150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (8th - 14th MARCH 1871)
This week's stories include the retirement of the outspoken guardian of Whiston Workhouse, the Cheap Jack in Ormskirk Street, the ravages of rabies and a tough penalty for ill-treating a horse in Rainford.
We begin on the 9th with the publication of the four-page Ormskirk Advertiser. A long column was devoted every week to the railway timetable, which took some fathoming out. It underlined how people lived and worked within their own communities, with just five train services a day between Rainford and St Helens. The first train from Rainford Village Station in Cross Pit Lane did not leave until 8:28am – long after most people would have begun work. And you couldn't "get on yer bike" – as the new fangled machines were far too expensive for ordinary folk.
At the Prescot Union's Board of Guardians meeting on the 10th, the elected members heard of plans to enlarge their workhouse at Whiston (pictured above). The Chairman told the meeting: "The population of the district is increasing, and the poor are coming in such numbers that it is absolutely necessary to find them some accommodation." Currently there were 376 persons in the workhouse, with 157 of them children – although the number of inmates was always at its highest during mid-winter. The workhouse covered the whole of the St Helens and Prescot districts and had been built in 1843 to replace smaller houses in Sutton, Prescot, Windle and Bold.
I've often mentioned John Laverock, the outspoken guardian in his seventies whose wife was forty-three years younger than him. In fact the retired farmer's mother-in-law lived with the couple and she was seven years younger than Laverock! When the new workhouse master had been appointed in 1869, Laverock had told Henry Pepper to read the first chapter of Genesis at which the Chairman Edmund Ward called him to order. Laverock disregarded the instruction and continued his lecture and so several other guardians also called him to order. To this the member for Halewood said: "How dare any member call me to order" and continued laying down the law to Mr Pepper.
He gave him a list of chapters from the Bible that he should read to which the Chairman repeatedly struck his desk with his wooden mallet and called "order" and other members stamped their feet on the floor and some called for silence. The St Helens Newspaper reported a "very noisy scene" which worsened as Laverock took no notice of his colleagues and continued talking ever louder until he "raised his voice to its highest pitch, and screamed out his directions to Mr. Pepper."
But his idiosyncrasies that often led to rows and laughter with his fellow guardians were now at an end. Age had caught up with the 75-year-old and he had written a letter to the Chairman of the Guardians in which he said he was now "unfit for any pursuit". However Laverock had spent 24 years as a guardian and thought he was due a pension from the Poor Law Board. But the elected position was unpaid and the guardians felt it impossible to support his application.
Currently around 200 people a week were dying in Liverpool from smallpox and there was concern of the disease spreading. It was revealed at the meeting that there were three cases of smallpox in Glover Street in St Helens but the patients were all doing well. In January the Guardians had decided to employ a man for a month to visit the infected districts and ensure vaccinations were carried out. If people refused to be vaccinated, then prosecutions would follow, as the law made immunisation compulsory.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 10th James Pennington was summoned for cruelly ill-treating a horse that belonged to his employer, James Agnew, who had a 110-acre farm in Rainford. It was reported that the man had galloped the animal up a hill whilst it was pulling a "ton weight". Pennington was fined £1 and costs, with the alternative of a month's imprisonment. "The fine was not paid", said the Wigan Observer.
A fortnight ago I described the Prescot ghost that according to the St Helens Newspaper was "supposed to walk abroad through Fall-lane sometimes on the ground, like decent folk, and at other times along the roofs of the houses, like the cats." Well, I've read nothing further about the alleged Prescot spectre but the Liverpool Mercury on the 11th published a story about the naked "ghost" of Saighton, near Chester. It has nothing to do with the St Helens district but it is definitely worth a read:
"Some consternation was created in the minds of some of the dwellers about Saighton (a village near Chester), by the report that a ghost had been veritably seen in the churchyard and several other places in the neighbourhood. A gentleman who lives near that village says that a few nights ago, the sexton, proceeding to his work of tolling the village bells, was startled at perceiving the figure of a “woman in white” among the tombs.
"The peculiarity of the figure was that it seemed to be the figure of a being unencumbered with dress of any sort. Other persons saw the figure at remote distances that night. The matter coming to the ears of a worthy doctor in the neighbourhood, caused a search to be made, and it was found that the “shape” which had troubled the good folks of Saighton was that of a poor lunatic woman, who had made her escape from her keepers. She was captured and restored to those who had the custody of her."
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 13th and Richard Briers and William Taylor were charged with assaulting Richard Blackburn and William Woodward at Rainford. The Liverpool Mercury wrote: "As it appeared the defendants had only resented a mobbing that they were subjected to when returning from a teaparty, the case against them was dismissed."
John Cope was described as a "cheap Jack", a term usually given to those selling cheap and poor quality goods on the streets. He was summoned to the Petty Sessions for selling by auction after nine o'clock at night, in contravention of the St Helens Improvement Act. The defence was that Cope had been flogging stuff on private ground, adjoining Ormskirk Street, and the magistrates decided to dismiss the charge.
And to conclude, my Stories From St Helens Heritage Facebook page has recently described in some detail the cases of rabies in the town – as well as the controversial muzzling of dogs during the 1880s and '90s to prevent attacks. I only touched on the agonies of what the sufferers of rabies – or hydrophobia as it was then called – had to endure. But this week the Wigan Observer did just that when they described the distressing death of a child in Bolton:
"We have to record another death from the dreadful disease of hydrophobia. The victim this time is a little boy named Joseph William Houghton, aged five years and ten months, son of Thomas Houghton, bricklayer, of Waterloo-street, Bolton. On the 14th ult. the deceased was proceeding on an errand, when a large black retriever dog flew at him, and bit him over the eye, inflicting a fearful gash. The boy ran home, but the dog followed him, knocked him down in the lobby of the house, and again bit him on the forehead.
"His screams brought two of his elder brothers to his assistance, when the animal made a hasty flight. Mr. Holt, surgeon, was immediately sent for, and cauterised the wounds, but they never perfectly healed, though the lad was able to play about the street. No alarming symptoms, however, presented themselves until Wednesday afternoon last. The lad was then in the house of a neighbour named Lowe, and complained of sickness and headache. Next morning, he rejected his food, and expressed a desire for perfect quietude. Some tea and wine were administered to him, but he vomited it up again, and exhibited an intense dislike to any liquid whatever.
"On Friday the symptoms of hydrophobia increased. The poor little sufferer complained of a parching thirst, but whenever a draught was presented to him, he became strongly convulsed, and it was only by closing his eyes that he could summon resolution sufficient to take it. Whenever he swallowed, it appeared as if he were choking, and he always vomited up whatever was given him. On the Saturday his agony became so great that his mother was unable to witness it, and had to be removed.
"He repeatedly said that he saw the dog which had bitten him, and his efforts to beat off the imaginary foe were most pitiable. During his struggles the wounds on his forehead burst, and commenced bleeding afresh; and it required the incessant exertions of two strong men to prevent the poor little fellow tearing his flesh. The lad was perfectly conscious until within a short time of his death, which took place shortly before one o’clock on Sunday morning."
Next Week's stories will include the carter who came to grief in Thatto Heath, the heartless Peter Street husband who would not help his burning wife, the St Helens earthquake and the Ashton man who appeared to get away with killing his wife.
We begin on the 9th with the publication of the four-page Ormskirk Advertiser. A long column was devoted every week to the railway timetable, which took some fathoming out. It underlined how people lived and worked within their own communities, with just five train services a day between Rainford and St Helens. The first train from Rainford Village Station in Cross Pit Lane did not leave until 8:28am – long after most people would have begun work. And you couldn't "get on yer bike" – as the new fangled machines were far too expensive for ordinary folk.
I've often mentioned John Laverock, the outspoken guardian in his seventies whose wife was forty-three years younger than him. In fact the retired farmer's mother-in-law lived with the couple and she was seven years younger than Laverock! When the new workhouse master had been appointed in 1869, Laverock had told Henry Pepper to read the first chapter of Genesis at which the Chairman Edmund Ward called him to order. Laverock disregarded the instruction and continued his lecture and so several other guardians also called him to order. To this the member for Halewood said: "How dare any member call me to order" and continued laying down the law to Mr Pepper.
He gave him a list of chapters from the Bible that he should read to which the Chairman repeatedly struck his desk with his wooden mallet and called "order" and other members stamped their feet on the floor and some called for silence. The St Helens Newspaper reported a "very noisy scene" which worsened as Laverock took no notice of his colleagues and continued talking ever louder until he "raised his voice to its highest pitch, and screamed out his directions to Mr. Pepper."
But his idiosyncrasies that often led to rows and laughter with his fellow guardians were now at an end. Age had caught up with the 75-year-old and he had written a letter to the Chairman of the Guardians in which he said he was now "unfit for any pursuit". However Laverock had spent 24 years as a guardian and thought he was due a pension from the Poor Law Board. But the elected position was unpaid and the guardians felt it impossible to support his application.
Currently around 200 people a week were dying in Liverpool from smallpox and there was concern of the disease spreading. It was revealed at the meeting that there were three cases of smallpox in Glover Street in St Helens but the patients were all doing well. In January the Guardians had decided to employ a man for a month to visit the infected districts and ensure vaccinations were carried out. If people refused to be vaccinated, then prosecutions would follow, as the law made immunisation compulsory.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 10th James Pennington was summoned for cruelly ill-treating a horse that belonged to his employer, James Agnew, who had a 110-acre farm in Rainford. It was reported that the man had galloped the animal up a hill whilst it was pulling a "ton weight". Pennington was fined £1 and costs, with the alternative of a month's imprisonment. "The fine was not paid", said the Wigan Observer.
A fortnight ago I described the Prescot ghost that according to the St Helens Newspaper was "supposed to walk abroad through Fall-lane sometimes on the ground, like decent folk, and at other times along the roofs of the houses, like the cats." Well, I've read nothing further about the alleged Prescot spectre but the Liverpool Mercury on the 11th published a story about the naked "ghost" of Saighton, near Chester. It has nothing to do with the St Helens district but it is definitely worth a read:
"Some consternation was created in the minds of some of the dwellers about Saighton (a village near Chester), by the report that a ghost had been veritably seen in the churchyard and several other places in the neighbourhood. A gentleman who lives near that village says that a few nights ago, the sexton, proceeding to his work of tolling the village bells, was startled at perceiving the figure of a “woman in white” among the tombs.
"The peculiarity of the figure was that it seemed to be the figure of a being unencumbered with dress of any sort. Other persons saw the figure at remote distances that night. The matter coming to the ears of a worthy doctor in the neighbourhood, caused a search to be made, and it was found that the “shape” which had troubled the good folks of Saighton was that of a poor lunatic woman, who had made her escape from her keepers. She was captured and restored to those who had the custody of her."
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 13th and Richard Briers and William Taylor were charged with assaulting Richard Blackburn and William Woodward at Rainford. The Liverpool Mercury wrote: "As it appeared the defendants had only resented a mobbing that they were subjected to when returning from a teaparty, the case against them was dismissed."
John Cope was described as a "cheap Jack", a term usually given to those selling cheap and poor quality goods on the streets. He was summoned to the Petty Sessions for selling by auction after nine o'clock at night, in contravention of the St Helens Improvement Act. The defence was that Cope had been flogging stuff on private ground, adjoining Ormskirk Street, and the magistrates decided to dismiss the charge.
And to conclude, my Stories From St Helens Heritage Facebook page has recently described in some detail the cases of rabies in the town – as well as the controversial muzzling of dogs during the 1880s and '90s to prevent attacks. I only touched on the agonies of what the sufferers of rabies – or hydrophobia as it was then called – had to endure. But this week the Wigan Observer did just that when they described the distressing death of a child in Bolton:
"We have to record another death from the dreadful disease of hydrophobia. The victim this time is a little boy named Joseph William Houghton, aged five years and ten months, son of Thomas Houghton, bricklayer, of Waterloo-street, Bolton. On the 14th ult. the deceased was proceeding on an errand, when a large black retriever dog flew at him, and bit him over the eye, inflicting a fearful gash. The boy ran home, but the dog followed him, knocked him down in the lobby of the house, and again bit him on the forehead.
"His screams brought two of his elder brothers to his assistance, when the animal made a hasty flight. Mr. Holt, surgeon, was immediately sent for, and cauterised the wounds, but they never perfectly healed, though the lad was able to play about the street. No alarming symptoms, however, presented themselves until Wednesday afternoon last. The lad was then in the house of a neighbour named Lowe, and complained of sickness and headache. Next morning, he rejected his food, and expressed a desire for perfect quietude. Some tea and wine were administered to him, but he vomited it up again, and exhibited an intense dislike to any liquid whatever.
"On Friday the symptoms of hydrophobia increased. The poor little sufferer complained of a parching thirst, but whenever a draught was presented to him, he became strongly convulsed, and it was only by closing his eyes that he could summon resolution sufficient to take it. Whenever he swallowed, it appeared as if he were choking, and he always vomited up whatever was given him. On the Saturday his agony became so great that his mother was unable to witness it, and had to be removed.
"He repeatedly said that he saw the dog which had bitten him, and his efforts to beat off the imaginary foe were most pitiable. During his struggles the wounds on his forehead burst, and commenced bleeding afresh; and it required the incessant exertions of two strong men to prevent the poor little fellow tearing his flesh. The lad was perfectly conscious until within a short time of his death, which took place shortly before one o’clock on Sunday morning."
Next Week's stories will include the carter who came to grief in Thatto Heath, the heartless Peter Street husband who would not help his burning wife, the St Helens earthquake and the Ashton man who appeared to get away with killing his wife.
This week's stories include the retirement of the outspoken guardian of Whiston Workhouse, the Cheap Jack in Ormskirk Street, the ravages of rabies and a tough penalty for ill-treating a horse in Rainford.
We begin on the 9th with the publication of the four-page Ormskirk Advertiser. A long column was devoted every week to the railway timetable, which took some fathoming out.
It underlined how people lived and worked within their own communities, with just five train services a day between Rainford and St Helens.
The first train from Rainford Village Station in Cross Pit Lane did not leave until 8:28am – long after most people would have begun work.
And you couldn't "get on yer bike" – as the new fangled machines were far too expensive for ordinary folk.
At the Prescot Union’s Board of Guardians meeting on the 10th, the elected members heard of plans to enlarge their workhouse at Whiston (pictured above). The Chairman told the meeting:
"The population of the district is increasing, and the poor are coming in such numbers that it is absolutely necessary to find them some accommodation."
Currently there were 376 persons in the workhouse, with 157 of them children – although the number of inmates was always at its highest during mid-winter.
The workhouse covered the whole of the St Helens and Prescot districts and had been built in 1843 to replace smaller houses in Sutton, Prescot, Windle and Bold.
I've often mentioned John Laverock, the outspoken guardian in his seventies whose wife was forty-three years younger than him.
In fact the retired farmer's mother-in-law lived with the couple and she was seven years younger than Laverock!
When the new workhouse master had been appointed in 1869, Laverock had told Henry Pepper to read the first chapter of Genesis at which the Chairman Edmund Ward called him to order.
Laverock disregarded the instruction and continued his lecture and so several other guardians also called him to order.
To this the member for Halewood said: "How dare any member call me to order" and continued laying down the law to Mr Pepper.
He gave him a list of chapters from the Bible that he should read to which the Chairman repeatedly struck his desk with his wooden mallet and called "order" and other members stamped their feet on the floor and some called for silence.
The St Helens Newspaper reported a "very noisy scene" which worsened as Laverock took no notice of his colleagues and continued talking ever louder until he "raised his voice to its highest pitch, and screamed out his directions to Mr. Pepper."
But his idiosyncrasies that often led to rows and laughter with his fellow guardians were now at an end.
Age had caught up with the 75-year-old and he had written a letter to the Chairman of the Guardians in which he said he was now "unfit for any pursuit".
However Laverock had spent 24 years as a guardian and thought he was due a pension from the Poor Law Board.
But the elected position was unpaid and the guardians felt it impossible to support his application.
Currently around 200 people a week were dying in Liverpool from smallpox and there was concern of the disease spreading.
It was revealed at the meeting that there were three cases of smallpox in Glover Street in St Helens but the patients were all doing well.
In January the Guardians had decided to employ a man for a month to visit the infected districts and ensure vaccinations were carried out.
If people refused to be vaccinated, then prosecutions would follow, as the law made immunisation compulsory.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 10th James Pennington was summoned for cruelly ill-treating a horse that belonged to his employer, James Agnew, who had a 110-acre farm in Rainford.
It was reported that the man had galloped the animal up a hill whilst it was pulling a "ton weight".
Pennington was fined £1 and costs, with the alternative of a month's imprisonment. "The fine was not paid", said the Wigan Observer.
A fortnight ago I described the Prescot ghost that according to the St Helens Newspaper was "supposed to walk abroad through Fall-lane sometimes on the ground, like decent folk, and at other times along the roofs of the houses, like the cats."
Well, I've read nothing further about the alleged Prescot spectre but the Liverpool Mercury on the 11th published a story about the naked "ghost" of Saighton, near Chester.
It has nothing to do with the St Helens district but it is definitely worth a read:
"Some consternation was created in the minds of some of the dwellers about Saighton (a village near Chester), by the report that a ghost had been veritably seen in the churchyard and several other places in the neighbourhood.
"A gentleman who lives near that village says that a few nights ago, the sexton, proceeding to his work of tolling the village bells, was startled at perceiving the figure of a “woman in white” among the tombs.
"The peculiarity of the figure was that it seemed to be the figure of a being unencumbered with dress of any sort. Other persons saw the figure at remote distances that night.
"The matter coming to the ears of a worthy doctor in the neighbourhood, caused a search to be made, and it was found that the “shape” which had troubled the good folks of Saighton was that of a poor lunatic woman, who had made her escape from her keepers.
"She was captured and restored to those who had the custody of her."
So the moral of the story is don't always believe your eyes if you think you see a ghost. It might just be an escaped naked lunatic prancing about!
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 13th and Richard Briers and William Taylor were charged with assaulting Richard Blackburn and William Woodward at Rainford.
The Liverpool Mercury wrote: "As it appeared the defendants had only resented a mobbing that they were subjected to when returning from a teaparty, the case against them was dismissed."
John Cope was described as a "cheap Jack", a term usually given to those selling cheap and poor quality goods on the streets.
He was summoned to the Petty Sessions for selling by auction after nine o'clock at night, in contravention of the St Helens Improvement Act.
The defence was that Cope had been flogging stuff on private ground, adjoining Ormskirk Street, and the magistrates decided to dismiss the charge.
And to conclude, my Stories From St Helens Heritage Facebook page has recently described in some detail the cases of rabies in the town – as well as the controversial muzzling of dogs during the 1880s and '90s to prevent attacks.
I only touched on the agonies of what the sufferers of rabies – or hydrophobia as it was then called – had to endure.
But this week the Wigan Observer did just that when they described the distressing death of a child in Bolton:
"We have to record another death from the dreadful disease of hydrophobia. The victim this time is a little boy named Joseph William Houghton, aged five years and ten months, son of Thomas Houghton, bricklayer, of Waterloo-street, Bolton.
"On the 14th ult. the deceased was proceeding on an errand, when a large black retriever dog flew at him, and bit him over the eye, inflicting a fearful gash.
"The boy ran home, but the dog followed him, knocked him down in the lobby of the house, and again bit him on the forehead.
"His screams brought two of his elder brothers to his assistance, when the animal made a hasty flight.
"Mr. Holt, surgeon, was immediately sent for, and cauterised the wounds, but they never perfectly healed, though the lad was able to play about the street.
"No alarming symptoms, however, presented themselves until Wednesday afternoon last.
"The lad was then in the house of a neighbour named Lowe, and complained of sickness and headache.
"Next morning, he rejected his food, and expressed a desire for perfect quietude. Some tea and wine were administered to him, but he vomited it up again, and exhibited an intense dislike to any liquid whatever.
"On Friday the symptoms of hydrophobia increased. The poor little sufferer complained of a parching thirst, but whenever a draught was presented to him, he became strongly convulsed, and it was only by closing his eyes that he could summon resolution sufficient to take it.
"Whenever he swallowed, it appeared as if he were choking, and he always vomited up whatever was given him.
"On the Saturday his agony became so great that his mother was unable to witness it, and had to be removed.
"He repeatedly said that he saw the dog which had bitten him, and his efforts to beat off the imaginary foe were most pitiable.
"During his struggles the wounds on his forehead burst, and commenced bleeding afresh; and it required the incessant exertions of two strong men to prevent the poor little fellow tearing his flesh.
"The lad was perfectly conscious until within a short time of his death, which took place shortly before one o’clock on Sunday morning."
Next Week's stories will include the carter who came to grief in Thatto Heath, the heartless Peter Street husband who would not help his burning wife, the St Helens earthquake and the Ashton man who appeared to get away with killing his wife.
We begin on the 9th with the publication of the four-page Ormskirk Advertiser. A long column was devoted every week to the railway timetable, which took some fathoming out.
It underlined how people lived and worked within their own communities, with just five train services a day between Rainford and St Helens.
The first train from Rainford Village Station in Cross Pit Lane did not leave until 8:28am – long after most people would have begun work.
And you couldn't "get on yer bike" – as the new fangled machines were far too expensive for ordinary folk.
"The population of the district is increasing, and the poor are coming in such numbers that it is absolutely necessary to find them some accommodation."
Currently there were 376 persons in the workhouse, with 157 of them children – although the number of inmates was always at its highest during mid-winter.
The workhouse covered the whole of the St Helens and Prescot districts and had been built in 1843 to replace smaller houses in Sutton, Prescot, Windle and Bold.
I've often mentioned John Laverock, the outspoken guardian in his seventies whose wife was forty-three years younger than him.
In fact the retired farmer's mother-in-law lived with the couple and she was seven years younger than Laverock!
When the new workhouse master had been appointed in 1869, Laverock had told Henry Pepper to read the first chapter of Genesis at which the Chairman Edmund Ward called him to order.
Laverock disregarded the instruction and continued his lecture and so several other guardians also called him to order.
To this the member for Halewood said: "How dare any member call me to order" and continued laying down the law to Mr Pepper.
He gave him a list of chapters from the Bible that he should read to which the Chairman repeatedly struck his desk with his wooden mallet and called "order" and other members stamped their feet on the floor and some called for silence.
The St Helens Newspaper reported a "very noisy scene" which worsened as Laverock took no notice of his colleagues and continued talking ever louder until he "raised his voice to its highest pitch, and screamed out his directions to Mr. Pepper."
But his idiosyncrasies that often led to rows and laughter with his fellow guardians were now at an end.
Age had caught up with the 75-year-old and he had written a letter to the Chairman of the Guardians in which he said he was now "unfit for any pursuit".
However Laverock had spent 24 years as a guardian and thought he was due a pension from the Poor Law Board.
But the elected position was unpaid and the guardians felt it impossible to support his application.
Currently around 200 people a week were dying in Liverpool from smallpox and there was concern of the disease spreading.
It was revealed at the meeting that there were three cases of smallpox in Glover Street in St Helens but the patients were all doing well.
In January the Guardians had decided to employ a man for a month to visit the infected districts and ensure vaccinations were carried out.
If people refused to be vaccinated, then prosecutions would follow, as the law made immunisation compulsory.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 10th James Pennington was summoned for cruelly ill-treating a horse that belonged to his employer, James Agnew, who had a 110-acre farm in Rainford.
It was reported that the man had galloped the animal up a hill whilst it was pulling a "ton weight".
Pennington was fined £1 and costs, with the alternative of a month's imprisonment. "The fine was not paid", said the Wigan Observer.
A fortnight ago I described the Prescot ghost that according to the St Helens Newspaper was "supposed to walk abroad through Fall-lane sometimes on the ground, like decent folk, and at other times along the roofs of the houses, like the cats."
Well, I've read nothing further about the alleged Prescot spectre but the Liverpool Mercury on the 11th published a story about the naked "ghost" of Saighton, near Chester.
It has nothing to do with the St Helens district but it is definitely worth a read:
"Some consternation was created in the minds of some of the dwellers about Saighton (a village near Chester), by the report that a ghost had been veritably seen in the churchyard and several other places in the neighbourhood.
"A gentleman who lives near that village says that a few nights ago, the sexton, proceeding to his work of tolling the village bells, was startled at perceiving the figure of a “woman in white” among the tombs.
"The peculiarity of the figure was that it seemed to be the figure of a being unencumbered with dress of any sort. Other persons saw the figure at remote distances that night.
"The matter coming to the ears of a worthy doctor in the neighbourhood, caused a search to be made, and it was found that the “shape” which had troubled the good folks of Saighton was that of a poor lunatic woman, who had made her escape from her keepers.
"She was captured and restored to those who had the custody of her."
So the moral of the story is don't always believe your eyes if you think you see a ghost. It might just be an escaped naked lunatic prancing about!
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 13th and Richard Briers and William Taylor were charged with assaulting Richard Blackburn and William Woodward at Rainford.
The Liverpool Mercury wrote: "As it appeared the defendants had only resented a mobbing that they were subjected to when returning from a teaparty, the case against them was dismissed."
John Cope was described as a "cheap Jack", a term usually given to those selling cheap and poor quality goods on the streets.
He was summoned to the Petty Sessions for selling by auction after nine o'clock at night, in contravention of the St Helens Improvement Act.
The defence was that Cope had been flogging stuff on private ground, adjoining Ormskirk Street, and the magistrates decided to dismiss the charge.
And to conclude, my Stories From St Helens Heritage Facebook page has recently described in some detail the cases of rabies in the town – as well as the controversial muzzling of dogs during the 1880s and '90s to prevent attacks.
I only touched on the agonies of what the sufferers of rabies – or hydrophobia as it was then called – had to endure.
But this week the Wigan Observer did just that when they described the distressing death of a child in Bolton:
"We have to record another death from the dreadful disease of hydrophobia. The victim this time is a little boy named Joseph William Houghton, aged five years and ten months, son of Thomas Houghton, bricklayer, of Waterloo-street, Bolton.
"On the 14th ult. the deceased was proceeding on an errand, when a large black retriever dog flew at him, and bit him over the eye, inflicting a fearful gash.
"The boy ran home, but the dog followed him, knocked him down in the lobby of the house, and again bit him on the forehead.
"His screams brought two of his elder brothers to his assistance, when the animal made a hasty flight.
"Mr. Holt, surgeon, was immediately sent for, and cauterised the wounds, but they never perfectly healed, though the lad was able to play about the street.
"No alarming symptoms, however, presented themselves until Wednesday afternoon last.
"The lad was then in the house of a neighbour named Lowe, and complained of sickness and headache.
"Next morning, he rejected his food, and expressed a desire for perfect quietude. Some tea and wine were administered to him, but he vomited it up again, and exhibited an intense dislike to any liquid whatever.
"On Friday the symptoms of hydrophobia increased. The poor little sufferer complained of a parching thirst, but whenever a draught was presented to him, he became strongly convulsed, and it was only by closing his eyes that he could summon resolution sufficient to take it.
"Whenever he swallowed, it appeared as if he were choking, and he always vomited up whatever was given him.
"On the Saturday his agony became so great that his mother was unable to witness it, and had to be removed.
"He repeatedly said that he saw the dog which had bitten him, and his efforts to beat off the imaginary foe were most pitiable.
"During his struggles the wounds on his forehead burst, and commenced bleeding afresh; and it required the incessant exertions of two strong men to prevent the poor little fellow tearing his flesh.
"The lad was perfectly conscious until within a short time of his death, which took place shortly before one o’clock on Sunday morning."
Next Week's stories will include the carter who came to grief in Thatto Heath, the heartless Peter Street husband who would not help his burning wife, the St Helens earthquake and the Ashton man who appeared to get away with killing his wife.