150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 17 - 23 AUGUST 1876
This week's many stories include the numerous fever cases in Whiston Workhouse, the clog-wearing bobby in a dirty navvy's suit on the lookout for Sunday morning drinkers in Duke Street, the Sutton man that lost a leg at Rhyl, the physician called Dr Coffin, the sham travellers at the Victoria in Thatto Heath and the curious case of rabbit stealing in Sutton.
The Liverpool Daily Post wrote on the 18th that the infectious wards at Whiston Workhouse Hospital had many cases of fever. There were ten cases of typhus, which was an often fatal condition that tended to be transmitted by infected fleas and body lice.
There were also four cases of smallpox, three of the bacterial infection called erysipelas and four patients were suffering from eruptions. The latter was a catch-all term for serious skin conditions. Some of the patients were from the highly overcrowded area of Greenbank in St Helens, with bad living conditions and poor sanitation being the underlying causes of the spread of such infectious diseases.
One of the curious things in St Helens, with its poisonous atmosphere that killed off many trees and greenery, was how the Victoria Gardens managed to flourish. It seems that a pocket of Thatto Heath somehow bypassed the pollution and allowed Charles Whittle to establish the gardens next to his Engine Inn.
These went on show during the spring and summer of each year and by 1876 after Whittle's death, Solomon Grant had taken the gardens over. He also became licensee of the Engine pub next door and he had its name changed to the Victoria Inn. That led to Grant appearing in court this week accused of breaking the Sunday licensing hours.
Pubs could only open for limited periods on Sundays, although there was an exception. Persons deemed to be legitimate travellers could be served outside of normal hours. The exemption was based on the premise that the person had been walking many miles and so should be allowed some refreshment. But the definition of who qualified as a traveller was vague and there was little the beerseller could do to verify the person's claim.
On the 18th Solomon Grant was charged with illegally serving beer to four men at 4:30pm on a Sunday. The group had told a barmaid that they had walked 6 or 7 miles from Widnes but Sgt Robinson, who saw them drinking in the pub, knew two of them were residents of St Helens. Peter Helsby lived in Morley Street and James Grady in Wright Street in Eccleston. And the others that claimed to have lived in Appleton and Widnes provided fake addresses.
Solomon Grant's defence was that the four men were strangers and his barmaid had believed they were all bona fide travellers. However, the magistrates said they felt that the landlord had not taken sufficient reasonable precautions to ascertain whether the men were really travellers and Grant was fined 20 shillings and costs. And Peter Helsby and James Grady were both fined 5 shillings and costs for drinking in the Victoria at an illegal hour.
Solomon Grant appears to have been duped into serving beer to the four men. Other landlords deliberately sold beer at an illegal hour on a Sunday and John Harrison, who kept a beerhouse in Duke Street, was clearly one. If the police believed a certain house was breaking the regulations, they might go undercover and at Harrison's hearing it was revealed that at 7:15am on the previous Sunday, PC Archer had been in plain clothes.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote that the constable had been "fully disguised in an old, dirty navvy's suit, with clogs inclusive." PC Archer said he had followed a man called John Jones into the beerhouse where he saw the latter sitting with a glass of beer in front of him and a bottle on the table.
When Jones had finished drinking his beer, he took up the bottle with the purpose of putting it in his pocket. At that point PC Archer disclosed who he was, telling both the landlord and Jones that he was going to report them both. To that remark John Harrison, the landlord, accused the undercover bobby of a dirty trick in entering his beerhouse in that fashion.
Inspector Whiteside informed the magistrates that Harrison had been previously convicted for a similar offence and he said his house was very badly conducted. The Bench inflicted a hefty fine of £5 and costs and Harrison had his licence endorsed. Very likely at the next licensing sessions, he would lose his licence. John Jones, the drinker, did not appear in court to answer his summons and was fined 7s 6d and costs in absentia.
Passengers embarking and disembarking while a train was in motion led to many deaths or serious injuries during the 19th century. The North Wales Chronicle on the 19th reported that 1,500 excursionists from St Helens had arrived at Rhyl on the previous Saturday.
However, the Bangor-based newspaper also reported how Peter Phillips of Sutton did not have an enjoyable day out as his right leg had to be amputated after attempting to jump into a moving carriage at Rhyl station. Ironically, the train that crushed his leg was only backing into a siding in preparation for departure and wasn't yet leaving the station as Phillips had thought.
Would you like to be treated by a physician called Dr Coffin? His name does not exactly instil confidence but Albert Isaiah Coffin was a prominent American-born herbalist and doctor. Dr Coffin championed "medical botany" in Britain – but had been a controversial figure.
In this week's St Helens Newspaper that was published on the 19th, a Dr Durband advertised that he was Dr Coffin's agent, although the man himself had actually died in 1866. I think Dr Durband meant that he employed the same methods as the late doctor and he said he could be consulted daily at his Liverpool practice.
The Newspaper reported that a royal commission to enquire into the subject of noxious vapours had held its opening sitting in London and would soon be visiting Lancashire and Cheshire. Hopefully, its work would lead to an improvement in the filthy state of the atmosphere in St Helens.
In 1876 New Street in Sutton was not the residential road that it is today. In 1887 when locals petitioned St Helens Council to install gas lighting in New Street, they said it was uneconomical as it was only a country lane with fields on both sides and few houses. And so resident James Whittaker would have had plenty of space to keep his stock of rabbits, both wild and tame.
I mentioned Whittaker last April when George Mellon appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions accused of stealing three of his rabbits. The bunnies had been taken from Whittaker's field after Mellon had climbed over a fence and stolen them. But he was spotted and a pursuit began leading to Mellon being caught.
This week the Newspaper wrote how Thomas Abbey had been charged with stealing seven more of Mr Whittaker's rabbits that had been valued at 15 shillings in total. Whittaker worked as a cashier for the Sutton Glass Works and early one morning discovered that some of his rabbits were missing.
A porter at Sutton Oak railway station had, on the previous evening, found Thomas Abbey asleep on a seat. He said the man had some rabbits under his head, which were serving as a pillow, and his dog was lying beside him. The railway porter woke Abbey and he became very abusive, both to him and to passengers.
These included John Marsh, the landlord of the Sefton Arms, with whom Abbey had a scuffle. One witness said the deceased rabbits were still warm and another man gave evidence of seeing Thomas Abbey with a second male some time earlier walking in the direction of Whittaker's house in New Street. He said they had a dog with them and had heard Abbey say they might get a hare that night.
The magistrates committed Thomas Abbey for trial at the next Quarter Sessions at Kirkdale but granted him bail. However, his hearing never took place as the charge was dropped. Although no reason was stated, there was clearly only circumstantial evidence that Thomas Abbey had been the thief.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Greenbank man whose wife stabbed him in the eye, the clog kicking of constables, the Nutgrove water problem, the rabbit trapping in Sherdley Park and the abusive train passenger who refused to pay his fare.
The Liverpool Daily Post wrote on the 18th that the infectious wards at Whiston Workhouse Hospital had many cases of fever. There were ten cases of typhus, which was an often fatal condition that tended to be transmitted by infected fleas and body lice.
There were also four cases of smallpox, three of the bacterial infection called erysipelas and four patients were suffering from eruptions. The latter was a catch-all term for serious skin conditions. Some of the patients were from the highly overcrowded area of Greenbank in St Helens, with bad living conditions and poor sanitation being the underlying causes of the spread of such infectious diseases.
One of the curious things in St Helens, with its poisonous atmosphere that killed off many trees and greenery, was how the Victoria Gardens managed to flourish. It seems that a pocket of Thatto Heath somehow bypassed the pollution and allowed Charles Whittle to establish the gardens next to his Engine Inn.
These went on show during the spring and summer of each year and by 1876 after Whittle's death, Solomon Grant had taken the gardens over. He also became licensee of the Engine pub next door and he had its name changed to the Victoria Inn. That led to Grant appearing in court this week accused of breaking the Sunday licensing hours.
Pubs could only open for limited periods on Sundays, although there was an exception. Persons deemed to be legitimate travellers could be served outside of normal hours. The exemption was based on the premise that the person had been walking many miles and so should be allowed some refreshment. But the definition of who qualified as a traveller was vague and there was little the beerseller could do to verify the person's claim.
On the 18th Solomon Grant was charged with illegally serving beer to four men at 4:30pm on a Sunday. The group had told a barmaid that they had walked 6 or 7 miles from Widnes but Sgt Robinson, who saw them drinking in the pub, knew two of them were residents of St Helens. Peter Helsby lived in Morley Street and James Grady in Wright Street in Eccleston. And the others that claimed to have lived in Appleton and Widnes provided fake addresses.
Solomon Grant's defence was that the four men were strangers and his barmaid had believed they were all bona fide travellers. However, the magistrates said they felt that the landlord had not taken sufficient reasonable precautions to ascertain whether the men were really travellers and Grant was fined 20 shillings and costs. And Peter Helsby and James Grady were both fined 5 shillings and costs for drinking in the Victoria at an illegal hour.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote that the constable had been "fully disguised in an old, dirty navvy's suit, with clogs inclusive." PC Archer said he had followed a man called John Jones into the beerhouse where he saw the latter sitting with a glass of beer in front of him and a bottle on the table.
When Jones had finished drinking his beer, he took up the bottle with the purpose of putting it in his pocket. At that point PC Archer disclosed who he was, telling both the landlord and Jones that he was going to report them both. To that remark John Harrison, the landlord, accused the undercover bobby of a dirty trick in entering his beerhouse in that fashion.
Inspector Whiteside informed the magistrates that Harrison had been previously convicted for a similar offence and he said his house was very badly conducted. The Bench inflicted a hefty fine of £5 and costs and Harrison had his licence endorsed. Very likely at the next licensing sessions, he would lose his licence. John Jones, the drinker, did not appear in court to answer his summons and was fined 7s 6d and costs in absentia.
Passengers embarking and disembarking while a train was in motion led to many deaths or serious injuries during the 19th century. The North Wales Chronicle on the 19th reported that 1,500 excursionists from St Helens had arrived at Rhyl on the previous Saturday.
However, the Bangor-based newspaper also reported how Peter Phillips of Sutton did not have an enjoyable day out as his right leg had to be amputated after attempting to jump into a moving carriage at Rhyl station. Ironically, the train that crushed his leg was only backing into a siding in preparation for departure and wasn't yet leaving the station as Phillips had thought.
Would you like to be treated by a physician called Dr Coffin? His name does not exactly instil confidence but Albert Isaiah Coffin was a prominent American-born herbalist and doctor. Dr Coffin championed "medical botany" in Britain – but had been a controversial figure.
In this week's St Helens Newspaper that was published on the 19th, a Dr Durband advertised that he was Dr Coffin's agent, although the man himself had actually died in 1866. I think Dr Durband meant that he employed the same methods as the late doctor and he said he could be consulted daily at his Liverpool practice.
The Newspaper reported that a royal commission to enquire into the subject of noxious vapours had held its opening sitting in London and would soon be visiting Lancashire and Cheshire. Hopefully, its work would lead to an improvement in the filthy state of the atmosphere in St Helens.
In 1876 New Street in Sutton was not the residential road that it is today. In 1887 when locals petitioned St Helens Council to install gas lighting in New Street, they said it was uneconomical as it was only a country lane with fields on both sides and few houses. And so resident James Whittaker would have had plenty of space to keep his stock of rabbits, both wild and tame.
I mentioned Whittaker last April when George Mellon appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions accused of stealing three of his rabbits. The bunnies had been taken from Whittaker's field after Mellon had climbed over a fence and stolen them. But he was spotted and a pursuit began leading to Mellon being caught.
This week the Newspaper wrote how Thomas Abbey had been charged with stealing seven more of Mr Whittaker's rabbits that had been valued at 15 shillings in total. Whittaker worked as a cashier for the Sutton Glass Works and early one morning discovered that some of his rabbits were missing.
A porter at Sutton Oak railway station had, on the previous evening, found Thomas Abbey asleep on a seat. He said the man had some rabbits under his head, which were serving as a pillow, and his dog was lying beside him. The railway porter woke Abbey and he became very abusive, both to him and to passengers.
These included John Marsh, the landlord of the Sefton Arms, with whom Abbey had a scuffle. One witness said the deceased rabbits were still warm and another man gave evidence of seeing Thomas Abbey with a second male some time earlier walking in the direction of Whittaker's house in New Street. He said they had a dog with them and had heard Abbey say they might get a hare that night.
The magistrates committed Thomas Abbey for trial at the next Quarter Sessions at Kirkdale but granted him bail. However, his hearing never took place as the charge was dropped. Although no reason was stated, there was clearly only circumstantial evidence that Thomas Abbey had been the thief.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Greenbank man whose wife stabbed him in the eye, the clog kicking of constables, the Nutgrove water problem, the rabbit trapping in Sherdley Park and the abusive train passenger who refused to pay his fare.
This week's many stories include the numerous fever cases in Whiston Workhouse, the clog-wearing bobby in a dirty navvy's suit on the lookout for Sunday morning drinkers in Duke Street, the Sutton man that lost a leg at Rhyl, the physician called Dr Coffin, the sham travellers at the Victoria in Thatto Heath and the curious case of rabbit stealing in Sutton.
The Liverpool Daily Post wrote on the 18th that the infectious wards at Whiston Workhouse Hospital had many cases of fever.
There were ten cases of typhus, which was an often fatal condition that tended to be transmitted by infected fleas and body lice.
There were also four cases of smallpox, three of the bacterial infection called erysipelas and four patients were suffering from eruptions. The latter was a catch-all term for serious skin conditions.
Some of the patients were from the highly overcrowded area of Greenbank in St Helens, with bad living conditions and poor sanitation being the underlying causes of the spread of such infectious diseases.
One of the curious things in St Helens, with its poisonous atmosphere that killed off many trees and greenery, was how the Victoria Gardens managed to flourish.
It seems that a pocket of Thatto Heath somehow bypassed the pollution and allowed Charles Whittle to establish the gardens next to his Engine Inn.
These went on show during the spring and summer of each year and by 1876 after Whittle's death, Solomon Grant had taken the gardens over.
He also became licensee of the Engine pub next door and he had its name changed to the Victoria Inn. That led to Grant appearing in court this week accused of breaking the Sunday licensing hours.
Pubs could only open for limited periods on Sundays, although there was an exception.
Persons deemed to be legitimate travellers could be served outside of normal hours.
The exemption was based on the premise that the person had been walking many miles and so should be allowed some refreshment.
But the definition of who qualified as a traveller was vague and there was little the beerseller could do to verify the person's claim.
On the 18th Solomon Grant was charged with illegally serving beer to four men at 4:30pm on a Sunday.
The group had told a barmaid that they had walked 6 or 7 miles from Widnes but Sgt Robinson, who saw them drinking in the pub, knew two of them were residents of St Helens.
Peter Helsby lived in Morley Street and James Grady in Wright Street in Eccleston. And the others that claimed to have lived in Appleton and Widnes provided fake addresses.
Solomon Grant's defence was that the four men were strangers and his barmaid had believed they were all bona fide travellers.
However, the magistrates said they felt that the landlord had not taken sufficient reasonable precautions to ascertain whether the men were really travellers and Grant was fined 20 shillings and costs.
And Peter Helsby and James Grady were both fined 5 shillings and costs for drinking in the Victoria at an illegal hour.
Solomon Grant appears to have been duped into serving beer to the four men.
Other landlords deliberately sold beer at an illegal hour on a Sunday and John Harrison, who kept a beerhouse in Duke Street, was clearly one.
If the police believed a certain house was breaking the regulations, they might go undercover and at Harrison's hearing it was revealed that at 7:15am on the previous Sunday, PC Archer had been in plain clothes.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote that the constable had been "fully disguised in an old, dirty navvy's suit, with clogs inclusive."
PC Archer said he had followed a man called John Jones into the beerhouse where he saw the latter sitting with a glass of beer in front of him and a bottle on the table.
When Jones had finished drinking his beer, he took up the bottle with the purpose of putting it in his pocket.
At that point PC Archer disclosed who he was, telling both the landlord and Jones that he was going to report them both.
To that remark John Harrison, the landlord, accused the undercover bobby of a dirty trick in entering his beerhouse in that fashion.
Inspector Whiteside informed the magistrates that Harrison had been previously convicted for a similar offence and he said his house was very badly conducted.
The Bench inflicted a hefty fine of £5 and costs and Harrison had his licence endorsed.
Very likely at the next licensing sessions, he would lose his licence.
John Jones, the drinker, did not appear in court to answer his summons and was fined 7s 6d and costs in absentia.
Passengers embarking and disembarking while a train was in motion led to many deaths or serious injuries during the 19th century.
The North Wales Chronicle on the 19th reported that 1,500 excursionists from St Helens had arrived at Rhyl on the previous Saturday.
However, the Bangor-based newspaper also reported how Peter Phillips of Sutton did not have an enjoyable day out as his right leg had to be amputated after attempting to jump into a moving carriage at Rhyl station.
Ironically, the train that crushed his leg was only backing into a siding in preparation for departure and wasn't yet leaving the station as Phillips had thought.
Would you like to be treated by a physician called Dr Coffin?
His name does not exactly instil confidence but Albert Isaiah Coffin was a prominent American-born herbalist and doctor.
Dr Coffin championed "medical botany" in Britain – but had been was a controversial figure.
In this week's St Helens Newspaper that was published on the 19th, a Dr Durband advertised that he was Dr Coffin's agent, although the man himself had actually died in 1866.
I think Dr Durband meant that he employed the same methods as the late doctor and he said he could be consulted daily at his Liverpool practice.
The Newspaper reported that a royal commission to enquire into the subject of noxious vapours had held its opening sitting in London and would soon be visiting Lancashire and Cheshire.
Hopefully, its work would lead to an improvement in the filthy state of the atmosphere in St Helens.
In 1876 New Street in Sutton was not the residential road that it is today.
In 1887 when locals petitioned St Helens Council to install gas lighting in New Street, they said it was uneconomical as it was only a country lane with fields on both sides and few houses.
And so resident James Whittaker would have had plenty of space to keep his stock of rabbits, both wild and tame.
I mentioned Whittaker last April when George Mellon appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions accused of stealing three of his rabbits.
The bunnies had been taken from Whittaker's field after Mellon had climbed over a fence and stolen them.
But he was spotted and a pursuit began leading to Mellon being caught.
This week the Newspaper wrote how Thomas Abbey had been charged with stealing seven more of Mr Whittaker's rabbits that had been valued at 15 shillings in total.
Whittaker worked as a cashier for the Sutton Glass Works and early one morning discovered that some of his rabbits were missing.
A porter at Sutton Oak railway station had, on the previous evening, found Thomas Abbey asleep on a seat.
He said the man had some rabbits under his head, which were serving as a pillow, and his dog was lying beside him.
The railway porter woke Abbey and he became very abusive, both to him and to passengers.
These included John Marsh, the landlord of the Sefton Arms, with whom Abbey had a scuffle.
One witness said the deceased rabbits were still warm and another man gave evidence of seeing Thomas Abbey with a second male some time earlier walking in the direction of Whittaker's house in New Street.
He said they had a dog with them and had heard Abbey say they might get a hare that night.
The magistrates committed Thomas Abbey for trial at the next Quarter Sessions at Kirkdale but granted him bail.
However, his hearing never took place as the charge was dropped.
Although no reason was stated, there was clearly only circumstantial evidence that Thomas Abbey had been the thief.
I don't think I could sleep with my head on a warm, dead rabbit. But, as my grandmother used to say, "It takes all sorts"!
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Greenbank man whose wife stabbed him in the eye, the clog kicking of constables, the Nutgrove water problem, the rabbit trapping in Sherdley Park and the abusive train passenger who refused to pay his fare.
The Liverpool Daily Post wrote on the 18th that the infectious wards at Whiston Workhouse Hospital had many cases of fever.
There were ten cases of typhus, which was an often fatal condition that tended to be transmitted by infected fleas and body lice.
There were also four cases of smallpox, three of the bacterial infection called erysipelas and four patients were suffering from eruptions. The latter was a catch-all term for serious skin conditions.
Some of the patients were from the highly overcrowded area of Greenbank in St Helens, with bad living conditions and poor sanitation being the underlying causes of the spread of such infectious diseases.
One of the curious things in St Helens, with its poisonous atmosphere that killed off many trees and greenery, was how the Victoria Gardens managed to flourish.
It seems that a pocket of Thatto Heath somehow bypassed the pollution and allowed Charles Whittle to establish the gardens next to his Engine Inn.
These went on show during the spring and summer of each year and by 1876 after Whittle's death, Solomon Grant had taken the gardens over.
He also became licensee of the Engine pub next door and he had its name changed to the Victoria Inn. That led to Grant appearing in court this week accused of breaking the Sunday licensing hours.
Pubs could only open for limited periods on Sundays, although there was an exception.
Persons deemed to be legitimate travellers could be served outside of normal hours.
The exemption was based on the premise that the person had been walking many miles and so should be allowed some refreshment.
But the definition of who qualified as a traveller was vague and there was little the beerseller could do to verify the person's claim.
On the 18th Solomon Grant was charged with illegally serving beer to four men at 4:30pm on a Sunday.
The group had told a barmaid that they had walked 6 or 7 miles from Widnes but Sgt Robinson, who saw them drinking in the pub, knew two of them were residents of St Helens.
Peter Helsby lived in Morley Street and James Grady in Wright Street in Eccleston. And the others that claimed to have lived in Appleton and Widnes provided fake addresses.
Solomon Grant's defence was that the four men were strangers and his barmaid had believed they were all bona fide travellers.
However, the magistrates said they felt that the landlord had not taken sufficient reasonable precautions to ascertain whether the men were really travellers and Grant was fined 20 shillings and costs.
And Peter Helsby and James Grady were both fined 5 shillings and costs for drinking in the Victoria at an illegal hour.
Solomon Grant appears to have been duped into serving beer to the four men.
Other landlords deliberately sold beer at an illegal hour on a Sunday and John Harrison, who kept a beerhouse in Duke Street, was clearly one.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote that the constable had been "fully disguised in an old, dirty navvy's suit, with clogs inclusive."
PC Archer said he had followed a man called John Jones into the beerhouse where he saw the latter sitting with a glass of beer in front of him and a bottle on the table.
When Jones had finished drinking his beer, he took up the bottle with the purpose of putting it in his pocket.
At that point PC Archer disclosed who he was, telling both the landlord and Jones that he was going to report them both.
To that remark John Harrison, the landlord, accused the undercover bobby of a dirty trick in entering his beerhouse in that fashion.
Inspector Whiteside informed the magistrates that Harrison had been previously convicted for a similar offence and he said his house was very badly conducted.
The Bench inflicted a hefty fine of £5 and costs and Harrison had his licence endorsed.
Very likely at the next licensing sessions, he would lose his licence.
John Jones, the drinker, did not appear in court to answer his summons and was fined 7s 6d and costs in absentia.
Passengers embarking and disembarking while a train was in motion led to many deaths or serious injuries during the 19th century.
The North Wales Chronicle on the 19th reported that 1,500 excursionists from St Helens had arrived at Rhyl on the previous Saturday.
However, the Bangor-based newspaper also reported how Peter Phillips of Sutton did not have an enjoyable day out as his right leg had to be amputated after attempting to jump into a moving carriage at Rhyl station.
Ironically, the train that crushed his leg was only backing into a siding in preparation for departure and wasn't yet leaving the station as Phillips had thought.
Would you like to be treated by a physician called Dr Coffin?
His name does not exactly instil confidence but Albert Isaiah Coffin was a prominent American-born herbalist and doctor.
Dr Coffin championed "medical botany" in Britain – but had been was a controversial figure.
In this week's St Helens Newspaper that was published on the 19th, a Dr Durband advertised that he was Dr Coffin's agent, although the man himself had actually died in 1866.
I think Dr Durband meant that he employed the same methods as the late doctor and he said he could be consulted daily at his Liverpool practice.
The Newspaper reported that a royal commission to enquire into the subject of noxious vapours had held its opening sitting in London and would soon be visiting Lancashire and Cheshire.
Hopefully, its work would lead to an improvement in the filthy state of the atmosphere in St Helens.
In 1876 New Street in Sutton was not the residential road that it is today.
In 1887 when locals petitioned St Helens Council to install gas lighting in New Street, they said it was uneconomical as it was only a country lane with fields on both sides and few houses.
And so resident James Whittaker would have had plenty of space to keep his stock of rabbits, both wild and tame.
I mentioned Whittaker last April when George Mellon appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions accused of stealing three of his rabbits.
The bunnies had been taken from Whittaker's field after Mellon had climbed over a fence and stolen them.
But he was spotted and a pursuit began leading to Mellon being caught.
This week the Newspaper wrote how Thomas Abbey had been charged with stealing seven more of Mr Whittaker's rabbits that had been valued at 15 shillings in total.
Whittaker worked as a cashier for the Sutton Glass Works and early one morning discovered that some of his rabbits were missing.
A porter at Sutton Oak railway station had, on the previous evening, found Thomas Abbey asleep on a seat.
He said the man had some rabbits under his head, which were serving as a pillow, and his dog was lying beside him.
The railway porter woke Abbey and he became very abusive, both to him and to passengers.
These included John Marsh, the landlord of the Sefton Arms, with whom Abbey had a scuffle.
One witness said the deceased rabbits were still warm and another man gave evidence of seeing Thomas Abbey with a second male some time earlier walking in the direction of Whittaker's house in New Street.
He said they had a dog with them and had heard Abbey say they might get a hare that night.
The magistrates committed Thomas Abbey for trial at the next Quarter Sessions at Kirkdale but granted him bail.
However, his hearing never took place as the charge was dropped.
Although no reason was stated, there was clearly only circumstantial evidence that Thomas Abbey had been the thief.
I don't think I could sleep with my head on a warm, dead rabbit. But, as my grandmother used to say, "It takes all sorts"!
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Greenbank man whose wife stabbed him in the eye, the clog kicking of constables, the Nutgrove water problem, the rabbit trapping in Sherdley Park and the abusive train passenger who refused to pay his fare.