150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (2nd - 8th NOVEMBER 1870)
This week's stories include a terrible case of poverty and wife beating in Rainford, Whiston Workhouse gets a bad inspector's report, the end of the 6-month-long Pilkington glass strike and an unusual Parr Street burglary.
We begin on the 2nd with the St Helens Newspaper's description of a very sad case that had been heard in the Petty Sessions. It concerned a woman's worry that her husband would run off with her pig. It sounds funny, but it wasn't for her:
"A dejected-looking poor woman who said her name was Geraghty and that she resided in Rainford with her husband, Thomas Geraghty, applied for a warrant for the arrest of the latter, who had threatened to run away with her “substance,” and leave her destitute. Mrs. Geraghty said that she was married five years to her husband and they had five children, one of whom, an infant four months old, she had only buried the day before.
"Her husband was addicted to drinking, and whenever he had a drop too much, he treated her harshly, striking her especially about the head. The night before he came home drunk, and would have struck her but for the interference of a young man who was living in the same house to them. His conduct, however, was so violent that she feared to remain in the house with him that night and slept with a young woman, who resided near them.
"That morning when she went to the house she was answered by a young girl aged 16, with whom he cohabits, and who refused to call him to her. The applicant said that out of her “industre” she had purchased a pig, and her husband had threatened to sell it and leave her, taking with him the proceeds of the sale.
"Major Pilkington [on the Bench] – I can not give you a warrant, but you may take out a summons. Applicant – Well, very well, sir; but, sure, he'll have gone away with the price of the pig before I can have him up here. Major Pilkington – Was he ever summoned here? Applicant – He was never summoned here, since I married him, but once, and that was in Warrington for drunkenness. Major Pilkington – You can take out the summons. A summons was then issued for the appearance of the husband."
The fortnightly meeting of the Prescot Union Guardians took place on the 3rd and they discussed a critical report from the Poor Law Board. An inspector had visited Whiston Workhouse (shown above) but not been very impressed with what he had seen – particular with regards to the so-called "imbeciles". The report's many criticisms included no padded room or separate wards for imbeciles and in the female imbecile infirmary, thirteen inmates (some epileptics) and an attendant had been forced to sleep in nine beds. During the winter when the workhouse was full, some of the "aged men" also had to sleep two in a bed.
There was also overcrowding in the male vagrant / tramp ward, the children’s lavatories were "indifferent" and the fever wards in the infirmary were not sufficiently separated from the ordinary wards. The Guardians own House Committee had come up with a plan to address many of these complaints but one member called Davenport felt they were being picked on. He accused the inspector of being sent to the workhouse "in opposition" to the Guardians and said the man had needlessly put in his report many trivial complaints.
On the 5th in the St Helens Petty Sessions, Bryan Took – described as "an old man on crutches" – was sent to prison for a week for begging in Raven Street, off Church Street. An unusual burglary case was also heard in the Sessions when James Fitzgerald, his mother Annie Fitzgerald and a woman called Ellen Donaldson appeared in the dock. They all resided in Manchester but the Fitzgeralds had previously lived in St Helens – which is how they appear to have been caught.
Every now and then the St Helens Newspaper would complain of the town being “infested” with burglars who would rob a few homes before moving on to some other place. However this case was quite different. James Fitzgerald had entered the house of John Shufflebottom of Parr Street (pictured above) at 5am by removing panes of glass and had then returned home to Manchester with his loot. The ill-gotten gains included four pairs of boots, a cloak, a frock, a petticoat, three pairs of stockings and a hat, to the value of under £3. The swag was not much but then most people had few possessions and so clothing tended to be the main target of burglaries.
PC James Woods was stationed at Parr and three days later he received information connecting the crime to James Fitzgerald. The 22-year-old's home in Manchester was raided at 3am and all the items found, with the exception of some that had been pawned. Both women were charged with receiving the stolen goods, although both strenuously denied knowledge of the theft, with James Fitzgerald's mother Annie crying throughout the hearing.
All three were committed to the Liverpool Assizes, with the two women granted bail, although the amount set in sureties would have been unaffordably high. Being convicted of stealing so-called wearing apparel inevitably led to harsh prison sentences being imposed. The trial of the threesome was held on December 12th and James Fitzgerald was given 12 months hard labour and his mother Annie six months, with Ellen Donaldson acquitted. And hard labour in 1870 was incredibly hard. Usually it meant pointlessly working on a treadmill in Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for at least six hours a day. Those who like to exercise in gyms – I prefer the joys of fresh air – might like to know that the treadmill running machines in use today are derived from those invented in Victorian times to punish prisoners.
Lots of drunks were in court in St Helens this week, with a number denying the offence and insisting they were teetotal. In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 7th, Barbara Kelly was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Smithy Brow but told the magistrates: "I declare to goodness that I never took more than a bottle of pop. Don't commit me for being drunk, because I was never drunk in my life." She was fined 10s 6d.
John Callan was charged with being drunk in Church Street but told the magistrates that he "didn’t know a ha’porth about the entire matter". He was also fined 10s 6d. The Bench told Luke Connolly that he was a "disgrace to society" as they sent him to prison for seven days. This was for drunkenness in Parr Street – the man's tenth conviction for the same offence. He definitely wasn't a teetotaller!
Thomas Fay was another notorious character having been before the magistrates in St Helens and Prescot on over 30 occasions. This is how the St Helens Newspaper described a further appearance in which the man was charged with wife desertion: "A bald-headed individual named Thomas Fay was summoned by Mr. Fowler, relieving officer, to give cause why he was not responsible for the support of his wife and child, who were inmates of the workhouse. The defendant denied that he was married. Mary Hill deposed that he and the woman had lodged with her, and passed as man and wife. They lived in the house for three months, and he behaved like a rascal to her, the poor woman having pledged all she had to supply him with money.
"The defendant stated that he was a job-gardener and the woman, who was stated to be his wife, had entered the workhouse at her own suggestion, he being at the time out of work. The bench said they should dismiss the case from want of evidence of marriage. Defendant – Thank your worships. Mr. Daglish [magistrate] – You are guilty, however, of most abominable conduct."
On the 8th the St Helens Newspaper reported that the Pilkington glass strike had finally come to an end – after an extraordinary 29 weeks. Strikes in the 19th century did not normally last long. The employers – or masters, as they were known – simply played a waiting game, with extreme poverty soon driving workers back to their jobs. However the St Helens public had helped to support the striking glassmen but this aid was drying up.
The Pilks management had recently made their position crystal clear. They were sticking to their guns and refusing to negotiate on their 25% cut in wages, which had prompted the walk-out almost seven months earlier. The masters did in the end agree to some slight modifications to their terms. But Pilks were the clear victors of the prolonged struggle and the 200-plus men – mainly skilled glassblowers – went back to work tails between their legs.
The Newspaper wrote: "We are glad that the strike has terminated, and that, by the resumption of work by the men, and the consequent receipt by their wives and families of weekly wages, there will be an end put to a great amount of misery, and, to say the least, partial starvation on the part of the wives and children of many of the men who have been on strike."
Nobody was starving at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street during the evening of the 8th when Greenall's rent dinner was held. It was a tradition for licensees to pay the rent on their houses every six months and in return the brewery gave them a dinner. As well as a sumptuous meal for the 300 guests to enjoy, there were many toasts, including ingratiating ones to the host of the event, Gilbert Greenall. It always paid to suck up to the boss!
Next week's stories will include a mysterious drowning in St Helens Canal, the cannon firing in Pocket Nook, a train crash at Sutton, an old lady's dramatic leap off a train in Rainford and the Lowe House Tea Party and Ball.
We begin on the 2nd with the St Helens Newspaper's description of a very sad case that had been heard in the Petty Sessions. It concerned a woman's worry that her husband would run off with her pig. It sounds funny, but it wasn't for her:
"A dejected-looking poor woman who said her name was Geraghty and that she resided in Rainford with her husband, Thomas Geraghty, applied for a warrant for the arrest of the latter, who had threatened to run away with her “substance,” and leave her destitute. Mrs. Geraghty said that she was married five years to her husband and they had five children, one of whom, an infant four months old, she had only buried the day before.
"Her husband was addicted to drinking, and whenever he had a drop too much, he treated her harshly, striking her especially about the head. The night before he came home drunk, and would have struck her but for the interference of a young man who was living in the same house to them. His conduct, however, was so violent that she feared to remain in the house with him that night and slept with a young woman, who resided near them.
"That morning when she went to the house she was answered by a young girl aged 16, with whom he cohabits, and who refused to call him to her. The applicant said that out of her “industre” she had purchased a pig, and her husband had threatened to sell it and leave her, taking with him the proceeds of the sale.
"Major Pilkington [on the Bench] – I can not give you a warrant, but you may take out a summons. Applicant – Well, very well, sir; but, sure, he'll have gone away with the price of the pig before I can have him up here. Major Pilkington – Was he ever summoned here? Applicant – He was never summoned here, since I married him, but once, and that was in Warrington for drunkenness. Major Pilkington – You can take out the summons. A summons was then issued for the appearance of the husband."
There was also overcrowding in the male vagrant / tramp ward, the children’s lavatories were "indifferent" and the fever wards in the infirmary were not sufficiently separated from the ordinary wards. The Guardians own House Committee had come up with a plan to address many of these complaints but one member called Davenport felt they were being picked on. He accused the inspector of being sent to the workhouse "in opposition" to the Guardians and said the man had needlessly put in his report many trivial complaints.
On the 5th in the St Helens Petty Sessions, Bryan Took – described as "an old man on crutches" – was sent to prison for a week for begging in Raven Street, off Church Street. An unusual burglary case was also heard in the Sessions when James Fitzgerald, his mother Annie Fitzgerald and a woman called Ellen Donaldson appeared in the dock. They all resided in Manchester but the Fitzgeralds had previously lived in St Helens – which is how they appear to have been caught.
PC James Woods was stationed at Parr and three days later he received information connecting the crime to James Fitzgerald. The 22-year-old's home in Manchester was raided at 3am and all the items found, with the exception of some that had been pawned. Both women were charged with receiving the stolen goods, although both strenuously denied knowledge of the theft, with James Fitzgerald's mother Annie crying throughout the hearing.
All three were committed to the Liverpool Assizes, with the two women granted bail, although the amount set in sureties would have been unaffordably high. Being convicted of stealing so-called wearing apparel inevitably led to harsh prison sentences being imposed. The trial of the threesome was held on December 12th and James Fitzgerald was given 12 months hard labour and his mother Annie six months, with Ellen Donaldson acquitted. And hard labour in 1870 was incredibly hard. Usually it meant pointlessly working on a treadmill in Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for at least six hours a day. Those who like to exercise in gyms – I prefer the joys of fresh air – might like to know that the treadmill running machines in use today are derived from those invented in Victorian times to punish prisoners.
Lots of drunks were in court in St Helens this week, with a number denying the offence and insisting they were teetotal. In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 7th, Barbara Kelly was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Smithy Brow but told the magistrates: "I declare to goodness that I never took more than a bottle of pop. Don't commit me for being drunk, because I was never drunk in my life." She was fined 10s 6d.
John Callan was charged with being drunk in Church Street but told the magistrates that he "didn’t know a ha’porth about the entire matter". He was also fined 10s 6d. The Bench told Luke Connolly that he was a "disgrace to society" as they sent him to prison for seven days. This was for drunkenness in Parr Street – the man's tenth conviction for the same offence. He definitely wasn't a teetotaller!
Thomas Fay was another notorious character having been before the magistrates in St Helens and Prescot on over 30 occasions. This is how the St Helens Newspaper described a further appearance in which the man was charged with wife desertion: "A bald-headed individual named Thomas Fay was summoned by Mr. Fowler, relieving officer, to give cause why he was not responsible for the support of his wife and child, who were inmates of the workhouse. The defendant denied that he was married. Mary Hill deposed that he and the woman had lodged with her, and passed as man and wife. They lived in the house for three months, and he behaved like a rascal to her, the poor woman having pledged all she had to supply him with money.
"The defendant stated that he was a job-gardener and the woman, who was stated to be his wife, had entered the workhouse at her own suggestion, he being at the time out of work. The bench said they should dismiss the case from want of evidence of marriage. Defendant – Thank your worships. Mr. Daglish [magistrate] – You are guilty, however, of most abominable conduct."
On the 8th the St Helens Newspaper reported that the Pilkington glass strike had finally come to an end – after an extraordinary 29 weeks. Strikes in the 19th century did not normally last long. The employers – or masters, as they were known – simply played a waiting game, with extreme poverty soon driving workers back to their jobs. However the St Helens public had helped to support the striking glassmen but this aid was drying up.
The Pilks management had recently made their position crystal clear. They were sticking to their guns and refusing to negotiate on their 25% cut in wages, which had prompted the walk-out almost seven months earlier. The masters did in the end agree to some slight modifications to their terms. But Pilks were the clear victors of the prolonged struggle and the 200-plus men – mainly skilled glassblowers – went back to work tails between their legs.
The Newspaper wrote: "We are glad that the strike has terminated, and that, by the resumption of work by the men, and the consequent receipt by their wives and families of weekly wages, there will be an end put to a great amount of misery, and, to say the least, partial starvation on the part of the wives and children of many of the men who have been on strike."
Nobody was starving at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street during the evening of the 8th when Greenall's rent dinner was held. It was a tradition for licensees to pay the rent on their houses every six months and in return the brewery gave them a dinner. As well as a sumptuous meal for the 300 guests to enjoy, there were many toasts, including ingratiating ones to the host of the event, Gilbert Greenall. It always paid to suck up to the boss!
Next week's stories will include a mysterious drowning in St Helens Canal, the cannon firing in Pocket Nook, a train crash at Sutton, an old lady's dramatic leap off a train in Rainford and the Lowe House Tea Party and Ball.
This week's stories include a terrible case of poverty and wife beating in Rainford, Whiston Workhouse gets a bad inspector's report, the end of the 6-month-long Pilkington glass strike and a Parr Street burglary.
We begin on the 2nd with the St Helens Newspaper's description of a very sad case that had been heard in the Petty Sessions.
It concerned a woman's worry that her husband would run off with her pig. It sounds funny, but it wasn't for her:
"A dejected-looking poor woman who said her name was Geraghty and that she resided in Rainford with her husband, Thomas Geraghty, applied for a warrant for the arrest of the latter, who had threatened to run away with her “substance,” and leave her destitute.
"Mrs. Geraghty said that she was married five years to her husband and they had five children, one of whom, an infant four months old, she had only buried the day before.
"Her husband was addicted to drinking, and whenever he had a drop too much, he treated her harshly, striking her especially about the head. The night before he came home drunk, and would have struck her but for the interference of a young man who was living in the same house to them. His conduct, however, was so violent that she feared to remain in the house with him that night and slept with a young woman, who resided near them.
"That morning when she went to the house she was answered by a young girl aged 16, with whom he cohabits, and who refused to call him to her. The applicant said that out of her “industre” she had purchased a pig, and her husband had threatened to sell it and leave her, taking with him the proceeds of the sale.
"Major Pilkington [on the Bench] – I can not give you a warrant, but you may take out a summons. Applicant – Well, very well, sir; but, sure, he'll have gone away with the price of the pig before I can have him up here.
"Major Pilkington – Was he ever summoned here? Applicant – He was never summoned here, since I married him, but once, and that was in Warrington for drunkenness. Major Pilkington – You can take out the summons. A summons was then issued for the appearance of the husband."
The fortnightly meeting of the Prescot Union Guardians took place on the 3rd and they discussed a critical report from the Poor Law Board.
An inspector had visited Whiston Workhouse (shown above) but not been very impressed with what he had seen – particular with regards to the so-called "imbeciles".
The report's many criticisms included no padded room or separate wards for imbeciles and in the female imbecile infirmary, thirteen inmates (some epileptics) and an attendant had been forced to sleep in nine beds.
During the winter when the workhouse was full, some of the "aged men" also had to sleep two in a bed.
There was also overcrowding in the male vagrant / tramp ward, the children’s lavatories were "indifferent" and the fever wards in the infirmary were not sufficiently separated from the ordinary wards.
The Guardians own House Committee had come up with a plan to address many of these complaints but one member called Davenport felt they were being picked on.
He accused the inspector of being sent to the workhouse "in opposition" to the Guardians and said the man had needlessly put in his report many trivial complaints.
On the 5th in the St Helens Petty Sessions, Bryan Took – described as "an old man on crutches" – was sent to prison for a week for begging in Raven Street, off Church Street.
An unusual burglary case was also heard in the Sessions when James Fitzgerald, his mother Annie Fitzgerald and a woman called Ellen Donaldson appeared in the dock.
They all resided in Manchester but the Fitzgeralds had previously lived in St Helens – which is how they appear to have been caught.
Every now and then the St Helens Newspaper would complain of the town being “infested” with burglars who would rob a few homes before moving on to some other place. However this case was quite different.
James Fitzgerald had entered the house of John Shufflebottom of Parr Street (pictured above) at 5am by removing panes of glass and had then returned home to Manchester with his loot.
The ill-gotten gains included four pairs of boots, a cloak, a frock, a petticoat, three pairs of stockings and a hat, to the value of under £3.
The swag was not much but then most people had few possessions and so clothing tended to be the main target of burglaries.
PC James Woods was stationed at Parr and three days later he received information connecting the crime to James Fitzgerald.
The 22-year-old's home in Manchester was raided at 3am and all the items found, with the exception of some that had been pawned.
Both women were charged with receiving the stolen goods, although both strenuously denied knowledge of the theft, with James Fitzgerald's mother Annie crying throughout the hearing.
All three were committed to the Liverpool Assizes, with the two women granted bail, although the amount set in sureties would have been unaffordably high.
Being convicted of stealing so-called wearing apparel inevitably led to harsh prison sentences being imposed.
The trial of the threesome was held on December 12th and James Fitzgerald was given 12 months hard labour and his mother Annie six months, with Ellen Donaldson acquitted.
And hard labour in 1870 was incredibly hard. Usually it meant pointlessly working on a treadmill in Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for at least six hours a day.
Those who like to exercise in gyms – I prefer the joys of fresh air – might like to know that the treadmill running machines in use today are derived from those invented in Victorian times to punish prisoners.
Lots of drunks were in court in St Helens this week, with a number denying the offence and insisting they were teetotal.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 7th, Barbara Kelly was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Smithy Brow but told the magistrates:
"I declare to goodness that I never took more than a bottle of pop. Don't commit me for being drunk, because I was never drunk in my life." She was fined 10s 6d.
John Callan was charged with being drunk in Church Street but told the magistrates that he "didn’t know a ha’porth about the entire matter". He was also fined 10s 6d.
The Bench told Luke Connolly that he was a "disgrace to society" as they sent him to prison for seven days.
This was for drunkenness in Parr Street – the man's tenth conviction for the same offence. He definitely wasn't a teetotaller!
Thomas Fay was another notorious character having been before the magistrates in St Helens and Prescot on over 30 occasions.
This is how the St Helens Newspaper described a further appearance in which the man was charged with wife desertion:
"A bald-headed individual named Thomas Fay was summoned by Mr. Fowler, relieving officer, to give cause why he was not responsible for the support of his wife and child, who were inmates of the workhouse. The defendant denied that he was married.
"Mary Hill deposed that he and the woman had lodged with her, and passed as man and wife. They lived in the house for three months, and he behaved like a rascal to her, the poor woman having pledged all she had to supply him with money.
"The defendant stated that he was a job-gardener and the woman, who was stated to be his wife, had entered the workhouse at her own suggestion, he being at the time out of work.
"The bench said they should dismiss the case from want of evidence of marriage. Defendant – Thank your worships. Mr. Daglish [magistrate] – You are guilty, however, of most abominable conduct."
On the 8th the St Helens Newspaper reported that the Pilkington glass strike had finally come to an end – after an extraordinary 29 weeks.
Strikes in the 19th century did not normally last long. The employers – or masters, as they were known – simply played a waiting game, with extreme poverty soon driving workers back to their jobs.
However the St Helens public had helped to support the striking glassmen but this aid was drying up.
The Pilks management had recently made their position crystal clear. They were sticking to their guns and refusing to negotiate on their 25% cut in wages, which had prompted the walk-out almost seven months earlier.
The masters did in the end agree to some slight modifications to their terms.
But Pilks were the clear victors of the prolonged struggle and the 200-plus men – mainly skilled glassblowers – went back to work tails between their legs. The Newspaper wrote:
"We are glad that the strike has terminated, and that, by the resumption of work by the men, and the consequent receipt by their wives and families of weekly wages, there will be an end put to a great amount of misery, and, to say the least, partial starvation on the part of the wives and children of many of the men who have been on strike."
Nobody was starving at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street during the evening of the 8th when Greenall's rent dinner was held.
It was a tradition for licensees to pay the rent on their houses every six months and in return the brewery gave them a dinner.
As well as a sumptuous meal for the 300 guests to enjoy, there were many toasts, including ingratiating ones to the host of the event, Gilbert Greenall. It always paid to suck up to the boss!
Next week's stories will include a mysterious drowning in St Helens Canal, the cannon firing in Pocket Nook, a train crash at Sutton, an old lady's dramatic leap off a train in Rainford and the Lowe House Tea Party and Ball.
We begin on the 2nd with the St Helens Newspaper's description of a very sad case that had been heard in the Petty Sessions.
It concerned a woman's worry that her husband would run off with her pig. It sounds funny, but it wasn't for her:
"A dejected-looking poor woman who said her name was Geraghty and that she resided in Rainford with her husband, Thomas Geraghty, applied for a warrant for the arrest of the latter, who had threatened to run away with her “substance,” and leave her destitute.
"Mrs. Geraghty said that she was married five years to her husband and they had five children, one of whom, an infant four months old, she had only buried the day before.
"Her husband was addicted to drinking, and whenever he had a drop too much, he treated her harshly, striking her especially about the head. The night before he came home drunk, and would have struck her but for the interference of a young man who was living in the same house to them. His conduct, however, was so violent that she feared to remain in the house with him that night and slept with a young woman, who resided near them.
"That morning when she went to the house she was answered by a young girl aged 16, with whom he cohabits, and who refused to call him to her. The applicant said that out of her “industre” she had purchased a pig, and her husband had threatened to sell it and leave her, taking with him the proceeds of the sale.
"Major Pilkington [on the Bench] – I can not give you a warrant, but you may take out a summons. Applicant – Well, very well, sir; but, sure, he'll have gone away with the price of the pig before I can have him up here.
"Major Pilkington – Was he ever summoned here? Applicant – He was never summoned here, since I married him, but once, and that was in Warrington for drunkenness. Major Pilkington – You can take out the summons. A summons was then issued for the appearance of the husband."
An inspector had visited Whiston Workhouse (shown above) but not been very impressed with what he had seen – particular with regards to the so-called "imbeciles".
The report's many criticisms included no padded room or separate wards for imbeciles and in the female imbecile infirmary, thirteen inmates (some epileptics) and an attendant had been forced to sleep in nine beds.
During the winter when the workhouse was full, some of the "aged men" also had to sleep two in a bed.
There was also overcrowding in the male vagrant / tramp ward, the children’s lavatories were "indifferent" and the fever wards in the infirmary were not sufficiently separated from the ordinary wards.
The Guardians own House Committee had come up with a plan to address many of these complaints but one member called Davenport felt they were being picked on.
He accused the inspector of being sent to the workhouse "in opposition" to the Guardians and said the man had needlessly put in his report many trivial complaints.
On the 5th in the St Helens Petty Sessions, Bryan Took – described as "an old man on crutches" – was sent to prison for a week for begging in Raven Street, off Church Street.
An unusual burglary case was also heard in the Sessions when James Fitzgerald, his mother Annie Fitzgerald and a woman called Ellen Donaldson appeared in the dock.
They all resided in Manchester but the Fitzgeralds had previously lived in St Helens – which is how they appear to have been caught.
Every now and then the St Helens Newspaper would complain of the town being “infested” with burglars who would rob a few homes before moving on to some other place. However this case was quite different.
The ill-gotten gains included four pairs of boots, a cloak, a frock, a petticoat, three pairs of stockings and a hat, to the value of under £3.
The swag was not much but then most people had few possessions and so clothing tended to be the main target of burglaries.
PC James Woods was stationed at Parr and three days later he received information connecting the crime to James Fitzgerald.
The 22-year-old's home in Manchester was raided at 3am and all the items found, with the exception of some that had been pawned.
Both women were charged with receiving the stolen goods, although both strenuously denied knowledge of the theft, with James Fitzgerald's mother Annie crying throughout the hearing.
All three were committed to the Liverpool Assizes, with the two women granted bail, although the amount set in sureties would have been unaffordably high.
Being convicted of stealing so-called wearing apparel inevitably led to harsh prison sentences being imposed.
The trial of the threesome was held on December 12th and James Fitzgerald was given 12 months hard labour and his mother Annie six months, with Ellen Donaldson acquitted.
And hard labour in 1870 was incredibly hard. Usually it meant pointlessly working on a treadmill in Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for at least six hours a day.
Those who like to exercise in gyms – I prefer the joys of fresh air – might like to know that the treadmill running machines in use today are derived from those invented in Victorian times to punish prisoners.
Lots of drunks were in court in St Helens this week, with a number denying the offence and insisting they were teetotal.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 7th, Barbara Kelly was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Smithy Brow but told the magistrates:
"I declare to goodness that I never took more than a bottle of pop. Don't commit me for being drunk, because I was never drunk in my life." She was fined 10s 6d.
John Callan was charged with being drunk in Church Street but told the magistrates that he "didn’t know a ha’porth about the entire matter". He was also fined 10s 6d.
The Bench told Luke Connolly that he was a "disgrace to society" as they sent him to prison for seven days.
This was for drunkenness in Parr Street – the man's tenth conviction for the same offence. He definitely wasn't a teetotaller!
Thomas Fay was another notorious character having been before the magistrates in St Helens and Prescot on over 30 occasions.
This is how the St Helens Newspaper described a further appearance in which the man was charged with wife desertion:
"A bald-headed individual named Thomas Fay was summoned by Mr. Fowler, relieving officer, to give cause why he was not responsible for the support of his wife and child, who were inmates of the workhouse. The defendant denied that he was married.
"Mary Hill deposed that he and the woman had lodged with her, and passed as man and wife. They lived in the house for three months, and he behaved like a rascal to her, the poor woman having pledged all she had to supply him with money.
"The defendant stated that he was a job-gardener and the woman, who was stated to be his wife, had entered the workhouse at her own suggestion, he being at the time out of work.
"The bench said they should dismiss the case from want of evidence of marriage. Defendant – Thank your worships. Mr. Daglish [magistrate] – You are guilty, however, of most abominable conduct."
On the 8th the St Helens Newspaper reported that the Pilkington glass strike had finally come to an end – after an extraordinary 29 weeks.
Strikes in the 19th century did not normally last long. The employers – or masters, as they were known – simply played a waiting game, with extreme poverty soon driving workers back to their jobs.
However the St Helens public had helped to support the striking glassmen but this aid was drying up.
The Pilks management had recently made their position crystal clear. They were sticking to their guns and refusing to negotiate on their 25% cut in wages, which had prompted the walk-out almost seven months earlier.
The masters did in the end agree to some slight modifications to their terms.
But Pilks were the clear victors of the prolonged struggle and the 200-plus men – mainly skilled glassblowers – went back to work tails between their legs. The Newspaper wrote:
"We are glad that the strike has terminated, and that, by the resumption of work by the men, and the consequent receipt by their wives and families of weekly wages, there will be an end put to a great amount of misery, and, to say the least, partial starvation on the part of the wives and children of many of the men who have been on strike."
Nobody was starving at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street during the evening of the 8th when Greenall's rent dinner was held.
It was a tradition for licensees to pay the rent on their houses every six months and in return the brewery gave them a dinner.
As well as a sumptuous meal for the 300 guests to enjoy, there were many toasts, including ingratiating ones to the host of the event, Gilbert Greenall. It always paid to suck up to the boss!
Next week's stories will include a mysterious drowning in St Helens Canal, the cannon firing in Pocket Nook, a train crash at Sutton, an old lady's dramatic leap off a train in Rainford and the Lowe House Tea Party and Ball.