150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 15 - 21 APRIL 1874
This week's stories include the repulsive burglar of Raglan Street, the battered wife whose retaliation led to her court case being dismissed, the creation of Bold Colliery, the newspaper adverts seeking a moderate curate for Rainford, respectable girls to pack washing powder and the services of a billposter and the court case in which a man's admission that he had beaten his wife was seen as a positive thing.
We begin with the latter story in which a grocer named Haslam sued a man called Leyland in St Helens County Court in East Street. Married men were responsible for the debts of their wives, although they could absolve themselves from responsibility if they had warned traders in advance that they would not pay any bills run up by their wife. The grocer Haslam wanted the sum of £10 1s 6d from Leyland as payment for the many provisions he had supplied to his wife.
Martha Haslam gave evidence that the debt had been allowed to accumulate through a promise from Mrs Leyland that as payment she would give the grocer's the pig that she and her husband owned. But that never happened and the husband told the court that he had warned the shopkeeper not to trust his wife and then made the extraordinary admission that he had often beaten his wife to deter her from obtaining credit.
That is extraordinary to our eyes – but not in 1874 where husbands were allowed to chastise their wives if they were perceived to have done wrong. Certainly Leyland's statement went down well with the judge, along with his claim that he had warned the Haslams that he would not pay any debts incurred by his spouse. And Leyland had even stuck up notices on the walls of the town to warn other traders. As a result the judge nonsuited the grocer's claim, i.e. dismissed it.
On the 15th this advert was published in the clerical classified column of the Manchester Courier: "WANTED, immediately, an unmarried curate of moderate views, for the agricultural parish of Rainford, near St Helens, Lancashire; stipend £140. – Address the Vicar."
If a battered wife retaliated in any way against her brutal husband, she left herself open to accusations that she was the violent party in the marriage. Charles White was summoned to St Helens Petty Sessions this week to show cause why he should not contribute towards the support of his wife. The couple had only married last December and had separated through the husband's violence. Mrs White told the court that her husband had given her "most brutal usage".
On one occasion he had set his dog on his wife and then kicked her several times for protecting herself from the animal. "He has threatened to kill me, and I am afraid to live with him again", added Mrs White. However, she had to admit that on one occasion she had thrown a chair at her husband and at other times had damaged other articles in the house. White's solicitor contended that the woman was subject to fits and was not fit to live with her husband. As a result the magistrates dismissed the case.
It was common for newspapers to make disparaging comments about how defendants looked in court. However, the Prescot Reporter's description on the 18th of John Flanagan as "repulsive" was a first for me. The 26-year-old had appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with entering 19 Raglan Street and stealing a silver watch and chain, an overcoat and a pair of stockings valued at £7 in total.
Flanagan had cheekily entered two bedrooms of the house in the early hours while their occupants slept and had even spoken to one girl. He then exited the house through its parlour window and made his way to Arthur Street and the home of bricklayer John Swift. It was there that the police arrested him.
As PC Nelson explained to the court how Flanagan had a knife in his hand at the time of the arrest, the defendant remarked: "You lie you ghost, you took it out of my pocket". Flanagan was committed to take his trial at the next Quarter Sessions. However, the 26-year-old never made it to the court at Kirkdale as on June 1st he was diagnosed as a lunatic and transferred to Rainhill Asylum.
This advert appeared in the St Helens Newspaper on the 18th: "WANTED! Some respectable girls! Of the age of 13 to 16, to pack and label washing powder. Good wages to quick hands. Apply to the foreman of the Greenbank Alkali Works."
Last August James Berry of George Street who for many years had been the Town Crier of St Helens had died. His official duties had then been few and his main business was as a billposter and distributor of circulars and handbills around the town. In this week's St Helens Newspaper Charles and Co. said they had taken over Berry's business as billposters but made no mention of being Town Crier. Presumably the role had died with its last incumbent. But they advertised "prominent posting stations" in St Helens, which meant they had permission to stick posters up in certain places in the town.
Food went off very quickly in the 19th century and some shopkeepers were loath to discard it and have to write off what they had paid. On the 20th in St Helens Petty Sessions fishmonger Charles Willitts was charged with having in his possession 83 diseased fish for sale. The prosecution had come about after a servant called Ellen Duncan had bought eight herrings from Willitts' shop in Tontine Street. Upon taking them home her mistress had examined the fish and found them unfit. But when Ellen took them back to the shop they had refused to give her a refund. And so Willitts was reported to the inspector of nuisances and fined £5 and costs.
There were no more than a handful of black people living in St Helens during the 19th century and West Indies-born George Daniels of Moss Nook in Sutton was one. He was in court after allowing his pony to stray on the road and was fined 10 shillings. George was described in the court report as keeping "a chariot for the conveyance of children up and down the borough, for hire". George endured considerable prejudice and in 1877 would get into trouble after stabbing one of his persecutors.
Fights in public houses were, as might be expected, very common. George Beck was charged with assaulting George Morris in what appeared to be the Bridge Inn in Rainford. Morris had intervened when Beck began to fight with a man named Garrity and was knocked down and given a black eye for his trouble. Beck was fined 10 shillings and costs.
A curious tale of thefts was also told at the Petty Sessions when John McKeown was charged with stealing three pigs from his uncle Anthony McGuiness. The latter told the court that two days after their disappearance, he had found his pigs at Catherine Connolly's shop in Baldwin Street and she told the court she had bought them off John McKeown for £5 10 shillings. After making the sale McKeown had gone to a lodging house and despite it being only afternoon went straight to bed. When he woke up he found £3 10 shillings of his pig money had been stolen.
As a result the lodging housekeeper Michael Martin and charwoman Alice Henry appeared in the court accused of stealing the cash with a witness having seen Alice enter the man's room. All three denied the charges and were sent for trial at Kirkdale Assizes. Alice was convicted and sent to prison for four months with hard labour but Michael Martin and the alleged pig stealer John McKeown were both found not guilty.
When installing sewers in the streets St Helens Corporation would ask the property owners to pay a proportion of the cost. On the 21st the Corporation sued a man called Burgess for £31 8 shillings after he had refused to pay his share for a new sewer in York Street. His defence was that the existing 12-inch sewer had been quite adequate and the Corporation were only installing the new one to cope with sewage from Park Road. Burgess said he saw no reason why she should have to pay for someone else's sewage. But the judge said the law gave the Corporation power to undertake such works and charge property owners and so he gave his verdict in favour of the plaintiff.
I’ve often commented how theft was treated far more seriously than violence in the 19th century. But if you were a serial offender the sentences got longer and longer. At the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions on the 21st, Edward Baines from St Helens was convicted of stealing a watch and chain and a compass from beerseller John Ripley, as well as a shirt off draper George Barrow. The 29-year-old had nine previous convictions and was sent to prison for ten years.
Also on the 21st the "first sod was turned" – as the St Helens Newspaper put it – on a new coalmine at St Helens Junction that eventually would become Bold Colliery (pictured above). It belonged to Thomas Lyon of Appleton Hall in Warrington who said he felt confident that a good seam would be found. The Newspaper added: "The gentlemen present at the ceremony toasted the project in champagne on the spot, and partook of an elegant luncheon on returning to St. Helens."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the betting mania in Prescot, the violent passenger at St Helens Station, the glassworker fined for arriving ten minutes late at work, the diseased pig in Tontine Street and the dog that was set on a man at Peckers Hill.
We begin with the latter story in which a grocer named Haslam sued a man called Leyland in St Helens County Court in East Street. Married men were responsible for the debts of their wives, although they could absolve themselves from responsibility if they had warned traders in advance that they would not pay any bills run up by their wife. The grocer Haslam wanted the sum of £10 1s 6d from Leyland as payment for the many provisions he had supplied to his wife.
Martha Haslam gave evidence that the debt had been allowed to accumulate through a promise from Mrs Leyland that as payment she would give the grocer's the pig that she and her husband owned. But that never happened and the husband told the court that he had warned the shopkeeper not to trust his wife and then made the extraordinary admission that he had often beaten his wife to deter her from obtaining credit.
That is extraordinary to our eyes – but not in 1874 where husbands were allowed to chastise their wives if they were perceived to have done wrong. Certainly Leyland's statement went down well with the judge, along with his claim that he had warned the Haslams that he would not pay any debts incurred by his spouse. And Leyland had even stuck up notices on the walls of the town to warn other traders. As a result the judge nonsuited the grocer's claim, i.e. dismissed it.
On the 15th this advert was published in the clerical classified column of the Manchester Courier: "WANTED, immediately, an unmarried curate of moderate views, for the agricultural parish of Rainford, near St Helens, Lancashire; stipend £140. – Address the Vicar."
If a battered wife retaliated in any way against her brutal husband, she left herself open to accusations that she was the violent party in the marriage. Charles White was summoned to St Helens Petty Sessions this week to show cause why he should not contribute towards the support of his wife. The couple had only married last December and had separated through the husband's violence. Mrs White told the court that her husband had given her "most brutal usage".
On one occasion he had set his dog on his wife and then kicked her several times for protecting herself from the animal. "He has threatened to kill me, and I am afraid to live with him again", added Mrs White. However, she had to admit that on one occasion she had thrown a chair at her husband and at other times had damaged other articles in the house. White's solicitor contended that the woman was subject to fits and was not fit to live with her husband. As a result the magistrates dismissed the case.
It was common for newspapers to make disparaging comments about how defendants looked in court. However, the Prescot Reporter's description on the 18th of John Flanagan as "repulsive" was a first for me. The 26-year-old had appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with entering 19 Raglan Street and stealing a silver watch and chain, an overcoat and a pair of stockings valued at £7 in total.
Flanagan had cheekily entered two bedrooms of the house in the early hours while their occupants slept and had even spoken to one girl. He then exited the house through its parlour window and made his way to Arthur Street and the home of bricklayer John Swift. It was there that the police arrested him.
As PC Nelson explained to the court how Flanagan had a knife in his hand at the time of the arrest, the defendant remarked: "You lie you ghost, you took it out of my pocket". Flanagan was committed to take his trial at the next Quarter Sessions. However, the 26-year-old never made it to the court at Kirkdale as on June 1st he was diagnosed as a lunatic and transferred to Rainhill Asylum.
This advert appeared in the St Helens Newspaper on the 18th: "WANTED! Some respectable girls! Of the age of 13 to 16, to pack and label washing powder. Good wages to quick hands. Apply to the foreman of the Greenbank Alkali Works."
Last August James Berry of George Street who for many years had been the Town Crier of St Helens had died. His official duties had then been few and his main business was as a billposter and distributor of circulars and handbills around the town. In this week's St Helens Newspaper Charles and Co. said they had taken over Berry's business as billposters but made no mention of being Town Crier. Presumably the role had died with its last incumbent. But they advertised "prominent posting stations" in St Helens, which meant they had permission to stick posters up in certain places in the town.
Food went off very quickly in the 19th century and some shopkeepers were loath to discard it and have to write off what they had paid. On the 20th in St Helens Petty Sessions fishmonger Charles Willitts was charged with having in his possession 83 diseased fish for sale. The prosecution had come about after a servant called Ellen Duncan had bought eight herrings from Willitts' shop in Tontine Street. Upon taking them home her mistress had examined the fish and found them unfit. But when Ellen took them back to the shop they had refused to give her a refund. And so Willitts was reported to the inspector of nuisances and fined £5 and costs.
There were no more than a handful of black people living in St Helens during the 19th century and West Indies-born George Daniels of Moss Nook in Sutton was one. He was in court after allowing his pony to stray on the road and was fined 10 shillings. George was described in the court report as keeping "a chariot for the conveyance of children up and down the borough, for hire". George endured considerable prejudice and in 1877 would get into trouble after stabbing one of his persecutors.
Fights in public houses were, as might be expected, very common. George Beck was charged with assaulting George Morris in what appeared to be the Bridge Inn in Rainford. Morris had intervened when Beck began to fight with a man named Garrity and was knocked down and given a black eye for his trouble. Beck was fined 10 shillings and costs.
A curious tale of thefts was also told at the Petty Sessions when John McKeown was charged with stealing three pigs from his uncle Anthony McGuiness. The latter told the court that two days after their disappearance, he had found his pigs at Catherine Connolly's shop in Baldwin Street and she told the court she had bought them off John McKeown for £5 10 shillings. After making the sale McKeown had gone to a lodging house and despite it being only afternoon went straight to bed. When he woke up he found £3 10 shillings of his pig money had been stolen.
As a result the lodging housekeeper Michael Martin and charwoman Alice Henry appeared in the court accused of stealing the cash with a witness having seen Alice enter the man's room. All three denied the charges and were sent for trial at Kirkdale Assizes. Alice was convicted and sent to prison for four months with hard labour but Michael Martin and the alleged pig stealer John McKeown were both found not guilty.
When installing sewers in the streets St Helens Corporation would ask the property owners to pay a proportion of the cost. On the 21st the Corporation sued a man called Burgess for £31 8 shillings after he had refused to pay his share for a new sewer in York Street. His defence was that the existing 12-inch sewer had been quite adequate and the Corporation were only installing the new one to cope with sewage from Park Road. Burgess said he saw no reason why she should have to pay for someone else's sewage. But the judge said the law gave the Corporation power to undertake such works and charge property owners and so he gave his verdict in favour of the plaintiff.
I’ve often commented how theft was treated far more seriously than violence in the 19th century. But if you were a serial offender the sentences got longer and longer. At the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions on the 21st, Edward Baines from St Helens was convicted of stealing a watch and chain and a compass from beerseller John Ripley, as well as a shirt off draper George Barrow. The 29-year-old had nine previous convictions and was sent to prison for ten years.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the betting mania in Prescot, the violent passenger at St Helens Station, the glassworker fined for arriving ten minutes late at work, the diseased pig in Tontine Street and the dog that was set on a man at Peckers Hill.
This week's stories include the repulsive burglar of Raglan Street, the battered wife whose retaliation led to her court case being dismissed, the creation of Bold Colliery, the newspaper adverts seeking a moderate curate for Rainford, respectable girls to pack washing powder and the services of a billposter and the court case in which a man's admission that he had beaten his wife was seen as a positive thing.
We begin with the latter story in which a grocer named Haslam sued a man called Leyland in St Helens County Court in East Street.
Married men were responsible for the debts of their wives, although they could absolve themselves from responsibility if they had warned traders in advance that they would not pay any bills run up by their wife.
The grocer Haslam wanted the sum of £10 1s 6d from Leyland as payment for the many provisions he had supplied to his wife.
Martha Haslam gave evidence that the debt had been allowed to accumulate through a promise from Mrs Leyland that as payment she would give the grocer's the pig that she and her husband owned.
But that never happened and the husband told the court that he had warned the shopkeeper not to trust his wife and then made the extraordinary admission that he had often beaten his wife to deter her from obtaining credit.
That is extraordinary to our eyes – but not in 1874 where husbands were allowed to chastise their wives if they were perceived to have done wrong.
Certainly Leyland's statement went down well with the judge, along with his claim that he had warned the Haslams that he would not pay any debts incurred by his spouse.
And Leyland had even stuck up notices on the walls of the town to warn other traders. As a result the judge nonsuited the grocer's claim, i.e. dismissed it.
On the 15th this advert was published in the clerical classified column of the Manchester Courier:
"WANTED, immediately, an unmarried curate of moderate views, for the agricultural parish of Rainford, near St Helens, Lancashire; stipend £140. – Address the Vicar."
If a battered wife retaliated in any way against her brutal husband, she left herself open to accusations that she was the violent party in the marriage.
Charles White was summoned to St Helens Petty Sessions this week to show cause why he should not contribute towards the support of his wife.
The couple had only married last December and had separated through the husband's violence.
Mrs White told the court that her husband had given her "most brutal usage". On one occasion he had set his dog on his wife and then kicked her several times for protecting herself from the animal.
"He has threatened to kill me, and I am afraid to live with him again", added Mrs White.
However, she had to admit that on one occasion she had thrown a chair at her husband and at other times had damaged other articles in the house.
White's solicitor contended that the woman was subject to fits and was not fit to live with her husband. As a result the magistrates dismissed the case.
It was common for newspapers to make disparaging comments about how defendants looked in court.
However, the Prescot Reporter's description on the 18th of John Flanagan as "repulsive" was a first for me.
The 26-year-old had appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with entering 19 Raglan Street and stealing a silver watch and chain, an overcoat and a pair of stockings valued at £7 in total.
Flanagan had cheekily entered two bedrooms of the house in the early hours while their occupants slept and had even spoken to one girl.
He then exited the house through its parlour window and made his way to Arthur Street and the home of bricklayer John Swift. It was there that the police arrested him.
As PC Nelson explained to the court how Flanagan had a knife in his hand at the time of the arrest, the defendant remarked: "You lie you ghost, you took it out of my pocket".
Flanagan was committed to take his trial at the next Quarter Sessions. However, the 26-year-old never made it to the court at Kirkdale as on June 1st he was diagnosed as a lunatic and transferred to Rainhill Asylum.
This advert appeared in the St Helens Newspaper on the 18th:
"WANTED! Some respectable girls! Of the age of 13 to 16, to pack and label washing powder. Good wages to quick hands. Apply to the foreman of the Greenbank Alkali Works."
Last August James Berry of George Street who for many years had been the Town Crier of St Helens had died.
His official duties had then been few and his main business was as a billposter and distributor of circulars and handbills around the town.
In this week's St Helens Newspaper Charles and Co. said they had taken over Berry's business as billposters but made no mention of being Town Crier. Presumably the role had died with its last incumbent.
But they advertised "prominent posting stations" in St Helens, which meant they had permission to stick posters up in certain places in the town.
Food went off very quickly in the 19th century and some shopkeepers were loath to discard it and have to write off what they had paid.
On the 20th in St Helens Petty Sessions fishmonger Charles Willitts was charged with having in his possession 83 diseased fish for sale.
The prosecution had come about after a servant called Ellen Duncan had bought eight herrings from Willitts' shop in Tontine Street.
Upon taking them home her mistress had examined the fish and found them unfit. But when Ellen took them back to the shop they had refused to give her a refund.
And so Willitts was reported to the inspector of nuisances and fined £5 and costs.
There were no more than a handful of black people living in St Helens during the 19th century and West Indies-born George Daniels of Moss Nook in Sutton was one.
He was in court after allowing his pony to stray on the road and was fined 10 shillings. George was described in the court report as keeping "a chariot for the conveyance of children up and down the borough, for hire".
George endured considerable prejudice and in 1877 would get into trouble after stabbing one of his persecutors.
Fights in public houses were, as might be expected, very common. George Beck was charged with assaulting George Morris in what appeared to be the Bridge Inn in Rainford.
Morris had intervened when Beck began to fight with a man named Garrity and was knocked down and given a black eye for his trouble. Beck was fined 10 shillings and costs.
A curious tale of thefts was also told at the Petty Sessions when John McKeown was charged with stealing three pigs from his uncle Anthony McGuiness.
The latter told the court that two days after their disappearance, he had found his pigs at Catherine Connolly's shop in Baldwin Street and she told the court she had bought them off John McKeown for £5 10 shillings.
After making the sale McKeown had gone to a lodging house and despite it being only afternoon went straight to bed. When he woke up he found £3 10 shillings of his pig money had been stolen.
As a result the lodging housekeeper Michael Martin and charwoman Alice Henry appeared in the court accused of stealing the cash with a witness having seen Alice enter the man's room.
All three denied the charges and were sent for trial at Kirkdale Assizes. Alice was convicted and sent to prison for four months with hard labour but Michael Martin and the alleged pig stealer John McKeown were both found not guilty.
When installing sewers in the streets St Helens Corporation would ask the property owners to pay a proportion of the cost.
On the 21st the Corporation sued a man called Burgess for £31 8 shillings after he had refused to pay his share for a new sewer in York Street.
His defence was that the existing 12-inch sewer had been quite adequate and the Corporation were only installing the new one to cope with sewage from Park Road.
Burgess said he saw no reason why she should have to pay for someone else's sewage. But the judge said the law gave the Corporation power to undertake such works and charge property owners and so he gave his verdict in favour of the plaintiff.
I’ve often commented how theft was treated far more seriously than violence in the 19th century. But if you were a serial offender the sentences got longer and longer.
At the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions on the 21st, Edward Baines from St Helens was convicted of stealing a watch and chain and a compass from beerseller John Ripley, as well as a shirt off draper George Barrow.
The 29-year-old had nine previous convictions and was sent to prison for ten years.
Also on the 21st the "first sod was turned" – as the St Helens Newspaper put it – on a new coalmine at St Helens Junction that eventually would become Bold Colliery (pictured above).
It belonged to Thomas Lyon of Appleton Hall in Warrington who said he felt confident that a good seam would be found.
The Newspaper added: "The gentlemen present at the ceremony toasted the project in champagne on the spot, and partook of an elegant luncheon on returning to St. Helens."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the betting mania in Prescot, the violent passenger at St Helens Station, the glassworker fined for arriving ten minutes late at work, the diseased pig in Tontine Street and the dog that was set on a man at Peckers Hill.
We begin with the latter story in which a grocer named Haslam sued a man called Leyland in St Helens County Court in East Street.
Married men were responsible for the debts of their wives, although they could absolve themselves from responsibility if they had warned traders in advance that they would not pay any bills run up by their wife.
The grocer Haslam wanted the sum of £10 1s 6d from Leyland as payment for the many provisions he had supplied to his wife.
Martha Haslam gave evidence that the debt had been allowed to accumulate through a promise from Mrs Leyland that as payment she would give the grocer's the pig that she and her husband owned.
But that never happened and the husband told the court that he had warned the shopkeeper not to trust his wife and then made the extraordinary admission that he had often beaten his wife to deter her from obtaining credit.
That is extraordinary to our eyes – but not in 1874 where husbands were allowed to chastise their wives if they were perceived to have done wrong.
Certainly Leyland's statement went down well with the judge, along with his claim that he had warned the Haslams that he would not pay any debts incurred by his spouse.
And Leyland had even stuck up notices on the walls of the town to warn other traders. As a result the judge nonsuited the grocer's claim, i.e. dismissed it.
On the 15th this advert was published in the clerical classified column of the Manchester Courier:
"WANTED, immediately, an unmarried curate of moderate views, for the agricultural parish of Rainford, near St Helens, Lancashire; stipend £140. – Address the Vicar."
If a battered wife retaliated in any way against her brutal husband, she left herself open to accusations that she was the violent party in the marriage.
Charles White was summoned to St Helens Petty Sessions this week to show cause why he should not contribute towards the support of his wife.
The couple had only married last December and had separated through the husband's violence.
Mrs White told the court that her husband had given her "most brutal usage". On one occasion he had set his dog on his wife and then kicked her several times for protecting herself from the animal.
"He has threatened to kill me, and I am afraid to live with him again", added Mrs White.
However, she had to admit that on one occasion she had thrown a chair at her husband and at other times had damaged other articles in the house.
White's solicitor contended that the woman was subject to fits and was not fit to live with her husband. As a result the magistrates dismissed the case.
It was common for newspapers to make disparaging comments about how defendants looked in court.
However, the Prescot Reporter's description on the 18th of John Flanagan as "repulsive" was a first for me.
The 26-year-old had appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with entering 19 Raglan Street and stealing a silver watch and chain, an overcoat and a pair of stockings valued at £7 in total.
Flanagan had cheekily entered two bedrooms of the house in the early hours while their occupants slept and had even spoken to one girl.
He then exited the house through its parlour window and made his way to Arthur Street and the home of bricklayer John Swift. It was there that the police arrested him.
As PC Nelson explained to the court how Flanagan had a knife in his hand at the time of the arrest, the defendant remarked: "You lie you ghost, you took it out of my pocket".
Flanagan was committed to take his trial at the next Quarter Sessions. However, the 26-year-old never made it to the court at Kirkdale as on June 1st he was diagnosed as a lunatic and transferred to Rainhill Asylum.
This advert appeared in the St Helens Newspaper on the 18th:
"WANTED! Some respectable girls! Of the age of 13 to 16, to pack and label washing powder. Good wages to quick hands. Apply to the foreman of the Greenbank Alkali Works."
Last August James Berry of George Street who for many years had been the Town Crier of St Helens had died.
His official duties had then been few and his main business was as a billposter and distributor of circulars and handbills around the town.
In this week's St Helens Newspaper Charles and Co. said they had taken over Berry's business as billposters but made no mention of being Town Crier. Presumably the role had died with its last incumbent.
But they advertised "prominent posting stations" in St Helens, which meant they had permission to stick posters up in certain places in the town.
Food went off very quickly in the 19th century and some shopkeepers were loath to discard it and have to write off what they had paid.
On the 20th in St Helens Petty Sessions fishmonger Charles Willitts was charged with having in his possession 83 diseased fish for sale.
The prosecution had come about after a servant called Ellen Duncan had bought eight herrings from Willitts' shop in Tontine Street.
Upon taking them home her mistress had examined the fish and found them unfit. But when Ellen took them back to the shop they had refused to give her a refund.
And so Willitts was reported to the inspector of nuisances and fined £5 and costs.
There were no more than a handful of black people living in St Helens during the 19th century and West Indies-born George Daniels of Moss Nook in Sutton was one.
He was in court after allowing his pony to stray on the road and was fined 10 shillings. George was described in the court report as keeping "a chariot for the conveyance of children up and down the borough, for hire".
George endured considerable prejudice and in 1877 would get into trouble after stabbing one of his persecutors.
Fights in public houses were, as might be expected, very common. George Beck was charged with assaulting George Morris in what appeared to be the Bridge Inn in Rainford.
Morris had intervened when Beck began to fight with a man named Garrity and was knocked down and given a black eye for his trouble. Beck was fined 10 shillings and costs.
A curious tale of thefts was also told at the Petty Sessions when John McKeown was charged with stealing three pigs from his uncle Anthony McGuiness.
The latter told the court that two days after their disappearance, he had found his pigs at Catherine Connolly's shop in Baldwin Street and she told the court she had bought them off John McKeown for £5 10 shillings.
After making the sale McKeown had gone to a lodging house and despite it being only afternoon went straight to bed. When he woke up he found £3 10 shillings of his pig money had been stolen.
As a result the lodging housekeeper Michael Martin and charwoman Alice Henry appeared in the court accused of stealing the cash with a witness having seen Alice enter the man's room.
All three denied the charges and were sent for trial at Kirkdale Assizes. Alice was convicted and sent to prison for four months with hard labour but Michael Martin and the alleged pig stealer John McKeown were both found not guilty.
When installing sewers in the streets St Helens Corporation would ask the property owners to pay a proportion of the cost.
On the 21st the Corporation sued a man called Burgess for £31 8 shillings after he had refused to pay his share for a new sewer in York Street.
His defence was that the existing 12-inch sewer had been quite adequate and the Corporation were only installing the new one to cope with sewage from Park Road.
Burgess said he saw no reason why she should have to pay for someone else's sewage. But the judge said the law gave the Corporation power to undertake such works and charge property owners and so he gave his verdict in favour of the plaintiff.
I’ve often commented how theft was treated far more seriously than violence in the 19th century. But if you were a serial offender the sentences got longer and longer.
At the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions on the 21st, Edward Baines from St Helens was convicted of stealing a watch and chain and a compass from beerseller John Ripley, as well as a shirt off draper George Barrow.
The 29-year-old had nine previous convictions and was sent to prison for ten years.
It belonged to Thomas Lyon of Appleton Hall in Warrington who said he felt confident that a good seam would be found.
The Newspaper added: "The gentlemen present at the ceremony toasted the project in champagne on the spot, and partook of an elegant luncheon on returning to St. Helens."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the betting mania in Prescot, the violent passenger at St Helens Station, the glassworker fined for arriving ten minutes late at work, the diseased pig in Tontine Street and the dog that was set on a man at Peckers Hill.