150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (14th - 20th October 1869)
This week's stories include a Duke Street joy ride, an auction of pews in St Helens Parish Church, the former workhouse master is in court charged with assault, there's an opportunity to buy your own coal mine, the disgraced Parr vicar is taken to court and the cows and pigs at the Talbot Hotel.
We begin on the 15th when a fire took place at an old almshouse in Warrington Road in Prescot, which a kitten was thought to have started. Henry Brown and his family occupied the cottage and they had left clothes drying by a fire when they went to bed. The cat was in the same room and it was believed had played with the clothes and then dragged them onto the fire. The occupants had to flee the burning house through a first-floor window and hopefully the kitten did the same!
On the 15th Mary Lowry, Abraham Walton and Edward Hurst appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with being responsible for the two fires that had struck Nutgrove Farm during the previous weekend. These had caused considerable damage and although the first blaze may have been accidental, it was believed the second was malicious – possibly to cover up the first.
It wasn't often that a whole colliery was put up for sale but the Sankey Brook Coal Company was advertised in the St Helens Newspaper on the 16th. This was based in Redgate Drive in Parr but also stretched into Sutton. An auction was being held at the Raven Inn next month with mines, pits, shafts, tramways, engines, pumps, lands, offices and houses to be sold off.
St Ann's church in Warrington Road in Rainhill held their Harvest Festival on the 17th. It was an opportunity to show off their new Willis organ that had cost them £250 (about £30,000 in today's money). The church had only been reopened in April after it had been entirely rebuilt (apart from a small portion of the walls and tower), almost doubling the seating of the old church.
A month ago a notice had been nailed to the door of Holy Trinity Church in Traverse Street in Parr informing parishioners of the suspension of their vicar. A woman called Ellen Abbott had claimed that the Rev. James Cheel had had adulterous sex with her on several occasions during September and October of 1867. This had resulted in the birth of two children, one of which had died in infancy. After an inquiry the Bishop of Chester decided to suspend Rev. Cheel from the Church of England for three years.
On October 18th Ellen Abbott summoned Cheel to the St Helens Petty Sessions to provide maintenance for her illegitimate child. Although the defrocked vicar failed to show, he had counsel appear on his behalf to state his case. Cheel had always denied the accusations but it was argued that he had previously made a total of £26 worth of payments to Ellen.
These had mainly been in the form of postal orders, which had been delivered to Ellen by his housekeeper, with some other payments sent as stamps in the post. At the bishop's inquiry into the vicar's conduct, Cheel had argued that this money had been a private loan between his servant and Ellen, despite the fact that domestics earned no more than £9 a year.
Cheel's counsel was Thomas Swift of Hardshaw Hall, whose son Rigby would later become St Helens's third MP. Swift told the magistrates that the law only allowed maintenance orders for an illegitimate child if three criteria had been met. The child had to be 12 months old, payments had to have already been made by the father during that period and there had to be corroboration of the complainant's evidence. Swift successfully argued that there was no proof that Rev. Cheel had made the payments via his housekeeper or by post.
The Chairman of the Bench said he had little or no doubt in his conscience that the money had been paid for the child. However he felt they could not be justified in making a maintenance order under the law as it stood. So because of the ex-vicar's subterfuge, Ellen Abbott received no further payments from the father of her child. Her claims had been good enough for the Bishop of Chester but not for the law.
On the 19th in the Prescot Petty Sessions, Thomas Holmes, the former Master of Whiston Workhouse, was charged with assaulting Dr Rayner at St Helens Junction station. The doctor had until recently been the medical officer at the workhouse and was amongst a number of people who had complained about Holmes. The Master was eventually sacked after a further claim was made that he had made a pauper woman pregnant.
Holmes developed a loathing for the doctor and had made several threats against him and on September 13th the two men's paths had crossed once again. It was a chance meeting at the station and Dr Rayner claimed Holmes had struck him between the eyes shortly after he had offered him his hand. As a result he suffered two black eyes. His travelling companion supported his account, as did a Mrs Green, who said she was sat in a carriage and witnessed Holmes go up to the doctor and give him a blow.
However a guard called George Butcher said he saw both men fighting and bleeding on the platform with Dr Rayner bleeding the most. The latter explained that after being attacked by Holmes he had scuffled with him as he tried to defend himself. The magistrates in the crowded courtroom told Holmes he had been guilty of a "most unpardonable and unprovoked assault" and fined him £5 with the alternative sentence of two months in prison. Thomas Holmes immediately replied: "Thank you, sir; I will take the two months." The former workhouse master left the court in the custody of the police but later had a change of heart and paid the fine.
Catherine Kelly was also in court charged with assaulting Mary Walsh at the Eccleston brickworks where they were both employed. It was claimed that Mary had called Catherine's child a cripple through a deformity in its hand and so Catherine had retaliated by throwing bricks at Mary and then struck her. The woman suffered a serious wound to her head and her attacker was sentenced to a 30-shilling fine or a month in prison.
Catherine Littler was the licensee of the Talbot Hotel in Duke Street but had decided to leave the district. Auctioneer Thomas Lyon from Baldwin Street was auctioneering off her possessions, which were unusual by today's standards! They included five "young fat" cows, six "excellent fat" pigs, a set of mahogany four post bedsteads with French chintz hangings, window cornice pole and chintz hangings to match, straw mattress, feather beds, eight-day timepiece, eight large spirit casks and the contents of a dairy.
Another advert was for the auction of pews in St Helens Parish Church. This was not the ownership of the actual wooden benches but the exclusive right to sit on them during services. Many wealthy individuals in churches throughout the country have in the past either been granted the exclusive use of pews in return for favours given or have bought the right.
Available to "buy" was pew no. 208, which was on the south side of St Mary's church and involved a letting payment of 50 shillings per year. There was also pew no. 117 on the north side, which involved an annual let of 35 shillings. So if you wanted the status of having your own pew you would bid for the sitting rights at the auction at the Fleece Hotel and then pay the church an annual fee.
Birchall has always been a popular surname in Rainford, with 100 persons listed in the 1871 census bearing that name. Nine Birchalls were called John and the St Helens Newspaper described how one of these had recently lost his horse and carriage. It had been parked outside the Talbot Hotel and while its owner went inside on business, two passing drunks thought it would be a laugh to take a joy ride to Dentons Green.
John Birchall heard the clatter of his horse from within the pub and dashed outside to see his trap undertaking a "cheerful gallop" down Duke Street with Andrew Faulkner and John Dagnall sat inside. They returned in a merry state twenty minutes later with their borrowed horse keeping a "spanking pace" but the police were waiting for them.
The duo spent the night in a police cell and in the morning appeared in court, as described by the Newspaper: "On Saturday morning they were taken before Mr. T. Pilkington, who made them pay for the ride at the moderate rate of 15s. each, or, in default, go to prison for fourteen days. They considered the price too dear." So off to jail they went!
Next week's stories will include the farmer who fell into a threshing machine at Leach Hall Farm, a Sutton pub landlord learns the perils of pigeon racing, the gloom caused by the death of Lord Derby, the library and entertainment at the Mechanics Institute and the man who claimed Beecham's pills were the best medicine in the world.
We begin on the 15th when a fire took place at an old almshouse in Warrington Road in Prescot, which a kitten was thought to have started. Henry Brown and his family occupied the cottage and they had left clothes drying by a fire when they went to bed. The cat was in the same room and it was believed had played with the clothes and then dragged them onto the fire. The occupants had to flee the burning house through a first-floor window and hopefully the kitten did the same!
On the 15th Mary Lowry, Abraham Walton and Edward Hurst appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with being responsible for the two fires that had struck Nutgrove Farm during the previous weekend. These had caused considerable damage and although the first blaze may have been accidental, it was believed the second was malicious – possibly to cover up the first.
It wasn't often that a whole colliery was put up for sale but the Sankey Brook Coal Company was advertised in the St Helens Newspaper on the 16th. This was based in Redgate Drive in Parr but also stretched into Sutton. An auction was being held at the Raven Inn next month with mines, pits, shafts, tramways, engines, pumps, lands, offices and houses to be sold off.
St Ann's church in Warrington Road in Rainhill held their Harvest Festival on the 17th. It was an opportunity to show off their new Willis organ that had cost them £250 (about £30,000 in today's money). The church had only been reopened in April after it had been entirely rebuilt (apart from a small portion of the walls and tower), almost doubling the seating of the old church.
A month ago a notice had been nailed to the door of Holy Trinity Church in Traverse Street in Parr informing parishioners of the suspension of their vicar. A woman called Ellen Abbott had claimed that the Rev. James Cheel had had adulterous sex with her on several occasions during September and October of 1867. This had resulted in the birth of two children, one of which had died in infancy. After an inquiry the Bishop of Chester decided to suspend Rev. Cheel from the Church of England for three years.
On October 18th Ellen Abbott summoned Cheel to the St Helens Petty Sessions to provide maintenance for her illegitimate child. Although the defrocked vicar failed to show, he had counsel appear on his behalf to state his case. Cheel had always denied the accusations but it was argued that he had previously made a total of £26 worth of payments to Ellen.
These had mainly been in the form of postal orders, which had been delivered to Ellen by his housekeeper, with some other payments sent as stamps in the post. At the bishop's inquiry into the vicar's conduct, Cheel had argued that this money had been a private loan between his servant and Ellen, despite the fact that domestics earned no more than £9 a year.
Cheel's counsel was Thomas Swift of Hardshaw Hall, whose son Rigby would later become St Helens's third MP. Swift told the magistrates that the law only allowed maintenance orders for an illegitimate child if three criteria had been met. The child had to be 12 months old, payments had to have already been made by the father during that period and there had to be corroboration of the complainant's evidence. Swift successfully argued that there was no proof that Rev. Cheel had made the payments via his housekeeper or by post.
The Chairman of the Bench said he had little or no doubt in his conscience that the money had been paid for the child. However he felt they could not be justified in making a maintenance order under the law as it stood. So because of the ex-vicar's subterfuge, Ellen Abbott received no further payments from the father of her child. Her claims had been good enough for the Bishop of Chester but not for the law.
On the 19th in the Prescot Petty Sessions, Thomas Holmes, the former Master of Whiston Workhouse, was charged with assaulting Dr Rayner at St Helens Junction station. The doctor had until recently been the medical officer at the workhouse and was amongst a number of people who had complained about Holmes. The Master was eventually sacked after a further claim was made that he had made a pauper woman pregnant.
Holmes developed a loathing for the doctor and had made several threats against him and on September 13th the two men's paths had crossed once again. It was a chance meeting at the station and Dr Rayner claimed Holmes had struck him between the eyes shortly after he had offered him his hand. As a result he suffered two black eyes. His travelling companion supported his account, as did a Mrs Green, who said she was sat in a carriage and witnessed Holmes go up to the doctor and give him a blow.
However a guard called George Butcher said he saw both men fighting and bleeding on the platform with Dr Rayner bleeding the most. The latter explained that after being attacked by Holmes he had scuffled with him as he tried to defend himself. The magistrates in the crowded courtroom told Holmes he had been guilty of a "most unpardonable and unprovoked assault" and fined him £5 with the alternative sentence of two months in prison. Thomas Holmes immediately replied: "Thank you, sir; I will take the two months." The former workhouse master left the court in the custody of the police but later had a change of heart and paid the fine.
Catherine Kelly was also in court charged with assaulting Mary Walsh at the Eccleston brickworks where they were both employed. It was claimed that Mary had called Catherine's child a cripple through a deformity in its hand and so Catherine had retaliated by throwing bricks at Mary and then struck her. The woman suffered a serious wound to her head and her attacker was sentenced to a 30-shilling fine or a month in prison.
Another advert was for the auction of pews in St Helens Parish Church. This was not the ownership of the actual wooden benches but the exclusive right to sit on them during services. Many wealthy individuals in churches throughout the country have in the past either been granted the exclusive use of pews in return for favours given or have bought the right.
Available to "buy" was pew no. 208, which was on the south side of St Mary's church and involved a letting payment of 50 shillings per year. There was also pew no. 117 on the north side, which involved an annual let of 35 shillings. So if you wanted the status of having your own pew you would bid for the sitting rights at the auction at the Fleece Hotel and then pay the church an annual fee.
Birchall has always been a popular surname in Rainford, with 100 persons listed in the 1871 census bearing that name. Nine Birchalls were called John and the St Helens Newspaper described how one of these had recently lost his horse and carriage. It had been parked outside the Talbot Hotel and while its owner went inside on business, two passing drunks thought it would be a laugh to take a joy ride to Dentons Green.
John Birchall heard the clatter of his horse from within the pub and dashed outside to see his trap undertaking a "cheerful gallop" down Duke Street with Andrew Faulkner and John Dagnall sat inside. They returned in a merry state twenty minutes later with their borrowed horse keeping a "spanking pace" but the police were waiting for them.
The duo spent the night in a police cell and in the morning appeared in court, as described by the Newspaper: "On Saturday morning they were taken before Mr. T. Pilkington, who made them pay for the ride at the moderate rate of 15s. each, or, in default, go to prison for fourteen days. They considered the price too dear." So off to jail they went!
Next week's stories will include the farmer who fell into a threshing machine at Leach Hall Farm, a Sutton pub landlord learns the perils of pigeon racing, the gloom caused by the death of Lord Derby, the library and entertainment at the Mechanics Institute and the man who claimed Beecham's pills were the best medicine in the world.