150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (3rd - 9th June 1869)
This week's stories include the parting shot of the angry Whiston Workhouse master, the genteel old woman's wincey theft in Church Street, two near-miss train collisions, a serious fire at a St Helens candle works, the stuffs on sale in Prescot, Ravenhead Plate Glass workers take a trip to the Lake District and how John Wesley created his Methodist movement in St Helens.
We begin on the 5th when the Prescot Board of Guardians held their first meeting since the Poor Law Board had decided to sack the master of Whiston Workhouse (house pictured above). Thomas Holmes had been the subject of many complaints with the final straw being an inmate's claim that he had made her pregnant.
At the meeting the Guardians called the master into the room and told him he must leave the workhouse at once. Holmes said he was appealing against the Board's decision to dismiss him and demanded a month's wages in lieu of notice, which was refused by the Chairman.
There had been numerous reports of the man's foul temper during his time as master, with the head nurse having accused him of tyranny. So his parting shot – as described by the Liverpool Mercury – was probably not a great surprise and underlined what a bad mistake had been made in appointing him in the first place:
"The Master, who had been fast losing his temper, now broke out into the most abusive language, and, turning to the chairman, said – I can tell you, sir, that, although I shall be sorry to part with many faces I have met here, I shall be really glad to get away from yours. You have conspired to injure me ever since I first came to the house, and I consider you anything but a gentleman." Holmes – who had long been complaining of a conspiracy against him – accused other Guardians of the same, saying they would be "able to fit the cap to their own heads".
On the 5th the St Helens Newspaper wrote about a new Methodist chapel that had just opened in Cotham Street: "In looking at the progress of Wesleyanism, we are reminded that, as a body, they were created in St. Helens by the great John Wesley himself, who visited the then village, and gathering around him a few admirers, preached to them so effectively, in his own grandly persuasive style, that the nucleus of a congregation was immediately formed." John Wesley had preached in the house of John Harris, the grandfather of George Harris, who had been responsible for building the new chapel.
There was no such thing as paid holidays in 1869. You got paid for the work you did and nothing else, with the exception of some large firms who organised an annual outing. The Ravenhead Plate Glass Works held their excursion on the 5th when between 500 and 600 workers and their wives, sisters and "female friends" journeyed to the Lake District.
A specially chartered train conveyed the party to Windermere, along with a reporter from the St Helens Newspaper who was obsessed with the weather! Readers were told how a slight shower had begun as the train passed Wigan and got heavier as the journey progressed, with a "heavy mist hung like an impalpable curtain between the excursionists and all distant views."
By the time the train reached Windermere the rain was coming down with "mizzling continuity" and as "damping upon the spirits as upon the clothing". However by 2:30pm the "teardrops of the sky" had ceased and many of the visitors took to the water on hired boats or visited places like Ambleside and Newby Bridge before beginning their 4-hour journey back to St Helens.
The Prescot Reporter on the 5th featured a large advert from Joseph Garratt, whose draper's shop was at London House in Eccleston Street in Prescot. The man said he "begs to announce to his friends and customers that his stock of summer goods is now complete." These included fancy dresses, silks, shawls, mantles, stuffs, French merinoes, bonnets, haberdashery and parasols.
I've discovered that a mantle is a loose-fitting outer garment similar to a cape and French merinoes (or merinos) are woollen garments from the sheep of southern France. The historical meaning of stuffs (or stuff) refers to any form of manufactured material, although by the 1860s it meant woven fabrics used in dressmaking. This is where the modern use of the word "stuff" comes from. Perhaps you knew that – I didn't!
About 9pm on the 5th there was a serious fire at Blinkhorn and Cook's oil and candle works that caused £1,000 worth of damage. When the flames were first seen Pilkington's works nearby sounded the alarm by turning on their steam whistle, which quickly brought hundreds to the spot. By this time there was what the Manchester Courier described as a "vast sheet of flame" issuing from a shed packed with candles.
The crowd watching the inferno was said to be one of the largest in St Helens and the fire was visible for miles. After extinguishing the blaze the horse-driven fire brigade accidentally backed their appliance into the St Helens Canal. For a few years St Helens was a major candle maker and the company made "patent snuffless dip" candles, as well as oil and soap and spent considerable sums on advertising.
In their large weekly advert in the St Helens Newspaper, Blinkhorn and Cook claimed theirs was the "best candle in the world for household use, or for those requiring a steady and brilliant light, such as watchmakers, sempstresses, artizans, &c. &c."
Train accidents were quite common in the 1860s – usually through mistakes – and two near misses occurred in St Helens this week within 24 hours of each other. On the 6th Hamblet Guest at St Helens Station saw that a train that had arrived from Rainford Junction was in the wrong place and the incoming train from Runcorn would crash into it.
The porter ran to the end of the platform and frantically motioned to the driver to stop. The driver slammed on the brakes and brought his train to a halt just 50 yards away from the carriages. "It caused a great deal of excitement amongst the people on the platform", commented the Newspaper.
Then on the following afternoon the train from St Helens to St Helens Junction found three wagons blocking its path at Peasley Cross. The carriages belonged to a Rainford train and had been thrown off the line. The driver barely had time to prevent a collision but managed to stop with just seconds to spare and the passengers – used to such inconveniences – hitched a lift to the Junction from the other engine.
The St Helens Petty sessions were held on the 7th and Mary Callaghan was back in court charged with stealing coal. Last October the 44-year-old had been sent to prison for a fortnight for coal thieving, not long after two of her children had been fined after committing the same offence. Then in March her 12-year-old daughter Ann Callaghan stole more coal and was sent to prison for a month and then on to a reformatory for five years.
Later that month her mother was charged with breaching the peace in St Helens by "shouting, clapping her hands, and sundry other antics". Mary Callaghan was bound over after telling the court that her heart had been broken – presumably a reference to her daughter's troubles, which she was no doubt responsible for. However the woman was now in very serious trouble herself after stealing more coal and the magistrates decided to send her for trial at the next Quarter Sessions. These were held in July and Mary Callaghan was imprisoned for one month.
George King was fined five shillings after being found guilty of punching William Gallon in the parlour of the Sefton Arms in Ormskirk Street. It was a dispute over a watch and with people having few possessions in the 1860s, watches were prized items.
Jane Elm – described as a "genteel old woman" – was also in court charged with stealing 25 yards of wincey from the draper's shop of Isaac Fletcher in Church Street. Apparently wincey is a type of fabric and after stealing £3 worth, Jane had taken it to John Barnes' nearby pawnshop. However they'd been tipped off about the theft and the woman was arrested.
In court the 60-year-old said she was well known in St Helens and for forty years had lived a respectable life but poverty and trouble had driven her to crime. The Chairman of the Bench said one of the magistrates knew Jane as a woman of good character who had been brought down by circumstances that she could not help. With that in mind he said they would pass a light sentence – which was two months in prison with hard labour! I wonder what a severe sentence would have been?
The case of Catherine Smith was an unusual one, with the woman charged with stealing some clothing and 1s 1d from Mary Wignall. The latter had decided to walk from Liverpool to Bolton and on the road she became acquainted with Catherine Smith. Upon arriving in St Helens Mary paid for her new friend to take a lodging with her but soon regretted her decision,
In the morning she found that Catherine had disappeared, along with some of her clothes and money that she had hidden under a pillow. Mary thought that the thief would probably make for Liverpool and so took to the road again. She was clearly a good walker and caught up with Catherine halfway to Prescot. The St Helens Newspaper said their meeting was "anything but a friendly character" and the ungrateful Catherine Smith was sent to Kirkdale prison for two months.
Next week's stories will include a miner's savage assault upon his father in Parr, the Liverpool Road woman with twelve lodgers in her house, more on the Eccleston environmental disaster and the notorious Dennis Fay returns to court charged with riotous conduct in Bridge Street.
At the meeting the Guardians called the master into the room and told him he must leave the workhouse at once. Holmes said he was appealing against the Board's decision to dismiss him and demanded a month's wages in lieu of notice, which was refused by the Chairman.
There had been numerous reports of the man's foul temper during his time as master, with the head nurse having accused him of tyranny. So his parting shot – as described by the Liverpool Mercury – was probably not a great surprise and underlined what a bad mistake had been made in appointing him in the first place:
"The Master, who had been fast losing his temper, now broke out into the most abusive language, and, turning to the chairman, said – I can tell you, sir, that, although I shall be sorry to part with many faces I have met here, I shall be really glad to get away from yours. You have conspired to injure me ever since I first came to the house, and I consider you anything but a gentleman." Holmes – who had long been complaining of a conspiracy against him – accused other Guardians of the same, saying they would be "able to fit the cap to their own heads".
On the 5th the St Helens Newspaper wrote about a new Methodist chapel that had just opened in Cotham Street: "In looking at the progress of Wesleyanism, we are reminded that, as a body, they were created in St. Helens by the great John Wesley himself, who visited the then village, and gathering around him a few admirers, preached to them so effectively, in his own grandly persuasive style, that the nucleus of a congregation was immediately formed." John Wesley had preached in the house of John Harris, the grandfather of George Harris, who had been responsible for building the new chapel.
There was no such thing as paid holidays in 1869. You got paid for the work you did and nothing else, with the exception of some large firms who organised an annual outing. The Ravenhead Plate Glass Works held their excursion on the 5th when between 500 and 600 workers and their wives, sisters and "female friends" journeyed to the Lake District.
A specially chartered train conveyed the party to Windermere, along with a reporter from the St Helens Newspaper who was obsessed with the weather! Readers were told how a slight shower had begun as the train passed Wigan and got heavier as the journey progressed, with a "heavy mist hung like an impalpable curtain between the excursionists and all distant views."
By the time the train reached Windermere the rain was coming down with "mizzling continuity" and as "damping upon the spirits as upon the clothing". However by 2:30pm the "teardrops of the sky" had ceased and many of the visitors took to the water on hired boats or visited places like Ambleside and Newby Bridge before beginning their 4-hour journey back to St Helens.
The Prescot Reporter on the 5th featured a large advert from Joseph Garratt, whose draper's shop was at London House in Eccleston Street in Prescot. The man said he "begs to announce to his friends and customers that his stock of summer goods is now complete." These included fancy dresses, silks, shawls, mantles, stuffs, French merinoes, bonnets, haberdashery and parasols.
I've discovered that a mantle is a loose-fitting outer garment similar to a cape and French merinoes (or merinos) are woollen garments from the sheep of southern France. The historical meaning of stuffs (or stuff) refers to any form of manufactured material, although by the 1860s it meant woven fabrics used in dressmaking. This is where the modern use of the word "stuff" comes from. Perhaps you knew that – I didn't!
About 9pm on the 5th there was a serious fire at Blinkhorn and Cook's oil and candle works that caused £1,000 worth of damage. When the flames were first seen Pilkington's works nearby sounded the alarm by turning on their steam whistle, which quickly brought hundreds to the spot. By this time there was what the Manchester Courier described as a "vast sheet of flame" issuing from a shed packed with candles.
The crowd watching the inferno was said to be one of the largest in St Helens and the fire was visible for miles. After extinguishing the blaze the horse-driven fire brigade accidentally backed their appliance into the St Helens Canal. For a few years St Helens was a major candle maker and the company made "patent snuffless dip" candles, as well as oil and soap and spent considerable sums on advertising.
In their large weekly advert in the St Helens Newspaper, Blinkhorn and Cook claimed theirs was the "best candle in the world for household use, or for those requiring a steady and brilliant light, such as watchmakers, sempstresses, artizans, &c. &c."
Train accidents were quite common in the 1860s – usually through mistakes – and two near misses occurred in St Helens this week within 24 hours of each other. On the 6th Hamblet Guest at St Helens Station saw that a train that had arrived from Rainford Junction was in the wrong place and the incoming train from Runcorn would crash into it.
The porter ran to the end of the platform and frantically motioned to the driver to stop. The driver slammed on the brakes and brought his train to a halt just 50 yards away from the carriages. "It caused a great deal of excitement amongst the people on the platform", commented the Newspaper.
Then on the following afternoon the train from St Helens to St Helens Junction found three wagons blocking its path at Peasley Cross. The carriages belonged to a Rainford train and had been thrown off the line. The driver barely had time to prevent a collision but managed to stop with just seconds to spare and the passengers – used to such inconveniences – hitched a lift to the Junction from the other engine.
The St Helens Petty sessions were held on the 7th and Mary Callaghan was back in court charged with stealing coal. Last October the 44-year-old had been sent to prison for a fortnight for coal thieving, not long after two of her children had been fined after committing the same offence. Then in March her 12-year-old daughter Ann Callaghan stole more coal and was sent to prison for a month and then on to a reformatory for five years.
Later that month her mother was charged with breaching the peace in St Helens by "shouting, clapping her hands, and sundry other antics". Mary Callaghan was bound over after telling the court that her heart had been broken – presumably a reference to her daughter's troubles, which she was no doubt responsible for. However the woman was now in very serious trouble herself after stealing more coal and the magistrates decided to send her for trial at the next Quarter Sessions. These were held in July and Mary Callaghan was imprisoned for one month.
George King was fined five shillings after being found guilty of punching William Gallon in the parlour of the Sefton Arms in Ormskirk Street. It was a dispute over a watch and with people having few possessions in the 1860s, watches were prized items.
Jane Elm – described as a "genteel old woman" – was also in court charged with stealing 25 yards of wincey from the draper's shop of Isaac Fletcher in Church Street. Apparently wincey is a type of fabric and after stealing £3 worth, Jane had taken it to John Barnes' nearby pawnshop. However they'd been tipped off about the theft and the woman was arrested.
In court the 60-year-old said she was well known in St Helens and for forty years had lived a respectable life but poverty and trouble had driven her to crime. The Chairman of the Bench said one of the magistrates knew Jane as a woman of good character who had been brought down by circumstances that she could not help. With that in mind he said they would pass a light sentence – which was two months in prison with hard labour! I wonder what a severe sentence would have been?
The case of Catherine Smith was an unusual one, with the woman charged with stealing some clothing and 1s 1d from Mary Wignall. The latter had decided to walk from Liverpool to Bolton and on the road she became acquainted with Catherine Smith. Upon arriving in St Helens Mary paid for her new friend to take a lodging with her but soon regretted her decision,
In the morning she found that Catherine had disappeared, along with some of her clothes and money that she had hidden under a pillow. Mary thought that the thief would probably make for Liverpool and so took to the road again. She was clearly a good walker and caught up with Catherine halfway to Prescot. The St Helens Newspaper said their meeting was "anything but a friendly character" and the ungrateful Catherine Smith was sent to Kirkdale prison for two months.
Next week's stories will include a miner's savage assault upon his father in Parr, the Liverpool Road woman with twelve lodgers in her house, more on the Eccleston environmental disaster and the notorious Dennis Fay returns to court charged with riotous conduct in Bridge Street.