150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (6th - 12th MARCH 1873)
This week's many stories include the Sunday shindy in Parr, the Peasley Cross Colliery death, a call for something to be done to abate discharges from St Helens chemical factories, the glass smashing man from Parr called Israel and the individual at the centre of the most amazing story of Victorian times arrives in St Helens.
We begin on the 8th when Patrick McLoughlin and John Grady were brought up in court charged with a cheeky fraud. The pair had entered Mary Chivers' fish shop in Duke Street claiming to be inspectors of weights and measures and demanded to check the accuracy of her scales. They took one to pieces and after supposedly adjusting it demanded a large fee. All the shopkeeper would give was five shillings and after some bargaining they offered to take the balance in fish. That roused Mrs Chivers' suspicions and she had the men arrested and in court they were remanded for further police enquiries to be made.
During the early 1870s there were a number of gold strikes in America creating considerable elation. One San Diego newspaper wrote: "The excitement is so intense that one scarcely knows whether he is on his head or heels". The more restrained Lancashire version was the detection of seams of "black gold" as the Wigan Observer described on the 8th:
"The Prescot Land Company intends “prospecting” for coal underneath their land in Prescot. It is confidently asserted by colliers in the neighbourhood that there is a five-feat seam of Rushy Park coal underneath the estate. The company intends to commence boring operations in order to test the truth of the statement. Should it prove that coal to the extent spoken of exists under the estate, the prospects of the shareholders will be of a most encouraging character."
On the 10th St Helens was visited by the extraordinary man known as "The Claimant" – but whose real name was Thomas Castro, Arthur Orton – or Sir Roger Tichborne (pictured above). The latter was presumed to have died in a shipwreck in 1854. Twelve years later an Australian butcher from Wagga Wagga called Thomas Castro claimed to be Tichborne and sailed to England to claim his baronetcy and fortune. Tichborne’s mother accepted Castro as her long-lost son but other family members were sceptical and thought him an imposter.
There was an uncanny likeness between the two men but many believed Castro's real name was Arthur Orton. He was a butcher's son from Wapping who had gone to sea as a boy and thought to have ended up in Australia. A lengthy civil court hearing in 1871 rejected Castro's (or Orton's) claim to be Roger Tichborne. That was despite 86 people attesting that they believed he was genuine! The extraordinary case gripped newspaper readers worldwide during the 1860s and ‘70s and was the cause célèbre of Victorian times. In 1872 a campaigning newspaper called the Tichborne News and Anti-Oppression Journal had even been set up to further his case and the cause of justice.
In St Helens "The Claimant" described his alleged adventures in the Volunteer Hall, the largest venue in town. It was reported that the more expensive front seats were not well occupied – but the remainder of the hall was packed. Many of the working class saw "The Claimant" as representative of a battle against the system, although if the man really was Tichborne they were supporting a member of the upper classes! In 1875 after a 10-month-long trial, Castro / Orton would be convicted of perjury and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Israel used to be a fairly common forename, with almost 2,500 persons so listed in the 1871 census for England, Scotland and Wales. Two dozen of them bore the name of Israel Taylor, with one being a 55-year-old miner living in Parr. In the Petty Sessions this week, St Helens's Israel Taylor was charged with breaking a window in the home of John Cliff. However, it had not been the usual dispute in which neighbours threw stones at each other's houses. In fact it had been an inside job with Taylor lodging with Cliff.
At 4am Israel had risen and using a stick had broken a sheet of glass over a door. The defendant claimed he had only been trying to leave the house and had hit the door with his stick to attract the attention of those sleeping upstairs. By accident, he said, he had struck the window without realising it, claiming he was deaf and so unable to hear the sound of the glass being smashed.
However, the Newspaper wrote that his deafness seemed rather selective: "The Chairman asked him a question in a very moderate tone of voice, and the promptitude with which he replied, showed that however deaf he had been on Sunday, his hearing was excellent now." Israel Taylor was ordered to pay 14s 10d.
As I've often said, the police did go to some lengths to prosecute people for very minor crimes. It was an offence not to have a vehicle on the road without the name of its owner displayed on it. John Lunt from Warrington was charged with committing that offence in Sutton with the horse-driven lorry that he owned.
However, he claimed the man driving it at the time had mistakenly taken out the wrong vehicle. But Supt. Ludlam countered that the driver had given the wrong name to the police and when an officer had been dispatched to Warrington to deliver the summons, the defendant refused to receive it, "evidently wishing to give as much trouble as possible". He was fined 6 shillings and costs.
"A Sunday Shindy At Parr", was the headline to the Newspaper's account of a mixed-sex fight that led to Thomas Caine and Michael Kearsey being charged with assault. Alice Jackson was the injured party having received two black eyes from both men in separate incidents. Mrs Jackson described how a row had taken place after dinner in which, as the Newspaper wrote, "men and women took part indiscriminately".
She said her sister had got involved in the punch up and as she attempted to take her away, Michael Kearsey had struck Mrs Jackson on the forehead and breast, which knocked her to the ground. "The riot was continued at intervals, rising and falling during the afternoon", said the Newspaper. During what was described as a quiet period, the other defendant Thomas Caine declared that he would kill the first person that he met.
It certainly wasn't Alice Jackson’s day. She was still nursing the injuries given to her by Michael Kearsey and happened to be the first unlucky soul that Thomas Caine found – as the Newspaper described: "He administered to her such a blow, coupled with “heavy oaths,” that she tumbled down and had to be removed from the arena." The defence provided loads of witnesses claiming the men were the victims but the Bench were unconvinced and fined them 10 shillings and costs.
A letter was also published in the St Helens Newspaper from someone calling themselves "A. Ratepayer" and criticising the pollution in the town. This is an extract: "Sir – At the time of the terrible visitation of fever, about 17 years since, the town of St. Helens suffered from a pestilence of sulphuretted hydrogen similar to recent experience on the surface of the streets, everyone complaining of the discolouration of paths and the spoliation of property.
"For many years the pestilence was abated by this authority [Improvement Commisioners], but after the death of their law clerk such deposits have been allowed to go on unchecked in much larger quantities, and alkali waste is deposited in every direction with the most harmful results. Cellars are reported to be flooded with drainage from such deposits in Eccleston and Parr, and children suffocated by the gas emitted therefrom, on Smithy-brow and at Parr Mill, during the last few years, yet the Corporation takes no action to stop this growing pestilence."
On the 11th a "grand concert" was held in the Rainford National School. Alexander McKibbin of Rainford Hall in Crank was in the chair with proceeds from the event going towards the school.
And finally, there was a bad accident to Henry Cunliffe on the 12th. The coal miner was coming off work at Peasley Cross Colliery and walking behind some coal wagons that were being hauled by rope. The Liverpool Mercury wrote: "The rope broke and the waggons ran against him with fearful force, breaking several ribs, and otherwise crushing him." On the following day Henry from Peasley Cross died from his injuries.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the poker battle in Parr, the St Helens Newspaper's fierce attack on longwinded, boorish councillors, the appointment of a Medical Officer of Health for St Helens and the Great Vance comes to town.
We begin on the 8th when Patrick McLoughlin and John Grady were brought up in court charged with a cheeky fraud. The pair had entered Mary Chivers' fish shop in Duke Street claiming to be inspectors of weights and measures and demanded to check the accuracy of her scales. They took one to pieces and after supposedly adjusting it demanded a large fee. All the shopkeeper would give was five shillings and after some bargaining they offered to take the balance in fish. That roused Mrs Chivers' suspicions and she had the men arrested and in court they were remanded for further police enquiries to be made.
During the early 1870s there were a number of gold strikes in America creating considerable elation. One San Diego newspaper wrote: "The excitement is so intense that one scarcely knows whether he is on his head or heels". The more restrained Lancashire version was the detection of seams of "black gold" as the Wigan Observer described on the 8th:
"The Prescot Land Company intends “prospecting” for coal underneath their land in Prescot. It is confidently asserted by colliers in the neighbourhood that there is a five-feat seam of Rushy Park coal underneath the estate. The company intends to commence boring operations in order to test the truth of the statement. Should it prove that coal to the extent spoken of exists under the estate, the prospects of the shareholders will be of a most encouraging character."
There was an uncanny likeness between the two men but many believed Castro's real name was Arthur Orton. He was a butcher's son from Wapping who had gone to sea as a boy and thought to have ended up in Australia. A lengthy civil court hearing in 1871 rejected Castro's (or Orton's) claim to be Roger Tichborne. That was despite 86 people attesting that they believed he was genuine! The extraordinary case gripped newspaper readers worldwide during the 1860s and ‘70s and was the cause célèbre of Victorian times. In 1872 a campaigning newspaper called the Tichborne News and Anti-Oppression Journal had even been set up to further his case and the cause of justice.
In St Helens "The Claimant" described his alleged adventures in the Volunteer Hall, the largest venue in town. It was reported that the more expensive front seats were not well occupied – but the remainder of the hall was packed. Many of the working class saw "The Claimant" as representative of a battle against the system, although if the man really was Tichborne they were supporting a member of the upper classes! In 1875 after a 10-month-long trial, Castro / Orton would be convicted of perjury and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Israel used to be a fairly common forename, with almost 2,500 persons so listed in the 1871 census for England, Scotland and Wales. Two dozen of them bore the name of Israel Taylor, with one being a 55-year-old miner living in Parr. In the Petty Sessions this week, St Helens's Israel Taylor was charged with breaking a window in the home of John Cliff. However, it had not been the usual dispute in which neighbours threw stones at each other's houses. In fact it had been an inside job with Taylor lodging with Cliff.
At 4am Israel had risen and using a stick had broken a sheet of glass over a door. The defendant claimed he had only been trying to leave the house and had hit the door with his stick to attract the attention of those sleeping upstairs. By accident, he said, he had struck the window without realising it, claiming he was deaf and so unable to hear the sound of the glass being smashed.
However, the Newspaper wrote that his deafness seemed rather selective: "The Chairman asked him a question in a very moderate tone of voice, and the promptitude with which he replied, showed that however deaf he had been on Sunday, his hearing was excellent now." Israel Taylor was ordered to pay 14s 10d.
As I've often said, the police did go to some lengths to prosecute people for very minor crimes. It was an offence not to have a vehicle on the road without the name of its owner displayed on it. John Lunt from Warrington was charged with committing that offence in Sutton with the horse-driven lorry that he owned.
However, he claimed the man driving it at the time had mistakenly taken out the wrong vehicle. But Supt. Ludlam countered that the driver had given the wrong name to the police and when an officer had been dispatched to Warrington to deliver the summons, the defendant refused to receive it, "evidently wishing to give as much trouble as possible". He was fined 6 shillings and costs.
"A Sunday Shindy At Parr", was the headline to the Newspaper's account of a mixed-sex fight that led to Thomas Caine and Michael Kearsey being charged with assault. Alice Jackson was the injured party having received two black eyes from both men in separate incidents. Mrs Jackson described how a row had taken place after dinner in which, as the Newspaper wrote, "men and women took part indiscriminately".
She said her sister had got involved in the punch up and as she attempted to take her away, Michael Kearsey had struck Mrs Jackson on the forehead and breast, which knocked her to the ground. "The riot was continued at intervals, rising and falling during the afternoon", said the Newspaper. During what was described as a quiet period, the other defendant Thomas Caine declared that he would kill the first person that he met.
It certainly wasn't Alice Jackson’s day. She was still nursing the injuries given to her by Michael Kearsey and happened to be the first unlucky soul that Thomas Caine found – as the Newspaper described: "He administered to her such a blow, coupled with “heavy oaths,” that she tumbled down and had to be removed from the arena." The defence provided loads of witnesses claiming the men were the victims but the Bench were unconvinced and fined them 10 shillings and costs.
A letter was also published in the St Helens Newspaper from someone calling themselves "A. Ratepayer" and criticising the pollution in the town. This is an extract: "Sir – At the time of the terrible visitation of fever, about 17 years since, the town of St. Helens suffered from a pestilence of sulphuretted hydrogen similar to recent experience on the surface of the streets, everyone complaining of the discolouration of paths and the spoliation of property.
"For many years the pestilence was abated by this authority [Improvement Commisioners], but after the death of their law clerk such deposits have been allowed to go on unchecked in much larger quantities, and alkali waste is deposited in every direction with the most harmful results. Cellars are reported to be flooded with drainage from such deposits in Eccleston and Parr, and children suffocated by the gas emitted therefrom, on Smithy-brow and at Parr Mill, during the last few years, yet the Corporation takes no action to stop this growing pestilence."
On the 11th a "grand concert" was held in the Rainford National School. Alexander McKibbin of Rainford Hall in Crank was in the chair with proceeds from the event going towards the school.
And finally, there was a bad accident to Henry Cunliffe on the 12th. The coal miner was coming off work at Peasley Cross Colliery and walking behind some coal wagons that were being hauled by rope. The Liverpool Mercury wrote: "The rope broke and the waggons ran against him with fearful force, breaking several ribs, and otherwise crushing him." On the following day Henry from Peasley Cross died from his injuries.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the poker battle in Parr, the St Helens Newspaper's fierce attack on longwinded, boorish councillors, the appointment of a Medical Officer of Health for St Helens and the Great Vance comes to town.
This week's many stories include the Sunday shindy in Parr, the Peasley Cross Colliery death, a call for something to be done to abate discharges from St Helens chemical factories, the glass smashing man from Parr called Israel and the individual at the centre of the most amazing story of Victorian times arrives in St Helens.
We begin on the 8th when Patrick McLoughlin and John Grady were brought up in court charged with a cheeky fraud.
The pair had entered Mary Chivers' fish shop in Duke Street claiming to be inspectors of weights and measures and demanded to check the accuracy of her scales.
They took one to pieces and after supposedly adjusting it demanded a large fee.
All the shopkeeper would give was five shillings and after some bargaining they offered to take the balance in fish.
That roused Mrs Chivers' suspicions and she had the men arrested and in court they were remanded for further police enquiries to be made.
During the early 1870s there were a number of gold strikes in America creating considerable elation. One San Diego newspaper wrote:
"The excitement is so intense that one scarcely knows whether he is on his head or heels".
The more restrained Lancashire version was the detection of seams of "black gold" as the Wigan Observer described on the 8th:
"The Prescot Land Company intends “prospecting” for coal underneath their land in Prescot. It is confidently asserted by colliers in the neighbourhood that there is a five-feat seam of Rushy Park coal underneath the estate.
"The company intends to commence boring operations in order to test the truth of the statement. Should it prove that coal to the extent spoken of exists under the estate, the prospects of the shareholders will be of a most encouraging character."
On the 10th St Helens was visited by the extraordinary man known as "The Claimant" – but whose real name was Thomas Castro, Arthur Orton – or Sir Roger Tichborne (pictured above).
The latter was presumed to have died in a shipwreck in 1854. Twelve years later an Australian butcher from Wagga Wagga called Thomas Castro claimed to be Tichborne and sailed to England to claim his baronetcy and fortune.
Tichborne’s mother accepted Castro as her long-lost son but other family members were sceptical and thought him an imposter.
There was an uncanny likeness between the two men but many believed Castro's real name was Arthur Orton.
He was a butcher's son from Wapping who had gone to sea as a boy and thought to have ended up in Australia.
A lengthy civil court hearing in 1871 rejected Castro's (or Orton's) claim to be Roger Tichborne. That was despite 86 people attesting that they believed he was genuine!
The extraordinary case gripped newspaper readers worldwide during the 1860s and ‘70s and was the cause célèbre of Victorian times.
In 1872 a campaigning newspaper called the Tichborne News and Anti-Oppression Journal had even been set up to further his case and the cause of justice.
In St Helens "The Claimant" described his alleged adventures in the Volunteer Hall, the largest venue in town.
It was reported that the more expensive front seats were not well occupied – but the remainder of the hall was packed.
Many of the working class saw "The Claimant" as representative of a battle against the system, although if the man really was Tichborne they were supporting a member of the upper classes!
In 1875 after a 10-month-long trial, Castro / Orton would be convicted of perjury and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Israel used to be a fairly common forename, with almost 2,500 persons so listed in the 1871 census for England, Scotland and Wales.
Two dozen of them bore the name of Israel Taylor, with one being a 55-year-old miner living in Parr.
In the Petty Sessions this week, St Helens's Israel Taylor was charged with breaking a window in the home of John Cliff.
However, it had not been the usual dispute in which neighbours threw stones at each other's houses. In fact it had been an inside job with Taylor lodging with Cliff.
At 4am Israel had risen and using a stick had broken a sheet of glass over a door. The defendant claimed he had only been trying to leave the house and had hit the door with his stick to attract the attention of those sleeping upstairs.
By accident, he said, he had struck the window without realising it, claiming he was deaf and so unable to hear the sound of the glass being smashed.
However, the Newspaper wrote that his deafness seemed rather selective:
"The Chairman asked him a question in a very moderate tone of voice, and the promptitude with which he replied, showed that however deaf he had been on Sunday, his hearing was excellent now." Israel was ordered to pay 14s 10d.
As I've often said, the police did go to some lengths to prosecute people for very minor crimes.
It was an offence not to have a vehicle on the road without the name of its owner displayed on it.
John Lunt from Warrington was charged with committing that offence in Sutton with the horse-driven lorry that he owned.
However, he claimed the man driving it at the time had mistakenly taken out the wrong vehicle.
But Supt. Ludlam countered that the driver had given the wrong name to the police and when an officer had been dispatched to Warrington to deliver the summons, the defendant refused to receive it, "evidently wishing to give as much trouble as possible". He was fined 6 shillings and costs.
"A Sunday Shindy At Parr", was the headline to the Newspaper's account of a mixed-sex fight that led to Thomas Caine and Michael Kearsey being charged with assault.
Alice Jackson was the injured party having received two black eyes from both men in separate incidents.
Mrs Jackson described how a row had taken place after dinner in which, as the Newspaper wrote, "men and women took part indiscriminately".
She said her sister had got involved in the punch up and as she attempted to take her away, Michael Kearsey had struck Mrs Jackson on the forehead and breast, which knocked her to the ground.
"The riot was continued at intervals, rising and falling during the afternoon", said the Newspaper.
During what was described as a quiet period, the other defendant Thomas Caine declared that he would kill the first person that he met.
It certainly wasn't Alice Jackson’s day. She was still nursing the injuries given to her by Michael Kearsey and happened to be the first unlucky soul that Thomas Caine found – as the Newspaper described:
"He administered to her such a blow, coupled with “heavy oaths,” that she tumbled down and had to be removed from the arena."
The defence provided loads of witnesses claiming the men were the victims but the Bench were unconvinced and fined them 10 shillings and costs.
A letter was also published in the Newspaper criticising the pollution in the town. This is an extract:
"Sir – At the time of the terrible visitation of fever, about 17 years since, the town of St. Helens suffered from a pestilence of sulphuretted hydrogen similar to recent experience on the surface of the streets, everyone complaining of the discolouration of paths and the spoliation of property.
"For many years the pestilence was abated by this authority [Improvement Commisioners], but after the death of their law clerk such deposits have been allowed to go on unchecked in much larger quantities, and alkali waste is deposited in every direction with the most harmful results.
"Cellars are reported to be flooded with drainage from such deposits in Eccleston and Parr, and children suffocated by the gas emitted therefrom, on Smithy-brow and at Parr Mill, during the last few years, yet the Corporation takes no action to stop this growing pestilence." – A. RATEPAYER
On the 11th a "grand concert" was held in the Rainford National School. Alexander McKibbin of Rainford Hall in Crank was in the chair with proceeds from the event going towards the school.
And finally, there was a bad accident to Henry Cunliffe on the 12th. The coal miner was coming off work at Peasley Cross Colliery and walking behind some coal wagons that were being hauled by rope.
The Liverpool Mercury wrote: "The rope broke and the waggons ran against him with fearful force, breaking several ribs, and otherwise crushing him." On the following day Henry from Peasley Cross died from his injuries.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the poker battle in Parr, the St Helens Newspaper's fierce attack on longwinded, boorish councillors, the appointment of a Medical Officer of Health for St Helens and the Great Vance comes to town.
We begin on the 8th when Patrick McLoughlin and John Grady were brought up in court charged with a cheeky fraud.
The pair had entered Mary Chivers' fish shop in Duke Street claiming to be inspectors of weights and measures and demanded to check the accuracy of her scales.
They took one to pieces and after supposedly adjusting it demanded a large fee.
All the shopkeeper would give was five shillings and after some bargaining they offered to take the balance in fish.
That roused Mrs Chivers' suspicions and she had the men arrested and in court they were remanded for further police enquiries to be made.
During the early 1870s there were a number of gold strikes in America creating considerable elation. One San Diego newspaper wrote:
"The excitement is so intense that one scarcely knows whether he is on his head or heels".
The more restrained Lancashire version was the detection of seams of "black gold" as the Wigan Observer described on the 8th:
"The Prescot Land Company intends “prospecting” for coal underneath their land in Prescot. It is confidently asserted by colliers in the neighbourhood that there is a five-feat seam of Rushy Park coal underneath the estate.
"The company intends to commence boring operations in order to test the truth of the statement. Should it prove that coal to the extent spoken of exists under the estate, the prospects of the shareholders will be of a most encouraging character."
The latter was presumed to have died in a shipwreck in 1854. Twelve years later an Australian butcher from Wagga Wagga called Thomas Castro claimed to be Tichborne and sailed to England to claim his baronetcy and fortune.
Tichborne’s mother accepted Castro as her long-lost son but other family members were sceptical and thought him an imposter.
There was an uncanny likeness between the two men but many believed Castro's real name was Arthur Orton.
He was a butcher's son from Wapping who had gone to sea as a boy and thought to have ended up in Australia.
A lengthy civil court hearing in 1871 rejected Castro's (or Orton's) claim to be Roger Tichborne. That was despite 86 people attesting that they believed he was genuine!
The extraordinary case gripped newspaper readers worldwide during the 1860s and ‘70s and was the cause célèbre of Victorian times.
In 1872 a campaigning newspaper called the Tichborne News and Anti-Oppression Journal had even been set up to further his case and the cause of justice.
In St Helens "The Claimant" described his alleged adventures in the Volunteer Hall, the largest venue in town.
It was reported that the more expensive front seats were not well occupied – but the remainder of the hall was packed.
Many of the working class saw "The Claimant" as representative of a battle against the system, although if the man really was Tichborne they were supporting a member of the upper classes!
In 1875 after a 10-month-long trial, Castro / Orton would be convicted of perjury and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Israel used to be a fairly common forename, with almost 2,500 persons so listed in the 1871 census for England, Scotland and Wales.
Two dozen of them bore the name of Israel Taylor, with one being a 55-year-old miner living in Parr.
In the Petty Sessions this week, St Helens's Israel Taylor was charged with breaking a window in the home of John Cliff.
However, it had not been the usual dispute in which neighbours threw stones at each other's houses. In fact it had been an inside job with Taylor lodging with Cliff.
At 4am Israel had risen and using a stick had broken a sheet of glass over a door. The defendant claimed he had only been trying to leave the house and had hit the door with his stick to attract the attention of those sleeping upstairs.
By accident, he said, he had struck the window without realising it, claiming he was deaf and so unable to hear the sound of the glass being smashed.
However, the Newspaper wrote that his deafness seemed rather selective:
"The Chairman asked him a question in a very moderate tone of voice, and the promptitude with which he replied, showed that however deaf he had been on Sunday, his hearing was excellent now." Israel was ordered to pay 14s 10d.
As I've often said, the police did go to some lengths to prosecute people for very minor crimes.
It was an offence not to have a vehicle on the road without the name of its owner displayed on it.
John Lunt from Warrington was charged with committing that offence in Sutton with the horse-driven lorry that he owned.
However, he claimed the man driving it at the time had mistakenly taken out the wrong vehicle.
But Supt. Ludlam countered that the driver had given the wrong name to the police and when an officer had been dispatched to Warrington to deliver the summons, the defendant refused to receive it, "evidently wishing to give as much trouble as possible". He was fined 6 shillings and costs.
"A Sunday Shindy At Parr", was the headline to the Newspaper's account of a mixed-sex fight that led to Thomas Caine and Michael Kearsey being charged with assault.
Alice Jackson was the injured party having received two black eyes from both men in separate incidents.
Mrs Jackson described how a row had taken place after dinner in which, as the Newspaper wrote, "men and women took part indiscriminately".
She said her sister had got involved in the punch up and as she attempted to take her away, Michael Kearsey had struck Mrs Jackson on the forehead and breast, which knocked her to the ground.
"The riot was continued at intervals, rising and falling during the afternoon", said the Newspaper.
During what was described as a quiet period, the other defendant Thomas Caine declared that he would kill the first person that he met.
It certainly wasn't Alice Jackson’s day. She was still nursing the injuries given to her by Michael Kearsey and happened to be the first unlucky soul that Thomas Caine found – as the Newspaper described:
"He administered to her such a blow, coupled with “heavy oaths,” that she tumbled down and had to be removed from the arena."
The defence provided loads of witnesses claiming the men were the victims but the Bench were unconvinced and fined them 10 shillings and costs.
A letter was also published in the Newspaper criticising the pollution in the town. This is an extract:
"Sir – At the time of the terrible visitation of fever, about 17 years since, the town of St. Helens suffered from a pestilence of sulphuretted hydrogen similar to recent experience on the surface of the streets, everyone complaining of the discolouration of paths and the spoliation of property.
"For many years the pestilence was abated by this authority [Improvement Commisioners], but after the death of their law clerk such deposits have been allowed to go on unchecked in much larger quantities, and alkali waste is deposited in every direction with the most harmful results.
"Cellars are reported to be flooded with drainage from such deposits in Eccleston and Parr, and children suffocated by the gas emitted therefrom, on Smithy-brow and at Parr Mill, during the last few years, yet the Corporation takes no action to stop this growing pestilence." – A. RATEPAYER
On the 11th a "grand concert" was held in the Rainford National School. Alexander McKibbin of Rainford Hall in Crank was in the chair with proceeds from the event going towards the school.
And finally, there was a bad accident to Henry Cunliffe on the 12th. The coal miner was coming off work at Peasley Cross Colliery and walking behind some coal wagons that were being hauled by rope.
The Liverpool Mercury wrote: "The rope broke and the waggons ran against him with fearful force, breaking several ribs, and otherwise crushing him." On the following day Henry from Peasley Cross died from his injuries.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the poker battle in Parr, the St Helens Newspaper's fierce attack on longwinded, boorish councillors, the appointment of a Medical Officer of Health for St Helens and the Great Vance comes to town.