150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (14th - 20th SEPTEMBER 1870)
This week's stories include the Pilkington striker who tried to throw a strike breaker off a Westfield Street bridge, the man who thought the dead were burying the dead and the formation of a new temperance movement in St Helens.
We begin on the 16th when under the headline "A St. Helens Genius in Trouble", the Wigan Observer wrote: "At the Tipton police court, on Monday, an eccentric-looking man, named Robert Atkinson, who described himself as an assistant surgeon, of St. Helens, was charged with damaging the telegraph apparatus at the Dudley Port Railway station. The defendant had been visiting various places in the neighbourhood, and describing himself as “an officer in her Majesty's service, with a right to wear a sword on his side,” and as “a telegraphic operator to her Majesty’s Forces.’’
"On Thursday last defendant was at the railway station, and entered into conversation with one of the signalmen as to the beauty of the telegraphic system. Professing to know a vast deal more of the art than the official, defendant offered to take the instrument, then in front of him, to explain the entire mechanism. Without more ado the professed telegraphic operator took the apparatus to pieces, and after a short lecture attempted to replace the various parts, but failed to do so.
"In consequence of his clumsy manner the instrument was broken, and defendant was given into custody. When before the magistrates defendant made a long rambling statement as to his conduct, and declared that he heard a voice calling to him to enter the signalman's box. The bench fined defendant 40s. and costs, or in default six weeks' imprisonment."
The paper also wrote about a horse in Parbold that three months earlier had been bitten on the nose by a rabid dog. The incubation period for rabies could be lengthy and the horse had only developed symptoms of the dreaded disease last week. The Wigan Observer wrote: "The animal became raving mad, biting at everything that came in his way, and actually breaking its lower jaw by biting at the stones." The horse was shot dead but not before it had bitten two men, who would now have a nervous wait (which could be months) to see if they developed rabies.
The 16th was also the date of the Rainford and Bickerstaffe Floral, Horticultural, and Agricultural Produce Society's seventh annual exhibition of fruits, flowers, vegetables, and agricultural produce. What a mouthful. I'll bet they just called it the flower show! The event was held at Dean's farm near the Junction Inn and the society was described by the Wigan Observer as being "well patronised by the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood". They described the grapes exhibited as "truly good"; some of the apples were "prodigious" in size, as were the cattle potatoes which were called "monsters" and the fuchsias were labelled "real gems".
The St Helens Burial Board ran the Borough Cemetery and provided simple funerals for the very poor. Under the headline "Let The Dead Bury The Dead", this witty letter criticising silent members of the board was published in the St Helens Newspaper on the 17th:
"Sir, I suppose that the members of the Burial Board, having for a length of time very kindly seen to the interment of the dead of the parish, sundry members of the board have had the same kind office performed for them in return; at least, that is the conclusion I come to from reading the reports of the late meetings. It is true I have very little to judge from, and the little I have is of a very negative character, but, negative as it is, it is of a very conclusive character.
"Generally speaking, if a man cannot speak he is supposed to be either dumb or dead. I have not heard of any of the members being struck dumb, and I think I should have heard of it if it had happened. I am therefore driven to the conclusion that a number of the members are dead, as they never appear to open their mouths at the board meetings.
"Perhaps some one will say that “a still tongue shows a wise head.” I am quite willing to admit this may be the case in some instances, but who would venture to say that the members of the St. Helens Burial Board have wise heads? It would be a libel upon a very motherly set of anti-painstaking pantalooned “shemales,” who meet at the burial board when they have nothing else to do."
The actual purpose of the letter signed by "I. C. U." was to criticise the Vicar of St Helens' alleged appropriation of the cemetery lodge and the Burial Board's inaction on the matter. Researching the 19th century meaning of the word "shemale", it could be used to describe a man dressed as a female but in this context I think the author was simply labelling the board members a bunch of old women!
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 19th, Denis O’Brien was fined 4s 6d and costs for singing in the streets of St Helens. The man was described as a "street nuisance" and had refused to stop singing when told to do so by the police.
Joseph Swift, the licensee of the Liverpool Inn Vaults, was summoned for allowing prostitutes to assemble and remain in his house. As it was his first offence, the magistrates dismissed the charge but gave Swift a warning. John Walker was charged with trespassing on the Bold Hall estate in search of mushrooms. He was fined fifteen shillings including costs, which for most men would be the best part of a week's pay.
The Pilkington glass strike of 1870 had been unusual on three fronts – its longevity, its high level of community support and the relatively peaceful conduct of the dispute. The so-called "turn out" of mainly glassblowers had already lasted nearly five months and as unions in the 1870s tended not to have strike funds available, hunger quickly drove most men back to work. However local people had been providing financial assistance to the glassworkers' strike committee, which had helped to prolong the dispute in St Helens.
But the fundraising was beginning to dry up and the men were consequently drifting back to work and, as we know, there is nothing that angers strikers more than strike-breakers. A few weeks ago a mob in Boundary Lane had turned on a glassworker who had returned to his job but the incident described in the Petty Sessions was a bit more serious. It concerned a man called John Henderson from Lyon Street, who was a manager at the works, but since the start of the dispute had agreed to stand in as a glassblower.
The man had finished work at 9pm and with some workmates spent a couple of hours in Littler's beerhouse in Westfield Street. Afterwards the four men stood talking in the street when a striker called Jonathan Scott approached them and gave what was described as a scornful laugh. One of John Henderson's friends said to Scott: "Come here, canny man, and tell us what you have to say?" Scott then went up to Henderson and asked him if he called himself a man for "stuffing your guts whilst our children are starving" and labelled the four of them "damned scamps".
The term "scamp" appears to have had a much more insulting meaning 150 years ago than today. The striker went on to say that they should all be murdered for what they were doing and he might as well do it now as not. So Scott grabbed Henderson and dragged him towards the Westfield Street bridge where he attempted to throw him into the brook. However Scott's brother intervened and the police were quickly on the scene to complete the rescue.
Jonathan Scott had been charged with intimidation by violence which if found guilty would mean an automatic prison sentence. However the Bench felt the charge had not been sufficiently proved but did find Scott guilty of assault and fined him 40 shillings. There was little prospect of the striker finding that amount of cash and so he probably went to prison anyway.
During the evening the inaugural meeting of the Band of Hope Union took place in St Helens Town Hall. The temperance organisation with a particular focus on working class children had been founded in Leeds in 1847 and had finally come to St Helens, after attracting 1,000 members in Liverpool. Joseph Bethell Leach (of the estate agency) was the chairman of the meeting and the St Helens Newspaper said "the spacious room was crowded to inconvenience by a respectable audience".
These meetings were a combination of music, recitations, sermonising and discussion. The latter included an explanation of the Permissive Bill, which was intended to allow local ratepayers to ban the sale of alcohol. The Newspaper wrote how several local gentlemen had addressed the meeting: "…exhorting the young and old to become total abstainers, and instancing cases of misery and crime, produced by inebriate habits, which had come under their own observation."
Next week's stories will include the man who claimed a policeman robbed him near Bridge Street, a street attack outside the Nag's Head, an athletics competition in Dentons Green and the Vicar of St Helens laments a loss of interest in religion.
We begin on the 16th when under the headline "A St. Helens Genius in Trouble", the Wigan Observer wrote: "At the Tipton police court, on Monday, an eccentric-looking man, named Robert Atkinson, who described himself as an assistant surgeon, of St. Helens, was charged with damaging the telegraph apparatus at the Dudley Port Railway station. The defendant had been visiting various places in the neighbourhood, and describing himself as “an officer in her Majesty's service, with a right to wear a sword on his side,” and as “a telegraphic operator to her Majesty’s Forces.’’
"On Thursday last defendant was at the railway station, and entered into conversation with one of the signalmen as to the beauty of the telegraphic system. Professing to know a vast deal more of the art than the official, defendant offered to take the instrument, then in front of him, to explain the entire mechanism. Without more ado the professed telegraphic operator took the apparatus to pieces, and after a short lecture attempted to replace the various parts, but failed to do so.
"In consequence of his clumsy manner the instrument was broken, and defendant was given into custody. When before the magistrates defendant made a long rambling statement as to his conduct, and declared that he heard a voice calling to him to enter the signalman's box. The bench fined defendant 40s. and costs, or in default six weeks' imprisonment."
The paper also wrote about a horse in Parbold that three months earlier had been bitten on the nose by a rabid dog. The incubation period for rabies could be lengthy and the horse had only developed symptoms of the dreaded disease last week. The Wigan Observer wrote: "The animal became raving mad, biting at everything that came in his way, and actually breaking its lower jaw by biting at the stones." The horse was shot dead but not before it had bitten two men, who would now have a nervous wait (which could be months) to see if they developed rabies.
The 16th was also the date of the Rainford and Bickerstaffe Floral, Horticultural, and Agricultural Produce Society's seventh annual exhibition of fruits, flowers, vegetables, and agricultural produce. What a mouthful. I'll bet they just called it the flower show! The event was held at Dean's farm near the Junction Inn and the society was described by the Wigan Observer as being "well patronised by the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood". They described the grapes exhibited as "truly good"; some of the apples were "prodigious" in size, as were the cattle potatoes which were called "monsters" and the fuchsias were labelled "real gems".
The St Helens Burial Board ran the Borough Cemetery and provided simple funerals for the very poor. Under the headline "Let The Dead Bury The Dead", this witty letter criticising silent members of the board was published in the St Helens Newspaper on the 17th:
"Sir, I suppose that the members of the Burial Board, having for a length of time very kindly seen to the interment of the dead of the parish, sundry members of the board have had the same kind office performed for them in return; at least, that is the conclusion I come to from reading the reports of the late meetings. It is true I have very little to judge from, and the little I have is of a very negative character, but, negative as it is, it is of a very conclusive character.
"Generally speaking, if a man cannot speak he is supposed to be either dumb or dead. I have not heard of any of the members being struck dumb, and I think I should have heard of it if it had happened. I am therefore driven to the conclusion that a number of the members are dead, as they never appear to open their mouths at the board meetings.
"Perhaps some one will say that “a still tongue shows a wise head.” I am quite willing to admit this may be the case in some instances, but who would venture to say that the members of the St. Helens Burial Board have wise heads? It would be a libel upon a very motherly set of anti-painstaking pantalooned “shemales,” who meet at the burial board when they have nothing else to do."
The actual purpose of the letter signed by "I. C. U." was to criticise the Vicar of St Helens' alleged appropriation of the cemetery lodge and the Burial Board's inaction on the matter. Researching the 19th century meaning of the word "shemale", it could be used to describe a man dressed as a female but in this context I think the author was simply labelling the board members a bunch of old women!
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 19th, Denis O’Brien was fined 4s 6d and costs for singing in the streets of St Helens. The man was described as a "street nuisance" and had refused to stop singing when told to do so by the police.
Joseph Swift, the licensee of the Liverpool Inn Vaults, was summoned for allowing prostitutes to assemble and remain in his house. As it was his first offence, the magistrates dismissed the charge but gave Swift a warning. John Walker was charged with trespassing on the Bold Hall estate in search of mushrooms. He was fined fifteen shillings including costs, which for most men would be the best part of a week's pay.
Pilkingtons Glassworks in Grove Street in St Helens pictured during the 1870s
Pilkingtons Glassworks in Grove Street, St Helens in 1870s
Pilkingtons Glassworks in the 1870s
But the fundraising was beginning to dry up and the men were consequently drifting back to work and, as we know, there is nothing that angers strikers more than strike-breakers. A few weeks ago a mob in Boundary Lane had turned on a glassworker who had returned to his job but the incident described in the Petty Sessions was a bit more serious. It concerned a man called John Henderson from Lyon Street, who was a manager at the works, but since the start of the dispute had agreed to stand in as a glassblower.
The man had finished work at 9pm and with some workmates spent a couple of hours in Littler's beerhouse in Westfield Street. Afterwards the four men stood talking in the street when a striker called Jonathan Scott approached them and gave what was described as a scornful laugh. One of John Henderson's friends said to Scott: "Come here, canny man, and tell us what you have to say?" Scott then went up to Henderson and asked him if he called himself a man for "stuffing your guts whilst our children are starving" and labelled the four of them "damned scamps".
The term "scamp" appears to have had a much more insulting meaning 150 years ago than today. The striker went on to say that they should all be murdered for what they were doing and he might as well do it now as not. So Scott grabbed Henderson and dragged him towards the Westfield Street bridge where he attempted to throw him into the brook. However Scott's brother intervened and the police were quickly on the scene to complete the rescue.
Jonathan Scott had been charged with intimidation by violence which if found guilty would mean an automatic prison sentence. However the Bench felt the charge had not been sufficiently proved but did find Scott guilty of assault and fined him 40 shillings. There was little prospect of the striker finding that amount of cash and so he probably went to prison anyway.
During the evening the inaugural meeting of the Band of Hope Union took place in St Helens Town Hall. The temperance organisation with a particular focus on working class children had been founded in Leeds in 1847 and had finally come to St Helens, after attracting 1,000 members in Liverpool. Joseph Bethell Leach (of the estate agency) was the chairman of the meeting and the St Helens Newspaper said "the spacious room was crowded to inconvenience by a respectable audience".
These meetings were a combination of music, recitations, sermonising and discussion. The latter included an explanation of the Permissive Bill, which was intended to allow local ratepayers to ban the sale of alcohol. The Newspaper wrote how several local gentlemen had addressed the meeting: "…exhorting the young and old to become total abstainers, and instancing cases of misery and crime, produced by inebriate habits, which had come under their own observation."
Next week's stories will include the man who claimed a policeman robbed him near Bridge Street, a street attack outside the Nag's Head, an athletics competition in Dentons Green and the Vicar of St Helens laments a loss of interest in religion.
This week's stories include the Pilkington striker who tried to throw a strike breaker off a Westfield Street bridge, the man who thought the dead were burying the dead and the formation of a new temperance movement in St Helens.
We begin on the 16th when under the headline "A St. Helens Genius in Trouble", the Wigan Observer wrote:
"At the Tipton police court, on Monday, an eccentric-looking man, named Robert Atkinson, who described himself as an assistant surgeon, of St. Helens, was charged with damaging the telegraph apparatus at the Dudley Port Railway station.
"The defendant had been visiting various places in the neighbourhood, and describing himself as “an officer in her Majesty's service, with a right to wear a sword on his side,” and as “a telegraphic operator to her Majesty’s Forces.’’
"On Thursday last defendant was at the railway station, and entered into conversation with one of the signalmen as to the beauty of the telegraphic system. Professing to know a vast deal more of the art than the official, defendant offered to take the instrument, then in front of him, to explain the entire mechanism.
"Without more ado the professed telegraphic operator took the apparatus to pieces, and after a short lecture attempted to replace the various parts, but failed to do so.
"In consequence of his clumsy manner the instrument was broken, and defendant was given into custody. When before the magistrates defendant made a long rambling statement as to his conduct, and declared that he heard a voice calling to him to enter the signalman's box. The bench fined defendant 40s. and costs, or in default six weeks' imprisonment."
The paper also wrote about a horse in Parbold that three months earlier had been bitten on the nose by a rabid dog.
The incubation period for rabies could be lengthy and the horse had only developed symptoms of the dreaded disease last week. The Wigan Observer wrote:
"The animal became raving mad, biting at everything that came in his way, and actually breaking its lower jaw by biting at the stones."
The horse was shot dead but not before it had bitten two men, who would now have a nervous wait (which could be months) to see if they developed rabies.
The 16th was also the date of the Rainford and Bickerstaffe Floral, Horticultural, and Agricultural Produce Society's seventh annual exhibition of fruits, flowers, vegetables, and agricultural produce.
What a mouthful. I'll bet they just called it the flower show!
The event was held at Dean's farm near the Junction Inn and the society was described by the Wigan Observer as being "well patronised by the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood".
They described the grapes exhibited as "truly good"; some of the apples were "prodigious" in size, as were the cattle potatoes which were called "monsters" and the fuchsias were labelled "real gems".
The St Helens Burial Board ran the Borough Cemetery and provided simple funerals for the very poor.
Under the headline "Let The Dead Bury The Dead", this witty letter criticising silent members of the board was published in the St Helens Newspaper on the 17th:
"Sir, I suppose that the members of the Burial Board, having for a length of time very kindly seen to the interment of the dead of the parish, sundry members of the board have had the same kind office performed for them in return; at least, that is the conclusion I come to from reading the reports of the late meetings.
"It is true I have very little to judge from, and the little I have is of a very negative character, but, negative as it is, it is of a very conclusive character.
"Generally speaking, if a man cannot speak he is supposed to be either dumb or dead. I have not heard of any of the members being struck dumb, and I think I should have heard of it if it had happened.
"I am therefore driven to the conclusion that a number of the members are dead, as they never appear to open their mouths at the board meetings.
"Perhaps some one will say that “a still tongue shows a wise head.” I am quite willing to admit this may be the case in some instances, but who would venture to say that the members of the St. Helens Burial Board have wise heads?
"It would be a libel upon a very motherly set of anti-painstaking pantalooned “shemales,” who meet at the burial board when they have nothing else to do."
The actual purpose of the letter signed by "I. C. U." was to criticise the Vicar of St Helens' alleged appropriation of the cemetery lodge and the Burial Board's inaction on the matter.
Researching the 19th century meaning of the word "shemale", it could be used to describe a man dressed as a female but in this context I think the author was simply labelling the board members a bunch of old women!
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 19th, Denis O’Brien was fined 4s 6d and costs for singing in the streets of St Helens.
The man was described as a "street nuisance" and had refused to stop singing when told to do so by the police.
Joseph Swift, the licensee of the Liverpool Inn Vaults, was summoned for allowing prostitutes to assemble and remain in his house.
As it was his first offence, the magistrates dismissed the charge but gave Swift a warning.
John Walker was charged with trespassing on the Bold Hall estate in search of mushrooms.
He was fined fifteen shillings including costs, which for most men would be the best part of a week's pay.
The Pilkington glass strike of 1870 had been unusual on three fronts – its longevity, its high level of community support and the relatively peaceful conduct of the dispute.
The so-called "turn out" of mainly glassblowers had already lasted nearly five months and as unions in the 1870s tended not to have strike funds available, hunger quickly drove most men back to work.
However local people had been providing financial assistance to the glassworkers' strike committee, which had helped to prolong the dispute in St Helens.
But the fundraising was beginning to dry up and the men were consequently drifting back to work and, as we know, there is nothing that angers strikers more than strike-breakers.
A few weeks ago a mob in Boundary Lane had turned on a glassworker who had returned to his job but the incident described in the Petty Sessions was a bit more serious.
It concerned a man called John Henderson from Lyon Street, who was a manager at the works, but since the start of the dispute had agreed to stand in as a glassblower.
The man had finished work at 9pm and with some workmates spent a couple of hours in Littler's beerhouse in Westfield Street.
Afterwards the four men stood talking in the street when a striker called Jonathan Scott approached them and gave what was described as a scornful laugh.
One of John Henderson's friends said to Scott: "Come here, canny man, and tell us what you have to say?"
Scott then went up to Henderson and asked him if he called himself a man for "stuffing your guts whilst our children are starving" and labelled the four of them "damned scamps".
The term "scamp" appears to have had a much more insulting meaning 150 years ago than today.
The striker went on to say that they should all be murdered for what they were doing and he might as well do it now as not.
So Scott grabbed Henderson and dragged him towards the Westfield Street bridge where he attempted to throw him into the brook.
However Scott's brother intervened and the police were quickly on the scene to complete the rescue.
Jonathan Scott had been charged with intimidation by violence which if found guilty would mean an automatic prison sentence.
However the Bench felt the charge had not been sufficiently proved but did find Scott guilty of assault and fined him 40 shillings.
There was little prospect of the striker finding that amount of cash and so he probably went to prison anyway.
During the evening the inaugural meeting of the Band of Hope Union took place in St Helens Town Hall.
The temperance organisation with a particular focus on working class children had been founded in Leeds in 1847 and had finally come to St Helens, after attracting 1,000 members in Liverpool.
Joseph Bethell Leach (of the estate agency) was the chairman of the meeting and the St Helens Newspaper said "the spacious room was crowded to inconvenience by a respectable audience".
These meetings were a combination of music, recitations, sermonising and discussion.
The latter included an explanation of the Permissive Bill, which was intended to allow local ratepayers to ban the sale of alcohol.
The Newspaper wrote how several local gentlemen had addressed the meeting:
"…exhorting the young and old to become total abstainers, and instancing cases of misery and crime, produced by inebriate habits, which had come under their own observation."
Next week's stories will include the man who claimed a policeman robbed him near Bridge Street, a street attack outside the Nag's Head, an athletics competition in Dentons Green and the Vicar of St Helens laments a loss of interest in religion.
We begin on the 16th when under the headline "A St. Helens Genius in Trouble", the Wigan Observer wrote:
"At the Tipton police court, on Monday, an eccentric-looking man, named Robert Atkinson, who described himself as an assistant surgeon, of St. Helens, was charged with damaging the telegraph apparatus at the Dudley Port Railway station.
"The defendant had been visiting various places in the neighbourhood, and describing himself as “an officer in her Majesty's service, with a right to wear a sword on his side,” and as “a telegraphic operator to her Majesty’s Forces.’’
"On Thursday last defendant was at the railway station, and entered into conversation with one of the signalmen as to the beauty of the telegraphic system. Professing to know a vast deal more of the art than the official, defendant offered to take the instrument, then in front of him, to explain the entire mechanism.
"Without more ado the professed telegraphic operator took the apparatus to pieces, and after a short lecture attempted to replace the various parts, but failed to do so.
"In consequence of his clumsy manner the instrument was broken, and defendant was given into custody. When before the magistrates defendant made a long rambling statement as to his conduct, and declared that he heard a voice calling to him to enter the signalman's box. The bench fined defendant 40s. and costs, or in default six weeks' imprisonment."
The paper also wrote about a horse in Parbold that three months earlier had been bitten on the nose by a rabid dog.
The incubation period for rabies could be lengthy and the horse had only developed symptoms of the dreaded disease last week. The Wigan Observer wrote:
"The animal became raving mad, biting at everything that came in his way, and actually breaking its lower jaw by biting at the stones."
The horse was shot dead but not before it had bitten two men, who would now have a nervous wait (which could be months) to see if they developed rabies.
The 16th was also the date of the Rainford and Bickerstaffe Floral, Horticultural, and Agricultural Produce Society's seventh annual exhibition of fruits, flowers, vegetables, and agricultural produce.
What a mouthful. I'll bet they just called it the flower show!
The event was held at Dean's farm near the Junction Inn and the society was described by the Wigan Observer as being "well patronised by the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood".
They described the grapes exhibited as "truly good"; some of the apples were "prodigious" in size, as were the cattle potatoes which were called "monsters" and the fuchsias were labelled "real gems".
The St Helens Burial Board ran the Borough Cemetery and provided simple funerals for the very poor.
Under the headline "Let The Dead Bury The Dead", this witty letter criticising silent members of the board was published in the St Helens Newspaper on the 17th:
"Sir, I suppose that the members of the Burial Board, having for a length of time very kindly seen to the interment of the dead of the parish, sundry members of the board have had the same kind office performed for them in return; at least, that is the conclusion I come to from reading the reports of the late meetings.
"It is true I have very little to judge from, and the little I have is of a very negative character, but, negative as it is, it is of a very conclusive character.
"Generally speaking, if a man cannot speak he is supposed to be either dumb or dead. I have not heard of any of the members being struck dumb, and I think I should have heard of it if it had happened.
"I am therefore driven to the conclusion that a number of the members are dead, as they never appear to open their mouths at the board meetings.
"Perhaps some one will say that “a still tongue shows a wise head.” I am quite willing to admit this may be the case in some instances, but who would venture to say that the members of the St. Helens Burial Board have wise heads?
"It would be a libel upon a very motherly set of anti-painstaking pantalooned “shemales,” who meet at the burial board when they have nothing else to do."
The actual purpose of the letter signed by "I. C. U." was to criticise the Vicar of St Helens' alleged appropriation of the cemetery lodge and the Burial Board's inaction on the matter.
Researching the 19th century meaning of the word "shemale", it could be used to describe a man dressed as a female but in this context I think the author was simply labelling the board members a bunch of old women!
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 19th, Denis O’Brien was fined 4s 6d and costs for singing in the streets of St Helens.
The man was described as a "street nuisance" and had refused to stop singing when told to do so by the police.
Joseph Swift, the licensee of the Liverpool Inn Vaults, was summoned for allowing prostitutes to assemble and remain in his house.
As it was his first offence, the magistrates dismissed the charge but gave Swift a warning.
John Walker was charged with trespassing on the Bold Hall estate in search of mushrooms.
He was fined fifteen shillings including costs, which for most men would be the best part of a week's pay.
Pilkingtons Glassworks in Grove Street in St Helens pictured during the 1870s
Pilkingtons Glassworks in Grove Street, St Helens in 1870s
Pilkingtons Glassworks in the 1870s
The so-called "turn out" of mainly glassblowers had already lasted nearly five months and as unions in the 1870s tended not to have strike funds available, hunger quickly drove most men back to work.
However local people had been providing financial assistance to the glassworkers' strike committee, which had helped to prolong the dispute in St Helens.
But the fundraising was beginning to dry up and the men were consequently drifting back to work and, as we know, there is nothing that angers strikers more than strike-breakers.
A few weeks ago a mob in Boundary Lane had turned on a glassworker who had returned to his job but the incident described in the Petty Sessions was a bit more serious.
It concerned a man called John Henderson from Lyon Street, who was a manager at the works, but since the start of the dispute had agreed to stand in as a glassblower.
The man had finished work at 9pm and with some workmates spent a couple of hours in Littler's beerhouse in Westfield Street.
Afterwards the four men stood talking in the street when a striker called Jonathan Scott approached them and gave what was described as a scornful laugh.
One of John Henderson's friends said to Scott: "Come here, canny man, and tell us what you have to say?"
Scott then went up to Henderson and asked him if he called himself a man for "stuffing your guts whilst our children are starving" and labelled the four of them "damned scamps".
The term "scamp" appears to have had a much more insulting meaning 150 years ago than today.
The striker went on to say that they should all be murdered for what they were doing and he might as well do it now as not.
So Scott grabbed Henderson and dragged him towards the Westfield Street bridge where he attempted to throw him into the brook.
However Scott's brother intervened and the police were quickly on the scene to complete the rescue.
Jonathan Scott had been charged with intimidation by violence which if found guilty would mean an automatic prison sentence.
However the Bench felt the charge had not been sufficiently proved but did find Scott guilty of assault and fined him 40 shillings.
There was little prospect of the striker finding that amount of cash and so he probably went to prison anyway.
During the evening the inaugural meeting of the Band of Hope Union took place in St Helens Town Hall.
The temperance organisation with a particular focus on working class children had been founded in Leeds in 1847 and had finally come to St Helens, after attracting 1,000 members in Liverpool.
Joseph Bethell Leach (of the estate agency) was the chairman of the meeting and the St Helens Newspaper said "the spacious room was crowded to inconvenience by a respectable audience".
These meetings were a combination of music, recitations, sermonising and discussion.
The latter included an explanation of the Permissive Bill, which was intended to allow local ratepayers to ban the sale of alcohol.
The Newspaper wrote how several local gentlemen had addressed the meeting:
"…exhorting the young and old to become total abstainers, and instancing cases of misery and crime, produced by inebriate habits, which had come under their own observation."
Next week's stories will include the man who claimed a policeman robbed him near Bridge Street, a street attack outside the Nag's Head, an athletics competition in Dentons Green and the Vicar of St Helens laments a loss of interest in religion.