150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (14th - 20th JUNE 1871)
This week's stories include the man accused of burning down St Helens Town Hall, the boys soundly whipped for throwing stones, a claim that the town of Prescot was dying, the Haydock Mission School treat, Newton Races takes place and the curious Ormskirk Street mask dispute between a doctor and a carriage maker.
A century ago there was considerable concern over the deaths that the rising number of motor vehicles were causing on the streets of St Helens – particularly to children. However horse-driven carriages in the 1870s could be almost as dangerous – particularly to young kids. On the 14th Henry Sixsmith of Mill Lane in Ashton-in-Makerfield ran into the road and was knocked down.
The three-year-old was run over and killed by Edward Bankes who was returning home in his trap after attending the first day of Newton races. The 3-day event was the highlight of the year for many and special trains were always put on from St Helens that stopped to collect Sutton passengers at Peasley Cross, Sutton Oak and St Helens Junction stations.
A few weeks ago I wrote how people in the past could be incredibly casual about medicines and poisons. These were often kept in wrongly-labelled bottles – which could have fatal consequences. The inquest into the death of John Alderson took place on the 17th. The 54-year-old has been the managing clerk to Harold Pilkington, the young St Helens Town Clerk. Alderson had died after taking carbolic acid but, instead of the usual assumption of suicide, it was believed he had drunk the liquid by mistake.
The deceased was taking medicine for indigestion and on the mantelpiece of his office a bottle and a wine glass containing the carbolic were discovered – with the indigestion medicine stored inside a cupboard. Mr Alderson had also told someone in the house that he had drunk something that he ought not to and had tried to obtained medical help. He came from the Stockton district and the North Eastern Daily Gazette wrote: "Deceased immediately ran to a surgeon's house, who was not at home, and then to another's, where his legs failed, and he fell down in the doorway. Being removed into the surgery, he immediately expired."
The Wigan Observer on the 17th wrote: "HAYDOCK MISSION SCHOOL – The teachers and scholars of the above school had their annual treat in a large field near the schoolroom. "A tent was erected, and bats, balls, &c, supplied for games. After the teachers and scholars had well tired themselves they sat down to an excellent tea, provided for them by Miss Evans. The day’s proceedings were enlivened by a selection of music given by the school choir, and by speeches from the Rev. R. Harrison, Mouthall, the missionary, and others. A hearty vote of thanks was tendered to Miss Evans, whose liberality had spared no expense to make the day happy."
Since its creation in 1868, St Helens Corporation had been taking over and abolishing toll bars from what were known as turnpike trusts and agreeing to pay for the maintenance of the roads itself. However the town boundaries were then limited – which reduced the scope of what they could do to get rid off all the unpopular road tolls. The Government had signalled some time ago that tolls should end and this week it was confirmed that the tollbars on the road between Liverpool, Prescot, St Helens, Ashton and Warrington would be discontinued on November 1st.
The Home Secretary's decision had come in spite of strong lobbying from the Prescot Highway Board and the local turnpike trust managers who wanted to continue operations for another year. Their behaviour led to a stinging editorial from the outspoken St Helens Newspaper on the 17th in which they said the Prescot authorities needed to learn that free trade was a "blessing to communities as well as individuals", before adding:
"Prescot has been gradually dying under the incubus of protective influences. How could it expect any other result, seeing that it is hemmed in on all sides by Tory landlords, who abhor manufactories near their palatial residences, and that every avenue leading to it is closed to enterprise and free commerce, by a Cerberus in the shape of a toll collector." For those not great on Greek mythology (which includes myself!), Cerberus is more commonly known as the hound of Hades – the multi-headed dog that guards the gates to the Underworld. Although I don't think the Newspaper was suggesting that the toll collectors at Prescot had more than one head!
At the St Helens Petty Session on the 19th, there was a curious case involving John Christian, the owner of St Helens Carriage Works. As well as horse-driven vehicles, Christian built bicycles and tricycles (for adults) – although not as we know them! It had only been in April 1869 that the St Helens Newspaper had dubbed the new-fangled bicycles "curious vehicles". When Christian gave a demonstration of his new bike at the Volunteer Hall, the Newspaper wrote that he'd: "…worked the machine with considerable skill. Many of the gentlemen present tried to follow his example, but invariably came to grief, to the amusement of the others."
According to the 1871 census, John Christian employed five men and seven boys at his carriage works at 25 Ormskirk Street. The 33-year-old also lived on the premises with his wife Sarah and their two-year-old son John. Next door at number 23 was the residence and practice of the physician and surgeon Dr Hugh Dorman. I think I would quite like to have a doctor living next door – so I could keep nipping round with my aches and pains! But the carriage maker and the physician had fallen out – all seemingly for the silliest of reasons.
At the age of 27, Dr Dorman was little more than a kid himself and he had played a silly prank on John Christian Jnr. While the little boy had been playing out back, the physician had put on a mask and looked out of his window at the boy. The two-year-old was reported as having been "grievously frightened" and a row had ensued between the adults.
That had led to John Christian being convicted of a breach of the peace and so the carriage / bike maker now wanted his legal revenge. So he brought an action against Dr Dorman in the Petty Sessions in which he accused his neighbour of provoking him into committing the breach. As a result the mischievous doctor with a scary mask was ordered to find sureties to keep the peace for six months.
Thomas May also appeared in the Sessions charged with wilfully setting fire to St Helens Town Hall on May 6th. Yes, the burning down of the civic centre in New Market Place had been arson – or had it? This is how the Wigan Observer reported the case: "It appeared from the evidence given that the accused, who seemed to be slightly deranged, was in the habit of visiting the town hall on Saturdays, when he had the building all to himself.
"On the date of the fire he was seen in the building shortly before the flames were discovered, but as he was not known he escaped for the time. Last Saturday he was again observed on the premises, and arrested. In his pocket the police found a memorandum book, containing this entry: “The form in the town hall. Town hall, set it on fire.” He was remanded for a week."
After seven more days in police custody, no further evidence was obtained against Thomas May and so upon his return to court the man was discharged. However the St Helens Newspaper in their report implied that there was still strong suspicion that the young man had been an "incendiary" – we, of course, would say arsonist. They wrote: "The depositions having been read over, the prisoner was discharged. At the request of Mr. Swift [May’s solicitor] the magistrates called his father forward, and warned him to keep a vigilant watch upon the conduct of his son."
Talking of Thomas Swift, the outspoken St Helens lawyer tried to weasel himself out of his tricky predicament this week. To recap, he had accused magistrate John Bibby of "manifesting a strong prejudice" against him over a long period to the detriment of his clients. That had outraged the owner of Ravenhead Copper Works and so he had initiated a criminal slander suit. To try and extricate himself from his situation, Swift told Mr Bibby in the courtroom that when he had accused him of prejudice he had "never meant it to be understood that such a feeling was known to Mr. Bibby himself".
Essentially he was claiming unconscious bias – as we might call it – adding, "I wish to say that I greatly regret having been misled by Mr. Bibby's manner into saying that which might be regarded as an imputation I never dreamt of or intended." Not exactly an unreserved apology and Bibby was having none of it, saying that the explanation only came after proceedings had been brought. "If it been done at once it would have been a different matter", he said, adding the suit had been urged upon him by his fellow magistrates, who considered that they had been grossly insulted through him. So the slander suit continued.
Also at the Sessions, Bibby and his fellow magistrates committed Thomas Shuttleworth for trial at the Liverpool Assizes at Kirkdale. That was after hearing that the 25-year-old miner from Old Lane in Rainford had been accused of stealing a shawl and a pair of stockings, seemingly from his father's house. The man had a long criminal record and at the Assizes received a long prison sentence – seven years.
The Prescot Petty Sessions took place on the 20th with Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Hornby in the chair. Last year in describing how he had ordered five youths to be "well whipped" for stealing apples from a wealthy man's garden, I wrote: "I expect the discipline was pretty strict in the days when Hornby had been a Royal Navy captain." Well, the retired rear-admiral was at it again this week and told James Colquitt, James Bromilow and William Bromilow that they were going to be "soundly whipped" for throwing stones at the windows of Prescot Grammar School.
Next week's stories will include the brutal wife-beater who received his comeuppance, the violent Looneys of Smithy Brow, the tardy Whiston Workhouse pauper who was sent to prison, the death of a Waterloo veteran and the diseased pig carcass in Warrington Road.
A century ago there was considerable concern over the deaths that the rising number of motor vehicles were causing on the streets of St Helens – particularly to children. However horse-driven carriages in the 1870s could be almost as dangerous – particularly to young kids. On the 14th Henry Sixsmith of Mill Lane in Ashton-in-Makerfield ran into the road and was knocked down.
The three-year-old was run over and killed by Edward Bankes who was returning home in his trap after attending the first day of Newton races. The 3-day event was the highlight of the year for many and special trains were always put on from St Helens that stopped to collect Sutton passengers at Peasley Cross, Sutton Oak and St Helens Junction stations.
A few weeks ago I wrote how people in the past could be incredibly casual about medicines and poisons. These were often kept in wrongly-labelled bottles – which could have fatal consequences. The inquest into the death of John Alderson took place on the 17th. The 54-year-old has been the managing clerk to Harold Pilkington, the young St Helens Town Clerk. Alderson had died after taking carbolic acid but, instead of the usual assumption of suicide, it was believed he had drunk the liquid by mistake.
The deceased was taking medicine for indigestion and on the mantelpiece of his office a bottle and a wine glass containing the carbolic were discovered – with the indigestion medicine stored inside a cupboard. Mr Alderson had also told someone in the house that he had drunk something that he ought not to and had tried to obtained medical help. He came from the Stockton district and the North Eastern Daily Gazette wrote: "Deceased immediately ran to a surgeon's house, who was not at home, and then to another's, where his legs failed, and he fell down in the doorway. Being removed into the surgery, he immediately expired."
The Wigan Observer on the 17th wrote: "HAYDOCK MISSION SCHOOL – The teachers and scholars of the above school had their annual treat in a large field near the schoolroom. "A tent was erected, and bats, balls, &c, supplied for games. After the teachers and scholars had well tired themselves they sat down to an excellent tea, provided for them by Miss Evans. The day’s proceedings were enlivened by a selection of music given by the school choir, and by speeches from the Rev. R. Harrison, Mouthall, the missionary, and others. A hearty vote of thanks was tendered to Miss Evans, whose liberality had spared no expense to make the day happy."
Since its creation in 1868, St Helens Corporation had been taking over and abolishing toll bars from what were known as turnpike trusts and agreeing to pay for the maintenance of the roads itself. However the town boundaries were then limited – which reduced the scope of what they could do to get rid off all the unpopular road tolls. The Government had signalled some time ago that tolls should end and this week it was confirmed that the tollbars on the road between Liverpool, Prescot, St Helens, Ashton and Warrington would be discontinued on November 1st.
The Home Secretary's decision had come in spite of strong lobbying from the Prescot Highway Board and the local turnpike trust managers who wanted to continue operations for another year. Their behaviour led to a stinging editorial from the outspoken St Helens Newspaper on the 17th in which they said the Prescot authorities needed to learn that free trade was a "blessing to communities as well as individuals", before adding:
"Prescot has been gradually dying under the incubus of protective influences. How could it expect any other result, seeing that it is hemmed in on all sides by Tory landlords, who abhor manufactories near their palatial residences, and that every avenue leading to it is closed to enterprise and free commerce, by a Cerberus in the shape of a toll collector." For those not great on Greek mythology (which includes myself!), Cerberus is more commonly known as the hound of Hades – the multi-headed dog that guards the gates to the Underworld. Although I don't think the Newspaper was suggesting that the toll collectors at Prescot had more than one head!
At the St Helens Petty Session on the 19th, there was a curious case involving John Christian, the owner of St Helens Carriage Works. As well as horse-driven vehicles, Christian built bicycles and tricycles (for adults) – although not as we know them! It had only been in April 1869 that the St Helens Newspaper had dubbed the new-fangled bicycles "curious vehicles". When Christian gave a demonstration of his new bike at the Volunteer Hall, the Newspaper wrote that he'd: "…worked the machine with considerable skill. Many of the gentlemen present tried to follow his example, but invariably came to grief, to the amusement of the others."
According to the 1871 census, John Christian employed five men and seven boys at his carriage works at 25 Ormskirk Street. The 33-year-old also lived on the premises with his wife Sarah and their two-year-old son John. Next door at number 23 was the residence and practice of the physician and surgeon Dr Hugh Dorman. I think I would quite like to have a doctor living next door – so I could keep nipping round with my aches and pains! But the carriage maker and the physician had fallen out – all seemingly for the silliest of reasons.
At the age of 27, Dr Dorman was little more than a kid himself and he had played a silly prank on John Christian Jnr. While the little boy had been playing out back, the physician had put on a mask and looked out of his window at the boy. The two-year-old was reported as having been "grievously frightened" and a row had ensued between the adults.
That had led to John Christian being convicted of a breach of the peace and so the carriage / bike maker now wanted his legal revenge. So he brought an action against Dr Dorman in the Petty Sessions in which he accused his neighbour of provoking him into committing the breach. As a result the mischievous doctor with a scary mask was ordered to find sureties to keep the peace for six months.
Thomas May also appeared in the Sessions charged with wilfully setting fire to St Helens Town Hall on May 6th. Yes, the burning down of the civic centre in New Market Place had been arson – or had it? This is how the Wigan Observer reported the case: "It appeared from the evidence given that the accused, who seemed to be slightly deranged, was in the habit of visiting the town hall on Saturdays, when he had the building all to himself.
"On the date of the fire he was seen in the building shortly before the flames were discovered, but as he was not known he escaped for the time. Last Saturday he was again observed on the premises, and arrested. In his pocket the police found a memorandum book, containing this entry: “The form in the town hall. Town hall, set it on fire.” He was remanded for a week."
After seven more days in police custody, no further evidence was obtained against Thomas May and so upon his return to court the man was discharged. However the St Helens Newspaper in their report implied that there was still strong suspicion that the young man had been an "incendiary" – we, of course, would say arsonist. They wrote: "The depositions having been read over, the prisoner was discharged. At the request of Mr. Swift [May’s solicitor] the magistrates called his father forward, and warned him to keep a vigilant watch upon the conduct of his son."
Talking of Thomas Swift, the outspoken St Helens lawyer tried to weasel himself out of his tricky predicament this week. To recap, he had accused magistrate John Bibby of "manifesting a strong prejudice" against him over a long period to the detriment of his clients. That had outraged the owner of Ravenhead Copper Works and so he had initiated a criminal slander suit. To try and extricate himself from his situation, Swift told Mr Bibby in the courtroom that when he had accused him of prejudice he had "never meant it to be understood that such a feeling was known to Mr. Bibby himself".
Essentially he was claiming unconscious bias – as we might call it – adding, "I wish to say that I greatly regret having been misled by Mr. Bibby's manner into saying that which might be regarded as an imputation I never dreamt of or intended." Not exactly an unreserved apology and Bibby was having none of it, saying that the explanation only came after proceedings had been brought. "If it been done at once it would have been a different matter", he said, adding the suit had been urged upon him by his fellow magistrates, who considered that they had been grossly insulted through him. So the slander suit continued.
Also at the Sessions, Bibby and his fellow magistrates committed Thomas Shuttleworth for trial at the Liverpool Assizes at Kirkdale. That was after hearing that the 25-year-old miner from Old Lane in Rainford had been accused of stealing a shawl and a pair of stockings, seemingly from his father's house. The man had a long criminal record and at the Assizes received a long prison sentence – seven years.
The Prescot Petty Sessions took place on the 20th with Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Hornby in the chair. Last year in describing how he had ordered five youths to be "well whipped" for stealing apples from a wealthy man's garden, I wrote: "I expect the discipline was pretty strict in the days when Hornby had been a Royal Navy captain." Well, the retired rear-admiral was at it again this week and told James Colquitt, James Bromilow and William Bromilow that they were going to be "soundly whipped" for throwing stones at the windows of Prescot Grammar School.
Next week's stories will include the brutal wife-beater who received his comeuppance, the violent Looneys of Smithy Brow, the tardy Whiston Workhouse pauper who was sent to prison, the death of a Waterloo veteran and the diseased pig carcass in Warrington Road.
This week's stories include the man accused of burning down St Helens Town Hall, the boys soundly whipped for throwing stones, a claim that the town of Prescot was dying, the Haydock Mission School treat, Newton Races takes place and the curious Ormskirk Street mask dispute between a doctor and a carriage maker.
A century ago there was considerable concern over the deaths that the rising number of motor vehicles were causing on the streets of St Helens – particularly to children.
However horse-driven carriages in the 1870s could be almost as dangerous – particularly to young kids.
On the 14th Henry Sixsmith of Mill Lane in Ashton-in-Makerfield ran into the road and was knocked down.
The three-year-old was run over and killed by Edward Bankes who was returning home in his trap after attending the first day of Newton races.
The 3-day event was the highlight of the year for many and special trains were always put on from St Helens that stopped to collect Sutton passengers at Peasley Cross, Sutton Oak and St Helens Junction stations.
A few weeks ago I wrote how people in the past could be incredibly casual about medicines and poisons. These were often kept in wrongly-labelled bottles – which could have fatal consequences.
The inquest into the death of John Alderson took place on the 17th. The 54-year-old has been the managing clerk to Harold Pilkington, the young St Helens Town Clerk.
Alderson had died after taking carbolic acid but, instead of the usual assumption of suicide, it was believed he had drunk the liquid by mistake.
The deceased was taking medicine for indigestion and on the mantelpiece of his office a bottle and a wine glass containing the carbolic were discovered – with the indigestion medicine stored inside a cupboard.
Mr Alderson had also told someone in the house that he had drunk something that he ought not to and had tried to obtained medical help.
He came from the Stockton district and the North Eastern Daily Gazette wrote:
"Deceased immediately ran to a surgeon's house, who was not at home, and then to another's, where his legs failed, and he fell down in the doorway. Being removed into the surgery, he immediately expired."
The Wigan Observer on the 17th wrote: "HAYDOCK MISSION SCHOOL – The teachers and scholars of the above school had their annual treat in a large field near the schoolroom.
"A tent was erected, and bats, balls, &c, supplied for games. After the teachers and scholars had well tired themselves they sat down to an excellent tea, provided for them by Miss Evans.
"The day’s proceedings were enlivened by a selection of music given by the school choir, and by speeches from the Rev. R. Harrison, Mouthall, the missionary, and others.
"A hearty vote of thanks was tendered to Miss Evans, whose liberality had spared no expense to make the day happy."
Since its creation in 1868, St Helens Corporation had been taking over and abolishing toll bars from what were known as turnpike trusts and agreeing to pay for the maintenance of the roads itself.
However the town boundaries were then limited – which reduced the scope of what they could do to get rid off all the unpopular road tolls.
The Government had signalled some time ago that tolls should end and this week it was confirmed that the tollbars on the road between Liverpool, Prescot, St Helens, Ashton and Warrington would be discontinued on November 1st.
The Home Secretary's decision had come in spite of strong lobbying from the Prescot Highway Board and the local turnpike trust managers who wanted to continue operations for another year.
Their behaviour led to a stinging editorial from the outspoken St Helens Newspaper on the 17th in which they said the Prescot authorities needed to learn that free trade was a "blessing to communities as well as individuals", before adding:
"Prescot has been gradually dying under the incubus of protective influences. How could it expect any other result, seeing that it is hemmed in on all sides by Tory landlords, who abhor manufactories near their palatial residences, and that every avenue leading to it is closed to enterprise and free commerce, by a Cerberus in the shape of a toll collector."
Although I don't think the Newspaper was suggesting that the toll collectors at Prescot had more than one head!
For those not great on Greek mythology (which includes myself!), Cerberus is more commonly known as the hound of Hades – the multi-headed dog that guards the gates to the Underworld.
At the St Helens Petty Session on the 19th, there was a curious case involving John Christian, the owner of St Helens Carriage Works.
As well as horse-driven vehicles, Christian built bicycles and tricycles (for adults) – although not as we know them!
It had only been in April 1869 that the St Helens Newspaper had dubbed the new-fangled bicycles "curious vehicles".
When Christian gave a demonstration of his new bike at the Volunteer Hall, the Newspaper wrote that he'd:
"…worked the machine with considerable skill. Many of the gentlemen present tried to follow his example, but invariably came to grief, to the amusement of the others."
According to the 1871 census, John Christian employed five men and seven boys at his carriage works at 25 Ormskirk Street.
The 33-year-old also lived on the premises with his wife Sarah and their two-year-old son John.
Next door at number 23 was the residence and practice of the physician and surgeon Dr Hugh Dorman.
I think I would quite like to have a doctor living next door – so I could keep nipping round with my aches and pains!
But the carriage maker and the physician had fallen out – all seemingly for the silliest of reasons.
At the age of 27, Dr Dorman was little more than a kid himself and he had played a silly prank on John Christian Jnr.
While the little boy had been playing out back, the physician had put on a mask and looked out of his window at the boy.
The two-year-old was reported as having been "grievously frightened" and a row had ensued between the adults.
That had led to John Christian being convicted of a breach of the peace and so the carriage / bike maker now wanted his legal revenge.
So he brought an action against Dr Dorman in the Petty Sessions in which he accused his neighbour of provoking him into committing the breach.
As a result the mischievous doctor with a scary mask was ordered to find sureties to keep the peace for six months.
Thomas May also appeared in the Sessions charged with wilfully setting fire to St Helens Town Hall on May 6th.
Yes, the burning down of the civic centre in New Market Place had been arson – or had it? This is how the Wigan Observer reported the case:
"It appeared from the evidence given that the accused, who seemed to be slightly deranged, was in the habit of visiting the town hall on Saturdays, when he had the building all to himself.
"On the date of the fire he was seen in the building shortly before the flames were discovered, but as he was not known he escaped for the time.
"Last Saturday he was again observed on the premises, and arrested. In his pocket the police found a memorandum book, containing this entry:
"“The form in the town hall. Town hall, set it on fire.” He was remanded for a week."
After seven more days in police custody, no further evidence was obtained against Thomas May and so upon his return to court the man was discharged.
However the St Helens Newspaper in their report implied that there was still strong suspicion that the young man had been an "incendiary" – we, of course, would say arsonist.
They wrote: "The depositions having been read over, the prisoner was discharged. At the request of Mr. Swift [May’s solicitor] the magistrates called his father forward, and warned him to keep a vigilant watch upon the conduct of his son."
Talking of Thomas Swift, the outspoken St Helens lawyer tried to weasel himself out of his tricky predicament this week.
To recap, he had accused magistrate John Bibby of "manifesting a strong prejudice" against him over a long period to the detriment of his clients.
That had outraged the owner of Ravenhead Copper Works and so he had initiated a criminal slander suit.
To try and extricate himself from his situation, Swift told Mr Bibby in the courtroom that when he had accused him of prejudice he had "never meant it to be understood that such a feeling was known to Mr. Bibby himself".
Essentially he was claiming unconscious bias – as we might call it – adding, "I wish to say that I greatly regret having been misled by Mr. Bibby's manner into saying that which might be regarded as an imputation I never dreamt of or intended."
Not exactly an unreserved apology and Bibby was having none of it, saying that the explanation only came after proceedings had been brought.
"If it been done at once it would have been a different matter", he said, adding the suit had been urged upon him by his fellow magistrates, who considered that they had been grossly insulted through him. So the slander suit continued.
Also at the Sessions, Bibby and his fellow magistrates committed Thomas Shuttleworth for trial at the Liverpool Assizes at Kirkdale.
That was after hearing that the 25-year-old miner from Old Lane in Rainford had been accused of stealing a shawl and a pair of stockings, seemingly from his father's house.
The man had a long criminal record and at the Assizes received a long prison sentence – seven years.
The Prescot Petty Sessions took place on the 20th with Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Hornby in the chair.
Last year in describing how he had ordered five youths to be "well whipped" for stealing apples from a wealthy man's garden, I wrote:
"I expect the discipline was pretty strict in the days when Hornby had been a Royal Navy captain."
Well, the retired rear-admiral was at it again in court this week and told James Colquitt, James Bromilow and William Bromilow that they were going to be "soundly whipped" for throwing stones at the windows of Prescot Grammar School.
Next week's stories will include the brutal wife-beater who received his comeuppance, the violent Looneys of Smithy Brow, the tardy Whiston Workhouse pauper who was sent to prison, the death of a Waterloo veteran and the diseased pig carcass in Warrington Road.
A century ago there was considerable concern over the deaths that the rising number of motor vehicles were causing on the streets of St Helens – particularly to children.
However horse-driven carriages in the 1870s could be almost as dangerous – particularly to young kids.
On the 14th Henry Sixsmith of Mill Lane in Ashton-in-Makerfield ran into the road and was knocked down.
The three-year-old was run over and killed by Edward Bankes who was returning home in his trap after attending the first day of Newton races.
The 3-day event was the highlight of the year for many and special trains were always put on from St Helens that stopped to collect Sutton passengers at Peasley Cross, Sutton Oak and St Helens Junction stations.
A few weeks ago I wrote how people in the past could be incredibly casual about medicines and poisons. These were often kept in wrongly-labelled bottles – which could have fatal consequences.
The inquest into the death of John Alderson took place on the 17th. The 54-year-old has been the managing clerk to Harold Pilkington, the young St Helens Town Clerk.
Alderson had died after taking carbolic acid but, instead of the usual assumption of suicide, it was believed he had drunk the liquid by mistake.
The deceased was taking medicine for indigestion and on the mantelpiece of his office a bottle and a wine glass containing the carbolic were discovered – with the indigestion medicine stored inside a cupboard.
Mr Alderson had also told someone in the house that he had drunk something that he ought not to and had tried to obtained medical help.
He came from the Stockton district and the North Eastern Daily Gazette wrote:
"Deceased immediately ran to a surgeon's house, who was not at home, and then to another's, where his legs failed, and he fell down in the doorway. Being removed into the surgery, he immediately expired."
The Wigan Observer on the 17th wrote: "HAYDOCK MISSION SCHOOL – The teachers and scholars of the above school had their annual treat in a large field near the schoolroom.
"A tent was erected, and bats, balls, &c, supplied for games. After the teachers and scholars had well tired themselves they sat down to an excellent tea, provided for them by Miss Evans.
"The day’s proceedings were enlivened by a selection of music given by the school choir, and by speeches from the Rev. R. Harrison, Mouthall, the missionary, and others.
"A hearty vote of thanks was tendered to Miss Evans, whose liberality had spared no expense to make the day happy."
Since its creation in 1868, St Helens Corporation had been taking over and abolishing toll bars from what were known as turnpike trusts and agreeing to pay for the maintenance of the roads itself.
However the town boundaries were then limited – which reduced the scope of what they could do to get rid off all the unpopular road tolls.
The Government had signalled some time ago that tolls should end and this week it was confirmed that the tollbars on the road between Liverpool, Prescot, St Helens, Ashton and Warrington would be discontinued on November 1st.
The Home Secretary's decision had come in spite of strong lobbying from the Prescot Highway Board and the local turnpike trust managers who wanted to continue operations for another year.
Their behaviour led to a stinging editorial from the outspoken St Helens Newspaper on the 17th in which they said the Prescot authorities needed to learn that free trade was a "blessing to communities as well as individuals", before adding:
"Prescot has been gradually dying under the incubus of protective influences. How could it expect any other result, seeing that it is hemmed in on all sides by Tory landlords, who abhor manufactories near their palatial residences, and that every avenue leading to it is closed to enterprise and free commerce, by a Cerberus in the shape of a toll collector."
Although I don't think the Newspaper was suggesting that the toll collectors at Prescot had more than one head!
For those not great on Greek mythology (which includes myself!), Cerberus is more commonly known as the hound of Hades – the multi-headed dog that guards the gates to the Underworld.
At the St Helens Petty Session on the 19th, there was a curious case involving John Christian, the owner of St Helens Carriage Works.
As well as horse-driven vehicles, Christian built bicycles and tricycles (for adults) – although not as we know them!
It had only been in April 1869 that the St Helens Newspaper had dubbed the new-fangled bicycles "curious vehicles".
When Christian gave a demonstration of his new bike at the Volunteer Hall, the Newspaper wrote that he'd:
"…worked the machine with considerable skill. Many of the gentlemen present tried to follow his example, but invariably came to grief, to the amusement of the others."
According to the 1871 census, John Christian employed five men and seven boys at his carriage works at 25 Ormskirk Street.
The 33-year-old also lived on the premises with his wife Sarah and their two-year-old son John.
Next door at number 23 was the residence and practice of the physician and surgeon Dr Hugh Dorman.
I think I would quite like to have a doctor living next door – so I could keep nipping round with my aches and pains!
But the carriage maker and the physician had fallen out – all seemingly for the silliest of reasons.
At the age of 27, Dr Dorman was little more than a kid himself and he had played a silly prank on John Christian Jnr.
While the little boy had been playing out back, the physician had put on a mask and looked out of his window at the boy.
The two-year-old was reported as having been "grievously frightened" and a row had ensued between the adults.
That had led to John Christian being convicted of a breach of the peace and so the carriage / bike maker now wanted his legal revenge.
So he brought an action against Dr Dorman in the Petty Sessions in which he accused his neighbour of provoking him into committing the breach.
As a result the mischievous doctor with a scary mask was ordered to find sureties to keep the peace for six months.
Thomas May also appeared in the Sessions charged with wilfully setting fire to St Helens Town Hall on May 6th.
Yes, the burning down of the civic centre in New Market Place had been arson – or had it? This is how the Wigan Observer reported the case:
"It appeared from the evidence given that the accused, who seemed to be slightly deranged, was in the habit of visiting the town hall on Saturdays, when he had the building all to himself.
"On the date of the fire he was seen in the building shortly before the flames were discovered, but as he was not known he escaped for the time.
"Last Saturday he was again observed on the premises, and arrested. In his pocket the police found a memorandum book, containing this entry:
"“The form in the town hall. Town hall, set it on fire.” He was remanded for a week."
After seven more days in police custody, no further evidence was obtained against Thomas May and so upon his return to court the man was discharged.
However the St Helens Newspaper in their report implied that there was still strong suspicion that the young man had been an "incendiary" – we, of course, would say arsonist.
They wrote: "The depositions having been read over, the prisoner was discharged. At the request of Mr. Swift [May’s solicitor] the magistrates called his father forward, and warned him to keep a vigilant watch upon the conduct of his son."
Talking of Thomas Swift, the outspoken St Helens lawyer tried to weasel himself out of his tricky predicament this week.
To recap, he had accused magistrate John Bibby of "manifesting a strong prejudice" against him over a long period to the detriment of his clients.
That had outraged the owner of Ravenhead Copper Works and so he had initiated a criminal slander suit.
To try and extricate himself from his situation, Swift told Mr Bibby in the courtroom that when he had accused him of prejudice he had "never meant it to be understood that such a feeling was known to Mr. Bibby himself".
Essentially he was claiming unconscious bias – as we might call it – adding, "I wish to say that I greatly regret having been misled by Mr. Bibby's manner into saying that which might be regarded as an imputation I never dreamt of or intended."
Not exactly an unreserved apology and Bibby was having none of it, saying that the explanation only came after proceedings had been brought.
"If it been done at once it would have been a different matter", he said, adding the suit had been urged upon him by his fellow magistrates, who considered that they had been grossly insulted through him. So the slander suit continued.
Also at the Sessions, Bibby and his fellow magistrates committed Thomas Shuttleworth for trial at the Liverpool Assizes at Kirkdale.
That was after hearing that the 25-year-old miner from Old Lane in Rainford had been accused of stealing a shawl and a pair of stockings, seemingly from his father's house.
The man had a long criminal record and at the Assizes received a long prison sentence – seven years.
The Prescot Petty Sessions took place on the 20th with Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Hornby in the chair.
Last year in describing how he had ordered five youths to be "well whipped" for stealing apples from a wealthy man's garden, I wrote:
"I expect the discipline was pretty strict in the days when Hornby had been a Royal Navy captain."
Well, the retired rear-admiral was at it again in court this week and told James Colquitt, James Bromilow and William Bromilow that they were going to be "soundly whipped" for throwing stones at the windows of Prescot Grammar School.
Next week's stories will include the brutal wife-beater who received his comeuppance, the violent Looneys of Smithy Brow, the tardy Whiston Workhouse pauper who was sent to prison, the death of a Waterloo veteran and the diseased pig carcass in Warrington Road.