IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 29 JULY - 4 AUG 1924
This week's many stories include the bobby that pretended to be a miner in order to catch gamblers, the family of eight sleeping in a single bed in Prescot, the stealing by finding of an engagement ring, the heartless husband that left his family destitute and the Parr man's craze for other people's bicycles.
We begin on the 30th with an unusual eviction case in St Helens County Court when a Mrs Eccleston sought what was known as an ejectment order against Patrick O’Neill. The latter, his wife and six children occupied two rooms in a house in Stone Street in Prescot that was tenanted by Mrs Eccleston and sub-let to the O’Neills. They only paid her 8 shillings a week for the furnished rooms but the eight family members had to sleep in the same bed.
That appalling state of affairs – as the judge in the case pointed out – was not in itself unusual in St Helens and Prescot during the present housing crisis. However, Prescot Council had objected to the overcrowding and had written to Mrs Eccleston telling her to give the O’Neills notice to quit. When Mrs Eccleston showed the letter to Patrick O’Neill he said he hoped the surveyor called Norris who had written it would drop dead – and he did!
Mr Norris died suddenly three weeks later and O’Neill surprised the judge by telling him that he had dug the man's grave. There was no connection between any of the events with O’Neill explaining that he had worked for the deceased man. He also blamed Mrs Eccleston and in the nine weeks since receiving his notice had refused to pay her any rent and in court called her a liar. Judge Dowdall said he felt that the ejectment application was in order but wanted confirmation from Prescot Council and so he adjourned the case. However, Patrick O’Neill was told that he had to pay off his rent arrears and continue paying his weekly rent.
The "finder's keepers, loser's weepers" motto was popularly adopted in the past when items were found and retained. However, the police and magistrates saw things differently and regularly needed to remind those that helped themselves to lost things that the offence of stealing by finding had been committed. In court this week facing such a charge was Margaret Friar of Hope Street (near Boundary Road) in St Helens who had kept a lady's ring valued at £5 15 shillings that she'd found in the street.
The lady concerned was her neighbour called Mrs Aspinwall whose child had taken the engagement ring outside of their house and dropped it. A fortnight later Mrs Aspinwall had seen Mrs Friar wearing a ring identical to the one she had lost and so asked her about it. However, the woman denied it was the same one and insisted that her husband had bought her the ring. But Mrs Aspinwall was not satisfied with her explanation and reported the matter to PC Higgs who questioned Mrs Friar.
She persisted with her claim that her husband who was in the Territorials had purchased the ring from a man at camp. But later Mrs Friar admitted the truth and a story tinged with a little sadness was told in court – and with some inferred criticism of her husband. The newly married Margaret Friar said: "I did not want people to think I was wearing a ring on my finger that I had found in the street. I wanted them to think that perhaps my husband thought something about me and had bought me one."
She also claimed that she had no idea of the true value of the ring and a relative called Catherine Parr from Brynn Street said that when she'd seen it she thought it was a cheap thing and had said she could get a better one at Woolworths. At that time the firm was like a modern day pound shop and was selling nothing over 6d. The Bench told Mrs Friar that she had been very foolish in keeping the ring and not taking it to the police but they took pity on the woman and decided to dismiss the case.
Although police officers would usually go on stake-outs to observe illegal street gambling, it wasn't always possible to find compliant householders happy to host the police. And if the betting activities were taking place in more than one location, watching from a fixed position was far from ideal. And so police would go undercover, often pretending to be workmen.
In a case in St Helens Police Court this week William Pimblett was charged with loitering in Newton Road for the purpose of betting. PC Drysdale told the Bench that he had taken up the "guise of a collier" waiting to go home from his work in order to observe the goings-on. Pit-head baths had yet to be introduced into St Helens and so presumably the constable would have had to blacken his face before getting into position.
PC Drysdale told how initially he had been standing outside the Engine Inn in Parr when he saw two miners that were leaving their work hand Pimblett something that he put into his trouser pocket. The officer then said that he sat on the roadside pretending to be waiting for a tram, as miners sitting or crouching down was quite common. PC Drysdale then said he observed William Pimblett walk across some wasteland and half-a-dozen miners went towards him and then they all returned.
Pimblett also came back and at that point the constable identified himself as a police officer and said he was arresting him. Presumably, Pimblett had no experience of blacked-up bobbles and he wanted some proof of his identity. Once PC Drysdale was able to satisfy Pimblett that he was a policeman, he did what virtually all such arrested gambling folk did. He went quietly without making a fuss and saying nothing other than "I reserve what I have got to say" and "It's all right, there's no need to put the slips on me."
And clearly the handcuffs weren't placed on Mr Pimblett, as on the walk to the police station an unknown man – who was also clearly unaccustomed to blacked-up bobbies and unaware Pimblett was under arrest – handed him the sum of 2 shillings for a bet. In court the defendant did complain of the way the constable had treated him on the way to the station but that was simply because he had been told to keep his hand out of his pocket.
PC Drysdale explained to the Bench how gambling men would often try to rub the writing off betting slips while being escorted, as it was then a custom to only search arrested folk at the police station. A fine of £10 was imposed on Pimblett but he could expect to get that back from the bookie that he worked for.
It was becoming less common for husbands to be charged with deserting their wives and leaving them and their children chargeable to the Prescot Union. They were the folk that ran the workhouse that was now known as Whiston Institution and also supported the very poor in the community. But the case of Arthur Pennington had clearly irked the authorities and they wanted him punished.
That was after the miner had drawn his pay from Pilkingtons' St Helens Collieries on April 17th and then deserted his wife. The St Helens Relieving Officer described the man's wife Maggie Pennington and her two children as having been left "absolutely destitute". In order to raise some money to provide food for her children, Maggie had sold blankets from their beds and had even been intending to sell the clogs on her feet.
The family had to be sent to Whiston Institution and although Arthur Pennington did show up there offering to take his family out, he was instructed to see the Relieving Officer first but never did. The Bench told Pennington that they considered it to be a "very heartless case" and he was sent to prison for one month with hard labour.
In the St Helens Reporter on August 1st, Cholertons of Bridge Street were advertising that camera films could be developed for 6d a roll, with sepia prints measuring 3½ x 2½ inches priced at 1/6 per dozen. Tyrers were then in Liverpool Road in St Helens and in Eccleston Street in Prescot and in their advert they said they were extending their summer sale until August 16th, adding: "Our targets are the wrecking of high profits and the many systems of unfair trading. Support the firm who will only take small profits and not as much as they can get."
The Reporter also carried a review of the recent field day and sports connected with the Sutton Manor CE Sunday School. The procession had assembled in front of the school and then walked to Clock Face and back. The paper wrote: "The event aroused considerable interest, the streets being lined with people, who admired the splendid new banner." After the walk there was tea and then the procession proceeded to a field where a concert party entertained them and a programme of sports took place.
The St Helens Reporter also described a court case that they said concerned a "young man's craze for other people's bicycles". Peter Hurst from Double Locks in Parr was charged with three bike thefts over nearly two months from Ashtons Green Colliery. By the 1920s bicycles – especially second-hand ones – were quite cheap and for many miners it was their chosen means of getting to work. I have a photograph of the bike shed at Clock Face Colliery from the 1930s (shown above) which shows hundreds of machines stored inside.
But despite the miners being charged by the mine owners to use their sheds, there was no security provided and no modern-day locks. And so folk like Peter Hurst could easily take off with a bike. He was a 20-year-old haulage hand employed at Havannah Colliery and for stealing the three machines (valued at £2, £3 and £5) the magistrates fined him £6 or 28 days in prison.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Sutton woman accused of murder, the boy that died after being thrown into Boundary Road baths, the band of pilgrims' impromptu concert and there's another smash at St Helens' suicide corner.
We begin on the 30th with an unusual eviction case in St Helens County Court when a Mrs Eccleston sought what was known as an ejectment order against Patrick O’Neill. The latter, his wife and six children occupied two rooms in a house in Stone Street in Prescot that was tenanted by Mrs Eccleston and sub-let to the O’Neills. They only paid her 8 shillings a week for the furnished rooms but the eight family members had to sleep in the same bed.
That appalling state of affairs – as the judge in the case pointed out – was not in itself unusual in St Helens and Prescot during the present housing crisis. However, Prescot Council had objected to the overcrowding and had written to Mrs Eccleston telling her to give the O’Neills notice to quit. When Mrs Eccleston showed the letter to Patrick O’Neill he said he hoped the surveyor called Norris who had written it would drop dead – and he did!
Mr Norris died suddenly three weeks later and O’Neill surprised the judge by telling him that he had dug the man's grave. There was no connection between any of the events with O’Neill explaining that he had worked for the deceased man. He also blamed Mrs Eccleston and in the nine weeks since receiving his notice had refused to pay her any rent and in court called her a liar. Judge Dowdall said he felt that the ejectment application was in order but wanted confirmation from Prescot Council and so he adjourned the case. However, Patrick O’Neill was told that he had to pay off his rent arrears and continue paying his weekly rent.
The "finder's keepers, loser's weepers" motto was popularly adopted in the past when items were found and retained. However, the police and magistrates saw things differently and regularly needed to remind those that helped themselves to lost things that the offence of stealing by finding had been committed. In court this week facing such a charge was Margaret Friar of Hope Street (near Boundary Road) in St Helens who had kept a lady's ring valued at £5 15 shillings that she'd found in the street.
The lady concerned was her neighbour called Mrs Aspinwall whose child had taken the engagement ring outside of their house and dropped it. A fortnight later Mrs Aspinwall had seen Mrs Friar wearing a ring identical to the one she had lost and so asked her about it. However, the woman denied it was the same one and insisted that her husband had bought her the ring. But Mrs Aspinwall was not satisfied with her explanation and reported the matter to PC Higgs who questioned Mrs Friar.
She persisted with her claim that her husband who was in the Territorials had purchased the ring from a man at camp. But later Mrs Friar admitted the truth and a story tinged with a little sadness was told in court – and with some inferred criticism of her husband. The newly married Margaret Friar said: "I did not want people to think I was wearing a ring on my finger that I had found in the street. I wanted them to think that perhaps my husband thought something about me and had bought me one."
She also claimed that she had no idea of the true value of the ring and a relative called Catherine Parr from Brynn Street said that when she'd seen it she thought it was a cheap thing and had said she could get a better one at Woolworths. At that time the firm was like a modern day pound shop and was selling nothing over 6d. The Bench told Mrs Friar that she had been very foolish in keeping the ring and not taking it to the police but they took pity on the woman and decided to dismiss the case.
Although police officers would usually go on stake-outs to observe illegal street gambling, it wasn't always possible to find compliant householders happy to host the police. And if the betting activities were taking place in more than one location, watching from a fixed position was far from ideal. And so police would go undercover, often pretending to be workmen.
In a case in St Helens Police Court this week William Pimblett was charged with loitering in Newton Road for the purpose of betting. PC Drysdale told the Bench that he had taken up the "guise of a collier" waiting to go home from his work in order to observe the goings-on. Pit-head baths had yet to be introduced into St Helens and so presumably the constable would have had to blacken his face before getting into position.
PC Drysdale told how initially he had been standing outside the Engine Inn in Parr when he saw two miners that were leaving their work hand Pimblett something that he put into his trouser pocket. The officer then said that he sat on the roadside pretending to be waiting for a tram, as miners sitting or crouching down was quite common. PC Drysdale then said he observed William Pimblett walk across some wasteland and half-a-dozen miners went towards him and then they all returned.
Pimblett also came back and at that point the constable identified himself as a police officer and said he was arresting him. Presumably, Pimblett had no experience of blacked-up bobbles and he wanted some proof of his identity. Once PC Drysdale was able to satisfy Pimblett that he was a policeman, he did what virtually all such arrested gambling folk did. He went quietly without making a fuss and saying nothing other than "I reserve what I have got to say" and "It's all right, there's no need to put the slips on me."
And clearly the handcuffs weren't placed on Mr Pimblett, as on the walk to the police station an unknown man – who was also clearly unaccustomed to blacked-up bobbies and unaware Pimblett was under arrest – handed him the sum of 2 shillings for a bet. In court the defendant did complain of the way the constable had treated him on the way to the station but that was simply because he had been told to keep his hand out of his pocket.
PC Drysdale explained to the Bench how gambling men would often try to rub the writing off betting slips while being escorted, as it was then a custom to only search arrested folk at the police station. A fine of £10 was imposed on Pimblett but he could expect to get that back from the bookie that he worked for.
It was becoming less common for husbands to be charged with deserting their wives and leaving them and their children chargeable to the Prescot Union. They were the folk that ran the workhouse that was now known as Whiston Institution and also supported the very poor in the community. But the case of Arthur Pennington had clearly irked the authorities and they wanted him punished.
That was after the miner had drawn his pay from Pilkingtons' St Helens Collieries on April 17th and then deserted his wife. The St Helens Relieving Officer described the man's wife Maggie Pennington and her two children as having been left "absolutely destitute". In order to raise some money to provide food for her children, Maggie had sold blankets from their beds and had even been intending to sell the clogs on her feet.
The family had to be sent to Whiston Institution and although Arthur Pennington did show up there offering to take his family out, he was instructed to see the Relieving Officer first but never did. The Bench told Pennington that they considered it to be a "very heartless case" and he was sent to prison for one month with hard labour.
In the St Helens Reporter on August 1st, Cholertons of Bridge Street were advertising that camera films could be developed for 6d a roll, with sepia prints measuring 3½ x 2½ inches priced at 1/6 per dozen. Tyrers were then in Liverpool Road in St Helens and in Eccleston Street in Prescot and in their advert they said they were extending their summer sale until August 16th, adding: "Our targets are the wrecking of high profits and the many systems of unfair trading. Support the firm who will only take small profits and not as much as they can get."
The Reporter also carried a review of the recent field day and sports connected with the Sutton Manor CE Sunday School. The procession had assembled in front of the school and then walked to Clock Face and back. The paper wrote: "The event aroused considerable interest, the streets being lined with people, who admired the splendid new banner." After the walk there was tea and then the procession proceeded to a field where a concert party entertained them and a programme of sports took place.
But despite the miners being charged by the mine owners to use their sheds, there was no security provided and no modern-day locks. And so folk like Peter Hurst could easily take off with a bike. He was a 20-year-old haulage hand employed at Havannah Colliery and for stealing the three machines (valued at £2, £3 and £5) the magistrates fined him £6 or 28 days in prison.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Sutton woman accused of murder, the boy that died after being thrown into Boundary Road baths, the band of pilgrims' impromptu concert and there's another smash at St Helens' suicide corner.
This week's many stories include the bobby that pretended to be a miner in order to catch gamblers, the family of eight sleeping in a single bed in Prescot, the stealing by finding of an engagement ring, the heartless husband that left his family destitute and the Parr man's craze for other people's bicycles.
We begin on the 30th with an unusual eviction case in St Helens County Court when a Mrs Eccleston sought what was known as an ejectment order against Patrick O’Neill.
The latter, his wife and six children occupied two rooms in a house in Stone Street in Prescot that was tenanted by Mrs Eccleston and sub-let to the O’Neills.
They only paid her 8 shillings a week for the furnished rooms but the eight family members had to sleep in the same bed.
That appalling state of affairs – as the judge in the case pointed out – was not in itself unusual in St Helens and Prescot during the present housing crisis.
However, Prescot Council had objected to the overcrowding and had written to Mrs Eccleston telling her to give the O’Neills notice to quit.
When Mrs Eccleston showed the letter to Patrick O’Neill he said he hoped the surveyor called Norris who had written it would drop dead – and he did!
Mr Norris died suddenly three weeks later and O’Neill surprised the judge by telling him that he had dug the man's grave.
There was no connection between any of the events with O’Neill explaining that he had worked for the deceased man.
He also blamed Mrs Eccleston and in the nine weeks since receiving his notice had refused to pay her any rent and in court called her a liar.
Judge Dowdall said he felt that the ejectment application was in order but wanted confirmation from Prescot Council and so he adjourned the case.
However, Patrick O’Neill was told that he had to pay off his rent arrears and continue paying his weekly rent.
The "finder's keepers, loser's weepers" motto was popularly adopted in the past when items were found and retained.
However, the police and magistrates saw things differently and regularly needed to remind those that helped themselves to lost things that the offence of stealing by finding had been committed.
In court this week facing such a charge was Margaret Friar of Hope Street (near Boundary Road) in St Helens who had kept a lady's ring valued at £5 15 shillings that she'd found in the street.
The lady concerned was her neighbour called Mrs Aspinwall whose child had taken the engagement ring outside of their house and dropped it.
A fortnight later Mrs Aspinwall had seen Mrs Friar wearing a ring identical to the one she had lost and so asked her about it.
However, the woman denied it was the same one and insisted that her husband had bought her the ring.
But Mrs Aspinwall was not satisfied with her explanation and reported the matter to PC Higgs who questioned Mrs Friar.
She persisted with her claim that her husband who was in the Territorials had purchased the ring from a man at camp.
But later Mrs Friar admitted the truth and a story tinged with a little sadness was told in court – and with some inferred criticism of her husband. The newly married Margaret Friar said:
"I did not want people to think I was wearing a ring on my finger that I had found in the street. I wanted them to think that perhaps my husband thought something about me and had bought me one."
She also claimed that she had no idea of the true value of the ring and a relative called Catherine Parr from Brynn Street said that when she'd seen it she thought it was a cheap thing and had said she could get a better one at Woolworths.
At that time the firm was like a modern day pound shop and was selling nothing over 6d.
The Bench told Mrs Friar that she had been very foolish in keeping the ring and not taking it to the police but they took pity on the woman and decided to dismiss the case.
Although police officers would usually go on stake-outs to observe illegal street gambling, it wasn't always possible to find compliant householders happy to host the police.
And if the betting activities were taking place in more than one location, watching from a fixed position was far from ideal. And so police would go undercover, often pretending to be workmen.
In a case in St Helens Police Court this week William Pimblett was charged with loitering in Newton Road for the purpose of betting.
PC Drysdale told the Bench that he had taken up the "guise of a collier" waiting to go home from his work in order to observe the goings-on.
Pit-head baths had yet to be introduced into St Helens and so presumably the constable would have had to blacken his face before getting into position.
PC Drysdale told how initially he had been standing outside the Engine Inn in Parr when he saw two miners that were leaving their work hand Pimblett something that he put into his trouser pocket.
The officer then said that he sat on the roadside pretending to be waiting for a tram, as miners sitting or crouching down was quite common.
PC Drysdale then said he observed William Pimblett walk across some wasteland and half-a-dozen miners went towards him and then they all returned.
Pimblett also came back and at that point the constable identified himself as a police officer and said he was arresting him.
Presumably, Pimblett had no experience of blacked-up bobbles and he wanted some proof of his identity.
Once PC Drysdale was able to satisfy Pimblett that he was a policeman, he did what virtually all such arrested gambling folk did.
He went quietly without making a fuss and saying nothing other than "I reserve what I have got to say" and "It's all right, there's no need to put the slips on me."
And clearly the handcuffs weren't placed on Mr Pimblett, as on the walk to the police station an unknown man – who was also clearly unaccustomed to blacked-up bobbies and unaware Pimblett was under arrest – handed him the sum of 2 shillings for a bet.
In court the defendant did complain of the way the constable had treated him on the way to the station but that was simply because he had been told to keep his hand out of his pocket.
PC Drysdale explained to the Bench how gambling men would often try to rub the writing off betting slips while being escorted, as it was then a custom to only search arrested folk at the police station.
A fine of £10 was imposed on Pimblett but he could expect to get that back from the bookie that he worked for.
It was becoming less common for husbands to be charged with deserting their wives and leaving them and their children chargeable to the Prescot Union.
They were the folk that ran the workhouse that was now known as Whiston Institution and also supported the very poor in the community.
But the case of Arthur Pennington had clearly irked the authorities and they wanted him punished.
That was after the miner had drawn his pay from Pilkingtons' St Helens Collieries on April 17th and then deserted his wife.
The St Helens Relieving Officer described the man's wife Maggie Pennington and her two children as having been left "absolutely destitute".
In order to raise some money to provide food for her children, Maggie had sold blankets from their beds and had even been intending to sell the clogs on her feet.
The family had to be sent to Whiston Institution and although Arthur Pennington did show up there offering to take his family out, he was instructed to see the Relieving Officer first but never did.
The Bench told Pennington that they considered it to be a "very heartless case" and he was sent to prison for one month with hard labour.
In the St Helens Reporter on August 1st, Cholertons of Bridge Street were advertising that camera films could be developed for 6d a roll, with sepia prints measuring 3½ x 2½ inches priced at 1/6 per dozen.
Tyrers were then in Liverpool Road in St Helens and in Eccleston Street in Prescot and in their advert they said they were extending their summer sale until August 16th, adding:
"Our targets are the wrecking of high profits and the many systems of unfair trading. Support the firm who will only take small profits and not as much as they can get."
The Reporter also carried a review of the recent field day and sports connected with the Sutton Manor CE Sunday School.
The procession had assembled in front of the school and then walked to Clock Face and back. The paper wrote:
"The event aroused considerable interest, the streets being lined with people, who admired the splendid new banner."
After the walk there was tea and then the procession proceeded to a field where a concert party entertained them and a programme of sports took place.
The St Helens Reporter also described a court case that they said concerned a "young man's craze for other people's bicycles".
Peter Hurst from Double Locks in Parr was charged with three bike thefts over nearly two months from Ashtons Green Colliery.
By the 1920s bicycles – especially second-hand ones – were quite cheap and for many miners it was their chosen means of getting to work.
I have a photograph of the bike shed at Clock Face Colliery from the 1930s which shows hundreds of machines stored inside (shown above).
But despite the miners being charged by the mine owners to use their sheds, there was no security provided and no modern-day locks.
And so folk like Peter Hurst could easily take off with a bike. He was a 20-year-old haulage hand employed at Havannah Colliery and for stealing the three machines (valued at £2, £3 and £5) the magistrates fined him £6 or 28 days in prison.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Sutton woman accused of murder, the boy that died after being thrown into Boundary Road baths, the band of pilgrims' impromptu concert and there's another smash at St Helens' suicide corner.
We begin on the 30th with an unusual eviction case in St Helens County Court when a Mrs Eccleston sought what was known as an ejectment order against Patrick O’Neill.
The latter, his wife and six children occupied two rooms in a house in Stone Street in Prescot that was tenanted by Mrs Eccleston and sub-let to the O’Neills.
They only paid her 8 shillings a week for the furnished rooms but the eight family members had to sleep in the same bed.
That appalling state of affairs – as the judge in the case pointed out – was not in itself unusual in St Helens and Prescot during the present housing crisis.
However, Prescot Council had objected to the overcrowding and had written to Mrs Eccleston telling her to give the O’Neills notice to quit.
When Mrs Eccleston showed the letter to Patrick O’Neill he said he hoped the surveyor called Norris who had written it would drop dead – and he did!
Mr Norris died suddenly three weeks later and O’Neill surprised the judge by telling him that he had dug the man's grave.
There was no connection between any of the events with O’Neill explaining that he had worked for the deceased man.
He also blamed Mrs Eccleston and in the nine weeks since receiving his notice had refused to pay her any rent and in court called her a liar.
Judge Dowdall said he felt that the ejectment application was in order but wanted confirmation from Prescot Council and so he adjourned the case.
However, Patrick O’Neill was told that he had to pay off his rent arrears and continue paying his weekly rent.
The "finder's keepers, loser's weepers" motto was popularly adopted in the past when items were found and retained.
However, the police and magistrates saw things differently and regularly needed to remind those that helped themselves to lost things that the offence of stealing by finding had been committed.
In court this week facing such a charge was Margaret Friar of Hope Street (near Boundary Road) in St Helens who had kept a lady's ring valued at £5 15 shillings that she'd found in the street.
The lady concerned was her neighbour called Mrs Aspinwall whose child had taken the engagement ring outside of their house and dropped it.
A fortnight later Mrs Aspinwall had seen Mrs Friar wearing a ring identical to the one she had lost and so asked her about it.
However, the woman denied it was the same one and insisted that her husband had bought her the ring.
But Mrs Aspinwall was not satisfied with her explanation and reported the matter to PC Higgs who questioned Mrs Friar.
She persisted with her claim that her husband who was in the Territorials had purchased the ring from a man at camp.
But later Mrs Friar admitted the truth and a story tinged with a little sadness was told in court – and with some inferred criticism of her husband. The newly married Margaret Friar said:
"I did not want people to think I was wearing a ring on my finger that I had found in the street. I wanted them to think that perhaps my husband thought something about me and had bought me one."
She also claimed that she had no idea of the true value of the ring and a relative called Catherine Parr from Brynn Street said that when she'd seen it she thought it was a cheap thing and had said she could get a better one at Woolworths.
At that time the firm was like a modern day pound shop and was selling nothing over 6d.
The Bench told Mrs Friar that she had been very foolish in keeping the ring and not taking it to the police but they took pity on the woman and decided to dismiss the case.
Although police officers would usually go on stake-outs to observe illegal street gambling, it wasn't always possible to find compliant householders happy to host the police.
And if the betting activities were taking place in more than one location, watching from a fixed position was far from ideal. And so police would go undercover, often pretending to be workmen.
In a case in St Helens Police Court this week William Pimblett was charged with loitering in Newton Road for the purpose of betting.
PC Drysdale told the Bench that he had taken up the "guise of a collier" waiting to go home from his work in order to observe the goings-on.
Pit-head baths had yet to be introduced into St Helens and so presumably the constable would have had to blacken his face before getting into position.
PC Drysdale told how initially he had been standing outside the Engine Inn in Parr when he saw two miners that were leaving their work hand Pimblett something that he put into his trouser pocket.
The officer then said that he sat on the roadside pretending to be waiting for a tram, as miners sitting or crouching down was quite common.
PC Drysdale then said he observed William Pimblett walk across some wasteland and half-a-dozen miners went towards him and then they all returned.
Pimblett also came back and at that point the constable identified himself as a police officer and said he was arresting him.
Presumably, Pimblett had no experience of blacked-up bobbles and he wanted some proof of his identity.
Once PC Drysdale was able to satisfy Pimblett that he was a policeman, he did what virtually all such arrested gambling folk did.
He went quietly without making a fuss and saying nothing other than "I reserve what I have got to say" and "It's all right, there's no need to put the slips on me."
And clearly the handcuffs weren't placed on Mr Pimblett, as on the walk to the police station an unknown man – who was also clearly unaccustomed to blacked-up bobbies and unaware Pimblett was under arrest – handed him the sum of 2 shillings for a bet.
In court the defendant did complain of the way the constable had treated him on the way to the station but that was simply because he had been told to keep his hand out of his pocket.
PC Drysdale explained to the Bench how gambling men would often try to rub the writing off betting slips while being escorted, as it was then a custom to only search arrested folk at the police station.
A fine of £10 was imposed on Pimblett but he could expect to get that back from the bookie that he worked for.
It was becoming less common for husbands to be charged with deserting their wives and leaving them and their children chargeable to the Prescot Union.
They were the folk that ran the workhouse that was now known as Whiston Institution and also supported the very poor in the community.
But the case of Arthur Pennington had clearly irked the authorities and they wanted him punished.
That was after the miner had drawn his pay from Pilkingtons' St Helens Collieries on April 17th and then deserted his wife.
The St Helens Relieving Officer described the man's wife Maggie Pennington and her two children as having been left "absolutely destitute".
In order to raise some money to provide food for her children, Maggie had sold blankets from their beds and had even been intending to sell the clogs on her feet.
The family had to be sent to Whiston Institution and although Arthur Pennington did show up there offering to take his family out, he was instructed to see the Relieving Officer first but never did.
The Bench told Pennington that they considered it to be a "very heartless case" and he was sent to prison for one month with hard labour.
In the St Helens Reporter on August 1st, Cholertons of Bridge Street were advertising that camera films could be developed for 6d a roll, with sepia prints measuring 3½ x 2½ inches priced at 1/6 per dozen.
Tyrers were then in Liverpool Road in St Helens and in Eccleston Street in Prescot and in their advert they said they were extending their summer sale until August 16th, adding:
"Our targets are the wrecking of high profits and the many systems of unfair trading. Support the firm who will only take small profits and not as much as they can get."
The Reporter also carried a review of the recent field day and sports connected with the Sutton Manor CE Sunday School.
The procession had assembled in front of the school and then walked to Clock Face and back. The paper wrote:
"The event aroused considerable interest, the streets being lined with people, who admired the splendid new banner."
After the walk there was tea and then the procession proceeded to a field where a concert party entertained them and a programme of sports took place.
The St Helens Reporter also described a court case that they said concerned a "young man's craze for other people's bicycles".
Peter Hurst from Double Locks in Parr was charged with three bike thefts over nearly two months from Ashtons Green Colliery.
By the 1920s bicycles – especially second-hand ones – were quite cheap and for many miners it was their chosen means of getting to work.
But despite the miners being charged by the mine owners to use their sheds, there was no security provided and no modern-day locks.
And so folk like Peter Hurst could easily take off with a bike. He was a 20-year-old haulage hand employed at Havannah Colliery and for stealing the three machines (valued at £2, £3 and £5) the magistrates fined him £6 or 28 days in prison.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Sutton woman accused of murder, the boy that died after being thrown into Boundary Road baths, the band of pilgrims' impromptu concert and there's another smash at St Helens' suicide corner.