150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (7th - 13th DECEMBER 1870)
This week's stories include the horse rug stolen in Moss Bank, the Parr Street drunkenness dispute, the riderless horse in Eccleston and the drunk who turned himself in at the police station.
We begin on the 8th with a raffle for a piano organised by a Mr Fay to benefit the Christian Doctrine Society of Holy Cross Church. These were expensive items and a cooper's wife called Ruth Glover from Duke Street was the lucky winner.
On the 8th a grocer from Peasley Cross called James Smith appeared in court charged with stealing a horse rug belonging to Tom Finney. The landlord of the Talbot Inn in Duke Street had attended an auction at Moss Bank and upon his arrival had thrown the rug over his animal and then went into a house for some refreshment. Upon returning to his horse, Finney found that the rug was missing – but he had also seen James Smith near by. So he told PC Houghton about the theft and the officer searched the grocer's outhouse and discovered the stolen rug.
Smith claimed he'd found it lying on the road and was committed for trial at the next Quarter Sessions in Liverpool. The theft of any form of wearing apparel – even for animals – would usually result in a prison sentence. But there were different standards of justice for those considerable respectable and the poor. The 43-year-old tradesman came into the former category and with the help, no doubt, of a smooth talking lawyer was on January 18th 1871 able to persuade the judge to give him the benefit of the doubt and clear him.
About 10 o’clock during the evening of the 8th, a constable was crossing a field near St Ann's in Eccleston when he saw a riderless horse on the road. After stopping the animal he found it covered in mud with one of its stirrups missing and at the same time a dog belonging to Walter Loram appeared on the scene. The officer led the horse to Loram's house and then formed a search party to comb the streets. Mr Loram was found unconscious laying in the snow near a bridge in Dunriding Lane and removed to his home.
Dr Jameson was summoned from his house in Baldwin Street and he diagnosed a fractured skull. Loram was only 34 and may well have survived today but in 1870 he had little chance of pulling through and died 12 hours later. The theory was that the man – who was returning from a trip to Rainford – had been thrown from his horse in the snow. Walter Loram's inquest was later held in the Bird i' th' Hand in Prescot Road and the usual verdict of accidental death was recorded.
This advert was on the front of the St Helens Newspaper on December 10th: "MANURES! MANURES! MANURES! Lancashire Agricultural Chemical Company. Works: St. Helens Junction. The above Company will be prepared to supply every description of artificial manures for the coming season. These manures will be manufactured with the greatest care using the best materials, and are certain to produce very large crops."
This appears to have been the start of manure making in the district, which was undertaken by various companies – including the Bold Manure Works and Crone & Taylor – for around 80 years. And you know what they say, where's there's muck there's brass!
Last month I wrote that Catherine Dunn was "another incorrigible character that liked her drink too much". She was then making her twelfth appearance in court when she was charged with being of loose character and behaving indecently in Liverpool Road at 2am. The woman was aged about 40 had only been let out of prison the day before and the magistrate William Pilkington said: "Sending her to prison does not seem to do her much good. However, I will give her fourteen days in gaol, and see what it will do."
Prison clearly did nothing to rehabilitate Catherine as she returned to court on the 10th having now been found drunk in Tontine Street (pictured above) at half-past midnight. The Newspaper wrote that she had been "so stupidly drunk that she could not find her way home". There were different magistrates on the Bench this time and Catherine was only fined 5 shillings, as well as court costs, which would likely have been a further five or six bob. It's quite likely that Catherine would not have had the cash and so would still have ended up back in Kirkdale Gaol.
On the 12th the famous Irish poet Mary O'Donovan Rossa gave a series of readings to a crowded Town Hall. The 25-year-old was also a political activist with her Fenian husband having been imprisoned by the British in 1865. The St Helens Newspaper described Mrs Rossa as a "highly accomplished lady" and said she proved to be fully deserving of the high eulogies passed on her. Within a few months her husband would be released from prison and the couple would emigrate to New York.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 12th William Kelly was fined 10 shillings and court costs for drunkenness. The Newspaper wrote: "He went to the Police Station, and when told to go home, obstinately refused to do so, and the police were compelled to lock him up. It appears that the prisoner, whenever he is under the influence of drink, relieves the police of all difficulty about bringing him to the station, for he invariably goes there himself, as in the present instance."
The police were able to bring charges against people purely on suspicion – but without any hard evidence – that they intended to commit a crime. Or – as was put in court – the accused had "felonious intent". A German called Joseph Starmenbach had been found by the police on the premises of Peasley Cross Colliery but explained to the Bench that he had no idea he'd been doing anything wrong. He said he had only arrived from New York a few days earlier and was travelling back home. As he had not been begging at the colliery (which would have earned him a prison term), the charges against Starmenbach were dismissed.
Animals being driven on the streets of St Helens were quite a common sight. However you were not allowed to let them wander on the road unsupervised as an accident might be caused. Many folk kept a cow or a pig in their back yard and coal miner John Cropper of Springfield Lane in Eccleston had let his cow stray onto the highway. He was charged in the Sessions but only fined 1 shilling and costs.
There were more harsh words spoken in court between Superintendent James Ludlam – the man in charge of St Helens Police – and solicitor Thomas Swift. The latter's son Rigby would later become St Helens' third MP and as I've often said, Thomas was probably the rudest solicitor the town has ever had! However he was also one of the cleverest with an in-depth knowledge of the law, which he used to get many of his poor clients off the charges they faced.
The case concerned a man called James Riley who was charged with being drunk and assaulting the police. PC Geddis told the court he was on plain-clothes duty in Parr Street on Sunday morning at 10:30am when he saw Riley in company with his father coming along the street drunk and making a noise. He asked them their names but they refused to supply them and after being told he was going to lock them up, Riley turned violent and kicked and punched the officer. A crowd soon assembled and freed the father but with the help of a colleague, PC Geddis managed to get Riley Jnr to the police station.
Thomas Swift challenged the legal right of the police to arrest someone for drunkenness, saying: "Show me the law which authorises you to arrest a man for being drunk". Supt. Ludlam indignantly replied: "We have had frequent convictions for drunkenness, and it is for you to show how it is illegal." To that Swift said: "I challenge your law clerk to give an authority for the arrest of a man for drunkenness." The Court Clerk replied: "It is the custom all over the country".
Swift's response was to say it might be the custom but if a policeman takes it upon himself to arrest someone for being drunk, resistance was perfectly lawful and the officer could be sued for false imprisonment. "This is altogether new", declared the superintendent. "Well, show me your authority for saying that I am not right," replied Swift. "I'll show you nothing", said Ludlam, clearly getting exasperated. "Convictions have been had hundreds of times."
The counsel continued: "My point is that the liberty of the subject has been interfered with, and before that can be done the act must be proved lawful." A discussion then took place as to whether there should be an adjournment to another hearing, with Swift tersely telling the Bench: "Well, let the case be adjourned. I do not like to have a case brought here before magistrates who are not cognisant of the law."
There was then more friction between the lawyer and the police boss over the necessity for an adjournment and the question of bail. That sort of dialogue was typical when Swift was in court. All that was missing was his rude treatment of police constables giving evidence, barking: "Shut your noise" at them – something he did on a number of occasions! In the end it was decided that James Riley should pay a fine of 10 shillings and 6s 6d costs pending a decision on the point of law that Thomas Swift had raised.
Next week's stories will include an allegation of penny pinching at Whiston Workhouse, the lack of places to spend a penny in St Helens, the cheating Liverpool Road grocer, a train crash in Peasley Cross and the Cowley boys "reunion".
We begin on the 8th with a raffle for a piano organised by a Mr Fay to benefit the Christian Doctrine Society of Holy Cross Church. These were expensive items and a cooper's wife called Ruth Glover from Duke Street was the lucky winner.
On the 8th a grocer from Peasley Cross called James Smith appeared in court charged with stealing a horse rug belonging to Tom Finney. The landlord of the Talbot Inn in Duke Street had attended an auction at Moss Bank and upon his arrival had thrown the rug over his animal and then went into a house for some refreshment. Upon returning to his horse, Finney found that the rug was missing – but he had also seen James Smith near by. So he told PC Houghton about the theft and the officer searched the grocer's outhouse and discovered the stolen rug.
Smith claimed he'd found it lying on the road and was committed for trial at the next Quarter Sessions in Liverpool. The theft of any form of wearing apparel – even for animals – would usually result in a prison sentence. But there were different standards of justice for those considerable respectable and the poor. The 43-year-old tradesman came into the former category and with the help, no doubt, of a smooth talking lawyer was on January 18th 1871 able to persuade the judge to give him the benefit of the doubt and clear him.
About 10 o’clock during the evening of the 8th, a constable was crossing a field near St Ann's in Eccleston when he saw a riderless horse on the road. After stopping the animal he found it covered in mud with one of its stirrups missing and at the same time a dog belonging to Walter Loram appeared on the scene. The officer led the horse to Loram's house and then formed a search party to comb the streets. Mr Loram was found unconscious laying in the snow near a bridge in Dunriding Lane and removed to his home.
Dr Jameson was summoned from his house in Baldwin Street and he diagnosed a fractured skull. Loram was only 34 and may well have survived today but in 1870 he had little chance of pulling through and died 12 hours later. The theory was that the man – who was returning from a trip to Rainford – had been thrown from his horse in the snow. Walter Loram's inquest was later held in the Bird i' th' Hand in Prescot Road and the usual verdict of accidental death was recorded.
This advert was on the front of the St Helens Newspaper on December 10th: "MANURES! MANURES! MANURES! Lancashire Agricultural Chemical Company. Works: St. Helens Junction. The above Company will be prepared to supply every description of artificial manures for the coming season. These manures will be manufactured with the greatest care using the best materials, and are certain to produce very large crops."
This appears to have been the start of manure making in the district, which was undertaken by various companies – including the Bold Manure Works and Crone & Taylor – for around 80 years. And you know what they say, where's there's muck there's brass!
Last month I wrote that Catherine Dunn was "another incorrigible character that liked her drink too much". She was then making her twelfth appearance in court when she was charged with being of loose character and behaving indecently in Liverpool Road at 2am. The woman was aged about 40 had only been let out of prison the day before and the magistrate William Pilkington said: "Sending her to prison does not seem to do her much good. However, I will give her fourteen days in gaol, and see what it will do."
On the 12th the famous Irish poet Mary O'Donovan Rossa gave a series of readings to a crowded Town Hall. The 25-year-old was also a political activist with her Fenian husband having been imprisoned by the British in 1865. The St Helens Newspaper described Mrs Rossa as a "highly accomplished lady" and said she proved to be fully deserving of the high eulogies passed on her. Within a few months her husband would be released from prison and the couple would emigrate to New York.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 12th William Kelly was fined 10 shillings and court costs for drunkenness. The Newspaper wrote: "He went to the Police Station, and when told to go home, obstinately refused to do so, and the police were compelled to lock him up. It appears that the prisoner, whenever he is under the influence of drink, relieves the police of all difficulty about bringing him to the station, for he invariably goes there himself, as in the present instance."
The police were able to bring charges against people purely on suspicion – but without any hard evidence – that they intended to commit a crime. Or – as was put in court – the accused had "felonious intent". A German called Joseph Starmenbach had been found by the police on the premises of Peasley Cross Colliery but explained to the Bench that he had no idea he'd been doing anything wrong. He said he had only arrived from New York a few days earlier and was travelling back home. As he had not been begging at the colliery (which would have earned him a prison term), the charges against Starmenbach were dismissed.
Animals being driven on the streets of St Helens were quite a common sight. However you were not allowed to let them wander on the road unsupervised as an accident might be caused. Many folk kept a cow or a pig in their back yard and coal miner John Cropper of Springfield Lane in Eccleston had let his cow stray onto the highway. He was charged in the Sessions but only fined 1 shilling and costs.
There were more harsh words spoken in court between Superintendent James Ludlam – the man in charge of St Helens Police – and solicitor Thomas Swift. The latter's son Rigby would later become St Helens' third MP and as I've often said, Thomas was probably the rudest solicitor the town has ever had! However he was also one of the cleverest with an in-depth knowledge of the law, which he used to get many of his poor clients off the charges they faced.
The case concerned a man called James Riley who was charged with being drunk and assaulting the police. PC Geddis told the court he was on plain-clothes duty in Parr Street on Sunday morning at 10:30am when he saw Riley in company with his father coming along the street drunk and making a noise. He asked them their names but they refused to supply them and after being told he was going to lock them up, Riley turned violent and kicked and punched the officer. A crowd soon assembled and freed the father but with the help of a colleague, PC Geddis managed to get Riley Jnr to the police station.
Thomas Swift challenged the legal right of the police to arrest someone for drunkenness, saying: "Show me the law which authorises you to arrest a man for being drunk". Supt. Ludlam indignantly replied: "We have had frequent convictions for drunkenness, and it is for you to show how it is illegal." To that Swift said: "I challenge your law clerk to give an authority for the arrest of a man for drunkenness." The Court Clerk replied: "It is the custom all over the country".
Swift's response was to say it might be the custom but if a policeman takes it upon himself to arrest someone for being drunk, resistance was perfectly lawful and the officer could be sued for false imprisonment. "This is altogether new", declared the superintendent. "Well, show me your authority for saying that I am not right," replied Swift. "I'll show you nothing", said Ludlam, clearly getting exasperated. "Convictions have been had hundreds of times."
The counsel continued: "My point is that the liberty of the subject has been interfered with, and before that can be done the act must be proved lawful." A discussion then took place as to whether there should be an adjournment to another hearing, with Swift tersely telling the Bench: "Well, let the case be adjourned. I do not like to have a case brought here before magistrates who are not cognisant of the law."
There was then more friction between the lawyer and the police boss over the necessity for an adjournment and the question of bail. That sort of dialogue was typical when Swift was in court. All that was missing was his rude treatment of police constables giving evidence, barking: "Shut your noise" at them – something he did on a number of occasions! In the end it was decided that James Riley should pay a fine of 10 shillings and 6s 6d costs pending a decision on the point of law that Thomas Swift had raised.
Next week's stories will include an allegation of penny pinching at Whiston Workhouse, the lack of places to spend a penny in St Helens, the cheating Liverpool Road grocer, a train crash in Peasley Cross and the Cowley boys "reunion".
This week's stories include the horse rug stolen in Moss Bank, the Parr Street drunkenness dispute, the riderless horse in Eccleston and the drunk who turned himself in at the police station.
We begin on the 8th with a raffle for a piano organised by a Mr Fay to benefit the Christian Doctrine Society of Holy Cross Church.
These were expensive items and a cooper's wife called Ruth Glover from Duke Street was the lucky winner.
On the 8th a grocer from Peasley Cross called James Smith appeared in court charged with stealing a horse rug belonging to Tom Finney.
The landlord of the Talbot Inn in Duke Street had attended an auction at Moss Bank and upon his arrival had thrown the rug over his animal and then went into a house for some refreshment.
Upon returning to his horse, Finney found that the rug was missing – but he had also seen James Smith near by.
So he told PC Houghton about the theft and the officer searched the grocer's outhouse and discovered the stolen rug.
Smith claimed he'd found it lying on the road and was committed for trial at the next Quarter Sessions in Liverpool.
The theft of any form of wearing apparel – even for animals – would usually result in a prison sentence.
But there were different standards of justice for those considerable respectable and the poor.
The 43-year-old tradesman came into the former category and with the help, no doubt, of a smooth talking lawyer was on January 18th 1871 able to persuade the judge to give him the benefit of the doubt and clear him.
About 10 o’clock during the evening of the 8th, a constable was crossing a field near St Ann's in Eccleston when he saw a riderless horse on the road.
After stopping the animal he found it covered in mud with one of its stirrups missing and at the same time a dog belonging to Walter Loram appeared on the scene.
The officer led the horse to Loram's house and then formed a search party to comb the streets.
Mr Loram was found unconscious laying in the snow near a bridge in Dunriding Lane and removed to his home.
Dr Jameson was summoned from his house in Baldwin Street and he diagnosed a fractured skull.
Loram was only 34 and may well have survived today but in 1870 he had little chance of pulling through and died 12 hours later.
The theory was that the man – who was returning from a trip to Rainford – had been thrown from his horse in the snow.
Walter Loram's inquest was later held in the Bird i' th' Hand in Prescot Road and the usual verdict of accidental death was recorded.
This advert was on the front of the St Helens Newspaper on December 10th: "MANURES! MANURES! MANURES! Lancashire Agricultural Chemical Company. Works: St. Helens Junction.
"The above Company will be prepared to supply every description of artificial manures for the coming season.
"These manures will be manufactured with the greatest care using the best materials, and are certain to produce very large crops."
This appears to have been the start of manure making in the district, which was undertaken by various companies – including the Bold Manure Works and Crone & Taylor – for around 80 years. And you know what they say, where's there's muck there's brass!
Last month I wrote that Catherine Dunn was "another incorrigible character that liked her drink too much".
She was then making her twelfth appearance in court when she was charged with being of loose character and behaving indecently in Liverpool Road at 2am.
The woman was aged about 40 had only been let out of prison the day before and the magistrate William Pilkington said:
"Sending her to prison does not seem to do her much good. However, I will give her fourteen days in gaol, and see what it will do."
Prison clearly did nothing to rehabilitate Catherine as she returned to court on the 10th having now been found drunk in Tontine Street (pictured above) at half-past midnight.
The Newspaper wrote that she had been "so stupidly drunk that she could not find her way home".
There were different magistrates on the Bench this time and Catherine was only fined 5 shillings, as well as court costs, which would likely have been a further five or six bob.
It's quite likely that Catherine would not have had the cash and so would still have ended up back in Kirkdale Gaol.
On the 12th the famous Irish poet Mary O'Donovan Rossa gave a series of readings to a crowded Town Hall.
The 25-year-old was also a political activist with her Fenian husband having been imprisoned by the British in 1865.
The St Helens Newspaper described Mrs Rossa as a "highly accomplished lady" and said she proved to be fully deserving of the high eulogies passed on her.
Within a few months her husband would be released from prison and the couple would emigrate to New York.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 12th William Kelly was fined 10 shillings and court costs for drunkenness.
The Newspaper wrote: "He went to the Police Station, and when told to go home, obstinately refused to do so, and the police were compelled to lock him up.
"It appears that the prisoner, whenever he is under the influence of drink, relieves the police of all difficulty about bringing him to the station, for he invariably goes there himself, as in the present instance."
The police were able to bring charges against people purely on suspicion – but without any hard evidence – that they intended to commit a crime.
Or – as was put in court – the accused had "felonious intent".
A German called Joseph Starmenbach had been found by the police on the premises of Peasley Cross Colliery but explained to the Bench that he had no idea he'd been doing anything wrong.
He said he had only arrived from New York a few days earlier and was travelling back home.
As he had not been begging at the colliery (which would have earned him a prison term), the charges against Starmenbach were dismissed.
Animals being driven on the streets of St Helens were quite a common sight.
However you were not allowed to let them wander on the road unsupervised as an accident might be caused.
Many folk kept a cow or a pig in their back yard and coal miner John Cropper of Springfield Lane in Eccleston had let his cow stray onto the highway.
He was charged in the Sessions but only fined 1 shilling and costs.
There were more harsh words spoken in court between Superintendent James Ludlam – the man in charge of St Helens Police – and solicitor Thomas Swift.
The latter's son Rigby would later become St Helens' third MP and as I've often said, Thomas was probably the rudest solicitor the town has ever had!
However he was also one of the cleverest with an in-depth knowledge of the law, which he used to get many of his poor clients off the charges they faced.
The case concerned a man called James Riley who was charged with being drunk and assaulting the police.
PC Geddis told the court he was on plain-clothes duty in Parr Street on Sunday morning at 10:30am when he saw Riley in company with his father coming along the street drunk and making a noise.
He asked them their names but they refused to supply them and after being told he was going to lock them up, Riley turned violent and kicked and punched the officer.
A crowd soon assembled and freed the father but with the help of a colleague, PC Geddis managed to get Riley Jnr to the police station.
Thomas Swift challenged the legal right of the police to arrest someone for drunkenness, saying: "Show me the law which authorises you to arrest a man for being drunk".
Supt. Ludlam indignantly replied: "We have had frequent convictions for drunkenness, and it is for you to show how it is illegal."
To that Swift said: "I challenge your law clerk to give an authority for the arrest of a man for drunkenness."
The Court Clerk replied: "It is the custom all over the country".
Swift's response was to say it might be the custom but if a policeman takes it upon himself to arrest someone for being drunk, resistance was perfectly lawful and the officer could be sued for false imprisonment.
"This is altogether new", declared the superintendent. "Well, show me your authority for saying that I am not right," replied Swift.
"I'll show you nothing", said Ludlam, clearly getting exasperated. "Convictions have been had hundreds of times."
The counsel continued: "My point is that the liberty of the subject has been interfered with, and before that can be done the act must be proved lawful."
A discussion then took place as to whether there should be an adjournment to another hearing, with Swift tersely telling the Bench:
"Well, let the case be adjourned. I do not like to have a case brought here before magistrates who are not cognisant of the law."
There was then more friction between the lawyer and the police boss over the necessity for an adjournment and the question of bail.
That sort of dialogue was typical when Swift was in court.
All that was missing was his rude treatment of police constables giving evidence, barking: "Shut your noise" at them – something he did on a number of occasions!
In the end it was decided that James Riley should pay a fine of 10 shillings and 6s 6d costs pending a decision on the point of law that Thomas Swift had raised.
Next week's stories will include an allegation of penny pinching at Whiston Workhouse, the lack of places to spend a penny in St Helens, the cheating Liverpool Road grocer, a train crash in Peasley Cross and the Cowley boys "reunion".
We begin on the 8th with a raffle for a piano organised by a Mr Fay to benefit the Christian Doctrine Society of Holy Cross Church.
These were expensive items and a cooper's wife called Ruth Glover from Duke Street was the lucky winner.
On the 8th a grocer from Peasley Cross called James Smith appeared in court charged with stealing a horse rug belonging to Tom Finney.
The landlord of the Talbot Inn in Duke Street had attended an auction at Moss Bank and upon his arrival had thrown the rug over his animal and then went into a house for some refreshment.
Upon returning to his horse, Finney found that the rug was missing – but he had also seen James Smith near by.
So he told PC Houghton about the theft and the officer searched the grocer's outhouse and discovered the stolen rug.
Smith claimed he'd found it lying on the road and was committed for trial at the next Quarter Sessions in Liverpool.
The theft of any form of wearing apparel – even for animals – would usually result in a prison sentence.
But there were different standards of justice for those considerable respectable and the poor.
The 43-year-old tradesman came into the former category and with the help, no doubt, of a smooth talking lawyer was on January 18th 1871 able to persuade the judge to give him the benefit of the doubt and clear him.
About 10 o’clock during the evening of the 8th, a constable was crossing a field near St Ann's in Eccleston when he saw a riderless horse on the road.
After stopping the animal he found it covered in mud with one of its stirrups missing and at the same time a dog belonging to Walter Loram appeared on the scene.
The officer led the horse to Loram's house and then formed a search party to comb the streets.
Mr Loram was found unconscious laying in the snow near a bridge in Dunriding Lane and removed to his home.
Dr Jameson was summoned from his house in Baldwin Street and he diagnosed a fractured skull.
Loram was only 34 and may well have survived today but in 1870 he had little chance of pulling through and died 12 hours later.
The theory was that the man – who was returning from a trip to Rainford – had been thrown from his horse in the snow.
Walter Loram's inquest was later held in the Bird i' th' Hand in Prescot Road and the usual verdict of accidental death was recorded.
This advert was on the front of the St Helens Newspaper on December 10th: "MANURES! MANURES! MANURES! Lancashire Agricultural Chemical Company. Works: St. Helens Junction.
"The above Company will be prepared to supply every description of artificial manures for the coming season.
"These manures will be manufactured with the greatest care using the best materials, and are certain to produce very large crops."
This appears to have been the start of manure making in the district, which was undertaken by various companies – including the Bold Manure Works and Crone & Taylor – for around 80 years. And you know what they say, where's there's muck there's brass!
Last month I wrote that Catherine Dunn was "another incorrigible character that liked her drink too much".
She was then making her twelfth appearance in court when she was charged with being of loose character and behaving indecently in Liverpool Road at 2am.
The woman was aged about 40 had only been let out of prison the day before and the magistrate William Pilkington said:
"Sending her to prison does not seem to do her much good. However, I will give her fourteen days in gaol, and see what it will do."
The Newspaper wrote that she had been "so stupidly drunk that she could not find her way home".
There were different magistrates on the Bench this time and Catherine was only fined 5 shillings, as well as court costs, which would likely have been a further five or six bob.
It's quite likely that Catherine would not have had the cash and so would still have ended up back in Kirkdale Gaol.
On the 12th the famous Irish poet Mary O'Donovan Rossa gave a series of readings to a crowded Town Hall.
The 25-year-old was also a political activist with her Fenian husband having been imprisoned by the British in 1865.
The St Helens Newspaper described Mrs Rossa as a "highly accomplished lady" and said she proved to be fully deserving of the high eulogies passed on her.
Within a few months her husband would be released from prison and the couple would emigrate to New York.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 12th William Kelly was fined 10 shillings and court costs for drunkenness.
The Newspaper wrote: "He went to the Police Station, and when told to go home, obstinately refused to do so, and the police were compelled to lock him up.
"It appears that the prisoner, whenever he is under the influence of drink, relieves the police of all difficulty about bringing him to the station, for he invariably goes there himself, as in the present instance."
The police were able to bring charges against people purely on suspicion – but without any hard evidence – that they intended to commit a crime.
Or – as was put in court – the accused had "felonious intent".
A German called Joseph Starmenbach had been found by the police on the premises of Peasley Cross Colliery but explained to the Bench that he had no idea he'd been doing anything wrong.
He said he had only arrived from New York a few days earlier and was travelling back home.
As he had not been begging at the colliery (which would have earned him a prison term), the charges against Starmenbach were dismissed.
Animals being driven on the streets of St Helens were quite a common sight.
However you were not allowed to let them wander on the road unsupervised as an accident might be caused.
Many folk kept a cow or a pig in their back yard and coal miner John Cropper of Springfield Lane in Eccleston had let his cow stray onto the highway.
He was charged in the Sessions but only fined 1 shilling and costs.
There were more harsh words spoken in court between Superintendent James Ludlam – the man in charge of St Helens Police – and solicitor Thomas Swift.
The latter's son Rigby would later become St Helens' third MP and as I've often said, Thomas was probably the rudest solicitor the town has ever had!
However he was also one of the cleverest with an in-depth knowledge of the law, which he used to get many of his poor clients off the charges they faced.
The case concerned a man called James Riley who was charged with being drunk and assaulting the police.
PC Geddis told the court he was on plain-clothes duty in Parr Street on Sunday morning at 10:30am when he saw Riley in company with his father coming along the street drunk and making a noise.
He asked them their names but they refused to supply them and after being told he was going to lock them up, Riley turned violent and kicked and punched the officer.
A crowd soon assembled and freed the father but with the help of a colleague, PC Geddis managed to get Riley Jnr to the police station.
Thomas Swift challenged the legal right of the police to arrest someone for drunkenness, saying: "Show me the law which authorises you to arrest a man for being drunk".
Supt. Ludlam indignantly replied: "We have had frequent convictions for drunkenness, and it is for you to show how it is illegal."
To that Swift said: "I challenge your law clerk to give an authority for the arrest of a man for drunkenness."
The Court Clerk replied: "It is the custom all over the country".
Swift's response was to say it might be the custom but if a policeman takes it upon himself to arrest someone for being drunk, resistance was perfectly lawful and the officer could be sued for false imprisonment.
"This is altogether new", declared the superintendent. "Well, show me your authority for saying that I am not right," replied Swift.
"I'll show you nothing", said Ludlam, clearly getting exasperated. "Convictions have been had hundreds of times."
The counsel continued: "My point is that the liberty of the subject has been interfered with, and before that can be done the act must be proved lawful."
A discussion then took place as to whether there should be an adjournment to another hearing, with Swift tersely telling the Bench:
"Well, let the case be adjourned. I do not like to have a case brought here before magistrates who are not cognisant of the law."
There was then more friction between the lawyer and the police boss over the necessity for an adjournment and the question of bail.
That sort of dialogue was typical when Swift was in court.
All that was missing was his rude treatment of police constables giving evidence, barking: "Shut your noise" at them – something he did on a number of occasions!
In the end it was decided that James Riley should pay a fine of 10 shillings and 6s 6d costs pending a decision on the point of law that Thomas Swift had raised.
Next week's stories will include an allegation of penny pinching at Whiston Workhouse, the lack of places to spend a penny in St Helens, the cheating Liverpool Road grocer, a train crash in Peasley Cross and the Cowley boys "reunion".