150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (12th - 18th JULY 1871)
This week's stories include the opening of the new St Helens Railway Station, a horse attack at the Stork in Billinge, the St Helens Cricket Club athletics festival, two accidents occur with horse-drawn vehicles and the man accused of threatening a neighbour who claimed he was talking to his tobacco.
When an animal attacked and injured a person, the newspapers would often use the word "worried" to describe the incident – which with today's usage of the term seems a considerable understatement. Let me provide an example. In 1892 five-month-old Alice Fairclough of Back College Street in St Helens died after being attacked in her cradle by one of her family's pigs. That led to "A Child Worried By A Pig At St. Helens", being the caption in the Illustrated Police News.
Similarly this week under the headline "A Man Worried By A Horse", the Wigan Observer wrote about a serious incident that had taken place in Billinge: "At the Stork Inn, Billinge, on Wednesday, an extraordinary scene took place. A man in charge of some horses and a hearse, which belonged to Mr. Heyes, of Scotland-road, Liverpool, and which had been used at a funeral in Billinge, went into the stable and was attending to one of the animals – a thoroughbred – when it attacked him, threw him down, kicked him, and bit him in several places, taking off part of one of his ears.
"His screams attracted attention, and with great difficulty the horse was secured and the man was set at liberty, but not before his life had been endangered by the injuries he had received. Mr. Beaman [local doctor] attended him, and he could not be removed until the following day. No one dare enter the stable, and a man accustomed to the horse had to be sent for from Liverpool to take charge of it." The Stork is renowned for being haunted by "Albert the Cavalier" – which perhaps puts another dimension to the story. Or maybe the nag was simply in a bad mood!
Twelve months ago the St Helens Newspaper had described how an athletics competition had taken place at St Helens Cricket Club in Dentons Green: "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 with promotional adverts simply stating: "Eight cups, eight gold, six gold-centred, and 12 silver medals. Wm. Foreman, Hon. Sec." In its review of the event on the 15th, the Liverpool Mercury wrote:
"The second annual athletic festival, in connection with the St. Helen's Cricket Club, was held on the cricket ground, Denton's-green, St. Helen's, on Saturday. The weather was tolerably fine throughout, and the attendance was very large. One excellent feature of the day's proceedings was the perfect order that reigned from beginning to end. There were 208 entries, and in almost every event on the programme there was a close and vigorous contest. The prizes were distributed by Mrs. Ansdell, of Cowley House; and Mr. Stone, of Liverpool, gave expression to the pleasure he felt at seeing so excellent a day's sport, and so many Liverpool winners."
Anne Ansdell was the wife of the wealthy solicitor, property owner and registrar to St Helens County Court, John Ansdell. Twenty years earlier he had built Cowley House – or the Mansion House, as we know it – in what would become Victoria Park.
Many low-paid workers did not have any cash to pay court fines and so chose the prison option instead. The St Helens Newspaper on the 15th described one such case in the Petty Sessions: "Richard Loden was charged with drunkenness and breaking a window in the police station. It was shown that while lodged in the cell he broke a sheet of glass for the purpose of increasing the ventilation. He was ordered to pay 20s. 6d. or go to prison for a fortnight. He had no money."
I've come across some strange excuses given in court reports but claiming you were talking to your tobacco when accused of threatening someone has to be a first! Under the headline "A Shindy Between Neighbours", the Newspaper published this report of a dispute between residents of Bruce Street, off Pigot Street:
"William Holland was summoned for assaulting Ellen Hesketh on the Monday previous. The complainant said that she had been examined as a witness against the wife of the defendant a week previous, and when she returned to her own home Mrs. Holland accused her of having committed perjury. In the evening the defendant came out to his door-step, and began to sharpen a knife upon it. As soon as it was sufficiently keen he went to complainant and told her he would put “a yard of steel through her thorax.”
"A neighbour woman was called, and she gave confirming evidence, having heard the row from her own bedroom. Defendant: I was talking to my ‘bacca. I was for sure. I smokes thick twist, gentlemen. I do for sure. (Laughter) Some women came forward in his behalf, and they bore out the tobacco theory to the fullest extent. He was a very much aggrieved man, according to them, some of the neighbours making a habit of annoying him and his wife. The case was dismissed."
There were a number of ways that horse-drawn vehicles could come to grief. Sudden noises or events that frightened horses were perhaps the most common cause of accidents. Such a crash occurred to William Blinkhorn during the evening of the 15th. He was the manager of Sutton Glassworks and lived in Waterdale House in Gerrards Lane (pictured above). This later became the home of Sutton Convent, the Tropical Fun Club and then Cloisters Country Club. Blinkhorn drove a sporty rig called a phaeton, which was known for its extravagantly large wheels. This is how the Wigan Observer described the accident:
"On Saturday evening, as Mr. W. Blinkhorn was leaving his residence, Waterdale, Sutton, in his phaeton, accompanied by two of his children, his horse, a very spirited animal, took fright, and dashed off at a furious rate. Mr. Blinkhorn was thrown out of the phaeton; fortunately the children held to their seats. The horse galloped on in the direction of Robin's-lane, near to the corner of which it came into collision with a horse and cart belonging to Mr. James Grace. The shaft of the phaeton gored Mr. Grace's horse, and luckily brought the runaway to a standstill. The children were thrown out by the collision, but were not injured beyond a few bruises." It didn't sound very lucky for Grace's horse, though!
Poorly maintained rigs could also lead to a crash. On the following day Dr Robert McNicoll from Hardshaw Street was driving his trap on the outskirts of St Helens with a Dr Grimsdale from Liverpool as his passenger. Suddenly the bolts that attached the front wheels of the trap to the body of the vehicle gave way. The sudden lightening of the weight made the horse bound off and the two doctors were thrown to the ground. Fortunately both men escaped serious injury but I think the trap needed an MOT!
On the 17th in the St Helens Petty Sessions, Thomas Mawdsley and Robert Richards were summoned for having fought a prize-fight and were bound over to keep the peace for six months. John Travers and William Richards were ordered to find sureties for three months for aiding and abetting. Bare-knuckle prize-fights were brutal affairs and could last 60 rounds.
Also in court was a man charged with cruelty to a cat and another charged with maliciously injuring a rhododendron at St Helens Cemetery. One of them was fined and the other was cleared. Which man do you think got off? Both stories were covered back to back by the St Helens Newspaper like this:
"John Conlon was charged with cruelty to a cat, on the 13th July. A man named Smith said that he saw the defendant in the market, with a cat, which he was abusing. The animal was in a bag, and the defendant was kicking it and standing on its head. Witness, hearing him say he would kill it, interfered, and pushed him out away. In reply to Mr. Marsh (who appeared for the defendant), the witness said that the defendant would have killed the cat had he not been interfered with. Mr. Marsh submitted that killing a cat was no offence under the statute. The only question was whether there was unnecessary cruelty.
"The people in the market were exceedingly annoyed with cats, and this particular one had injured a number of his books. Supt. Ludlam said there were other witnesses present. Ann Jackson said she was present when Conran was abusing the cat, and the abuse lasted ten minutes. He tried to choke it first, and failing, he put it down and jumped on it. Mr. Marsh again submitted that his client had tried to kill the animal in the shortest way possible with the means at his command. The case was dismissed.
"John McCabe was charged with maliciously injuring a rhododendron, on Sunday afternoon. He pleaded guilty. Mr. G.R. Grant, registrar, deposed that he saw the defendant break a branch off a rhododendron, and afterwards pluck other flowers and put them in his pocket. A great deal of damage had been done recently, in spite of the notice posted up conspicuously. Fined 5s. and 5s. 6d.costs."
The new St Helens Railway Station in Shaw Street was fully opened on the 17th – or as the Wigan Observer put it – was "thrown open to the public". Being rather basic with "no architectural pretensions whatever" (as the St Helens Newspaper described it), the station probably deserved to be chucked at townsfolk. The Newspaper liked the goods station but as regards the passenger facilities, it was excoriating:
"It appears to us that the ridiculous incompetency of the old station has had an injurious effect upon the new. It will ever remain a mystery why the people of St. Helens tolerated so wretched a little hole as the building now abandoned. It was scarcely fit for the smallest village, and was a standing disgrace to the town for very many years.
"People grew used to it, no doubt, and their continued acceptance of the infinitesimal accommodation it afforded, must have given the railway authorities a low estimate of their character. The new traffic arrangements demand liberal room, and the directors should have been careful to meet that demand; the great increase of passenger traffic warrants the construction of a first-class station, but then the people here have always been content with very little, and a thousand could be saved in dealing with them.
"There is no doubt it will soon become necessary to enlarge the buildings, for the new class of passengers likely to become familiar with St. Helens will scarcely prove as easily satisfied as the natives have been. One naturally looks to the Town Council to move in such a matter, [but] …we fear the railway company are allowed to do just as they like irrespective of the convenience of the inhabitants of the district."
More traffic on the Wigan line and the impending opening of a new Huyton line, had spurred the London and North-Western Railway to re-build the station. There would a number of improvements made over the years but essentially the station would last until 1961.
During the evening of the 18th a train on the line between St Helens and Wigan killed a boy called John Lea. Children had a habit of running after goods waggons probably to pilfer bits of coal. John was on the rails with his mates just out of St Helens when a passenger train from Blackburn came up at considerable speed and "dashed the boy to pieces", as the accident was reported.
And finally, I end with an article that was published in the Liverpool Mercury this week about vaccination against smallpox. There are some parallels with Covid-19, although the smallpox vaccine was mandatory and people were fined, and in some cases imprisoned, after refusing to have their children jabbed. I've edited the piece down but in a nutshell the paper was in favour of immunisation – but against it being compulsory:
"We were constrained the other day to expose the immorality of the proceedings of the Anti-vaccination League. It does not therefore follow that we approve of the existing vaccination acts. We follow the judgment of the select committee of the House of Commons when they say:
"1) That the cowpox is, if not an absolute, yet a very great protection against an attack of smallpox, and an almost absolute protection against death from that disease. 2) That if vaccination be performed with a due regard to the health of the person vaccinated, and with proper precautions in obtaining and using the vaccine lymph, there need be no apprehension that vaccination will injure health or communicate any disease. 3) That smallpox unchecked by vaccination is one of the most terrible and destructive of diseases and that, therefore: 4) It is the duty of the State to endeavour to secure the careful vaccination of the whole population. At the same time we also agree with the select committee – though reluctantly – that compulsory vaccination should not be carried out to the lengths it now is.
"This may seem paradoxical, but it is, nevertheless, a position clearly maintainable by argument. At the present time, oppugnant [antagonistic] parents – misled by medical men who know comparatively nothing about the question on which they write – may be fined over and over again, distrained upon [furniture seized in lieu of payment] and sent to gaol, for their persistent refusal to have their children vaccinated.
"James A. Toulson, of Leeds, for instance, was fined four times for his refusal to have his child vaccinated; and only escaped other penalties by the expedient of sending the baby into another magisterial jurisdiction. James Lawton, of Derby, was seven times convicted for the same offence in regard to one and the same child. The first four times he paid the fines. Then his funds became exhausted, and he allowed himself to be distrained upon. Lastly his furniture became exhausted and he went to gaol – leaving his family chargeable upon the parish.
"Twenty other cases of equal hardship might be quoted… [and] after all, though the parent be fined or imprisoned, the child may remain unvaccinated. In such a case the law can only triumph by the forcible vaccination of the child. The [select] committee cannot recommend either that “a policeman should be empowered to take a baby from its mother to the vaccine station,” or that “the father should be imprisoned till its mother takes it of her own accord;” and they therefore propose that two part penalties or one full penalty shall be the future punishment for non-vaccination.
"And strongly as we believe in the efficacy of vaccination, we cannot but think that the committee are right. Drastic laws always defeat their own end. But for cumulative penalties we should never have heard of an Anti-Vaccination League. And after the evidence given before the select committee, and the select committee's recommendation, we sincerely trust that we shall never hear of the Anti-Vaccination League again."
Next week's stories will include the insanitary state of Rainford, the high price of getting a divorce, the incorrigible Catherine Dunn, a brutal prize fight at Carr Mill and the heavy fines for the Rainford miners who quit their jobs.
When an animal attacked and injured a person, the newspapers would often use the word "worried" to describe the incident – which with today's usage of the term seems a considerable understatement. Let me provide an example. In 1892 five-month-old Alice Fairclough of Back College Street in St Helens died after being attacked in her cradle by one of her family's pigs. That led to "A Child Worried By A Pig At St. Helens", being the caption in the Illustrated Police News.
Similarly this week under the headline "A Man Worried By A Horse", the Wigan Observer wrote about a serious incident that had taken place in Billinge: "At the Stork Inn, Billinge, on Wednesday, an extraordinary scene took place. A man in charge of some horses and a hearse, which belonged to Mr. Heyes, of Scotland-road, Liverpool, and which had been used at a funeral in Billinge, went into the stable and was attending to one of the animals – a thoroughbred – when it attacked him, threw him down, kicked him, and bit him in several places, taking off part of one of his ears.
"His screams attracted attention, and with great difficulty the horse was secured and the man was set at liberty, but not before his life had been endangered by the injuries he had received. Mr. Beaman [local doctor] attended him, and he could not be removed until the following day. No one dare enter the stable, and a man accustomed to the horse had to be sent for from Liverpool to take charge of it." The Stork is renowned for being haunted by "Albert the Cavalier" – which perhaps puts another dimension to the story. Or maybe the nag was simply in a bad mood!
Twelve months ago the St Helens Newspaper had described how an athletics competition had taken place at St Helens Cricket Club in Dentons Green: "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 with promotional adverts simply stating: "Eight cups, eight gold, six gold-centred, and 12 silver medals. Wm. Foreman, Hon. Sec." In its review of the event on the 15th, the Liverpool Mercury wrote:
"The second annual athletic festival, in connection with the St. Helen's Cricket Club, was held on the cricket ground, Denton's-green, St. Helen's, on Saturday. The weather was tolerably fine throughout, and the attendance was very large. One excellent feature of the day's proceedings was the perfect order that reigned from beginning to end. There were 208 entries, and in almost every event on the programme there was a close and vigorous contest. The prizes were distributed by Mrs. Ansdell, of Cowley House; and Mr. Stone, of Liverpool, gave expression to the pleasure he felt at seeing so excellent a day's sport, and so many Liverpool winners."
Anne Ansdell was the wife of the wealthy solicitor, property owner and registrar to St Helens County Court, John Ansdell. Twenty years earlier he had built Cowley House – or the Mansion House, as we know it – in what would become Victoria Park.
Many low-paid workers did not have any cash to pay court fines and so chose the prison option instead. The St Helens Newspaper on the 15th described one such case in the Petty Sessions: "Richard Loden was charged with drunkenness and breaking a window in the police station. It was shown that while lodged in the cell he broke a sheet of glass for the purpose of increasing the ventilation. He was ordered to pay 20s. 6d. or go to prison for a fortnight. He had no money."
I've come across some strange excuses given in court reports but claiming you were talking to your tobacco when accused of threatening someone has to be a first! Under the headline "A Shindy Between Neighbours", the Newspaper published this report of a dispute between residents of Bruce Street, off Pigot Street:
"William Holland was summoned for assaulting Ellen Hesketh on the Monday previous. The complainant said that she had been examined as a witness against the wife of the defendant a week previous, and when she returned to her own home Mrs. Holland accused her of having committed perjury. In the evening the defendant came out to his door-step, and began to sharpen a knife upon it. As soon as it was sufficiently keen he went to complainant and told her he would put “a yard of steel through her thorax.”
"A neighbour woman was called, and she gave confirming evidence, having heard the row from her own bedroom. Defendant: I was talking to my ‘bacca. I was for sure. I smokes thick twist, gentlemen. I do for sure. (Laughter) Some women came forward in his behalf, and they bore out the tobacco theory to the fullest extent. He was a very much aggrieved man, according to them, some of the neighbours making a habit of annoying him and his wife. The case was dismissed."
"On Saturday evening, as Mr. W. Blinkhorn was leaving his residence, Waterdale, Sutton, in his phaeton, accompanied by two of his children, his horse, a very spirited animal, took fright, and dashed off at a furious rate. Mr. Blinkhorn was thrown out of the phaeton; fortunately the children held to their seats. The horse galloped on in the direction of Robin's-lane, near to the corner of which it came into collision with a horse and cart belonging to Mr. James Grace. The shaft of the phaeton gored Mr. Grace's horse, and luckily brought the runaway to a standstill. The children were thrown out by the collision, but were not injured beyond a few bruises." It didn't sound very lucky for Grace's horse, though!
Poorly maintained rigs could also lead to a crash. On the following day Dr Robert McNicoll from Hardshaw Street was driving his trap on the outskirts of St Helens with a Dr Grimsdale from Liverpool as his passenger. Suddenly the bolts that attached the front wheels of the trap to the body of the vehicle gave way. The sudden lightening of the weight made the horse bound off and the two doctors were thrown to the ground. Fortunately both men escaped serious injury but I think the trap needed an MOT!
On the 17th in the St Helens Petty Sessions, Thomas Mawdsley and Robert Richards were summoned for having fought a prize-fight and were bound over to keep the peace for six months. John Travers and William Richards were ordered to find sureties for three months for aiding and abetting. Bare-knuckle prize-fights were brutal affairs and could last 60 rounds.
Also in court was a man charged with cruelty to a cat and another charged with maliciously injuring a rhododendron at St Helens Cemetery. One of them was fined and the other was cleared. Which man do you think got off? Both stories were covered back to back by the St Helens Newspaper like this:
"John Conlon was charged with cruelty to a cat, on the 13th July. A man named Smith said that he saw the defendant in the market, with a cat, which he was abusing. The animal was in a bag, and the defendant was kicking it and standing on its head. Witness, hearing him say he would kill it, interfered, and pushed him out away. In reply to Mr. Marsh (who appeared for the defendant), the witness said that the defendant would have killed the cat had he not been interfered with. Mr. Marsh submitted that killing a cat was no offence under the statute. The only question was whether there was unnecessary cruelty.
"The people in the market were exceedingly annoyed with cats, and this particular one had injured a number of his books. Supt. Ludlam said there were other witnesses present. Ann Jackson said she was present when Conran was abusing the cat, and the abuse lasted ten minutes. He tried to choke it first, and failing, he put it down and jumped on it. Mr. Marsh again submitted that his client had tried to kill the animal in the shortest way possible with the means at his command. The case was dismissed.
"John McCabe was charged with maliciously injuring a rhododendron, on Sunday afternoon. He pleaded guilty. Mr. G.R. Grant, registrar, deposed that he saw the defendant break a branch off a rhododendron, and afterwards pluck other flowers and put them in his pocket. A great deal of damage had been done recently, in spite of the notice posted up conspicuously. Fined 5s. and 5s. 6d.costs."
The new St Helens Railway Station in Shaw Street was fully opened on the 17th – or as the Wigan Observer put it – was "thrown open to the public". Being rather basic with "no architectural pretensions whatever" (as the St Helens Newspaper described it), the station probably deserved to be chucked at townsfolk. The Newspaper liked the goods station but as regards the passenger facilities, it was excoriating:
"It appears to us that the ridiculous incompetency of the old station has had an injurious effect upon the new. It will ever remain a mystery why the people of St. Helens tolerated so wretched a little hole as the building now abandoned. It was scarcely fit for the smallest village, and was a standing disgrace to the town for very many years.
"People grew used to it, no doubt, and their continued acceptance of the infinitesimal accommodation it afforded, must have given the railway authorities a low estimate of their character. The new traffic arrangements demand liberal room, and the directors should have been careful to meet that demand; the great increase of passenger traffic warrants the construction of a first-class station, but then the people here have always been content with very little, and a thousand could be saved in dealing with them.
"There is no doubt it will soon become necessary to enlarge the buildings, for the new class of passengers likely to become familiar with St. Helens will scarcely prove as easily satisfied as the natives have been. One naturally looks to the Town Council to move in such a matter, [but] …we fear the railway company are allowed to do just as they like irrespective of the convenience of the inhabitants of the district."
More traffic on the Wigan line and the impending opening of a new Huyton line, had spurred the London and North-Western Railway to re-build the station. There would a number of improvements made over the years but essentially the station would last until 1961.
During the evening of the 18th a train on the line between St Helens and Wigan killed a boy called John Lea. Children had a habit of running after goods waggons probably to pilfer bits of coal. John was on the rails with his mates just out of St Helens when a passenger train from Blackburn came up at considerable speed and "dashed the boy to pieces", as the accident was reported.
And finally, I end with an article that was published in the Liverpool Mercury this week about vaccination against smallpox. There are some parallels with Covid-19, although the smallpox vaccine was mandatory and people were fined, and in some cases imprisoned, after refusing to have their children jabbed. I've edited the piece down but in a nutshell the paper was in favour of immunisation – but against it being compulsory:
"We were constrained the other day to expose the immorality of the proceedings of the Anti-vaccination League. It does not therefore follow that we approve of the existing vaccination acts. We follow the judgment of the select committee of the House of Commons when they say:
"1) That the cowpox is, if not an absolute, yet a very great protection against an attack of smallpox, and an almost absolute protection against death from that disease. 2) That if vaccination be performed with a due regard to the health of the person vaccinated, and with proper precautions in obtaining and using the vaccine lymph, there need be no apprehension that vaccination will injure health or communicate any disease. 3) That smallpox unchecked by vaccination is one of the most terrible and destructive of diseases and that, therefore: 4) It is the duty of the State to endeavour to secure the careful vaccination of the whole population. At the same time we also agree with the select committee – though reluctantly – that compulsory vaccination should not be carried out to the lengths it now is.
"This may seem paradoxical, but it is, nevertheless, a position clearly maintainable by argument. At the present time, oppugnant [antagonistic] parents – misled by medical men who know comparatively nothing about the question on which they write – may be fined over and over again, distrained upon [furniture seized in lieu of payment] and sent to gaol, for their persistent refusal to have their children vaccinated.
"James A. Toulson, of Leeds, for instance, was fined four times for his refusal to have his child vaccinated; and only escaped other penalties by the expedient of sending the baby into another magisterial jurisdiction. James Lawton, of Derby, was seven times convicted for the same offence in regard to one and the same child. The first four times he paid the fines. Then his funds became exhausted, and he allowed himself to be distrained upon. Lastly his furniture became exhausted and he went to gaol – leaving his family chargeable upon the parish.
"Twenty other cases of equal hardship might be quoted… [and] after all, though the parent be fined or imprisoned, the child may remain unvaccinated. In such a case the law can only triumph by the forcible vaccination of the child. The [select] committee cannot recommend either that “a policeman should be empowered to take a baby from its mother to the vaccine station,” or that “the father should be imprisoned till its mother takes it of her own accord;” and they therefore propose that two part penalties or one full penalty shall be the future punishment for non-vaccination.
"And strongly as we believe in the efficacy of vaccination, we cannot but think that the committee are right. Drastic laws always defeat their own end. But for cumulative penalties we should never have heard of an Anti-Vaccination League. And after the evidence given before the select committee, and the select committee's recommendation, we sincerely trust that we shall never hear of the Anti-Vaccination League again."
Next week's stories will include the insanitary state of Rainford, the high price of getting a divorce, the incorrigible Catherine Dunn, a brutal prize fight at Carr Mill and the heavy fines for the Rainford miners who quit their jobs.
This week's stories include the opening of the new St Helens Railway Station, a horse attack at the Stork in Billinge, the St Helens Cricket Club athletics festival, two accidents occur with horse-drawn vehicles and the man accused of threatening a neighbour who claimed he was talking to his tobacco.
When an animal attacked and injured a person, the newspapers would often use the word "worried" to describe the incident – which with today's usage of the term seems a considerable understatement.
Let me provide an example. In 1892 five-month-old Alice Fairclough of Back College Street in St Helens died after being attacked in her cradle by one of her family's pigs.
That led to "A Child Worried By A Pig At St. Helens", being the caption in the Illustrated Police News.
Similarly this week under the headline "A Man Worried By A Horse", the Wigan Observer wrote about a serious incident that had taken place in Billinge:
"At the Stork Inn, Billinge, on Wednesday, an extraordinary scene took place.
"A man in charge of some horses and a hearse, which belonged to Mr. Heyes, of Scotland-road, Liverpool, and which had been used at a funeral in Billinge, went into the stable and was attending to one of the animals – a thoroughbred – when it attacked him, threw him down, kicked him, and bit him in several places, taking off part of one of his ears.
"His screams attracted attention, and with great difficulty the horse was secured and the man was set at liberty, but not before his life had been endangered by the injuries he had received.
"Mr. Beaman [local doctor] attended him, and he could not be removed until the following day.
"No one dare enter the stable, and a man accustomed to the horse had to be sent for from Liverpool to take charge of it."
The Stork is renowned for being haunted by "Albert the Cavalier" – which perhaps puts another dimension to the story. Or maybe the nag was simply in a bad mood!
Twelve months ago the St Helens Newspaper had described how an athletics competition had taken place at St Helens Cricket Club in Dentons Green:
"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 with promotional adverts simply stating: "Eight cups, eight gold, six gold-centred, and 12 silver medals. Wm. Foreman, Hon. Sec." In its review of the event on the 15th, the Liverpool Mercury wrote:
"The second annual athletic festival, in connection with the St. Helen's Cricket Club, was held on the cricket ground, Denton's-green, St. Helen's, on Saturday.
"The weather was tolerably fine throughout, and the attendance was very large. One excellent feature of the day's proceedings was the perfect order that reigned from beginning to end.
"There were 208 entries, and in almost every event on the programme there was a close and vigorous contest.
"The prizes were distributed by Mrs. Ansdell, of Cowley House; and Mr. Stone, of Liverpool, gave expression to the pleasure he felt at seeing so excellent a day's sport, and so many Liverpool winners."
Anne Ansdell was the wife of the wealthy solicitor, property owner and registrar to St Helens County Court, John Ansdell.
Twenty years earlier he had built Cowley House – or the Mansion House, as we know it – in what would become Victoria Park.
Many low-paid workers did not have any cash to pay court fines and so chose the prison option instead. The St Helens Newspaper on the 15th described one such case in the Petty Sessions:
"Richard Loden was charged with drunkenness and breaking a window in the police station. It was shown that while lodged in the cell he broke a sheet of glass for the purpose of increasing the ventilation. He was ordered to pay 20s. 6d. or go to prison for a fortnight. He had no money."
I've come across some strange excuses given in court reports but claiming you were talking to your tobacco when accused of threatening someone has to be a first!
Under the headline "A Shindy Between Neighbours", the Newspaper published this report of a dispute between residents of Bruce Street, off Pigot Street:
"William Holland was summoned for assaulting Ellen Hesketh on the Monday previous.
"The complainant said that she had been examined as a witness against the wife of the defendant a week previous, and when she returned to her own home Mrs. Holland accused her of having committed perjury.
"In the evening the defendant came out to his door-step, and began to sharpen a knife upon it.
"As soon as it was sufficiently keen he went to complainant and told her he would put “a yard of steel through her thorax.”
"A neighbour woman was called, and she gave confirming evidence, having heard the row from her own bedroom.
"Defendant: I was talking to my ‘bacca. I was for sure. I smokes thick twist, gentlemen. I do for sure. (Laughter)
"Some women came forward in his behalf, and they bore out the tobacco theory to the fullest extent.
"He was a very much aggrieved man, according to them, some of the neighbours making a habit of annoying him and his wife. The case was dismissed."
There were a number of ways that horse-drawn vehicles could come to grief. Sudden noises or events that frightened horses were perhaps the most common cause of accidents.
Such a crash occurred to William Blinkhorn during the evening of the 15th. He was the manager of Sutton Glassworks and lived in Waterdale House in Gerrards Lane (pictured above).
This later became the home of Sutton Convent, the Tropical Fun Club and then Cloisters Country Club.
Blinkhorn drove a sporty rig called a phaeton, which was known for its extravagantly large wheels. This is how the Wigan Observer described the accident:
"On Saturday evening, as Mr. W. Blinkhorn was leaving his residence, Waterdale, Sutton, in his phaeton, accompanied by two of his children, his horse, a very spirited animal, took fright, and dashed off at a furious rate.
"Mr. Blinkhorn was thrown out of the phaeton; fortunately the children held to their seats.
"The horse galloped on in the direction of Robin's-lane, near to the corner of which it came into collision with a horse and cart belonging to Mr. James Grace.
"The shaft of the phaeton gored Mr. Grace's horse, and luckily brought the runaway to a standstill.
"The children were thrown out by the collision, but were not injured beyond a few bruises."
It didn't sound very lucky for Grace's horse, though! Poorly maintained rigs could also lead to a crash.
On the following day Dr Robert McNicoll from Hardshaw Street was driving his trap on the outskirts of St Helens with a Dr Grimsdale from Liverpool as his passenger.
Suddenly the bolts that attached the front wheels of the trap to the body of the vehicle gave way.
The sudden lightening of the weight made the horse bound off and the two doctors were thrown to the ground.
Fortunately both men escaped serious injury but I think the trap needed an MOT!
On the 17th in the St Helens Petty Sessions, Thomas Mawdsley and Robert Richards were summoned for having fought a prize-fight and were bound over to keep the peace for six months.
John Travers and William Richards were ordered to find sureties for three months for aiding and abetting. Bare-knuckle prize-fights were brutal affairs and could last 60 rounds.
Also in court was a man charged with cruelty to a cat and another charged with maliciously injuring a rhododendron at St Helens Cemetery. One of them was fined and the other was cleared. Which man do you think got off?
Both stories were covered back to back by the St Helens Newspaper like this:
"John Conlon was charged with cruelty to a cat, on the 13th July. A man named Smith said that he saw the defendant in the market, with a cat, which he was abusing.
"The animal was in a bag, and the defendant was kicking it and standing on its head. Witness, hearing him say he would kill it, interfered, and pushed him out away.
"In reply to Mr. Marsh (who appeared for the defendant), the witness said that the defendant would have killed the cat had he not been interfered with. Mr. Marsh submitted that killing a cat was no offence under the statute.
"The only question was whether there was unnecessary cruelty. The people in the market were exceedingly annoyed with cats, and this particular one had injured a number of his books.
"Supt. Ludlam said there were other witnesses present. Ann Jackson said she was present when Conran was abusing the cat, and the abuse lasted ten minutes.
"He tried to choke it first, and failing, he put it down and jumped on it. Mr. Marsh again submitted that his client had tried to kill the animal in the shortest way possible with the means at his command. The case was dismissed.
"John McCabe was charged with maliciously injuring a rhododendron, on Sunday afternoon.
"He pleaded guilty. Mr. G.R. Grant, registrar, deposed that he saw the defendant break a branch off a rhododendron, and afterwards pluck other flowers and put them in his pocket.
"A great deal of damage had been done recently, in spite of the notice posted up conspicuously. Fined 5s. and 5s. 6d.costs."
The new St Helens Railway Station in Shaw Street was fully opened on the 17th – or as the Wigan Observer put it – was "thrown open to the public".
Being rather basic with "no architectural pretensions whatever" (as the St Helens Newspaper described it), the station probably deserved to be chucked at townsfolk.
The Newspaper liked the goods station but as regards the passenger facilities, it was excoriating:
"It appears to us that the ridiculous incompetency of the old station has had an injurious effect upon the new. It will ever remain a mystery why the people of St. Helens tolerated so wretched a little hole as the building now abandoned.
"It was scarcely fit for the smallest village, and was a standing disgrace to the town for very many years. People grew used to it, no doubt, and their continued acceptance of the infinitesimal accommodation it afforded, must have given the railway authorities a low estimate of their character.
"The new traffic arrangements demand liberal room, and the directors should have been careful to meet that demand; the great increase of passenger traffic warrants the construction of a first-class station, but then the people here have always been content with very little, and a thousand could be saved in dealing with them.
"There is no doubt it will soon become necessary to enlarge the buildings, for the new class of passengers likely to become familiar with St. Helens will scarcely prove as easily satisfied as the natives have been.
"One naturally looks to the Town Council to move in such a matter, [but] …we fear the railway company are allowed to do just as they like irrespective of the convenience of the inhabitants of the district."
More traffic on the Wigan line and the impending opening of a new Huyton line, had spurred the London and North-Western Railway to re-build the station.
There would a number of improvements made over the years but essentially the station would last until 1961.
During the evening of the 18th a train on the line between St Helens and Wigan killed a boy called John Lea.
Children had a habit of running after goods waggons probably to pilfer bits of coal.
John was on the rails with his mates just out of St Helens when a passenger train from Blackburn came up at considerable speed and "dashed the boy to pieces", as the accident was reported.
And finally, I end with an article that was published in the Liverpool Mercury this week about vaccination against smallpox.
There are some parallels with Covid-19, although the smallpox vaccine was mandatory and people were fined, and in some cases imprisoned, after refusing to have their children jabbed.
I've edited the piece down but in a nutshell the paper was in favour of immunisation – but against it being compulsory:
"We were constrained the other day to expose the immorality of the proceedings of the Anti-vaccination League. It does not therefore follow that we approve of the existing vaccination acts.
"We follow the judgment of the select committee of the House of Commons when they say:
"1) That the cowpox is, if not an absolute, yet a very great protection against an attack of smallpox, and an almost absolute protection against death from that disease.
2) That if vaccination be performed with a due regard to the health of the person vaccinated, and with proper precautions in obtaining and using the vaccine lymph, there need be no apprehension that vaccination will injure health or communicate any disease.
3) That smallpox unchecked by vaccination is one of the most terrible and destructive of diseases and that, therefore:
4) It is the duty of the State to endeavour to secure the careful vaccination of the whole population. At the same time we also agree with the select committee – though reluctantly – that compulsory vaccination should not be carried out to the lengths it now is.
"This may seem paradoxical, but it is, nevertheless, a position clearly maintainable by argument.
"At the present time, oppugnant [antagonistic] parents – misled by medical men who know comparatively nothing about the question on which they write – may be fined over and over again, distrained upon [furniture seized in lieu of payment] and sent to gaol, for their persistent refusal to have their children vaccinated.
"James A. Toulson, of Leeds, for instance, was fined four times for his refusal to have his child vaccinated; and only escaped other penalties by the expedient of sending the baby into another magisterial jurisdiction.
"James Lawton, of Derby, was seven times convicted for the same offence in regard to one and the same child.
"The first four times he paid the fines. Then his funds became exhausted, and he allowed himself to be distrained upon. Lastly his furniture became exhausted and he went to gaol – leaving his family chargeable upon the parish.
"Twenty other cases of equal hardship might be quoted… [and] after all, though the parent be fined or imprisoned, the child may remain unvaccinated. In such a case the law can only triumph by the forcible vaccination of the child.
"The [select] committee cannot recommend either that “a policeman should be empowered to take a baby from its mother to the vaccine station,” or that “the father should be imprisoned till its mother takes it of her own accord;” and they therefore propose that two part penalties or one full penalty shall be the future punishment for non-vaccination.
"And strongly as we believe in the efficacy of vaccination, we cannot but think that the committee are right. Drastic laws always defeat their own end. But for cumulative penalties we should never have heard of an Anti-Vaccination League.
"And after the evidence given before the select committee, and the select committee's recommendation, we sincerely trust that we shall never hear of the Anti-Vaccination League again."
Next week's stories will include the insanitary state of Rainford, the high price of getting a divorce, the incorrigible Catherine Dunn, a brutal prize fight at Carr Mill and the heavy fines for the Rainford miners who quit their jobs.
When an animal attacked and injured a person, the newspapers would often use the word "worried" to describe the incident – which with today's usage of the term seems a considerable understatement.
Let me provide an example. In 1892 five-month-old Alice Fairclough of Back College Street in St Helens died after being attacked in her cradle by one of her family's pigs.
That led to "A Child Worried By A Pig At St. Helens", being the caption in the Illustrated Police News.
Similarly this week under the headline "A Man Worried By A Horse", the Wigan Observer wrote about a serious incident that had taken place in Billinge:
"At the Stork Inn, Billinge, on Wednesday, an extraordinary scene took place.
"A man in charge of some horses and a hearse, which belonged to Mr. Heyes, of Scotland-road, Liverpool, and which had been used at a funeral in Billinge, went into the stable and was attending to one of the animals – a thoroughbred – when it attacked him, threw him down, kicked him, and bit him in several places, taking off part of one of his ears.
"His screams attracted attention, and with great difficulty the horse was secured and the man was set at liberty, but not before his life had been endangered by the injuries he had received.
"Mr. Beaman [local doctor] attended him, and he could not be removed until the following day.
"No one dare enter the stable, and a man accustomed to the horse had to be sent for from Liverpool to take charge of it."
The Stork is renowned for being haunted by "Albert the Cavalier" – which perhaps puts another dimension to the story. Or maybe the nag was simply in a bad mood!
Twelve months ago the St Helens Newspaper had described how an athletics competition had taken place at St Helens Cricket Club in Dentons Green:
"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 with promotional adverts simply stating: "Eight cups, eight gold, six gold-centred, and 12 silver medals. Wm. Foreman, Hon. Sec." In its review of the event on the 15th, the Liverpool Mercury wrote:
"The second annual athletic festival, in connection with the St. Helen's Cricket Club, was held on the cricket ground, Denton's-green, St. Helen's, on Saturday.
"The weather was tolerably fine throughout, and the attendance was very large. One excellent feature of the day's proceedings was the perfect order that reigned from beginning to end.
"There were 208 entries, and in almost every event on the programme there was a close and vigorous contest.
"The prizes were distributed by Mrs. Ansdell, of Cowley House; and Mr. Stone, of Liverpool, gave expression to the pleasure he felt at seeing so excellent a day's sport, and so many Liverpool winners."
Anne Ansdell was the wife of the wealthy solicitor, property owner and registrar to St Helens County Court, John Ansdell.
Twenty years earlier he had built Cowley House – or the Mansion House, as we know it – in what would become Victoria Park.
Many low-paid workers did not have any cash to pay court fines and so chose the prison option instead. The St Helens Newspaper on the 15th described one such case in the Petty Sessions:
"Richard Loden was charged with drunkenness and breaking a window in the police station. It was shown that while lodged in the cell he broke a sheet of glass for the purpose of increasing the ventilation. He was ordered to pay 20s. 6d. or go to prison for a fortnight. He had no money."
I've come across some strange excuses given in court reports but claiming you were talking to your tobacco when accused of threatening someone has to be a first!
Under the headline "A Shindy Between Neighbours", the Newspaper published this report of a dispute between residents of Bruce Street, off Pigot Street:
"William Holland was summoned for assaulting Ellen Hesketh on the Monday previous.
"The complainant said that she had been examined as a witness against the wife of the defendant a week previous, and when she returned to her own home Mrs. Holland accused her of having committed perjury.
"In the evening the defendant came out to his door-step, and began to sharpen a knife upon it.
"As soon as it was sufficiently keen he went to complainant and told her he would put “a yard of steel through her thorax.”
"A neighbour woman was called, and she gave confirming evidence, having heard the row from her own bedroom.
"Defendant: I was talking to my ‘bacca. I was for sure. I smokes thick twist, gentlemen. I do for sure. (Laughter)
"Some women came forward in his behalf, and they bore out the tobacco theory to the fullest extent.
"He was a very much aggrieved man, according to them, some of the neighbours making a habit of annoying him and his wife. The case was dismissed."
Such a crash occurred to William Blinkhorn during the evening of the 15th. He was the manager of Sutton Glassworks and lived in Waterdale House in Gerrards Lane (pictured above).
This later became the home of Sutton Convent, the Tropical Fun Club and then Cloisters Country Club.
Blinkhorn drove a sporty rig called a phaeton, which was known for its extravagantly large wheels. This is how the Wigan Observer described the accident:
"On Saturday evening, as Mr. W. Blinkhorn was leaving his residence, Waterdale, Sutton, in his phaeton, accompanied by two of his children, his horse, a very spirited animal, took fright, and dashed off at a furious rate.
"Mr. Blinkhorn was thrown out of the phaeton; fortunately the children held to their seats.
"The horse galloped on in the direction of Robin's-lane, near to the corner of which it came into collision with a horse and cart belonging to Mr. James Grace.
"The shaft of the phaeton gored Mr. Grace's horse, and luckily brought the runaway to a standstill.
"The children were thrown out by the collision, but were not injured beyond a few bruises."
It didn't sound very lucky for Grace's horse, though! Poorly maintained rigs could also lead to a crash.
On the following day Dr Robert McNicoll from Hardshaw Street was driving his trap on the outskirts of St Helens with a Dr Grimsdale from Liverpool as his passenger.
Suddenly the bolts that attached the front wheels of the trap to the body of the vehicle gave way.
The sudden lightening of the weight made the horse bound off and the two doctors were thrown to the ground.
Fortunately both men escaped serious injury but I think the trap needed an MOT!
On the 17th in the St Helens Petty Sessions, Thomas Mawdsley and Robert Richards were summoned for having fought a prize-fight and were bound over to keep the peace for six months.
John Travers and William Richards were ordered to find sureties for three months for aiding and abetting. Bare-knuckle prize-fights were brutal affairs and could last 60 rounds.
Also in court was a man charged with cruelty to a cat and another charged with maliciously injuring a rhododendron at St Helens Cemetery. One of them was fined and the other was cleared. Which man do you think got off?
Both stories were covered back to back by the St Helens Newspaper like this:
"John Conlon was charged with cruelty to a cat, on the 13th July. A man named Smith said that he saw the defendant in the market, with a cat, which he was abusing.
"The animal was in a bag, and the defendant was kicking it and standing on its head. Witness, hearing him say he would kill it, interfered, and pushed him out away.
"In reply to Mr. Marsh (who appeared for the defendant), the witness said that the defendant would have killed the cat had he not been interfered with. Mr. Marsh submitted that killing a cat was no offence under the statute.
"The only question was whether there was unnecessary cruelty. The people in the market were exceedingly annoyed with cats, and this particular one had injured a number of his books.
"Supt. Ludlam said there were other witnesses present. Ann Jackson said she was present when Conran was abusing the cat, and the abuse lasted ten minutes.
"He tried to choke it first, and failing, he put it down and jumped on it. Mr. Marsh again submitted that his client had tried to kill the animal in the shortest way possible with the means at his command. The case was dismissed.
"John McCabe was charged with maliciously injuring a rhododendron, on Sunday afternoon.
"He pleaded guilty. Mr. G.R. Grant, registrar, deposed that he saw the defendant break a branch off a rhododendron, and afterwards pluck other flowers and put them in his pocket.
"A great deal of damage had been done recently, in spite of the notice posted up conspicuously. Fined 5s. and 5s. 6d.costs."
The new St Helens Railway Station in Shaw Street was fully opened on the 17th – or as the Wigan Observer put it – was "thrown open to the public".
Being rather basic with "no architectural pretensions whatever" (as the St Helens Newspaper described it), the station probably deserved to be chucked at townsfolk.
The Newspaper liked the goods station but as regards the passenger facilities, it was excoriating:
"It appears to us that the ridiculous incompetency of the old station has had an injurious effect upon the new. It will ever remain a mystery why the people of St. Helens tolerated so wretched a little hole as the building now abandoned.
"It was scarcely fit for the smallest village, and was a standing disgrace to the town for very many years. People grew used to it, no doubt, and their continued acceptance of the infinitesimal accommodation it afforded, must have given the railway authorities a low estimate of their character.
"The new traffic arrangements demand liberal room, and the directors should have been careful to meet that demand; the great increase of passenger traffic warrants the construction of a first-class station, but then the people here have always been content with very little, and a thousand could be saved in dealing with them.
"There is no doubt it will soon become necessary to enlarge the buildings, for the new class of passengers likely to become familiar with St. Helens will scarcely prove as easily satisfied as the natives have been.
"One naturally looks to the Town Council to move in such a matter, [but] …we fear the railway company are allowed to do just as they like irrespective of the convenience of the inhabitants of the district."
More traffic on the Wigan line and the impending opening of a new Huyton line, had spurred the London and North-Western Railway to re-build the station.
There would a number of improvements made over the years but essentially the station would last until 1961.
During the evening of the 18th a train on the line between St Helens and Wigan killed a boy called John Lea.
Children had a habit of running after goods waggons probably to pilfer bits of coal.
John was on the rails with his mates just out of St Helens when a passenger train from Blackburn came up at considerable speed and "dashed the boy to pieces", as the accident was reported.
And finally, I end with an article that was published in the Liverpool Mercury this week about vaccination against smallpox.
There are some parallels with Covid-19, although the smallpox vaccine was mandatory and people were fined, and in some cases imprisoned, after refusing to have their children jabbed.
I've edited the piece down but in a nutshell the paper was in favour of immunisation – but against it being compulsory:
"We were constrained the other day to expose the immorality of the proceedings of the Anti-vaccination League. It does not therefore follow that we approve of the existing vaccination acts.
"We follow the judgment of the select committee of the House of Commons when they say:
"1) That the cowpox is, if not an absolute, yet a very great protection against an attack of smallpox, and an almost absolute protection against death from that disease.
2) That if vaccination be performed with a due regard to the health of the person vaccinated, and with proper precautions in obtaining and using the vaccine lymph, there need be no apprehension that vaccination will injure health or communicate any disease.
3) That smallpox unchecked by vaccination is one of the most terrible and destructive of diseases and that, therefore:
4) It is the duty of the State to endeavour to secure the careful vaccination of the whole population. At the same time we also agree with the select committee – though reluctantly – that compulsory vaccination should not be carried out to the lengths it now is.
"This may seem paradoxical, but it is, nevertheless, a position clearly maintainable by argument.
"At the present time, oppugnant [antagonistic] parents – misled by medical men who know comparatively nothing about the question on which they write – may be fined over and over again, distrained upon [furniture seized in lieu of payment] and sent to gaol, for their persistent refusal to have their children vaccinated.
"James A. Toulson, of Leeds, for instance, was fined four times for his refusal to have his child vaccinated; and only escaped other penalties by the expedient of sending the baby into another magisterial jurisdiction.
"James Lawton, of Derby, was seven times convicted for the same offence in regard to one and the same child.
"The first four times he paid the fines. Then his funds became exhausted, and he allowed himself to be distrained upon. Lastly his furniture became exhausted and he went to gaol – leaving his family chargeable upon the parish.
"Twenty other cases of equal hardship might be quoted… [and] after all, though the parent be fined or imprisoned, the child may remain unvaccinated. In such a case the law can only triumph by the forcible vaccination of the child.
"The [select] committee cannot recommend either that “a policeman should be empowered to take a baby from its mother to the vaccine station,” or that “the father should be imprisoned till its mother takes it of her own accord;” and they therefore propose that two part penalties or one full penalty shall be the future punishment for non-vaccination.
"And strongly as we believe in the efficacy of vaccination, we cannot but think that the committee are right. Drastic laws always defeat their own end. But for cumulative penalties we should never have heard of an Anti-Vaccination League.
"And after the evidence given before the select committee, and the select committee's recommendation, we sincerely trust that we shall never hear of the Anti-Vaccination League again."
Next week's stories will include the insanitary state of Rainford, the high price of getting a divorce, the incorrigible Catherine Dunn, a brutal prize fight at Carr Mill and the heavy fines for the Rainford miners who quit their jobs.