150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (4 - 10 SEPTEMBER 1873)
This week's stories include the Rainford girl who accused two men of slander by claiming she had been sleeping with a man in the woods, the stinking fish that was cried for sale in Greenbank, the strange theft in the Black Bull in Church Street and there's a sequel to the disgusting savagery case.
But we begin at what was then often referred to as Rainhill Lunatic Asylum. The Guardians of the Prescot Union at Whiston Workhouse would send some of their "lunatic" paupers for "treatment" at the asylum – although containment is probably a better word. And so did the Guardians of other Lancashire towns and as each had to pay the asylum to look after their inmates, a deputation would make periodic visits to Rainhill to check whether any could be discharged.
That was in their financial interest, as even if the paupers went back into their workhouse, the Guardians would save money. But with virtually no treatments available at Rainhill, many inmates never improved and soon became institutionalised. This is demonstrated on the 4th when the Ormskirk Advertiser reported on a meeting of the Guardians of the Ormskirk Union. They were in charge of the workhouse in the town and supported paupers within their community.
The meeting heard that a deputation had visited Rainhill Asylum where they had seen their three male lunatic paupers that were living there. All were long-term patients, with one having been an inmate since the institution had opened and another had spent 16 years in Rainhill. The superintendent at the asylum had told the deputation that the three men would never get better and one "would neither speak, nor work".
The Advertiser then described the inspection of the women inmates that the Ormskirk Guardians had responsibility for: "There were nine females, of whom there is no improvement, except in the case of two of them. Mary Ann Burton would like to come out, but she says she could not get her own living if she were to come out, but might be kept in the workhouse at a deal less cost. Mary Conroy wished to come out for the sake of her children, but the doctor said she had strange delusions, such as hearing noises in the ceiling. With respect to the other females there did not appear to be any improvement since the last visit."
Being considered respectable was a badge of honour for many females – even one as young as fifteen, such as Margaret Heyes. She appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions this week as the complainant in a slander case. Margaret was a domestic servant employed by Thomas Barton who ran a small boarding school in Rainford in what became Rookery Lane. Early one morning the girl had been instructed to look for the family cat that had gone missing and her search took her to fields near a wood. Isaac Smith and James Woods suddenly appeared on the scene and accused Margaret of sleeping in the woods all night, implying that she had been with a young man.
In fact a saddler called John Woods told the court that the two men had gone so far as to tell him they had actually seen the girl with some man. They stuck to their story when the father of Margaret Heyes later spoke to the pair about the slander that they were alleged to be spreading. Her teacher boss Thomas Barton appeared in the court as a character witness and gave Margaret an excellent reference for "honesty, prudence, and virtue".
In their defence Isaac Smith and James Woods claimed that they had only ever mentioned seeing a man and a woman in the fields – but had never said they had been together. Margaret had hired the controversial Thomas Swift to represent her in court and the outspoken solicitor caused a storm by calling Isaac Smith "a dirty old brute". From what I can tell from census records Smith was aged fifty and he and Woods were ordered to find sureties to keep the peace for three months.
On the 6th "OH YES!, OH YES!, OH YES!" was the headline to this advert in the Wigan Observer from Beecham's of St Helens: "It is an undeniable fact, admitted by all classes, that the greatest temporal blessing one man can bestow upon another, is the blessing of health; but the greatest fact of all is BEECHAM'S PILLS convey that blessing into every sick-stricken house.
"They are admitted by thousands to be worth above a Guinea a Box for bilious and nervous disorders, such as wind and pain at the stomach, sick headache, giddiness, fullness and swelling after meals, dizziness and drowsiness, cold chills, flushings of heat, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, costiveness [constipation], scurvy and blotches of the skin, disturbed sleep, frightful dreams, and all nervous and trembling sensations, &c., &c. The first dose will give relief in twenty minutes. This is no fiction, for they have done it in thousands of cases."
Here's a question. At what point are fish that are starting to go off considered bad enough for the seller to face prosecution? I expect these days scientific analysis could determine some appropriate rotting point – but in court this week the matter created quite a discussion. That was when Eliza Smith and James Lowe were charged with "crying" fish for sale that was unfit as human food. Mr Turner, the inspector of nuisances, said he came across the Wigan fish dealers selling herring from a cart in Greenbank in St Helens that was "utterly unfit" for human consumption.
Some customers, he said, had returned some of their purchases and received refunds. The dodgy fish, he claimed, was being sold at reduced rates – four for 1½d, as opposed to the usual price of three for 2d. On the following day Dr Twyford as a magistrate had signed an order for their destruction. However, the two fish sellers had insisted that the herring in their barrel was fresh and that they were selling them cheap because they were very small.
And in court their solicitor argued that the smell of rotting fish could not be relied upon as evidence of decay. A couple of satisfied customers told the court that they felt the fish were passable to eat. And defendant Eliza Smith claimed that they did not "stink" but that blood from their heads had congealed in the barrel and caused a "nauseous odour on account of thunder in the air". A curious excuse that was not accepted by the magistrates and the two defendants were fined £3 and costs or must serve two months in prison.
In July William Birchall of Thatto Heath received four months in gaol for biting off his cousin Edward's ear after the pair had argued over the possession of a pigeon. The St Helens Newspaper called what happened "disgusting savagery" and this week there was a sequel to the case when Elizabeth Shaw was charged with using abusive and insulting language towards Margaret Roberts.
The latter was the sister of ear-biter William Birchall and she had been receiving some stick over the incident. The Newspaper wrote: "Sundry neighbours have busied themselves giving her offence by oblique allusions to the circumstances. They ask her if she would like a bit of ear, and also indicate their meaning by pantomime." Elizabeth Shaw was bound over for a month.
The week's most curious court case concerned a theft in the Black Bull in Church Street in St Helens. The victim was Israel Jacobs, who the St Helens Newspaper described as a hawker and Polish Jew. Mr Jacobs had booked a room in the pub for the night and told the court that before going to bed he'd counted the money in his possession. The amount came to 14s 6d, including a half-crown, which he said he'd put into a purse and placed in his trouser pocket.
It was common for strangers to share bedrooms in pubs and at 4 o’clock in the morning Jacobs realised that there was another man in his room sleeping in a separate bed. That led him to check his money and he discovered his purse was empty. The other man was called Peter Johnson and the hawker brought the landlord to the room to see if his new roommate had taken his cash. Johnson turned out his pockets and the missing money was found, which, as the Newspaper reported, led to Israel Jacobs making "a complete uproar on the spot, rushing away and getting the police."
The paper added that during cross-examination in court the man had "exhibited a great deal of extraordinary excitement, and declared more than once he would rather be robbed of his life than his money." Peter Johnson's defence solicitor was Thomas Swift and he claimed that anyone could have put the stolen money into the pocket of his client's trousers, which he had taken off before getting into bed. An unusual argument but a successful one as Peter Johnson's case was referred to the Liverpool Assizes where he was cleared of the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Rainhill Asylum attendant accused of assault, the pipe-smoking Parr woman who was attacked in her home, the scarcity of magistrates in St Helens and the Worcester source made in Rainford.
But we begin at what was then often referred to as Rainhill Lunatic Asylum. The Guardians of the Prescot Union at Whiston Workhouse would send some of their "lunatic" paupers for "treatment" at the asylum – although containment is probably a better word. And so did the Guardians of other Lancashire towns and as each had to pay the asylum to look after their inmates, a deputation would make periodic visits to Rainhill to check whether any could be discharged.
That was in their financial interest, as even if the paupers went back into their workhouse, the Guardians would save money. But with virtually no treatments available at Rainhill, many inmates never improved and soon became institutionalised. This is demonstrated on the 4th when the Ormskirk Advertiser reported on a meeting of the Guardians of the Ormskirk Union. They were in charge of the workhouse in the town and supported paupers within their community.
The meeting heard that a deputation had visited Rainhill Asylum where they had seen their three male lunatic paupers that were living there. All were long-term patients, with one having been an inmate since the institution had opened and another had spent 16 years in Rainhill. The superintendent at the asylum had told the deputation that the three men would never get better and one "would neither speak, nor work".
The Advertiser then described the inspection of the women inmates that the Ormskirk Guardians had responsibility for: "There were nine females, of whom there is no improvement, except in the case of two of them. Mary Ann Burton would like to come out, but she says she could not get her own living if she were to come out, but might be kept in the workhouse at a deal less cost. Mary Conroy wished to come out for the sake of her children, but the doctor said she had strange delusions, such as hearing noises in the ceiling. With respect to the other females there did not appear to be any improvement since the last visit."
Being considered respectable was a badge of honour for many females – even one as young as fifteen, such as Margaret Heyes. She appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions this week as the complainant in a slander case. Margaret was a domestic servant employed by Thomas Barton who ran a small boarding school in Rainford in what became Rookery Lane. Early one morning the girl had been instructed to look for the family cat that had gone missing and her search took her to fields near a wood. Isaac Smith and James Woods suddenly appeared on the scene and accused Margaret of sleeping in the woods all night, implying that she had been with a young man.
In fact a saddler called John Woods told the court that the two men had gone so far as to tell him they had actually seen the girl with some man. They stuck to their story when the father of Margaret Heyes later spoke to the pair about the slander that they were alleged to be spreading. Her teacher boss Thomas Barton appeared in the court as a character witness and gave Margaret an excellent reference for "honesty, prudence, and virtue".
In their defence Isaac Smith and James Woods claimed that they had only ever mentioned seeing a man and a woman in the fields – but had never said they had been together. Margaret had hired the controversial Thomas Swift to represent her in court and the outspoken solicitor caused a storm by calling Isaac Smith "a dirty old brute". From what I can tell from census records Smith was aged fifty and he and Woods were ordered to find sureties to keep the peace for three months.
"They are admitted by thousands to be worth above a Guinea a Box for bilious and nervous disorders, such as wind and pain at the stomach, sick headache, giddiness, fullness and swelling after meals, dizziness and drowsiness, cold chills, flushings of heat, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, costiveness [constipation], scurvy and blotches of the skin, disturbed sleep, frightful dreams, and all nervous and trembling sensations, &c., &c. The first dose will give relief in twenty minutes. This is no fiction, for they have done it in thousands of cases."
Here's a question. At what point are fish that are starting to go off considered bad enough for the seller to face prosecution? I expect these days scientific analysis could determine some appropriate rotting point – but in court this week the matter created quite a discussion. That was when Eliza Smith and James Lowe were charged with "crying" fish for sale that was unfit as human food. Mr Turner, the inspector of nuisances, said he came across the Wigan fish dealers selling herring from a cart in Greenbank in St Helens that was "utterly unfit" for human consumption.
Some customers, he said, had returned some of their purchases and received refunds. The dodgy fish, he claimed, was being sold at reduced rates – four for 1½d, as opposed to the usual price of three for 2d. On the following day Dr Twyford as a magistrate had signed an order for their destruction. However, the two fish sellers had insisted that the herring in their barrel was fresh and that they were selling them cheap because they were very small.
And in court their solicitor argued that the smell of rotting fish could not be relied upon as evidence of decay. A couple of satisfied customers told the court that they felt the fish were passable to eat. And defendant Eliza Smith claimed that they did not "stink" but that blood from their heads had congealed in the barrel and caused a "nauseous odour on account of thunder in the air". A curious excuse that was not accepted by the magistrates and the two defendants were fined £3 and costs or must serve two months in prison.
In July William Birchall of Thatto Heath received four months in gaol for biting off his cousin Edward's ear after the pair had argued over the possession of a pigeon. The St Helens Newspaper called what happened "disgusting savagery" and this week there was a sequel to the case when Elizabeth Shaw was charged with using abusive and insulting language towards Margaret Roberts.
The latter was the sister of ear-biter William Birchall and she had been receiving some stick over the incident. The Newspaper wrote: "Sundry neighbours have busied themselves giving her offence by oblique allusions to the circumstances. They ask her if she would like a bit of ear, and also indicate their meaning by pantomime." Elizabeth Shaw was bound over for a month.
The week's most curious court case concerned a theft in the Black Bull in Church Street in St Helens. The victim was Israel Jacobs, who the St Helens Newspaper described as a hawker and Polish Jew. Mr Jacobs had booked a room in the pub for the night and told the court that before going to bed he'd counted the money in his possession. The amount came to 14s 6d, including a half-crown, which he said he'd put into a purse and placed in his trouser pocket.
It was common for strangers to share bedrooms in pubs and at 4 o’clock in the morning Jacobs realised that there was another man in his room sleeping in a separate bed. That led him to check his money and he discovered his purse was empty. The other man was called Peter Johnson and the hawker brought the landlord to the room to see if his new roommate had taken his cash. Johnson turned out his pockets and the missing money was found, which, as the Newspaper reported, led to Israel Jacobs making "a complete uproar on the spot, rushing away and getting the police."
The paper added that during cross-examination in court the man had "exhibited a great deal of extraordinary excitement, and declared more than once he would rather be robbed of his life than his money." Peter Johnson's defence solicitor was Thomas Swift and he claimed that anyone could have put the stolen money into the pocket of his client's trousers, which he had taken off before getting into bed. An unusual argument but a successful one as Peter Johnson's case was referred to the Liverpool Assizes where he was cleared of the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Rainhill Asylum attendant accused of assault, the pipe-smoking Parr woman who was attacked in her home, the scarcity of magistrates in St Helens and the Worcester source made in Rainford.
This week's stories include the Rainford girl who accused two men of slander by claiming she had been sleeping with a man in the woods, the stinking fish that was cried for sale in Greenbank, the strange theft in the Black Bull in Church Street and there's a sequel to the disgusting savagery case.
But we begin at what was then often referred to as Rainhill Lunatic Asylum.
The Guardians of the Prescot Union at Whiston Workhouse would send some of their "lunatic" paupers for "treatment" at the asylum – although containment is probably a better word.
And so did the Guardians of other Lancashire towns and as each had to pay the asylum to look after their inmates, a deputation would make periodic visits to Rainhill to check whether any could be discharged.
That was in their financial interest, as even if the paupers went back into their workhouse, the Guardians would save money.
But with virtually no treatments available at Rainhill, many inmates never improved and soon became institutionalised.
This is demonstrated on the 4th when the Ormskirk Advertiser reported on a meeting of the Guardians of the Ormskirk Union. They were in charge of the workhouse in the town and supported paupers within their community.
The meeting heard that a deputation had visited Rainhill Asylum where they had seen their three male lunatic paupers that were living there.
All were long-term patients, with one having been an inmate since the institution had opened and another had spent 16 years in Rainhill.
The superintendent at the asylum had told the deputation that the three men would never get better and one "would neither speak, nor work".
The Advertiser then described the inspection of the women inmates that the Ormskirk Guardians had responsibility for:
"There were nine females, of whom there is no improvement, except in the case of two of them. Mary Ann Burton would like to come out, but she says she could not get her own living if she were to come out, but might be kept in the workhouse at a deal less cost.
"Mary Conroy wished to come out for the sake of her children, but the doctor said she had strange delusions, such as hearing noises in the ceiling. With respect to the other females there did not appear to be any improvement since the last visit."
Being considered respectable was a badge of honour for many females – even one as young as fifteen, such as Margaret Heyes.
She appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions this week as the complainant in a slander case.
Margaret was a domestic servant employed by Thomas Barton who ran a small boarding school in Rainford in what became Rookery Lane.
Early one morning the girl had been instructed to look for the family cat that had gone missing and her search took her to fields near a wood.
Isaac Smith and James Woods suddenly appeared on the scene and accused Margaret of sleeping in the woods all night, implying that she had been with a young man.
In fact a saddler called John Woods told the court that the two men had gone so far as to tell him they had actually seen the girl with some man.
They stuck to their story when the father of Margaret Heyes later spoke to the pair about the slander that they were alleged to be spreading.
Her teacher boss Thomas Barton appeared in the court as a character witness and gave Margaret an excellent reference for "honesty, prudence, and virtue".
In their defence Isaac Smith and James Woods claimed that they had only ever mentioned seeing a man and a woman in the fields – but had never said they had been together.
Margaret had hired the controversial Thomas Swift to represent her in court and the outspoken solicitor caused a storm by calling Isaac Smith "a dirty old brute".
From what I can tell from census records Smith was aged fifty and he and Woods were ordered to find sureties to keep the peace for three months.
On the 6th "OH YES!, OH YES!, OH YES!" was the headline to this advert in the Wigan Observer from Beecham's of St Helens:
"It is an undeniable fact, admitted by all classes, that the greatest temporal blessing one man can bestow upon another, is the blessing of health; but the greatest fact of all is BEECHAM'S PILLS convey that blessing into every sick-stricken house.
"They are admitted by thousands to be worth above a Guinea a Box for bilious and nervous disorders, such as wind and pain at the stomach, sick headache, giddiness, fullness and swelling after meals, dizziness and drowsiness, cold chills, flushings of heat, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, costiveness [constipation], scurvy and blotches of the skin, disturbed sleep, frightful dreams, and all nervous and trembling sensations, &c., &c.
"The first dose will give relief in twenty minutes. This is no fiction, for they have done it in thousands of cases."
Here's a question. At what point are fish that are starting to go off considered bad enough for the seller to face prosecution?
I expect these days scientific analysis could determine some appropriate rotting point – but in court this week the matter created quite a discussion.
That was when Eliza Smith and James Lowe were charged with "crying" fish for sale that was unfit as human food.
Mr Turner, the inspector of nuisances, said he came across the Wigan fish dealers selling herring from a cart in Greenbank in St Helens that was "utterly unfit" for human consumption.
Some customers, he said, had returned some of their purchases and received refunds.
The dodgy fish, he claimed, was being sold at reduced rates – four for 1½d, as opposed to the usual price of three for 2d.
On the following day Dr Twyford as a magistrate had signed an order for their destruction.
However, the two fish sellers had insisted that the herring in their barrel was fresh and that they were selling them cheap because they were very small.
And in court their solicitor argued that the smell of rotting fish could not be relied upon as evidence of decay.
A couple of satisfied customers told the court that they felt the fish were passable to eat.
And defendant Eliza Smith claimed that they did not "stink" but that blood from their heads had congealed in the barrel and caused a "nauseous odour on account of thunder in the air".
A curious excuse that was not accepted by the magistrates and the two defendants were fined £3 and costs or must serve two months in prison.
In July William Birchall of Thatto Heath received four months in gaol for biting off his cousin Edward's ear after the pair had argued over the possession of a pigeon.
The St Helens Newspaper called what happened "disgusting savagery" and this week there was a sequel to the case when Elizabeth Shaw was charged with using abusive and insulting language towards Margaret Roberts.
The latter was the sister of ear-biter William Birchall and she had been receiving some stick over the incident. The Newspaper wrote:
"Sundry neighbours have busied themselves giving her offence by oblique allusions to the circumstances. They ask her if she would like a bit of ear, and also indicate their meaning by pantomime." Elizabeth Shaw was bound over for a month.
The week's most curious court case concerned a theft in the Black Bull in Church Street in St Helens.
The victim was Israel Jacobs, who the St Helens Newspaper described as a hawker and Polish Jew.
Mr Jacobs had booked a room in the pub for the night and told the court that before going to bed he'd counted the money in his possession.
The amount came to 14s 6d, including a half-crown, which he said he'd put into a purse and placed in his trouser pocket.
It was common for strangers to share bedrooms in pubs and at 4 o’clock in the morning Jacobs realised that there was another man in his room sleeping in a separate bed. That led him to check his money and he discovered his purse was empty.
The other man was called Peter Johnson and the hawker brought the landlord to the room to see if his new roommate had taken his cash.
Johnson turned out his pockets and the missing money was found, which, as the Newspaper reported, led to Israel Jacobs making "a complete uproar on the spot, rushing away and getting the police."
The paper added that during cross-examination in court the man had "exhibited a great deal of extraordinary excitement, and declared more than once he would rather be robbed of his life than his money."
Peter Johnson's defence solicitor was Thomas Swift and he claimed that anyone could have put the stolen money into the pocket of his client's trousers, which he had taken off before getting into bed.
An unusual argument but a successful one as Peter Johnson's case was referred to the Liverpool Assizes where he was cleared of the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Rainhill Asylum attendant accused of assault, the pipe-smoking Parr woman who was attacked in her home, the scarcity of magistrates in St Helens and the Worcester source made in Rainford.
But we begin at what was then often referred to as Rainhill Lunatic Asylum.
The Guardians of the Prescot Union at Whiston Workhouse would send some of their "lunatic" paupers for "treatment" at the asylum – although containment is probably a better word.
And so did the Guardians of other Lancashire towns and as each had to pay the asylum to look after their inmates, a deputation would make periodic visits to Rainhill to check whether any could be discharged.
That was in their financial interest, as even if the paupers went back into their workhouse, the Guardians would save money.
But with virtually no treatments available at Rainhill, many inmates never improved and soon became institutionalised.
This is demonstrated on the 4th when the Ormskirk Advertiser reported on a meeting of the Guardians of the Ormskirk Union. They were in charge of the workhouse in the town and supported paupers within their community.
The meeting heard that a deputation had visited Rainhill Asylum where they had seen their three male lunatic paupers that were living there.
All were long-term patients, with one having been an inmate since the institution had opened and another had spent 16 years in Rainhill.
The superintendent at the asylum had told the deputation that the three men would never get better and one "would neither speak, nor work".
The Advertiser then described the inspection of the women inmates that the Ormskirk Guardians had responsibility for:
"There were nine females, of whom there is no improvement, except in the case of two of them. Mary Ann Burton would like to come out, but she says she could not get her own living if she were to come out, but might be kept in the workhouse at a deal less cost.
"Mary Conroy wished to come out for the sake of her children, but the doctor said she had strange delusions, such as hearing noises in the ceiling. With respect to the other females there did not appear to be any improvement since the last visit."
Being considered respectable was a badge of honour for many females – even one as young as fifteen, such as Margaret Heyes.
She appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions this week as the complainant in a slander case.
Margaret was a domestic servant employed by Thomas Barton who ran a small boarding school in Rainford in what became Rookery Lane.
Early one morning the girl had been instructed to look for the family cat that had gone missing and her search took her to fields near a wood.
Isaac Smith and James Woods suddenly appeared on the scene and accused Margaret of sleeping in the woods all night, implying that she had been with a young man.
In fact a saddler called John Woods told the court that the two men had gone so far as to tell him they had actually seen the girl with some man.
They stuck to their story when the father of Margaret Heyes later spoke to the pair about the slander that they were alleged to be spreading.
Her teacher boss Thomas Barton appeared in the court as a character witness and gave Margaret an excellent reference for "honesty, prudence, and virtue".
In their defence Isaac Smith and James Woods claimed that they had only ever mentioned seeing a man and a woman in the fields – but had never said they had been together.
Margaret had hired the controversial Thomas Swift to represent her in court and the outspoken solicitor caused a storm by calling Isaac Smith "a dirty old brute".
From what I can tell from census records Smith was aged fifty and he and Woods were ordered to find sureties to keep the peace for three months.
"It is an undeniable fact, admitted by all classes, that the greatest temporal blessing one man can bestow upon another, is the blessing of health; but the greatest fact of all is BEECHAM'S PILLS convey that blessing into every sick-stricken house.
"They are admitted by thousands to be worth above a Guinea a Box for bilious and nervous disorders, such as wind and pain at the stomach, sick headache, giddiness, fullness and swelling after meals, dizziness and drowsiness, cold chills, flushings of heat, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, costiveness [constipation], scurvy and blotches of the skin, disturbed sleep, frightful dreams, and all nervous and trembling sensations, &c., &c.
"The first dose will give relief in twenty minutes. This is no fiction, for they have done it in thousands of cases."
Here's a question. At what point are fish that are starting to go off considered bad enough for the seller to face prosecution?
I expect these days scientific analysis could determine some appropriate rotting point – but in court this week the matter created quite a discussion.
That was when Eliza Smith and James Lowe were charged with "crying" fish for sale that was unfit as human food.
Mr Turner, the inspector of nuisances, said he came across the Wigan fish dealers selling herring from a cart in Greenbank in St Helens that was "utterly unfit" for human consumption.
Some customers, he said, had returned some of their purchases and received refunds.
The dodgy fish, he claimed, was being sold at reduced rates – four for 1½d, as opposed to the usual price of three for 2d.
On the following day Dr Twyford as a magistrate had signed an order for their destruction.
However, the two fish sellers had insisted that the herring in their barrel was fresh and that they were selling them cheap because they were very small.
And in court their solicitor argued that the smell of rotting fish could not be relied upon as evidence of decay.
A couple of satisfied customers told the court that they felt the fish were passable to eat.
And defendant Eliza Smith claimed that they did not "stink" but that blood from their heads had congealed in the barrel and caused a "nauseous odour on account of thunder in the air".
A curious excuse that was not accepted by the magistrates and the two defendants were fined £3 and costs or must serve two months in prison.
In July William Birchall of Thatto Heath received four months in gaol for biting off his cousin Edward's ear after the pair had argued over the possession of a pigeon.
The St Helens Newspaper called what happened "disgusting savagery" and this week there was a sequel to the case when Elizabeth Shaw was charged with using abusive and insulting language towards Margaret Roberts.
The latter was the sister of ear-biter William Birchall and she had been receiving some stick over the incident. The Newspaper wrote:
"Sundry neighbours have busied themselves giving her offence by oblique allusions to the circumstances. They ask her if she would like a bit of ear, and also indicate their meaning by pantomime." Elizabeth Shaw was bound over for a month.
The week's most curious court case concerned a theft in the Black Bull in Church Street in St Helens.
The victim was Israel Jacobs, who the St Helens Newspaper described as a hawker and Polish Jew.
Mr Jacobs had booked a room in the pub for the night and told the court that before going to bed he'd counted the money in his possession.
The amount came to 14s 6d, including a half-crown, which he said he'd put into a purse and placed in his trouser pocket.
It was common for strangers to share bedrooms in pubs and at 4 o’clock in the morning Jacobs realised that there was another man in his room sleeping in a separate bed. That led him to check his money and he discovered his purse was empty.
The other man was called Peter Johnson and the hawker brought the landlord to the room to see if his new roommate had taken his cash.
Johnson turned out his pockets and the missing money was found, which, as the Newspaper reported, led to Israel Jacobs making "a complete uproar on the spot, rushing away and getting the police."
The paper added that during cross-examination in court the man had "exhibited a great deal of extraordinary excitement, and declared more than once he would rather be robbed of his life than his money."
Peter Johnson's defence solicitor was Thomas Swift and he claimed that anyone could have put the stolen money into the pocket of his client's trousers, which he had taken off before getting into bed.
An unusual argument but a successful one as Peter Johnson's case was referred to the Liverpool Assizes where he was cleared of the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Rainhill Asylum attendant accused of assault, the pipe-smoking Parr woman who was attacked in her home, the scarcity of magistrates in St Helens and the Worcester source made in Rainford.