150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (12 - 18 JUNE 1873)
This week's many stories include the festivities to celebrate the wedding of a boss's son, a knife attack in Greenbank, the opening of St Helens public baths for the summer season, an attack on the noble selves of Wigan and the case of the Tontine Street ironmonger accused of fighting with a frying pan thief.
Workmen in St Helens must have always been pleased to hear that their boss's son was getting hitched. That was because they were usually treated to festivities and a dinner to celebrate the occasion. And so on the 14th when Josias Gamble, the son of ex-mayor David Gamble (pictured above) married Isabella Sanderson, five hundred workers at Gamble's chemical plant in Gerards Bridge enjoyed a celebration do at the Volunteer Hall.
The event took place in two parts with first a dinner for the men and then a dance. The Liverpool Mercury described how it went: "The workmen sat down to dinner in the volunteer hall, and, after partaking of a sumptuous repast, were permitted to introduce their female relatives and friends, and carry-out a pre-arranged ball, which lasted till midnight. The company drank the health and happiness of the bride and bridegroom with great enthusiasm."
In the St Helens Newspaper on the 14th a short advert stated: "St. Helens Public Baths. – These baths are now open to the public for the season." This was not a reference to Boundary Road baths, which were almost twenty years away. The baths that existed in 1873 had been built by Andrew Kurtz twelve years before and were sited next to his chemical works. Not many people used them and in 1865 the St Helens Standard newspaper wrote:
"The public do not appreciate the baths…[Bathing] has always been the luxury of rich and educated men and will be. Working men …seldom bathe and women scarcely ever." And in 1868 the Newspaper reported that fewer that 500 people per week were using the baths, even in the heat of summer.
The Newspaper also discussed the recent Royal visit to Wigan in which the Prince and Princess of Wales (future King Edward VII) had opened the town's new infirmary. The arrangements had some controversy attached to them. That was mainly because the council put on a special exhibition, which was open on a Sunday – much to the chagrin of some religious folk.
The paper reported how an unnamed St Helens gentleman had been asked to lend some of his artworks to the exhibition and had agreed they could borrow six. However, he was shocked to find when visiting Wigan that sixty of his pictures valued at £10,000 (around £1½m in today’s money) were adorning the exhibition's walls. The Newspaper wrote: "A complete raid having been made upon his house during his absence in London."
Commenting how a former mayor of Wigan had once proposed "the health of our noble selves", the Newspaper suggested that there appeared to be still selfish folk in Wigan that thought the only people to be considered were their noble selves. Alderman John Marsh – the owner of Parr Alkali Works and former St Helens mayor – appeared to have been the gentleman art lover that had been surprised in Wigan.
William Walsh sounded quite fed up in court this week. The Tontine Street ironmonger was charged with committing a breach of the peace by fighting with an unknown man. PC Bent said he had seen the defendant strike the man several times while in Bridge Street. However, Walsh told the court that he had caught a shoplifter who had entered his premises while drunk and walked off with a frying pan. He explained that he had chased after the thief and caught him in Bridge Street where he got his pan back.
Walsh claimed that he then pretended to take the man to the police station – but did not actually intend doing so. Apparently Monday was then a busy day for ironmongery sales. That was the day of the court hearing and Walsh protested at having been kept waiting in court for four hours and away from his business "on one of the best days of the week". He said many people would confirm his story and asked for an adjournment, saying he had only received his court summons three days before and did not have sufficient time to organise witnesses. The case was subsequently adjourned for a week and when it returned to court would be dismissed.
Women then seemed to chuck out much dirty water or other liquid from their front door, their backyard or even through their windows using buckets or large mugs. If a neighbour that they didn't get on with just happened to be in their line of fire, well it wasn't their fault, was it? Accidents will happen! However, Margaret Colman did not think her drenching had been friendly fire, as the St Helens Newspaper described in their report of a case heard this week in the Petty Sessions:
"Mary Ann Underhill was charged with assaulting Margaret Colman. The complainant said that as she was going out from her house, dressed up in her best, defendant threw a mug of dirty water upon her, which ran all over her dress in streams, and obliged her to retreat into the house again and give herself a good shaking. She now produced the dress.
"Mr. Swift, for the defence, examined it with a powerful glass, to detect, if possible, some of the chemical compounds from the water, but the glass did not appear to reveal anything of the kind. The defence was that the throwing of the water was done without intention to give complainant a bath, and the collision a mere fortuitous circumstance. The bench dismissed the case, warning defendant to look in front of her mug whenever she emptied it in the future."
The aforementioned Mr Swift was Thomas Swift, the rudest solicitor in town – and probably the cleverest too. His many rude interventions were legendary, but I think my favourite was when he told a policeman answering questions in court to "shut your noise".
Swift was also up to his old tricks in the next case in which Mary Banks was charged with stealing two tablecloths from Edward Banks' stall in St Helens market. The two Banks were apparently unrelated but it was the two witnesses for the prosecution that Swift savaged. Farmer's wife Ann Mort from Parr had her character so attacked that the boss of St Helens Police, James Ludlam, protested against his venom, saying the witness was a very respectable woman that he knew well.
Swift also accused Mrs Mort of being dishonest for secretly keeping his client under observation for a long time. But his main criticism was levelled against Elizabeth Critchley. This is how the St Helens Newspaper reported his comments:
"Mr. Swift said that his client was a woman who had borne an excellent character. Critchley was unworthy of belief, being a convicted thief, and a woman who notoriously preferred another man to her husband, and Mrs. Mort was so nervous [when giving evidence] that she scarcely knew what she was telling." However, this time the magistrates were not taken in by Swift's antics and sent Mary Banks to prison for 14 days.
The Liverpool Mercury wrote this on the 18th: "On Monday, at Wigan, Daniel Welsby was charged with having assaulted his wife. It appeared that a few days ago he threw a knife at his wife, knocked her down, and “purred” her in true Wigan fashion. He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment." Purring – the practice of kicking your victim in the head using clogs – was also a St Helens disease, mainly undertaken by miners during fights.
And knives were often used to resolve disputes as well – including by women. In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 18th Margaret McGovern was charged with attacking Rebecca Lewis. The 23-year-old from Mount Street, near Liverpool Road, had cut her foe in the head with a knife.
That was as a result of Mrs Lewis throwing a piece of brick at her mother and Mrs McGovern was committed for trial at the next assizes hearing in Liverpool. The headline to the report in the Liverpool Weekly Courier was "The Knife Again In St. Helens". However, later in the month at her trial Margaret McGovern was acquitted of the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath man that bit his cousin's ear off, the opening of new Billinge schools, smallpox breaks out in Parr, the two brothers that drowned in Sutton and the gigantic mirrors made and silvered in St Helens.
The event took place in two parts with first a dinner for the men and then a dance. The Liverpool Mercury described how it went: "The workmen sat down to dinner in the volunteer hall, and, after partaking of a sumptuous repast, were permitted to introduce their female relatives and friends, and carry-out a pre-arranged ball, which lasted till midnight. The company drank the health and happiness of the bride and bridegroom with great enthusiasm."
In the St Helens Newspaper on the 14th a short advert stated: "St. Helens Public Baths. – These baths are now open to the public for the season." This was not a reference to Boundary Road baths, which were almost twenty years away. The baths that existed in 1873 had been built by Andrew Kurtz twelve years before and were sited next to his chemical works. Not many people used them and in 1865 the St Helens Standard newspaper wrote:
"The public do not appreciate the baths…[Bathing] has always been the luxury of rich and educated men and will be. Working men …seldom bathe and women scarcely ever." And in 1868 the Newspaper reported that fewer that 500 people per week were using the baths, even in the heat of summer.
The Newspaper also discussed the recent Royal visit to Wigan in which the Prince and Princess of Wales (future King Edward VII) had opened the town's new infirmary. The arrangements had some controversy attached to them. That was mainly because the council put on a special exhibition, which was open on a Sunday – much to the chagrin of some religious folk.
The paper reported how an unnamed St Helens gentleman had been asked to lend some of his artworks to the exhibition and had agreed they could borrow six. However, he was shocked to find when visiting Wigan that sixty of his pictures valued at £10,000 (around £1½m in today’s money) were adorning the exhibition's walls. The Newspaper wrote: "A complete raid having been made upon his house during his absence in London."
Commenting how a former mayor of Wigan had once proposed "the health of our noble selves", the Newspaper suggested that there appeared to be still selfish folk in Wigan that thought the only people to be considered were their noble selves. Alderman John Marsh – the owner of Parr Alkali Works and former St Helens mayor – appeared to have been the gentleman art lover that had been surprised in Wigan.
William Walsh sounded quite fed up in court this week. The Tontine Street ironmonger was charged with committing a breach of the peace by fighting with an unknown man. PC Bent said he had seen the defendant strike the man several times while in Bridge Street. However, Walsh told the court that he had caught a shoplifter who had entered his premises while drunk and walked off with a frying pan. He explained that he had chased after the thief and caught him in Bridge Street where he got his pan back.
Walsh claimed that he then pretended to take the man to the police station – but did not actually intend doing so. Apparently Monday was then a busy day for ironmongery sales. That was the day of the court hearing and Walsh protested at having been kept waiting in court for four hours and away from his business "on one of the best days of the week". He said many people would confirm his story and asked for an adjournment, saying he had only received his court summons three days before and did not have sufficient time to organise witnesses. The case was subsequently adjourned for a week and when it returned to court would be dismissed.
Women then seemed to chuck out much dirty water or other liquid from their front door, their backyard or even through their windows using buckets or large mugs. If a neighbour that they didn't get on with just happened to be in their line of fire, well it wasn't their fault, was it? Accidents will happen! However, Margaret Colman did not think her drenching had been friendly fire, as the St Helens Newspaper described in their report of a case heard this week in the Petty Sessions:
"Mary Ann Underhill was charged with assaulting Margaret Colman. The complainant said that as she was going out from her house, dressed up in her best, defendant threw a mug of dirty water upon her, which ran all over her dress in streams, and obliged her to retreat into the house again and give herself a good shaking. She now produced the dress.
"Mr. Swift, for the defence, examined it with a powerful glass, to detect, if possible, some of the chemical compounds from the water, but the glass did not appear to reveal anything of the kind. The defence was that the throwing of the water was done without intention to give complainant a bath, and the collision a mere fortuitous circumstance. The bench dismissed the case, warning defendant to look in front of her mug whenever she emptied it in the future."
The aforementioned Mr Swift was Thomas Swift, the rudest solicitor in town – and probably the cleverest too. His many rude interventions were legendary, but I think my favourite was when he told a policeman answering questions in court to "shut your noise".
Swift was also up to his old tricks in the next case in which Mary Banks was charged with stealing two tablecloths from Edward Banks' stall in St Helens market. The two Banks were apparently unrelated but it was the two witnesses for the prosecution that Swift savaged. Farmer's wife Ann Mort from Parr had her character so attacked that the boss of St Helens Police, James Ludlam, protested against his venom, saying the witness was a very respectable woman that he knew well.
Swift also accused Mrs Mort of being dishonest for secretly keeping his client under observation for a long time. But his main criticism was levelled against Elizabeth Critchley. This is how the St Helens Newspaper reported his comments:
"Mr. Swift said that his client was a woman who had borne an excellent character. Critchley was unworthy of belief, being a convicted thief, and a woman who notoriously preferred another man to her husband, and Mrs. Mort was so nervous [when giving evidence] that she scarcely knew what she was telling." However, this time the magistrates were not taken in by Swift's antics and sent Mary Banks to prison for 14 days.
And knives were often used to resolve disputes as well – including by women. In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 18th Margaret McGovern was charged with attacking Rebecca Lewis. The 23-year-old from Mount Street, near Liverpool Road, had cut her foe in the head with a knife.
That was as a result of Mrs Lewis throwing a piece of brick at her mother and Mrs McGovern was committed for trial at the next assizes hearing in Liverpool. The headline to the report in the Liverpool Weekly Courier was "The Knife Again In St. Helens". However, later in the month at her trial Margaret McGovern was acquitted of the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath man that bit his cousin's ear off, the opening of new Billinge schools, smallpox breaks out in Parr, the two brothers that drowned in Sutton and the gigantic mirrors made and silvered in St Helens.
This week's many stories include the festivities to celebrate the wedding of a boss's son, a knife attack in Greenbank, the opening of St Helens public baths for the summer season, an attack on the noble selves of Wigan and the case of the Tontine Street ironmonger accused of fighting with a frying pan thief.
Workmen in St Helens must have always been pleased to hear that their boss's son was getting hitched.
That was because they were usually treated to festivities and a dinner to celebrate the occasion.
And so on the 14th when Josias Gamble, the son of ex-mayor David Gamble (pictured above) married Isabella Sanderson, five hundred workers at Gamble's chemical plant in Gerards Bridge enjoyed a celebration do at the Volunteer Hall.
The event took place in two parts with first a dinner for the men and then a dance. The Liverpool Mercury described how it went:
"The workmen sat down to dinner in the volunteer hall, and, after partaking of a sumptuous repast, were permitted to introduce their female relatives and friends, and carry-out a pre-arranged ball, which lasted till midnight. The company drank the health and happiness of the bride and bridegroom with great enthusiasm."
In the St Helens Newspaper on the 14th a short advert stated: "St. Helens Public Baths. – These baths are now open to the public for the season."
This was not a reference to Boundary Road baths, which were almost twenty years away.
The baths that existed in 1873 had been built by Andrew Kurtz twelve years before and were sited next to his chemical works.
Not many people used them and in 1865 the St Helens Standard newspaper wrote:
"The public do not appreciate the baths…[Bathing] has always been the luxury of rich and educated men and will be. Working men …seldom bathe and women scarcely ever."
And in 1868 the Newspaper reported that fewer that 500 people per week were using the baths, even in the heat of summer.
The Newspaper also discussed the recent Royal visit to Wigan in which the Prince and Princess of Wales (future King Edward VII) had opened the town's new infirmary.
The arrangements had some controversy attached to them. That was mainly because the council put on a special exhibition, which was open on a Sunday – much to the chagrin of some religious folk.
The paper reported how an unnamed St Helens gentleman had been asked to lend some of his artworks to the exhibition and had agreed they could borrow six.
However, he was shocked to find when visiting Wigan that sixty of his pictures valued at £10,000 (around £1½m in today’s money) were adorning the exhibition's walls.
The Newspaper wrote: "A complete raid having been made upon his house during his absence in London."
Commenting how a former mayor of Wigan had once proposed "the health of our noble selves", the Newspaper suggested that there appeared to be still selfish folk in Wigan that thought the only people to be considered were their noble selves.
Alderman John Marsh – the owner of Parr Alkali Works and former St Helens mayor – appeared to have been the gentleman art lover that had been surprised in Wigan.
William Walsh sounded quite fed up in court this week. The Tontine Street ironmonger was charged with committing a breach of the peace by fighting with an unknown man.
PC Bent said he had seen the defendant strike the man several times while in Bridge Street.
However, Walsh told the court that he had caught a shoplifter who had entered his premises while drunk and walked off with a frying pan.
He explained that he had chased after the thief and caught him in Bridge Street where he got his pan back.
Walsh claimed that he then pretended to take the man to the police station – but did not actually intend doing so.
Apparently Monday was then a busy day for ironmongery sales. That was the day of the court hearing and Walsh protested at having been kept waiting in court for four hours and away from his business "on one of the best days of the week".
He said many people would confirm his story and asked for an adjournment, saying he had only received his court summons three days before and did not have sufficient time to organise witnesses.
The case was subsequently adjourned for a week and when it returned to court would be dismissed.
Women then seemed to chuck out much dirty water or other liquid from their front door, their backyard or even through their windows using buckets or large mugs.
If a neighbour that they didn't get on with just happened to be in their line of fire, well it wasn't their fault, was it? Accidents will happen!
However, Margaret Colman did not think her drenching had been friendly fire, as the St Helens Newspaper described in their report of a case heard this week in the Petty Sessions:
"Mary Ann Underhill was charged with assaulting Margaret Colman. The complainant said that as she was going out from her house, dressed up in her best, defendant threw a mug of dirty water upon her, which ran all over her dress in streams, and obliged her to retreat into the house again and give herself a good shaking.
"She now produced the dress. Mr. Swift, for the defence, examined it with a powerful glass, to detect, if possible, some of the chemical compounds from the water, but the glass did not appear to reveal anything of the kind.
"The defence was that the throwing of the water was done without intention to give complainant a bath, and the collision a mere fortuitous circumstance. The bench dismissed the case, warning defendant to look in front of her mug whenever she emptied it in the future."
The aforementioned Mr Swift was Thomas Swift, the rudest solicitor in town – and probably the cleverest too.
His many rude interventions were legendary, but I think my favourite was when he told a policeman answering questions in court to "shut your noise".
Swift was also up to his old tricks in the next case in which Mary Banks was charged with stealing two tablecloths from Edward Banks' stall in St Helens market.
The two Banks were apparently unrelated but it was the two witnesses for the prosecution that Swift savaged.
Farmer's wife Ann Mort from Parr had her character so attacked that the boss of St Helens Police, James Ludlam, protested against his venom, saying the witness was a very respectable woman that he knew well.
Swift also accused Mrs Mort of being dishonest for secretly keeping his client under observation for a long time.
But his main criticism was levelled against Elizabeth Critchley. This is how the Newspaper reported his comments:
"Mr. Swift said that his client was a woman who had borne an excellent character. Critchley was unworthy of belief, being a convicted thief, and a woman who notoriously preferred another man to her husband, and Mrs. Mort was so nervous [when giving evidence] that she scarcely knew what she was telling."
However, this time the magistrates were not taken in by Swift's antics and sent Mary Banks to prison for 14 days.
The Liverpool Mercury wrote this on the 18th:
"On Monday, at Wigan, Daniel Welsby was charged with having assaulted his wife. It appeared that a few days ago he threw a knife at his wife, knocked her down, and “purred” her in true Wigan fashion. He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment."
Purring – the practice of kicking your victim in the head using clogs – was also a St Helens disease, mainly undertaken by miners during fights.
And knives were often used to resolve disputes as well – including by women. In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 18th Margaret McGovern was charged with attacking Rebecca Lewis.
The 23-year-old from Mount Street, near Liverpool Road, had cut her foe in the head with a knife.
That was as a result of Mrs Lewis throwing a piece of brick at her mother and Mrs McGovern was committed for trial at the next assizes hearing in Liverpool.
The headline to the report in the Liverpool Weekly Courier was "The Knife Again In St. Helens".
However, later in the month at her trial Margaret McGovern was acquitted of the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath man that bit his cousin's ear off, the opening of new Billinge schools, smallpox breaks out in Parr, the two brothers that drowned in Sutton and the gigantic mirrors made and silvered in St Helens.
Workmen in St Helens must have always been pleased to hear that their boss's son was getting hitched.
That was because they were usually treated to festivities and a dinner to celebrate the occasion.
The event took place in two parts with first a dinner for the men and then a dance. The Liverpool Mercury described how it went:
"The workmen sat down to dinner in the volunteer hall, and, after partaking of a sumptuous repast, were permitted to introduce their female relatives and friends, and carry-out a pre-arranged ball, which lasted till midnight. The company drank the health and happiness of the bride and bridegroom with great enthusiasm."
In the St Helens Newspaper on the 14th a short advert stated: "St. Helens Public Baths. – These baths are now open to the public for the season."
This was not a reference to Boundary Road baths, which were almost twenty years away.
The baths that existed in 1873 had been built by Andrew Kurtz twelve years before and were sited next to his chemical works.
Not many people used them and in 1865 the St Helens Standard newspaper wrote:
"The public do not appreciate the baths…[Bathing] has always been the luxury of rich and educated men and will be. Working men …seldom bathe and women scarcely ever."
And in 1868 the Newspaper reported that fewer that 500 people per week were using the baths, even in the heat of summer.
The Newspaper also discussed the recent Royal visit to Wigan in which the Prince and Princess of Wales (future King Edward VII) had opened the town's new infirmary.
The arrangements had some controversy attached to them. That was mainly because the council put on a special exhibition, which was open on a Sunday – much to the chagrin of some religious folk.
The paper reported how an unnamed St Helens gentleman had been asked to lend some of his artworks to the exhibition and had agreed they could borrow six.
However, he was shocked to find when visiting Wigan that sixty of his pictures valued at £10,000 (around £1½m in today’s money) were adorning the exhibition's walls.
The Newspaper wrote: "A complete raid having been made upon his house during his absence in London."
Commenting how a former mayor of Wigan had once proposed "the health of our noble selves", the Newspaper suggested that there appeared to be still selfish folk in Wigan that thought the only people to be considered were their noble selves.
Alderman John Marsh – the owner of Parr Alkali Works and former St Helens mayor – appeared to have been the gentleman art lover that had been surprised in Wigan.
William Walsh sounded quite fed up in court this week. The Tontine Street ironmonger was charged with committing a breach of the peace by fighting with an unknown man.
PC Bent said he had seen the defendant strike the man several times while in Bridge Street.
However, Walsh told the court that he had caught a shoplifter who had entered his premises while drunk and walked off with a frying pan.
He explained that he had chased after the thief and caught him in Bridge Street where he got his pan back.
Walsh claimed that he then pretended to take the man to the police station – but did not actually intend doing so.
Apparently Monday was then a busy day for ironmongery sales. That was the day of the court hearing and Walsh protested at having been kept waiting in court for four hours and away from his business "on one of the best days of the week".
He said many people would confirm his story and asked for an adjournment, saying he had only received his court summons three days before and did not have sufficient time to organise witnesses.
The case was subsequently adjourned for a week and when it returned to court would be dismissed.
Women then seemed to chuck out much dirty water or other liquid from their front door, their backyard or even through their windows using buckets or large mugs.
If a neighbour that they didn't get on with just happened to be in their line of fire, well it wasn't their fault, was it? Accidents will happen!
However, Margaret Colman did not think her drenching had been friendly fire, as the St Helens Newspaper described in their report of a case heard this week in the Petty Sessions:
"Mary Ann Underhill was charged with assaulting Margaret Colman. The complainant said that as she was going out from her house, dressed up in her best, defendant threw a mug of dirty water upon her, which ran all over her dress in streams, and obliged her to retreat into the house again and give herself a good shaking.
"She now produced the dress. Mr. Swift, for the defence, examined it with a powerful glass, to detect, if possible, some of the chemical compounds from the water, but the glass did not appear to reveal anything of the kind.
"The defence was that the throwing of the water was done without intention to give complainant a bath, and the collision a mere fortuitous circumstance. The bench dismissed the case, warning defendant to look in front of her mug whenever she emptied it in the future."
The aforementioned Mr Swift was Thomas Swift, the rudest solicitor in town – and probably the cleverest too.
His many rude interventions were legendary, but I think my favourite was when he told a policeman answering questions in court to "shut your noise".
Swift was also up to his old tricks in the next case in which Mary Banks was charged with stealing two tablecloths from Edward Banks' stall in St Helens market.
The two Banks were apparently unrelated but it was the two witnesses for the prosecution that Swift savaged.
Farmer's wife Ann Mort from Parr had her character so attacked that the boss of St Helens Police, James Ludlam, protested against his venom, saying the witness was a very respectable woman that he knew well.
Swift also accused Mrs Mort of being dishonest for secretly keeping his client under observation for a long time.
But his main criticism was levelled against Elizabeth Critchley. This is how the Newspaper reported his comments:
"Mr. Swift said that his client was a woman who had borne an excellent character. Critchley was unworthy of belief, being a convicted thief, and a woman who notoriously preferred another man to her husband, and Mrs. Mort was so nervous [when giving evidence] that she scarcely knew what she was telling."
However, this time the magistrates were not taken in by Swift's antics and sent Mary Banks to prison for 14 days.
"On Monday, at Wigan, Daniel Welsby was charged with having assaulted his wife. It appeared that a few days ago he threw a knife at his wife, knocked her down, and “purred” her in true Wigan fashion. He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment."
Purring – the practice of kicking your victim in the head using clogs – was also a St Helens disease, mainly undertaken by miners during fights.
And knives were often used to resolve disputes as well – including by women. In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 18th Margaret McGovern was charged with attacking Rebecca Lewis.
The 23-year-old from Mount Street, near Liverpool Road, had cut her foe in the head with a knife.
That was as a result of Mrs Lewis throwing a piece of brick at her mother and Mrs McGovern was committed for trial at the next assizes hearing in Liverpool.
The headline to the report in the Liverpool Weekly Courier was "The Knife Again In St. Helens".
However, later in the month at her trial Margaret McGovern was acquitted of the charge.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath man that bit his cousin's ear off, the opening of new Billinge schools, smallpox breaks out in Parr, the two brothers that drowned in Sutton and the gigantic mirrors made and silvered in St Helens.