150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (18th - 24th APRIL 1872)
This week's stories include the riotous conduct in Blackbrook's Ship Inn, the mysterious disappearance of a St Helens rates collector, the Pilkington glass boss who twaddled in a lofty key, the burning down of the new Parr knacker's yard and the St Helens' chemical works unite to fight a new health bill that would limit their filthy discharges.
The big talking point in the town during the week was the disappearance of John Scarisbrick. The man was one of the Corporation's collectors of rates and he was believed to have absconded with his family. Consequently his accounts were taken from his home and a deficiency in them was discovered. A few months earlier the Council had censured Scarisbrick for what was termed "laxity in the discharge of his duties". They, no doubt, now wished that they had given the man the sack, instead of just a warning.
The St Helens Newspaper would pull no punches in their criticism of those in authority if they felt such a censure was needed – and it is no wonder they were sued for libel on several occasions. On the 20th their editor made a stinging attack on Major William Windle Pilkington calling him vain and saying he "twaddles in a lofty key"! The glass boss was one of the town's leading citizens and would remain so for forty more years. His legacies included the Windle Pilkington School and the Queen Victoria stature in Victoria Square.
Last week Major Pilkington had chaired a meeting of the Education League in St Helens and the paper had not liked his performance. They complained that Pilkington was growing "…more intolerant in his views and more narrow minded in his prejudices, while his impatience under contradiction in debate throw doubts upon his fitness to preside over a meeting where impartiality is a necessary qualification."
The Newspaper also described how Edward Taylor, George Simm, George Mawdsley and Thomas Travers had appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with riotous conduct at the Ship Inn in Blackbrook. The landlady, Sarah Banks, said the four men had gone from room to room in her pub drinking the contents of other people's glasses and making a general nuisance of themselves. When Mrs Banks remonstrated with them about their behaviour, she said Travers retorted with vile language and made threats against her.
Mawdsley then went out of the pub and threw a stone through a window and also smashed three drinking glasses inside. And Simm, for his part, took up a poker and smashed up a copper kettle. The Newspaper wrote that the latter had offered 12 shillings compensation for the kettle in the hope of settling the case, "and yet he coolly pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him in court". The men were each handed fines of 5 to 10 shillings and ordered to pay damages.
The Newspaper also described how the foundation stone – or memorial stone, as they were then usually called – of the Park Road Methodist Chapel's Sunday School had been laid by Thomas Hazelhurst. And the senior Methodist received yet another silver trowel to add to his ever-growing collection! Eighteen months earlier after Hazelehurst had laid the memorial stone of the new Sutton Road Methodist Church, I wrote: "I wonder if there is a special name for someone who collects silver trowels?"
Hazelehurst had then laid more than fifty foundation stones and on each ceremonial occasion had been presented with a silver trowel as a memento. What we would call a time capsule was laid at the Park Road ceremony in the form of two glass bottles. These contained various documents, as well as copies of the Liverpool Mercury, the St Helens Newspaper, the St Helens Standard and the Methodist Recorder.
As can be seen from the above illustration of industrial St Helens in 1879, the town then had a forest of chimneys that badly damaged the environment. The glassworks, chemical works and collieries would also pump their waste matter into waterways. This week the Newspaper's leader column discussed the Public Health Bill that was currently passing through Parliament and attempted to balance the, at times, competing interests of employment and the environment. They wrote that the Bill contained what they described as "very stringent" clauses that would prevent the dozen or so chemical works in St Helens – as well as other manufacturers – from discharging "deleterious matter" into rivers and streams, adding:
"Our St Helens as well as other chemical manufacturers have taken alarm, and are already in arms, are holding meetings in London, taking counsel together, and devising the best means of obtaining at least some modification of the clause we have referred, which, they consider, threaten the very existence of the alkali trade in this locality. We believe that the inhabitants of St. Helens whose interests are so largely bound up with the alkali trade would regret to see it crippled or driven from the town, at the same time there are few who are compelled to reside within the circle of its unpleasant odours, who do not feel that our chemical manufacturers could, if they would, make matters far more pleasant than they are at present.
"The noxious fumes which attack the eyes, nose and mouth making night hideous, are liberated with a profusion and recklessness which evidences an unfeeling contempt for the health and comfort of thousands of those whose means and occupations compel them to reside within a short distance of the Sankey Brook, or under the smoke line of any of our large copper, glass, or alkali works. The present Public Health Bill may be the means of compelling the attention of the manufacturers to be directed to an obvious duty they owe to society and to discharging it to the satisfaction of the public, which we are informed, can be done without any material injury to their business, or any ruinous demand upon their pockets."
A few weeks ago I described how "knacker" Peter Spencer had opened a new slaughterhouse in Parr, with this advert published in the Newspaper: "Peter Spencer begs to inform the public of St. Helens and the surrounding neighbourhood that he has opened a knacker's yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, and close to Mr. Joseph Pilkington's brick works. The premises are extensive and highly suitable for the business, and Mr. Spencer is prepared to conduct it on reasonable terms, and to execute with promptitude all orders entrusted to him."
However, the wooden slaughterhouse did not last long, as on the 21st it was completely destroyed by fire. Sometimes buildings in St Helens were made out of wood, seemingly because they could be erected quicker and cost less than if made from brick or stone. That, of course, made such structures far more vulnerable to fire. The blaze was not spotted until just before midnight and the flames engulfed the large shed so rapidly that it was described as being a complete ruin before the fire brigade could take any meaningful action. Mr Spencer was said to have sustained a considerable loss by the destruction of his knacker's yard. He did not appear to have taken out insurance – and so was very shortsighted on two counts.
The Era newspaper on the 21st wrote how Charles Duvall's new Pavilion Theatre in St Helens had been doing brisk business: "Mr. C. H. Duvall has met with great success since the opening night. On the 12th inst., being the second fashionable night, Hamlet was performed to a crowded and appreciative audience. The interior of this premiere establishment is beautifully decorated, so that with such a company, the excellent band and magnificent scenery, the place has become very popular, and is crammed nightly." Two days before the publication of the article, Macbeth had been performed at the Pavilion to a "crowded house".
The building we know as the Citadel hosted the other theatrical premises then in St Helens, which was known as the Theatre Royal. On the 22nd the St Helens Amateur Dramatic Society put on a show, with the highlight being a burlesque entitled 'Good Fairy of St. Helens'. The boxes were all filled with the local bigwigs but the gallery and pit were described as only "slenderly attended". James Brockbank of Church Street was the writer of the play. The shoemaker by trade was also a local historian and in 1896 would publish his landmark 'History of St Helens'.
During the same evening a chap called Job Lyon delivered a lecture in the New Congregational Schoolroom in Peasley Cross. The talk was a first-hand account of what the man had witnessed on his travels during the Franco-Prussian war. The deadly conflict had begun in July 1870 and lasted until January 1871, with around 180,000 deaths in total – a third of them from sickness. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"From first to last the lecture was one of thrilling interest, and the able manner in which Mr. Lyon at intervals dwelt upon the awful scenes of carnage he witnessed, and the forcible way in which he deprecated the horrors of war, made a deep impression on his audience." I expect the Newspaper could never have imagined that 150 years later such scenes would still be happening in Europe.
And finally, Bridget Kildare made her 45th appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 24th charged with riotous and disorderly conduct in Barrow Street – and was fined £2 and costs – or two months in prison. She would have taken the gaol time. I know that as I researched Bridget for my book 'The Hidden History of St Helens' and she never had any money, apart from what she received from prostitution. Would you believe she appeared in court 207 times for various relatively minor offences largely connected to drunkenness? That must be a record for St Helens!
Next week's stories will include the stormy public meeting in Rainford, the sentencing of the Sutton couple that starved their children, the St Helens bigamist who was open about his past and the pragmatic solution to a Sutton marital dispute.
The big talking point in the town during the week was the disappearance of John Scarisbrick. The man was one of the Corporation's collectors of rates and he was believed to have absconded with his family. Consequently his accounts were taken from his home and a deficiency in them was discovered. A few months earlier the Council had censured Scarisbrick for what was termed "laxity in the discharge of his duties". They, no doubt, now wished that they had given the man the sack, instead of just a warning.
The St Helens Newspaper would pull no punches in their criticism of those in authority if they felt such a censure was needed – and it is no wonder they were sued for libel on several occasions. On the 20th their editor made a stinging attack on Major William Windle Pilkington calling him vain and saying he "twaddles in a lofty key"! The glass boss was one of the town's leading citizens and would remain so for forty more years. His legacies included the Windle Pilkington School and the Queen Victoria stature in Victoria Square.
Last week Major Pilkington had chaired a meeting of the Education League in St Helens and the paper had not liked his performance. They complained that Pilkington was growing "…more intolerant in his views and more narrow minded in his prejudices, while his impatience under contradiction in debate throw doubts upon his fitness to preside over a meeting where impartiality is a necessary qualification."
The Newspaper also described how Edward Taylor, George Simm, George Mawdsley and Thomas Travers had appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with riotous conduct at the Ship Inn in Blackbrook. The landlady, Sarah Banks, said the four men had gone from room to room in her pub drinking the contents of other people's glasses and making a general nuisance of themselves. When Mrs Banks remonstrated with them about their behaviour, she said Travers retorted with vile language and made threats against her.
Mawdsley then went out of the pub and threw a stone through a window and also smashed three drinking glasses inside. And Simm, for his part, took up a poker and smashed up a copper kettle. The Newspaper wrote that the latter had offered 12 shillings compensation for the kettle in the hope of settling the case, "and yet he coolly pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him in court". The men were each handed fines of 5 to 10 shillings and ordered to pay damages.
The Newspaper also described how the foundation stone – or memorial stone, as they were then usually called – of the Park Road Methodist Chapel's Sunday School had been laid by Thomas Hazelhurst. And the senior Methodist received yet another silver trowel to add to his ever-growing collection! Eighteen months earlier after Hazelehurst had laid the memorial stone of the new Sutton Road Methodist Church, I wrote: "I wonder if there is a special name for someone who collects silver trowels?"
Hazelehurst had then laid more than fifty foundation stones and on each ceremonial occasion had been presented with a silver trowel as a memento. What we would call a time capsule was laid at the Park Road ceremony in the form of two glass bottles. These contained various documents, as well as copies of the Liverpool Mercury, the St Helens Newspaper, the St Helens Standard and the Methodist Recorder.
"Our St Helens as well as other chemical manufacturers have taken alarm, and are already in arms, are holding meetings in London, taking counsel together, and devising the best means of obtaining at least some modification of the clause we have referred, which, they consider, threaten the very existence of the alkali trade in this locality. We believe that the inhabitants of St. Helens whose interests are so largely bound up with the alkali trade would regret to see it crippled or driven from the town, at the same time there are few who are compelled to reside within the circle of its unpleasant odours, who do not feel that our chemical manufacturers could, if they would, make matters far more pleasant than they are at present.
"The noxious fumes which attack the eyes, nose and mouth making night hideous, are liberated with a profusion and recklessness which evidences an unfeeling contempt for the health and comfort of thousands of those whose means and occupations compel them to reside within a short distance of the Sankey Brook, or under the smoke line of any of our large copper, glass, or alkali works. The present Public Health Bill may be the means of compelling the attention of the manufacturers to be directed to an obvious duty they owe to society and to discharging it to the satisfaction of the public, which we are informed, can be done without any material injury to their business, or any ruinous demand upon their pockets."
A few weeks ago I described how "knacker" Peter Spencer had opened a new slaughterhouse in Parr, with this advert published in the Newspaper: "Peter Spencer begs to inform the public of St. Helens and the surrounding neighbourhood that he has opened a knacker's yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, and close to Mr. Joseph Pilkington's brick works. The premises are extensive and highly suitable for the business, and Mr. Spencer is prepared to conduct it on reasonable terms, and to execute with promptitude all orders entrusted to him."
However, the wooden slaughterhouse did not last long, as on the 21st it was completely destroyed by fire. Sometimes buildings in St Helens were made out of wood, seemingly because they could be erected quicker and cost less than if made from brick or stone. That, of course, made such structures far more vulnerable to fire. The blaze was not spotted until just before midnight and the flames engulfed the large shed so rapidly that it was described as being a complete ruin before the fire brigade could take any meaningful action. Mr Spencer was said to have sustained a considerable loss by the destruction of his knacker's yard. He did not appear to have taken out insurance – and so was very shortsighted on two counts.
The Era newspaper on the 21st wrote how Charles Duvall's new Pavilion Theatre in St Helens had been doing brisk business: "Mr. C. H. Duvall has met with great success since the opening night. On the 12th inst., being the second fashionable night, Hamlet was performed to a crowded and appreciative audience. The interior of this premiere establishment is beautifully decorated, so that with such a company, the excellent band and magnificent scenery, the place has become very popular, and is crammed nightly." Two days before the publication of the article, Macbeth had been performed at the Pavilion to a "crowded house".
The building we know as the Citadel hosted the other theatrical premises then in St Helens, which was known as the Theatre Royal. On the 22nd the St Helens Amateur Dramatic Society put on a show, with the highlight being a burlesque entitled 'Good Fairy of St. Helens'. The boxes were all filled with the local bigwigs but the gallery and pit were described as only "slenderly attended". James Brockbank of Church Street was the writer of the play. The shoemaker by trade was also a local historian and in 1896 would publish his landmark 'History of St Helens'.
During the same evening a chap called Job Lyon delivered a lecture in the New Congregational Schoolroom in Peasley Cross. The talk was a first-hand account of what the man had witnessed on his travels during the Franco-Prussian war. The deadly conflict had begun in July 1870 and lasted until January 1871, with around 180,000 deaths in total – a third of them from sickness. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"From first to last the lecture was one of thrilling interest, and the able manner in which Mr. Lyon at intervals dwelt upon the awful scenes of carnage he witnessed, and the forcible way in which he deprecated the horrors of war, made a deep impression on his audience." I expect the Newspaper could never have imagined that 150 years later such scenes would still be happening in Europe.
And finally, Bridget Kildare made her 45th appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 24th charged with riotous and disorderly conduct in Barrow Street – and was fined £2 and costs – or two months in prison. She would have taken the gaol time. I know that as I researched Bridget for my book 'The Hidden History of St Helens' and she never had any money, apart from what she received from prostitution. Would you believe she appeared in court 207 times for various relatively minor offences largely connected to drunkenness? That must be a record for St Helens!
Next week's stories will include the stormy public meeting in Rainford, the sentencing of the Sutton couple that starved their children, the St Helens bigamist who was open about his past and the pragmatic solution to a Sutton marital dispute.
This week's stories include the riotous conduct in Blackbrook's Ship Inn, the mysterious disappearance of a St Helens rates collector, the Pilkington glass boss who twaddled in a lofty key, the burning down of the new Parr knacker's yard and the St Helens' chemical works unite to fight a new health bill that would limit their filthy discharges.
The big talking point in the town during the week was the disappearance of John Scarisbrick.
The man was one of the Corporation's collectors of rates and he was believed to have absconded with his family.
Consequently his accounts were taken from his home and a deficiency in them was discovered.
A few months earlier the Council had censured Scarisbrick for what was termed "laxity in the discharge of his duties".
They, no doubt, now wished that they had given the man the sack, instead of just a warning.
The St Helens Newspaper would pull no punches in their criticism of those in authority if they felt such a censure was needed – and it is no wonder they were sued for libel on several occasions.
On the 20th their editor made a stinging attack on Major William Windle Pilkington calling him vain and saying he "twaddles in a lofty key"!
The glass boss was one of the town's leading citizens and would remain so for forty more years.
His legacies included the Windle Pilkington School and the Queen Victoria stature in Victoria Square.
Last week Major Pilkington had chaired a meeting of the Education League in St Helens and the paper had not liked his performance.
They complained that Pilkington was growing "…more intolerant in his views and more narrow minded in his prejudices, while his impatience under contradiction in debate throw doubts upon his fitness to preside over a meeting where impartiality is a necessary qualification."
The Newspaper also described how Edward Taylor, George Simm, George Mawdsley and Thomas Travers had appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with riotous conduct at the Ship Inn in Blackbrook.
The landlady, Sarah Banks, said the four men had gone from room to room in her pub drinking the contents of other people's glasses and making a general nuisance of themselves.
When Mrs Banks remonstrated with them about their behaviour, she said Travers retorted with vile language and made threats against her.
Mawdsley then went out of the pub and threw a stone through a window and also smashed three drinking glasses inside. And Simm, for his part, took up a poker and smashed up a copper kettle.
The Newspaper wrote that the latter had offered 12 shillings compensation for the kettle in the hope of settling the case, "and yet he coolly pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him in court".
The men were each handed fines of 5 to 10 shillings and ordered to pay damages.
The Newspaper also described how the foundation stone – or memorial stone, as they were then usually called – of the Park Road Methodist Chapel's Sunday School had been laid by Thomas Hazelhurst.
And the senior Methodist received yet another silver trowel to add to his ever-growing collection!
Eighteen months earlier after Hazelehurst had laid the memorial stone of the new Sutton Road Methodist Church, I wrote:
"I wonder if there is a special name for someone who collects silver trowels?"
Hazelehurst had then laid more than fifty foundation stones and on each ceremonial occasion had been presented with a silver trowel as a memento.
What we would call a time capsule was laid at the Park Road ceremony in the form of two glass bottles.
These contained various documents, as well as copies of the Liverpool Mercury, the St Helens Newspaper, the St Helens Standard and the Methodist Recorder.
As can be seen from the above illustration of industrial St Helens in 1879, the town then had a forest of chimneys that badly damaged the environment.
The glassworks, chemical works and collieries would also pump their waste matter into waterways.
This week the Newspaper's leader column discussed the Public Health Bill that was currently passing through Parliament and attempted to balance the, at times, competing interests of employment and the environment.
They wrote that the Bill contained what they described as "very stringent" clauses that would prevent the dozen or so chemical works in St Helens – as well as other manufacturers – from discharging "deleterious matter" into rivers and streams, adding:
"Our St Helens as well as other chemical manufacturers have taken alarm, and are already in arms, are holding meetings in London, taking counsel together, and devising the best means of obtaining at least some modification of the clause we have referred, which, they consider, threaten the very existence of the alkali trade in this locality.
"We believe that the inhabitants of St. Helens whose interests are so largely bound up with the alkali trade would regret to see it crippled or driven from the town, at the same time there are few who are compelled to reside within the circle of its unpleasant odours, who do not feel that our chemical manufacturers could, if they would, make matters far more pleasant than they are at present.
"The noxious fumes which attack the eyes, nose and mouth making night hideous, are liberated with a profusion and recklessness which evidences an unfeeling contempt for the health and comfort of thousands of those whose means and occupations compel them to reside within a short distance of the Sankey Brook, or under the smoke line of any of our large copper, glass, or alkali works.
"The present Public Health Bill may be the means of compelling the attention of the manufacturers to be directed to an obvious duty they owe to society and to discharging it to the satisfaction of the public, which we are informed, can be done without any material injury to their business, or any ruinous demand upon their pockets."
A few weeks ago I described how "knacker" Peter Spencer had opened a new slaughterhouse in Parr, with this advert published in the Newspaper:
"Peter Spencer begs to inform the public of St. Helens and the surrounding neighbourhood that he has opened a knacker's yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, and close to Mr. Joseph Pilkington's brick works.
"The premises are extensive and highly suitable for the business, and Mr. Spencer is prepared to conduct it on reasonable terms, and to execute with promptitude all orders entrusted to him."
However, the wooden slaughterhouse did not last long, as on the 21st it was completely destroyed by fire.
Sometimes buildings in St Helens were made out of wood, seemingly because they could be erected quicker and cost less than if made from brick or stone.
That, of course, made such structures far more vulnerable to fire.
The blaze was not spotted until just before midnight and the flames engulfed the large shed so rapidly that it was described as being a complete ruin before the fire brigade could take any meaningful action.
Mr Spencer was said to have sustained a considerable loss by the destruction of his knacker's yard.
He did not appear to have taken out insurance – and so was very shortsighted on two counts.
The Era newspaper on the 21st wrote how Charles Duvall's new Pavilion Theatre in St Helens had been doing brisk business:
"Mr. C. H. Duvall has met with great success since the opening night. On the 12th inst., being the second fashionable night, Hamlet was performed to a crowded and appreciative audience.
"The interior of this premiere establishment is beautifully decorated, so that with such a company, the excellent band and magnificent scenery, the place has become very popular, and is crammed nightly."
Two days before the publication of the article, Macbeth had been performed at the Pavilion to a "crowded house".
The building we know as the Citadel hosted the other theatrical premises then in St Helens, which was known as the Theatre Royal.
On the 22nd the St Helens Amateur Dramatic Society put on a show, with the highlight being a burlesque entitled 'Good Fairy of St. Helens'.
The boxes were all filled with the local bigwigs but the gallery and pit were described as only "slenderly attended".
James Brockbank of Church Street was the writer of the play. The shoemaker by trade was also a local historian and in 1896 would publish his landmark 'History of St Helens'.
During the same evening a chap called Job Lyon delivered a lecture in the New Congregational Schoolroom in Peasley Cross.
The talk was a first-hand account of what the man had witnessed on his travels during the Franco-Prussian war.
The deadly conflict had begun in July 1870 and lasted until January 1871, with around 180,000 deaths in total – a third of them from sickness. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"From first to last the lecture was one of thrilling interest, and the able manner in which Mr. Lyon at intervals dwelt upon the awful scenes of carnage he witnessed, and the forcible way in which he deprecated the horrors of war, made a deep impression on his audience."
I expect the Newspaper could never have imagined that 150 years later such scenes would still be happening in Europe.
And finally, Bridget Kildare made her 45th appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 24th charged with riotous and disorderly conduct in Barrow Street – and was fined £2 and costs – or two months in prison.
She would have taken the gaol time. I know that as I researched Bridget for my book 'The Hidden History of St Helens' and she never had any money, apart from what she received from prostitution.
Would you believe she appeared in court 207 times for various relatively minor offences largely connected to drunkenness? That must be a record for St Helens!
Next week's stories will include the stormy public meeting in Rainford, the sentencing of the Sutton couple that starved their children, the St Helens bigamist who was open about his past and the pragmatic solution to a Sutton marital dispute.
The big talking point in the town during the week was the disappearance of John Scarisbrick.
The man was one of the Corporation's collectors of rates and he was believed to have absconded with his family.
Consequently his accounts were taken from his home and a deficiency in them was discovered.
A few months earlier the Council had censured Scarisbrick for what was termed "laxity in the discharge of his duties".
They, no doubt, now wished that they had given the man the sack, instead of just a warning.
The St Helens Newspaper would pull no punches in their criticism of those in authority if they felt such a censure was needed – and it is no wonder they were sued for libel on several occasions.
On the 20th their editor made a stinging attack on Major William Windle Pilkington calling him vain and saying he "twaddles in a lofty key"!
The glass boss was one of the town's leading citizens and would remain so for forty more years.
His legacies included the Windle Pilkington School and the Queen Victoria stature in Victoria Square.
Last week Major Pilkington had chaired a meeting of the Education League in St Helens and the paper had not liked his performance.
They complained that Pilkington was growing "…more intolerant in his views and more narrow minded in his prejudices, while his impatience under contradiction in debate throw doubts upon his fitness to preside over a meeting where impartiality is a necessary qualification."
The Newspaper also described how Edward Taylor, George Simm, George Mawdsley and Thomas Travers had appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with riotous conduct at the Ship Inn in Blackbrook.
The landlady, Sarah Banks, said the four men had gone from room to room in her pub drinking the contents of other people's glasses and making a general nuisance of themselves.
When Mrs Banks remonstrated with them about their behaviour, she said Travers retorted with vile language and made threats against her.
Mawdsley then went out of the pub and threw a stone through a window and also smashed three drinking glasses inside. And Simm, for his part, took up a poker and smashed up a copper kettle.
The Newspaper wrote that the latter had offered 12 shillings compensation for the kettle in the hope of settling the case, "and yet he coolly pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him in court".
The men were each handed fines of 5 to 10 shillings and ordered to pay damages.
The Newspaper also described how the foundation stone – or memorial stone, as they were then usually called – of the Park Road Methodist Chapel's Sunday School had been laid by Thomas Hazelhurst.
And the senior Methodist received yet another silver trowel to add to his ever-growing collection!
Eighteen months earlier after Hazelehurst had laid the memorial stone of the new Sutton Road Methodist Church, I wrote:
"I wonder if there is a special name for someone who collects silver trowels?"
Hazelehurst had then laid more than fifty foundation stones and on each ceremonial occasion had been presented with a silver trowel as a memento.
What we would call a time capsule was laid at the Park Road ceremony in the form of two glass bottles.
These contained various documents, as well as copies of the Liverpool Mercury, the St Helens Newspaper, the St Helens Standard and the Methodist Recorder.
The glassworks, chemical works and collieries would also pump their waste matter into waterways.
This week the Newspaper's leader column discussed the Public Health Bill that was currently passing through Parliament and attempted to balance the, at times, competing interests of employment and the environment.
They wrote that the Bill contained what they described as "very stringent" clauses that would prevent the dozen or so chemical works in St Helens – as well as other manufacturers – from discharging "deleterious matter" into rivers and streams, adding:
"Our St Helens as well as other chemical manufacturers have taken alarm, and are already in arms, are holding meetings in London, taking counsel together, and devising the best means of obtaining at least some modification of the clause we have referred, which, they consider, threaten the very existence of the alkali trade in this locality.
"We believe that the inhabitants of St. Helens whose interests are so largely bound up with the alkali trade would regret to see it crippled or driven from the town, at the same time there are few who are compelled to reside within the circle of its unpleasant odours, who do not feel that our chemical manufacturers could, if they would, make matters far more pleasant than they are at present.
"The noxious fumes which attack the eyes, nose and mouth making night hideous, are liberated with a profusion and recklessness which evidences an unfeeling contempt for the health and comfort of thousands of those whose means and occupations compel them to reside within a short distance of the Sankey Brook, or under the smoke line of any of our large copper, glass, or alkali works.
"The present Public Health Bill may be the means of compelling the attention of the manufacturers to be directed to an obvious duty they owe to society and to discharging it to the satisfaction of the public, which we are informed, can be done without any material injury to their business, or any ruinous demand upon their pockets."
A few weeks ago I described how "knacker" Peter Spencer had opened a new slaughterhouse in Parr, with this advert published in the Newspaper:
"Peter Spencer begs to inform the public of St. Helens and the surrounding neighbourhood that he has opened a knacker's yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, and close to Mr. Joseph Pilkington's brick works.
"The premises are extensive and highly suitable for the business, and Mr. Spencer is prepared to conduct it on reasonable terms, and to execute with promptitude all orders entrusted to him."
However, the wooden slaughterhouse did not last long, as on the 21st it was completely destroyed by fire.
Sometimes buildings in St Helens were made out of wood, seemingly because they could be erected quicker and cost less than if made from brick or stone.
That, of course, made such structures far more vulnerable to fire.
The blaze was not spotted until just before midnight and the flames engulfed the large shed so rapidly that it was described as being a complete ruin before the fire brigade could take any meaningful action.
Mr Spencer was said to have sustained a considerable loss by the destruction of his knacker's yard.
He did not appear to have taken out insurance – and so was very shortsighted on two counts.
The Era newspaper on the 21st wrote how Charles Duvall's new Pavilion Theatre in St Helens had been doing brisk business:
"Mr. C. H. Duvall has met with great success since the opening night. On the 12th inst., being the second fashionable night, Hamlet was performed to a crowded and appreciative audience.
"The interior of this premiere establishment is beautifully decorated, so that with such a company, the excellent band and magnificent scenery, the place has become very popular, and is crammed nightly."
Two days before the publication of the article, Macbeth had been performed at the Pavilion to a "crowded house".
The building we know as the Citadel hosted the other theatrical premises then in St Helens, which was known as the Theatre Royal.
On the 22nd the St Helens Amateur Dramatic Society put on a show, with the highlight being a burlesque entitled 'Good Fairy of St. Helens'.
The boxes were all filled with the local bigwigs but the gallery and pit were described as only "slenderly attended".
James Brockbank of Church Street was the writer of the play. The shoemaker by trade was also a local historian and in 1896 would publish his landmark 'History of St Helens'.
During the same evening a chap called Job Lyon delivered a lecture in the New Congregational Schoolroom in Peasley Cross.
The talk was a first-hand account of what the man had witnessed on his travels during the Franco-Prussian war.
The deadly conflict had begun in July 1870 and lasted until January 1871, with around 180,000 deaths in total – a third of them from sickness. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"From first to last the lecture was one of thrilling interest, and the able manner in which Mr. Lyon at intervals dwelt upon the awful scenes of carnage he witnessed, and the forcible way in which he deprecated the horrors of war, made a deep impression on his audience."
I expect the Newspaper could never have imagined that 150 years later such scenes would still be happening in Europe.
And finally, Bridget Kildare made her 45th appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 24th charged with riotous and disorderly conduct in Barrow Street – and was fined £2 and costs – or two months in prison.
She would have taken the gaol time. I know that as I researched Bridget for my book 'The Hidden History of St Helens' and she never had any money, apart from what she received from prostitution.
Would you believe she appeared in court 207 times for various relatively minor offences largely connected to drunkenness? That must be a record for St Helens!
Next week's stories will include the stormy public meeting in Rainford, the sentencing of the Sutton couple that starved their children, the St Helens bigamist who was open about his past and the pragmatic solution to a Sutton marital dispute.