150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (7th - 13th NOVEMBER 1872)
This week's stories include the introduction of the secret vote, the annual Lowe House Church tea party and ball, the reopening of St Helens Library, the dirty mains water at Greenbank and the game of dominoes in a Rainford beerhouse that led to a man being kicked in the jaw.
We begin on the 9th when the St Helens Newspaper reflected on the first local election in the town that had adopted the Ballot Act – aka secret vote – which had taken place last week. Some had warned that the consequence of removing open voting would be a sharp decline in those casting their vote. That was because when voting was a public record, the candidates' teams could put pressure on those yet to vote. However, the Newspaper reported that fears of a low turnout had not materialised and the decline in voting in St Helens had been very small. There had been a "great crush" at midday and from 12 to 1pm, the Windle polling place had been "besieged by electors crowding to the poll".
The Newspaper was not impressed with the thinness of the ballot paper, claiming that the ink crosses next to candidates' names could be discerned when the paper was folded. In summing up the new Ballot Act, the Newspaper wrote: "It is manifestly certain that the ballot will in time exercise a most beneficial influence on our electoral system." The paper also called for the "extension of education to every child in the land", adding: "When we have a new generation, universally educated, and universally alive to its political and municipal duties, our electoral institutions will become as near perfection as such institutions can be made by legislative enactments."
A letter in the Newspaper was concerned that the proposed new Town Hall, in what would become known as Corporation Street, would not be constructed by a St Helens builder. Seven tenders for the erection of the grand building had been received with the lowest bid at £35,000 coming from Liverpool. The correspondent was concerned at the prospect of St Helens' ratepayers' cash leaving the town. Although the Corporation was not bound to accept the lowest bid, spending more than they needed to would need some justification.
With most streets in St Helens being narrow, vehicles such as carts and wagons could not be left on the street for longer than it took to load or unload their contents. The Newspaper reported a recent court case in which William Thompson was charged with leaving or "laying" – as it was put – a wagon containing tiles overnight in Brook Street. The defendant did not show up in court but his brother did to argue that the spot where William had laid his wagon was wasteland. But the magistrates still convicted and imposed a fine of 5 shillings and costs. It was also illegal to be asleep in your cart – whether in motion or not. At the same hearing Thomas Gillicker was fined 2s 6d and costs for being caught sleeping in Sutton.
As well as being in charge of St Helens police, Supt. James Ludlam was also responsible for matters concerning weights and measures. Pubs were regularly checked for any infringements and the Newspaper reported that Sarah Banks, the licensee of the Ship Inn in Blackbrook, had been fined 10 shillings for having three pewter glasses that were short measure.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 11th, Thomas Rimmer, the landlord of a beerhouse in Rainford, was charged with permitting gambling in his house. The case arose out of a game of dominoes that turned violent when one man jumped on a table and "purred" his opponent in the jaw. Purring was the miners "sport" of fighting by kicking someone in the head with their clogs. The assault case had been separately dealt with and the landlord was fined 20 shillings and costs for permitting the playing of dominoes for money.
In 1868 the St Helens Newspaper had written: "The Fifth of November. The celebration of this famous anniversary is losing much of its interest yearly, and has now almost died out." However, there were two cases in court that demonstrated that Guy Fawkes Night was still lingering on. William Walsh of Tontine Street in St Helens was fined 10 shillings and costs for selling fireworks to a small boy under 16 on the 5th. And five youths called Thomas Tinsley, Joseph Walsh, Thomas Lowe, Richard Lee and James Whittaker were each fined 2s 6d and costs for setting off fireworks in Junction Lane in Sutton during the evening of the 5th.
The St Helens Free Lending Library reopened on the 11th 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 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. Those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably to confirm their identity in case they ran off with the books.
Greenall's rent dinner was held at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street during the evening of the 12th. It was a tradition for licensees to pay the rent on their houses every six months and in return the brewery gave them a dinner. As well as a sumptuous meal for the 400-plus guests to enjoy, there were many toasts, including ingratiating ones to the host of the event, Gilbert Greenall. It always paid to suck up to the boss!
The Volunteer Hall hosted the annual Lowe House Church tea party and ball on the 13th. That always seems an unusual combination to me but such events were quite common in St Helens in the 1860s and ‘70s and I expect "ball" was simply a posher way of saying "dance". Tea took place at 6:30pm with dancing to an "efficient" quadrille band starting at 8pm.
Efficient was invariably the adjective used to describe such a group – hardly overwhelming but it was the 19th century way of saying "very good". The Quadrille dance was very fashionable at that time and was a version of English country dancing that was taken up by the Court of Louis XIV and spread across Europe. Participants usually danced with a line of men on one side opposite their partner in an opposing line.
On the 13th the St Helens Water and Lighting Committee discussed more problems with the town's water supply, which, during the previous week, had caused a good deal of inconvenience to householders. The council's surveyor explained that their Whiston pumping engine had developed a fault. This had led to their reservoir on Eccleston Hill dropping to a low level and there had been very little water for the town for more than two days.
The Greenbank Alkali Company had sent a letter to the committee complaining about the problem, which had led to their works having to shut for three days. What little there was in the mains supply had been unfit for manufacturing purposes and the company called for a larger reservoir to prevent any repetition of the shortage. Accompanying their letter was a bottle containing a very dirty sample of water that had been supplied to the firm during that period.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the extraordinary death of a patient at the Haydock Lodge Lunatic Asylum, the man accused of being a knobstick at Pilkington's glassworks and the bleeding horse beaten for its inability to haul bricks up Croppers Hill.
We begin on the 9th when the St Helens Newspaper reflected on the first local election in the town that had adopted the Ballot Act – aka secret vote – which had taken place last week. Some had warned that the consequence of removing open voting would be a sharp decline in those casting their vote. That was because when voting was a public record, the candidates' teams could put pressure on those yet to vote. However, the Newspaper reported that fears of a low turnout had not materialised and the decline in voting in St Helens had been very small. There had been a "great crush" at midday and from 12 to 1pm, the Windle polling place had been "besieged by electors crowding to the poll".
The Newspaper was not impressed with the thinness of the ballot paper, claiming that the ink crosses next to candidates' names could be discerned when the paper was folded. In summing up the new Ballot Act, the Newspaper wrote: "It is manifestly certain that the ballot will in time exercise a most beneficial influence on our electoral system." The paper also called for the "extension of education to every child in the land", adding: "When we have a new generation, universally educated, and universally alive to its political and municipal duties, our electoral institutions will become as near perfection as such institutions can be made by legislative enactments."
A letter in the Newspaper was concerned that the proposed new Town Hall, in what would become known as Corporation Street, would not be constructed by a St Helens builder. Seven tenders for the erection of the grand building had been received with the lowest bid at £35,000 coming from Liverpool. The correspondent was concerned at the prospect of St Helens' ratepayers' cash leaving the town. Although the Corporation was not bound to accept the lowest bid, spending more than they needed to would need some justification.
With most streets in St Helens being narrow, vehicles such as carts and wagons could not be left on the street for longer than it took to load or unload their contents. The Newspaper reported a recent court case in which William Thompson was charged with leaving or "laying" – as it was put – a wagon containing tiles overnight in Brook Street. The defendant did not show up in court but his brother did to argue that the spot where William had laid his wagon was wasteland. But the magistrates still convicted and imposed a fine of 5 shillings and costs. It was also illegal to be asleep in your cart – whether in motion or not. At the same hearing Thomas Gillicker was fined 2s 6d and costs for being caught sleeping in Sutton.
As well as being in charge of St Helens police, Supt. James Ludlam was also responsible for matters concerning weights and measures. Pubs were regularly checked for any infringements and the Newspaper reported that Sarah Banks, the licensee of the Ship Inn in Blackbrook, had been fined 10 shillings for having three pewter glasses that were short measure.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 11th, Thomas Rimmer, the landlord of a beerhouse in Rainford, was charged with permitting gambling in his house. The case arose out of a game of dominoes that turned violent when one man jumped on a table and "purred" his opponent in the jaw. Purring was the miners "sport" of fighting by kicking someone in the head with their clogs. The assault case had been separately dealt with and the landlord was fined 20 shillings and costs for permitting the playing of dominoes for money.
In 1868 the St Helens Newspaper had written: "The Fifth of November. The celebration of this famous anniversary is losing much of its interest yearly, and has now almost died out." However, there were two cases in court that demonstrated that Guy Fawkes Night was still lingering on. William Walsh of Tontine Street in St Helens was fined 10 shillings and costs for selling fireworks to a small boy under 16 on the 5th. And five youths called Thomas Tinsley, Joseph Walsh, Thomas Lowe, Richard Lee and James Whittaker were each fined 2s 6d and costs for setting off fireworks in Junction Lane in Sutton during the evening of the 5th.
The St Helens Free Lending Library reopened on the 11th 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 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. Those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably to confirm their identity in case they ran off with the books.
Greenall's rent dinner was held at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street during the evening of the 12th. It was a tradition for licensees to pay the rent on their houses every six months and in return the brewery gave them a dinner. As well as a sumptuous meal for the 400-plus guests to enjoy, there were many toasts, including ingratiating ones to the host of the event, Gilbert Greenall. It always paid to suck up to the boss!
The Volunteer Hall hosted the annual Lowe House Church tea party and ball on the 13th. That always seems an unusual combination to me but such events were quite common in St Helens in the 1860s and ‘70s and I expect "ball" was simply a posher way of saying "dance". Tea took place at 6:30pm with dancing to an "efficient" quadrille band starting at 8pm.
Efficient was invariably the adjective used to describe such a group – hardly overwhelming but it was the 19th century way of saying "very good". The Quadrille dance was very fashionable at that time and was a version of English country dancing that was taken up by the Court of Louis XIV and spread across Europe. Participants usually danced with a line of men on one side opposite their partner in an opposing line.
On the 13th the St Helens Water and Lighting Committee discussed more problems with the town's water supply, which, during the previous week, had caused a good deal of inconvenience to householders. The council's surveyor explained that their Whiston pumping engine had developed a fault. This had led to their reservoir on Eccleston Hill dropping to a low level and there had been very little water for the town for more than two days.
The Greenbank Alkali Company had sent a letter to the committee complaining about the problem, which had led to their works having to shut for three days. What little there was in the mains supply had been unfit for manufacturing purposes and the company called for a larger reservoir to prevent any repetition of the shortage. Accompanying their letter was a bottle containing a very dirty sample of water that had been supplied to the firm during that period.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the extraordinary death of a patient at the Haydock Lodge Lunatic Asylum, the man accused of being a knobstick at Pilkington's glassworks and the bleeding horse beaten for its inability to haul bricks up Croppers Hill.
This week's stories include the introduction of the secret vote, the annual Lowe House Church tea party and ball, the reopening of St Helens Library, the dirty mains water at Greenbank and the game of dominoes in a Rainford beerhouse that led to a man being kicked in the jaw.
We begin on the 9th when the St Helens Newspaper reflected on the first local election in the town that had adopted the Ballot Act – aka secret vote – which had taken place last week.
Some had warned that the consequence of removing open voting would be a sharp decline in those casting their vote.
That was because when voting was a public record, the candidates' teams could put pressure on those yet to vote.
However, the Newspaper reported that fears of a low turnout had not materialised and the decline in voting in St Helens had been very small.
There had been a "great crush" at midday and from 12 to 1pm, the Windle polling place had been "besieged by electors crowding to the poll".
The Newspaper was not impressed with the thinness of the ballot paper, claiming that the ink crosses next to candidates' names could be discerned when the paper was folded.
In summing up the new Ballot Act, the Newspaper wrote:
"It is manifestly certain that the ballot will in time exercise a most beneficial influence on our electoral system."
The paper also called for the "extension of education to every child in the land", adding:
"When we have a new generation, universally educated, and universally alive to its political and municipal duties, our electoral institutions will become as near perfection as such institutions can be made by legislative enactments."
A letter in the Newspaper was concerned that the proposed new Town Hall, in what would become known as Corporation Street, would not be constructed by a St Helens builder.
Seven tenders for the erection of the grand building had been received with the lowest bid at £35,000 coming from Liverpool.
The correspondent was concerned at the prospect of St Helens' ratepayers' cash leaving the town.
Although the Corporation was not bound to accept the lowest bid, spending more than they needed to would need some justification.
With most streets in St Helens being narrow, vehicles such as carts and wagons could not be left on the street for longer than it took to load or unload their contents.
The Newspaper reported a recent court case in which William Thompson was charged with leaving or "laying" – as it was put – a wagon containing tiles overnight in Brook Street.
The defendant did not show up in court but his brother did to argue that the spot where William had laid his wagon was wasteland. But the magistrates still convicted and imposed a fine of 5 shillings and costs.
It was also illegal to be asleep in your cart – whether in motion or not. At the same hearing Thomas Gillicker was fined 2s 6d and costs for being caught sleeping in Sutton.
As well as being in charge of St Helens police, Supt. James Ludlam was also responsible for matters concerning weights and measures.
Pubs were regularly checked for any infringements and the Newspaper reported that Sarah Banks, the licensee of the Ship Inn in Blackbrook, had been fined 10 shillings for having three pewter glasses that were short measure.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 11th, Thomas Rimmer, the landlord of a beerhouse in Rainford, was charged with permitting gambling in his house.
The case arose out of a game of dominoes that turned violent when one man jumped on a table and "purred" his opponent in the jaw.
Purring was the miners "sport" of fighting by kicking someone in the head with their clogs.
The assault case had been separately dealt with and the landlord was fined 20 shillings and costs for permitting the playing of dominoes for money.
In 1868 the St Helens Newspaper had written: "The Fifth of November. The celebration of this famous anniversary is losing much of its interest yearly, and has now almost died out."
However, there were two cases in court that demonstrated that Guy Fawkes Night was still lingering on.
William Walsh of Tontine Street in St Helens was fined 10 shillings and costs for selling fireworks to a small boy under 16 on the 5th.
And five youths called Thomas Tinsley, Joseph Walsh, Thomas Lowe, Richard Lee and James Whittaker were each fined 2s 6d and costs for setting off fireworks in Junction Lane in Sutton during the evening of the 5th.
The St Helens Free Lending Library reopened on the 11th 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 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.
Those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably to confirm their identity in case they ran off with the books.
Greenall's rent dinner was held at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street during the evening of the 12th.
It was a tradition for licensees to pay the rent on their houses every six months and in return the brewery gave them a dinner.
As well as a sumptuous meal for the 400-plus guests to enjoy, there were many toasts, including ingratiating ones to the host of the event, Gilbert Greenall. It always paid to suck up to the boss!
The Volunteer Hall hosted the annual Lowe House Church tea party and ball on the 13th.
That always seems an unusual combination to me but such events were quite common in St Helens in the 1860s and ‘70s and I expect "ball" was simply a posher way of saying "dance".
Tea took place at 6:30pm with dancing to an "efficient" quadrille band starting at 8pm. Efficient was invariably the adjective used to describe such a group – hardly overwhelming but it was the 19th century way of saying "very good".
The Quadrille dance was very fashionable at that time and was a version of English country dancing that was taken up by the Court of Louis XIV and spread across Europe.
Participants usually danced with a line of men on one side opposite their partner in an opposing line.
On the 13th the St Helens Water and Lighting Committee discussed more problems with the town's water supply, which, during the previous week, had caused a good deal of inconvenience to householders.
The council's surveyor explained that their Whiston pumping engine had developed a fault.
This had led to their reservoir on Eccleston Hill dropping to a low level and there had been very little water for the town for more than two days.
The Greenbank Alkali Company had sent a letter to the committee complaining about the problem, which had led to their works having to shut for three days.
What little there was in the mains supply had been unfit for manufacturing purposes and the company called for a larger reservoir to prevent any repetition of the shortage.
Accompanying their letter was a bottle containing a very dirty sample of water that had been supplied to the firm during that period.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the extraordinary death of a patient at the Haydock Lodge Lunatic Asylum, the man accused of being a knobstick at Pilkington's glassworks and the bleeding horse beaten for its inability to haul bricks up Croppers Hill.
We begin on the 9th when the St Helens Newspaper reflected on the first local election in the town that had adopted the Ballot Act – aka secret vote – which had taken place last week.
Some had warned that the consequence of removing open voting would be a sharp decline in those casting their vote.
That was because when voting was a public record, the candidates' teams could put pressure on those yet to vote.
However, the Newspaper reported that fears of a low turnout had not materialised and the decline in voting in St Helens had been very small.
There had been a "great crush" at midday and from 12 to 1pm, the Windle polling place had been "besieged by electors crowding to the poll".
The Newspaper was not impressed with the thinness of the ballot paper, claiming that the ink crosses next to candidates' names could be discerned when the paper was folded.
In summing up the new Ballot Act, the Newspaper wrote:
"It is manifestly certain that the ballot will in time exercise a most beneficial influence on our electoral system."
The paper also called for the "extension of education to every child in the land", adding:
"When we have a new generation, universally educated, and universally alive to its political and municipal duties, our electoral institutions will become as near perfection as such institutions can be made by legislative enactments."
A letter in the Newspaper was concerned that the proposed new Town Hall, in what would become known as Corporation Street, would not be constructed by a St Helens builder.
Seven tenders for the erection of the grand building had been received with the lowest bid at £35,000 coming from Liverpool.
The correspondent was concerned at the prospect of St Helens' ratepayers' cash leaving the town.
Although the Corporation was not bound to accept the lowest bid, spending more than they needed to would need some justification.
With most streets in St Helens being narrow, vehicles such as carts and wagons could not be left on the street for longer than it took to load or unload their contents.
The Newspaper reported a recent court case in which William Thompson was charged with leaving or "laying" – as it was put – a wagon containing tiles overnight in Brook Street.
The defendant did not show up in court but his brother did to argue that the spot where William had laid his wagon was wasteland. But the magistrates still convicted and imposed a fine of 5 shillings and costs.
It was also illegal to be asleep in your cart – whether in motion or not. At the same hearing Thomas Gillicker was fined 2s 6d and costs for being caught sleeping in Sutton.
As well as being in charge of St Helens police, Supt. James Ludlam was also responsible for matters concerning weights and measures.
Pubs were regularly checked for any infringements and the Newspaper reported that Sarah Banks, the licensee of the Ship Inn in Blackbrook, had been fined 10 shillings for having three pewter glasses that were short measure.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 11th, Thomas Rimmer, the landlord of a beerhouse in Rainford, was charged with permitting gambling in his house.
The case arose out of a game of dominoes that turned violent when one man jumped on a table and "purred" his opponent in the jaw.
Purring was the miners "sport" of fighting by kicking someone in the head with their clogs.
The assault case had been separately dealt with and the landlord was fined 20 shillings and costs for permitting the playing of dominoes for money.
In 1868 the St Helens Newspaper had written: "The Fifth of November. The celebration of this famous anniversary is losing much of its interest yearly, and has now almost died out."
However, there were two cases in court that demonstrated that Guy Fawkes Night was still lingering on.
William Walsh of Tontine Street in St Helens was fined 10 shillings and costs for selling fireworks to a small boy under 16 on the 5th.
And five youths called Thomas Tinsley, Joseph Walsh, Thomas Lowe, Richard Lee and James Whittaker were each fined 2s 6d and costs for setting off fireworks in Junction Lane in Sutton during the evening of the 5th.
The St Helens Free Lending Library reopened on the 11th 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 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.
Those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably to confirm their identity in case they ran off with the books.
Greenall's rent dinner was held at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street during the evening of the 12th.
It was a tradition for licensees to pay the rent on their houses every six months and in return the brewery gave them a dinner.
As well as a sumptuous meal for the 400-plus guests to enjoy, there were many toasts, including ingratiating ones to the host of the event, Gilbert Greenall. It always paid to suck up to the boss!
The Volunteer Hall hosted the annual Lowe House Church tea party and ball on the 13th.
That always seems an unusual combination to me but such events were quite common in St Helens in the 1860s and ‘70s and I expect "ball" was simply a posher way of saying "dance".
Tea took place at 6:30pm with dancing to an "efficient" quadrille band starting at 8pm. Efficient was invariably the adjective used to describe such a group – hardly overwhelming but it was the 19th century way of saying "very good".
The Quadrille dance was very fashionable at that time and was a version of English country dancing that was taken up by the Court of Louis XIV and spread across Europe.
Participants usually danced with a line of men on one side opposite their partner in an opposing line.
On the 13th the St Helens Water and Lighting Committee discussed more problems with the town's water supply, which, during the previous week, had caused a good deal of inconvenience to householders.
The council's surveyor explained that their Whiston pumping engine had developed a fault.
This had led to their reservoir on Eccleston Hill dropping to a low level and there had been very little water for the town for more than two days.
The Greenbank Alkali Company had sent a letter to the committee complaining about the problem, which had led to their works having to shut for three days.
What little there was in the mains supply had been unfit for manufacturing purposes and the company called for a larger reservoir to prevent any repetition of the shortage.
Accompanying their letter was a bottle containing a very dirty sample of water that had been supplied to the firm during that period.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the extraordinary death of a patient at the Haydock Lodge Lunatic Asylum, the man accused of being a knobstick at Pilkington's glassworks and the bleeding horse beaten for its inability to haul bricks up Croppers Hill.