150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 17 - 23 JUNE 1874
This week's many stories include the children's Race Friday parades, how a breach of the peace in Greenbank was punished by a 9-month prison sentence, the intolerable smell coming from an East Street ashpit, the pipe stealing in Bridge Street and the man accused of giving his wife abominable treatment who had threatened to cut her throat.
We begin on the 17th when James Crooks from Parr appeared in the Petty Sessions on a charge of deserting his wife. It was not the act of desertion that was really against the law, but leaving his wife penniless and having to claim relief from the Prescot Guardians. The relieving officer, James Fowler, told the court that Crooks had deserted his wife once before but had promised to reform and essentially had been let off. But after Crooks' repeat offence, Fowler called for his imprisonment and the man was sent to gaol for a fortnight.
The Prescot Guardians met on the 18th. They were the folk responsible for looking after paupers living in Whiston Workhouse and in the community. The Guardians were told that under the new Elementary Education Act they were required to pay the school fees of the children of what were known as outside paupers.
Most schools then made parents pay small weekly charges for their children's education, although the Guardians would only cough up the fees if attendance records were furnished. If any pauper's child stopped attending school, then not only would their school fees not be paid but the parents would also have their relief payments ended. An effective, if drastic, means of ensuring poor persons sent their kids to school, as many didn't for various reasons.
This week the council's Health Committee met and heard from their Inspector of Nuisances, Thomas Sherlock. He sent in a letter complaining of several ashpits in the neighbourhood of the marketplace in which people threw decayed vegetable matter and fish refuse. From these Mr Sherlock said "abominable smells arose" when the night soil men who emptied the ashpits came to clear them out.
The ashpits were the dumps that contained human waste and they were mixed with ashes to reduce the smell and keep away pests. Last week during the clearing of an ashpit in East Street in St Helens, the smell was so bad that a number of persons had to leave their homes to find fresh air. Mr Sherlock added: "Some were seized with vomiting, and a lady fainted from the intolerable smell." A man called Norbury was blamed for causing the nuisance and he had been warned not to let it happen again.
The Health Committee also discussed the district of Sutton that would in time be colloquially known as "Pudding Bag". The origin of the nickname is that puddings, such as jam roly-poly, used to be made in narrow-necked muslin bags and the Pudding Bag houses were enclosed in a triangle composed of two sides of railway lines. It was a cul-de-sac containing Woodcock Street and Railway Terrace with a single opening that served as a means of ingress and exit; like a pudding bag with an opening at only one end. However, in the 1870s Woodcock Street was known as Church Street and its residents had written to complain about the state it was in.
They said in winter people were almost afraid to leave their houses after dark on account of the "decayed state of the road". There were no footpaths and in wet weather the condition of things was particularly unpleasant. The road surveyor told the meeting that the railway end of the street had been blocked up and there was now only one avenue for entering and leaving. This clearly was the start of Pudding Bag but it did not yet appear to have been given that nickname.
Horse racing had taken place on Newton Common since at least 1678 and in 1835 the Rev. Thomas Pigot, the Vicar of St Helens, wrote about the "sad excesses" of the meeting. The vicar claimed that: "Very many poor sinners have confessed to me on their death beds that they commenced their wicked career at Newton races".
The final day of the summer meeting was known as Race Friday and in St Helens it was treated as a holiday, with many works and shops closing. The Church was so concerned about the drift of people to Newton where they might be exposed to wickedness that they organised counter-attractions for the benefit of schoolchildren and their parents.
On the 20th the St Helens Newspaper reviewed this year's Race Friday, commenting: "The working people look upon it [Race Friday] as one of their own especial play days, and the great majority of the shopkeepers defer to the feeling. It is the popular day on the racecourse at Newton, and the turf has still a strong attraction for a very large section of our townsmen. Whether its influences be for good or evil they are apparent and real, and if working men are at liberty on such an occasion their tastes will lead them thither."
The alternative attractions were also well patronised with the Newspaper writing how this year the "muster of children was immense". At least 5,000 participated in a series of processions organised by the various Sunday schools, which paraded through St Helens. The paper described the parades as a feast for both eye and ear: "Bands without number made the air resound with music; and flags, some of them gaudy, flaunted everywhere, as the long columns wound in various directions, passing and repassing each other."
There were no public recreational areas and so the different schools had obtained permission from various individuals to use their private fields for sports and games. For example, the Parish Church group was able to use a field near to Abbey House in Dentons Green; the scholars of Windle schools were allowed to use Colonel Gamble's lawn; the Independents went to Bold Park and the Peasley Cross Congregationalists were given permission to use Sherdley Park.
The Greenbank district of St Helens between Liverpool Road and Canal Street was renowned for its lawlessness and hatred of the police. Some of its denizens also did not seem particularly bright. The Newspaper described James Donoghue as a "rough character well known to the police" as they explained how the man had converted a minor crime into a nine-month prison sentence through his antics in and out of court.
PC Johnson had arrested Donoghue for breaching the peace in Greenbank for which normally a defendant would receive a small fine in court. However, he chose to resist the constable and appealed to a watching crowd to use stones against PC Johnson. Donoghue's resistance and past history was deemed so serious that the magistrates decided to send him to prison for three months and to order him to find sureties to guarantee his good behaviour for a further three months for the breach of the peace.
Upon hearing his sentence Donoghue shook his fist at the officer and warned him what to expect when he was released from prison. After hearing the threat the magistrates increased the sureties to six months but as no one came forward with the money, he was sent to gaol for a total of nine months.
In the 1871 census Bernard McAvoy and his wife Mary were living in Oldfield Street in St Helens and had four young children. This week Bernard appeared in court charged with threatening to assault his wife. The solicitor Thomas Swift who often defended wife beaters by demolishing the credibility of their wives, represented the victim on this occasion. He said for a considerable time McAvoy had given his wife the "most abominable treatment", which she had borne in the hope that he would mend, as it was put.
But recently the husband had declared that he would never mend and he had threatened to get a razor and cut his wife's throat, declaring his intention was to hang for her. There was no defence and McAvoy was ordered to find sureties for his good behaviour for six months. That was hardly satisfactory for Mary, but, sadly, it was the best she could have hoped after taking the difficult decision to go to court.
In a curious case John McCabe was charged with stealing a pipe from the mouth of Thomas Stokes as the man from Peasley Cross was strolling down Bridge Street. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "Prosecutor paused a moment to realise his loss, and then gave chase, but when he came up with the fugitive the latter gave him such a blow on the nose that a brisk stream of blood was turned on instantly.
"A companion of the prosecutor, who wished to join in the chase, was collared by one of the friends of the accused, and invited to a friendly wrestle. Sergeant Berry came up at the most critical moment, and captured McCabe. Prisoner now said that all he did was to snatch the pipe from the prosecutor for a lark, and he did not run away at all. The charge of theft was dismissed, but he was bound over for assaulting Stokes in the street."
And finally, on the 22nd what was described as "a handicap main of bowls" took place at the Derby Arms in Rainford. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes were £3, £1 and 10 shillings, respectively, although the entrance fee of 2s 6d was fairly steep, ruling out many elderly bowlers.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the old and wretched looking woman in Parr who was charged with theft, the assault in Traverse Street that was justified by immoral conduct and the shocking rise in mortality rates in St Helens.
We begin on the 17th when James Crooks from Parr appeared in the Petty Sessions on a charge of deserting his wife. It was not the act of desertion that was really against the law, but leaving his wife penniless and having to claim relief from the Prescot Guardians. The relieving officer, James Fowler, told the court that Crooks had deserted his wife once before but had promised to reform and essentially had been let off. But after Crooks' repeat offence, Fowler called for his imprisonment and the man was sent to gaol for a fortnight.
The Prescot Guardians met on the 18th. They were the folk responsible for looking after paupers living in Whiston Workhouse and in the community. The Guardians were told that under the new Elementary Education Act they were required to pay the school fees of the children of what were known as outside paupers.
Most schools then made parents pay small weekly charges for their children's education, although the Guardians would only cough up the fees if attendance records were furnished. If any pauper's child stopped attending school, then not only would their school fees not be paid but the parents would also have their relief payments ended. An effective, if drastic, means of ensuring poor persons sent their kids to school, as many didn't for various reasons.
The ashpits were the dumps that contained human waste and they were mixed with ashes to reduce the smell and keep away pests. Last week during the clearing of an ashpit in East Street in St Helens, the smell was so bad that a number of persons had to leave their homes to find fresh air. Mr Sherlock added: "Some were seized with vomiting, and a lady fainted from the intolerable smell." A man called Norbury was blamed for causing the nuisance and he had been warned not to let it happen again.
The Health Committee also discussed the district of Sutton that would in time be colloquially known as "Pudding Bag". The origin of the nickname is that puddings, such as jam roly-poly, used to be made in narrow-necked muslin bags and the Pudding Bag houses were enclosed in a triangle composed of two sides of railway lines. It was a cul-de-sac containing Woodcock Street and Railway Terrace with a single opening that served as a means of ingress and exit; like a pudding bag with an opening at only one end. However, in the 1870s Woodcock Street was known as Church Street and its residents had written to complain about the state it was in.
They said in winter people were almost afraid to leave their houses after dark on account of the "decayed state of the road". There were no footpaths and in wet weather the condition of things was particularly unpleasant. The road surveyor told the meeting that the railway end of the street had been blocked up and there was now only one avenue for entering and leaving. This clearly was the start of Pudding Bag but it did not yet appear to have been given that nickname.
Horse racing had taken place on Newton Common since at least 1678 and in 1835 the Rev. Thomas Pigot, the Vicar of St Helens, wrote about the "sad excesses" of the meeting. The vicar claimed that: "Very many poor sinners have confessed to me on their death beds that they commenced their wicked career at Newton races".
The final day of the summer meeting was known as Race Friday and in St Helens it was treated as a holiday, with many works and shops closing. The Church was so concerned about the drift of people to Newton where they might be exposed to wickedness that they organised counter-attractions for the benefit of schoolchildren and their parents.
On the 20th the St Helens Newspaper reviewed this year's Race Friday, commenting: "The working people look upon it [Race Friday] as one of their own especial play days, and the great majority of the shopkeepers defer to the feeling. It is the popular day on the racecourse at Newton, and the turf has still a strong attraction for a very large section of our townsmen. Whether its influences be for good or evil they are apparent and real, and if working men are at liberty on such an occasion their tastes will lead them thither."
The alternative attractions were also well patronised with the Newspaper writing how this year the "muster of children was immense". At least 5,000 participated in a series of processions organised by the various Sunday schools, which paraded through St Helens. The paper described the parades as a feast for both eye and ear: "Bands without number made the air resound with music; and flags, some of them gaudy, flaunted everywhere, as the long columns wound in various directions, passing and repassing each other."
There were no public recreational areas and so the different schools had obtained permission from various individuals to use their private fields for sports and games. For example, the Parish Church group was able to use a field near to Abbey House in Dentons Green; the scholars of Windle schools were allowed to use Colonel Gamble's lawn; the Independents went to Bold Park and the Peasley Cross Congregationalists were given permission to use Sherdley Park.
The Greenbank district of St Helens between Liverpool Road and Canal Street was renowned for its lawlessness and hatred of the police. Some of its denizens also did not seem particularly bright. The Newspaper described James Donoghue as a "rough character well known to the police" as they explained how the man had converted a minor crime into a nine-month prison sentence through his antics in and out of court.
PC Johnson had arrested Donoghue for breaching the peace in Greenbank for which normally a defendant would receive a small fine in court. However, he chose to resist the constable and appealed to a watching crowd to use stones against PC Johnson. Donoghue's resistance and past history was deemed so serious that the magistrates decided to send him to prison for three months and to order him to find sureties to guarantee his good behaviour for a further three months for the breach of the peace.
Upon hearing his sentence Donoghue shook his fist at the officer and warned him what to expect when he was released from prison. After hearing the threat the magistrates increased the sureties to six months but as no one came forward with the money, he was sent to gaol for a total of nine months.
In the 1871 census Bernard McAvoy and his wife Mary were living in Oldfield Street in St Helens and had four young children. This week Bernard appeared in court charged with threatening to assault his wife. The solicitor Thomas Swift who often defended wife beaters by demolishing the credibility of their wives, represented the victim on this occasion. He said for a considerable time McAvoy had given his wife the "most abominable treatment", which she had borne in the hope that he would mend, as it was put.
But recently the husband had declared that he would never mend and he had threatened to get a razor and cut his wife's throat, declaring his intention was to hang for her. There was no defence and McAvoy was ordered to find sureties for his good behaviour for six months. That was hardly satisfactory for Mary, but, sadly, it was the best she could have hoped after taking the difficult decision to go to court.
In a curious case John McCabe was charged with stealing a pipe from the mouth of Thomas Stokes as the man from Peasley Cross was strolling down Bridge Street. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "Prosecutor paused a moment to realise his loss, and then gave chase, but when he came up with the fugitive the latter gave him such a blow on the nose that a brisk stream of blood was turned on instantly.
"A companion of the prosecutor, who wished to join in the chase, was collared by one of the friends of the accused, and invited to a friendly wrestle. Sergeant Berry came up at the most critical moment, and captured McCabe. Prisoner now said that all he did was to snatch the pipe from the prosecutor for a lark, and he did not run away at all. The charge of theft was dismissed, but he was bound over for assaulting Stokes in the street."
And finally, on the 22nd what was described as "a handicap main of bowls" took place at the Derby Arms in Rainford. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes were £3, £1 and 10 shillings, respectively, although the entrance fee of 2s 6d was fairly steep, ruling out many elderly bowlers.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the old and wretched looking woman in Parr who was charged with theft, the assault in Traverse Street that was justified by immoral conduct and the shocking rise in mortality rates in St Helens.
This week's many stories include the children's Race Friday parades, how a breach of the peace in Greenbank was punished by a 9-month prison sentence, the intolerable smell coming from an East Street ashpit, the pipe stealing in Bridge Street and the man accused of giving his wife abominable treatment who had threatened to cut her throat.
We begin on the 17th when James Crooks from Parr appeared in the Petty Sessions on a charge of deserting his wife.
It was not the act of desertion that was really against the law, but leaving his wife penniless and having to claim relief from the Prescot Guardians.
The relieving officer, James Fowler, told the court that Crooks had deserted his wife once before but had promised to reform and essentially had been let off.
But after Crooks' repeat offence, Fowler called for his imprisonment and the man was sent to gaol for a fortnight.
The Prescot Guardians met on the 18th. They were the folk responsible for looking after paupers living in Whiston Workhouse and in the community.
The Guardians were told that under the new Elementary Education Act they were required to pay the school fees of the children of what were known as outside paupers.
Most schools then made parents pay small weekly charges for their children's education, although the Guardians would only cough up the fees if attendance records were furnished.
If any pauper's child stopped attending school, then not only would their school fees not be paid but the parents would also have their relief payments ended.
An effective, if drastic, means of ensuring poor persons sent their kids to school, as many didn't for various reasons.
This week the council's Health Committee met and heard from their Inspector of Nuisances, Thomas Sherlock.
He sent in a letter complaining of several ashpits in the neighbourhood of the marketplace in which people threw decayed vegetable matter and fish refuse.
From these Mr Sherlock said "abominable smells arose" when the night soil men who emptied the ashpits came to clear them out.
The ashpits were the dumps that contained human waste and they were mixed with ashes to reduce the smell and keep away pests.
Last week during the clearing of an ashpit in East Street in St Helens, the smell was so bad that a number of persons had to leave their homes to find fresh air. Mr Sherlock added:
"Some were seized with vomiting, and a lady fainted from the intolerable smell."
A man called Norbury was blamed for causing the nuisance and he had been warned not to let it happen again.
The Health Committee also discussed the district of Sutton that would in time be colloquially known as "Pudding Bag".
The origin of the nickname is that puddings, such as jam roly-poly, used to be made in narrow-necked muslin bags and the Pudding Bag houses were enclosed in a triangle composed of two sides of railway lines.
It was a cul-de-sac containing Woodcock Street and Railway Terrace with a single opening that served as a means of ingress and exit; like a pudding bag with an opening at only one end.
However, in the 1870s Woodcock Street was known as Church Street and its residents had written to complain about the state it was in.
They said in winter people were almost afraid to leave their houses after dark on account of the "decayed state of the road".
There were no footpaths and in wet weather the condition of things was particularly unpleasant.
The road surveyor told the meeting that the railway end of the street had been blocked up and there was now only one avenue for entering and leaving.
This clearly was the start of Pudding Bag but it did not yet appear to have been given that nickname.
Horse racing had taken place on Newton Common since at least 1678 and in 1835 the Rev. Thomas Pigot, the Vicar of St Helens, wrote about the "sad excesses" of the meeting. The vicar claimed that:
"Very many poor sinners have confessed to me on their death beds that they commenced their wicked career at Newton races".
The final day of the summer meeting was known as Race Friday and in St Helens it was treated as a holiday, with many works and shops closing.
The Church was so concerned about the drift of people to Newton where they might be exposed to wickedness that they organised counter-attractions for the benefit of schoolchildren and their parents.
On the 20th the St Helens Newspaper reviewed this year's Race Friday, commenting:
"The working people look upon it [Race Friday] as one of their own especial play days, and the great majority of the shopkeepers defer to the feeling.
"It is the popular day on the racecourse at Newton, and the turf has still a strong attraction for a very large section of our townsmen.
"Whether its influences be for good or evil they are apparent and real, and if working men are at liberty on such an occasion their tastes will lead them thither."
The alternative attractions were also well patronised with the Newspaper writing how this year the "muster of children was immense".
At least 5,000 participated in a series of processions organised by the various Sunday schools, which paraded through St Helens. The paper described the parades as a feast for both eye and ear:
"Bands without number made the air resound with music; and flags, some of them gaudy, flaunted everywhere, as the long columns wound in various directions, passing and repassing each other."
There were no public recreational areas and so the different schools had obtained permission from various individuals to use their private fields for sports and games.
For example, the Parish Church group was able to use a field near to Abbey House in Dentons Green; the scholars of Windle schools were allowed to use Colonel Gamble's lawn; the Independents went to Bold Park and the Peasley Cross Congregationalists were given permission to use Sherdley Park.
The Greenbank district of St Helens between Liverpool Road and Canal Street was renowned for its lawlessness and hatred of the police. Some of its denizens also did not seem particularly bright.
The Newspaper described James Donoghue as a "rough character well known to the police" as they explained how the man had converted a minor crime into a nine-month prison sentence through his antics in and out of court.
PC Johnson had arrested Donoghue for breaching the peace in Greenbank for which normally a defendant would receive a small fine in court.
However, he chose to resist the constable and appealed to a watching crowd to use stones against PC Johnson.
Donoghue's resistance and past history was deemed so serious that the magistrates decided to send him to prison for three months and to order him to find sureties to guarantee his good behaviour for a further three months for the breach of the peace.
Upon hearing his sentence Donoghue shook his fist at the officer and warned him what to expect when he was released from prison.
After hearing the threat the magistrates increased the sureties to six months but as no one came forward with the money, he was sent to gaol for a total of nine months.
In the 1871 census Bernard McAvoy and his wife Mary were living in Oldfield Street in St Helens and had four young children.
This week Bernard appeared in court charged with threatening to assault his wife.
The solicitor Thomas Swift who often defended wife beaters by demolishing the credibility of their wives, represented the victim on this occasion.
He said for a considerable time McAvoy had given his wife the "most abominable treatment", which she had borne in the hope that he would mend, as it was put.
But recently the husband had declared that he would never mend and he had threatened to get a razor and cut his wife's throat, declaring his intention was to hang for her.
There was no defence and McAvoy was ordered to find sureties for his good behaviour for six months.
That was hardly satisfactory for Mary, but, sadly, it was the best she could have hoped after taking the difficult decision to go to court.
In a curious case John McCabe was charged with stealing a pipe from the mouth of Thomas Stokes as the man from Peasley Cross was strolling down Bridge Street. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"Prosecutor paused a moment to realise his loss, and then gave chase, but when he came up with the fugitive the latter gave him such a blow on the nose that a brisk stream of blood was turned on instantly.
"A companion of the prosecutor, who wished to join in the chase, was collared by one of the friends of the accused, and invited to a friendly wrestle. Sergeant Berry came up at the most critical moment, and captured McCabe.
"Prisoner now said that all he did was to snatch the pipe from the prosecutor for a lark, and he did not run away at all. The charge of theft was dismissed, but he was bound over for assaulting Stokes in the street."
And finally, on the 22nd what was described as "a handicap main of bowls" took place at the Derby Arms in Rainford.
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes were £3, £1 and 10 shillings, respectively, although the entrance fee of 2s 6d was fairly steep, ruling out many elderly bowlers.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the old and wretched looking woman in Parr who was charged with theft, the assault in Traverse Street that was justified by immoral conduct and the shocking rise in mortality rates in St Helens.
We begin on the 17th when James Crooks from Parr appeared in the Petty Sessions on a charge of deserting his wife.
It was not the act of desertion that was really against the law, but leaving his wife penniless and having to claim relief from the Prescot Guardians.
The relieving officer, James Fowler, told the court that Crooks had deserted his wife once before but had promised to reform and essentially had been let off.
But after Crooks' repeat offence, Fowler called for his imprisonment and the man was sent to gaol for a fortnight.
The Prescot Guardians met on the 18th. They were the folk responsible for looking after paupers living in Whiston Workhouse and in the community.
The Guardians were told that under the new Elementary Education Act they were required to pay the school fees of the children of what were known as outside paupers.
Most schools then made parents pay small weekly charges for their children's education, although the Guardians would only cough up the fees if attendance records were furnished.
If any pauper's child stopped attending school, then not only would their school fees not be paid but the parents would also have their relief payments ended.
An effective, if drastic, means of ensuring poor persons sent their kids to school, as many didn't for various reasons.
He sent in a letter complaining of several ashpits in the neighbourhood of the marketplace in which people threw decayed vegetable matter and fish refuse.
From these Mr Sherlock said "abominable smells arose" when the night soil men who emptied the ashpits came to clear them out.
The ashpits were the dumps that contained human waste and they were mixed with ashes to reduce the smell and keep away pests.
Last week during the clearing of an ashpit in East Street in St Helens, the smell was so bad that a number of persons had to leave their homes to find fresh air. Mr Sherlock added:
"Some were seized with vomiting, and a lady fainted from the intolerable smell."
A man called Norbury was blamed for causing the nuisance and he had been warned not to let it happen again.
The Health Committee also discussed the district of Sutton that would in time be colloquially known as "Pudding Bag".
The origin of the nickname is that puddings, such as jam roly-poly, used to be made in narrow-necked muslin bags and the Pudding Bag houses were enclosed in a triangle composed of two sides of railway lines.
It was a cul-de-sac containing Woodcock Street and Railway Terrace with a single opening that served as a means of ingress and exit; like a pudding bag with an opening at only one end.
However, in the 1870s Woodcock Street was known as Church Street and its residents had written to complain about the state it was in.
They said in winter people were almost afraid to leave their houses after dark on account of the "decayed state of the road".
There were no footpaths and in wet weather the condition of things was particularly unpleasant.
The road surveyor told the meeting that the railway end of the street had been blocked up and there was now only one avenue for entering and leaving.
This clearly was the start of Pudding Bag but it did not yet appear to have been given that nickname.
Horse racing had taken place on Newton Common since at least 1678 and in 1835 the Rev. Thomas Pigot, the Vicar of St Helens, wrote about the "sad excesses" of the meeting. The vicar claimed that:
"Very many poor sinners have confessed to me on their death beds that they commenced their wicked career at Newton races".
The final day of the summer meeting was known as Race Friday and in St Helens it was treated as a holiday, with many works and shops closing.
The Church was so concerned about the drift of people to Newton where they might be exposed to wickedness that they organised counter-attractions for the benefit of schoolchildren and their parents.
On the 20th the St Helens Newspaper reviewed this year's Race Friday, commenting:
"The working people look upon it [Race Friday] as one of their own especial play days, and the great majority of the shopkeepers defer to the feeling.
"It is the popular day on the racecourse at Newton, and the turf has still a strong attraction for a very large section of our townsmen.
"Whether its influences be for good or evil they are apparent and real, and if working men are at liberty on such an occasion their tastes will lead them thither."
The alternative attractions were also well patronised with the Newspaper writing how this year the "muster of children was immense".
At least 5,000 participated in a series of processions organised by the various Sunday schools, which paraded through St Helens. The paper described the parades as a feast for both eye and ear:
"Bands without number made the air resound with music; and flags, some of them gaudy, flaunted everywhere, as the long columns wound in various directions, passing and repassing each other."
There were no public recreational areas and so the different schools had obtained permission from various individuals to use their private fields for sports and games.
For example, the Parish Church group was able to use a field near to Abbey House in Dentons Green; the scholars of Windle schools were allowed to use Colonel Gamble's lawn; the Independents went to Bold Park and the Peasley Cross Congregationalists were given permission to use Sherdley Park.
The Greenbank district of St Helens between Liverpool Road and Canal Street was renowned for its lawlessness and hatred of the police. Some of its denizens also did not seem particularly bright.
The Newspaper described James Donoghue as a "rough character well known to the police" as they explained how the man had converted a minor crime into a nine-month prison sentence through his antics in and out of court.
PC Johnson had arrested Donoghue for breaching the peace in Greenbank for which normally a defendant would receive a small fine in court.
However, he chose to resist the constable and appealed to a watching crowd to use stones against PC Johnson.
Donoghue's resistance and past history was deemed so serious that the magistrates decided to send him to prison for three months and to order him to find sureties to guarantee his good behaviour for a further three months for the breach of the peace.
Upon hearing his sentence Donoghue shook his fist at the officer and warned him what to expect when he was released from prison.
After hearing the threat the magistrates increased the sureties to six months but as no one came forward with the money, he was sent to gaol for a total of nine months.
In the 1871 census Bernard McAvoy and his wife Mary were living in Oldfield Street in St Helens and had four young children.
This week Bernard appeared in court charged with threatening to assault his wife.
The solicitor Thomas Swift who often defended wife beaters by demolishing the credibility of their wives, represented the victim on this occasion.
He said for a considerable time McAvoy had given his wife the "most abominable treatment", which she had borne in the hope that he would mend, as it was put.
But recently the husband had declared that he would never mend and he had threatened to get a razor and cut his wife's throat, declaring his intention was to hang for her.
There was no defence and McAvoy was ordered to find sureties for his good behaviour for six months.
That was hardly satisfactory for Mary, but, sadly, it was the best she could have hoped after taking the difficult decision to go to court.
In a curious case John McCabe was charged with stealing a pipe from the mouth of Thomas Stokes as the man from Peasley Cross was strolling down Bridge Street. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"Prosecutor paused a moment to realise his loss, and then gave chase, but when he came up with the fugitive the latter gave him such a blow on the nose that a brisk stream of blood was turned on instantly.
"A companion of the prosecutor, who wished to join in the chase, was collared by one of the friends of the accused, and invited to a friendly wrestle. Sergeant Berry came up at the most critical moment, and captured McCabe.
"Prisoner now said that all he did was to snatch the pipe from the prosecutor for a lark, and he did not run away at all. The charge of theft was dismissed, but he was bound over for assaulting Stokes in the street."
And finally, on the 22nd what was described as "a handicap main of bowls" took place at the Derby Arms in Rainford.
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes were £3, £1 and 10 shillings, respectively, although the entrance fee of 2s 6d was fairly steep, ruling out many elderly bowlers.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the old and wretched looking woman in Parr who was charged with theft, the assault in Traverse Street that was justified by immoral conduct and the shocking rise in mortality rates in St Helens.