IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 26 FEB - 3 MARCH 1924
This week's many stories include the conman that stole donations intended for the unemployed, the theft from Jimmy James' dressing room in the Theatre Royal, the separated husband's claim that his wife drank too much, the breadman in Hardshaw Street without any scales, the St Helens lad that the Labour Exchange helped send to Australia and why PC Parr arrested a woman in Parr for simply shouting "ey up".
We begin on the 26th when William Bradbury and William Jennion, two miners from Watery Lane in Sutton, appeared in court charged with being in possession of snares and nets for the purpose of taking game. A policeman had searched the pair in Union Lane in Bold and had also found a ferret and a rabbit on them and they were both fined 10 shillings.
Also on that day at a meeting of the St. Helens Health Committee, the town's latest house building stats were revealed. In 1919 four new homes had been built; there had been none in 1920; 48 in 1921 and 165 constructed in 1922. That's a total of 217, when well over a thousand houses were needed. That figure would be much higher if the hundreds of insanitary homes that wanted demolishing – but couldn't because having a bad home was better than having no home – were taken into account. However, the committee gave the green light for plans to build 450 new houses on their Windlehurst council estate, of which 300 would have a parlour and the rest would be without.
On the 27th the 83rd annual Catholic Charity Ball was held in St Helens Town Hall to the music of Brough and Egan's orchestra. The event "under distinguished patronage" was evening dress only.
On the 29th William Brown appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with obtaining charitable contributions by false pretences. The man had previously been authorised to collect donations for the Liverpool Unemployed Distress Committee but had stopped working for them in August 1922. Since then he had been using their collecting boxes and official stationery for his own purposes and keeping the cash.
Brown had been arrested in Hardshaw Street in St Helens after being caught soliciting contributions to his fund and told the police: "I am very sorry. I have been out of work for nearly five years, and when a fellow is down and out he does things he would not do otherwise." The Bench considered it a serious case and sentenced the conman to three months hard labour.
Leslie Whitham was also in court charged with stealing a watch and a ten-shilling note from a dressing room of the Theatre Royal. The man had gone to see an actor called James Casey who was performing in the theatre in a revue and after being left alone in the room had scarpered with his watch and cash. Whitham had also been charged with obtaining food and lodgings by false pretences from an address in Hardshaw Street and was sentenced to a month in prison.
That would run concurrently with a sentence of two months handed down to him on the previous day in Ashton-under-Lyne for stealing two watches from the local Hippodrome. James Casey was then using the stage name of Jimmy Jones but would later turn to comedy and change his name to Jimmy James. After his death in 1965, Eric Morecambe said James had been: "One of the few comedians that all the comics used to stand on the side and watch. One of the greats."
Also on the 29th Mary Unsworth of Fleet Lane was in court charged with obstructing the appropriately named PC Parr in the execution of his duty. According to the Reporter she had shouted "heigh up" to people picking bits of coal out of the waste heap at Ashtons Green Colliery in Parr (pictured above) – although I think "’eh up" might have been more accurate.
Sometimes mines allowed people to freely dig for such coal as it was worthless to them, although the heaps could prove dangerous. PC Parr was in plain clothes and Mrs Unsworth had recognised him and by shouting and waving her hands she had allowed the illegal pickers to get away. The case was dismissed upon payment of court costs.
Sarah Morris was also in court this week applying for a separation order with maintenance against her husband John. Mrs Morris alleged that he had been "carrying on" with other women and that she had opened letters that they'd sent him. She told the court that when she asked her husband for an explanation, he had replied, "I prefer other women". The couple were then residing in Colwyn Bay where her husband still lived.
John Morris had not journeyed to St Helens for the court hearing but he had sent a letter in which he made allegations that his wife drank too much. That might well have been true but making such claims was a common tactic that husbands made against their wives in court. Sarah Morris denied the claim, telling the court that she never went into pubs but did enjoy a glass of stout at supper. The magistrates signed the separation order but because the man was not in regular work, reduced his weekly payment to 7s 6d.
It wasn't until the 1930s that sliced bread was available in Britain. A century ago loaves were sold unsliced and unwrapped and bakers were required to have scales at the point of sale so that the bread could be weighed for the customer. That even applied to delivery vans and I expect very few customers queried the weight of the bread that was being delivered to their home.
But the law was the law as far as St Helens police was concerned and when Sgt Griffin saw Critchley and Co's breadman delivering in Hardshaw Street, he noticed his van contained no scales. At first the breadman said having scales was not necessary but when told it was the law he replied: "I have a pair of scales, but I didn't put them on [the van] as they get knocked about." The firm was told as it was their first offence they would only be fined ten shillings.
It appears from the next case that all motor drivers were required to carry their driving licence with them and when stopped by the police without a licence were not given any time to produce it at the station. George Martin had been driving in Prescot Road in St Helens when a constable made a random stop of his vehicle. Upon asking to see his licence, Mr Martin replied: "I am sorry, I missed it as soon as I came out this morning." Appearing in court to face a charge of failing to produce his driving licence, Mr Martin told the court that he had inadvertently left it in his working clothes and he was fined 7s 6d.
Sleeping rough was a crime known as "lodging out". You could even lodge out inside a place, such as the lavatory of the Ravenhead Brick and Tile Works. That was where Thomas O’Brien had chosen to lay his head before being collared by the police. In court Thomas appealed to the magistrates to be given another chance, explaining that he had been out of work for over two years. But no second chance was offered and Mr O’Brien was sent to prison for a week.
When Arthur Jones was charged with loitering in Appleton Street for the purpose of betting, the bookie declared: "Yes, it is a fair cop." In his possession the mineworker from Morris Street in Sutton had 28 betting slips relating to 85 bets as well as 23 completed football coupons. In court Mr Jones asked the magistrates: "Can I get those papers back? I want to play the game and give the people their money back." No answer was reported but I think he had little chance of his papers being returned. Instead Jones was fined £10.
The Reporter on the 29th reproduced a letter that an unnamed St Helens lad had sent from Australia thanking the St Helens Labour Exchange "for the help you gave me and my pal in making the trip". It continued: "I have got a good job with an Englishman with his family. They show me every kindness, and I don't think I could go to another place like it.
"Australia, what I have seen of it, is a great place, and as there is plenty of work here, and good money, it is a man's opportunity to make a nice pile, especially when he takes a farm up on his own, which you are allowed to do after twelve months' experience." I wonder if the Labour Exchange in sharing the letter with the newspapers were hoping that others on the dole would follow suit and thus reduce the numbers of claimants on their books?
And finally, Welsh miner David Davies appeared in St Helens Police Court on March 1st charged with bigamy. It was alleged that Davies had married a widow in St Helens on December 23rd 1922, when he already had a wife alive at Rhondda in Wales. He was remanded in custody for inquiries to be made.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the house merry-go-round in Junction Lane, what the St Helens MP thought of women being allowed to vote at 21 and the man who punched his girlfriend in the face because she would not go for a walk with him.
We begin on the 26th when William Bradbury and William Jennion, two miners from Watery Lane in Sutton, appeared in court charged with being in possession of snares and nets for the purpose of taking game. A policeman had searched the pair in Union Lane in Bold and had also found a ferret and a rabbit on them and they were both fined 10 shillings.
Also on that day at a meeting of the St. Helens Health Committee, the town's latest house building stats were revealed. In 1919 four new homes had been built; there had been none in 1920; 48 in 1921 and 165 constructed in 1922. That's a total of 217, when well over a thousand houses were needed. That figure would be much higher if the hundreds of insanitary homes that wanted demolishing – but couldn't because having a bad home was better than having no home – were taken into account. However, the committee gave the green light for plans to build 450 new houses on their Windlehurst council estate, of which 300 would have a parlour and the rest would be without.
On the 27th the 83rd annual Catholic Charity Ball was held in St Helens Town Hall to the music of Brough and Egan's orchestra. The event "under distinguished patronage" was evening dress only.
On the 29th William Brown appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with obtaining charitable contributions by false pretences. The man had previously been authorised to collect donations for the Liverpool Unemployed Distress Committee but had stopped working for them in August 1922. Since then he had been using their collecting boxes and official stationery for his own purposes and keeping the cash.
Brown had been arrested in Hardshaw Street in St Helens after being caught soliciting contributions to his fund and told the police: "I am very sorry. I have been out of work for nearly five years, and when a fellow is down and out he does things he would not do otherwise." The Bench considered it a serious case and sentenced the conman to three months hard labour.
Leslie Whitham was also in court charged with stealing a watch and a ten-shilling note from a dressing room of the Theatre Royal. The man had gone to see an actor called James Casey who was performing in the theatre in a revue and after being left alone in the room had scarpered with his watch and cash. Whitham had also been charged with obtaining food and lodgings by false pretences from an address in Hardshaw Street and was sentenced to a month in prison.
That would run concurrently with a sentence of two months handed down to him on the previous day in Ashton-under-Lyne for stealing two watches from the local Hippodrome. James Casey was then using the stage name of Jimmy Jones but would later turn to comedy and change his name to Jimmy James. After his death in 1965, Eric Morecambe said James had been: "One of the few comedians that all the comics used to stand on the side and watch. One of the greats."
Sometimes mines allowed people to freely dig for such coal as it was worthless to them, although the heaps could prove dangerous. PC Parr was in plain clothes and Mrs Unsworth had recognised him and by shouting and waving her hands she had allowed the illegal pickers to get away. The case was dismissed upon payment of court costs.
Sarah Morris was also in court this week applying for a separation order with maintenance against her husband John. Mrs Morris alleged that he had been "carrying on" with other women and that she had opened letters that they'd sent him. She told the court that when she asked her husband for an explanation, he had replied, "I prefer other women". The couple were then residing in Colwyn Bay where her husband still lived.
John Morris had not journeyed to St Helens for the court hearing but he had sent a letter in which he made allegations that his wife drank too much. That might well have been true but making such claims was a common tactic that husbands made against their wives in court. Sarah Morris denied the claim, telling the court that she never went into pubs but did enjoy a glass of stout at supper. The magistrates signed the separation order but because the man was not in regular work, reduced his weekly payment to 7s 6d.
It wasn't until the 1930s that sliced bread was available in Britain. A century ago loaves were sold unsliced and unwrapped and bakers were required to have scales at the point of sale so that the bread could be weighed for the customer. That even applied to delivery vans and I expect very few customers queried the weight of the bread that was being delivered to their home.
But the law was the law as far as St Helens police was concerned and when Sgt Griffin saw Critchley and Co's breadman delivering in Hardshaw Street, he noticed his van contained no scales. At first the breadman said having scales was not necessary but when told it was the law he replied: "I have a pair of scales, but I didn't put them on [the van] as they get knocked about." The firm was told as it was their first offence they would only be fined ten shillings.
It appears from the next case that all motor drivers were required to carry their driving licence with them and when stopped by the police without a licence were not given any time to produce it at the station. George Martin had been driving in Prescot Road in St Helens when a constable made a random stop of his vehicle. Upon asking to see his licence, Mr Martin replied: "I am sorry, I missed it as soon as I came out this morning." Appearing in court to face a charge of failing to produce his driving licence, Mr Martin told the court that he had inadvertently left it in his working clothes and he was fined 7s 6d.
Sleeping rough was a crime known as "lodging out". You could even lodge out inside a place, such as the lavatory of the Ravenhead Brick and Tile Works. That was where Thomas O’Brien had chosen to lay his head before being collared by the police. In court Thomas appealed to the magistrates to be given another chance, explaining that he had been out of work for over two years. But no second chance was offered and Mr O’Brien was sent to prison for a week.
When Arthur Jones was charged with loitering in Appleton Street for the purpose of betting, the bookie declared: "Yes, it is a fair cop." In his possession the mineworker from Morris Street in Sutton had 28 betting slips relating to 85 bets as well as 23 completed football coupons. In court Mr Jones asked the magistrates: "Can I get those papers back? I want to play the game and give the people their money back." No answer was reported but I think he had little chance of his papers being returned. Instead Jones was fined £10.
The Reporter on the 29th reproduced a letter that an unnamed St Helens lad had sent from Australia thanking the St Helens Labour Exchange "for the help you gave me and my pal in making the trip". It continued: "I have got a good job with an Englishman with his family. They show me every kindness, and I don't think I could go to another place like it.
"Australia, what I have seen of it, is a great place, and as there is plenty of work here, and good money, it is a man's opportunity to make a nice pile, especially when he takes a farm up on his own, which you are allowed to do after twelve months' experience." I wonder if the Labour Exchange in sharing the letter with the newspapers were hoping that others on the dole would follow suit and thus reduce the numbers of claimants on their books?
And finally, Welsh miner David Davies appeared in St Helens Police Court on March 1st charged with bigamy. It was alleged that Davies had married a widow in St Helens on December 23rd 1922, when he already had a wife alive at Rhondda in Wales. He was remanded in custody for inquiries to be made.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the house merry-go-round in Junction Lane, what the St Helens MP thought of women being allowed to vote at 21 and the man who punched his girlfriend in the face because she would not go for a walk with him.
This week's many stories include the conman that stole donations intended for the unemployed, the theft from Jimmy James' dressing room in the Theatre Royal, the separated husband's claim that his wife drank too much, the breadman in Hardshaw Street without any scales, the St Helens lad that the Labour Exchange helped send to Australia and why PC Parr arrested a woman in Parr for simply shouting "ey up".
We begin on the 26th when William Bradbury and William Jennion, two miners from Watery Lane in Sutton, appeared in court charged with being in possession of snares and nets for the purpose of taking game.
A policeman had searched the pair in Union Lane in Bold and had also found a ferret and a rabbit on them and they were both fined 10 shillings.
Also on that day at a meeting of the St. Helens Health Committee, the town's latest house building stats were revealed.
In 1919 four new homes had been built; there had been none in 1920; 48 in 1921 and 165 constructed in 1922. That's a total of 217, when well over a thousand houses were needed.
That figure would be much higher if the hundreds of insanitary homes that wanted demolishing – but couldn't because having a bad home was better than having no home – were taken into account.
However, the committee gave the green light for plans to build 450 new houses on their Windlehurst council estate, of which 300 would have a parlour and the rest would be without.
On the 27th the 83rd annual Catholic Charity Ball was held in St Helens Town Hall to the music of Brough and Egan's orchestra. The event "under distinguished patronage" was evening dress only.
On the 29th William Brown appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with obtaining charitable contributions by false pretences.
The man had previously been authorised to collect donations for the Liverpool Unemployed Distress Committee but had stopped working for them in August 1922.
Since then he had been using their collecting boxes and official stationery for his own purposes and keeping the cash.
Brown had been arrested in Hardshaw Street in St Helens after being caught soliciting contributions to his fund and told the police:
"I am very sorry. I have been out of work for nearly five years, and when a fellow is down and out he does things he would not do otherwise."
The Bench considered it a serious case and sentenced the conman to three months hard labour.
Leslie Whitham was also in court charged with stealing a watch and a ten-shilling note from a dressing room of the Theatre Royal.
The man had gone to see an actor called James Casey who was performing in the theatre in a revue and after being left alone in the room had scarpered with his watch and cash.
Whitham had also been charged with obtaining food and lodgings by false pretences from an address in Hardshaw Street and was sentenced to a month in prison.
That would run concurrently with a sentence of two months handed down to him on the previous day in Ashton-under-Lyne for stealing two watches from the local Hippodrome.
James Casey was then using the stage name of Jimmy Jones but would later turn to comedy and change his name to Jimmy James.
After his death in 1965, Eric Morecambe said James had been: "One of the few comedians that all the comics used to stand on the side and watch. One of the greats."
Also on the 29th Mary Unsworth of Fleet Lane was in court charged with obstructing the appropriately named PC Parr in the execution of his duty.
According to the Reporter she had shouted "heigh up" to people picking bits of coal out of the waste heap at Ashtons Green Colliery in Parr (pictured above) – although I think "’eh up" might have been more accurate.
Sometimes mines allowed people to freely dig for such coal as it was worthless to them, although the heaps could prove dangerous.
PC Parr was in plain clothes and Mrs Unsworth had recognised him and by shouting and waving her hands she had allowed the illegal pickers to get away. The case was dismissed upon payment of court costs.
Sarah Morris was also in court this week applying for a separation order with maintenance against her husband John.
Mrs Morris alleged that he had been "carrying on" with other women and that she had opened letters that they'd sent him.
She told the court that when she asked her husband for an explanation, he had replied, "I prefer other women".
The couple were then residing in Colwyn Bay where her husband still lived. John Morris had not journeyed to St Helens for the court hearing but he had sent a letter in which he made allegations that his wife drank too much.
That might well have been true but making such claims was a common tactic that husbands made against their wives in court.
Sarah Morris denied the claim, telling the court that she never went into pubs but did enjoy a glass of stout at supper.
The magistrates signed the separation order but because the man was not in regular work, reduced his weekly payment to 7s 6d.
It wasn't until the 1930s that sliced bread was available in Britain. A century ago loaves were sold unsliced and unwrapped and bakers were required to have scales at the point of sale so that the bread could be weighed for the customer.
That even applied to delivery vans and I expect very few customers queried the weight of the bread that was being delivered to their home.
But the law was the law as far as St Helens police was concerned and when Sgt Griffin saw Critchley and Co's breadman delivering in Hardshaw Street, he noticed his van contained no scales.
At first the breadman said having scales was not necessary but when told it was the law he replied: "I have a pair of scales, but I didn't put them on [the van] as they get knocked about."
The firm was told as it was their first offence they would only be fined ten shillings.
It appears from the next case that all motor drivers were required to carry their driving licence with them and when stopped by the police without a licence were not given any time to produce it at the station.
George Martin had been driving in Prescot Road in St Helens when a constable made a random stop of his vehicle.
Upon asking to see his licence, Mr Martin replied: "I am sorry, I missed it as soon as I came out this morning."
Appearing in court to face a charge of failing to produce his driving licence, Mr Martin told the court that he had inadvertently left it in his working clothes and he was fined 7s 6d.
Sleeping rough was a crime known as "lodging out". You could even lodge out inside a place, such as the lavatory of the Ravenhead Brick and Tile Works.
That was where Thomas O’Brien had chosen to lay his head before being collared by the police.
In court Thomas appealed to the magistrates to be given another chance, explaining that he had been out of work for over two years. But no second chance was offered and Mr O’Brien was sent to prison for a week.
When Arthur Jones was charged with loitering in Appleton Street for the purpose of betting, the bookie declared: "Yes, it is a fair cop."
In his possession the mineworker from Morris Street in Sutton had 28 betting slips relating to 85 bets as well as 23 completed football coupons.
In court Mr Jones asked the magistrates: "Can I get those papers back? I want to play the game and give the people their money back."
No answer was reported but I think he had little chance of his papers being returned. Instead Jones was fined £10.
The Reporter on the 29th reproduced a letter that an unnamed St Helens lad had sent from Australia thanking the St Helens Labour Exchange "for the help you gave me and my pal in making the trip". It continued:
"I have got a good job with an Englishman with his family. They show me every kindness, and I don't think I could go to another place like it.
"Australia, what I have seen of it, is a great place, and as there is plenty of work here, and good money, it is a man's opportunity to make a nice pile, especially when he takes a farm up on his own, which you are allowed to do after twelve months' experience."
I wonder if the Labour Exchange in sharing the letter with the newspapers were hoping that others on the dole would follow suit and thus reduce the numbers of claimants on their books?
And finally, Welsh miner David Davies appeared in St Helens Police Court on March 1st charged with bigamy.
It was alleged that Davies had married a widow in St Helens on December 23rd 1922, when he already had a wife alive at Rhondda in Wales. He was remanded in custody for inquiries to be made.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the house merry-go-round in Junction Lane, what the St Helens MP thought of women being allowed to vote at 21 and the man who punched his girlfriend in the face because she would not go for a walk with him.
We begin on the 26th when William Bradbury and William Jennion, two miners from Watery Lane in Sutton, appeared in court charged with being in possession of snares and nets for the purpose of taking game.
A policeman had searched the pair in Union Lane in Bold and had also found a ferret and a rabbit on them and they were both fined 10 shillings.
Also on that day at a meeting of the St. Helens Health Committee, the town's latest house building stats were revealed.
In 1919 four new homes had been built; there had been none in 1920; 48 in 1921 and 165 constructed in 1922. That's a total of 217, when well over a thousand houses were needed.
That figure would be much higher if the hundreds of insanitary homes that wanted demolishing – but couldn't because having a bad home was better than having no home – were taken into account.
However, the committee gave the green light for plans to build 450 new houses on their Windlehurst council estate, of which 300 would have a parlour and the rest would be without.
On the 27th the 83rd annual Catholic Charity Ball was held in St Helens Town Hall to the music of Brough and Egan's orchestra. The event "under distinguished patronage" was evening dress only.
On the 29th William Brown appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with obtaining charitable contributions by false pretences.
The man had previously been authorised to collect donations for the Liverpool Unemployed Distress Committee but had stopped working for them in August 1922.
Since then he had been using their collecting boxes and official stationery for his own purposes and keeping the cash.
Brown had been arrested in Hardshaw Street in St Helens after being caught soliciting contributions to his fund and told the police:
"I am very sorry. I have been out of work for nearly five years, and when a fellow is down and out he does things he would not do otherwise."
The Bench considered it a serious case and sentenced the conman to three months hard labour.
Leslie Whitham was also in court charged with stealing a watch and a ten-shilling note from a dressing room of the Theatre Royal.
The man had gone to see an actor called James Casey who was performing in the theatre in a revue and after being left alone in the room had scarpered with his watch and cash.
Whitham had also been charged with obtaining food and lodgings by false pretences from an address in Hardshaw Street and was sentenced to a month in prison.
That would run concurrently with a sentence of two months handed down to him on the previous day in Ashton-under-Lyne for stealing two watches from the local Hippodrome.
James Casey was then using the stage name of Jimmy Jones but would later turn to comedy and change his name to Jimmy James.
After his death in 1965, Eric Morecambe said James had been: "One of the few comedians that all the comics used to stand on the side and watch. One of the greats."
Also on the 29th Mary Unsworth of Fleet Lane was in court charged with obstructing the appropriately named PC Parr in the execution of his duty.
Sometimes mines allowed people to freely dig for such coal as it was worthless to them, although the heaps could prove dangerous.
PC Parr was in plain clothes and Mrs Unsworth had recognised him and by shouting and waving her hands she had allowed the illegal pickers to get away. The case was dismissed upon payment of court costs.
Sarah Morris was also in court this week applying for a separation order with maintenance against her husband John.
Mrs Morris alleged that he had been "carrying on" with other women and that she had opened letters that they'd sent him.
She told the court that when she asked her husband for an explanation, he had replied, "I prefer other women".
The couple were then residing in Colwyn Bay where her husband still lived. John Morris had not journeyed to St Helens for the court hearing but he had sent a letter in which he made allegations that his wife drank too much.
That might well have been true but making such claims was a common tactic that husbands made against their wives in court.
Sarah Morris denied the claim, telling the court that she never went into pubs but did enjoy a glass of stout at supper.
The magistrates signed the separation order but because the man was not in regular work, reduced his weekly payment to 7s 6d.
It wasn't until the 1930s that sliced bread was available in Britain. A century ago loaves were sold unsliced and unwrapped and bakers were required to have scales at the point of sale so that the bread could be weighed for the customer.
That even applied to delivery vans and I expect very few customers queried the weight of the bread that was being delivered to their home.
But the law was the law as far as St Helens police was concerned and when Sgt Griffin saw Critchley and Co's breadman delivering in Hardshaw Street, he noticed his van contained no scales.
At first the breadman said having scales was not necessary but when told it was the law he replied: "I have a pair of scales, but I didn't put them on [the van] as they get knocked about."
The firm was told as it was their first offence they would only be fined ten shillings.
It appears from the next case that all motor drivers were required to carry their driving licence with them and when stopped by the police without a licence were not given any time to produce it at the station.
George Martin had been driving in Prescot Road in St Helens when a constable made a random stop of his vehicle.
Upon asking to see his licence, Mr Martin replied: "I am sorry, I missed it as soon as I came out this morning."
Appearing in court to face a charge of failing to produce his driving licence, Mr Martin told the court that he had inadvertently left it in his working clothes and he was fined 7s 6d.
Sleeping rough was a crime known as "lodging out". You could even lodge out inside a place, such as the lavatory of the Ravenhead Brick and Tile Works.
That was where Thomas O’Brien had chosen to lay his head before being collared by the police.
In court Thomas appealed to the magistrates to be given another chance, explaining that he had been out of work for over two years. But no second chance was offered and Mr O’Brien was sent to prison for a week.
When Arthur Jones was charged with loitering in Appleton Street for the purpose of betting, the bookie declared: "Yes, it is a fair cop."
In his possession the mineworker from Morris Street in Sutton had 28 betting slips relating to 85 bets as well as 23 completed football coupons.
In court Mr Jones asked the magistrates: "Can I get those papers back? I want to play the game and give the people their money back."
No answer was reported but I think he had little chance of his papers being returned. Instead Jones was fined £10.
The Reporter on the 29th reproduced a letter that an unnamed St Helens lad had sent from Australia thanking the St Helens Labour Exchange "for the help you gave me and my pal in making the trip". It continued:
"I have got a good job with an Englishman with his family. They show me every kindness, and I don't think I could go to another place like it.
"Australia, what I have seen of it, is a great place, and as there is plenty of work here, and good money, it is a man's opportunity to make a nice pile, especially when he takes a farm up on his own, which you are allowed to do after twelve months' experience."
I wonder if the Labour Exchange in sharing the letter with the newspapers were hoping that others on the dole would follow suit and thus reduce the numbers of claimants on their books?
And finally, Welsh miner David Davies appeared in St Helens Police Court on March 1st charged with bigamy.
It was alleged that Davies had married a widow in St Helens on December 23rd 1922, when he already had a wife alive at Rhondda in Wales. He was remanded in custody for inquiries to be made.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the house merry-go-round in Junction Lane, what the St Helens MP thought of women being allowed to vote at 21 and the man who punched his girlfriend in the face because she would not go for a walk with him.