150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (27th JAN. - 2nd FEB. 1870)
This week's stories include the thousand skaters on St. Ann's Dam in Eccleston, the dumping of night soil on the street, the Prescot landlord charged with harbouring a policeman, the boy who made whip handles out of trees in what became Victoria Park and the woman who wanted a gold ring and dress before she would marry her child's father.
We begin on the 31st when two people were prosecuted in St Helens Petty Sessions for laying night soil on the road. Night soil was a euphemism for human faeces and was so called because a collector normally removed it at night from the privies, pits and pail closets that people used as toilets. Some people would dump their waste on the street – such as William Sumner from Windle City, who told the court that he hadn't realised it was illegal. He was fined 2/6, as was William Case who admitted laying his night soil on the street for a fortnight. Why the pair had dumped their waste was not explained. However I expect it was because they weren't prepared to pay the night soil man to remove it.
Edward Edmundson was charged with throwing stones in Lyon Street in Croppers Hill. PC Berry told the court that he'd seen the 18-year-old throwing the stones at some scholars of St Thomas school. He ran off and was only taken into custody after a "severe struggle". Edward denied the charge, claiming other boys had thrown the stones but was fined ten shillings.
Whenever Dennis Fay was mentioned in the St Helens Newspaper he was always described as the "notorious Dennis Fay". This was because he had about 50 convictions to his name for drunkenness, riotous conduct etc. Constable Nicholson told the Bench that he had been about to arrest the man once again when his son James interfered and assaulted him. The officer had to let the father go in order to take the son into custody. Minor violence – even against the police – would normally result in a small fine. However James Fay was sent to prison for a month with hard labour. It does appear that the young man was penalised by the magistrates for the sins of his father.
Two girls were sent to prison for 14 days for stealing coal from a wagon at Ravenhead Colliery in Burtonhead Road. The ages of Catherine Duncan and Mary McGovern were not stated in the report but the magistrates gave a lecture to their parents about their children's behaviour.
An ex-soldier with "B. C." (for bad conduct) marked on his discharge papers was accused of stealing a picture from Belgian beerseller Joseph Schmidt of Smithy Brow. In fact William Thompson had been stealing items from pubs or beerhouses and then selling them on to the landlords of other houses. The picture was sold for sixpence to the proprietor of the Baths Hotel, which was situated in what became Warrington New Road (the hotel closed in 1907). A tablecloth and tray were also stolen from a beerhouse in Parr Street and then offered for sale in the George and Dragon in Smithy Brow. Thompson was sent to prison for four months.
William Patton was summoned to court to show why he "should not contribute to the support of the illegitimate child of Alice Smith". These so-called affiliation cases often involved proving paternity, which without modern-day DNA or blood tests, were not easy to do. However the man surprised the Bench by not only admitting being the father of Alice's child but he also told them that he was anxious to marry her.
Patton said he had put up the "askings" in church but at the last moment Alice had refused to marry him unless he bought her a gold ring and new dress, which he couldn't afford. The Newspaper wrote: "The plaintiff kept a discreet silence while the defendant was telling this little story, and made no sign of meeting his wishes when he repeated that he was still willing to marry her." The Bench signed an affiliation or maintenance order against William for 2 shillings a week.
A boy called Thomas Pickavance was charged with damaging trees in the grounds of John Ansdell. He was the solicitor who lived in Cowley House (pictured above), which is now known as the Mansion House. This had been built for Ansdell in 1851 and although he did own other property in St Helens, the grounds referred to in the charge are almost certainly what we now know as Victoria Park. Ansdell's caretaker told the court that he had seen Thomas breaking young trees in the grounds and had heard that the lad was selling them as handles for whips.
The boy was aged about ten and his father said his son refused to attend day school or Sunday school and could neither read nor write, adding: "There was no doing any good with him". The Newspaper reported that the Chairman of the Bench lectured the father on "the terrible prospects before his child, and after exacting a promise that he would send the lad to school, inflicted the mitigated fine of 6d."
From the future Victoria Park we now turn our attention to the future Taylor Park. This was created in the early 1890s with its centrepiece a lake called St Ann's Dam (aka Big Dam and pictured above). The water was originally used by a corn mill but by 1870 was providing part of the town's water supply. On February 1st the St Helens Newspaper reflected on the recent cold snap in the town that had led to large numbers of people taking up ice-skating on St. Ann's Dam. This is part of their lengthy article, with a reminder that the quadrille dance that was then very popular is similar to American square dancing:
"The recent keen frost was taken advantage of, in this neighbourhood, for indulgence in the usual amusements on the ice. All through last week every sheet of water in the district could be ventured upon with perfect safety, and the ice was in the very best condition. St. Ann's Dam was the principal place of resort during the week, skating parties visiting it every day in greater or less numbers. On Friday and Saturday evenings skating continued during many hours after darkness had set in, and quadrille parties were formed in several instances. The dancing movements were not always of the most graceful or easy character, for gentlemen had to be very circumspect in pirouetting, to avoid an undignified tumble.
"Sunday was really the gala day, for then all classes were released from business. All day long there was a continued stream of people to and from the dam, and the surface of the ice contained about a thousand skaters. A more curious sight than this immense gathering of persons – the different component parts of which might be seen continually flashing in every direction, swerving, turning, chasing, crossing – could hardly be imagined." The Newspaper also wrote that Carr Mill Dam had been "comparatively lively" on the Sunday, with some excellent skaters on the ice watched by about 2,000 spectators.
The Prescot Petty Sessions were held on the 1st and heard a curious case of coal stealing in New Road, Prescot. Mary Phillips had accused her next-door neighbour Rebecca Andrews of stealing two pieces of coal from her husband's yard that adjoined their house. The 54-year-old had caught Rebecca helping herself to the coal at 2am. However her neighbour claimed she'd simply got hold of two small pieces to throw at some noisy cats!
In fact cats played an important part in the 61-year-old woman's defence. Some time ago Rebecca had lost some chickens and she thought that cats had been responsible. So she set a trap for them, which caught and killed Mary's cat. This, as might be imagined, led to much animosity between the pair. Rebecca's counsel claimed that her neighbour had threatened revenge and the case showed the woman's "spitefulness and triviality". The Bench appeared to agree as they dismissed the case.
We are all familiar with the charge of harbouring a fugitive. However in the Prescot Sessions David Slater was charged with harbouring a policeman! The landlord of an unidentified Rainhill pub had let PC Ashton drink beer at 3am when he should have been on duty. It appeared not to have been an unusual event, as Superintendent Fowler told the court that he had warned licensees against harbouring police constables on duty. The man in charge of Prescot Police also called for a substantial penalty against Slater for committing the offence.
The landlord's defence was that the constable had only arrived at his hotel five minutes before a sergeant had entered searching for the missing policeman. He said PC Ashton had been "starved and ill" and was served a drink out of compassion. David Slater was fined the hefty amount of £5 with 12 shillings costs or he must serve 2 months in prison. There was no mention of what happened to PC Ashton.
On the 2nd there was more trouble on the new railway line being built from Huyton to St Helens via Prescot. Recently two navvies in Scotchbarn Lane had attacked each other with spades leaving one of them badly injured. Now while the men were working on the line at Whiston, part of the embankment gave way and a large mass of earth fell upon James Appleby breaking his leg.
On the 2nd St Helens Town Council held their quarterly meeting and discussed their committee's report into buying the Town Hall (illustrated above). This was then situated in New Market Place (off Exchange Street) and privately owned by the St Helens Town Hall Company. They were prepared to sell the multi-purpose building to the Corporation for £2,315, with an additional £720 required to make a number of alterations. The entrance to the building would be lowered to street level and the front of the first storey converted into shops. A newsroom for the reading of newspapers would also be extended and converted into a council chamber.
Next week's stories will include the rioting navvies of Prescot, the profitable ploughing competitions, the Rainford poacher with a cunningly disguised gun, and the annual supper of St Helens' coachmen is held in the Sefton Arms.
We begin on the 31st when two people were prosecuted in St Helens Petty Sessions for laying night soil on the road. Night soil was a euphemism for human faeces and was so called because a collector normally removed it at night from the privies, pits and pail closets that people used as toilets. Some people would dump their waste on the street – such as William Sumner from Windle City, who told the court that he hadn't realised it was illegal. He was fined 2/6, as was William Case who admitted laying his night soil on the street for a fortnight. Why the pair had dumped their waste was not explained. However I expect it was because they weren't prepared to pay the night soil man to remove it.
Edward Edmundson was charged with throwing stones in Lyon Street in Croppers Hill. PC Berry told the court that he'd seen the 18-year-old throwing the stones at some scholars of St Thomas school. He ran off and was only taken into custody after a "severe struggle". Edward denied the charge, claiming other boys had thrown the stones but was fined ten shillings.
Two girls were sent to prison for 14 days for stealing coal from a wagon at Ravenhead Colliery in Burtonhead Road. The ages of Catherine Duncan and Mary McGovern were not stated in the report but the magistrates gave a lecture to their parents about their children's behaviour.
An ex-soldier with "B. C." (for bad conduct) marked on his discharge papers was accused of stealing a picture from Belgian beerseller Joseph Schmidt of Smithy Brow. In fact William Thompson had been stealing items from pubs or beerhouses and then selling them on to the landlords of other houses. The picture was sold for sixpence to the proprietor of the Baths Hotel, which was situated in what became Warrington New Road (the hotel closed in 1907). A tablecloth and tray were also stolen from a beerhouse in Parr Street and then offered for sale in the George and Dragon in Smithy Brow. Thompson was sent to prison for four months.
William Patton was summoned to court to show why he "should not contribute to the support of the illegitimate child of Alice Smith". These so-called affiliation cases often involved proving paternity, which without modern-day DNA or blood tests, were not easy to do. However the man surprised the Bench by not only admitting being the father of Alice's child but he also told them that he was anxious to marry her.
Patton said he had put up the "askings" in church but at the last moment Alice had refused to marry him unless he bought her a gold ring and new dress, which he couldn't afford. The Newspaper wrote: "The plaintiff kept a discreet silence while the defendant was telling this little story, and made no sign of meeting his wishes when he repeated that he was still willing to marry her." The Bench signed an affiliation or maintenance order against William for 2 shillings a week.
The boy was aged about ten and his father said his son refused to attend day school or Sunday school and could neither read nor write, adding: "There was no doing any good with him". The Newspaper reported that the Chairman of the Bench lectured the father on "the terrible prospects before his child, and after exacting a promise that he would send the lad to school, inflicted the mitigated fine of 6d."
"The recent keen frost was taken advantage of, in this neighbourhood, for indulgence in the usual amusements on the ice. All through last week every sheet of water in the district could be ventured upon with perfect safety, and the ice was in the very best condition. St. Ann's Dam was the principal place of resort during the week, skating parties visiting it every day in greater or less numbers. On Friday and Saturday evenings skating continued during many hours after darkness had set in, and quadrille parties were formed in several instances. The dancing movements were not always of the most graceful or easy character, for gentlemen had to be very circumspect in pirouetting, to avoid an undignified tumble.
"Sunday was really the gala day, for then all classes were released from business. All day long there was a continued stream of people to and from the dam, and the surface of the ice contained about a thousand skaters. A more curious sight than this immense gathering of persons – the different component parts of which might be seen continually flashing in every direction, swerving, turning, chasing, crossing – could hardly be imagined." The Newspaper also wrote that Carr Mill Dam had been "comparatively lively" on the Sunday, with some excellent skaters on the ice watched by about 2,000 spectators.
The Prescot Petty Sessions were held on the 1st and heard a curious case of coal stealing in New Road, Prescot. Mary Phillips had accused her next-door neighbour Rebecca Andrews of stealing two pieces of coal from her husband's yard that adjoined their house. The 54-year-old had caught Rebecca helping herself to the coal at 2am. However her neighbour claimed she'd simply got hold of two small pieces to throw at some noisy cats!
In fact cats played an important part in the 61-year-old woman's defence. Some time ago Rebecca had lost some chickens and she thought that cats had been responsible. So she set a trap for them, which caught and killed Mary's cat. This, as might be imagined, led to much animosity between the pair. Rebecca's counsel claimed that her neighbour had threatened revenge and the case showed the woman's "spitefulness and triviality". The Bench appeared to agree as they dismissed the case.
We are all familiar with the charge of harbouring a fugitive. However in the Prescot Sessions David Slater was charged with harbouring a policeman! The landlord of an unidentified Rainhill pub had let PC Ashton drink beer at 3am when he should have been on duty. It appeared not to have been an unusual event, as Superintendent Fowler told the court that he had warned licensees against harbouring police constables on duty. The man in charge of Prescot Police also called for a substantial penalty against Slater for committing the offence.
The landlord's defence was that the constable had only arrived at his hotel five minutes before a sergeant had entered searching for the missing policeman. He said PC Ashton had been "starved and ill" and was served a drink out of compassion. David Slater was fined the hefty amount of £5 with 12 shillings costs or he must serve 2 months in prison. There was no mention of what happened to PC Ashton.
On the 2nd there was more trouble on the new railway line being built from Huyton to St Helens via Prescot. Recently two navvies in Scotchbarn Lane had attacked each other with spades leaving one of them badly injured. Now while the men were working on the line at Whiston, part of the embankment gave way and a large mass of earth fell upon James Appleby breaking his leg.
Next week's stories will include the rioting navvies of Prescot, the profitable ploughing competitions, the Rainford poacher with a cunningly disguised gun, and the annual supper of St Helens' coachmen is held in the Sefton Arms.
This week's stories include the thousand skaters on St. Ann's Dam in Eccleston, the dumping of night soil on the street, the Prescot landlord charged with harbouring a policeman, the boy who made whip handles out of trees in what became Victoria Park and the woman who wanted a gold ring and dress before she would marry her child's father.
We begin on the 31st when two people were prosecuted in St Helens Petty Sessions for laying night soil on the road.
Night soil was a euphemism for human faeces and was so called because a collector normally removed it at night from the privies, pits and pail closets that people used as toilets.
Some people would dump their waste on the street – such as William Sumner from Windle City, who told the court that he hadn't realised it was illegal.
He was fined 2/6, as was William Case who admitted laying his night soil on the street for a fortnight.
Why the pair had dumped their waste was not explained. However I expect it was because they weren't prepared to pay the night soil man to remove it.
Edward Edmundson was charged with throwing stones in Lyon Street in Croppers Hill.
PC Berry told the court that he'd seen the 18-year-old throwing the stones at some scholars of St Thomas school.
He ran off and was only taken into custody after a "severe struggle". Edward denied the charge, claiming other boys had thrown the stones but was fined ten shillings.
Whenever Dennis Fay was mentioned in the St Helens Newspaper he was always described as the "notorious Dennis Fay".
This was because he had about fifty convictions to his name for drunkenness, riotous conduct etc.
Constable Nicholson told the Bench that he had been about to arrest the man once again when his son James interfered and assaulted him.
The officer had to let the father go in order to take the son into custody.
Minor violence – even against the police – would normally result in a small fine.
However James Fay was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.
It does appear that the young man was penalised by the magistrates for the sins of his father.
Two girls were sent to prison for 14 days for stealing coal from a wagon at Ravenhead Colliery in Burtonhead Road.
The ages of Catherine Duncan and Mary McGovern were not stated in the report but the magistrates gave a lecture to their parents about their children's behaviour.
An ex-soldier with "B. C." (for bad conduct) marked on his discharge papers was accused of stealing a picture from Belgian beerseller Joseph Schmidt of Smithy Brow.
In fact William Thompson had been stealing items from pubs or beerhouses and then selling them on to the landlords of other houses.
The picture was sold for sixpence to the proprietor of the Baths Hotel, which was situated in what became Warrington New Road (the hotel closed in 1907).
A tablecloth and tray were also stolen from a beerhouse in Parr Street and then offered for sale in the George and Dragon in Smithy Brow. Thompson was sent to prison for four months.
William Patton was summoned to court to show why he "should not contribute to the support of the illegitimate child of Alice Smith".
These so-called affiliation cases often involved proving paternity, which without modern-day DNA or blood tests, were not easy to do.
However the man surprised the Bench by not only admitting being the father of Alice's child but he also told them that he was anxious to marry her.
Patton said he had put up the "askings" in church but at the last moment Alice had refused to marry him unless he bought her a gold ring and new dress, which he couldn't afford. The Newspaper wrote:
"The plaintiff kept a discreet silence while the defendant was telling this little story, and made no sign of meeting his wishes when he repeated that he was still willing to marry her."
The Bench signed an affiliation or maintenance order against William for 2 shillings a week.
A boy called Thomas Pickavance was charged with damaging trees in the grounds of John Ansdell.
He was the solicitor who lived in Cowley House (pictured above), which is now known as the Mansion House.
This had been built for Ansdell in 1851 and although he did own other property in St Helens, the grounds referred to in the charge are almost certainly what we now know as Victoria Park.
Ansdell's caretaker told the court that he had seen Thomas breaking young trees in the grounds and had heard that the lad was selling them as handles for whips.
The boy was aged about ten and his father said his son refused to attend day school or Sunday school and could neither read nor write, adding: "There was no doing any good with him".
The Newspaper reported that the Chairman of the Bench lectured the father on "the terrible prospects before his child, and after exacting a promise that he would send the lad to school, inflicted the mitigated fine of 6d."
From the future Victoria Park we now turn our attention to the future Taylor Park.
This was created in the early 1890s with its centrepiece a lake called St Ann's Dam (aka Big Dam and pictured above).
The water was originally used by a corn mill but by 1870 was providing part of the town's water supply.
On February 1st the St Helens Newspaper reflected on the recent cold snap in the town that had led to large numbers of people taking up ice-skating on St. Ann's Dam.
This is part of their lengthy article, with a reminder that the quadrille dance that was then very popular is similar to American square dancing:
"The recent keen frost was taken advantage of, in this neighbourhood, for indulgence in the usual amusements on the ice. All through last week every sheet of water in the district could be ventured upon with perfect safety, and the ice was in the very best condition.
“St. Ann's Dam was the principal place of resort during the week, skating parties visiting it every day in greater or less numbers. On Friday and Saturday evenings skating continued during many hours after darkness had set in, and quadrille parties were formed in several instances.
“The dancing movements were not always of the most graceful or easy character, for gentlemen had to be very circumspect in pirouetting, to avoid an undignified tumble.
"Sunday was really the gala day, for then all classes were released from business. All day long there was a continued stream of people to and from the dam, and the surface of the ice contained about a thousand skaters. A more curious sight than this immense gathering of persons – the different component parts of which might be seen continually flashing in every direction, swerving, turning, chasing, crossing – could hardly be imagined."
The Newspaper also wrote that Carr Mill Dam had been "comparatively lively" on the Sunday, with some excellent skaters on the ice watched by about 2,000 spectators.
The Prescot Petty Sessions were held on the 1st and heard a curious case of coal stealing in New Road, Prescot.
Mary Phillips had accused her next-door neighbour Rebecca Andrews of stealing two pieces of coal from her husband's yard that adjoined their house.
The 54-year-old had caught Rebecca helping herself to the coal at 2am.
However her neighbour claimed she'd simply got hold of two small pieces to throw at some noisy cats!
In fact cats played an important part in the 61-year-old woman's defence.
Some time ago Rebecca had lost some chickens and she thought that cats had been responsible.
So she set a trap for them, which caught and killed Mary's cat. This, as might be imagined, led to much animosity between the pair.
Rebecca's counsel claimed that her neighbour had threatened revenge and the case showed the woman's "spitefulness and triviality".
The Bench appeared to agree as they dismissed the case.
We are all familiar with the charge of harbouring a fugitive. However in the Prescot Sessions David Slater was charged with harbouring a policeman!
The landlord of an unidentified Rainhill pub had let PC Ashton drink beer at 3am when he should have been on duty.
It appeared not to have been an unusual event, as Superintendent Fowler told the court that he had warned licensees against harbouring police constables on duty.
The man in charge of Prescot Police also called for a substantial penalty against Slater for committing the offence.
The landlord's defence was that the constable had only arrived at his hotel five minutes before a sergeant had entered searching for the missing policeman.
He said PC Ashton had been "starved and ill" and was served a drink out of compassion.
David Slater was fined the hefty amount of £5 with 12 shillings costs or he must serve 2 months in prison. There was no mention of what happened to PC Ashton.
On the 2nd there was more trouble on the new railway line being built from Huyton to St Helens via Prescot.
Recently two navvies in Scotchbarn Lane had attacked each other with spades leaving one of them badly injured.
Now while the men were working on the line at Whiston, part of the embankment gave way and a large mass of earth fell upon James Appleby breaking his leg.
On the 2nd St Helens Town Council held their quarterly meeting and discussed their committee's report into buying the Town Hall (illustrated above).
This was then situated in New Market Place (off Exchange Street) and privately owned by the St Helens Town Hall Company.
They were prepared to sell the multi-purpose building to the Corporation for £2,315, with an additional £720 required to make a number of alterations.
The entrance to the building would be lowered to street level and the front of the first storey converted into shops.
A newsroom for the reading of newspapers would also be extended and converted into a council chamber.
Next week's stories will include the rioting navvies of Prescot, the profitable ploughing competitions, the Rainford poacher with a cunningly disguised gun, and the annual supper of St Helens' coachmen is held in the Sefton Arms.
We begin on the 31st when two people were prosecuted in St Helens Petty Sessions for laying night soil on the road.
Night soil was a euphemism for human faeces and was so called because a collector normally removed it at night from the privies, pits and pail closets that people used as toilets.
Some people would dump their waste on the street – such as William Sumner from Windle City, who told the court that he hadn't realised it was illegal.
He was fined 2/6, as was William Case who admitted laying his night soil on the street for a fortnight.
Why the pair had dumped their waste was not explained. However I expect it was because they weren't prepared to pay the night soil man to remove it.
Edward Edmundson was charged with throwing stones in Lyon Street in Croppers Hill.
PC Berry told the court that he'd seen the 18-year-old throwing the stones at some scholars of St Thomas school.
He ran off and was only taken into custody after a "severe struggle". Edward denied the charge, claiming other boys had thrown the stones but was fined ten shillings.
This was because he had about fifty convictions to his name for drunkenness, riotous conduct etc.
Constable Nicholson told the Bench that he had been about to arrest the man once again when his son James interfered and assaulted him.
The officer had to let the father go in order to take the son into custody.
Minor violence – even against the police – would normally result in a small fine.
However James Fay was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.
It does appear that the young man was penalised by the magistrates for the sins of his father.
Two girls were sent to prison for 14 days for stealing coal from a wagon at Ravenhead Colliery in Burtonhead Road.
The ages of Catherine Duncan and Mary McGovern were not stated in the report but the magistrates gave a lecture to their parents about their children's behaviour.
An ex-soldier with "B. C." (for bad conduct) marked on his discharge papers was accused of stealing a picture from Belgian beerseller Joseph Schmidt of Smithy Brow.
In fact William Thompson had been stealing items from pubs or beerhouses and then selling them on to the landlords of other houses.
The picture was sold for sixpence to the proprietor of the Baths Hotel, which was situated in what became Warrington New Road (the hotel closed in 1907).
A tablecloth and tray were also stolen from a beerhouse in Parr Street and then offered for sale in the George and Dragon in Smithy Brow. Thompson was sent to prison for four months.
William Patton was summoned to court to show why he "should not contribute to the support of the illegitimate child of Alice Smith".
These so-called affiliation cases often involved proving paternity, which without modern-day DNA or blood tests, were not easy to do.
However the man surprised the Bench by not only admitting being the father of Alice's child but he also told them that he was anxious to marry her.
Patton said he had put up the "askings" in church but at the last moment Alice had refused to marry him unless he bought her a gold ring and new dress, which he couldn't afford. The Newspaper wrote:
"The plaintiff kept a discreet silence while the defendant was telling this little story, and made no sign of meeting his wishes when he repeated that he was still willing to marry her."
The Bench signed an affiliation or maintenance order against William for 2 shillings a week.
He was the solicitor who lived in Cowley House (pictured above), which is now known as the Mansion House.
This had been built for Ansdell in 1851 and although he did own other property in St Helens, the grounds referred to in the charge are almost certainly what we now know as Victoria Park.
Ansdell's caretaker told the court that he had seen Thomas breaking young trees in the grounds and had heard that the lad was selling them as handles for whips.
The boy was aged about ten and his father said his son refused to attend day school or Sunday school and could neither read nor write, adding: "There was no doing any good with him".
The Newspaper reported that the Chairman of the Bench lectured the father on "the terrible prospects before his child, and after exacting a promise that he would send the lad to school, inflicted the mitigated fine of 6d."
From the future Victoria Park we now turn our attention to the future Taylor Park.
The water was originally used by a corn mill but by 1870 was providing part of the town's water supply.
On February 1st the St Helens Newspaper reflected on the recent cold snap in the town that had led to large numbers of people taking up ice-skating on St. Ann's Dam.
This is part of their lengthy article, with a reminder that the quadrille dance that was then very popular is similar to American square dancing:
"The recent keen frost was taken advantage of, in this neighbourhood, for indulgence in the usual amusements on the ice. All through last week every sheet of water in the district could be ventured upon with perfect safety, and the ice was in the very best condition.
“St. Ann's Dam was the principal place of resort during the week, skating parties visiting it every day in greater or less numbers. On Friday and Saturday evenings skating continued during many hours after darkness had set in, and quadrille parties were formed in several instances.
“The dancing movements were not always of the most graceful or easy character, for gentlemen had to be very circumspect in pirouetting, to avoid an undignified tumble.
"Sunday was really the gala day, for then all classes were released from business. All day long there was a continued stream of people to and from the dam, and the surface of the ice contained about a thousand skaters. A more curious sight than this immense gathering of persons – the different component parts of which might be seen continually flashing in every direction, swerving, turning, chasing, crossing – could hardly be imagined."
The Newspaper also wrote that Carr Mill Dam had been "comparatively lively" on the Sunday, with some excellent skaters on the ice watched by about 2,000 spectators.
The Prescot Petty Sessions were held on the 1st and heard a curious case of coal stealing in New Road, Prescot.
Mary Phillips had accused her next-door neighbour Rebecca Andrews of stealing two pieces of coal from her husband's yard that adjoined their house.
The 54-year-old had caught Rebecca helping herself to the coal at 2am.
However her neighbour claimed she'd simply got hold of two small pieces to throw at some noisy cats!
In fact cats played an important part in the 61-year-old woman's defence.
Some time ago Rebecca had lost some chickens and she thought that cats had been responsible.
So she set a trap for them, which caught and killed Mary's cat. This, as might be imagined, led to much animosity between the pair.
Rebecca's counsel claimed that her neighbour had threatened revenge and the case showed the woman's "spitefulness and triviality".
The Bench appeared to agree as they dismissed the case.
We are all familiar with the charge of harbouring a fugitive. However in the Prescot Sessions David Slater was charged with harbouring a policeman!
The landlord of an unidentified Rainhill pub had let PC Ashton drink beer at 3am when he should have been on duty.
It appeared not to have been an unusual event, as Superintendent Fowler told the court that he had warned licensees against harbouring police constables on duty.
The man in charge of Prescot Police also called for a substantial penalty against Slater for committing the offence.
The landlord's defence was that the constable had only arrived at his hotel five minutes before a sergeant had entered searching for the missing policeman.
He said PC Ashton had been "starved and ill" and was served a drink out of compassion.
David Slater was fined the hefty amount of £5 with 12 shillings costs or he must serve 2 months in prison. There was no mention of what happened to PC Ashton.
On the 2nd there was more trouble on the new railway line being built from Huyton to St Helens via Prescot.
Recently two navvies in Scotchbarn Lane had attacked each other with spades leaving one of them badly injured.
Now while the men were working on the line at Whiston, part of the embankment gave way and a large mass of earth fell upon James Appleby breaking his leg.
This was then situated in New Market Place (off Exchange Street) and privately owned by the St Helens Town Hall Company.
They were prepared to sell the multi-purpose building to the Corporation for £2,315, with an additional £720 required to make a number of alterations.
The entrance to the building would be lowered to street level and the front of the first storey converted into shops.
A newsroom for the reading of newspapers would also be extended and converted into a council chamber.
Next week's stories will include the rioting navvies of Prescot, the profitable ploughing competitions, the Rainford poacher with a cunningly disguised gun, and the annual supper of St Helens' coachmen is held in the Sefton Arms.