150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (2nd - 8th MAY 1872)
This week's stories include a review of the annual May Day horse parade in St Helens, the town's joiners go on strike, the miners' nude road racing, the brainless theft at St Helens railway station and the warring women of Cowley Hill.
We begin on the 4th when the St Helens Newspaper described how May Day had been celebrated in the town. Referring to the day as: "The time honoured festival which marks the opening of the merry month of May", the paper went on to describe the long lunchtime parade of horses and carts. That was the highlight of May Day, which was one of the most important of the year in St Helens and it wouldn't be until the late 1880s that the day developed socialist connotations. Much effort was made to decorate the horses with ribbons and flowers and in "making their trappings look gay and bright in the sunshine", as the paper put it.
The vehicles assembled in Church Street in front of the usual large crowds. The Newspaper wrote: "The display was one of the best, if not the best, which has taken place in St. Helens; and the horses and their drivers made a very creditable appearance. As a striking contrast Mr. Peter Spencer, knacker, carted about the streets a dead horse."
Well, you can't flog a dead horse but you can, apparently, take one around the streets in a parade to promote your new knacker's yard! "Knacker" Peter Spencer had opened his yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, last month but within a few weeks it had burnt down. But he was now back in business and had come up with a stunt to let everyone know.
During the evening of May Day, the twenty carters that had paraded on behalf of Greenall's St Helens Brewery sat down to supper at the White Hart Inn in Church Street. It was always wise to suck up to your boss and one of the carters that acted as chairman, proposed the toast of Gilbert Greenall, as the Newspaper described: "The Chairman then proposed the health of Mr. Gilbert Greenall, upon whom he passed a high eulogium as a kind and considerate master, a good citizen, and a generous friend."
When coal miners raced each other they tended to simply strip off and run. If the police could run faster they would end up in court. So at the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 6th, Patrick Collins and William Radcliffe were charged with running a race in Gerard Street (which used to be near College Street) in a state of nudity and were fined one shilling each, plus court costs.
There was yet another case of warring neighbours described in court when Mary McDonald and Bridget Rock were charged with assaulting Margaret Case. The incident had occurred at her home in Union Street in Cowley Hill – not far from where the streaking miners had been strutting their stuff. Mrs Case said the 21-year-old Rock had turned up at her house and threatened to inflict serious harm on her if she ventured outside. Then Mrs McDonald did the same thing and also called her "very bad names". The two neighbours subsequently returned to her door on several occasions "threatening, defying, and abusing" Mrs Case until she claimed she was afraid to go out.
However, the two women defendants had hired hard-nosed solicitor Thomas Swift to defend them. In cross-examination Mrs Case was forced to reveal that she had lived in several streets in St Helens at different times and had rowed with her neighbours on each occasion. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "Of course she was blameless always, and the victim of the belligerency of others. Union street, where she now lives, attractive as is the title, yielded as little harmony as the rest. The case was dismissed on a technical objection, but the Chairman told the defendants to keep to their own houses, for it was quite clear that abusive language had been used."
Dennis Feigh had been mentioned quite a few times in these articles. The Newspaper described how the incorrigible character had appeared in court this week for about the 60th time charged with drunkenness. When Dennis discovered that the total amount of his fine and costs came to 14 shillings, instead of the usual 9s 6d, the Newspaper said he'd asked the Bench if the "price" had gone up.
What I call brainless thefts were those committed in the 19th century where it was obvious who the offender had been. I blame the poor levels of education at the time for individuals not seemingly realising that they would quickly be detected. And as most thefts resulted in a prison sentence and loss of their job, their ignorance would likely have life-changing consequences for them.
John Manley was this week's brainless idiot who appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 6th charged with stealing a sovereign and a bunch of keys. The 17-year-old railway clerk lived in Peasley Cross Lane and owed grocer Benjamin Tickle for 18 shillings worth of goods that he'd bought on credit. Abraham Perkins was the Chief Clerk in the goods department at St Helens railway station and lodged with the boy and his widowed mother. On one morning after the pair had arrived at work, Abraham gave John his keys to open the station office while he attended to something else.
Security over the daily takings at the station was very lax. After the cash was counted at night, it was placed in a locked bag and then stuck away in an office drawer. But the keys to the bag were also placed inside the drawer! John knew this and while briefly alone in the office was able to use the second set of keys to open the bag and remove £1. That would allow him to pay off his grocery debt and he later chucked the keys to the bag into the canal. Later that day the takings of £23 were despatched to the railway office in Liverpool and, of course, the bag was found to be £1 short.
It took little investigation to work out that John was the guilty party and he immediately confessed to the crime. At his trial his solicitor claimed that John had bought the goods to help out neighbours who were suffering great poverty and had not spent any of the cash on himself. And so if true, his act was commendable but still brainless as it had serious consequences for himself. The boy had spent four years in the employment of the railway company and had been well thought of. John wept in the dock as the Chairman of the Bench told him his previous good character and the fact that he had only stolen £1 out of the £23 of takings meant he would not receive a lengthy gaol term. But he was still sent to prison for a month.
These days, of course, trade union negotiators usually ask for high rises in their members' rates of pay; the employers in response offer a low increase and the two sides eventually settle somewhere in the lower middle area. In the 1870s it was often felt wiser to request small pay rises that their employers were thought able to afford and politely try and persuade them of the merits of their claim. Many bosses were affronted by their workforce making demands and would often refuse to negotiate – and so a tactful, respectful approach was important.
When the joiners of St Helens collectively asked for a pay rise earlier this year, it had only been for an additional halfpenny per hour that would increase their hourly pay rate to 7d. They also requested a reduction in their long working hours – but only for one hour, from 55 to 54 hours per week. An additional allowance of 4d per day was also requested when employed at chemical works. If all that was asked for had been granted, the men would still only have been earning around sixteen shillings a week – working ten-hour weekdays and Saturday mornings.
The joiners had submitted their request ten weeks ago but their employers had ignored it. Usually no reason would be given but the builders and carpentry bosses cited a technicality, claiming their rules concerned with terms and conditions of employment required six months notice of proposed changes. Their workforce disagreed and this week around seventy St Helens joiners went on strike.
Next week's stories will include the giddy girl coal thief accused of stealing from College Street, the violent imbecile at Whiston Workhouse, the slandering in a Rainford coal mine and why the merry month of May was proving not so merry in St Helens.
We begin on the 4th when the St Helens Newspaper described how May Day had been celebrated in the town. Referring to the day as: "The time honoured festival which marks the opening of the merry month of May", the paper went on to describe the long lunchtime parade of horses and carts. That was the highlight of May Day, which was one of the most important of the year in St Helens and it wouldn't be until the late 1880s that the day developed socialist connotations. Much effort was made to decorate the horses with ribbons and flowers and in "making their trappings look gay and bright in the sunshine", as the paper put it.
The vehicles assembled in Church Street in front of the usual large crowds. The Newspaper wrote: "The display was one of the best, if not the best, which has taken place in St. Helens; and the horses and their drivers made a very creditable appearance. As a striking contrast Mr. Peter Spencer, knacker, carted about the streets a dead horse."
Well, you can't flog a dead horse but you can, apparently, take one around the streets in a parade to promote your new knacker's yard! "Knacker" Peter Spencer had opened his yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, last month but within a few weeks it had burnt down. But he was now back in business and had come up with a stunt to let everyone know.
During the evening of May Day, the twenty carters that had paraded on behalf of Greenall's St Helens Brewery sat down to supper at the White Hart Inn in Church Street. It was always wise to suck up to your boss and one of the carters that acted as chairman, proposed the toast of Gilbert Greenall, as the Newspaper described: "The Chairman then proposed the health of Mr. Gilbert Greenall, upon whom he passed a high eulogium as a kind and considerate master, a good citizen, and a generous friend."
When coal miners raced each other they tended to simply strip off and run. If the police could run faster they would end up in court. So at the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 6th, Patrick Collins and William Radcliffe were charged with running a race in Gerard Street (which used to be near College Street) in a state of nudity and were fined one shilling each, plus court costs.
There was yet another case of warring neighbours described in court when Mary McDonald and Bridget Rock were charged with assaulting Margaret Case. The incident had occurred at her home in Union Street in Cowley Hill – not far from where the streaking miners had been strutting their stuff. Mrs Case said the 21-year-old Rock had turned up at her house and threatened to inflict serious harm on her if she ventured outside. Then Mrs McDonald did the same thing and also called her "very bad names". The two neighbours subsequently returned to her door on several occasions "threatening, defying, and abusing" Mrs Case until she claimed she was afraid to go out.
However, the two women defendants had hired hard-nosed solicitor Thomas Swift to defend them. In cross-examination Mrs Case was forced to reveal that she had lived in several streets in St Helens at different times and had rowed with her neighbours on each occasion. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "Of course she was blameless always, and the victim of the belligerency of others. Union street, where she now lives, attractive as is the title, yielded as little harmony as the rest. The case was dismissed on a technical objection, but the Chairman told the defendants to keep to their own houses, for it was quite clear that abusive language had been used."
What I call brainless thefts were those committed in the 19th century where it was obvious who the offender had been. I blame the poor levels of education at the time for individuals not seemingly realising that they would quickly be detected. And as most thefts resulted in a prison sentence and loss of their job, their ignorance would likely have life-changing consequences for them.
John Manley was this week's brainless idiot who appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 6th charged with stealing a sovereign and a bunch of keys. The 17-year-old railway clerk lived in Peasley Cross Lane and owed grocer Benjamin Tickle for 18 shillings worth of goods that he'd bought on credit. Abraham Perkins was the Chief Clerk in the goods department at St Helens railway station and lodged with the boy and his widowed mother. On one morning after the pair had arrived at work, Abraham gave John his keys to open the station office while he attended to something else.
Security over the daily takings at the station was very lax. After the cash was counted at night, it was placed in a locked bag and then stuck away in an office drawer. But the keys to the bag were also placed inside the drawer! John knew this and while briefly alone in the office was able to use the second set of keys to open the bag and remove £1. That would allow him to pay off his grocery debt and he later chucked the keys to the bag into the canal. Later that day the takings of £23 were despatched to the railway office in Liverpool and, of course, the bag was found to be £1 short.
It took little investigation to work out that John was the guilty party and he immediately confessed to the crime. At his trial his solicitor claimed that John had bought the goods to help out neighbours who were suffering great poverty and had not spent any of the cash on himself. And so if true, his act was commendable but still brainless as it had serious consequences for himself. The boy had spent four years in the employment of the railway company and had been well thought of. John wept in the dock as the Chairman of the Bench told him his previous good character and the fact that he had only stolen £1 out of the £23 of takings meant he would not receive a lengthy gaol term. But he was still sent to prison for a month.
These days, of course, trade union negotiators usually ask for high rises in their members' rates of pay; the employers in response offer a low increase and the two sides eventually settle somewhere in the lower middle area. In the 1870s it was often felt wiser to request small pay rises that their employers were thought able to afford and politely try and persuade them of the merits of their claim. Many bosses were affronted by their workforce making demands and would often refuse to negotiate – and so a tactful, respectful approach was important.
When the joiners of St Helens collectively asked for a pay rise earlier this year, it had only been for an additional halfpenny per hour that would increase their hourly pay rate to 7d. They also requested a reduction in their long working hours – but only for one hour, from 55 to 54 hours per week. An additional allowance of 4d per day was also requested when employed at chemical works. If all that was asked for had been granted, the men would still only have been earning around sixteen shillings a week – working ten-hour weekdays and Saturday mornings.
The joiners had submitted their request ten weeks ago but their employers had ignored it. Usually no reason would be given but the builders and carpentry bosses cited a technicality, claiming their rules concerned with terms and conditions of employment required six months notice of proposed changes. Their workforce disagreed and this week around seventy St Helens joiners went on strike.
Next week's stories will include the giddy girl coal thief accused of stealing from College Street, the violent imbecile at Whiston Workhouse, the slandering in a Rainford coal mine and why the merry month of May was proving not so merry in St Helens.
This week's stories include a review of the annual May Day horse parade in St Helens, the town's joiners go on strike, the miners' nude road racing, the brainless theft at St Helens railway station and the warring women of Cowley Hill.
We begin on the 4th when the St Helens Newspaper described how May Day had been celebrated in the town.
Referring to the day as: "The time honoured festival which marks the opening of the merry month of May", the paper went on to describe the long lunchtime parade of horses and carts.
That was the highlight of May Day, which was one of the most important of the year in St Helens and it wouldn't be until the late 1880s that the day developed socialist connotations.
Much effort was made to decorate the horses with ribbons and flowers and in "making their trappings look gay and bright in the sunshine", as the paper put it.
The vehicles assembled in Church Street in front of the usual large crowds. The Newspaper wrote:
"The display was one of the best, if not the best, which has taken place in St. Helens; and the horses and their drivers made a very creditable appearance. As a striking contrast Mr. Peter Spencer, knacker, carted about the streets a dead horse."
Well, you can't flog a dead horse but you can, apparently, take one around the streets in a parade to promote your new knacker's yard!
"Knacker" Peter Spencer had opened his yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, last month but within a few weeks it had burnt down. But he was now back in business and had come up with a stunt to let everyone know.
During the evening of May Day, the twenty carters that had paraded on behalf of Greenall's St Helens Brewery sat down to supper at the White Hart Inn in Church Street.
It was always wise to suck up to your boss and one of the carters that acted as chairman, proposed the toast of Gilbert Greenall, as the Newspaper described:
"The Chairman then proposed the health of Mr. Gilbert Greenall, upon whom he passed a high eulogium as a kind and considerate master, a good citizen, and a generous friend."
When coal miners raced each other they tended to simply strip off and run. If the police could run faster they would end up in court.
So at the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 6th, Patrick Collins and William Radcliffe were charged with running a race in Gerard Street (which used to be near College Street) in a state of nudity and were fined one shilling each, plus court costs.
There was yet another case of warring neighbours described in court when Mary McDonald and Bridget Rock were charged with assaulting Margaret Case.
The incident had occurred at her home in Union Street in Cowley Hill – not far from where the streaking miners had been strutting their stuff.
Mrs Case said the 21-year-old Rock had turned up at her house and threatened to inflict serious harm on her if she ventured outside. Then Mrs McDonald did the same thing and also called her "very bad names".
The two neighbours subsequently returned to her door on several occasions "threatening, defying, and abusing" Mrs Case until she claimed she was afraid to go out.
However, the two women defendants had hired hard-nosed solicitor Thomas Swift to defend them.
In cross-examination Mrs Case was forced to reveal that she had lived in several streets in St Helens at different times and had rowed with her neighbours on each occasion. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"Of course she was blameless always, and the victim of the belligerency of others. Union street, where she now lives, attractive as is the title, yielded as little harmony as the rest.
"The case was dismissed on a technical objection, but the Chairman told the defendants to keep to their own houses, for it was quite clear that abusive language had been used."
Dennis Feigh had been mentioned quite a few times in these articles. The Newspaper described how the incorrigible character had appeared in court this week for about the 60th time charged with drunkenness.
When Dennis discovered that the total amount of his fine and costs came to 14 shillings, instead of the usual 9s 6d, the Newspaper said he'd asked the Bench if the "price" had gone up.
What I call brainless thefts were those committed in the 19th century where it was obvious who the offender had been.
I blame the poor levels of education at the time for individuals not seemingly realising that they would quickly be detected.
And as most thefts resulted in a prison sentence and loss of their job, their ignorance would likely have life-changing consequences for them.
John Manley was this week's brainless idiot who appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 6th charged with stealing a sovereign and a bunch of keys.
The 17-year-old railway clerk lived in Peasley Cross Lane and owed grocer Benjamin Tickle for 18 shillings worth of goods that he'd bought on credit.
Abraham Perkins was the Chief Clerk in the goods department at St Helens railway station and lodged with the boy and his widowed mother.
On one morning after the pair had arrived at work, Abraham gave John his keys to open the station office while he attended to something else.
Security over the daily takings at the station was very lax. After the cash was counted at night, it was placed in a locked bag and then stuck away in an office drawer. But the keys to the bag were also placed inside the drawer!
John knew this and while briefly alone in the office was able to use the second set of keys to open the bag and remove £1.
That would allow him to pay off his grocery debt and he later chucked the keys to the bag into the canal.
Later that day the takings of £23 were despatched to the railway office in Liverpool and, of course, the bag was found to be £1 short.
It took little investigation to work out that John was the guilty party and he immediately confessed to the crime.
At his trial his solicitor claimed that John had bought the goods to help out neighbours who were suffering great poverty and had not spent any of the cash on himself.
And so if true, his act was commendable but still brainless as it had serious consequences for himself.
The boy had spent four years in the employment of the railway company and had been well thought of.
John wept in the dock as the Chairman of the Bench told him his previous good character and the fact that he had only stolen £1 out of the £23 of takings meant he would not receive a lengthy gaol term. But he was still sent to prison for a month.
These days, of course, trade union negotiators usually ask for high rises in their members' rates of pay; the employers in response offer a low increase and the two sides eventually settle somewhere in the lower middle area.
In the 1870s it was often felt wiser to request small pay rises that their employers were thought able to afford and politely try and persuade them of the merits of their claim.
Many bosses were affronted by their workforce making demands and would often refuse to negotiate – and so a tactful, respectful approach was important.
When the joiners of St Helens collectively asked for a pay rise earlier this year, it had only been for an additional halfpenny per hour that would increase their hourly pay rate to 7d.
They also requested a reduction in their long working hours – but only for one hour, from 55 to 54 hours per week.
An additional allowance of 4d per day was also requested when employed at chemical works.
If all that was asked for had been granted, the men would still only have been earning around sixteen shillings a week – working ten-hour weekdays and Saturday mornings.
The joiners had submitted their request ten weeks ago but their employers had ignored it.
Usually no reason would be given but the builders and carpentry bosses cited a technicality, claiming their rules concerned with terms and conditions of employment required six months notice of proposed changes.
Their workforce disagreed and this week around seventy St Helens joiners went on strike.
Next week's stories will include the giddy girl coal thief accused of stealing from College Street, the violent imbecile at Whiston Workhouse, the slandering in a Rainford coal mine and why the merry month of May was proving not so merry in St Helens.
We begin on the 4th when the St Helens Newspaper described how May Day had been celebrated in the town.
Referring to the day as: "The time honoured festival which marks the opening of the merry month of May", the paper went on to describe the long lunchtime parade of horses and carts.
That was the highlight of May Day, which was one of the most important of the year in St Helens and it wouldn't be until the late 1880s that the day developed socialist connotations.
Much effort was made to decorate the horses with ribbons and flowers and in "making their trappings look gay and bright in the sunshine", as the paper put it.
The vehicles assembled in Church Street in front of the usual large crowds. The Newspaper wrote:
"The display was one of the best, if not the best, which has taken place in St. Helens; and the horses and their drivers made a very creditable appearance. As a striking contrast Mr. Peter Spencer, knacker, carted about the streets a dead horse."
Well, you can't flog a dead horse but you can, apparently, take one around the streets in a parade to promote your new knacker's yard!
"Knacker" Peter Spencer had opened his yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, last month but within a few weeks it had burnt down. But he was now back in business and had come up with a stunt to let everyone know.
During the evening of May Day, the twenty carters that had paraded on behalf of Greenall's St Helens Brewery sat down to supper at the White Hart Inn in Church Street.
It was always wise to suck up to your boss and one of the carters that acted as chairman, proposed the toast of Gilbert Greenall, as the Newspaper described:
"The Chairman then proposed the health of Mr. Gilbert Greenall, upon whom he passed a high eulogium as a kind and considerate master, a good citizen, and a generous friend."
When coal miners raced each other they tended to simply strip off and run. If the police could run faster they would end up in court.
So at the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 6th, Patrick Collins and William Radcliffe were charged with running a race in Gerard Street (which used to be near College Street) in a state of nudity and were fined one shilling each, plus court costs.
There was yet another case of warring neighbours described in court when Mary McDonald and Bridget Rock were charged with assaulting Margaret Case.
The incident had occurred at her home in Union Street in Cowley Hill – not far from where the streaking miners had been strutting their stuff.
Mrs Case said the 21-year-old Rock had turned up at her house and threatened to inflict serious harm on her if she ventured outside. Then Mrs McDonald did the same thing and also called her "very bad names".
The two neighbours subsequently returned to her door on several occasions "threatening, defying, and abusing" Mrs Case until she claimed she was afraid to go out.
However, the two women defendants had hired hard-nosed solicitor Thomas Swift to defend them.
In cross-examination Mrs Case was forced to reveal that she had lived in several streets in St Helens at different times and had rowed with her neighbours on each occasion. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"Of course she was blameless always, and the victim of the belligerency of others. Union street, where she now lives, attractive as is the title, yielded as little harmony as the rest.
"The case was dismissed on a technical objection, but the Chairman told the defendants to keep to their own houses, for it was quite clear that abusive language had been used."
When Dennis discovered that the total amount of his fine and costs came to 14 shillings, instead of the usual 9s 6d, the Newspaper said he'd asked the Bench if the "price" had gone up.
What I call brainless thefts were those committed in the 19th century where it was obvious who the offender had been.
I blame the poor levels of education at the time for individuals not seemingly realising that they would quickly be detected.
And as most thefts resulted in a prison sentence and loss of their job, their ignorance would likely have life-changing consequences for them.
John Manley was this week's brainless idiot who appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 6th charged with stealing a sovereign and a bunch of keys.
The 17-year-old railway clerk lived in Peasley Cross Lane and owed grocer Benjamin Tickle for 18 shillings worth of goods that he'd bought on credit.
Abraham Perkins was the Chief Clerk in the goods department at St Helens railway station and lodged with the boy and his widowed mother.
On one morning after the pair had arrived at work, Abraham gave John his keys to open the station office while he attended to something else.
Security over the daily takings at the station was very lax. After the cash was counted at night, it was placed in a locked bag and then stuck away in an office drawer. But the keys to the bag were also placed inside the drawer!
John knew this and while briefly alone in the office was able to use the second set of keys to open the bag and remove £1.
That would allow him to pay off his grocery debt and he later chucked the keys to the bag into the canal.
Later that day the takings of £23 were despatched to the railway office in Liverpool and, of course, the bag was found to be £1 short.
It took little investigation to work out that John was the guilty party and he immediately confessed to the crime.
At his trial his solicitor claimed that John had bought the goods to help out neighbours who were suffering great poverty and had not spent any of the cash on himself.
And so if true, his act was commendable but still brainless as it had serious consequences for himself.
The boy had spent four years in the employment of the railway company and had been well thought of.
John wept in the dock as the Chairman of the Bench told him his previous good character and the fact that he had only stolen £1 out of the £23 of takings meant he would not receive a lengthy gaol term. But he was still sent to prison for a month.
These days, of course, trade union negotiators usually ask for high rises in their members' rates of pay; the employers in response offer a low increase and the two sides eventually settle somewhere in the lower middle area.
In the 1870s it was often felt wiser to request small pay rises that their employers were thought able to afford and politely try and persuade them of the merits of their claim.
Many bosses were affronted by their workforce making demands and would often refuse to negotiate – and so a tactful, respectful approach was important.
When the joiners of St Helens collectively asked for a pay rise earlier this year, it had only been for an additional halfpenny per hour that would increase their hourly pay rate to 7d.
They also requested a reduction in their long working hours – but only for one hour, from 55 to 54 hours per week.
An additional allowance of 4d per day was also requested when employed at chemical works.
If all that was asked for had been granted, the men would still only have been earning around sixteen shillings a week – working ten-hour weekdays and Saturday mornings.
The joiners had submitted their request ten weeks ago but their employers had ignored it.
Usually no reason would be given but the builders and carpentry bosses cited a technicality, claiming their rules concerned with terms and conditions of employment required six months notice of proposed changes.
Their workforce disagreed and this week around seventy St Helens joiners went on strike.
Next week's stories will include the giddy girl coal thief accused of stealing from College Street, the violent imbecile at Whiston Workhouse, the slandering in a Rainford coal mine and why the merry month of May was proving not so merry in St Helens.