150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (18th - 24th March 1869)
This week's stories include an extraordinary eviction at the Bowling Green in Sutton, the Parr dog beater who said puppies should be horsewhipped, the 12-year-old severely injured at work in Whiston, furious driving by sailors in Church Street, the "great pest" returns to court and why Victoria Passage near Bridge Street was often in the news.
We begin on the 18th with another gas explosion down a coalmine. This time it was at Halsnead Colliery in Whiston and three miners received burns to their faces and hands. John Cross, Samuel Briscoe and William Swift had been using naked lights at their place of work as they thought it was free of gas.
On the 19th an unknown man died at the hospital at Whiston Workhouse from injuries received in a fall. Ten days ago the man had called at the police station in St Helens and reported having been robbed in a beerhouse. As he was thought to be under the influence of drink, he was told to return on the following day.
As he left the station the man staggered and fell down some stone steps that led to the cellar under the Town Hall. He suffered a serious head injury and never recovered consciousness and so had never been able to give his name. Perhaps someone would come forward to identify him after reading the article in the newspaper. However it was much more likely that nobody would.
The Police Court sat on the 20th and a woman that the St Helens Newspaper labelled a "great pest" was in trouble again. Catherine Yates was making her 25th appearance before the Bench charged with disorderly and unseemly conduct in the streets.
On two recent occasions the stout, young woman – as she was described – had been sent to prison for a month for similar offences. Last December Constable Gill had seen Catherine making remarks to men in Naylor Street at midnight. The woman was given 14 more days in Kirkdale Gaol and no doubt would be back in court before long, as the cycle of repeat offending with no support continued.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 20th reported that a boy called Bellamy had been seriously injured on a new railway line at what was called the "Whiston tip". The 12-year-old from Eccleston had not been injured while playing on the line – he had been there doing his job.
In fact the lad might well have been employed for several years, as many children then left school at the age of nine or ten. Young Bellamy had been struck down by empty wagons that were being brought from the tip to be refilled. His skull was described as having been laid bare and he was reported as being in a dangerous condition.
In another article titled "The Consequences of Furious Driving", the Newspaper described how two midshipmen connected with a Liverpool shipping firm had visited St Helens in a trap. The sailors decided to go out for a drive and upon their return drove down Church Street at a "furious rate" and as a result collided with a handcart. The Newspaper wrote:
"The shock was sufficient to unseat the middies, and they took an involuntary flight from their elevated positions; but, fortunately, they escaped any serious harm. The vehicle, on the contrary, was somewhat damaged."
In an extraordinary case in St Helens County Court on the 22nd, Thomas Platt brought an action for £50 damages against Isaac Grace. The latter was a very well-known publican in Bridge Street, who also owned a brewery in Liverpool and a beerhouse in Robins Lane. Many beerhouses in the 1860s did not have names, although the house in question was probably the Bowling Green (pictured above).
Thomas Platt told the judge that in October 1868 he had come to an agreement with Grace to run his beerhouse but in January 1869 was given a week's notice to leave. However before the period of notice had expired, Grace sent two of his men to the house to take possession.
Eight or nine miners with faces blackened from their work and carrying clubs came with the pair after having been promised free beer. They made – as Platt put it – a "clean sweep of everything", throwing all their possessions, including a piano, out onto the street on a wet winter's evening.
A chair was even taken from Thomas Platt's wife Ellen while she was nursing her baby and one of Grace's men called Yates tried to throw one of the landlord's five children out of the house. This upset a customer called Edward Rigby – who kept a provisions shop next to the Bowling Green – and being a father himself decided to intervene.
He punched Yates and had two of his teeth knocked out for his trouble and his hand became cut. The furious shopkeeper then went home for his gun, which frightened off the raiders, who bolted through a window. "Human nature caused me to act as I did", Rigby told the judge.
Much damage was caused to the things that were thrown out of the house and other items went missing and Platt wanted £50 compensation for his losses. The two men employed by Grace refuted the evidence and blamed Platt for everything that had occurred.
One claimed to be an old Waterloo hero but upon being questioned by the judge admitted he was referring to Waterloo near Crosby! The judge said it was a very good joke but warned him not to repeat it as he was making a false pretence.
Grace's counsel said that under the Master and Servant Act Thomas Platt could be turned out at any moment without regard to any agreement. His Honour said the case was a serious one but he wished to consult some authorities on one or two legal points and he would give his decision in a month's time.
Victoria Passage (pictured above) gets mentioned regularly in the crime stories in the St Helens Newspaper, although from what I can tell nobody actually lived there. It appears to have just been an entry between Bridge Street and Naylor Street and figures quite a lot as the home of the head of St Helens police was close by.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 22nd, Superintendent James Ludlam brought a prosecution against a woman called Eliza Coleman for begging in Victoria Passage. Ludlam told the Bench that there were a great many tramps about and he had received complaints about them. The woman was sentenced to ten days in prison with hard labour.
John MacMannus was making his 15th appearance before the magistrates and was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Victoria Passage and was ordered to pay 16 shillings. A person called M. Sullivan was summoned for causing a disturbance in Smithy Brow and threatening to knock a police officer's brains out and was fined 20 shillings.
Ralph Johnson appeared in the Sessions held in the Town Hall building in New Market Place charged with cruelly treating a dog in Parr. Sergeant Myers gave evidence that he saw Johnson beat the retriever pup with a stick as a punishment for not following him and then he dragged the animal several yards by the ears.
The officer said the man had told him that it was necessary to beat pups with a horsewhip in order to break them in. Sgt. Myers then walked out of sight of Johnson but returned after hearing the dog scream.
The Newspaper wrote: "The defendant [in court] asked a great number of questions of no possible moment." The sergeant told the Bench that the pup was far too young to be able to follow the man closely.
Johnson admitted beating the animal but only enough to make it obey him. The Bench appeared to agree with his view on dog beating, saying: "It was one of those cases that a small fine would meet". The man was fined just 2/6.
You weren't fined much more for hitting a woman. Patrick Connell had thumped Mary Rogerson in Eccleston after a row between her and his sisters. He gave Mary two black eyes and was fined 5 shillings.
John Foy made a bad mistake in the court. He had been charged with stealing £7 from Charles Rothwell while the man had been asleep in his lodgings in Smithy Brow. After being told the case was being sent for trial at the Quarter Sessions in Liverpool, Foy requested that the magistrates deal with it there and then.
He denied the charge but offered to plead guilty in order to get the matter settled. The Bench agreed to this and sentenced Foy to four months in prison with hard labour.
As I've previously written those deemed to be "respectable" were treated better in the courts than those deemed not to be. This is illustrated in this St Helens Newspaper report of a case in the Police Court:
"Eliza Madden, of Peasley Cross, was charged with being drunk on the previous day, but in consideration that she was a respectable woman she was discharged on paying costs. It appeared that her indulgence in beer did not agree with her system, and the evident debility and nausea under which she laboured was about her best punishment."
The exploits of Dr Livingstone fascinated people with the explorer and missionary currently on a mission to find the source of the Nile. On the 24th a lecture describing the travels of Dr Livingstone was given in the Hardshaw Meeting House (aka Friends Meeting House) in Raven Street (now Church Street). The talk was presented to members of the YMCA and the St Helens Newspaper said it had been "tolerably well attended".
Next week's stories will include the dead man in College Street with a tin cheque, Good Friday in St Helens, a sequel to the claim of tyranny at the Whiston Workhouse hospital, why Mary Callaghan's heart had been broken, what to do with the old Sutton Workhouse and why Wigan was told to pay for a lunatic's keep in Rainhill Asylum.
We begin on the 18th with another gas explosion down a coalmine. This time it was at Halsnead Colliery in Whiston and three miners received burns to their faces and hands. John Cross, Samuel Briscoe and William Swift had been using naked lights at their place of work as they thought it was free of gas.
On the 19th an unknown man died at the hospital at Whiston Workhouse from injuries received in a fall. Ten days ago the man had called at the police station in St Helens and reported having been robbed in a beerhouse. As he was thought to be under the influence of drink, he was told to return on the following day.
As he left the station the man staggered and fell down some stone steps that led to the cellar under the Town Hall. He suffered a serious head injury and never recovered consciousness and so had never been able to give his name. Perhaps someone would come forward to identify him after reading the article in the newspaper. However it was much more likely that nobody would.
The Police Court sat on the 20th and a woman that the St Helens Newspaper labelled a "great pest" was in trouble again. Catherine Yates was making her 25th appearance before the Bench charged with disorderly and unseemly conduct in the streets.
On two recent occasions the stout, young woman – as she was described – had been sent to prison for a month for similar offences. Last December Constable Gill had seen Catherine making remarks to men in Naylor Street at midnight. The woman was given 14 more days in Kirkdale Gaol and no doubt would be back in court before long, as the cycle of repeat offending with no support continued.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 20th reported that a boy called Bellamy had been seriously injured on a new railway line at what was called the "Whiston tip". The 12-year-old from Eccleston had not been injured while playing on the line – he had been there doing his job.
In fact the lad might well have been employed for several years, as many children then left school at the age of nine or ten. Young Bellamy had been struck down by empty wagons that were being brought from the tip to be refilled. His skull was described as having been laid bare and he was reported as being in a dangerous condition.
In another article titled "The Consequences of Furious Driving", the Newspaper described how two midshipmen connected with a Liverpool shipping firm had visited St Helens in a trap. The sailors decided to go out for a drive and upon their return drove down Church Street at a "furious rate" and as a result collided with a handcart. The Newspaper wrote:
"The shock was sufficient to unseat the middies, and they took an involuntary flight from their elevated positions; but, fortunately, they escaped any serious harm. The vehicle, on the contrary, was somewhat damaged."
Thomas Platt told the judge that in October 1868 he had come to an agreement with Grace to run his beerhouse but in January 1869 was given a week's notice to leave. However before the period of notice had expired, Grace sent two of his men to the house to take possession.
Eight or nine miners with faces blackened from their work and carrying clubs came with the pair after having been promised free beer. They made – as Platt put it – a "clean sweep of everything", throwing all their possessions, including a piano, out onto the street on a wet winter's evening.
A chair was even taken from Thomas Platt's wife Ellen while she was nursing her baby and one of Grace's men called Yates tried to throw one of the landlord's five children out of the house. This upset a customer called Edward Rigby – who kept a provisions shop next to the Bowling Green – and being a father himself decided to intervene.
He punched Yates and had two of his teeth knocked out for his trouble and his hand became cut. The furious shopkeeper then went home for his gun, which frightened off the raiders, who bolted through a window. "Human nature caused me to act as I did", Rigby told the judge.
Much damage was caused to the things that were thrown out of the house and other items went missing and Platt wanted £50 compensation for his losses. The two men employed by Grace refuted the evidence and blamed Platt for everything that had occurred.
One claimed to be an old Waterloo hero but upon being questioned by the judge admitted he was referring to Waterloo near Crosby! The judge said it was a very good joke but warned him not to repeat it as he was making a false pretence.
Grace's counsel said that under the Master and Servant Act Thomas Platt could be turned out at any moment without regard to any agreement. His Honour said the case was a serious one but he wished to consult some authorities on one or two legal points and he would give his decision in a month's time.
In the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 22nd, Superintendent James Ludlam brought a prosecution against a woman called Eliza Coleman for begging in Victoria Passage. Ludlam told the Bench that there were a great many tramps about and he had received complaints about them. The woman was sentenced to ten days in prison with hard labour.
John MacMannus was making his 15th appearance before the magistrates and was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Victoria Passage and was ordered to pay 16 shillings. A person called M. Sullivan was summoned for causing a disturbance in Smithy Brow and threatening to knock a police officer's brains out and was fined 20 shillings.
Ralph Johnson appeared in the Sessions held in the Town Hall building in New Market Place charged with cruelly treating a dog in Parr. Sergeant Myers gave evidence that he saw Johnson beat the retriever pup with a stick as a punishment for not following him and then he dragged the animal several yards by the ears.
The officer said the man had told him that it was necessary to beat pups with a horsewhip in order to break them in. Sgt. Myers then walked out of sight of Johnson but returned after hearing the dog scream.
The Newspaper wrote: "The defendant [in court] asked a great number of questions of no possible moment." The sergeant told the Bench that the pup was far too young to be able to follow the man closely.
Johnson admitted beating the animal but only enough to make it obey him. The Bench appeared to agree with his view on dog beating, saying: "It was one of those cases that a small fine would meet". The man was fined just 2/6.
You weren't fined much more for hitting a woman. Patrick Connell had thumped Mary Rogerson in Eccleston after a row between her and his sisters. He gave Mary two black eyes and was fined 5 shillings.
John Foy made a bad mistake in the court. He had been charged with stealing £7 from Charles Rothwell while the man had been asleep in his lodgings in Smithy Brow. After being told the case was being sent for trial at the Quarter Sessions in Liverpool, Foy requested that the magistrates deal with it there and then.
He denied the charge but offered to plead guilty in order to get the matter settled. The Bench agreed to this and sentenced Foy to four months in prison with hard labour.
As I've previously written those deemed to be "respectable" were treated better in the courts than those deemed not to be. This is illustrated in this St Helens Newspaper report of a case in the Police Court:
"Eliza Madden, of Peasley Cross, was charged with being drunk on the previous day, but in consideration that she was a respectable woman she was discharged on paying costs. It appeared that her indulgence in beer did not agree with her system, and the evident debility and nausea under which she laboured was about her best punishment."
The exploits of Dr Livingstone fascinated people with the explorer and missionary currently on a mission to find the source of the Nile. On the 24th a lecture describing the travels of Dr Livingstone was given in the Hardshaw Meeting House (aka Friends Meeting House) in Raven Street (now Church Street). The talk was presented to members of the YMCA and the St Helens Newspaper said it had been "tolerably well attended".
Next week's stories will include the dead man in College Street with a tin cheque, Good Friday in St Helens, a sequel to the claim of tyranny at the Whiston Workhouse hospital, why Mary Callaghan's heart had been broken, what to do with the old Sutton Workhouse and why Wigan was told to pay for a lunatic's keep in Rainhill Asylum.