150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 6 - 12 MAY 1874
This week's many stories include the bottle boys employed at Nuttalls who complained of being beaten, how the installation of a telegraph wire at Eccleston waterworks would improve communication, the man dubbed a lunatic who claimed to be an inspector of coal mines, the shocking scalding fatality that took place at Hardshaw Brook Alkali Works, the furious driving of sand carters in Taylors Row and the harsh sentences imposed on women for coal stealing.
We start on the 6th with the monthly meeting of St Helens Town Council. Criticism was expressed of the town's water supply having been cut off on the previous Saturday without any notice being given, which had caused a great deal of inconvenience. The council's Surveyor explained that a telegraph wire would soon be connected between the Eccleston waterworks and his office, which would improve communication and allow for "timely notice" of stoppages.
On the 8th under the headline "A Demented ‘Mine Inspector’", the Liverpool Mercury wrote: "Yesterday, a collier named Moses Houghton, belonging to Adlington, was brought up at St. Helens as a lunatic. He had been going round some of the collieries, declaring that he was an inspector of mines and insisting on being lowered into the shafts with all necessary honours. Although but 32 years of age, he told the magistrate that his friends had been assuring him he was a mine inspector ever since the year 1841. His worship remanded the poor fellow in order that his friends might be communicated with."
Working in dangerous conditions led to some dreadful deaths. On the 11th Thomas Murray died in St Helens Cottage Hospital from the scalds he had received at the Hardshaw Brook Alkali Works. The 32-year-old had been working at a large pan filled with boiling water and was believed to have suffered a fit while syphoning some of the water off. The red-hot liquid poured all over him causing injuries that were described as "frightful" and a lack of effective pain relief meant Thomas lingered in the hospital for several days in great agony before dying.
Charles Rudd was a regular in St Helens courts having been convicted of an unusually wide range of offences and on the 11th he made his 27th appearance in the Petty Sessions. Rudd used to operate a beerhouse in Water Street but had his licence removed in 1869 after claims that the place was a brothel.
Most recently Rudd had been convicted of trespassing in pursuit of game – attempted poaching in other words – and this time he was charged with "maliciously damaging clover roots in a field at Eccleston." That simply meant he had been caught walking across somebody's field. But in the light of his poaching conviction, it sounds as if there wasn't sufficient evidence to sustain a similar charge and so damaging the grass had to do instead. He was still fined £2 and costs.
Carts were not permitted to park on the roads for any longer than it took to load or unload goods. That was on the basis that an obstruction could be caused. But carters would often chance it, usually while visiting pubs. However, John Burke and John Grimes had left their carts in the road at Rainford while going into fields looking for birds' nests, presumably to steal their eggs. Both appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions where Burke was fined 5 shillings and Grimes 2s 6d, plus costs.
You didn't need to have a motor vehicle to race through the streets of St Helens in the 1870s – horses would do. But when attached to a cart the practice could be quite dangerous. Richard Cropper, John Nolan and William Gresty were charged with furious driving in Taylors Row in Sutton. The men were all drivers of sand carts for use in the glass works, and they were accused of running a race at high speed to the danger of several children. None of the defendants turned up to court and in their absence were each fined 20 shillings and costs.
Large numbers of boys were employed in the glass and bottleworks of St Helens. If they did not perform their jobs correctly, production could be affected and the income of the men that they were working with be reduced. And so beatings of boys seems to have been commonplace when something went wrong – although as such incidents rarely made the newspapers, it is hard to know the full extent.
But in the Petty Sessions this week three lads made accusations of suffering violence while working at Nuttall's Glassworks. Two apprentices called John Willits and Josiah Langley were charged with refusing to complete their apprenticeships after walking out of the bottleworks two months before. They claimed that beatings had driven them away but still Willits was fined £2 and costs or must serve a month in prison. And Langley was fined 5 shillings and costs.
In a separate case Thomas Rimmer was charged with assaulting Joseph Platt, with the boy apprentice stating that he had been struck for not undertaking some task on account of the heat. Thomas's mother said that they had incurred a medical bill of nearly £7 for the "illusage" that her son had received at Nuttall's works.
But Thomas Rimmer pleaded not guilty and had a young man named Chadwick to give evidence that no assault had been committed. As a result the case was dismissed, although the Chairman of the Bench remarked that it was evident that the boy had been punished to some extent. One wonders what further punishment Thomas Rimmer might have received when he returned to his job at Nuttall's?
A man called Prendergast was also in court accused of threatening Mary Kilkenny. The latter claimed that the man had thrown a brick through her window and then threatened to commit bodily harm to both her and her husband. Mrs Kilkenny said Prendergast had declared that he was prepared to hang in order to take his revenge out on the couple.
Prendergast brought a woman to court in an attempt to prove an alibi but he started to bad-mouth the Kilkennys in the courtroom. The Chairman of the Bench warned Prendergast that he was only creating fresh trouble for himself and he was ordered to find a surety to keep the peace.
There were people in St Helens in the 1870s that were highly ignorant. By that I mean they were not only largely illiterate but had no idea what month or even year it was and who was the country's prime minister. They lived and worked with others of a similar ilk in a small world of their own and when they appeared in court a clash of civilisations occurred.
It was common for such uneducated folk not to know how to behave in a courtroom and the foulest of language could be used as well as graphic descriptions of the sexual act. This horrified the St Helens Newspaper, although the crammed public gallery lapped it up! Such a case took place when Esther Lucas sought maintenance from Joseph Platt for her illegitimate child.
Both were employed at Greengate Colliery in Thatto Heath and the Newspaper published this highly critical account of what had occurred in court and called for the public gallery in similar cases in future to be cleared:
"During the hearing the most intense ignorance was manifested by some of the parties. The complainant was quite unable to fix dates, having no knowledge of months or even years. Circumstances alone dwelt on her mind. One other witness, an engineman at the colliery named Newton said he did not know one month from another, and could not tell the name of the current month.
"The grossest immorality was revealed in the evidence. The magistrates declined to make an order. As is usual when cases of this kind are heard, the court overflowed with people. The hall and staircase were filled with persons who could not get in on account of the crush. Every objectionable feature of the evidence was laughed at loudly, despite the commands for silence.
"When this case was over a flood of people poured out of the place, and dished up the testimony in the open air with as many variations as there were speakers. If county magistrates have no regard to the immorality they foster by permitting such exhibitions in their so-called courts of justice, it is high time we had a Borough Bench of Magistrates, who would better understand what is for the moral welfare of the neighbourhood, and the decency and decorum of a court of justice."
Desperate people stole coal to heat their houses and cook their meals. But in doing so they took great risks. This week Margaret and Mary Shannon were charged with stealing 82 pounds of coal belonging to the Ravenhead Colliery Company. They were both sentenced to a day in custody having already spent a week in a cell awaiting a hearing. And Catherine Wisely was charged with stealing 23 pounds of coal from Pilkington's Colliery and was sent to prison for a week.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the filthy tumble-down cottages of Prescot, the laying of the foundation stone of Rainford's Catholic school, the shocking health report for 1873 and why the body of a chemical worker had to be exhumed.
We start on the 6th with the monthly meeting of St Helens Town Council. Criticism was expressed of the town's water supply having been cut off on the previous Saturday without any notice being given, which had caused a great deal of inconvenience. The council's Surveyor explained that a telegraph wire would soon be connected between the Eccleston waterworks and his office, which would improve communication and allow for "timely notice" of stoppages.
Working in dangerous conditions led to some dreadful deaths. On the 11th Thomas Murray died in St Helens Cottage Hospital from the scalds he had received at the Hardshaw Brook Alkali Works. The 32-year-old had been working at a large pan filled with boiling water and was believed to have suffered a fit while syphoning some of the water off. The red-hot liquid poured all over him causing injuries that were described as "frightful" and a lack of effective pain relief meant Thomas lingered in the hospital for several days in great agony before dying.
Charles Rudd was a regular in St Helens courts having been convicted of an unusually wide range of offences and on the 11th he made his 27th appearance in the Petty Sessions. Rudd used to operate a beerhouse in Water Street but had his licence removed in 1869 after claims that the place was a brothel.
Most recently Rudd had been convicted of trespassing in pursuit of game – attempted poaching in other words – and this time he was charged with "maliciously damaging clover roots in a field at Eccleston." That simply meant he had been caught walking across somebody's field. But in the light of his poaching conviction, it sounds as if there wasn't sufficient evidence to sustain a similar charge and so damaging the grass had to do instead. He was still fined £2 and costs.
Carts were not permitted to park on the roads for any longer than it took to load or unload goods. That was on the basis that an obstruction could be caused. But carters would often chance it, usually while visiting pubs. However, John Burke and John Grimes had left their carts in the road at Rainford while going into fields looking for birds' nests, presumably to steal their eggs. Both appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions where Burke was fined 5 shillings and Grimes 2s 6d, plus costs.
You didn't need to have a motor vehicle to race through the streets of St Helens in the 1870s – horses would do. But when attached to a cart the practice could be quite dangerous. Richard Cropper, John Nolan and William Gresty were charged with furious driving in Taylors Row in Sutton. The men were all drivers of sand carts for use in the glass works, and they were accused of running a race at high speed to the danger of several children. None of the defendants turned up to court and in their absence were each fined 20 shillings and costs.
Large numbers of boys were employed in the glass and bottleworks of St Helens. If they did not perform their jobs correctly, production could be affected and the income of the men that they were working with be reduced. And so beatings of boys seems to have been commonplace when something went wrong – although as such incidents rarely made the newspapers, it is hard to know the full extent.
But in the Petty Sessions this week three lads made accusations of suffering violence while working at Nuttall's Glassworks. Two apprentices called John Willits and Josiah Langley were charged with refusing to complete their apprenticeships after walking out of the bottleworks two months before. They claimed that beatings had driven them away but still Willits was fined £2 and costs or must serve a month in prison. And Langley was fined 5 shillings and costs.
In a separate case Thomas Rimmer was charged with assaulting Joseph Platt, with the boy apprentice stating that he had been struck for not undertaking some task on account of the heat. Thomas's mother said that they had incurred a medical bill of nearly £7 for the "illusage" that her son had received at Nuttall's works.
But Thomas Rimmer pleaded not guilty and had a young man named Chadwick to give evidence that no assault had been committed. As a result the case was dismissed, although the Chairman of the Bench remarked that it was evident that the boy had been punished to some extent. One wonders what further punishment Thomas Rimmer might have received when he returned to his job at Nuttall's?
A man called Prendergast was also in court accused of threatening Mary Kilkenny. The latter claimed that the man had thrown a brick through her window and then threatened to commit bodily harm to both her and her husband. Mrs Kilkenny said Prendergast had declared that he was prepared to hang in order to take his revenge out on the couple.
Prendergast brought a woman to court in an attempt to prove an alibi but he started to bad-mouth the Kilkennys in the courtroom. The Chairman of the Bench warned Prendergast that he was only creating fresh trouble for himself and he was ordered to find a surety to keep the peace.
There were people in St Helens in the 1870s that were highly ignorant. By that I mean they were not only largely illiterate but had no idea what month or even year it was and who was the country's prime minister. They lived and worked with others of a similar ilk in a small world of their own and when they appeared in court a clash of civilisations occurred.
It was common for such uneducated folk not to know how to behave in a courtroom and the foulest of language could be used as well as graphic descriptions of the sexual act. This horrified the St Helens Newspaper, although the crammed public gallery lapped it up! Such a case took place when Esther Lucas sought maintenance from Joseph Platt for her illegitimate child.
Both were employed at Greengate Colliery in Thatto Heath and the Newspaper published this highly critical account of what had occurred in court and called for the public gallery in similar cases in future to be cleared:
"During the hearing the most intense ignorance was manifested by some of the parties. The complainant was quite unable to fix dates, having no knowledge of months or even years. Circumstances alone dwelt on her mind. One other witness, an engineman at the colliery named Newton said he did not know one month from another, and could not tell the name of the current month.
"The grossest immorality was revealed in the evidence. The magistrates declined to make an order. As is usual when cases of this kind are heard, the court overflowed with people. The hall and staircase were filled with persons who could not get in on account of the crush. Every objectionable feature of the evidence was laughed at loudly, despite the commands for silence.
"When this case was over a flood of people poured out of the place, and dished up the testimony in the open air with as many variations as there were speakers. If county magistrates have no regard to the immorality they foster by permitting such exhibitions in their so-called courts of justice, it is high time we had a Borough Bench of Magistrates, who would better understand what is for the moral welfare of the neighbourhood, and the decency and decorum of a court of justice."
Desperate people stole coal to heat their houses and cook their meals. But in doing so they took great risks. This week Margaret and Mary Shannon were charged with stealing 82 pounds of coal belonging to the Ravenhead Colliery Company. They were both sentenced to a day in custody having already spent a week in a cell awaiting a hearing. And Catherine Wisely was charged with stealing 23 pounds of coal from Pilkington's Colliery and was sent to prison for a week.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the filthy tumble-down cottages of Prescot, the laying of the foundation stone of Rainford's Catholic school, the shocking health report for 1873 and why the body of a chemical worker had to be exhumed.
This week's many stories include the bottle boys employed at Nuttalls who complained of being beaten, how the installation of a telegraph wire at Eccleston waterworks would improve communication, the man dubbed a lunatic who claimed to be an inspector of coal mines, the shocking scalding fatality at Hardshaw Brook Alkali Works, the furious driving of sand carters in Taylors Row and the harsh sentences imposed on women for coal stealing.
We start on the 6th with the monthly meeting of St Helens Town Council. Criticism was expressed of the town's water supply having been cut off on the previous Saturday without any notice being given, which had caused a great deal of inconvenience.
The council's Surveyor explained that a telegraph wire would soon be connected between the Eccleston waterworks and his office, which would improve communication and allow for "timely notice" of stoppages.
On the 8th under the headline "A Demented ‘Mine Inspector’", the Liverpool Mercury wrote:
"Yesterday, a collier named Moses Houghton, belonging to Adlington, was brought up at St. Helens as a lunatic. He had been going round some of the collieries, declaring that he was an inspector of mines and insisting on being lowered into the shafts with all necessary honours.
"Although but 32 years of age, he told the magistrate that his friends had been assuring him he was a mine inspector ever since the year 1841. His worship remanded the poor fellow in order that his friends might be communicated with."
Working in dangerous conditions led to some dreadful deaths. On the 11th Thomas Murray died in St Helens Cottage Hospital from the scalds he had received at the Hardshaw Brook Alkali Works.
The 32-year-old had been working at a large pan filled with boiling water and was believed to have suffered a fit while syphoning some of the water off.
The red-hot liquid poured all over him causing injuries that were described as "frightful" and a lack of effective pain relief meant Thomas lingered in the hospital for several days in great agony before dying.
Charles Rudd was a regular in St Helens courts having been convicted of an unusually wide range of offences and on the 11th he made his 27th appearance in the Petty Sessions.
Rudd used to operate a beerhouse in Water Street but had his licence removed in 1869 after claims that the place was a brothel.
Most recently Rudd had been convicted of trespassing in pursuit of game – attempted poaching in other words – and this time he was charged with "maliciously damaging clover roots in a field at Eccleston."
That simply meant he had been caught walking across somebody's field. But in the light of his poaching conviction, it sounds as if there wasn't sufficient evidence to sustain a similar charge and so damaging the grass had to do instead. He was still fined £2 and costs.
Carts were not permitted to park on the roads for any longer than it took to load or unload goods. That was on the basis that an obstruction could be caused. But carters would often chance it, usually while visiting pubs.
However, John Burke and John Grimes had left their carts in the road at Rainford while going into fields looking for birds' nests, presumably to steal their eggs.
Both appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions where Burke was fined 5 shillings and Grimes 2s 6d, plus costs.
You didn't need to have a motor vehicle to race through the streets of St Helens in the 1870s – horses would do. But when attached to a cart the practice could be quite dangerous.
Richard Cropper, John Nolan and William Gresty were charged with furious driving in Taylors Row in Sutton.
The men were all drivers of sand carts for use in the glass works, and they were accused of running a race at high speed to the danger of several children.
None of the defendants turned up to court and in their absence were each fined 20 shillings and costs.
Large numbers of boys were employed in the glass and bottleworks of St Helens. If they did not perform their jobs correctly, production could be affected and the income of the men that they were working with be reduced.
And so beatings of boys seems to have been commonplace when something went wrong – although as such incidents rarely made the newspapers, it is hard to know the full extent.
But in the Petty Sessions this week three lads made accusations of suffering violence while working at Nuttall's Glassworks.
Two apprentices called John Willits and Josiah Langley were charged with refusing to complete their apprenticeships after walking out of the bottleworks two months before.
They claimed that beatings had driven them away but still Willits was fined £2 and costs or must serve a month in prison. And Langley was fined 5 shillings and costs.
In a separate case Thomas Rimmer was charged with assaulting Joseph Platt, with the boy apprentice stating that he had been struck for not undertaking some task on account of the heat.
Thomas's mother said that they had incurred a medical bill of nearly £7 for the "illusage" that her son had received at Nuttall's works.
But Thomas Rimmer pleaded not guilty and had a young man named Chadwick to give evidence that no assault had been committed.
As a result the case was dismissed, although the Chairman of the Bench remarked that it was evident that the boy had been punished to some extent.
One wonders what further punishment Thomas Rimmer might have received when he returned to his job at Nuttall's?
A man called Prendergast was also in court accused of threatening Mary Kilkenny.
The latter claimed that the man had thrown a brick through her window and then threatened to commit bodily harm to both her and her husband.
Mrs Kilkenny said Prendergast had declared that he was prepared to hang in order to take his revenge out on the couple.
Prendergast brought a woman to court in an attempt to prove an alibi but he started to bad-mouth the Kilkennys in the courtroom.
The Chairman of the Bench warned Prendergast that he was only creating fresh trouble for himself and he was ordered to find a surety to keep the peace.
There were people in St Helens in the 1870s that were highly ignorant.
By that I mean they were not only largely illiterate but had no idea what month or even year it was and who was the country's prime minister.
They lived and worked with others of a similar ilk in a small world of their own and when they appeared in court a clash of civilisations occurred.
It was common for such uneducated folk not to know how to behave in a courtroom and the foulest of language could be used as well as graphic descriptions of the sexual act.
This horrified the St Helens Newspaper, although the crammed public gallery lapped it up!
Such a case took place when Esther Lucas sought maintenance from Joseph Platt for her illegitimate child.
Both were employed at Greengate Colliery in Thatto Heath and the Newspaper published this highly critical account of what had occurred in court and called for the public gallery in similar cases in future to be cleared:
"During the hearing the most intense ignorance was manifested by some of the parties. The complainant was quite unable to fix dates, having no knowledge of months or even years.
"Circumstances alone dwelt on her mind. One other witness, an engineman at the colliery named Newton said he did not know one month from another, and could not tell the name of the current month.
"The grossest immorality was revealed in the evidence. The magistrates declined to make an order.
"As is usual when cases of this kind are heard, the court overflowed with people. The hall and staircase were filled with persons who could not get in on account of the crush.
"Every objectionable feature of the evidence was laughed at loudly, despite the commands for silence.
"When this case was over a flood of people poured out of the place, and dished up the testimony in the open air with as many variations as there were speakers.
"If county magistrates have no regard to the immorality they foster by permitting such exhibitions in their so-called courts of justice, it is high time we had a Borough Bench of Magistrates, who would better understand what is for the moral welfare of the neighbourhood, and the decency and decorum of a court of justice."
Desperate people stole coal to heat their houses and cook their meals. But in doing so they took great risks.
This week Margaret and Mary Shannon were charged with stealing 82 pounds of coal belonging to the Ravenhead Colliery Company.
They were both sentenced to a day in custody having already spent a week in a cell awaiting a hearing.
And Catherine Wisely was charged with stealing 23 pounds of coal from Pilkington's Colliery and was sent to prison for a week.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the filthy tumble-down cottages of Prescot, the laying of the foundation stone of Rainford's Catholic school, the shocking health report for 1873 and why the body of a chemical worker had to be exhumed.
We start on the 6th with the monthly meeting of St Helens Town Council. Criticism was expressed of the town's water supply having been cut off on the previous Saturday without any notice being given, which had caused a great deal of inconvenience.
The council's Surveyor explained that a telegraph wire would soon be connected between the Eccleston waterworks and his office, which would improve communication and allow for "timely notice" of stoppages.
"Yesterday, a collier named Moses Houghton, belonging to Adlington, was brought up at St. Helens as a lunatic. He had been going round some of the collieries, declaring that he was an inspector of mines and insisting on being lowered into the shafts with all necessary honours.
"Although but 32 years of age, he told the magistrate that his friends had been assuring him he was a mine inspector ever since the year 1841. His worship remanded the poor fellow in order that his friends might be communicated with."
Working in dangerous conditions led to some dreadful deaths. On the 11th Thomas Murray died in St Helens Cottage Hospital from the scalds he had received at the Hardshaw Brook Alkali Works.
The 32-year-old had been working at a large pan filled with boiling water and was believed to have suffered a fit while syphoning some of the water off.
The red-hot liquid poured all over him causing injuries that were described as "frightful" and a lack of effective pain relief meant Thomas lingered in the hospital for several days in great agony before dying.
Charles Rudd was a regular in St Helens courts having been convicted of an unusually wide range of offences and on the 11th he made his 27th appearance in the Petty Sessions.
Rudd used to operate a beerhouse in Water Street but had his licence removed in 1869 after claims that the place was a brothel.
Most recently Rudd had been convicted of trespassing in pursuit of game – attempted poaching in other words – and this time he was charged with "maliciously damaging clover roots in a field at Eccleston."
That simply meant he had been caught walking across somebody's field. But in the light of his poaching conviction, it sounds as if there wasn't sufficient evidence to sustain a similar charge and so damaging the grass had to do instead. He was still fined £2 and costs.
Carts were not permitted to park on the roads for any longer than it took to load or unload goods. That was on the basis that an obstruction could be caused. But carters would often chance it, usually while visiting pubs.
However, John Burke and John Grimes had left their carts in the road at Rainford while going into fields looking for birds' nests, presumably to steal their eggs.
Both appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions where Burke was fined 5 shillings and Grimes 2s 6d, plus costs.
You didn't need to have a motor vehicle to race through the streets of St Helens in the 1870s – horses would do. But when attached to a cart the practice could be quite dangerous.
Richard Cropper, John Nolan and William Gresty were charged with furious driving in Taylors Row in Sutton.
The men were all drivers of sand carts for use in the glass works, and they were accused of running a race at high speed to the danger of several children.
None of the defendants turned up to court and in their absence were each fined 20 shillings and costs.
Large numbers of boys were employed in the glass and bottleworks of St Helens. If they did not perform their jobs correctly, production could be affected and the income of the men that they were working with be reduced.
And so beatings of boys seems to have been commonplace when something went wrong – although as such incidents rarely made the newspapers, it is hard to know the full extent.
But in the Petty Sessions this week three lads made accusations of suffering violence while working at Nuttall's Glassworks.
Two apprentices called John Willits and Josiah Langley were charged with refusing to complete their apprenticeships after walking out of the bottleworks two months before.
They claimed that beatings had driven them away but still Willits was fined £2 and costs or must serve a month in prison. And Langley was fined 5 shillings and costs.
In a separate case Thomas Rimmer was charged with assaulting Joseph Platt, with the boy apprentice stating that he had been struck for not undertaking some task on account of the heat.
Thomas's mother said that they had incurred a medical bill of nearly £7 for the "illusage" that her son had received at Nuttall's works.
But Thomas Rimmer pleaded not guilty and had a young man named Chadwick to give evidence that no assault had been committed.
As a result the case was dismissed, although the Chairman of the Bench remarked that it was evident that the boy had been punished to some extent.
One wonders what further punishment Thomas Rimmer might have received when he returned to his job at Nuttall's?
A man called Prendergast was also in court accused of threatening Mary Kilkenny.
The latter claimed that the man had thrown a brick through her window and then threatened to commit bodily harm to both her and her husband.
Mrs Kilkenny said Prendergast had declared that he was prepared to hang in order to take his revenge out on the couple.
Prendergast brought a woman to court in an attempt to prove an alibi but he started to bad-mouth the Kilkennys in the courtroom.
The Chairman of the Bench warned Prendergast that he was only creating fresh trouble for himself and he was ordered to find a surety to keep the peace.
There were people in St Helens in the 1870s that were highly ignorant.
By that I mean they were not only largely illiterate but had no idea what month or even year it was and who was the country's prime minister.
They lived and worked with others of a similar ilk in a small world of their own and when they appeared in court a clash of civilisations occurred.
It was common for such uneducated folk not to know how to behave in a courtroom and the foulest of language could be used as well as graphic descriptions of the sexual act.
This horrified the St Helens Newspaper, although the crammed public gallery lapped it up!
Such a case took place when Esther Lucas sought maintenance from Joseph Platt for her illegitimate child.
Both were employed at Greengate Colliery in Thatto Heath and the Newspaper published this highly critical account of what had occurred in court and called for the public gallery in similar cases in future to be cleared:
"During the hearing the most intense ignorance was manifested by some of the parties. The complainant was quite unable to fix dates, having no knowledge of months or even years.
"Circumstances alone dwelt on her mind. One other witness, an engineman at the colliery named Newton said he did not know one month from another, and could not tell the name of the current month.
"The grossest immorality was revealed in the evidence. The magistrates declined to make an order.
"As is usual when cases of this kind are heard, the court overflowed with people. The hall and staircase were filled with persons who could not get in on account of the crush.
"Every objectionable feature of the evidence was laughed at loudly, despite the commands for silence.
"When this case was over a flood of people poured out of the place, and dished up the testimony in the open air with as many variations as there were speakers.
"If county magistrates have no regard to the immorality they foster by permitting such exhibitions in their so-called courts of justice, it is high time we had a Borough Bench of Magistrates, who would better understand what is for the moral welfare of the neighbourhood, and the decency and decorum of a court of justice."
Desperate people stole coal to heat their houses and cook their meals. But in doing so they took great risks.
This week Margaret and Mary Shannon were charged with stealing 82 pounds of coal belonging to the Ravenhead Colliery Company.
They were both sentenced to a day in custody having already spent a week in a cell awaiting a hearing.
And Catherine Wisely was charged with stealing 23 pounds of coal from Pilkington's Colliery and was sent to prison for a week.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the filthy tumble-down cottages of Prescot, the laying of the foundation stone of Rainford's Catholic school, the shocking health report for 1873 and why the body of a chemical worker had to be exhumed.