150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 23 - 29 JUNE 1875
This week's many stories include the 44-year-old who was described as an elderly coal stealer, the lazy fellow that attacked his mother in a Greenbank pub, Griffin's new Portrait Club, the 11-year-old concertina thief, the window smasher in a police cell and the young man who got his girlfriend of two years pregnant but claimed he had only ever spoken to her once.
The St Helens Newspaper described Joseph Makin as an elderly man when he appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th. But because the magistrates committed him for trial at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions and the court records for those hearings are available online, I've been able to check Joseph's actual age. He was 44!
With such hard times many people looked a lot older than they were, although Joseph did himself no favours through regularly getting sent to Kirkdale Gaol. He had previously served five prison sentences including 18 months for coal stealing and he was now accused of doing exactly the same thing.
Makin had been engaged by farmer and cart owner Charlotte Heyes to take some coals from St Helens station to Greenall's brewery. He delivered two of the loads but the third lot he sold in Parr and kept the cash. Makin was charged with stealing 25 cwt of coal valued at 20 shillings and at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions was sentenced to 18 more months in prison.
When Edward Donoghue appeared in the Petty Sessions his own mother described him as a lazy fellow who would not work. Ann Donoghue kept the Brewers Arms in Sandfield Crescent in Greenbank and told the court that on the previous Monday afternoon Edward had wanted to help himself to some drink without paying for it. After his mother had refused him, he seized Ann by the neck and attempted to choke her and then struck his mother in the face. He was fined 20 shillings and costs.
Violence was never far away from Greenbank, the mainly Irish deprived district sandwiched between Liverpool Road and Canal Street. Mary Ratchford was in court to accuse Thomas Madden of assaulting her in Greenbank's High Street claiming that on the previous Saturday he had knocked her down and kicked her without provocation.
That might have been true for the actual assault but not, seemingly, for what had happened before. The defence told the court that Mary's sister had started the bother by throwing a large stone at Thomas which had knocked him down and then Mary had to be restrained from striking him with a half-brick.
And since the court summons was issued, Mary had twice visited Thomas’s sister saying she would drop the case for money. On the first occasion she wanted 12/6 and then on her second visit she increased her demand to 18/6. That did not go down well with the magistrates who chose to dismiss the case.
Photography was still pretty new and expensive with probably very few folk in St Helens owning a camera. However, you could have your picture taken at Griffins photography studio in Ormskirk Street. But such portraits were again not cheap with large photos costing two guineas – a fortnight's wages for many folk. And so G. W. Griffin – who styled himself as a "photographic artist" – was advertising his "Portrait Club" in the Newspaper on the 29th.
That simply meant that members could pay for their pictures at a shilling per week. Writing in the usual third person, his advert said: "Mr. Griffin wishes to direct particular attention to the opportunity now offered to heads of families, and others, of securing handsome Family Portraits on terms which place them within the reach of all classes. He need hardly say that the most perfect likenesses are guaranteed."
George William Griffin came to St Helens about 1860 and was the first professional photographer in the town. Griffins was also known for its furnishings shop at the top of Westfield Street and in 1911 Alfred Griffin opened the first purpose-built cinema in St Helens in Ormskirk Street, which in 1924 became the Scala.
Earlier I said the Newspaper had described a man of 44 as being elderly. In another case heard on the 28th Hugh Carter was described as "an old man" but census records suggest he was only 59. It was, though, another case in which the plaintiff had brought witnesses to court but did not check with them in advance as to what they had seen and what they would say.
Carter told the court that a briand then attacked him, with some of them kicking him in the head. William Houghton and Thomas Wilson were considered the worst of the offenders and had been summoned to appear before the Bench. But the three supposed witnesses to the assault that he called to give evidence all stated that they hadn't actually seen the incident. And so under the circumstances the magistrates dismissed the charge without the defence needing to put their case.
In another case Jane Baxter was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Water Street and breaking two windows in her cell at the police station after being locked up. Inspector Whiteside told the court that when he entered her cell the woman had denied breaking the windows and so he secretly kept watch on her. He said he saw Jane take off one of her clogs and use it to hammer at the windows. She was fined five shillings and costs.
It was very common, particularly on Saturday nights, for drunks to attempt to free the prisoners that the police were taking to their station at the Town Hall. David Appleton appeared in court charged with assaulting PC Kiernan with the intention of rescuing a prisoner from his custody.
The constable along with his detainee had been walking up Bridge Street at 11:20pm on the previous Saturday night when Appleton struck and kicked him and tried to get the other man free. But PC Kiernan soon had assistance from his colleagues and both men were safely got to the station. David Appleton was fined 20 shillings and costs for his intervention or, if in default, would have to serve 21 days in prison.
You have to feel sorry for the many girls in Victorian times that were ignorant of the ways of the world and were got pregnant by boys who not only refused to marry them but also attempted to dodge their responsibilities in paying maintenance. This is how the Newspaper described one such case:
"Joseph Carter, a young man, 18 years of age, was summoned to contribute to the support of the male illegitimate child of Jane Simm, aged 18, of which she alleged he was the father. Mr. Swift appeared for the complainant, and Mr. Paine for the defendant. The complainant resides with her mother in Havelock street and the defendant had been paying his addresses to her for upwards of two years.
"The evidence revealed a great amount of gross immorality, which the complainant narrated most unblushingly, but which we cannot repeat here. The gist of it seemed to be that both her and the defendant were in the habit of going to what are called “penny hops” every Saturday night, and it was after these that the familiarities took place, which led to the present proceedings.
"On the other hand the defendant denied the whole of the circumstances, in fact denied having ever spoken to her, except once, and that was about two years since. An order for 2s. 6d. per week, with the usual expenses was made."
And finally, Thomas Buckley had a lucky escape from being sent to prison for theft. The 11-year-old was accused of entering Alice Naylor's house in Liverpool Street and stealing a toy concertina. Thomas admitted the break-in but denied taking anything and, as the concertina had not been found, the magistrates decided to only fine the lad 10 shillings and costs which his father promised to pay.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Greenbank melee involving bricks and pokers, the Rainford poaching case, a strike at Pilks is averted, the crucifixion near Golborne and the house that was in a wretched state in which three children had nothing to lie on.
The St Helens Newspaper described Joseph Makin as an elderly man when he appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th. But because the magistrates committed him for trial at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions and the court records for those hearings are available online, I've been able to check Joseph's actual age. He was 44!
With such hard times many people looked a lot older than they were, although Joseph did himself no favours through regularly getting sent to Kirkdale Gaol. He had previously served five prison sentences including 18 months for coal stealing and he was now accused of doing exactly the same thing.
Makin had been engaged by farmer and cart owner Charlotte Heyes to take some coals from St Helens station to Greenall's brewery. He delivered two of the loads but the third lot he sold in Parr and kept the cash. Makin was charged with stealing 25 cwt of coal valued at 20 shillings and at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions was sentenced to 18 more months in prison.
When Edward Donoghue appeared in the Petty Sessions his own mother described him as a lazy fellow who would not work. Ann Donoghue kept the Brewers Arms in Sandfield Crescent in Greenbank and told the court that on the previous Monday afternoon Edward had wanted to help himself to some drink without paying for it. After his mother had refused him, he seized Ann by the neck and attempted to choke her and then struck his mother in the face. He was fined 20 shillings and costs.
Violence was never far away from Greenbank, the mainly Irish deprived district sandwiched between Liverpool Road and Canal Street. Mary Ratchford was in court to accuse Thomas Madden of assaulting her in Greenbank's High Street claiming that on the previous Saturday he had knocked her down and kicked her without provocation.
That might have been true for the actual assault but not, seemingly, for what had happened before. The defence told the court that Mary's sister had started the bother by throwing a large stone at Thomas which had knocked him down and then Mary had to be restrained from striking him with a half-brick.
And since the court summons was issued, Mary had twice visited Thomas’s sister saying she would drop the case for money. On the first occasion she wanted 12/6 and then on her second visit she increased her demand to 18/6. That did not go down well with the magistrates who chose to dismiss the case.
Photography was still pretty new and expensive with probably very few folk in St Helens owning a camera. However, you could have your picture taken at Griffins photography studio in Ormskirk Street. But such portraits were again not cheap with large photos costing two guineas – a fortnight's wages for many folk. And so G. W. Griffin – who styled himself as a "photographic artist" – was advertising his "Portrait Club" in the Newspaper on the 29th.
That simply meant that members could pay for their pictures at a shilling per week. Writing in the usual third person, his advert said: "Mr. Griffin wishes to direct particular attention to the opportunity now offered to heads of families, and others, of securing handsome Family Portraits on terms which place them within the reach of all classes. He need hardly say that the most perfect likenesses are guaranteed."
George William Griffin came to St Helens about 1860 and was the first professional photographer in the town. Griffins was also known for its furnishings shop at the top of Westfield Street and in 1911 Alfred Griffin opened the first purpose-built cinema in St Helens in Ormskirk Street, which in 1924 became the Scala.
Earlier I said the Newspaper had described a man of 44 as being elderly. In another case heard on the 28th Hugh Carter was described as "an old man" but census records suggest he was only 59. It was, though, another case in which the plaintiff had brought witnesses to court but did not check with them in advance as to what they had seen and what they would say.
Carter told the court that a briand then attacked him, with some of them kicking him in the head. William Houghton and Thomas Wilson were considered the worst of the offenders and had been summoned to appear before the Bench. But the three supposed witnesses to the assault that he called to give evidence all stated that they hadn't actually seen the incident. And so under the circumstances the magistrates dismissed the charge without the defence needing to put their case.
In another case Jane Baxter was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Water Street and breaking two windows in her cell at the police station after being locked up. Inspector Whiteside told the court that when he entered her cell the woman had denied breaking the windows and so he secretly kept watch on her. He said he saw Jane take off one of her clogs and use it to hammer at the windows. She was fined five shillings and costs.
It was very common, particularly on Saturday nights, for drunks to attempt to free the prisoners that the police were taking to their station at the Town Hall. David Appleton appeared in court charged with assaulting PC Kiernan with the intention of rescuing a prisoner from his custody.
You have to feel sorry for the many girls in Victorian times that were ignorant of the ways of the world and were got pregnant by boys who not only refused to marry them but also attempted to dodge their responsibilities in paying maintenance. This is how the Newspaper described one such case:
"Joseph Carter, a young man, 18 years of age, was summoned to contribute to the support of the male illegitimate child of Jane Simm, aged 18, of which she alleged he was the father. Mr. Swift appeared for the complainant, and Mr. Paine for the defendant. The complainant resides with her mother in Havelock street and the defendant had been paying his addresses to her for upwards of two years.
"The evidence revealed a great amount of gross immorality, which the complainant narrated most unblushingly, but which we cannot repeat here. The gist of it seemed to be that both her and the defendant were in the habit of going to what are called “penny hops” every Saturday night, and it was after these that the familiarities took place, which led to the present proceedings.
"On the other hand the defendant denied the whole of the circumstances, in fact denied having ever spoken to her, except once, and that was about two years since. An order for 2s. 6d. per week, with the usual expenses was made."
And finally, Thomas Buckley had a lucky escape from being sent to prison for theft. The 11-year-old was accused of entering Alice Naylor's house in Liverpool Street and stealing a toy concertina. Thomas admitted the break-in but denied taking anything and, as the concertina had not been found, the magistrates decided to only fine the lad 10 shillings and costs which his father promised to pay.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Greenbank melee involving bricks and pokers, the Rainford poaching case, a strike at Pilks is averted, the crucifixion near Golborne and the house that was in a wretched state in which three children had nothing to lie on.
This week's many stories include the 44-year-old who was described as an elderly coal stealer, the lazy fellow that attacked his mother in a Greenbank pub, Griffin's new Portrait Club, the 11-year-old concertina thief, the window smasher in a police cell and the young man who got his girlfriend of two years pregnant but claimed he had only ever spoken to her once.
The St Helens Newspaper described Joseph Makin as an elderly man when he appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th.
But because the magistrates committed him for trial at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions and the court records for those hearings are available online, I've been able to check Joseph's actual age. He was 44!
With such hard times many people looked a lot older than they were, although Joseph did himself no favours through regularly getting sent to Kirkdale Gaol.
He had previously served five prison sentences including 18 months for coal stealing and he was now accused of doing exactly the same thing.
Makin had been engaged by farmer and cart owner Charlotte Heyes to take some coals from St Helens station to Greenall's brewery.
He delivered two of the loads but the third lot he sold in Parr and kept the cash.
Makin was charged with stealing 25 cwt of coal valued at 20 shillings and at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions was sentenced to 18 more months in prison.
When Edward Donoghue appeared in the Petty Sessions his own mother described him as a lazy fellow who would not work.
Ann Donoghue kept the Brewers Arms in Sandfield Crescent in Greenbank and told the court that on the previous Monday afternoon Edward had wanted to help himself to some drink without paying for it.
After his mother had refused him, he seized Ann by the neck and attempted to choke her and then struck his mother in the face. He was fined 20 shillings and costs.
Violence was never far away from Greenbank, the mainly Irish deprived district sandwiched between Liverpool Road and Canal Street.
Mary Ratchford was in court to accuse Thomas Madden of assaulting her in Greenbank's High Street claiming that on the previous Saturday he had knocked her down and kicked her without provocation.
That might have been true for the actual assault but not, seemingly, for what had happened before.
The defence told the court that Mary's sister had started the bother by throwing a large stone at Thomas which had knocked him down and then Mary had to be restrained from striking him with a half-brick.
And since the court summons was issued, Mary had twice visited Thomas’s sister saying she would drop the case for money.
On the first occasion she wanted 12/6 and then on her second visit she increased her demand to 18/6.
That did not go down well with the magistrates who chose to dismiss the case.
Photography was still pretty new and expensive with probably very few folk in St Helens owning a camera.
However, you could have your picture taken at Griffins photography studio in Ormskirk Street.
But such portraits were again not cheap with large photos costing two guineas – a fortnight's wages for many folk.
And so G. W. Griffin – who styled himself as a "photographic artist" – was advertising his "Portrait Club" in the Newspaper on the 29th.
That simply meant that members could pay for their pictures at a shilling per week. Writing in the usual third person, his advert said:
"Mr. Griffin wishes to direct particular attention to the opportunity now offered to heads of families, and others, of securing handsome Family Portraits on terms which place them within the reach of all classes. He need hardly say that the most perfect likenesses are guaranteed."
George William Griffin came to St Helens about 1860 and was the first professional photographer in the town.
Griffins was also known for its furnishings shop at the top of Westfield Street and in 1911 Alfred Griffin opened the first purpose-built cinema in St Helens in Ormskirk Street, which in 1924 became the Scala.
Earlier I said the Newspaper had described a man of 44 as being elderly. In another case heard on the 28th Hugh Carter was described as "an old man" but census records suggest he was only 59.
It was, though, another case in which the plaintiff had brought witnesses to court but did not check with them in advance as to what they had seen and what they would say.
Carter told the court that a group of men had set their dogs on his donkeys in Liverpool Road and then attacked him, with some of them kicking him in the head.
William Houghton and Thomas Wilson were considered the worst of the offenders and had been summoned to appear before the Bench.
But the three supposed witnesses to the assault that he called to give evidence all stated that they hadn't actually seen the incident.
And so under the circumstances the magistrates dismissed the charge without the defence needing to put their case.
In another case Jane Baxter was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Water Street and breaking two windows in her cell at the police station after being locked up.
Inspector Whiteside told the court that when he entered her cell the woman had denied breaking the windows and so he secretly kept watch on her.
He said he saw Jane take off one of her clogs and use it to hammer at the windows. She was fined five shillings and costs.
It was very common, particularly on Saturday nights, for drunks to attempt to free the prisoners that the police were taking to their station at the Town Hall.
David Appleton appeared in court charged with assaulting PC Kiernan with the intention of rescuing a prisoner from his custody.
The constable along with his detainee had been walking up Bridge Street at 11:20pm on the previous Saturday night when Appleton struck and kicked him and tried to get the other man free.
But PC Kiernan soon had assistance from his colleagues and both men were safely got to the station.
David Appleton was fined 20 shillings and costs for his intervention or, if in default, would have to serve 21 days in prison.
You have to feel sorry for the many girls in Victorian times that were ignorant of the ways of the world and were got pregnant by boys who not only refused to marry them but also attempted to dodge their responsibilities in paying maintenance.
This is how the Newspaper described one such case:
"Joseph Carter, a young man, 18 years of age, was summoned to contribute to the support of the male illegitimate child of Jane Simm, aged 18, of which she alleged he was the father. Mr. Swift appeared for the complainant, and Mr. Paine for the defendant.
"The complainant resides with her mother in Havelock street and the defendant had been paying his addresses to her for upwards of two years.
"The evidence revealed a great amount of gross immorality, which the complainant narrated most unblushingly, but which we cannot repeat here.
"The gist of it seemed to be that both her and the defendant were in the habit of going to what are called “penny hops” every Saturday night, and it was after these that the familiarities took place, which led to the present proceedings.
"On the other hand the defendant denied the whole of the circumstances, in fact denied having ever spoken to her, except once, and that was about two years since. An order for 2s. 6d. per week, with the usual expenses was made."
Thomas Buckley had a lucky escape from being sent to prison for theft. The 11-year-old was accused of entering Alice Naylor's house in Liverpool Street and stealing a toy concertina.
Thomas admitted the break-in but denied taking anything and, as the concertina had not been found, the magistrates decided to only fine the lad 10 shillings and costs which his father promised to pay.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Greenbank melee involving bricks and pokers, the Rainford poaching case, a strike at Pilks is averted, the crucifixion near Golborne and the house that was in a wretched state in which three children had nothing to lie on.
The St Helens Newspaper described Joseph Makin as an elderly man when he appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th.
But because the magistrates committed him for trial at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions and the court records for those hearings are available online, I've been able to check Joseph's actual age. He was 44!
With such hard times many people looked a lot older than they were, although Joseph did himself no favours through regularly getting sent to Kirkdale Gaol.
He had previously served five prison sentences including 18 months for coal stealing and he was now accused of doing exactly the same thing.
Makin had been engaged by farmer and cart owner Charlotte Heyes to take some coals from St Helens station to Greenall's brewery.
He delivered two of the loads but the third lot he sold in Parr and kept the cash.
Makin was charged with stealing 25 cwt of coal valued at 20 shillings and at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions was sentenced to 18 more months in prison.
When Edward Donoghue appeared in the Petty Sessions his own mother described him as a lazy fellow who would not work.
Ann Donoghue kept the Brewers Arms in Sandfield Crescent in Greenbank and told the court that on the previous Monday afternoon Edward had wanted to help himself to some drink without paying for it.
After his mother had refused him, he seized Ann by the neck and attempted to choke her and then struck his mother in the face. He was fined 20 shillings and costs.
Violence was never far away from Greenbank, the mainly Irish deprived district sandwiched between Liverpool Road and Canal Street.
Mary Ratchford was in court to accuse Thomas Madden of assaulting her in Greenbank's High Street claiming that on the previous Saturday he had knocked her down and kicked her without provocation.
That might have been true for the actual assault but not, seemingly, for what had happened before.
The defence told the court that Mary's sister had started the bother by throwing a large stone at Thomas which had knocked him down and then Mary had to be restrained from striking him with a half-brick.
And since the court summons was issued, Mary had twice visited Thomas’s sister saying she would drop the case for money.
On the first occasion she wanted 12/6 and then on her second visit she increased her demand to 18/6.
That did not go down well with the magistrates who chose to dismiss the case.
Photography was still pretty new and expensive with probably very few folk in St Helens owning a camera.
However, you could have your picture taken at Griffins photography studio in Ormskirk Street.
But such portraits were again not cheap with large photos costing two guineas – a fortnight's wages for many folk.
And so G. W. Griffin – who styled himself as a "photographic artist" – was advertising his "Portrait Club" in the Newspaper on the 29th.
That simply meant that members could pay for their pictures at a shilling per week. Writing in the usual third person, his advert said:
"Mr. Griffin wishes to direct particular attention to the opportunity now offered to heads of families, and others, of securing handsome Family Portraits on terms which place them within the reach of all classes. He need hardly say that the most perfect likenesses are guaranteed."
George William Griffin came to St Helens about 1860 and was the first professional photographer in the town.
Griffins was also known for its furnishings shop at the top of Westfield Street and in 1911 Alfred Griffin opened the first purpose-built cinema in St Helens in Ormskirk Street, which in 1924 became the Scala.
Earlier I said the Newspaper had described a man of 44 as being elderly. In another case heard on the 28th Hugh Carter was described as "an old man" but census records suggest he was only 59.
It was, though, another case in which the plaintiff had brought witnesses to court but did not check with them in advance as to what they had seen and what they would say.
Carter told the court that a group of men had set their dogs on his donkeys in Liverpool Road and then attacked him, with some of them kicking him in the head.
William Houghton and Thomas Wilson were considered the worst of the offenders and had been summoned to appear before the Bench.
But the three supposed witnesses to the assault that he called to give evidence all stated that they hadn't actually seen the incident.
And so under the circumstances the magistrates dismissed the charge without the defence needing to put their case.
In another case Jane Baxter was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Water Street and breaking two windows in her cell at the police station after being locked up.
Inspector Whiteside told the court that when he entered her cell the woman had denied breaking the windows and so he secretly kept watch on her.
He said he saw Jane take off one of her clogs and use it to hammer at the windows. She was fined five shillings and costs.
It was very common, particularly on Saturday nights, for drunks to attempt to free the prisoners that the police were taking to their station at the Town Hall.
David Appleton appeared in court charged with assaulting PC Kiernan with the intention of rescuing a prisoner from his custody.
But PC Kiernan soon had assistance from his colleagues and both men were safely got to the station.
David Appleton was fined 20 shillings and costs for his intervention or, if in default, would have to serve 21 days in prison.
You have to feel sorry for the many girls in Victorian times that were ignorant of the ways of the world and were got pregnant by boys who not only refused to marry them but also attempted to dodge their responsibilities in paying maintenance.
This is how the Newspaper described one such case:
"Joseph Carter, a young man, 18 years of age, was summoned to contribute to the support of the male illegitimate child of Jane Simm, aged 18, of which she alleged he was the father. Mr. Swift appeared for the complainant, and Mr. Paine for the defendant.
"The complainant resides with her mother in Havelock street and the defendant had been paying his addresses to her for upwards of two years.
"The evidence revealed a great amount of gross immorality, which the complainant narrated most unblushingly, but which we cannot repeat here.
"The gist of it seemed to be that both her and the defendant were in the habit of going to what are called “penny hops” every Saturday night, and it was after these that the familiarities took place, which led to the present proceedings.
"On the other hand the defendant denied the whole of the circumstances, in fact denied having ever spoken to her, except once, and that was about two years since. An order for 2s. 6d. per week, with the usual expenses was made."
Thomas Buckley had a lucky escape from being sent to prison for theft. The 11-year-old was accused of entering Alice Naylor's house in Liverpool Street and stealing a toy concertina.
Thomas admitted the break-in but denied taking anything and, as the concertina had not been found, the magistrates decided to only fine the lad 10 shillings and costs which his father promised to pay.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Greenbank melee involving bricks and pokers, the Rainford poaching case, a strike at Pilks is averted, the crucifixion near Golborne and the house that was in a wretched state in which three children had nothing to lie on.