150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (27th FEB. - 5th MARCH 1873)
This week's many stories include the lunatic at large on the railway at Moss Bank, some shocking St Helens death statistics, the Sutton sweeping brush squabble, the horse that drowned after being backed into a Cowley Hill pit and the gold ring scam in Raglan Street.
We begin on March 1st with a couple of stories from the Warrington Examiner. The paper reported that James Woods had been fined 10 shillings and costs at Newton Petty Sessions for "ill-using a sheep by beating it on the ears with a stick". The incident had occurred at Newton seemingly while the sheep was being escorted along the streets – a practice that used to be very common.
The second article concerned a railway worker named John Hawkins who had been shunting five empty wagons at a siding near Earlestown Station. Suddenly Hawkins slipped and fell on to the line and all the wagons ran over his leg and arm. He was said to be in precarious state, which meant his chances of survival were virtually nil.
On the 3rd a man called James Garvin was found running on the railway line at Moss Bank station (pictured above) and in imminent danger of being killed. The St Helens Newspaper said the man had "dashed along at a remarkable speed" in front of a train that was making its way to St Helens. It was not until Garvin got to Gerards Bridge that railway officials were able to seize him.
The Wigan Observer reported that a "desperate struggle" had taken place before the man could be overpowered and eventually despatched to Whiston Workhouse. There they had a lunatic ward and the man would have been assessed as either suitable for workhouse care or despatched to Rainhill Asylum where the more dangerous "lunatics" were usually housed. "A Lunatic At Large" was the Wigan Observer's headline to their report. The St Helens Newspaper preferred "Escape Of A Lunatic".
Also on the 3rd in St Helens Petty Sessions, James Purcell was fined £5 and costs, or two months in prison, for a savage assault on PC Sharrock in which the officer was knocked unconscious. And in a separate case a youth called William Langley was fined £2 and costs or two months imprisonment for disturbing the town's theatre and assaulting the constable who ejected him. Supt. Ludlam told the court that Langley was one of a "gang of young roughs" who went to the Theatre Royal every night to create disorder.
Robert Bradshaw was described as a vagabond when he was charged with stealing an overcoat, a sovereign and a set of joiners' tools from the Parr Mill Chemical Works and sent to prison for three months.
This week a detailed account of mortality in St Helens over the previous three years was released. In 1870 there had been 1,040 deaths; in 1871 there were 1,871 and in 1872 a total of 952 persons had died. Over the three-year period smallpox had taken 147 lives, measles killed 117, scarlet fever 92, diarrhoea 262, typhus fever 91, whooping cough 87 and diphtheria 20. During those three years 909 deaths were of infants under a year old and these accounted for over a quarter of the total.
And for children under five years of age there had been 1,687 deaths between 1870 and 1872, slightly more than half of all mortality. During the same period there had been 6,246 births in St Helens, with males exceeding females by 164. Such records had only been kept for a little over three years and so no comparisons could be made with previous times.
At the monthly St Helens Town Council meeting on the 5th its members decided to write to the Postmaster General to ask for improved postal facilities in the borough. Not that many people got much post then – in fact the average number of letters received per person was a little over three per year. In 1872 150,000 letters and 25,000 telegrams had passed through the St Helens Post Office for delivery to a population of 46,000 over 6,500 acres.
The Newspaper reported on a curious accident to a carter employed by Doulton's works in Eccleston – or more accurately to his poor horse. Edward Greenall had to dump rubbish in a pit in Cowley Hill that belonged to the pottery firm. At nine o’clock one morning this week, the man was backing his cart near to the brink of the opening in readiness to discharge his load.
It must have been a very heavy load, as the Newspaper said suddenly the vehicle "thundered down into the water" dragging the horse in with it. The driver had been standing on the ground at the time and so had been unhurt. But it was not for seven hours that the dead horse and the cart could be recovered.
"Combing Hair With A Sweeping Brush", was the headline to the St Helens Newspaper's article on a silly Sutton squabble that had been played out in the Petty Sessions. Ann Burgess of Fisher Street began the court action by taking out a summons against her neighbour, Ann Shaw, alleging assault. Then the 37-year-old Mrs Shaw issued her own cross-summons. The 78-year-old Mrs Burgess told the Bench that on the day in question she had been cleaning the front of her house when Mrs Shaw began sweeping back the same dirt that she'd swept away.
The old lady then said she was about to sweep the dirt back again, when Mrs Shaw used her brush handle to hit her several times on her head which knocked her to the ground. Mrs Shaw's solicitor claimed that the 78-year-old – who had been born in 1795 – was herself a violent woman and quoted a number of examples, although Mrs Burgess denied them all. When the defendant Ann Shaw gave evidence she said the old lady had deliberately dumped her dirt opposite her door.
She claimed that she had sent a little boy to sweep it away but Mrs Burgess had threatened him. Mrs Shaw then argued that it had been the old woman that had attacked her with a brush and it had been with great difficulty that she had managed to get it out of her hands. The younger woman also claimed that Mrs Burgess was always insulting and threatening her. The magistrates decided the dispute between the two Anns would best be dealt with by fining Mrs Shaw five shillings.
As mentioned in last week's article, the sending of Valentines was hugely popular in 1873, although some people sent insulting cards to their foes. That sometimes led to retaliation and subsequent court cases, as with Margaret McDonald. She had received what PC Millet described as a "most disgusting production", which she reckoned Jane Twist had sent her.
So she'd marched round to her home in Westfield Street to give the married woman a piece of her mind. Mrs Twist did not appreciate being called insulting names and threatened with assault – and so took out a summons. However, Margaret McDonald did not turn up in court and so the case was adjourned for a week for the woman to appear – although the Chairman of the Bench said he hoped he would hear no more of it.
Peter Doolan paid a high price for stealing some timber from the Bridgewater Chemical Works in St Helens. The 15-year-old was sent to prison for three weeks followed by five years in a reformatory.
People used to peddle all sorts of things round the streets of St Helens – including hard luck stories. Emma Pilston of Raglan Street was clearly a good-hearted woman who'd been taken in by Ann Murray. She had appeared on her doorstep to sell her two things – a hard luck story and a gold ring but neither had been real. The woman so convinced Mrs Pilston that she was in great distress as a result of her husband leaving her that she gave her a dinner.
The ring was bought for two shillings but upon wearing it for a night, Emma Pilston said her finger went black and a jeweller said it was brass and contained no gold. Ann Murray was charged in the Petty Sessions with obtaining 2 shillings by false pretences but denied having claimed that the ring was gold and very valuable. As Emma Pilston did not have any witnesses to back up her claim, the magistrates gave Ann Murray the benefit of the doubt and dismissed the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the glass smashing man called Israel, a Peasley Cross Colliery death, the Sunday shindy in Parr and a call for something to be done to abate discharges from St Helens chemical factories.
The second article concerned a railway worker named John Hawkins who had been shunting five empty wagons at a siding near Earlestown Station. Suddenly Hawkins slipped and fell on to the line and all the wagons ran over his leg and arm. He was said to be in precarious state, which meant his chances of survival were virtually nil.
The Wigan Observer reported that a "desperate struggle" had taken place before the man could be overpowered and eventually despatched to Whiston Workhouse. There they had a lunatic ward and the man would have been assessed as either suitable for workhouse care or despatched to Rainhill Asylum where the more dangerous "lunatics" were usually housed. "A Lunatic At Large" was the Wigan Observer's headline to their report. The St Helens Newspaper preferred "Escape Of A Lunatic".
Also on the 3rd in St Helens Petty Sessions, James Purcell was fined £5 and costs, or two months in prison, for a savage assault on PC Sharrock in which the officer was knocked unconscious. And in a separate case a youth called William Langley was fined £2 and costs or two months imprisonment for disturbing the town's theatre and assaulting the constable who ejected him. Supt. Ludlam told the court that Langley was one of a "gang of young roughs" who went to the Theatre Royal every night to create disorder.
Robert Bradshaw was described as a vagabond when he was charged with stealing an overcoat, a sovereign and a set of joiners' tools from the Parr Mill Chemical Works and sent to prison for three months.
This week a detailed account of mortality in St Helens over the previous three years was released. In 1870 there had been 1,040 deaths; in 1871 there were 1,871 and in 1872 a total of 952 persons had died. Over the three-year period smallpox had taken 147 lives, measles killed 117, scarlet fever 92, diarrhoea 262, typhus fever 91, whooping cough 87 and diphtheria 20. During those three years 909 deaths were of infants under a year old and these accounted for over a quarter of the total.
And for children under five years of age there had been 1,687 deaths between 1870 and 1872, slightly more than half of all mortality. During the same period there had been 6,246 births in St Helens, with males exceeding females by 164. Such records had only been kept for a little over three years and so no comparisons could be made with previous times.
At the monthly St Helens Town Council meeting on the 5th its members decided to write to the Postmaster General to ask for improved postal facilities in the borough. Not that many people got much post then – in fact the average number of letters received per person was a little over three per year. In 1872 150,000 letters and 25,000 telegrams had passed through the St Helens Post Office for delivery to a population of 46,000 over 6,500 acres.
The Newspaper reported on a curious accident to a carter employed by Doulton's works in Eccleston – or more accurately to his poor horse. Edward Greenall had to dump rubbish in a pit in Cowley Hill that belonged to the pottery firm. At nine o’clock one morning this week, the man was backing his cart near to the brink of the opening in readiness to discharge his load.
It must have been a very heavy load, as the Newspaper said suddenly the vehicle "thundered down into the water" dragging the horse in with it. The driver had been standing on the ground at the time and so had been unhurt. But it was not for seven hours that the dead horse and the cart could be recovered.
"Combing Hair With A Sweeping Brush", was the headline to the St Helens Newspaper's article on a silly Sutton squabble that had been played out in the Petty Sessions. Ann Burgess of Fisher Street began the court action by taking out a summons against her neighbour, Ann Shaw, alleging assault. Then the 37-year-old Mrs Shaw issued her own cross-summons. The 78-year-old Mrs Burgess told the Bench that on the day in question she had been cleaning the front of her house when Mrs Shaw began sweeping back the same dirt that she'd swept away.
The old lady then said she was about to sweep the dirt back again, when Mrs Shaw used her brush handle to hit her several times on her head which knocked her to the ground. Mrs Shaw's solicitor claimed that the 78-year-old – who had been born in 1795 – was herself a violent woman and quoted a number of examples, although Mrs Burgess denied them all. When the defendant Ann Shaw gave evidence she said the old lady had deliberately dumped her dirt opposite her door.
She claimed that she had sent a little boy to sweep it away but Mrs Burgess had threatened him. Mrs Shaw then argued that it had been the old woman that had attacked her with a brush and it had been with great difficulty that she had managed to get it out of her hands. The younger woman also claimed that Mrs Burgess was always insulting and threatening her. The magistrates decided the dispute between the two Anns would best be dealt with by fining Mrs Shaw five shillings.
As mentioned in last week's article, the sending of Valentines was hugely popular in 1873, although some people sent insulting cards to their foes. That sometimes led to retaliation and subsequent court cases, as with Margaret McDonald. She had received what PC Millet described as a "most disgusting production", which she reckoned Jane Twist had sent her.
So she'd marched round to her home in Westfield Street to give the married woman a piece of her mind. Mrs Twist did not appreciate being called insulting names and threatened with assault – and so took out a summons. However, Margaret McDonald did not turn up in court and so the case was adjourned for a week for the woman to appear – although the Chairman of the Bench said he hoped he would hear no more of it.
Peter Doolan paid a high price for stealing some timber from the Bridgewater Chemical Works in St Helens. The 15-year-old was sent to prison for three weeks followed by five years in a reformatory.
People used to peddle all sorts of things round the streets of St Helens – including hard luck stories. Emma Pilston of Raglan Street was clearly a good-hearted woman who'd been taken in by Ann Murray. She had appeared on her doorstep to sell her two things – a hard luck story and a gold ring but neither had been real. The woman so convinced Mrs Pilston that she was in great distress as a result of her husband leaving her that she gave her a dinner.
The ring was bought for two shillings but upon wearing it for a night, Emma Pilston said her finger went black and a jeweller said it was brass and contained no gold. Ann Murray was charged in the Petty Sessions with obtaining 2 shillings by false pretences but denied having claimed that the ring was gold and very valuable. As Emma Pilston did not have any witnesses to back up her claim, the magistrates gave Ann Murray the benefit of the doubt and dismissed the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the glass smashing man called Israel, a Peasley Cross Colliery death, the Sunday shindy in Parr and a call for something to be done to abate discharges from St Helens chemical factories.
This week's many stories include the lunatic at large on the railway at Moss Bank, some shocking St Helens death statistics, the Sutton sweeping brush squabble, the horse that drowned after being backed into a Cowley Hill pit and the gold ring scam in Raglan Street.
We begin on March 1st with a couple of stories from the Warrington Examiner. The paper reported that James Woods had been fined 10 shillings and costs at Newton Petty Sessions for "ill-using a sheep by beating it on the ears with a stick".
The incident had occurred at Newton seemingly while the sheep was being escorted along the streets – a practice that used to be very common.
The second article concerned a railway worker named John Hawkins who had been shunting five empty wagons at a siding near Earlestown Station.
Suddenly Hawkins slipped and fell on to the line and all the wagons ran over his leg and arm. He was said to be in precarious state, which meant his chances of survival were virtually nil.
On the 3rd a man called James Garvin was found running on the railway line at Moss Bank station (pictured above) and in imminent danger of being killed.
The St Helens Newspaper said the man had "dashed along at a remarkable speed" in front of a train that was making its way to St Helens.
It was not until Garvin got to Gerards Bridge that railway officials were able to seize him.
The Wigan Observer reported that a "desperate struggle" had taken place before the man could be overpowered and eventually despatched to Whiston Workhouse.
There they had a lunatic ward and the man would have been assessed as either suitable for workhouse care or despatched to Rainhill Asylum where the more dangerous "lunatics" were usually housed.
"A Lunatic At Large" was the Wigan Observer's headline to their report. The St Helens Newspaper preferred "Escape Of A Lunatic".
Also on the 3rd in St Helens Petty Sessions, James Purcell was fined £5 and costs, or two months in prison, for a savage assault on PC Sharrock in which the officer was knocked unconscious.
And in a separate case a youth called William Langley was fined £2 and costs or two months imprisonment for disturbing the town's theatre and assaulting the constable who ejected him.
Supt. Ludlam told the court that Langley was one of a "gang of young roughs" who went to the Theatre Royal every night to create disorder.
Robert Bradshaw was described as a vagabond when he was charged with stealing an overcoat, a sovereign and a set of joiners' tools from the Parr Mill Chemical Works and sent to prison for three months.
This week a detailed account of mortality in St Helens over the previous three years was released.
In 1870 there had been 1,040 deaths; in 1871 there were 1,871 and in 1872 a total of 952 persons had died.
Over the three-year period smallpox had taken 147 lives, measles killed 117, scarlet fever 92, diarrhoea 262, typhus fever 91, whooping cough 87 and diphtheria 20.
During those three years 909 deaths were of infants under a year old and these accounted for over a quarter of the total.
And for children under five years of age there had been 1,687 deaths between 1870 and 1872, slightly more than half of all mortality.
During the same period there had been 6,246 births in St Helens, with males exceeding females by 164.
Such records had only been kept for a little over three years and so no comparisons could be made with previous times.
At the monthly St Helens Town Council meeting on the 5th its members decided to write to the Postmaster General to ask for improved postal facilities in the borough.
Not that many people got much post then – in fact the average number of letters received per person was a little over three per year.
In 1872 150,000 letters and 25,000 telegrams had passed through the St Helens Post Office for delivery to a population of 46,000 over 6,500 acres.
The Newspaper reported on a curious accident to a carter employed by Doulton's works in Eccleston – or more accurately to his poor horse.
Edward Greenall had to dump rubbish in a pit in Cowley Hill that belonged to the pottery firm.
At nine o’clock one morning this week, the man was backing his cart near to the brink of the opening in readiness to discharge his load.
It must have been a very heavy load, as the Newspaper said suddenly the vehicle "thundered down into the water" dragging the horse in with it.
The driver had been standing on the ground at the time and so had been unhurt. But it was not for seven hours that the dead horse and the cart could be recovered.
"Combing Hair With A Sweeping Brush", was the headline to the St Helens Newspaper's article on a silly Sutton squabble that had been played out in the Petty Sessions.
Ann Burgess of Fisher Street began the court action by taking out a summons against her neighbour, Ann Shaw, alleging assault. Then the 37-year-old Mrs Shaw issued her own cross-summons.
The 78-year-old Mrs Burgess told the Bench that on the day in question she had been cleaning the front of her house when Mrs Shaw began sweeping back the same dirt that she'd swept away.
The old lady then said she was about to sweep the dirt back again, when Mrs Shaw used her brush handle to hit her several times on her head which knocked her to the ground.
Mrs Shaw's solicitor claimed that the 78-year-old – who had been born in 1795 – was herself a violent woman and quoted a number of examples, although Mrs Burgess denied them all.
When the defendant Ann Shaw gave evidence she said the old lady had deliberately dumped her dirt opposite her door.
She claimed that she had sent a little boy to sweep it away but Mrs Burgess had threatened him.
Mrs Shaw then argued that it had been the old woman that had attacked her with a brush and it had been with great difficulty that she had managed to get it out of her hands.
The younger woman also claimed that Mrs Burgess was always insulting and threatening her.
The magistrates decided the dispute between the two Anns would best be dealt with by fining Mrs Shaw five shillings.
As mentioned in last week's article, the sending of Valentines was hugely popular in 1873, although some people sent insulting cards to their foes.
That sometimes led to retaliation and subsequent court cases, as with Margaret McDonald.
She had received what PC Millet described as a "most disgusting production", which she reckoned Jane Twist had sent her.
So she'd marched round to her home in Westfield Street to give the married woman a piece of her mind.
Mrs Twist did not appreciate being called insulting names and threatened with assault – and so took out a summons.
However, Margaret McDonald did not turn up in court and so the case was adjourned for a week for the woman to appear – although the Chairman of the Bench said he hoped he would hear no more of it.
Peter Doolan paid a high price for stealing some timber from the Bridgewater Chemical Works in St Helens.
The 15-year-old was sent to prison for three weeks followed by five years in a reformatory.
People used to peddle all sorts of things round the streets of St Helens – including hard luck stories.
Emma Pilston of Raglan Street was clearly a good-hearted woman who'd been taken in by Ann Murray.
She had appeared on her doorstep to sell her two things – a hard luck story and a gold ring but neither had been real.
The woman so convinced Mrs Pilston that she was in great distress as a result of her husband leaving her that she gave her a dinner.
The ring was bought for two shillings but upon wearing it for a night, Emma Pilston said her finger went black and a jeweller said it was brass and contained no gold.
Ann Murray was charged in the Petty Sessions with obtaining 2 shillings by false pretences but denied having claimed that the ring was gold and very valuable.
As Emma Pilston did not have any witnesses to back up her claim, the magistrates gave Ann Murray the benefit of the doubt and dismissed the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the glass smashing man called Israel, a Peasley Cross Colliery death, the Sunday shindy in Parr and a call for something to be done to abate discharges from St Helens chemical factories.
The incident had occurred at Newton seemingly while the sheep was being escorted along the streets – a practice that used to be very common.
The second article concerned a railway worker named John Hawkins who had been shunting five empty wagons at a siding near Earlestown Station.
Suddenly Hawkins slipped and fell on to the line and all the wagons ran over his leg and arm. He was said to be in precarious state, which meant his chances of survival were virtually nil.
The St Helens Newspaper said the man had "dashed along at a remarkable speed" in front of a train that was making its way to St Helens.
It was not until Garvin got to Gerards Bridge that railway officials were able to seize him.
The Wigan Observer reported that a "desperate struggle" had taken place before the man could be overpowered and eventually despatched to Whiston Workhouse.
There they had a lunatic ward and the man would have been assessed as either suitable for workhouse care or despatched to Rainhill Asylum where the more dangerous "lunatics" were usually housed.
"A Lunatic At Large" was the Wigan Observer's headline to their report. The St Helens Newspaper preferred "Escape Of A Lunatic".
Also on the 3rd in St Helens Petty Sessions, James Purcell was fined £5 and costs, or two months in prison, for a savage assault on PC Sharrock in which the officer was knocked unconscious.
And in a separate case a youth called William Langley was fined £2 and costs or two months imprisonment for disturbing the town's theatre and assaulting the constable who ejected him.
Supt. Ludlam told the court that Langley was one of a "gang of young roughs" who went to the Theatre Royal every night to create disorder.
Robert Bradshaw was described as a vagabond when he was charged with stealing an overcoat, a sovereign and a set of joiners' tools from the Parr Mill Chemical Works and sent to prison for three months.
This week a detailed account of mortality in St Helens over the previous three years was released.
In 1870 there had been 1,040 deaths; in 1871 there were 1,871 and in 1872 a total of 952 persons had died.
Over the three-year period smallpox had taken 147 lives, measles killed 117, scarlet fever 92, diarrhoea 262, typhus fever 91, whooping cough 87 and diphtheria 20.
During those three years 909 deaths were of infants under a year old and these accounted for over a quarter of the total.
And for children under five years of age there had been 1,687 deaths between 1870 and 1872, slightly more than half of all mortality.
During the same period there had been 6,246 births in St Helens, with males exceeding females by 164.
Such records had only been kept for a little over three years and so no comparisons could be made with previous times.
At the monthly St Helens Town Council meeting on the 5th its members decided to write to the Postmaster General to ask for improved postal facilities in the borough.
Not that many people got much post then – in fact the average number of letters received per person was a little over three per year.
In 1872 150,000 letters and 25,000 telegrams had passed through the St Helens Post Office for delivery to a population of 46,000 over 6,500 acres.
The Newspaper reported on a curious accident to a carter employed by Doulton's works in Eccleston – or more accurately to his poor horse.
Edward Greenall had to dump rubbish in a pit in Cowley Hill that belonged to the pottery firm.
At nine o’clock one morning this week, the man was backing his cart near to the brink of the opening in readiness to discharge his load.
It must have been a very heavy load, as the Newspaper said suddenly the vehicle "thundered down into the water" dragging the horse in with it.
The driver had been standing on the ground at the time and so had been unhurt. But it was not for seven hours that the dead horse and the cart could be recovered.
"Combing Hair With A Sweeping Brush", was the headline to the St Helens Newspaper's article on a silly Sutton squabble that had been played out in the Petty Sessions.
Ann Burgess of Fisher Street began the court action by taking out a summons against her neighbour, Ann Shaw, alleging assault. Then the 37-year-old Mrs Shaw issued her own cross-summons.
The 78-year-old Mrs Burgess told the Bench that on the day in question she had been cleaning the front of her house when Mrs Shaw began sweeping back the same dirt that she'd swept away.
The old lady then said she was about to sweep the dirt back again, when Mrs Shaw used her brush handle to hit her several times on her head which knocked her to the ground.
Mrs Shaw's solicitor claimed that the 78-year-old – who had been born in 1795 – was herself a violent woman and quoted a number of examples, although Mrs Burgess denied them all.
When the defendant Ann Shaw gave evidence she said the old lady had deliberately dumped her dirt opposite her door.
She claimed that she had sent a little boy to sweep it away but Mrs Burgess had threatened him.
Mrs Shaw then argued that it had been the old woman that had attacked her with a brush and it had been with great difficulty that she had managed to get it out of her hands.
The younger woman also claimed that Mrs Burgess was always insulting and threatening her.
The magistrates decided the dispute between the two Anns would best be dealt with by fining Mrs Shaw five shillings.
As mentioned in last week's article, the sending of Valentines was hugely popular in 1873, although some people sent insulting cards to their foes.
That sometimes led to retaliation and subsequent court cases, as with Margaret McDonald.
She had received what PC Millet described as a "most disgusting production", which she reckoned Jane Twist had sent her.
So she'd marched round to her home in Westfield Street to give the married woman a piece of her mind.
Mrs Twist did not appreciate being called insulting names and threatened with assault – and so took out a summons.
However, Margaret McDonald did not turn up in court and so the case was adjourned for a week for the woman to appear – although the Chairman of the Bench said he hoped he would hear no more of it.
Peter Doolan paid a high price for stealing some timber from the Bridgewater Chemical Works in St Helens.
The 15-year-old was sent to prison for three weeks followed by five years in a reformatory.
People used to peddle all sorts of things round the streets of St Helens – including hard luck stories.
Emma Pilston of Raglan Street was clearly a good-hearted woman who'd been taken in by Ann Murray.
She had appeared on her doorstep to sell her two things – a hard luck story and a gold ring but neither had been real.
The woman so convinced Mrs Pilston that she was in great distress as a result of her husband leaving her that she gave her a dinner.
The ring was bought for two shillings but upon wearing it for a night, Emma Pilston said her finger went black and a jeweller said it was brass and contained no gold.
Ann Murray was charged in the Petty Sessions with obtaining 2 shillings by false pretences but denied having claimed that the ring was gold and very valuable.
As Emma Pilston did not have any witnesses to back up her claim, the magistrates gave Ann Murray the benefit of the doubt and dismissed the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the glass smashing man called Israel, a Peasley Cross Colliery death, the Sunday shindy in Parr and a call for something to be done to abate discharges from St Helens chemical factories.