150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (16th - 22nd DECEMBER 1869)
This week's stories include the awkward shooters on the St Helens Junction rifle range, the fowl theft at Ravenhead, the annual reunion at Cowley School, a public examination of pupils at Lowe House School, the thieves hawking Old Moore's Almanack round St Helens and the shouting, cursing and din of Liverpool carters in Prescot.
Horses and carts killed quite a few children, usually when they were playing in the street. On the 16th the unnamed son of saddler Robert Barlow had come out of school and was playing near the Royal Hotel in Prescot. The boy was aged about seven and in running across the street he ran against the legs of a horse drawing a cart. The lad was knocked down and a wheel of the cart passed over his head causing instant death.
The school at Cowley was then in North Road and known as Cowley British Schools, although it was nicknamed "Lacey's" (shown above). That was after the longstanding head called Newton Lacey – Central Modern, incidentally, was built on the same site. On the 16th the annual reunion of the school took place, although we would probably call it a speech day. That was because the attendees comprised relatives and friends of the present scholars, rather than it being a get together of former ones.
A concert of the school choir was given and there was also an exhibition of school drawings that the Newspaper said had been "tolerably well executed". There was also a special presentation to the headmaster of a bronze timepiece, which was inscribed with these words: "Presented to Mr. Newton Lacey, as a token of regard and appreciation of his services, as Head Master of Cowley Schools – by the parents of pupils and other friends." Lacey had been the head at Cowley since 1846 but had to resign in 1875 when it was decided that all teachers must be qualified.
It's interesting that leaks to newspapers are nothing new and were occurring 150 years ago. The Prescot Board of Guardians were the folk responsible for implementing the Poor Law in the St Helens and Prescot districts – which included overseeing Whiston Workhouse. They met on the 18th and expressed unhappiness that a report produced by a committee had been leaked to both the Prescot Reporter and the St Helens Newspaper. Various individuals including the clerk to the Guardians were keen to deny any responsibility for what had happened. The clerk had asked a journalist to reveal his source but he'd refused to do so.
The Prescot Reporter was published on the 18th and commented on a recent Prescot Petty Sessions in which a navvy called Thomas Dwyer had been charged with declaring himself a Fenian. The man had been in Hillock Street at midnight and had threatened to "do for every English ______ in the city of timekeepers". Prescot was renowned for its watchmaking but I don't think could ever be called a city. The Fenians were essentially the forerunners of the IRA and two years earlier had staged an unsuccessful revolt in Ireland. Having now sobered up, Thomas Dwyer told the Bench that he regretted his conduct and was fined five shillings and costs.
A public examination of pupils at Lowe House School took place on the 19th. It was a strange event in which parents and other members of the public watched as children were tested in reading, arithmetic, geography and elocution. The Newspaper wrote: "The answering was so prompt and accurate throughout, that the audience applauded the lads with right good will." Their handwriting was also inspected and a number of maps and drawings created by the pupils were exhibited. Three days later a public examination of the scholars at the Wesleyan Methodist School in Waterloo Street was also undertaken.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 20th Joseph Leyland was charged with permitting trading on a Sunday in his Park Road beerhouse. He was fined £2 with the Chairman of the magistrates saying that Sunday trading had to be put down. The report did not state what was being sold but the four men involved were fined 5 shillings each.
By 1869 the works of the London and Manchester Plate Glass Company in Sutton Oak covered both sides of what became Lancots Lane, with their plant known as the Sutton Glass Works. The company summoned eleven ex-workers to the Petty Sessions for leaving their employment without giving notice. The men had walked out after a dispute with a new foreman. However they had all now "expressed their sorrow" for what they had done and asked to be taken on again. So the company's solicitor applied for the case to be withdrawn, which the Bench granted.
The glass firm had also recently taken over the British Plate Glass Company's historic plant in Ravenhead that dated back to the 1770s. They owned a farm and Thomas Pilling and Sylvester Tallent were charged with stealing thirty head of fowl from it. William Owen, the manager of Ravenhead Farm, said the fowl comprised geese, ducks and hens and in their pens he'd found the footprints of two persons.
One of them was wearing ironed clogs and the other had been wearing shoes, one of which appeared to have lost a piece at the toe. In company with a police officer Mr Owen followed the footprints and they ended up in a house in Water Street where a goose was roasting in the oven. This subsequently led to the arrest of Pilling and Tallent and the discovery of a number of heads, legs and wings of fowl. Both men were sentenced to three months hard labour for their thefts.
This advert for Old Moore's Almanack was in the St Helens Newspaper on the 21st: "One Halfpenny Each At Dromgoole's, Public Hall. – Beware of Hawkers who, at this season of the year, tramp around the country, offering Old Moore's and other Almanacks charging a penny each for them. Beware! for many of these hawkers are but thieves, or the associates of thieves, and make an excuse of hawking for other and ulterior objects. Why don't the police apprehend such hawkers, who have no licence?"
Dromgoole's Public Hall was a multi-purpose building in Hardshaw Street. It was owned by Bernard Dromgoole and served as a shop, a hall that could be hired for events and it was where the St Helens Newspaper was produced.
I don't think any children could expect a bicycle for Christmas in 1869. What the Newspaper had in April called "curious vehicles" were still very new and expensive and the playthings of the middle and upper classes. John Christian of the St Helens Carriage Works was advertising his bicycles and tricycles in the Newspaper on the "most improved principle".
His company made bikes to order to "suit any height of rider" but they cost at least £8 10 shillings, three pounds cheaper – he claimed – than could be bought in Liverpool. An advantage of buying from John Christian was that purchasers would receive free instruction in riding the bikes. This would have been essential as it might reduce the number of bruises that riders received by falling off the rickety machines!
The St Helens Newspaper also described the problems that the local rifle volunteers were experiencing with their rifle range at St Helens Junction. The members of the 47th LRV had not been able to use their range since the summer because of stray bullets from "awkward shooters". These bullets had been missing their rifle butt and had led to complaints of creating "danger to life and property". The butt was described by the Newspaper as already being a "mass of earth" of "vast proportions" but needed to be elevated further at huge cost, which the battalion could not afford.
The Prescot Petty Sessions were held on the 21st in which Isaac Burrowes was charged with cruelty to a horse. PC Townshend gave evidence that he had seen the defendant's animal stop several times while on Fall Lane. Upon going over to Burrowes he ascertained that the load excluding the cart weighed 27 cwt. Just how he could calculate that, I cannot say. Superintendent Fowler said the carters of Liverpool were overloading their horses to the extent that animals could not get up the brow. He added that:
"The shouting, cursing, and din amongst the carters, often late at night, was perfectly intolerable to the residents. The animals were utterly unable to do the work put upon them, and the cruelty of the drivers was to be added to the nuisance created by the system." A fine of 2s 6d was imposed with a warning that fines for this offence would be much heavier in future.
People had a habit of bringing all sorts of evidence into court to try and prove their case, including such weapons as bricks and stones. Ellen Carney had been summoned for assaulting Mary Dillon in Mill Brow in Prescot and she produced a bundle of hair, which she claimed the complainant had torn off her head. However Superintendent Fowler stated that the hair was of a different colour to her natural growth, which the Newspaper said: "roused the defendant's ire to an unusual degree".
The row had been caused by Ellen Carney finding her husband in company with Mary Dillon, with the couple behaving "in an unseemly manner." Ellen was fined 5 shillings but would not have to pay the cost of the summons taken out by Mary Dillon, as the latter was deemed partly responsible for their fight. Taking out a summons usually cost 6s 6d.
And finally the Vicar of Rainhill's annual tea party took place on the 22nd. The tea was eaten at 6pm and afterwards speeches were made and school prizes were distributed. The church choir also sang "glees" during the evening, with tickets costing 1 shilling that had been available in advance from Rainhill Post Office.
Next week's stories will include the butchers' Christmas market, the Christmas gifts on sale in the town, a Dentons Green farmer sues a copper works for damaging his crops, the consecration of St John's church at Ravenhead and the men at the Bridge Inn in Rainford desperate for a Sunday morning pint.
Horses and carts killed quite a few children, usually when they were playing in the street. On the 16th the unnamed son of saddler Robert Barlow had come out of school and was playing near the Royal Hotel in Prescot. The boy was aged about seven and in running across the street he ran against the legs of a horse drawing a cart. The lad was knocked down and a wheel of the cart passed over his head causing instant death.
A concert of the school choir was given and there was also an exhibition of school drawings that the Newspaper said had been "tolerably well executed". There was also a special presentation to the headmaster of a bronze timepiece, which was inscribed with these words: "Presented to Mr. Newton Lacey, as a token of regard and appreciation of his services, as Head Master of Cowley Schools – by the parents of pupils and other friends." Lacey had been the head at Cowley since 1846 but had to resign in 1875 when it was decided that all teachers must be qualified.
It's interesting that leaks to newspapers are nothing new and were occurring 150 years ago. The Prescot Board of Guardians were the folk responsible for implementing the Poor Law in the St Helens and Prescot districts – which included overseeing Whiston Workhouse. They met on the 18th and expressed unhappiness that a report produced by a committee had been leaked to both the Prescot Reporter and the St Helens Newspaper. Various individuals including the clerk to the Guardians were keen to deny any responsibility for what had happened. The clerk had asked a journalist to reveal his source but he'd refused to do so.
The Prescot Reporter was published on the 18th and commented on a recent Prescot Petty Sessions in which a navvy called Thomas Dwyer had been charged with declaring himself a Fenian. The man had been in Hillock Street at midnight and had threatened to "do for every English ______ in the city of timekeepers". Prescot was renowned for its watchmaking but I don't think could ever be called a city. The Fenians were essentially the forerunners of the IRA and two years earlier had staged an unsuccessful revolt in Ireland. Having now sobered up, Thomas Dwyer told the Bench that he regretted his conduct and was fined five shillings and costs.
A public examination of pupils at Lowe House School took place on the 19th. It was a strange event in which parents and other members of the public watched as children were tested in reading, arithmetic, geography and elocution. The Newspaper wrote: "The answering was so prompt and accurate throughout, that the audience applauded the lads with right good will." Their handwriting was also inspected and a number of maps and drawings created by the pupils were exhibited. Three days later a public examination of the scholars at the Wesleyan Methodist School in Waterloo Street was also undertaken.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 20th Joseph Leyland was charged with permitting trading on a Sunday in his Park Road beerhouse. He was fined £2 with the Chairman of the magistrates saying that Sunday trading had to be put down. The report did not state what was being sold but the four men involved were fined 5 shillings each.
By 1869 the works of the London and Manchester Plate Glass Company in Sutton Oak covered both sides of what became Lancots Lane, with their plant known as the Sutton Glass Works. The company summoned eleven ex-workers to the Petty Sessions for leaving their employment without giving notice. The men had walked out after a dispute with a new foreman. However they had all now "expressed their sorrow" for what they had done and asked to be taken on again. So the company's solicitor applied for the case to be withdrawn, which the Bench granted.
The glass firm had also recently taken over the British Plate Glass Company's historic plant in Ravenhead that dated back to the 1770s. They owned a farm and Thomas Pilling and Sylvester Tallent were charged with stealing thirty head of fowl from it. William Owen, the manager of Ravenhead Farm, said the fowl comprised geese, ducks and hens and in their pens he'd found the footprints of two persons.
One of them was wearing ironed clogs and the other had been wearing shoes, one of which appeared to have lost a piece at the toe. In company with a police officer Mr Owen followed the footprints and they ended up in a house in Water Street where a goose was roasting in the oven. This subsequently led to the arrest of Pilling and Tallent and the discovery of a number of heads, legs and wings of fowl. Both men were sentenced to three months hard labour for their thefts.
This advert for Old Moore's Almanack was in the St Helens Newspaper on the 21st: "One Halfpenny Each At Dromgoole's, Public Hall. – Beware of Hawkers who, at this season of the year, tramp around the country, offering Old Moore's and other Almanacks charging a penny each for them. Beware! for many of these hawkers are but thieves, or the associates of thieves, and make an excuse of hawking for other and ulterior objects. Why don't the police apprehend such hawkers, who have no licence?"
Dromgoole's Public Hall was a multi-purpose building in Hardshaw Street. It was owned by Bernard Dromgoole and served as a shop, a hall that could be hired for events and it was where the St Helens Newspaper was produced.
I don't think any children could expect a bicycle for Christmas in 1869. What the Newspaper had in April called "curious vehicles" were still very new and expensive and the playthings of the middle and upper classes. John Christian of the St Helens Carriage Works was advertising his bicycles and tricycles in the Newspaper on the "most improved principle".
His company made bikes to order to "suit any height of rider" but they cost at least £8 10 shillings, three pounds cheaper – he claimed – than could be bought in Liverpool. An advantage of buying from John Christian was that purchasers would receive free instruction in riding the bikes. This would have been essential as it might reduce the number of bruises that riders received by falling off the rickety machines!
The St Helens Newspaper also described the problems that the local rifle volunteers were experiencing with their rifle range at St Helens Junction. The members of the 47th LRV had not been able to use their range since the summer because of stray bullets from "awkward shooters". These bullets had been missing their rifle butt and had led to complaints of creating "danger to life and property". The butt was described by the Newspaper as already being a "mass of earth" of "vast proportions" but needed to be elevated further at huge cost, which the battalion could not afford.
The Prescot Petty Sessions were held on the 21st in which Isaac Burrowes was charged with cruelty to a horse. PC Townshend gave evidence that he had seen the defendant's animal stop several times while on Fall Lane. Upon going over to Burrowes he ascertained that the load excluding the cart weighed 27 cwt. Just how he could calculate that, I cannot say. Superintendent Fowler said the carters of Liverpool were overloading their horses to the extent that animals could not get up the brow. He added that:
"The shouting, cursing, and din amongst the carters, often late at night, was perfectly intolerable to the residents. The animals were utterly unable to do the work put upon them, and the cruelty of the drivers was to be added to the nuisance created by the system." A fine of 2s 6d was imposed with a warning that fines for this offence would be much heavier in future.
People had a habit of bringing all sorts of evidence into court to try and prove their case, including such weapons as bricks and stones. Ellen Carney had been summoned for assaulting Mary Dillon in Mill Brow in Prescot and she produced a bundle of hair, which she claimed the complainant had torn off her head. However Superintendent Fowler stated that the hair was of a different colour to her natural growth, which the Newspaper said: "roused the defendant's ire to an unusual degree".
The row had been caused by Ellen Carney finding her husband in company with Mary Dillon, with the couple behaving "in an unseemly manner." Ellen was fined 5 shillings but would not have to pay the cost of the summons taken out by Mary Dillon, as the latter was deemed partly responsible for their fight. Taking out a summons usually cost 6s 6d.
And finally the Vicar of Rainhill's annual tea party took place on the 22nd. The tea was eaten at 6pm and afterwards speeches were made and school prizes were distributed. The church choir also sang "glees" during the evening, with tickets costing 1 shilling that had been available in advance from Rainhill Post Office.
Next week's stories will include the butchers' Christmas market, the Christmas gifts on sale in the town, a Dentons Green farmer sues a copper works for damaging his crops, the consecration of St John's church at Ravenhead and the men at the Bridge Inn in Rainford desperate for a Sunday morning pint.