150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (9th - 15th NOVEMBER 1870)
This week's many stories include a mysterious drowning in St Helens Canal, the celebratory cannon firing in Pocket Nook, a train crash at Sutton, an old lady's dramatic leap at Rainford station and the posh Lowe House Tea Party and Ball.
We begin on the 9th at the St Helens Petty Sessions when a joiner called John Richardson was charged with breaking down the door of his sister's house in Duke Street (pictured above). His wife had taken refuge from him inside and Richardson pleaded guilty but in mitigation said he'd been provoked by his wife being concealed there. He was ordered to pay a total of 17 shillings or go to prison for 14 days.
On the 10th this classified ad was placed in the Ormskirk Advertiser: "WANTED, a COWMAN, to look after Cows and Pigs, and to make himself generally useful about a Brewery Yard. Apply at Rainford Brewery, Rainford, near St. Helens." I believe the Rainford Brewery was in Pasture Lane and it also owned a number of beerhouses in the district. In the 1890s the company sold out to Greenall Whitley, who retained all of the beerhouses but shut down the brewery – something they often did, as they liked to eliminate competition.
The 11th was the coming of age of William Cook of Cowley Mount, off North Road, whose father Joseph co-owned the Atlas iron foundry in Pocket Nook. When the eldest son of a wealthy businessman reached twenty-one, there were often huge celebrations. The workforce would join in with the festivities, encouraged somewhat by the prospect of a free "slap-up" meal. At the Atlas Foundry flags were flown and cannons were fired in William's honour. Then on the following day a large workshop was converted into a dining room and decorated with banners.
There the Cooks gave what was described as a "substantial dinner" to the workers and the customary toasts were made. The Newspaper added: "In the course of the evening the proceedings were pleasantly varied by the successful ascent of a balloon from the works, amid the cheers of the numerous spectators. The occasion will be long remembered with pleasure by those who partook of its enjoyments, which were not marred by anything calculated to cause any but agreeable recollection."
Also on the 11th the Wigan Observer described how David Slater had appealed to the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions over a decision made by the Prescot Bench. For five years Slater had been the licensee of the Railway Hotel and Commercial Inn in Rainhill and argued that their refusal to grant him a new licence was unfair. However during the hearing it was revealed that in 1867 he had been fined 10 shillings for refusing to admit the police into his pub.
Then in 1868 Slater had twice been fined for committing assaults and in a separate incident had been bound over to keep the peace. Then earlier this year he had been fined £5 and costs for that wonderfully named crime of "harbouring the police" – in other words allowing bobbies to drink in his pub while on duty. As you might expect Slater's cheeky appeal was refused!
There were countless deaths in the St Helens Canal by accident or design – although it was often hard to know which label a drowning should be given. Take the case of Patrick Cullen, a married man with six children who lived in Peasley Cross and worked at the Pocket Nook Glass Works. Patrick's body was spotted in the canal about 6pm on the 13th, not long after he had come out of a pub. It was common for drunken men to stumble into the canal in the dark and drown in its deep waters. However Patrick Cullen was described as having been perfectly sober when he came out. So his demise joined the long list of mysterious deaths that inquest juries when delivering their verdict simply labelled "found drowned".
Train drivers and stokers certainly needed to be athletic in the 1870s. There were so many accidents that the ability to quickly leap out of an engine was a prerequisite to staying alive! At 6:30pm on the evening of the 14th a coal train from Springs Branch was sitting in a siding at Sutton Junction. For some inexplicable reason another coal train coming in the opposite direction was turned onto the same siding. The men jumped for their lives in the nick of time just before the inevitable collision. Both engines were almost completely destroyed but there were no injuries, although the line was blocked for several hours.
However the ability to safely jump off a moving train was not a skill confined just to drivers and stokers. A number of newspapers this week covered the story of an old lady's remarkable leap, with this version published in the Salisbury and Winchester Journal:
"One morning last week, Mrs. Brownhill, of Melling, who is 61 years of age, had a wonderful escape from injury or death. She took a ticket from Kirkby station to Rainford. An express train passes through Kirkby for Wigan a little before ten o'clock, and it had occasion to stop there to set down some workmen. One of the officials told Mrs. Brownhill to get into the express, the train she should have gone by not being due for a quarter of an hour. As the express train was passing through Rainford junction without stopping, the old lady saw the mistake, and at once jumped out. Strange to relate, she sustained not the slightest injury."
A tea party and ball always seems an odd combination to me but they were quite common in St Helens in the 1870s and by "ball" they probably really meant "dance". Such an event was organised by Lowe House church in the Volunteer Hall on the 15th, with the tea held at 6:30pm and the dancing to Gardener's Quadrille Band starting at 8pm. Quadrille is a type of music performed by four couples in a rectangular formation, rather like American square dancing.
Tickets were a pricey 2 shillings but it was for a good cause as the proceeds went towards the running of the church schools. In its review the St Helens Newspaper wrote: "It was the largest assembly of a similar character that was held there. About five hundred ladies and gentlemen were in the room, and as they whirled about in the mazy dance, or promenaded up and down, the effect may be conceived to be very enlivening."
Rev. Fr. Thomas Ullathorne had been at Lowe House since 1852 and was credited with erecting a number of Catholic schools in St Helens. However he delivered a stern warning to those attending the tea dance, as described by the Newspaper: "He had to thank those ladies and gentlemen who came to the entertainment, for the proof which they had thus displayed of their desire to promote the education of the poorer cases in the town (Hear, hear.) The public had always evinced an anxiety to assist the Lowe House Schools. He need not, perhaps, remind them that the Catholics were engaged in a most tremendous struggle at present.
"Not only the Catholics, but all who had any respect or reverence for religion, and who value the proper education of their children. The Catholics of this country were very much in the same state as the poor French people. The enemy were at their doors; and it was therefore necessary that they should be prepared to meet them, and they could only be so by understanding fully the importance of the crisis which education is now undergoing." Rev. Ullathorne was comparing the Prussian army's brutal invasion of France with proposals to expand the provision of non-church schools in England – hardly the same thing!
And finally a couple of classified adverts from the St Helens Newspaper's 'Wanted' section on the 15th. First a multi-skilling Methodist was required who was able to milk cows: "Wanted a Steady, Honest SERVANT of all work who is fond of Children, can Milk cows, and from the country; a Wesleyan preferred. – Apply at the Office of this Paper." Eccleston Corn Mill was also being advertised as available to let. This sourced water from St Ann's Dam (aka Big Dam) in what in twenty years time would be called Taylor Park.
Next week's stories will include a claim that St Helens had the dirtiest streets in Lancashire, how the courts treated the poor for stealing bits of coal, a foundation stone is laid for a new church and the struggle between a Sutton landlady and her lodger.
On the 10th this classified ad was placed in the Ormskirk Advertiser: "WANTED, a COWMAN, to look after Cows and Pigs, and to make himself generally useful about a Brewery Yard. Apply at Rainford Brewery, Rainford, near St. Helens." I believe the Rainford Brewery was in Pasture Lane and it also owned a number of beerhouses in the district. In the 1890s the company sold out to Greenall Whitley, who retained all of the beerhouses but shut down the brewery – something they often did, as they liked to eliminate competition.
The 11th was the coming of age of William Cook of Cowley Mount, off North Road, whose father Joseph co-owned the Atlas iron foundry in Pocket Nook. When the eldest son of a wealthy businessman reached twenty-one, there were often huge celebrations. The workforce would join in with the festivities, encouraged somewhat by the prospect of a free "slap-up" meal. At the Atlas Foundry flags were flown and cannons were fired in William's honour. Then on the following day a large workshop was converted into a dining room and decorated with banners.
There the Cooks gave what was described as a "substantial dinner" to the workers and the customary toasts were made. The Newspaper added: "In the course of the evening the proceedings were pleasantly varied by the successful ascent of a balloon from the works, amid the cheers of the numerous spectators. The occasion will be long remembered with pleasure by those who partook of its enjoyments, which were not marred by anything calculated to cause any but agreeable recollection."
Also on the 11th the Wigan Observer described how David Slater had appealed to the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions over a decision made by the Prescot Bench. For five years Slater had been the licensee of the Railway Hotel and Commercial Inn in Rainhill and argued that their refusal to grant him a new licence was unfair. However during the hearing it was revealed that in 1867 he had been fined 10 shillings for refusing to admit the police into his pub.
Then in 1868 Slater had twice been fined for committing assaults and in a separate incident had been bound over to keep the peace. Then earlier this year he had been fined £5 and costs for that wonderfully named crime of "harbouring the police" – in other words allowing bobbies to drink in his pub while on duty. As you might expect Slater's cheeky appeal was refused!
There were countless deaths in the St Helens Canal by accident or design – although it was often hard to know which label a drowning should be given. Take the case of Patrick Cullen, a married man with six children who lived in Peasley Cross and worked at the Pocket Nook Glass Works. Patrick's body was spotted in the canal about 6pm on the 13th, not long after he had come out of a pub. It was common for drunken men to stumble into the canal in the dark and drown in its deep waters. However Patrick Cullen was described as having been perfectly sober when he came out. So his demise joined the long list of mysterious deaths that inquest juries when delivering their verdict simply labelled "found drowned".
Train drivers and stokers certainly needed to be athletic in the 1870s. There were so many accidents that the ability to quickly leap out of an engine was a prerequisite to staying alive! At 6:30pm on the evening of the 14th a coal train from Springs Branch was sitting in a siding at Sutton Junction. For some inexplicable reason another coal train coming in the opposite direction was turned onto the same siding. The men jumped for their lives in the nick of time just before the inevitable collision. Both engines were almost completely destroyed but there were no injuries, although the line was blocked for several hours.
However the ability to safely jump off a moving train was not a skill confined just to drivers and stokers. A number of newspapers this week covered the story of an old lady's remarkable leap, with this version published in the Salisbury and Winchester Journal:
"One morning last week, Mrs. Brownhill, of Melling, who is 61 years of age, had a wonderful escape from injury or death. She took a ticket from Kirkby station to Rainford. An express train passes through Kirkby for Wigan a little before ten o'clock, and it had occasion to stop there to set down some workmen. One of the officials told Mrs. Brownhill to get into the express, the train she should have gone by not being due for a quarter of an hour. As the express train was passing through Rainford junction without stopping, the old lady saw the mistake, and at once jumped out. Strange to relate, she sustained not the slightest injury."
A tea party and ball always seems an odd combination to me but they were quite common in St Helens in the 1870s and by "ball" they probably really meant "dance". Such an event was organised by Lowe House church in the Volunteer Hall on the 15th, with the tea held at 6:30pm and the dancing to Gardener's Quadrille Band starting at 8pm. Quadrille is a type of music performed by four couples in a rectangular formation, rather like American square dancing.
Tickets were a pricey 2 shillings but it was for a good cause as the proceeds went towards the running of the church schools. In its review the St Helens Newspaper wrote: "It was the largest assembly of a similar character that was held there. About five hundred ladies and gentlemen were in the room, and as they whirled about in the mazy dance, or promenaded up and down, the effect may be conceived to be very enlivening."
The original Lowe House Church in North Road in St Helens and its long-standing priest Rev. Father Thomas Ullathorne
The original Lowe House Church in St Helens and Fr. Thomas Ullathorne
Rev. Fr. Thomas Ullathorne
"Not only the Catholics, but all who had any respect or reverence for religion, and who value the proper education of their children. The Catholics of this country were very much in the same state as the poor French people. The enemy were at their doors; and it was therefore necessary that they should be prepared to meet them, and they could only be so by understanding fully the importance of the crisis which education is now undergoing." Rev. Ullathorne was comparing the Prussian army's brutal invasion of France with proposals to expand the provision of non-church schools in England – hardly the same thing!
And finally a couple of classified adverts from the St Helens Newspaper's 'Wanted' section on the 15th. First a multi-skilling Methodist was required who was able to milk cows: "Wanted a Steady, Honest SERVANT of all work who is fond of Children, can Milk cows, and from the country; a Wesleyan preferred. – Apply at the Office of this Paper." Eccleston Corn Mill was also being advertised as available to let. This sourced water from St Ann's Dam (aka Big Dam) in what in twenty years time would be called Taylor Park.
Next week's stories will include a claim that St Helens had the dirtiest streets in Lancashire, how the courts treated the poor for stealing bits of coal, a foundation stone is laid for a new church and the struggle between a Sutton landlady and her lodger.
This week's many stories include a mysterious drowning in St Helens Canal, the celebratory cannon firing in Pocket Nook, a train crash at Sutton, an old lady's dramatic leap at Rainford station and the posh Lowe House Tea Party and Ball.
We begin on the 9th at the St Helens Petty Sessions when a joiner called John Richardson was charged with breaking down the door of his sister's house in Duke Street (pictured above).
His wife had taken refuge from him inside and Richardson pleaded guilty but in mitigation said he'd been provoked by his wife being concealed there.
He was ordered to pay a total of 17 shillings or go to prison for 14 days.
On the 10th this classified ad was placed in the Ormskirk Advertiser:
"WANTED, a COWMAN, to look after Cows and Pigs, and to make himself generally useful about a Brewery Yard. Apply at Rainford Brewery, Rainford, near St. Helens."
I believe the Rainford Brewery was in Pasture Lane and it also owned a number of beerhouses in the district.
In the 1890s the company sold out to Greenall Whitley, who retained all of the beerhouses but shut down the brewery – something they often did, as they liked to eliminate competition.
The 11th was the coming of age of William Cook of Cowley Mount, off North Road, whose father Joseph co-owned the Atlas iron foundry in Pocket Nook.
When the eldest son of a wealthy businessman reached twenty-one, there were often huge celebrations.
The workforce would join in with the festivities, encouraged somewhat by the prospect of a free "slap-up" meal.
At the Atlas Foundry flags were flown and cannons were fired in William's honour.
Then on the following day a large workshop was converted into a dining room and decorated with banners.
There the Cooks gave what was described as a "substantial dinner" to the workers and the customary toasts were made.
The Newspaper added: "In the course of the evening the proceedings were pleasantly varied by the successful ascent of a balloon from the works, amid the cheers of the numerous spectators.
"The occasion will be long remembered with pleasure by those who partook of its enjoyments, which were not marred by anything calculated to cause any but agreeable recollection."
Also on the 11th the Wigan Observer described how David Slater had appealed to the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions over a decision made by the Prescot Bench.
For five years Slater had been the licensee of the Railway Hotel and Commercial Inn in Rainhill and argued that their refusal to grant him a new licence was unfair.
However during the hearing it was revealed that in 1867 he had been fined 10 shillings for refusing to admit the police into his pub.
Then in 1868 Slater had twice been fined for committing assaults and in a separate incident had been bound over to keep the peace.
Then earlier this year he had been fined £5 and costs for that wonderfully named crime of "harbouring the police" – in other words allowing bobbies to drink in his pub while on duty.
As you might expect Slater's cheeky appeal was refused!
There were countless deaths in the St Helens Canal by accident or design – although it was often hard to know which label a drowning should be given.
Take the case of Patrick Cullen, a married man with six children who lived in Peasley Cross and worked at the Pocket Nook Glass Works.
Patrick's body was spotted in the canal about 6pm on the 13th, not long after he had come out of a pub.
It was common for drunken men to stumble into the canal in the dark and drown in its deep waters.
However Patrick Cullen was described as having been perfectly sober when he came out.
So his demise joined the long list of mysterious deaths that inquest juries when delivering their verdict simply labelled "found drowned".
Train drivers and stokers certainly needed to be athletic in the 1870s.
There were so many accidents that the ability to quickly leap out of an engine was a prerequisite to staying alive!
At 6:30pm on the evening of the 14th a coal train from Springs Branch was sitting in a siding at Sutton Junction.
For some inexplicable reason another coal train coming in the opposite direction was turned onto the same siding.
The men jumped for their lives in the nick of time just before the inevitable collision.
Both engines were almost completely destroyed but there were no injuries, although the line was blocked for several hours.
However the ability to safely jump off a moving train was not a skill confined just to drivers and stokers.
A number of newspapers this week covered the story of an old lady's remarkable leap, with this version published in the Salisbury and Winchester Journal:
"One morning last week, Mrs. Brownhill, of Melling, who is 61 years of age, had a wonderful escape from injury or death. She took a ticket from Kirkby station to Rainford. An express train passes through Kirkby for Wigan a little before ten o'clock, and it had occasion to stop there to set down some workmen.
"One of the officials told Mrs. Brownhill to get into the express, the train she should have gone by not being due for a quarter of an hour. As the express train was passing through Rainford junction without stopping, the old lady saw the mistake, and at once jumped out. Strange to relate, she sustained not the slightest injury."
A tea party and ball always seems an odd combination to me but they were quite common in St Helens in the 1870s and by "ball" they probably really meant "dance".
Such an event was organised by Lowe House church in the Volunteer Hall on the 15th, with the tea held at 6:30pm and the dancing to Gardener's Quadrille Band starting at 8pm.
Quadrille is a type of music performed by four couples in a rectangular formation, rather like American square dancing.
Tickets were a pricey 2 shillings but it was for a good cause as the proceeds went towards the running of the church schools. In its review the St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"It was the largest assembly of a similar character that was held there. About five hundred ladies and gentlemen were in the room, and as they whirled about in the mazy dance, or promenaded up and down, the effect may be conceived to be very enlivening."
Rev. Fr. Thomas Ullathorne (pictured above) had been at Lowe House since 1852 and was credited with erecting a number of Catholic schools in St Helens.
However he delivered a stern warning to those attending the tea dance, as described by the Newspaper:
"He had to thank those ladies and gentlemen who came to the entertainment, for the proof which they had thus displayed of their desire to promote the education of the poorer cases in the town (Hear, hear.) The public had always evinced an anxiety to assist the Lowe House Schools. He need not, perhaps, remind them that the Catholics were engaged in a most tremendous struggle at present.
"Not only the Catholics, but all who had any respect or reverence for religion, and who value the proper education of their children. The Catholics of this country were very much in the same state as the poor French people.
"The enemy were at their doors; and it was therefore necessary that they should be prepared to meet them, and they could only be so by understanding fully the importance of the crisis which education is now undergoing."
Rev. Ullathorne was comparing the Prussian army's brutal invasion of France with proposals to expand the provision of non-church schools in England – hardly the same thing!
And finally a couple of classified adverts from the St Helens Newspaper's 'Wanted' section on the 15th.
First a multi-skilling Methodist was required who was able to milk cows: "Wanted a Steady, Honest SERVANT of all work who is fond of Children, can Milk cows, and from the country; a Wesleyan preferred. – Apply at the Office of this Paper."
Eccleston Corn Mill was also being advertised as available to let. This sourced water from St Ann's Dam (aka Big Dam) in what in twenty years time would be called Taylor Park.
Next week's stories will include a claim that St Helens had the dirtiest streets in Lancashire, how the courts treated the poor for stealing bits of coal, a foundation stone is laid for a new church and the struggle between a Sutton landlady and her lodger.
His wife had taken refuge from him inside and Richardson pleaded guilty but in mitigation said he'd been provoked by his wife being concealed there.
He was ordered to pay a total of 17 shillings or go to prison for 14 days.
On the 10th this classified ad was placed in the Ormskirk Advertiser:
"WANTED, a COWMAN, to look after Cows and Pigs, and to make himself generally useful about a Brewery Yard. Apply at Rainford Brewery, Rainford, near St. Helens."
I believe the Rainford Brewery was in Pasture Lane and it also owned a number of beerhouses in the district.
In the 1890s the company sold out to Greenall Whitley, who retained all of the beerhouses but shut down the brewery – something they often did, as they liked to eliminate competition.
The 11th was the coming of age of William Cook of Cowley Mount, off North Road, whose father Joseph co-owned the Atlas iron foundry in Pocket Nook.
When the eldest son of a wealthy businessman reached twenty-one, there were often huge celebrations.
The workforce would join in with the festivities, encouraged somewhat by the prospect of a free "slap-up" meal.
At the Atlas Foundry flags were flown and cannons were fired in William's honour.
Then on the following day a large workshop was converted into a dining room and decorated with banners.
There the Cooks gave what was described as a "substantial dinner" to the workers and the customary toasts were made.
The Newspaper added: "In the course of the evening the proceedings were pleasantly varied by the successful ascent of a balloon from the works, amid the cheers of the numerous spectators.
"The occasion will be long remembered with pleasure by those who partook of its enjoyments, which were not marred by anything calculated to cause any but agreeable recollection."
Also on the 11th the Wigan Observer described how David Slater had appealed to the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions over a decision made by the Prescot Bench.
For five years Slater had been the licensee of the Railway Hotel and Commercial Inn in Rainhill and argued that their refusal to grant him a new licence was unfair.
However during the hearing it was revealed that in 1867 he had been fined 10 shillings for refusing to admit the police into his pub.
Then in 1868 Slater had twice been fined for committing assaults and in a separate incident had been bound over to keep the peace.
Then earlier this year he had been fined £5 and costs for that wonderfully named crime of "harbouring the police" – in other words allowing bobbies to drink in his pub while on duty.
As you might expect Slater's cheeky appeal was refused!
There were countless deaths in the St Helens Canal by accident or design – although it was often hard to know which label a drowning should be given.
Take the case of Patrick Cullen, a married man with six children who lived in Peasley Cross and worked at the Pocket Nook Glass Works.
Patrick's body was spotted in the canal about 6pm on the 13th, not long after he had come out of a pub.
It was common for drunken men to stumble into the canal in the dark and drown in its deep waters.
However Patrick Cullen was described as having been perfectly sober when he came out.
So his demise joined the long list of mysterious deaths that inquest juries when delivering their verdict simply labelled "found drowned".
Train drivers and stokers certainly needed to be athletic in the 1870s.
There were so many accidents that the ability to quickly leap out of an engine was a prerequisite to staying alive!
At 6:30pm on the evening of the 14th a coal train from Springs Branch was sitting in a siding at Sutton Junction.
For some inexplicable reason another coal train coming in the opposite direction was turned onto the same siding.
The men jumped for their lives in the nick of time just before the inevitable collision.
Both engines were almost completely destroyed but there were no injuries, although the line was blocked for several hours.
However the ability to safely jump off a moving train was not a skill confined just to drivers and stokers.
A number of newspapers this week covered the story of an old lady's remarkable leap, with this version published in the Salisbury and Winchester Journal:
"One morning last week, Mrs. Brownhill, of Melling, who is 61 years of age, had a wonderful escape from injury or death. She took a ticket from Kirkby station to Rainford. An express train passes through Kirkby for Wigan a little before ten o'clock, and it had occasion to stop there to set down some workmen.
"One of the officials told Mrs. Brownhill to get into the express, the train she should have gone by not being due for a quarter of an hour. As the express train was passing through Rainford junction without stopping, the old lady saw the mistake, and at once jumped out. Strange to relate, she sustained not the slightest injury."
A tea party and ball always seems an odd combination to me but they were quite common in St Helens in the 1870s and by "ball" they probably really meant "dance".
Such an event was organised by Lowe House church in the Volunteer Hall on the 15th, with the tea held at 6:30pm and the dancing to Gardener's Quadrille Band starting at 8pm.
Quadrille is a type of music performed by four couples in a rectangular formation, rather like American square dancing.
Tickets were a pricey 2 shillings but it was for a good cause as the proceeds went towards the running of the church schools. In its review the St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"It was the largest assembly of a similar character that was held there. About five hundred ladies and gentlemen were in the room, and as they whirled about in the mazy dance, or promenaded up and down, the effect may be conceived to be very enlivening."
However he delivered a stern warning to those attending the tea dance, as described by the Newspaper:
"He had to thank those ladies and gentlemen who came to the entertainment, for the proof which they had thus displayed of their desire to promote the education of the poorer cases in the town (Hear, hear.) The public had always evinced an anxiety to assist the Lowe House Schools. He need not, perhaps, remind them that the Catholics were engaged in a most tremendous struggle at present.
"Not only the Catholics, but all who had any respect or reverence for religion, and who value the proper education of their children. The Catholics of this country were very much in the same state as the poor French people.
"The enemy were at their doors; and it was therefore necessary that they should be prepared to meet them, and they could only be so by understanding fully the importance of the crisis which education is now undergoing."
Rev. Ullathorne was comparing the Prussian army's brutal invasion of France with proposals to expand the provision of non-church schools in England – hardly the same thing!
And finally a couple of classified adverts from the St Helens Newspaper's 'Wanted' section on the 15th.
First a multi-skilling Methodist was required who was able to milk cows: "Wanted a Steady, Honest SERVANT of all work who is fond of Children, can Milk cows, and from the country; a Wesleyan preferred. – Apply at the Office of this Paper."
Eccleston Corn Mill was also being advertised as available to let. This sourced water from St Ann's Dam (aka Big Dam) in what in twenty years time would be called Taylor Park.
Next week's stories will include a claim that St Helens had the dirtiest streets in Lancashire, how the courts treated the poor for stealing bits of coal, a foundation stone is laid for a new church and the struggle between a Sutton landlady and her lodger.