150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (19th - 25th August 1869)
This week's stories include the sex scandal of a Parr vicar, two cheeky College Street robberies, two violent Rainhill rows, miners meet to demand "parliamentary agitation", a court martial at St Helens Junction, a farmer sues Sutton Copper Works and a woman from Peckers Hill throws a bucket of water over her neighbour.
We begin on the 19th when a man described by the St Helens Newspaper as a "dissipated looking labourer" called James Daly appeared in court charged with two robberies. The first had been from a workmen's cabin at a brickworks in College Street (pictured above) while the men were at tea. He had the cheek to lie down inside the cabin and go to sleep and when he woke up stole a scarf, hat and knife belonging to Thomas Finegan.
Daly then had a glass of ale at Clare's beerhouse and was spotted by the landlady in her kitchen putting something into his pocket, which the Newspaper said: "excited her suspicions". It turned out to be two pairs of stockings and after discovering this the woman turfed him out of the house. The Newspaper continued: "Subsequently he was seen by Finegan and divested by force of the stolen scarf, which he had coolly placed round his own neck."
Daly pleaded guilty but as he had been previously convicted, the magistrates decided to send him for trial at the next Assizes hearing. That was because a longer prison sentence would be available to the judge than could be awarded by the JPs in St Helens. Clare's beerhouse in College Street was more commonly called Clare's Vaults and closed in 1916.
Surprisingly at the beginning of 1869 a miners' trade union barely existed in St Helens. However in March a meeting had taken place in the White Lion in Church Street (on the corner of Hall Street) where it was decided that the union should be revived. The recent mining disasters at Rainford, Haydock and Hindley had concentrated minds and one speaker claimed that 12,000 men and boys had died over the previous ten years – with three-quarters of the deaths being preventable.
That was before the dreadful Haydock explosion in July that took sixty lives and which was now motivating Lancashire miners to become more organised. So on August 19th a meeting of 300 miners was held on vacant land adjoining the Huntsman Inn in Haydock.
Miners' unions were then very localised and a speaker called for an amalgamated association that would reach throughout the whole land and strengthen their demands – although that would take twenty years to happen. On the following day another meeting was held in the White Lion when 100 miners heard speakers call for union amalgamation and the necessity of obtaining a royal commission to inquire into the Haydock explosion.
A resolution was passed calling for "parliamentary agitation" to obtain "better inspection, better management and better ventilation of the coal mines of the country". A long editorial in the St Helens Newspaper on the 21st also called for proper inspection of coalmines and for parliament to take action: "When we consider that upwards of 1100 lives were sacrificed to the “Black God” last year, all must admit that the time has arrived for Parliament to interfere, more effectually, in the management of coal mines, for the protection of human lives."
Also in the Newspaper Nicholas Crews was advertising "Flowers for Christmas" from his shop in Hardshaw Street. Far too early I thought at first sight but in fact he was selling hyacinth and narcissus bulbs at 2s 6d per dozen which he said would be in bloom in time for the festive season.
The Newspaper also described how the summer camp at St Helens Junction undertaken by the soldiers of St Helens's volunteer army had now closed. Members of the 47th LRV had spent three weeks going to work as normal during the day. But instead of returning home, they spent their nights in a field in one of sixty, four-man tents. Last Sunday the Vicar of Sutton had led an open-air church service and during the afternoon an open day of sorts was held in which large numbers of people visited the encampment.
They spent several hours in fine weather strolling round the tents and listening to music played by the band of the corps. However the Newspaper wrote that one member had "so distinguished himself at the camp for intemperance and lax attention to discipline, that a court-martial condemned him to be expelled from the battalion. "This very disagreeable, and to the commanding officer, painful duty was performed at the camp, where the delinquent was condemned and deprived of his accoutrements in presence of the battalion, drawn up under arms."
The Newspaper also reported on a change of licence at a Prescot beerhouse – a routine event that I would not normally mention. However the licence had been transferred because Peter McDermott, the existing licensee, was in prison. Last month the man had been fined £5 for permitting drunkenness on his premises and not having the cash to pay the fine was now languishing in Kirkdale Gaol.
There was also in the paper a report on a recent court hearing in the Prescot Petty Sessions in which Elizabeth Killeen had pleaded guilty to assaulting Alice Cowley at Rainhill. Elizabeth was a Catholic but had recently married a Protestant and as a result her neighbours had been calling her names. This led to her assaulting Alice Cowley, who had been one of her chief abusers. However because of the provocation she had endured, the magistrates chose to only caution Elizabeth and order her to pay the costs of the hearing. The Newspaper also described another row at Rainhill:
"Thomas Heyes and Catherine Lovely were charged with assaulting Ellen Cox, but they denied it indignantly when desired to plead. The parties are neighbours, living at Rainhill. A row arose amongst them, through some slander which was going on for some time, and there was an exciting scene of dragging, tearing, cursing, and blaspheming, which lasted a considerable while. After the versions of the transaction given by each, the only wonder was that any of the principals were able to appear in court at all, such was the frightful usage detailed. The Chairman said they were a quarrelsome lot, and they would all be bound over, complainant included."
On the 23rd a commission of inquiry sat at the Lion Hotel Assembly Rooms in Warrington to consider a serious charge against the Rev. James Cheall. A woman called Ellen Abbott had claimed that the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Traverse Street in Parr had had adulterous sex with her on several occasions during September and October of 1867. The 34-year-old told the hearing that she had been in the habit of visiting the vicar's wife – who had died some months earlier – and an "improper intimacy" had sprung up between her and the defendant.
This had resulted in the birth of two children, one of which had died in infancy. However the defence was that the woman's complaint was a complete fabrication. The 6-hour inquiry was mainly held in private and at its close the Commissioners' verdict was that a prima facie case against Rev. Cheall had been established and they would report their findings to the Bishop of Chester.
At the Liverpool Assizes on the same day a farmer from Sutton called John Johnson brought an action for damages against the owners of the Sutton Copper Works. He demanded compensation for damage done to his crops through the emission of noxious vapours from the company's works in Sutton Oak, off Lancots Lane. Many scientific witnesses gave evidence that the vapours were the cause of the farmer's crop damage and it was also stated that until 1867 Mr Johnson had been receiving annual compensation payments from the copper firm.
The defendants provided their own scientific evidence that suggested that the vapours from their works only did slight damage, with a far greater amount emanating from the many other industrial chimneys in St Helens. In fact in 1870 it was reported that there were 345 large furnace chimneys in the town. However the jury found for John Johnson and awarded the farmer the considerable sum of £118.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 23rd William Moosey and John Frodsham were fined 1 shilling each for tramping in a field of oats belonging to Joseph Pilkington, a farmer and brickmaker at Parr Mill. Constable Wood said he had seen the boys go among the crop and "roll about through it, throwing small sheaves about at each other in a very wanton way."
Martha McDonald from Peckers Hill in Sutton was in court charged with assaulting her neighbour Mary Johnson by throwing a bucket of water over her! Several houses opened into a yard that contained a well that all the tenants used for their water supply. Mrs Johnson said she had gone to use the well on one day last week and Mrs McDonald had approached her with a "vessel of water" and then threw it at her. Mrs McDonald also warned her not to use the well anymore "under the pain of receiving a bath each visit", as the St Helens Newspaper put it. The defence case was that Mrs Johnson had used "very impudent and abusive language" and the case was dismissed.
Robert Plunkett was charged in the Sessions with stealing an Irish £1 note from Bridget Ward, who described her occupation in court as "nothing but a woman". Bridget told the magistrates that she had visited the new vaults in Liverpool Road and placed the note on the counter for a moment. However it was sufficient time for Plunkett to pick it up and when Bridget asked him to give the note back, the man knocked her down and ran off with her money.
She said she caught up with him on the banks of the canal where he called her names and threatened to "make her bed in the canal". Constable Gill subsequently arrested Plunkett but the stolen note could not be found. The man's defence was that he had picked up from the counter what he thought was a piece of paper and he had lit his pipe with it! Plunkett was committed for trial at the next assizes.
Next week's stories will include the dreadful state of Thatto Heath, the lunatics in Whiston Workhouse, more neighbours battle it out in Parr, a schoolteacher is forced to quit her job, the troublesome Maid of Erin of Tontine Street and a Prescot woman is jailed for simply shouting in the street.
Daly then had a glass of ale at Clare's beerhouse and was spotted by the landlady in her kitchen putting something into his pocket, which the Newspaper said: "excited her suspicions". It turned out to be two pairs of stockings and after discovering this the woman turfed him out of the house. The Newspaper continued: "Subsequently he was seen by Finegan and divested by force of the stolen scarf, which he had coolly placed round his own neck."
Daly pleaded guilty but as he had been previously convicted, the magistrates decided to send him for trial at the next Assizes hearing. That was because a longer prison sentence would be available to the judge than could be awarded by the JPs in St Helens. Clare's beerhouse in College Street was more commonly called Clare's Vaults and closed in 1916.
Surprisingly at the beginning of 1869 a miners' trade union barely existed in St Helens. However in March a meeting had taken place in the White Lion in Church Street (on the corner of Hall Street) where it was decided that the union should be revived. The recent mining disasters at Rainford, Haydock and Hindley had concentrated minds and one speaker claimed that 12,000 men and boys had died over the previous ten years – with three-quarters of the deaths being preventable.
That was before the dreadful Haydock explosion in July that took sixty lives and which was now motivating Lancashire miners to become more organised. So on August 19th a meeting of 300 miners was held on vacant land adjoining the Huntsman Inn in Haydock.
Miners' unions were then very localised and a speaker called for an amalgamated association that would reach throughout the whole land and strengthen their demands – although that would take twenty years to happen. On the following day another meeting was held in the White Lion when 100 miners heard speakers call for union amalgamation and the necessity of obtaining a royal commission to inquire into the Haydock explosion.
A resolution was passed calling for "parliamentary agitation" to obtain "better inspection, better management and better ventilation of the coal mines of the country". A long editorial in the St Helens Newspaper on the 21st also called for proper inspection of coalmines and for parliament to take action: "When we consider that upwards of 1100 lives were sacrificed to the “Black God” last year, all must admit that the time has arrived for Parliament to interfere, more effectually, in the management of coal mines, for the protection of human lives."
Also in the Newspaper Nicholas Crews was advertising "Flowers for Christmas" from his shop in Hardshaw Street. Far too early I thought at first sight but in fact he was selling hyacinth and narcissus bulbs at 2s 6d per dozen which he said would be in bloom in time for the festive season.
The Newspaper also described how the summer camp at St Helens Junction undertaken by the soldiers of St Helens's volunteer army had now closed. Members of the 47th LRV had spent three weeks going to work as normal during the day. But instead of returning home, they spent their nights in a field in one of sixty, four-man tents. Last Sunday the Vicar of Sutton had led an open-air church service and during the afternoon an open day of sorts was held in which large numbers of people visited the encampment.
They spent several hours in fine weather strolling round the tents and listening to music played by the band of the corps. However the Newspaper wrote that one member had "so distinguished himself at the camp for intemperance and lax attention to discipline, that a court-martial condemned him to be expelled from the battalion. "This very disagreeable, and to the commanding officer, painful duty was performed at the camp, where the delinquent was condemned and deprived of his accoutrements in presence of the battalion, drawn up under arms."
The Newspaper also reported on a change of licence at a Prescot beerhouse – a routine event that I would not normally mention. However the licence had been transferred because Peter McDermott, the existing licensee, was in prison. Last month the man had been fined £5 for permitting drunkenness on his premises and not having the cash to pay the fine was now languishing in Kirkdale Gaol.
There was also in the paper a report on a recent court hearing in the Prescot Petty Sessions in which Elizabeth Killeen had pleaded guilty to assaulting Alice Cowley at Rainhill. Elizabeth was a Catholic but had recently married a Protestant and as a result her neighbours had been calling her names. This led to her assaulting Alice Cowley, who had been one of her chief abusers. However because of the provocation she had endured, the magistrates chose to only caution Elizabeth and order her to pay the costs of the hearing. The Newspaper also described another row at Rainhill:
"Thomas Heyes and Catherine Lovely were charged with assaulting Ellen Cox, but they denied it indignantly when desired to plead. The parties are neighbours, living at Rainhill. A row arose amongst them, through some slander which was going on for some time, and there was an exciting scene of dragging, tearing, cursing, and blaspheming, which lasted a considerable while. After the versions of the transaction given by each, the only wonder was that any of the principals were able to appear in court at all, such was the frightful usage detailed. The Chairman said they were a quarrelsome lot, and they would all be bound over, complainant included."
On the 23rd a commission of inquiry sat at the Lion Hotel Assembly Rooms in Warrington to consider a serious charge against the Rev. James Cheall. A woman called Ellen Abbott had claimed that the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Traverse Street in Parr had had adulterous sex with her on several occasions during September and October of 1867. The 34-year-old told the hearing that she had been in the habit of visiting the vicar's wife – who had died some months earlier – and an "improper intimacy" had sprung up between her and the defendant.
This had resulted in the birth of two children, one of which had died in infancy. However the defence was that the woman's complaint was a complete fabrication. The 6-hour inquiry was mainly held in private and at its close the Commissioners' verdict was that a prima facie case against Rev. Cheall had been established and they would report their findings to the Bishop of Chester.
At the Liverpool Assizes on the same day a farmer from Sutton called John Johnson brought an action for damages against the owners of the Sutton Copper Works. He demanded compensation for damage done to his crops through the emission of noxious vapours from the company's works in Sutton Oak, off Lancots Lane. Many scientific witnesses gave evidence that the vapours were the cause of the farmer's crop damage and it was also stated that until 1867 Mr Johnson had been receiving annual compensation payments from the copper firm.
The defendants provided their own scientific evidence that suggested that the vapours from their works only did slight damage, with a far greater amount emanating from the many other industrial chimneys in St Helens. In fact in 1870 it was reported that there were 345 large furnace chimneys in the town. However the jury found for John Johnson and awarded the farmer the considerable sum of £118.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 23rd William Moosey and John Frodsham were fined 1 shilling each for tramping in a field of oats belonging to Joseph Pilkington, a farmer and brickmaker at Parr Mill. Constable Wood said he had seen the boys go among the crop and "roll about through it, throwing small sheaves about at each other in a very wanton way."
Martha McDonald from Peckers Hill in Sutton was in court charged with assaulting her neighbour Mary Johnson by throwing a bucket of water over her! Several houses opened into a yard that contained a well that all the tenants used for their water supply. Mrs Johnson said she had gone to use the well on one day last week and Mrs McDonald had approached her with a "vessel of water" and then threw it at her. Mrs McDonald also warned her not to use the well anymore "under the pain of receiving a bath each visit", as the St Helens Newspaper put it. The defence case was that Mrs Johnson had used "very impudent and abusive language" and the case was dismissed.
Robert Plunkett was charged in the Sessions with stealing an Irish £1 note from Bridget Ward, who described her occupation in court as "nothing but a woman". Bridget told the magistrates that she had visited the new vaults in Liverpool Road and placed the note on the counter for a moment. However it was sufficient time for Plunkett to pick it up and when Bridget asked him to give the note back, the man knocked her down and ran off with her money.
She said she caught up with him on the banks of the canal where he called her names and threatened to "make her bed in the canal". Constable Gill subsequently arrested Plunkett but the stolen note could not be found. The man's defence was that he had picked up from the counter what he thought was a piece of paper and he had lit his pipe with it! Plunkett was committed for trial at the next assizes.
Next week's stories will include the dreadful state of Thatto Heath, the lunatics in Whiston Workhouse, more neighbours battle it out in Parr, a schoolteacher is forced to quit her job, the troublesome Maid of Erin of Tontine Street and a Prescot woman is jailed for simply shouting in the street.