150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (15th - 21st April 1869)
We begin on the 17th with a runaway horse, something that happened from time to time and which could cause considerable damage – especially when attached to a carriage. Patrick Mearns was a provisions dealer in Liverpool Road and his light carriage – known as a shandry – was travelling along Baldwin Street when its backband broke.
This secured the shafts of the carriage to the rear of the horse and the break so alarmed the animal that it bolted along the street. Frightened nags in the centre of St Helens sometimes smash shopkeepers' windows and were clearly a danger to the public.
However much of the Baldwin Street area was then open space and the horse was brought safely to a halt in Duke Street with no reports of injuries or damage to property. That said the shandry's shafts and some of the harness were broken, which would cost about £10 to replace (about £1,000 in today's money).
Last week I explained how the medical officer at Whiston Workhouse had made fourteen serious allegations against Thomas Holmes, the master of the institution. On the 17th the St Helens Newspaper described how the Prescot Union Board of Guardians had held a special inquiry into Dr Rayner's claims.
The head nurse at the workhouse hospital had previously accused Holmes of "tyranny" and she and another nurse had declared their intention to resign. During the hearing the doctor claimed that the elderly nurse originally employed at the hospital had also quit through the behaviour of the master and now lived in poverty.
Dr Rayner accused Mr Holmes of "course treatment and harsh expressions" towards the nurses, who he had resented since they were first appointed. However the workhouse matron – who was married to the master – claimed there was a conspiracy against them. However the Guardians did not agree and of the five charges against Thomas Holmes that they chose to investigate, all but one were found to have been proved.
The master was invited to resign but refused to do so and the Guardians did not have the power to sack him. Only the Poor Law Board could do that. Holmes claimed that he had not been given a proper hearing and would wait until a Poor Law inspector next visited the workhouse before deciding on his next step.
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 19th and in an extraordinary case the sexton at Rainford Parish Church was charged with highway robbery. John Smith was alleged to have stolen a silver verge watch belonging to John Dennison, after the pair had separately left the Derby Arms. However the sexton claimed he'd bought it for 4 shillings.
Dennison was described in the St Helens Newspaper as an "old man". However checking census records, the shoemaker from the Blindfoot Road area was only 56! The verger was alleged to have walked some of the way with Dennison and then thrown the man down and stolen his watch.
John Smith had several testimonials as to his character and even Constable Turner, who had arrested the sexton, was complimentary in court about him. Charles Roberts, the landlord of the Derby Arms, said John Dennison had been "much in drink" but walked with "tolerable steadiness".
He had shown the man the way back to Windle but as they were separating Dennison had asked him if he was going to rob him. The sexton's defence solicitor said the evidence against his client was "exceedingly fragile" but the Chairman of the Bench said they had no choice but to send Dennison to the Quarter Sessions in Liverpool for trial.
There was another case in the Petty Sessions in which the St Helens police had ordered someone to get out of town – like Marshall Dillon in 'Gunsmoke'! Ellen McDermott was described as a "notorious character" and she was charged with having conducted herself in an "improper manner" in Liverpool Road.
Superintendent James Ludlam said the woman had recently been in custody for another offence but had been told that she would not be prosecuted if she agreed to leave town. However Ellen had clearly stayed put and continued to be a nuisance and so was sent to prison at Kirkdale for fourteen days.
She no doubt travelled to gaol with Mary Buckley who was given two months for attempting to pick pockets. Shops stayed open late on Saturday nights and the market would have been packed and so a very good venue for pickpockets.
However Mary was clearly not adept at her vocation as Ann Halsall told the hearing that she'd felt the woman's hand slip into her pocket and another woman had seen it. Also Mary Buckley – who had a previous conviction – did not obtain any cash, as Ann Halsall's pocket had been empty.
"Thou Shalt Not Strike the Bobby's Wife", was the Newspaper's headline to another case. It concerned a woman called Ann Kelly who was charged with committing a breach of the peace by striking Mary Sewell. PC Gill told the court that he had seen the defendant making a disturbance in Peter Street and he had "quieted her". Subsequently he found the woman tearing the bonnet off another woman's head.
Ann Kelly claimed that she had been in Peter Street saving a woman from being beaten by her husband and was pushing a crowd away from the door. She said Mary Sewell had not liked being pushed and in retaliation had kicked her while saying: "Don't you know I am a policeman's wife?"
And Ann Kelly clearly didn't appreciate being kicked, as she slapped Mary Sewell's face, knocking her bonnet off her head. Two witnesses corroborated the woman's statement. The bobby's wife claimed she had not intentionally kicked the woman but had accidentally caught her after putting up her feet to keep the woman off! The magistrates were not impressed and dismissed the case.
John Tootle was in court charged with ill-treating a horse in Eccleston. A policeman had seen him driving a cart weighing around 16 cwt in which he had been attempting to haul two tons of pig iron up a hill called Combshop Brow.
It was being done for a £1 bet and the defendant told the court that his animal was 17 hands high and six years of age. The implication was that it was a strong horse but I'd like to have seen the man pull two tons of iron up a hill! Tootle was fined eight shillings for his silly wager.
During the evening of the 19th what was described as a "committee of the inhabitants of easley Cross" made a presentation to their pastor at St Joseph's RC School. The Rev. Fr. Nicholas was handed a watch and a "purse of gold" as a "testimonial of the high esteem in which he is held". The event took place in the church's boys' school and the St Helens Newspaper also commented that the "proceedings throughout were endorsed by the enthusiastic approval of a crammed house."
The Newspaper also wrote on the 20th that all the miners in the district had been given notice of a 10% cut in their wages. Last May they had been forced to accept a 15% reduction due to the depressed state of the industries that used coal – such as the chemicals trade and iron foundries.
Matters had not improved, hence the new reduction, which the Newspaper said was causing "a great deal of murmuring" among the men, who were "powerless to resist" as striking would only add to their "poverty and misfortunes".
There was a curious prosecution at the Prescot Petty Sessions on the 20th when a merchant called Antonio Hvistendhal summoned his cook for theft. He told the court that he had only moved to Rainhill a month earlier and since then had been "robbed" of a gold bracelet, a watch, linen sheets, earrings and other items.
Despite having had many workmen in his house, Hvistendhal had assumed that one of his three female servants must be responsible for the thefts. So he had a policeman search their things but none of the missing items were found. However Ann Gough had a piece of upholstery fabric in her possession, which she said an upholsterer had given her.
Hvistendhal claimed he would have given Ann the fabric if she had asked him and he didn't think it important, although it made him believe that she must have also taken the other items. Ann's angry sister gave evidence on her behalf and said the case was of a "trumpery character, and would never have been brought by an Englishman".
She said Ann had an "unimpeachable character" and Hvistendhal admitted that he had received an excellent reference before he had taken her on. The sole magistrate said he always wished to be strict with servants but found no evidence to take the case to a jury and the case was dismissed.
And finally the 40+ members of St Helens Harmonic Society gave their annual concert in the girls' schoolroom adjacent to the parish church on the 20th. The Newspaper said the attendance had been "tolerably good".
Next week's stories will include the battle of Westfield Street, a "piteous appeal" by a Park Road beggar, a bicycle demonstration in the Volunteer Hall, more trouble with the master of Whiston Workhouse, Dentons Green gipsies hold a ball and the sleeping drunk in the St Helens dock.
This secured the shafts of the carriage to the rear of the horse and the break so alarmed the animal that it bolted along the street. Frightened nags in the centre of St Helens sometimes smash shopkeepers' windows and were clearly a danger to the public.
However much of the Baldwin Street area was then open space and the horse was brought safely to a halt in Duke Street with no reports of injuries or damage to property. That said the shandry's shafts and some of the harness were broken, which would cost about £10 to replace (about £1,000 in today's money).
Last week I explained how the medical officer at Whiston Workhouse had made fourteen serious allegations against Thomas Holmes, the master of the institution. On the 17th the St Helens Newspaper described how the Prescot Union Board of Guardians had held a special inquiry into Dr Rayner's claims.
The head nurse at the workhouse hospital had previously accused Holmes of "tyranny" and she and another nurse had declared their intention to resign. During the hearing the doctor claimed that the elderly nurse originally employed at the hospital had also quit through the behaviour of the master and now lived in poverty.
Dr Rayner accused Mr Holmes of "course treatment and harsh expressions" towards the nurses, who he had resented since they were first appointed. However the workhouse matron – who was married to the master – claimed there was a conspiracy against them. However the Guardians did not agree and of the five charges against Thomas Holmes that they chose to investigate, all but one were found to have been proved.
The master was invited to resign but refused to do so and the Guardians did not have the power to sack him. Only the Poor Law Board could do that. Holmes claimed that he had not been given a proper hearing and would wait until a Poor Law inspector next visited the workhouse before deciding on his next step.
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 19th and in an extraordinary case the sexton at Rainford Parish Church was charged with highway robbery. John Smith was alleged to have stolen a silver verge watch belonging to John Dennison, after the pair had separately left the Derby Arms. However the sexton claimed he'd bought it for 4 shillings.
Dennison was described in the St Helens Newspaper as an "old man". However checking census records, the shoemaker from the Blindfoot Road area was only 56! The verger was alleged to have walked some of the way with Dennison and then thrown the man down and stolen his watch.
John Smith had several testimonials as to his character and even Constable Turner, who had arrested the sexton, was complimentary in court about him. Charles Roberts, the landlord of the Derby Arms, said John Dennison had been "much in drink" but walked with "tolerable steadiness".
He had shown the man the way back to Windle but as they were separating Dennison had asked him if he was going to rob him. The sexton's defence solicitor said the evidence against his client was "exceedingly fragile" but the Chairman of the Bench said they had no choice but to send Dennison to the Quarter Sessions in Liverpool for trial.
There was another case in the Petty Sessions in which the St Helens police had ordered someone to get out of town – like Marshall Dillon in 'Gunsmoke'! Ellen McDermott was described as a "notorious character" and she was charged with having conducted herself in an "improper manner" in Liverpool Road.
Superintendent James Ludlam said the woman had recently been in custody for another offence but had been told that she would not be prosecuted if she agreed to leave town. However Ellen had clearly stayed put and continued to be a nuisance and so was sent to prison at Kirkdale for fourteen days.
She no doubt travelled to gaol with Mary Buckley who was given two months for attempting to pick pockets. Shops stayed open late on Saturday nights and the market would have been packed and so a very good venue for pickpockets.
However Mary was clearly not adept at her vocation as Ann Halsall told the hearing that she'd felt the woman's hand slip into her pocket and another woman had seen it. Also Mary Buckley – who had a previous conviction – did not obtain any cash, as Ann Halsall's pocket had been empty.
"Thou Shalt Not Strike the Bobby's Wife", was the Newspaper's headline to another case. It concerned a woman called Ann Kelly who was charged with committing a breach of the peace by striking Mary Sewell. PC Gill told the court that he had seen the defendant making a disturbance in Peter Street and he had "quieted her". Subsequently he found the woman tearing the bonnet off another woman's head.
Ann Kelly claimed that she had been in Peter Street saving a woman from being beaten by her husband and was pushing a crowd away from the door. She said Mary Sewell had not liked being pushed and in retaliation had kicked her while saying: "Don't you know I am a policeman's wife?"
And Ann Kelly clearly didn't appreciate being kicked, as she slapped Mary Sewell's face, knocking her bonnet off her head. Two witnesses corroborated the woman's statement. The bobby's wife claimed she had not intentionally kicked the woman but had accidentally caught her after putting up her feet to keep the woman off! The magistrates were not impressed and dismissed the case.
John Tootle was in court charged with ill-treating a horse in Eccleston. A policeman had seen him driving a cart weighing around 16 cwt in which he had been attempting to haul two tons of pig iron up a hill called Combshop Brow.
It was being done for a £1 bet and the defendant told the court that his animal was 17 hands high and six years of age. The implication was that it was a strong horse but I'd like to have seen the man pull two tons of iron up a hill! Tootle was fined eight shillings for his silly wager.
The Newspaper also wrote on the 20th that all the miners in the district had been given notice of a 10% cut in their wages. Last May they had been forced to accept a 15% reduction due to the depressed state of the industries that used coal – such as the chemicals trade and iron foundries.
Matters had not improved, hence the new reduction, which the Newspaper said was causing "a great deal of murmuring" among the men, who were "powerless to resist" as striking would only add to their "poverty and misfortunes".
There was a curious prosecution at the Prescot Petty Sessions on the 20th when a merchant called Antonio Hvistendhal summoned his cook for theft. He told the court that he had only moved to Rainhill a month earlier and since then had been "robbed" of a gold bracelet, a watch, linen sheets, earrings and other items.
Despite having had many workmen in his house, Hvistendhal had assumed that one of his three female servants must be responsible for the thefts. So he had a policeman search their things but none of the missing items were found. However Ann Gough had a piece of upholstery fabric in her possession, which she said an upholsterer had given her.
Hvistendhal claimed he would have given Ann the fabric if she had asked him and he didn't think it important, although it made him believe that she must have also taken the other items. Ann's angry sister gave evidence on her behalf and said the case was of a "trumpery character, and would never have been brought by an Englishman".
She said Ann had an "unimpeachable character" and Hvistendhal admitted that he had received an excellent reference before he had taken her on. The sole magistrate said he always wished to be strict with servants but found no evidence to take the case to a jury and the case was dismissed.
And finally the 40+ members of St Helens Harmonic Society gave their annual concert in the girls' schoolroom adjacent to the parish church on the 20th. The Newspaper said the attendance had been "tolerably good".
Next week's stories will include the battle of Westfield Street, a "piteous appeal" by a Park Road beggar, a bicycle demonstration in the Volunteer Hall, more trouble with the master of Whiston Workhouse, Dentons Green gipsies hold a ball and the sleeping drunk in the St Helens dock.