150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (21st - 27th NOVEMBER 1872)
This week's stories include the pitiful story of ill-usage by the wife-beating landlord of the Glassmakers Arms, the sibling violence in Peasley Cross, a Rainhill bigamist is brought to book, the Women's Rights Movement comes to St Helens, the campaign against an expensive new town hall and the one-armed beggar made to pay his own fare to prison.
We begin on the 21st with a case of bigamy at Rainhill. James Beck appeared before St Helens Police Court charged with "intermarrying with one Margaret Lord, of Rainhill, a widow, while his first wife, Elizabeth Beck, was alive." His brother John Beck gave evidence of witnessing the first wedding in Nuneaton in 1853.
Margaret Lord said Beck had claimed to be single when he "began to pay his addresses" to her three months ago. The couple had since gone through a marriage ceremony in Rainhill. The alleged bigamist had nothing to say and was committed to take his trial at Liverpool Assizes. At St George's Hall on December 12th, the coal miner was sentenced to 8 months in prison with the judge commenting: "Bigamy is a crime that seems to be increasing, and is one which must be punished with some severity."
The St Helens Newspaper wrote on the 23rd: "Our readers will be rejoiced to learn that there is on foot a project for opening a new and direct line of railway between St. Helens and Warrington."
Female readers might also be rejoicing about the other news contained within the paper that women's lib (of a sort) was coming to St Helens. No bra burning as yet, of course, but a meeting was going to be held that the Liberal supporting Newspaper approved of:
"It would appear that the agitation known as the Women's Rights Movement has reached St. Helens at last. It has enjoyed an existence in the country for many years, and caused several commotions in the House of Commons; but its efforts have been principally confined to the larger towns. Manchester – grand centre of political innovators – became so well instructed by the advocates of women's rights as to elect Miss Becker to a seat on the school board; and Mr. Jacob Bright, one of the members for that city, has constituted himself special parliamentary pleader for the fair sex.
"We are not so advanced in this neighbourhood, but we may become so. There is a complete political calm in the atmosphere of St. Helens at present, and therefore the conditions are highly favourable for the promoters of the meeting." In fact the parliamentary pleader Jacob Bright was introducing a Bill into the Commons designed to remove the "electoral disabilities" of women, although, as we know, he had no chance of it becoming law.
On the 24th a choir festival took place at Holy Cross Church in St Helens (pictured above). The Newspaper called the event a "musical feast". Also on that day, a trade union known as the St Helens Branch of the Association of Railway Servants met in the George Hotel in St Helens. Their chairman said some of their "masters" were sacking staff for the "most trivial offences". One railwayman had been dismissed on the ground of drunkenness despite medical evidence being provided that his condition had not been caused by drink. In another case the bosses had attempted to make a man pay a fine of £1 for "trifling" damage to goods.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th, Peter Sephton, the licensee of the Glassmakers Arms in Sutton, was charged with being drunk and disorderly on his own premises. Sgt. John Bee told the court that he had been summoned to the pub and found Sephton beating his wife. The officer said she then told him a "pitiful story of ill-usage" by her husband.
However, the landlord’s solicitor, Thomas Swift, denied that his client had been drunk, claiming there had been nothing more than "some little excitement" on his part. The Bench decided that the case would be dealt with by ordering Sephton to simply pay the costs of the hearing. I wonder what his wife thought of that?
This next case is a first for me. It's the very first occasion I've come across a prisoner convicted in a St Helens court who was ordered to pay his own train fare to prison! And he was a one-armed beggar, not a rich man. PC Geddes had told the court that he had watched John Kay calling at various houses in Liverpool Road representing himself to be in an "extremely destitute and miserable condition".
After being given lots of coppers, Kay went into a pawnshop to exchange it for silver and when taken into custody was found to have 12s 4d in his possession. The magistrates sentenced Kay to 14 days in prison for his begging, with the train fare to Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool – both his and his policeman escort – to be deducted from the cash.
Also in court was Joseph Fairhurst who was charged with assaulting his sister Sarah Smith at her Peasley Cross home. As was often the case, both sides told quite contrasting tales of what had occurred. Sarah's version was that her brother had come into her home and had begun to "blackguard" her. That appeared to be only a verbal assault. However, Fairhurst followed it up by putting his arms around his sister's neck and "half-strangling" her.
The brother's version was that his loving sister had struck him with a toasting fork and had also attempted to bash him with a poker. Fairhurst then stated that his brother-in-law, Thomas Smith, a member of the local rifle volunteers, had attached a bayonet to his rifle and threatened to commit murder unless he left the house. And as he was departing Fairhurst claimed his brother-in-law had struck him with his rifle butt. Curiously, when Thomas Smith gave evidence, he said he "believed" he was the husband of the complainant. In the end the magistrates fined Fairhurst 10 shillings and costs.
Some good news for St Helens households this week was that the price of house coal was continuing to reduce. Coal could now be bought for 9d per cwt, a drop of one penny, or 1s 8d a ton.
The recently announced bids from seven builders to construct a new Town Hall had shocked some residents of St Helens. The amounts ranged from £35,000 to £40,000, when around £20 - £25,000 had been expected. There were fears of big rates' rises to pay for the new municipal centre and on the 27th the first public opposition manifested itself.
The recently formed East Sutton Ratepayers Association held a public meeting against the scheme. The venue was the Griffin Inn in Peasley Cross Lane and there was a good attendance of protestors. The meeting's chairman, James Harrison, condemned the scheme as too vast for the needs of St Helens. He said he was in favour of erecting a new town hall, but thought that the strictest economy should be observed.
Others also spoke against the plan and eventually it was decided that each person that had the vote should be canvassed for their opinion. If they found enough opposition a petition would be presented to the Town Council asking them not to proceed with the work at present, as the cost of building materials was too high. This was only the start of a fight back against the new Town Hall.
Also on the 27th St Helens Council's Transport Committee went on a 15-mile tour of the town's main streets. It had now become an annual custom for them to inspect all the roads in St Helens so that the councillors and aldermen could consider what improvements were needed. I don't know when the annual tours ended, although they did last for around 100 years. Perhaps the council inspection tours need reviving, although these days – with the huge number of streets in St Helens – it would take much more than a day to get round them all.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the court hearing that was described as a sham, the scalding to death of a two-year-old Sutton boy, the Church Street cobblers that hosted a dentist and the Sutton Oak postmaster's burglary.
We begin on the 21st with a case of bigamy at Rainhill. James Beck appeared before St Helens Police Court charged with "intermarrying with one Margaret Lord, of Rainhill, a widow, while his first wife, Elizabeth Beck, was alive." His brother John Beck gave evidence of witnessing the first wedding in Nuneaton in 1853.
Margaret Lord said Beck had claimed to be single when he "began to pay his addresses" to her three months ago. The couple had since gone through a marriage ceremony in Rainhill. The alleged bigamist had nothing to say and was committed to take his trial at Liverpool Assizes. At St George's Hall on December 12th, the coal miner was sentenced to 8 months in prison with the judge commenting: "Bigamy is a crime that seems to be increasing, and is one which must be punished with some severity."
The St Helens Newspaper wrote on the 23rd: "Our readers will be rejoiced to learn that there is on foot a project for opening a new and direct line of railway between St. Helens and Warrington."
Female readers might also be rejoicing about the other news contained within the paper that women's lib (of a sort) was coming to St Helens. No bra burning as yet, of course, but a meeting was going to be held that the Liberal supporting Newspaper approved of:
"It would appear that the agitation known as the Women's Rights Movement has reached St. Helens at last. It has enjoyed an existence in the country for many years, and caused several commotions in the House of Commons; but its efforts have been principally confined to the larger towns. Manchester – grand centre of political innovators – became so well instructed by the advocates of women's rights as to elect Miss Becker to a seat on the school board; and Mr. Jacob Bright, one of the members for that city, has constituted himself special parliamentary pleader for the fair sex.
"We are not so advanced in this neighbourhood, but we may become so. There is a complete political calm in the atmosphere of St. Helens at present, and therefore the conditions are highly favourable for the promoters of the meeting." In fact the parliamentary pleader Jacob Bright was introducing a Bill into the Commons designed to remove the "electoral disabilities" of women, although, as we know, he had no chance of it becoming law.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th, Peter Sephton, the licensee of the Glassmakers Arms in Sutton, was charged with being drunk and disorderly on his own premises. Sgt. John Bee told the court that he had been summoned to the pub and found Sephton beating his wife. The officer said she then told him a "pitiful story of ill-usage" by her husband.
However, the landlord’s solicitor, Thomas Swift, denied that his client had been drunk, claiming there had been nothing more than "some little excitement" on his part. The Bench decided that the case would be dealt with by ordering Sephton to simply pay the costs of the hearing. I wonder what his wife thought of that?
This next case is a first for me. It's the very first occasion I've come across a prisoner convicted in a St Helens court who was ordered to pay his own train fare to prison! And he was a one-armed beggar, not a rich man. PC Geddes had told the court that he had watched John Kay calling at various houses in Liverpool Road representing himself to be in an "extremely destitute and miserable condition".
After being given lots of coppers, Kay went into a pawnshop to exchange it for silver and when taken into custody was found to have 12s 4d in his possession. The magistrates sentenced Kay to 14 days in prison for his begging, with the train fare to Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool – both his and his policeman escort – to be deducted from the cash.
Also in court was Joseph Fairhurst who was charged with assaulting his sister Sarah Smith at her Peasley Cross home. As was often the case, both sides told quite contrasting tales of what had occurred. Sarah's version was that her brother had come into her home and had begun to "blackguard" her. That appeared to be only a verbal assault. However, Fairhurst followed it up by putting his arms around his sister's neck and "half-strangling" her.
The brother's version was that his loving sister had struck him with a toasting fork and had also attempted to bash him with a poker. Fairhurst then stated that his brother-in-law, Thomas Smith, a member of the local rifle volunteers, had attached a bayonet to his rifle and threatened to commit murder unless he left the house. And as he was departing Fairhurst claimed his brother-in-law had struck him with his rifle butt. Curiously, when Thomas Smith gave evidence, he said he "believed" he was the husband of the complainant. In the end the magistrates fined Fairhurst 10 shillings and costs.
Some good news for St Helens households this week was that the price of house coal was continuing to reduce. Coal could now be bought for 9d per cwt, a drop of one penny, or 1s 8d a ton.
The recently announced bids from seven builders to construct a new Town Hall had shocked some residents of St Helens. The amounts ranged from £35,000 to £40,000, when around £20 - £25,000 had been expected. There were fears of big rates' rises to pay for the new municipal centre and on the 27th the first public opposition manifested itself.
The recently formed East Sutton Ratepayers Association held a public meeting against the scheme. The venue was the Griffin Inn in Peasley Cross Lane and there was a good attendance of protestors. The meeting's chairman, James Harrison, condemned the scheme as too vast for the needs of St Helens. He said he was in favour of erecting a new town hall, but thought that the strictest economy should be observed.
Others also spoke against the plan and eventually it was decided that each person that had the vote should be canvassed for their opinion. If they found enough opposition a petition would be presented to the Town Council asking them not to proceed with the work at present, as the cost of building materials was too high. This was only the start of a fight back against the new Town Hall.
Also on the 27th St Helens Council's Transport Committee went on a 15-mile tour of the town's main streets. It had now become an annual custom for them to inspect all the roads in St Helens so that the councillors and aldermen could consider what improvements were needed. I don't know when the annual tours ended, although they did last for around 100 years. Perhaps the council inspection tours need reviving, although these days – with the huge number of streets in St Helens – it would take much more than a day to get round them all.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the court hearing that was described as a sham, the scalding to death of a two-year-old Sutton boy, the Church Street cobblers that hosted a dentist and the Sutton Oak postmaster's burglary.
This week's stories include the pitiful story of ill-usage by the wife-beating landlord of the Glassmakers Arms, the sibling violence in Peasley Cross, a Rainhill bigamist is brought to book, the Women's Rights Movement comes to St Helens, the campaign against an expensive new town hall and the one-armed beggar made to pay his own fare to prison.
We begin on the 21st with a case of bigamy at Rainhill. James Beck appeared before St Helens Police Court charged with "intermarrying with one Margaret Lord, of Rainhill, a widow, while his first wife, Elizabeth Beck, was alive."
His brother John Beck gave evidence of witnessing the first wedding in Nuneaton in 1853.
Margaret Lord said Beck had claimed to be single when he "began to pay his addresses" to her three months ago. The couple had since gone through a marriage ceremony in Rainhill.
The alleged bigamist had nothing to say and was committed to take his trial at Liverpool Assizes.
At St George's Hall on December 12th, the coal miner was sentenced to 8 months in prison with the judge commenting:
"Bigamy is a crime that seems to be increasing, and is one which must be punished with some severity."
The St Helens Newspaper wrote on the 23rd: "Our readers will be rejoiced to learn that there is on foot a project for opening a new and direct line of railway between St. Helens and Warrington."
Female readers might also be rejoicing about the other news contained within the paper that women's lib (of a sort) was coming to St Helens.
No bra burning as yet, of course, but a meeting was going to be held that the Liberal supporting Newspaper approved of:
"It would appear that the agitation known as the Women's Rights Movement has reached St. Helens at last. It has enjoyed an existence in the country for many years, and caused several commotions in the House of Commons; but its efforts have been principally confined to the larger towns.
"Manchester – grand centre of political innovators – became so well instructed by the advocates of women's rights as to elect Miss Becker to a seat on the school board; and Mr. Jacob Bright, one of the members for that city, has constituted himself special parliamentary pleader for the fair sex. We are not so advanced in this neighbourhood, but we may become so.
"There is a complete political calm in the atmosphere of St. Helens at present, and therefore the conditions are highly favourable for the promoters of the meeting."
In fact the parliamentary pleader Jacob Bright was introducing a Bill into the Commons designed to remove the "electoral disabilities" of women, although, as we know, he had no chance of it becoming law.
On the 24th a choir festival took place at Holy Cross Church in St Helens (pictured above). The Newspaper called the event a "musical feast".
Also on that day, a trade union known as the St Helens Branch of the Association of Railway Servants met in the George Hotel in St Helens.
Their chairman said some of their "masters" were sacking staff for the "most trivial offences".
One railwayman had been dismissed on the ground of drunkenness despite medical evidence being provided that his condition had not been caused by drink.
In another case the bosses had attempted to make a man pay a fine of £1 for "trifling" damage to goods.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th, Peter Sephton, the licensee of the Glassmakers Arms in Sutton, was charged with being drunk and disorderly on his own premises.
Sgt. John Bee told the court that he had been summoned to the pub and found Sephton beating his wife. The officer said she then told him a "pitiful story of ill-usage" by her husband.
However, the landlord’s solicitor, Thomas Swift, denied that his client had been drunk, claiming there had been nothing more than "some little excitement" on his part.
The Bench decided that the case would be dealt with by ordering Sephton to simply pay the costs of the hearing. I wonder what his wife thought of that?
This next case is a first for me. It's the very first occasion I've come across a prisoner convicted in a St Helens court who was ordered to pay his own train fare to prison! And he was a one-armed beggar, not a rich man.
PC Geddes had told the court that he had watched John Kay calling at various houses in Liverpool Road representing himself to be in an "extremely destitute and miserable condition".
After being given lots of coppers, Kay went into a pawnshop to exchange it for silver and when taken into custody was found to have 12s 4d in his possession.
The magistrates sentenced Kay to 14 days in prison for his begging, with the train fare to Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool – both his and his policeman escort – to be deducted from the cash.
Also in court was Joseph Fairhurst who was charged with assaulting his sister Sarah Smith at her Peasley Cross home. As was often the case, both sides told quite contrasting tales of what had occurred.
Sarah's version was that her brother had come into her home and had begun to "blackguard" her.
That appeared to be only a verbal assault. However, Fairhurst followed it up by putting his arms around his sister's neck and "half-strangling" her.
The brother's version was that his loving sister had struck him with a toasting fork and had also attempted to bash him with a poker.
Fairhurst then stated that his brother-in-law, Thomas Smith, a member of the local rifle volunteers, had attached a bayonet to his rifle and threatened to commit murder unless he left the house.
And as he was departing Fairhurst claimed his brother-in-law had struck him with his rifle butt.
Curiously, when Thomas Smith gave evidence, he said he "believed" he was the husband of the complainant. In the end the magistrates fined Fairhurst 10 shillings and costs.
Some good news for St Helens households this week was that the price of house coal was continuing to reduce. Coal could now be bought for 9d per cwt, a drop of one penny, or 1s 8d a ton.
The recently announced bids from seven builders to construct a new Town Hall had shocked some residents of St Helens.
The amounts ranged from £35,000 to £40,000, when around £20 - £25,000 had been expected.
There were fears of big rates' rises to pay for the new municipal centre and on the 27th the first public opposition manifested itself.
The recently formed East Sutton Ratepayers Association held a public meeting against the scheme.
The venue was the Griffin Inn in Peasley Cross Lane and there was a good attendance of protestors.
The meeting's chairman, James Harrison, condemned the scheme as too vast for the needs of St Helens.
He said he was in favour of erecting a new town hall, but thought that the strictest economy should be observed.
Others also spoke against the plan and eventually it was decided that each person that had the vote should be canvassed for their opinion.
If they found enough opposition a petition would be presented to the Town Council asking them not to proceed with the work at present, as the cost of building materials was too high.
This was only the start of a fight back against the new Town Hall.
Also on the 27th St Helens Council's Transport Committee went on a 15-mile tour of the town's main streets.
It had now become an annual custom for them to inspect all the roads in St Helens so that the councillors and aldermen could consider what improvements were needed.
I don't know when the annual tours ended, although they did last for around 100 years.
Perhaps the council inspection tours need reviving, although these days – with the huge number of streets in St Helens – it would take much more than a day to get round them all.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the court hearing that was described as a sham, the scalding to death of a two-year-old Sutton boy, the Church Street cobblers that hosted a dentist and the Sutton Oak postmaster's burglary.
We begin on the 21st with a case of bigamy at Rainhill. James Beck appeared before St Helens Police Court charged with "intermarrying with one Margaret Lord, of Rainhill, a widow, while his first wife, Elizabeth Beck, was alive."
His brother John Beck gave evidence of witnessing the first wedding in Nuneaton in 1853.
Margaret Lord said Beck had claimed to be single when he "began to pay his addresses" to her three months ago. The couple had since gone through a marriage ceremony in Rainhill.
The alleged bigamist had nothing to say and was committed to take his trial at Liverpool Assizes.
At St George's Hall on December 12th, the coal miner was sentenced to 8 months in prison with the judge commenting:
"Bigamy is a crime that seems to be increasing, and is one which must be punished with some severity."
The St Helens Newspaper wrote on the 23rd: "Our readers will be rejoiced to learn that there is on foot a project for opening a new and direct line of railway between St. Helens and Warrington."
Female readers might also be rejoicing about the other news contained within the paper that women's lib (of a sort) was coming to St Helens.
No bra burning as yet, of course, but a meeting was going to be held that the Liberal supporting Newspaper approved of:
"It would appear that the agitation known as the Women's Rights Movement has reached St. Helens at last. It has enjoyed an existence in the country for many years, and caused several commotions in the House of Commons; but its efforts have been principally confined to the larger towns.
"Manchester – grand centre of political innovators – became so well instructed by the advocates of women's rights as to elect Miss Becker to a seat on the school board; and Mr. Jacob Bright, one of the members for that city, has constituted himself special parliamentary pleader for the fair sex. We are not so advanced in this neighbourhood, but we may become so.
"There is a complete political calm in the atmosphere of St. Helens at present, and therefore the conditions are highly favourable for the promoters of the meeting."
In fact the parliamentary pleader Jacob Bright was introducing a Bill into the Commons designed to remove the "electoral disabilities" of women, although, as we know, he had no chance of it becoming law.
Also on that day, a trade union known as the St Helens Branch of the Association of Railway Servants met in the George Hotel in St Helens.
Their chairman said some of their "masters" were sacking staff for the "most trivial offences".
One railwayman had been dismissed on the ground of drunkenness despite medical evidence being provided that his condition had not been caused by drink.
In another case the bosses had attempted to make a man pay a fine of £1 for "trifling" damage to goods.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th, Peter Sephton, the licensee of the Glassmakers Arms in Sutton, was charged with being drunk and disorderly on his own premises.
Sgt. John Bee told the court that he had been summoned to the pub and found Sephton beating his wife. The officer said she then told him a "pitiful story of ill-usage" by her husband.
However, the landlord’s solicitor, Thomas Swift, denied that his client had been drunk, claiming there had been nothing more than "some little excitement" on his part.
The Bench decided that the case would be dealt with by ordering Sephton to simply pay the costs of the hearing. I wonder what his wife thought of that?
This next case is a first for me. It's the very first occasion I've come across a prisoner convicted in a St Helens court who was ordered to pay his own train fare to prison! And he was a one-armed beggar, not a rich man.
PC Geddes had told the court that he had watched John Kay calling at various houses in Liverpool Road representing himself to be in an "extremely destitute and miserable condition".
After being given lots of coppers, Kay went into a pawnshop to exchange it for silver and when taken into custody was found to have 12s 4d in his possession.
The magistrates sentenced Kay to 14 days in prison for his begging, with the train fare to Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool – both his and his policeman escort – to be deducted from the cash.
Also in court was Joseph Fairhurst who was charged with assaulting his sister Sarah Smith at her Peasley Cross home. As was often the case, both sides told quite contrasting tales of what had occurred.
Sarah's version was that her brother had come into her home and had begun to "blackguard" her.
That appeared to be only a verbal assault. However, Fairhurst followed it up by putting his arms around his sister's neck and "half-strangling" her.
The brother's version was that his loving sister had struck him with a toasting fork and had also attempted to bash him with a poker.
Fairhurst then stated that his brother-in-law, Thomas Smith, a member of the local rifle volunteers, had attached a bayonet to his rifle and threatened to commit murder unless he left the house.
And as he was departing Fairhurst claimed his brother-in-law had struck him with his rifle butt.
Curiously, when Thomas Smith gave evidence, he said he "believed" he was the husband of the complainant. In the end the magistrates fined Fairhurst 10 shillings and costs.
Some good news for St Helens households this week was that the price of house coal was continuing to reduce. Coal could now be bought for 9d per cwt, a drop of one penny, or 1s 8d a ton.
The recently announced bids from seven builders to construct a new Town Hall had shocked some residents of St Helens.
The amounts ranged from £35,000 to £40,000, when around £20 - £25,000 had been expected.
There were fears of big rates' rises to pay for the new municipal centre and on the 27th the first public opposition manifested itself.
The recently formed East Sutton Ratepayers Association held a public meeting against the scheme.
The venue was the Griffin Inn in Peasley Cross Lane and there was a good attendance of protestors.
The meeting's chairman, James Harrison, condemned the scheme as too vast for the needs of St Helens.
He said he was in favour of erecting a new town hall, but thought that the strictest economy should be observed.
Others also spoke against the plan and eventually it was decided that each person that had the vote should be canvassed for their opinion.
If they found enough opposition a petition would be presented to the Town Council asking them not to proceed with the work at present, as the cost of building materials was too high.
This was only the start of a fight back against the new Town Hall.
Also on the 27th St Helens Council's Transport Committee went on a 15-mile tour of the town's main streets.
It had now become an annual custom for them to inspect all the roads in St Helens so that the councillors and aldermen could consider what improvements were needed.
I don't know when the annual tours ended, although they did last for around 100 years.
Perhaps the council inspection tours need reviving, although these days – with the huge number of streets in St Helens – it would take much more than a day to get round them all.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the court hearing that was described as a sham, the scalding to death of a two-year-old Sutton boy, the Church Street cobblers that hosted a dentist and the Sutton Oak postmaster's burglary.