150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (24th - 30th June 1869)
This week's stories include the runaway Prescot pony, the Hall Street publican's wife who received a black eye from her idle stepson, the Thatto Heath cart wheel suicide, the five bob thrashing in Eccleston Road and the two nosy women who spent a night watching a house in Bridge Street on the look out for infidelity.
It didn't take much to startle a nervous horse and turn it into a runaway. Usually sudden sounds were the cause – such as last December when Knowsley Brass Band struck up on the street, frightening the life out of a horse that was trotting along minding its own business! However on the 24th on New Road in Prescot it was the sight of a kite being flown by a little boy that upset a small pony.
The animal was pulling a conveyance driven by clothier James Hatchman from Church Street in St Helens and which was also carrying his brother and daughter. Upon seeing the kite the horse suddenly reared up on its hind legs and then bolted at great speed in the direction of Warrington Road.
When the pony got opposite the Red Lion it ran straight into the window of a cottage, smashing the glass and injuring its chest. One of the men was thrown out and suffered a shoulder injury. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "It would be well if many of the games now permitted in the streets were strictly prohibited. Kite flying, cricket, kit-cat and other games cannot be allowed in the public street without danger, especially to people passing in conveyances."
In St Helens Police Court on the 24th John Naylor was charged with assaulting his stepmother – seemingly in their Hall Street public house. Martha Naylor told the court that "great trouble was suffered through the idle and unruly habits" of her stepson. She said John wanted to "ill use the servant" and upon her stopping him from doing so, he gave her a black eye. No defence was offered and John Naylor was ordered to enter into bail to keep the peace for two months.
The Wigan Observer on the 26th wrote about an auction of the effects of Rainford blacksmith Robert Lawton, who as Parochial Clerk had officiated at over 10,000 marriages, baptisms and burials:
"Somewhat back from the village street of the straggling hamlet of Rainford stands an old fashioned cottage, venerable outside, quaint and antique within, where for 83 years resided the late Mr. Robert Lawton, parish clerk and sexton for 62 years at Rainford Church.
"The decease of one who had for so long filled so prominent a post in the village was an event which excited more than ordinary interest, and the announcement of the sale of his effects under the hammer of Mr. Jeffryes provoked an amount of attention which the intrinsic value of the goods would never of itself have excited.
"Last Monday afternoon was fixed for the sale, and a bright day and Mr. Jeffryes's ready tongue attracted to the spot a large number of purchasers anxious to possess some memorial of one who had officiated at their baptism, perhaps at their marriage, and had consigned many of their relatives to the tomb. All the village was represented, and the sale was of course a success."
One of the advantages of being in the St Helens rifle volunteers (47th LRV) was being able to win some cash in their regular contests held on their St Helens Junction rifle range. On the 26th sixty competitors shot at targets set at distances of 500 and 600 yards for prizes ranging from £1 to £10. This was an "all comers" event and volunteers from other towns also took part, however Sergeant Simpson from St Helens won £5, the equivalent of two to three weeks' wages.
The St Helens Police Court sat on the 26th and Maria Callaghan returned to court charged with being drunk and asleep in the street. The woman begged to be let off, having only returned to St Helens from Kirkdale prison a few hours before her arrest. The Wigan Observer had written in March that the woman was "well known and troublesome to the police" and had a history of getting drunk and breaching the peace.
Maria was sent back to the Liverpool prison for two more weeks but said she was worried about the reception she would receive from Captain Gibbs, the governor of the gaol. She said she was concerned that he would get into a bad temper at "finding her so frequently forced upon his hospitality". Maria also criticised the hard heartedness of the police who would not allow her a single day of fresh air after her long incarceration.
A tramp called Martin Smith was also in court charged with begging in Rainford on the previous day. In fact the offence had taken place at the Red Cat in Crank and when arrested the officer noticed that the man had something bulky hidden under his coat. Upon being searched Smith was found to have two shawls, a handkerchief and an apron in a bundle.
Initially he claimed to have bought the items in Wigan but then said he had found them on the roadside. Being convicted of begging usually meant a short prison sentence but the stealing of so-called wearing apparel was considered more serious. So the man was remanded to a court in Ormskirk where it was proved that Smith had stolen the items from his landlady and was sentenced to three months in prison with hard labour.
On the 28th William Cross from Springfield Row (as the road was then known) told a fellow lodger that he must die that day. Two of his brothers kept watch on him and one removed a razor that the man had obtained. Cross then walked to the new Greengate Colliery in Elephant Lane, followed by his brothers, who prevented him from throwing himself down a shaft. However the man – that the Wigan Observer said had recently exhibited symptoms of "mental hallucination" – was determined to die.
As they were returning from the colliery, a coal cart came along the lane and Moss threw himself in front of a wheel. This passed over his head, crushing it so severely that death was almost immediate. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "The circumstances of the accident, occurring in the sight and within a few feet of his relatives, made it all the more distressing and harrowing to their feelings, and much commiseration is felt for them."
The penalty for giving someone a thrashing was 5 shillings in 1869. At least that was the case when Hugh Brown summoned Thomas Lunt to the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 28th. Brown had been trying to court Lunt's sister but he and his two brothers did not approve of the man "paying his addresses", as the St Helens Newspaper put it. So the threesome set upon Brown in Eccleston Road and gave him a thrashing – as it was described in court – resulting in Thomas Lunt being five bob worse off.
John Gaskell was summoned to court after deserting his wife and two children and leaving them chargeable to the Prescot Union. That means they either had to go into Whiston Workhouse or be supported in their own home. If it had been the latter, it would have been little money for a short period of time.
Mrs Gaskell said she had been married seven years and on May 23rd her husband had walked out on her and since then had made no offer of support. The man was employed at a colliery earning 24 shillings a week and in defence charged his wife with infidelity and called two women called Mary Roughley and Jane Potter to give evidence. The two nosy women said they had seen Mrs Gaskell go into the house of a man in Bridge Street Court with another man and woman. The pair then decided to keep watch on the house until 6am to see when Mrs Gaskell came out. The magistrates appeared to think this was irrelevant and made an order for 5 shillings per week maintenance.
Allowing your horse to take you home while you slept in your cart – usually after visiting a beerhouse – was quite a common crime. Edward Rotheram and Thomas Perkin were both fined 2s 6d for separate offences in Sutton and Bold, respectively.
A meeting of gardeners employed by prominent individuals was held on the 28th to discuss holding a St Helens Flower Show later this year. On the next day a boy named Skelly, aged about six, was playing with some friends in a field in Windle belonging to a Mr. Birchall.
They were seen by a youth who was acting as caretaker and he shouted and ran towards the lads to frighten them off the field. They immediately ran away towards a road where there was a deep brook between it and the field. They all got safely over except for Skelly, who fell into the brook and was drowned before help could be obtained.
The Independent Chapel of Ormskirk Street held the annual excursion of their Sunday School on the 29th. Not that the 350 kids journeyed very far, as they simply caught the train to Rainford and walked to Rainford Hall in Crank Road where merchant Alexander McKibbin lived.
They probably arrived at Crank Station but for some reason the St Helens Newspaper always referred to Crank as Rainford. At the Hall the "gardens and pleasure grounds were thrown open for the inspection of the excursionists" and the children were then taken to a field where they had tea and "amused themselves until evening."
Journeying much further afield on the 30th were 800 children, teachers, family and friends connected with St Thomas's Sunday School. A special train took the party from the small St Helens Station in Shaw Street to Buxton for their annual excursion. The fine weather enhanced the day for the youngsters who would rarely venture outside of St Helens.
On the same day the drum and fife band of Pilkington's Glassworks led 250 children from the Prescot Congregational Sunday School to the grounds of a large house called 'The Hazles'. That was the home of Sir Thomas Birch, the former High Sheriff of Lancashire and ex-MP for Liverpool. The 78-year-old was a bachelor but still needed nine servants, according to the 1871 census.
In the grounds the children enjoyed their annual treat, where they played games such as football and cricket. Around four o’clock the children enjoyed a "capital tea", to which the St Helens Newspaper said: "ample justice was done". The event ended about 8pm when hymns were sung and nuts and cakes were distributed and the Pilkington's band playing lively tunes marched the youngsters back into Prescot.
Next week's stories will include the prevalence of pocket-picking in St Helens, an allegation of an illegal Eccleston road toll, the Sutton boy taught the "doom of liars", a "pretty team" of cricket cowards from Cowley Hill, the no show Sutton Board members, a "very noisy scene" at Whiston Workhouse and an assault with a dolly stick.
It didn't take much to startle a nervous horse and turn it into a runaway. Usually sudden sounds were the cause – such as last December when Knowsley Brass Band struck up on the street, frightening the life out of a horse that was trotting along minding its own business! However on the 24th on New Road in Prescot it was the sight of a kite being flown by a little boy that upset a small pony.
The animal was pulling a conveyance driven by clothier James Hatchman from Church Street in St Helens and which was also carrying his brother and daughter. Upon seeing the kite the horse suddenly reared up on its hind legs and then bolted at great speed in the direction of Warrington Road.
When the pony got opposite the Red Lion it ran straight into the window of a cottage, smashing the glass and injuring its chest. One of the men was thrown out and suffered a shoulder injury. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "It would be well if many of the games now permitted in the streets were strictly prohibited. Kite flying, cricket, kit-cat and other games cannot be allowed in the public street without danger, especially to people passing in conveyances."
In St Helens Police Court on the 24th John Naylor was charged with assaulting his stepmother – seemingly in their Hall Street public house. Martha Naylor told the court that "great trouble was suffered through the idle and unruly habits" of her stepson. She said John wanted to "ill use the servant" and upon her stopping him from doing so, he gave her a black eye. No defence was offered and John Naylor was ordered to enter into bail to keep the peace for two months.
The Wigan Observer on the 26th wrote about an auction of the effects of Rainford blacksmith Robert Lawton, who as Parochial Clerk had officiated at over 10,000 marriages, baptisms and burials:
"Somewhat back from the village street of the straggling hamlet of Rainford stands an old fashioned cottage, venerable outside, quaint and antique within, where for 83 years resided the late Mr. Robert Lawton, parish clerk and sexton for 62 years at Rainford Church.
"The decease of one who had for so long filled so prominent a post in the village was an event which excited more than ordinary interest, and the announcement of the sale of his effects under the hammer of Mr. Jeffryes provoked an amount of attention which the intrinsic value of the goods would never of itself have excited.
"Last Monday afternoon was fixed for the sale, and a bright day and Mr. Jeffryes's ready tongue attracted to the spot a large number of purchasers anxious to possess some memorial of one who had officiated at their baptism, perhaps at their marriage, and had consigned many of their relatives to the tomb. All the village was represented, and the sale was of course a success."
One of the advantages of being in the St Helens rifle volunteers (47th LRV) was being able to win some cash in their regular contests held on their St Helens Junction rifle range. On the 26th sixty competitors shot at targets set at distances of 500 and 600 yards for prizes ranging from £1 to £10. This was an "all comers" event and volunteers from other towns also took part, however Sergeant Simpson from St Helens won £5, the equivalent of two to three weeks' wages.
The St Helens Police Court sat on the 26th and Maria Callaghan returned to court charged with being drunk and asleep in the street. The woman begged to be let off, having only returned to St Helens from Kirkdale prison a few hours before her arrest. The Wigan Observer had written in March that the woman was "well known and troublesome to the police" and had a history of getting drunk and breaching the peace.
Maria was sent back to the Liverpool prison for two more weeks but said she was worried about the reception she would receive from Captain Gibbs, the governor of the gaol. She said she was concerned that he would get into a bad temper at "finding her so frequently forced upon his hospitality". Maria also criticised the hard heartedness of the police who would not allow her a single day of fresh air after her long incarceration.
A tramp called Martin Smith was also in court charged with begging in Rainford on the previous day. In fact the offence had taken place at the Red Cat in Crank and when arrested the officer noticed that the man had something bulky hidden under his coat. Upon being searched Smith was found to have two shawls, a handkerchief and an apron in a bundle.
Initially he claimed to have bought the items in Wigan but then said he had found them on the roadside. Being convicted of begging usually meant a short prison sentence but the stealing of so-called wearing apparel was considered more serious. So the man was remanded to a court in Ormskirk where it was proved that Smith had stolen the items from his landlady and was sentenced to three months in prison with hard labour.
On the 28th William Cross from Springfield Row (as the road was then known) told a fellow lodger that he must die that day. Two of his brothers kept watch on him and one removed a razor that the man had obtained. Cross then walked to the new Greengate Colliery in Elephant Lane, followed by his brothers, who prevented him from throwing himself down a shaft. However the man – that the Wigan Observer said had recently exhibited symptoms of "mental hallucination" – was determined to die.
As they were returning from the colliery, a coal cart came along the lane and Moss threw himself in front of a wheel. This passed over his head, crushing it so severely that death was almost immediate. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "The circumstances of the accident, occurring in the sight and within a few feet of his relatives, made it all the more distressing and harrowing to their feelings, and much commiseration is felt for them."
The penalty for giving someone a thrashing was 5 shillings in 1869. At least that was the case when Hugh Brown summoned Thomas Lunt to the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 28th. Brown had been trying to court Lunt's sister but he and his two brothers did not approve of the man "paying his addresses", as the St Helens Newspaper put it. So the threesome set upon Brown in Eccleston Road and gave him a thrashing – as it was described in court – resulting in Thomas Lunt being five bob worse off.
John Gaskell was summoned to court after deserting his wife and two children and leaving them chargeable to the Prescot Union. That means they either had to go into Whiston Workhouse or be supported in their own home. If it had been the latter, it would have been little money for a short period of time.
Mrs Gaskell said she had been married seven years and on May 23rd her husband had walked out on her and since then had made no offer of support. The man was employed at a colliery earning 24 shillings a week and in defence charged his wife with infidelity and called two women called Mary Roughley and Jane Potter to give evidence. The two nosy women said they had seen Mrs Gaskell go into the house of a man in Bridge Street Court with another man and woman. The pair then decided to keep watch on the house until 6am to see when Mrs Gaskell came out. The magistrates appeared to think this was irrelevant and made an order for 5 shillings per week maintenance.
Allowing your horse to take you home while you slept in your cart – usually after visiting a beerhouse – was quite a common crime. Edward Rotheram and Thomas Perkin were both fined 2s 6d for separate offences in Sutton and Bold, respectively.
A meeting of gardeners employed by prominent individuals was held on the 28th to discuss holding a St Helens Flower Show later this year. On the next day a boy named Skelly, aged about six, was playing with some friends in a field in Windle belonging to a Mr. Birchall.
They were seen by a youth who was acting as caretaker and he shouted and ran towards the lads to frighten them off the field. They immediately ran away towards a road where there was a deep brook between it and the field. They all got safely over except for Skelly, who fell into the brook and was drowned before help could be obtained.
They probably arrived at Crank Station but for some reason the St Helens Newspaper always referred to Crank as Rainford. At the Hall the "gardens and pleasure grounds were thrown open for the inspection of the excursionists" and the children were then taken to a field where they had tea and "amused themselves until evening."
Journeying much further afield on the 30th were 800 children, teachers, family and friends connected with St Thomas's Sunday School. A special train took the party from the small St Helens Station in Shaw Street to Buxton for their annual excursion. The fine weather enhanced the day for the youngsters who would rarely venture outside of St Helens.
On the same day the drum and fife band of Pilkington's Glassworks led 250 children from the Prescot Congregational Sunday School to the grounds of a large house called 'The Hazles'. That was the home of Sir Thomas Birch, the former High Sheriff of Lancashire and ex-MP for Liverpool. The 78-year-old was a bachelor but still needed nine servants, according to the 1871 census.
In the grounds the children enjoyed their annual treat, where they played games such as football and cricket. Around four o’clock the children enjoyed a "capital tea", to which the St Helens Newspaper said: "ample justice was done". The event ended about 8pm when hymns were sung and nuts and cakes were distributed and the Pilkington's band playing lively tunes marched the youngsters back into Prescot.
Next week's stories will include the prevalence of pocket-picking in St Helens, an allegation of an illegal Eccleston road toll, the Sutton boy taught the "doom of liars", a "pretty team" of cricket cowards from Cowley Hill, the no show Sutton Board members, a "very noisy scene" at Whiston Workhouse and an assault with a dolly stick.