IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (27th JULY - 2nd AUGUST 1920)
This week's many stories include the Eccleston man who blamed malaria for assaulting a 16-year-old-girl, the Lowe House Bank Holiday Gala, the abominable smell from Sutton's eternal flooding nuisance, the one eyed-man that wanted to fight the best man in Church Street, why Rainford Road was labelled the motorist's paradise and how many St Helens' men were turning their noses up at military service.
We begin at Grove Street on the 27th when James Dolan became trapped in an electric hoist at Pilkington's Sheet Glass Works. The 50-year-old from Tontine Street died shortly afterwards in hospital.
Also on the 27th the St Helens Health Committee reconsidered "Sutton's Eternal Flooding Nuisance" – as the Reporter called it. Their Chairman, Alderman Henry Bates, described how some of the locals had told him how "objectionable" it was that the "slightest rain" in the Sutton Brook led to it overflowing into Watery Lane.
"A lot of undesirable matter came into the houses", he added, and "the stench, they said, was abominable." There were a few causes of the flooding but the main one was mining subsidence, which had led to a drop in the land of about fourteen feet. The council's Parliamentary Committee would be asked to come up with a solution, although patience with this longstanding problem was now at a premium.
They did give strange names to cows – and perhaps still do. On the 28th Colonel Norman Pilkington of Rainford Hall in Crank paid 600 guineas for a two-year-old heifer called 'Fairy Duchess the Nineteenth'. I wonder what was wrong with Daisy? The glass executive paid a small fortune for a number of cows at a cattle auction at Sudborough in Northamptonshire. Pilkington also bought 'Sudborough Countess the Second' and 'Sudborough Blab the Second' for a total of 500 guineas and he splashed out 200 guineas for a bull called 'Sudborough Duke'.
Peter Purcell from Merton Bank Road was charged in the Police Court on the 29th with committing a breach of the peace in Church Street. Two constables gave evidence that at 10:30pm on the previous evening they had found Purcell using bad language in front of a crowd and offering to fight "the best man in Church Street". As he had lost an eye in the war, the Bench said they would be lenient and bound him over to keep the peace for twelve months.
A century ago there was no one in St Helens over the age of 100. In fact the oldest resident up to the 29th was Elizabeth Else, who was 96. Elizabeth was the mother of magistrate Joseph Else and she passed away at her home in Hardshaw Street on that day.
It was now almost four years since the Parish Church had burnt down as a result of an electrical fault (shown above in May 1917) and plans were in hand to build a replacement. Indeed its foundation stone had already been laid. However the church authorities needed to grant permission for the new building and so on the 29th a Consistory Court hearing was held in Liverpool.
The court was told that an agreement had been made with St Helens Corporation to transfer to them some church land so that Church Street could be widened. In exchange the Corporation would give up a piece of land behind the church. The Consistory Court had some reservations but told them to go ahead with their building plans.
The war memorials continued to be unveiled with the latest ceremony taking place on the 30th at the Doulton Pottery Works. This was situated in Boundary Road and at the start of the war employed just over 100 men. About half the workforce joined the forces with those staying at home making products for the munitions industries. Six of the men that went to war had died and their names were inscribed on a tablet that was set into the wall of an office at the company's main entrance.
The St Helens Reporter described it as a "tablet of glazed stoneware, of beautiful design and workmanship". Alderman Henry Bates – who had served as Mayor of St Helens during the war years – unveiled the memorial. He said: "Time would never wipe out the feeling of respect and the gratitude which we owed to these men". I do wonder whatever happened to all these plaques and other memorials – where did they all go? Only a small handful – such as the Clock Face miners' plaque and those in churches – appear to have survived.
It is, of course, perfectly understandable that many men lost all interest in serving in the military since their horrendous experiences in the war. However an article in the St Helens Reporter on the 30th described the widespread extent of the rejection of the army in the town. This revealed that the local Territorial volunteers were badly under strength with the 5th South Lancs faring the worst. A full complement of the regiment at their HQ at the Volunteer Hall was 700 men. However so far they had only recruited a little over a hundred.
The Engineers in Croppers Hill were doing better having recruited 40% of their establishment – although their target was a lot smaller. Many of the part-time soldiers would normally be young men who would not have been old enough to serve in the war. However they were not volunteering in the same numbers, perhaps after hearing horror stories from their fathers and brothers.
In the Police Court on the 30th an ex-soldier used the excuse of having suffered from malaria to explain his assault on a sixteen-year-old-girl. Ellen Johnson told the court that she had been walking along Chester Lane when a man grabbed her by the waist and tried to drag her into a field. When Ellen screamed he put his hand over her mouth but she continued to resist him and so he let her go. By the time the police had arrived on the scene they found Ernest Foster from Burrows Lane in Eccleston detained by the girl's father and some other men.
In court the man's counsel said Foster had spent three years in Salonika in Greece during the war and on six occasions had suffered from malaria. He had recently been in hospital in Whiston after suffering a relapse and "a man suffering from that disease was not responsible for his actions". This was one of the first cases heard by a female magistrate on the St Helens Bench and Evelyn Pilkington and two other magistrates fined Foster £5. The Chairman told the defendant that if it had not been for his malaria he might have been sent to prison.
"Rainford Road The Motorist's Paradise" was the Reporter's headline to another case. It concerned a prosecution of a student from West Didsbury called Alfred Miller who was charged with driving a motor car to the danger of the public. The Bench was told that the proceedings had been brought as a result of complaints of furious driving along Rainford Road. A strip of the street measuring 140 yards was described as one of the few places in St Helens that suited motorists and as a result some drove too fast along it.
PC Johnson estimated the young man's speed as 30 mph and the prosecuting counsel said that with a bend in the road (seemingly pictured above), that speed was dangerous. If there had been people out at that time, they might not have seen the car coming. The defendant had his father with him in the car and in court they both protested that 30 mph was a quite safe speed and they had been quite indignant at being stopped by the police. The Bench dismissed the case upon payment of costs.
On August 1st the Military Band of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers performed in Thatto Heath Park as part of the series of summer band concerts.
These days, of course, the August Bank Holiday is on the last Monday of the month but up until 1964 it was held on the first Monday, which in 1920 was the 2nd. A special gala was held in St Helens organised by Lowe House Church with a highlight being a "monster" pageant. This included much fancy dress, floral costumes, a cycle parade and a portrayal of Joan of Arc by Agnes Swift of Windle Farm. The 9-year-old had her own retinue of French peasants and squires.
The procession featured three bands (including the Boy Scouts Bugle Band) and departed from the Volunteer Field at the rear of Lowe House and then proceeded through North Road and past the Town Hall. The parade then went down Hall Street into Church Street and then via Duke Street it processed to the cricket field at Windleshaw Road, where the gala was held.
The attractions included the crowning of the Queen of the Revels (Evelyn Roberts), athletics contests (including an egg and spoon race), games and a musical drill display by the Farnworth Nautical School. From 6pm dancing took place with all proceeds going to the Lowe House Church Building Fund. This appeal had opened in 1914 but the war caused delays and the new church was not completed until 1930.
The courts still sat on the 2nd and heard of another incident seemingly influenced by the Irish War of Independence, which was now in its second year. In the dock was a highly decorated ex-soldier called William Anderton and Irishman Timothy Kivlehen, who were both charged with breach of the peace. Inspector Bowden told the court that two groups of men from St Helens visited Wigan at weekends, returning on the last train around midnight.
One lot contained Irish supporters of Sinn Fein and the two groups regularly clashed. On the previous Saturday after leaving the station, William Anderton was seen to "fight one of the Sinn Feiners and settle him". Kivlehen from Water Street then stepped in to take his friend’s part and was just about beaten when the police arrested both men.
Anderton told the court that he was only defending himself after two of the men had set upon him, knocked him down and kicked him in the mouth "before he could say Jack Robinson". Both combatants were ordered to find sureties to be of good behaviour for three months.
Next week's stories will include the Nelson Hotel glassing case, the ex-bobby and war hero charged with a serious stabbing, Sutton Brook catches fire (again!), the boy burglars of Stanhope Street and road subsidence takes place in Liverpool Road.
We begin at Grove Street on the 27th when James Dolan became trapped in an electric hoist at Pilkington's Sheet Glass Works. The 50-year-old from Tontine Street died shortly afterwards in hospital.
Also on the 27th the St Helens Health Committee reconsidered "Sutton's Eternal Flooding Nuisance" – as the Reporter called it. Their Chairman, Alderman Henry Bates, described how some of the locals had told him how "objectionable" it was that the "slightest rain" in the Sutton Brook led to it overflowing into Watery Lane.
"A lot of undesirable matter came into the houses", he added, and "the stench, they said, was abominable." There were a few causes of the flooding but the main one was mining subsidence, which had led to a drop in the land of about fourteen feet. The council's Parliamentary Committee would be asked to come up with a solution, although patience with this longstanding problem was now at a premium.
They did give strange names to cows – and perhaps still do. On the 28th Colonel Norman Pilkington of Rainford Hall in Crank paid 600 guineas for a two-year-old heifer called 'Fairy Duchess the Nineteenth'. I wonder what was wrong with Daisy? The glass executive paid a small fortune for a number of cows at a cattle auction at Sudborough in Northamptonshire. Pilkington also bought 'Sudborough Countess the Second' and 'Sudborough Blab the Second' for a total of 500 guineas and he splashed out 200 guineas for a bull called 'Sudborough Duke'.
Peter Purcell from Merton Bank Road was charged in the Police Court on the 29th with committing a breach of the peace in Church Street. Two constables gave evidence that at 10:30pm on the previous evening they had found Purcell using bad language in front of a crowd and offering to fight "the best man in Church Street". As he had lost an eye in the war, the Bench said they would be lenient and bound him over to keep the peace for twelve months.
A century ago there was no one in St Helens over the age of 100. In fact the oldest resident up to the 29th was Elizabeth Else, who was 96. Elizabeth was the mother of magistrate Joseph Else and she passed away at her home in Hardshaw Street on that day.
The court was told that an agreement had been made with St Helens Corporation to transfer to them some church land so that Church Street could be widened. In exchange the Corporation would give up a piece of land behind the church. The Consistory Court had some reservations but told them to go ahead with their building plans.
The war memorials continued to be unveiled with the latest ceremony taking place on the 30th at the Doulton Pottery Works. This was situated in Boundary Road and at the start of the war employed just over 100 men. About half the workforce joined the forces with those staying at home making products for the munitions industries. Six of the men that went to war had died and their names were inscribed on a tablet that was set into the wall of an office at the company's main entrance.
The St Helens Reporter described it as a "tablet of glazed stoneware, of beautiful design and workmanship". Alderman Henry Bates – who had served as Mayor of St Helens during the war years – unveiled the memorial. He said: "Time would never wipe out the feeling of respect and the gratitude which we owed to these men". I do wonder whatever happened to all these plaques and other memorials – where did they all go? Only a small handful – such as the Clock Face miners' plaque and those in churches – appear to have survived.
It is, of course, perfectly understandable that many men lost all interest in serving in the military since their horrendous experiences in the war. However an article in the St Helens Reporter on the 30th described the widespread extent of the rejection of the army in the town. This revealed that the local Territorial volunteers were badly under strength with the 5th South Lancs faring the worst. A full complement of the regiment at their HQ at the Volunteer Hall was 700 men. However so far they had only recruited a little over a hundred.
The Engineers in Croppers Hill were doing better having recruited 40% of their establishment – although their target was a lot smaller. Many of the part-time soldiers would normally be young men who would not have been old enough to serve in the war. However they were not volunteering in the same numbers, perhaps after hearing horror stories from their fathers and brothers.
In the Police Court on the 30th an ex-soldier used the excuse of having suffered from malaria to explain his assault on a sixteen-year-old-girl. Ellen Johnson told the court that she had been walking along Chester Lane when a man grabbed her by the waist and tried to drag her into a field. When Ellen screamed he put his hand over her mouth but she continued to resist him and so he let her go. By the time the police had arrived on the scene they found Ernest Foster from Burrows Lane in Eccleston detained by the girl's father and some other men.
In court the man's counsel said Foster had spent three years in Salonika in Greece during the war and on six occasions had suffered from malaria. He had recently been in hospital in Whiston after suffering a relapse and "a man suffering from that disease was not responsible for his actions". This was one of the first cases heard by a female magistrate on the St Helens Bench and Evelyn Pilkington and two other magistrates fined Foster £5. The Chairman told the defendant that if it had not been for his malaria he might have been sent to prison.
"Rainford Road The Motorist's Paradise" was the Reporter's headline to another case. It concerned a prosecution of a student from West Didsbury called Alfred Miller who was charged with driving a motor car to the danger of the public. The Bench was told that the proceedings had been brought as a result of complaints of furious driving along Rainford Road. A strip of the street measuring 140 yards was described as one of the few places in St Helens that suited motorists and as a result some drove too fast along it.
On August 1st the Military Band of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers performed in Thatto Heath Park as part of the series of summer band concerts.
These days, of course, the August Bank Holiday is on the last Monday of the month but up until 1964 it was held on the first Monday, which in 1920 was the 2nd. A special gala was held in St Helens organised by Lowe House Church with a highlight being a "monster" pageant. This included much fancy dress, floral costumes, a cycle parade and a portrayal of Joan of Arc by Agnes Swift of Windle Farm. The 9-year-old had her own retinue of French peasants and squires.
The procession featured three bands (including the Boy Scouts Bugle Band) and departed from the Volunteer Field at the rear of Lowe House and then proceeded through North Road and past the Town Hall. The parade then went down Hall Street into Church Street and then via Duke Street it processed to the cricket field at Windleshaw Road, where the gala was held.
The attractions included the crowning of the Queen of the Revels (Evelyn Roberts), athletics contests (including an egg and spoon race), games and a musical drill display by the Farnworth Nautical School. From 6pm dancing took place with all proceeds going to the Lowe House Church Building Fund. This appeal had opened in 1914 but the war caused delays and the new church was not completed until 1930.
The courts still sat on the 2nd and heard of another incident seemingly influenced by the Irish War of Independence, which was now in its second year. In the dock was a highly decorated ex-soldier called William Anderton and Irishman Timothy Kivlehen, who were both charged with breach of the peace. Inspector Bowden told the court that two groups of men from St Helens visited Wigan at weekends, returning on the last train around midnight.
One lot contained Irish supporters of Sinn Fein and the two groups regularly clashed. On the previous Saturday after leaving the station, William Anderton was seen to "fight one of the Sinn Feiners and settle him". Kivlehen from Water Street then stepped in to take his friend’s part and was just about beaten when the police arrested both men.
Anderton told the court that he was only defending himself after two of the men had set upon him, knocked him down and kicked him in the mouth "before he could say Jack Robinson". Both combatants were ordered to find sureties to be of good behaviour for three months.
Next week's stories will include the Nelson Hotel glassing case, the ex-bobby and war hero charged with a serious stabbing, Sutton Brook catches fire (again!), the boy burglars of Stanhope Street and road subsidence takes place in Liverpool Road.
This week's many stories include the Eccleston man who blamed malaria for assaulting a 16-year-old-girl, the Lowe House Bank Holiday Gala, the abominable smell from Sutton's eternal flooding nuisance, the one eyed-man that wanted to fight the best man in Church Street, why Rainford Road was labelled the motorist's paradise and how many St Helens' men were turning their noses up at military service.
We begin at Grove Street on the 27th when James Dolan became trapped in an electric hoist at Pilkington's Sheet Glass Works.
The 50-year-old from Tontine Street died shortly afterwards in hospital.
Also on the 27th the St Helens Health Committee reconsidered "Sutton's Eternal Flooding Nuisance" – as the Reporter called it.
Their Chairman, Alderman Henry Bates, described how some of the locals had told him how "objectionable" it was that the "slightest rain" in the Sutton Brook led to it overflowing into Watery Lane.
"A lot of undesirable matter came into the houses", he added, and "the stench, they said, was abominable."
There were a few causes of the flooding but the main one was mining subsidence, which had led to a drop in the land of about fourteen feet.
The council's Parliamentary Committee would be asked to come up with a solution, although patience with this longstanding problem was now at a premium.
They did give strange names to cows – and perhaps still do.
On the 28th Colonel Norman Pilkington of Rainford Hall in Crank paid 600 guineas for a two-year-old heifer called 'Fairy Duchess the Nineteenth'. I wonder what was wrong with Daisy?
The glass executive paid a small fortune for a number of cows at a cattle auction at Sudborough in Northamptonshire.
Pilkington also bought 'Sudborough Countess the Second' and 'Sudborough Blab the Second' for a total of 500 guineas and he splashed out 200 guineas for a bull called 'Sudborough Duke'.
Peter Purcell from Merton Bank Road was charged in the Police Court on the 29th with committing a breach of the peace in Church Street.
Two constables gave evidence that at 10:30pm on the previous evening they had found Purcell using bad language in front of a crowd and offering to fight "the best man in Church Street".
As he had lost an eye in the war, the Bench said they would be lenient and bound him over to keep the peace for twelve months.
A century ago there was no one in St Helens over the age of 100. In fact the oldest resident up to the 29th was Elizabeth Else, who was 96.
Elizabeth was the mother of magistrate Joseph Else and she passed away at her home in Hardshaw Street on that day.
It was now almost four years since the Parish Church had burnt down as a result of an electrical fault (shown above in May 1917) and plans were in hand to build a replacement.
Indeed its foundation stone had already been laid. However the church authorities needed to grant permission for the new building and so on the 29th a Consistory Court hearing was held in Liverpool.
The court was told that an agreement had been made with St Helens Corporation to transfer to them some church land so that Church Street could be widened.
In exchange the Corporation would give up a piece of land behind the church.
The Consistory Court had some reservations but told them to go ahead with their building plans.
The war memorials continued to be unveiled with the latest ceremony taking place on the 30th at the Doulton Pottery Works.
This was situated in Boundary Road and at the start of the war employed just over 100 men.
About half the workforce joined the forces with those staying at home making products for the munitions industries.
Six of the men that went to war had died and their names were inscribed on a tablet that was set into the wall of an office at the company's main entrance.
The St Helens Reporter described it as a "tablet of glazed stoneware, of beautiful design and workmanship".
Alderman Henry Bates – who had served as Mayor of St Helens during the war years – unveiled the memorial.
He said: "Time would never wipe out the feeling of respect and the gratitude which we owed to these men".
I do wonder whatever happened to all these plaques and other memorials – where did they all go?
Only a small handful – such as the Clock Face miners' plaque and those in churches – appear to have survived.
It is, of course, perfectly understandable that many men lost all interest in serving in the military since their horrendous experiences in the war.
However an article in the St Helens Reporter on the 30th described the widespread extent of the rejection of the army in the town.
This revealed that the local Territorial volunteers were badly under strength with the 5th South Lancs faring the worst.
A full complement of the regiment at their HQ at the Volunteer Hall was 700 men. However so far they had only recruited a little over a hundred.
The Engineers in Croppers Hill were doing better having recruited 40% of their establishment – although their target was a lot smaller.
Many of the part-time soldiers would normally be young men who would not have been old enough to serve in the war.
However they were not volunteering in the same numbers, perhaps after hearing horror stories from their fathers and brothers.
In the Police Court on the 30th an ex-soldier used the excuse of having suffered from malaria to explain his assault on a sixteen-year-old-girl.
Ellen Johnson told the court that she had been walking along Chester Lane when a man grabbed her by the waist and tried to drag her into a field.
When Ellen screamed he put his hand over her mouth but she continued to resist him and so he let her go.
By the time the police had arrived on the scene they found Ernest Foster from Burrows Lane in Eccleston detained by the girl's father and some other men.
In court the man's counsel said Foster had spent three years in Salonika in Greece during the war and on six occasions had suffered from malaria.
He had recently been in hospital in Whiston after suffering a relapse and "a man suffering from that disease was not responsible for his actions".
This was one of the first cases heard by a female magistrate on the St Helens Bench and Evelyn Pilkington and two other magistrates fined Foster £5.
The Chairman told the defendant that if it had not been for his malaria he might have been sent to prison.
"Rainford Road The Motorist's Paradise" was the Reporter's headline to another case.
It concerned a prosecution of a student from West Didsbury called Alfred Miller who was charged with driving a motor car to the danger of the public.
The Bench was told that the proceedings had been brought as a result of complaints of furious driving along Rainford Road.
A strip of the street measuring 140 yards was described as one of the few places in St Helens that suited motorists and as a result some drove too fast along it.
PC Johnson estimated the young man's speed as 30 mph and the prosecuting counsel said that with a bend in the road (seemingly pictured above), that speed was dangerous.
If there had been people out at that time, they might not have seen the car coming.
The defendant had his father with him in the car and in court they both protested that 30 mph was a quite safe speed and they had been quite indignant at being stopped by the police.
The Bench dismissed the case upon payment of costs.
On August 1st the Military Band of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers performed in Thatto Heath Park as part of the series of summer band concerts.
These days, of course, the August Bank Holiday is on the last Monday of the month but up until 1964 it was held on the first Monday, which in 1920 was the 2nd.
A special gala was held in St Helens organised by Lowe House Church with a highlight being a "monster" pageant.
This included much fancy dress, floral costumes, a cycle parade and a portrayal of Joan of Arc by Agnes Swift of Windle Farm.
The nine-year-old had her own retinue of French peasants and squires.
The procession featured three bands (including the Boy Scouts Bugle Band) and departed from the Volunteer Field at the rear of Lowe House and then proceeded through North Road and past the Town Hall.
The parade then went down Hall Street into Church Street and then via Duke Street it processed to the cricket field at Windleshaw Road, where the gala was held.
The attractions included the crowning of the Queen of the Revels (Evelyn Roberts), athletics contests (including an egg and spoon race), games and a musical drill display by the Farnworth Nautical School.
From 6pm dancing took place with all proceeds going to the Lowe House Church Building Fund.
This appeal had opened in 1914 but the war caused delays and the new church was not completed until 1930.
The courts still sat on the 2nd and heard of another incident seemingly influenced by the Irish War of Independence, which was now in its second year.
In the dock was a highly decorated ex-soldier called William Anderton and Irishman Timothy Kivlehen, who were both charged with breach of the peace.
Inspector Bowden told the court that two groups of men from St Helens visited Wigan at weekends, returning on the last train around midnight.
One lot contained Irish supporters of Sinn Fein and the two groups regularly clashed.
On the previous Saturday after leaving the station, William Anderton was seen to "fight one of the Sinn Feiners and settle him".
Kivlehen from Water Street then stepped in to take his friend’s part and was just about beaten when the police arrested both men.
Anderton told the court that he was only defending himself after two of the men had set upon him, knocked him down and kicked him in the mouth "before he could say Jack Robinson".
Both combatants were ordered to find sureties to be of good behaviour for three months.
Next week's stories will include the Nelson Hotel glassing case, the ex-bobby and war hero charged with a serious stabbing, Sutton Brook catches fire (again!), the boy burglars of Stanhope Street and road subsidence takes place in Liverpool Road.
We begin at Grove Street on the 27th when James Dolan became trapped in an electric hoist at Pilkington's Sheet Glass Works.
The 50-year-old from Tontine Street died shortly afterwards in hospital.
Also on the 27th the St Helens Health Committee reconsidered "Sutton's Eternal Flooding Nuisance" – as the Reporter called it.
Their Chairman, Alderman Henry Bates, described how some of the locals had told him how "objectionable" it was that the "slightest rain" in the Sutton Brook led to it overflowing into Watery Lane.
"A lot of undesirable matter came into the houses", he added, and "the stench, they said, was abominable."
There were a few causes of the flooding but the main one was mining subsidence, which had led to a drop in the land of about fourteen feet.
The council's Parliamentary Committee would be asked to come up with a solution, although patience with this longstanding problem was now at a premium.
They did give strange names to cows – and perhaps still do.
On the 28th Colonel Norman Pilkington of Rainford Hall in Crank paid 600 guineas for a two-year-old heifer called 'Fairy Duchess the Nineteenth'. I wonder what was wrong with Daisy?
The glass executive paid a small fortune for a number of cows at a cattle auction at Sudborough in Northamptonshire.
Pilkington also bought 'Sudborough Countess the Second' and 'Sudborough Blab the Second' for a total of 500 guineas and he splashed out 200 guineas for a bull called 'Sudborough Duke'.
Peter Purcell from Merton Bank Road was charged in the Police Court on the 29th with committing a breach of the peace in Church Street.
Two constables gave evidence that at 10:30pm on the previous evening they had found Purcell using bad language in front of a crowd and offering to fight "the best man in Church Street".
As he had lost an eye in the war, the Bench said they would be lenient and bound him over to keep the peace for twelve months.
A century ago there was no one in St Helens over the age of 100. In fact the oldest resident up to the 29th was Elizabeth Else, who was 96.
Elizabeth was the mother of magistrate Joseph Else and she passed away at her home in Hardshaw Street on that day.
Indeed its foundation stone had already been laid. However the church authorities needed to grant permission for the new building and so on the 29th a Consistory Court hearing was held in Liverpool.
The court was told that an agreement had been made with St Helens Corporation to transfer to them some church land so that Church Street could be widened.
In exchange the Corporation would give up a piece of land behind the church.
The Consistory Court had some reservations but told them to go ahead with their building plans.
The war memorials continued to be unveiled with the latest ceremony taking place on the 30th at the Doulton Pottery Works.
This was situated in Boundary Road and at the start of the war employed just over 100 men.
About half the workforce joined the forces with those staying at home making products for the munitions industries.
Six of the men that went to war had died and their names were inscribed on a tablet that was set into the wall of an office at the company's main entrance.
The St Helens Reporter described it as a "tablet of glazed stoneware, of beautiful design and workmanship".
Alderman Henry Bates – who had served as Mayor of St Helens during the war years – unveiled the memorial.
He said: "Time would never wipe out the feeling of respect and the gratitude which we owed to these men".
I do wonder whatever happened to all these plaques and other memorials – where did they all go?
Only a small handful – such as the Clock Face miners' plaque and those in churches – appear to have survived.
It is, of course, perfectly understandable that many men lost all interest in serving in the military since their horrendous experiences in the war.
However an article in the St Helens Reporter on the 30th described the widespread extent of the rejection of the army in the town.
This revealed that the local Territorial volunteers were badly under strength with the 5th South Lancs faring the worst.
A full complement of the regiment at their HQ at the Volunteer Hall was 700 men. However so far they had only recruited a little over a hundred.
The Engineers in Croppers Hill were doing better having recruited 40% of their establishment – although their target was a lot smaller.
Many of the part-time soldiers would normally be young men who would not have been old enough to serve in the war.
However they were not volunteering in the same numbers, perhaps after hearing horror stories from their fathers and brothers.
In the Police Court on the 30th an ex-soldier used the excuse of having suffered from malaria to explain his assault on a sixteen-year-old-girl.
Ellen Johnson told the court that she had been walking along Chester Lane when a man grabbed her by the waist and tried to drag her into a field.
When Ellen screamed he put his hand over her mouth but she continued to resist him and so he let her go.
By the time the police had arrived on the scene they found Ernest Foster from Burrows Lane in Eccleston detained by the girl's father and some other men.
In court the man's counsel said Foster had spent three years in Salonika in Greece during the war and on six occasions had suffered from malaria.
He had recently been in hospital in Whiston after suffering a relapse and "a man suffering from that disease was not responsible for his actions".
This was one of the first cases heard by a female magistrate on the St Helens Bench and Evelyn Pilkington and two other magistrates fined Foster £5.
The Chairman told the defendant that if it had not been for his malaria he might have been sent to prison.
"Rainford Road The Motorist's Paradise" was the Reporter's headline to another case.
It concerned a prosecution of a student from West Didsbury called Alfred Miller who was charged with driving a motor car to the danger of the public.
The Bench was told that the proceedings had been brought as a result of complaints of furious driving along Rainford Road.
A strip of the street measuring 140 yards was described as one of the few places in St Helens that suited motorists and as a result some drove too fast along it.
If there had been people out at that time, they might not have seen the car coming.
The defendant had his father with him in the car and in court they both protested that 30 mph was a quite safe speed and they had been quite indignant at being stopped by the police.
The Bench dismissed the case upon payment of costs.
On August 1st the Military Band of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers performed in Thatto Heath Park as part of the series of summer band concerts.
These days, of course, the August Bank Holiday is on the last Monday of the month but up until 1964 it was held on the first Monday, which in 1920 was the 2nd.
A special gala was held in St Helens organised by Lowe House Church with a highlight being a "monster" pageant.
This included much fancy dress, floral costumes, a cycle parade and a portrayal of Joan of Arc by Agnes Swift of Windle Farm.
The nine-year-old had her own retinue of French peasants and squires.
The procession featured three bands (including the Boy Scouts Bugle Band) and departed from the Volunteer Field at the rear of Lowe House and then proceeded through North Road and past the Town Hall.
The parade then went down Hall Street into Church Street and then via Duke Street it processed to the cricket field at Windleshaw Road, where the gala was held.
The attractions included the crowning of the Queen of the Revels (Evelyn Roberts), athletics contests (including an egg and spoon race), games and a musical drill display by the Farnworth Nautical School.
From 6pm dancing took place with all proceeds going to the Lowe House Church Building Fund.
This appeal had opened in 1914 but the war caused delays and the new church was not completed until 1930.
The courts still sat on the 2nd and heard of another incident seemingly influenced by the Irish War of Independence, which was now in its second year.
In the dock was a highly decorated ex-soldier called William Anderton and Irishman Timothy Kivlehen, who were both charged with breach of the peace.
Inspector Bowden told the court that two groups of men from St Helens visited Wigan at weekends, returning on the last train around midnight.
One lot contained Irish supporters of Sinn Fein and the two groups regularly clashed.
On the previous Saturday after leaving the station, William Anderton was seen to "fight one of the Sinn Feiners and settle him".
Kivlehen from Water Street then stepped in to take his friend’s part and was just about beaten when the police arrested both men.
Anderton told the court that he was only defending himself after two of the men had set upon him, knocked him down and kicked him in the mouth "before he could say Jack Robinson".
Both combatants were ordered to find sureties to be of good behaviour for three months.
Next week's stories will include the Nelson Hotel glassing case, the ex-bobby and war hero charged with a serious stabbing, Sutton Brook catches fire (again!), the boy burglars of Stanhope Street and road subsidence takes place in Liverpool Road.