpool Road, the new Cowley Boys secondary school, the Ravenhead Colliery miner killed by a bolt that fell down a pit shaft, the fire at a boot shop in Ormskirk Street, the Cowley Street man's claim that he struck his sister with a hammer as a matter of honour and the lecturer that said selfishness, fraud, profiteering and hatred were on the increase.
We begin on the 22nd when at a meeting of the council's Health Committee the Town Clerk reported that a site for the new Cowley Boys secondary school had been selected. It was intended that the building would front Hard Lane near to the cemetery, although the full town council had yet to approve the plans.
There was a curious court case on the 22nd concerning a conman called Edward Hughes. The 52-year-old from Woodhouse Farm in Rainhill was charged with obtaining two hams by false pretences from a Liverpool wholesaler. Hughes had claimed to represent Swift's grocers of Elephant Lane in St Helens and had even faked a note authorising him to collect the meat.
What was unusual about the fraud was that Hughes had previously owned the grocer's shop in Thatto Heath and had sold the business to John Swift. And so he knew who the shop's wholesaler was and how to go about ordering and collecting goods. But Hughes also should have known that when Swift received the invoice for the hams, he would have questioned it.
And what did Edward Hughes do with the two hams valued at £1 3s 3d? Well, he ate them, of course! That's one way to try and get rid of the evidence! "I throw myself on the protection and mercy of the court," said Hughes in a long written statement. "In my younger days I was an erring youth. Since then I have silently borne the skeleton in my cupboard, known only to my wife." Well, he wasn’t a kid when he was sent to prison for three years in 1906. Hughes was then 34 and for his ham fraud he received a further three months with hard labour.
In St Helens Police Court on the 23rd Martin Lyons of Water Street and James Talbot of Westfield Street were charged with committing a breach of the peace in Liverpool Road (pictured above). A constable described how five minutes after closing time he had seen a crowd of Irishmen standing outside the Grapes Hotel and among them were Lyons and Talbot engaging in a stand-up fight. After exchanging blows both men fell to the ground and had to be helped up by the police before being taken into custody. In court they were both bound over.
It was reported on the 24th that a Rainford man called James Rothwell had been run over by an engine at the Bickerstaffe Colliery and had needed to have one of his feet amputated. The 39-year-old had got the foot fast in a guard rail and was unable to extricate it in time before the engine arrived.
St Helens in the early 1920s had a thriving community of "Esperantists". That was the term used in the Reporter on the 25th to describe those that spoke the international language of Esperanto. The paper said BBC radio had this week read out a translation in Esperanto of King George V's speech at the opening of the British Empire Exhibition:
"On Wednesday evening many St. Helens Esperantists had the pleasure of listening-in to the King's speech. This is truly a great triumph for Esperanto, as it was heard in that language in St. Helens with great clearness and was easily comprehensible from beginning to end."
The shops in St Helens town centre stayed open very late in the evening on Saturdays to take advantage of most people getting paid on that day. The Reporter also described how last Saturday night there had been a fire at Edwin Hulme's boot shop in Ormskirk Street that had created "some little excitement in the vicinity". It was caused by a compound that was used for cleaning suede shoes coming into contact with a flame, although the Fire Brigade were quickly on the scene and able to extinguish the fire before it could spread.
Whist drives were hugely popular in St Helens and the Reporter described how 750 people had turned up at the Town Hall on Easter Monday for the annual whist drive and ball in aid of Providence Free Hospital – to state its official name.
A religious lecture took place on the 27th in Griffins cinema in Baldwin Street. These words spoken by the lecturer were subsequently quoted in the Reporter and 100 years later still, sadly, seem relevant today: "As a result of the world war the nations are bankrupt and the flower of humanity has gone into the grave.
"Selfishness, fraud, profiteering and hatred are ever on the increase, making the burdens of humanity almost unbearable. Distrust, perplexity and fear have taken hold upon men in all walks of life. The nations are still feverishly preparing for war, and are vying with each other in producing the most devilish and deadly instruments of destruction. Internal disturbances increase daily."
On the 28th an extraordinary story of family troubles was told when James Kenny appeared in St Helens Police Court. The 45-year-old from Cowley Street was charged with an aggravated assault on his sister Clara Gee – with a hammer. And the reason Kenny gave for smashing down Clara's bedroom door with the hammer and hitting her on the head with it at 11:30pm on a Saturday night was that he believed she was co-habiting with a man. "It was a matter of honour", he said.
And he was right; Clara did have a chap in her bedroom – her husband! She had married the day before but James had not been invited to the wedding. In the courtroom he asked his sister why she had not told him that she was married – but Clara insisted that he had known for five weeks that she was getting wed but had said he didn't care. She said her younger brother who was the actual tenant of the house had given her and her new husband permission to live there.
It was also stated that a sibling called Kate had told James that Clara was getting married but in court he excitedly insisted that he did not know. It appears that the man was miffed at not being invited to the ceremony and he was fined £5 or had to serve 28 days in prison for the assault for which his sister Clara needed stitches.
Also on the 28th the inquest was held into the death of Edward Brown of Dyson Street. The 60-year-old with nine children had died while placing full tubs of coal into the lift shaft at Ravenhead Colliery where he had worked for forty years. Edward was described at the inquest as "one of nature's children", a "man who was never known to get vexed", and who had been "held in universal esteem" amongst his colleagues. A bolt had come loose and fallen down the pit shaft, fatally injuring Edward and it was revealed at his inquest that about four similar accidents took place every year in Lancashire.
On the same day an inquest was held at St Helens Town Hall into the death of Thomas Atherton of Langtree Street. The 40-year-old miner had worked at Sutton Manor Colliery for thirteen years and had died after an underground roof collapsed upon him – the most common cause of individual mineworkers' deaths. Mr Atherton left a widow and five children.
And finally, the new wireless sets that were proving quite popular in St Helens worked best when connected to an outdoor wire aerial strung from a long pole. During the afternoon of the 28th during a short thunderstorm, lightning struck the aerial belonging to a chap called Whittaker in Church Road in Rainford. It split the pole from top to bottom but no one happened to be in the vicinity of the aerial at the time and so there were no injuries, although it was reported that the strike created some excitement.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's many stories will include the racing tipster booked in Bridge Street, the revived Rainford old folk's treat, the sacred pilgrimage to Lourdes, the difficulties of the housing shortage and the glass theft from the Ring o’ Bells in Westfield Street.
We begin on the 22nd when at a meeting of the council's Health Committee the Town Clerk reported that a site for the new Cowley Boys secondary school had been selected. It was intended that the building would front Hard Lane near to the cemetery, although the full town council had yet to approve the plans.
There was a curious court case on the 22nd concerning a conman called Edward Hughes. The 52-year-old from Woodhouse Farm in Rainhill was charged with obtaining two hams by false pretences from a Liverpool wholesaler. Hughes had claimed to represent Swift's grocers of Elephant Lane in St Helens and had even faked a note authorising him to collect the meat.
What was unusual about the fraud was that Hughes had previously owned the grocer's shop in Thatto Heath and had sold the business to John Swift. And so he knew who the shop's wholesaler was and how to go about ordering and collecting goods. But Hughes also should have known that when Swift received the invoice for the hams, he would have questioned it.
And what did Edward Hughes do with the two hams valued at £1 3s 3d? Well, he ate them, of course! That's one way to try and get rid of the evidence! "I throw myself on the protection and mercy of the court," said Hughes in a long written statement. "In my younger days I was an erring youth. Since then I have silently borne the skeleton in my cupboard, known only to my wife." Well, he wasn’t a kid when he was sent to prison for three years in 1906. Hughes was then 34 and for his ham fraud he received a further three months with hard labour.
It was reported on the 24th that a Rainford man called James Rothwell had been run over by an engine at the Bickerstaffe Colliery and had needed to have one of his feet amputated. The 39-year-old had got the foot fast in a guard rail and was unable to extricate it in time before the engine arrived.
St Helens in the early 1920s had a thriving community of "Esperantists". That was the term used in the Reporter on the 25th to describe those that spoke the international language of Esperanto. The paper said BBC radio had this week read out a translation in Esperanto of King George V's speech at the opening of the British Empire Exhibition:
"On Wednesday evening many St. Helens Esperantists had the pleasure of listening-in to the King's speech. This is truly a great triumph for Esperanto, as it was heard in that language in St. Helens with great clearness and was easily comprehensible from beginning to end."
The shops in St Helens town centre stayed open very late in the evening on Saturdays to take advantage of most people getting paid on that day. The Reporter also described how last Saturday night there had been a fire at Edwin Hulme's boot shop in Ormskirk Street that had created "some little excitement in the vicinity". It was caused by a compound that was used for cleaning suede shoes coming into contact with a flame, although the Fire Brigade were quickly on the scene and able to extinguish the fire before it could spread.
Whist drives were hugely popular in St Helens and the Reporter described how 750 people had turned up at the Town Hall on Easter Monday for the annual whist drive and ball in aid of Providence Free Hospital – to state its official name.
A religious lecture took place on the 27th in Griffins cinema in Baldwin Street. These words spoken by the lecturer were subsequently quoted in the Reporter and 100 years later still, sadly, seem relevant today: "As a result of the world war the nations are bankrupt and the flower of humanity has gone into the grave.
"Selfishness, fraud, profiteering and hatred are ever on the increase, making the burdens of humanity almost unbearable. Distrust, perplexity and fear have taken hold upon men in all walks of life. The nations are still feverishly preparing for war, and are vying with each other in producing the most devilish and deadly instruments of destruction. Internal disturbances increase daily."
On the 28th an extraordinary story of family troubles was told when James Kenny appeared in St Helens Police Court. The 45-year-old from Cowley Street was charged with an aggravated assault on his sister Clara Gee – with a hammer. And the reason Kenny gave for smashing down Clara's bedroom door with the hammer and hitting her on the head with it at 11:30pm on a Saturday night was that he believed she was co-habiting with a man. "It was a matter of honour", he said.
And he was right; Clara did have a chap in her bedroom – her husband! She had married the day before but James had not been invited to the wedding. In the courtroom he asked his sister why she had not told him that she was married – but Clara insisted that he had known for five weeks that she was getting wed but had said he didn't care. She said her younger brother who was the actual tenant of the house had given her and her new husband permission to live there.
It was also stated that a sibling called Kate had told James that Clara was getting married but in court he excitedly insisted that he did not know. It appears that the man was miffed at not being invited to the ceremony and he was fined £5 or had to serve 28 days in prison for the assault for which his sister Clara needed stitches.
Also on the 28th the inquest was held into the death of Edward Brown of Dyson Street. The 60-year-old with nine children had died while placing full tubs of coal into the lift shaft at Ravenhead Colliery where he had worked for forty years. Edward was described at the inquest as "one of nature's children", a "man who was never known to get vexed", and who had been "held in universal esteem" amongst his colleagues. A bolt had come loose and fallen down the pit shaft, fatally injuring Edward and it was revealed at his inquest that about four similar accidents took place every year in Lancashire.
On the same day an inquest was held at St Helens Town Hall into the death of Thomas Atherton of Langtree Street. The 40-year-old miner had worked at Sutton Manor Colliery for thirteen years and had died after an underground roof collapsed upon him – the most common cause of individual mineworkers' deaths. Mr Atherton left a widow and five children.
And finally, the new wireless sets that were proving quite popular in St Helens worked best when connected to an outdoor wire aerial strung from a long pole. During the afternoon of the 28th during a short thunderstorm, lightning struck the aerial belonging to a chap called Whittaker in Church Road in Rainford. It split the pole from top to bottom but no one happened to be in the vicinity of the aerial at the time and so there were no injuries, although it was reported that the strike created some excitement.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's many stories will include the racing tipster booked in Bridge Street, the revived Rainford old folk's treat, the sacred pilgrimage to Lourdes, the difficulties of the housing shortage and the glass theft from the Ring o’ Bells in Westfield Street.
This week's many stories include a Rainhill man's curious ham fraud, the stand-up fight in Liverpool Road, the new Cowley Boys secondary school, the Ravenhead Colliery miner killed by a bolt that fell down a pit shaft, the fire at a boot shop in Ormskirk Street, the Cowley Street man's claim that he struck his sister with a hammer as a matter of honour and the lecturer that said selfishness, fraud, profiteering and hatred were on the increase.
We begin on the 22nd when at a meeting of the council's Health Committee the Town Clerk reported that a site for the new Cowley Boys secondary school had been selected.
It was intended that the building would front Hard Lane near to the cemetery, although the full town council had yet to approve the plans.
There was a curious court case on the 22nd concerning a conman called Edward Hughes.
The 52-year-old from Woodhouse Farm in Rainhill was charged with obtaining two hams by false pretences from a Liverpool wholesaler.
Hughes had claimed to represent Swift's grocers of Elephant Lane in St Helens and had even faked a note authorising him to collect the meat.
What was unusual about the fraud was that Hughes had previously owned the grocer's shop in Thatto Heath and had sold the business to John Swift.
And so he knew who the shop's wholesaler was and how to go about ordering and collecting goods.
But Hughes also should have known that when Swift received the invoice for the hams, he would have questioned it.
And what did Edward Hughes do with the two hams valued at £1 3s 3d? Well, he ate them, of course! That's one way to try and get rid of the evidence!
"I throw myself on the protection and mercy of the court," said Hughes in a long written statement.
"In my younger days I was an erring youth. Since then I have silently borne the skeleton in my cupboard, known only to my wife."
Well, he wasn’t a kid when he was sent to prison for three years in 1906. Hughes was then 34 and for his ham fraud he received a further three months with hard labour.
In St Helens Police Court on the 23rd Martin Lyons of Water Street and James Talbot of Westfield Street were charged with committing a breach of the peace in Liverpool Road (pictured above).
A constable described how five minutes after closing time he had seen a crowd of Irishmen standing outside the Grapes Hotel and among them were Lyons and Talbot engaging in a stand-up fight.
After exchanging blows both men fell to the ground and had to be helped up by the police before being taken into custody. In court they were both bound over.
It was reported on the 24th that a Rainford man called James Rothwell had been run over by an engine at the Bickerstaffe Colliery and had needed to have one of his feet amputated.
The 39-year-old had got the foot fast in a guard rail and was unable to extricate it in time before the engine arrived.
St Helens in the early 1920s had a thriving community of "Esperantists".
That was the term used in the Reporter on the 25th to describe those that spoke the international language of Esperanto.
The paper said BBC radio had this week read out a translation in Esperanto of King George V's speech at the opening of the British Empire Exhibition:
"On Wednesday evening many St. Helens Esperantists had the pleasure of listening-in to the King's speech.
"This is truly a great triumph for Esperanto, as it was heard in that language in St. Helens with great clearness and was easily comprehensible from beginning to end."
The shops in St Helens town centre stayed open very late in the evening on Saturdays to take advantage of most people getting paid on that day.
The Reporter also described how last Saturday night there had been a fire at Edwin Hulme's boot shop in Ormskirk Street that had created "some little excitement in the vicinity".
It was caused by a compound that was used for cleaning suede shoes coming into contact with a flame, although the Fire Brigade were quickly on the scene and able to extinguish the fire before it could spread.
Whist drives were hugely popular in St Helens and the Reporter described how 750 people had turned up at the Town Hall on Easter Monday for the annual whist drive and ball in aid of Providence Free Hospital – to state its official name.
A religious lecture took place on the 27th in Griffins cinema in Baldwin Street. These words spoken by the lecturer were subsequently quoted in the Reporter and 100 years later still, sadly, seem relevant today:
"As a result of the world war the nations are bankrupt and the flower of humanity has gone into the grave.
"Selfishness, fraud, profiteering and hatred are ever on the increase, making the burdens of humanity almost unbearable. Distrust, perplexity and fear have taken hold upon men in all walks of life.
"The nations are still feverishly preparing for war, and are vying with each other in producing the most devilish and deadly instruments of destruction. Internal disturbances increase daily."
On the 28th an extraordinary story of family troubles was told when James Kenny appeared in St Helens Police Court.
The 45-year-old from Cowley Street was charged with an aggravated assault on his sister Clara Gee – with a hammer.
And the reason Kenny gave for smashing down Clara's bedroom door with the hammer and hitting her on the head with it at 11:30pm on a Saturday night was that he believed she was co-habiting with a man. "It was a matter of honour", he said.
And he was right; Clara did have a chap in her bedroom – her husband! She had married the day before but James had not been invited to the wedding.
In the courtroom he asked his sister why she had not told him that she was married – but Clara insisted that he had known for five weeks that she was getting wed but had said he didn't care.
She said her younger brother who was the actual tenant of the house had given her and her new husband permission to live there.
It was also stated that a sibling called Kate had told James that Clara was getting married but in court he excitedly insisted that he did not know.
It appears that the man was miffed at not being invited to the ceremony and he was fined £5 or had to serve 28 days in prison for the assault for which his sister Clara needed stitches.
Also on the 28th the inquest was held into the death of Edward Brown of Dyson Street.
The 60-year-old with nine children had died while placing full tubs of coal into the lift shaft at Ravenhead Colliery where he had worked for forty years.
Edward was described at the inquest as "one of nature's children", a "man who was never known to get vexed", and who had been "held in universal esteem" amongst his colleagues.
A bolt had come loose and fallen down the pit shaft, fatally injuring Edward and it was revealed at his inquest that about four similar accidents took place every year in Lancashire.
On the same day an inquest was held at St Helens Town Hall into the death of Thomas Atherton of Langtree Street.
The 40-year-old miner had worked at Sutton Manor Colliery for thirteen years and had died after an underground roof collapsed upon him – the most common cause of individual mineworkers' deaths. Mr Atherton left a widow and five children.
And finally, the new wireless sets that were proving quite popular in St Helens worked best when connected to an outdoor wire aerial strung from a long pole.
During the afternoon of the 28th during a short thunderstorm, lightning struck the aerial belonging to a chap called Whittaker in Church Road in Rainford.
It split the pole from top to bottom but no one happened to be in the vicinity of the aerial at the time and so there were no injuries, although it was reported that the strike created some excitement.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's many stories will include the racing tipster booked in Bridge Street, the revived Rainford old folk's treat, the sacred pilgrimage to Lourdes, the difficulties of the housing shortage and the glass theft from the Ring o’ Bells in Westfield Street.
We begin on the 22nd when at a meeting of the council's Health Committee the Town Clerk reported that a site for the new Cowley Boys secondary school had been selected.
It was intended that the building would front Hard Lane near to the cemetery, although the full town council had yet to approve the plans.
There was a curious court case on the 22nd concerning a conman called Edward Hughes.
The 52-year-old from Woodhouse Farm in Rainhill was charged with obtaining two hams by false pretences from a Liverpool wholesaler.
Hughes had claimed to represent Swift's grocers of Elephant Lane in St Helens and had even faked a note authorising him to collect the meat.
What was unusual about the fraud was that Hughes had previously owned the grocer's shop in Thatto Heath and had sold the business to John Swift.
And so he knew who the shop's wholesaler was and how to go about ordering and collecting goods.
But Hughes also should have known that when Swift received the invoice for the hams, he would have questioned it.
And what did Edward Hughes do with the two hams valued at £1 3s 3d? Well, he ate them, of course! That's one way to try and get rid of the evidence!
"I throw myself on the protection and mercy of the court," said Hughes in a long written statement.
"In my younger days I was an erring youth. Since then I have silently borne the skeleton in my cupboard, known only to my wife."
Well, he wasn’t a kid when he was sent to prison for three years in 1906. Hughes was then 34 and for his ham fraud he received a further three months with hard labour.
A constable described how five minutes after closing time he had seen a crowd of Irishmen standing outside the Grapes Hotel and among them were Lyons and Talbot engaging in a stand-up fight.
After exchanging blows both men fell to the ground and had to be helped up by the police before being taken into custody. In court they were both bound over.
It was reported on the 24th that a Rainford man called James Rothwell had been run over by an engine at the Bickerstaffe Colliery and had needed to have one of his feet amputated.
The 39-year-old had got the foot fast in a guard rail and was unable to extricate it in time before the engine arrived.
St Helens in the early 1920s had a thriving community of "Esperantists".
That was the term used in the Reporter on the 25th to describe those that spoke the international language of Esperanto.
The paper said BBC radio had this week read out a translation in Esperanto of King George V's speech at the opening of the British Empire Exhibition:
"On Wednesday evening many St. Helens Esperantists had the pleasure of listening-in to the King's speech.
"This is truly a great triumph for Esperanto, as it was heard in that language in St. Helens with great clearness and was easily comprehensible from beginning to end."
The shops in St Helens town centre stayed open very late in the evening on Saturdays to take advantage of most people getting paid on that day.
The Reporter also described how last Saturday night there had been a fire at Edwin Hulme's boot shop in Ormskirk Street that had created "some little excitement in the vicinity".
It was caused by a compound that was used for cleaning suede shoes coming into contact with a flame, although the Fire Brigade were quickly on the scene and able to extinguish the fire before it could spread.
Whist drives were hugely popular in St Helens and the Reporter described how 750 people had turned up at the Town Hall on Easter Monday for the annual whist drive and ball in aid of Providence Free Hospital – to state its official name.
A religious lecture took place on the 27th in Griffins cinema in Baldwin Street. These words spoken by the lecturer were subsequently quoted in the Reporter and 100 years later still, sadly, seem relevant today:
"As a result of the world war the nations are bankrupt and the flower of humanity has gone into the grave.
"Selfishness, fraud, profiteering and hatred are ever on the increase, making the burdens of humanity almost unbearable. Distrust, perplexity and fear have taken hold upon men in all walks of life.
"The nations are still feverishly preparing for war, and are vying with each other in producing the most devilish and deadly instruments of destruction. Internal disturbances increase daily."
On the 28th an extraordinary story of family troubles was told when James Kenny appeared in St Helens Police Court.
The 45-year-old from Cowley Street was charged with an aggravated assault on his sister Clara Gee – with a hammer.
And the reason Kenny gave for smashing down Clara's bedroom door with the hammer and hitting her on the head with it at 11:30pm on a Saturday night was that he believed she was co-habiting with a man. "It was a matter of honour", he said.
And he was right; Clara did have a chap in her bedroom – her husband! She had married the day before but James had not been invited to the wedding.
In the courtroom he asked his sister why she had not told him that she was married – but Clara insisted that he had known for five weeks that she was getting wed but had said he didn't care.
She said her younger brother who was the actual tenant of the house had given her and her new husband permission to live there.
It was also stated that a sibling called Kate had told James that Clara was getting married but in court he excitedly insisted that he did not know.
It appears that the man was miffed at not being invited to the ceremony and he was fined £5 or had to serve 28 days in prison for the assault for which his sister Clara needed stitches.
Also on the 28th the inquest was held into the death of Edward Brown of Dyson Street.
The 60-year-old with nine children had died while placing full tubs of coal into the lift shaft at Ravenhead Colliery where he had worked for forty years.
Edward was described at the inquest as "one of nature's children", a "man who was never known to get vexed", and who had been "held in universal esteem" amongst his colleagues.
A bolt had come loose and fallen down the pit shaft, fatally injuring Edward and it was revealed at his inquest that about four similar accidents took place every year in Lancashire.
On the same day an inquest was held at St Helens Town Hall into the death of Thomas Atherton of Langtree Street.
The 40-year-old miner had worked at Sutton Manor Colliery for thirteen years and had died after an underground roof collapsed upon him – the most common cause of individual mineworkers' deaths. Mr Atherton left a widow and five children.
And finally, the new wireless sets that were proving quite popular in St Helens worked best when connected to an outdoor wire aerial strung from a long pole.
During the afternoon of the 28th during a short thunderstorm, lightning struck the aerial belonging to a chap called Whittaker in Church Road in Rainford.
It split the pole from top to bottom but no one happened to be in the vicinity of the aerial at the time and so there were no injuries, although it was reported that the strike created some excitement.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's many stories will include the racing tipster booked in Bridge Street, the revived Rainford old folk's treat, the sacred pilgrimage to Lourdes, the difficulties of the housing shortage and the glass theft from the Ring o’ Bells in Westfield Street.