150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (4th - 10th NOVEMBER 1869)
This week's stories include the cow that went for a wander inside a Prescot hotel, fury over the re-emergence of the Eccleston toll-bar, the slag thrown at a woman in Parr that missed its mark, more severe sentences for stealing wearing apparel and the man who in a fit of rage committed suicide in the St Helens Canal.
We begin with Guy Fawkes Night on the 5th. I'd like to be able to tell you that the town was aglow with bonfires and fireworks but sadly it was not so, as the St Helens Newspaper described: "The Fifth of November. The celebration of this famous anniversary is losing much of its interest yearly, and has now almost died out. In the days of our fathers it was a red-letter day in the year, as commemorating our deliverance from all sorts of terrible misfortunes, and, of course, it was honoured as people considered it deserved to be."
The article went on to state that as well as commemorating the failure of the Guy Fawkes plot, the 5th is also the anniversary of King William's arrival in England: "But except in a few Orange gatherings and the holiday pastime of children, both events appear to be forgotten or ignored."
Not completely forgotten as 100 people attended an Orange Tea Meeting at the Churn Inn during the evening of the 5th to celebrate the gunpowder anniversary. All attendees wore what was described as "Orange favours" – i.e. orange emblems, scarves etc. – and a large engraving of King William was hung in the room.
After tea the usual shed full of toasts were proposed, including: "The Queen, as long as she is a Protestant" and "King William, of glorious, pious, and immortal memory". After the toasts had been completed, dancing commenced and – according to the Newspaper – was "kept up spiritedly for several hours". The Churn Inn was in Tontine Street and would close in 1935.
Animals being driven down the street were a common sight in St Helens and occasionally they would run off into shops and houses and cause bedlam. In 1893 a large runaway cow got stuck fast on the roof of a Hardshaw Street solicitor's – but that's another story!
The St Helens Newspaper was published on the 6th and it described how a "fine fat cow" had earlier in the week been driven through Fazakerley Street in Prescot. Suddenly the animal stopped and in a "most leisurely and deliberate manner" the cow decided to enter the Royal Hotel. The beast walked up several steps and then "returned the compliment of staring into the terrified faces which peered out at her from behind the shelter of the bar."
Some public houses and hotels had newsrooms in which people clubbed together to read a number of newspapers. The cow entered the Royal's newsroom and the face of a man inside by the door "showed a mercurial tinge" and he immediately ran to safety. However the man returned to the room and grabbed a copy of the St Helens Newspaper and "gaining fresh courage, confronted the animal and drove it back with the chivalry of a Spanish matador" and out of the Royal's back door.
On the 8th William Price – described as a navvy – committed suicide in the St Helens Canal at Greenbank in a fit of rage. The Welshman had been drinking heavily for several days and regularly beating up his wife. As a result of his conduct the couple had been ejected from their lodgings in Liverpool Street.
A day or two later Price and his wife were stood on the bank of the canal opposite the St Helens Alkali Company and they began quarrelling. The woman attempted to get away from her violent husband and some others, who happened to be about, prevented him from following her. This infuriated Price and in a sudden fit of rage he threw off his coat and ran to the edge of the canal and jumped into the water.
The alarm was quickly raised and a wooden rod called a handspike was held out to Price from a sailor on a boat called a flat. However the man refused to grasp it and he sank in what the St Helens Newspaper described as the "filthy and nauseous fluid, where life was speedily extinct." Within ten minutes the drowned man's body had been removed from the water and taken to the Phoenix Inn in Canal Street awaiting an inquest.
The contrasting versions of the same event that were regularly stated in court by complainants and defendants were quite remarkable. Here are two examples from the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 8th. Mary Tighe – who appeared to reside in Liverpool Street – was charged with threatening to assault Mary Monks.
The latter said she had gone to Mary Tighe's house to ask her for some money that she owed her aunt. Mary Monks claimed that the woman had picked up a hammer, called her names and threatened to kill her. However Mary Tighe claimed she hadn't said a word, only to say "no" to Mary Monks' request and then she closed the door. She even produced a witness who backed up her account of polite refusal, adding that Mrs Tighe had told the woman to see her husband. However the magistrates weren't born yesterday and must have thought that Mary Monks would not have brought the case for nothing and so bound Mary Tighe over.
In the second case Hannah Bates from Parr was charged with committing wilful damage to a door belonging to a landlord called James Swift. He had found the door to one of his houses damaged and so spoke to his tenant, who claimed she had had a row with Hannah Bates. This resulted in the woman throwing a huge piece of slag at her, which missed its target and instead smashed in a door panel.
However Hannah Bates completely denied throwing the slag, claiming another woman had been responsible. She even went so far as to claim that she had used "all her influence, moral and physical, to prevent any further hostilities." A number of witnesses were called to back up her story and the bench dismissed the case. This they usually did when there were multiple witnesses, even though there was every chance they were lying.
The highly outspoken St Helens Newspaper was published on the 9th and used its editorial to attack the re-emergence of a toll on the Eccleston road: "Some time ago we called public attention to the injustice of permitting toll to be exacted at the Eccleston Bar from persons travelling over roads within the borough of St. Helens; and, after the question had been brought before the Town Council, and some action taken, the injustice ended by the trustees ceasing to exact tolls at the Eccleston Side Gate.
"This morning, however, we find that the trustees of the Turnpike Trust have posted a notice, that on the 16th inst., toll will again be demanded, “pending arrangements”. Will our Town Council permit such an injustice to be perpetrated within the limits of the borough? We hope the Council will take prompt and energetic measures to rebut the insolence of the trustees, in attempting to re-impose the monopoly.
"The town of St. Helens has submitted too long, and been too quiescent, under this system, maintained principally for the benefit of a number of shareholding county magistrates, whose weekly presence at our petty sessions is a reflection on the energy and ability of our resident gentlemen." However the Prescot Reporter would later put the blame for the planned resumption of tolls on St Helens Town Council. They said they had delayed entering into an agreement with the trustees to take over the maintenance of the roads.
The Newspaper also reported on a number of sentences for stealing so-called "wearing apparel" at the Quarter Sessions at the Kirkdale Gaol and court complex in Liverpool (pictured above). The courts in St Helens referred the more serious cases to the Sessions – although these crimes would not be considered that serious to us today. 62-year-old Catherine Houghton was given 18 months for stealing a pair of boots in Newton-le-Willows.
A 16-year-old servant girl called Sarah Garry received a sentence of 9 months in prison for stealing a shawl and other articles at Chapel End in Billinge. 55-year-old labourer Philip Nixon received two months for stealing a pair of trousers in St Helens. And a 47-year-old miner called James Molyneux was given 18 months for stealing two coats and a pair of shoes at Whiston.
On the 9th a "celebrated Scottish vocalist" called Mr Renwick performed in the Town Hall his "musical, historical, and descriptive entertainment, illustrative of the songs and ballads of Scotland." The St Helens Newspaper said there had been a good attendance and "Mr. Renwick's rendering of the various songs in the programme, quaint, humorous, and sentimental, gave great delight to the audience."
The 'Original Christy's Minstrels' – who were described as an "immense attraction" – performed at the Town Hall on the 10th. They were one of several blackface troupes that claimed to be the original Minstrels, with each having one or two former members of the old troupe within their ranks. Last year the 'Royal and Original Christy's Minstrels' had performed at the Volunteer Hall in St Helens and another version of them would appear in the town in a fortnight!
Next week's stories will include the murder of a St Helens milkman, a boiler explosion at Ravenhead, the abomination of boys in coal mines, a claim of attempted rape in Thatto Heath, the bad state of Warrington New Road and the perils of a bus journey from Prescot to St Helens.
We begin with Guy Fawkes Night on the 5th. I'd like to be able to tell you that the town was aglow with bonfires and fireworks but sadly it was not so, as the St Helens Newspaper described: "The Fifth of November. The celebration of this famous anniversary is losing much of its interest yearly, and has now almost died out. In the days of our fathers it was a red-letter day in the year, as commemorating our deliverance from all sorts of terrible misfortunes, and, of course, it was honoured as people considered it deserved to be."
The article went on to state that as well as commemorating the failure of the Guy Fawkes plot, the 5th is also the anniversary of King William's arrival in England: "But except in a few Orange gatherings and the holiday pastime of children, both events appear to be forgotten or ignored."
Not completely forgotten as 100 people attended an Orange Tea Meeting at the Churn Inn during the evening of the 5th to celebrate the gunpowder anniversary. All attendees wore what was described as "Orange favours" – i.e. orange emblems, scarves etc. – and a large engraving of King William was hung in the room.
After tea the usual shed full of toasts were proposed, including: "The Queen, as long as she is a Protestant" and "King William, of glorious, pious, and immortal memory". After the toasts had been completed, dancing commenced and – according to the Newspaper – was "kept up spiritedly for several hours". The Churn Inn was in Tontine Street and would close in 1935.
Animals being driven down the street were a common sight in St Helens and occasionally they would run off into shops and houses and cause bedlam. In 1893 a large runaway cow got stuck fast on the roof of a Hardshaw Street solicitor's – but that's another story!
The St Helens Newspaper was published on the 6th and it described how a "fine fat cow" had earlier in the week been driven through Fazakerley Street in Prescot. Suddenly the animal stopped and in a "most leisurely and deliberate manner" the cow decided to enter the Royal Hotel. The beast walked up several steps and then "returned the compliment of staring into the terrified faces which peered out at her from behind the shelter of the bar."
Some public houses and hotels had newsrooms in which people clubbed together to read a number of newspapers. The cow entered the Royal's newsroom and the face of a man inside by the door "showed a mercurial tinge" and he immediately ran to safety. However the man returned to the room and grabbed a copy of the St Helens Newspaper and "gaining fresh courage, confronted the animal and drove it back with the chivalry of a Spanish matador" and out of the Royal's back door.
On the 8th William Price – described as a navvy – committed suicide in the St Helens Canal at Greenbank in a fit of rage. The Welshman had been drinking heavily for several days and regularly beating up his wife. As a result of his conduct the couple had been ejected from their lodgings in Liverpool Street.
A day or two later Price and his wife were stood on the bank of the canal opposite the St Helens Alkali Company and they began quarrelling. The woman attempted to get away from her violent husband and some others, who happened to be about, prevented him from following her. This infuriated Price and in a sudden fit of rage he threw off his coat and ran to the edge of the canal and jumped into the water.
The alarm was quickly raised and a wooden rod called a handspike was held out to Price from a sailor on a boat called a flat. However the man refused to grasp it and he sank in what the St Helens Newspaper described as the "filthy and nauseous fluid, where life was speedily extinct." Within ten minutes the drowned man's body had been removed from the water and taken to the Phoenix Inn in Canal Street awaiting an inquest.
The contrasting versions of the same event that were regularly stated in court by complainants and defendants were quite remarkable. Here are two examples from the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 8th. Mary Tighe – who appeared to reside in Liverpool Street – was charged with threatening to assault Mary Monks.
The latter said she had gone to Mary Tighe's house to ask her for some money that she owed her aunt. Mary Monks claimed that the woman had picked up a hammer, called her names and threatened to kill her. However Mary Tighe claimed she hadn't said a word, only to say "no" to Mary Monks' request and then she closed the door. She even produced a witness who backed up her account of polite refusal, adding that Mrs Tighe had told the woman to see her husband. However the magistrates weren't born yesterday and must have thought that Mary Monks would not have brought the case for nothing and so bound Mary Tighe over.
In the second case Hannah Bates from Parr was charged with committing wilful damage to a door belonging to a landlord called James Swift. He had found the door to one of his houses damaged and so spoke to his tenant, who claimed she had had a row with Hannah Bates. This resulted in the woman throwing a huge piece of slag at her, which missed its target and instead smashed in a door panel.
However Hannah Bates completely denied throwing the slag, claiming another woman had been responsible. She even went so far as to claim that she had used "all her influence, moral and physical, to prevent any further hostilities." A number of witnesses were called to back up her story and the bench dismissed the case. This they usually did when there were multiple witnesses, even though there was every chance they were lying.
The highly outspoken St Helens Newspaper was published on the 9th and used its editorial to attack the re-emergence of a toll on the Eccleston road: "Some time ago we called public attention to the injustice of permitting toll to be exacted at the Eccleston Bar from persons travelling over roads within the borough of St. Helens; and, after the question had been brought before the Town Council, and some action taken, the injustice ended by the trustees ceasing to exact tolls at the Eccleston Side Gate.
"This morning, however, we find that the trustees of the Turnpike Trust have posted a notice, that on the 16th inst., toll will again be demanded, “pending arrangements”. Will our Town Council permit such an injustice to be perpetrated within the limits of the borough? We hope the Council will take prompt and energetic measures to rebut the insolence of the trustees, in attempting to re-impose the monopoly.
"The town of St. Helens has submitted too long, and been too quiescent, under this system, maintained principally for the benefit of a number of shareholding county magistrates, whose weekly presence at our petty sessions is a reflection on the energy and ability of our resident gentlemen." However the Prescot Reporter would later put the blame for the planned resumption of tolls on St Helens Town Council. They said they had delayed entering into an agreement with the trustees to take over the maintenance of the roads.
A 16-year-old servant girl called Sarah Garry received a sentence of 9 months in prison for stealing a shawl and other articles at Chapel End in Billinge. 55-year-old labourer Philip Nixon received two months for stealing a pair of trousers in St Helens. And a 47-year-old miner called James Molyneux was given 18 months for stealing two coats and a pair of shoes at Whiston.
On the 9th a "celebrated Scottish vocalist" called Mr Renwick performed in the Town Hall his "musical, historical, and descriptive entertainment, illustrative of the songs and ballads of Scotland." The St Helens Newspaper said there had been a good attendance and "Mr. Renwick's rendering of the various songs in the programme, quaint, humorous, and sentimental, gave great delight to the audience."
The 'Original Christy's Minstrels' – who were described as an "immense attraction" – performed at the Town Hall on the 10th. They were one of several blackface troupes that claimed to be the original Minstrels, with each having one or two former members of the old troupe within their ranks. Last year the 'Royal and Original Christy's Minstrels' had performed at the Volunteer Hall in St Helens and another version of them would appear in the town in a fortnight!
Next week's stories will include the murder of a St Helens milkman, a boiler explosion at Ravenhead, the abomination of boys in coal mines, a claim of attempted rape in Thatto Heath, the bad state of Warrington New Road and the perils of a bus journey from Prescot to St Helens.