IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 31 AUG - 6 SEPT 1926
This week's many stories include the children stealing from Thatto Heath Park, the death of a bareback horse-riding miner, the Pocket Nook woman who defrauded the dole, Lennon's Xmas Savings Club, the high cost of removing tram rails in readiness for trolley buses and the St Helens man who brutalised his wife for giving him a hen's egg instead of one from a duck.
We begin on the 31st when two children went before the St Helens Bench to face a charge of stealing a purse from the coat of a young woman who was playing tennis in Thatto Heath Park (pictured above). They were not identified but one was a girl of twelve and the other a boy of eleven. The magistrates expressed astonishment that children, from what they considered to have been respectable families, should have done such a thing.
They were also told that in spite of being so young, the youngsters had slept in a field on the following night after being too afraid to return home. The pair had divided up the money and the girl had disposed of the purse in a potato field. Both were placed on probation for three years and told to pay 7s 6d costs each.
Many striking miners who were living in the more rural areas of the St Helens district found temporary employment on farms during the dispute. Such work did not pay as well as mining but it helped to keep the wolf from the door. On the 31st the inquest on Alfred Birchall that was held at St Helens Hospital heard that the man was a colliery contractor but during the strike had been undertaking odd jobs on farms.
The 36-year-old lived in Ellaby Road in Rainhill and a few days ago he had ridden a horse into St Helens that needed to be shod. The animal belonged to a Rainhill farmer called Smith and, for reasons that were not reported, Alfred was riding bareback and using a piece of an old clothes-line as a bridle.
While riding in Canal Street in St Helens, he came across his father, James Birchall. After a short conversation with his dad, Alfred rode on for a further 50 yards and then tried to pull up his horse. But he overbalanced and fell on his head. His father took him to his house in Nuttall Street and Alfred was later able to go home.
But he became seriously ill and was taken to St Helens Hospital where he died. Mr Birchall had spent five years serving in the Field Artillery during the war and was said to have been used to riding horses. His death had left a wife and six children in dire circumstances and the coroner, Samuel Brighouse, said he would make a donation to the family from his poor box.
Many violent men brutalised their wives over food. It might be because their supper was not waiting for them when they came in from the pub late at night. Or they did not like the meal that was placed before them. The worst types of wife-beating husbands were said to be the ones who weren't drunk when they committed their crimes. And John Dillon sounds like the very worst kind of brutal husband. He was a St Helens man who had lived in Hardy Street but had moved to Wigan.
On September 2nd Dillon was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for attacking his wife. And all because when he was served egg and bacon for his breakfast, he had been given a hen's egg instead of one from a duck. Upon receiving his brekky and finding his chucky egg was from a hen, Dillon had flung the plate to the other side of the table and given his wife what was described as a savage blow in her eye.
Such treatment was described as having been a weekly occurrence and Dillon had on 25 previous occasions been convicted of offences, including violence, in St Helens courts. Although his wife was granted a separation order, the maintenance allowance was only 5 shillings a week and Dillon could not pay even that while in prison.
Also on the 2nd, the Liverpool Daily Post reported how a £60,000 improvement was going to be made to the main road to Rainhill and Prescot. The scheme was being undertaken in connection with plans to introduce what were then called "trackless trolley vehicles". St Helens Corporation had obtained powers in an Act in 1921 to run trolley buses from St Helens through to Rainhill and Prescot.
However, the paper wrote that the project "hung fire", seemingly because of the expense of restoring the roads to their former condition. Although negotiations with Lancashire County Council about running the trolleys in their territory had concluded, the Daily Post warned that considerable time would elapse before the trackless vehicles could be put on the road.
The surface of the main road now needed to be taken up and the redundant tram rails and setts removed and replaced by asphalt on a concrete base. That would lead to the diversion of traffic for a number of weeks – something that people in the 1920s would not have been as used to as we are today.
The St Helens Tramways Committee was said to be considering designs for their trackless vehicles and proposed to adapt the present overhead equipment for powering trams to accommodate the trolleys, which were expected to be of the one-deck type.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 3rd and had a large advert from Lennon's, which throughout the 1920s had been greatly expanding its network of food stores. Then run by Frank Lennon, the chain was centred on its premises in St Helens Market but had eight other shops around the town, as well as in Bolton and another in Leigh.
The firm was inviting customers to join their Xmas Savings Club and wrote: "Our poultry last year was the talk of the town. This year they will be of the same excellent quality." Lennon's was also promoting the "ideal bread" which they said was "simply delicious" with a 2lb loaf costing 4d. They were another St Helens firm that used slightly odd straplines in its advertising, writing: "What we've got we hold, and what we've not we're after."
"Delph Gives Up Its Dead" was the headline to a Reporter article on the death of William Gee. The 55-year-old single man from Factory Row had been forced to give up his work at the nearby Ravenhead Glass Works due to an attack of dysentery, followed by nervous trouble.
His sister told the inquest into William's death that he appeared to be getting worse and had grown quite depressed over his health. William's body was found in a delph or water-filled old quarry off Howards Lane in Eccleston with his legs tied by a scarf. Tying limbs or filling pockets with heavy weights to expedite drowning prior to jumping into open water was not uncommon.
The authorities were getting very strict with what we would call benefit fraud and many dole cheats received prison sentences. In St Helens Police Court on the 6th, Florence Hitchen of Pocket Nook Street received a big fine instead of being directly sent to prison for defrauding the Unemployment Exchange. But if she could not find the £9 10 shillings penalty, she would have to serve 28 days instead.
Since January Mrs Hitchen had claimed that her husband was too ill to work and consequently had received 2s 6d a day for 98 days, a total of £12 5 shillings. But not only had the woman's husband been employed at Pilkington's glassworks and earning about £2 15 shillings a week but she also ran her own little shop.
Some dole claimants got into trouble after not seemingly understanding the form that they had signed. But Mrs Hitchen admitted having committed a fraud. She told the court that she had got into difficulties with her shop and someone had told her that if she said her husband was ill it would be easy to get some money, as many other people did the same.
Florence asked how she was expected to raise the fine now that her husband really was out of work. But the Bench did not answer that question, as it was her problem after following very bad advice.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the shopbreaking boys, the Haydock drinking den, the strikebreaking miners at Southport Colliery in Parr that were stoned and the disgraceful condition of some council houses only weeks after being occupied.
They were also told that in spite of being so young, the youngsters had slept in a field on the following night after being too afraid to return home. The pair had divided up the money and the girl had disposed of the purse in a potato field. Both were placed on probation for three years and told to pay 7s 6d costs each.
Many striking miners who were living in the more rural areas of the St Helens district found temporary employment on farms during the dispute. Such work did not pay as well as mining but it helped to keep the wolf from the door. On the 31st the inquest on Alfred Birchall that was held at St Helens Hospital heard that the man was a colliery contractor but during the strike had been undertaking odd jobs on farms.
The 36-year-old lived in Ellaby Road in Rainhill and a few days ago he had ridden a horse into St Helens that needed to be shod. The animal belonged to a Rainhill farmer called Smith and, for reasons that were not reported, Alfred was riding bareback and using a piece of an old clothes-line as a bridle.
While riding in Canal Street in St Helens, he came across his father, James Birchall. After a short conversation with his dad, Alfred rode on for a further 50 yards and then tried to pull up his horse. But he overbalanced and fell on his head. His father took him to his house in Nuttall Street and Alfred was later able to go home.
But he became seriously ill and was taken to St Helens Hospital where he died. Mr Birchall had spent five years serving in the Field Artillery during the war and was said to have been used to riding horses. His death had left a wife and six children in dire circumstances and the coroner, Samuel Brighouse, said he would make a donation to the family from his poor box.
Many violent men brutalised their wives over food. It might be because their supper was not waiting for them when they came in from the pub late at night. Or they did not like the meal that was placed before them. The worst types of wife-beating husbands were said to be the ones who weren't drunk when they committed their crimes. And John Dillon sounds like the very worst kind of brutal husband. He was a St Helens man who had lived in Hardy Street but had moved to Wigan.
On September 2nd Dillon was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for attacking his wife. And all because when he was served egg and bacon for his breakfast, he had been given a hen's egg instead of one from a duck. Upon receiving his brekky and finding his chucky egg was from a hen, Dillon had flung the plate to the other side of the table and given his wife what was described as a savage blow in her eye.
Such treatment was described as having been a weekly occurrence and Dillon had on 25 previous occasions been convicted of offences, including violence, in St Helens courts. Although his wife was granted a separation order, the maintenance allowance was only 5 shillings a week and Dillon could not pay even that while in prison.
Also on the 2nd, the Liverpool Daily Post reported how a £60,000 improvement was going to be made to the main road to Rainhill and Prescot. The scheme was being undertaken in connection with plans to introduce what were then called "trackless trolley vehicles". St Helens Corporation had obtained powers in an Act in 1921 to run trolley buses from St Helens through to Rainhill and Prescot.
However, the paper wrote that the project "hung fire", seemingly because of the expense of restoring the roads to their former condition. Although negotiations with Lancashire County Council about running the trolleys in their territory had concluded, the Daily Post warned that considerable time would elapse before the trackless vehicles could be put on the road.
The surface of the main road now needed to be taken up and the redundant tram rails and setts removed and replaced by asphalt on a concrete base. That would lead to the diversion of traffic for a number of weeks – something that people in the 1920s would not have been as used to as we are today.
The St Helens Tramways Committee was said to be considering designs for their trackless vehicles and proposed to adapt the present overhead equipment for powering trams to accommodate the trolleys, which were expected to be of the one-deck type.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 3rd and had a large advert from Lennon's, which throughout the 1920s had been greatly expanding its network of food stores. Then run by Frank Lennon, the chain was centred on its premises in St Helens Market but had eight other shops around the town, as well as in Bolton and another in Leigh.
The firm was inviting customers to join their Xmas Savings Club and wrote: "Our poultry last year was the talk of the town. This year they will be of the same excellent quality." Lennon's was also promoting the "ideal bread" which they said was "simply delicious" with a 2lb loaf costing 4d. They were another St Helens firm that used slightly odd straplines in its advertising, writing: "What we've got we hold, and what we've not we're after."
"Delph Gives Up Its Dead" was the headline to a Reporter article on the death of William Gee. The 55-year-old single man from Factory Row had been forced to give up his work at the nearby Ravenhead Glass Works due to an attack of dysentery, followed by nervous trouble.
His sister told the inquest into William's death that he appeared to be getting worse and had grown quite depressed over his health. William's body was found in a delph or water-filled old quarry off Howards Lane in Eccleston with his legs tied by a scarf. Tying limbs or filling pockets with heavy weights to expedite drowning prior to jumping into open water was not uncommon.
The authorities were getting very strict with what we would call benefit fraud and many dole cheats received prison sentences. In St Helens Police Court on the 6th, Florence Hitchen of Pocket Nook Street received a big fine instead of being directly sent to prison for defrauding the Unemployment Exchange. But if she could not find the £9 10 shillings penalty, she would have to serve 28 days instead.
Since January Mrs Hitchen had claimed that her husband was too ill to work and consequently had received 2s 6d a day for 98 days, a total of £12 5 shillings. But not only had the woman's husband been employed at Pilkington's glassworks and earning about £2 15 shillings a week but she also ran her own little shop.
Some dole claimants got into trouble after not seemingly understanding the form that they had signed. But Mrs Hitchen admitted having committed a fraud. She told the court that she had got into difficulties with her shop and someone had told her that if she said her husband was ill it would be easy to get some money, as many other people did the same.
Florence asked how she was expected to raise the fine now that her husband really was out of work. But the Bench did not answer that question, as it was her problem after following very bad advice.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the shopbreaking boys, the Haydock drinking den, the strikebreaking miners at Southport Colliery in Parr that were stoned and the disgraceful condition of some council houses only weeks after being occupied.
This week's many stories include the children stealing from Thatto Heath Park, the death of a bareback horse-riding miner, the Pocket Nook woman who defrauded the dole, Lennon's Xmas Savings Club, the high cost of removing tram rails in readiness for trolley buses and the St Helens man who brutalised his wife for giving him a hen's egg instead of one from a duck.
We begin on the 31st when two children went before the St Helens Bench to face a charge of stealing a purse from the coat of a young woman who was playing tennis in Thatto Heath Park (pictured above).
They were not identified but one was a girl of twelve and the other a boy of eleven.
The magistrates expressed astonishment that children, from what they considered to have been respectable families, should have done such a thing.
They were also told that in spite of being so young, the youngsters had slept in a field on the following night after being too afraid to return home.
The pair had divided up the money and the girl had disposed of the purse in a potato field.
Both were placed on probation for three years and told to pay 7s 6d costs each.
Many striking miners who were living in the more rural areas of the St Helens district found temporary employment on farms during the dispute.
Such work did not pay as well as mining but it helped to keep the wolf from the door.
On the 31st the inquest on Alfred Birchall that was held at St Helens Hospital heard that the man was a colliery contractor but during the strike had been undertaking odd jobs on farms.
The 36-year-old lived in Ellaby Road in Rainhill and a few days ago he had ridden a horse into St Helens that needed to be shod.
The animal belonged to a Rainhill farmer called Smith and, for reasons that were not reported, Alfred was riding bareback and using a piece of an old clothes-line as a bridle.
While riding in Canal Street in St Helens, he came across his father, James Birchall.
After a short conversation with his dad, Alfred rode on for a further 50 yards and then tried to pull up his horse. But he overbalanced and fell on his head.
His father took him to his house in Nuttall Street and Alfred was later able to go home.
But he became seriously ill and was taken to St Helens Hospital where he died.
Mr Birchall had spent five years serving in the Field Artillery during the war and was said to have been used to riding horses.
His death had left a wife and six children in dire circumstances and the coroner, Samuel Brighouse, said he would make a donation to the family from his poor box.
Many violent men brutalised their wives over food.
It might be because their supper was not waiting for them when they came in from the pub late at night. Or they did not like the meal that was placed before them.
The worst types of wife-beating husbands were said to be the ones who weren't drunk when they committed their crimes.
And John Dillon sounds like the very worst kind of brutal husband. He was a St Helens man who had lived in Hardy Street but had moved to Wigan.
On September 2nd Dillon was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for attacking his wife.
And all because when he was served egg and bacon for his breakfast, he had been given a hen's egg instead of one from a duck.
Upon receiving his brekky and finding his chucky egg was from a hen, Dillon had flung the plate to the other side of the table and given his wife what was described as a savage blow in her eye.
Such treatment was described as having been a weekly occurrence and Dillon had on 25 previous occasions been convicted of offences, including violence, in St Helens courts.
Although his wife was granted a separation order, the maintenance allowance was only 5 shillings a week and Dillon could not pay even that while in prison.
Also on the 2nd, the Liverpool Daily Post reported how a £60,000 improvement was going to be made to the main road to Rainhill and Prescot.
The scheme was being undertaken in connection with plans to introduce what were then called "trackless trolley vehicles".
St Helens Corporation had obtained powers in an Act in 1921 to run trolley buses from St Helens through to Rainhill and Prescot.
However, the paper wrote that the project "hung fire", seemingly because of the expense of restoring the roads to their former condition.
Although negotiations with Lancashire County Council about running the trolleys in their territory had concluded, the Daily Post warned that considerable time would elapse before the trackless vehicles could be put on the road.
The surface of the main road now needed to be taken up and the redundant tram rails and setts removed and replaced by asphalt on a concrete base.
That would lead to the diversion of traffic for a number of weeks – something that people in the 1920s would not have been as used to as we are today.
The St Helens Tramways Committee was said to be considering designs for their trackless vehicles and proposed to adapt the present overhead equipment for powering trams to accommodate the trolleys, which were expected to be of the one-deck type.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 3rd and had a large advert from Lennon's, which throughout the 1920s had been greatly expanding its network of food stores.
Then run by Frank Lennon, the chain was centred on its premises in St Helens Market but had eight other shops around the town, as well as in Bolton and another in Leigh.
The firm was inviting customers to join their Xmas Savings Club and wrote:
"Our poultry last year was the talk of the town. This year they will be of the same excellent quality."
Lennon's was also promoting the "ideal bread" which they said was "simply delicious" with a 2lb loaf costing 4d.
They were another St Helens firm that used slightly odd straplines in its advertising, writing:
"What we've got we hold, and what we've not we're after."
"Delph Gives Up Its Dead" was the headline to a Reporter article on the death of William Gee.
The 55-year-old single man from Factory Row had been forced to give up his work at the nearby Ravenhead Glass Works due to an attack of dysentery, followed by nervous trouble.
His sister told the inquest into William's death that he appeared to be getting worse and had grown quite depressed over his health.
William's body was found in a delph or water-filled old quarry off Howards Lane in Eccleston with his legs tied by a scarf.
Tying limbs or filling pockets with heavy weights to expedite drowning prior to jumping into open water was not uncommon.
The authorities were getting very strict with what we would call benefit fraud and many dole cheats received prison sentences.
In St Helens Police Court on the 6th, Florence Hitchen of Pocket Nook Street received a big fine instead of being directly sent to prison for defrauding the Unemployment Exchange.
But if she could not find the £9 10 shillings penalty, she would have to serve 28 days instead.
Since January Mrs Hitchen had claimed that her husband was too ill to work and consequently had received 2s 6d a day for 98 days, a total of £12 5 shillings.
But not only had the woman's husband been employed at Pilkington's glassworks and earning about £2 15 shillings a week but she also ran her own little shop.
Some dole claimants got into trouble after not seemingly understanding the form that they had signed. But Mrs Hitchen admitted having committed a fraud.
She told the court that she had got into difficulties with her shop and someone had told her that if she said her husband was ill it would be easy to get some money, as many other people did the same.
Florence asked how she was expected to raise the fine now that her husband really was out of work.
But the Bench did not answer that question, as it was her problem after following very bad advice.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the shopbreaking boys, the Haydock drinking den, the strikebreaking miners at Southport Colliery in Parr that were stoned and the disgraceful condition of some council houses only weeks after being occupied.
They were not identified but one was a girl of twelve and the other a boy of eleven.
The magistrates expressed astonishment that children, from what they considered to have been respectable families, should have done such a thing.
They were also told that in spite of being so young, the youngsters had slept in a field on the following night after being too afraid to return home.
The pair had divided up the money and the girl had disposed of the purse in a potato field.
Both were placed on probation for three years and told to pay 7s 6d costs each.
Many striking miners who were living in the more rural areas of the St Helens district found temporary employment on farms during the dispute.
Such work did not pay as well as mining but it helped to keep the wolf from the door.
On the 31st the inquest on Alfred Birchall that was held at St Helens Hospital heard that the man was a colliery contractor but during the strike had been undertaking odd jobs on farms.
The 36-year-old lived in Ellaby Road in Rainhill and a few days ago he had ridden a horse into St Helens that needed to be shod.
The animal belonged to a Rainhill farmer called Smith and, for reasons that were not reported, Alfred was riding bareback and using a piece of an old clothes-line as a bridle.
While riding in Canal Street in St Helens, he came across his father, James Birchall.
After a short conversation with his dad, Alfred rode on for a further 50 yards and then tried to pull up his horse. But he overbalanced and fell on his head.
His father took him to his house in Nuttall Street and Alfred was later able to go home.
But he became seriously ill and was taken to St Helens Hospital where he died.
Mr Birchall had spent five years serving in the Field Artillery during the war and was said to have been used to riding horses.
His death had left a wife and six children in dire circumstances and the coroner, Samuel Brighouse, said he would make a donation to the family from his poor box.
Many violent men brutalised their wives over food.
It might be because their supper was not waiting for them when they came in from the pub late at night. Or they did not like the meal that was placed before them.
The worst types of wife-beating husbands were said to be the ones who weren't drunk when they committed their crimes.
And John Dillon sounds like the very worst kind of brutal husband. He was a St Helens man who had lived in Hardy Street but had moved to Wigan.
On September 2nd Dillon was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for attacking his wife.
And all because when he was served egg and bacon for his breakfast, he had been given a hen's egg instead of one from a duck.
Upon receiving his brekky and finding his chucky egg was from a hen, Dillon had flung the plate to the other side of the table and given his wife what was described as a savage blow in her eye.
Such treatment was described as having been a weekly occurrence and Dillon had on 25 previous occasions been convicted of offences, including violence, in St Helens courts.
Although his wife was granted a separation order, the maintenance allowance was only 5 shillings a week and Dillon could not pay even that while in prison.
Also on the 2nd, the Liverpool Daily Post reported how a £60,000 improvement was going to be made to the main road to Rainhill and Prescot.
The scheme was being undertaken in connection with plans to introduce what were then called "trackless trolley vehicles".
St Helens Corporation had obtained powers in an Act in 1921 to run trolley buses from St Helens through to Rainhill and Prescot.
However, the paper wrote that the project "hung fire", seemingly because of the expense of restoring the roads to their former condition.
Although negotiations with Lancashire County Council about running the trolleys in their territory had concluded, the Daily Post warned that considerable time would elapse before the trackless vehicles could be put on the road.
The surface of the main road now needed to be taken up and the redundant tram rails and setts removed and replaced by asphalt on a concrete base.
That would lead to the diversion of traffic for a number of weeks – something that people in the 1920s would not have been as used to as we are today.
The St Helens Tramways Committee was said to be considering designs for their trackless vehicles and proposed to adapt the present overhead equipment for powering trams to accommodate the trolleys, which were expected to be of the one-deck type.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 3rd and had a large advert from Lennon's, which throughout the 1920s had been greatly expanding its network of food stores.
Then run by Frank Lennon, the chain was centred on its premises in St Helens Market but had eight other shops around the town, as well as in Bolton and another in Leigh.
The firm was inviting customers to join their Xmas Savings Club and wrote:
"Our poultry last year was the talk of the town. This year they will be of the same excellent quality."
Lennon's was also promoting the "ideal bread" which they said was "simply delicious" with a 2lb loaf costing 4d.
They were another St Helens firm that used slightly odd straplines in its advertising, writing:
"What we've got we hold, and what we've not we're after."
"Delph Gives Up Its Dead" was the headline to a Reporter article on the death of William Gee.
The 55-year-old single man from Factory Row had been forced to give up his work at the nearby Ravenhead Glass Works due to an attack of dysentery, followed by nervous trouble.
His sister told the inquest into William's death that he appeared to be getting worse and had grown quite depressed over his health.
William's body was found in a delph or water-filled old quarry off Howards Lane in Eccleston with his legs tied by a scarf.
Tying limbs or filling pockets with heavy weights to expedite drowning prior to jumping into open water was not uncommon.
The authorities were getting very strict with what we would call benefit fraud and many dole cheats received prison sentences.
In St Helens Police Court on the 6th, Florence Hitchen of Pocket Nook Street received a big fine instead of being directly sent to prison for defrauding the Unemployment Exchange.
But if she could not find the £9 10 shillings penalty, she would have to serve 28 days instead.
Since January Mrs Hitchen had claimed that her husband was too ill to work and consequently had received 2s 6d a day for 98 days, a total of £12 5 shillings.
But not only had the woman's husband been employed at Pilkington's glassworks and earning about £2 15 shillings a week but she also ran her own little shop.
Some dole claimants got into trouble after not seemingly understanding the form that they had signed. But Mrs Hitchen admitted having committed a fraud.
She told the court that she had got into difficulties with her shop and someone had told her that if she said her husband was ill it would be easy to get some money, as many other people did the same.
Florence asked how she was expected to raise the fine now that her husband really was out of work.
But the Bench did not answer that question, as it was her problem after following very bad advice.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the shopbreaking boys, the Haydock drinking den, the strikebreaking miners at Southport Colliery in Parr that were stoned and the disgraceful condition of some council houses only weeks after being occupied.