150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 9 - 15 JUNE 1875
This week's many stories include the Robins Lane case of trespassing by a 9-year-old, the Westfield Street pub illegally serving drinks, the Baxters Lane sewage that was flowing around people's yards, Denis Feigh is released from prison and then swiftly returned to gaol, the excitement surrounding a Sutton council by-election and the man who beat up a constable because he had refused to arrest him.
No-one seems to know the origin of the name Robins Lane with the best guess being that the road in Sutton was named after the bird. The area was much more rural than today and so it is quite possible that the regular presence of robins gave rise to the name. A case heard in the Petty Sessions this week mentioned the fields on Robins Lane that were owned by John Ansdell.
He brought an action against William Entwistle, accusing the 9-year-old boy of trespassing on his land with the claim made that the whole family regularly walked through one of his fields despite warnings. The lad was fined 5 shillings with 7s 6d costs and a penny for the damage his trespassing had supposedly caused.
Police officers were used to being assaulted but the attack by James Grannon on PC John Doig was unusual. He had walked up to the constable late on a Saturday night and asked to be taken into custody. PC Doig said he could not arrest him without a reason. And so James Grannon decided to give him one by striking the constable in the face, tripping him up and while the officer was on the ground he gave him a kicking. In court Grannon was fined 10 shillings for the assault and 5 shillings for drunkenness.
During the same evening PC Robert Sheriff was also given a rough time. John Ormshaw resisted his arrest for being drunk and disorderly in Park Road and as well as thumping the constable, he tore his coat right down the front. Ormshaw had 18 previous convictions and in court was ordered to find a total of 35 shillings plus costs or if in default serve 7 weeks in prison, which almost certainly occurred.
The excuses and denials that landlords made concerning the serving of their customers out of hours on a Sunday could be quite creative. William Collins was the licensee of the Red, White and Blue beerhouse (pictured above in later years) and in court was accused of serving a large group of men with beer at 10 am, a couple of hours before they were permitted to open.
PC Thomas Robinson told the hearing that he had gone round the back of the Westfield Street pub with another constable and they had seen three men come out and after going inside found 10 or 12 others in the back parlour. They were sat at a table which was full of jugs containing beer and porter. PC Robinson stated that the landlord had attempted to remove some of the pots but he said that he had stopped him.
In court Collins denied that he had been present when the drinking had taken place, with his solicitor insisting that the landlord had been suffering from a bad eye. He claimed that his wife had been dressing his eye in the kitchen when what was described as a "rush" was heard and upon going to the spot he said he found the men and the police there.
Collins blamed a servant for allowing the men in and serving them beer and also reckoned that some of them had been his lodgers. Despite Collins' explanation and protestations, he was still fined 10 shillings and costs.
In 1870 the St Helens Newspaper had described how an athletics competition had taken place at St Helens Cricket Club in Dentons Green, writing: "The first athletic sports of any importance that ever came off in St. Helens were held on Saturday." That seemed to me a surprising statement and I wrote at the time: "One might have thought that such events happened all the time – after all you don't need much in the way of resources to be able to run – just a good, strong pair of legs."
Well, it was now an annual event and on the 12th in the Newspaper there was an advert calling for tenders to be submitted for the erection of tents and the provision of refreshments. The class-based society was even infiltrating athletics events, with the advert stating that chosen suppliers had to accommodate both the first and second-class portions of the ground.
Thomas Waterworth was the agent for Singer sewing machines in St Helens with premises opposite the Raven Hotel. In the Newspaper his advert had a picture of a ghastly-looking treadle-powered machine warning people not to buy one unless it bore the Singer brand.
No prices were stated but previously Waterworth had been offering Singers at a reduced price of £6 10 shillings. "Good news to all who use the needle", he wrote, although it was a still an awful lot of money for most people. But ghastly-looking as it might appear to me, Isaac Singer's invention must have been a huge boon to those that could afford one.
A by-election took place in East Sutton on the 12th caused by the death of the sitting councillor. Unlike today council elections were exciting times, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"From an early hour both voters and non-voters were early astir about the streets, and also in the neighbourhood of the booths, the excitement becoming intense as the day advanced, many being the conjecture as to the eventual result of the polling. Vehicles of all sizes and shapes were brought into requisition, they being covered with placards favourable to their respective sides."
The Newspaper was not impressed with one placard that said: "Putty and Paint, versus Muck". In fact the paper wrote "Muck" as "M___k", not wanting to offend its sensitive readers with a vulgar term! I'm not quite sure what the slogan meant but perhaps was in support of building new homes as opposed to farmland.
The paper said there had been the usual amount of "chaffing", meaning banter, between the opposing sides which had been "interspersed with cheering and counter-cheering as the voters came up to, and returned from, the polling booths." These were stationed in the Corporation's yard in Peasley Cross with what was described as a dense crowd outside.
About 4pm a horse-drawn wagonette (open coach) drew up at a fast pace and knocked down two members of the crowd. Both men were taken to the nearby Cottage Hospital but their injuries turned out not to be too serious. The winner of the election was John Fenwick Allen of the Sutton Copper Works and more than two-thirds of the electorate voted.
Denis Feigh and his wife and three sons were in and out of Kirkdale Gaol so often that it was barely worth their while leaving! Recently all five had been accommodated inside the Liverpool prison for different offences but on the 11th Denis had been released and returned to St Helens.
Within 36 hours he was back in custody after being arrested in Liverpool Road for being drunk and disorderly. When Denis appeared before the magistrates on the 14th it was stated that he had been before them 72 times previously. And so he was sent back to Kirkdale to serve another 28 days with hard labour.
James Grace was summoned to court for creating a nuisance in Sutton, which he had failed to abate despite the Corporation's inspector of nuisances serving a formal notice upon him. Grace owned 28 cottages in Baxters Lane and despite the Corporation installing a sewer in the street last year, he had failed to connect his properties up to it.
As a result it was claimed that the drainage from the houses was allowed to flow about the yards along with sewage from the ashpits which was very injurious to health. The ashpits were the dumps that contained the human waste which were mixed with ashes to reduce the smell and keep pests away. Grace said he was prepared to do the job but needed a bit of time and so the case was postponed for 14 days.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's many stories will include St Helens Cottage Hospital's annual meeting, the ongoing scarlet fever outbreak in St Helens, how Thatto Heath was becoming a little village and two pit sinking deaths occur in Bold and Thatto Heath.
No-one seems to know the origin of the name Robins Lane with the best guess being that the road in Sutton was named after the bird. The area was much more rural than today and so it is quite possible that the regular presence of robins gave rise to the name. A case heard in the Petty Sessions this week mentioned the fields on Robins Lane that were owned by John Ansdell.
He brought an action against William Entwistle, accusing the 9-year-old boy of trespassing on his land with the claim made that the whole family regularly walked through one of his fields despite warnings. The lad was fined 5 shillings with 7s 6d costs and a penny for the damage his trespassing had supposedly caused.
Police officers were used to being assaulted but the attack by James Grannon on PC John Doig was unusual. He had walked up to the constable late on a Saturday night and asked to be taken into custody. PC Doig said he could not arrest him without a reason. And so James Grannon decided to give him one by striking the constable in the face, tripping him up and while the officer was on the ground he gave him a kicking. In court Grannon was fined 10 shillings for the assault and 5 shillings for drunkenness.
During the same evening PC Robert Sheriff was also given a rough time. John Ormshaw resisted his arrest for being drunk and disorderly in Park Road and as well as thumping the constable, he tore his coat right down the front. Ormshaw had 18 previous convictions and in court was ordered to find a total of 35 shillings plus costs or if in default serve 7 weeks in prison, which almost certainly occurred.
PC Thomas Robinson told the hearing that he had gone round the back of the Westfield Street pub with another constable and they had seen three men come out and after going inside found 10 or 12 others in the back parlour. They were sat at a table which was full of jugs containing beer and porter. PC Robinson stated that the landlord had attempted to remove some of the pots but he said that he had stopped him.
In court Collins denied that he had been present when the drinking had taken place, with his solicitor insisting that the landlord had been suffering from a bad eye. He claimed that his wife had been dressing his eye in the kitchen when what was described as a "rush" was heard and upon going to the spot he said he found the men and the police there.
Collins blamed a servant for allowing the men in and serving them beer and also reckoned that some of them had been his lodgers. Despite Collins' explanation and protestations, he was still fined 10 shillings and costs.
In 1870 the St Helens Newspaper had described how an athletics competition had taken place at St Helens Cricket Club in Dentons Green, writing: "The first athletic sports of any importance that ever came off in St. Helens were held on Saturday." That seemed to me a surprising statement and I wrote at the time: "One might have thought that such events happened all the time – after all you don't need much in the way of resources to be able to run – just a good, strong pair of legs."
Well, it was now an annual event and on the 12th in the Newspaper there was an advert calling for tenders to be submitted for the erection of tents and the provision of refreshments. The class-based society was even infiltrating athletics events, with the advert stating that chosen suppliers had to accommodate both the first and second-class portions of the ground.
Thomas Waterworth was the agent for Singer sewing machines in St Helens with premises opposite the Raven Hotel. In the Newspaper his advert had a picture of a ghastly-looking treadle-powered machine warning people not to buy one unless it bore the Singer brand.
No prices were stated but previously Waterworth had been offering Singers at a reduced price of £6 10 shillings. "Good news to all who use the needle", he wrote, although it was a still an awful lot of money for most people. But ghastly-looking as it might appear to me, Isaac Singer's invention must have been a huge boon to those that could afford one.
A by-election took place in East Sutton on the 12th caused by the death of the sitting councillor. Unlike today council elections were exciting times, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"From an early hour both voters and non-voters were early astir about the streets, and also in the neighbourhood of the booths, the excitement becoming intense as the day advanced, many being the conjecture as to the eventual result of the polling. Vehicles of all sizes and shapes were brought into requisition, they being covered with placards favourable to their respective sides."
The Newspaper was not impressed with one placard that said: "Putty and Paint, versus Muck". In fact the paper wrote "Muck" as "M___k", not wanting to offend its sensitive readers with a vulgar term! I'm not quite sure what the slogan meant but perhaps was in support of building new homes as opposed to farmland.
The paper said there had been the usual amount of "chaffing", meaning banter, between the opposing sides which had been "interspersed with cheering and counter-cheering as the voters came up to, and returned from, the polling booths." These were stationed in the Corporation's yard in Peasley Cross with what was described as a dense crowd outside.
About 4pm a horse-drawn wagonette (open coach) drew up at a fast pace and knocked down two members of the crowd. Both men were taken to the nearby Cottage Hospital but their injuries turned out not to be too serious. The winner of the election was John Fenwick Allen of the Sutton Copper Works and more than two-thirds of the electorate voted.
Denis Feigh and his wife and three sons were in and out of Kirkdale Gaol so often that it was barely worth their while leaving! Recently all five had been accommodated inside the Liverpool prison for different offences but on the 11th Denis had been released and returned to St Helens.
Within 36 hours he was back in custody after being arrested in Liverpool Road for being drunk and disorderly. When Denis appeared before the magistrates on the 14th it was stated that he had been before them 72 times previously. And so he was sent back to Kirkdale to serve another 28 days with hard labour.
James Grace was summoned to court for creating a nuisance in Sutton, which he had failed to abate despite the Corporation's inspector of nuisances serving a formal notice upon him. Grace owned 28 cottages in Baxters Lane and despite the Corporation installing a sewer in the street last year, he had failed to connect his properties up to it.
As a result it was claimed that the drainage from the houses was allowed to flow about the yards along with sewage from the ashpits which was very injurious to health. The ashpits were the dumps that contained the human waste which were mixed with ashes to reduce the smell and keep pests away. Grace said he was prepared to do the job but needed a bit of time and so the case was postponed for 14 days.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's many stories will include St Helens Cottage Hospital's annual meeting, the ongoing scarlet fever outbreak in St Helens, how Thatto Heath was becoming a little village and two pit sinking deaths occur in Bold and Thatto Heath.
This week's many stories include the Robins Lane case of trespassing by a 9-year-old, the Westfield Street pub illegally serving drinks, the Baxters Lane sewage that was flowing around people's yards, Denis Feigh is released from prison and then swiftly returned to gaol, the excitement surrounding a Sutton council by-election and the man who beat up a constable because he had refused to arrest him.
No-one seems to know the origin of the name Robins Lane with the best guess being that the road in Sutton was named after the bird.
The area was much more rural than today and so it is quite possible that the regular presence of robins gave rise to the name.
A case heard in the Petty Sessions this week mentioned the fields on Robins Lane that were owned by John Ansdell.
He brought an action against William Entwistle, accusing the 9-year-old boy of trespassing on his land with the claim made that the whole family regularly walked through one of his fields despite warnings.
The lad was fined 5 shillings with 7s 6d costs and a penny for the damage his trespassing had supposedly caused.
Police officers were used to being assaulted but the attack by James Grannon on PC John Doig was unusual.
He had walked up to the constable late on a Saturday night and asked to be taken into custody.
PC Doig said he could not arrest him without a reason. And so James Grannon decided to give him one by striking the constable in the face, tripping him up and while the officer was on the ground he gave him a kicking.
In court Grannon was fined 10 shillings for the assault and 5 shillings for drunkenness.
During the same evening PC Robert Sheriff was also given a rough time.
John Ormshaw resisted his arrest for being drunk and disorderly in Park Road and as well as thumping the constable, he tore his coat right down the front.
Ormshaw had 18 previous convictions and in court was ordered to find a total of 35 shillings plus costs or if in default serve 7 weeks in prison, which almost certainly occurred.
The excuses and denials that landlords made concerning the serving of their customers out of hours on a Sunday could be quite creative.
William Collins was the licensee of the Red, White and Blue beerhouse (pictured above in later years) and in court was accused of serving a large group of men with beer at 10 am, a couple of hours before they were permitted to open.
PC Thomas Robinson told the hearing that he had gone round the back of the Westfield Street pub with another constable and they had seen three men come out and after going inside found 10 or 12 others in the back parlour.
They were sat at a table which was full of jugs containing beer and porter.
PC Robinson stated that the landlord had attempted to remove some of the pots but he said that he had stopped him.
In court Collins denied that he had been present when the drinking had taken place, with his solicitor insisting that the landlord had been suffering from a bad eye.
He claimed that his wife had been dressing his eye in the kitchen when what was described as a "rush" was heard and upon going to the spot he said he found the men and the police there.
Collins blamed a servant for allowing the men in and serving them beer and also reckoned that some of them had been his lodgers.
Despite Collins' explanation and protestations, he was still fined 10 shillings and costs.
In 1870 the St Helens Newspaper had described how an athletics competition had taken place at St Helens Cricket Club in Dentons Green, writing:
"The first athletic sports of any importance that ever came off in St. Helens were held on Saturday."
That seemed to me a surprising statement and I wrote at the time: "One might have thought that such events happened all the time – after all you don't need much in the way of resources to be able to run – just a good, strong pair of legs."
Well, it was now an annual event and on the 12th in the Newspaper there was an advert calling for tenders to be submitted for the erection of tents and the provision of refreshments.
The class-based society was even infiltrating athletics events, with the advert stating that chosen suppliers had to accommodate both the first and second-class portions of the ground.
Thomas Waterworth was the agent for Singer sewing machines in St Helens with premises opposite the Raven Hotel.
In the Newspaper his advert had a picture of a ghastly-looking treadle-powered machine warning people not to buy one unless it bore the Singer brand.
No prices were stated but previously Waterworth had been offering Singers at a reduced price of £6 10 shillings.
"Good news to all who use the needle", he wrote, although it was a still an awful lot of money for most people.
But ghastly-looking as it might appear to me, Isaac Singer's invention must have been a huge boon to those that could afford one.
A by-election took place in East Sutton on the 12th caused by the death of the sitting councillor.
Unlike today council elections were exciting times, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"From an early hour both voters and non-voters were early astir about the streets, and also in the neighbourhood of the booths, the excitement becoming intense as the day advanced, many being the conjecture as to the eventual result of the polling.
"Vehicles of all sizes and shapes were brought into requisition, they being covered with placards favourable to their respective sides."
The Newspaper was not impressed with one placard that said: "Putty and Paint, versus Muck".
In fact the paper wrote "Muck" as "M___k", not wanting to offend its sensitive readers with a vulgar term!
I'm not quite sure what the slogan meant but perhaps was in support of building new homes as opposed to farmland.
The paper said there had been the usual amount of "chaffing", meaning banter, between the opposing sides which had been "interspersed with cheering and counter-cheering as the voters came up to, and returned from, the polling booths."
These were stationed in the Corporation's yard in Peasley Cross with what was described as a dense crowd outside.
About 4pm a horse-drawn wagonette (open coach) drew up at a fast pace and knocked down two members of the crowd.
Both men were taken to the nearby Cottage Hospital but their injuries turned out not to be too serious.
The winner of the election was John Fenwick Allen of the Sutton Copper Works and more than two-thirds of the electorate voted.
Denis Feigh and his wife and three sons were in and out of Kirkdale Gaol so often that it was barely worth their while leaving!
Recently all five had been accommodated inside the Liverpool prison for different offences but on the 11th Denis had been released and returned to St Helens.
Within 36 hours he was back in custody after being arrested in Liverpool Road for being drunk and disorderly.
When Denis appeared before the magistrates on the 14th it was stated that he had been before them 72 times previously.
And so he was sent back to Kirkdale to serve another 28 days with hard labour.
James Grace was summoned to court for creating a nuisance in Sutton, which he had failed to abate despite the Corporation's inspector of nuisances serving a formal notice upon him.
Grace owned 28 cottages in Baxters Lane and despite the Corporation installing a sewer in the street last year, he had failed to connect his properties up to it.
As a result it was claimed that the drainage from the houses was allowed to flow about the yards along with sewage from the ashpits which was very injurious to health.
The ashpits were the dumps that contained the human waste which were mixed with ashes to reduce the smell and keep pests away.
Grace said he was prepared to do the job but needed a bit of time and so the case was postponed for 14 days.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's many stories will include St Helens Cottage Hospital's annual meeting, the ongoing scarlet fever outbreak in St Helens, how Thatto Heath was becoming a little village and two pit sinking deaths occur in Bold and Thatto Heath.
No-one seems to know the origin of the name Robins Lane with the best guess being that the road in Sutton was named after the bird.
The area was much more rural than today and so it is quite possible that the regular presence of robins gave rise to the name.
A case heard in the Petty Sessions this week mentioned the fields on Robins Lane that were owned by John Ansdell.
He brought an action against William Entwistle, accusing the 9-year-old boy of trespassing on his land with the claim made that the whole family regularly walked through one of his fields despite warnings.
The lad was fined 5 shillings with 7s 6d costs and a penny for the damage his trespassing had supposedly caused.
Police officers were used to being assaulted but the attack by James Grannon on PC John Doig was unusual.
He had walked up to the constable late on a Saturday night and asked to be taken into custody.
PC Doig said he could not arrest him without a reason. And so James Grannon decided to give him one by striking the constable in the face, tripping him up and while the officer was on the ground he gave him a kicking.
In court Grannon was fined 10 shillings for the assault and 5 shillings for drunkenness.
During the same evening PC Robert Sheriff was also given a rough time.
John Ormshaw resisted his arrest for being drunk and disorderly in Park Road and as well as thumping the constable, he tore his coat right down the front.
Ormshaw had 18 previous convictions and in court was ordered to find a total of 35 shillings plus costs or if in default serve 7 weeks in prison, which almost certainly occurred.
William Collins was the licensee of the Red, White and Blue beerhouse (pictured above in later years) and in court was accused of serving a large group of men with beer at 10 am, a couple of hours before they were permitted to open.
PC Thomas Robinson told the hearing that he had gone round the back of the Westfield Street pub with another constable and they had seen three men come out and after going inside found 10 or 12 others in the back parlour.
They were sat at a table which was full of jugs containing beer and porter.
PC Robinson stated that the landlord had attempted to remove some of the pots but he said that he had stopped him.
In court Collins denied that he had been present when the drinking had taken place, with his solicitor insisting that the landlord had been suffering from a bad eye.
He claimed that his wife had been dressing his eye in the kitchen when what was described as a "rush" was heard and upon going to the spot he said he found the men and the police there.
Collins blamed a servant for allowing the men in and serving them beer and also reckoned that some of them had been his lodgers.
Despite Collins' explanation and protestations, he was still fined 10 shillings and costs.
In 1870 the St Helens Newspaper had described how an athletics competition had taken place at St Helens Cricket Club in Dentons Green, writing:
"The first athletic sports of any importance that ever came off in St. Helens were held on Saturday."
That seemed to me a surprising statement and I wrote at the time: "One might have thought that such events happened all the time – after all you don't need much in the way of resources to be able to run – just a good, strong pair of legs."
Well, it was now an annual event and on the 12th in the Newspaper there was an advert calling for tenders to be submitted for the erection of tents and the provision of refreshments.
The class-based society was even infiltrating athletics events, with the advert stating that chosen suppliers had to accommodate both the first and second-class portions of the ground.
Thomas Waterworth was the agent for Singer sewing machines in St Helens with premises opposite the Raven Hotel.
In the Newspaper his advert had a picture of a ghastly-looking treadle-powered machine warning people not to buy one unless it bore the Singer brand.
No prices were stated but previously Waterworth had been offering Singers at a reduced price of £6 10 shillings.
"Good news to all who use the needle", he wrote, although it was a still an awful lot of money for most people.
But ghastly-looking as it might appear to me, Isaac Singer's invention must have been a huge boon to those that could afford one.
A by-election took place in East Sutton on the 12th caused by the death of the sitting councillor.
Unlike today council elections were exciting times, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"From an early hour both voters and non-voters were early astir about the streets, and also in the neighbourhood of the booths, the excitement becoming intense as the day advanced, many being the conjecture as to the eventual result of the polling.
"Vehicles of all sizes and shapes were brought into requisition, they being covered with placards favourable to their respective sides."
The Newspaper was not impressed with one placard that said: "Putty and Paint, versus Muck".
In fact the paper wrote "Muck" as "M___k", not wanting to offend its sensitive readers with a vulgar term!
I'm not quite sure what the slogan meant but perhaps was in support of building new homes as opposed to farmland.
The paper said there had been the usual amount of "chaffing", meaning banter, between the opposing sides which had been "interspersed with cheering and counter-cheering as the voters came up to, and returned from, the polling booths."
These were stationed in the Corporation's yard in Peasley Cross with what was described as a dense crowd outside.
About 4pm a horse-drawn wagonette (open coach) drew up at a fast pace and knocked down two members of the crowd.
Both men were taken to the nearby Cottage Hospital but their injuries turned out not to be too serious.
The winner of the election was John Fenwick Allen of the Sutton Copper Works and more than two-thirds of the electorate voted.
Denis Feigh and his wife and three sons were in and out of Kirkdale Gaol so often that it was barely worth their while leaving!
Recently all five had been accommodated inside the Liverpool prison for different offences but on the 11th Denis had been released and returned to St Helens.
Within 36 hours he was back in custody after being arrested in Liverpool Road for being drunk and disorderly.
When Denis appeared before the magistrates on the 14th it was stated that he had been before them 72 times previously.
And so he was sent back to Kirkdale to serve another 28 days with hard labour.
James Grace was summoned to court for creating a nuisance in Sutton, which he had failed to abate despite the Corporation's inspector of nuisances serving a formal notice upon him.
Grace owned 28 cottages in Baxters Lane and despite the Corporation installing a sewer in the street last year, he had failed to connect his properties up to it.
As a result it was claimed that the drainage from the houses was allowed to flow about the yards along with sewage from the ashpits which was very injurious to health.
The ashpits were the dumps that contained the human waste which were mixed with ashes to reduce the smell and keep pests away.
Grace said he was prepared to do the job but needed a bit of time and so the case was postponed for 14 days.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's many stories will include St Helens Cottage Hospital's annual meeting, the ongoing scarlet fever outbreak in St Helens, how Thatto Heath was becoming a little village and two pit sinking deaths occur in Bold and Thatto Heath.