150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (5th - 11th OCTOBER 1870)
This week's stories include a train crash at St Helens railway station, the question of a borough police force is raised again, the rogues and vagabonds that deserted their families and the Whiston Workhouse cook gets drunk (again!) and the barber gets the sack.
We begin on the 5th at the monthly meeting of St Helens Town Council when the subject of a borough police force came up again for discussion. Presently the police officers in the town belonged to the Lancashire Constabulary with a superintendent in charge, who reported to a chief constable in Preston.
If St Helens had its own police force the council would have control and be able to appoint a chief constable – however the town's ratepayers would have to pay for the force. It was estimated that a body of 38 men would mean a rate rise of 4½d and as the council had had much expense of late, it was decided to defer further discussion until March. It wouldn't be until 1875 that St Helens finally got its own police.
The Prescot Union Board of Guardians held their fortnightly meeting on the 6th. Let me remind readers that this was the elected body responsible for implementing the Poor Law within the St Helens and Prescot districts. That essentially meant dealing with paupers in Whiston Workhouse (pictured below) and doling out very small amounts of cash to the very poor within their own homes.
At the meeting the Guardians heard a call for the workhouse's barber to be sacked. Robert Stephenson was accused of using "improper language" to the schoolmistress and the master of the house. The latter explained to the Guardians the nature of the language used and without giving Stephenson the opportunity of telling his version of events, the Guardians decided to sack him. From now on a man called Mercer from St Helens would attend the house to shave the men and cut their hair.
In April the Chairman of the Guardians, Edmund Ward, had described the workhouse cook as "callous as a rhinoceros's hide". Mrs Roby was regularly getting drunk and not taking any notice of warnings. The Guardians at that time decided to put the woman on probation for three months and if she relapsed, they threatened to cut her salary and place her on pauper rations. In other words she would be made to eat the food that she cooked for the inmates. The St Helens Newspaper's headline to its report at the time was "Cooking the Cook's Goose" – not that the paupers ate much goose!
At the October meeting of the Guardians, they were told that the woman had again "given way to intoxication" and, no doubt predicting the consequences, had already quit the workhouse with her child. So the Guardians would now be advertising for a new live-in cook. Just who was presently doing the cooking wasn’t explained but it was probably the female paupers that assisted the paid cook – after all it was a "work" house and not a restaurant.
The Clerk also told the meeting that a number of Guardians had visited the "pauper lunatics" that were living in Rainhill Asylum and found them "orderly, clean, and healthy". The Prescot Union Guardians paid for the pauper lunatics to be looked after in Rainhill – these were usually the ones who were considered too dangerous to stay in the workhouse.
The Poor Law Unions throughout the country had their own weekly paper called 'The Gazette'. Its sole purpose was to publish details of sought after men who'd deserted their families or information on wanted women who'd walked out on their illegitimate children. These were serious crimes, although it wasn't the going away that offended the authorities, so much as the financial consequences of their family members being left in their care.
This was made clear on the newspaper's front page, as they quoted sections from The Vagrant Act: "Every person running away and leaving his wife, or his or her child or children chargeable to any parish, shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond. It shall be lawful for any person whatsoever to apprehend any person who shall be found offending against this Act, and deliver him or her to any constable or other peace officer. And every woman deserting her Bastard Child, whereby such Bastard Child becomes chargeable to any parish or union, shall be punished as a rogue and vagabond under the provisions of the said last recited Act."
In this week's edition of the Poor Law Unions Gazette, the Prescot Union was looking for four local men who had deserted their families and was offering a £1 reward for each of their apprehensions. One was a 37-year-old collier called Peter Robinson who had deserted his wife and child. It would take nearly four years before he was eventually tracked down and sent to prison for three months.
Railway accidents were very common in the 1870s, often caused by carelessness. On the 7th near St Helens Station, a train of coal wagons from Wigan was thrown off the line into a siding as a result of the points being left open. The driver of the train had a very narrow escape. When he attempted to jump from his engine, his foot became trapped between the buffers. In order to save himself he had to tear his foot away with some force, leaving most of his boot behind. The engine tore up rails and sleepers for a considerable distance and it was reported that there was great obstruction to traffic on the line for quite some time afterwards.
The St Helens Newspaper had a column called "Crumbs From The Council Table", which featured snippets from Town Council meetings, often presented in a humorous way. On the 8th in its introduction to its report on this week's meeting, the Newspaper's correspondent wrote that he was reminded that:
"…the accident of a seat at the council board had its duties as well as its honours, and that one of the former imposed on your special representative was to collate the crumbs, or dainty morsels, which fall on the council table during a three-hours' repast [meal]. And it may just be noted, in passing, that if mumbling, and eating constitute a repast, then Wednesday was a red letter day – a great feast day, for there was any quantity of eating (of words) and mumbling (of opinions)."
The first crumb collected bore the headline "Airing The Namby Pamby" and criticised Alderman James Harrison – a chemist by profession – for moving a motion that in the mayor's absence, the deputy mayor should chair the meeting. "As if anybody else could have taken it," indignantly wrote the paper's "special representative", adding: "Some people are fond of making unnecessary motions – and it appears druggists are of that class."
"More Darkness Visible", was the headline to the next council crumb, which read: "The Gas Inspector reported that the average illuminating power of the gas supplied to the Corporation [for street lighting] had decreased to 15 snuffless dips. This had been very considerably accomplished by the purveyors to the lighting department on account of the increasing darkness of the long nights – as too much gas light was considered by the medical officer of the Gas Board as injurious to the eye sight." Surely that is illogical to say the darker it is the less light should be used on the streets? Or as the Newspaper aptly put it, more darkness was now visible. A "snuffless dip" was a type of candle and so the brightness of the illumination on the streets of St Helens was being measured in terms of candle power.
During the evening of the 8th the flint glassmakers of St Helens organised a concert in the Town Hall in aid of the Pilkington sheet glassworkers, who had now been out on strike for six months. The artistes were local amateur performers who sang, gave readings and made musical performances to much audience acclaim.
The Petty Sessions were held on the 10th and this is how the St Helens Newspaper sarcastically described one of the cases, under the headline "A Pretty Tulip Exhibition": "A not very attractive female, but who rejoiced in the attractive name of Mary Ann Tulip, was brought up in custody, charged with being drunk and indulging in not very flowery language in the delightful and picturesque region of Gerrard's Bridge, and was fined 10s. 6d." In the 1871 census Mary Ann Tulip was listed as a 41-year-old glassmaker's wife living in Eccleston Street and her offence may have been connected with the Pilkington strike.
It sounds like Henry Twist – who also appeared in court – had been a very lucky man. He was reported as having been found "lying in a drunken sleep on the railway" near St Helens station. His penalty was a fine of 10s 6d rather than being chopped up by a train!
Next week's stories will include an act of bravery in a Greenbank chemical works, the thumbless Sutton glass polisher, the drunken cart drivers of Knowsley, the Bible liars infesting St Helens and the struggle for a hat in College Street that led to threats in court.
If St Helens had its own police force the council would have control and be able to appoint a chief constable – however the town's ratepayers would have to pay for the force. It was estimated that a body of 38 men would mean a rate rise of 4½d and as the council had had much expense of late, it was decided to defer further discussion until March. It wouldn't be until 1875 that St Helens finally got its own police.
The Prescot Union Board of Guardians held their fortnightly meeting on the 6th. Let me remind readers that this was the elected body responsible for implementing the Poor Law within the St Helens and Prescot districts. That essentially meant dealing with paupers in Whiston Workhouse (pictured below) and doling out very small amounts of cash to the very poor within their own homes.
In April the Chairman of the Guardians, Edmund Ward, had described the workhouse cook as "callous as a rhinoceros's hide". Mrs Roby was regularly getting drunk and not taking any notice of warnings. The Guardians at that time decided to put the woman on probation for three months and if she relapsed, they threatened to cut her salary and place her on pauper rations. In other words she would be made to eat the food that she cooked for the inmates. The St Helens Newspaper's headline to its report at the time was "Cooking the Cook's Goose" – not that the paupers ate much goose!
At the October meeting of the Guardians, they were told that the woman had again "given way to intoxication" and, no doubt predicting the consequences, had already quit the workhouse with her child. So the Guardians would now be advertising for a new live-in cook. Just who was presently doing the cooking wasn’t explained but it was probably the female paupers that assisted the paid cook – after all it was a "work" house and not a restaurant.
The Clerk also told the meeting that a number of Guardians had visited the "pauper lunatics" that were living in Rainhill Asylum and found them "orderly, clean, and healthy". The Prescot Union Guardians paid for the pauper lunatics to be looked after in Rainhill – these were usually the ones who were considered too dangerous to stay in the workhouse.
The Poor Law Unions throughout the country had their own weekly paper called 'The Gazette'. Its sole purpose was to publish details of sought after men who'd deserted their families or information on wanted women who'd walked out on their illegitimate children. These were serious crimes, although it wasn't the going away that offended the authorities, so much as the financial consequences of their family members being left in their care.
This was made clear on the newspaper's front page, as they quoted sections from The Vagrant Act: "Every person running away and leaving his wife, or his or her child or children chargeable to any parish, shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond. It shall be lawful for any person whatsoever to apprehend any person who shall be found offending against this Act, and deliver him or her to any constable or other peace officer. And every woman deserting her Bastard Child, whereby such Bastard Child becomes chargeable to any parish or union, shall be punished as a rogue and vagabond under the provisions of the said last recited Act."
In this week's edition of the Poor Law Unions Gazette, the Prescot Union was looking for four local men who had deserted their families and was offering a £1 reward for each of their apprehensions. One was a 37-year-old collier called Peter Robinson who had deserted his wife and child. It would take nearly four years before he was eventually tracked down and sent to prison for three months.
Railway accidents were very common in the 1870s, often caused by carelessness. On the 7th near St Helens Station, a train of coal wagons from Wigan was thrown off the line into a siding as a result of the points being left open. The driver of the train had a very narrow escape. When he attempted to jump from his engine, his foot became trapped between the buffers. In order to save himself he had to tear his foot away with some force, leaving most of his boot behind. The engine tore up rails and sleepers for a considerable distance and it was reported that there was great obstruction to traffic on the line for quite some time afterwards.
The St Helens Newspaper had a column called "Crumbs From The Council Table", which featured snippets from Town Council meetings, often presented in a humorous way. On the 8th in its introduction to its report on this week's meeting, the Newspaper's correspondent wrote that he was reminded that:
"…the accident of a seat at the council board had its duties as well as its honours, and that one of the former imposed on your special representative was to collate the crumbs, or dainty morsels, which fall on the council table during a three-hours' repast [meal]. And it may just be noted, in passing, that if mumbling, and eating constitute a repast, then Wednesday was a red letter day – a great feast day, for there was any quantity of eating (of words) and mumbling (of opinions)."
The first crumb collected bore the headline "Airing The Namby Pamby" and criticised Alderman James Harrison – a chemist by profession – for moving a motion that in the mayor's absence, the deputy mayor should chair the meeting. "As if anybody else could have taken it," indignantly wrote the paper's "special representative", adding: "Some people are fond of making unnecessary motions – and it appears druggists are of that class."
"More Darkness Visible", was the headline to the next council crumb, which read: "The Gas Inspector reported that the average illuminating power of the gas supplied to the Corporation [for street lighting] had decreased to 15 snuffless dips. This had been very considerably accomplished by the purveyors to the lighting department on account of the increasing darkness of the long nights – as too much gas light was considered by the medical officer of the Gas Board as injurious to the eye sight." Surely that is illogical to say the darker it is the less light should be used on the streets? Or as the Newspaper aptly put it, more darkness was now visible. A "snuffless dip" was a type of candle and so the brightness of the illumination on the streets of St Helens was being measured in terms of candle power.
During the evening of the 8th the flint glassmakers of St Helens organised a concert in the Town Hall in aid of the Pilkington sheet glassworkers, who had now been out on strike for six months. The artistes were local amateur performers who sang, gave readings and made musical performances to much audience acclaim.
The Petty Sessions were held on the 10th and this is how the St Helens Newspaper sarcastically described one of the cases, under the headline "A Pretty Tulip Exhibition": "A not very attractive female, but who rejoiced in the attractive name of Mary Ann Tulip, was brought up in custody, charged with being drunk and indulging in not very flowery language in the delightful and picturesque region of Gerrard's Bridge, and was fined 10s. 6d." In the 1871 census Mary Ann Tulip was listed as a 41-year-old glassmaker's wife living in Eccleston Street and her offence may have been connected with the Pilkington strike.
It sounds like Henry Twist – who also appeared in court – had been a very lucky man. He was reported as having been found "lying in a drunken sleep on the railway" near St Helens station. His penalty was a fine of 10s 6d rather than being chopped up by a train!
Next week's stories will include an act of bravery in a Greenbank chemical works, the thumbless Sutton glass polisher, the drunken cart drivers of Knowsley, the Bible liars infesting St Helens and the struggle for a hat in College Street that led to threats in court.
This week's stories include a train crash at St Helens railway station, the question of a borough police force is raised again, the rogues and vagabonds that deserted their families and the Whiston Workhouse cook gets drunk (again!) and the barber gets the sack.
We begin on the 5th at the monthly meeting of St Helens Town Council when the subject of a borough police force came up again for discussion.
Presently the police officers in the town belonged to the Lancashire Constabulary with a superintendent in charge, who reported to a chief constable in Preston.
If St Helens had its own police force the council would have control and be able to appoint a chief constable – however the town's ratepayers would have to pay for the force.
It was estimated that a body of 38 men would mean a rate rise of 4½d and as the council had had much expense of late, it was decided to defer further discussion until March.
It wouldn't be until 1875 that St Helens finally got its own police.
The Prescot Union Board of Guardians held their fortnightly meeting on the 6th.
Let me remind readers that this was the elected body responsible for implementing the Poor Law within the St Helens and Prescot districts.
That essentially meant dealing with paupers in Whiston Workhouse (pictured below) and doling out very small amounts of cash to the very poor within their own homes.
At the meeting the Guardians heard a call for the workhouse's barber to be sacked.
Robert Stephenson was accused of using "improper language" to the schoolmistress and the master of the house.
The latter explained to the Guardians the nature of the language used and without giving Stephenson the opportunity of telling his version of events, the Guardians decided to sack him.
From now on a man called Mercer from St Helens would attend the house to shave the men and cut their hair.
In April the Chairman of the Guardians, Edmund Ward, had described the workhouse cook as "callous as a rhinoceros's hide".
Mrs Roby was regularly getting drunk and not taking any notice of warnings.
The Guardians at that time decided to put the woman on probation for three months and if she relapsed, they threatened to cut her salary and place her on pauper rations.
In other words she would be made to eat the food that she cooked for the inmates.
The St Helens Newspaper's headline to its report at the time was "Cooking the Cook's Goose" – not that the paupers ate much goose!
At the October meeting of the Guardians, they were told that the woman had again "given way to intoxication" and, no doubt predicting the consequences, had already quit the workhouse with her child.
So the Guardians would now be advertising for a new live-in cook.
Just who was presently doing the cooking wasn’t explained but it was probably the female paupers that assisted the paid cook – after all it was a "work" house and not a restaurant.
The Clerk also told the meeting that a number of Guardians had visited the "pauper lunatics" that were living in Rainhill Asylum and found them "orderly, clean, and healthy".
The Prescot Union Guardians paid for the pauper lunatics to be looked after in Rainhill – these were usually the ones who were considered too dangerous to stay in the workhouse.
The Poor Law Unions throughout the country had their own weekly paper called 'The Gazette'.
Its sole purpose was to publish details of sought after men who'd deserted their families or information on wanted women who'd walked out on their illegitimate children.
These were serious crimes, although it wasn't the going away that offended the authorities, so much as the financial consequences of their family members being left in their care.
This was made clear on the newspaper's front page, as they quoted sections from The Vagrant Act:
"Every person running away and leaving his wife, or his or her child or children chargeable to any parish, shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond. It shall be lawful for any person whatsoever to apprehend any person who shall be found offending against this Act, and deliver him or her to any constable or other peace officer.
"And every woman deserting her Bastard Child, whereby such Bastard Child becomes chargeable to any parish or union, shall be punished as a rogue and vagabond under the provisions of the said last recited Act."
In this week's edition of the Poor Law Unions Gazette, the Prescot Union was looking for four local men who had deserted their families and was offering a £1 reward for each of their apprehensions.
One was a 37-year-old collier called Peter Robinson who had deserted his wife and child.
It would take nearly four years before he was eventually tracked down and sent to prison for three months.
Railway accidents were very common in the 1870s, often caused by carelessness.
On the 7th near St Helens Station, a train of coal wagons from Wigan was thrown off the line into a siding as a result of the points being left open.
The driver of the train had a very narrow escape. When he attempted to jump from his engine, his foot became trapped between the buffers.
In order to save himself he had to tear his foot away with some force, leaving most of his boot behind.
The engine tore up rails and sleepers for a considerable distance and it was reported that there was great obstruction to traffic on the line for quite some time afterwards.
The St Helens Newspaper had a column called "Crumbs From The Council Table", which featured snippets from Town Council meetings, often presented in a humorous way.
On the 8th in its introduction to its report on this week's meeting, the Newspaper's correspondent wrote that he was reminded that:
"…the accident of a seat at the council board had its duties as well as its honours, and that one of the former imposed on your special representative was to collate the crumbs, or dainty morsels, which fall on the council table during a three-hours' repast [meal].
"And it may just be noted, in passing, that if mumbling, and eating constitute a repast, then Wednesday was a red letter day – a great feast day, for there was any quantity of eating (of words) and mumbling (of opinions)."
The first crumb collected bore the headline "Airing The Namby Pamby" and criticised Alderman James Harrison – a chemist by profession – for moving a motion that in the mayor's absence, the deputy mayor should chair the meeting.
"As if anybody else could have taken it," indignantly wrote the paper's "special representative", adding: "Some people are fond of making unnecessary motions – and it appears druggists are of that class."
"More Darkness Visible", was the headline to the next council crumb, which read: "The Gas Inspector reported that the average illuminating power of the gas supplied to the Corporation [for street lighting] had decreased to 15 snuffless dips.
"This had been very considerably accomplished by the purveyors to the lighting department on account of the increasing darkness of the long nights – as too much gas light was considered by the medical officer of the Gas Board as injurious to the eye sight."
Surely that is illogical to say the darker it is the less light should be used on the streets? Or as the Newspaper aptly put it, more darkness was now visible.
A "snuffless dip" was a type of candle and so the brightness of the illumination on the streets of St Helens was being measured in terms of candle power.
During the evening of the 8th the flint glassmakers of St Helens organised a concert in the Town Hall in aid of the Pilkington sheet glassworkers, who had now been out on strike for six months.
The artistes were local amateur performers who sang, gave readings and made musical performances to much audience acclaim.
The Petty Sessions were held on the 10th and this is how the St Helens Newspaper sarcastically described one of the cases, under the headline "A Pretty Tulip Exhibition":
"A not very attractive female, but who rejoiced in the attractive name of Mary Ann Tulip, was brought up in custody, charged with being drunk and indulging in not very flowery language in the delightful and picturesque region of Gerrard's Bridge, and was fined 10s. 6d."
In the 1871 census Mary Ann Tulip was listed as a 41-year-old glassmaker's wife living in Eccleston Street and her offence may have been connected with the Pilkington strike.
It sounds like Henry Twist – who also appeared in court – had been a very lucky man.
He was reported as having been found "lying in a drunken sleep on the railway" near St Helens station.
His penalty was a fine of 10s 6d rather than being chopped up by a train!
Next week's stories will include an act of bravery in a Greenbank chemical works, the thumbless Sutton glass polisher, the drunken cart drivers of Knowsley, the Bible liars infesting St Helens and the struggle for a hat in College Street that led to threats in court.
Presently the police officers in the town belonged to the Lancashire Constabulary with a superintendent in charge, who reported to a chief constable in Preston.
If St Helens had its own police force the council would have control and be able to appoint a chief constable – however the town's ratepayers would have to pay for the force.
It was estimated that a body of 38 men would mean a rate rise of 4½d and as the council had had much expense of late, it was decided to defer further discussion until March.
It wouldn't be until 1875 that St Helens finally got its own police.
The Prescot Union Board of Guardians held their fortnightly meeting on the 6th.
Let me remind readers that this was the elected body responsible for implementing the Poor Law within the St Helens and Prescot districts.
That essentially meant dealing with paupers in Whiston Workhouse (pictured below) and doling out very small amounts of cash to the very poor within their own homes.
Robert Stephenson was accused of using "improper language" to the schoolmistress and the master of the house.
The latter explained to the Guardians the nature of the language used and without giving Stephenson the opportunity of telling his version of events, the Guardians decided to sack him.
From now on a man called Mercer from St Helens would attend the house to shave the men and cut their hair.
In April the Chairman of the Guardians, Edmund Ward, had described the workhouse cook as "callous as a rhinoceros's hide".
Mrs Roby was regularly getting drunk and not taking any notice of warnings.
The Guardians at that time decided to put the woman on probation for three months and if she relapsed, they threatened to cut her salary and place her on pauper rations.
In other words she would be made to eat the food that she cooked for the inmates.
The St Helens Newspaper's headline to its report at the time was "Cooking the Cook's Goose" – not that the paupers ate much goose!
At the October meeting of the Guardians, they were told that the woman had again "given way to intoxication" and, no doubt predicting the consequences, had already quit the workhouse with her child.
So the Guardians would now be advertising for a new live-in cook.
Just who was presently doing the cooking wasn’t explained but it was probably the female paupers that assisted the paid cook – after all it was a "work" house and not a restaurant.
The Clerk also told the meeting that a number of Guardians had visited the "pauper lunatics" that were living in Rainhill Asylum and found them "orderly, clean, and healthy".
The Prescot Union Guardians paid for the pauper lunatics to be looked after in Rainhill – these were usually the ones who were considered too dangerous to stay in the workhouse.
The Poor Law Unions throughout the country had their own weekly paper called 'The Gazette'.
Its sole purpose was to publish details of sought after men who'd deserted their families or information on wanted women who'd walked out on their illegitimate children.
These were serious crimes, although it wasn't the going away that offended the authorities, so much as the financial consequences of their family members being left in their care.
This was made clear on the newspaper's front page, as they quoted sections from The Vagrant Act:
"Every person running away and leaving his wife, or his or her child or children chargeable to any parish, shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond. It shall be lawful for any person whatsoever to apprehend any person who shall be found offending against this Act, and deliver him or her to any constable or other peace officer.
"And every woman deserting her Bastard Child, whereby such Bastard Child becomes chargeable to any parish or union, shall be punished as a rogue and vagabond under the provisions of the said last recited Act."
In this week's edition of the Poor Law Unions Gazette, the Prescot Union was looking for four local men who had deserted their families and was offering a £1 reward for each of their apprehensions.
One was a 37-year-old collier called Peter Robinson who had deserted his wife and child.
It would take nearly four years before he was eventually tracked down and sent to prison for three months.
Railway accidents were very common in the 1870s, often caused by carelessness.
On the 7th near St Helens Station, a train of coal wagons from Wigan was thrown off the line into a siding as a result of the points being left open.
The driver of the train had a very narrow escape. When he attempted to jump from his engine, his foot became trapped between the buffers.
In order to save himself he had to tear his foot away with some force, leaving most of his boot behind.
The engine tore up rails and sleepers for a considerable distance and it was reported that there was great obstruction to traffic on the line for quite some time afterwards.
The St Helens Newspaper had a column called "Crumbs From The Council Table", which featured snippets from Town Council meetings, often presented in a humorous way.
On the 8th in its introduction to its report on this week's meeting, the Newspaper's correspondent wrote that he was reminded that:
"…the accident of a seat at the council board had its duties as well as its honours, and that one of the former imposed on your special representative was to collate the crumbs, or dainty morsels, which fall on the council table during a three-hours' repast [meal].
"And it may just be noted, in passing, that if mumbling, and eating constitute a repast, then Wednesday was a red letter day – a great feast day, for there was any quantity of eating (of words) and mumbling (of opinions)."
The first crumb collected bore the headline "Airing The Namby Pamby" and criticised Alderman James Harrison – a chemist by profession – for moving a motion that in the mayor's absence, the deputy mayor should chair the meeting.
"As if anybody else could have taken it," indignantly wrote the paper's "special representative", adding: "Some people are fond of making unnecessary motions – and it appears druggists are of that class."
"More Darkness Visible", was the headline to the next council crumb, which read: "The Gas Inspector reported that the average illuminating power of the gas supplied to the Corporation [for street lighting] had decreased to 15 snuffless dips.
"This had been very considerably accomplished by the purveyors to the lighting department on account of the increasing darkness of the long nights – as too much gas light was considered by the medical officer of the Gas Board as injurious to the eye sight."
Surely that is illogical to say the darker it is the less light should be used on the streets? Or as the Newspaper aptly put it, more darkness was now visible.
A "snuffless dip" was a type of candle and so the brightness of the illumination on the streets of St Helens was being measured in terms of candle power.
During the evening of the 8th the flint glassmakers of St Helens organised a concert in the Town Hall in aid of the Pilkington sheet glassworkers, who had now been out on strike for six months.
The artistes were local amateur performers who sang, gave readings and made musical performances to much audience acclaim.
The Petty Sessions were held on the 10th and this is how the St Helens Newspaper sarcastically described one of the cases, under the headline "A Pretty Tulip Exhibition":
"A not very attractive female, but who rejoiced in the attractive name of Mary Ann Tulip, was brought up in custody, charged with being drunk and indulging in not very flowery language in the delightful and picturesque region of Gerrard's Bridge, and was fined 10s. 6d."
In the 1871 census Mary Ann Tulip was listed as a 41-year-old glassmaker's wife living in Eccleston Street and her offence may have been connected with the Pilkington strike.
It sounds like Henry Twist – who also appeared in court – had been a very lucky man.
He was reported as having been found "lying in a drunken sleep on the railway" near St Helens station.
His penalty was a fine of 10s 6d rather than being chopped up by a train!
Next week's stories will include an act of bravery in a Greenbank chemical works, the thumbless Sutton glass polisher, the drunken cart drivers of Knowsley, the Bible liars infesting St Helens and the struggle for a hat in College Street that led to threats in court.