150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (16th - 22nd NOVEMBER 1870)
This week's stories include a claim that St Helens had the dirtiest streets in Lancashire, how the courts treated the poor for taking bits of coal, a foundation stone is laid for a new church and the strange struggle between a Sutton landlady and her lodger.
We begin on the 17th when the St Helens Working Men's Conservative and Constitutional Association held a tea party and soirée, as it was called. The event took place in the Engineer Hall in Croppers Hill and there was a large attendance.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the same day the magistrates were told of a curious tussle between a lodger and a landlady when James Bothwell was charged with assaulting Mary Crow. Bothwell had been lodging with Mary at her home in Sutton but had decided to leave owing 10 shillings back rent. That did not please the landlady who refused to allow Bothwell to remove his box of clothes without paying off his arrears. So a stand-off occurred, as described by the St Helens Newspaper:
"He forced his way up stairs to fetch the box down, against her opposition. She kept hold of him and endeavoured to prevent him going up stairs, when he caught her and threw her down. Complainant then fastened the front and back doors in order that he should not get out. He came down stairs pulling the box after him, and when she tried to get it from him [he] again threw her down, struck her, and succeeded in forcing open the back door and getting the box into the yard.
"When she then made a final effort to get possession of the box, he struck her in the face with his hand. The neighbours, attracted by her cries, came about the yard, and she requested them to obtain the assistance of the police. He swore that he would not pay her the money he owed, that he would knock her head off first. He got away with the box, and complainant did not see him until after his arrest."
James Bothwell's counsel told the Bench that his client had every right to behave as he did as his personal property was being wrongfully detained and he had a "right to struggle and to fight, if necessary, for its possession". The Bench did not agree and ordered the man to be bound over to keep the peace.
Also on that day the foundation stone of the new Sutton Road Methodist Church was laid. The Wesleyan Methodists had constructed the first purpose-built church in Sutton in 1845 in Lancots Lane (pictured above). This would later become the Sutton Oak Welsh Chapel and was partly made out of copper slag. Having proved too small for their expanding congregation, the Methodists needed new premises and so the site in Sutton Road was acquired.
I wonder if there is a special name for someone who collects silver trowels? I say that because the chap who laid the foundation stone for the new church had a collection of over 50! Thomas Hazelehurst of Runcorn was a senior Methodist and had laid more than fifty foundation stones and on each ceremonial occasion had been presented with a silver trowel as a memento.
It rained but there was still a decent turnout – or as the St Helens Newspaper put it in a more long-winded way: "Notwithstanding the elemental impediment to a good attendance, there was a large and respectable assemblage present." The new church would last almost 100 years but subsidence would in 1961 force the Sutton Methodists to move to their present building in New Street.
In the Petty Sessions on the 18th there was another example of the tough sentences imposed on the poor for helping themselves to bits of coal. This was simply so that their ragged children could be kept warm for brief periods in winter. Often this would be coal that would never end up on sale. The woman's husband also appears to have been injured while working for which he would have received no compensation and not being able to work would have placed the family in extreme poverty. This is the Newspaper's report:
"A charge was brought against Bridget Conway of stealing 50lbs. of coal from the Ravenhead Colliery, the property of Messrs. Bromilow and company. The timekeeper of the colliery was examined, and proved having seen the prisoner steal the coal on Wednesday. The prisoner stated that her husband was not of employment, in consequence of an injury which he received, and she was very poor, having to support him and four children. She went to the colliery to pick up some cinders, and she met there some women who told her it would be no harm if she took a couple of pieces of coal which were lying about. She did not think that she was doing any wrong in taking them.
"Mr. Marsh [magistrate] – Which do you prefer, to be tried here, or go to the sessions? "Prisoner – Oh, I am guilty of taking them, sir, but I was told it would not be minded. Mr. Ludlam [Police superintendent] stated that the prisoner had been once convicted of stealing timber, but was discharged. Prisoner – It was some bits I found down near the canal. Mr. Marsh – Is anything known about her family? Mr. Ludlam – She is poor, and has four children. Prisoner – If I am forgiven this time I promise not to go there again. The magistrates sentenced her to fourteen days' imprisonment."
On the 19th this letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper from an individual calling himself "A. Traveller" who was staying at the Raven Hotel and did not think much of the town's streets: "In the course of business I visit nearly every town in Lancashire and the neighbouring counties, but of all the towns St. Helens has the proud pre-eminence of having the dirtiest roads and streets of any town in Lancashire and the adjoining counties. I would recommend your town council to wipe off the dirty disgrace by putting a little more activity into the scavenging department."
Another correspondent claimed that the funds that were regularly raised from the holding of charitable events in St Helens – such as concerts or cricket matches – often disappeared and did not support the supposed beneficiaries.
Catherine Dunn was another incorrigible character that liked her drink too much. She was back in the Petty Sessions on the 19th facing William Pilkington on the Bench – who talked about her as if she was not present, as revealed in the Newspaper's account of the hearing: "Catherine Dunn, a woman about forty years of age, was charged with being a person of loose character, and behaving indecently on the Liverpool-road, at two o’clock that morning.
"Major Pilkington – What character does this woman bear? Mr. Ludlam [Police superintendent] – She has been convicted a dozen times for drunkenness. Major Pilkington (reading from the conviction book) – Why, I see she was only let out of prison yesterday. Mr Ludlam said that she had never previously been charged with the offence then preferred against her. Major Pilkington – Sending her to prison does not seem to do her much good. However, I will give her fourteen days in gaol, and see what it will do."
The first in a series of weekly concerts began in the Town Hall on the 19th to a "large and respectable audience". The Newspaper added that the concert was "far above mediocrity". Was that praise?
The Tuesday edition of the paper was published on the 22nd and its leader column had a warning for its citizens: "We caution our townsmen against leaving their houses unprotected during any portion of the evening. On Sunday, while a family were at church, between six and nine o’clock, their house was entered. On their return they found the doors and windows open, the gas lighted, the drawers had been ransacked, and £6 in cash and a number of small but valuable articles abstracted. Where were the police? Echo says “Where”?" Another report stated that the housebreaking was in Raglan Street and jewellery was also taken and there were two more burglaries in the town later in the week.
Next week's stories will include the pitiable tale of the Irish beggar in Tontine Street, the bobby who almost lost his whiskers in Church Street, St Helens volunteers prepare for war and the wild woman in court with bare arms.
We begin on the 17th when the St Helens Working Men's Conservative and Constitutional Association held a tea party and soirée, as it was called. The event took place in the Engineer Hall in Croppers Hill and there was a large attendance.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the same day the magistrates were told of a curious tussle between a lodger and a landlady when James Bothwell was charged with assaulting Mary Crow. Bothwell had been lodging with Mary at her home in Sutton but had decided to leave owing 10 shillings back rent. That did not please the landlady who refused to allow Bothwell to remove his box of clothes without paying off his arrears. So a stand-off occurred, as described by the St Helens Newspaper:
"He forced his way up stairs to fetch the box down, against her opposition. She kept hold of him and endeavoured to prevent him going up stairs, when he caught her and threw her down. Complainant then fastened the front and back doors in order that he should not get out. He came down stairs pulling the box after him, and when she tried to get it from him [he] again threw her down, struck her, and succeeded in forcing open the back door and getting the box into the yard.
"When she then made a final effort to get possession of the box, he struck her in the face with his hand. The neighbours, attracted by her cries, came about the yard, and she requested them to obtain the assistance of the police. He swore that he would not pay her the money he owed, that he would knock her head off first. He got away with the box, and complainant did not see him until after his arrest."
James Bothwell's counsel told the Bench that his client had every right to behave as he did as his personal property was being wrongfully detained and he had a "right to struggle and to fight, if necessary, for its possession". The Bench did not agree and ordered the man to be bound over to keep the peace.
I wonder if there is a special name for someone who collects silver trowels? I say that because the chap who laid the foundation stone for the new church had a collection of over 50! Thomas Hazelehurst of Runcorn was a senior Methodist and had laid more than fifty foundation stones and on each ceremonial occasion had been presented with a silver trowel as a memento.
It rained but there was still a decent turnout – or as the St Helens Newspaper put it in a more long-winded way: "Notwithstanding the elemental impediment to a good attendance, there was a large and respectable assemblage present." The new church would last almost 100 years but subsidence would in 1961 force the Sutton Methodists to move to their present building in New Street.
In the Petty Sessions on the 18th there was another example of the tough sentences imposed on the poor for helping themselves to bits of coal. This was simply so that their ragged children could be kept warm for brief periods in winter. Often this would be coal that would never end up on sale. The woman's husband also appears to have been injured while working for which he would have received no compensation and not being able to work would have placed the family in extreme poverty. This is the Newspaper's report:
"A charge was brought against Bridget Conway of stealing 50lbs. of coal from the Ravenhead Colliery, the property of Messrs. Bromilow and company. The timekeeper of the colliery was examined, and proved having seen the prisoner steal the coal on Wednesday. The prisoner stated that her husband was not of employment, in consequence of an injury which he received, and she was very poor, having to support him and four children. She went to the colliery to pick up some cinders, and she met there some women who told her it would be no harm if she took a couple of pieces of coal which were lying about. She did not think that she was doing any wrong in taking them.
"Mr. Marsh [magistrate] – Which do you prefer, to be tried here, or go to the sessions? "Prisoner – Oh, I am guilty of taking them, sir, but I was told it would not be minded. Mr. Ludlam [Police superintendent] stated that the prisoner had been once convicted of stealing timber, but was discharged. Prisoner – It was some bits I found down near the canal. Mr. Marsh – Is anything known about her family? Mr. Ludlam – She is poor, and has four children. Prisoner – If I am forgiven this time I promise not to go there again. The magistrates sentenced her to fourteen days' imprisonment."
On the 19th this letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper from an individual calling himself "A. Traveller" who was staying at the Raven Hotel and did not think much of the town's streets: "In the course of business I visit nearly every town in Lancashire and the neighbouring counties, but of all the towns St. Helens has the proud pre-eminence of having the dirtiest roads and streets of any town in Lancashire and the adjoining counties. I would recommend your town council to wipe off the dirty disgrace by putting a little more activity into the scavenging department."
Another correspondent claimed that the funds that were regularly raised from the holding of charitable events in St Helens – such as concerts or cricket matches – often disappeared and did not support the supposed beneficiaries.
Catherine Dunn was another incorrigible character that liked her drink too much. She was back in the Petty Sessions on the 19th facing William Pilkington on the Bench – who talked about her as if she was not present, as revealed in the Newspaper's account of the hearing: "Catherine Dunn, a woman about forty years of age, was charged with being a person of loose character, and behaving indecently on the Liverpool-road, at two o’clock that morning.
"Major Pilkington – What character does this woman bear? Mr. Ludlam [Police superintendent] – She has been convicted a dozen times for drunkenness. Major Pilkington (reading from the conviction book) – Why, I see she was only let out of prison yesterday. Mr Ludlam said that she had never previously been charged with the offence then preferred against her. Major Pilkington – Sending her to prison does not seem to do her much good. However, I will give her fourteen days in gaol, and see what it will do."
The first in a series of weekly concerts began in the Town Hall on the 19th to a "large and respectable audience". The Newspaper added that the concert was "far above mediocrity". Was that praise?
The Tuesday edition of the paper was published on the 22nd and its leader column had a warning for its citizens: "We caution our townsmen against leaving their houses unprotected during any portion of the evening. On Sunday, while a family were at church, between six and nine o’clock, their house was entered. On their return they found the doors and windows open, the gas lighted, the drawers had been ransacked, and £6 in cash and a number of small but valuable articles abstracted. Where were the police? Echo says “Where”?" Another report stated that the housebreaking was in Raglan Street and jewellery was also taken and there were two more burglaries in the town later in the week.
Next week's stories will include the pitiable tale of the Irish beggar in Tontine Street, the bobby who almost lost his whiskers in Church Street, St Helens volunteers prepare for war and the wild woman in court with bare arms.
This week's stories include a claim that St Helens had the dirtiest streets in Lancashire, how the courts treated the poor for taking bits of coal, a foundation stone is laid for a new church and the strange struggle between a Sutton landlady and her lodger.
We begin on the 17th when the St Helens Working Men's Conservative and Constitutional Association held a tea party and soirée, as it was called.
The event took place in the Engineer Hall in Croppers Hill and there was a large attendance.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the same day the magistrates were told of a curious tussle between a lodger and a landlady when James Bothwell was charged with assaulting Mary Crow.
Bothwell had been lodging with Mary at her home in Sutton but had decided to leave owing 10 shillings back rent.
That did not please the landlady who refused to allow Bothwell to remove his box of clothes without paying off his arrears.
So a stand-off occurred, as described by the St Helens Newspaper:
"He forced his way up stairs to fetch the box down, against her opposition. She kept hold of him and endeavoured to prevent him going up stairs, when he caught her and threw her down. Complainant then fastened the front and back doors in order that he should not get out.
"He came down stairs pulling the box after him, and when she tried to get it from him [he] again threw her down, struck her, and succeeded in forcing open the back door and getting the box into the yard.
"When she then made a final effort to get possession of the box, he struck her in the face with his hand. The neighbours, attracted by her cries, came about the yard, and she requested them to obtain the assistance of the police.
"He swore that he would not pay her the money he owed, that he would knock her head off first. He got away with the box, and complainant did not see him until after his arrest."
James Bothwell's counsel told the Bench that his client had every right to behave as he did as his personal property was being wrongfully detained and he had a "right to struggle and to fight, if necessary, for its possession".
The Bench did not agree and ordered the man to be bound over to keep the peace.
Also on that day the foundation stone of the new Sutton Road Methodist Church was laid.
The Wesleyan Methodists had constructed the first purpose-built church in Sutton in 1845 in Lancots Lane (pictured above).
This would later become the Sutton Oak Welsh Chapel and was partly made out of copper slag.
Having proved too small for their expanding congregation, the Methodists needed new premises and so the site in Sutton Road was acquired.
I wonder if there is a special name for someone who collects silver trowels?
I say that because the chap who laid the foundation stone for the new church had a collection of over 50!
Thomas Hazelehurst of Runcorn was a senior Methodist and had laid more than fifty foundation stones and on each ceremonial occasion had been presented with a silver trowel as a memento.
It rained but there was still a decent turnout – or as the St Helens Newspaper put it in a more long-winded way:
"Notwithstanding the elemental impediment to a good attendance, there was a large and respectable assemblage present."
The new church would last almost 100 years but subsidence would in 1961 force the Sutton Methodists to move to their present building in New Street.
In the Petty Sessions on the 18th there was another example of the tough sentences imposed on the poor for helping themselves to bits of coal.
This was simply so that their ragged children could be kept warm for brief periods in winter. Often this would be coal that would never end up on sale.
The woman's husband also appears to have been injured while working for which he would have received no compensation and not being able to work would have placed the family in extreme poverty. This is the Newspaper's report:
"A charge was brought against Bridget Conway of stealing 50lbs. of coal from the Ravenhead Colliery, the property of Messrs. Bromilow and company. The timekeeper of the colliery was examined, and proved having seen the prisoner steal the coal on Wednesday.
"The prisoner stated that her husband was not of employment, in consequence of an injury which he received, and she was very poor, having to support him and four children. She went to the colliery to pick up some cinders, and she met there some women who told her it would be no harm if she took a couple of pieces of coal which were lying about. She did not think that she was doing any wrong in taking them.
"Mr. Marsh [magistrate] – Which do you prefer, to be tried here, or go to the sessions? "Prisoner – Oh, I am guilty of taking them, sir, but I was told it would not be minded. Mr. Ludlam [Police superintendent] stated that the prisoner had been once convicted of stealing timber, but was discharged. Prisoner – It was some bits I found down near the canal.
"Mr. Marsh – Is anything known about her family? Mr. Ludlam – She is poor, and has four children. Prisoner – If I am forgiven this time I promise not to go there again. The magistrates sentenced her to fourteen days' imprisonment."
On the 19th this letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper from an individual calling himself "A. Traveller" who was staying at the Raven Hotel and did not think much of the town's streets:
"In the course of business I visit nearly every town in Lancashire and the neighbouring counties, but of all the towns St. Helens has the proud pre-eminence of having the dirtiest roads and streets of any town in Lancashire and the adjoining counties. I would recommend your town council to wipe off the dirty disgrace by putting a little more activity into the scavenging department."
Another correspondent claimed that the funds that were regularly raised from the holding of charitable events in St Helens – such as concerts or cricket matches – often disappeared and did not support the supposed beneficiaries.
Catherine Dunn was another incorrigible character that liked her drink too much.
She was back in the Petty Sessions on the 19th facing William Pilkington on the Bench – who talked about her as if she was not present, as revealed in the Newspaper's account of the hearing:
"Catherine Dunn, a woman about forty years of age, was charged with being a person of loose character, and behaving indecently on the Liverpool-road, at two o’clock that morning.
"Major Pilkington – What character does this woman bear? Mr. Ludlam [Police superintendent] – She has been convicted a dozen times for drunkenness.
"Major Pilkington (reading from the conviction book) – Why, I see she was only let out of prison yesterday. Mr Ludlam said that she had never previously been charged with the offence then preferred against her.
"Major Pilkington – Sending her to prison does not seem to do her much good. However, I will give her fourteen days in gaol, and see what it will do."
The first in a series of weekly concerts began in the Town Hall on the 19th to a "large and respectable audience".
The Newspaper added that the concert was "far above mediocrity". Was that praise?
The Tuesday edition of the paper was published on the 22nd and its leader column had a warning for its citizens:
"We caution our townsmen against leaving their houses unprotected during any portion of the evening. On Sunday, while a family were at church, between six and nine o’clock, their house was entered.
"On their return they found the doors and windows open, the gas lighted, the drawers had been ransacked, and £6 in cash and a number of small but valuable articles abstracted. Where were the police? Echo says “Where”?"
Another report stated that the housebreaking was in Raglan Street and jewellery was also taken and there were two more burglaries in the town later in the week.
Next week's stories will include the pitiable tale of the Irish beggar in Tontine Street, the bobby who almost lost his whiskers in Church Street, St Helens volunteers prepare for war and the wild woman in court with bare arms.
We begin on the 17th when the St Helens Working Men's Conservative and Constitutional Association held a tea party and soirée, as it was called.
The event took place in the Engineer Hall in Croppers Hill and there was a large attendance.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the same day the magistrates were told of a curious tussle between a lodger and a landlady when James Bothwell was charged with assaulting Mary Crow.
Bothwell had been lodging with Mary at her home in Sutton but had decided to leave owing 10 shillings back rent.
That did not please the landlady who refused to allow Bothwell to remove his box of clothes without paying off his arrears.
So a stand-off occurred, as described by the St Helens Newspaper:
"He forced his way up stairs to fetch the box down, against her opposition. She kept hold of him and endeavoured to prevent him going up stairs, when he caught her and threw her down. Complainant then fastened the front and back doors in order that he should not get out.
"He came down stairs pulling the box after him, and when she tried to get it from him [he] again threw her down, struck her, and succeeded in forcing open the back door and getting the box into the yard.
"When she then made a final effort to get possession of the box, he struck her in the face with his hand. The neighbours, attracted by her cries, came about the yard, and she requested them to obtain the assistance of the police.
"He swore that he would not pay her the money he owed, that he would knock her head off first. He got away with the box, and complainant did not see him until after his arrest."
James Bothwell's counsel told the Bench that his client had every right to behave as he did as his personal property was being wrongfully detained and he had a "right to struggle and to fight, if necessary, for its possession".
The Bench did not agree and ordered the man to be bound over to keep the peace.
Also on that day the foundation stone of the new Sutton Road Methodist Church was laid.
This would later become the Sutton Oak Welsh Chapel and was partly made out of copper slag.
Having proved too small for their expanding congregation, the Methodists needed new premises and so the site in Sutton Road was acquired.
I wonder if there is a special name for someone who collects silver trowels?
I say that because the chap who laid the foundation stone for the new church had a collection of over 50!
Thomas Hazelehurst of Runcorn was a senior Methodist and had laid more than fifty foundation stones and on each ceremonial occasion had been presented with a silver trowel as a memento.
It rained but there was still a decent turnout – or as the St Helens Newspaper put it in a more long-winded way:
"Notwithstanding the elemental impediment to a good attendance, there was a large and respectable assemblage present."
The new church would last almost 100 years but subsidence would in 1961 force the Sutton Methodists to move to their present building in New Street.
In the Petty Sessions on the 18th there was another example of the tough sentences imposed on the poor for helping themselves to bits of coal.
This was simply so that their ragged children could be kept warm for brief periods in winter. Often this would be coal that would never end up on sale.
The woman's husband also appears to have been injured while working for which he would have received no compensation and not being able to work would have placed the family in extreme poverty. This is the Newspaper's report:
"A charge was brought against Bridget Conway of stealing 50lbs. of coal from the Ravenhead Colliery, the property of Messrs. Bromilow and company. The timekeeper of the colliery was examined, and proved having seen the prisoner steal the coal on Wednesday.
"The prisoner stated that her husband was not of employment, in consequence of an injury which he received, and she was very poor, having to support him and four children. She went to the colliery to pick up some cinders, and she met there some women who told her it would be no harm if she took a couple of pieces of coal which were lying about. She did not think that she was doing any wrong in taking them.
"Mr. Marsh [magistrate] – Which do you prefer, to be tried here, or go to the sessions? "Prisoner – Oh, I am guilty of taking them, sir, but I was told it would not be minded. Mr. Ludlam [Police superintendent] stated that the prisoner had been once convicted of stealing timber, but was discharged. Prisoner – It was some bits I found down near the canal.
"Mr. Marsh – Is anything known about her family? Mr. Ludlam – She is poor, and has four children. Prisoner – If I am forgiven this time I promise not to go there again. The magistrates sentenced her to fourteen days' imprisonment."
On the 19th this letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper from an individual calling himself "A. Traveller" who was staying at the Raven Hotel and did not think much of the town's streets:
"In the course of business I visit nearly every town in Lancashire and the neighbouring counties, but of all the towns St. Helens has the proud pre-eminence of having the dirtiest roads and streets of any town in Lancashire and the adjoining counties. I would recommend your town council to wipe off the dirty disgrace by putting a little more activity into the scavenging department."
Another correspondent claimed that the funds that were regularly raised from the holding of charitable events in St Helens – such as concerts or cricket matches – often disappeared and did not support the supposed beneficiaries.
Catherine Dunn was another incorrigible character that liked her drink too much.
She was back in the Petty Sessions on the 19th facing William Pilkington on the Bench – who talked about her as if she was not present, as revealed in the Newspaper's account of the hearing:
"Catherine Dunn, a woman about forty years of age, was charged with being a person of loose character, and behaving indecently on the Liverpool-road, at two o’clock that morning.
"Major Pilkington – What character does this woman bear? Mr. Ludlam [Police superintendent] – She has been convicted a dozen times for drunkenness.
"Major Pilkington (reading from the conviction book) – Why, I see she was only let out of prison yesterday. Mr Ludlam said that she had never previously been charged with the offence then preferred against her.
"Major Pilkington – Sending her to prison does not seem to do her much good. However, I will give her fourteen days in gaol, and see what it will do."
The first in a series of weekly concerts began in the Town Hall on the 19th to a "large and respectable audience".
The Newspaper added that the concert was "far above mediocrity". Was that praise?
The Tuesday edition of the paper was published on the 22nd and its leader column had a warning for its citizens:
"We caution our townsmen against leaving their houses unprotected during any portion of the evening. On Sunday, while a family were at church, between six and nine o’clock, their house was entered.
"On their return they found the doors and windows open, the gas lighted, the drawers had been ransacked, and £6 in cash and a number of small but valuable articles abstracted. Where were the police? Echo says “Where”?"
Another report stated that the housebreaking was in Raglan Street and jewellery was also taken and there were two more burglaries in the town later in the week.
Next week's stories will include the pitiable tale of the Irish beggar in Tontine Street, the bobby who almost lost his whiskers in Church Street, St Helens volunteers prepare for war and the wild woman in court with bare arms.