St Helens History This Week

Bringing History to Life from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago!

Bringing History to Life from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago!

ST HELENS 150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
This page is a series of weekly articles that describe llfe in the Lancashire town in the 1870s and which are updated every Sunday morning.
150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
This page is a series of weekly articles that describe llfe in St Helens in Lancashire in the 1870s and which are updated every Sunday morning.
Prescot Reporter summary

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (20th - 26th JANUARY 1870)

This week's stories include the man sent to prison for singing in the street, the deaf blacksmith that walked on the Parr branch railway line, the road rage near Rainford, the two Peasley Cross women who fought each other most savagely, the Whiston carter that had a "wonderful escape from instant death" and an allegation of corruption at an Eccleston council by-election in which women were allowed to vote.
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Kirkdale prison

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (13th - 19th JANUARY 1870)

This week's stories include the pocket picking on a St Helens train, the evicted Parr man accused of making off with a door, more harsh sentences are passed in the Quarter Sessions, the damsel tramp who stole overcoats in Prescot, the shoplifter in a Naylor Street shop who was caught when a boot rail "treacherously" fell and the Water Street beerhouse that had been accused of being a brothel is back in the news.
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St Helens Newspaper summary

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (6th - 12th JANUARY 1870)

This week's stories include the violent gang of scoundrels that stole a shawl in Croppers Hill, the listless indifference shown by St Helens' folk towards their MPs, an indecent assault takes place on a Parr woman, the St Helens' bank that went out of business, the Laffak Colliery pitmen who were prosecuted for quitting their jobs and the many St Helens men who deserted their families and left them penniless.
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Sherdley Hall St Helens summary

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (30th DEC. 1869 - 5th JAN. 1870)

This week's many stories include a New Year's Eve dinner for the old folk of Eccleston, the angry butcher that attacked a policeman in St Helens Market, a savage assault on a horse in Prescot, St Helens Town Council's fines for absentee councillors, an unprovoked brutal assault on a lad in Whiston, a New Year’s Day meeting of St Helens' miners and the annual teas and balls that were held in St Helens and Prescot.
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Dromgooles St Helens summary

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (23rd - 29th DECEMBER 1869)

This week's stories include the butchers' Christmas market, the Christmas gifts that were on sale in St Helens, a Dentons Green farmers sues a copper works for damaging his crops, the consecration of St John's church at Ravenhead, how those in Whiston Workhouse celebrated Christmas, the blackface minstrels at the Town Hall and the men at the Bridge Inn in Rainford that were desperate for a Sunday morning pint.
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Laceys School St Helens summary

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (16th - 22nd DECEMBER 1869)

This week's many stories include the awkward shooters on the St Helens Junction rifle range, the fowl theft at Ravenhead Farm, the annual reunion or speech day at Cowley School, the thieves hawking Old Moore's Almanack round the town, a public examination of pupils takes place at Lowe House School, the bicycles that were made to order in St Helens and the shouting, cursing and din of Liverpool carters in Prescot.
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St Helens Newspaper summary

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (9th - 15th DECEMBER 1869)

This week's stories include the drunken Dragoon trooper in Prescot, the prosecution of a gipsy for telling fortunes in Park Road, the man who assaulted a gigantic policeman near Liverpool Road, the coin trick that was used in the Griffin Inn in Bold, the woman who broke her relative's windows in Parr, good news for the miners in St Helens and the man who attacked his wife after drinking twenty-nine glasses of beer.
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Prescot Church

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (2nd - 8th DECEMBER 1869)

This week's stories include the St Helens market traders unlawfully crying out rabbit, the pulling of a boy's ear lands a shopkeeper in court, the black man from New Jersey who was begging in Bridge Street pubs, the three Prescot boys imprisoned for playing pitch and toss, St Helens Council ends the Eccleston road toll and Prescot Church announces changes to persuade the poor and working class to attend services.
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Citadel

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (25th NOV. - 1st DEC. 1869)

This week's stories include the promise of light for the dark streets of St Helens, the moaning mounted member of the Lancashire Light Horse, a tragedian performs at the Theatre Royal, the earthquake that was needed in Prescot, the decline of the Mechanics Institute at the Town Hall, an assault at the gates of Rainhill Lunatic Asylum and there is a police campaign against vagrancy on Saturday nights in St Helens.
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Coffin Maker

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (18th - 24th NOVEMBER 1869)

This week's stories from 1869 include the women from Greenbank who put on an act in court, the drunks that died in the St Helens Canal, the abused Newton-le-Willows servant girl who cut her own throat, the council consider having their own police force, the state-of-the-art steam printing in Hardshaw Street, the resumption of road tolls from Eccleston to Thatto Heath and the brick-throwing fracas at Pilkingtons.
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Prescot Reporter

150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (11th - 17th NOVEMBER 1869)

This week's stories include the murder of a St Helens milkman, the abomination of boys working long hours down coal mines, a claim of attempted rape in Thatto Heath, the disgraceful state of Warrington New Road, the tramp who stole a pair of trousers in Sutton Heath, the perils of a bus journey from Prescot to St Helens and the miraculous escapes of workmen at a Ravenhead pottery works when a boiler explodes.
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