150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 4 - 10 NOVEMBER 1874
This week's many stories include a claim that St Helens was notorious for its wickedness, the end of the miners' strike, the Greenbank purring of a woman, the Prescot fire that was reported to have defied all efforts at extinction, the woman termed hysterical that went down on her knees before the magistrates, the child welfare reformer Father Nugent comes to the Volunteer Hall and the young man that fired a pistol at a woman in Baxters Lane and claimed it had only been a lark.
We begin on the 7th when the St Helens Newspaper described how the annual meeting of the St Helens Home Mission had taken place in the Mission Hall in Waterloo Street. The attendance was reported as only having been moderate with a number of men who had promised to be present not turning up. Their absence the Newspaper blamed on the "excitement and extra work caused by the impending elections".
A speaker called Nicholl said he had called the meeting to consider the "present low moral state of the labouring population of St. Helens", and try and come up with some remedy. Mr Nicholl then stated that St Helens had become "notorious, and I am sorry to think deservedly, for its wickedness. Could nothing be done to wipe the foul blot from their name?"
He added that many laudable efforts were being made but much more was needed to be done. Some said that there was no point trying because previous efforts had failed. But, he contended, "with Christian hands, heads and hearts enlisted in this noble work, backed with Christian liberality, the devil’s kingdom could be shaken to its very centre even in St. Helens."
By the time the horse-drawn fire brigade reached the scene of a blaze it had quite often done its worst and all the men could do was ensure it did not spread. This week a fire broke out in the granary on Thomas Cook's farm in Prescot. A large quantity of hay, oats and wheat were stored in the building at the time and everything was consumed by the inferno. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"The combustible nature of the material defied all efforts at extinction, and the flames spread until everything was destroyed. The building itself was reduced to a complete wreck." They were not certain of the cause but it was thought likely that a spark from a steam threshing machine had fallen amongst the hay or straw.
Some St Helens women did make the most dreadful threats to each other in the 1870s. This week Ellen Thompson appeared in court accused of threatening to assault Sarah Thompson at her home in Baxters Lane in Sutton. And what did the woman say? "I will pull your liver through your mouth" were the words alleged to have been used, which would have been a rather difficult act to accomplish, I would have thought! The magistrates ordered Ellen to find sureties to keep the peace.
Incidents with guns were not treated very seriously. This week William Ashton appeared in court to answer a charge of firing a pistol at Mary Hooton in Thatto Heath with intent to do her bodily harm. But William told the court that he had no intention of injuring the girl and had only fired his gun at her with powder "for a lark". The lad's age was not stated but his father had agreed to pay £2 compensation to the girl and on that understanding the magistrates allowed the case to be withdrawn.
Barbara Scally was back in court charged with striking Catherine Kelly with a poker. The Newspaper wrote: "Barbara is no stranger to the court, and had generally appeared to answer for some act of violence, being a very excitable and hysterical woman. "The complainant says she was assailed, and her head cut by the poker, without the least provocation, but as Mrs. Scally went down on her knees before his Worship to assert her innocence, he thought it best to remand the case till to-morrow."
The St Helens Newspaper also described how two youths in the district of Greenbank (between Liverpool Road and Canal Street) had used their clogs to kick or "purr" a woman in the head. There is not much comedy in doing that but the paper still gave a comic interpretation of the events that took place:
"Thomas Halligan and James Magee, two rough youths, were brought up on a charge of violently assaulting Maria Smith, by knocking her down and kicking her. Patrick Coyne was charged with assaulting Halligan. Mrs. Smith, who is no stranger to the court, resides in the odorous neighbourhood of Garden street, and her house is sometimes visited by neighbours who like her cheerful ways.
"The two men Halligan and Magee came to her recently for the purpose of raising a quarrel, not having any diversion in view which offered a pleasanter prospect. She wanted to avoid a row, if possible, and she kept the door fast to prevent entry; but such lively fellows were not to be baulked by such a thing as a Garden street door, and a few kicks sent it in.
"Having tried their legs on the door and found them in excellent order, they threw Mrs. Smith down and indulged in a little “purring” exercise at the expense of her good looks. Such exciting pastime was not to pass unobserved, and a crowd speedily gathered. [Patrick] Coyne lodges in an adjoining house, and was, at that moment endeavouring to snatch some repose after his work; but being awakened by the disturbance, he felt naturally irritated and anxious to show his resentment.
"To an ingenious man nothing was easier. He seized a stone jar, went to the window, and dropped it on the head of Magee, who was exercising himself below with Mrs Smith. Magee turned round several times, and then, seeing the turning came to nothing, dropped to the ground bleeding very profusely. The neighbours believed him to be killed, but were generally ignorant from whence the jar proceeded.
"Some thought it was a meteoric fall caused by some convulsion in the potteries, and not a few attributed it to the disturbance of a chimney pot. "One sharp woman, however, saw Coyne and the jar appear together, and the former disappear immediately, and she gave evidence with the greatest relish." Thomas Halligan was fined 30 shillings and court costs and Patrick Coyne and James Magee 20s and costs each.
At the end of September the majority of miners within St Helens and Haydock went on strike. Most disputes in the mining industry during the 1870s were not caused by miners demanding more money – but instead they wanted a reduction in the pay cut that their employers were imposing upon them.
When the price of coal went down on world markets the colliery bosses (aka masters) would announce that they were slashing what they paid their men. The workforce would usually accept that some reduction in their wages needed to be made but not the amount that their masters proposed. The bosses had imposed a reduction of 15% on their men and as usual had stubbornly refused to negotiate with them.
The masters knew that their miners could not stay out for long before poverty would drive them back to the pits and so they were happy to play a waiting game. But they didn't have to wait too long on this occasion as on the 7th of this week the men all returned to their jobs.
The meagre cash payments made by their union had all dried up and their living conditions were so bad that they felt they had no choice but to go back. Unusually, the masters made a gesture towards their workforce by reducing their 15% reduction to 10% and stating that they hoped to be able to return to the old wage rate during the winter. That might suggest that the price of coal was already returning to normal.
Father James Nugent – the pioneering child welfare reformer of which the Nugent Care charity is named after – was in St Helens on the 10th. His Boys of the Refuge and Night Asylum from St Anne Street in Liverpool were in the town performing a "grand vocal and instrumental concert" at the Volunteer Hall.
"Save The Boy!!!" was the headline to adverts promoting the event with admission at 6d, 1 shilling or 2 shillings. The tanner price, no doubt, placed attendees at the rear of the spacious hall and with no amplification available as yet, ear trumpets for the hard of hearing may have been required!
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the homeless man living in a brickfield, concern over cases of fever at Whiston Workhouse's hospital, the effigy that was burnt in Gerards Bridge and the 19th century virtual reality show on Croppers Hill.
We begin on the 7th when the St Helens Newspaper described how the annual meeting of the St Helens Home Mission had taken place in the Mission Hall in Waterloo Street. The attendance was reported as only having been moderate with a number of men who had promised to be present not turning up. Their absence the Newspaper blamed on the "excitement and extra work caused by the impending elections".
A speaker called Nicholl said he had called the meeting to consider the "present low moral state of the labouring population of St. Helens", and try and come up with some remedy. Mr Nicholl then stated that St Helens had become "notorious, and I am sorry to think deservedly, for its wickedness. Could nothing be done to wipe the foul blot from their name?"
He added that many laudable efforts were being made but much more was needed to be done. Some said that there was no point trying because previous efforts had failed. But, he contended, "with Christian hands, heads and hearts enlisted in this noble work, backed with Christian liberality, the devil’s kingdom could be shaken to its very centre even in St. Helens."
"The combustible nature of the material defied all efforts at extinction, and the flames spread until everything was destroyed. The building itself was reduced to a complete wreck." They were not certain of the cause but it was thought likely that a spark from a steam threshing machine had fallen amongst the hay or straw.
Some St Helens women did make the most dreadful threats to each other in the 1870s. This week Ellen Thompson appeared in court accused of threatening to assault Sarah Thompson at her home in Baxters Lane in Sutton. And what did the woman say? "I will pull your liver through your mouth" were the words alleged to have been used, which would have been a rather difficult act to accomplish, I would have thought! The magistrates ordered Ellen to find sureties to keep the peace.
Incidents with guns were not treated very seriously. This week William Ashton appeared in court to answer a charge of firing a pistol at Mary Hooton in Thatto Heath with intent to do her bodily harm. But William told the court that he had no intention of injuring the girl and had only fired his gun at her with powder "for a lark". The lad's age was not stated but his father had agreed to pay £2 compensation to the girl and on that understanding the magistrates allowed the case to be withdrawn.
Barbara Scally was back in court charged with striking Catherine Kelly with a poker. The Newspaper wrote: "Barbara is no stranger to the court, and had generally appeared to answer for some act of violence, being a very excitable and hysterical woman. "The complainant says she was assailed, and her head cut by the poker, without the least provocation, but as Mrs. Scally went down on her knees before his Worship to assert her innocence, he thought it best to remand the case till to-morrow."
The St Helens Newspaper also described how two youths in the district of Greenbank (between Liverpool Road and Canal Street) had used their clogs to kick or "purr" a woman in the head. There is not much comedy in doing that but the paper still gave a comic interpretation of the events that took place:
"Thomas Halligan and James Magee, two rough youths, were brought up on a charge of violently assaulting Maria Smith, by knocking her down and kicking her. Patrick Coyne was charged with assaulting Halligan. Mrs. Smith, who is no stranger to the court, resides in the odorous neighbourhood of Garden street, and her house is sometimes visited by neighbours who like her cheerful ways.
"The two men Halligan and Magee came to her recently for the purpose of raising a quarrel, not having any diversion in view which offered a pleasanter prospect. She wanted to avoid a row, if possible, and she kept the door fast to prevent entry; but such lively fellows were not to be baulked by such a thing as a Garden street door, and a few kicks sent it in.
"Having tried their legs on the door and found them in excellent order, they threw Mrs. Smith down and indulged in a little “purring” exercise at the expense of her good looks. Such exciting pastime was not to pass unobserved, and a crowd speedily gathered. [Patrick] Coyne lodges in an adjoining house, and was, at that moment endeavouring to snatch some repose after his work; but being awakened by the disturbance, he felt naturally irritated and anxious to show his resentment.
"To an ingenious man nothing was easier. He seized a stone jar, went to the window, and dropped it on the head of Magee, who was exercising himself below with Mrs Smith. Magee turned round several times, and then, seeing the turning came to nothing, dropped to the ground bleeding very profusely. The neighbours believed him to be killed, but were generally ignorant from whence the jar proceeded.
"Some thought it was a meteoric fall caused by some convulsion in the potteries, and not a few attributed it to the disturbance of a chimney pot. "One sharp woman, however, saw Coyne and the jar appear together, and the former disappear immediately, and she gave evidence with the greatest relish." Thomas Halligan was fined 30 shillings and court costs and Patrick Coyne and James Magee 20s and costs each.
At the end of September the majority of miners within St Helens and Haydock went on strike. Most disputes in the mining industry during the 1870s were not caused by miners demanding more money – but instead they wanted a reduction in the pay cut that their employers were imposing upon them.
When the price of coal went down on world markets the colliery bosses (aka masters) would announce that they were slashing what they paid their men. The workforce would usually accept that some reduction in their wages needed to be made but not the amount that their masters proposed. The bosses had imposed a reduction of 15% on their men and as usual had stubbornly refused to negotiate with them.
The masters knew that their miners could not stay out for long before poverty would drive them back to the pits and so they were happy to play a waiting game. But they didn't have to wait too long on this occasion as on the 7th of this week the men all returned to their jobs.
The meagre cash payments made by their union had all dried up and their living conditions were so bad that they felt they had no choice but to go back. Unusually, the masters made a gesture towards their workforce by reducing their 15% reduction to 10% and stating that they hoped to be able to return to the old wage rate during the winter. That might suggest that the price of coal was already returning to normal.
Father James Nugent – the pioneering child welfare reformer of which the Nugent Care charity is named after – was in St Helens on the 10th. His Boys of the Refuge and Night Asylum from St Anne Street in Liverpool were in the town performing a "grand vocal and instrumental concert" at the Volunteer Hall.
"Save The Boy!!!" was the headline to adverts promoting the event with admission at 6d, 1 shilling or 2 shillings. The tanner price, no doubt, placed attendees at the rear of the spacious hall and with no amplification available as yet, ear trumpets for the hard of hearing may have been required!
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the homeless man living in a brickfield, concern over cases of fever at Whiston Workhouse's hospital, the effigy that was burnt in Gerards Bridge and the 19th century virtual reality show on Croppers Hill.
This week's many stories include a claim that St Helens was notorious for its wickedness, the end of the miners' strike, the Greenbank purring of a woman, the Prescot fire that was reported to have defied all efforts at extinction, the woman termed hysterical that went down on her knees before the magistrates, the child welfare reformer Father Nugent comes to the Volunteer Hall and the young man that fired a pistol at a woman in Baxters Lane and claimed it had only been a lark.
We begin on the 7th when the St Helens Newspaper described how the annual meeting of the St Helens Home Mission had taken place in the Mission Hall in Waterloo Street.
The attendance was reported as only having been moderate with a number of men who had promised to be present not turning up.
Their absence the Newspaper blamed on the "excitement and extra work caused by the impending elections".
A speaker called Nicholl said he had called the meeting to consider the "present low moral state of the labouring population of St. Helens", and try and come up with some remedy.
Mr Nicholl then stated that St Helens had become "notorious, and I am sorry to think deservedly, for its wickedness. Could nothing be done to wipe the foul blot from their name?"
He added that many laudable efforts were being made but much more was needed to be done. Some said that there was no point trying because previous efforts had failed.
But, he contended, "with Christian hands, heads and hearts enlisted in this noble work, backed with Christian liberality, the devil’s kingdom could be shaken to its very centre even in St. Helens."
By the time the horse-drawn fire brigade reached the scene of a blaze it had quite often done its worst and all the men could do was ensure it did not spread.
This week a fire broke out in the granary on Thomas Cook's farm in Prescot.
A large quantity of hay, oats and wheat were stored in the building at the time and everything was consumed by the inferno. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"The combustible nature of the material defied all efforts at extinction, and the flames spread until everything was destroyed. The building itself was reduced to a complete wreck."
They were not certain of the cause but it was thought likely that a spark from a steam threshing machine had fallen amongst the hay or straw.
Some St Helens women did make the most dreadful threats to each other in the 1870s. This week Ellen Thompson appeared in court accused of threatening to assault Sarah Thompson at her home in Baxters Lane in Sutton.
And what did the woman say? "I will pull your liver through your mouth" were the words alleged to have been used, which would have been a rather difficult act to accomplish, I would have thought!
The magistrates ordered Ellen to find sureties to keep the peace.
Incidents with guns were not treated very seriously. This week William Ashton appeared in court to answer a charge of firing a pistol at Mary Hooton in Thatto Heath with intent to do her bodily harm.
But William told the court that he had no intention of injuring the girl and had only fired his gun at her with powder "for a lark".
The lad's age was not stated but his father had agreed to pay £2 compensation to the girl and on that understanding the magistrates allowed the case to be withdrawn.
Barbara Scally was back in court charged with striking Catherine Kelly with a poker.
The Newspaper wrote: "Barbara is no stranger to the court, and had generally appeared to answer for some act of violence, being a very excitable and hysterical woman.
"The complainant says she was assailed, and her head cut by the poker, without the least provocation, but as Mrs. Scally went down on her knees before his Worship to assert her innocence, he thought it best to remand the case till to-morrow."
The St Helens Newspaper also described how two youths in the district of Greenbank (between Liverpool Road and Canal Street) had used their clogs to kick or "purr" a woman in the head.
There is not much comedy in doing that but the paper still gave a comic interpretation of the events that took place:
"Thomas Halligan and James Magee, two rough youths, were brought up on a charge of violently assaulting Maria Smith, by knocking her down and kicking her. Patrick Coyne was charged with assaulting Halligan.
"Mrs. Smith, who is no stranger to the court, resides in the odorous neighbourhood of Garden street, and her house is sometimes visited by neighbours who like her cheerful ways.
"The two men Halligan and Magee came to her recently for the purpose of raising a quarrel, not having any diversion in view which offered a pleasanter prospect.
"She wanted to avoid a row, if possible, and she kept the door fast to prevent entry; but such lively fellows were not to be baulked by such a thing as a Garden street door, and a few kicks sent it in.
"Having tried their legs on the door and found them in excellent order, they threw Mrs. Smith down and indulged in a little “purring” exercise at the expense of her good looks. Such exciting pastime was not to pass unobserved, and a crowd speedily gathered.
"[Patrick] Coyne lodges in an adjoining house, and was, at that moment endeavouring to snatch some repose after his work; but being awakened by the disturbance, he felt naturally irritated and anxious to show his resentment.
"To an ingenious man nothing was easier. He seized a stone jar, went to the window, and dropped it on the head of Magee, who was exercising himself below with Mrs Smith.
"Magee turned round several times, and then, seeing the turning came to nothing, dropped to the ground bleeding very profusely.
"The neighbours believed him to be killed, but were generally ignorant from whence the jar proceeded.
"Some thought it was a meteoric fall caused by some convulsion in the potteries, and not a few attributed it to the disturbance of a chimney pot.
"One sharp woman, however, saw Coyne and the jar appear together, and the former disappear immediately, and she gave evidence with the greatest relish."
Thomas Halligan was fined 30 shillings and court costs and Patrick Coyne and James Magee 20s and costs each.
At the end of September the majority of miners within St Helens and Haydock went on strike.
Most disputes in the mining industry during the 1870s were not caused by miners demanding more money – but instead they wanted a reduction in the pay cut that their employers were imposing upon them.
When the price of coal went down on world markets the colliery bosses (aka masters) would announce that they were slashing what they paid their men.
The workforce would usually accept that some reduction in their wages needed to be made but not the amount that their masters proposed.
The bosses had imposed a reduction of 15% on their men and as usual had stubbornly refused to negotiate with them.
The masters knew that their miners could not stay out for long before poverty would drive them back to the pits and so they were happy to play a waiting game.
But they didn't have to wait too long on this occasion as on the 7th of this week the men all returned to their jobs.
The meagre cash payments made by their union had all dried up and their living conditions were so bad that they felt they had no choice but to go back.
Unusually, the masters made a gesture towards their workforce by reducing their 15% reduction to 10% and stating that they hoped to be able to return to the old wage rate during the winter.
That might suggest that the price of coal was already returning to normal.
Father James Nugent – the pioneering child welfare reformer of which the Nugent Care charity is named after – was in St Helens on the 10th.
His Boys of the Refuge and Night Asylum from St Anne Street in Liverpool were in the town performing a "grand vocal and instrumental concert" at the Volunteer Hall.
"Save The Boy!!!" was the headline to adverts promoting the event with admission at 6d, 1 shilling or 2 shillings.
The tanner price, no doubt, placed attendees at the rear of the spacious hall and with no amplification available as yet, ear trumpets for the hard of hearing may have been required!
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the homeless man living in a brickfield, concern over cases of fever at Whiston Workhouse's hospital, the effigy that was burnt in Gerards Bridge and the 19th century virtual reality show on Croppers Hill.
We begin on the 7th when the St Helens Newspaper described how the annual meeting of the St Helens Home Mission had taken place in the Mission Hall in Waterloo Street.
The attendance was reported as only having been moderate with a number of men who had promised to be present not turning up.
Their absence the Newspaper blamed on the "excitement and extra work caused by the impending elections".
A speaker called Nicholl said he had called the meeting to consider the "present low moral state of the labouring population of St. Helens", and try and come up with some remedy.
Mr Nicholl then stated that St Helens had become "notorious, and I am sorry to think deservedly, for its wickedness. Could nothing be done to wipe the foul blot from their name?"
He added that many laudable efforts were being made but much more was needed to be done. Some said that there was no point trying because previous efforts had failed.
But, he contended, "with Christian hands, heads and hearts enlisted in this noble work, backed with Christian liberality, the devil’s kingdom could be shaken to its very centre even in St. Helens."
This week a fire broke out in the granary on Thomas Cook's farm in Prescot.
A large quantity of hay, oats and wheat were stored in the building at the time and everything was consumed by the inferno. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"The combustible nature of the material defied all efforts at extinction, and the flames spread until everything was destroyed. The building itself was reduced to a complete wreck."
They were not certain of the cause but it was thought likely that a spark from a steam threshing machine had fallen amongst the hay or straw.
Some St Helens women did make the most dreadful threats to each other in the 1870s. This week Ellen Thompson appeared in court accused of threatening to assault Sarah Thompson at her home in Baxters Lane in Sutton.
And what did the woman say? "I will pull your liver through your mouth" were the words alleged to have been used, which would have been a rather difficult act to accomplish, I would have thought!
The magistrates ordered Ellen to find sureties to keep the peace.
Incidents with guns were not treated very seriously. This week William Ashton appeared in court to answer a charge of firing a pistol at Mary Hooton in Thatto Heath with intent to do her bodily harm.
But William told the court that he had no intention of injuring the girl and had only fired his gun at her with powder "for a lark".
The lad's age was not stated but his father had agreed to pay £2 compensation to the girl and on that understanding the magistrates allowed the case to be withdrawn.
Barbara Scally was back in court charged with striking Catherine Kelly with a poker.
The Newspaper wrote: "Barbara is no stranger to the court, and had generally appeared to answer for some act of violence, being a very excitable and hysterical woman.
"The complainant says she was assailed, and her head cut by the poker, without the least provocation, but as Mrs. Scally went down on her knees before his Worship to assert her innocence, he thought it best to remand the case till to-morrow."
The St Helens Newspaper also described how two youths in the district of Greenbank (between Liverpool Road and Canal Street) had used their clogs to kick or "purr" a woman in the head.
There is not much comedy in doing that but the paper still gave a comic interpretation of the events that took place:
"Thomas Halligan and James Magee, two rough youths, were brought up on a charge of violently assaulting Maria Smith, by knocking her down and kicking her. Patrick Coyne was charged with assaulting Halligan.
"Mrs. Smith, who is no stranger to the court, resides in the odorous neighbourhood of Garden street, and her house is sometimes visited by neighbours who like her cheerful ways.
"The two men Halligan and Magee came to her recently for the purpose of raising a quarrel, not having any diversion in view which offered a pleasanter prospect.
"She wanted to avoid a row, if possible, and she kept the door fast to prevent entry; but such lively fellows were not to be baulked by such a thing as a Garden street door, and a few kicks sent it in.
"Having tried their legs on the door and found them in excellent order, they threw Mrs. Smith down and indulged in a little “purring” exercise at the expense of her good looks. Such exciting pastime was not to pass unobserved, and a crowd speedily gathered.
"[Patrick] Coyne lodges in an adjoining house, and was, at that moment endeavouring to snatch some repose after his work; but being awakened by the disturbance, he felt naturally irritated and anxious to show his resentment.
"To an ingenious man nothing was easier. He seized a stone jar, went to the window, and dropped it on the head of Magee, who was exercising himself below with Mrs Smith.
"Magee turned round several times, and then, seeing the turning came to nothing, dropped to the ground bleeding very profusely.
"The neighbours believed him to be killed, but were generally ignorant from whence the jar proceeded.
"Some thought it was a meteoric fall caused by some convulsion in the potteries, and not a few attributed it to the disturbance of a chimney pot.
"One sharp woman, however, saw Coyne and the jar appear together, and the former disappear immediately, and she gave evidence with the greatest relish."
Thomas Halligan was fined 30 shillings and court costs and Patrick Coyne and James Magee 20s and costs each.
At the end of September the majority of miners within St Helens and Haydock went on strike.
Most disputes in the mining industry during the 1870s were not caused by miners demanding more money – but instead they wanted a reduction in the pay cut that their employers were imposing upon them.
When the price of coal went down on world markets the colliery bosses (aka masters) would announce that they were slashing what they paid their men.
The workforce would usually accept that some reduction in their wages needed to be made but not the amount that their masters proposed.
The bosses had imposed a reduction of 15% on their men and as usual had stubbornly refused to negotiate with them.
The masters knew that their miners could not stay out for long before poverty would drive them back to the pits and so they were happy to play a waiting game.
But they didn't have to wait too long on this occasion as on the 7th of this week the men all returned to their jobs.
The meagre cash payments made by their union had all dried up and their living conditions were so bad that they felt they had no choice but to go back.
Unusually, the masters made a gesture towards their workforce by reducing their 15% reduction to 10% and stating that they hoped to be able to return to the old wage rate during the winter.
That might suggest that the price of coal was already returning to normal.
Father James Nugent – the pioneering child welfare reformer of which the Nugent Care charity is named after – was in St Helens on the 10th.
His Boys of the Refuge and Night Asylum from St Anne Street in Liverpool were in the town performing a "grand vocal and instrumental concert" at the Volunteer Hall.
"Save The Boy!!!" was the headline to adverts promoting the event with admission at 6d, 1 shilling or 2 shillings.
The tanner price, no doubt, placed attendees at the rear of the spacious hall and with no amplification available as yet, ear trumpets for the hard of hearing may have been required!
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the homeless man living in a brickfield, concern over cases of fever at Whiston Workhouse's hospital, the effigy that was burnt in Gerards Bridge and the 19th century virtual reality show on Croppers Hill.