150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK THIS WEEK 15 - 21 JULY 1874
This week's many stories include the freak of a lunatic at Bold, the man who was prosecuted for taking two days off work, the overcrowded and smelly lodging houses, the sleeping man in Dentons Green Lane that had his watch pinched, the vast assemblage attending the St Helens Athletics Festival and the man who called himself an unfortunate creature that the police needed to tie to a hand cart to get to the station.
If immorality of some description was circumstantially connected to some offence, then the sentence that the defendant received in court tended to be a harsher one. On the 15th John Fairhurst appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with deserting his wife and children and leaving them chargeable to the parish.
That was a quite common offence and such defendants usually received a prison sentence of one or two months. Alternatively, the convicted man could be ordered to repay the small amounts of money that his wife had received from the Prescot Union.
But John Fairhurst had not just walked out on his family – he had gone off with another woman. Or as was put in court, he had "taken away with him the wife of another man". That was seen as a huge aggravating factor and he was given the maximum sentence for wife desertion of three months hard labour.
Also on the 15th a man calling himself Barclay Winters caused what the St Helens Newspaper described as an "extraordinary sensation" in Bold. The young Irishman was seen frantically running through fields, causing damage to hedges and after dropping into a ditch he had covered himself in mud from head to toe.
Mr Winters later told a doctor that he had been trying to dig for his brother who was back in Ireland and the poor man was conveyed to Whiston Workhouse. In Victorian times the word "freak" tended to be used as a verb describing outlandish behaviour and the Newspaper's headline to their report was "Freak Of A Lunatic At Bold".
This week's court cases included that of John Rock who was charged with drunkenness for which he pleaded guilty. PC Jones told the court that he had to remove Rock from the railway station because of his behaviour and he became so violent on the journey to the police station that he had to tie him to a handcart. This is how the St Helens Newspaper described the case:
"The accused had no defence to make, except that whenever he got a glass of drink he did strange things, was very sorry for this affair, had four little children, never would do such a thing again, had been two years in one situation, very seldom got drunk, begged mercy from the court, was an unfortunate creature – and such like exclamations. He was ordered to pay £2 5s 6d for the assault, and 10s 6d for drunkenness."
Workers who left their jobs (aka situations) without giving notice to their employers were regularly summoned to court. Patrick Brennan was this week facing such a charge of quitting Pilkington's Colliery and as he failed to turn up to his hearing, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
And you could even be prosecuted for taking the odd day off! Although such individuals were not paid when they did not show up, their employer would claim that their absence had cost them money in some way. In the case of James Crompton, his bosses at Daglish's foundry in St Helens (pictured above) reckoned that the two days that he had taken off at the end of June had cost them 10 shillings. The court was told that they had taken out proceedings against Crompton in order to reform their workman. He offered no defence and the Bench ordered him to pay 16s 6d.
Every now and then the St Helens Nuisance Inspector would go round the many doss houses in the town. As a result of his inspection, some of the lodging housekeepers would be prosecuted and the cases brought to court could be quite eye-opening. This week William Siggins of John Street, off Liverpool Street, was charged with using his property as a common lodging house without a licence.
The nuisance inspector, Mr Turner, said the house contained only two rooms. In the downstairs room Siggins and his wife slept and in the upstairs room there were three beds accommodating four sleepers. Mr Siggins said he did not know that he needed a licence and was fined five shillings and costs. Four people occupying three beds in a single room was relatively luxurious for such lodging houses. In another case Roger Bradley of Canal Street had 11 men sleeping in his two rooms. Just how many beds was not specified but there certainly wouldn't have been eleven! Bradley was fined 10 shillings and costs.
And John Conroy of Sandfield Crescent in Greenbank had, according to the inspector, the most overcrowded house he had ever seen, saying: "When I went there the stench was just as much as I could manage." Just how many people were in the overcrowded house was not, unfortunately, reported but Conroy was also fined ten shillings and costs. And Catherine McDermott of Mount Street had several men, one woman and two children sleeping in her lodging house and she also received a 10-bob fine.
It was not uncommon for people with homes of their own to go to sleep on the street after having a few drinks. They would usually soon be roused by a bobby on his beat, although sometimes an opportunist thief got their first. James Ellison was also in court charged with stealing a watch worth £2 from Francis Molyneux. The latter had been walking to his home in Albion Street when he decided to take a snooze in Dentons Green Lane.
Ellison saw his opportunity and took Mr Molyneux's watch out of his pocket and transferred it to his own. But a young woman saw what was going on and asked Ellison for an explanation. He claimed that the sleeping man was his father and that he was taking care of his watch for him. But she didn't believe him and PC Millett was informed and the man was arrested. In court Ellison pleaded guilty to the charge and was sent to prison for three months.
During the summer the deep waters of St Helens Canal proved too inviting for some who threw caution to the wind to take a swim. On the 18th James Maleney ignored the advice of a friend not to go into the water because of the danger and within minutes the 20-year-old labourer had drowned. And later that day fifteen men were killed in a Wigan coalmine after yet another gas explosion.
This week a Japanese troupe of jugglers and acrobats appeared at the Theatre Royal in the building we know as the Citadel. The St Helens Newspaper on the 18th complimented their "perfect mastery" of the feats that they had performed.
The paper also reviewed, somewhat grumpily, last week's athletic sports, which had taken place at the Cricket Club in Dentons Green. They were not happy about the space allocated to the reporters as it had been repeatedly invaded by strangers, "some very rough and uncouth ones", adding, "When representatives of the press have a duty to perform, and are tied to a spot, they ought to enjoy immunity from the rough element."
The Newspaper also complained over how people had been admitted to the event, saying that the "crush at the gate was tremendous, and so blocked up was the way that persons provided with tickets were unable to effect an entrance". The "vast assemblage" drawn to the field in Dentons Green was put down to the excellent weather and they estimated the attendance figure as up to 10,000 – although the paper was not very impressed by the quality of the athletics on display, writing:
"The St. Helens sports certainly do not improve in the merit of the competitors. No one who is anything above the average cares for coming here, and consequently the thousands who pay for admission to the course can only see mediocre performances." That, perhaps, is not surprising, bearing in mind that such competitions had only been held in St Helens since 1870.
Solicitor Thomas Swift was up to his old tricks in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 18th trivialising violence against women. That was when Peter Gilligan, who the Newspaper described as "a rough-looking fellow", was charged with assaulting Ann Campbell. Gilligan had followed the woman into a shop and having what was described as some ill-feeling towards Ann, had knocked her down with a blow from his fist.
In court Thomas Swift berated the fact that a warrant for the arrest of his client had ever been granted for what he called a "trivial cause". The man had already spent several days in custody awaiting his court appearance and the magistrates decided that was sufficient punishment for his beating and dismissed the case.
Unlike today, the authorities in the 19th century treated any form of shoplifting very seriously. John King was also in court charged with brazenly stealing some black puddings from Joseph Burchall's shop in Church Street. He was pursued and caught near the railway station and in court offered a rather odd explanation for his act. King claimed that he had water in his head and he had drunk some whisky which always had a bad effect upon him. The man had previously been remanded in custody and was ordered to be imprisoned for another day.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the dirty dialogue in Liverpool Street, the stormy meeting inside Prescot Parish Church, the Ravenhead Plate Glass Works' excursion to Morecambe Bay and an Irish home rule campaigner lectures in St Helens.
If immorality of some description was circumstantially connected to some offence, then the sentence that the defendant received in court tended to be a harsher one. On the 15th John Fairhurst appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with deserting his wife and children and leaving them chargeable to the parish.
That was a quite common offence and such defendants usually received a prison sentence of one or two months. Alternatively, the convicted man could be ordered to repay the small amounts of money that his wife had received from the Prescot Union.
But John Fairhurst had not just walked out on his family – he had gone off with another woman. Or as was put in court, he had "taken away with him the wife of another man". That was seen as a huge aggravating factor and he was given the maximum sentence for wife desertion of three months hard labour.
Also on the 15th a man calling himself Barclay Winters caused what the St Helens Newspaper described as an "extraordinary sensation" in Bold. The young Irishman was seen frantically running through fields, causing damage to hedges and after dropping into a ditch he had covered himself in mud from head to toe.
Mr Winters later told a doctor that he had been trying to dig for his brother who was back in Ireland and the poor man was conveyed to Whiston Workhouse. In Victorian times the word "freak" tended to be used as a verb describing outlandish behaviour and the Newspaper's headline to their report was "Freak Of A Lunatic At Bold".
This week's court cases included that of John Rock who was charged with drunkenness for which he pleaded guilty. PC Jones told the court that he had to remove Rock from the railway station because of his behaviour and he became so violent on the journey to the police station that he had to tie him to a handcart. This is how the St Helens Newspaper described the case:
"The accused had no defence to make, except that whenever he got a glass of drink he did strange things, was very sorry for this affair, had four little children, never would do such a thing again, had been two years in one situation, very seldom got drunk, begged mercy from the court, was an unfortunate creature – and such like exclamations. He was ordered to pay £2 5s 6d for the assault, and 10s 6d for drunkenness."
Workers who left their jobs (aka situations) without giving notice to their employers were regularly summoned to court. Patrick Brennan was this week facing such a charge of quitting Pilkington's Colliery and as he failed to turn up to his hearing, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Every now and then the St Helens Nuisance Inspector would go round the many doss houses in the town. As a result of his inspection, some of the lodging housekeepers would be prosecuted and the cases brought to court could be quite eye-opening. This week William Siggins of John Street, off Liverpool Street, was charged with using his property as a common lodging house without a licence.
The nuisance inspector, Mr Turner, said the house contained only two rooms. In the downstairs room Siggins and his wife slept and in the upstairs room there were three beds accommodating four sleepers. Mr Siggins said he did not know that he needed a licence and was fined five shillings and costs. Four people occupying three beds in a single room was relatively luxurious for such lodging houses. In another case Roger Bradley of Canal Street had 11 men sleeping in his two rooms. Just how many beds was not specified but there certainly wouldn't have been eleven! Bradley was fined 10 shillings and costs.
And John Conroy of Sandfield Crescent in Greenbank had, according to the inspector, the most overcrowded house he had ever seen, saying: "When I went there the stench was just as much as I could manage." Just how many people were in the overcrowded house was not, unfortunately, reported but Conroy was also fined ten shillings and costs. And Catherine McDermott of Mount Street had several men, one woman and two children sleeping in her lodging house and she also received a 10-bob fine.
It was not uncommon for people with homes of their own to go to sleep on the street after having a few drinks. They would usually soon be roused by a bobby on his beat, although sometimes an opportunist thief got their first. James Ellison was also in court charged with stealing a watch worth £2 from Francis Molyneux. The latter had been walking to his home in Albion Street when he decided to take a snooze in Dentons Green Lane.
Ellison saw his opportunity and took Mr Molyneux's watch out of his pocket and transferred it to his own. But a young woman saw what was going on and asked Ellison for an explanation. He claimed that the sleeping man was his father and that he was taking care of his watch for him. But she didn't believe him and PC Millett was informed and the man was arrested. In court Ellison pleaded guilty to the charge and was sent to prison for three months.
During the summer the deep waters of St Helens Canal proved too inviting for some who threw caution to the wind to take a swim. On the 18th James Maleney ignored the advice of a friend not to go into the water because of the danger and within minutes the 20-year-old labourer had drowned. And later that day fifteen men were killed in a Wigan coalmine after yet another gas explosion.
This week a Japanese troupe of jugglers and acrobats appeared at the Theatre Royal in the building we know as the Citadel. The St Helens Newspaper on the 18th complimented their "perfect mastery" of the feats that they had performed.
The paper also reviewed, somewhat grumpily, last week's athletic sports, which had taken place at the Cricket Club in Dentons Green. They were not happy about the space allocated to the reporters as it had been repeatedly invaded by strangers, "some very rough and uncouth ones", adding, "When representatives of the press have a duty to perform, and are tied to a spot, they ought to enjoy immunity from the rough element."
The Newspaper also complained over how people had been admitted to the event, saying that the "crush at the gate was tremendous, and so blocked up was the way that persons provided with tickets were unable to effect an entrance". The "vast assemblage" drawn to the field in Dentons Green was put down to the excellent weather and they estimated the attendance figure as up to 10,000 – although the paper was not very impressed by the quality of the athletics on display, writing:
"The St. Helens sports certainly do not improve in the merit of the competitors. No one who is anything above the average cares for coming here, and consequently the thousands who pay for admission to the course can only see mediocre performances." That, perhaps, is not surprising, bearing in mind that such competitions had only been held in St Helens since 1870.
Solicitor Thomas Swift was up to his old tricks in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 18th trivialising violence against women. That was when Peter Gilligan, who the Newspaper described as "a rough-looking fellow", was charged with assaulting Ann Campbell. Gilligan had followed the woman into a shop and having what was described as some ill-feeling towards Ann, had knocked her down with a blow from his fist.
In court Thomas Swift berated the fact that a warrant for the arrest of his client had ever been granted for what he called a "trivial cause". The man had already spent several days in custody awaiting his court appearance and the magistrates decided that was sufficient punishment for his beating and dismissed the case.
Unlike today, the authorities in the 19th century treated any form of shoplifting very seriously. John King was also in court charged with brazenly stealing some black puddings from Joseph Burchall's shop in Church Street. He was pursued and caught near the railway station and in court offered a rather odd explanation for his act. King claimed that he had water in his head and he had drunk some whisky which always had a bad effect upon him. The man had previously been remanded in custody and was ordered to be imprisoned for another day.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the dirty dialogue in Liverpool Street, the stormy meeting inside Prescot Parish Church, the Ravenhead Plate Glass Works' excursion to Morecambe Bay and an Irish home rule campaigner lectures in St Helens.
This week's many stories include the freak of a lunatic at Bold, the man who was prosecuted for taking two days off work, the overcrowded and smelly lodging houses, the sleeping man in Dentons Green Lane that had his watch pinched, the vast assemblage attending the St Helens Athletics Festival and the man who called himself an unfortunate creature that the police needed to tie to a hand cart to get to the station.
If immorality of some description was circumstantially connected to some offence, then the sentence that the defendant received in court tended to be a harsher one.
On the 15th John Fairhurst appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with deserting his wife and children and leaving them chargeable to the parish.
That was a quite common offence and such defendants usually received a prison sentence of one or two months.
Alternatively, the convicted man could be ordered to repay the small amounts of money that his wife had received from the Prescot Union.
But John Fairhurst had not just walked out on his family – he had gone off with another woman. Or as was put in court, he had "taken away with him the wife of another man".
That was seen as a huge aggravating factor and he was given the maximum sentence for wife desertion of three months hard labour.
Also on the 15th a man calling himself Barclay Winters caused what the St Helens Newspaper described as an "extraordinary sensation" in Bold.
The young Irishman was seen frantically running through fields, causing damage to hedges and after dropping into a ditch he had covered himself in mud from head to toe.
Mr Winters later told a doctor that he had been trying to dig for his brother who was back in Ireland and the poor man was conveyed to Whiston Workhouse.
In Victorian times the word "freak" tended to be used as a verb describing outlandish behaviour and the Newspaper's headline to their report was "Freak Of A Lunatic At Bold".
This week's court cases included that of John Rock who was charged with drunkenness for which he pleaded guilty.
PC Jones told the court that he had to remove Rock from the railway station because of his behaviour and he became so violent on the journey to the police station that he had to tie him to a handcart. This is how the St Helens Newspaper described the case:
"The accused had no defence to make, except that whenever he got a glass of drink he did strange things, was very sorry for this affair, had four little children, never would do such a thing again, had been two years in one situation, very seldom got drunk, begged mercy from the court, was an unfortunate creature – and such like exclamations.
"He was ordered to pay £2 5s 6d for the assault, and 10s 6d for drunkenness."
Workers who left their jobs (aka situations) without giving notice to their employers were regularly summoned to court.
Patrick Brennan was this week facing such a charge of quitting Pilkington's Colliery and as he failed to turn up to his hearing, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
And you could even be prosecuted for taking the odd day off! Although such individuals were not paid when they did not show up, their employer would claim that their absence had cost them money in some way.
In the case of James Crompton, his bosses at Daglish's foundry in St Helens (pictured above) reckoned that the two days that he had taken off at the end of June had cost them 10 shillings.
The court was told that they had taken out proceedings against Crompton in order to reform their workman. He offered no defence and the Bench ordered him to pay 16s 6d.
Every now and then the St Helens Nuisance Inspector would go round the many doss houses in the town.
As a result of his inspection, some of the lodging housekeepers would be prosecuted and the cases brought to court could be quite eye-opening.
This week William Siggins of John Street, off Liverpool Street, was charged with using his property as a common lodging house without a licence.
The nuisance inspector, Mr Turner, said the house contained only two rooms. In the downstairs room Siggins and his wife slept and in the upstairs room there were three beds accommodating four sleepers.
Mr Siggins said he did not know that he needed a licence and was fined five shillings and costs.
Four people occupying three beds in a single room was relatively luxurious for such lodging houses.
In another case Roger Bradley of Canal Street had 11 men sleeping in his two rooms. Just how many beds was not specified but there certainly wouldn't have been eleven! Bradley was fined 10 shillings and costs.
And John Conroy of Sandfield Crescent in Greenbank had, according to the inspector, the most overcrowded house he had ever seen, saying: "When I went there the stench was just as much as I could manage."
Just how many people were in the overcrowded house was not, unfortunately, reported but Conroy was also fined ten shillings and costs.
And Catherine McDermott of Mount Street had several men, one woman and two children sleeping in her lodging house and she also received a 10-bob fine.
It was not uncommon for people with homes of their own to go to sleep on the street after having a few drinks.
They would usually soon be roused by a bobby on his beat, although sometimes an opportunist thief got their first.
James Ellison was also in court charged with stealing a watch worth £2 from Francis Molyneux.
The latter had been walking to his home in Albion Street when he decided to take a snooze in Dentons Green Lane.
Ellison saw his opportunity and took Mr Molyneux's watch out of his pocket and transferred it to his own.
But a young woman saw what was going on and asked Ellison for an explanation. He claimed that the sleeping man was his father and that he was taking care of his watch for him.
But she didn't believe him and PC Millett was informed and the man was arrested. In court Ellison pleaded guilty to the charge and was sent to prison for three months.
During the summer the deep waters of St Helens Canal proved too inviting for some who threw caution to the wind to take a swim.
On the 18th James Maleney ignored the advice of a friend not to go into the water because of the danger and within minutes the 20-year-old labourer had drowned.
And later that day fifteen men were killed in a Wigan coalmine after yet another gas explosion.
This week a Japanese troupe of jugglers and acrobats appeared at the Theatre Royal in the building we know as the Citadel.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 18th complimented their "perfect mastery" of the feats that they had performed.
The paper also reviewed, somewhat grumpily, last week's athletic sports, which had taken place at the Cricket Club in Dentons Green.
They were not happy about the space allocated to the reporters as it had been repeatedly invaded by strangers, "some very rough and uncouth ones", adding, "When representatives of the press have a duty to perform, and are tied to a spot, they ought to enjoy immunity from the rough element."
The Newspaper also complained over how people had been admitted to the event, saying that the "crush at the gate was tremendous, and so blocked up was the way that persons provided with tickets were unable to effect an entrance".
The "vast assemblage" drawn to the field in Dentons Green was put down to the excellent weather and they estimated the attendance figure as up to 10,000 – although the paper was not very impressed by the quality of the athletics on display, writing:
"The St. Helens sports certainly do not improve in the merit of the competitors. No one who is anything above the average cares for coming here, and consequently the thousands who pay for admission to the course can only see mediocre performances."
That, perhaps, is not surprising, bearing in mind that such competitions had only been held in St Helens since 1870.
Solicitor Thomas Swift was up to his old tricks in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 18th trivialising violence against women.
That was when Peter Gilligan, who the Newspaper described as "a rough-looking fellow", was charged with assaulting Ann Campbell.
Gilligan had followed the woman into a shop and having what was described as some ill-feeling towards Ann, had knocked her down with a blow from his fist.
In court Thomas Swift berated the fact that a warrant for the arrest of his client had ever been granted for what he called a "trivial cause".
The man had already spent several days in custody awaiting his court appearance and the magistrates decided that was sufficient punishment for his beating and dismissed the case.
Unlike today, the authorities in the 19th century treated any form of shoplifting very seriously.
John King was also in court charged with brazenly stealing some black puddings from Joseph Burchall's shop in Church Street.
He was pursued and caught near the railway station and in court offered a rather odd explanation for his act.
King claimed that he had water in his head and he had drunk some whisky which always had a bad effect upon him.
The man had previously been remanded in custody and was ordered to be imprisoned for another day.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the dirty dialogue in Liverpool Street, the stormy meeting inside Prescot Parish Church, the Ravenhead Plate Glass Works' excursion to Morecambe Bay and an Irish home rule campaigner lectures in St Helens.
If immorality of some description was circumstantially connected to some offence, then the sentence that the defendant received in court tended to be a harsher one.
On the 15th John Fairhurst appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with deserting his wife and children and leaving them chargeable to the parish.
That was a quite common offence and such defendants usually received a prison sentence of one or two months.
Alternatively, the convicted man could be ordered to repay the small amounts of money that his wife had received from the Prescot Union.
But John Fairhurst had not just walked out on his family – he had gone off with another woman. Or as was put in court, he had "taken away with him the wife of another man".
That was seen as a huge aggravating factor and he was given the maximum sentence for wife desertion of three months hard labour.
Also on the 15th a man calling himself Barclay Winters caused what the St Helens Newspaper described as an "extraordinary sensation" in Bold.
The young Irishman was seen frantically running through fields, causing damage to hedges and after dropping into a ditch he had covered himself in mud from head to toe.
Mr Winters later told a doctor that he had been trying to dig for his brother who was back in Ireland and the poor man was conveyed to Whiston Workhouse.
In Victorian times the word "freak" tended to be used as a verb describing outlandish behaviour and the Newspaper's headline to their report was "Freak Of A Lunatic At Bold".
This week's court cases included that of John Rock who was charged with drunkenness for which he pleaded guilty.
PC Jones told the court that he had to remove Rock from the railway station because of his behaviour and he became so violent on the journey to the police station that he had to tie him to a handcart. This is how the St Helens Newspaper described the case:
"The accused had no defence to make, except that whenever he got a glass of drink he did strange things, was very sorry for this affair, had four little children, never would do such a thing again, had been two years in one situation, very seldom got drunk, begged mercy from the court, was an unfortunate creature – and such like exclamations.
"He was ordered to pay £2 5s 6d for the assault, and 10s 6d for drunkenness."
Workers who left their jobs (aka situations) without giving notice to their employers were regularly summoned to court.
Patrick Brennan was this week facing such a charge of quitting Pilkington's Colliery and as he failed to turn up to his hearing, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
And you could even be prosecuted for taking the odd day off! Although such individuals were not paid when they did not show up, their employer would claim that their absence had cost them money in some way.
The court was told that they had taken out proceedings against Crompton in order to reform their workman. He offered no defence and the Bench ordered him to pay 16s 6d.
Every now and then the St Helens Nuisance Inspector would go round the many doss houses in the town.
As a result of his inspection, some of the lodging housekeepers would be prosecuted and the cases brought to court could be quite eye-opening.
This week William Siggins of John Street, off Liverpool Street, was charged with using his property as a common lodging house without a licence.
The nuisance inspector, Mr Turner, said the house contained only two rooms. In the downstairs room Siggins and his wife slept and in the upstairs room there were three beds accommodating four sleepers.
Mr Siggins said he did not know that he needed a licence and was fined five shillings and costs.
Four people occupying three beds in a single room was relatively luxurious for such lodging houses.
In another case Roger Bradley of Canal Street had 11 men sleeping in his two rooms. Just how many beds was not specified but there certainly wouldn't have been eleven! Bradley was fined 10 shillings and costs.
And John Conroy of Sandfield Crescent in Greenbank had, according to the inspector, the most overcrowded house he had ever seen, saying: "When I went there the stench was just as much as I could manage."
Just how many people were in the overcrowded house was not, unfortunately, reported but Conroy was also fined ten shillings and costs.
And Catherine McDermott of Mount Street had several men, one woman and two children sleeping in her lodging house and she also received a 10-bob fine.
It was not uncommon for people with homes of their own to go to sleep on the street after having a few drinks.
They would usually soon be roused by a bobby on his beat, although sometimes an opportunist thief got their first.
James Ellison was also in court charged with stealing a watch worth £2 from Francis Molyneux.
The latter had been walking to his home in Albion Street when he decided to take a snooze in Dentons Green Lane.
Ellison saw his opportunity and took Mr Molyneux's watch out of his pocket and transferred it to his own.
But a young woman saw what was going on and asked Ellison for an explanation. He claimed that the sleeping man was his father and that he was taking care of his watch for him.
But she didn't believe him and PC Millett was informed and the man was arrested. In court Ellison pleaded guilty to the charge and was sent to prison for three months.
During the summer the deep waters of St Helens Canal proved too inviting for some who threw caution to the wind to take a swim.
On the 18th James Maleney ignored the advice of a friend not to go into the water because of the danger and within minutes the 20-year-old labourer had drowned.
And later that day fifteen men were killed in a Wigan coalmine after yet another gas explosion.
This week a Japanese troupe of jugglers and acrobats appeared at the Theatre Royal in the building we know as the Citadel.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 18th complimented their "perfect mastery" of the feats that they had performed.
The paper also reviewed, somewhat grumpily, last week's athletic sports, which had taken place at the Cricket Club in Dentons Green.
They were not happy about the space allocated to the reporters as it had been repeatedly invaded by strangers, "some very rough and uncouth ones", adding, "When representatives of the press have a duty to perform, and are tied to a spot, they ought to enjoy immunity from the rough element."
The Newspaper also complained over how people had been admitted to the event, saying that the "crush at the gate was tremendous, and so blocked up was the way that persons provided with tickets were unable to effect an entrance".
The "vast assemblage" drawn to the field in Dentons Green was put down to the excellent weather and they estimated the attendance figure as up to 10,000 – although the paper was not very impressed by the quality of the athletics on display, writing:
"The St. Helens sports certainly do not improve in the merit of the competitors. No one who is anything above the average cares for coming here, and consequently the thousands who pay for admission to the course can only see mediocre performances."
That, perhaps, is not surprising, bearing in mind that such competitions had only been held in St Helens since 1870.
Solicitor Thomas Swift was up to his old tricks in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 18th trivialising violence against women.
That was when Peter Gilligan, who the Newspaper described as "a rough-looking fellow", was charged with assaulting Ann Campbell.
Gilligan had followed the woman into a shop and having what was described as some ill-feeling towards Ann, had knocked her down with a blow from his fist.
In court Thomas Swift berated the fact that a warrant for the arrest of his client had ever been granted for what he called a "trivial cause".
The man had already spent several days in custody awaiting his court appearance and the magistrates decided that was sufficient punishment for his beating and dismissed the case.
Unlike today, the authorities in the 19th century treated any form of shoplifting very seriously.
John King was also in court charged with brazenly stealing some black puddings from Joseph Burchall's shop in Church Street.
He was pursued and caught near the railway station and in court offered a rather odd explanation for his act.
King claimed that he had water in his head and he had drunk some whisky which always had a bad effect upon him.
The man had previously been remanded in custody and was ordered to be imprisoned for another day.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the dirty dialogue in Liverpool Street, the stormy meeting inside Prescot Parish Church, the Ravenhead Plate Glass Works' excursion to Morecambe Bay and an Irish home rule campaigner lectures in St Helens.