150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 18 - 24 DECEMBER 1873
This week's many stories include the gorgeous Christmas panto at the Theatre Royal, a suspected murder in Haydock, the banquet at the Fleece, the scarlet fever outbreak at Whiston Workhouse, the annual Cowley School reunion, the abused Newton apprentice and the pub collections for a boys' refuge.
We begin on the 18th with what was described as a "very sumptuous banquet" that the Mayor of St Helens, James Radley, gave at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street. The posh do was for councillors, aldermen, top Corporation officials, clergy, magistrates and what was described as the "principal inhabitants of the town". So no riff-raff, then!
The lengthy menu included roast goose, oysters, venison, partridge, woodcocks, Champagne etc. etc. Although the Mayor was said to have given the banquet to mark the festive season, just who had paid for it all – whether it had been the wealthy coal magnate himself or the ratepayers – was not revealed in the newspaper report.
A meeting of the Prescot Board of Guardians on the 18th heard that there were presently 377 inmates in Whiston Workhouse (135 of them children), looking forward, no doubt, to their Christmas celebration. Last year the total had been 344. The institution's Medical Officer reported that there had been an outbreak of scarlet fever in the workhouse's girls' school.
It was stated that the Master had taken "immediate precautionary measures" to prevent the disease from spreading through the workhouse and hospital, without specifying what they were. There had so far been two deaths from scarlet fever with 22 cases currently under treatment, comprising 14 girls, 3 boys and 5 adults.
A letter from the Local Government Board was read out at the meeting in which it was stated that smallpox had broken out in St Helens. The Guardians were urged to enforce vaccination against smallpox within their district (which included St Helens and Prescot) and promote re-vaccination. That was quite controversial as it was mandatory for children to be vaccinated against smallpox, and those parents who refused to let their kids have the jab were prosecuted.
Many apprentices worked in small workshops and were often badly exploited by their employer, or master, as they were called. In the Newton Petty Sessions this week Joseph Clare was charged with "absenting himself from the service of his employer, Thomas Dutton, wheelwright, without just cause or lawful excuse." Dutton told the court that he had taken great pains in teaching the youngster his trade, and although he had given him repeated instructions, the boy had persisted in doing the work in the wrong way.
He claimed that when he had told Joseph that he was still doing the job wrongly, he had put down his tools and refused to do any more work. Dutton said as a result he had pushed his young worker "out of the place". Joseph Clare had hired his own solicitor, who put it to Dutton that he had assaulted the boy – which he denied, but he did admit that he might have used bad language towards him.
The solicitor contended that Dutton was in the habit of swearing at the lad and insisted that Joseph had always tried to do his work in the way that he had been told, adding: "The defendant is a boy of delicate health and since the treatment he has received at the hands of his master, has been unable to return to his work."
The case was dismissed with the defendant ordered to return to his job, and the complainant told to treat Joseph properly in the future. Very likely Joseph was a live-in apprentice, which compounded the exploitation as such boys were often made to work very long hours and got little time away.
The school at Cowley was then in North Road and known as Cowley British Schools (pictured above), although it was nicknamed "Lacey's". That was after the longstanding head called Newton Lacey – Central Modern, incidentally, would be built on the same site. This week the annual school reunion prior to its breakup for the Christmas holidays took place, although we would probably call the event a speech day. That was because the attendees comprised relatives and friends of the present scholars, rather than it being a get together of former ones.
The room was described as "thronged to inconvenience" and many people had to be turned away. The St Helens Newspaper wrote that: "…drawings, specimens of handwriting, and other artistic works executed by pupils, were exhibited for the inspection of visitors, and attracted much attention." The main event of the evening was a concert performed by the school choir.
"Save The Boy" was the headline to an advertisement in the Newspaper on the 20th acknowledging donations to the Refuge and Night Asylum for Destitute and Homeless Boys. The Rev. James Nugent ran the home in St Anne Street in Liverpool. He was a pioneering child welfare reformer and the Nugent Care charity is named after him. Last week a choir from his institution had performed in the Volunteer Hall in St Helens.
Collection boxes had been placed in 19 local pubs and almost £8 had been raised for the refuge. Presumably the boxes had only been in place for a short time while the concert took place, as some of the amounts raised had been quite miserable. The popular Red Lion at the top of Bridge Street only raised 5d and the Running Horses at its other end collected just 11d. However, another Bridge Street pub, the Shakespeare Inn, collected £1 6s 4d and the Swan Hotel in Hall Street (that is soon to be demolished) came out top with £2 2 shillings.
The Newspaper reported on a suspected murder in which James Grimes was believed to have killed his wife, Ellen. The couple lived at Owls Nest in Haydock – which according to the 1871 census contained a row of three cottages – and they had spent an evening drinking together at the Hare and Hounds.
The Grimes's had a bit too much to drink and Ellen paid a man called William Latham threepence to escort them part of their way home to ensure they safely passed a dangerous, dark spot known as the Park pits. This, Latham said, he did and he had left them in good spirits. That did not, apparently, last for very long as some women reported that they had heard the couple in "violent altercation".
Ellen was heard screaming and her husband was said to be in a "violent passion". About ninety minutes later James Grimes asked a neighbour called Richard Ravenscroft to help him find his wife, claiming to have lost her in a ditch. The pair went to the spot where the incident had taken place and the body of Ellen was found face down with her feet lying on the bank against the road.
The husband began to kiss the body and call out "Dear old love" and "Poor Nelly" and then asked Ravenscroft to fetch a constable. The husband claimed that he and his wife had fallen into the ditch in the dark but he had managed to scramble out and go for help. An inquest had been held where it was reported that Ellen's face had been marked and it was also stated that Grimes was a violent man who regularly beat his wife. However, no post-mortem had yet been held and the inquest was adjourned until one had taken place.
Whenever a couple of burglaries happened in St Helens within a short space of each other, the Newspaper always seemed to believe that the culprits were outsiders spending a few days in the town, rather than locals or thieves who had quickly departed. This is what they wrote this week:
"It has been known for about a week that burglars have made St. Helens a temporary resting place, from various rumours that floated about, and the evident attempt to break into the premises of Mr. Ellington, druggist." A shop in Bridge Street had also been entered and some goods stolen.
There wasn't much Christmas entertainment about in St Helens in the 1870s. But since Charles Duval had taken over the Theatre Royal in the building we know as the Citadel, there was the annual panto. What was described as a "gorgeous pantomime" and "grand treat for the Christmas holidays", began on Christmas Eve and bore the title of 'Harlequin Sinbad the Sailor or the Wicked Ogre and the Fairies of the Ocean Deep!'
There were a couple of aspects that you wouldn't expect to see today. First of all the panto had no end date. It ran every evening "until further notice", which, of course, meant until people stopped going to see it. A lot of money had gone into the scenery and costumes and they wanted to get the most they could out of their investment. The second thing that you wouldn't get to see today is a credit in the show's advert for the extensive gas illumination in the theatre, which went to Critchley Bros of St Helens.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include Christmas Day in the workhouse, the Canal Street crowd that tried to stop an arrest, the Peasley Cross grocer brought down to earth and more details of the new St Helens News and Reading Room.
We begin on the 18th with what was described as a "very sumptuous banquet" that the Mayor of St Helens, James Radley, gave at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street. The posh do was for councillors, aldermen, top Corporation officials, clergy, magistrates and what was described as the "principal inhabitants of the town". So no riff-raff, then!
The lengthy menu included roast goose, oysters, venison, partridge, woodcocks, Champagne etc. etc. Although the Mayor was said to have given the banquet to mark the festive season, just who had paid for it all – whether it had been the wealthy coal magnate himself or the ratepayers – was not revealed in the newspaper report.
A meeting of the Prescot Board of Guardians on the 18th heard that there were presently 377 inmates in Whiston Workhouse (135 of them children), looking forward, no doubt, to their Christmas celebration. Last year the total had been 344. The institution's Medical Officer reported that there had been an outbreak of scarlet fever in the workhouse's girls' school.
It was stated that the Master had taken "immediate precautionary measures" to prevent the disease from spreading through the workhouse and hospital, without specifying what they were. There had so far been two deaths from scarlet fever with 22 cases currently under treatment, comprising 14 girls, 3 boys and 5 adults.
A letter from the Local Government Board was read out at the meeting in which it was stated that smallpox had broken out in St Helens. The Guardians were urged to enforce vaccination against smallpox within their district (which included St Helens and Prescot) and promote re-vaccination. That was quite controversial as it was mandatory for children to be vaccinated against smallpox, and those parents who refused to let their kids have the jab were prosecuted.
Many apprentices worked in small workshops and were often badly exploited by their employer, or master, as they were called. In the Newton Petty Sessions this week Joseph Clare was charged with "absenting himself from the service of his employer, Thomas Dutton, wheelwright, without just cause or lawful excuse." Dutton told the court that he had taken great pains in teaching the youngster his trade, and although he had given him repeated instructions, the boy had persisted in doing the work in the wrong way.
He claimed that when he had told Joseph that he was still doing the job wrongly, he had put down his tools and refused to do any more work. Dutton said as a result he had pushed his young worker "out of the place". Joseph Clare had hired his own solicitor, who put it to Dutton that he had assaulted the boy – which he denied, but he did admit that he might have used bad language towards him.
The solicitor contended that Dutton was in the habit of swearing at the lad and insisted that Joseph had always tried to do his work in the way that he had been told, adding: "The defendant is a boy of delicate health and since the treatment he has received at the hands of his master, has been unable to return to his work."
The case was dismissed with the defendant ordered to return to his job, and the complainant told to treat Joseph properly in the future. Very likely Joseph was a live-in apprentice, which compounded the exploitation as such boys were often made to work very long hours and got little time away.
The room was described as "thronged to inconvenience" and many people had to be turned away. The St Helens Newspaper wrote that: "…drawings, specimens of handwriting, and other artistic works executed by pupils, were exhibited for the inspection of visitors, and attracted much attention." The main event of the evening was a concert performed by the school choir.
"Save The Boy" was the headline to an advertisement in the Newspaper on the 20th acknowledging donations to the Refuge and Night Asylum for Destitute and Homeless Boys. The Rev. James Nugent ran the home in St Anne Street in Liverpool. He was a pioneering child welfare reformer and the Nugent Care charity is named after him. Last week a choir from his institution had performed in the Volunteer Hall in St Helens.
Collection boxes had been placed in 19 local pubs and almost £8 had been raised for the refuge. Presumably the boxes had only been in place for a short time while the concert took place, as some of the amounts raised had been quite miserable. The popular Red Lion at the top of Bridge Street only raised 5d and the Running Horses at its other end collected just 11d. However, another Bridge Street pub, the Shakespeare Inn, collected £1 6s 4d and the Swan Hotel in Hall Street (that is soon to be demolished) came out top with £2 2 shillings.
The Newspaper reported on a suspected murder in which James Grimes was believed to have killed his wife, Ellen. The couple lived at Owls Nest in Haydock – which according to the 1871 census contained a row of three cottages – and they had spent an evening drinking together at the Hare and Hounds.
The Grimes's had a bit too much to drink and Ellen paid a man called William Latham threepence to escort them part of their way home to ensure they safely passed a dangerous, dark spot known as the Park pits. This, Latham said, he did and he had left them in good spirits. That did not, apparently, last for very long as some women reported that they had heard the couple in "violent altercation".
Ellen was heard screaming and her husband was said to be in a "violent passion". About ninety minutes later James Grimes asked a neighbour called Richard Ravenscroft to help him find his wife, claiming to have lost her in a ditch. The pair went to the spot where the incident had taken place and the body of Ellen was found face down with her feet lying on the bank against the road.
The husband began to kiss the body and call out "Dear old love" and "Poor Nelly" and then asked Ravenscroft to fetch a constable. The husband claimed that he and his wife had fallen into the ditch in the dark but he had managed to scramble out and go for help. An inquest had been held where it was reported that Ellen's face had been marked and it was also stated that Grimes was a violent man who regularly beat his wife. However, no post-mortem had yet been held and the inquest was adjourned until one had taken place.
Whenever a couple of burglaries happened in St Helens within a short space of each other, the Newspaper always seemed to believe that the culprits were outsiders spending a few days in the town, rather than locals or thieves who had quickly departed. This is what they wrote this week:
"It has been known for about a week that burglars have made St. Helens a temporary resting place, from various rumours that floated about, and the evident attempt to break into the premises of Mr. Ellington, druggist." A shop in Bridge Street had also been entered and some goods stolen.
There wasn't much Christmas entertainment about in St Helens in the 1870s. But since Charles Duval had taken over the Theatre Royal in the building we know as the Citadel, there was the annual panto. What was described as a "gorgeous pantomime" and "grand treat for the Christmas holidays", began on Christmas Eve and bore the title of 'Harlequin Sinbad the Sailor or the Wicked Ogre and the Fairies of the Ocean Deep!'
There were a couple of aspects that you wouldn't expect to see today. First of all the panto had no end date. It ran every evening "until further notice", which, of course, meant until people stopped going to see it. A lot of money had gone into the scenery and costumes and they wanted to get the most they could out of their investment. The second thing that you wouldn't get to see today is a credit in the show's advert for the extensive gas illumination in the theatre, which went to Critchley Bros of St Helens.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include Christmas Day in the workhouse, the Canal Street crowd that tried to stop an arrest, the Peasley Cross grocer brought down to earth and more details of the new St Helens News and Reading Room.
This week's many stories include the gorgeous Christmas panto at the Theatre Royal, a suspected murder in Haydock, the banquet at the Fleece, the scarlet fever outbreak at Whiston Workhouse, the annual Cowley School reunion, the abused Newton apprentice and the pub collections for a boys' refuge.
We begin on the 18th with what was described as a "very sumptuous banquet" that the Mayor of St Helens, James Radley, gave at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street.
The posh do was for councillors, aldermen, top Corporation officials, clergy, magistrates and what was described as the "principal inhabitants of the town". So no riff-raff, then!
The lengthy menu included roast goose, oysters, venison, partridge, woodcocks, Champagne etc. etc.
Although the Mayor was said to have given the banquet to mark the festive season, just who had paid for it all – whether it had been the wealthy coal magnate himself or the ratepayers – was not revealed in the newspaper report.
A meeting of the Prescot Board of Guardians on the 18th heard that there were presently 377 inmates in Whiston Workhouse (135 of them children), looking forward, no doubt, to their Christmas celebration. Last year the total had been 344.
The institution's Medical Officer reported that there had been an outbreak of scarlet fever in the workhouse's girls' school.
It was stated that the Master had taken "immediate precautionary measures" to prevent the disease from spreading through the workhouse and hospital, without specifying what they were.
There had so far been two deaths from scarlet fever with 22 cases currently under treatment, comprising 14 girls, 3 boys and 5 adults.
A letter from the Local Government Board was read out at the meeting in which it was stated that smallpox had broken out in St Helens.
The Guardians were urged to enforce vaccination against smallpox within their district (which included St Helens and Prescot) and promote re-vaccination.
That was quite controversial as it was mandatory for children to be vaccinated against smallpox, and those parents who refused to let their kids have the jab were prosecuted.
Many apprentices worked in small workshops and were often badly exploited by their employer, or master, as they were called.
In the Newton Petty Sessions this week Joseph Clare was charged with "absenting himself from the service of his employer, Thomas Dutton, wheelwright, without just cause or lawful excuse."
Dutton told the court that he had taken great pains in teaching the youngster his trade, and although he had given him repeated instructions, the boy had persisted in doing the work in the wrong way.
He claimed that when he had told Joseph that he was still doing the job wrongly, he had put down his tools and refused to do any more work. Dutton said as a result he had pushed his young worker "out of the place".
Joseph Clare had hired his own solicitor, who put it to Dutton that he had assaulted the boy – which he denied, but he did admit that he might have used bad language towards him.
The solicitor contended that Dutton was in the habit of swearing at the lad and insisted that Joseph had always tried to do his work in the way that he had been told, adding:
"The defendant is a boy of delicate health and since the treatment he has received at the hands of his master, has been unable to return to his work."
The case was dismissed with the defendant ordered to return to his job, and the complainant told to treat Joseph properly in the future.
Very likely Joseph was a live-in apprentice, which compounded the exploitation as such boys were often made to work very long hours and got little time away.
The school at Cowley was then in North Road and known as Cowley British Schools (pictured above), although it was nicknamed "Lacey's".
That was after the longstanding head called Newton Lacey – Central Modern, incidentally, would be built on the same site.
This week the annual school reunion prior to its breakup for the Christmas holidays took place, although we would probably call the event a speech day.
That was because the attendees comprised relatives and friends of the present scholars, rather than it being a get together of former ones.
The room was described as "thronged to inconvenience" and many people had to be turned away.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote that: "…drawings, specimens of handwriting, and other artistic works executed by pupils, were exhibited for the inspection of visitors, and attracted much attention."
The main event of the evening was a concert performed by the school choir.
"Save The Boy" was the headline to an advertisement in the Newspaper on the 20th acknowledging donations to the Refuge and Night Asylum for Destitute and Homeless Boys.
The Rev. James Nugent ran the home in St Anne Street in Liverpool. He was a pioneering child welfare reformer and the Nugent Care charity is named after him.
Last week a choir from his institution had performed in the Volunteer Hall in St Helens.
Collection boxes had been placed in 19 local pubs and almost £8 had been raised for the refuge.
Presumably the boxes had only been in place for a short time while the concert took place, as some of the amounts raised had been quite miserable.
The popular Red Lion at the top of Bridge Street only raised 5d and the Running Horses at its other end collected just 11d.
However, another Bridge Street pub, the Shakespeare Inn, collected £1 6s 4d and the Swan Hotel in Hall Street (that is soon to be demolished) came out top with £2 2 shillings.
The Newspaper reported on a suspected murder in which James Grimes was believed to have killed his wife, Ellen.
The couple lived at Owls Nest in Haydock – which according to the 1871 census contained a row of three cottages – and they had spent an evening drinking together at the Hare and Hounds.
The Grimes's had a bit too much to drink and Ellen paid a man called William Latham threepence to escort them part of their way home to ensure they safely passed a dangerous, dark spot known as the Park pits.
This, Latham said, he did and he had left them in good spirits. That did not, apparently, last for very long as some women reported that they had heard the couple in "violent altercation".
Ellen was heard screaming and her husband was said to be in a "violent passion".
About ninety minutes later James Grimes asked a neighbour called Richard Ravenscroft to help him find his wife, claiming to have lost her in a ditch.
The pair went to the spot where the incident had taken place and the body of Ellen was found face down with her feet lying on the bank against the road.
The husband began to kiss the body and call out "Dear old love" and "Poor Nelly" and then asked Ravenscroft to fetch a constable.
The husband claimed that he and his wife had fallen into the ditch in the dark but he had managed to scramble out and go for help.
An inquest had been held where it was reported that Ellen's face had been marked and it was also stated that Grimes was a violent man who regularly beat his wife.
However, no post-mortem had yet been held and the inquest was adjourned until one had taken place.
Whenever a couple of burglaries happened in St Helens within a short space of each other, the Newspaper always seemed to believe that the culprits were outsiders spending a few days in the town, rather than locals or thieves who had quickly departed.
This is what they wrote this week: "It has been known for about a week that burglars have made St. Helens a temporary resting place, from various rumours that floated about, and the evident attempt to break into the premises of Mr. Ellington, druggist."
A shop in Bridge Street had also been entered and some goods stolen.
There wasn't much Christmas entertainment about in St Helens in the 1870s. But since Charles Duval had taken over the Theatre Royal in the building we know as the Citadel, there was the annual panto.
What was described as a "gorgeous pantomime" and "grand treat for the Christmas holidays", began on Christmas Eve and bore the title of 'Harlequin Sinbad the Sailor or the Wicked Ogre and the Fairies of the Ocean Deep!'
There were a couple of aspects that you wouldn't expect to see today. First of all the panto had no end date. It ran every evening "until further notice", which, of course, meant until people stopped going to see it.
A lot of money had gone into the scenery and costumes and they wanted to get the most they could out of their investment.
The second thing that you wouldn't get to see today is a credit in the show's advert for the extensive gas illumination in the theatre, which went to Critchley Bros of St Helens.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include Christmas Day in the workhouse, the Canal Street crowd that tried to stop an arrest, the Peasley Cross grocer brought down to earth and more details of the new St Helens News and Reading Room.
We begin on the 18th with what was described as a "very sumptuous banquet" that the Mayor of St Helens, James Radley, gave at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street.
The posh do was for councillors, aldermen, top Corporation officials, clergy, magistrates and what was described as the "principal inhabitants of the town". So no riff-raff, then!
The lengthy menu included roast goose, oysters, venison, partridge, woodcocks, Champagne etc. etc.
Although the Mayor was said to have given the banquet to mark the festive season, just who had paid for it all – whether it had been the wealthy coal magnate himself or the ratepayers – was not revealed in the newspaper report.
A meeting of the Prescot Board of Guardians on the 18th heard that there were presently 377 inmates in Whiston Workhouse (135 of them children), looking forward, no doubt, to their Christmas celebration. Last year the total had been 344.
The institution's Medical Officer reported that there had been an outbreak of scarlet fever in the workhouse's girls' school.
It was stated that the Master had taken "immediate precautionary measures" to prevent the disease from spreading through the workhouse and hospital, without specifying what they were.
There had so far been two deaths from scarlet fever with 22 cases currently under treatment, comprising 14 girls, 3 boys and 5 adults.
A letter from the Local Government Board was read out at the meeting in which it was stated that smallpox had broken out in St Helens.
The Guardians were urged to enforce vaccination against smallpox within their district (which included St Helens and Prescot) and promote re-vaccination.
That was quite controversial as it was mandatory for children to be vaccinated against smallpox, and those parents who refused to let their kids have the jab were prosecuted.
Many apprentices worked in small workshops and were often badly exploited by their employer, or master, as they were called.
In the Newton Petty Sessions this week Joseph Clare was charged with "absenting himself from the service of his employer, Thomas Dutton, wheelwright, without just cause or lawful excuse."
Dutton told the court that he had taken great pains in teaching the youngster his trade, and although he had given him repeated instructions, the boy had persisted in doing the work in the wrong way.
He claimed that when he had told Joseph that he was still doing the job wrongly, he had put down his tools and refused to do any more work. Dutton said as a result he had pushed his young worker "out of the place".
Joseph Clare had hired his own solicitor, who put it to Dutton that he had assaulted the boy – which he denied, but he did admit that he might have used bad language towards him.
The solicitor contended that Dutton was in the habit of swearing at the lad and insisted that Joseph had always tried to do his work in the way that he had been told, adding:
"The defendant is a boy of delicate health and since the treatment he has received at the hands of his master, has been unable to return to his work."
The case was dismissed with the defendant ordered to return to his job, and the complainant told to treat Joseph properly in the future.
Very likely Joseph was a live-in apprentice, which compounded the exploitation as such boys were often made to work very long hours and got little time away.
That was after the longstanding head called Newton Lacey – Central Modern, incidentally, would be built on the same site.
This week the annual school reunion prior to its breakup for the Christmas holidays took place, although we would probably call the event a speech day.
That was because the attendees comprised relatives and friends of the present scholars, rather than it being a get together of former ones.
The room was described as "thronged to inconvenience" and many people had to be turned away.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote that: "…drawings, specimens of handwriting, and other artistic works executed by pupils, were exhibited for the inspection of visitors, and attracted much attention."
The main event of the evening was a concert performed by the school choir.
"Save The Boy" was the headline to an advertisement in the Newspaper on the 20th acknowledging donations to the Refuge and Night Asylum for Destitute and Homeless Boys.
The Rev. James Nugent ran the home in St Anne Street in Liverpool. He was a pioneering child welfare reformer and the Nugent Care charity is named after him.
Last week a choir from his institution had performed in the Volunteer Hall in St Helens.
Collection boxes had been placed in 19 local pubs and almost £8 had been raised for the refuge.
Presumably the boxes had only been in place for a short time while the concert took place, as some of the amounts raised had been quite miserable.
The popular Red Lion at the top of Bridge Street only raised 5d and the Running Horses at its other end collected just 11d.
However, another Bridge Street pub, the Shakespeare Inn, collected £1 6s 4d and the Swan Hotel in Hall Street (that is soon to be demolished) came out top with £2 2 shillings.
The Newspaper reported on a suspected murder in which James Grimes was believed to have killed his wife, Ellen.
The couple lived at Owls Nest in Haydock – which according to the 1871 census contained a row of three cottages – and they had spent an evening drinking together at the Hare and Hounds.
The Grimes's had a bit too much to drink and Ellen paid a man called William Latham threepence to escort them part of their way home to ensure they safely passed a dangerous, dark spot known as the Park pits.
This, Latham said, he did and he had left them in good spirits. That did not, apparently, last for very long as some women reported that they had heard the couple in "violent altercation".
Ellen was heard screaming and her husband was said to be in a "violent passion".
About ninety minutes later James Grimes asked a neighbour called Richard Ravenscroft to help him find his wife, claiming to have lost her in a ditch.
The pair went to the spot where the incident had taken place and the body of Ellen was found face down with her feet lying on the bank against the road.
The husband began to kiss the body and call out "Dear old love" and "Poor Nelly" and then asked Ravenscroft to fetch a constable.
The husband claimed that he and his wife had fallen into the ditch in the dark but he had managed to scramble out and go for help.
An inquest had been held where it was reported that Ellen's face had been marked and it was also stated that Grimes was a violent man who regularly beat his wife.
However, no post-mortem had yet been held and the inquest was adjourned until one had taken place.
Whenever a couple of burglaries happened in St Helens within a short space of each other, the Newspaper always seemed to believe that the culprits were outsiders spending a few days in the town, rather than locals or thieves who had quickly departed.
This is what they wrote this week: "It has been known for about a week that burglars have made St. Helens a temporary resting place, from various rumours that floated about, and the evident attempt to break into the premises of Mr. Ellington, druggist."
A shop in Bridge Street had also been entered and some goods stolen.
There wasn't much Christmas entertainment about in St Helens in the 1870s. But since Charles Duval had taken over the Theatre Royal in the building we know as the Citadel, there was the annual panto.
What was described as a "gorgeous pantomime" and "grand treat for the Christmas holidays", began on Christmas Eve and bore the title of 'Harlequin Sinbad the Sailor or the Wicked Ogre and the Fairies of the Ocean Deep!'
There were a couple of aspects that you wouldn't expect to see today. First of all the panto had no end date. It ran every evening "until further notice", which, of course, meant until people stopped going to see it.
A lot of money had gone into the scenery and costumes and they wanted to get the most they could out of their investment.
The second thing that you wouldn't get to see today is a credit in the show's advert for the extensive gas illumination in the theatre, which went to Critchley Bros of St Helens.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include Christmas Day in the workhouse, the Canal Street crowd that tried to stop an arrest, the Peasley Cross grocer brought down to earth and more details of the new St Helens News and Reading Room.