150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 1 - 7 SEPTEMBER 1875
This week's many stories include the Dentons Green pear thefts, the start of the temperance fight against the huge number of St Helens pubs, a call for the building of a good approach road to the new Town Hall, the rejoicing at the foundation stone laying of a new Methodist church and the claim of sexual assault in Union Street that was dismissed through the delay in the victim reporting it.
We begin on September 1st when a tea party and concert took place to celebrate the creation of an enlarged Prescot Catholic School.
The St Helens Newspaper was published on the 4th and, in an editorial, called for a new street to be created in the town centre. They wrote that although the new "uniquely handsome and substantial" Town Hall was fast approaching completion, there was no proper approach road to it. Hardshaw Street was considered the best of the present bunch but they did not think it was as good as it ought to be.
And they did not consider Barrow Street any use at all as an approach road to the Town Hall, writing: "Barrow street is out of the question, and will never make a good one, however much the buildings in it may be improved. Cotham street is a good enough street of the kind, but it can only be deemed a side street, and does not afford a good view of the main part of the building."
The Newspaper's solution was to create a "splendid and important addition to our public thoroughfares" by taking down a couple of shops and creating a "good broad street" in line with the upper part of Bridge Street. The paper added that the town was short of good streets in its central portion and such a new road built as they suggested would "improve a part of the town which needs it much, and which is at present little more than a nuisance."
The Newspaper also wrote that the foundation stone laying for a new Primitive Methodist Church had taken place "amid every demonstration of rejoicing". The new chapel was replacing their old one and would be sited on the corner of Kirkland Street and Westfield Street. The paper said when completed, the "sanctuary" would be an "architectural adornment" to that portion of the town.
During the last 25 years of the 19th century, temperance groups in St Helens developed real clout. They successfully fought a campaign that considerably reduced the number of licensed drinking houses in the town. And in 1875 there was an awful lot of them. 337 to be precise – comprising 167 beerhouses and 170 public houses that were able to serve spirits and wine, as well as beer. Out of a population of 52,000, there was then one drinking house to every 155 inhabitants.
The fight back against the drinking houses in St Helens arguably began in 1875 when this week a public meeting was held to formulate a battle plan. On the following day the annual Brewster Sessions were going to be held in St Helens County Court and the meeting was told that there would be 11 applications for new licences. The temperance groups wanted to reduce the number of existing licences and certainly not allow any new ones to be granted.
When the Brewster Sessions took place, the courtroom was crowded. Fifty delegates from meetings organised by the temperance societies marched to the court in East Street from the old Town Hall. But they had essentially been misinformed. There were not 11 new pubs and beerhouses applying for licences. Instead, almost all applications were from existing licensees applying for extensions.
One house in Market Street wanted to have a billiard room in their house but most wanted to be upgraded from a beerhouse to a full licence. For example, the Red Cat in Crank had lost its ability to sell spirits a couple of years ago after the then landlord was convicted of selling drink out of permitted hours. Now, under a new landlord, they wanted their full licence reinstating. But they and most of the other applicants were disappointed and had their applications refused.
The magistrates were obliged to renew all other licences for houses that had no convictions during the past year. But they said that applications from licensees that were on their "black list" after being convicted and fined for various offences committed during the past year would be considered at a later date.
Although not particularly successful on that day, the temperance groups had established a marker. It would take time for their campaign to have an effect but, by the early 20th century, the number of pubs in the town had considerably decreased.
In St Helens Petty Sessions this week, George Dingsdale was charged with having stolen 17 pears valued at 3d, in company with another man not in custody. They had been taken from the gardens of Henry Hall, a magistrate from Dentons Green Lane who, would you believe, was sitting on the bench during the hearing! Although Hall played no part in adjudicating on the case, it is hard to imagine that his presence as a senior magistrate did not have some influence on the sentencing.
PC John Long gave evidence that after a previous theft from Mr Hall's garden, he had been stationed there on the previous Friday evening to keep watch for pear thieves. Just before 2 am he saw two men climb over a gate and go into the garden and immediately approach the pear tree. One of them commenced shaking the tree and the other picked up its fruit as it fell. The two men then placed the pears into a bag that resembled a pillowcase.
PC Long told the court that at that point he came out of his hiding place and proceeded to knock both men down. But in securing George Dingsdale, his companion got away with the bag and its contents. However, Dingsdale had 17 pears stashed in his pockets, suggesting they were either little pears or he had big pockets!
Superintendent James Ludlam, the head of St Helens police, told the magistrates that he had received several complaints of fruit and vegetables having been stolen and the St Helens Newspaper quoted him as saying "no garden produce is free from depredations of this kind". That said, extremely few houses in St Helens had gardens then. But for stealing just threepence worth of pears, George Dingsdale was sent to prison for a month.
There were many deaths 150 years ago from falling down the stairs. Most houses in St Helens did not have a bannister or rail to grasp and, of course, there was no electric light switch to turn on before starting a downward journey. Many would instead grip a lighted candle or some lamp, which made their trip down the stairs even more unsteady.
Just why Ann Flanagan had gone down the stairs of the house in Parr Street (pictured above) that she was lodging in was not known. Perhaps it was to go to the outside loo or get a drink? But the 67-year-old had gone to bed at 10pm and two hours later was heard walking in her room and immediately afterwards she collapsed down the stairs, hitting her head against a door. Ann's inquest took place at the Lorne Hotel in Parr Street and the jury returned the usual verdict of accidental death.
These days there seems to be an understanding why claims of sexual assault can be made some time after the event took place. But not in 1875 when Joseph Flood's solicitor said the twelve days that it had taken Mary Carlton to take out a summons against his client was "surrounded by suspicion". It was claimed that Flood had gone to the door of Mary's house in Union Street in the late afternoon thinking she was alone. That was after having seen her husband and one of their lodgers go out.
But another lodger was in the house and he was described as having been an "eye-witness and ear-witness to all that took place". As usual, no details of what exactly occurred were published in the paper, other than it being a "most gross act of indecency to her". But the 12-day delay counted against Mary and some days earlier she had also summoned to court several of her neighbours for using defamatory language.
That was, presumably, for gossiping about what had occurred but those cases had been dismissed. And so the magistrates decided to dismiss this one as well, in spite of the eyewitness (and earwitness) testimony that supported her charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the tobacco manufactory that was coming to town, the fake Liverpool doctor that got a Rainhill housemaid pregnant, the melee in the Mechanics Arms and the curious attempt at an indecent assault at Whiston.
We begin on September 1st when a tea party and concert took place to celebrate the creation of an enlarged Prescot Catholic School.
The St Helens Newspaper was published on the 4th and, in an editorial, called for a new street to be created in the town centre. They wrote that although the new "uniquely handsome and substantial" Town Hall was fast approaching completion, there was no proper approach road to it. Hardshaw Street was considered the best of the present bunch but they did not think it was as good as it ought to be.
And they did not consider Barrow Street any use at all as an approach road to the Town Hall, writing: "Barrow street is out of the question, and will never make a good one, however much the buildings in it may be improved. Cotham street is a good enough street of the kind, but it can only be deemed a side street, and does not afford a good view of the main part of the building."
The Newspaper's solution was to create a "splendid and important addition to our public thoroughfares" by taking down a couple of shops and creating a "good broad street" in line with the upper part of Bridge Street. The paper added that the town was short of good streets in its central portion and such a new road built as they suggested would "improve a part of the town which needs it much, and which is at present little more than a nuisance."
The Newspaper also wrote that the foundation stone laying for a new Primitive Methodist Church had taken place "amid every demonstration of rejoicing". The new chapel was replacing their old one and would be sited on the corner of Kirkland Street and Westfield Street. The paper said when completed, the "sanctuary" would be an "architectural adornment" to that portion of the town.
During the last 25 years of the 19th century, temperance groups in St Helens developed real clout. They successfully fought a campaign that considerably reduced the number of licensed drinking houses in the town. And in 1875 there was an awful lot of them. 337 to be precise – comprising 167 beerhouses and 170 public houses that were able to serve spirits and wine, as well as beer. Out of a population of 52,000, there was then one drinking house to every 155 inhabitants.
The fight back against the drinking houses in St Helens arguably began in 1875 when this week a public meeting was held to formulate a battle plan. On the following day the annual Brewster Sessions were going to be held in St Helens County Court and the meeting was told that there would be 11 applications for new licences. The temperance groups wanted to reduce the number of existing licences and certainly not allow any new ones to be granted.
When the Brewster Sessions took place, the courtroom was crowded. Fifty delegates from meetings organised by the temperance societies marched to the court in East Street from the old Town Hall. But they had essentially been misinformed. There were not 11 new pubs and beerhouses applying for licences. Instead, almost all applications were from existing licensees applying for extensions.
One house in Market Street wanted to have a billiard room in their house but most wanted to be upgraded from a beerhouse to a full licence. For example, the Red Cat in Crank had lost its ability to sell spirits a couple of years ago after the then landlord was convicted of selling drink out of permitted hours. Now, under a new landlord, they wanted their full licence reinstating. But they and most of the other applicants were disappointed and had their applications refused.
The magistrates were obliged to renew all other licences for houses that had no convictions during the past year. But they said that applications from licensees that were on their "black list" after being convicted and fined for various offences committed during the past year would be considered at a later date.
Although not particularly successful on that day, the temperance groups had established a marker. It would take time for their campaign to have an effect but, by the early 20th century, the number of pubs in the town had considerably decreased.
In St Helens Petty Sessions this week, George Dingsdale was charged with having stolen 17 pears valued at 3d, in company with another man not in custody. They had been taken from the gardens of Henry Hall, a magistrate from Dentons Green Lane who, would you believe, was sitting on the bench during the hearing! Although Hall played no part in adjudicating on the case, it is hard to imagine that his presence as a senior magistrate did not have some influence on the sentencing.
PC John Long gave evidence that after a previous theft from Mr Hall's garden, he had been stationed there on the previous Friday evening to keep watch for pear thieves. Just before 2 am he saw two men climb over a gate and go into the garden and immediately approach the pear tree. One of them commenced shaking the tree and the other picked up its fruit as it fell. The two men then placed the pears into a bag that resembled a pillowcase.
PC Long told the court that at that point he came out of his hiding place and proceeded to knock both men down. But in securing George Dingsdale, his companion got away with the bag and its contents. However, Dingsdale had 17 pears stashed in his pockets, suggesting they were either little pears or he had big pockets!
Superintendent James Ludlam, the head of St Helens police, told the magistrates that he had received several complaints of fruit and vegetables having been stolen and the St Helens Newspaper quoted him as saying "no garden produce is free from depredations of this kind". That said, extremely few houses in St Helens had gardens then. But for stealing just threepence worth of pears, George Dingsdale was sent to prison for a month.
There were many deaths 150 years ago from falling down the stairs. Most houses in St Helens did not have a bannister or rail to grasp and, of course, there was no electric light switch to turn on before starting a downward journey. Many would instead grip a lighted candle or some lamp, which made their trip down the stairs even more unsteady.
These days there seems to be an understanding why claims of sexual assault can be made some time after the event took place. But not in 1875 when Joseph Flood's solicitor said the twelve days that it had taken Mary Carlton to take out a summons against his client was "surrounded by suspicion". It was claimed that Flood had gone to the door of Mary's house in Union Street in the late afternoon thinking she was alone. That was after having seen her husband and one of their lodgers go out.
But another lodger was in the house and he was described as having been an "eye-witness and ear-witness to all that took place". As usual, no details of what exactly occurred were published in the paper, other than it being a "most gross act of indecency to her". But the 12-day delay counted against Mary and some days earlier she had also summoned to court several of her neighbours for using defamatory language.
That was, presumably, for gossiping about what had occurred but those cases had been dismissed. And so the magistrates decided to dismiss this one as well, in spite of the eyewitness (and earwitness) testimony that supported her charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the tobacco manufactory that was coming to town, the fake Liverpool doctor that got a Rainhill housemaid pregnant, the melee in the Mechanics Arms and the curious attempt at an indecent assault at Whiston.
This week's many stories include the Dentons Green pear thefts, the start of the temperance fight against the huge number of St Helens pubs, a call for the building of a good approach road to the new Town Hall, the rejoicing at the foundation stone laying of a new Methodist church and the claim of sexual assault in Union Street that was dismissed through the delay in the victim reporting it.
We begin on September 1st when a tea party and concert took place to celebrate the creation of an enlarged Prescot Catholic School.
The St Helens Newspaper was published on the 4th and, in an editorial, called for a new street to be created in the town centre.
They wrote that although the new "uniquely handsome and substantial" Town Hall was fast approaching completion, there was no proper approach road to it.
Hardshaw Street was considered the best of the present bunch but they did not think it was as good as it ought to be.
And they did not consider Barrow Street any use at all as an approach road to the Town Hall, writing:
"Barrow street is out of the question, and will never make a good one, however much the buildings in it may be improved. Cotham street is a good enough street of the kind, but it can only be deemed a side street, and does not afford a good view of the main part of the building."
The Newspaper's solution was to create a "splendid and important addition to our public thoroughfares" by taking down a couple of shops and creating a "good broad street" in line with the upper part of Bridge Street.
The paper added that the town was short of good streets in its central portion and such a new road built as they suggested would "improve a part of the town which needs it much, and which is at present little more than a nuisance."
The Newspaper also wrote that the foundation stone laying for a new Primitive Methodist Church had taken place "amid every demonstration of rejoicing".
The new chapel was replacing their old one and would be sited on the corner of Kirkland Street and Westfield Street.
The paper said when completed, the "sanctuary" would be an "architectural adornment" to that portion of the town.
During the last 25 years of the 19th century, temperance groups in St Helens developed real clout.
They successfully fought a campaign that considerably reduced the number of licensed drinking houses in the town.
And in 1875 there was an awful lot of them. 337 to be precise – comprising 167 beerhouses and 170 public houses that were able to serve spirits and wine, as well as beer.
Out of a population of 52,000, there was then one drinking house to every 155 inhabitants.
The fight back against the drinking houses in St Helens arguably began in 1875 when this week a public meeting was held to formulate a battle plan.
On the following day the annual Brewster Sessions were going to be held in St Helens County Court and the meeting was told that there would be 11 applications for new licences.
The temperance groups wanted to reduce the number of existing licences and certainly not allow any new ones to be granted.
When the Brewster Sessions took place, the courtroom was crowded. Fifty delegates from meetings organised by the temperance societies marched to the court in East Street from the old Town Hall.
But they had essentially been misinformed. There were not 11 new pubs and beerhouses applying for licences.
Instead, almost all applications were from existing licensees applying for extensions.
One house in Market Street wanted to have a billiard room in their house but most wanted to be upgraded from a beerhouse to a full licence.
For example, the Red Cat in Crank had lost its ability to sell spirits a couple of years ago after the then landlord was convicted of selling drink out of permitted hours.
Now, under a new landlord, they wanted their full licence reinstating.
But they and most of the other applicants were disappointed and had their applications refused.
The magistrates were obliged to renew all other licences for houses that had no convictions during the past year.
But they said that applications from licensees that were on their "black list" after being convicted and fined for various offences committed during the past year would be considered at a later date.
Although not particularly successful on that day, the temperance groups had established a marker.
It would take time for their campaign to have an effect but, by the early 20th century, the number of pubs in the town had considerably decreased.
In St Helens Petty Sessions this week, George Dingsdale was charged with having stolen 17 pears valued at 3d, in company with another man not in custody.
They had been taken from the gardens of Henry Hall, a magistrate from Dentons Green Lane who, would you believe, was sitting on the bench during the hearing!
Although Hall played no part in adjudicating on the case, it is hard to imagine that his presence as a senior magistrate did not have some influence on the sentencing.
PC John Long gave evidence that after a previous theft from Mr Hall's garden, he had been stationed there on the previous Friday evening to keep watch for pear thieves.
Just before 2 am he saw two men climb over a gate and go into the garden and immediately approach the pear tree.
One of them commenced shaking the tree and the other picked up its fruit as it fell.
The two men then placed the pears into a bag that resembled a pillowcase.
PC Long told the court that at that point he came out of his hiding place and proceeded to knock both men down.
But in securing George Dingsdale, his companion got away with the bag and its contents.
However, Dingsdale had 17 pears stashed in his pockets, suggesting they were either little pears or he had big pockets!
Superintendent James Ludlam, the head of St Helens police, told the magistrates that he had received several complaints of fruit and vegetables having been stolen and the St Helens Newspaper quoted him as saying "no garden produce is free from depredations of this kind".
That said, extremely few houses in St Helens had gardens then. But for stealing just threepence worth of pears, George Dingsdale was sent to prison for a month.
There were many deaths 150 years ago from falling down the stairs. Most houses in St Helens did not have a bannister or rail to grasp and, of course, there was no electric light switch to turn on before starting a downward journey.
Many would instead grip a lighted candle or some lamp, which made their trip down the stairs even more unsteady.
Just why Ann Flanagan had gone down the stairs of the house in Parr Street (pictured above) that she was lodging in was not known. Perhaps it was to go to the outside loo or get a drink?
But the 67-year-old had gone to bed at 10pm and two hours later was heard walking in her room and immediately afterwards she collapsed down the stairs, hitting her head against a door.
Ann's inquest took place at the Lorne Hotel in Parr Street and the jury returned the usual verdict of accidental death.
These days there seems to be an understanding why claims of sexual assault can be made some time after the event took place.
But not in 1875 when Joseph Flood's solicitor said the twelve days that it had taken Mary Carlton to take out a summons against his client was "surrounded by suspicion".
It was claimed that Flood had gone to the door of Mary's house in Union Street in the late afternoon thinking she was alone.
That was after having seen her husband and one of their lodgers go out.
But another lodger was in the house and he was described as having been an "eye-witness and ear-witness to all that took place".
As usual, no details of what exactly occurred were published in the paper, other than it being a "most gross act of indecency to her".
But the 12-day delay counted against Mary and some days earlier she had also summoned to court several of her neighbours for using defamatory language.
That was, presumably, for gossiping about what had occurred but those cases had been dismissed.
And so the magistrates decided to dismiss this one as well, in spite of the eyewitness (and earwitness) testimony that supported her charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the tobacco manufactory that was coming to town, the fake Liverpool doctor that got a Rainhill housemaid pregnant, the melee in the Mechanics Arms and the curious attempt at an indecent assault at Whiston.
We begin on September 1st when a tea party and concert took place to celebrate the creation of an enlarged Prescot Catholic School.
The St Helens Newspaper was published on the 4th and, in an editorial, called for a new street to be created in the town centre.
They wrote that although the new "uniquely handsome and substantial" Town Hall was fast approaching completion, there was no proper approach road to it.
Hardshaw Street was considered the best of the present bunch but they did not think it was as good as it ought to be.
And they did not consider Barrow Street any use at all as an approach road to the Town Hall, writing:
"Barrow street is out of the question, and will never make a good one, however much the buildings in it may be improved. Cotham street is a good enough street of the kind, but it can only be deemed a side street, and does not afford a good view of the main part of the building."
The Newspaper's solution was to create a "splendid and important addition to our public thoroughfares" by taking down a couple of shops and creating a "good broad street" in line with the upper part of Bridge Street.
The paper added that the town was short of good streets in its central portion and such a new road built as they suggested would "improve a part of the town which needs it much, and which is at present little more than a nuisance."
The Newspaper also wrote that the foundation stone laying for a new Primitive Methodist Church had taken place "amid every demonstration of rejoicing".
The new chapel was replacing their old one and would be sited on the corner of Kirkland Street and Westfield Street.
The paper said when completed, the "sanctuary" would be an "architectural adornment" to that portion of the town.
During the last 25 years of the 19th century, temperance groups in St Helens developed real clout.
They successfully fought a campaign that considerably reduced the number of licensed drinking houses in the town.
And in 1875 there was an awful lot of them. 337 to be precise – comprising 167 beerhouses and 170 public houses that were able to serve spirits and wine, as well as beer.
Out of a population of 52,000, there was then one drinking house to every 155 inhabitants.
The fight back against the drinking houses in St Helens arguably began in 1875 when this week a public meeting was held to formulate a battle plan.
On the following day the annual Brewster Sessions were going to be held in St Helens County Court and the meeting was told that there would be 11 applications for new licences.
The temperance groups wanted to reduce the number of existing licences and certainly not allow any new ones to be granted.
When the Brewster Sessions took place, the courtroom was crowded. Fifty delegates from meetings organised by the temperance societies marched to the court in East Street from the old Town Hall.
But they had essentially been misinformed. There were not 11 new pubs and beerhouses applying for licences.
Instead, almost all applications were from existing licensees applying for extensions.
One house in Market Street wanted to have a billiard room in their house but most wanted to be upgraded from a beerhouse to a full licence.
For example, the Red Cat in Crank had lost its ability to sell spirits a couple of years ago after the then landlord was convicted of selling drink out of permitted hours.
Now, under a new landlord, they wanted their full licence reinstating.
But they and most of the other applicants were disappointed and had their applications refused.
The magistrates were obliged to renew all other licences for houses that had no convictions during the past year.
But they said that applications from licensees that were on their "black list" after being convicted and fined for various offences committed during the past year would be considered at a later date.
Although not particularly successful on that day, the temperance groups had established a marker.
It would take time for their campaign to have an effect but, by the early 20th century, the number of pubs in the town had considerably decreased.
In St Helens Petty Sessions this week, George Dingsdale was charged with having stolen 17 pears valued at 3d, in company with another man not in custody.
They had been taken from the gardens of Henry Hall, a magistrate from Dentons Green Lane who, would you believe, was sitting on the bench during the hearing!
Although Hall played no part in adjudicating on the case, it is hard to imagine that his presence as a senior magistrate did not have some influence on the sentencing.
PC John Long gave evidence that after a previous theft from Mr Hall's garden, he had been stationed there on the previous Friday evening to keep watch for pear thieves.
Just before 2 am he saw two men climb over a gate and go into the garden and immediately approach the pear tree.
One of them commenced shaking the tree and the other picked up its fruit as it fell.
The two men then placed the pears into a bag that resembled a pillowcase.
PC Long told the court that at that point he came out of his hiding place and proceeded to knock both men down.
But in securing George Dingsdale, his companion got away with the bag and its contents.
However, Dingsdale had 17 pears stashed in his pockets, suggesting they were either little pears or he had big pockets!
Superintendent James Ludlam, the head of St Helens police, told the magistrates that he had received several complaints of fruit and vegetables having been stolen and the St Helens Newspaper quoted him as saying "no garden produce is free from depredations of this kind".
That said, extremely few houses in St Helens had gardens then. But for stealing just threepence worth of pears, George Dingsdale was sent to prison for a month.
There were many deaths 150 years ago from falling down the stairs. Most houses in St Helens did not have a bannister or rail to grasp and, of course, there was no electric light switch to turn on before starting a downward journey.
Many would instead grip a lighted candle or some lamp, which made their trip down the stairs even more unsteady.
But the 67-year-old had gone to bed at 10pm and two hours later was heard walking in her room and immediately afterwards she collapsed down the stairs, hitting her head against a door.
Ann's inquest took place at the Lorne Hotel in Parr Street and the jury returned the usual verdict of accidental death.
These days there seems to be an understanding why claims of sexual assault can be made some time after the event took place.
But not in 1875 when Joseph Flood's solicitor said the twelve days that it had taken Mary Carlton to take out a summons against his client was "surrounded by suspicion".
It was claimed that Flood had gone to the door of Mary's house in Union Street in the late afternoon thinking she was alone.
That was after having seen her husband and one of their lodgers go out.
But another lodger was in the house and he was described as having been an "eye-witness and ear-witness to all that took place".
As usual, no details of what exactly occurred were published in the paper, other than it being a "most gross act of indecency to her".
But the 12-day delay counted against Mary and some days earlier she had also summoned to court several of her neighbours for using defamatory language.
That was, presumably, for gossiping about what had occurred but those cases had been dismissed.
And so the magistrates decided to dismiss this one as well, in spite of the eyewitness (and earwitness) testimony that supported her charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the tobacco manufactory that was coming to town, the fake Liverpool doctor that got a Rainhill housemaid pregnant, the melee in the Mechanics Arms and the curious attempt at an indecent assault at Whiston.