150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (25th - 31st OCTOBER 1871)
This week's stories include the smallpox epidemic in Greenbank, concern over the cost of the proposed new St Helens town hall, a plea from a Haydock miner over a blacklisting, a call for a miners oraphanage in St Helens and a dispute over a pigeon race is heard in St Helens County Court.
"Slender's John" was the nickname of John Unsworth from Billinge who on the 27th was summoned to appear before the county magistrates at Wigan to face a charge of "trespassing in pursuit of game on land at Billinge-Higher-End". The Wigan Observer wrote: "Police-sergeant Bennett gave the defendant, who did not appear, the character of a notorious poacher, and a list of thirteen convictions recorded against him was read to the bench. Defendant was fined 40s. and costs; in default two months' imprisonment."
Although the many mining disasters of the last few years had brought much sympathy and fundraising for the bereaved, there was far less concern for those that died in everyday accidents – such as underground roof falls and the like. The Wigan Observer also published this letter about the blacklisting of a Haydock miner after making that point at a meeting:
"Will you kindly allow me a small space in your paper to say a few words in regard to the Haydock permanent fund for the widows and orphans? On the 26th of September last there was a public meeting, convened by placard inviting all working men to attend, to subscribe to the accident fund for the sufferers by the late explosion at the Moss Pits [at Ince].
"The meeting was pretty well attended, and at that meeting one man gave his opinion that the meeting had been convened in a proper manner, which did credit to the officials of Haydock Colliery; but he said he did not approve of subscribing money for the relief of widows and orphans whose husbands and fathers had lost their lives by explosions, and not to those widows and orphans who lost their support through falls of coal and other accidents in mines, which are too numerous to mention.
"For at that time as now there were several widows void of support in Haydock who have lost their bread-winners, and cannot get aid from the fund. The man said if the sympathy of the men was wanted they must begin and form a fund to support all, and that man spoke in such a manner that no one could actually say a word against the subject he had introduced. Since that time that man has been taken undue advantage of, and when I saw him last he told me he could not get a place of work anywhere, and he believed he would have to leave the country.
"Now I have known that man for some 14 years, and I do not think there is a man in all Haydock to whom he ever did a wrong action, but he is a sensible, steady, hard working man. For this last four years and more that man has not taken any drink. Fellow working men, he has done justice to us, and as one good turn deserves another let us not let him go from amongst us, but show the officials that we can honour one whom they despise by subscribing for his wages, or otherwise stop working until he is taken on again, for, in my opinion, it is the extremist tyranny ever shown in Haydock. I beg to subscribe myself – A HAYDOCK MINER."
On the 29th the London newspaper The Era – which featured provincial entertainment listings – featured this advert from an acrobat: "SOMERFIELD – the Acme of Quickness and Grace, just concluded fourth successful engagement at Lyceum Theatre, Stafford; now appearing at THEATRE ROYAL, EARLESTOWN. Curtains Nightly. Liverpool to follow. At liberty, November 5th, in the following acts viz:- Flying Rings, Aerial Bar, and Spiral Descent."
A special meeting of St Helens Town Council was held on the 30th in order to wind up the business of the last municipal year. And there were some very revealing items… The minutes of the Sanitary Committee disclosed that Greenbank – the poor, mainly Irish district around Liverpool Road – was plagued by smallpox. There were five or six deaths every week and all victims of the deadly disease were being asked to become patients at the workhouse hospital. However, some were refusing to leave their homes and seemingly could not be forced.
Ald. McNicoll, Chairman of the Sanitary Committee, said: "It [smallpox] first appeared about six months ago, in sporadic cases, about Sutton and Gerard’s Bridge, and more recently it broke out in an epidemic form in Greenbank, where the people had neglected the great precaution of vaccination."
In reality there was little treatment available at Whiston – but by isolating patients there they would be protecting their families and others in the community. The minutes stated the measures to control smallpox in Greenbank including distributing disinfectant amongst residents and thoroughly fumigating the clothes of the sick. The Chairman of the Sanitary Committee, Alderman McNicholl, told the meeting that measles was also causing many deaths in St Helens, as "the disease raged in a sort of epidemic form".
The Town Council also discussed the cost of the proposed new Town Hall in what was then Cotham Street. This was to replace the original municipal building in New Market Place that had been badly damaged by fire. There was concern over the estimated budget of £20,000, with Alderman John Marsh arguing that it was not too much to spend "when the borough was taxed with almost unexampled lightness". That's a fancy way of saying the St Helens' rates were not high and so increasing them slightly to pay for the new building would still keep them on the low side. And the police would occupy some of the Town Hall and through paying rent would generate annual income.
However, Councillor Joseph Greenough – a big landowner in the Parr district – thought £20,000 to be excessive, particularly when "enormous expenditure" was likely to be incurred in undertaking sewage works. Vested interests worried about personal rate increases had for some years held back the development of St Helens. Councillor Johnson supported Greenough and their motion to adjourn the question of the cost was carried by 8 votes to 6.
It was bad enough having smallpox and measles epidemics in St Helens – but cholera was also now on its doorstep. That was after a female tramp that died in Warrington on the 30th was diagnosed as suffering from the dreaded disease. Cholera was believed to have arrived in London in August after spreading from mainland Europe. In response Alderman Hardwick of St Helens council had called for "the most rigorous sanitary precautions in anticipation of the approach of cholera." However, you cannot change poor practice overnight and it seemed to be only a matter of time before it struck St Helens.
I mentioned in September how the St Helens County Court in East Street had over 400 cases scheduled to deal with on one day. I expect some cases were adjourned and not actually heard on that day – but justice was in the 1870s dispensed at amazing speed. People sued each other for all sorts of silly things which, when one considers the costs involved, barely seemed worth their while. In the case of Travis vs. Foller on the 31st it was for the sum of just £2. That was the amount of money lodged with the latter as the stakeholder and referee of a pigeon race.
There was some dispute over the winning pigeon but Travis was convinced he had won and wanted his winnings – but Foller refused him. However, gambling was illegal and if the race was shown to have been effectively a bet, it was null and void in the eyes of the law. As the court heard that the two competing pigeon owners had equally staked £1, the judge ruled it to have been an unlawful game and so dismissed the action.
In the St Helens Newspaper's Tuesday edition on the 31st, there was an advert for 'Lett's Patent Ink-Supplying Penholder'. Available from Dromgooles in Hardshaw Street and Liverpool Road for fourpence, buyers were assured that one dip of ink in the penholder (which was "superior to any other contrivance of a similar nature") was good for writing four letters – four short letters I should imagine!
There were seventeen disasters within the Lancashire coalfield during the 1870s – with the majority of them gas explosions – creating a huge number of bereaved families. And, as stated earlier in this article, there was an almost daily death toll from ordinary accidents. The Newspaper also contained a letter calling for the creation of a miners' orphanage in St Helens – after the foundation stone for an institution caring for the orphans of Liverpool seamen had been laid. The anonymous writer said such a place could provide the "succour and education of the destitute and fatherless off-spring of the poor fellows who daily risk their lives in the bowels of the earth, and who at any moment may be taken away from their families by some dreadful explosion."
And finally, the US civil war had only ended six years earlier and a troupe of freed slaves had spent the past 12 months performing a minstrel show in Liverpool. This week the Liverpool Daily Post published an article describing their anniversary performance, which was a charity concert in aid of the new seamen's orphanage and promoted by two Liverpool MPs and Robertson Gladstone. The latter was the brother of William Gladstone and was described as having a special interest in sailors – language that might have another interpretation today:
"Mr. Sam Hague's company of negro minstrels have just completed a twelve months' occupancy of St. James's-hall [in Lime Street], and the anniversary of their opening performance was celebrated yesterday evening. With commendable liberality on the part of the proprietor, the entertainment was specially prepared on behalf of the Seamen's Orphan Asylum, and was under the patronage of two of the borough members (Messrs. Graves and Rathbone), and Mr. Robertson Gladstone, whose interest in the sailor is well known. The house was literally crowded from gallery to stage, the hall being taxed to its utmost capacity.
"The programme included three new ballads peculiarly adapted for the occasion – “God Bless the Sailor Orphan,” “Lost at Sea,” and “Out on the Waters.” The first was sung by Mr. A. Brennir and was enthusiastically encored. To Mr. Beaumont Read was entrusted the other two, the rendering of which elicited rounds of genuine applause from his listeners, a considerable proportion of whom were sailors. The other items in the programme were equally appreciated.
"Among the most deserving were a piano-forte fantasia, by Mr. O. Luca; a characteristic negro song, by Mr. G. Washington; an eccentric negro dance, by Neil Solomon; and an unusually laughable farce, “Sublime and Ridiculous,” in which Harry Leslie, Billy Richardson, and Billy Pemberton, the three principal comedians of the troupe, appeared. The receipts for admission amounted to £50 2s 6d, the whole of which, without any deductions, was handed over last night to the treasurer of the institution for whose benefit the entertainment was given."
Next week's stories will include the St Helens miners demand for more pay, the Gerards Bridge woman who set herself on fire with a candle and what might well have been the last corrupt council election takes place in St Helens.
"Slender's John" was the nickname of John Unsworth from Billinge who on the 27th was summoned to appear before the county magistrates at Wigan to face a charge of "trespassing in pursuit of game on land at Billinge-Higher-End". The Wigan Observer wrote: "Police-sergeant Bennett gave the defendant, who did not appear, the character of a notorious poacher, and a list of thirteen convictions recorded against him was read to the bench. Defendant was fined 40s. and costs; in default two months' imprisonment."
Although the many mining disasters of the last few years had brought much sympathy and fundraising for the bereaved, there was far less concern for those that died in everyday accidents – such as underground roof falls and the like. The Wigan Observer also published this letter about the blacklisting of a Haydock miner after making that point at a meeting:
"Will you kindly allow me a small space in your paper to say a few words in regard to the Haydock permanent fund for the widows and orphans? On the 26th of September last there was a public meeting, convened by placard inviting all working men to attend, to subscribe to the accident fund for the sufferers by the late explosion at the Moss Pits [at Ince].
"The meeting was pretty well attended, and at that meeting one man gave his opinion that the meeting had been convened in a proper manner, which did credit to the officials of Haydock Colliery; but he said he did not approve of subscribing money for the relief of widows and orphans whose husbands and fathers had lost their lives by explosions, and not to those widows and orphans who lost their support through falls of coal and other accidents in mines, which are too numerous to mention.
"For at that time as now there were several widows void of support in Haydock who have lost their bread-winners, and cannot get aid from the fund. The man said if the sympathy of the men was wanted they must begin and form a fund to support all, and that man spoke in such a manner that no one could actually say a word against the subject he had introduced. Since that time that man has been taken undue advantage of, and when I saw him last he told me he could not get a place of work anywhere, and he believed he would have to leave the country.
"Now I have known that man for some 14 years, and I do not think there is a man in all Haydock to whom he ever did a wrong action, but he is a sensible, steady, hard working man. For this last four years and more that man has not taken any drink. Fellow working men, he has done justice to us, and as one good turn deserves another let us not let him go from amongst us, but show the officials that we can honour one whom they despise by subscribing for his wages, or otherwise stop working until he is taken on again, for, in my opinion, it is the extremist tyranny ever shown in Haydock. I beg to subscribe myself – A HAYDOCK MINER."
On the 29th the London newspaper The Era – which featured provincial entertainment listings – featured this advert from an acrobat: "SOMERFIELD – the Acme of Quickness and Grace, just concluded fourth successful engagement at Lyceum Theatre, Stafford; now appearing at THEATRE ROYAL, EARLESTOWN. Curtains Nightly. Liverpool to follow. At liberty, November 5th, in the following acts viz:- Flying Rings, Aerial Bar, and Spiral Descent."
A special meeting of St Helens Town Council was held on the 30th in order to wind up the business of the last municipal year. And there were some very revealing items… The minutes of the Sanitary Committee disclosed that Greenbank – the poor, mainly Irish district around Liverpool Road – was plagued by smallpox. There were five or six deaths every week and all victims of the deadly disease were being asked to become patients at the workhouse hospital. However, some were refusing to leave their homes and seemingly could not be forced.
Ald. McNicoll, Chairman of the Sanitary Committee, said: "It [smallpox] first appeared about six months ago, in sporadic cases, about Sutton and Gerard’s Bridge, and more recently it broke out in an epidemic form in Greenbank, where the people had neglected the great precaution of vaccination."
In reality there was little treatment available at Whiston – but by isolating patients there they would be protecting their families and others in the community. The minutes stated the measures to control smallpox in Greenbank including distributing disinfectant amongst residents and thoroughly fumigating the clothes of the sick. The Chairman of the Sanitary Committee, Alderman McNicholl, told the meeting that measles was also causing many deaths in St Helens, as "the disease raged in a sort of epidemic form".
The Town Council also discussed the cost of the proposed new Town Hall in what was then Cotham Street. This was to replace the original municipal building in New Market Place that had been badly damaged by fire. There was concern over the estimated budget of £20,000, with Alderman John Marsh arguing that it was not too much to spend "when the borough was taxed with almost unexampled lightness". That's a fancy way of saying the St Helens' rates were not high and so increasing them slightly to pay for the new building would still keep them on the low side. And the police would occupy some of the Town Hall and through paying rent would generate annual income.
However, Councillor Joseph Greenough – a big landowner in the Parr district – thought £20,000 to be excessive, particularly when "enormous expenditure" was likely to be incurred in undertaking sewage works. Vested interests worried about personal rate increases had for some years held back the development of St Helens. Councillor Johnson supported Greenough and their motion to adjourn the question of the cost was carried by 8 votes to 6.
It was bad enough having smallpox and measles epidemics in St Helens – but cholera was also now on its doorstep. That was after a female tramp that died in Warrington on the 30th was diagnosed as suffering from the dreaded disease. Cholera was believed to have arrived in London in August after spreading from mainland Europe. In response Alderman Hardwick of St Helens council had called for "the most rigorous sanitary precautions in anticipation of the approach of cholera." However, you cannot change poor practice overnight and it seemed to be only a matter of time before it struck St Helens.
I mentioned in September how the St Helens County Court in East Street had over 400 cases scheduled to deal with on one day. I expect some cases were adjourned and not actually heard on that day – but justice was in the 1870s dispensed at amazing speed. People sued each other for all sorts of silly things which, when one considers the costs involved, barely seemed worth their while. In the case of Travis vs. Foller on the 31st it was for the sum of just £2. That was the amount of money lodged with the latter as the stakeholder and referee of a pigeon race.
There was some dispute over the winning pigeon but Travis was convinced he had won and wanted his winnings – but Foller refused him. However, gambling was illegal and if the race was shown to have been effectively a bet, it was null and void in the eyes of the law. As the court heard that the two competing pigeon owners had equally staked £1, the judge ruled it to have been an unlawful game and so dismissed the action.
In the St Helens Newspaper's Tuesday edition on the 31st, there was an advert for 'Lett's Patent Ink-Supplying Penholder'. Available from Dromgooles in Hardshaw Street and Liverpool Road for fourpence, buyers were assured that one dip of ink in the penholder (which was "superior to any other contrivance of a similar nature") was good for writing four letters – four short letters I should imagine!
There were seventeen disasters within the Lancashire coalfield during the 1870s – with the majority of them gas explosions – creating a huge number of bereaved families. And, as stated earlier in this article, there was an almost daily death toll from ordinary accidents. The Newspaper also contained a letter calling for the creation of a miners' orphanage in St Helens – after the foundation stone for an institution caring for the orphans of Liverpool seamen had been laid. The anonymous writer said such a place could provide the "succour and education of the destitute and fatherless off-spring of the poor fellows who daily risk their lives in the bowels of the earth, and who at any moment may be taken away from their families by some dreadful explosion."
"Mr. Sam Hague's company of negro minstrels have just completed a twelve months' occupancy of St. James's-hall [in Lime Street], and the anniversary of their opening performance was celebrated yesterday evening. With commendable liberality on the part of the proprietor, the entertainment was specially prepared on behalf of the Seamen's Orphan Asylum, and was under the patronage of two of the borough members (Messrs. Graves and Rathbone), and Mr. Robertson Gladstone, whose interest in the sailor is well known. The house was literally crowded from gallery to stage, the hall being taxed to its utmost capacity.
"The programme included three new ballads peculiarly adapted for the occasion – “God Bless the Sailor Orphan,” “Lost at Sea,” and “Out on the Waters.” The first was sung by Mr. A. Brennir and was enthusiastically encored. To Mr. Beaumont Read was entrusted the other two, the rendering of which elicited rounds of genuine applause from his listeners, a considerable proportion of whom were sailors. The other items in the programme were equally appreciated.
"Among the most deserving were a piano-forte fantasia, by Mr. O. Luca; a characteristic negro song, by Mr. G. Washington; an eccentric negro dance, by Neil Solomon; and an unusually laughable farce, “Sublime and Ridiculous,” in which Harry Leslie, Billy Richardson, and Billy Pemberton, the three principal comedians of the troupe, appeared. The receipts for admission amounted to £50 2s 6d, the whole of which, without any deductions, was handed over last night to the treasurer of the institution for whose benefit the entertainment was given."
Next week's stories will include the St Helens miners demand for more pay, the Gerards Bridge woman who set herself on fire with a candle and what might well have been the last corrupt council election takes place in St Helens.
This week's stories include the smallpox epidemic in Greenbank, concern over the cost of the proposed new St Helens town hall, a plea from a Haydock miner over a blacklisting and a dispute over a pigeon race is heard in St Helens County Court.
"Slender's John" was the nickname of John Unsworth from Billinge who on the 27th was summoned to appear before the county magistrates at Wigan to face a charge of "trespassing in pursuit of game on land at Billinge-Higher-End".
The Wigan Observer wrote: "Police-sergeant Bennett gave the defendant, who did not appear, the character of a notorious poacher, and a list of thirteen convictions recorded against him was read to the bench.
"Defendant was fined 40s. and costs; in default two months' imprisonment."
Although the many mining disasters of the last few years had brought much sympathy and fundraising for the bereaved, there was far less concern for those that died in everyday accidents – such as underground roof falls and the like.
The Wigan Observer also published this letter about the blacklisting of a Haydock miner after making that point at a meeting:
"Will you kindly allow me a small space in your paper to say a few words in regard to the Haydock permanent fund for the widows and orphans?
"On the 26th of September last there was a public meeting, convened by placard inviting all working men to attend, to subscribe to the accident fund for the sufferers by the late explosion at the Moss Pits [at Ince].
"The meeting was pretty well attended, and at that meeting one man gave his opinion that the meeting had been convened in a proper manner, which did credit to the officials of Haydock Colliery; but he said he did not approve of subscribing money for the relief of widows and orphans whose husbands and fathers had lost their lives by explosions, and not to those widows and orphans who lost their support through falls of coal and other accidents in mines, which are too numerous to mention.
"For at that time as now there were several widows void of support in Haydock who have lost their bread-winners, and cannot get aid from the fund.
"The man said if the sympathy of the men was wanted they must begin and form a fund to support all, and that man spoke in such a manner that no one could actually say a word against the subject he had introduced.
"Since that time that man has been taken undue advantage of, and when I saw him last he told me he could not get a place of work anywhere, and he believed he would have to leave the country.
"Now I have known that man for some 14 years, and I do not think there is a man in all Haydock to whom he ever did a wrong action, but he is a sensible, steady, hard working man.
"For this last four years and more that man has not taken any drink.
"Fellow working men, he has done justice to us, and as one good turn deserves another let us not let him go from amongst us, but show the officials that we can honour one whom they despise by subscribing for his wages, or otherwise stop working until he is taken on again, for, in my opinion, it is the extremist tyranny ever shown in Haydock. I beg to subscribe myself – A HAYDOCK MINER."
On the 29th the London newspaper The Era – which featured provincial entertainment listings – featured this advert from an acrobat:
"SOMERFIELD – the Acme of Quickness and Grace, just concluded fourth successful engagement at Lyceum Theatre, Stafford; now appearing at THEATRE ROYAL, EARLESTOWN. Curtains Nightly. Liverpool to follow. At liberty, November 5th, in the following acts viz:- Flying Rings, Aerial Bar, and Spiral Descent."
A special meeting of St Helens Town Council was held on the 30th in order to wind up the business of the last municipal year. And there were some very revealing items…
The minutes of the Sanitary Committee disclosed that Greenbank – the poor, mainly Irish district around Liverpool Road – was plagued by smallpox.
There were five or six deaths every week and all victims of the deadly disease were being asked to become patients at the workhouse hospital.
However, some were refusing to leave their homes and seemingly could not be forced.
Ald. McNicoll, Chairman of the Sanitary Committee, said:
"It [smallpox] first appeared about six months ago, in sporadic cases, about Sutton and Gerard’s Bridge, and more recently it broke out in an epidemic form in Greenbank, where the people had neglected the great precaution of vaccination."
In reality there was little treatment available at Whiston – but by isolating patients there they would be protecting their families and others in the community.
The minutes stated the measures to control smallpox in Greenbank including distributing disinfectant amongst residents and thoroughly fumigating the clothes of the sick.
Alderman McNicholl also told the meeting that measles was also causing many deaths in St Helens, as "the disease raged in a sort of epidemic form".
The Town Council also discussed the cost of the proposed new Town Hall in what was then Cotham Street.
This was to replace the original municipal building in New Market Place that had been badly damaged by fire.
There was concern over the estimated budget of £20,000, with Alderman John Marsh arguing that it was not too much to spend "when the borough was taxed with almost unexampled lightness".
That's a fancy way of saying the St Helens' rates were not high and so increasing them slightly to pay for the new building would still keep them on the low side.
And the police would occupy some of the Town Hall and through paying rent would generate annual income.
However, Councillor Joseph Greenough – a big landowner in the Parr district – thought £20,000 to be excessive, particularly when "enormous expenditure" was likely to be incurred in undertaking sewage works.
Vested interests worried about personal rate increases had for some years held back the development of St Helens.
Councillor Johnson supported Greenough and their motion to adjourn the question of the cost was carried by 8 votes to 6.
It was bad enough having smallpox and measles epidemics in St Helens – but cholera was also now on its doorstep.
That was after a female tramp that died in Warrington on the 30th was diagnosed as suffering from the dreaded disease.
Cholera was believed to have arrived in London in August after spreading from mainland Europe.
In response Alderman Hardwick of St Helens council had called for "the most rigorous sanitary precautions in anticipation of the approach of cholera."
However, you cannot change poor practice overnight and it seemed to be only a matter of time before it struck St Helens.
I mentioned in September how the St Helens County Court in East Street had over 400 cases scheduled to deal with on one day.
I expect some cases were adjourned and not actually heard on that day – but justice was in the 1870s dispensed at amazing speed.
People sued each other for all sorts of silly things which, when one considers the costs involved, barely seemed worth their while.
In the case of Travis vs. Foller on the 31st it was for the sum of just £2. That was the amount of money lodged with the latter as the stakeholder and referee of a pigeon race.
There was some dispute over the winning pigeon but Travis was convinced he had won and wanted his winnings – but Foller refused him.
However, gambling was illegal and if the race was shown to have been effectively a bet, it was null and void in the eyes of the law.
As the court heard that the two competing pigeon owners had equally staked £1, the judge ruled it to have been an unlawful game and so dismissed the action.
In the St Helens Newspaper's Tuesday edition on the 31st, there was an advert for 'Lett's Patent Ink-Supplying Penholder'.
Available from Dromgooles in Hardshaw Street and Liverpool Road for fourpence, buyers were assured that one dip of ink in the penholder (which was "superior to any other contrivance of a similar nature") was good for writing four letters – four short letters I should imagine!
There were seventeen disasters within the Lancashire coalfield during the 1870s – with the majority of them gas explosions – creating a huge number of bereaved families.
And, as stated earlier in this article, there was an almost daily death toll from ordinary accidents.
The Newspaper also contained a letter calling for the creation of a miners' orphanage in St Helens – after the foundation stone for an institution caring for the orphans of Liverpool seamen had been laid.
The anonymous writer said such a place could provide the "succour and education of the destitute and fatherless off-spring of the poor fellows who daily risk their lives in the bowels of the earth, and who at any moment may be taken away from their families by some dreadful explosion."
And finally, the US civil war had only ended six years earlier and a troupe of freed slaves had spent the past 12 months performing a minstrel show in Liverpool.
This week the Liverpool Daily Post published an article describing their anniversary performance, which was a charity concert in aid of the new seamen's orphanage and promoted by two Liverpool MPs and Robertson Gladstone.
The latter was the brother of William Gladstone and was described as having a special interest in sailors – language that might have another interpretation today:
"Mr. Sam Hague's company of negro minstrels have just completed a twelve months' occupancy of St. James's-hall [in Lime Street], and the anniversary of their opening performance was celebrated yesterday evening.
"With commendable liberality on the part of the proprietor, the entertainment was specially prepared on behalf of the Seamen's Orphan Asylum, and was under the patronage of two of the borough members (Messrs. Graves and Rathbone), and Mr. Robertson Gladstone, whose interest in the sailor is well known.
"The house was literally crowded from gallery to stage, the hall being taxed to its utmost capacity.
"The programme included three new ballads peculiarly adapted for the occasion – “God Bless the Sailor Orphan,” “Lost at Sea,” and “Out on the Waters.”
"The first was sung by Mr. A. Brennir and was enthusiastically encored. To Mr. Beaumont Read was entrusted the other two, the rendering of which elicited rounds of genuine applause from his listeners, a considerable proportion of whom were sailors.
"The other items in the programme were equally appreciated.
"Among the most deserving were a piano-forte fantasia, by Mr. O. Luca; a characteristic negro song, by Mr. G. Washington; an eccentric negro dance, by Neil Solomon; and an unusually laughable farce, “Sublime and Ridiculous,” in which Harry Leslie, Billy Richardson, and Billy Pemberton, the three principal comedians of the troupe, appeared.
"The receipts for admission amounted to £50 2s 6d, the whole of which, without any deductions, was handed over last night to the treasurer of the institution for whose benefit the entertainment was given."
Next week's stories will include the St Helens miners demand for more pay, the Gerards Bridge woman who set herself on fire with a candle and what might well have been the last corrupt council election takes place in St Helens.
"Slender's John" was the nickname of John Unsworth from Billinge who on the 27th was summoned to appear before the county magistrates at Wigan to face a charge of "trespassing in pursuit of game on land at Billinge-Higher-End".
The Wigan Observer wrote: "Police-sergeant Bennett gave the defendant, who did not appear, the character of a notorious poacher, and a list of thirteen convictions recorded against him was read to the bench.
"Defendant was fined 40s. and costs; in default two months' imprisonment."
Although the many mining disasters of the last few years had brought much sympathy and fundraising for the bereaved, there was far less concern for those that died in everyday accidents – such as underground roof falls and the like.
The Wigan Observer also published this letter about the blacklisting of a Haydock miner after making that point at a meeting:
"Will you kindly allow me a small space in your paper to say a few words in regard to the Haydock permanent fund for the widows and orphans?
"On the 26th of September last there was a public meeting, convened by placard inviting all working men to attend, to subscribe to the accident fund for the sufferers by the late explosion at the Moss Pits [at Ince].
"The meeting was pretty well attended, and at that meeting one man gave his opinion that the meeting had been convened in a proper manner, which did credit to the officials of Haydock Colliery; but he said he did not approve of subscribing money for the relief of widows and orphans whose husbands and fathers had lost their lives by explosions, and not to those widows and orphans who lost their support through falls of coal and other accidents in mines, which are too numerous to mention.
"For at that time as now there were several widows void of support in Haydock who have lost their bread-winners, and cannot get aid from the fund.
"The man said if the sympathy of the men was wanted they must begin and form a fund to support all, and that man spoke in such a manner that no one could actually say a word against the subject he had introduced.
"Since that time that man has been taken undue advantage of, and when I saw him last he told me he could not get a place of work anywhere, and he believed he would have to leave the country.
"Now I have known that man for some 14 years, and I do not think there is a man in all Haydock to whom he ever did a wrong action, but he is a sensible, steady, hard working man.
"For this last four years and more that man has not taken any drink.
"Fellow working men, he has done justice to us, and as one good turn deserves another let us not let him go from amongst us, but show the officials that we can honour one whom they despise by subscribing for his wages, or otherwise stop working until he is taken on again, for, in my opinion, it is the extremist tyranny ever shown in Haydock. I beg to subscribe myself – A HAYDOCK MINER."
On the 29th the London newspaper The Era – which featured provincial entertainment listings – featured this advert from an acrobat:
"SOMERFIELD – the Acme of Quickness and Grace, just concluded fourth successful engagement at Lyceum Theatre, Stafford; now appearing at THEATRE ROYAL, EARLESTOWN. Curtains Nightly. Liverpool to follow. At liberty, November 5th, in the following acts viz:- Flying Rings, Aerial Bar, and Spiral Descent."
A special meeting of St Helens Town Council was held on the 30th in order to wind up the business of the last municipal year. And there were some very revealing items…
The minutes of the Sanitary Committee disclosed that Greenbank – the poor, mainly Irish district around Liverpool Road – was plagued by smallpox.
There were five or six deaths every week and all victims of the deadly disease were being asked to become patients at the workhouse hospital.
However, some were refusing to leave their homes and seemingly could not be forced.
Ald. McNicoll, Chairman of the Sanitary Committee, said:
"It [smallpox] first appeared about six months ago, in sporadic cases, about Sutton and Gerard’s Bridge, and more recently it broke out in an epidemic form in Greenbank, where the people had neglected the great precaution of vaccination."
In reality there was little treatment available at Whiston – but by isolating patients there they would be protecting their families and others in the community.
The minutes stated the measures to control smallpox in Greenbank including distributing disinfectant amongst residents and thoroughly fumigating the clothes of the sick.
Alderman McNicholl also told the meeting that measles was also causing many deaths in St Helens, as "the disease raged in a sort of epidemic form".
The Town Council also discussed the cost of the proposed new Town Hall in what was then Cotham Street.
This was to replace the original municipal building in New Market Place that had been badly damaged by fire.
There was concern over the estimated budget of £20,000, with Alderman John Marsh arguing that it was not too much to spend "when the borough was taxed with almost unexampled lightness".
That's a fancy way of saying the St Helens' rates were not high and so increasing them slightly to pay for the new building would still keep them on the low side.
And the police would occupy some of the Town Hall and through paying rent would generate annual income.
However, Councillor Joseph Greenough – a big landowner in the Parr district – thought £20,000 to be excessive, particularly when "enormous expenditure" was likely to be incurred in undertaking sewage works.
Vested interests worried about personal rate increases had for some years held back the development of St Helens.
Councillor Johnson supported Greenough and their motion to adjourn the question of the cost was carried by 8 votes to 6.
It was bad enough having smallpox and measles epidemics in St Helens – but cholera was also now on its doorstep.
That was after a female tramp that died in Warrington on the 30th was diagnosed as suffering from the dreaded disease.
Cholera was believed to have arrived in London in August after spreading from mainland Europe.
In response Alderman Hardwick of St Helens council had called for "the most rigorous sanitary precautions in anticipation of the approach of cholera."
However, you cannot change poor practice overnight and it seemed to be only a matter of time before it struck St Helens.
I mentioned in September how the St Helens County Court in East Street had over 400 cases scheduled to deal with on one day.
I expect some cases were adjourned and not actually heard on that day – but justice was in the 1870s dispensed at amazing speed.
People sued each other for all sorts of silly things which, when one considers the costs involved, barely seemed worth their while.
In the case of Travis vs. Foller on the 31st it was for the sum of just £2. That was the amount of money lodged with the latter as the stakeholder and referee of a pigeon race.
There was some dispute over the winning pigeon but Travis was convinced he had won and wanted his winnings – but Foller refused him.
However, gambling was illegal and if the race was shown to have been effectively a bet, it was null and void in the eyes of the law.
As the court heard that the two competing pigeon owners had equally staked £1, the judge ruled it to have been an unlawful game and so dismissed the action.
In the St Helens Newspaper's Tuesday edition on the 31st, there was an advert for 'Lett's Patent Ink-Supplying Penholder'.
Available from Dromgooles in Hardshaw Street and Liverpool Road for fourpence, buyers were assured that one dip of ink in the penholder (which was "superior to any other contrivance of a similar nature") was good for writing four letters – four short letters I should imagine!
There were seventeen disasters within the Lancashire coalfield during the 1870s – with the majority of them gas explosions – creating a huge number of bereaved families.
And, as stated earlier in this article, there was an almost daily death toll from ordinary accidents.
The Newspaper also contained a letter calling for the creation of a miners' orphanage in St Helens – after the foundation stone for an institution caring for the orphans of Liverpool seamen had been laid.
The anonymous writer said such a place could provide the "succour and education of the destitute and fatherless off-spring of the poor fellows who daily risk their lives in the bowels of the earth, and who at any moment may be taken away from their families by some dreadful explosion."
This week the Liverpool Daily Post published an article describing their anniversary performance, which was a charity concert in aid of the new seamen's orphanage and promoted by two Liverpool MPs and Robertson Gladstone.
The latter was the brother of William Gladstone and was described as having a special interest in sailors – language that might have another interpretation today:
"Mr. Sam Hague's company of negro minstrels have just completed a twelve months' occupancy of St. James's-hall [in Lime Street], and the anniversary of their opening performance was celebrated yesterday evening.
"With commendable liberality on the part of the proprietor, the entertainment was specially prepared on behalf of the Seamen's Orphan Asylum, and was under the patronage of two of the borough members (Messrs. Graves and Rathbone), and Mr. Robertson Gladstone, whose interest in the sailor is well known.
"The house was literally crowded from gallery to stage, the hall being taxed to its utmost capacity.
"The programme included three new ballads peculiarly adapted for the occasion – “God Bless the Sailor Orphan,” “Lost at Sea,” and “Out on the Waters.”
"The first was sung by Mr. A. Brennir and was enthusiastically encored. To Mr. Beaumont Read was entrusted the other two, the rendering of which elicited rounds of genuine applause from his listeners, a considerable proportion of whom were sailors.
"The other items in the programme were equally appreciated.
"Among the most deserving were a piano-forte fantasia, by Mr. O. Luca; a characteristic negro song, by Mr. G. Washington; an eccentric negro dance, by Neil Solomon; and an unusually laughable farce, “Sublime and Ridiculous,” in which Harry Leslie, Billy Richardson, and Billy Pemberton, the three principal comedians of the troupe, appeared.
"The receipts for admission amounted to £50 2s 6d, the whole of which, without any deductions, was handed over last night to the treasurer of the institution for whose benefit the entertainment was given."
Next week's stories will include the St Helens miners demand for more pay, the Gerards Bridge woman who set herself on fire with a candle and what might well have been the last corrupt council election takes place in St Helens.