150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 3 - 9 JUNE 1874
This week's many stories include the begging letter impostor, criticism of the "shameful" bricks used to build the new Town Hall, the pit sinker killed at Whiston, why houses in the higher parts of St Helens had a disrupted water supply, the Prescot Grand Fete and the bankruptcy of the Water Street tailor that sued the St Helens Newspaper.
One of the regular talking points at St Helens Council meetings was the town's water supply. There can, of course, be problems with water today but they tend to be localised and relate to a broken pipe or something similar. But in the 1870s the issues mainly concerned the two reservoirs at Eccleston and Whiston and their engines that drew the water – as well as its distribution through the town.
At the council meeting held on the 3rd there was a complaint that the supply at St Ann's in Eccleston was being cut off almost daily. The Borough Surveyor explained to the meeting that the water was not being turned off. But when the water levels in the reservoirs got below a certain point, the pressure became so low that houses in the higher parts of the town – such as at St Ann's – could not receive a supply.
Councillor Johnson said it was a serious state of things if the wants of the town could not be met and added that something would have to be done very soon. He said there was a vast amount of water available and complained that no check was being made on excessive usage and waste of water.
The meeting also discussed problems with the building of the new town hall in what would become Corporation Street. There were complaints about the quality of the bricks and timber with Councillor Fidler declaring that he had never seen a "more shameful kind of brick" as was being used at the front of the new building.
The chairman agreed, saying he did not like the bricks at all and thought it was a disgrace that the architect had passed them. And Cllr Thomason said the bricks were scarcely good enough for a stable, adding: "Not only are they unfit for such an elevation, but the workmanship is disgraceful". The council agreed to call the attention of their relevant sub-committee to the character of the materials and the workmanship.
In March in the Liverpool Spring Assizes Thomas Thomson had lost his libel suit against Bernard Dromgoole, the editor and proprietor of the St Helens Newspaper. When local elections had taken place last November, the paper had claimed that Thomson had received a suspect payment of £24. The Water Street tailor had been working for one of the candidates and the hint was that the cash had been a bribe.
That word was not actually used within the report but Thomson was still furious with the implication of corruption. However, he lost his action with the triumphant St Helens Newspaper declaring that: "…the fomenters [sic] of corrupt practices at our municipal elections have been taught a lesson – one which we hope they will remember."
In this week's paper published on the 6th they reported on the bankruptcy proceedings that had been taking place against Thomson, who claimed liabilities of over £800. The Newspaper's owner Bernard Dromgoole was a substantial creditor having not received his payment of costs awarded to him at the libel trial.
A list of Thomson's creditors was listed in the report, although most were for loans of which no records of the supposed transaction had been made. The paper sensed that Thomson's tactics were to cause confusion and attempt to reduce the payments that he would eventually have to make to his real creditors, writing:
"Nearly all are said to be for money's lent, and without note of hand or other surety. Several of the names will be recognised as those of persons who were engaged going about collecting money to enable Thomson to carry on his action for libel against the proprietor of this paper.
"If this is not an attempt to throw dust in the eyes of the court it looks like an attempt to throw pepper in somebody's eyes." Presumably, the last line was a reference to Thomson trying to blind Dromgoole to the extent of his assets.
Accidents were so common that often the newspapers only devoted a few lines to their circumstances and sometimes did not even mention the deceased's name. That happened in the Newspaper's brief account of the death of a pit sinker in a Whiston coal mine this week.
Such individuals created new pits or extended existing ones and their work was of a highly dangerous nature. The sinkers used large buckets called hoppets to ascend and descend the shafts that they were creating and one had struck the unnamed man on his head "with fearful force" killing him instantly.
Also on the 6th St Helens YMCA's Rambling Club journeyed through Eccleston, Whiston and Rainhill on their second ramble of the season. There was a particular interest in specimens of botany and the Newspaper wrote that the "wonders of the wayside were revealed to the observant eye".
On the 8th a grand fete was held in Knowsley Park to celebrate Prescot Oddfellows formation of a widow and orphans fund. About 600 members of lodges from the district wearing the regalia of their order and carrying flags and banners took part in the long procession accompanied by two bands. It was a working day but shopkeepers closed up and – as the Newspaper put it – "the whole town turned out to do honour to the occasion".
The paper reported that many thousands paid 6d to be admitted to Knowsley Park and as it was a hot day the refreshment marquees did good business. The advertising for the event had promised a "variety of sports of a healthy and recreative character" with Punchinello and balloons in the evening.
John Abbott appeared in court on the 8th charged with being a "begging letter impostor". That did not mean that he had been writing letters to people asking for money and making false claims about himself. Instead, Abbott had been going round St Helens with a sheet listing persons who had supposedly donated him cash.
Abbott had been arrested at the Globe Hotel on the corner of Ormskirk Street and Barrow Street. There he had told the landlord William Varley that he wanted to sail to America to claim an inheritance but needed money for his passage. Abbott produced his fake list of donors, which included a plumber called Harris.
The latter had earlier been approached by Abbott but had refused to give him anything but Harris was still listed on the sheet as having made a 2-shilling contribution to his spurious benefit fund. In court Abbott insisted that everything he had said was true. There was a will in his favour in America and every name on his list was a genuine one.
He claimed that the Harris listed was a painter and not the plumber who had given evidence against him. But like many other folk that made similar wild claims, Abbott offered no evidence to support what he said and was given a month's hard labour.
Catherine Yates was a regular in court and she made her 63rd appearance this week in the Petty Sessions. The newspapers always referred to her as a "notorious character", although her convictions were fairly minor. They were mainly of being drunk and disorderly, small-time thefts or indecent conduct with men, sometimes through propositioning males on the street.
Catherine was once described as a "stout, young woman" and was a typical case of a revolving door miscreant. She got drunk and behaved badly and then was committed to Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool (pictured above). Upon her release she got drunk again and was sent back to prison … and so on.
Catherine appeared in the Petty Sessions charged with stealing 10 shillings from John Witney. The latter told the court that the woman had accosted him in the marketplace and had then followed him to Hardshaw Street, where she took his arm "in a playful way" before slipping her hand into his pocket and removing 10 shillings in silver.
But the 35-year-old was clearly not a very good pickpocket, as her victim knew what she was doing and seized Catherine before handing her over to the police. Body searching female prisoners was problematic for the male-only force but they employed what were described as female searchers to undertake the task.
Jane Archer – who was probably the wife of PC Archer – told the court that she found half-a-crown in one of Catherine's stockings with five shillings having been previously located by a constable. The woman was committed for trial at the assizes and at the end of the month she was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by seven years police supervision.
Such tough sentences were not uncommon for repeat offenders, particularly one who had been previously convicted of a felony. In 1868 Catherine had been sentenced to six months in gaol for stealing 20 shillings and that made a difference to the judge's harsh sentencing for attempting to lift 10 bob out of John Witney's pocket.
And finally, William Tone also appeared in court charged with sleeping in a railway carriage under unlawful circumstances. Tone had entered a first-class carriage at Sutton and feeling sick had placed all the seat cushions on the floor and then lay down on them until he was discovered. The Newspaper wrote: "A good deal of scouring was necessary in the carriage when he was removed from it." William Tone was sent to prison for a month.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a defence of the new town hall, the fire at Pewfall Colliery, the fake traveller at the Junction Hotel, the battle of the billposters and the violent woman who told magistrates her motto was death or glory.
One of the regular talking points at St Helens Council meetings was the town's water supply. There can, of course, be problems with water today but they tend to be localised and relate to a broken pipe or something similar. But in the 1870s the issues mainly concerned the two reservoirs at Eccleston and Whiston and their engines that drew the water – as well as its distribution through the town.
At the council meeting held on the 3rd there was a complaint that the supply at St Ann's in Eccleston was being cut off almost daily. The Borough Surveyor explained to the meeting that the water was not being turned off. But when the water levels in the reservoirs got below a certain point, the pressure became so low that houses in the higher parts of the town – such as at St Ann's – could not receive a supply.
Councillor Johnson said it was a serious state of things if the wants of the town could not be met and added that something would have to be done very soon. He said there was a vast amount of water available and complained that no check was being made on excessive usage and waste of water.
The meeting also discussed problems with the building of the new town hall in what would become Corporation Street. There were complaints about the quality of the bricks and timber with Councillor Fidler declaring that he had never seen a "more shameful kind of brick" as was being used at the front of the new building.
The chairman agreed, saying he did not like the bricks at all and thought it was a disgrace that the architect had passed them. And Cllr Thomason said the bricks were scarcely good enough for a stable, adding: "Not only are they unfit for such an elevation, but the workmanship is disgraceful". The council agreed to call the attention of their relevant sub-committee to the character of the materials and the workmanship.
In March in the Liverpool Spring Assizes Thomas Thomson had lost his libel suit against Bernard Dromgoole, the editor and proprietor of the St Helens Newspaper. When local elections had taken place last November, the paper had claimed that Thomson had received a suspect payment of £24. The Water Street tailor had been working for one of the candidates and the hint was that the cash had been a bribe.
That word was not actually used within the report but Thomson was still furious with the implication of corruption. However, he lost his action with the triumphant St Helens Newspaper declaring that: "…the fomenters [sic] of corrupt practices at our municipal elections have been taught a lesson – one which we hope they will remember."
In this week's paper published on the 6th they reported on the bankruptcy proceedings that had been taking place against Thomson, who claimed liabilities of over £800. The Newspaper's owner Bernard Dromgoole was a substantial creditor having not received his payment of costs awarded to him at the libel trial.
A list of Thomson's creditors was listed in the report, although most were for loans of which no records of the supposed transaction had been made. The paper sensed that Thomson's tactics were to cause confusion and attempt to reduce the payments that he would eventually have to make to his real creditors, writing:
"Nearly all are said to be for money's lent, and without note of hand or other surety. Several of the names will be recognised as those of persons who were engaged going about collecting money to enable Thomson to carry on his action for libel against the proprietor of this paper.
"If this is not an attempt to throw dust in the eyes of the court it looks like an attempt to throw pepper in somebody's eyes." Presumably, the last line was a reference to Thomson trying to blind Dromgoole to the extent of his assets.
Accidents were so common that often the newspapers only devoted a few lines to their circumstances and sometimes did not even mention the deceased's name. That happened in the Newspaper's brief account of the death of a pit sinker in a Whiston coal mine this week.
Such individuals created new pits or extended existing ones and their work was of a highly dangerous nature. The sinkers used large buckets called hoppets to ascend and descend the shafts that they were creating and one had struck the unnamed man on his head "with fearful force" killing him instantly.
Also on the 6th St Helens YMCA's Rambling Club journeyed through Eccleston, Whiston and Rainhill on their second ramble of the season. There was a particular interest in specimens of botany and the Newspaper wrote that the "wonders of the wayside were revealed to the observant eye".
On the 8th a grand fete was held in Knowsley Park to celebrate Prescot Oddfellows formation of a widow and orphans fund. About 600 members of lodges from the district wearing the regalia of their order and carrying flags and banners took part in the long procession accompanied by two bands. It was a working day but shopkeepers closed up and – as the Newspaper put it – "the whole town turned out to do honour to the occasion".
The paper reported that many thousands paid 6d to be admitted to Knowsley Park and as it was a hot day the refreshment marquees did good business. The advertising for the event had promised a "variety of sports of a healthy and recreative character" with Punchinello and balloons in the evening.
John Abbott appeared in court on the 8th charged with being a "begging letter impostor". That did not mean that he had been writing letters to people asking for money and making false claims about himself. Instead, Abbott had been going round St Helens with a sheet listing persons who had supposedly donated him cash.
Abbott had been arrested at the Globe Hotel on the corner of Ormskirk Street and Barrow Street. There he had told the landlord William Varley that he wanted to sail to America to claim an inheritance but needed money for his passage. Abbott produced his fake list of donors, which included a plumber called Harris.
The latter had earlier been approached by Abbott but had refused to give him anything but Harris was still listed on the sheet as having made a 2-shilling contribution to his spurious benefit fund. In court Abbott insisted that everything he had said was true. There was a will in his favour in America and every name on his list was a genuine one.
He claimed that the Harris listed was a painter and not the plumber who had given evidence against him. But like many other folk that made similar wild claims, Abbott offered no evidence to support what he said and was given a month's hard labour.
Catherine Yates was a regular in court and she made her 63rd appearance this week in the Petty Sessions. The newspapers always referred to her as a "notorious character", although her convictions were fairly minor. They were mainly of being drunk and disorderly, small-time thefts or indecent conduct with men, sometimes through propositioning males on the street.
Catherine appeared in the Petty Sessions charged with stealing 10 shillings from John Witney. The latter told the court that the woman had accosted him in the marketplace and had then followed him to Hardshaw Street, where she took his arm "in a playful way" before slipping her hand into his pocket and removing 10 shillings in silver.
But the 35-year-old was clearly not a very good pickpocket, as her victim knew what she was doing and seized Catherine before handing her over to the police. Body searching female prisoners was problematic for the male-only force but they employed what were described as female searchers to undertake the task.
Jane Archer – who was probably the wife of PC Archer – told the court that she found half-a-crown in one of Catherine's stockings with five shillings having been previously located by a constable. The woman was committed for trial at the assizes and at the end of the month she was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by seven years police supervision.
Such tough sentences were not uncommon for repeat offenders, particularly one who had been previously convicted of a felony. In 1868 Catherine had been sentenced to six months in gaol for stealing 20 shillings and that made a difference to the judge's harsh sentencing for attempting to lift 10 bob out of John Witney's pocket.
And finally, William Tone also appeared in court charged with sleeping in a railway carriage under unlawful circumstances. Tone had entered a first-class carriage at Sutton and feeling sick had placed all the seat cushions on the floor and then lay down on them until he was discovered. The Newspaper wrote: "A good deal of scouring was necessary in the carriage when he was removed from it." William Tone was sent to prison for a month.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a defence of the new town hall, the fire at Pewfall Colliery, the fake traveller at the Junction Hotel, the battle of the billposters and the violent woman who told magistrates her motto was death or glory.
This week's many stories include the begging letter impostor, criticism of the "shameful" bricks used to build the new Town Hall, the pit sinker killed at Whiston, why houses in the higher parts of St Helens had a disrupted water supply, the Prescot Grand Fete and the bankruptcy of the Water Street tailor that sued the St Helens Newspaper.
One of the regular talking points at St Helens Council meetings was the town's water supply.
There can, of course, be problems with water today but they tend to be localised and relate to a broken pipe or something similar.
But in the 1870s the issues mainly concerned the two reservoirs at Eccleston and Whiston and their engines that drew the water – as well as its distribution through the town.
At the council meeting held on the 3rd there was a complaint that the supply at St Ann's in Eccleston was being cut off almost daily.
The Borough Surveyor explained to the meeting that the water was not being turned off.
But when the water levels in the reservoirs got below a certain point, the pressure became so low that houses in the higher parts of the town – such as at St Ann's – could not receive a supply.
Councillor Johnson said it was a serious state of things if the wants of the town could not be met and added that something would have to be done very soon.
He said there was a vast amount of water available and complained that no check was being made on excessive usage and waste of water.
The meeting also discussed problems with the building of the new town hall in what would become Corporation Street.
There were complaints about the quality of the bricks and timber with Councillor Fidler declaring that he had never seen a "more shameful kind of brick" as was being used at the front of the new building.
The chairman agreed, saying he did not like the bricks at all and thought it was a disgrace that the architect had passed them.
And Cllr Thomason said the bricks were scarcely good enough for a stable, adding: "Not only are they unfit for such an elevation, but the workmanship is disgraceful".
The council agreed to call the attention of their relevant sub-committee to the character of the materials and the workmanship.
In March in the Liverpool Spring Assizes Thomas Thomson had lost his libel suit against Bernard Dromgoole, the editor and proprietor of the St Helens Newspaper.
When local elections had taken place last November, the paper had claimed that Thomson had received a suspect payment of £24.
The Water Street tailor had been working for one of the candidates and the hint was that the cash had been a bribe.
That word was not actually used within the report but Thomson was still furious with the implication of corruption.
However, he lost his action with the triumphant St Helens Newspaper declaring that: "…the fomenters [sic] of corrupt practices at our municipal elections have been taught a lesson – one which we hope they will remember."
In this week's paper published on the 6th they reported on the bankruptcy proceedings that had been taking place against Thomson, who claimed liabilities of over £800.
The Newspaper's owner Bernard Dromgoole was a substantial creditor having not received his payment of costs awarded to him at the libel trial.
A list of Thomson's creditors was listed in the report, although most were for loans of which no records of the supposed transaction had been made.
The paper sensed that Thomson's tactics were to cause confusion and attempt to reduce the payments that he would eventually have to make to his real creditors, writing:
"Nearly all are said to be for money's lent, and without note of hand or other surety. Several of the names will be recognised as those of persons who were engaged going about collecting money to enable Thomson to carry on his action for libel against the proprietor of this paper.
"If this is not an attempt to throw dust in the eyes of the court it looks like an attempt to throw pepper in somebody's eyes."
Presumably, the last line was a reference to Thomson trying to blind Dromgoole to the extent of his assets.
Accidents were so common that often the newspapers only devoted a few lines to their circumstances and sometimes did not even mention the deceased's name.
That happened in the Newspaper's brief account of the death of a pit sinker in a Whiston coal mine this week.
Such individuals created new pits or extended existing ones and their work was of a highly dangerous nature.
The sinkers used large buckets called hoppets to ascend and descend the shafts that they were creating and one had struck the unnamed man on his head "with fearful force" killing him instantly.
Also on the 6th St Helens YMCA's Rambling Club journeyed through Eccleston, Whiston and Rainhill on their second ramble of the season.
There was a particular interest in specimens of botany and the Newspaper wrote that the "wonders of the wayside were revealed to the observant eye".
On the 8th a grand fete was held in Knowsley Park to celebrate Prescot Oddfellows formation of a widow and orphans fund.
About 600 members of lodges from the district wearing the regalia of their order and carrying flags and banners took part in the long procession accompanied by two bands.
It was a working day but shopkeepers closed up and – as the Newspaper put it – "the whole town turned out to do honour to the occasion".
The paper reported that many thousands paid 6d to be admitted to Knowsley Park and as it was a hot day the refreshment marquees did good business.
The advertising for the event had promised a "variety of sports of a healthy and recreative character" with Punchinello and balloons in the evening.
John Abbott appeared in court on the 8th charged with being a "begging letter impostor".
That did not mean that he had been writing letters to people asking for money and making false claims about himself.
Instead, Abbott had been going round St Helens with a sheet listing persons who had supposedly donated him cash.
Abbott had been arrested at the Globe Hotel on the corner of Ormskirk Street and Barrow Street.
There he had told the landlord William Varley that he wanted to sail to America to claim an inheritance but needed money for his passage.
Abbott produced his fake list of donors, which included a plumber called Harris.
The latter had earlier been approached by Abbott but had refused to give him anything but Harris was still listed on the sheet as having made a 2-shilling contribution to his spurious benefit fund.
In court Abbott insisted that everything he had said was true. There was a will in his favour in America and every name on his list was a genuine one.
He claimed that the Harris listed was a painter and not the plumber who had given evidence against him.
But like many other folk that made similar wild claims, Abbott offered no evidence to support what he said and was given a month's hard labour.
Catherine Yates was a regular in court and she made her 63rd appearance this week in the Petty Sessions.
The newspapers always referred to her as a "notorious character", although her convictions were fairly minor.
They were mainly of being drunk and disorderly, small-time thefts or indecent conduct with men, sometimes through propositioning males on the street.
Catherine was once described as a "stout, young woman" and was a typical case of a revolving door miscreant.
She got drunk and behaved badly and then was committed to Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool (pictured above). Upon her release she got drunk again and was sent back to prison … and so on.
Catherine appeared in the Petty Sessions charged with stealing 10 shillings from John Witney.
The latter told the court that the woman had accosted him in the marketplace and had then followed him to Hardshaw Street, where she took his arm "in a playful way" before slipping her hand into his pocket and removing 10 shillings in silver.
But the 35-year-old was clearly not a very good pickpocket, as her victim knew what she was doing and seized Catherine before handing her over to the police.
Body searching female prisoners was problematic for the male-only force but they employed what were described as female searchers to undertake the task.
Jane Archer – who was probably the wife of PC Archer – told the court that she found half-a-crown in one of Catherine's stockings with five shillings having been previously located by a constable.
The woman was committed for trial at the assizes and at the end of the month she was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by seven years police supervision.
Such tough sentences were not uncommon for repeat offenders, particularly one who had been previously convicted of a felony.
In 1868 Catherine had been sentenced to six months in gaol for stealing 20 shillings and that made a difference to the judge's harsh sentencing for attempting to lift 10 bob out of John Witney's pocket.
And finally, William Tone also appeared in court charged with sleeping in a railway carriage under unlawful circumstances.
Tone had entered a first-class carriage at Sutton and feeling sick had placed all the seat cushions on the floor and then lay down on them until he was discovered.
The Newspaper wrote: "A good deal of scouring was necessary in the carriage when he was removed from it." William Tone was sent to prison for a month.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a defence of the new town hall, the fire at Pewfall Colliery, the fake traveller at the Junction Hotel, the battle of the billposters and the violent woman who told magistrates her motto was death or glory.
One of the regular talking points at St Helens Council meetings was the town's water supply.
There can, of course, be problems with water today but they tend to be localised and relate to a broken pipe or something similar.
But in the 1870s the issues mainly concerned the two reservoirs at Eccleston and Whiston and their engines that drew the water – as well as its distribution through the town.
At the council meeting held on the 3rd there was a complaint that the supply at St Ann's in Eccleston was being cut off almost daily.
The Borough Surveyor explained to the meeting that the water was not being turned off.
But when the water levels in the reservoirs got below a certain point, the pressure became so low that houses in the higher parts of the town – such as at St Ann's – could not receive a supply.
Councillor Johnson said it was a serious state of things if the wants of the town could not be met and added that something would have to be done very soon.
He said there was a vast amount of water available and complained that no check was being made on excessive usage and waste of water.
The meeting also discussed problems with the building of the new town hall in what would become Corporation Street.
There were complaints about the quality of the bricks and timber with Councillor Fidler declaring that he had never seen a "more shameful kind of brick" as was being used at the front of the new building.
The chairman agreed, saying he did not like the bricks at all and thought it was a disgrace that the architect had passed them.
And Cllr Thomason said the bricks were scarcely good enough for a stable, adding: "Not only are they unfit for such an elevation, but the workmanship is disgraceful".
The council agreed to call the attention of their relevant sub-committee to the character of the materials and the workmanship.
In March in the Liverpool Spring Assizes Thomas Thomson had lost his libel suit against Bernard Dromgoole, the editor and proprietor of the St Helens Newspaper.
When local elections had taken place last November, the paper had claimed that Thomson had received a suspect payment of £24.
The Water Street tailor had been working for one of the candidates and the hint was that the cash had been a bribe.
That word was not actually used within the report but Thomson was still furious with the implication of corruption.
However, he lost his action with the triumphant St Helens Newspaper declaring that: "…the fomenters [sic] of corrupt practices at our municipal elections have been taught a lesson – one which we hope they will remember."
In this week's paper published on the 6th they reported on the bankruptcy proceedings that had been taking place against Thomson, who claimed liabilities of over £800.
The Newspaper's owner Bernard Dromgoole was a substantial creditor having not received his payment of costs awarded to him at the libel trial.
A list of Thomson's creditors was listed in the report, although most were for loans of which no records of the supposed transaction had been made.
The paper sensed that Thomson's tactics were to cause confusion and attempt to reduce the payments that he would eventually have to make to his real creditors, writing:
"Nearly all are said to be for money's lent, and without note of hand or other surety. Several of the names will be recognised as those of persons who were engaged going about collecting money to enable Thomson to carry on his action for libel against the proprietor of this paper.
"If this is not an attempt to throw dust in the eyes of the court it looks like an attempt to throw pepper in somebody's eyes."
Presumably, the last line was a reference to Thomson trying to blind Dromgoole to the extent of his assets.
Accidents were so common that often the newspapers only devoted a few lines to their circumstances and sometimes did not even mention the deceased's name.
That happened in the Newspaper's brief account of the death of a pit sinker in a Whiston coal mine this week.
Such individuals created new pits or extended existing ones and their work was of a highly dangerous nature.
The sinkers used large buckets called hoppets to ascend and descend the shafts that they were creating and one had struck the unnamed man on his head "with fearful force" killing him instantly.
Also on the 6th St Helens YMCA's Rambling Club journeyed through Eccleston, Whiston and Rainhill on their second ramble of the season.
There was a particular interest in specimens of botany and the Newspaper wrote that the "wonders of the wayside were revealed to the observant eye".
On the 8th a grand fete was held in Knowsley Park to celebrate Prescot Oddfellows formation of a widow and orphans fund.
About 600 members of lodges from the district wearing the regalia of their order and carrying flags and banners took part in the long procession accompanied by two bands.
It was a working day but shopkeepers closed up and – as the Newspaper put it – "the whole town turned out to do honour to the occasion".
The paper reported that many thousands paid 6d to be admitted to Knowsley Park and as it was a hot day the refreshment marquees did good business.
The advertising for the event had promised a "variety of sports of a healthy and recreative character" with Punchinello and balloons in the evening.
John Abbott appeared in court on the 8th charged with being a "begging letter impostor".
That did not mean that he had been writing letters to people asking for money and making false claims about himself.
Instead, Abbott had been going round St Helens with a sheet listing persons who had supposedly donated him cash.
Abbott had been arrested at the Globe Hotel on the corner of Ormskirk Street and Barrow Street.
There he had told the landlord William Varley that he wanted to sail to America to claim an inheritance but needed money for his passage.
Abbott produced his fake list of donors, which included a plumber called Harris.
The latter had earlier been approached by Abbott but had refused to give him anything but Harris was still listed on the sheet as having made a 2-shilling contribution to his spurious benefit fund.
In court Abbott insisted that everything he had said was true. There was a will in his favour in America and every name on his list was a genuine one.
He claimed that the Harris listed was a painter and not the plumber who had given evidence against him.
But like many other folk that made similar wild claims, Abbott offered no evidence to support what he said and was given a month's hard labour.
Catherine Yates was a regular in court and she made her 63rd appearance this week in the Petty Sessions.
The newspapers always referred to her as a "notorious character", although her convictions were fairly minor.
They were mainly of being drunk and disorderly, small-time thefts or indecent conduct with men, sometimes through propositioning males on the street.
Catherine was once described as a "stout, young woman" and was a typical case of a revolving door miscreant.
Catherine appeared in the Petty Sessions charged with stealing 10 shillings from John Witney.
The latter told the court that the woman had accosted him in the marketplace and had then followed him to Hardshaw Street, where she took his arm "in a playful way" before slipping her hand into his pocket and removing 10 shillings in silver.
But the 35-year-old was clearly not a very good pickpocket, as her victim knew what she was doing and seized Catherine before handing her over to the police.
Body searching female prisoners was problematic for the male-only force but they employed what were described as female searchers to undertake the task.
Jane Archer – who was probably the wife of PC Archer – told the court that she found half-a-crown in one of Catherine's stockings with five shillings having been previously located by a constable.
The woman was committed for trial at the assizes and at the end of the month she was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by seven years police supervision.
Such tough sentences were not uncommon for repeat offenders, particularly one who had been previously convicted of a felony.
In 1868 Catherine had been sentenced to six months in gaol for stealing 20 shillings and that made a difference to the judge's harsh sentencing for attempting to lift 10 bob out of John Witney's pocket.
And finally, William Tone also appeared in court charged with sleeping in a railway carriage under unlawful circumstances.
Tone had entered a first-class carriage at Sutton and feeling sick had placed all the seat cushions on the floor and then lay down on them until he was discovered.
The Newspaper wrote: "A good deal of scouring was necessary in the carriage when he was removed from it." William Tone was sent to prison for a month.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a defence of the new town hall, the fire at Pewfall Colliery, the fake traveller at the Junction Hotel, the battle of the billposters and the violent woman who told magistrates her motto was death or glory.