150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (12th - 18th OCTOBER 1870)
This week's stories include an act of bravery in a Greenbank chemical works, the thumbless Sutton glass polisher, the drunken cart drivers of Knowsley, the Bible liars infesting St Helens and the struggle for a hat in College Street that led to threats in court.
We begin on the 12th when a young man was killed and four other workers injured as a result of an accident at a Greenbank chemical works. That was the mainly Irish district around Liverpool Road. James Thompson was aged eighteen and had been working with the other men cleaning out a well when the group were struck down by gas. The St Helens Newspaper reported that Thompson's "blackened and swollen remains" were taken to his home that same night awaiting an inquest.
That took place at the George and Dragon in Bold Street in which John Toland of Havelock Street was praised for his bravery by the coroner – or as he put it, "you proved yourself a plucky fellow". The man had volunteered to descend down the well with a chain fastened round him, and at great risk to his own life had brought to safety the four survivors, as well as the body of Thompson.
On the 18th a letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper criticising the "bible-liars", who the correspondent claimed "almost infest the town, bristling with as much skill and piety as the locusts of South America." Essentially the anonymous individual was accusing these preachers of perverting the Bible through the construction of false meanings.
The school at Cowley was then in North Road and known as Cowley British Schools – although it was nicknamed "Lacey's" (pictured above). That was after the longstanding head called Newton Lacey – Central Modern, incidentally, would later be built on the same site. Lacey had been headmaster (or manager) at Cowley since 1846 but had to resign in 1875 when a rule was introduced that all teachers had to be qualified.
For the last few weeks Lacey had been directing his boys to collect funds for the sick and wounded of the Franco-Prussian war. The deadly conflict had begun in July and would last until January 1871, with around 180,000 deaths in total – a third of them from sickness. The Cowley aid of £7 6s would go towards the victims, although some might say there was plenty of suffering on the boys own doorsteps for the school to assist.
The Prescot Petty Sessions were held on the 18th in which James Tierney was fined 10s 6d, including costs, for being – as the St Helens Newspaper put it – "obstreperous in his cups in the streets of Prescot". Translated, that, apparently, means Tierney had been a disorderly drunk.
There was no flowery language in Mary Swift's case. The woman was simply charged with being drunk in Prescot Market Place and the Newspaper related the testimony of Superintendent Fowler, who was in charge of Prescot Police: "On the occasion in question she was in a dreadful state of intoxication, her clothes were thoroughly saturated with rain, and she was altogether in such a bad state that he thought, at one time, she was dying." This was Mary Swift's third appearance in court charged with being drunk and she was fined 5s and costs.
A collision between a wandering horse and a pony and trap was also described in court. The accident had taken place near Knowsley and it led to Thomas Swift being charged with neglecting to take care of his horse on the public road. A policeman told the Bench how he had seen the horse and cart on the street without anyone in charge. As he was looking around, a trap carrying a woman and a boy suddenly drove up.
The officer said he next heard a crash and saw the two occupants of the trap sprawling on the road after the vehicle's shafts had been smashed through colliding with the cart. It took a further forty-five minutes before the carter Thomas Swift appeared on the scene. He was seemingly under the influence of drink and was fined 10s 6d for his negligence.
Drunken carters returning home after stopping off at the pub were quite a problem for the police – especially at night, with many falling asleep or being incapable of driving their rigs. Edward Valentine was charged in the Prescot Petty Sessions with being drunk and not taking care of a two-horse cart. A police officer told the magistrates that he had come across Valentine near Knowsley and found him quite unable to control the horses.
So he had taken the trouble to lead the nags towards the farm of Valentine's employer, with the carter sat on top. But when they got close to the farm, the defendant threw himself to the ground and rolled about, refusing to go any further. Mr Johnson – the farmer – had sent in a letter complaining about the policeman's conduct but the magistrates gave him short shrift. They said the officer had done a very proper thing in taking care of the horses and they were sorry to see an employer taking the part of a drunken servant, who the Bench fined 12 shillings.
James Hayes was charged in the Sessions with deserting his wife and two children, with Superintendent Fowler branding him "one of the laziest fellows in Lancashire", who preferred to "loaf about" than do any work. The young man had made his position on employment very clear indeed. Hayes had told a constable that he "could live without working, that he did not see the use of working, that he did not want to work, and that he would not work." The Bench was unimpressed with that evidence and sentenced Hayes to a month's hard labour. And hard labour in those days really was hard. He was also warned that if he did not support his wife and children in future he would be returned to gaol.
In St Helens County Court on the 18th, William Chisnall brought an action against Robert Leyland from Crab Street and a man called James Meadowcroft. Chisnall lived with his sister, who was the landlady of the Greyhound Inn in College Street. Three months earlier Chisnall had been returning home and upon approaching the gate to the pub's yard, Leyland came up to him and playfully took off the man's hat. What was described as a harmless struggle for possession of the hat ensued. But then James Meadowcroft appeared and tripped Chisnall up and as he fell he fractured his right arm.
The young man was employed in a coalmine and earned £1 1 shilling a week but the broken arm meant he had not been able to work for several weeks. The plaintiff was claiming damages for the injury and for the cost of his hat as it was now unfit to wear after being knocked several times against the gate. The judge awarded damages of £8, payable at £1 per month. That was a lot of money and it infuriated Leyland, who had played a lesser role in the assault. In front of the judge Leyland shouted: "I'll never pay a farthing of it. I'll pay him off [in] another way, though." As a result of making the threat the judge ordered that he be taken into custody, although for just how long was not stated.
The Sutton Glass Works had recently been expanding its operations in what would become known as Lancots Lane. New machinery had been installed and in Victorian times – and even during part of the 20th century – minimal attention was paid to the operators' health and safety. There was little training in the use of the machines and few safety precautions. As a consequence I have read numerous newspaper reports of machine operators being "whirled" to their death or losing limbs.
So in one sense Thomas Sephton was fortunate to only lose his thumbs. The Newspaper said they had both been "almost literally crushed off" by a machine at the plant and had been so "completely smashed" that they needed to be amputated. However the 1871 census reveals that Sephton had returned to his job as a glass polisher and was unlikely to have received any compensation.
Next week's stories will include the 15-year-old Thatto Heath girl who claimed a publican got her pregnant, Pilkingtons hard-line attitude to strikers, a woman claims sexual assault by a Prescot policeman and the old offenders given harsh prison terms.
We begin on the 12th when a young man was killed and four other workers injured as a result of an accident at a Greenbank chemical works. That was the mainly Irish district around Liverpool Road. James Thompson was aged eighteen and had been working with the other men cleaning out a well when the group were struck down by gas. The St Helens Newspaper reported that Thompson's "blackened and swollen remains" were taken to his home that same night awaiting an inquest.
That took place at the George and Dragon in Bold Street in which John Toland of Havelock Street was praised for his bravery by the coroner – or as he put it, "you proved yourself a plucky fellow". The man had volunteered to descend down the well with a chain fastened round him, and at great risk to his own life had brought to safety the four survivors, as well as the body of Thompson.
On the 18th a letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper criticising the "bible-liars", who the correspondent claimed "almost infest the town, bristling with as much skill and piety as the locusts of South America." Essentially the anonymous individual was accusing these preachers of perverting the Bible through the construction of false meanings.
For the last few weeks Lacey had been directing his boys to collect funds for the sick and wounded of the Franco-Prussian war. The deadly conflict had begun in July and would last until January 1871, with around 180,000 deaths in total – a third of them from sickness. The Cowley aid of £7 6s would go towards the victims, although some might say there was plenty of suffering on the boys own doorsteps for the school to assist.
The Prescot Petty Sessions were held on the 18th in which James Tierney was fined 10s 6d, including costs, for being – as the St Helens Newspaper put it – "obstreperous in his cups in the streets of Prescot". Translated, that, apparently, means Tierney had been a disorderly drunk.
There was no flowery language in Mary Swift's case. The woman was simply charged with being drunk in Prescot Market Place and the Newspaper related the testimony of Superintendent Fowler, who was in charge of Prescot Police: "On the occasion in question she was in a dreadful state of intoxication, her clothes were thoroughly saturated with rain, and she was altogether in such a bad state that he thought, at one time, she was dying." This was Mary Swift's third appearance in court charged with being drunk and she was fined 5s and costs.
A collision between a wandering horse and a pony and trap was also described in court. The accident had taken place near Knowsley and it led to Thomas Swift being charged with neglecting to take care of his horse on the public road. A policeman told the Bench how he had seen the horse and cart on the street without anyone in charge. As he was looking around, a trap carrying a woman and a boy suddenly drove up.
The officer said he next heard a crash and saw the two occupants of the trap sprawling on the road after the vehicle's shafts had been smashed through colliding with the cart. It took a further forty-five minutes before the carter Thomas Swift appeared on the scene. He was seemingly under the influence of drink and was fined 10s 6d for his negligence.
Drunken carters returning home after stopping off at the pub were quite a problem for the police – especially at night, with many falling asleep or being incapable of driving their rigs. Edward Valentine was charged in the Prescot Petty Sessions with being drunk and not taking care of a two-horse cart. A police officer told the magistrates that he had come across Valentine near Knowsley and found him quite unable to control the horses.
So he had taken the trouble to lead the nags towards the farm of Valentine's employer, with the carter sat on top. But when they got close to the farm, the defendant threw himself to the ground and rolled about, refusing to go any further. Mr Johnson – the farmer – had sent in a letter complaining about the policeman's conduct but the magistrates gave him short shrift. They said the officer had done a very proper thing in taking care of the horses and they were sorry to see an employer taking the part of a drunken servant, who the Bench fined 12 shillings.
James Hayes was charged in the Sessions with deserting his wife and two children, with Superintendent Fowler branding him "one of the laziest fellows in Lancashire", who preferred to "loaf about" than do any work. The young man had made his position on employment very clear indeed. Hayes had told a constable that he "could live without working, that he did not see the use of working, that he did not want to work, and that he would not work." The Bench was unimpressed with that evidence and sentenced Hayes to a month's hard labour. And hard labour in those days really was hard. He was also warned that if he did not support his wife and children in future he would be returned to gaol.
In St Helens County Court on the 18th, William Chisnall brought an action against Robert Leyland from Crab Street and a man called James Meadowcroft. Chisnall lived with his sister, who was the landlady of the Greyhound Inn in College Street. Three months earlier Chisnall had been returning home and upon approaching the gate to the pub's yard, Leyland came up to him and playfully took off the man's hat. What was described as a harmless struggle for possession of the hat ensued. But then James Meadowcroft appeared and tripped Chisnall up and as he fell he fractured his right arm.
The young man was employed in a coalmine and earned £1 1 shilling a week but the broken arm meant he had not been able to work for several weeks. The plaintiff was claiming damages for the injury and for the cost of his hat as it was now unfit to wear after being knocked several times against the gate. The judge awarded damages of £8, payable at £1 per month. That was a lot of money and it infuriated Leyland, who had played a lesser role in the assault. In front of the judge Leyland shouted: "I'll never pay a farthing of it. I'll pay him off [in] another way, though." As a result of making the threat the judge ordered that he be taken into custody, although for just how long was not stated.
The Sutton Glass Works had recently been expanding its operations in what would become known as Lancots Lane. New machinery had been installed and in Victorian times – and even during part of the 20th century – minimal attention was paid to the operators' health and safety. There was little training in the use of the machines and few safety precautions. As a consequence I have read numerous newspaper reports of machine operators being "whirled" to their death or losing limbs.
So in one sense Thomas Sephton was fortunate to only lose his thumbs. The Newspaper said they had both been "almost literally crushed off" by a machine at the plant and had been so "completely smashed" that they needed to be amputated. However the 1871 census reveals that Sephton had returned to his job as a glass polisher and was unlikely to have received any compensation.
Next week's stories will include the 15-year-old Thatto Heath girl who claimed a publican got her pregnant, Pilkingtons hard-line attitude to strikers, a woman claims sexual assault by a Prescot policeman and the old offenders given harsh prison terms.
This week's stories include an act of bravery in a Greenbank chemical works, the thumbless Sutton glass polisher, the drunken cart drivers of Knowsley, the Bible liars infesting St Helens and the struggle for a hat in College Street that led to threats in court.
We begin on the 12th when a young man was killed and four other workers injured as a result of an accident at a Greenbank chemical works.
That was the mainly Irish district around Liverpool Road. James Thompson was aged eighteen and had been working with the other men cleaning out a well when the group were struck down by gas.
The St Helens Newspaper reported that Thompson's "blackened and swollen remains" were taken to his home that same night awaiting an inquest.
That took place at the George and Dragon in Bold Street in which John Toland of Havelock Street was praised for his bravery by the coroner – or as he put it, "you proved yourself a plucky fellow".
The man had volunteered to descend down the well with a chain fastened round him, and at great risk to his own life had brought to safety the four survivors, as well as the body of Thompson.
On the 18th a letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper criticising the "bible-liars", who the correspondent claimed "almost infest the town, bristling with as much skill and piety as the locusts of South America."
Essentially the anonymous individual was accusing these preachers of perverting the Bible through the construction of false meanings.
The school at Cowley was then in North Road and known as Cowley British Schools – although it was nicknamed "Lacey's" (pictured above).
That was after the longstanding head called Newton Lacey – Central Modern, incidentally, would later be built on the same site.
Lacey had been headmaster (or manager) at Cowley since 1846 but had to resign in 1875 when a rule was introduced that all teachers had to be qualified.
For the last few weeks Lacey had been directing his boys to collect funds for the sick and wounded of the Franco-Prussian war.
The deadly conflict had begun in July and would last until January 1871, with around 180,000 deaths in total – a third of them from sickness.
The Cowley aid of £7 6s would go towards the victims, although some might say there was plenty of suffering on the boys own doorsteps for the school to assist.
The Prescot Petty Sessions were held on the 18th in which James Tierney was fined 10s 6d, including costs, for being – as the St Helens Newspaper put it – "obstreperous in his cups in the streets of Prescot".
Translated, that, apparently, means Tierney had been a disorderly drunk. There was no flowery language in Mary Swift's case.
The woman was simply charged with being drunk in Prescot Market Place and the Newspaper related the testimony of Superintendent Fowler, who was in charge of Prescot Police:
"On the occasion in question she was in a dreadful state of intoxication, her clothes were thoroughly saturated with rain, and she was altogether in such a bad state that he thought, at one time, she was dying."
This was Mary Swift's third appearance in court charged with being drunk and she was fined 5s and costs.
A collision between a wandering horse and a pony and trap was also described in court.
The accident had taken place near Knowsley and it led to Thomas Swift being charged with neglecting to take care of his horse on the public road.
A policeman told the Bench how he had seen the horse and cart on the street without anyone in charge.
As he was looking around, a trap carrying a woman and a boy suddenly drove up.
The officer said he next heard a crash and saw the two occupants of the trap sprawling on the road after the vehicle's shafts had been smashed through colliding with the cart.
It took a further forty-five minutes before the carter Thomas Swift appeared on the scene.
He was seemingly under the influence of drink and was fined 10s 6d for his negligence.
Drunken carters returning home after stopping off at the pub were quite a problem for the police – especially at night, with many falling asleep or being incapable of driving their rigs.
Edward Valentine was charged in the Prescot Petty Sessions with being drunk and not taking care of a two-horse cart.
A police officer told the magistrates that he had come across Valentine near Knowsley and found him quite unable to control the horses.
So he had taken the trouble to lead the nags towards the farm of Valentine's employer, with the carter sat on top.
But when they got close to the farm, the defendant threw himself to the ground and rolled about, refusing to go any further.
Mr Johnson – the farmer – had sent in a letter complaining about the policeman's conduct but the magistrates gave him short shrift.
They said the officer had done a very proper thing in taking care of the horses and they were sorry to see an employer taking the part of a drunken servant, who the Bench fined 12 shillings.
James Hayes was charged in the Sessions with deserting his wife and two children, with Superintendent Fowler branding him "one of the laziest fellows in Lancashire", who preferred to "loaf about" than do any work.
The young man had made his position on employment very clear indeed.
Hayes had told a constable that he "could live without working, that he did not see the use of working, that he did not want to work, and that he would not work."
The Bench was unimpressed with that evidence and sentenced Hayes to a month's hard labour.
And hard labour in those days really was hard. He was also warned that if he did not support his wife and children in future he would be returned to gaol.
In St Helens County Court on the 18th, William Chisnall brought an action against Robert Leyland from Crab Street and a man called James Meadowcroft.
Chisnall lived with his sister, who was the landlady of the Greyhound Inn in College Street.
Three months earlier Chisnall had been returning home and upon approaching the gate to the pub's yard,
Leyland came up to him and playfully took off the man's hat. What was described as a harmless struggle for possession of the hat ensued.
But then James Meadowcroft appeared and tripped Chisnall up and as he fell he fractured his right arm.
The young man was employed in a coalmine and earned £1 1 shilling a week but the broken arm meant he had not been able to work for several weeks.
The plaintiff was claiming damages for the injury and for the cost of his hat as it was now unfit to wear after being knocked several times against the gate.
The judge awarded damages of £8, payable at £1 per month. That was a lot of money and it infuriated Leyland, who had played a lesser role in the assault.
In front of the judge Leyland shouted: "I'll never pay a farthing of it. I'll pay him off [in] another way, though."
As a result of making the threat the judge ordered that he be taken into custody, although for just how long was not stated.
The Sutton Glass Works had recently been expanding its operations in what would become known as Lancots Lane.
New machinery had been installed and in Victorian times – and even during part of the 20th century – minimal attention was paid to the operators' health and safety.
There was little training in the use of the machines and few safety precautions.
As a consequence I have read numerous newspaper reports of machine operators being "whirled" to their death or losing limbs.
So in one sense Thomas Sephton was fortunate to only lose his thumbs.
The Newspaper said they had both been "almost literally crushed off" by a machine at the plant and had been so "completely smashed" that they needed to be amputated.
However the 1871 census reveals that Sephton had returned to his job as a glass polisher and was unlikely to have received any compensation.
Next week's stories will include the 15-year-old Thatto Heath girl who claimed a publican got her pregnant, Pilkingtons hard-line attitude to strikers, a woman claims sexual assault by a Prescot policeman and the old offenders given harsh prison terms.
We begin on the 12th when a young man was killed and four other workers injured as a result of an accident at a Greenbank chemical works.
That was the mainly Irish district around Liverpool Road. James Thompson was aged eighteen and had been working with the other men cleaning out a well when the group were struck down by gas.
The St Helens Newspaper reported that Thompson's "blackened and swollen remains" were taken to his home that same night awaiting an inquest.
That took place at the George and Dragon in Bold Street in which John Toland of Havelock Street was praised for his bravery by the coroner – or as he put it, "you proved yourself a plucky fellow".
The man had volunteered to descend down the well with a chain fastened round him, and at great risk to his own life had brought to safety the four survivors, as well as the body of Thompson.
On the 18th a letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper criticising the "bible-liars", who the correspondent claimed "almost infest the town, bristling with as much skill and piety as the locusts of South America."
Essentially the anonymous individual was accusing these preachers of perverting the Bible through the construction of false meanings.
That was after the longstanding head called Newton Lacey – Central Modern, incidentally, would later be built on the same site.
Lacey had been headmaster (or manager) at Cowley since 1846 but had to resign in 1875 when a rule was introduced that all teachers had to be qualified.
For the last few weeks Lacey had been directing his boys to collect funds for the sick and wounded of the Franco-Prussian war.
The deadly conflict had begun in July and would last until January 1871, with around 180,000 deaths in total – a third of them from sickness.
The Cowley aid of £7 6s would go towards the victims, although some might say there was plenty of suffering on the boys own doorsteps for the school to assist.
The Prescot Petty Sessions were held on the 18th in which James Tierney was fined 10s 6d, including costs, for being – as the St Helens Newspaper put it – "obstreperous in his cups in the streets of Prescot".
Translated, that, apparently, means Tierney had been a disorderly drunk. There was no flowery language in Mary Swift's case.
The woman was simply charged with being drunk in Prescot Market Place and the Newspaper related the testimony of Superintendent Fowler, who was in charge of Prescot Police:
"On the occasion in question she was in a dreadful state of intoxication, her clothes were thoroughly saturated with rain, and she was altogether in such a bad state that he thought, at one time, she was dying."
This was Mary Swift's third appearance in court charged with being drunk and she was fined 5s and costs.
A collision between a wandering horse and a pony and trap was also described in court.
The accident had taken place near Knowsley and it led to Thomas Swift being charged with neglecting to take care of his horse on the public road.
A policeman told the Bench how he had seen the horse and cart on the street without anyone in charge.
As he was looking around, a trap carrying a woman and a boy suddenly drove up.
The officer said he next heard a crash and saw the two occupants of the trap sprawling on the road after the vehicle's shafts had been smashed through colliding with the cart.
It took a further forty-five minutes before the carter Thomas Swift appeared on the scene.
He was seemingly under the influence of drink and was fined 10s 6d for his negligence.
Drunken carters returning home after stopping off at the pub were quite a problem for the police – especially at night, with many falling asleep or being incapable of driving their rigs.
Edward Valentine was charged in the Prescot Petty Sessions with being drunk and not taking care of a two-horse cart.
A police officer told the magistrates that he had come across Valentine near Knowsley and found him quite unable to control the horses.
So he had taken the trouble to lead the nags towards the farm of Valentine's employer, with the carter sat on top.
But when they got close to the farm, the defendant threw himself to the ground and rolled about, refusing to go any further.
Mr Johnson – the farmer – had sent in a letter complaining about the policeman's conduct but the magistrates gave him short shrift.
They said the officer had done a very proper thing in taking care of the horses and they were sorry to see an employer taking the part of a drunken servant, who the Bench fined 12 shillings.
James Hayes was charged in the Sessions with deserting his wife and two children, with Superintendent Fowler branding him "one of the laziest fellows in Lancashire", who preferred to "loaf about" than do any work.
The young man had made his position on employment very clear indeed.
Hayes had told a constable that he "could live without working, that he did not see the use of working, that he did not want to work, and that he would not work."
The Bench was unimpressed with that evidence and sentenced Hayes to a month's hard labour.
And hard labour in those days really was hard. He was also warned that if he did not support his wife and children in future he would be returned to gaol.
In St Helens County Court on the 18th, William Chisnall brought an action against Robert Leyland from Crab Street and a man called James Meadowcroft.
Chisnall lived with his sister, who was the landlady of the Greyhound Inn in College Street.
Three months earlier Chisnall had been returning home and upon approaching the gate to the pub's yard,
Leyland came up to him and playfully took off the man's hat. What was described as a harmless struggle for possession of the hat ensued.
But then James Meadowcroft appeared and tripped Chisnall up and as he fell he fractured his right arm.
The young man was employed in a coalmine and earned £1 1 shilling a week but the broken arm meant he had not been able to work for several weeks.
The plaintiff was claiming damages for the injury and for the cost of his hat as it was now unfit to wear after being knocked several times against the gate.
The judge awarded damages of £8, payable at £1 per month. That was a lot of money and it infuriated Leyland, who had played a lesser role in the assault.
In front of the judge Leyland shouted: "I'll never pay a farthing of it. I'll pay him off [in] another way, though."
As a result of making the threat the judge ordered that he be taken into custody, although for just how long was not stated.
The Sutton Glass Works had recently been expanding its operations in what would become known as Lancots Lane.
New machinery had been installed and in Victorian times – and even during part of the 20th century – minimal attention was paid to the operators' health and safety.
There was little training in the use of the machines and few safety precautions.
As a consequence I have read numerous newspaper reports of machine operators being "whirled" to their death or losing limbs.
So in one sense Thomas Sephton was fortunate to only lose his thumbs.
The Newspaper said they had both been "almost literally crushed off" by a machine at the plant and had been so "completely smashed" that they needed to be amputated.
However the 1871 census reveals that Sephton had returned to his job as a glass polisher and was unlikely to have received any compensation.
Next week's stories will include the 15-year-old Thatto Heath girl who claimed a publican got her pregnant, Pilkingtons hard-line attitude to strikers, a woman claims sexual assault by a Prescot policeman and the old offenders given harsh prison terms.