150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 20 - 26 JANUARY 1875
This week's many stories include the reckoning Monday row in Thatto Heath, the St Helens seedsman's stolen watch, the horseplay at the Holt that had potentially serious consequences, the railway shunter's coal stealing, the perils of going to work at 4am and the St Helens Chemical Company is charged with fouling the Atlas Street sewer.
We begin on the 22nd when a young man called James Boyd appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions accused of assaulting Frances Archer, who was the assistant matron at Whiston Workhouse. The young woman had been in company with a man called Martin and after visiting Rainhill, the couple had been walking back to the workhouse. Upon reaching the Holt on Warrington Road, they were met by a group of lads and two young men, one of whom was James Boyd. The latter pushed the other man against Miss Archer with what was described as "considerable violence" but Mr Martin prevented her from falling.
It seems to have been little more than horseplay but the punishment for the culprit may well have been severe. James Boyd was bound over to keep the peace for three months but he had to find the sum of £10 as a personal surety and someone else prepared to put down a further £5. These were considerable sums for a young man to find and so there was every chance that he had to go to prison instead.
Coal stealers would sometimes commit their act in two stages. The first one involved taking the coal and concealing it in some sort of container close by. And then later when they believed the coast was clear, they would return to remove their swag. But when William Ellis pinched some coal, put it in a bag and stashed it under a box he was seen. The act had taken place at midnight at Sutton Oak Junction and a keen-eyed railway signalman had spotted the deed being done.
He informed the police and they went on an undercover mission waiting for the thief to return. At 5:30am the officers witnessed William Ellis collecting his bag of coal and so they nabbed him and whisked him off to the police station. But this was not seemingly a case of poverty, as Ellis was a shunter who had worked for the railway company for nine years.
This had been his first offence and the Bench said that on account of Ellis's previous good record, they would deal leniently with him and only sent him to prison for 7 days. Of course, if Ellis had bashed a policeman he would likely only been fined or bound over. But any form of theft almost always led to a custodial sentence and a week in prison for just sixpence worth of coal was seen as lenient.
Going to work in the middle of the night and getting there by walking on the railway was asking for trouble. It would have been pitch black in St Helens on moonless nights and tiredness would also have reduced such workers' alertness to hazards. And so when the body of John Davock from Bold Street was found lying on the railway line leading to Pilkington's colliery on the 23rd, it did not take much detective work to figure out what had happened.
Davock had left his home at 4 am to go to his work at Ravenhead Colliery and was found soon afterwards by two fellow workmen bleeding profusely from a deep wound to his forehead. The man was conveyed to Marsh's chemical works nearby but only survived for about half-an-hour.
An engine had passed up and down that line several times between 3 and 5 am but the man in charge said he hadn't seen or hit anyone. Two days later Davock's inquest was held at the Phoenix Inn in Bold Street where the jury decided that the deceased must have been knocked down by the engine.
Also on the 23rd the St Helens Newspaper under the headline "Death of Waterloo Veteran At St. Helens" described how 96-year-old William Bickley had been interred at St Thomas' Cemetery. I have a full account of Bickley's extraordinary life in the third volume of my Hidden History of St Helens book series.
I don't know if shin pads were available in the 1870s but the police were definitely in need of some! Their legs must have been black and blue with all the kicking they got, often by an assailant who was wearing clogs. David Baines appeared in court on the 25th charged with being drunk and disorderly and resisting and assaulting PC Jones.
The latter had been endeavouring to arrest Baines when he had resisted violently and kicked the officer several times with his clogs. The man was ordered to pay a fine of £2 3 shillings, which included 16s 6d for the damage he had caused to the bobby's clothing. Or, if unable to pay, he had to go to prison for three weeks.
James Lowe was also in court charged with travelling on the railway from Wigan to St Helens without having paid his fare. When taken to the police station by a porter, Lowe was said to have threatened to "smash his nose" as soon as he got out. For travelling without a ticket Lowe was fined 20 shillings and costs or 14 days in prison and for the threatening language he was ordered to find sureties.
In August 1869 Nicholas Crews was advertising in the St Helens Newspaper "Flowers for Christmas" which could be purchased from his shop in Hardshaw Street. Crews was not selling cut flowers but hyacinth and narcissus bulbs at 2s 6d per dozen which, he said, would be in bloom in time for the festive season.
It was unlikely that Crews had many takers, as very few St Helens folk had gardens and so I expect his main job was in supplying farmers with seeds. Indeed, the occupation of Nicholas Crews was described as a seedsman. That can have a different meaning today as a Google search results in lots of websites selling cannabis seeds, which is apparently a quite legal practice.
Anyhow, I mention Mr Crews because in December 1873 his watch valued at £8 had been stolen at St Helens station. And this week John Taylor, a boarding house keeper for sailors from Liverpool, appeared in the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions charged with having in his possession Crews' watch knowing it to have been stolen. As stated, stealing in the 1870s was usually punished far more severely than violence and Taylor – who claimed that he had bought the watch from a sailor – was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
On the 25th in St Helens Petty Sessions, the St Helens Chemical Company was charged with fouling the sewer in Atlas Street in Pocket Nook by discharging acids. The firm brought in a barrister from Liverpool to strongly refute the charge and the Newspaper said, "The evidence, pro and con, was of a very contradictory character." But the Bench found the charge proved and ordered the nuisance to be abated within 21 days. If the problem still existed after three weeks, then the firm would likely be brought back to court and fined.
Miners were usually paid every fortnight on what was often called "reckoning Monday". That was a day when traditionally after collecting their money, they would go to the pub rather than undertake any work. However, Peter Anders seemed an industrious, hard-working sort and he had decided to do some work on reckoning Monday. That was at Greengate Colliery in Thatto Heath and in doing so he angered his cousin, John Anders.
A row took place and Peter Anders said his cousin had threatened him with his pick. Then on the following day the son of John Anders, who had the same name, struck Peter with his pick. His arm was severely wounded and the man had been off work ever since. The magistrates were invariably industrialists themselves and liked to send a strong message about workers trying to stop others from doing their job. And so when John Anders Junior appeared before them on the 25th he was sent to prison for 14 days and his father was bound over to keep the peace for three months.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the stealing of finny haddys in Liverpool Street, the violent purring in Tontine Street, the trouble at Rainford's Star Inn and the prosecutions for taking a day off work at Sutton Heath Colliery.
It seems to have been little more than horseplay but the punishment for the culprit may well have been severe. James Boyd was bound over to keep the peace for three months but he had to find the sum of £10 as a personal surety and someone else prepared to put down a further £5. These were considerable sums for a young man to find and so there was every chance that he had to go to prison instead.
Coal stealers would sometimes commit their act in two stages. The first one involved taking the coal and concealing it in some sort of container close by. And then later when they believed the coast was clear, they would return to remove their swag. But when William Ellis pinched some coal, put it in a bag and stashed it under a box he was seen. The act had taken place at midnight at Sutton Oak Junction and a keen-eyed railway signalman had spotted the deed being done.
He informed the police and they went on an undercover mission waiting for the thief to return. At 5:30am the officers witnessed William Ellis collecting his bag of coal and so they nabbed him and whisked him off to the police station. But this was not seemingly a case of poverty, as Ellis was a shunter who had worked for the railway company for nine years.
This had been his first offence and the Bench said that on account of Ellis's previous good record, they would deal leniently with him and only sent him to prison for 7 days. Of course, if Ellis had bashed a policeman he would likely only been fined or bound over. But any form of theft almost always led to a custodial sentence and a week in prison for just sixpence worth of coal was seen as lenient.
Going to work in the middle of the night and getting there by walking on the railway was asking for trouble. It would have been pitch black in St Helens on moonless nights and tiredness would also have reduced such workers' alertness to hazards. And so when the body of John Davock from Bold Street was found lying on the railway line leading to Pilkington's colliery on the 23rd, it did not take much detective work to figure out what had happened.
Davock had left his home at 4 am to go to his work at Ravenhead Colliery and was found soon afterwards by two fellow workmen bleeding profusely from a deep wound to his forehead. The man was conveyed to Marsh's chemical works nearby but only survived for about half-an-hour.
An engine had passed up and down that line several times between 3 and 5 am but the man in charge said he hadn't seen or hit anyone. Two days later Davock's inquest was held at the Phoenix Inn in Bold Street where the jury decided that the deceased must have been knocked down by the engine.
Also on the 23rd the St Helens Newspaper under the headline "Death of Waterloo Veteran At St. Helens" described how 96-year-old William Bickley had been interred at St Thomas' Cemetery. I have a full account of Bickley's extraordinary life in the third volume of my Hidden History of St Helens book series.
I don't know if shin pads were available in the 1870s but the police were definitely in need of some! Their legs must have been black and blue with all the kicking they got, often by an assailant who was wearing clogs. David Baines appeared in court on the 25th charged with being drunk and disorderly and resisting and assaulting PC Jones.
The latter had been endeavouring to arrest Baines when he had resisted violently and kicked the officer several times with his clogs. The man was ordered to pay a fine of £2 3 shillings, which included 16s 6d for the damage he had caused to the bobby's clothing. Or, if unable to pay, he had to go to prison for three weeks.
James Lowe was also in court charged with travelling on the railway from Wigan to St Helens without having paid his fare. When taken to the police station by a porter, Lowe was said to have threatened to "smash his nose" as soon as he got out. For travelling without a ticket Lowe was fined 20 shillings and costs or 14 days in prison and for the threatening language he was ordered to find sureties.
In August 1869 Nicholas Crews was advertising in the St Helens Newspaper "Flowers for Christmas" which could be purchased from his shop in Hardshaw Street. Crews was not selling cut flowers but hyacinth and narcissus bulbs at 2s 6d per dozen which, he said, would be in bloom in time for the festive season.
It was unlikely that Crews had many takers, as very few St Helens folk had gardens and so I expect his main job was in supplying farmers with seeds. Indeed, the occupation of Nicholas Crews was described as a seedsman. That can have a different meaning today as a Google search results in lots of websites selling cannabis seeds, which is apparently a quite legal practice.
Anyhow, I mention Mr Crews because in December 1873 his watch valued at £8 had been stolen at St Helens station. And this week John Taylor, a boarding house keeper for sailors from Liverpool, appeared in the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions charged with having in his possession Crews' watch knowing it to have been stolen. As stated, stealing in the 1870s was usually punished far more severely than violence and Taylor – who claimed that he had bought the watch from a sailor – was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
On the 25th in St Helens Petty Sessions, the St Helens Chemical Company was charged with fouling the sewer in Atlas Street in Pocket Nook by discharging acids. The firm brought in a barrister from Liverpool to strongly refute the charge and the Newspaper said, "The evidence, pro and con, was of a very contradictory character." But the Bench found the charge proved and ordered the nuisance to be abated within 21 days. If the problem still existed after three weeks, then the firm would likely be brought back to court and fined.
Miners were usually paid every fortnight on what was often called "reckoning Monday". That was a day when traditionally after collecting their money, they would go to the pub rather than undertake any work. However, Peter Anders seemed an industrious, hard-working sort and he had decided to do some work on reckoning Monday. That was at Greengate Colliery in Thatto Heath and in doing so he angered his cousin, John Anders.
A row took place and Peter Anders said his cousin had threatened him with his pick. Then on the following day the son of John Anders, who had the same name, struck Peter with his pick. His arm was severely wounded and the man had been off work ever since. The magistrates were invariably industrialists themselves and liked to send a strong message about workers trying to stop others from doing their job. And so when John Anders Junior appeared before them on the 25th he was sent to prison for 14 days and his father was bound over to keep the peace for three months.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the stealing of finny haddys in Liverpool Street, the violent purring in Tontine Street, the trouble at Rainford's Star Inn and the prosecutions for taking a day off work at Sutton Heath Colliery.
This week's many stories include the reckoning Monday row in Thatto Heath, the St Helens seedsman's stolen watch, the horseplay at the Holt that had potentially serious consequences, the railway shunter's coal stealing, the perils of going to work at 4am and the St Helens Chemical Company is charged with fouling the Atlas Street sewer.
We begin on the 22nd when a young man called James Boyd appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions accused of assaulting Frances Archer, who was the assistant matron at Whiston Workhouse.
The young woman had been in company with a man called Martin and after visiting Rainhill, the couple had been walking back to the workhouse.
Upon reaching the Holt on Warrington Road, they were met by a group of lads and two young men, one of whom was James Boyd.
The latter pushed the other man against Miss Archer with what was described as "considerable violence" but Mr Martin prevented her from falling.
It seems to have been little more than horseplay but the punishment for the culprit may well have been severe.
James Boyd was bound over to keep the peace for three months but he had to find the sum of £10 as a personal surety and someone else prepared to put down a further £5.
These were considerable sums for a young man to find and so there was every chance that he had to go to prison instead.
Coal stealers would sometimes commit their act in two stages. The first one involved taking the coal and concealing it in some sort of container close by.
And then later when they believed the coast was clear, they would return to remove their swag.
But when William Ellis pinched some coal, put it in a bag and stashed it under a box he was seen.
The act had taken place at midnight at Sutton Oak Junction and a keen-eyed railway signalman had spotted the deed being done.
He informed the police and they went on an undercover mission waiting for the thief to return.
At 5:30am the officers witnessed William Ellis collecting his bag of coal and so they nabbed him and whisked him off to the police station.
But this was not seemingly a case of poverty, as Ellis was a shunter who had worked for the railway company for nine years.
This had been his first offence and the Bench said that on account of Ellis's previous good record, they would deal leniently with him and only sent him to prison for 7 days.
Of course, if Ellis had bashed a policeman he would likely only been fined or bound over.
But any form of theft almost always led to a custodial sentence and a week in prison for just sixpence worth of coal was seen as lenient.
Going to work in the middle of the night and getting there by walking on the railway was asking for trouble.
It would have been pitch black in St Helens on moonless nights and tiredness would also have reduced such workers' alertness to hazards.
And so when the body of John Davock from Bold Street was found lying on the railway line leading to Pilkington's colliery on the 23rd, it did not take much detective work to figure out what had happened.
Davock had left his home at 4 am to go to his work at Ravenhead Colliery and was found soon afterwards by two fellow workmen bleeding profusely from a deep wound to his forehead.
The man was conveyed to Marsh's chemical works nearby but only survived for about half-an-hour.
An engine had passed up and down that line several times between 3 and 5 am but the man in charge said he hadn't seen or hit anyone.
Two days later Davock's inquest was held at the Phoenix Inn in Bold Street where the jury decided that the deceased must have been knocked down by the engine.
Also on the 23rd the St Helens Newspaper under the headline "Death of Waterloo Veteran At St. Helens" described how 96-year-old William Bickley had been interred at St Thomas' Cemetery.
I have a full account of Bickley's extraordinary life in the third volume of my Hidden History of St Helens book series.
I don't know if shin pads were available in the 1870s but the police were definitely in need of some!
Their legs must have been black and blue with all the kicking they got, often by an assailant who was wearing clogs.
David Baines appeared in court on the 25th charged with being drunk and disorderly and resisting and assaulting PC Jones.
The latter had been endeavouring to arrest Baines when he had resisted violently and kicked the officer several times with his clogs.
The man was ordered to pay a fine of £2 3 shillings, which included 16s 6d for the damage he had caused to the bobby's clothing. Or, if unable to pay, he had to go to prison for three weeks.
James Lowe was also in court charged with travelling on the railway from Wigan to St Helens without having paid his fare.
When taken to the police station by a porter, Lowe was said to have threatened to "smash his nose" as soon as he got out.
For travelling without a ticket Lowe was fined 20 shillings and costs or 14 days in prison and for the threatening language he was ordered to find sureties.
In August 1869 Nicholas Crews was advertising in the St Helens Newspaper "Flowers for Christmas" which could be purchased from his shop in Hardshaw Street.
Crews was not selling cut flowers but hyacinth and narcissus bulbs at 2s 6d per dozen which, he said, would be in bloom in time for the festive season.
It was unlikely that Crews had many takers, as very few St Helens folk had gardens and so I expect his main job was in supplying farmers with seeds.
Indeed, the occupation of Nicholas Crews was described as a seedsman. That can have a different meaning today as a Google search results in lots of websites selling cannabis seeds, which is apparently a quite legal practice.
Anyhow, I mention Mr Crews because in December 1873 his watch valued at £8 had been stolen at St Helens station.
And this week John Taylor, a boarding house keeper for sailors from Liverpool, appeared in the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions charged with having in his possession Crews' watch knowing it to have been stolen.
As stated, stealing in the 1870s was usually punished far more severely than violence and Taylor – who claimed that he had bought the watch from a sailor – was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
On the 25th in St Helens Petty Sessions, the St Helens Chemical Company was charged with fouling the sewer in Atlas Street in Pocket Nook by discharging acids.
The firm brought in a barrister from Liverpool to strongly refute the charge and the Newspaper said, "The evidence, pro and con, was of a very contradictory character."
But the Bench found the charge proved and ordered the nuisance to be abated within 21 days.
If the problem still existed after three weeks, then the firm would likely be brought back to court and fined.
Miners were usually paid every fortnight on what was often called "reckoning Monday".
That was a day when traditionally after collecting their money, they would go to the pub rather than undertake any work.
However, Peter Anders seemed an industrious, hard-working sort and he had decided to do some work on reckoning Monday.
That was at Greengate Colliery in Thatto Heath and in doing so he angered his cousin, John Anders.
A row took place and Peter Anders said his cousin had threatened him with his pick.
Then on the following day the son of John Anders, who had the same name, struck Peter with his pick.
His arm was severely wounded and the man had been off work ever since.
The magistrates were invariably industrialists themselves and liked to send a strong message about workers trying to stop others from doing their job.
And so when John Anders Junior appeared before them on the 25th he was sent to prison for 14 days and his father was bound over to keep the peace for three months.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the stealing of finny haddys in Liverpool Street, the violent purring in Tontine Street, the trouble at Rainford's Star Inn and the prosecutions for taking a day off work at Sutton Heath Colliery.
The young woman had been in company with a man called Martin and after visiting Rainhill, the couple had been walking back to the workhouse.
Upon reaching the Holt on Warrington Road, they were met by a group of lads and two young men, one of whom was James Boyd.
The latter pushed the other man against Miss Archer with what was described as "considerable violence" but Mr Martin prevented her from falling.
It seems to have been little more than horseplay but the punishment for the culprit may well have been severe.
James Boyd was bound over to keep the peace for three months but he had to find the sum of £10 as a personal surety and someone else prepared to put down a further £5.
These were considerable sums for a young man to find and so there was every chance that he had to go to prison instead.
Coal stealers would sometimes commit their act in two stages. The first one involved taking the coal and concealing it in some sort of container close by.
And then later when they believed the coast was clear, they would return to remove their swag.
But when William Ellis pinched some coal, put it in a bag and stashed it under a box he was seen.
The act had taken place at midnight at Sutton Oak Junction and a keen-eyed railway signalman had spotted the deed being done.
He informed the police and they went on an undercover mission waiting for the thief to return.
At 5:30am the officers witnessed William Ellis collecting his bag of coal and so they nabbed him and whisked him off to the police station.
But this was not seemingly a case of poverty, as Ellis was a shunter who had worked for the railway company for nine years.
This had been his first offence and the Bench said that on account of Ellis's previous good record, they would deal leniently with him and only sent him to prison for 7 days.
Of course, if Ellis had bashed a policeman he would likely only been fined or bound over.
But any form of theft almost always led to a custodial sentence and a week in prison for just sixpence worth of coal was seen as lenient.
Going to work in the middle of the night and getting there by walking on the railway was asking for trouble.
It would have been pitch black in St Helens on moonless nights and tiredness would also have reduced such workers' alertness to hazards.
And so when the body of John Davock from Bold Street was found lying on the railway line leading to Pilkington's colliery on the 23rd, it did not take much detective work to figure out what had happened.
Davock had left his home at 4 am to go to his work at Ravenhead Colliery and was found soon afterwards by two fellow workmen bleeding profusely from a deep wound to his forehead.
The man was conveyed to Marsh's chemical works nearby but only survived for about half-an-hour.
An engine had passed up and down that line several times between 3 and 5 am but the man in charge said he hadn't seen or hit anyone.
Two days later Davock's inquest was held at the Phoenix Inn in Bold Street where the jury decided that the deceased must have been knocked down by the engine.
Also on the 23rd the St Helens Newspaper under the headline "Death of Waterloo Veteran At St. Helens" described how 96-year-old William Bickley had been interred at St Thomas' Cemetery.
I have a full account of Bickley's extraordinary life in the third volume of my Hidden History of St Helens book series.
I don't know if shin pads were available in the 1870s but the police were definitely in need of some!
Their legs must have been black and blue with all the kicking they got, often by an assailant who was wearing clogs.
David Baines appeared in court on the 25th charged with being drunk and disorderly and resisting and assaulting PC Jones.
The latter had been endeavouring to arrest Baines when he had resisted violently and kicked the officer several times with his clogs.
The man was ordered to pay a fine of £2 3 shillings, which included 16s 6d for the damage he had caused to the bobby's clothing. Or, if unable to pay, he had to go to prison for three weeks.
James Lowe was also in court charged with travelling on the railway from Wigan to St Helens without having paid his fare.
When taken to the police station by a porter, Lowe was said to have threatened to "smash his nose" as soon as he got out.
For travelling without a ticket Lowe was fined 20 shillings and costs or 14 days in prison and for the threatening language he was ordered to find sureties.
In August 1869 Nicholas Crews was advertising in the St Helens Newspaper "Flowers for Christmas" which could be purchased from his shop in Hardshaw Street.
Crews was not selling cut flowers but hyacinth and narcissus bulbs at 2s 6d per dozen which, he said, would be in bloom in time for the festive season.
It was unlikely that Crews had many takers, as very few St Helens folk had gardens and so I expect his main job was in supplying farmers with seeds.
Indeed, the occupation of Nicholas Crews was described as a seedsman. That can have a different meaning today as a Google search results in lots of websites selling cannabis seeds, which is apparently a quite legal practice.
Anyhow, I mention Mr Crews because in December 1873 his watch valued at £8 had been stolen at St Helens station.
And this week John Taylor, a boarding house keeper for sailors from Liverpool, appeared in the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions charged with having in his possession Crews' watch knowing it to have been stolen.
As stated, stealing in the 1870s was usually punished far more severely than violence and Taylor – who claimed that he had bought the watch from a sailor – was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
On the 25th in St Helens Petty Sessions, the St Helens Chemical Company was charged with fouling the sewer in Atlas Street in Pocket Nook by discharging acids.
The firm brought in a barrister from Liverpool to strongly refute the charge and the Newspaper said, "The evidence, pro and con, was of a very contradictory character."
But the Bench found the charge proved and ordered the nuisance to be abated within 21 days.
If the problem still existed after three weeks, then the firm would likely be brought back to court and fined.
Miners were usually paid every fortnight on what was often called "reckoning Monday".
That was a day when traditionally after collecting their money, they would go to the pub rather than undertake any work.
However, Peter Anders seemed an industrious, hard-working sort and he had decided to do some work on reckoning Monday.
That was at Greengate Colliery in Thatto Heath and in doing so he angered his cousin, John Anders.
A row took place and Peter Anders said his cousin had threatened him with his pick.
Then on the following day the son of John Anders, who had the same name, struck Peter with his pick.
His arm was severely wounded and the man had been off work ever since.
The magistrates were invariably industrialists themselves and liked to send a strong message about workers trying to stop others from doing their job.
And so when John Anders Junior appeared before them on the 25th he was sent to prison for 14 days and his father was bound over to keep the peace for three months.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the stealing of finny haddys in Liverpool Street, the violent purring in Tontine Street, the trouble at Rainford's Star Inn and the prosecutions for taking a day off work at Sutton Heath Colliery.