150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (19th - 25th DECEMBER 1872)
This week's stories include a warning over the materialisation of Christmas, the skin diseases that ran through Whiston Workhouse like a train of gunpowder, an angry attack on compulsory vaccination against smallpox and St Helens Council decides to proceed with the building of its new Town Hall – but at a reduced price.
We begin on the 19th with "OH YES!, OH YES!, OH YES!". That was the headline to this Beecham's Pills advert in the newspaper known as the Woodbridge Reporter: "It is an undeniable fact, admitted by all classes, that the greatest temporal blessing one man can bestow upon another, is the blessing of health; but the greatest fact of all is that One Box of BEECHAM'S PILLS conveys that blessing into every sick-stricken house.
"They are admitted by thousands to be worth above a Guinea a Box, for bilious and nervous disorders, such as wind and pain at the stomach, sick headache, giddiness, fullness and swelling after meals, dizziness and drowsiness, cold chills, flushings of heat, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, costiveness [constipation], scurvy and blotches of the skin, disturbed sleep, frightful dreams, and all nervous and trembling sensations &c. &c. The first dose will give relief in twenty minutes.
"This is no fiction, for they have done it in thousands of cases. For females of all ages these pills are invaluable as a few doses of them carry off all gross humours and open all obstructions, and bring about all that is required. No female should be without them."
An Ellen Butler is believed to have been the source of the slogan "worth a guinea a box". In James Brockbank’s 'History of St Helens', published in 1896, he describes how Mrs Butler had approached Beecham's simple market stall in St Helens telling him that his pills had done her such good that they were "worth a guinea a box". According to documents lodged by SmithKline Beecham with the St Helens Archive Service, "she would enthusiastically repeat the phrase to anyone who would listen".
On the 19th the Prescot Board of Guardians that ran Whiston Workhouse met and heard that there were currently 344 persons (129 of them children) staying in the workhouse. There were not many advantages to living there. However, the paupers did receive free medical attention in the adjacent infirmary that they probably would not otherwise be able to afford.
The Guardians Clerk reported to the meeting that their small hospital was currently full of patients, many suffering with skin disease. He said it had gone through the house "like a train of gunpowder", adding it was a disease that enlisted the attention of the medical world for a good many years without any remedy being discovered. One Guardian called McKinley said he knew of a cure for skin disease – plenty of good food but the Clerk replied that he doubted that. It was not until the early 20th century that vitamin deficiency was understood to cause many diseases, including those of the skin.
The workhouse doctor reported that two women in their 60s called Catherine and Esther Sephton had earlier in the day being brought into the hospital in a "pitiable condition". One was paralysed with a deformed hand and suffering from erysipelas and ulcers on her leg. The other lady was afflicted with "many sores of the worst description, almost in a gangrene, and the head full of vermin; she is also deformed." The man that had brought the women into the hospital had told the nurse that their house had been "covered with filth many inches deep".
The doctor told the guardians that the two women should have been brought into the workhouse many months earlier. However, it transpired that they had been identified as suitable for admission to the house a long time ago but had objected to becoming inmates. That was probably because of the stigma of being in a workhouse. The Relieving Officer – who was under pressure to explain why the women had not been admitted earlier – denied that their house was filthy and claimed the women wanted to remain at home because they had taken to drink.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 21st warned its readers against the materialisation of Christmas:
"As the great Christian festival, now so near us, is the season for hearty greetings and kindly wishes, we bid our readers, one and all, A Happy Christmas! It is coming upon us shorn of the glittering coat of frost which seems to be its traditional garment; but we hope it will be none the less welcome for the change. There is not now the passion for spreading the path of Christmas with foliage and flowers, for materialism is rapidly killing some of the most innocent customs of our fathers.
"But with all the materialism of the age, we should hesitate to say that the best and soundest features of Christmas are wanting. The rich have not become deaf to the miseries of the poor; nor will those who are happy in the home circle forget that there is no day in the whole of the year during which the hand of charity should cease from its labours."
The Newspaper's editorial also called for the debate on the Town Hall to end. Despite ratepayers' groups calling for the proposed scheme in what would become known as Corporation Street to be scrapped and the old town hall repaired and improved, the Town Council had decided to proceed with their expensive project. As a compromise they had decided to save a few thousand pounds by cutting back on the scale of their plans.
They said they would also try to get much of the adjacent police station paid for by the Lancashire county authorities. This is what the Newspaper had to say on the matter: "The discussion on the pros and cons of the Town Hall question has occupied public attention for nearly two years; and column after column of debate, explanation, and opinion have we given to the public, so that the ratepayers must be pretty well posted up on the subject.
"The course taken on Wednesday may be said to settle the matter, the conclusion arrived at being simply that the Council have accepted Mr. Urmson's tender of £35,000, subject to his reducing the amount, on account of the alterations made in the plans, to £28,000, and that he send in separate tenders for the municipal buildings and the police premises – the former to be commenced at once, and the latter delayed until arrangements have been made with the county."
The Newspaper also carried an advert for G. W. Griffin's store on the corner of Ormskirk Street and Westfield Street (pictured above in later years). The firm would become known as furnishers and photographers and initially the owners of the cinema that became the Scala. However, in 1872 they were focussing on tobacco, offering a "splendid assortment of old Havana cigars of the finest brands, suitable for the pleasant Christmas season". Photography was briefly mentioned in the advert but it appeared then to be just a sideline of theirs.
The recent prosecution of three St Helens' fathers for not vaccinating their children against smallpox – which then was compulsory – led to this letter being published in the Newspaper:
"Sir – The demon of vaccination, the great curse of the nation, after stalking through many parts of the country, has appeared at length in St. Helens, one of the healthiest boroughs in the kingdom, and commenced business in the police court by summoning three upright men, whose conscientious scruples, honest convictions, and well-considered opinions deter them from having their children vaccinated, knowing full well from observation, and even painful experience, that vaccination engenders disease and may entail upon their offspring suffering through life, and is also a fruitful source of infant mortality, premature decay, and early death.
"That venereal taint, scrofula, scurvy, erysipelas, and even consumption, may and have been known to be the baneful effects of vaccination. The mortality of infants under five years of age is a standing protest against vaccination, being much greater than the mortality from small-pox or all the contagious diseases put together, and demands the early and anxious consideration of the government and of the country." – OBSERVATOR
On the 23rd an inquest was held on William Leadbetter who had been killed at the Sutton Heath Colliery. The 65-year-old had been removing a prop from the pit roof when a large stone fell on him. The stone was so heavy that it took two men fifteen minutes to lift it and extricate Leadbetter – but by then he was dead.
Since Charles Duval had taken over the running of the St Helens theatre in the premises we know as the Citadel, he'd renamed the former music hall the 'New Theatre Royal and Opera House'. On Christmas Eve 'Duval's Great Christmas Pantomime – Aladdin The Wonderful Scamp' was performed in the theatre. The story had been localised with many references to local works and places such as Thatto Heath, Smithy Brow, Greenbank and Peasley Cross. In its review the St Helens Newspaper said the panto was "fully up to the mark, and worthy of liberal patronage."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the ruffianly assault at St Helens railway station, the magistrate that said he pitied a wife-beating husband and the railway man in intense agony for six hours after being knocked down by a train.
"They are admitted by thousands to be worth above a Guinea a Box, for bilious and nervous disorders, such as wind and pain at the stomach, sick headache, giddiness, fullness and swelling after meals, dizziness and drowsiness, cold chills, flushings of heat, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, costiveness [constipation], scurvy and blotches of the skin, disturbed sleep, frightful dreams, and all nervous and trembling sensations &c. &c. The first dose will give relief in twenty minutes.
"This is no fiction, for they have done it in thousands of cases. For females of all ages these pills are invaluable as a few doses of them carry off all gross humours and open all obstructions, and bring about all that is required. No female should be without them."
An Ellen Butler is believed to have been the source of the slogan "worth a guinea a box". In James Brockbank’s 'History of St Helens', published in 1896, he describes how Mrs Butler had approached Beecham's simple market stall in St Helens telling him that his pills had done her such good that they were "worth a guinea a box". According to documents lodged by SmithKline Beecham with the St Helens Archive Service, "she would enthusiastically repeat the phrase to anyone who would listen".
On the 19th the Prescot Board of Guardians that ran Whiston Workhouse met and heard that there were currently 344 persons (129 of them children) staying in the workhouse. There were not many advantages to living there. However, the paupers did receive free medical attention in the adjacent infirmary that they probably would not otherwise be able to afford.
The Guardians Clerk reported to the meeting that their small hospital was currently full of patients, many suffering with skin disease. He said it had gone through the house "like a train of gunpowder", adding it was a disease that enlisted the attention of the medical world for a good many years without any remedy being discovered. One Guardian called McKinley said he knew of a cure for skin disease – plenty of good food but the Clerk replied that he doubted that. It was not until the early 20th century that vitamin deficiency was understood to cause many diseases, including those of the skin.
The workhouse doctor reported that two women in their 60s called Catherine and Esther Sephton had earlier in the day being brought into the hospital in a "pitiable condition". One was paralysed with a deformed hand and suffering from erysipelas and ulcers on her leg. The other lady was afflicted with "many sores of the worst description, almost in a gangrene, and the head full of vermin; she is also deformed." The man that had brought the women into the hospital had told the nurse that their house had been "covered with filth many inches deep".
The doctor told the guardians that the two women should have been brought into the workhouse many months earlier. However, it transpired that they had been identified as suitable for admission to the house a long time ago but had objected to becoming inmates. That was probably because of the stigma of being in a workhouse. The Relieving Officer – who was under pressure to explain why the women had not been admitted earlier – denied that their house was filthy and claimed the women wanted to remain at home because they had taken to drink.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 21st warned its readers against the materialisation of Christmas:
"As the great Christian festival, now so near us, is the season for hearty greetings and kindly wishes, we bid our readers, one and all, A Happy Christmas! It is coming upon us shorn of the glittering coat of frost which seems to be its traditional garment; but we hope it will be none the less welcome for the change. There is not now the passion for spreading the path of Christmas with foliage and flowers, for materialism is rapidly killing some of the most innocent customs of our fathers.
"But with all the materialism of the age, we should hesitate to say that the best and soundest features of Christmas are wanting. The rich have not become deaf to the miseries of the poor; nor will those who are happy in the home circle forget that there is no day in the whole of the year during which the hand of charity should cease from its labours."
The Newspaper's editorial also called for the debate on the Town Hall to end. Despite ratepayers' groups calling for the proposed scheme in what would become known as Corporation Street to be scrapped and the old town hall repaired and improved, the Town Council had decided to proceed with their expensive project. As a compromise they had decided to save a few thousand pounds by cutting back on the scale of their plans.
They said they would also try to get much of the adjacent police station paid for by the Lancashire county authorities. This is what the Newspaper had to say on the matter: "The discussion on the pros and cons of the Town Hall question has occupied public attention for nearly two years; and column after column of debate, explanation, and opinion have we given to the public, so that the ratepayers must be pretty well posted up on the subject.
"The course taken on Wednesday may be said to settle the matter, the conclusion arrived at being simply that the Council have accepted Mr. Urmson's tender of £35,000, subject to his reducing the amount, on account of the alterations made in the plans, to £28,000, and that he send in separate tenders for the municipal buildings and the police premises – the former to be commenced at once, and the latter delayed until arrangements have been made with the county."
The recent prosecution of three St Helens' fathers for not vaccinating their children against smallpox – which then was compulsory – led to this letter being published in the Newspaper:
"Sir – The demon of vaccination, the great curse of the nation, after stalking through many parts of the country, has appeared at length in St. Helens, one of the healthiest boroughs in the kingdom, and commenced business in the police court by summoning three upright men, whose conscientious scruples, honest convictions, and well-considered opinions deter them from having their children vaccinated, knowing full well from observation, and even painful experience, that vaccination engenders disease and may entail upon their offspring suffering through life, and is also a fruitful source of infant mortality, premature decay, and early death.
"That venereal taint, scrofula, scurvy, erysipelas, and even consumption, may and have been known to be the baneful effects of vaccination. The mortality of infants under five years of age is a standing protest against vaccination, being much greater than the mortality from small-pox or all the contagious diseases put together, and demands the early and anxious consideration of the government and of the country." – OBSERVATOR
On the 23rd an inquest was held on William Leadbetter who had been killed at the Sutton Heath Colliery. The 65-year-old had been removing a prop from the pit roof when a large stone fell on him. The stone was so heavy that it took two men fifteen minutes to lift it and extricate Leadbetter – but by then he was dead.
Since Charles Duval had taken over the running of the St Helens theatre in the premises we know as the Citadel, he'd renamed the former music hall the 'New Theatre Royal and Opera House'. On Christmas Eve 'Duval's Great Christmas Pantomime – Aladdin The Wonderful Scamp' was performed in the theatre. The story had been localised with many references to local works and places such as Thatto Heath, Smithy Brow, Greenbank and Peasley Cross. In its review the St Helens Newspaper said the panto was "fully up to the mark, and worthy of liberal patronage."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the ruffianly assault at St Helens railway station, the magistrate that said he pitied a wife-beating husband and the railway man in intense agony for six hours after being knocked down by a train.
This week's stories include a warning over the materialisation of Christmas, the skin diseases that ran through Whiston Workhouse like a train of gunpowder, an angry attack on compulsory vaccination against smallpox and St Helens Council decides to proceed with the building of its new Town Hall – but at a reduced price.
We begin on the 19th with "OH YES!, OH YES!, OH YES!". That was the headline to this Beecham's Pills advert in the newspaper known as the Woodbridge Reporter:
"It is an undeniable fact, admitted by all classes, that the greatest temporal blessing one man can bestow upon another, is the blessing of health; but the greatest fact of all is that One Box of BEECHAM'S PILLS conveys that blessing into every sick-stricken house.
"They are admitted by thousands to be worth above a Guinea a Box, for bilious and nervous disorders, such as wind and pain at the stomach, sick headache, giddiness, fullness and swelling after meals, dizziness and drowsiness, cold chills, flushings of heat, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, costiveness [constipation], scurvy and blotches of the skin, disturbed sleep, frightful dreams, and all nervous and trembling sensations &c. &c.
"The first dose will give relief in twenty minutes. This is no fiction, for they have done it in thousands of cases. For females of all ages these pills are invaluable as a few doses of them carry off all gross humours and open all obstructions, and bring about all that is required. No female should be without them."
An Ellen Butler is believed to have been the source of the slogan "worth a guinea a box".
In James Brockbank’s 'History of St Helens', published in 1896, he describes how Mrs Butler had approached Beecham's simple market stall in St Helens telling him that his pills had done her such good that they were "worth a guinea a box".
According to documents lodged by SmithKline Beecham with the St Helens Archive Service, "she would enthusiastically repeat the phrase to anyone who would listen".
On the 19th the Prescot Board of Guardians that ran Whiston Workhouse met and heard that there were currently 344 persons (129 of them children) staying in the workhouse.
There were not many advantages to living there. However, the paupers did receive free medical attention in the adjacent infirmary that they probably would not otherwise be able to afford.
The Guardians Clerk reported to the meeting that their small hospital was currently full of patients, many suffering with skin disease.
He said it had gone through the house "like a train of gunpowder", adding it was a disease that enlisted the attention of the medical world for a good many years without any remedy being discovered.
One Guardian called McKinley said he knew of a cure for skin disease – plenty of good food but the Clerk replied that he doubted that.
It was not until the early 20th century that vitamin deficiency was understood to cause many diseases, including those of the skin.
The workhouse doctor reported that two women in their 60s called Catherine and Esther Sephton had earlier in the day being brought into the hospital in a "pitiable condition".
One was paralysed with a deformed hand and suffering from erysipelas and ulcers on her leg.
The other lady was afflicted with "many sores of the worst description, almost in a gangrene, and the head full of vermin; she is also deformed."
The man that had brought the women into the hospital had told the nurse that their house had been "covered with filth many inches deep".
The doctor told the guardians that the two women should have been brought into the workhouse many months earlier.
However, it transpired that they had been identified as suitable for admission to the house a long time ago but had objected to becoming inmates. That was probably because of the stigma of being in a workhouse.
The Relieving Officer – who was under pressure to explain why the women had not been admitted earlier – denied that their house was filthy and claimed the women wanted to remain at home because they had taken to drink.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 21st warned its readers against the materialisation of Christmas:
"As the great Christian festival, now so near us, is the season for hearty greetings and kindly wishes, we bid our readers, one and all, A Happy Christmas!
"It is coming upon us shorn of the glittering coat of frost which seems to be its traditional garment; but we hope it will be none the less welcome for the change.
"There is not now the passion for spreading the path of Christmas with foliage and flowers, for materialism is rapidly killing some of the most innocent customs of our fathers.
"But with all the materialism of the age, we should hesitate to say that the best and soundest features of Christmas are wanting.
"The rich have not become deaf to the miseries of the poor; nor will those who are happy in the home circle forget that there is no day in the whole of the year during which the hand of charity should cease from its labours."
The Newspaper's editorial also called for the debate on the Town Hall to end.
Despite ratepayers' groups calling for the proposed scheme in what would become known as Corporation Street to be scrapped and the old town hall repaired and improved, the Town Council had decided to proceed with their expensive project.
As a compromise they had decided to save a few thousand pounds by cutting back on the scale of their plans.
They said they would also try to get much of the adjacent police station paid for by the Lancashire county authorities. This is what the Newspaper had to say on the matter:
"The discussion on the pros and cons of the Town Hall question has occupied public attention for nearly two years; and column after column of debate, explanation, and opinion have we given to the public, so that the ratepayers must be pretty well posted up on the subject.
"The course taken on Wednesday may be said to settle the matter, the conclusion arrived at being simply that the Council have accepted Mr. Urmson's tender of £35,000, subject to his reducing the amount, on account of the alterations made in the plans, to £28,000, and that he send in separate tenders for the municipal buildings and the police premises – the former to be commenced at once, and the latter delayed until arrangements have been made with the county."
The Newspaper also carried an advert for G. W. Griffin's store on the corner of Ormskirk Street and Westfield Street (pictured above in later years).
The firm would become known as furnishers and photographers and initially the owners of the cinema that became the Scala.
However, in 1872 they were focussing on tobacco, offering a "splendid assortment of old Havana cigars of the finest brands, suitable for the pleasant Christmas season".
Photography was briefly mentioned in the advert but it appeared then to be just a sideline of theirs.
The recent prosecution of three St Helens' fathers for not vaccinating their children against smallpox – which then was compulsory – led to this letter being published in the Newspaper:
"Sir – The demon of vaccination, the great curse of the nation, after stalking through many parts of the country, has appeared at length in St. Helens, one of the healthiest boroughs in the kingdom, and commenced business in the police court by summoning three upright men, whose conscientious scruples, honest convictions, and well-considered opinions deter them from having their children vaccinated, knowing full well from observation, and even painful experience, that vaccination engenders disease and may entail upon their offspring suffering through life, and is also a fruitful source of infant mortality, premature decay, and early death.
"That venereal taint, scrofula, scurvy, erysipelas, and even consumption, may and have been known to be the baneful effects of vaccination.
"The mortality of infants under five years of age is a standing protest against vaccination, being much greater than the mortality from small-pox or all the contagious diseases put together, and demands the early and anxious consideration of the government and of the country." – OBSERVATOR
On the 23rd an inquest was held on William Leadbetter who had been killed at the Sutton Heath Colliery.
The 65-year-old had been removing a prop from the pit roof when a large stone fell on him.
The stone was so heavy that it took two men fifteen minutes to lift it and extricate Leadbetter – but by then he was dead.
Since Charles Duval had taken over the running of the St Helens theatre in the premises we know as the Citadel, he'd renamed the former music hall the 'New Theatre Royal and Opera House'.
On Christmas Eve 'Duval's Great Christmas Pantomime – Aladdin The Wonderful Scamp' was performed in the theatre.
The story had been localised with many references to local works and places such as Thatto Heath, Smithy Brow, Greenbank and Peasley Cross.
In its review the St Helens Newspaper said the panto was "fully up to the mark, and worthy of liberal patronage."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the ruffianly assault at St Helens railway station, the magistrate that said he pitied a wife-beating husband and the railway man in intense agony for six hours after being knocked down by a train.
"It is an undeniable fact, admitted by all classes, that the greatest temporal blessing one man can bestow upon another, is the blessing of health; but the greatest fact of all is that One Box of BEECHAM'S PILLS conveys that blessing into every sick-stricken house.
"They are admitted by thousands to be worth above a Guinea a Box, for bilious and nervous disorders, such as wind and pain at the stomach, sick headache, giddiness, fullness and swelling after meals, dizziness and drowsiness, cold chills, flushings of heat, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, costiveness [constipation], scurvy and blotches of the skin, disturbed sleep, frightful dreams, and all nervous and trembling sensations &c. &c.
"The first dose will give relief in twenty minutes. This is no fiction, for they have done it in thousands of cases. For females of all ages these pills are invaluable as a few doses of them carry off all gross humours and open all obstructions, and bring about all that is required. No female should be without them."
An Ellen Butler is believed to have been the source of the slogan "worth a guinea a box".
In James Brockbank’s 'History of St Helens', published in 1896, he describes how Mrs Butler had approached Beecham's simple market stall in St Helens telling him that his pills had done her such good that they were "worth a guinea a box".
According to documents lodged by SmithKline Beecham with the St Helens Archive Service, "she would enthusiastically repeat the phrase to anyone who would listen".
On the 19th the Prescot Board of Guardians that ran Whiston Workhouse met and heard that there were currently 344 persons (129 of them children) staying in the workhouse.
There were not many advantages to living there. However, the paupers did receive free medical attention in the adjacent infirmary that they probably would not otherwise be able to afford.
The Guardians Clerk reported to the meeting that their small hospital was currently full of patients, many suffering with skin disease.
He said it had gone through the house "like a train of gunpowder", adding it was a disease that enlisted the attention of the medical world for a good many years without any remedy being discovered.
One Guardian called McKinley said he knew of a cure for skin disease – plenty of good food but the Clerk replied that he doubted that.
It was not until the early 20th century that vitamin deficiency was understood to cause many diseases, including those of the skin.
The workhouse doctor reported that two women in their 60s called Catherine and Esther Sephton had earlier in the day being brought into the hospital in a "pitiable condition".
One was paralysed with a deformed hand and suffering from erysipelas and ulcers on her leg.
The other lady was afflicted with "many sores of the worst description, almost in a gangrene, and the head full of vermin; she is also deformed."
The man that had brought the women into the hospital had told the nurse that their house had been "covered with filth many inches deep".
The doctor told the guardians that the two women should have been brought into the workhouse many months earlier.
However, it transpired that they had been identified as suitable for admission to the house a long time ago but had objected to becoming inmates. That was probably because of the stigma of being in a workhouse.
The Relieving Officer – who was under pressure to explain why the women had not been admitted earlier – denied that their house was filthy and claimed the women wanted to remain at home because they had taken to drink.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 21st warned its readers against the materialisation of Christmas:
"As the great Christian festival, now so near us, is the season for hearty greetings and kindly wishes, we bid our readers, one and all, A Happy Christmas!
"It is coming upon us shorn of the glittering coat of frost which seems to be its traditional garment; but we hope it will be none the less welcome for the change.
"There is not now the passion for spreading the path of Christmas with foliage and flowers, for materialism is rapidly killing some of the most innocent customs of our fathers.
"But with all the materialism of the age, we should hesitate to say that the best and soundest features of Christmas are wanting.
"The rich have not become deaf to the miseries of the poor; nor will those who are happy in the home circle forget that there is no day in the whole of the year during which the hand of charity should cease from its labours."
The Newspaper's editorial also called for the debate on the Town Hall to end.
Despite ratepayers' groups calling for the proposed scheme in what would become known as Corporation Street to be scrapped and the old town hall repaired and improved, the Town Council had decided to proceed with their expensive project.
As a compromise they had decided to save a few thousand pounds by cutting back on the scale of their plans.
They said they would also try to get much of the adjacent police station paid for by the Lancashire county authorities. This is what the Newspaper had to say on the matter:
"The discussion on the pros and cons of the Town Hall question has occupied public attention for nearly two years; and column after column of debate, explanation, and opinion have we given to the public, so that the ratepayers must be pretty well posted up on the subject.
"The course taken on Wednesday may be said to settle the matter, the conclusion arrived at being simply that the Council have accepted Mr. Urmson's tender of £35,000, subject to his reducing the amount, on account of the alterations made in the plans, to £28,000, and that he send in separate tenders for the municipal buildings and the police premises – the former to be commenced at once, and the latter delayed until arrangements have been made with the county."
The firm would become known as furnishers and photographers and initially the owners of the cinema that became the Scala.
However, in 1872 they were focussing on tobacco, offering a "splendid assortment of old Havana cigars of the finest brands, suitable for the pleasant Christmas season".
Photography was briefly mentioned in the advert but it appeared then to be just a sideline of theirs.
The recent prosecution of three St Helens' fathers for not vaccinating their children against smallpox – which then was compulsory – led to this letter being published in the Newspaper:
"Sir – The demon of vaccination, the great curse of the nation, after stalking through many parts of the country, has appeared at length in St. Helens, one of the healthiest boroughs in the kingdom, and commenced business in the police court by summoning three upright men, whose conscientious scruples, honest convictions, and well-considered opinions deter them from having their children vaccinated, knowing full well from observation, and even painful experience, that vaccination engenders disease and may entail upon their offspring suffering through life, and is also a fruitful source of infant mortality, premature decay, and early death.
"That venereal taint, scrofula, scurvy, erysipelas, and even consumption, may and have been known to be the baneful effects of vaccination.
"The mortality of infants under five years of age is a standing protest against vaccination, being much greater than the mortality from small-pox or all the contagious diseases put together, and demands the early and anxious consideration of the government and of the country." – OBSERVATOR
On the 23rd an inquest was held on William Leadbetter who had been killed at the Sutton Heath Colliery.
The 65-year-old had been removing a prop from the pit roof when a large stone fell on him.
The stone was so heavy that it took two men fifteen minutes to lift it and extricate Leadbetter – but by then he was dead.
Since Charles Duval had taken over the running of the St Helens theatre in the premises we know as the Citadel, he'd renamed the former music hall the 'New Theatre Royal and Opera House'.
On Christmas Eve 'Duval's Great Christmas Pantomime – Aladdin The Wonderful Scamp' was performed in the theatre.
The story had been localised with many references to local works and places such as Thatto Heath, Smithy Brow, Greenbank and Peasley Cross.
In its review the St Helens Newspaper said the panto was "fully up to the mark, and worthy of liberal patronage."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the ruffianly assault at St Helens railway station, the magistrate that said he pitied a wife-beating husband and the railway man in intense agony for six hours after being knocked down by a train.