150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (17th - 23rd FEBRUARY 1870)
This week's stories include the Welsh woman from Moss Nook who was kicked unconscious, criticism of the Prescot Board of Guardians for slinking off to the pub, the "backwardation" of smoky gas lamps in St Helens and the distinguished St Helens Catholic Charity Ball.
We begin on the 17th with a treat for the 400 poor children that attended Prescot Ragged School. The event took place in the New Court Room and after tea consisting of bread and butter and a bun, the children sang a number of pieces that they'd learned.
The St Helens Newspaper was published on the 19th and featured a critical piece on the Prescot Board of Guardians. The elected body implemented the Poor Law within the St Helens and Prescot district, with overseeing Whiston Workhouse their primary job. The Newspaper felt the members of the board did not take their work seriously enough, with many instances of "ludicrous and inappropriate jocosity [jocularity]".
Some were accused of "gliding out" of the boardroom at Whiston Workhouse – where the meetings were held – and refreshing themselves in the Green Dragon before returning. The paper claimed that meetings were unnecessarily dragged out. But once word came through from the kitchen that their dinners were ready, the remaining business was rushed through!
There was a letter published in the paper from flint glass maker Samuel Bishop who supported comments made in last week's edition about the new lighting arrangements in the town. The anonymous correspondent had claimed that the lamps gave a "poor, miserable, and what is worse, a dirty light". Mr Bishop agreed that alterations needed to be carried out to the smoky lamps but was pragmatic about the mistake that the Corporation had made: "It is merely a case of progress in the wrong direction, or what, I believe, is called on the Stock Exchange – backwardation."
Candles were routinely used in 1870 with the obvious dangers. During the late afternoon of the 19th a fire broke out in George Lucas's provisions shop in Eccleston Street in Prescot. Earlier that day a boy had placed some straw in Mr Lucas's cellar using candlelight to see what he was doing. It was supposed that upon finishing his work the lad had forgotten about the candle and the flame had ignited the straw. This led to a large volume of smoke emanating from the cellar that filled every room of the house.
Lucas's wife had given birth that morning and despite being confined to bed, she was so terrified when the alarm was raised that she sprang out and escaped to a neighbour's home. Prescot Fire Brigade arrived within seven minutes of being summoned and put out the fire before too much damage was done. This was despite what the Prescot Reporter called "officious meddling" from persons in the watching crowd.
A young man called Thomas Rigby from Fazakerley Street in Prescot suffered a serious injury on the 19th. He was working at the Holt Hill Stone Quarry near Whiston Workhouse and fell 45 feet from a plank into a ditch. Rigby survived the fall but suffered some severe injuries to his face and a broken thighbone.
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 21st and Joseph Atherton was sent to prison for two months for striking a stranger and biting him through his nose for no apparent reason. That was unusual with violence largely tolerated, even by a man against a woman.
At the same hearing Thomas Kilshaw was charged with assaulting Ann Roberts in Parr. The woman said she had been in her son's beerhouse in Coal Pit Lane when Kilshaw entered and called her a witch. This enraged Ann and she struck Kilshaw in the face and in retaliation he gave her a "tremendous smack" which knocked her to the ground. However as Ann had struck the man first, the Bench dismissed the case.
Brynn-y-Fillin was a street in Moss Nook in Sutton that housed many of the Welsh copper workers employed at William Keates' Rolling Mill factory. The road near Rolling Mill Lane appears to have been named after Brynn-y-Fillin in Holywell, a well-known street where many of the workers had come from. A resident of Sutton's Brynn-y-Fillin called Sarah Owens brought a summons against Thomas Williams for a vicious assault upon her.
The 43-year-old told the Bench that Williams and two other men had been assaulting her brother and she had separated them and sent her brother home. As she was returning to her house Williams had knocked her down and kicked her until she became unconscious. Like many Welsh speakers in St Helens, Sarah's English was poor, which caused some confusion and amusement during her cross-examination. That did not help her case but a carter called John Battersby did support Sarah's account.
For the defence Thomas Gormley and Hannah Hughes gave evidence that when Sarah arrived on the scene to assist her brother, she had attacked Williams with stones and pulled his hair but he failed to retaliate. That, of course, provided motivation for Williams' subsequent attack upon Sarah but the magistrates – as in the previous case – appeared to think the woman had brought her trouble upon herself and dismissed the case. While she was being cross-examined Sara had said: "I am not right yet, and I cannot tell whether I will ever be better." After the case she must have wondered whether Welsh people received justice in English courts.
The head of St Helens Police was used to being the prosecutor in the court but found himself in the embarrassing position of being a defendant. Superintendent James Ludlam lived in Bridge Street and was summoned to the Petty Sessions for allowing his chimney to be on fire. He told the Bench that the fire was the result of negligence on the part of his servant. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "In extenuation of the offence, he pleaded his previous freedom from appearing in a similar position." The Chairman of the Bench ordered Ludlam to pay a one-shilling fine along with costs or, if in default, go to prison for 7 days. I expect he paid the shilling!
Mary Burns was charged with stealing a piece of dripping from the market stall of butcher John Hatton in Exchange Street. Henry Dutton told the Bench that he'd been in charge of the stall when the defendant picked up a piece of dripping and held it so he couldn't see it. A policeman began to walk towards the stall and Mary seeing his approach put down a halfpenny on the table.
As the officer arrived at the stall the woman threw down three halfpence more. Dutton told the constable what had happened and he took Mary into custody. The St Helens Newspaper wrote that the woman made no defence, apart from "the obliviousness of drink". However the Bench let the woman off "on giving a promise to be careful for the future, if she were alive for 50 years."
Patrick Laffey from Cross Street was also a market stall keeper and I wrote about his activities a year ago when I quoted the St Helens Newspaper saying: "Patrick has a happy knack of delivering himself of his opinions of any of his neighbours, with an eloquence and elegance of phraseology that have made him famous within the circle in which he moves. To be sure, his observations have frequently been unfeelingly considered to be what is called slanderous and abusive language."
In this week's edition they referred to the 59-year-old as "an individual in whom, like Etna, the snows of many winters have not cooled the fire of his blood." Laffey appeared in the Sessions charged with threatening to assault a young man named John Heath who was double his size and less than half his age. The latter claimed that Laffey had approached him in a "pugilistic attitude" while leaving the County Court saying he was "determined to finish him". The court hearing had been about a dispute between the pair over a jacket and Laffey had actually won the case but still wanted his pound of flesh. However the magistrates didn't think any punishment was required and dismissed the case.
This was certainly the time of year for the holding of annual events and on the 23rd the St Helens Catholic Charity Ball was held in the Volunteer Hall. The proceeds of the event went to fund the Catholic schools in the district. A lot of effort always went into decorating such halls and the Newspaper in its preview of the event wrote:
"The room will present a beautiful appearance, with growing plants and flowering exotics, kindly lent for the occasion, from the greenhouses and conservatories of gentlemen in the neighbourhood. We have reason to believe that the company present will be the most distinguished that has assembled in St. Helens, under similar circumstances, for a great number of years." A chemist called Webster had lent two large vaporisers "from which throughout the evening, the most delightful perfumes will be diffused."
Next week's stories will include the Pocket Nook house that was full of rats, the Peasley Cross poker woman who smashed up her neighbour's door, the thieving lodger from Parr, the filthy and disgusting language used in a Whiston maintenance case and the boy who stole a pistol from a Liverpool Road shop in order to swap it for a pigeon.
We begin on the 17th with a treat for the 400 poor children that attended Prescot Ragged School. The event took place in the New Court Room and after tea consisting of bread and butter and a bun, the children sang a number of pieces that they'd learned.
The St Helens Newspaper was published on the 19th and featured a critical piece on the Prescot Board of Guardians. The elected body implemented the Poor Law within the St Helens and Prescot district, with overseeing Whiston Workhouse their primary job. The Newspaper felt the members of the board did not take their work seriously enough, with many instances of "ludicrous and inappropriate jocosity [jocularity]".
Some were accused of "gliding out" of the boardroom at Whiston Workhouse – where the meetings were held – and refreshing themselves in the Green Dragon before returning. The paper claimed that meetings were unnecessarily dragged out. But once word came through from the kitchen that their dinners were ready, the remaining business was rushed through!
There was a letter published in the paper from flint glass maker Samuel Bishop who supported comments made in last week's edition about the new lighting arrangements in the town. The anonymous correspondent had claimed that the lamps gave a "poor, miserable, and what is worse, a dirty light". Mr Bishop agreed that alterations needed to be carried out to the smoky lamps but was pragmatic about the mistake that the Corporation had made: "It is merely a case of progress in the wrong direction, or what, I believe, is called on the Stock Exchange – backwardation."
Candles were routinely used in 1870 with the obvious dangers. During the late afternoon of the 19th a fire broke out in George Lucas's provisions shop in Eccleston Street in Prescot. Earlier that day a boy had placed some straw in Mr Lucas's cellar using candlelight to see what he was doing. It was supposed that upon finishing his work the lad had forgotten about the candle and the flame had ignited the straw. This led to a large volume of smoke emanating from the cellar that filled every room of the house.
Lucas's wife had given birth that morning and despite being confined to bed, she was so terrified when the alarm was raised that she sprang out and escaped to a neighbour's home. Prescot Fire Brigade arrived within seven minutes of being summoned and put out the fire before too much damage was done. This was despite what the Prescot Reporter called "officious meddling" from persons in the watching crowd.
A young man called Thomas Rigby from Fazakerley Street in Prescot suffered a serious injury on the 19th. He was working at the Holt Hill Stone Quarry near Whiston Workhouse and fell 45 feet from a plank into a ditch. Rigby survived the fall but suffered some severe injuries to his face and a broken thighbone.
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 21st and Joseph Atherton was sent to prison for two months for striking a stranger and biting him through his nose for no apparent reason. That was unusual with violence largely tolerated, even by a man against a woman.
At the same hearing Thomas Kilshaw was charged with assaulting Ann Roberts in Parr. The woman said she had been in her son's beerhouse in Coal Pit Lane when Kilshaw entered and called her a witch. This enraged Ann and she struck Kilshaw in the face and in retaliation he gave her a "tremendous smack" which knocked her to the ground. However as Ann had struck the man first, the Bench dismissed the case.
Brynn-y-Fillin was a street in Moss Nook in Sutton that housed many of the Welsh copper workers employed at William Keates' Rolling Mill factory. The road near Rolling Mill Lane appears to have been named after Brynn-y-Fillin in Holywell, a well-known street where many of the workers had come from. A resident of Sutton's Brynn-y-Fillin called Sarah Owens brought a summons against Thomas Williams for a vicious assault upon her.
The 43-year-old told the Bench that Williams and two other men had been assaulting her brother and she had separated them and sent her brother home. As she was returning to her house Williams had knocked her down and kicked her until she became unconscious. Like many Welsh speakers in St Helens, Sarah's English was poor, which caused some confusion and amusement during her cross-examination. That did not help her case but a carter called John Battersby did support Sarah's account.
For the defence Thomas Gormley and Hannah Hughes gave evidence that when Sarah arrived on the scene to assist her brother, she had attacked Williams with stones and pulled his hair but he failed to retaliate. That, of course, provided motivation for Williams' subsequent attack upon Sarah but the magistrates – as in the previous case – appeared to think the woman had brought her trouble upon herself and dismissed the case. While she was being cross-examined Sara had said: "I am not right yet, and I cannot tell whether I will ever be better." After the case she must have wondered whether Welsh people received justice in English courts.
The head of St Helens Police was used to being the prosecutor in the court but found himself in the embarrassing position of being a defendant. Superintendent James Ludlam lived in Bridge Street and was summoned to the Petty Sessions for allowing his chimney to be on fire. He told the Bench that the fire was the result of negligence on the part of his servant. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "In extenuation of the offence, he pleaded his previous freedom from appearing in a similar position." The Chairman of the Bench ordered Ludlam to pay a one-shilling fine along with costs or, if in default, go to prison for 7 days. I expect he paid the shilling!
Mary Burns was charged with stealing a piece of dripping from the market stall of butcher John Hatton in Exchange Street. Henry Dutton told the Bench that he'd been in charge of the stall when the defendant picked up a piece of dripping and held it so he couldn't see it. A policeman began to walk towards the stall and Mary seeing his approach put down a halfpenny on the table.
As the officer arrived at the stall the woman threw down three halfpence more. Dutton told the constable what had happened and he took Mary into custody. The St Helens Newspaper wrote that the woman made no defence, apart from "the obliviousness of drink". However the Bench let the woman off "on giving a promise to be careful for the future, if she were alive for 50 years."
Patrick Laffey from Cross Street was also a market stall keeper and I wrote about his activities a year ago when I quoted the St Helens Newspaper saying: "Patrick has a happy knack of delivering himself of his opinions of any of his neighbours, with an eloquence and elegance of phraseology that have made him famous within the circle in which he moves. To be sure, his observations have frequently been unfeelingly considered to be what is called slanderous and abusive language."
In this week's edition they referred to the 59-year-old as "an individual in whom, like Etna, the snows of many winters have not cooled the fire of his blood." Laffey appeared in the Sessions charged with threatening to assault a young man named John Heath who was double his size and less than half his age. The latter claimed that Laffey had approached him in a "pugilistic attitude" while leaving the County Court saying he was "determined to finish him". The court hearing had been about a dispute between the pair over a jacket and Laffey had actually won the case but still wanted his pound of flesh. However the magistrates didn't think any punishment was required and dismissed the case.
This was certainly the time of year for the holding of annual events and on the 23rd the St Helens Catholic Charity Ball was held in the Volunteer Hall. The proceeds of the event went to fund the Catholic schools in the district. A lot of effort always went into decorating such halls and the Newspaper in its preview of the event wrote:
"The room will present a beautiful appearance, with growing plants and flowering exotics, kindly lent for the occasion, from the greenhouses and conservatories of gentlemen in the neighbourhood. We have reason to believe that the company present will be the most distinguished that has assembled in St. Helens, under similar circumstances, for a great number of years." A chemist called Webster had lent two large vaporisers "from which throughout the evening, the most delightful perfumes will be diffused."
Next week's stories will include the Pocket Nook house that was full of rats, the Peasley Cross poker woman who smashed up her neighbour's door, the thieving lodger from Parr, the filthy and disgusting language used in a Whiston maintenance case and the boy who stole a pistol from a Liverpool Road shop in order to swap it for a pigeon.
This week's stories include the Welsh woman from Moss Nook who was kicked unconscious, criticism of the Prescot Board of Guardians for slinking off to the pub, the "backwardation" of smoky gas lamps in St Helens and the distinguished St Helens Catholic Charity Ball.
We begin on the 17th with a treat for the 400 poor children that attended Prescot Ragged School.
The event took place in the New Court Room and after tea consisting of bread and butter and a bun, the children sang a number of pieces that they'd learned.
The St Helens Newspaper was published on the 19th and featured a critical piece on the Prescot Board of Guardians.
The elected body implemented the Poor Law within the St Helens and Prescot district, with overseeing Whiston Workhouse their primary job.
The Newspaper felt the members of the board did not take their work seriously enough, with many instances of "ludicrous and inappropriate jocosity [jocularity]".
Some were accused of "gliding out" of the boardroom at Whiston Workhouse – where the meetings were held – and refreshing themselves in the Green Dragon before returning.
The paper claimed that meetings were unnecessarily dragged out. But once word came through from the kitchen that their dinners were ready, the remaining business was rushed through!
There was a letter published in the paper from flint glass maker Samuel Bishop who supported comments made in last week's edition about the new lighting arrangements in the town.
The anonymous correspondent had claimed that the lamps gave a "poor, miserable, and what is worse, a dirty light".
Mr Bishop agreed that alterations needed to be carried out to the smoky lamps but was pragmatic about the mistake that the Corporation had made:
"It is merely a case of progress in the wrong direction, or what, I believe, is called on the Stock Exchange – backwardation."
Candles were routinely used in 1870 with the obvious dangers. During the late afternoon of the 19th a fire broke out in George Lucas's provisions shop in Eccleston Street in Prescot.
Earlier that day a boy had placed some straw in Mr Lucas's cellar using candlelight to see what he was doing.
It was supposed that upon finishing his work the lad had forgotten about the candle and the flame had ignited the straw.
This led to a large volume of smoke emanating from the cellar that filled every room of the house.
Lucas's wife had given birth that morning and despite being confined to bed, she was so terrified when the alarm was raised that she sprang out and escaped to a neighbour's home.
Prescot Fire Brigade arrived within seven minutes of being summoned and put out the fire before too much damage was done.
This was despite what the Prescot Reporter called "officious meddling" from persons in the watching crowd.
A young man called Thomas Rigby from Fazakerley Street in Prescot suffered a serious injury on the 19th.
He was working at the Holt Hill Stone Quarry near Whiston Workhouse and fell 45 feet from a plank into a ditch.
Rigby survived the fall but suffered some severe injuries to his face and a broken thighbone.
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 21st and Joseph Atherton was sent to prison for two months for striking a stranger and biting him through his nose for no apparent reason.
That was unusual with violence largely tolerated, even by a man against a woman.
At the same hearing Thomas Kilshaw was charged with assaulting Ann Roberts in Parr.
The woman said she had been in her son's beerhouse in Coal Pit Lane when Kilshaw entered and called her a witch.
This enraged Ann and she struck Kilshaw in the face and in retaliation he gave her a "tremendous smack" which knocked her to the ground.
However as Ann had struck the man first, the Bench decided to dismiss the case.
Brynn-y-Fillin was a street in Moss Nook in Sutton that housed many of the Welsh copper workers employed at William Keates' Rolling Mill factory.
The road near Rolling Mill Lane appears to have been named after Brynn-y-Fillin in Holywell, a well-known street where many of the workers had come from.
A resident of Sutton's Brynn-y-Fillin called Sarah Owens brought a summons against Thomas Williams for a vicious assault upon her.
The 43-year-old told the Bench that Williams and two other men had been assaulting her brother and she had separated them and sent her brother home.
As she was returning to her house Williams had knocked her down and kicked her until she became unconscious.
Like many Welsh speakers in St Helens, Sarah's English was poor, which caused some confusion and amusement during her cross-examination.
That did not help her case but a carter called John Battersby did support Sarah's account.
For the defence Thomas Gormley and Hannah Hughes gave evidence that when Sarah arrived on the scene to assist her brother, she had attacked Williams with stones and pulled his hair but he failed to retaliate.
That, of course, provided motivation for Williams' subsequent attack upon Sarah but the magistrates – as in the previous case – appeared to think the woman had brought her trouble upon herself and dismissed the case.
While she was being cross-examined Sara had said: "I am not right yet, and I cannot tell whether I will ever be better."
After the case she must have wondered whether Welsh people received justice in English courts.
The head of St Helens Police was used to being the prosecutor in the court but found himself in the embarrassing position of being a defendant.
Superintendent James Ludlam lived in Bridge Street and was summoned to the Petty Sessions for allowing his chimney to be on fire.
He told the Bench that the fire was the result of negligence on the part of his servant.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "In extenuation of the offence, he pleaded his previous freedom from appearing in a similar position."
The Chairman of the Bench ordered Ludlam to pay a one-shilling fine along with costs or, if in default, go to prison for 7 days. I expect he paid the shilling!
Mary Burns was charged with stealing a piece of dripping from the market stall of butcher John Hatton in Exchange Street.
Henry Dutton told the Bench that he'd been in charge of the stall when the defendant picked up a piece of dripping and held it so he couldn't see it.
A policeman began to walk towards the stall and Mary seeing his approach put down a halfpenny on the table.
As the officer arrived at the stall the woman threw down three halfpence more.
Dutton told the constable what had happened and he took Mary into custody.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote that the woman made no defence, apart from "the obliviousness of drink".
However the Bench let the woman off "on giving a promise to be careful for the future, if she were alive for 50 years."
Patrick Laffey from Cross Street was also a market stall keeper and I wrote about his activities a year ago when I quoted the St Helens Newspaper saying:
"Patrick has a happy knack of delivering himself of his opinions of any of his neighbours, with an eloquence and elegance of phraseology that have made him famous within the circle in which he moves. To be sure, his observations have frequently been unfeelingly considered to be what is called slanderous and abusive language."
In this week's edition they referred to the 59-year-old as "an individual in whom, like Etna, the snows of many winters have not cooled the fire of his blood."
Laffey appeared in the Sessions charged with threatening to assault a young man named John Heath who was double his size and less than half his age.
The latter claimed that Laffey had approached him in a "pugilistic attitude" while leaving the County Court saying he was "determined to finish him".
The court hearing had been about a dispute between the pair over a jacket and Laffey had actually won the case but still wanted his pound of flesh.
However the magistrates didn't think any punishment was required and dismissed the case.
This was certainly the time of year for the holding of annual events and on the 23rd the St Helens Catholic Charity Ball was held in the Volunteer Hall.
The proceeds of the event went to fund the Catholic schools in the district. A lot of effort always went into decorating such halls and the Newspaper in its preview of the event wrote:
"The room will present a beautiful appearance, with growing plants and flowering exotics, kindly lent for the occasion, from the greenhouses and conservatories of gentlemen in the neighbourhood.
"We have reason to believe that the company present will be the most distinguished that has assembled in St. Helens, under similar circumstances, for a great number of years."
A chemist called Webster had lent two large vaporisers "from which throughout the evening, the most delightful perfumes will be diffused."
Next week's stories will include the Pocket Nook house that was full of rats, the Peasley Cross poker woman who smashed up her neighbour's door, the thieving lodger from Parr, the filthy and disgusting language used in a Whiston maintenance case and the boy who stole a pistol from a Liverpool Road shop in order to swap it for a pigeon.
We begin on the 17th with a treat for the 400 poor children that attended Prescot Ragged School.
The event took place in the New Court Room and after tea consisting of bread and butter and a bun, the children sang a number of pieces that they'd learned.
The St Helens Newspaper was published on the 19th and featured a critical piece on the Prescot Board of Guardians.
The elected body implemented the Poor Law within the St Helens and Prescot district, with overseeing Whiston Workhouse their primary job.
The Newspaper felt the members of the board did not take their work seriously enough, with many instances of "ludicrous and inappropriate jocosity [jocularity]".
Some were accused of "gliding out" of the boardroom at Whiston Workhouse – where the meetings were held – and refreshing themselves in the Green Dragon before returning.
The paper claimed that meetings were unnecessarily dragged out. But once word came through from the kitchen that their dinners were ready, the remaining business was rushed through!
There was a letter published in the paper from flint glass maker Samuel Bishop who supported comments made in last week's edition about the new lighting arrangements in the town.
The anonymous correspondent had claimed that the lamps gave a "poor, miserable, and what is worse, a dirty light".
Mr Bishop agreed that alterations needed to be carried out to the smoky lamps but was pragmatic about the mistake that the Corporation had made:
"It is merely a case of progress in the wrong direction, or what, I believe, is called on the Stock Exchange – backwardation."
Candles were routinely used in 1870 with the obvious dangers. During the late afternoon of the 19th a fire broke out in George Lucas's provisions shop in Eccleston Street in Prescot.
Earlier that day a boy had placed some straw in Mr Lucas's cellar using candlelight to see what he was doing.
It was supposed that upon finishing his work the lad had forgotten about the candle and the flame had ignited the straw.
This led to a large volume of smoke emanating from the cellar that filled every room of the house.
Lucas's wife had given birth that morning and despite being confined to bed, she was so terrified when the alarm was raised that she sprang out and escaped to a neighbour's home.
Prescot Fire Brigade arrived within seven minutes of being summoned and put out the fire before too much damage was done.
This was despite what the Prescot Reporter called "officious meddling" from persons in the watching crowd.
A young man called Thomas Rigby from Fazakerley Street in Prescot suffered a serious injury on the 19th.
He was working at the Holt Hill Stone Quarry near Whiston Workhouse and fell 45 feet from a plank into a ditch.
Rigby survived the fall but suffered some severe injuries to his face and a broken thighbone.
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 21st and Joseph Atherton was sent to prison for two months for striking a stranger and biting him through his nose for no apparent reason.
That was unusual with violence largely tolerated, even by a man against a woman.
At the same hearing Thomas Kilshaw was charged with assaulting Ann Roberts in Parr.
The woman said she had been in her son's beerhouse in Coal Pit Lane when Kilshaw entered and called her a witch.
This enraged Ann and she struck Kilshaw in the face and in retaliation he gave her a "tremendous smack" which knocked her to the ground.
However as Ann had struck the man first, the Bench decided to dismiss the case.
Brynn-y-Fillin was a street in Moss Nook in Sutton that housed many of the Welsh copper workers employed at William Keates' Rolling Mill factory.
The road near Rolling Mill Lane appears to have been named after Brynn-y-Fillin in Holywell, a well-known street where many of the workers had come from.
A resident of Sutton's Brynn-y-Fillin called Sarah Owens brought a summons against Thomas Williams for a vicious assault upon her.
The 43-year-old told the Bench that Williams and two other men had been assaulting her brother and she had separated them and sent her brother home.
As she was returning to her house Williams had knocked her down and kicked her until she became unconscious.
Like many Welsh speakers in St Helens, Sarah's English was poor, which caused some confusion and amusement during her cross-examination.
That did not help her case but a carter called John Battersby did support Sarah's account.
For the defence Thomas Gormley and Hannah Hughes gave evidence that when Sarah arrived on the scene to assist her brother, she had attacked Williams with stones and pulled his hair but he failed to retaliate.
That, of course, provided motivation for Williams' subsequent attack upon Sarah but the magistrates – as in the previous case – appeared to think the woman had brought her trouble upon herself and dismissed the case.
While she was being cross-examined Sara had said: "I am not right yet, and I cannot tell whether I will ever be better."
After the case she must have wondered whether Welsh people received justice in English courts.
The head of St Helens Police was used to being the prosecutor in the court but found himself in the embarrassing position of being a defendant.
Superintendent James Ludlam lived in Bridge Street and was summoned to the Petty Sessions for allowing his chimney to be on fire.
He told the Bench that the fire was the result of negligence on the part of his servant.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "In extenuation of the offence, he pleaded his previous freedom from appearing in a similar position."
The Chairman of the Bench ordered Ludlam to pay a one-shilling fine along with costs or, if in default, go to prison for 7 days. I expect he paid the shilling!
Mary Burns was charged with stealing a piece of dripping from the market stall of butcher John Hatton in Exchange Street.
Henry Dutton told the Bench that he'd been in charge of the stall when the defendant picked up a piece of dripping and held it so he couldn't see it.
A policeman began to walk towards the stall and Mary seeing his approach put down a halfpenny on the table.
As the officer arrived at the stall the woman threw down three halfpence more.
Dutton told the constable what had happened and he took Mary into custody.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote that the woman made no defence, apart from "the obliviousness of drink".
However the Bench let the woman off "on giving a promise to be careful for the future, if she were alive for 50 years."
Patrick Laffey from Cross Street was also a market stall keeper and I wrote about his activities a year ago when I quoted the St Helens Newspaper saying:
"Patrick has a happy knack of delivering himself of his opinions of any of his neighbours, with an eloquence and elegance of phraseology that have made him famous within the circle in which he moves. To be sure, his observations have frequently been unfeelingly considered to be what is called slanderous and abusive language."
In this week's edition they referred to the 59-year-old as "an individual in whom, like Etna, the snows of many winters have not cooled the fire of his blood."
Laffey appeared in the Sessions charged with threatening to assault a young man named John Heath who was double his size and less than half his age.
The latter claimed that Laffey had approached him in a "pugilistic attitude" while leaving the County Court saying he was "determined to finish him".
The court hearing had been about a dispute between the pair over a jacket and Laffey had actually won the case but still wanted his pound of flesh.
However the magistrates didn't think any punishment was required and dismissed the case.
This was certainly the time of year for the holding of annual events and on the 23rd the St Helens Catholic Charity Ball was held in the Volunteer Hall.
The proceeds of the event went to fund the Catholic schools in the district. A lot of effort always went into decorating such halls and the Newspaper in its preview of the event wrote:
"The room will present a beautiful appearance, with growing plants and flowering exotics, kindly lent for the occasion, from the greenhouses and conservatories of gentlemen in the neighbourhood.
"We have reason to believe that the company present will be the most distinguished that has assembled in St. Helens, under similar circumstances, for a great number of years."
A chemist called Webster had lent two large vaporisers "from which throughout the evening, the most delightful perfumes will be diffused."
Next week's stories will include the Pocket Nook house that was full of rats, the Peasley Cross poker woman who smashed up her neighbour's door, the thieving lodger from Parr, the filthy and disgusting language used in a Whiston maintenance case and the boy who stole a pistol from a Liverpool Road shop in order to swap it for a pigeon.