150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 7 - 13 OCTOBER 1874
This week's many stories include the offer to provide a chain of office for St Helens' mayors, a serious accident occurs on the railway at Ravenhead, the public apathy towards the St Helens miners' strike, the defamation in Rainford's Eagle and Child and the heavy sentence for breaking into a house in Parr and stealing clothes.
Last week I described how the St Helens Newspaper had reported that a "week of ecstasies" had taken place in Liverpool. That was when Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, had visited the city to open an orphanage and lay the foundation stone for the Walker Art Gallery. The Mayor of St Helens, James Radley, was one of the invited guests and he had also recently been one of many Lancashire mayors attending the opening of Southport's Botanic Gardens.
But unlike his peers he had no robe and so had needed to borrow something suitable to wear. Radley also had no chain of office and at the meeting of St Helens Town Council held on the 7th, he offered to provide a gold chain for all future mayors of the borough to wear. His offer was accepted and the council also decided to look into buying a robe.
A by-law banned market traders in St Helens from calling out their goods to postential customers and they could be prosecuted for "unlawfully crying" them for sale. It was revealed in the minutes of the Improvement Committee that their Market Inspector had reported a stallholder called Luke Crooks for crying out his goods.
The meeting resolved that the Town Clerk should write to Crooks, warning him that if he repeated his crying he would be given notice to quit. In 1869 Luke Crooks had been prosecuted for "crying out rabbits", but the charge was dismissed on a technicality. During the case when pressed by the men's solicitor, the Market Inspector had to admit that such crying was a common practice amongst traders.
Working on the railways was a dangerous business and James Butterworth was very seriously injured this week while employed at Ravenhead. He was employed as a pointsman on the railway and had been involved in shunting waggons but found himself standing in front of an approaching engine, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"The engine-driver saw the peril of the man and blew the whistle to warn him, but he seemed bewildered, and the engine-driver was unable to stop his engine, the consequence being that the pointsman was knocked down and the waggon passed over him, injuring his head and the lower part of his abdomen. An engine and van were procured, and the injured man was sent to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary, but there is no hope of his recovery."
The so-called Hospital Saturday and Hospital Sunday were scheduled to take place on the 10th and 11th in which collections were to be made for St Helens Cottage Hospital, which had opened its doors in Peasley Cross 18 months before. On the Saturday the works in St Helens were due to be targeted, with the churches collected from on the Sunday. But because of the current miners' strike, it was decided to postpone Hospital Saturday until the beginning of November.
Coal mining was bad during the 20th century but during the 19th century it was horrendously bad, with men and boys having to crawl on their knees and use picks to dig out coal. In 1869 the miners' trade union had barely existed in St Helens but some mining disasters concentrated minds and the union reformed later that year.
But apathy and having to pay dues had – according to this week's Newspaper that was published on the 10th – drastically reduced the number of trade union members from a peak of 2,181 down to the present low of 300. Last week most of the miners in St Helens and Haydock had gone on strike after their masters had cut their wages by 15% because of a drop in the market price of coal. But the dispute was not exactly the talk of the town.
"We do not remember a strike which excited so little general interest," commented the paper who said the union felt that the coal bosses had deliberately chosen this moment to introduce their pay cut knowing there would be limited resistance. Although most of the non-union men had also gone on strike, they would not receive any strike pay and so were expected to soon return to work. Not all coal mines within the St Helens district were affected, however, and the situation was far from uniform.
Vaccination against smallpox was controversial, partly through being compulsory. The Newspaper wrote:
"The anti-vaccinators of St. Helens and other places will be pleased and gratified to learn, and hail with satisfaction the announcement, that on Monday, the 26th inst., there will be a conference of anti-vaccinators, which will take place in the Athenaeum, Birmingham, to form a national league, the ultimate object being the repeal of the Vaccination Acts."
Although there was not much detail in the Newspaper's account of a recent Prescot Petty Sessions hearing, its report does show the wide variety of offences that the Bench had adjudicated on:
"Thomas Appleton was fined £5 for assaulting and setting a dog on William Ashworth. Wm. Wigglesworth and Thos. Kenyon were each fined 10s and costs for assaulting Margaret Atherton by trying to kiss her. Michael Mannion, charged with neglecting to maintain his mother, was sent to prison for a month. James Mulhern, for hawking without a license, was fined 10s and costs. Anthony Boddy, a half imbecile, was brought up on a charge of being unlawfully on the premises of Wm. Richardson, farmer, Tarbock, and threatening to set a barn on fire. He was sent to prison for a month.
"William Brown, watchmaker, was sued by Margaret Robinson, his wife, for the support of his last two children. The man in this case married his deceased wife's sister, and recently he turned her and her children out. She had no recourse but to proceed against him under the Bastardy Act, and the magistrates granted her 8s per week." Just how you can be judged to be half an imbecile as in the case of Anthony Boddy, I could not possibly say!
Clothes stealing was always considered a very serious crime and almost all those convicted received a custodial sentence. James Smith appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions this week charged with entering the house of James Arkwright of Parr and stealing £5 worth of clothing. Mr Arkwright had returned home before Smith could get away and so the burglar had hid under a bed.
But Arkwright saw the man’s bundle of nicked clothing and he instituted a search of his house and Smith was found. The man offered no defence and was committed to take his trial at the next Assizes hearing where the 18-year-old – who described himself as a stone mason – was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Elizabeth Thompson also summoned William Worthington to court for uttering defamatory language about her. Elizabeth's husband, James, described how on September 26th he had been in the Eagle and Child in Rainford. He said Worthington had slandered the character of his wife "in a most outrageous manner".
James explained that he had been in the pub borrowing some money from a man called Roger Seddon when Worthington had accused him of collecting cash that had been earned by his wife "in an infamous manner". Worthington denied his guilt but he was bound over and ordered to find a surety.
And another defamation case concerned Elizabeth Jones who was furious with Richard Atherton for telling the 17-year-old's mother that he had seen her daughter in an "indecent position" with a young man. This is what the Newspaper wrote: "Several witnesses were called, to prove that they had been made agencies for the deposit of the scandal. Mr. Paine, for the defence, denied that his client had charged complainant with more than suspicious conduct, and he called witnesses, one of whom was defendant's wife.
"She said she was present when the mother of complainant was spoken to by defendant, and he merely stated that he saw the complainant and a young man standing against a wall in a suspicious attitude. Defendant was ordered to find sureties for six months." Why say some persons were told gossip, when you can say they were made "agencies for the deposit of the scandal"? What a wonderful way of writing they had then!
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the balloon flight in Prescot that carried a living freight, the revival of an old Catholic chapel at Portico, the cheeky copper theft from the Ring O’ Bells and the stone-throwing at the police in Greenbank.
But unlike his peers he had no robe and so had needed to borrow something suitable to wear. Radley also had no chain of office and at the meeting of St Helens Town Council held on the 7th, he offered to provide a gold chain for all future mayors of the borough to wear. His offer was accepted and the council also decided to look into buying a robe.
A by-law banned market traders in St Helens from calling out their goods to postential customers and they could be prosecuted for "unlawfully crying" them for sale. It was revealed in the minutes of the Improvement Committee that their Market Inspector had reported a stallholder called Luke Crooks for crying out his goods.
The meeting resolved that the Town Clerk should write to Crooks, warning him that if he repeated his crying he would be given notice to quit. In 1869 Luke Crooks had been prosecuted for "crying out rabbits", but the charge was dismissed on a technicality. During the case when pressed by the men's solicitor, the Market Inspector had to admit that such crying was a common practice amongst traders.
Working on the railways was a dangerous business and James Butterworth was very seriously injured this week while employed at Ravenhead. He was employed as a pointsman on the railway and had been involved in shunting waggons but found himself standing in front of an approaching engine, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"The engine-driver saw the peril of the man and blew the whistle to warn him, but he seemed bewildered, and the engine-driver was unable to stop his engine, the consequence being that the pointsman was knocked down and the waggon passed over him, injuring his head and the lower part of his abdomen. An engine and van were procured, and the injured man was sent to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary, but there is no hope of his recovery."
The so-called Hospital Saturday and Hospital Sunday were scheduled to take place on the 10th and 11th in which collections were to be made for St Helens Cottage Hospital, which had opened its doors in Peasley Cross 18 months before. On the Saturday the works in St Helens were due to be targeted, with the churches collected from on the Sunday. But because of the current miners' strike, it was decided to postpone Hospital Saturday until the beginning of November.
Coal mining was bad during the 20th century but during the 19th century it was horrendously bad, with men and boys having to crawl on their knees and use picks to dig out coal. In 1869 the miners' trade union had barely existed in St Helens but some mining disasters concentrated minds and the union reformed later that year.
But apathy and having to pay dues had – according to this week's Newspaper that was published on the 10th – drastically reduced the number of trade union members from a peak of 2,181 down to the present low of 300. Last week most of the miners in St Helens and Haydock had gone on strike after their masters had cut their wages by 15% because of a drop in the market price of coal. But the dispute was not exactly the talk of the town.
"We do not remember a strike which excited so little general interest," commented the paper who said the union felt that the coal bosses had deliberately chosen this moment to introduce their pay cut knowing there would be limited resistance. Although most of the non-union men had also gone on strike, they would not receive any strike pay and so were expected to soon return to work. Not all coal mines within the St Helens district were affected, however, and the situation was far from uniform.
Vaccination against smallpox was controversial, partly through being compulsory. The Newspaper wrote:
"The anti-vaccinators of St. Helens and other places will be pleased and gratified to learn, and hail with satisfaction the announcement, that on Monday, the 26th inst., there will be a conference of anti-vaccinators, which will take place in the Athenaeum, Birmingham, to form a national league, the ultimate object being the repeal of the Vaccination Acts."
Although there was not much detail in the Newspaper's account of a recent Prescot Petty Sessions hearing, its report does show the wide variety of offences that the Bench had adjudicated on:
"Thomas Appleton was fined £5 for assaulting and setting a dog on William Ashworth. Wm. Wigglesworth and Thos. Kenyon were each fined 10s and costs for assaulting Margaret Atherton by trying to kiss her. Michael Mannion, charged with neglecting to maintain his mother, was sent to prison for a month. James Mulhern, for hawking without a license, was fined 10s and costs. Anthony Boddy, a half imbecile, was brought up on a charge of being unlawfully on the premises of Wm. Richardson, farmer, Tarbock, and threatening to set a barn on fire. He was sent to prison for a month.
"William Brown, watchmaker, was sued by Margaret Robinson, his wife, for the support of his last two children. The man in this case married his deceased wife's sister, and recently he turned her and her children out. She had no recourse but to proceed against him under the Bastardy Act, and the magistrates granted her 8s per week." Just how you can be judged to be half an imbecile as in the case of Anthony Boddy, I could not possibly say!
Clothes stealing was always considered a very serious crime and almost all those convicted received a custodial sentence. James Smith appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions this week charged with entering the house of James Arkwright of Parr and stealing £5 worth of clothing. Mr Arkwright had returned home before Smith could get away and so the burglar had hid under a bed.
But Arkwright saw the man’s bundle of nicked clothing and he instituted a search of his house and Smith was found. The man offered no defence and was committed to take his trial at the next Assizes hearing where the 18-year-old – who described himself as a stone mason – was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
James explained that he had been in the pub borrowing some money from a man called Roger Seddon when Worthington had accused him of collecting cash that had been earned by his wife "in an infamous manner". Worthington denied his guilt but he was bound over and ordered to find a surety.
And another defamation case concerned Elizabeth Jones who was furious with Richard Atherton for telling the 17-year-old's mother that he had seen her daughter in an "indecent position" with a young man. This is what the Newspaper wrote: "Several witnesses were called, to prove that they had been made agencies for the deposit of the scandal. Mr. Paine, for the defence, denied that his client had charged complainant with more than suspicious conduct, and he called witnesses, one of whom was defendant's wife.
"She said she was present when the mother of complainant was spoken to by defendant, and he merely stated that he saw the complainant and a young man standing against a wall in a suspicious attitude. Defendant was ordered to find sureties for six months." Why say some persons were told gossip, when you can say they were made "agencies for the deposit of the scandal"? What a wonderful way of writing they had then!
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the balloon flight in Prescot that carried a living freight, the revival of an old Catholic chapel at Portico, the cheeky copper theft from the Ring O’ Bells and the stone-throwing at the police in Greenbank.
This week's many stories include the offer to provide a chain of office for St Helens' mayors, a serious accident occurs on the railway at Ravenhead, the public apathy towards the St Helens miners' strike, the defamation in Rainford's Eagle and Child and the heavy sentence for breaking into a house in Parr and stealing clothes.
Last week I described how the St Helens Newspaper had reported that a "week of ecstasies" had taken place in Liverpool.
That was when Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, had visited the city to open an orphanage and lay the foundation stone for the Walker Art Gallery.
The Mayor of St Helens, James Radley, was one of the invited guests and he had also recently been one of many Lancashire mayors attending the opening of Southport's Botanic Gardens.
But unlike his peers he had no robe and so had needed to borrow something suitable to wear.
Radley also had no chain of office and at the meeting of St Helens Town Council held on the 7th, he offered to provide a gold chain for all future mayors of the borough to wear.
His offer was accepted and the council also decided to look into buying a robe.
A by-law banned market traders in St Helens from calling out their goods to potential customers and they could be prosecuted for "unlawfully crying" them for sale.
It was revealed in the minutes of the Improvement Committee that their Market Inspector had reported a stallholder called Luke Crooks for crying out his goods.
The meeting resolved that the Town Clerk should write to Crooks, warning him that if he repeated his crying he would be given notice to quit.
In 1869 Luke Crooks had been prosecuted for "crying out rabbits", but the charge was dismissed on a technicality.
During the case when pressed by the men's solicitor, the Market Inspector had to admit that such crying was a common practice amongst traders.
Working on the railways was a dangerous business and James Butterworth was very seriously injured this week while employed at Ravenhead.
He was employed as a pointsman on the railway and had been involved in shunting waggons but found himself standing in front of an approaching engine, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"The engine-driver saw the peril of the man and blew the whistle to warn him, but he seemed bewildered, and the engine-driver was unable to stop his engine, the consequence being that the pointsman was knocked down and the waggon passed over him, injuring his head and the lower part of his abdomen.
"An engine and van were procured, and the injured man was sent to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary, but there is no hope of his recovery."
The so-called Hospital Saturday and Hospital Sunday were scheduled to take place on the 10th and 11th in which collections were to be made for St Helens Cottage Hospital, which had opened its doors in Peasley Cross 18 months before.
On the Saturday the works in St Helens were due to be targeted, with the churches collected from on the Sunday.
But because of the current miners' strike, it was decided to postpone Hospital Saturday until the beginning of November.
Coal mining was bad during the 20th century but during the 19th century it was horrendously bad, with men and boys having to crawl on their knees and use picks to dig out coal.
In 1869 the miners' trade union had barely existed in St Helens but some mining disasters concentrated minds and the union reformed later that year.
But apathy and having to pay dues had – according to this week's Newspaper that was published on the 10th – drastically reduced the number of trade union members from a peak of 2,181 down to the present low of 300.
Last week most of the miners in St Helens and Haydock had gone on strike after their masters had cut their wages by 15% because of a drop in the market price of coal. But the dispute was not exactly the talk of the town.
"We do not remember a strike which excited so little general interest," commented the paper who said the union felt that the coal bosses had deliberately chosen this moment to introduce their pay cut knowing there would be limited resistance.
Although most of the non-union men had also gone on strike, they would not receive any strike pay and so were expected to soon return to work.
Not all coal mines within the St Helens district were affected, however, and the situation was far from uniform.
Vaccination against smallpox was controversial, partly through being compulsory. The Newspaper wrote:
"The anti-vaccinators of St. Helens and other places will be pleased and gratified to learn, and hail with satisfaction the announcement, that on Monday, the 26th inst., there will be a conference of anti-vaccinators, which will take place in the Athenaeum, Birmingham, to form a national league, the ultimate object being the repeal of the Vaccination Acts."
Although there was not much detail in the Newspaper's account of a recent Prescot Petty Sessions hearing, its report does show the wide variety of offences that the Bench had adjudicated on:
"Thomas Appleton was fined £5 for assaulting and setting a dog on William Ashworth.
"Wm. Wigglesworth and Thos. Kenyon were each fined 10s and costs for assaulting Margaret Atherton by trying to kiss her.
"Michael Mannion, charged with neglecting to maintain his mother, was sent to prison for a month. James Mulhern, for hawking without a license, was fined 10s and costs.
"Anthony Boddy, a half imbecile, was brought up on a charge of being unlawfully on the premises of Wm. Richardson, farmer, Tarbock, and threatening to set a barn on fire. He was sent to prison for a month.
"William Brown, watchmaker, was sued by Margaret Robinson, his wife, for the support of his last two children. The man in this case married his deceased wife's sister, and recently he turned her and her children out.
"She had no recourse but to proceed against him under the Bastardy Act, and the magistrates granted her 8s per week."
Just how you can be judged to be half an imbecile as in the case of Anthony Boddy, I could not possibly say!
Clothes stealing was always considered a very serious crime and almost all those convicted received a custodial sentence.
James Smith appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions this week charged with entering the house of James Arkwright of Parr and stealing £5 worth of clothing.
Mr Arkwright had returned home before Smith could get away and so the burglar had hid under a bed.
But Arkwright saw the man’s bundle of nicked clothing and he instituted a search of his house and Smith was found.
The man offered no defence and was committed to take his trial at the next Assizes hearing where the 18-year-old – who described himself as a stone mason – was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Elizabeth Thompson also summoned William Worthington to court for uttering defamatory language about her.
Elizabeth's husband, James, described how on September 26th he had been in the Eagle and Child in Rainford.
He said Worthington had slandered the character of his wife "in a most outrageous manner".
James explained that he had been in the pub borrowing some money from a man called Roger Seddon when Worthington had accused him of collecting cash that had been earned by his wife "in an infamous manner".
Worthington denied his guilt but he was bound over and ordered to find a surety.
And another defamation case concerned Elizabeth Jones who was furious with Richard Atherton for telling the 17-year-old's mother that he had seen her daughter in an "indecent position" with a young man. This is what the Newspaper wrote:
"Several witnesses were called, to prove that they had been made agencies for the deposit of the scandal.
"Mr. Paine, for the defence, denied that his client had charged complainant with more than suspicious conduct, and he called witnesses, one of whom was defendant's wife.
"She said she was present when the mother of complainant was spoken to by defendant, and he merely stated that he saw the complainant and a young man standing against a wall in a suspicious attitude. Defendant was ordered to find sureties for six months."
Why say some persons were told gossip, when you can say they were made "agencies for the deposit of the scandal"? What a wonderful way of writing they had then!
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the balloon flight in Prescot that carried a living freight, the revival of an old Catholic chapel at Portico, the cheeky copper theft from the Ring O’ Bells and the stone-throwing at the police in Greenbank.
Last week I described how the St Helens Newspaper had reported that a "week of ecstasies" had taken place in Liverpool.
That was when Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, had visited the city to open an orphanage and lay the foundation stone for the Walker Art Gallery.
But unlike his peers he had no robe and so had needed to borrow something suitable to wear.
Radley also had no chain of office and at the meeting of St Helens Town Council held on the 7th, he offered to provide a gold chain for all future mayors of the borough to wear.
His offer was accepted and the council also decided to look into buying a robe.
A by-law banned market traders in St Helens from calling out their goods to potential customers and they could be prosecuted for "unlawfully crying" them for sale.
It was revealed in the minutes of the Improvement Committee that their Market Inspector had reported a stallholder called Luke Crooks for crying out his goods.
The meeting resolved that the Town Clerk should write to Crooks, warning him that if he repeated his crying he would be given notice to quit.
In 1869 Luke Crooks had been prosecuted for "crying out rabbits", but the charge was dismissed on a technicality.
During the case when pressed by the men's solicitor, the Market Inspector had to admit that such crying was a common practice amongst traders.
Working on the railways was a dangerous business and James Butterworth was very seriously injured this week while employed at Ravenhead.
He was employed as a pointsman on the railway and had been involved in shunting waggons but found himself standing in front of an approaching engine, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"The engine-driver saw the peril of the man and blew the whistle to warn him, but he seemed bewildered, and the engine-driver was unable to stop his engine, the consequence being that the pointsman was knocked down and the waggon passed over him, injuring his head and the lower part of his abdomen.
"An engine and van were procured, and the injured man was sent to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary, but there is no hope of his recovery."
The so-called Hospital Saturday and Hospital Sunday were scheduled to take place on the 10th and 11th in which collections were to be made for St Helens Cottage Hospital, which had opened its doors in Peasley Cross 18 months before.
On the Saturday the works in St Helens were due to be targeted, with the churches collected from on the Sunday.
But because of the current miners' strike, it was decided to postpone Hospital Saturday until the beginning of November.
Coal mining was bad during the 20th century but during the 19th century it was horrendously bad, with men and boys having to crawl on their knees and use picks to dig out coal.
In 1869 the miners' trade union had barely existed in St Helens but some mining disasters concentrated minds and the union reformed later that year.
But apathy and having to pay dues had – according to this week's Newspaper that was published on the 10th – drastically reduced the number of trade union members from a peak of 2,181 down to the present low of 300.
Last week most of the miners in St Helens and Haydock had gone on strike after their masters had cut their wages by 15% because of a drop in the market price of coal. But the dispute was not exactly the talk of the town.
"We do not remember a strike which excited so little general interest," commented the paper who said the union felt that the coal bosses had deliberately chosen this moment to introduce their pay cut knowing there would be limited resistance.
Although most of the non-union men had also gone on strike, they would not receive any strike pay and so were expected to soon return to work.
Not all coal mines within the St Helens district were affected, however, and the situation was far from uniform.
Vaccination against smallpox was controversial, partly through being compulsory. The Newspaper wrote:
"The anti-vaccinators of St. Helens and other places will be pleased and gratified to learn, and hail with satisfaction the announcement, that on Monday, the 26th inst., there will be a conference of anti-vaccinators, which will take place in the Athenaeum, Birmingham, to form a national league, the ultimate object being the repeal of the Vaccination Acts."
Although there was not much detail in the Newspaper's account of a recent Prescot Petty Sessions hearing, its report does show the wide variety of offences that the Bench had adjudicated on:
"Thomas Appleton was fined £5 for assaulting and setting a dog on William Ashworth.
"Wm. Wigglesworth and Thos. Kenyon were each fined 10s and costs for assaulting Margaret Atherton by trying to kiss her.
"Michael Mannion, charged with neglecting to maintain his mother, was sent to prison for a month. James Mulhern, for hawking without a license, was fined 10s and costs.
"Anthony Boddy, a half imbecile, was brought up on a charge of being unlawfully on the premises of Wm. Richardson, farmer, Tarbock, and threatening to set a barn on fire. He was sent to prison for a month.
"William Brown, watchmaker, was sued by Margaret Robinson, his wife, for the support of his last two children. The man in this case married his deceased wife's sister, and recently he turned her and her children out.
"She had no recourse but to proceed against him under the Bastardy Act, and the magistrates granted her 8s per week."
Just how you can be judged to be half an imbecile as in the case of Anthony Boddy, I could not possibly say!
Clothes stealing was always considered a very serious crime and almost all those convicted received a custodial sentence.
James Smith appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions this week charged with entering the house of James Arkwright of Parr and stealing £5 worth of clothing.
Mr Arkwright had returned home before Smith could get away and so the burglar had hid under a bed.
But Arkwright saw the man’s bundle of nicked clothing and he instituted a search of his house and Smith was found.
The man offered no defence and was committed to take his trial at the next Assizes hearing where the 18-year-old – who described himself as a stone mason – was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Elizabeth Thompson also summoned William Worthington to court for uttering defamatory language about her.
He said Worthington had slandered the character of his wife "in a most outrageous manner".
James explained that he had been in the pub borrowing some money from a man called Roger Seddon when Worthington had accused him of collecting cash that had been earned by his wife "in an infamous manner".
Worthington denied his guilt but he was bound over and ordered to find a surety.
And another defamation case concerned Elizabeth Jones who was furious with Richard Atherton for telling the 17-year-old's mother that he had seen her daughter in an "indecent position" with a young man. This is what the Newspaper wrote:
"Several witnesses were called, to prove that they had been made agencies for the deposit of the scandal.
"Mr. Paine, for the defence, denied that his client had charged complainant with more than suspicious conduct, and he called witnesses, one of whom was defendant's wife.
"She said she was present when the mother of complainant was spoken to by defendant, and he merely stated that he saw the complainant and a young man standing against a wall in a suspicious attitude. Defendant was ordered to find sureties for six months."
Why say some persons were told gossip, when you can say they were made "agencies for the deposit of the scandal"? What a wonderful way of writing they had then!
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the balloon flight in Prescot that carried a living freight, the revival of an old Catholic chapel at Portico, the cheeky copper theft from the Ring O’ Bells and the stone-throwing at the police in Greenbank.