150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (4th - 10th MAY 1870)
This week's stories include the Parr woman who was violently assaulted by her husband, the woman who was removed from the court dock howling terribly, a succession of accidents take place at Farnworth and why St Helens folk got worked up over gas.
We begin on the morning of the 6th when no less than four serious accidents occurred within the Farnworth / Cronton area. First of all what the St Helens Newspaper described as the "illegitimate child of a woman named Sarah Manifold" drowned in a well near the 4-year-old's home in Cronton.
The building of the Prescot to St Helens railway at Farnworth was responsible for at least two of the other accidents. An Irish navvy was crushed against a wagon when a mass of earth fell on top of him in a cutting. The Newspaper said the man was extricated and taken to The Horns public house but lay in a very precarious state.
In a separate accident the contractor in charge of constructing the tunnel – a man called Williams – was struck down when part of the roof gave way. It took some time before he could be freed from the debris and taken home, with his injuries said to include a broken leg.
And the third accident at Farnworth during the same morning occurred when a woman called Mrs Newton was being driven to Liverpool. A horse suddenly ran out of a gate, causing her own horse to swerve out of the way and catch a tree, upsetting the occupants of the conveyance. The coachman suffered facial injuries and Mrs Newton received a broken arm.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 9th Mary Andrews made her fourth appearance since September. The woman pleaded guilty to a charge of committing a breach of the peace in Water Street. A police constable said she had caused a great disturbance as she quarrelled with another woman. Mary was bound over to keep the peace for three months. However she would have to pay a £10 surety and find two people prepared to put up £5 sureties that guaranteed her good behaviour.
The woman was highly unlikely to have been able to accomplish either – meaning she would have to serve a prison sentence. That no doubt explains her subsequent behaviour as reported by the St Helens Newspaper: "She was removed from the dock howling terribly, but the tearing of her bonnet in pieces seemed to afford her some consolation."
Also in court was Mary Riley, who was charged with assaulting Mary Fitzpatrick in Parr. The St Helens Newspaper described their dispute:
"In the course of the recrimination, the defendant fired off a chamber utensil at the complainant, following the action up by knocking the complainant down. Both the parties gave the court a good specimen of their volubility, and the examination of two witnesses, who seemed to know nothing at all of the “difficulty”, created considerable amusement in court. The magistrates dismissed the case, intimating that if the parties came up again they would both be bound over. The defendant was profuse in her thanks, and the police had some difficulty in preventing her giving her own version of the affair."
This week the paper's list of St Helens' folk fined in the Sessions for being drunk was placed under the heading "Worshippers of the Rosy God". The usual penalty for drunkenness was a 10s 6d fine or 10 days in gaol. There was always a long list under the heading "Highway Offences" with being drunk or asleep in a cart two of the most common crimes. However James Mead was summoned for driving his horse and cart furiously in Bold Road in Sutton. His excuse was that his horse was young and not properly broken to harness, although a constable said he had been drunk. He was fined 2s 6d.
Annie Woods from Parr brought a case against her husband Peter, charging him with assault. The 27-year-old gave evidence with her baby James cradled in her arms and told the court that her husband had not given her any money for three weeks. Instead he had handed her small quantities of provisions that he had obtained from his sister's grocery shop.
Six days earlier Annie had not been able to provide any tea for her five children and herself. When her husband came in late that night she asked him about food and she ended up being violently assaulted. Annie told the court that she was so afraid of her husband's violence that she now wanted a separation. Peter Woods said he had not given his wife any money because she was in the habit of spending it on drink and claimed that he had found her drinking in public houses with men.
It was common for men accused of mistreating their wives to attach blame to them and accuse them of drinking. Peter Woods had previously been fined for assaulting his brother-in-law and was bound over to keep the peace for three months. But just like Mary Andrews in the previous case he would have to pay a £10 surety and find two people prepared to put up £5 sureties guaranteeing his good behaviour. That was a tough task. However in the 1871 census the couple are living together in Upper Parr Street along with their five children with Peter Woods listed as a sawyer.
I find wandering cow stories irresistible, although this one is rather gruesome and occurred in Aughton, near Ormskirk, not St Helens. It happened on the 9th and is described by the Prescot Reporter: "On Monday afternoon an accident of a singular nature occurred at Townend, Aughton. A valuable cow belonging to Mr. Robert Yates, Bellevue, Aughton, was being driven along Cottage-lane, when it turned through a gate leading to Mr. Bradbury's back garden.
"It got into the garden, and when a person followed to drive it out, the cow tried to get over the palings. It however failed to get clear over and it was impaled midway between the front and back legs. Three of the iron spikes were embedded in its bowels, all the deeper in consequence of the poor beast's front feet barely touching the ground. A number of men were got, and they eventually lifted the animal off the palings. Its bowels protruded, and a veterinary surgeon stitched up the wounds. About half-an-hour elapsed before the cow was got clear off the rails. It was shortly afterwards slaughtered."
The Prescot Working Men's Improvement and Recreation Society met in the Court Room on the 9th for their final entertainment of the season. Their chairman encourage the members to "discountenance drunkenness" before introducing the various performers, who participated in readings, songs and musical numbers.
In the 1870s people got worked up by all sorts of things that might seem odd to us today. On the 9th a crowded public meeting was held in the Town Hall to discuss a bill that was before Parliament. The purpose of the bill was to allow the St Helens Gas Company to expand their operations (gas works pictured above). This was causing so much concern that over 500 people had signed the petition calling on the Mayor to convene the meeting. The St Helens Newspaper described how the gathering had been very largely attended with all the resolutions carried with "the utmost enthusiasm".
These included a demand that the gas company reduce its prices and that Parliament not allow the firm to lay down mains in "the remote and thinly-populated districts of Haydock and Ashton at the expense of the inhabitants of St. Helens." All the resolutions were passed unanimously and with great cheers. In five years time the Corporation would take over the gasworks as public control of utilities became increasingly important.
St Helens County Court sat on the 10th, although I can't tell you what happened. These are the brief comments of the St Helens Newspaper about the sitting: "The business at the court, on Tuesday, before J. M. Blair, Esq., comprised 156 cases, the whole of which were of a trivial nature, and devoid of public interest." St Helens then had a small population and so people suing each other in 156 cases seems very high – although the weekly County Court hearings often dealt with 100 plus cases.
The Newspaper on the 10th reported that a marble statue of William Gladstone had been erected in St George's Hall in Liverpool. The Liberal party leader had been the MP for St Helens when the town was part of the South West Lancashire constituency. Gladstone's last visit to St Helens had been in 1868, although not everyone was pleased to see him. In Church Street a stone was thrown and in Hardshaw Street crackers were set off against one of the carriages in his convoy of vehicles.
And finally Greenalls annual dinner for their tenants was given on the 10th at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street. As many as 300 persons tucked into the feast, including, unusually, some ladies. There were many toasts, with the chairman of the dinner commenting that the downturn in trade in St Helens over the past few years appeared finally to be coming to an end.
Next week's stories will include the performing bears in St Helens, the runaway horse in Liverpool Road, a brutal assault on a wife in Whiston, the widening of Ormskirk Street, the St Helens train that hit a horse and decapitated a hen and the "idle, drunken and disorderly" woman charged with sleeping in the open air at Windle.
We begin on the morning of the 6th when no less than four serious accidents occurred within the Farnworth / Cronton area. First of all what the St Helens Newspaper described as the "illegitimate child of a woman named Sarah Manifold" drowned in a well near the 4-year-old's home in Cronton.
The building of the Prescot to St Helens railway at Farnworth was responsible for at least two of the other accidents. An Irish navvy was crushed against a wagon when a mass of earth fell on top of him in a cutting. The Newspaper said the man was extricated and taken to The Horns public house but lay in a very precarious state.
In a separate accident the contractor in charge of constructing the tunnel – a man called Williams – was struck down when part of the roof gave way. It took some time before he could be freed from the debris and taken home, with his injuries said to include a broken leg.
And the third accident at Farnworth during the same morning occurred when a woman called Mrs Newton was being driven to Liverpool. A horse suddenly ran out of a gate, causing her own horse to swerve out of the way and catch a tree, upsetting the occupants of the conveyance. The coachman suffered facial injuries and Mrs Newton received a broken arm.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 9th Mary Andrews made her fourth appearance since September. The woman pleaded guilty to a charge of committing a breach of the peace in Water Street. A police constable said she had caused a great disturbance as she quarrelled with another woman. Mary was bound over to keep the peace for three months. However she would have to pay a £10 surety and find two people prepared to put up £5 sureties that guaranteed her good behaviour.
The woman was highly unlikely to have been able to accomplish either – meaning she would have to serve a prison sentence. That no doubt explains her subsequent behaviour as reported by the St Helens Newspaper: "She was removed from the dock howling terribly, but the tearing of her bonnet in pieces seemed to afford her some consolation."
Also in court was Mary Riley, who was charged with assaulting Mary Fitzpatrick in Parr. The St Helens Newspaper described their dispute:
"In the course of the recrimination, the defendant fired off a chamber utensil at the complainant, following the action up by knocking the complainant down. Both the parties gave the court a good specimen of their volubility, and the examination of two witnesses, who seemed to know nothing at all of the “difficulty”, created considerable amusement in court. The magistrates dismissed the case, intimating that if the parties came up again they would both be bound over. The defendant was profuse in her thanks, and the police had some difficulty in preventing her giving her own version of the affair."
This week the paper's list of St Helens' folk fined in the Sessions for being drunk was placed under the heading "Worshippers of the Rosy God". The usual penalty for drunkenness was a 10s 6d fine or 10 days in gaol. There was always a long list under the heading "Highway Offences" with being drunk or asleep in a cart two of the most common crimes. However James Mead was summoned for driving his horse and cart furiously in Bold Road in Sutton. His excuse was that his horse was young and not properly broken to harness, although a constable said he had been drunk. He was fined 2s 6d.
Annie Woods from Parr brought a case against her husband Peter, charging him with assault. The 27-year-old gave evidence with her baby James cradled in her arms and told the court that her husband had not given her any money for three weeks. Instead he had handed her small quantities of provisions that he had obtained from his sister's grocery shop.
Six days earlier Annie had not been able to provide any tea for her five children and herself. When her husband came in late that night she asked him about food and she ended up being violently assaulted. Annie told the court that she was so afraid of her husband's violence that she now wanted a separation. Peter Woods said he had not given his wife any money because she was in the habit of spending it on drink and claimed that he had found her drinking in public houses with men.
It was common for men accused of mistreating their wives to attach blame to them and accuse them of drinking. Peter Woods had previously been fined for assaulting his brother-in-law and was bound over to keep the peace for three months. But just like Mary Andrews in the previous case he would have to pay a £10 surety and find two people prepared to put up £5 sureties guaranteeing his good behaviour. That was a tough task. However in the 1871 census the couple are living together in Upper Parr Street along with their five children with Peter Woods listed as a sawyer.
I find wandering cow stories irresistible, although this one is rather gruesome and occurred in Aughton, near Ormskirk, not St Helens. It happened on the 9th and is described by the Prescot Reporter: "On Monday afternoon an accident of a singular nature occurred at Townend, Aughton. A valuable cow belonging to Mr. Robert Yates, Bellevue, Aughton, was being driven along Cottage-lane, when it turned through a gate leading to Mr. Bradbury's back garden.
"It got into the garden, and when a person followed to drive it out, the cow tried to get over the palings. It however failed to get clear over and it was impaled midway between the front and back legs. Three of the iron spikes were embedded in its bowels, all the deeper in consequence of the poor beast's front feet barely touching the ground. A number of men were got, and they eventually lifted the animal off the palings. Its bowels protruded, and a veterinary surgeon stitched up the wounds. About half-an-hour elapsed before the cow was got clear off the rails. It was shortly afterwards slaughtered."
The Prescot Working Men's Improvement and Recreation Society met in the Court Room on the 9th for their final entertainment of the season. Their chairman encourage the members to "discountenance drunkenness" before introducing the various performers, who participated in readings, songs and musical numbers.
These included a demand that the gas company reduce its prices and that Parliament not allow the firm to lay down mains in "the remote and thinly-populated districts of Haydock and Ashton at the expense of the inhabitants of St. Helens." All the resolutions were passed unanimously and with great cheers. In five years time the Corporation would take over the gasworks as public control of utilities became increasingly important.
St Helens County Court sat on the 10th, although I can't tell you what happened. These are the brief comments of the St Helens Newspaper about the sitting: "The business at the court, on Tuesday, before J. M. Blair, Esq., comprised 156 cases, the whole of which were of a trivial nature, and devoid of public interest." St Helens then had a small population and so people suing each other in 156 cases seems very high – although the weekly County Court hearings often dealt with 100 plus cases.
The Newspaper on the 10th reported that a marble statue of William Gladstone had been erected in St George's Hall in Liverpool. The Liberal party leader had been the MP for St Helens when the town was part of the South West Lancashire constituency. Gladstone's last visit to St Helens had been in 1868, although not everyone was pleased to see him. In Church Street a stone was thrown and in Hardshaw Street crackers were set off against one of the carriages in his convoy of vehicles.
And finally Greenalls annual dinner for their tenants was given on the 10th at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street. As many as 300 persons tucked into the feast, including, unusually, some ladies. There were many toasts, with the chairman of the dinner commenting that the downturn in trade in St Helens over the past few years appeared finally to be coming to an end.
Next week's stories will include the performing bears in St Helens, the runaway horse in Liverpool Road, a brutal assault on a wife in Whiston, the widening of Ormskirk Street, the St Helens train that hit a horse and decapitated a hen and the "idle, drunken and disorderly" woman charged with sleeping in the open air at Windle.
This week's stories include the Parr woman who was violently assaulted by her husband, the woman who was removed from the court dock howling terribly, a succession of accidents take place at Farnworth and why St Helens folk got worked up over gas.
We begin on the morning of the 6th when no less than four serious accidents occurred within the Farnworth / Cronton area.
First of all what the St Helens Newspaper described as the "illegitimate child of a woman named Sarah Manifold" drowned in a well near the 4-year-old's home in Cronton.
The building of the Prescot to St Helens railway at Farnworth was responsible for at least two of the other accidents.
An Irish navvy was crushed against a wagon when a mass of earth fell on top of him in a cutting.
The Newspaper said the man was extricated and taken to The Horns public house but lay in a very precarious state.
In a separate accident the contractor in charge of constructing the tunnel – a man called Williams – was struck down when part of the roof gave way.
It took some time before he could be freed from the debris and taken home, with his injuries said to include a broken leg.
And the third accident at Farnworth during the same morning occurred when a woman called Mrs Newton was being driven to Liverpool.
A horse suddenly ran out of a gate, causing her own horse to swerve out of the way and catch a tree, upsetting the occupants of the conveyance.
The coachman suffered facial injuries and Mrs Newton received a broken arm.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 9th Mary Andrews made her fourth appearance since September.
The woman pleaded guilty to a charge of committing a breach of the peace in Water Street.
A police constable said she had caused a great disturbance as she quarrelled with another woman. Mary was bound over to keep the peace for three months.
However she would have to pay a £10 surety and find two people prepared to put up £5 sureties that guaranteed her good behaviour.
The woman was highly unlikely to have been able to accomplish either – meaning she would have to serve a prison sentence.
That no doubt explains her subsequent behaviour as reported by the St Helens Newspaper:
"She was removed from the dock howling terribly, but the tearing of her bonnet in pieces seemed to afford her some consolation."
Also in court was Mary Riley, who was charged with assaulting Mary Fitzpatrick in Parr. The St Helens Newspaper described their dispute:
"In the course of the recrimination, the defendant fired off a chamber utensil at the complainant, following the action up by knocking the complainant down. Both the parties gave the court a good specimen of their volubility, and the examination of two witnesses, who seemed to know nothing at all of the “difficulty”, created considerable amusement in court.
"The magistrates dismissed the case, intimating that if the parties came up again they would both be bound over. The defendant was profuse in her thanks, and the police had some difficulty in preventing her giving her own version of the affair."
This week the paper's list of St Helens' folk fined in the Sessions for being drunk was placed under the heading "Worshippers of the Rosy God".
The usual penalty for drunkenness was a 10s 6d fine or 10 days in gaol.
There was always a long list under the heading "Highway Offences" with being drunk or asleep in a cart two of the most common crimes.
However James Mead was summoned for driving his horse and cart furiously in Bold Road in Sutton.
His excuse was that his horse was young and not properly broken to harness, although a constable said he had been drunk. He was fined 2s 6d.
Annie Woods from Parr brought a case against her husband Peter, charging him with assault.
The 27-year-old gave evidence with her baby James cradled in her arms and told the court that her husband had not given her any money for three weeks.
Instead he had handed her small quantities of provisions that he had obtained from his sister's grocery shop.
Six days earlier Annie had not been able to provide any tea for her five children and herself.
When her husband came in late that night she asked him about food and she ended up being violently assaulted.
Annie told the court that she was so afraid of her husband's violence that she now wanted a separation.
Peter Woods said he had not given his wife any money because she was in the habit of spending it on drink and claimed that he had found her drinking in public houses with men.
It was common for men accused of mistreating their wives to attach blame to them and accuse them of drinking.
Peter Woods had previously been fined for assaulting his brother-in-law and was bound over to keep the peace for three months.
But just like Mary Andrews in the previous case he would have to pay a £10 surety and find two people prepared to put up £5 sureties guaranteeing his good behaviour. That was a tough task.
However in the 1871 census the couple are living together in Upper Parr Street along with their five children with Peter Woods listed as a sawyer.
I find wandering cow stories irresistible, although this one is rather gruesome and occurred in Aughton, near Ormskirk, not St Helens. It happened on the 9th and is described by the Prescot Reporter:
"On Monday afternoon an accident of a singular nature occurred at Townend, Aughton. A valuable cow belonging to Mr. Robert Yates, Bellevue, Aughton, was being driven along Cottage-lane, when it turned through a gate leading to Mr. Bradbury's back garden.
"It got into the garden, and when a person followed to drive it out, the cow tried to get over the palings. It however failed to get clear over and it was impaled midway between the front and back legs. Three of the iron spikes were embedded in its bowels, all the deeper in consequence of the poor beast's front feet barely touching the ground.
"A number of men were got, and they eventually lifted the animal off the palings. Its bowels protruded, and a veterinary surgeon stitched up the wounds. About half-an-hour elapsed before the cow was got clear off the rails. It was shortly afterwards slaughtered."
The Prescot Working Men's Improvement and Recreation Society met in the Court Room on the 9th for their final entertainment of the season.
Their chairman encourage the members to "discountenance drunkenness" before introducing the various performers, who participated in readings, songs and musical numbers.
In the 1870s people got worked up by all sorts of things that might seem odd to us today.
On the 9th a crowded public meeting was held in the Town Hall to discuss a bill that was before Parliament.
The purpose of the bill was to allow the St Helens Gas Company to expand their operations (gas works pictured above).
This was causing so much concern that over 500 people had signed the petition calling on the Mayor to convene the meeting.
The St Helens Newspaper described how the gathering had been very largely attended with all the resolutions carried with "the utmost enthusiasm".
These included a demand that the gas company reduce its prices and that Parliament not allow the firm to lay down mains in "the remote and thinly-populated districts of Haydock and Ashton at the expense of the inhabitants of St. Helens."
All the resolutions were passed unanimously and with great cheers.
In five years time the Corporation would take over the gasworks as public control of utilities became increasingly important.
St Helens County Court sat on the 10th, although I can't tell you what happened. These are the brief comments of the St Helens Newspaper about the sitting:
"The business at the court, on Tuesday, before J. M. Blair, Esq., comprised 156 cases, the whole of which were of a trivial nature, and devoid of public interest."
St Helens then had a small population and so people suing each other in 156 cases seems very high – although the weekly County Court hearings often dealt with 100 plus cases.
The Newspaper on the 10th reported that a marble statue of William Gladstone had been erected in St George's Hall in Liverpool.
The Liberal party leader had been the MP for St Helens when the town was part of the South West Lancashire constituency.
Gladstone's last visit to St Helens had been in 1868, although not everyone was pleased to see him.
In Church Street a stone was thrown and in Hardshaw Street crackers were set off against one of the carriages in his convoy of vehicles.
And finally Greenalls annual dinner for their tenants was given on the 10th at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street.
As many as 300 persons tucked into the feast, including, unusually, some ladies.
There were many toasts, with the chairman of the dinner commenting that the downturn in trade in St Helens over the past few years appeared finally to be coming to an end.
Next week's stories will include the performing bears in St Helens, the runaway horse in Liverpool Road, a brutal assault on a wife in Whiston, the widening of Ormskirk Street, the St Helens train that hit a horse and decapitated a hen and the "idle, drunken and disorderly" woman charged with sleeping in the open air at Windle.
We begin on the morning of the 6th when no less than four serious accidents occurred within the Farnworth / Cronton area.
First of all what the St Helens Newspaper described as the "illegitimate child of a woman named Sarah Manifold" drowned in a well near the 4-year-old's home in Cronton.
The building of the Prescot to St Helens railway at Farnworth was responsible for at least two of the other accidents.
An Irish navvy was crushed against a wagon when a mass of earth fell on top of him in a cutting.
The Newspaper said the man was extricated and taken to The Horns public house but lay in a very precarious state.
In a separate accident the contractor in charge of constructing the tunnel – a man called Williams – was struck down when part of the roof gave way.
It took some time before he could be freed from the debris and taken home, with his injuries said to include a broken leg.
And the third accident at Farnworth during the same morning occurred when a woman called Mrs Newton was being driven to Liverpool.
A horse suddenly ran out of a gate, causing her own horse to swerve out of the way and catch a tree, upsetting the occupants of the conveyance.
The coachman suffered facial injuries and Mrs Newton received a broken arm.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 9th Mary Andrews made her fourth appearance since September.
The woman pleaded guilty to a charge of committing a breach of the peace in Water Street.
A police constable said she had caused a great disturbance as she quarrelled with another woman. Mary was bound over to keep the peace for three months.
However she would have to pay a £10 surety and find two people prepared to put up £5 sureties that guaranteed her good behaviour.
The woman was highly unlikely to have been able to accomplish either – meaning she would have to serve a prison sentence.
That no doubt explains her subsequent behaviour as reported by the St Helens Newspaper:
"She was removed from the dock howling terribly, but the tearing of her bonnet in pieces seemed to afford her some consolation."
Also in court was Mary Riley, who was charged with assaulting Mary Fitzpatrick in Parr. The St Helens Newspaper described their dispute:
"In the course of the recrimination, the defendant fired off a chamber utensil at the complainant, following the action up by knocking the complainant down. Both the parties gave the court a good specimen of their volubility, and the examination of two witnesses, who seemed to know nothing at all of the “difficulty”, created considerable amusement in court.
"The magistrates dismissed the case, intimating that if the parties came up again they would both be bound over. The defendant was profuse in her thanks, and the police had some difficulty in preventing her giving her own version of the affair."
This week the paper's list of St Helens' folk fined in the Sessions for being drunk was placed under the heading "Worshippers of the Rosy God".
The usual penalty for drunkenness was a 10s 6d fine or 10 days in gaol.
There was always a long list under the heading "Highway Offences" with being drunk or asleep in a cart two of the most common crimes.
However James Mead was summoned for driving his horse and cart furiously in Bold Road in Sutton.
His excuse was that his horse was young and not properly broken to harness, although a constable said he had been drunk. He was fined 2s 6d.
Annie Woods from Parr brought a case against her husband Peter, charging him with assault.
The 27-year-old gave evidence with her baby James cradled in her arms and told the court that her husband had not given her any money for three weeks.
Instead he had handed her small quantities of provisions that he had obtained from his sister's grocery shop.
Six days earlier Annie had not been able to provide any tea for her five children and herself.
When her husband came in late that night she asked him about food and she ended up being violently assaulted.
Annie told the court that she was so afraid of her husband's violence that she now wanted a separation.
Peter Woods said he had not given his wife any money because she was in the habit of spending it on drink and claimed that he had found her drinking in public houses with men.
It was common for men accused of mistreating their wives to attach blame to them and accuse them of drinking.
Peter Woods had previously been fined for assaulting his brother-in-law and was bound over to keep the peace for three months.
But just like Mary Andrews in the previous case he would have to pay a £10 surety and find two people prepared to put up £5 sureties guaranteeing his good behaviour. That was a tough task.
However in the 1871 census the couple are living together in Upper Parr Street along with their five children with Peter Woods listed as a sawyer.
I find wandering cow stories irresistible, although this one is rather gruesome and occurred in Aughton, near Ormskirk, not St Helens. It happened on the 9th and is described by the Prescot Reporter:
"On Monday afternoon an accident of a singular nature occurred at Townend, Aughton. A valuable cow belonging to Mr. Robert Yates, Bellevue, Aughton, was being driven along Cottage-lane, when it turned through a gate leading to Mr. Bradbury's back garden.
"It got into the garden, and when a person followed to drive it out, the cow tried to get over the palings. It however failed to get clear over and it was impaled midway between the front and back legs. Three of the iron spikes were embedded in its bowels, all the deeper in consequence of the poor beast's front feet barely touching the ground.
"A number of men were got, and they eventually lifted the animal off the palings. Its bowels protruded, and a veterinary surgeon stitched up the wounds. About half-an-hour elapsed before the cow was got clear off the rails. It was shortly afterwards slaughtered."
The Prescot Working Men's Improvement and Recreation Society met in the Court Room on the 9th for their final entertainment of the season.
Their chairman encourage the members to "discountenance drunkenness" before introducing the various performers, who participated in readings, songs and musical numbers.
In the 1870s people got worked up by all sorts of things that might seem odd to us today.
On the 9th a crowded public meeting was held in the Town Hall to discuss a bill that was before Parliament.
This was causing so much concern that over 500 people had signed the petition calling on the Mayor to convene the meeting.
The St Helens Newspaper described how the gathering had been very largely attended with all the resolutions carried with "the utmost enthusiasm".
These included a demand that the gas company reduce its prices and that Parliament not allow the firm to lay down mains in "the remote and thinly-populated districts of Haydock and Ashton at the expense of the inhabitants of St. Helens."
All the resolutions were passed unanimously and with great cheers.
In five years time the Corporation would take over the gasworks as public control of utilities became increasingly important.
St Helens County Court sat on the 10th, although I can't tell you what happened. These are the brief comments of the St Helens Newspaper about the sitting:
"The business at the court, on Tuesday, before J. M. Blair, Esq., comprised 156 cases, the whole of which were of a trivial nature, and devoid of public interest."
St Helens then had a small population and so people suing each other in 156 cases seems very high – although the weekly County Court hearings often dealt with 100 plus cases.
The Newspaper on the 10th reported that a marble statue of William Gladstone had been erected in St George's Hall in Liverpool.
The Liberal party leader had been the MP for St Helens when the town was part of the South West Lancashire constituency.
Gladstone's last visit to St Helens had been in 1868, although not everyone was pleased to see him.
In Church Street a stone was thrown and in Hardshaw Street crackers were set off against one of the carriages in his convoy of vehicles.
And finally Greenalls annual dinner for their tenants was given on the 10th at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street.
As many as 300 persons tucked into the feast, including, unusually, some ladies.
There were many toasts, with the chairman of the dinner commenting that the downturn in trade in St Helens over the past few years appeared finally to be coming to an end.
Next week's stories will include the performing bears in St Helens, the runaway horse in Liverpool Road, a brutal assault on a wife in Whiston, the widening of Ormskirk Street, the St Helens train that hit a horse and decapitated a hen and the "idle, drunken and disorderly" woman charged with sleeping in the open air at Windle.