IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (26th OCT. - 1st NOV. 1920)
This week's stories include the comeuppance of the Boundary Road wife-beater, the alleged influence of Lenin in St Helens elections, the first female councillor is elected and two women battle it out in Liverpool Road.
We begin with the scandal of John Collins who appeared in the Liverpool Assizes on the 26th charged with theft. The 54-year-old had been a trusted figure having spent forty years working for the St Helens Newspaper as a journalist. Collins had also served as secretary of Windle Labour Club and over a period of three years had stolen more than £600.
Instead of banking various large sums, he had pocketed the cash and kept fictitious bank records concerning the club's finances. The defendant's counsel told the judge that his client had begun stealing money to make ends meet because he had only been receiving a small salary. However for much of the period of the thefts, Collins had been earning £4 10 shillings a week and he received a sentence of 15 months in prison.
Too often in 1920 wife beaters in St Helens escaped punishment. Often their misdeeds were revealed in court when their wife applied for a separation order. However these men were rarely brought to account for what they had done, often on multiple occasions. That was mainly because their wives had not reported the abuse at the time of the assault. As women were so dependent upon their husbands, it was a very big step for them to take. So as a consequence the only men who were dealt with by the courts tended to be the ones who had thrashed their wives severely.
One of these was Joseph Phythian of Boundary Road (pictured above), who appeared in court on the 27th. His vicious assault on his wife had been triggered by an argument over money. Most men handed their wages over to their wives and were given some pocket money back. That was usually a few shillings for them to spend on such things as drink and tobacco. However Phythian demanded 20 shillings back from his wife, which she refused to hand over. This led to a row in which the carter threatened violence if he did not get his way.
She in turn picked up a poker and warned her spouse that she would defend herself if he attacked her. This enraged Phythian who struck his wife hard between the eyes and on her breast and elsewhere on her body. The town's Medical Officer of Health subsequently examined Mrs Phythian and reported black eyes, a cut lip, a badly bruised and crushed breast, as well as other bruises.
Blood was found on the door of the house, around the fireplace and spotted on the walls of the house. The man denied striking his wife at all, bizarrely claiming that she might have hit herself when he'd taken the poker off her. Shocked by the attack, the magistrates sentenced Phythian to a month's hard labour. It was also stated that he owed almost £20 in arrears for maintenance payments to the mother of an illegitimate child. And so he was given a second month in prison for that.
The rise in motor traffic on the roads in St Helens since the end of the war was leading to a spike in accidents. On the 27th a boy called Eric Langard from Borough Road died in Providence Hospital from the head injuries he'd received after being struck down by a car. The 15-year-old worked in Prescot and had been given a lift home on the back of a lorry and was mowed down after jumping off it in Croppers Hill.
18-year-old Ernest Grounds from Chapel Street was also admitted to Providence after fracturing his thigh in a separate motor accident. Meanwhile in St Helens Hospital, a tram driver called Sam Hollinsworth from Bickerstaffe Street died on the 27th after being crushed between two trams.
The St Helens Reporter's allegiance to the Conservative Party was only really on show at election times. But then they came out all guns blazing in their support! The Liberal Party was no longer in their cross hairs, with the new kids on the block – the Labour Party – having supplanted them as the Tories opposition in St Helens. On the 29th the Reporter's leader column warned of the danger of Labour councillors gaining a majority in the Council Chamber in the forthcoming local election, saying:
"Judging from their capture of the municipal machinery in other parts of the country, last year, Labour is not fit to govern in municipal affairs. Without exception, Labour Councils have so squandered the ratepayers' money that rates have reached ruinous and unprecedented heights."
There's nothing new in claims of Russian involvement in our elections. In another part of the paper they printed a picture of Lenin, saying: "This is not a photograph of a candidate for municipal honours in St. Helens on Monday next, but his evil influence is not without its effect upon some members of the Labour party who are endeavouring to capture the Town Council.
"It is a photograph of Lenin, the Russian Bolshevik dictator – advocate of civil war in England; the man who offered £75,000 to the Daily Herald, which is the official organ of the Labour party, whose policy Lenin is striving to dictate through the columns of that paper. And he would dearly like to see Labour win in St. Helens on Monday!"
Elizabeth Jones and Alice Wilder both lived at 56 Liverpool Road (pictured above) and they appeared together in St Helens Police Court on November 1st charged with breaching the peace. Inspector Anders gave evidence that he had seen the two women fighting in the street and saw Wilder knock the other woman down. However he had previously had to attend the house when Elizabeth Jones had been shouting and "using filthy language".
The inspector said she was a regular nuisance and he thought Alice Wilder had simply been defending herself. So the charge against her was dismissed and Jones was bound over for 12 months. The cause of the dispute was not stated but the housing shortage in St Helens had led to multiple families often sharing the same house with the inevitable rows.
A baker from Blackbrook Road called William Reid was charged in court with being drunk and incapable after having been found in the street by DC Latus on his hands and knees. The officer told the court that the man had been unable to stand and had a nasty wound on his forehead. Reid told the Bench that he was very sorry and would do better in future and was fined 7s 6d.
What the magistrates described as a "very painful" case concerning a father and his eldest son was also heard in the court. John Seddon Junior was charged with threatening John Seddon Senior in Hardshaw Street (shown above). Solicitor Jeremiah Haslam Fox said the older man had come into his office "in a terrible state" and was "crying and trembling" after his son had threatened to kill him. In court the defendant accused his father of being a liar and having previously threatened him while carrying a revolver. The Bench bound the younger Seddon over to keep the peace for 12 months with two sureties having to be found.
As previously mentioned the local elections were held in St Helens on the 1st. The Reporter need not have panicked, as Labour only managed to take two seats off the Tories to take their total to 11, three short of the Conservatives. That was blamed on the weather and a lack of great interest in the election, which had reduced turnout. The Reporter wrote: "Such animation that there was was confined to the entrances of the several polling stations, where the candidates and their supporters were busy wooing the electors with ingratiating smiles as they came to the booths to exercise their franchise."
Almost all the polling stations were located in schools with voting ending at 8pm. The ballot boxes were then speedily conveyed to the Assembly Room of the Town Hall where the counting took place. The traditional late night declaration of the results from the Town Hall steps to a "considerable throng" revealed the start of a new era in local politics in the town. This occurred when Evelyn Pilkington of Rainford Hall became the borough's first female councillor when she was elected to represent North Eccleston.
Although it was a case of two steps forward and one step back in the cause of gender equality. That was because the council's Electricity Committee decided this week to sack all of its women meter readers and give their jobs to discharged soldiers!
Next week's stories will include the Mount Street house that was not fit for a pig to live in, the man who gave evidence in court against his wife, the strange Ravenhead timber stealing case and the illiterate scissors grinder accused of being a benefit cheat.
We begin with the scandal of John Collins who appeared in the Liverpool Assizes on the 26th charged with theft. The 54-year-old had been a trusted figure having spent forty years working for the St Helens Newspaper as a journalist. Collins had also served as secretary of Windle Labour Club and over a period of three years had stolen more than £600.
Instead of banking various large sums, he had pocketed the cash and kept fictitious bank records concerning the club's finances. The defendant's counsel told the judge that his client had begun stealing money to make ends meet because he had only been receiving a small salary. However for much of the period of the thefts, Collins had been earning £4 10 shillings a week and he received a sentence of 15 months in prison.
Too often in 1920 wife beaters in St Helens escaped punishment. Often their misdeeds were revealed in court when their wife applied for a separation order. However these men were rarely brought to account for what they had done, often on multiple occasions. That was mainly because their wives had not reported the abuse at the time of the assault. As women were so dependent upon their husbands, it was a very big step for them to take. So as a consequence the only men who were dealt with by the courts tended to be the ones who had thrashed their wives severely.
She in turn picked up a poker and warned her spouse that she would defend herself if he attacked her. This enraged Phythian who struck his wife hard between the eyes and on her breast and elsewhere on her body. The town's Medical Officer of Health subsequently examined Mrs Phythian and reported black eyes, a cut lip, a badly bruised and crushed breast, as well as other bruises.
Blood was found on the door of the house, around the fireplace and spotted on the walls of the house. The man denied striking his wife at all, bizarrely claiming that she might have hit herself when he'd taken the poker off her. Shocked by the attack, the magistrates sentenced Phythian to a month's hard labour. It was also stated that he owed almost £20 in arrears for maintenance payments to the mother of an illegitimate child. And so he was given a second month in prison for that.
The rise in motor traffic on the roads in St Helens since the end of the war was leading to a spike in accidents. On the 27th a boy called Eric Langard from Borough Road died in Providence Hospital from the head injuries he'd received after being struck down by a car. The 15-year-old worked in Prescot and had been given a lift home on the back of a lorry and was mowed down after jumping off it in Croppers Hill.
18-year-old Ernest Grounds from Chapel Street was also admitted to Providence after fracturing his thigh in a separate motor accident. Meanwhile in St Helens Hospital, a tram driver called Sam Hollinsworth from Bickerstaffe Street died on the 27th after being crushed between two trams.
The St Helens Reporter's allegiance to the Conservative Party was only really on show at election times. But then they came out all guns blazing in their support! The Liberal Party was no longer in their cross hairs, with the new kids on the block – the Labour Party – having supplanted them as the Tories opposition in St Helens. On the 29th the Reporter's leader column warned of the danger of Labour councillors gaining a majority in the Council Chamber in the forthcoming local election, saying:
"Judging from their capture of the municipal machinery in other parts of the country, last year, Labour is not fit to govern in municipal affairs. Without exception, Labour Councils have so squandered the ratepayers' money that rates have reached ruinous and unprecedented heights."
There's nothing new in claims of Russian involvement in our elections. In another part of the paper they printed a picture of Lenin, saying: "This is not a photograph of a candidate for municipal honours in St. Helens on Monday next, but his evil influence is not without its effect upon some members of the Labour party who are endeavouring to capture the Town Council.
"It is a photograph of Lenin, the Russian Bolshevik dictator – advocate of civil war in England; the man who offered £75,000 to the Daily Herald, which is the official organ of the Labour party, whose policy Lenin is striving to dictate through the columns of that paper. And he would dearly like to see Labour win in St. Helens on Monday!"
The inspector said she was a regular nuisance and he thought Alice Wilder had simply been defending herself. So the charge against her was dismissed and Jones was bound over for 12 months. The cause of the dispute was not stated but the housing shortage in St Helens had led to multiple families often sharing the same house with the inevitable rows.
A baker from Blackbrook Road called William Reid was charged in court with being drunk and incapable after having been found in the street by DC Latus on his hands and knees. The officer told the court that the man had been unable to stand and had a nasty wound on his forehead. Reid told the Bench that he was very sorry and would do better in future and was fined 7s 6d.
As previously mentioned the local elections were held in St Helens on the 1st. The Reporter need not have panicked, as Labour only managed to take two seats off the Tories to take their total to 11, three short of the Conservatives. That was blamed on the weather and a lack of great interest in the election, which had reduced turnout. The Reporter wrote: "Such animation that there was was confined to the entrances of the several polling stations, where the candidates and their supporters were busy wooing the electors with ingratiating smiles as they came to the booths to exercise their franchise."
Almost all the polling stations were located in schools with voting ending at 8pm. The ballot boxes were then speedily conveyed to the Assembly Room of the Town Hall where the counting took place. The traditional late night declaration of the results from the Town Hall steps to a "considerable throng" revealed the start of a new era in local politics in the town. This occurred when Evelyn Pilkington of Rainford Hall became the borough's first female councillor when she was elected to represent North Eccleston.
Although it was a case of two steps forward and one step back in the cause of gender equality. That was because the council's Electricity Committee decided this week to sack all of its women meter readers and give their jobs to discharged soldiers!
Next week's stories will include the Mount Street house that was not fit for a pig to live in, the man who gave evidence in court against his wife, the strange Ravenhead timber stealing case and the illiterate scissors grinder accused of being a benefit cheat.
This week's stories include the comeuppance of the Boundary Road wife-beater, the alleged influence of Lenin in St Helens elections, the first female councillor is elected and two women battle it out in Liverpool Road.
We begin with the scandal of John Collins who appeared in the Liverpool Assizes on the 26th charged with theft.
The 54-year-old had been a trusted figure having spent forty years working for the St Helens Newspaper as a journalist.
Collins had also served as secretary of Windle Labour Club and over a period of three years had stolen more than £600.
Instead of banking various large sums, he had pocketed the cash and kept fictitious bank records concerning the club's finances.
The defendant's counsel told the judge that his client had begun stealing money to make ends meet because he had only been receiving a small salary.
However for much of the period of the thefts, Collins had been earning £4 10 shillings a week and he received a sentence of 15 months in prison.
Too often in 1920 wife beaters in St Helens escaped punishment. Often their misdeeds were revealed in court when their wife applied for a separation order.
However these men were rarely brought to account for what they had done, often on multiple occasions.
That was mainly because their wives had not reported the abuse at the time of the assault.
As women were so dependent upon their husbands, it was a very big step for them to take.
So as a consequence the only men who were dealt with by the courts tended to be the ones who had thrashed their wives severely.
One of these was Joseph Phythian of Boundary Road (pictured above), who appeared in court on the 27th.
His vicious assault on his wife had been triggered by an argument over money.
Most men handed their wages over to their wives and were given some pocket money back.
That was usually a few shillings for them to spend on such things as drink and tobacco.
However Phythian demanded 20 shillings back from his wife, which she refused to hand over.
This led to a row in which the carter threatened violence if he did not get his way.
She in turn picked up a poker and warned her spouse that she would defend herself if he attacked her.
This enraged Phythian who struck his wife hard between the eyes and on her breast and elsewhere on her body.
The town's Medical Officer of Health subsequently examined Mrs Phythian and reported black eyes, a cut lip, a badly bruised and crushed breast, as well as other bruises.
Blood was found on the door of the house, around the fireplace and spotted on the walls of the house.
The man denied striking his wife at all, bizarrely claiming that she might have hit herself when he'd taken the poker off her.
Shocked by the attack, the magistrates sentenced Phythian to a month's hard labour.
It was also stated that he owed almost £20 in arrears for maintenance payments to the mother of an illegitimate child. And so he was given a second month in prison for that.
The rise in motor traffic on the roads in St Helens since the end of the war was leading to a spike in accidents.
On the 27th a boy called Eric Langard from Borough Road died in Providence Hospital from the head injuries he'd received after being struck down by a car.
The 15-year-old worked in Prescot and had been given a lift home on the back of a lorry and was mowed down after jumping off it in Croppers Hill.
18-year-old Ernest Grounds from Chapel Street was also admitted to Providence after fracturing his thigh in a separate motor accident.
Meanwhile in St Helens Hospital, a tram driver called Sam Hollinsworth from Bickerstaffe Street died on the 27th after being crushed between two trams.
The St Helens Reporter's allegiance to the Conservative Party was only really on show at election times. But then they came out all guns blazing in their support!
The Liberal Party was no longer in their cross hairs, with the new kids on the block – the Labour Party – having supplanted them as the Tories opposition in St Helens.
On the 29th the Reporter's leader column warned of the danger of Labour councillors gaining a majority in the Council Chamber in the forthcoming local election, saying:
"Judging from their capture of the municipal machinery in other parts of the country, last year, Labour is not fit to govern in municipal affairs.
"Without exception, Labour Councils have so squandered the ratepayers' money that rates have reached ruinous and unprecedented heights."
There's nothing new in claims of Russian involvement in our elections. In another part of the paper they printed a picture of Lenin, saying:
"This is not a photograph of a candidate for municipal honours in St. Helens on Monday next, but his evil influence is not without its effect upon some members of the Labour party who are endeavouring to capture the Town Council.
"It is a photograph of Lenin, the Russian Bolshevik dictator – advocate of civil war in England; the man who offered £75,000 to the Daily Herald, which is the official organ of the Labour party, whose policy Lenin is striving to dictate through the columns of that paper. And he would dearly like to see Labour win in St. Helens on Monday!"
Elizabeth Jones and Alice Wilder both lived at 56 Liverpool Road (pictured above) and they appeared together in St Helens Police Court on November 1st charged with breaching the peace.
Inspector Anders gave evidence that he had seen the two women fighting in the street and saw Wilder knock the other woman down.
However he had previously had to attend the house when Elizabeth Jones had been shouting and "using filthy language".
The inspector said she was a regular nuisance and he thought Alice Wilder had simply been defending herself.
So the charge against her was dismissed and Jones was bound over for 12 months.
The cause of the dispute was not stated but the housing shortage in St Helens had led to multiple families often sharing the same house with the inevitable rows.
A baker from Blackbrook Road called William Reid was charged in court with being drunk and incapable after having been found in the street by DC Latus on his hands and knees.
The officer told the court that the man had been unable to stand and had a nasty wound on his forehead.
Reid told the Bench that he was very sorry and would do better in future and was fined 7s 6d.
What the magistrates described as a "very painful" case concerning a father and his eldest son was also heard in the court.
John Seddon Junior was charged with threatening John Seddon Senior in Hardshaw Street (shown above).
Solicitor Jeremiah Haslam Fox said the older man had come into his office "in a terrible state" and was "crying and trembling" after his son had threatened to kill him.
In court the defendant accused his father of being a liar and having previously threatened him while carrying a revolver.
The Bench bound the younger Seddon over to keep the peace for 12 months with two sureties having to be found.
As previously mentioned the local elections were held in St Helens on the 1st.
The Reporter need not have panicked, as Labour only managed to take two seats off the Tories to take their total to 11, three short of the Conservatives.
That was blamed on the weather and a lack of great interest in the election, which had reduced turnout. The Reporter wrote:
"Such animation that there was was confined to the entrances of the several polling stations, where the candidates and their supporters were busy wooing the electors with ingratiating smiles as they came to the booths to exercise their franchise."
Almost all the polling stations were located in schools with voting ending at 8pm.
The ballot boxes were then speedily conveyed to the Assembly Room of the Town Hall where the counting took place.
The traditional late night declaration of the results from the Town Hall steps to a "considerable throng" revealed the start of a new era in local politics in the town.
This occurred when Evelyn Pilkington of Rainford Hall became the borough's first female councillor when she was elected to represent North Eccleston.
Although it was a case of two steps forward and one step back in the cause of gender equality.
That was because the council's Electricity Committee decided this week to sack all of its women meter readers and give their jobs to discharged soldiers!
Next week's stories will include the Mount Street house that was not fit for a pig to live in, the man who gave evidence in court against his wife, the strange Ravenhead timber stealing case and the illiterate scissors grinder accused of being a benefit cheat.
We begin with the scandal of John Collins who appeared in the Liverpool Assizes on the 26th charged with theft.
The 54-year-old had been a trusted figure having spent forty years working for the St Helens Newspaper as a journalist.
Collins had also served as secretary of Windle Labour Club and over a period of three years had stolen more than £600.
Instead of banking various large sums, he had pocketed the cash and kept fictitious bank records concerning the club's finances.
The defendant's counsel told the judge that his client had begun stealing money to make ends meet because he had only been receiving a small salary.
However for much of the period of the thefts, Collins had been earning £4 10 shillings a week and he received a sentence of 15 months in prison.
Too often in 1920 wife beaters in St Helens escaped punishment. Often their misdeeds were revealed in court when their wife applied for a separation order.
However these men were rarely brought to account for what they had done, often on multiple occasions.
That was mainly because their wives had not reported the abuse at the time of the assault.
As women were so dependent upon their husbands, it was a very big step for them to take.
So as a consequence the only men who were dealt with by the courts tended to be the ones who had thrashed their wives severely.
His vicious assault on his wife had been triggered by an argument over money.
Most men handed their wages over to their wives and were given some pocket money back.
That was usually a few shillings for them to spend on such things as drink and tobacco.
However Phythian demanded 20 shillings back from his wife, which she refused to hand over.
This led to a row in which the carter threatened violence if he did not get his way.
She in turn picked up a poker and warned her spouse that she would defend herself if he attacked her.
This enraged Phythian who struck his wife hard between the eyes and on her breast and elsewhere on her body.
The town's Medical Officer of Health subsequently examined Mrs Phythian and reported black eyes, a cut lip, a badly bruised and crushed breast, as well as other bruises.
Blood was found on the door of the house, around the fireplace and spotted on the walls of the house.
The man denied striking his wife at all, bizarrely claiming that she might have hit herself when he'd taken the poker off her.
Shocked by the attack, the magistrates sentenced Phythian to a month's hard labour.
It was also stated that he owed almost £20 in arrears for maintenance payments to the mother of an illegitimate child. And so he was given a second month in prison for that.
The rise in motor traffic on the roads in St Helens since the end of the war was leading to a spike in accidents.
On the 27th a boy called Eric Langard from Borough Road died in Providence Hospital from the head injuries he'd received after being struck down by a car.
The 15-year-old worked in Prescot and had been given a lift home on the back of a lorry and was mowed down after jumping off it in Croppers Hill.
18-year-old Ernest Grounds from Chapel Street was also admitted to Providence after fracturing his thigh in a separate motor accident.
Meanwhile in St Helens Hospital, a tram driver called Sam Hollinsworth from Bickerstaffe Street died on the 27th after being crushed between two trams.
The St Helens Reporter's allegiance to the Conservative Party was only really on show at election times. But then they came out all guns blazing in their support!
The Liberal Party was no longer in their cross hairs, with the new kids on the block – the Labour Party – having supplanted them as the Tories opposition in St Helens.
On the 29th the Reporter's leader column warned of the danger of Labour councillors gaining a majority in the Council Chamber in the forthcoming local election, saying:
"Judging from their capture of the municipal machinery in other parts of the country, last year, Labour is not fit to govern in municipal affairs.
"Without exception, Labour Councils have so squandered the ratepayers' money that rates have reached ruinous and unprecedented heights."
There's nothing new in claims of Russian involvement in our elections. In another part of the paper they printed a picture of Lenin, saying:
"This is not a photograph of a candidate for municipal honours in St. Helens on Monday next, but his evil influence is not without its effect upon some members of the Labour party who are endeavouring to capture the Town Council.
"It is a photograph of Lenin, the Russian Bolshevik dictator – advocate of civil war in England; the man who offered £75,000 to the Daily Herald, which is the official organ of the Labour party, whose policy Lenin is striving to dictate through the columns of that paper. And he would dearly like to see Labour win in St. Helens on Monday!"
Inspector Anders gave evidence that he had seen the two women fighting in the street and saw Wilder knock the other woman down.
However he had previously had to attend the house when Elizabeth Jones had been shouting and "using filthy language".
The inspector said she was a regular nuisance and he thought Alice Wilder had simply been defending herself.
So the charge against her was dismissed and Jones was bound over for 12 months.
The cause of the dispute was not stated but the housing shortage in St Helens had led to multiple families often sharing the same house with the inevitable rows.
A baker from Blackbrook Road called William Reid was charged in court with being drunk and incapable after having been found in the street by DC Latus on his hands and knees.
The officer told the court that the man had been unable to stand and had a nasty wound on his forehead.
Reid told the Bench that he was very sorry and would do better in future and was fined 7s 6d.
What the magistrates described as a "very painful" case concerning a father and his eldest son was also heard in the court.
Solicitor Jeremiah Haslam Fox said the older man had come into his office "in a terrible state" and was "crying and trembling" after his son had threatened to kill him.
In court the defendant accused his father of being a liar and having previously threatened him while carrying a revolver.
The Bench bound the younger Seddon over to keep the peace for 12 months with two sureties having to be found.
As previously mentioned the local elections were held in St Helens on the 1st.
The Reporter need not have panicked, as Labour only managed to take two seats off the Tories to take their total to 11, three short of the Conservatives.
That was blamed on the weather and a lack of great interest in the election, which had reduced turnout. The Reporter wrote:
"Such animation that there was was confined to the entrances of the several polling stations, where the candidates and their supporters were busy wooing the electors with ingratiating smiles as they came to the booths to exercise their franchise."
Almost all the polling stations were located in schools with voting ending at 8pm.
The ballot boxes were then speedily conveyed to the Assembly Room of the Town Hall where the counting took place.
The traditional late night declaration of the results from the Town Hall steps to a "considerable throng" revealed the start of a new era in local politics in the town.
This occurred when Evelyn Pilkington of Rainford Hall became the borough's first female councillor when she was elected to represent North Eccleston.
Although it was a case of two steps forward and one step back in the cause of gender equality.
That was because the council's Electricity Committee decided this week to sack all of its women meter readers and give their jobs to discharged soldiers!
Next week's stories will include the Mount Street house that was not fit for a pig to live in, the man who gave evidence in court against his wife, the strange Ravenhead timber stealing case and the illiterate scissors grinder accused of being a benefit cheat.