IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (30th DEC. 1919 - 5th JAN. 1920)
This week's stories include the New Year in St Helens, a man from Albion Street is charged with bigamy, the indecency in Charles Street that turned violent, the annual poor children's free breakfasts and the down on his luck actor who asked a Peasley Cross copper if he could spare a copper.
We begin on the 30th when the St Helens Co-operative Choral Society gave a performance of 'The Messiah'. The Reporter said the attendance had been excellent and the applause prolific.
Also on that day in St Helens Police Court, Ernest Bell from Albion Street was charged with bigamy. Hannah Bell told the court that she'd married Ernest in 1902 and they'd had seven children of which only three were still alive. In October 1914 her husband joined the army and he served for two years and four months before being wounded and discharged. The couple then lived together in Workington until September 1918 when Ernest re-joined the forces. During the following month Hannah received a letter from her husband but she heard nothing further after that. That was until February 1919 when she learnt from the army authorities that he'd been demobilised.
Jane Yates was Ernest Bell's second "wife" and she lived in Waterloo Street in St Helens. She told the court that she'd first met Ernest in Church Street in December 1916 when he was stationed at Knowsley Park. Jane said they had "walked out" together four or five times a week over a period of five months. After leaving the army in February 1919, Ernest came to live in St Helens and obtained work at the Prescot Wire Works. In August the couple became engaged and in October Jane discovered she was pregnant and so the couple married soon afterwards in St Thomas' Church.
On December 19th Ernest was arrested at his home in Albion Street and made wild allegations against his (first) wife accusing her of drunkenness and prostitution. The magistrates in the Police Court in St Helens committed Ernest to the next Assizes hearing at Liverpool, which was held on January 28th 1920. The 35-year-old claimed "great provocation" in his wife's mode of life as mitigation but was sentenced to eight months in prison in the second division. That meant he would be granted certain privileges, such as being able to receive more frequent visits and letters than other prisoners.
A down on his luck actor called John McMarney of no fixed abode appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 31st charged with begging. The man had stopped a plain-clothes policeman in Peasley Cross Lane (pictured above some years later) and asked him if he could spare a copper. When taken into custody McMarney said: "Don't lock me up, I have just done three months in Strangeways." He told the Bench that ten years earlier his wife had deserted him and he claimed to be in a wretched condition, with no boots and very few clothes. Upon McMarney promising to immediately leave St Helens, the magistrates discharged him.
An inquest was held in the Town Hall on the 31st on William Brown from Newton Road in Parr, who had died in Providence Hospital from scalds. The five-year-old was one of eleven children and had been sitting on the fender when a cat knocked a pan of hot water off the hob.
A New Year's Eve ball was held in the Engineer Hall in Croppers Hill, which was tastefully decorated with bunting and streamers. A large Christmas tree was situated in the middle of the hall and as the time got nearer to midnight, all the guests took a present off it. Just before twelve, Father Time (played by a Mr Eccleston) appeared with a scythe and an hourglass and was led into the middle of the room.
The St Helens Reporter described what happened next: "Precisely at twelve o’clock, the New Year “1920,” (Master Leslie Leyland) was ushered in, a tiny figure in white, who tripped gaily across to Father Time, shook hands and then waltzed lightheartedly round the room to the enthralling tune of Abe, my boy." Elsewhere in St Helens the New Year was welcomed at midnight with peals of church bells ringing out the old year and ringing in the new.
It might be the start of the third decade of the 20th century but many St Helens' folk were still superstitious about the New Year. The Reporter wrote: "Be he friend or relative, or neither, no person is more welcome over the threshold on the morning of New Year's Day than he whose looks are of the darkest hue. Woe betide the household over whose doorstep a fair man steps – the first of the New Year."
It was a common practice for children to receive presents on New Year's Day. However last minute purchases were out of the question as the shops in St Helens were closed on the 1st and 2nd. However the Police Court was open for business and Joseph Dyas from Carter Street (which used to be in Peasley Cross) was charged with stealing a wooden box valued at 5 shillings. The 10-year-old had taken the box from the rear of Sherdley Glassworks and PC Murrant had seen him carrying it across a field.
Asked where he had got the box from, Joseph said he had found it in the field and he was taking it home to make a rabbit hutch. The lad showed the constable the place from where he had taken the box. Then his father appeared on the scene and angrily told Joseph that he had no business helping himself to it. PC Murrant described to the court how the boy's father then thrashed his son in front of him. Probably thinking that the boy had suffered enough, the magistrates decided to dismiss the case upon payment of costs.
The 42nd free breakfast for poor children was held on New Year's Day, with almost 3,000 youngsters fed and entertained. Wilfred Leach was now the chief organiser of the event, having taken over from his late father, the estate agent Sir Joseph Bethell Leach. The children met in eleven centres in different parts of St Helens and the Mayor Joseph Turner accompanied members of the Leach family around them all.
The centres were the Ragged School, Arthur Street; St Anne's School, Sutton; St Austin's School, Thatto Heath; Sacred Heart, Borough Road; Gerard's Bridge Mission Hall; Holy Trinity, Parr Mount; Salvation Army, Milk Street; Salvation Army Citadel, Thatto Heath; Catholic Temperance League Hall, Gerard's Bridge; Parr Stocks Schools and the Wesleyan Schools in Park Road. Around seventy businesses and individuals had subscribed to the fund that paid for the meal and all were listed in the Reporter. A century ago if you gave money to a cause there was an expectation that there would be an acknowledgement in the newspapers.
Saints played St Helens Recs in the annual New Year's game at Knowsley Road, winning 9 - 8 in front of 10,000 spectators. The Reporter summed up the match as: "A splendid day, a monster gate, and a glorious game!"
During the evening of the 1st the Sacred Heart Catholic Young Men's Society and Children of Mary held a fancy dress carnival in the Jubilee Hall. For many of the men that attended this was the first New Year's Day that they'd spent at home for some years. The Reporter wrote: "The steel helmet, the dug-out and the trench of the last few years were, on New Year's night, superseded by original, dainty, and picturesque costumes, in the hall they built in 1914, and which they now saw at its best."
The oddly-named Lord Nelson Glade Hill Outing Club held a tea and "smoker" during the same evening at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Parr Stocks Road. A smoker was the colloquial name for a male-only smoking concert. A ventriloquist and impressionist called Little Ringo provided the main entertainment as the thirty-six guests drank and puffed away.
Many readers will remember Oxley's Department Store in Barrow Street. A century ago they were based solely in the covered market and in the Reporter on the 2nd Oxley's made a New Year's promise to provide good, honest value to their customers for the rest of the year.
Also on the 2nd a treat for 350 "old folks" was held in the old Sutton Bond Hall in Lancots Lane. This used to be an annual event but had lapsed during the war and the guests enjoyed tea and a concert.
On the same day Thomas Briers appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with being drunk and incapable. The police said he'd smelt very strongly of methylated spirits and had been in court 27 times before – although the last time had been in 1915. Briers was fined ten shillings.
A man called George Alban appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 5th charged with assaulting a police officer and indecency with a neighbour called Angela Goulden. PC Reynolds told the court that he had been on plain-clothes duty on some wasteland in Charles Street along with PC Ridding and they saw Alban and Goulden commit an indecent act. After going over to the couple Mrs Goulden said: "Can't it be squared by giving you ten bob".
The constables refused the bribe but then Alban offered to make it a pound. This was also declined and then both tried to run away, with Alban throwing a brick at the chasing PC Reynolds. In swerving to avoid the brick the constable slipped to the ground and the miner from Milk Street started kicking him. Alban was finally arrested at his home and was so violent that it took three officers to take him to the police station. The man was given a hefty fine with the alternative punishment of 30 days in prison.
Next week's stories will include the Japanese shaving brushes infected with anthrax, a burial mix up at St Helens Cemetery, the tragedy of a tram in Robins Lane, a claim of persistent cruelty in the Police Court and the Haydock hired trap dispute.
We begin on the 30th when the St Helens Co-operative Choral Society gave a performance of 'The Messiah'. The Reporter said the attendance had been excellent and the applause prolific.
Also on that day in St Helens Police Court, Ernest Bell from Albion Street was charged with bigamy. Hannah Bell told the court that she'd married Ernest in 1902 and they'd had seven children of which only three were still alive. In October 1914 her husband joined the army and he served for two years and four months before being wounded and discharged. The couple then lived together in Workington until September 1918 when Ernest re-joined the forces. During the following month Hannah received a letter from her husband but she heard nothing further after that. That was until February 1919 when she learnt from the army authorities that he'd been demobilised.
Jane Yates was Ernest Bell's second "wife" and she lived in Waterloo Street in St Helens. She told the court that she'd first met Ernest in Church Street in December 1916 when he was stationed at Knowsley Park. Jane said they had "walked out" together four or five times a week over a period of five months. After leaving the army in February 1919, Ernest came to live in St Helens and obtained work at the Prescot Wire Works. In August the couple became engaged and in October Jane discovered she was pregnant and so the couple married soon afterwards in St Thomas' Church.
On December 19th Ernest was arrested at his home in Albion Street and made wild allegations against his (first) wife accusing her of drunkenness and prostitution. The magistrates in the Police Court in St Helens committed Ernest to the next Assizes hearing at Liverpool, which was held on January 28th 1920. The 35-year-old claimed "great provocation" in his wife's mode of life as mitigation but was sentenced to eight months in prison in the second division. That meant he would be granted certain privileges, such as being able to receive more frequent visits and letters than other prisoners.
An inquest was held in the Town Hall on the 31st on William Brown from Newton Road in Parr, who had died in Providence Hospital from scalds. The five-year-old was one of eleven children and had been sitting on the fender when a cat knocked a pan of hot water off the hob.
A New Year's Eve ball was held in the Engineer Hall in Croppers Hill, which was tastefully decorated with bunting and streamers. A large Christmas tree was situated in the middle of the hall and as the time got nearer to midnight, all the guests took a present off it. Just before twelve, Father Time (played by a Mr Eccleston) appeared with a scythe and an hourglass and was led into the middle of the room.
The St Helens Reporter described what happened next: "Precisely at twelve o’clock, the New Year “1920,” (Master Leslie Leyland) was ushered in, a tiny figure in white, who tripped gaily across to Father Time, shook hands and then waltzed lightheartedly round the room to the enthralling tune of Abe, my boy." Elsewhere in St Helens the New Year was welcomed at midnight with peals of church bells ringing out the old year and ringing in the new.
It might be the start of the third decade of the 20th century but many St Helens' folk were still superstitious about the New Year. The Reporter wrote: "Be he friend or relative, or neither, no person is more welcome over the threshold on the morning of New Year's Day than he whose looks are of the darkest hue. Woe betide the household over whose doorstep a fair man steps – the first of the New Year."
It was a common practice for children to receive presents on New Year's Day. However last minute purchases were out of the question as the shops in St Helens were closed on the 1st and 2nd. However the Police Court was open for business and Joseph Dyas from Carter Street (which used to be in Peasley Cross) was charged with stealing a wooden box valued at 5 shillings. The 10-year-old had taken the box from the rear of Sherdley Glassworks and PC Murrant had seen him carrying it across a field.
Asked where he had got the box from, Joseph said he had found it in the field and he was taking it home to make a rabbit hutch. The lad showed the constable the place from where he had taken the box. Then his father appeared on the scene and angrily told Joseph that he had no business helping himself to it. PC Murrant described to the court how the boy's father then thrashed his son in front of him. Probably thinking that the boy had suffered enough, the magistrates decided to dismiss the case upon payment of costs.
The 42nd free breakfast for poor children was held on New Year's Day, with almost 3,000 youngsters fed and entertained. Wilfred Leach was now the chief organiser of the event, having taken over from his late father, the estate agent Sir Joseph Bethell Leach. The children met in eleven centres in different parts of St Helens and the Mayor Joseph Turner accompanied members of the Leach family around them all.
The centres were the Ragged School, Arthur Street; St Anne's School, Sutton; St Austin's School, Thatto Heath; Sacred Heart, Borough Road; Gerard's Bridge Mission Hall; Holy Trinity, Parr Mount; Salvation Army, Milk Street; Salvation Army Citadel, Thatto Heath; Catholic Temperance League Hall, Gerard's Bridge; Parr Stocks Schools and the Wesleyan Schools in Park Road. Around seventy businesses and individuals had subscribed to the fund that paid for the meal and all were listed in the Reporter. A century ago if you gave money to a cause there was an expectation that there would be an acknowledgement in the newspapers.
Saints played St Helens Recs in the annual New Year's game at Knowsley Road, winning 9 - 8 in front of 10,000 spectators. The Reporter summed up the match as: "A splendid day, a monster gate, and a glorious game!"
During the evening of the 1st the Sacred Heart Catholic Young Men's Society and Children of Mary held a fancy dress carnival in the Jubilee Hall. For many of the men that attended this was the first New Year's Day that they'd spent at home for some years. The Reporter wrote: "The steel helmet, the dug-out and the trench of the last few years were, on New Year's night, superseded by original, dainty, and picturesque costumes, in the hall they built in 1914, and which they now saw at its best."
The oddly-named Lord Nelson Glade Hill Outing Club held a tea and "smoker" during the same evening at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Parr Stocks Road. A smoker was the colloquial name for a male-only smoking concert. A ventriloquist and impressionist called Little Ringo provided the main entertainment as the thirty-six guests drank and puffed away.
Many readers will remember Oxley's Department Store in Barrow Street. A century ago they were based solely in the covered market and in the Reporter on the 2nd Oxley's made a New Year's promise to provide good, honest value to their customers for the rest of the year.
Also on the 2nd a treat for 350 "old folks" was held in the old Sutton Bond Hall in Lancots Lane. This used to be an annual event but had lapsed during the war and the guests enjoyed tea and a concert.
On the same day Thomas Briers appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with being drunk and incapable. The police said he'd smelt very strongly of methylated spirits and had been in court 27 times before – although the last time had been in 1915. Briers was fined ten shillings.
A man called George Alban appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 5th charged with assaulting a police officer and indecency with a neighbour called Angela Goulden. PC Reynolds told the court that he had been on plain-clothes duty on some wasteland in Charles Street along with PC Ridding and they saw Alban and Goulden commit an indecent act. After going over to the couple Mrs Goulden said: "Can't it be squared by giving you ten bob".
The constables refused the bribe but then Alban offered to make it a pound. This was also declined and then both tried to run away, with Alban throwing a brick at the chasing PC Reynolds. In swerving to avoid the brick the constable slipped to the ground and the miner from Milk Street started kicking him. Alban was finally arrested at his home and was so violent that it took three officers to take him to the police station. The man was given a hefty fine with the alternative punishment of 30 days in prison.
Next week's stories will include the Japanese shaving brushes infected with anthrax, a burial mix up at St Helens Cemetery, the tragedy of a tram in Robins Lane, a claim of persistent cruelty in the Police Court and the Haydock hired trap dispute.