IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (25th NOV. - 1st DEC. 1919)
This week's stories include the man from Liverpool Street charged with attempted murder, the one-legged ex-soldier's marital dispute, the one-footed drunken sailor in Marshalls Cross, a new pavilion for Saints and a boy's unmerciful thrashing for accidentally breaking a shop window.
We begin on the 25th when the downfall of a schoolteacher's widow through drink was described in St Helens Police Court. Frances Sexton of no fixed abode was accused of stealing a portmanteau travelling bag from the Co-op Stores in Baldwin Street (pictured above) and an overcoat from the Lancashire and Cheshire Rubber Company of Church Street. Both items were sold or pledged on the same day, seemingly so Frances could buy alcohol or possibly meths. Earlier in the month the woman had been locked up for being drunk and incapable after drinking methylated spirits.
The Chairman of the Bench said she would be given another chance and discharged from the court upon condition that she went into a home in Liverpool and agreed to abstain from intoxicating liquor. However Mrs Sexton also had to find £5 to guarantee her good behaviour for twelve months and be placed under a probation officer.
Saints held a meeting on the 26th in which the club announced that they were to receive a boost from Pilkingtons. The glass firm had agreed to pay the cost of erecting a new pavilion at the Knowsley Road ground, which would include dressing rooms for the players. In return the club would pay interest on the cost and permit the playing of girls hockey and what was described as juvenile games.
The players would have warmly welcomed the new dressing rooms as they currently changed at the Talbot Hotel in Duke Street and then travelled in a horse-driven wagonette to Knowsley Road. Saints had been struggling for support since the war and said they would continue their reconstruction plans, which included a 100,000 penny fundraising scheme.
On the 27th Thomas Glynn from Liverpool Street appeared in the Police Court charged with attempted murder and assaulting the police. Thomas Briggs lived in the same lodging house and told the court that Glynn had come home drunk at 1am and had started an argument in the kitchen with a group of men. Later there was a fight and Briggs said Glynn stabbed him in the throat and an emergency operation had to be carried out at Providence Hospital. The Bench committed the prisoner to the next assizes hearing for trial.
This took place on February 5th 1920 and the 27-year-old Glynn was found guilty and sent to prison for 18 months with hard labour. This was after the charge of attempted murder had been reduced to unlawful wounding. However the principal witness Thomas Briggs had done a runner and failed to appear in court.
Four boys from Powell Street in Sutton appeared in the St Helens Police Court charged with committing malicious damage to a fence on November 5th. The lads were aged between nine and thirteen and had torn timber from the fence in Station Road belonging to the Allen Barton engineering works in order to make a bonfire. They were each fined 5 shillings and 2/6 costs.
The Prescot Board of Guardians also met on the 27th and heard that there had been a big increase in so-called "casuals" using Whiston Workhouse for a night's lodgings. Such people were usually tramps who had to undertake some work on the following morning to pay for their accommodation.
However the rise in numbers was largely accounted by ex-soldiers, which prompted a discussion amongst the Guardians. One said: "Most of the men would not work before they went into the Army, and they would not work after they left it. The Government was not going to keep them because they would not work."
The Chairman of the Guardians agreed that many of these men wanted to travel and wouldn't register with the Labour Exchange. However he was a bit more sympathetic, saying: "There were too many departments dealing with the poor ex-soldiers. He was compelled to go to one place and then to another, and at last he was landed in the poor house."
The 28th was the day when the civilian unemployment dole came to an end in St Helens. Also known as the "unemployment donation", the dole had only been available for a limited period but was now exclusively given to ex-servicemen. Many unemployed men would be able to claim some cash under the Insurance Act. However these payments were very much less than the dole, which had only been intended as a temporary measure after the war.
On the 28th Lewis's of Ranelagh Street in Liverpool had a huge advert in the Reporter for their Toyland. This had 20,000 dolls and many Meccano sets costing from 6 shillings to £3 10 shillings. Taylor Joseph Berens of Church Street was advertising his range of discounted coats from 37/6, claiming that his low prices were "Effectively defeating the enemy – high prices. We must and shall win and so make your £ worth 20s."
A sad tale of marriage break up was told in the Police Court on the 28th when the wife of Thomas Foster of Waterloo Street summoned him for desertion. The young man had lost a leg in the war and upon returning home had turned to drink and gambling. Thomas's wife Isabel had told him that she could not stand it any longer and said he had to leave but then gave her husband one last chance. He promised he would change but five days later Thomas came home drunk again and after being rebuked by Isabel left home.
An artificial leg had now been fitted and Thomas claimed to be working 7 days a week at Ashtons Green Colliery but not making any payments to his wife and three young children. The Bench made an order for £1 per week maintenance and asked the court probation officer / home missionary to see if he could bring the couple together again. One constant in such cases was the lack of understanding as to why defendants like Thomas behaved the way they did after their harrowing wartime experiences.
In another marital case Robert Johnson from Hardshaw Street (pictured above) was summoned by his wife Ada for deserting her after 33 years of marriage. In reality this was all about maintenance, as Ada certainly did not want her husband back. Her counsel told the bench that his client had lived a "miserable and unhappy" life with Robert Johnson due to his drinking habits, which were "almost beyond description".
Their seven children all sided with their mother and they'd driven their father out of the house. The eldest son told the court that his father's misdoings would fill a book. However Johnson blamed his wife and denied that his drinking habits were the cause of their separation. He told how his wife had once walked out on him leaving him to sort out his own food for two weeks.
John Holmes, the Police Court missionary (i.e. probation officer), told the court that the defendant had been drinking too much and this had caused a lot of unhappiness. However he added that the couple's grown-up children had aggravated their parents' problems and said the older ones should leave the house.
This statement caused uproar amongst them, leading to one daughter being ordered out of court. Robert Johnson's counsel made him out to be the victim, saying for nine years he had been "his wife's butt, and the butt of the family" and the Bench ordered maintenance payments of 30 shillings a week.
On the 29th Harry Critchley from Creswell Street (off Eccleston Street) was charged with causing an aggravated assault upon his son Henry. The six-year-old had been playing a game with his pals in which they guessed what letters appeared on goods in a shop window. This involved Henry running from one side of Creswell Street to the other. During one of his runs the boy slipped and accidentally put his hand through the window, much to the fury of his father.
According to the St Helens Reporter he "thrashed the child most unmercifully about the face, back and body generally with the buckle end of his belt." Dr Reid treated Henry and told the court that "very considerable violence must have been used and the child must have suffered considerable pain." Harry Critchley said he hadn’t meant to hit his son like that but he had "dodged about" when being struck and had tried to run out of the house.
The father denied hitting Henry with the buckle but admitted losing his temper and striking him three or four times with the belt. The man added that he was sorry for what he had done and would see that it did not happen again. The Chairman fined Critchley 20 shillings with 2 guineas costs and said a parent had a right to chastise his child but it was a "very improper thing to beat the child about the head in that dangerous way". The Bench added that they hoped it would a lesson to the defendant to keep his temper under control in future.
On December 1st the magistrates in the Police Court took pity on a one-footed seaman when he appeared in front of them. Peter McKay was charged with being drunk and incapable in Marshalls Cross Road during the previous evening. The sailor had lost a foot in the war and upon returning to Liverpool after a voyage to America claimed to have been robbed of his savings. As a consequence he was not able to get to his wife in Berwick-upon-Tweed. The Bench could not help him make the journey but they did dismiss the charge and let him go.
Next week's stories will include a robbery at a St Helens' hotel, the violent end to a wedding party in Corporation Street, the "abominable nuisance" of Silcocks in Sutton, a triumphal memorial to fallen soldiers, the disgraceful condition of St Helens' schools, plans for two new cinemas and the lads in trouble for playing tag in Church Street.
The Chairman of the Bench said she would be given another chance and discharged from the court upon condition that she went into a home in Liverpool and agreed to abstain from intoxicating liquor. However Mrs Sexton also had to find £5 to guarantee her good behaviour for twelve months and be placed under a probation officer.
Saints held a meeting on the 26th in which the club announced that they were to receive a boost from Pilkingtons. The glass firm had agreed to pay the cost of erecting a new pavilion at the Knowsley Road ground, which would include dressing rooms for the players. In return the club would pay interest on the cost and permit the playing of girls hockey and what was described as juvenile games.
The players would have warmly welcomed the new dressing rooms as they currently changed at the Talbot Hotel in Duke Street and then travelled in a horse-driven wagonette to Knowsley Road. Saints had been struggling for support since the war and said they would continue their reconstruction plans, which included a 100,000 penny fundraising scheme.
On the 27th Thomas Glynn from Liverpool Street appeared in the Police Court charged with attempted murder and assaulting the police. Thomas Briggs lived in the same lodging house and told the court that Glynn had come home drunk at 1am and had started an argument in the kitchen with a group of men. Later there was a fight and Briggs said Glynn stabbed him in the throat and an emergency operation had to be carried out at Providence Hospital. The Bench committed the prisoner to the next assizes hearing for trial.
This took place on February 5th 1920 and the 27-year-old Glynn was found guilty and sent to prison for 18 months with hard labour. This was after the charge of attempted murder had been reduced to unlawful wounding. However the principal witness Thomas Briggs had done a runner and failed to appear in court.
Four boys from Powell Street in Sutton appeared in the St Helens Police Court charged with committing malicious damage to a fence on November 5th. The lads were aged between nine and thirteen and had torn timber from the fence in Station Road belonging to the Allen Barton engineering works in order to make a bonfire. They were each fined 5 shillings and 2/6 costs.
The Prescot Board of Guardians also met on the 27th and heard that there had been a big increase in so-called "casuals" using Whiston Workhouse for a night's lodgings. Such people were usually tramps who had to undertake some work on the following morning to pay for their accommodation.
However the rise in numbers was largely accounted by ex-soldiers, which prompted a discussion amongst the Guardians. One said: "Most of the men would not work before they went into the Army, and they would not work after they left it. The Government was not going to keep them because they would not work."
The Chairman of the Guardians agreed that many of these men wanted to travel and wouldn't register with the Labour Exchange. However he was a bit more sympathetic, saying: "There were too many departments dealing with the poor ex-soldiers. He was compelled to go to one place and then to another, and at last he was landed in the poor house."
The 28th was the day when the civilian unemployment dole came to an end in St Helens. Also known as the "unemployment donation", the dole had only been available for a limited period but was now exclusively given to ex-servicemen. Many unemployed men would be able to claim some cash under the Insurance Act. However these payments were very much less than the dole, which had only been intended as a temporary measure after the war.
On the 28th Lewis's of Ranelagh Street in Liverpool had a huge advert in the Reporter for their Toyland. This had 20,000 dolls and many Meccano sets costing from 6 shillings to £3 10 shillings. Taylor Joseph Berens of Church Street was advertising his range of discounted coats from 37/6, claiming that his low prices were "Effectively defeating the enemy – high prices. We must and shall win and so make your £ worth 20s."
A sad tale of marriage break up was told in the Police Court on the 28th when the wife of Thomas Foster of Waterloo Street summoned him for desertion. The young man had lost a leg in the war and upon returning home had turned to drink and gambling. Thomas's wife Isabel had told him that she could not stand it any longer and said he had to leave but then gave her husband one last chance. He promised he would change but five days later Thomas came home drunk again and after being rebuked by Isabel left home.
An artificial leg had now been fitted and Thomas claimed to be working 7 days a week at Ashtons Green Colliery but not making any payments to his wife and three young children. The Bench made an order for £1 per week maintenance and asked the court probation officer / home missionary to see if he could bring the couple together again. One constant in such cases was the lack of understanding as to why defendants like Thomas behaved the way they did after their harrowing wartime experiences.
Their seven children all sided with their mother and they'd driven their father out of the house. The eldest son told the court that his father's misdoings would fill a book. However Johnson blamed his wife and denied that his drinking habits were the cause of their separation. He told how his wife had once walked out on him leaving him to sort out his own food for two weeks.
John Holmes, the Police Court missionary (i.e. probation officer), told the court that the defendant had been drinking too much and this had caused a lot of unhappiness. However he added that the couple's grown-up children had aggravated their parents' problems and said the older ones should leave the house.
This statement caused uproar amongst them, leading to one daughter being ordered out of court. Robert Johnson's counsel made him out to be the victim, saying for nine years he had been "his wife's butt, and the butt of the family" and the Bench ordered maintenance payments of 30 shillings a week.
On the 29th Harry Critchley from Creswell Street (off Eccleston Street) was charged with causing an aggravated assault upon his son Henry. The six-year-old had been playing a game with his pals in which they guessed what letters appeared on goods in a shop window. This involved Henry running from one side of Creswell Street to the other. During one of his runs the boy slipped and accidentally put his hand through the window, much to the fury of his father.
According to the St Helens Reporter he "thrashed the child most unmercifully about the face, back and body generally with the buckle end of his belt." Dr Reid treated Henry and told the court that "very considerable violence must have been used and the child must have suffered considerable pain." Harry Critchley said he hadn’t meant to hit his son like that but he had "dodged about" when being struck and had tried to run out of the house.
The father denied hitting Henry with the buckle but admitted losing his temper and striking him three or four times with the belt. The man added that he was sorry for what he had done and would see that it did not happen again. The Chairman fined Critchley 20 shillings with 2 guineas costs and said a parent had a right to chastise his child but it was a "very improper thing to beat the child about the head in that dangerous way". The Bench added that they hoped it would a lesson to the defendant to keep his temper under control in future.
On December 1st the magistrates in the Police Court took pity on a one-footed seaman when he appeared in front of them. Peter McKay was charged with being drunk and incapable in Marshalls Cross Road during the previous evening. The sailor had lost a foot in the war and upon returning to Liverpool after a voyage to America claimed to have been robbed of his savings. As a consequence he was not able to get to his wife in Berwick-upon-Tweed. The Bench could not help him make the journey but they did dismiss the charge and let him go.
Next week's stories will include a robbery at a St Helens' hotel, the violent end to a wedding party in Corporation Street, the "abominable nuisance" of Silcocks in Sutton, a triumphal memorial to fallen soldiers, the disgraceful condition of St Helens' schools, plans for two new cinemas and the lads in trouble for playing tag in Church Street.