150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 19 - 25 JANUARY 1876
This week's many stories include the notorious Rainford poacher, the new Rainhill sewage farm to prevent contagious disease, the annual dinner of the 47th LRV, the row over water in Pocket Nook, the new dress warehouse in Hardshaw Street and there's another mysterious death in the street.
We begin on the 20th when a meeting of the Prescot Guardians took place. The folk who administered Whiston Workhouse and distributed poor law relief to paupers in the community were told that there were currently 415 persons inside the house, of which 151 were children. A new hospital had been built adjacent to the workhouse and the intention was that the old building be used as a school.
However, the workhouse master, Mr Archer, told the Guardians that a considerable amount of work would need to be done to make the place fit for use, as there was extensive dry rot that extended for three feet round the building. The Chairman of the Guardians said it reflected poorly on the builder that had constructed the old hospital that a building just ten years old should have got into such a state.
In court this week was Joseph Cropper who the Newspaper dubbed a "notorious poacher". A game watcher called Richard Fishwick had caught him on Edward Birchall's farm at Reeds Brow in Rainford carrying a gun. The part-time watchers supported the gamekeepers by keeping an eye out for poachers like Cropper and were paid for each one that they caught.
Fishwick told the court that Cropper had begged him not to report him and said he would sell his gun and leave off poaching for good. But it was not in the watcher's interest to let him go and in court Joseph Cropper was fined 40 shillings and costs.
Also in court was Samuel Saint, who was accused of less than saintly behaviour through threatening to assault his employer. He was Thomas Stead who was a farmer at Bold and Saint was a carter in his employ. The Newspaper wrote:
"On the forenoon of the 8th inst. he ordered the defendant to do some particular kind of work, which did not seem to please him, and he therefore took up a rake and threatened to knock the complainant's brains out. He was ordered to find sureties."
There were many houses in St Helens that had a shared yard with a single water supply. These were also places where women hung out their washing and were a common cause of rows and disagreements between the female neighbours that often ended in a court hearing. But the case that made the St Helens Petty Sessions this week was a little different than usual as it involved a man and someone who had been helping themself to water.
No place was identified in the newspaper report but the location appears to have been Pocket Nook. Mary Heighan had been summoned for assaulting Luke Greevey by striking him with a stone jug. The woman was in the habit of sending her little girl to a yard that provided a source of water for five houses. But hers was not one of them and as the householders had to pay for their water, they would not be best pleased with others that helped themselves to their supply.
Luke Greevey was particularly protective of the tap and had prevented Mary's daughter from taking away any water. The child returned to her home and told her mother what had happened and it was then claimed that Mary had approached Greevey and abused him.
The row ended with the woman striking Greevey with a 12-pound jug, which inflicted a severe wound. Mary's story was that Greevey had accidentally received the blow through attempting to wrench the jug away from her. As the magistrates considered that the defendant had suffered some provocation, they only fined her the mitigated penalty of 2s 6d, plus costs.
Recently the 47th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers had held their annual ball in the Volunteer Hall in Mill Street (pictured above). January was a busy month for St Helens' own part-time army reserve as they also held their annual dinner then. The Newspaper said more than 700 men had filled the Volunteer Hall and the room had held a "gay and attractive appearance, the effect of which was still further heightened by the display of the many good things provided on the tables."
There were lots of toasts and speeches and the regiment's band was stationed in the gallery and from time to time played selections of music. The dinner was provided by Mrs Taylor, the landlady of the Fleece Inn, which the Newspaper said had given "unbounded satisfaction".
To me the term "warehouse" suggests a large storage area, cold and uninviting. But in the 19th century it seemed to suggest more of what might be deemed a superstore, a large shop offering a range of items. And so during the 1870s, James Unsworth often advertised his St Helens Music Warehouse from which he was selling: "Pianofortes, harmoniums, American organs, English and German concertinas, violins, flutes, guitars, banjos, tambourines, &c."
And John G. Ackary promoted The Coffin Warehouse in College Street, with his coffins made in his manufactory in Parr Stocks. He would write: "All sizes of coffins kept ready made. N.B. – Orders by post or telegraph promptly attended to." In this week's paper Linaker and Company was advertising their new Dress Warehouse in Hardshaw Street, offering: "Great bargains in all dress fabrics. Inspection invited." Many women would then make their own family's dresses and so Linaker's appeared to be mainly selling materials for home dressmakers, rather than off-the-peg items.
The Newspaper also wrote that the excitement over the proposed sewage farm in Rainhill had now subsided. I don't think they meant that Rainhill folk had been jumping for joy over matters of sewage – although such things could not then be taken for granted like they are today. By excitement they meant controversy, as the scheme would cost £6,000 and involve land leased for 40 years from local landowner Mrs Stapleton Bretherton.
Some people did not like the terms of the arrangement and felt the land should be purchased rather than leased. At a public meeting held last December, Rainhill's Medical Officer, Dr Egerton Hall, was asked whether he felt there was any necessity for such a scheme with regards to the inhabitants' health. His reply was that there had in the past been a number of outbreaks of disease in Rainhill, which he had "not the shadow of a doubt" been caused by defective drainage. These diseases included scarlet fever, smallpox and typhoid.
Last week the St Helens Newspaper had described how an "awfully sudden case of death" had occurred in Baldwin Street. A 57-year-old woman called Ellen Hesketh had essentially dropped dead by the Sefton Arms while wheeling her wheelbarrow. I speculated as to whether the, at times, quite poisonous atmosphere in St Helens and the unhealthy lifestyle of many people could be responsible for what seemed to be a high rate of persons collapsing in the street.
On the 24th the inquest on Ellen Chapman was held in the Bath Hotel in Warrington New Road and she had also been found lying dead in the street. The 48-year-old lived in the St Helens marketplace and had left home on an errand at 9:15 pm. Nothing more was heard of her until she was found in Warrington New Road at 1:45 am on the following morning by a miner returning home from work.
After the inquest jury heard that Ellen had been suffering from asthma for the last two or three years, they returned a verdict of death from natural causes. The St Helens Newspaper's headline to their brief report was "Another Death in the Street".
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a detailed account of the Whiston workhouse Christmas Tree event, the theft of a till from the Victoria Vaults in Sutton and the virago that attacked the landlady of a Smithy Brow pub.
We begin on the 20th when a meeting of the Prescot Guardians took place. The folk who administered Whiston Workhouse and distributed poor law relief to paupers in the community were told that there were currently 415 persons inside the house, of which 151 were children. A new hospital had been built adjacent to the workhouse and the intention was that the old building be used as a school.
However, the workhouse master, Mr Archer, told the Guardians that a considerable amount of work would need to be done to make the place fit for use, as there was extensive dry rot that extended for three feet round the building. The Chairman of the Guardians said it reflected poorly on the builder that had constructed the old hospital that a building just ten years old should have got into such a state.
In court this week was Joseph Cropper who the Newspaper dubbed a "notorious poacher". A game watcher called Richard Fishwick had caught him on Edward Birchall's farm at Reeds Brow in Rainford carrying a gun. The part-time watchers supported the gamekeepers by keeping an eye out for poachers like Cropper and were paid for each one that they caught.
Fishwick told the court that Cropper had begged him not to report him and said he would sell his gun and leave off poaching for good. But it was not in the watcher's interest to let him go and in court Joseph Cropper was fined 40 shillings and costs.
Also in court was Samuel Saint, who was accused of less than saintly behaviour through threatening to assault his employer. He was Thomas Stead who was a farmer at Bold and Saint was a carter in his employ. The Newspaper wrote:
"On the forenoon of the 8th inst. he ordered the defendant to do some particular kind of work, which did not seem to please him, and he therefore took up a rake and threatened to knock the complainant's brains out. He was ordered to find sureties."
There were many houses in St Helens that had a shared yard with a single water supply. These were also places where women hung out their washing and were a common cause of rows and disagreements between the female neighbours that often ended in a court hearing. But the case that made the St Helens Petty Sessions this week was a little different than usual as it involved a man and someone who had been helping themself to water.
No place was identified in the newspaper report but the location appears to have been Pocket Nook. Mary Heighan had been summoned for assaulting Luke Greevey by striking him with a stone jug. The woman was in the habit of sending her little girl to a yard that provided a source of water for five houses. But hers was not one of them and as the householders had to pay for their water, they would not be best pleased with others that helped themselves to their supply.
Luke Greevey was particularly protective of the tap and had prevented Mary's daughter from taking away any water. The child returned to her home and told her mother what had happened and it was then claimed that Mary had approached Greevey and abused him.
The row ended with the woman striking Greevey with a 12-pound jug, which inflicted a severe wound. Mary's story was that Greevey had accidentally received the blow through attempting to wrench the jug away from her. As the magistrates considered that the defendant had suffered some provocation, they only fined her the mitigated penalty of 2s 6d, plus costs.
There were lots of toasts and speeches and the regiment's band was stationed in the gallery and from time to time played selections of music. The dinner was provided by Mrs Taylor, the landlady of the Fleece Inn, which the Newspaper said had given "unbounded satisfaction".
To me the term "warehouse" suggests a large storage area, cold and uninviting. But in the 19th century it seemed to suggest more of what might be deemed a superstore, a large shop offering a range of items. And so during the 1870s, James Unsworth often advertised his St Helens Music Warehouse from which he was selling: "Pianofortes, harmoniums, American organs, English and German concertinas, violins, flutes, guitars, banjos, tambourines, &c."
And John G. Ackary promoted The Coffin Warehouse in College Street, with his coffins made in his manufactory in Parr Stocks. He would write: "All sizes of coffins kept ready made. N.B. – Orders by post or telegraph promptly attended to." In this week's paper Linaker and Company was advertising their new Dress Warehouse in Hardshaw Street, offering: "Great bargains in all dress fabrics. Inspection invited." Many women would then make their own family's dresses and so Linaker's appeared to be mainly selling materials for home dressmakers, rather than off-the-peg items.
The Newspaper also wrote that the excitement over the proposed sewage farm in Rainhill had now subsided. I don't think they meant that Rainhill folk had been jumping for joy over matters of sewage – although such things could not then be taken for granted like they are today. By excitement they meant controversy, as the scheme would cost £6,000 and involve land leased for 40 years from local landowner Mrs Stapleton Bretherton.
Some people did not like the terms of the arrangement and felt the land should be purchased rather than leased. At a public meeting held last December, Rainhill's Medical Officer, Dr Egerton Hall, was asked whether he felt there was any necessity for such a scheme with regards to the inhabitants' health. His reply was that there had in the past been a number of outbreaks of disease in Rainhill, which he had "not the shadow of a doubt" been caused by defective drainage. These diseases included scarlet fever, smallpox and typhoid.
Last week the St Helens Newspaper had described how an "awfully sudden case of death" had occurred in Baldwin Street. A 57-year-old woman called Ellen Hesketh had essentially dropped dead by the Sefton Arms while wheeling her wheelbarrow. I speculated as to whether the, at times, quite poisonous atmosphere in St Helens and the unhealthy lifestyle of many people could be responsible for what seemed to be a high rate of persons collapsing in the street.
On the 24th the inquest on Ellen Chapman was held in the Bath Hotel in Warrington New Road and she had also been found lying dead in the street. The 48-year-old lived in the St Helens marketplace and had left home on an errand at 9:15 pm. Nothing more was heard of her until she was found in Warrington New Road at 1:45 am on the following morning by a miner returning home from work.
After the inquest jury heard that Ellen had been suffering from asthma for the last two or three years, they returned a verdict of death from natural causes. The St Helens Newspaper's headline to their brief report was "Another Death in the Street".
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a detailed account of the Whiston workhouse Christmas Tree event, the theft of a till from the Victoria Vaults in Sutton and the virago that attacked the landlady of a Smithy Brow pub.
This week's many stories include the notorious Rainford poacher, the new Rainhill sewage farm to prevent contagious disease, the annual dinner of the 47th LRV, the row over water in Pocket Nook, the new dress warehouse in Hardshaw Street and there's another mysterious death in the street.
We begin on the 20th when a meeting of the Prescot Guardians took place.
The folk who administered Whiston Workhouse and distributed poor law relief to paupers in the community were told that there were currently 415 persons inside the house, of which 151 were children.
A new hospital had been built adjacent to the workhouse and the intention was that the old building be used as a school.
However, the workhouse master, Mr Archer, told the Guardians that a considerable amount of work would need to be done to make the place fit for use, as there was extensive dry rot that extended for three feet round the building.
The Chairman of the Guardians said it reflected poorly on the builder that had constructed the old hospital that a building just ten years old should have got into such a state.
In court this week was Joseph Cropper who the Newspaper dubbed a "notorious poacher".
A game watcher called Richard Fishwick had caught him on Edward Birchall's farm at Reeds Brow in Rainford carrying a gun.
The part-time watchers supported the gamekeepers by keeping an eye out for poachers like Cropper and were paid for each one that they caught.
Fishwick told the court that Cropper had begged him not to report him and said he would sell his gun and leave off poaching for good.
But it was not in the watcher's interest to let him go and in court Joseph Cropper was fined 40 shillings and costs.
Also in court was Samuel Saint, who was accused of less than saintly behaviour through threatening to assault his employer.
He was Thomas Stead who was a farmer at Bold and Saint was a carter in his employ. The Newspaper wrote:
"On the forenoon of the 8th inst. he ordered the defendant to do some particular kind of work, which did not seem to please him, and he therefore took up a rake and threatened to knock the complainant's brains out. He was ordered to find sureties."
There were many houses in St Helens that had a shared yard with a single water supply.
These were also places where women hung out their washing and were a common cause of rows and disagreements between the female neighbours that often ended in a court hearing.
But the case that made the St Helens Petty Sessions this week was a little different than usual as it involved a man and someone who had been helping themself to water.
No place was identified in the newspaper report but the location appears to have been Pocket Nook.
Mary Heighan had been summoned for assaulting Luke Greevey by striking him with a stone jug.
The woman was in the habit of sending her little girl to a yard that provided a source of water for five houses.
But hers was not one of them and as the householders had to pay for their water, they would not be best pleased with others that helped themselves to their supply.
Luke Greevey was particularly protective of the tap and had prevented Mary's daughter from taking away any water.
The child returned to her home and told her mother what had happened and it was then claimed that Mary had approached Greevey and abused him.
The row ended with the woman striking Greevey with a 12-pound jug, which inflicted a severe wound.
Mary's story was that Greevey had accidentally received the blow through attempting to wrench the jug away from her.
As the magistrates considered that the defendant had suffered some provocation, they only fined her the mitigated penalty of 2s 6d, plus costs.
Recently the 47th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers had held their annual ball in the Volunteer Hall in Mill Street.
January was a busy month for St Helens' own part-time army reserve as they also held their annual dinner then.
The Newspaper said more than 700 men had filled the Volunteer Hall (pictured above) and the room had held a "gay and attractive appearance, the effect of which was still further heightened by the display of the many good things provided on the tables."
There were lots of toasts and speeches and the regiment's band was stationed in the gallery and from time to time played selections of music.
The dinner was provided by Mrs Taylor, the landlady of the Fleece Inn, which the Newspaper said had given "unbounded satisfaction".
To me the term "warehouse" suggests a large storage area, cold and uninviting.
But in the 19th century it seemed to suggest more of what might be deemed a superstore, a large shop offering a range of items.
And so during the 1870s, James Unsworth often advertised his St Helens Music Warehouse from which he was selling: "Pianofortes, harmoniums, American organs, English and German concertinas, violins, flutes, guitars, banjos, tambourines, &c."
And John G. Ackary promoted The Coffin Warehouse in College Street, with his coffins made in his manufactory in Parr Stocks.
He would write: "All sizes of coffins kept ready made. N.B. – Orders by post or telegraph promptly attended to."
In this week's paper Linaker and Company was advertising their new Dress Warehouse in Hardshaw Street, offering: "Great bargains in all dress fabrics. Inspection invited."
Many women would then make their own family's dresses and so Linaker's appeared to be mainly selling materials for home dressmakers, rather than off-the-peg items.
The Newspaper also wrote that the excitement over the proposed sewage farm in Rainhill had now subsided.
I don't think they meant that Rainhill folk had been jumping for joy over matters of sewage – although such things could not then be taken for granted like they are today.
By excitement they meant controversy, as the scheme would cost £6,000 and involve land leased for 40 years from local landowner Mrs Stapleton Bretherton.
Some people did not like the terms of the arrangement and felt the land should be purchased rather than leased.
At a public meeting held last December, Rainhill's Medical Officer, Dr Egerton Hall, was asked whether he felt there was any necessity for such a scheme with regards to the inhabitants' health.
His reply was that there had in the past been a number of outbreaks of disease in Rainhill, which he had "not the shadow of a doubt" been caused by defective drainage. These diseases included scarlet fever, smallpox and typhoid.
Last week the St Helens Newspaper had described how an "awfully sudden case of death" had occurred in Baldwin Street.
A 57-year-old woman called Ellen Hesketh had essentially dropped dead by the Sefton Arms while wheeling her wheelbarrow.
I speculated as to whether the, at times, quite poisonous atmosphere in St Helens and the unhealthy lifestyle of many people could be responsible for what seemed to be a high rate of persons collapsing in the street.
On the 24th the inquest on Ellen Chapman was held in the Bath Hotel in Warrington New Road and she had also been found lying dead in the street.
The 48-year-old lived in the St Helens marketplace and had left home on an errand at 9:15 pm.
Nothing more was heard of her until she was found in Warrington New Road at 1:45 am on the following morning by a miner returning home from work.
After the inquest jury heard that Ellen had been suffering from asthma for the last two or three years, they returned a verdict of death from natural causes.
The St Helens Newspaper's headline to their brief report was "Another Death in the Street".
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a detailed account of the Whiston workhouse Christmas Tree event, the theft of a till from the Victoria Vaults in Sutton and the virago that attacked the landlady of a Smithy Brow pub.
We begin on the 20th when a meeting of the Prescot Guardians took place.
The folk who administered Whiston Workhouse and distributed poor law relief to paupers in the community were told that there were currently 415 persons inside the house, of which 151 were children.
A new hospital had been built adjacent to the workhouse and the intention was that the old building be used as a school.
However, the workhouse master, Mr Archer, told the Guardians that a considerable amount of work would need to be done to make the place fit for use, as there was extensive dry rot that extended for three feet round the building.
The Chairman of the Guardians said it reflected poorly on the builder that had constructed the old hospital that a building just ten years old should have got into such a state.
In court this week was Joseph Cropper who the Newspaper dubbed a "notorious poacher".
A game watcher called Richard Fishwick had caught him on Edward Birchall's farm at Reeds Brow in Rainford carrying a gun.
The part-time watchers supported the gamekeepers by keeping an eye out for poachers like Cropper and were paid for each one that they caught.
Fishwick told the court that Cropper had begged him not to report him and said he would sell his gun and leave off poaching for good.
But it was not in the watcher's interest to let him go and in court Joseph Cropper was fined 40 shillings and costs.
Also in court was Samuel Saint, who was accused of less than saintly behaviour through threatening to assault his employer.
He was Thomas Stead who was a farmer at Bold and Saint was a carter in his employ. The Newspaper wrote:
"On the forenoon of the 8th inst. he ordered the defendant to do some particular kind of work, which did not seem to please him, and he therefore took up a rake and threatened to knock the complainant's brains out. He was ordered to find sureties."
There were many houses in St Helens that had a shared yard with a single water supply.
These were also places where women hung out their washing and were a common cause of rows and disagreements between the female neighbours that often ended in a court hearing.
But the case that made the St Helens Petty Sessions this week was a little different than usual as it involved a man and someone who had been helping themself to water.
No place was identified in the newspaper report but the location appears to have been Pocket Nook.
Mary Heighan had been summoned for assaulting Luke Greevey by striking him with a stone jug.
The woman was in the habit of sending her little girl to a yard that provided a source of water for five houses.
But hers was not one of them and as the householders had to pay for their water, they would not be best pleased with others that helped themselves to their supply.
Luke Greevey was particularly protective of the tap and had prevented Mary's daughter from taking away any water.
The child returned to her home and told her mother what had happened and it was then claimed that Mary had approached Greevey and abused him.
The row ended with the woman striking Greevey with a 12-pound jug, which inflicted a severe wound.
Mary's story was that Greevey had accidentally received the blow through attempting to wrench the jug away from her.
As the magistrates considered that the defendant had suffered some provocation, they only fined her the mitigated penalty of 2s 6d, plus costs.
Recently the 47th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers had held their annual ball in the Volunteer Hall in Mill Street.
January was a busy month for St Helens' own part-time army reserve as they also held their annual dinner then.
There were lots of toasts and speeches and the regiment's band was stationed in the gallery and from time to time played selections of music.
The dinner was provided by Mrs Taylor, the landlady of the Fleece Inn, which the Newspaper said had given "unbounded satisfaction".
To me the term "warehouse" suggests a large storage area, cold and uninviting.
But in the 19th century it seemed to suggest more of what might be deemed a superstore, a large shop offering a range of items.
And so during the 1870s, James Unsworth often advertised his St Helens Music Warehouse from which he was selling: "Pianofortes, harmoniums, American organs, English and German concertinas, violins, flutes, guitars, banjos, tambourines, &c."
And John G. Ackary promoted The Coffin Warehouse in College Street, with his coffins made in his manufactory in Parr Stocks.
He would write: "All sizes of coffins kept ready made. N.B. – Orders by post or telegraph promptly attended to."
In this week's paper Linaker and Company was advertising their new Dress Warehouse in Hardshaw Street, offering: "Great bargains in all dress fabrics. Inspection invited."
Many women would then make their own family's dresses and so Linaker's appeared to be mainly selling materials for home dressmakers, rather than off-the-peg items.
The Newspaper also wrote that the excitement over the proposed sewage farm in Rainhill had now subsided.
I don't think they meant that Rainhill folk had been jumping for joy over matters of sewage – although such things could not then be taken for granted like they are today.
By excitement they meant controversy, as the scheme would cost £6,000 and involve land leased for 40 years from local landowner Mrs Stapleton Bretherton.
Some people did not like the terms of the arrangement and felt the land should be purchased rather than leased.
At a public meeting held last December, Rainhill's Medical Officer, Dr Egerton Hall, was asked whether he felt there was any necessity for such a scheme with regards to the inhabitants' health.
His reply was that there had in the past been a number of outbreaks of disease in Rainhill, which he had "not the shadow of a doubt" been caused by defective drainage. These diseases included scarlet fever, smallpox and typhoid.
Last week the St Helens Newspaper had described how an "awfully sudden case of death" had occurred in Baldwin Street.
A 57-year-old woman called Ellen Hesketh had essentially dropped dead by the Sefton Arms while wheeling her wheelbarrow.
I speculated as to whether the, at times, quite poisonous atmosphere in St Helens and the unhealthy lifestyle of many people could be responsible for what seemed to be a high rate of persons collapsing in the street.
On the 24th the inquest on Ellen Chapman was held in the Bath Hotel in Warrington New Road and she had also been found lying dead in the street.
The 48-year-old lived in the St Helens marketplace and had left home on an errand at 9:15 pm.
Nothing more was heard of her until she was found in Warrington New Road at 1:45 am on the following morning by a miner returning home from work.
After the inquest jury heard that Ellen had been suffering from asthma for the last two or three years, they returned a verdict of death from natural causes.
The St Helens Newspaper's headline to their brief report was "Another Death in the Street".
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a detailed account of the Whiston workhouse Christmas Tree event, the theft of a till from the Victoria Vaults in Sutton and the virago that attacked the landlady of a Smithy Brow pub.