IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 26 AUGUST - 1 SEPT 1924
This week's many stories include an update on the Sutton woman accused of child murder, the Boundary Road brothers who fell out over a bike, the Napier Street husband who gave his wife two black eyes, the search for the names of the St Helens war dead, the chalked car number plate in Prescot Road and modernity comes to St Helens with wrapped bread on sale (but not yet sliced!)
We begin on the 26th when the Clock Face Colliery Recreation Club Band was scheduled to give a concert in Sutton Park. I say "scheduled" as "weather permitting" was the caveat that was always included in the adverts. Also on that day the Red Lion Inn at the top of Bridge Street closed its doors. It was one of the oldest pubs in St Helens with a stone over its entrance bearing the date 1730 and it was due to be demolished as part of a road-widening scheme.
On August 6th Margaret Heyes from Oxley Street in Sutton had appeared in Southport Police Court charged with the wilful murder of her 6-month-old child. It was reported that police had explained to the magistrates that Mrs Heyes had removed her infant from a babies' home in Southport in December 1919 – and since then the child had gone missing. The woman had been working in Southport as a domestic servant but had subsequently moved to Sutton to keep house for a widower.
On the 27th Mrs Heyes returned to court in Southport where it was disclosed that the remains of the missing child had, in fact, been discovered on July 31st in the cellar of the house where she had previously worked. The court was also told that the woman had made a statement explaining how her son called William would not stop crying.
So she had placed his head under water and later deposited his body in the cellar where it remained undetected for nearly 5 years. But the statement was ambiguous as to whether she had deliberately drowned her baby or whether his death had been accidental and so she was further remanded.
It must have been very quiet inside most people's homes in St Helens a century ago. Although an increasing number of people were obtaining a wireless, most reception was via crystal sets using headphones and so music was not blaring out. A few houses would have a gramophone and some a piano – but most had none of these. Talking was the only sound within such homes and so if a window in a neighbouring property was broken it would easily have been heard.
When Thomas Powell and his wife were sat in their back kitchen in College Street one evening they distinctly heard the sound of glass being smashed. Mrs Powell looked through their bedroom window and saw that the glass at the rear of a neighbouring shop had been broken and so informed the police.
When Inspector Blackhurst arrived on the scene he searched the premises and found a man from Wigan hiding in the lavatory. This week Thomas Smith, described as a rag gatherer, appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with attempted shop breaking. Upon the request of the police he was remanded in custody for a few days to enable them to complete their enquiries.
There was no set retirement age in many jobs and men often continued working as long as their health allowed it. William Molyneux from Park Road in St Helens had still been working at the age of 69. He was in charge of the engines at Havannah Colliery in Parr and at the end of a night shift was discovered lying on the floor. William subsequently died and at his inquest on the 28th it was stated that he had complained of being ill all night and had banged his head after falling down.
The inquest on William Kilgannon from Clarence Court in Peasley Cross was also held on that day. The mother of the 11-month-old child had been washing clothes and the boy, who could only crawl, had fallen into a bath on the kitchen floor while his mother had been pegging items out to dry.
With so many people in court – both complainants and defendants – telling very partisan tales, it could be hard to know where the truth lay. But when a wife appeared as the victim of an assault and was displaying two black eyes, it was difficult for the husband who she accused of attacking her to deny responsibility.
And so this week Frank Mooney admitted beating his wife when he appeared in the dock in St Helens Police Court charged with committing an aggravated assault. But he did deny kicking her and claimed provocation for his attack – as many brutal husbands then did. Mooney of Napier Street had been spending some time in Blackpool and when he returned home he said he found his wife was out and had discovered her drinking in a pub with several women.
The man then claimed that she had called him a filthy name and when he went home found his wife had already returned and bolted the door against him. That act, he said, had led to his angry assault. Mrs Mooney's explanation was that she had waited for her husband to return from Blackpool for quite some time. When he failed to turn up she went out to do some shopping and had called in a pub. Despite the man's admission of beating his wife and the physical evidence of two black eyes, the magistrates only bound Mooney over upon payment of two £1 sureties.
There was what the Reporter on the 29th described as a "painful scene" witnessed in St Helens Police Court when Gilbert Chisnall accused his brother William of stealing his bicycle. Gilbert lived with his parents in Boundary Road and on the previous Saturday evening had left his bike inside the washhouse in their yard. William was seen to climb over the backyard wall, unbolt the gate and take away his brother's machine.
The police said he had been in a "quarrelsome mood" at the time and had shouted out "If anyone wants to come and fight, they can fight me." The father of the two brothers gave evidence with great difficulty and it was some time before he could compose himself sufficiently to address the Bench. During this period William emotionally said to his dad, "All right, father, say it."
Mr Chisnall then bore out what the police had described and explained that his sons normally got on well together. William blamed having had a few drinks for taking the bike saying he had no intention whatsoever of stealing it. The magistrates decided to dismiss the case but warned William to be more careful in future.
It wasn't until 1930 that sliced bread was available in St Helens. A century ago loaves were sold unwrapped and bakers were required to have scales, so bread could be weighed for the customer. However, in this week's Reporter, the Victoria Bakery in North Road and Church Street were advertising that they were the only bakers in St Helens who distributed their bread in "sealed waxed wrappers".
And they quoted a paragraph from a Daily Mirror article which described how a delivery boy in London had been seen accidentally dropping two loaves into the gutter and then picking them up before continuing on his way. The Mirror piece then said: "In America, the hygienic importance of the wrapped loaf is generally recognised. London continues to eat dirty bread."
Rainford Road Garage is a new name to me but they were advertising the Clyno Light Car in the Reporter. Their three models were quite economical costing from £198 to £225 and featured "modern refinements", including being a self-starter (without the need to use a hand-crank) and having a clock and speedometer.
What we would call car number or registration plates were known as identification plates in the 1920s. The Reporter described how Leslie Holcroft from Marshalls Cross Road had appeared in court charged with driving a motor car on Prescot Road without having his front identification plate fixed as required by law. The young man's employer, Thomas Hayes, was also summoned for aiding and abetting but was too ill to attend the hearing.
PC McHale gave evidence that he had observed Holcroft driving his car towards St Helens without an official identification plate on the front of the vehicle. He had instead chalked the numbers on the front of his radiator but they were only two inches tall. Holcroft explained to the officer that the car's radiator was being repaired and claimed that he had informed his boss, which was why Thomas Heyes had also been summoned. However, Mrs Heyes denied that her husband knew of the chalked numbers. She explained that he had been ill in bed at the time and Holcroft subsequently admitted in court that he had not in fact told Mr Heyes.
It had been agreed that the Bench would let the young man off upon payment of costs but after hearing what he had falsely said about his boss, the magistrates decided to fine Holcroft 7s 6d. They also told him that he had put the police to a lot of trouble and dismissed the case against Mr Heyes. Just whether young Holcroft still had his job was not revealed!
It would be almost two more years before the war memorial in Victoria Square would be unveiled but the authorities needed plenty of time to produce an accurate list of the soldiers and sailors that had died in the war. The last thing they wanted was to upset bereaved relatives by omitting any names from the engraved panels that would be attached to the memorial.
They already had a lengthy list and from this week the many names in their possession – along with their regiment details, ship name, id number and date of death – were listed in the Reporter. There was so many that it would take weeks to publish them all and readers were invited to check the list and write to the Mayor at the Town Hall if they spotted any errors or omissions.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the verdict in the child murder case, the cool flannel dance held at the Co-op Hall, the bagatelle prosecution of the Market Hotel and the two Lea Green Colliery miners trapped for three hours under a roof fall.
On August 6th Margaret Heyes from Oxley Street in Sutton had appeared in Southport Police Court charged with the wilful murder of her 6-month-old child. It was reported that police had explained to the magistrates that Mrs Heyes had removed her infant from a babies' home in Southport in December 1919 – and since then the child had gone missing. The woman had been working in Southport as a domestic servant but had subsequently moved to Sutton to keep house for a widower.
On the 27th Mrs Heyes returned to court in Southport where it was disclosed that the remains of the missing child had, in fact, been discovered on July 31st in the cellar of the house where she had previously worked. The court was also told that the woman had made a statement explaining how her son called William would not stop crying.
So she had placed his head under water and later deposited his body in the cellar where it remained undetected for nearly 5 years. But the statement was ambiguous as to whether she had deliberately drowned her baby or whether his death had been accidental and so she was further remanded.
It must have been very quiet inside most people's homes in St Helens a century ago. Although an increasing number of people were obtaining a wireless, most reception was via crystal sets using headphones and so music was not blaring out. A few houses would have a gramophone and some a piano – but most had none of these. Talking was the only sound within such homes and so if a window in a neighbouring property was broken it would easily have been heard.
When Thomas Powell and his wife were sat in their back kitchen in College Street one evening they distinctly heard the sound of glass being smashed. Mrs Powell looked through their bedroom window and saw that the glass at the rear of a neighbouring shop had been broken and so informed the police.
When Inspector Blackhurst arrived on the scene he searched the premises and found a man from Wigan hiding in the lavatory. This week Thomas Smith, described as a rag gatherer, appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with attempted shop breaking. Upon the request of the police he was remanded in custody for a few days to enable them to complete their enquiries.
There was no set retirement age in many jobs and men often continued working as long as their health allowed it. William Molyneux from Park Road in St Helens had still been working at the age of 69. He was in charge of the engines at Havannah Colliery in Parr and at the end of a night shift was discovered lying on the floor. William subsequently died and at his inquest on the 28th it was stated that he had complained of being ill all night and had banged his head after falling down.
The inquest on William Kilgannon from Clarence Court in Peasley Cross was also held on that day. The mother of the 11-month-old child had been washing clothes and the boy, who could only crawl, had fallen into a bath on the kitchen floor while his mother had been pegging items out to dry.
With so many people in court – both complainants and defendants – telling very partisan tales, it could be hard to know where the truth lay. But when a wife appeared as the victim of an assault and was displaying two black eyes, it was difficult for the husband who she accused of attacking her to deny responsibility.
And so this week Frank Mooney admitted beating his wife when he appeared in the dock in St Helens Police Court charged with committing an aggravated assault. But he did deny kicking her and claimed provocation for his attack – as many brutal husbands then did. Mooney of Napier Street had been spending some time in Blackpool and when he returned home he said he found his wife was out and had discovered her drinking in a pub with several women.
The man then claimed that she had called him a filthy name and when he went home found his wife had already returned and bolted the door against him. That act, he said, had led to his angry assault. Mrs Mooney's explanation was that she had waited for her husband to return from Blackpool for quite some time. When he failed to turn up she went out to do some shopping and had called in a pub. Despite the man's admission of beating his wife and the physical evidence of two black eyes, the magistrates only bound Mooney over upon payment of two £1 sureties.
There was what the Reporter on the 29th described as a "painful scene" witnessed in St Helens Police Court when Gilbert Chisnall accused his brother William of stealing his bicycle. Gilbert lived with his parents in Boundary Road and on the previous Saturday evening had left his bike inside the washhouse in their yard. William was seen to climb over the backyard wall, unbolt the gate and take away his brother's machine.
The police said he had been in a "quarrelsome mood" at the time and had shouted out "If anyone wants to come and fight, they can fight me." The father of the two brothers gave evidence with great difficulty and it was some time before he could compose himself sufficiently to address the Bench. During this period William emotionally said to his dad, "All right, father, say it."
Mr Chisnall then bore out what the police had described and explained that his sons normally got on well together. William blamed having had a few drinks for taking the bike saying he had no intention whatsoever of stealing it. The magistrates decided to dismiss the case but warned William to be more careful in future.
It wasn't until 1930 that sliced bread was available in St Helens. A century ago loaves were sold unwrapped and bakers were required to have scales, so bread could be weighed for the customer. However, in this week's Reporter, the Victoria Bakery in North Road and Church Street were advertising that they were the only bakers in St Helens who distributed their bread in "sealed waxed wrappers".
And they quoted a paragraph from a Daily Mirror article which described how a delivery boy in London had been seen accidentally dropping two loaves into the gutter and then picking them up before continuing on his way. The Mirror piece then said: "In America, the hygienic importance of the wrapped loaf is generally recognised. London continues to eat dirty bread."
Rainford Road Garage is a new name to me but they were advertising the Clyno Light Car in the Reporter. Their three models were quite economical costing from £198 to £225 and featured "modern refinements", including being a self-starter (without the need to use a hand-crank) and having a clock and speedometer.
What we would call car number or registration plates were known as identification plates in the 1920s. The Reporter described how Leslie Holcroft from Marshalls Cross Road had appeared in court charged with driving a motor car on Prescot Road without having his front identification plate fixed as required by law. The young man's employer, Thomas Hayes, was also summoned for aiding and abetting but was too ill to attend the hearing.
PC McHale gave evidence that he had observed Holcroft driving his car towards St Helens without an official identification plate on the front of the vehicle. He had instead chalked the numbers on the front of his radiator but they were only two inches tall. Holcroft explained to the officer that the car's radiator was being repaired and claimed that he had informed his boss, which was why Thomas Heyes had also been summoned. However, Mrs Heyes denied that her husband knew of the chalked numbers. She explained that he had been ill in bed at the time and Holcroft subsequently admitted in court that he had not in fact told Mr Heyes.
It had been agreed that the Bench would let the young man off upon payment of costs but after hearing what he had falsely said about his boss, the magistrates decided to fine Holcroft 7s 6d. They also told him that he had put the police to a lot of trouble and dismissed the case against Mr Heyes. Just whether young Holcroft still had his job was not revealed!
It would be almost two more years before the war memorial in Victoria Square would be unveiled but the authorities needed plenty of time to produce an accurate list of the soldiers and sailors that had died in the war. The last thing they wanted was to upset bereaved relatives by omitting any names from the engraved panels that would be attached to the memorial.
They already had a lengthy list and from this week the many names in their possession – along with their regiment details, ship name, id number and date of death – were listed in the Reporter. There was so many that it would take weeks to publish them all and readers were invited to check the list and write to the Mayor at the Town Hall if they spotted any errors or omissions.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the verdict in the child murder case, the cool flannel dance held at the Co-op Hall, the bagatelle prosecution of the Market Hotel and the two Lea Green Colliery miners trapped for three hours under a roof fall.
This week's many stories include an update on the Sutton woman accused of child murder, the Boundary Road brothers who fell out over a bike, the Napier Street husband who gave his wife two black eyes, the search for the names of the St Helens war dead, the chalked car number plate in Prescot Road and modernity comes to St Helens with wrapped bread on sale (but not yet sliced!)
We begin on the 26th when the Clock Face Colliery Recreation Club Band was scheduled to give a concert in Sutton Park. I say "scheduled" as "weather permitting" was the caveat that was always included in the adverts.
Also on that day the Red Lion Inn at the top of Bridge Street closed its doors. It was one of the oldest pubs in St Helens with a stone over its entrance bearing the date 1730 and it was due to be demolished as part of a road-widening scheme.
On August 6th Margaret Heyes from Oxley Street in Sutton had appeared in Southport Police Court charged with the wilful murder of her 6-month-old child.
It was reported that police had explained to the magistrates that Mrs Heyes had removed her infant from a babies' home in Southport in December 1919 – and since then the child had gone missing.
The woman had been working in Southport as a domestic servant but had subsequently moved to Sutton to keep house for a widower.
On the 27th Mrs Heyes returned to court in Southport where it was disclosed that the remains of the missing child had, in fact, been discovered on July 31st in the cellar of the house where she had previously worked.
The court was also told that the woman had made a statement explaining how her son called William would not stop crying.
So she had placed his head under water and later deposited his body in the cellar where it remained undetected for nearly 5 years.
But the statement was ambiguous as to whether she had deliberately drowned her baby or whether his death had been accidental and so she was further remanded.
It must have been very quiet inside most people's homes in St Helens a century ago.
Although an increasing number of people were obtaining a wireless, most reception was via crystal sets using headphones and so music was not blaring out.
A few houses would have a gramophone and some a piano – but most had none of these.
Talking was the only sound within such homes and so if a window in a neighbouring property was broken it would easily have been heard.
When Thomas Powell and his wife were sat in their back kitchen in College Street one evening they distinctly heard the sound of glass being smashed.
Mrs Powell looked through their bedroom window and saw that the glass at the rear of a neighbouring shop had been broken and so informed the police.
When Inspector Blackhurst arrived on the scene he searched the premises and found a man from Wigan hiding in the lavatory.
This week Thomas Smith, described as a rag gatherer, appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with attempted shop breaking.
Upon the request of the police he was remanded in custody for a few days to enable them to complete their enquiries.
There was no set retirement age in many jobs and men often continued working as long as their health allowed it.
William Molyneux from Park Road in St Helens had still been working at the age of 69.
He was in charge of the engines at Havannah Colliery in Parr and at the end of a night shift was discovered lying on the floor.
William subsequently died and at his inquest on the 28th it was stated that he had complained of being ill all night and had banged his head after falling down.
The inquest on William Kilgannon from Clarence Court in Peasley Cross was also held on that day.
The mother of the 11-month-old child had been washing clothes and the boy, who could only crawl, had fallen into a bath on the kitchen floor while his mother had been pegging items out to dry.
With so many people in court – both complainants and defendants – telling very partisan tales, it could be hard to know where the truth lay.
But when a wife appeared as the victim of an assault and was displaying two black eyes, it was difficult for the husband who she accused of attacking her to deny responsibility.
And so this week Frank Mooney admitted beating his wife when he appeared in the dock in St Helens Police Court charged with committing an aggravated assault.
But he did deny kicking her and claimed provocation for his attack – as many brutal husbands then did.
Mooney of Napier Street had been spending some time in Blackpool and when he returned home he said he found his wife was out and had discovered her drinking in a pub with several women.
The man then claimed that she had called him a filthy name and when he went home found his wife had already returned and bolted the door against him. That act, he said, had led to his angry assault.
Mrs Mooney's explanation was that she had waited for her husband to return from Blackpool for quite some time.
When he failed to turn up she went out to do some shopping and had called in a pub.
Despite the man's admission of beating his wife and the physical evidence of two black eyes, the magistrates only bound Mooney over upon payment of two £1 sureties.
There was what the Reporter on the 29th described as a "painful scene" witnessed in St Helens Police Court when Gilbert Chisnall accused his brother William of stealing his bicycle.
Gilbert lived with his parents in Boundary Road and on the previous Saturday evening had left his bike inside the washhouse in their yard.
William was seen to climb over the backyard wall, unbolt the gate and take away his brother's machine.
The police said he had been in a "quarrelsome mood" at the time and had shouted out "If anyone wants to come and fight, they can fight me."
The father of the two brothers gave evidence with great difficulty and it was some time before he could compose himself sufficiently to address the Bench.
During this period William emotionally said to his dad, "All right, father, say it."
Mr Chisnall then bore out what the police had described and explained that his sons normally got on well together.
William blamed having had a few drinks for taking the bike saying he had no intention whatsoever of stealing it.
The magistrates decided to dismiss the case but warned William to be more careful in future.
It wasn't until 1930 that sliced bread was available in St Helens.
A century ago loaves were sold unwrapped and bakers were required to have scales, so bread could be weighed for the customer.
However, in this week's Reporter, the Victoria Bakery in North Road and Church Street were advertising that they were the only bakers in St Helens who distributed their bread in "sealed waxed wrappers".
And they quoted a paragraph from a Daily Mirror article which described how a delivery boy in London had been seen accidentally dropping two loaves into the gutter and then picking them up before continuing on his way. The Mirror piece then said:
"In America, the hygienic importance of the wrapped loaf is generally recognised. London continues to eat dirty bread."
Rainford Road Garage is a new name to me but they were advertising the Clyno Light Car in the Reporter.
Their three models were quite economical costing from £198 to £225 and featured "modern refinements", including being a self-starter (without the need to use a hand-crank) and having a clock and speedometer.
What we would call car number or registration plates were known as identification plates in the 1920s.
The Reporter described how Leslie Holcroft from Marshalls Cross Road had appeared in court charged with driving a motor car on Prescot Road without having his front identification plate fixed as required by law.
The young man's employer, Thomas Hayes, was also summoned for aiding and abetting but was too ill to attend the hearing.
PC McHale gave evidence that he had observed Holcroft driving his car towards St Helens without an official identification plate on the front of the vehicle.
He had instead chalked the numbers on the front of his radiator but they were only two inches tall.
Holcroft explained to the officer that the car's radiator was being repaired and claimed that he had informed his boss, which was why Thomas Heyes had also been summoned.
However, Mrs Heyes denied that her husband knew of the chalked numbers. She explained that he had been ill in bed at the time and Holcroft subsequently admitted in court that he had not in fact told Mr Heyes.
It had been agreed that the Bench would let the young man off upon payment of costs but after hearing what he had falsely said about his boss, the magistrates decided to fine Holcroft 7s 6d.
They also told him that he had put the police to a lot of trouble and dismissed the case against Mr Heyes. Just whether young Holcroft still had his job was not revealed!
It would be almost two more years before the war memorial in Victoria Square would be unveiled but the authorities needed plenty of time to produce an accurate list of the soldiers and sailors that had died in the war.
The last thing they wanted was to upset bereaved relatives by omitting any names from the engraved panels that would be attached to the memorial.
They already had a lengthy list and from this week the many names in their possession – along with their regiment details, ship name, id number and date of death – were listed in the Reporter.
There was so many that it would take weeks to publish them all and readers were invited to check the list and write to the Mayor at the Town Hall if they spotted any errors or omissions.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the verdict in the child murder case, the cool flannel dance held at the Co-op Hall, the bagatelle prosecution of the Market Hotel and the two Lea Green Colliery miners trapped for three hours under a roof fall.
We begin on the 26th when the Clock Face Colliery Recreation Club Band was scheduled to give a concert in Sutton Park. I say "scheduled" as "weather permitting" was the caveat that was always included in the adverts.
On August 6th Margaret Heyes from Oxley Street in Sutton had appeared in Southport Police Court charged with the wilful murder of her 6-month-old child.
It was reported that police had explained to the magistrates that Mrs Heyes had removed her infant from a babies' home in Southport in December 1919 – and since then the child had gone missing.
The woman had been working in Southport as a domestic servant but had subsequently moved to Sutton to keep house for a widower.
On the 27th Mrs Heyes returned to court in Southport where it was disclosed that the remains of the missing child had, in fact, been discovered on July 31st in the cellar of the house where she had previously worked.
The court was also told that the woman had made a statement explaining how her son called William would not stop crying.
So she had placed his head under water and later deposited his body in the cellar where it remained undetected for nearly 5 years.
But the statement was ambiguous as to whether she had deliberately drowned her baby or whether his death had been accidental and so she was further remanded.
It must have been very quiet inside most people's homes in St Helens a century ago.
Although an increasing number of people were obtaining a wireless, most reception was via crystal sets using headphones and so music was not blaring out.
A few houses would have a gramophone and some a piano – but most had none of these.
Talking was the only sound within such homes and so if a window in a neighbouring property was broken it would easily have been heard.
When Thomas Powell and his wife were sat in their back kitchen in College Street one evening they distinctly heard the sound of glass being smashed.
Mrs Powell looked through their bedroom window and saw that the glass at the rear of a neighbouring shop had been broken and so informed the police.
When Inspector Blackhurst arrived on the scene he searched the premises and found a man from Wigan hiding in the lavatory.
This week Thomas Smith, described as a rag gatherer, appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with attempted shop breaking.
Upon the request of the police he was remanded in custody for a few days to enable them to complete their enquiries.
There was no set retirement age in many jobs and men often continued working as long as their health allowed it.
William Molyneux from Park Road in St Helens had still been working at the age of 69.
He was in charge of the engines at Havannah Colliery in Parr and at the end of a night shift was discovered lying on the floor.
William subsequently died and at his inquest on the 28th it was stated that he had complained of being ill all night and had banged his head after falling down.
The inquest on William Kilgannon from Clarence Court in Peasley Cross was also held on that day.
The mother of the 11-month-old child had been washing clothes and the boy, who could only crawl, had fallen into a bath on the kitchen floor while his mother had been pegging items out to dry.
With so many people in court – both complainants and defendants – telling very partisan tales, it could be hard to know where the truth lay.
But when a wife appeared as the victim of an assault and was displaying two black eyes, it was difficult for the husband who she accused of attacking her to deny responsibility.
And so this week Frank Mooney admitted beating his wife when he appeared in the dock in St Helens Police Court charged with committing an aggravated assault.
But he did deny kicking her and claimed provocation for his attack – as many brutal husbands then did.
Mooney of Napier Street had been spending some time in Blackpool and when he returned home he said he found his wife was out and had discovered her drinking in a pub with several women.
The man then claimed that she had called him a filthy name and when he went home found his wife had already returned and bolted the door against him. That act, he said, had led to his angry assault.
Mrs Mooney's explanation was that she had waited for her husband to return from Blackpool for quite some time.
When he failed to turn up she went out to do some shopping and had called in a pub.
Despite the man's admission of beating his wife and the physical evidence of two black eyes, the magistrates only bound Mooney over upon payment of two £1 sureties.
There was what the Reporter on the 29th described as a "painful scene" witnessed in St Helens Police Court when Gilbert Chisnall accused his brother William of stealing his bicycle.
Gilbert lived with his parents in Boundary Road and on the previous Saturday evening had left his bike inside the washhouse in their yard.
William was seen to climb over the backyard wall, unbolt the gate and take away his brother's machine.
The police said he had been in a "quarrelsome mood" at the time and had shouted out "If anyone wants to come and fight, they can fight me."
The father of the two brothers gave evidence with great difficulty and it was some time before he could compose himself sufficiently to address the Bench.
During this period William emotionally said to his dad, "All right, father, say it."
Mr Chisnall then bore out what the police had described and explained that his sons normally got on well together.
William blamed having had a few drinks for taking the bike saying he had no intention whatsoever of stealing it.
The magistrates decided to dismiss the case but warned William to be more careful in future.
It wasn't until 1930 that sliced bread was available in St Helens.
A century ago loaves were sold unwrapped and bakers were required to have scales, so bread could be weighed for the customer.
However, in this week's Reporter, the Victoria Bakery in North Road and Church Street were advertising that they were the only bakers in St Helens who distributed their bread in "sealed waxed wrappers".
And they quoted a paragraph from a Daily Mirror article which described how a delivery boy in London had been seen accidentally dropping two loaves into the gutter and then picking them up before continuing on his way. The Mirror piece then said:
"In America, the hygienic importance of the wrapped loaf is generally recognised. London continues to eat dirty bread."
Rainford Road Garage is a new name to me but they were advertising the Clyno Light Car in the Reporter.
Their three models were quite economical costing from £198 to £225 and featured "modern refinements", including being a self-starter (without the need to use a hand-crank) and having a clock and speedometer.
What we would call car number or registration plates were known as identification plates in the 1920s.
The Reporter described how Leslie Holcroft from Marshalls Cross Road had appeared in court charged with driving a motor car on Prescot Road without having his front identification plate fixed as required by law.
The young man's employer, Thomas Hayes, was also summoned for aiding and abetting but was too ill to attend the hearing.
PC McHale gave evidence that he had observed Holcroft driving his car towards St Helens without an official identification plate on the front of the vehicle.
He had instead chalked the numbers on the front of his radiator but they were only two inches tall.
Holcroft explained to the officer that the car's radiator was being repaired and claimed that he had informed his boss, which was why Thomas Heyes had also been summoned.
However, Mrs Heyes denied that her husband knew of the chalked numbers. She explained that he had been ill in bed at the time and Holcroft subsequently admitted in court that he had not in fact told Mr Heyes.
It had been agreed that the Bench would let the young man off upon payment of costs but after hearing what he had falsely said about his boss, the magistrates decided to fine Holcroft 7s 6d.
They also told him that he had put the police to a lot of trouble and dismissed the case against Mr Heyes. Just whether young Holcroft still had his job was not revealed!
It would be almost two more years before the war memorial in Victoria Square would be unveiled but the authorities needed plenty of time to produce an accurate list of the soldiers and sailors that had died in the war.
The last thing they wanted was to upset bereaved relatives by omitting any names from the engraved panels that would be attached to the memorial.
They already had a lengthy list and from this week the many names in their possession – along with their regiment details, ship name, id number and date of death – were listed in the Reporter.
There was so many that it would take weeks to publish them all and readers were invited to check the list and write to the Mayor at the Town Hall if they spotted any errors or omissions.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the verdict in the child murder case, the cool flannel dance held at the Co-op Hall, the bagatelle prosecution of the Market Hotel and the two Lea Green Colliery miners trapped for three hours under a roof fall.