150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 18 - 24 MAY 1876
This week's many stories include the stack fire in Parr, the Park Road punch up, the Gerards Bridge barber who deserted his wife, the drunks causing trouble in a Church Street cafe and there's another low scoring cricket match.
Stack fires involving large bales of hay, straw or wheat were quite common within the St Helens district, particularly during the summer. It only needed a carelessly disposed of cigarette for the stack to be ignited and, perhaps, set in chain a domino effect with adjacent stacks. What made matters worse was that many of these farms or stackyards were on the outskirts of the town and with no telephone and motorised transport available, it could take some time for the fire brigade to arrive.
Usually a farm worker would get on his horse to alert the authorities of the outbreak. In the meantime farm workers would try to extinguish the flames themselves. That was what happened this week at Mount Pleasant Farm in Parr, which was owned by Haydock Colliery. The farm labourers there discovered that a wheat stack was alight, it being one of eight within their yard. While attempts were made to fight the flames, an adjacent stack was ignited.
After an hour a request for help by unspecified means – but almost certainly horseback – was sent to St Helens and the fire bell was rung and the brigade were soon on their way. Of course, if the fire brigade had been informed soon after the outbreak had been noticed, they would have been on site far quicker. However, it was usual practice for workmen to try and extinguish such blazes themselves, due to the time it took to notify the brigade and for them to get to the scene of the fire.
By the time they did arrive at the farm it was realised that the two stacks could not be saved and so all efforts were directed at preventing the fire's spread to the other stacks. In that they were successful, although it took until 7 pm before the blaze was extinguished. The damage was estimated at £200 but the origin of the fire was a complete mystery.
William Walters had a barber's shop in Gerards Bridge but towards the end of last month he had deserted his wife and two young children. His wife was left without any money and so she went to the relieving officer for help. They doled out small amounts of cash – often in the form of food vouchers – and all Mrs Walters had been allowed was 3 shillings a week, when the average wage then was around 25 shillings.
William Walters had now, seemingly, returned after his unexplained absence and the relieving officer who worked for the Prescot Union wanted his money back. And so this week he brought a prosecution against Walters demanding the reimbursement of two weeks' relief, which came to 11 shillings 6d, including costs of 5s 6d.
Mr Walters asked for time to pay the money but the magistrates ruled that he must pay the amount at once or go to prison for 14 days. That was short-sighted, as if he went to Kirkdale Gaol his wife would have to apply for more relief money. By the 1920s the magistrates' policy was a more common sense one. Give men such as Walters something like 30 days to pay and if they didn't cough up, only then were they sent to prison.
One-sided tales were routinely told in St Helens Petty Sessions. John Cosgrove appeared in court this week charged with being drunk and disorderly and violently assaulting Thomas Dowd at Parr. The latter gave evidence that Cosgrove had waylaid him after leaving a beerhouse in Park Road and had struck him on the forehead with a large stone and then given him three or four kicks to his body.
Dowd claimed he had been knocked unconscious and later that day Cosgrove had twice gone to his home in Park Road and he had needed some other men to put Cosgrove out of his house. However, when the middle-aged John Cosgrove took the stand he said his adversary had not been the passive victim he had represented himself to be.
According to the St Helens Newspaper's report on the 20th, Dowd had "repaid the prisoner's blows with interest, as he knocked out two of Cosgrove's teeth and blacked both his eyes." The magistrates said that under these circumstances and with John Cosgrove having been locked up for a week by the police, he would only be fined 2s 6d, plus costs.
James Howard of Middlesbrough appeared in court charged with begging after being seen by PC Archer asking for money in Mrs Rankin's vaults in Liverpool Road. When searched at the police station, he was found to possess just over three shillings. Howard had said he did not care about being arrested, as he would only get 14 days in prison. That was the usual sentence for begging but probably because of his casual attitude, the magistrates gave him three weeks.
Charles Woods appeared in court charged with being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises and breaking a window inside a shop. That belonged to Joseph Bonney who was described as a refreshment house keeper that kept a small cafe in Church Street. Mr Bonney said that Woods and two other men had entered his premises at about 10 o’clock on the previous Saturday night the worst for drink and he had served them soup.
But they became very abusive and disorderly and Bonney said Woods had struck him and put his fist through a window. But Woods' solicitor argued that as the premises were not licensed to serve alcohol, the charge of being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises must fail. He also had witnesses claiming that Mr Bonney had first struck Woods and that the cafe owner's own shoulder had gone through the window.
But the magistrates knew that the proprietor would not have attacked his own customer for nothing and although the charge of drunkenness had to be dismissed, Woods was fined 10 shillings for the assault and had to pay the cost of replacing the window, plus a one-shilling fine.
And finally, the Newspaper described a recent cricket match between Parr Mount and Windle Schools, which was played at Haresfinch. As with most games in St Helens during the 19th century, the scores were low through poor quality pitches and inexperienced batsmen not being able to watch top batters play and learn their techniques.
In some matches four innings were played on a Saturday afternoon, although at Haresfinch there were only two. Still, only three batsmen got into double figures, with 12 being the highest individual score and Parr Mount's total of 61 beat Windle's by 14.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the ailing woman who was given beer and turps, the furious riding in Rainford, the unknown body found in the canal and the woman beaten by her husband for not getting him beer.
Usually a farm worker would get on his horse to alert the authorities of the outbreak. In the meantime farm workers would try to extinguish the flames themselves. That was what happened this week at Mount Pleasant Farm in Parr, which was owned by Haydock Colliery. The farm labourers there discovered that a wheat stack was alight, it being one of eight within their yard. While attempts were made to fight the flames, an adjacent stack was ignited.
After an hour a request for help by unspecified means – but almost certainly horseback – was sent to St Helens and the fire bell was rung and the brigade were soon on their way. Of course, if the fire brigade had been informed soon after the outbreak had been noticed, they would have been on site far quicker. However, it was usual practice for workmen to try and extinguish such blazes themselves, due to the time it took to notify the brigade and for them to get to the scene of the fire.
By the time they did arrive at the farm it was realised that the two stacks could not be saved and so all efforts were directed at preventing the fire's spread to the other stacks. In that they were successful, although it took until 7 pm before the blaze was extinguished. The damage was estimated at £200 but the origin of the fire was a complete mystery.
William Walters had a barber's shop in Gerards Bridge but towards the end of last month he had deserted his wife and two young children. His wife was left without any money and so she went to the relieving officer for help. They doled out small amounts of cash – often in the form of food vouchers – and all Mrs Walters had been allowed was 3 shillings a week, when the average wage then was around 25 shillings.
William Walters had now, seemingly, returned after his unexplained absence and the relieving officer who worked for the Prescot Union wanted his money back. And so this week he brought a prosecution against Walters demanding the reimbursement of two weeks' relief, which came to 11 shillings 6d, including costs of 5s 6d.
Mr Walters asked for time to pay the money but the magistrates ruled that he must pay the amount at once or go to prison for 14 days. That was short-sighted, as if he went to Kirkdale Gaol his wife would have to apply for more relief money. By the 1920s the magistrates' policy was a more common sense one. Give men such as Walters something like 30 days to pay and if they didn't cough up, only then were they sent to prison.
One-sided tales were routinely told in St Helens Petty Sessions. John Cosgrove appeared in court this week charged with being drunk and disorderly and violently assaulting Thomas Dowd at Parr. The latter gave evidence that Cosgrove had waylaid him after leaving a beerhouse in Park Road and had struck him on the forehead with a large stone and then given him three or four kicks to his body.
Dowd claimed he had been knocked unconscious and later that day Cosgrove had twice gone to his home in Park Road and he had needed some other men to put Cosgrove out of his house. However, when the middle-aged John Cosgrove took the stand he said his adversary had not been the passive victim he had represented himself to be.
According to the St Helens Newspaper's report on the 20th, Dowd had "repaid the prisoner's blows with interest, as he knocked out two of Cosgrove's teeth and blacked both his eyes." The magistrates said that under these circumstances and with John Cosgrove having been locked up for a week by the police, he would only be fined 2s 6d, plus costs.
James Howard of Middlesbrough appeared in court charged with begging after being seen by PC Archer asking for money in Mrs Rankin's vaults in Liverpool Road. When searched at the police station, he was found to possess just over three shillings. Howard had said he did not care about being arrested, as he would only get 14 days in prison. That was the usual sentence for begging but probably because of his casual attitude, the magistrates gave him three weeks.
Charles Woods appeared in court charged with being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises and breaking a window inside a shop. That belonged to Joseph Bonney who was described as a refreshment house keeper that kept a small cafe in Church Street. Mr Bonney said that Woods and two other men had entered his premises at about 10 o’clock on the previous Saturday night the worst for drink and he had served them soup.
But they became very abusive and disorderly and Bonney said Woods had struck him and put his fist through a window. But Woods' solicitor argued that as the premises were not licensed to serve alcohol, the charge of being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises must fail. He also had witnesses claiming that Mr Bonney had first struck Woods and that the cafe owner's own shoulder had gone through the window.
But the magistrates knew that the proprietor would not have attacked his own customer for nothing and although the charge of drunkenness had to be dismissed, Woods was fined 10 shillings for the assault and had to pay the cost of replacing the window, plus a one-shilling fine.
And finally, the Newspaper described a recent cricket match between Parr Mount and Windle Schools, which was played at Haresfinch. As with most games in St Helens during the 19th century, the scores were low through poor quality pitches and inexperienced batsmen not being able to watch top batters play and learn their techniques.
In some matches four innings were played on a Saturday afternoon, although at Haresfinch there were only two. Still, only three batsmen got into double figures, with 12 being the highest individual score and Parr Mount's total of 61 beat Windle's by 14.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the ailing woman who was given beer and turps, the furious riding in Rainford, the unknown body found in the canal and the woman beaten by her husband for not getting him beer.
This week's many stories include the stack fire in Parr, the Park Road punch up, the Gerards Bridge barber who deserted his wife, the drunks causing trouble in a Church Street cafe and there's another low scoring cricket match.
Stack fires involving large bales of hay, straw or wheat were quite common within the St Helens district, particularly during the summer.
It only needed a carelessly disposed of cigarette for the stack to be ignited and, perhaps, set in chain a domino effect with adjacent stacks.
What made matters worse was that many of these farms or stackyards were on the outskirts of the town and with no telephone and motorised transport available, it could take some time for the fire brigade to arrive.
Usually a farm worker would get on his horse to alert the authorities of the outbreak. In the meantime farm workers would try to extinguish the flames themselves.
That was what happened this week at Mount Pleasant Farm in Parr, which was owned by Haydock Colliery.
The farm labourers there discovered that a wheat stack was alight, it being one of eight within their yard.
While attempts were made to fight the flames, an adjacent stack was ignited.
After an hour a request for help by unspecified means – but almost certainly horseback – was sent to St Helens and the fire bell was rung and the brigade were soon on their way.
Of course, if the fire brigade had been informed soon after the outbreak had been noticed, they would have been on site far quicker.
However, it was usual practice for workmen to try and extinguish such blazes themselves, due to the time it took to notify the brigade and for them to get to the scene of the fire.
By the time they did arrive at the farm it was realised that the two stacks could not be saved and so all efforts were directed at preventing the fire's spread to the other stacks.
In that they were successful, although it took until 7 pm before the blaze was extinguished.
The damage was estimated at £200 but the origin of the fire was a complete mystery.
William Walters had a barber's shop in Gerards Bridge but towards the end of last month he had deserted his wife and two young children.
His wife was left without any money and so she went to the relieving officer for help.
They doled out small amounts of cash – often in the form of food vouchers – and all Mrs Walters had been allowed was 3 shillings a week, when the average wage then was around 25 shillings.
William Walters had now, seemingly, returned after his unexplained absence and the relieving officer who worked for the Prescot Union wanted his money back.
And so this week he brought a prosecution against Walters demanding the reimbursement of two weeks' relief, which came to 11 shillings 6d, including costs of 5s 6d.
Mr Walters asked for time to pay the money but the magistrates ruled that he must pay the amount at once or go to prison for 14 days.
That was short-sighted, as if he went to Kirkdale Gaol his wife would have to apply for more relief money.
By the 1920s the magistrates' policy was a more common sense one. Give men such as Walters something like 30 days to pay and if they didn't cough up, only then were they sent to prison.
One-sided tales were routinely told in St Helens Petty Sessions.
John Cosgrove appeared in court this week charged with being drunk and disorderly and violently assaulting Thomas Dowd at Parr.
The latter gave evidence that Cosgrove had waylaid him after leaving a beerhouse in Park Road and had struck him on the forehead with a large stone and then given him three or four kicks to his body.
Dowd claimed he had been knocked unconscious and later that day Cosgrove had twice gone to his home in Park Road and he had needed some other men to put Cosgrove out of his house.
However, when the middle-aged John Cosgrove took the stand he said his adversary had not been the passive victim he had represented himself to be.
According to the St Helens Newspaper's report on the 20th, Dowd had "repaid the prisoner's blows with interest, as he knocked out two of Cosgrove's teeth and blacked both his eyes."
The magistrates said that under these circumstances and with John Cosgrove having been locked up for a week by the police, he would only be fined 2s 6d, plus costs.
James Howard of Middlesbrough appeared in court charged with begging after being seen by PC Archer asking for money in Mrs Rankin's vaults in Liverpool Road.
When searched at the police station, he was found to possess just over three shillings.
Howard had said he did not care about being arrested, as he would only get 14 days in prison.
That was the usual sentence for begging but probably because of his casual attitude, the magistrates gave him three weeks.
Charles Woods appeared in court charged with being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises and breaking a window inside a shop.
That belonged to Joseph Bonney who was described as a refreshment house keeper that kept a small cafe in Church Street.
Mr Bonney said that Woods and two other men had entered his premises at about 10 o’clock on the previous Saturday night the worst for drink and he had served them soup.
But they became very abusive and disorderly and Bonney said Woods had struck him and put his fist through a window.
But Woods' solicitor argued that as the premises were not licensed to serve alcohol, the charge of being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises must fail.
He also had witnesses claiming that Mr Bonney had first struck Woods and that the cafe owner's own shoulder had gone through the window.
But the magistrates knew that the proprietor would not have attacked his own customer for nothing and although the charge of drunkenness had to be dismissed, Woods was fined 10 shillings for the assault and had to pay the cost of replacing the window, plus a one-shilling fine.
And finally, the Newspaper described a recent cricket match between Parr Mount and Windle Schools, which was played at Haresfinch.
As with most games in St Helens during the 19th century, the scores were low through poor quality pitches and inexperienced batsmen not being able to watch top batters play and learn their techniques.
In some matches four innings were played on a Saturday afternoon, although at Haresfinch there were only two.
Still, only three batsmen got into double figures, with 12 being the highest individual score and Parr Mount's total of 61 beat Windle's by 14.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the ailing woman who was given beer and turps, the furious riding in Rainford, the unknown body found in the canal and the woman beaten by her husband for not getting him beer.
It only needed a carelessly disposed of cigarette for the stack to be ignited and, perhaps, set in chain a domino effect with adjacent stacks.
What made matters worse was that many of these farms or stackyards were on the outskirts of the town and with no telephone and motorised transport available, it could take some time for the fire brigade to arrive.
Usually a farm worker would get on his horse to alert the authorities of the outbreak. In the meantime farm workers would try to extinguish the flames themselves.
That was what happened this week at Mount Pleasant Farm in Parr, which was owned by Haydock Colliery.
The farm labourers there discovered that a wheat stack was alight, it being one of eight within their yard.
While attempts were made to fight the flames, an adjacent stack was ignited.
After an hour a request for help by unspecified means – but almost certainly horseback – was sent to St Helens and the fire bell was rung and the brigade were soon on their way.
Of course, if the fire brigade had been informed soon after the outbreak had been noticed, they would have been on site far quicker.
However, it was usual practice for workmen to try and extinguish such blazes themselves, due to the time it took to notify the brigade and for them to get to the scene of the fire.
By the time they did arrive at the farm it was realised that the two stacks could not be saved and so all efforts were directed at preventing the fire's spread to the other stacks.
In that they were successful, although it took until 7 pm before the blaze was extinguished.
The damage was estimated at £200 but the origin of the fire was a complete mystery.
William Walters had a barber's shop in Gerards Bridge but towards the end of last month he had deserted his wife and two young children.
His wife was left without any money and so she went to the relieving officer for help.
They doled out small amounts of cash – often in the form of food vouchers – and all Mrs Walters had been allowed was 3 shillings a week, when the average wage then was around 25 shillings.
William Walters had now, seemingly, returned after his unexplained absence and the relieving officer who worked for the Prescot Union wanted his money back.
And so this week he brought a prosecution against Walters demanding the reimbursement of two weeks' relief, which came to 11 shillings 6d, including costs of 5s 6d.
Mr Walters asked for time to pay the money but the magistrates ruled that he must pay the amount at once or go to prison for 14 days.
That was short-sighted, as if he went to Kirkdale Gaol his wife would have to apply for more relief money.
By the 1920s the magistrates' policy was a more common sense one. Give men such as Walters something like 30 days to pay and if they didn't cough up, only then were they sent to prison.
One-sided tales were routinely told in St Helens Petty Sessions.
John Cosgrove appeared in court this week charged with being drunk and disorderly and violently assaulting Thomas Dowd at Parr.
The latter gave evidence that Cosgrove had waylaid him after leaving a beerhouse in Park Road and had struck him on the forehead with a large stone and then given him three or four kicks to his body.
Dowd claimed he had been knocked unconscious and later that day Cosgrove had twice gone to his home in Park Road and he had needed some other men to put Cosgrove out of his house.
However, when the middle-aged John Cosgrove took the stand he said his adversary had not been the passive victim he had represented himself to be.
According to the St Helens Newspaper's report on the 20th, Dowd had "repaid the prisoner's blows with interest, as he knocked out two of Cosgrove's teeth and blacked both his eyes."
The magistrates said that under these circumstances and with John Cosgrove having been locked up for a week by the police, he would only be fined 2s 6d, plus costs.
James Howard of Middlesbrough appeared in court charged with begging after being seen by PC Archer asking for money in Mrs Rankin's vaults in Liverpool Road.
When searched at the police station, he was found to possess just over three shillings.
Howard had said he did not care about being arrested, as he would only get 14 days in prison.
That was the usual sentence for begging but probably because of his casual attitude, the magistrates gave him three weeks.
Charles Woods appeared in court charged with being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises and breaking a window inside a shop.
That belonged to Joseph Bonney who was described as a refreshment house keeper that kept a small cafe in Church Street.
Mr Bonney said that Woods and two other men had entered his premises at about 10 o’clock on the previous Saturday night the worst for drink and he had served them soup.
But they became very abusive and disorderly and Bonney said Woods had struck him and put his fist through a window.
But Woods' solicitor argued that as the premises were not licensed to serve alcohol, the charge of being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises must fail.
He also had witnesses claiming that Mr Bonney had first struck Woods and that the cafe owner's own shoulder had gone through the window.
But the magistrates knew that the proprietor would not have attacked his own customer for nothing and although the charge of drunkenness had to be dismissed, Woods was fined 10 shillings for the assault and had to pay the cost of replacing the window, plus a one-shilling fine.
And finally, the Newspaper described a recent cricket match between Parr Mount and Windle Schools, which was played at Haresfinch.
As with most games in St Helens during the 19th century, the scores were low through poor quality pitches and inexperienced batsmen not being able to watch top batters play and learn their techniques.
In some matches four innings were played on a Saturday afternoon, although at Haresfinch there were only two.
Still, only three batsmen got into double figures, with 12 being the highest individual score and Parr Mount's total of 61 beat Windle's by 14.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the ailing woman who was given beer and turps, the furious riding in Rainford, the unknown body found in the canal and the woman beaten by her husband for not getting him beer.