150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (5th - 11th APRIL 1871)
This week's stories include the thieving St Helens postman, hopes rise that the town's serious water shortage could be ameliorated, there's a rum do on Sutton Mill Dam and the great fire of Newton-le-Willows takes place.
The supply of water for industrial use was a big problem 150 years ago. St Helens Corporation's waterworks in Eccleston was only able to provide supplies to some of the manufacturing firms in the town that required water for cooling and other purposes. Things were not much better on the domestic front. In July 1869 the St Helens Newspaper had described how every evening hundreds of women in Thatto Heath would walk almost half a mile with large cans on their heads.
There was such a water shortage that women had to walk some distance to obtain precious H20 from wells for their families to use. The paper said: "On a fine evening there may not be much hardship in even a female carrying a large can of water on her head for a considerable distance, but everybody must feel that in wet and wintry weather such an occupation is one quite unsuited for females."
Twelve months later it was admitted at a St Helens Town Council meeting that the water supply for the whole town was turned off at night in order to save on supply. One councillor added that things were even worse for the people of Parr who had no water at all to drink and during the summer months had to fetch water to their homes – like those in Thatto Heath. He stated that many people had become seriously ill through a "scarcity of wholesome water".
There were huge issues both with its supply into St Helens and distribution within the town. The council Surveyor explained to the meeting that in the past their waterworks on Eccleston Hill had run dry and until the new works at Whiston was in operation there was little that could be done.
This week at the monthly St Helens Town Council meeting held on the 5th, it was reported that the new Whiston waterworks was finally operational and pumping 275,000 gallons per day. That was not a massive amount but it was considered a very good start and the Mayor stated that the result was greater than had been anticipated at such an early date.
At 4am on the 6th a huge fire broke out at the printing works of George McCorquodale in Newton-le-Willows, which was situated near the railway station. In fact it was a porter that raised the alarm. He tried to attract the attention of a watchman on the premises by what was described as "vigorous knocking" but his efforts failed. So seizing his station hand bell, he rushed through the main street of the town ringing away and managed to rouse many inhabitants – if not the dozy watch man! The firm was a big employer in Newton and plenty of people volunteered to help in extinguishing the fire.
It was common for works to keep their own small fire engine. That was because of the time taken for the horse-drawn town brigades to first be notified of fires and then to get to the scene. So while they were waiting for the Warrington brigade to arrive, the printing works own engine was set to work and the Viaduct Waggon Works and the Gillespie and Mason paper mills nearby sent their own engines too.
Despite this the whole of a large machine room was soon a "heap of ruins", as described by the Liverpool Mercury. More than twenty printing machines of all sizes were destroyed "and it is doubtful", added the paper, "whether the value of the salvage will be worth more than the price of old metal." The damage was estimated as at least £12,000 and as a consequence many Newton men would be thrown out of work – at least for a while.
It was Good Friday on the 7th but it was not a good day for William Whalley. The young man from Rigby Street in St Helens was involved in shunting a loaded railway waggon at St Helens railway station when he tripped and fell. The wheels passed over him and one of his legs was reported as having been completely smashed. Dr James Ricketts was contracted by the railway company to treat the many injuries caused by their trains.
The young doctor from Cotham Street ordered that William Whalley be taken to the Royal Infirmary in Liverpool and two days later his damaged leg was amputated. I expect with modern-day medical care the man would have survived – but the Liverpool Mercury wrote: "He lingered in intense agony until Wednesday, when he expired."
On the establishment of the Government Post Office at St Helens in 1852, William Woodstock had been appointed the town's solitary postman. Soon the rapid growth of St Helens led to more letter carriers being employed, including Thomas Critchley. On the 10th he appeared in court charged with stealing stamps from within letters entrusted to him as a mailman at St Helens Post Office. The letter carriers were poorly paid and had to tramp the streets all day long with barely any time off to rest sore feet. So perhaps Critchley felt he was entitled to a few extras – although he was accused of keeping more than stamps.
Superintendent James Ludlam – the man in charge of St Helens Police – gave evidence that several test letters had been given to Critchley to deliver but they had all failed to reach their destinations. Upon being taken into custody the test letters were discovered in the 30-year-old's possession. However the postman persisted in claiming that he had delivered all the letters but that they had got back into his keeping by some means unknown to him!
When Critchley's house in Stanhope Street (pictured above) was searched, a sealed letter was found, which contained an American order for £5 5s that had been mailed to John Collins of Sutton. Another bill was found for £5, belonging to Margaret Jackson of the Red Cat Inn in Crank. Her son was in America and he was sending money home to his mother.
A third £5 bill was also discovered in the house, along with a large number of letters that had been left lying around. The prosecution wanted Critchley remanded for a week as the police were still gathering evidence. This was granted, although the defence request for bail was refused.
James Bradbury also appeared in court charged with the unlicensed selling of whisky on Sutton Mill Dam. The glass grinder from Sutton was said to have committed the offence on Christmas Day 1870. However the case was dismissed on a technical point as the evidence submitted to the court showed that Bradbury had actually been selling rum not whisky. So the charge sheet had been incorrectly made out but the prosecution gave notice of them making an appeal.
On the 11th the fifth annual concert of the St Peter's Choral Society was held in the Town Hall in Newton-le-Willows. What was described as a "full and fashionable" audience enjoyed the music, which the Wigan Observer said: "seemed to give general satisfaction" – not exactly a ringing endorsement!
And finally, this week's bonus item is a good old juicy breach of promise and seduction case! This article was published in the Liverpool Mercury this week – and note the great name of the judge:
"Yesterday, Mr. Clutterbuck, acting as deputy under-sheriff, held a court in the assembly room, Bush Hotel, Carlisle, for the purpose of assessing damages in a breach of promise of marriage case, Aitchinson v. Robson. The plaintiff, Miss Mary Aitchinson, the daughter of Mr. A. Aitchinson, farmer, Newby, near Carlisle, is 24 years of age, and of very prepossessing appearance. The defendant is Robert Robson, manager for Miss Carrick, butcher, Carlisle.
"The action was originally taken to the Court of Exchequer, where the defendant allowed judgment to go by default; and a writ of inquiry was forwarded to the sheriff of Cumberland to hold a court to assess damages, because it was unknown to the court above what damages the plaintiff had sustained. The damages were laid at £300. The plaintiff gave evidence that she came to England [from Scotland] three years ago last Candlemas, soon after which she became acquainted with the defendant. Defendant courted her, and ultimately promised to marry her, saying he was going to commence business himself on their own property.
"He told her his mother was a person of considerable property, and that at his mother's death he would get a share of the property. He seduced her, and a child was born on the 30th October last. Defendant arranged with her father to marry her in Edinburgh. Defendant saw her the night before she went to Edinburgh, and also met her the next morning and saw her off.
"He said he had saved some money. Her (plaintiff's) brother and sister-in-law met her in Edinburgh. She had bought her marriage clothes and was busy preparing, when she received a telegram from defendant's mother. Defendant, who would be about 23 years of age, had said he would rather her parents did not know of the engagement until he was in business for himself.
"He promised her marriage from the very first. Her parents did not know of the engagement until after she knew she was in the family way. The jury found for plaintiff, damages £300, the full amount claimed. In the second case, the father of Miss Aitchinson sued the defendant for damages for the loss of his daughter's services owing to the seduction of his daughter. Damages were laid at £100, and the jury awarded £25."
The total amount awarded of £325 was the equivalent of about 5 - 6 years wages for the average working man.
Next Week's stories will include another outburst in court from the outspoken solicitor Thomas Swift, the thieving postman returns to court, the suicide of a Sutton butcher and the man of weak mind that fell down a coal mine in Ashton.
The supply of water for industrial use was a big problem 150 years ago. St Helens Corporation's waterworks in Eccleston was only able to provide supplies to some of the manufacturing firms in the town that required water for cooling and other purposes. Things were not much better on the domestic front. In July 1869 the St Helens Newspaper had described how every evening hundreds of women in Thatto Heath would walk almost half a mile with large cans on their heads.
There was such a water shortage that women had to walk some distance to obtain precious H20 from wells for their families to use. The paper said: "On a fine evening there may not be much hardship in even a female carrying a large can of water on her head for a considerable distance, but everybody must feel that in wet and wintry weather such an occupation is one quite unsuited for females."
Twelve months later it was admitted at a St Helens Town Council meeting that the water supply for the whole town was turned off at night in order to save on supply. One councillor added that things were even worse for the people of Parr who had no water at all to drink and during the summer months had to fetch water to their homes – like those in Thatto Heath. He stated that many people had become seriously ill through a "scarcity of wholesome water".
There were huge issues both with its supply into St Helens and distribution within the town. The council Surveyor explained to the meeting that in the past their waterworks on Eccleston Hill had run dry and until the new works at Whiston was in operation there was little that could be done.
This week at the monthly St Helens Town Council meeting held on the 5th, it was reported that the new Whiston waterworks was finally operational and pumping 275,000 gallons per day. That was not a massive amount but it was considered a very good start and the Mayor stated that the result was greater than had been anticipated at such an early date.
At 4am on the 6th a huge fire broke out at the printing works of George McCorquodale in Newton-le-Willows, which was situated near the railway station. In fact it was a porter that raised the alarm. He tried to attract the attention of a watchman on the premises by what was described as "vigorous knocking" but his efforts failed. So seizing his station hand bell, he rushed through the main street of the town ringing away and managed to rouse many inhabitants – if not the dozy watch man! The firm was a big employer in Newton and plenty of people volunteered to help in extinguishing the fire.
It was common for works to keep their own small fire engine. That was because of the time taken for the horse-drawn town brigades to first be notified of fires and then to get to the scene. So while they were waiting for the Warrington brigade to arrive, the printing works own engine was set to work and the Viaduct Waggon Works and the Gillespie and Mason paper mills nearby sent their own engines too.
Despite this the whole of a large machine room was soon a "heap of ruins", as described by the Liverpool Mercury. More than twenty printing machines of all sizes were destroyed "and it is doubtful", added the paper, "whether the value of the salvage will be worth more than the price of old metal." The damage was estimated as at least £12,000 and as a consequence many Newton men would be thrown out of work – at least for a while.
It was Good Friday on the 7th but it was not a good day for William Whalley. The young man from Rigby Street in St Helens was involved in shunting a loaded railway waggon at St Helens railway station when he tripped and fell. The wheels passed over him and one of his legs was reported as having been completely smashed. Dr James Ricketts was contracted by the railway company to treat the many injuries caused by their trains.
The young doctor from Cotham Street ordered that William Whalley be taken to the Royal Infirmary in Liverpool and two days later his damaged leg was amputated. I expect with modern-day medical care the man would have survived – but the Liverpool Mercury wrote: "He lingered in intense agony until Wednesday, when he expired."
On the establishment of the Government Post Office at St Helens in 1852, William Woodstock had been appointed the town's solitary postman. Soon the rapid growth of St Helens led to more letter carriers being employed, including Thomas Critchley. On the 10th he appeared in court charged with stealing stamps from within letters entrusted to him as a mailman at St Helens Post Office. The letter carriers were poorly paid and had to tramp the streets all day long with barely any time off to rest sore feet. So perhaps Critchley felt he was entitled to a few extras – although he was accused of keeping more than stamps.
Superintendent James Ludlam – the man in charge of St Helens Police – gave evidence that several test letters had been given to Critchley to deliver but they had all failed to reach their destinations. Upon being taken into custody the test letters were discovered in the 30-year-old's possession. However the postman persisted in claiming that he had delivered all the letters but that they had got back into his keeping by some means unknown to him!
A third £5 bill was also discovered in the house, along with a large number of letters that had been left lying around. The prosecution wanted Critchley remanded for a week as the police were still gathering evidence. This was granted, although the defence request for bail was refused.
James Bradbury also appeared in court charged with the unlicensed selling of whisky on Sutton Mill Dam. The glass grinder from Sutton was said to have committed the offence on Christmas Day 1870. However the case was dismissed on a technical point as the evidence submitted to the court showed that Bradbury had actually been selling rum not whisky. So the charge sheet had been incorrectly made out but the prosecution gave notice of them making an appeal.
On the 11th the fifth annual concert of the St Peter's Choral Society was held in the Town Hall in Newton-le-Willows. What was described as a "full and fashionable" audience enjoyed the music, which the Wigan Observer said: "seemed to give general satisfaction" – not exactly a ringing endorsement!
And finally, this week's bonus item is a good old juicy breach of promise and seduction case! This article was published in the Liverpool Mercury this week – and note the great name of the judge:
"Yesterday, Mr. Clutterbuck, acting as deputy under-sheriff, held a court in the assembly room, Bush Hotel, Carlisle, for the purpose of assessing damages in a breach of promise of marriage case, Aitchinson v. Robson. The plaintiff, Miss Mary Aitchinson, the daughter of Mr. A. Aitchinson, farmer, Newby, near Carlisle, is 24 years of age, and of very prepossessing appearance. The defendant is Robert Robson, manager for Miss Carrick, butcher, Carlisle.
"The action was originally taken to the Court of Exchequer, where the defendant allowed judgment to go by default; and a writ of inquiry was forwarded to the sheriff of Cumberland to hold a court to assess damages, because it was unknown to the court above what damages the plaintiff had sustained. The damages were laid at £300. The plaintiff gave evidence that she came to England [from Scotland] three years ago last Candlemas, soon after which she became acquainted with the defendant. Defendant courted her, and ultimately promised to marry her, saying he was going to commence business himself on their own property.
"He told her his mother was a person of considerable property, and that at his mother's death he would get a share of the property. He seduced her, and a child was born on the 30th October last. Defendant arranged with her father to marry her in Edinburgh. Defendant saw her the night before she went to Edinburgh, and also met her the next morning and saw her off.
"He said he had saved some money. Her (plaintiff's) brother and sister-in-law met her in Edinburgh. She had bought her marriage clothes and was busy preparing, when she received a telegram from defendant's mother. Defendant, who would be about 23 years of age, had said he would rather her parents did not know of the engagement until he was in business for himself.
"He promised her marriage from the very first. Her parents did not know of the engagement until after she knew she was in the family way. The jury found for plaintiff, damages £300, the full amount claimed. In the second case, the father of Miss Aitchinson sued the defendant for damages for the loss of his daughter's services owing to the seduction of his daughter. Damages were laid at £100, and the jury awarded £25."
The total amount awarded of £325 was the equivalent of about 5 - 6 years wages for the average working man.
Next Week's stories will include another outburst in court from the outspoken solicitor Thomas Swift, the thieving postman returns to court, the suicide of a Sutton butcher and the man of weak mind that fell down a coal mine in Ashton.
This week's stories include the thieving St Helens postman, hopes rise that the town's serious water shortage could be ameliorated, there's a rum do on Sutton Mill Dam and the great fire of Newton-le-Willows takes place.
The supply of water for industrial use was a big problem 150 years ago.
St Helens Corporation's waterworks in Eccleston was only able to provide supplies to some of the manufacturing firms in the town that required water for cooling and other purposes.
Things were not much better on the domestic front.
In July 1869 the St Helens Newspaper had described how every evening hundreds of women in Thatto Heath would walk almost half a mile with large cans on their heads.
There was such a water shortage that women had to walk some distance to obtain precious H20 from wells for their families to use. The paper said:
"On a fine evening there may not be much hardship in even a female carrying a large can of water on her head for a considerable distance, but everybody must feel that in wet and wintry weather such an occupation is one quite unsuited for females."
Twelve months later it was admitted at a St Helens Town Council meeting that the water supply for the whole town was turned off at night in order to save on supply.
One councillor added that things were even worse for the people of Parr who had no water at all to drink and during the summer months had to fetch water to their homes – like those in Thatto Heath.
He stated that many people had become seriously ill through a "scarcity of wholesome water".
There were huge issues both with its supply into St Helens and distribution within the town.
The council Surveyor explained to the meeting that in the past their waterworks on Eccleston Hill had run dry and until the new works at Whiston was in operation there was little that could be done.
This week at the monthly St Helens Town Council meeting held on the 5th, it was reported that the new Whiston waterworks was finally operational and pumping 275,000 gallons per day.
That was not a massive amount but it was considered a very good start and the Mayor stated that the result was greater than had been anticipated at such an early date.
At 4am on the 6th a huge fire broke out at the printing works of George McCorquodale in Newton-le-Willows, which was situated near the railway station. In fact it was a porter that raised the alarm.
He tried to attract the attention of a watchman on the premises by what was described as "vigorous knocking" but his efforts failed.
So seizing his station hand bell, he rushed through the main street of the town ringing away and managed to rouse many inhabitants – if not the dozy watch man!
The firm was a big employer in Newton and plenty of people volunteered to help in extinguishing the fire.
It was common for works to keep their own small fire engine. That was because of the time taken for the horse-drawn town brigades to first be notified of fires and then to get to the scene.
So while they were waiting for the Warrington brigade to arrive, the printing works own engine was set to work and the Viaduct Waggon Works and the Gillespie and Mason paper mills nearby sent their own engines too.
Despite this the whole of a large machine room was soon a "heap of ruins", as described by the Liverpool Mercury.
More than twenty printing machines of all sizes were destroyed "and it is doubtful", added the paper, "whether the value of the salvage will be worth more than the price of old metal."
The damage was estimated as at least £12,000 and as a consequence many Newton men would be thrown out of work – at least for a while.
It was Good Friday on the 7th but it was not a good day for William Whalley.
The young man from Rigby Street in St Helens was involved in shunting a loaded railway waggon at St Helens railway station when he tripped and fell.
The wheels passed over him and one of his legs was reported as having been completely smashed.
Dr James Ricketts was contracted by the railway company to treat the many injuries caused by their trains.
The young doctor from Cotham Street ordered that William Whalley be taken to the Royal Infirmary in Liverpool and two days later his damaged leg was amputated.
I expect with modern-day medical care the man would have survived – but the Liverpool Mercury wrote: "He lingered in intense agony until Wednesday, when he expired."
On the establishment of the Government Post Office at St Helens in 1852, William Woodstock had been appointed the town's solitary postman.
Soon the rapid growth of St Helens led to more letter carriers being employed, including Thomas Critchley.
On the 10th he appeared in court charged with stealing stamps from within letters entrusted to him as a mailman at St Helens Post Office.
The letter carriers were poorly paid and had to tramp the streets all day long with barely any time off to rest sore feet.
So perhaps Critchley felt he was entitled to a few extras – although he was accused of keeping more than stamps.
Superintendent James Ludlam – the man in charge of St Helens Police – gave evidence that several test letters had been given to Critchley to deliver but they had all failed to reach their destinations.
Upon being taken into custody the test letters were discovered in the 30-year-old's possession.
However the postman persisted in claiming that he had delivered all the letters but that they had got back into his keeping by some means unknown to him!
When Critchley's house in Stanhope Street (pictured above) was searched, a sealed letter was found, which contained an American order for £5 5s that had been mailed to John Collins of Sutton.
Another bill was found for £5, belonging to Margaret Jackson of the Red Cat Inn in Crank. Her son was in America and he was sending money home to his mother.
A third £5 bill was also discovered in the house, along with a large number of letters that had been left lying around.
The prosecution wanted Critchley remanded for a week as the police were still gathering evidence. This was granted, although the defence request for bail was refused.
James Bradbury also appeared in court charged with the unlicensed selling of whisky on Sutton Mill Dam.
The glass grinder from Sutton was said to have committed the offence on Christmas Day 1870.
However the case was dismissed on a technical point as the evidence submitted to the court showed that Bradbury had actually been selling rum not whisky.
So the charge sheet had been incorrectly made out but the prosecution gave notice of them making an appeal.
On the 11th the fifth annual concert of the St Peter's Choral Society was held in the Town Hall in Newton-le-Willows.
What was described as a "full and fashionable" audience enjoyed the music, which the Wigan Observer said: "seemed to give general satisfaction" – not exactly a ringing endorsement!
And finally, this week's bonus item is a good old juicy breach of promise and seduction case!
This article was published in the Liverpool Mercury this week – and note the great name of the judge:
"Yesterday, Mr. Clutterbuck, acting as deputy under-sheriff, held a court in the assembly room, Bush Hotel, Carlisle, for the purpose of assessing damages in a breach of promise of marriage case, Aitchinson v. Robson.
"The plaintiff, Miss Mary Aitchinson, the daughter of Mr. A. Aitchinson, farmer, Newby, near Carlisle, is 24 years of age, and of very prepossessing appearance.
"The defendant is Robert Robson, manager for Miss Carrick, butcher, Carlisle.
"The action was originally taken to the Court of Exchequer, where the defendant allowed judgment to go by default; and a writ of inquiry was forwarded to the sheriff of Cumberland to hold a court to assess damages, because it was unknown to the court above what damages the plaintiff had sustained. The damages were laid at £300.
"The plaintiff gave evidence that she came to England [from Scotland] three years ago last Candlemas, soon after which she became acquainted with the defendant.
"Defendant courted her, and ultimately promised to marry her, saying he was going to commence business himself on their own property.
"He told her his mother was a person of considerable property, and that at his mother's death he would get a share of the property.
"He seduced her, and a child was born on the 30th October last. Defendant arranged with her father to marry her in Edinburgh.
"Defendant saw her the night before she went to Edinburgh, and also met her the next morning and saw her off.
"He said he had saved some money. Her (plaintiff's) brother and sister-in-law met her in Edinburgh.
"She had bought her marriage clothes and was busy preparing, when she received a telegram from defendant's mother.
"Defendant, who would be about 23 years of age, had said he would rather her parents did not know of the engagement until he was in business for himself. He promised her marriage from the very first.
"Her parents did not know of the engagement until after she knew she was in the family way.
"The jury found for plaintiff, damages £300, the full amount claimed.
"In the second case, the father of Miss Aitchinson sued the defendant for damages for the loss of his daughter's services owing to the seduction of his daughter.
"Damages were laid at £100, and the jury awarded £25."
The total amount awarded of £325 was the equivalent of about 5 - 6 years wages for the average working man.
Next Week's stories will include another outburst in court from the outspoken solicitor Thomas Swift, the thieving postman returns to court, the suicide of a Sutton butcher and the man of weak mind that fell down a coal mine in Ashton.
The supply of water for industrial use was a big problem 150 years ago.
St Helens Corporation's waterworks in Eccleston was only able to provide supplies to some of the manufacturing firms in the town that required water for cooling and other purposes.
Things were not much better on the domestic front.
In July 1869 the St Helens Newspaper had described how every evening hundreds of women in Thatto Heath would walk almost half a mile with large cans on their heads.
There was such a water shortage that women had to walk some distance to obtain precious H20 from wells for their families to use. The paper said:
"On a fine evening there may not be much hardship in even a female carrying a large can of water on her head for a considerable distance, but everybody must feel that in wet and wintry weather such an occupation is one quite unsuited for females."
Twelve months later it was admitted at a St Helens Town Council meeting that the water supply for the whole town was turned off at night in order to save on supply.
One councillor added that things were even worse for the people of Parr who had no water at all to drink and during the summer months had to fetch water to their homes – like those in Thatto Heath.
He stated that many people had become seriously ill through a "scarcity of wholesome water".
There were huge issues both with its supply into St Helens and distribution within the town.
The council Surveyor explained to the meeting that in the past their waterworks on Eccleston Hill had run dry and until the new works at Whiston was in operation there was little that could be done.
This week at the monthly St Helens Town Council meeting held on the 5th, it was reported that the new Whiston waterworks was finally operational and pumping 275,000 gallons per day.
That was not a massive amount but it was considered a very good start and the Mayor stated that the result was greater than had been anticipated at such an early date.
At 4am on the 6th a huge fire broke out at the printing works of George McCorquodale in Newton-le-Willows, which was situated near the railway station. In fact it was a porter that raised the alarm.
He tried to attract the attention of a watchman on the premises by what was described as "vigorous knocking" but his efforts failed.
So seizing his station hand bell, he rushed through the main street of the town ringing away and managed to rouse many inhabitants – if not the dozy watch man!
The firm was a big employer in Newton and plenty of people volunteered to help in extinguishing the fire.
It was common for works to keep their own small fire engine. That was because of the time taken for the horse-drawn town brigades to first be notified of fires and then to get to the scene.
So while they were waiting for the Warrington brigade to arrive, the printing works own engine was set to work and the Viaduct Waggon Works and the Gillespie and Mason paper mills nearby sent their own engines too.
Despite this the whole of a large machine room was soon a "heap of ruins", as described by the Liverpool Mercury.
More than twenty printing machines of all sizes were destroyed "and it is doubtful", added the paper, "whether the value of the salvage will be worth more than the price of old metal."
The damage was estimated as at least £12,000 and as a consequence many Newton men would be thrown out of work – at least for a while.
It was Good Friday on the 7th but it was not a good day for William Whalley.
The young man from Rigby Street in St Helens was involved in shunting a loaded railway waggon at St Helens railway station when he tripped and fell.
The wheels passed over him and one of his legs was reported as having been completely smashed.
Dr James Ricketts was contracted by the railway company to treat the many injuries caused by their trains.
The young doctor from Cotham Street ordered that William Whalley be taken to the Royal Infirmary in Liverpool and two days later his damaged leg was amputated.
I expect with modern-day medical care the man would have survived – but the Liverpool Mercury wrote: "He lingered in intense agony until Wednesday, when he expired."
On the establishment of the Government Post Office at St Helens in 1852, William Woodstock had been appointed the town's solitary postman.
Soon the rapid growth of St Helens led to more letter carriers being employed, including Thomas Critchley.
On the 10th he appeared in court charged with stealing stamps from within letters entrusted to him as a mailman at St Helens Post Office.
The letter carriers were poorly paid and had to tramp the streets all day long with barely any time off to rest sore feet.
So perhaps Critchley felt he was entitled to a few extras – although he was accused of keeping more than stamps.
Superintendent James Ludlam – the man in charge of St Helens Police – gave evidence that several test letters had been given to Critchley to deliver but they had all failed to reach their destinations.
Upon being taken into custody the test letters were discovered in the 30-year-old's possession.
However the postman persisted in claiming that he had delivered all the letters but that they had got back into his keeping by some means unknown to him!
Another bill was found for £5, belonging to Margaret Jackson of the Red Cat Inn in Crank. Her son was in America and he was sending money home to his mother.
A third £5 bill was also discovered in the house, along with a large number of letters that had been left lying around.
The prosecution wanted Critchley remanded for a week as the police were still gathering evidence. This was granted, although the defence request for bail was refused.
James Bradbury also appeared in court charged with the unlicensed selling of whisky on Sutton Mill Dam.
The glass grinder from Sutton was said to have committed the offence on Christmas Day 1870.
However the case was dismissed on a technical point as the evidence submitted to the court showed that Bradbury had actually been selling rum not whisky.
So the charge sheet had been incorrectly made out but the prosecution gave notice of them making an appeal.
On the 11th the fifth annual concert of the St Peter's Choral Society was held in the Town Hall in Newton-le-Willows.
What was described as a "full and fashionable" audience enjoyed the music, which the Wigan Observer said: "seemed to give general satisfaction" – not exactly a ringing endorsement!
And finally, this week's bonus item is a good old juicy breach of promise and seduction case!
This article was published in the Liverpool Mercury this week – and note the great name of the judge:
"Yesterday, Mr. Clutterbuck, acting as deputy under-sheriff, held a court in the assembly room, Bush Hotel, Carlisle, for the purpose of assessing damages in a breach of promise of marriage case, Aitchinson v. Robson.
"The plaintiff, Miss Mary Aitchinson, the daughter of Mr. A. Aitchinson, farmer, Newby, near Carlisle, is 24 years of age, and of very prepossessing appearance.
"The defendant is Robert Robson, manager for Miss Carrick, butcher, Carlisle.
"The action was originally taken to the Court of Exchequer, where the defendant allowed judgment to go by default; and a writ of inquiry was forwarded to the sheriff of Cumberland to hold a court to assess damages, because it was unknown to the court above what damages the plaintiff had sustained. The damages were laid at £300.
"The plaintiff gave evidence that she came to England [from Scotland] three years ago last Candlemas, soon after which she became acquainted with the defendant.
"Defendant courted her, and ultimately promised to marry her, saying he was going to commence business himself on their own property.
"He told her his mother was a person of considerable property, and that at his mother's death he would get a share of the property.
"He seduced her, and a child was born on the 30th October last. Defendant arranged with her father to marry her in Edinburgh.
"Defendant saw her the night before she went to Edinburgh, and also met her the next morning and saw her off.
"He said he had saved some money. Her (plaintiff's) brother and sister-in-law met her in Edinburgh.
"She had bought her marriage clothes and was busy preparing, when she received a telegram from defendant's mother.
"Defendant, who would be about 23 years of age, had said he would rather her parents did not know of the engagement until he was in business for himself. He promised her marriage from the very first.
"Her parents did not know of the engagement until after she knew she was in the family way.
"The jury found for plaintiff, damages £300, the full amount claimed.
"In the second case, the father of Miss Aitchinson sued the defendant for damages for the loss of his daughter's services owing to the seduction of his daughter.
"Damages were laid at £100, and the jury awarded £25."
The total amount awarded of £325 was the equivalent of about 5 - 6 years wages for the average working man.
Next Week's stories will include another outburst in court from the outspoken solicitor Thomas Swift, the thieving postman returns to court, the suicide of a Sutton butcher and the man of weak mind that fell down a coal mine in Ashton.