150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (5 - 11 JUNE 1873)
This week's many stories include the imbeciles and lunatics living in Whiston Workhouse, the grisly discovery in Pocket Nook, the tablecloth theft from an Ormskirk Street shop, the low take-up of books from the St Helens Library and the Thatto Heath carter that committed suicide on the day of his wife's funeral.
We begin with more industrial strife, as a recent rise in the cost of living was leading to the inevitable demands from workers for higher wages. This week moulders employed in the iron foundries in St Helens gave their employers notice that they wanted a 2-shilling increase in their wages. It being a skilled job the men were already relatively well-paid earning 34 shillings a week.
The Prescot Guardians met on the 5th and heard of a snag with the building of their new hospital at Whiston Workhouse. Their chosen contractor, a Mr Warburton, attended the meeting and reported that the cost of bricks had risen and he produced a letter that he had received from Roughdales of Chester Lane in St Helens (pictured above). The brickmakers stated that they had increased their prices by two shillings per thousand bricks and Mr Warburton wanted an extra £180 on his agreed tender of £8,860.
St Helens Corporation was experiencing a similar problem with the building of their new town hall. But when the successful contractor for the municipal centre had recently asked for more money, he had been refused and the job of construction had been put out to tender again. However, the guardians took a more pragmatic course and offered Mr Warburton an extra £100, which he accepted.
The guardians were also told of a letter that they had received from the Lunacy Commissioners concerning conditions in Whiston Workhouse. Only so-called "imbeciles" and non-dangerous "lunatics" were supposed to be admitted – but that was not always the case. And so the commissioners wanted a padded room to be included in the new workhouse hospital to deal with violent inmates.
They also felt that the lunatics and imbeciles should be able to use knives and forks when having their meals. Presumably such unfortunates currently had to use their fingers to eat because of the perceived danger in giving them knives. However, this not did not appear to be a mandatory instruction from the commissioners, as the hospital doctor said he was only prepared to allow the imbeciles the use of knives and forks of a "peculiar sort" – whatever that meant!
The Lunacy Commissioners also felt that the imbeciles were not being fed enough, with the doctor responding that he already allowed them extra food whenever it was required. They also called for "provision for the amusement of the imbecile and melancholy".
The guardians' clerk helpfully explained that the commissioners were referring to the "dejected people who are liable to cut their throats or hang themselves." And who would not be a bit melancholic and dejected being stuck in a workhouse and not allowed proper cutlery at meal times? It was decided that the workhouse master would find someone to take the melancholy on occasional trips out to cheer them up.
The St Helens Free Lending Library had reopened in November 1872 inside the fire-ravaged Town Hall in New Market Place. The library contained over 3,000 volumes but its opening hours were only 7 to 8pm over three evenings a week. Book browsing at St Helens libraries would not be available for many years and so borrowers would instead ask the librarian for the title that they wanted and he or she would get it for them.
As a result the time spent inside the library obtaining a book was very short and so there was no need for long opening hours for the minority of educated persons in St Helens that read books. Those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably to confirm their identity in case they did not return them.
However, staying open for longer would probably have boosted the number of volumes that were taken out. It was revealed this week that over the previous three months the number of borrowers had only been 138 and these had taken out 691 titles between them. Those were not seen as unduly low numbers and as well as being a consequence of limited opening hours, the stats also reflected the state of literacy in St Helens at that time.
The St Helens Newspaper reported on the 7th that a man named James Fowler had been injured at St Helens railway station. He had taken a ticket for Earlestown but had got into the wrong train. Just after it had begun to leave the station he discovered his mistake and jumped out of the moving carriage and broke his leg in the process.
Miss Pickton was advertising her new confectionery shop in Liverpool Road in the paper, in which she was offering bride's cakes, creams, blancmange, and jellies "in elegant variety". Also on offer were biscuits, jams, marmalades, dried fruits and sweets from "the most eminent manufacturers". Miss Pickton claimed her new confectionery establishment was "of the first class", selling "unadulterated quality" and wedding breakfasts, balls and parties could be supplied.
As I've often said minor theft was treated very harshly 150 years ago. This week William Harvey appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with stealing two mufflers and a handkerchief valued at 9s 6d in total. It was another stupid theft from lodgings. The man had spent three weeks staying at the home of Peter and Mary Whitfield in Baxters Lane in Sutton and had taken off with the stolen items. Mary Whitfield had immediately missed them and reported the theft to the police who found them at the Clock Face Inn, where Harvey had taken a room. The man pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for two months.
William Daniels and James Webb appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions charged with stealing six pheasants' eggs in Rainford. A gamekeeper had seen the pair taking the eggs from Mossborough Wood, which was owned by Lord Derby. The two men may have had to go to prison, as they were each ordered to pay £1 and 12s 3d costs – or if in default, go to Kirkdale Gaol for a month.
Many poor people stole items from shops in order to pawn them for badly needed cash. As they often had no money for fares to travel to other places, they took the stolen goods to pawnshops within their vicinity, increasing the risk of being caught. That's what happened to Mary Johnson, who appeared in court with a baby in her arms. Mothers often bore young children in the dock, sometimes out of necessity with no one else able to care for them.
But in most cases the bearing of babies was probably an attempt to receive more sympathetic treatment from the Bench. Mrs Johnson was accused of stealing a tablecloth from Ellen Sefton's shop in Ormskirk Street and then taking it to Nathaniel Nixon's pawnshop. She denied the theft but there was strong witness evidence and she was sent to prison for 14 days.
I would estimate that on average the St Helens / Sankey Canal would give up its dead after ten days of the body being immersed. There were two types of drowning – by accident or by design. It appeared to have been the former with Elizabeth Balmer who was discovered floating in the canal on the 8th.
A group of boys sailing in a boat in Pocket Nook had made the grisly discovery. The watchmaker's wife had been missing from her Prescot home for nine days after apparently walking to her brother's house in Parr. The 24-year-old had been drinking and it was thought that she had accidentally fallen into the canal while walking by its side. Many people used the railway lines and canal as shortcuts to their destination – often with fatal results in the darkness.
During the evening of the 9th a chemical labourer called Thomas McCawley was drinking in the Hesketh Arms in Church Street in St Helens. He went to go into the yard of the pub – presumably to use their toilet – but never made it. Instead of opening the yard door he inadvertently opened the cellar door and in the darkness tumbled down the steps. At the time where he lived was not known and so a policeman had McCawley carried unconscious to the police station until his address could be ascertained.
One might have thought that the new cottage hospital or a doctor's office would have been more appropriate – but it was standard practice to take the injured and sick to their home and then call in a doctor. McCawley received a bad head injury and died at his home on the following day after never recovering consciousness. From what I can tell the man was 23 and lived in Union Street, near North Road.
Also on the 9th William Higham of Thatto Heath committed suicide supposedly on the day of his wife's funeral. The carter at a St Helens copper works was aged about 50 and had been badly affected by his wife's death a few days before. Higham said he could not bear to attend her funeral and instead drank away his sorrows in the Coach and Horses Inn in Rainhill. Then in the afternoon he was seen near a water-filled pit on Longton's farm and subsequently his body was recovered.
However, the St Helens Newspaper's version was that Higham had buried his wife a few days before his own death and had taken to drinking after being badly affected by his loss. Their report continued: "A woman named Ellen Gore saw him undressing on Monday evening, near the pit in question, and although he appeared to be acting in an eccentric, hesitating way, she thought it probable he was going to have a bathe, and went on about her business."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the festivities celebrating the wedding of a boss's son, a knife attack in Greenbank, the opening of the St Helens public baths for the season and the Tontine Street ironmonger accused of fighting with a frying pan thief.
We begin with more industrial strife, as a recent rise in the cost of living was leading to the inevitable demands from workers for higher wages. This week moulders employed in the iron foundries in St Helens gave their employers notice that they wanted a 2-shilling increase in their wages. It being a skilled job the men were already relatively well-paid earning 34 shillings a week.
St Helens Corporation was experiencing a similar problem with the building of their new town hall. But when the successful contractor for the municipal centre had recently asked for more money, he had been refused and the job of construction had been put out to tender again. However, the guardians took a more pragmatic course and offered Mr Warburton an extra £100, which he accepted.
The guardians were also told of a letter that they had received from the Lunacy Commissioners concerning conditions in Whiston Workhouse. Only so-called "imbeciles" and non-dangerous "lunatics" were supposed to be admitted – but that was not always the case. And so the commissioners wanted a padded room to be included in the new workhouse hospital to deal with violent inmates.
They also felt that the lunatics and imbeciles should be able to use knives and forks when having their meals. Presumably such unfortunates currently had to use their fingers to eat because of the perceived danger in giving them knives. However, this not did not appear to be a mandatory instruction from the commissioners, as the hospital doctor said he was only prepared to allow the imbeciles the use of knives and forks of a "peculiar sort" – whatever that meant!
The Lunacy Commissioners also felt that the imbeciles were not being fed enough, with the doctor responding that he already allowed them extra food whenever it was required. They also called for "provision for the amusement of the imbecile and melancholy".
The guardians' clerk helpfully explained that the commissioners were referring to the "dejected people who are liable to cut their throats or hang themselves." And who would not be a bit melancholic and dejected being stuck in a workhouse and not allowed proper cutlery at meal times? It was decided that the workhouse master would find someone to take the melancholy on occasional trips out to cheer them up.
The St Helens Free Lending Library had reopened in November 1872 inside the fire-ravaged Town Hall in New Market Place. The library contained over 3,000 volumes but its opening hours were only 7 to 8pm over three evenings a week. Book browsing at St Helens libraries would not be available for many years and so borrowers would instead ask the librarian for the title that they wanted and he or she would get it for them.
As a result the time spent inside the library obtaining a book was very short and so there was no need for long opening hours for the minority of educated persons in St Helens that read books. Those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably to confirm their identity in case they did not return them.
However, staying open for longer would probably have boosted the number of volumes that were taken out. It was revealed this week that over the previous three months the number of borrowers had only been 138 and these had taken out 691 titles between them. Those were not seen as unduly low numbers and as well as being a consequence of limited opening hours, the stats also reflected the state of literacy in St Helens at that time.
The St Helens Newspaper reported on the 7th that a man named James Fowler had been injured at St Helens railway station. He had taken a ticket for Earlestown but had got into the wrong train. Just after it had begun to leave the station he discovered his mistake and jumped out of the moving carriage and broke his leg in the process.
Miss Pickton was advertising her new confectionery shop in Liverpool Road in the paper, in which she was offering bride's cakes, creams, blancmange, and jellies "in elegant variety". Also on offer were biscuits, jams, marmalades, dried fruits and sweets from "the most eminent manufacturers". Miss Pickton claimed her new confectionery establishment was "of the first class", selling "unadulterated quality" and wedding breakfasts, balls and parties could be supplied.
As I've often said minor theft was treated very harshly 150 years ago. This week William Harvey appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with stealing two mufflers and a handkerchief valued at 9s 6d in total. It was another stupid theft from lodgings. The man had spent three weeks staying at the home of Peter and Mary Whitfield in Baxters Lane in Sutton and had taken off with the stolen items. Mary Whitfield had immediately missed them and reported the theft to the police who found them at the Clock Face Inn, where Harvey had taken a room. The man pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for two months.
William Daniels and James Webb appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions charged with stealing six pheasants' eggs in Rainford. A gamekeeper had seen the pair taking the eggs from Mossborough Wood, which was owned by Lord Derby. The two men may have had to go to prison, as they were each ordered to pay £1 and 12s 3d costs – or if in default, go to Kirkdale Gaol for a month.
Many poor people stole items from shops in order to pawn them for badly needed cash. As they often had no money for fares to travel to other places, they took the stolen goods to pawnshops within their vicinity, increasing the risk of being caught. That's what happened to Mary Johnson, who appeared in court with a baby in her arms. Mothers often bore young children in the dock, sometimes out of necessity with no one else able to care for them.
But in most cases the bearing of babies was probably an attempt to receive more sympathetic treatment from the Bench. Mrs Johnson was accused of stealing a tablecloth from Ellen Sefton's shop in Ormskirk Street and then taking it to Nathaniel Nixon's pawnshop. She denied the theft but there was strong witness evidence and she was sent to prison for 14 days.
I would estimate that on average the St Helens / Sankey Canal would give up its dead after ten days of the body being immersed. There were two types of drowning – by accident or by design. It appeared to have been the former with Elizabeth Balmer who was discovered floating in the canal on the 8th.
A group of boys sailing in a boat in Pocket Nook had made the grisly discovery. The watchmaker's wife had been missing from her Prescot home for nine days after apparently walking to her brother's house in Parr. The 24-year-old had been drinking and it was thought that she had accidentally fallen into the canal while walking by its side. Many people used the railway lines and canal as shortcuts to their destination – often with fatal results in the darkness.
During the evening of the 9th a chemical labourer called Thomas McCawley was drinking in the Hesketh Arms in Church Street in St Helens. He went to go into the yard of the pub – presumably to use their toilet – but never made it. Instead of opening the yard door he inadvertently opened the cellar door and in the darkness tumbled down the steps. At the time where he lived was not known and so a policeman had McCawley carried unconscious to the police station until his address could be ascertained.
One might have thought that the new cottage hospital or a doctor's office would have been more appropriate – but it was standard practice to take the injured and sick to their home and then call in a doctor. McCawley received a bad head injury and died at his home on the following day after never recovering consciousness. From what I can tell the man was 23 and lived in Union Street, near North Road.
Also on the 9th William Higham of Thatto Heath committed suicide supposedly on the day of his wife's funeral. The carter at a St Helens copper works was aged about 50 and had been badly affected by his wife's death a few days before. Higham said he could not bear to attend her funeral and instead drank away his sorrows in the Coach and Horses Inn in Rainhill. Then in the afternoon he was seen near a water-filled pit on Longton's farm and subsequently his body was recovered.
However, the St Helens Newspaper's version was that Higham had buried his wife a few days before his own death and had taken to drinking after being badly affected by his loss. Their report continued: "A woman named Ellen Gore saw him undressing on Monday evening, near the pit in question, and although he appeared to be acting in an eccentric, hesitating way, she thought it probable he was going to have a bathe, and went on about her business."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the festivities celebrating the wedding of a boss's son, a knife attack in Greenbank, the opening of the St Helens public baths for the season and the Tontine Street ironmonger accused of fighting with a frying pan thief.
This week's many stories include the imbeciles and lunatics living in Whiston Workhouse, the grisly discovery in Pocket Nook, the tablecloth theft from an Ormskirk Street shop, the low take-up of books from the St Helens Library and the Thatto Heath carter that committed suicide on the day of his wife's funeral.
We begin with more industrial strife, as a recent rise in the cost of living was leading to the inevitable demands from workers for higher wages.
This week moulders employed in the iron foundries in St Helens gave their employers notice that they wanted a 2-shilling increase in their wages.
It being a skilled job, the men were already relatively well-paid earning 34 shillings a week.
The Prescot Guardians met on the 5th and heard of a snag with the building of their new hospital at Whiston Workhouse.
Their chosen contractor, a Mr Warburton, attended the meeting and reported that the cost of bricks had risen and he produced a letter that he had received from Roughdales of Chester Lane in St Helens (pictured above).
The brickmakers stated that they had increased their prices by two shillings per thousand bricks and Mr Warburton wanted an extra £180 on his agreed tender of £8,860.
St Helens Corporation was experiencing a similar problem with the building of their new town hall.
But when the successful contractor for the municipal centre had recently asked for more money, he had been refused and the job of construction had been put out to tender again.
However, the guardians took a more pragmatic course and offered Mr Warburton an extra £100, which he accepted.
The guardians were also told of a letter that they had received from the Lunacy Commissioners concerning conditions in Whiston Workhouse.
Only so-called "imbeciles" and non-dangerous "lunatics" were supposed to be admitted – but that was not always the case.
And so the commissioners wanted a padded room to be included in the new workhouse hospital to deal with violent inmates.
They also felt that the lunatics and imbeciles should be able to use knives and forks when having their meals.
Presumably such unfortunates currently had to use their fingers to eat because of the perceived danger in giving them knives.
However, this not did not appear to be a mandatory instruction from the commissioners, as the hospital doctor said he was only prepared to allow the imbeciles the use of knives and forks of a "peculiar sort" – whatever that meant!
The Lunacy Commissioners also felt that the imbeciles were not being fed enough, with the doctor responding that he already allowed them extra food whenever it was required.
They also called for "provision for the amusement of the imbecile and melancholy".
The guardians' clerk helpfully explained that the commissioners were referring to the "dejected people who are liable to cut their throats or hang themselves."
And who would not be a bit melancholic and dejected being stuck in a workhouse and not allowed proper cutlery at meal times?
It was decided that the workhouse master would find someone to take the melancholy on occasional trips out to cheer them up.
The St Helens Free Lending Library had reopened in November 1872 inside the fire-ravaged Town Hall in New Market Place.
The library contained over 3,000 volumes but its opening hours were only 7 to 8pm over three evenings a week.
Book browsing at St Helens libraries would not be available for many years and so borrowers would instead ask the librarian for the title that they wanted and he or she would get it for them.
As a result the time spent inside the library obtaining a book was very short and so there was no need for long opening hours for the minority of educated persons in St Helens that read books.
Those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably to confirm their identity in case they did not return them.
However, staying open for longer would probably have boosted the number of volumes that were taken out.
It was revealed this week that over the previous three months the number of borrowers had only been 138 and these had taken out 691 titles between them.
Those were not seen as unduly low numbers and as well as being a consequence of limited opening hours, the stats also reflected the state of literacy in St Helens at that time.
The St Helens Newspaper reported on the 7th that a man named James Fowler had been injured at St Helens railway station. He had taken a ticket for Earlestown but had got into the wrong train.
Just after it had begun to leave the station he discovered his mistake and jumped out of the moving carriage and broke his leg in the process.
Miss Pickton was advertising her new confectionery shop in Liverpool Road in the paper, in which she was offering bride's cakes, creams, blancmange, and jellies "in elegant variety".
Also on offer were biscuits, jams, marmalades, dried fruits and sweets from "the most eminent manufacturers".
Miss Pickton claimed her new confectionery establishment was "of the first class", selling "unadulterated quality" and wedding breakfasts, balls and parties could be supplied.
As I've often said minor theft was treated very harshly 150 years ago. This week William Harvey appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with stealing two mufflers and a handkerchief valued at 9s 6d in total.
It was another stupid theft from lodgings. The man had spent three weeks staying at the home of Peter and Mary Whitfield in Baxters Lane in Sutton and had taken off with the stolen items.
Mary Whitfield had immediately missed them and reported the theft to the police who found them at the Clock Face Inn, where Harvey had taken a room. The man pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for two months.
William Daniels and James Webb appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions charged with stealing six pheasants' eggs in Rainford.
A gamekeeper had seen the pair taking the eggs from Mossborough Wood, which was owned by Lord Derby.
The two men may have had to go to prison, as they were each ordered to pay £1 and 12s 3d costs – or if in default, go to Kirkdale Gaol for a month.
Many poor people stole items from shops in order to pawn them for badly needed cash.
As they often had no money for fares to travel to other places, they took the stolen goods to pawnshops within their vicinity, increasing the risk of being caught.
That's what happened to Mary Johnson, who appeared in court with a baby in her arms.
Mothers often bore young children in the dock, sometimes out of necessity with no one else able to care for them.
But in most cases the bearing of babies was probably an attempt to receive more sympathetic treatment from the Bench.
Mrs Johnson was accused of stealing a tablecloth from Ellen Sefton's shop in Ormskirk Street and then taking it to Nathaniel Nixon's pawnshop.
She denied the theft but there was strong witness evidence and she was sent to prison for 14 days.
I would estimate that on average the St Helens / Sankey Canal would give up its dead after ten days of the body being immersed.
There were two types of drowning – by accident or by design. It appeared to have been the former with Elizabeth Balmer who was discovered floating in the canal on the 8th.
A group of boys sailing in a boat in Pocket Nook had made the grisly discovery.
The watchmaker's wife had been missing from her Prescot home for nine days after apparently walking to her brother's house in Parr.
The 24-year-old had been drinking and it was thought that she had accidentally fallen into the canal while walking by its side.
Many people used the railway lines and canal as shortcuts to their destination – often with fatal results in the darkness.
During the evening of the 9th a chemical labourer called Thomas McCawley was drinking in the Hesketh Arms in Church Street in St Helens.
He went to go into the yard of the pub – presumably to use their toilet – but never made it.
Instead of opening the yard door he inadvertently opened the cellar door and in the darkness tumbled down the steps.
At the time where he lived was not known and so a policeman had McCawley carried unconscious to the police station until his address could be ascertained.
One might have thought that the new cottage hospital or a doctor's office would have been more appropriate – but it was standard practice to take the injured and sick to their home and then call in a doctor.
McCawley received a bad head injury and died at his home on the following day after never recovering consciousness.
From what I can tell the man was 23 and lived in Union Street, near North Road.
Also on the 9th William Higham of Thatto Heath committed suicide supposedly on the day of his wife's funeral.
The carter at a St Helens copper works was aged about 50 and had been badly affected by his wife's death a few days before.
Higham said he could not bear to attend her funeral and instead drank away his sorrows in the Coach and Horses Inn in Rainhill.
Then in the afternoon he was seen near a water-filled pit on Longton's farm and subsequently his body was recovered.
However, the St Helens Newspaper's version was that Higham had buried his wife a few days before his own death and had taken to drinking after being badly affected by his loss. Their report continued:
"A woman named Ellen Gore saw him undressing on Monday evening, near the pit in question, and although he appeared to be acting in an eccentric, hesitating way, she thought it probable he was going to have a bathe, and went on about her business."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the festivities celebrating the wedding of a boss's son, a knife attack in Greenbank, the opening of the St Helens public baths for the season and the Tontine Street ironmonger accused of fighting with a frying pan thief.
We begin with more industrial strife, as a recent rise in the cost of living was leading to the inevitable demands from workers for higher wages.
This week moulders employed in the iron foundries in St Helens gave their employers notice that they wanted a 2-shilling increase in their wages.
It being a skilled job, the men were already relatively well-paid earning 34 shillings a week.
The Prescot Guardians met on the 5th and heard of a snag with the building of their new hospital at Whiston Workhouse.
The brickmakers stated that they had increased their prices by two shillings per thousand bricks and Mr Warburton wanted an extra £180 on his agreed tender of £8,860.
St Helens Corporation was experiencing a similar problem with the building of their new town hall.
But when the successful contractor for the municipal centre had recently asked for more money, he had been refused and the job of construction had been put out to tender again.
However, the guardians took a more pragmatic course and offered Mr Warburton an extra £100, which he accepted.
The guardians were also told of a letter that they had received from the Lunacy Commissioners concerning conditions in Whiston Workhouse.
Only so-called "imbeciles" and non-dangerous "lunatics" were supposed to be admitted – but that was not always the case.
And so the commissioners wanted a padded room to be included in the new workhouse hospital to deal with violent inmates.
They also felt that the lunatics and imbeciles should be able to use knives and forks when having their meals.
Presumably such unfortunates currently had to use their fingers to eat because of the perceived danger in giving them knives.
However, this not did not appear to be a mandatory instruction from the commissioners, as the hospital doctor said he was only prepared to allow the imbeciles the use of knives and forks of a "peculiar sort" – whatever that meant!
The Lunacy Commissioners also felt that the imbeciles were not being fed enough, with the doctor responding that he already allowed them extra food whenever it was required.
They also called for "provision for the amusement of the imbecile and melancholy".
The guardians' clerk helpfully explained that the commissioners were referring to the "dejected people who are liable to cut their throats or hang themselves."
And who would not be a bit melancholic and dejected being stuck in a workhouse and not allowed proper cutlery at meal times?
It was decided that the workhouse master would find someone to take the melancholy on occasional trips out to cheer them up.
The St Helens Free Lending Library had reopened in November 1872 inside the fire-ravaged Town Hall in New Market Place.
The library contained over 3,000 volumes but its opening hours were only 7 to 8pm over three evenings a week.
Book browsing at St Helens libraries would not be available for many years and so borrowers would instead ask the librarian for the title that they wanted and he or she would get it for them.
As a result the time spent inside the library obtaining a book was very short and so there was no need for long opening hours for the minority of educated persons in St Helens that read books.
Those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably to confirm their identity in case they did not return them.
However, staying open for longer would probably have boosted the number of volumes that were taken out.
It was revealed this week that over the previous three months the number of borrowers had only been 138 and these had taken out 691 titles between them.
Those were not seen as unduly low numbers and as well as being a consequence of limited opening hours, the stats also reflected the state of literacy in St Helens at that time.
The St Helens Newspaper reported on the 7th that a man named James Fowler had been injured at St Helens railway station. He had taken a ticket for Earlestown but had got into the wrong train.
Just after it had begun to leave the station he discovered his mistake and jumped out of the moving carriage and broke his leg in the process.
Miss Pickton was advertising her new confectionery shop in Liverpool Road in the paper, in which she was offering bride's cakes, creams, blancmange, and jellies "in elegant variety".
Also on offer were biscuits, jams, marmalades, dried fruits and sweets from "the most eminent manufacturers".
Miss Pickton claimed her new confectionery establishment was "of the first class", selling "unadulterated quality" and wedding breakfasts, balls and parties could be supplied.
As I've often said minor theft was treated very harshly 150 years ago. This week William Harvey appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with stealing two mufflers and a handkerchief valued at 9s 6d in total.
It was another stupid theft from lodgings. The man had spent three weeks staying at the home of Peter and Mary Whitfield in Baxters Lane in Sutton and had taken off with the stolen items.
Mary Whitfield had immediately missed them and reported the theft to the police who found them at the Clock Face Inn, where Harvey had taken a room. The man pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for two months.
William Daniels and James Webb appeared in the St Helens Petty Sessions charged with stealing six pheasants' eggs in Rainford.
A gamekeeper had seen the pair taking the eggs from Mossborough Wood, which was owned by Lord Derby.
The two men may have had to go to prison, as they were each ordered to pay £1 and 12s 3d costs – or if in default, go to Kirkdale Gaol for a month.
Many poor people stole items from shops in order to pawn them for badly needed cash.
As they often had no money for fares to travel to other places, they took the stolen goods to pawnshops within their vicinity, increasing the risk of being caught.
That's what happened to Mary Johnson, who appeared in court with a baby in her arms.
Mothers often bore young children in the dock, sometimes out of necessity with no one else able to care for them.
But in most cases the bearing of babies was probably an attempt to receive more sympathetic treatment from the Bench.
Mrs Johnson was accused of stealing a tablecloth from Ellen Sefton's shop in Ormskirk Street and then taking it to Nathaniel Nixon's pawnshop.
She denied the theft but there was strong witness evidence and she was sent to prison for 14 days.
I would estimate that on average the St Helens / Sankey Canal would give up its dead after ten days of the body being immersed.
There were two types of drowning – by accident or by design. It appeared to have been the former with Elizabeth Balmer who was discovered floating in the canal on the 8th.
A group of boys sailing in a boat in Pocket Nook had made the grisly discovery.
The watchmaker's wife had been missing from her Prescot home for nine days after apparently walking to her brother's house in Parr.
The 24-year-old had been drinking and it was thought that she had accidentally fallen into the canal while walking by its side.
Many people used the railway lines and canal as shortcuts to their destination – often with fatal results in the darkness.
During the evening of the 9th a chemical labourer called Thomas McCawley was drinking in the Hesketh Arms in Church Street in St Helens.
He went to go into the yard of the pub – presumably to use their toilet – but never made it.
Instead of opening the yard door he inadvertently opened the cellar door and in the darkness tumbled down the steps.
At the time where he lived was not known and so a policeman had McCawley carried unconscious to the police station until his address could be ascertained.
One might have thought that the new cottage hospital or a doctor's office would have been more appropriate – but it was standard practice to take the injured and sick to their home and then call in a doctor.
McCawley received a bad head injury and died at his home on the following day after never recovering consciousness.
From what I can tell the man was 23 and lived in Union Street, near North Road.
Also on the 9th William Higham of Thatto Heath committed suicide supposedly on the day of his wife's funeral.
The carter at a St Helens copper works was aged about 50 and had been badly affected by his wife's death a few days before.
Higham said he could not bear to attend her funeral and instead drank away his sorrows in the Coach and Horses Inn in Rainhill.
Then in the afternoon he was seen near a water-filled pit on Longton's farm and subsequently his body was recovered.
However, the St Helens Newspaper's version was that Higham had buried his wife a few days before his own death and had taken to drinking after being badly affected by his loss. Their report continued:
"A woman named Ellen Gore saw him undressing on Monday evening, near the pit in question, and although he appeared to be acting in an eccentric, hesitating way, she thought it probable he was going to have a bathe, and went on about her business."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the festivities celebrating the wedding of a boss's son, a knife attack in Greenbank, the opening of the St Helens public baths for the season and the Tontine Street ironmonger accused of fighting with a frying pan thief.