150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (21st - 27th MARCH 1872)
This week's stories include the Sunday pandemonium in Greenbank, the new Parr knacker's yard, the expensive drunken freak in the Globe Hotel, the smallpox mix-up at Whiston Workhouse, a fatal bus accident in Liverpool Road and Foottit's Circus comes to St Helens.
The Prescot Union Guardians met on the 21st and heard that there were presently 345 inmates in Whiston Workhouse – including 129 children. Permission had now been received from the Local Government Board to build a new infectious diseases hospital on the site, with one caveat. They insisted that a wall had to be built, separating the new premises from the block where the so-called imbeciles were kept. I would have thought that was unnecessary. They might have been labelled imbeciles – but I doubt they were daft enough to go anywhere near folk carrying smallpox and other contagious diseases!
The Guardians were also told that there had been a mix-up over the burial of a smallpox victim. A cabman had brought two unconscious men called Hasset and Lacey into the workhouse hospital. Both were suffering from smallpox and the former died and the latter survived. It wasn't that they had buried the one that was alive – but their names had got mixed up and Lacey's relatives were wrongly informed that he was dead and vice-versa.
The workhouse doctor reported to the meeting that a number of pauper patients in his hospital were suffering from "disordered stomachs and feverish attacks" caused by sanitary defects in the house. The doctor said the Master of the workhouse was doing what he could – but accepted that it would be an "endless job" for the drains to be kept in order. The Guardians had recently appointed a new schoolmaster to teach the workhouse kids and it was mentioned at the meeting that there had been 59 applications for the job.
In the St Helens Newspaper on the 23rd this advert for a slaughterhouse in Parr was published: "Peter Spencer begs to inform the public of St. Helens and the surrounding neighbourhood that he has opened a knacker's yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, and close to Mr. Joseph Pilkington's brick works. The premises are extensive and highly suitable for the business, and Mr. Spencer is prepared to conduct it on reasonable terms, and to execute with promptitude all orders entrusted to him. Works: Parr Mill Dam. All business communications to be addressed to Mr. P. Spencer, Claughton Street, St. Helens."
The newspaper also wrote: "FOOTTIT'S CIRCUS – This monster exhibition will visit St. Helens on Monday next, and give two performances. These equestrian entertainments, which were once exceedingly popular, fell somewhat in public estimation during later years, doubtless from a falling off in the enterprise of the proprietors. Foottit's circus is open to no such reflection, for the establishment has been increased to vast proportions to meet the varied tastes of its patrons. The best evidence of its merit is the extraordinary success which attended its recent lengthened visit to Liverpool, and the universal commendation bestowed on the performances."
The Newspaper also contained a highly critical letter describing the "desecration" of Sundays in the mainly Irish district of Greenbank, around Liverpool Road. The author, adopting the pseudonym Rectitude, complained that children could be heard uttering phrases not found in any prayer book and declaring: "Compulsory education in this benighted neighbourhood would be the greatest boon under the canopy of heaven." The adults were considered worse than the kids – and anyone venturing on the streets of Greenbank during Sunday evenings would be a brave soul. "If a truly Christian man spent one Sabbath here he would imagine he was near the gates of pandemonium," he added.
As if to underline the writer's complaints, the magistrates sitting in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th heard of a St Patrick's Day row in Bold Street in Greenbank. This is how the Newspaper reported the case:
"James Flynn was summoned by Julia Walsh for threatening her, with a view to his being bound over. Mr. Swift defended. The complainant said that on Sunday week, the defendant came to her house, inquiring if her husband would oblige him by coming outside to have his guts kicked out. She said her husband was at work, and that if he did not go off at once she would “civilise him with the law” on the following day. He retorted that he intended to smash her husband, and would begin with her as a sort of preliminary. Mary Connor said that she heard Flynn honouring the 17th of March by making more or less of a row in the street all day, and in the evening he made the attack upon the complainant already described. The magistrates dismissed the case."
There used to be two Globe Hotels in St Helens – one in Hardshaw Street and the other in Ormskirk Street. In one of these houses (I don't know which), James Smith had committed what the St Helens Newspaper called "an expensive drunken freak". Witnesses told the Petty Sessions that the man had, without any provocation, thrown a glass through a window of the pub, which broke a pane costing £5.
Smith offered no defence beyond saying that he remembered nothing about it, adding he would sooner break his own arm than do "anything of the sort in my sound senses". He was ordered to pay £6 2s 6d, or go to prison for two months. The man's occupation was not stated in the report – but that amount was likely to have been around five weeks' wages. So Kirkdale Prison was his almost certain destination and he would likely lose his job as well.
It wasn't just the fathers and husbands who were expected to financially support their family. Any male – from grandson to grandfather – could be considered liable to pay for the keep of a family member in need. Also appearing in the Petty Sessions was Richard Rogerson, who didn't appear to know his exact age – something that was quite common. His own solicitor told the magistrates that his client was aged between 70 and 80, and during his lifetime had charge of 21 children, of whom 14 were his own.
Rogerson's granddaughter was receiving what was called outdoor relief from the Prescot Union under the Poor Law – and as the elderly man was still working, they wanted their money repaid. However, his wife had been an invalid and had died in February leaving Rogerson with a heavy medical bill, which he was paying off in small weekly instalments. The man's solicitor, Thomas Swift, said that a court order to force his client to pay for his granddaughter's keep would devastate him, adding: "It would only precipitate his journey to the grave or the workhouse". The case was dismissed.
On the 25th two employees of the St Helens Gas Works (pictured above) were severely scalded while working on an engine. 37-year-old James Ashley from Ashcroft Street died from his burns on the following day. At the man's inquest at the Royal Arms, the manager of the gasworks said they were unable to explain why such a huge volume of steam should have escaped.
On the same day a hairdresser called Ambrose Mercer was killed as he got off the Prescot omnibus in Liverpool Road in St Helens. The horse-driven vehicle moved off while the 50-year-old was in the act of stepping to the ground and Mercer was knocked down and run over. Most passengers would disembark at the rear of the bus but the hairdresser slipped out at the front without the conductor noticing. There was no "ding ding" yet to signal the driver to move off. Instead the conductor – or guard as he was called – conveyed the information by blowing a whistle.
Next week's stories will include an update on the rape of a 16-year-old girl on the streets of Eccleston, the fatal fight between lodgers in Parr Street and the drunken Frenchman who got his wish to meet a Pilkington's boss in an unusual way.
The Prescot Union Guardians met on the 21st and heard that there were presently 345 inmates in Whiston Workhouse – including 129 children. Permission had now been received from the Local Government Board to build a new infectious diseases hospital on the site, with one caveat. They insisted that a wall had to be built, separating the new premises from the block where the so-called imbeciles were kept. I would have thought that was unnecessary. They might have been labelled imbeciles – but I doubt they were daft enough to go anywhere near folk carrying smallpox and other contagious diseases!
The Guardians were also told that there had been a mix-up over the burial of a smallpox victim. A cabman had brought two unconscious men called Hasset and Lacey into the workhouse hospital. Both were suffering from smallpox and the former died and the latter survived. It wasn't that they had buried the one that was alive – but their names had got mixed up and Lacey's relatives were wrongly informed that he was dead and vice-versa.
The workhouse doctor reported to the meeting that a number of pauper patients in his hospital were suffering from "disordered stomachs and feverish attacks" caused by sanitary defects in the house. The doctor said the Master of the workhouse was doing what he could – but accepted that it would be an "endless job" for the drains to be kept in order. The Guardians had recently appointed a new schoolmaster to teach the workhouse kids and it was mentioned at the meeting that there had been 59 applications for the job.
In the St Helens Newspaper on the 23rd this advert for a slaughterhouse in Parr was published: "Peter Spencer begs to inform the public of St. Helens and the surrounding neighbourhood that he has opened a knacker's yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, and close to Mr. Joseph Pilkington's brick works. The premises are extensive and highly suitable for the business, and Mr. Spencer is prepared to conduct it on reasonable terms, and to execute with promptitude all orders entrusted to him. Works: Parr Mill Dam. All business communications to be addressed to Mr. P. Spencer, Claughton Street, St. Helens."
The newspaper also wrote: "FOOTTIT'S CIRCUS – This monster exhibition will visit St. Helens on Monday next, and give two performances. These equestrian entertainments, which were once exceedingly popular, fell somewhat in public estimation during later years, doubtless from a falling off in the enterprise of the proprietors. Foottit's circus is open to no such reflection, for the establishment has been increased to vast proportions to meet the varied tastes of its patrons. The best evidence of its merit is the extraordinary success which attended its recent lengthened visit to Liverpool, and the universal commendation bestowed on the performances."
The Newspaper also contained a highly critical letter describing the "desecration" of Sundays in the mainly Irish district of Greenbank, around Liverpool Road. The author, adopting the pseudonym Rectitude, complained that children could be heard uttering phrases not found in any prayer book and declaring: "Compulsory education in this benighted neighbourhood would be the greatest boon under the canopy of heaven." The adults were considered worse than the kids – and anyone venturing on the streets of Greenbank during Sunday evenings would be a brave soul. "If a truly Christian man spent one Sabbath here he would imagine he was near the gates of pandemonium," he added.
As if to underline the writer's complaints, the magistrates sitting in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th heard of a St Patrick's Day row in Bold Street in Greenbank. This is how the Newspaper reported the case:
"James Flynn was summoned by Julia Walsh for threatening her, with a view to his being bound over. Mr. Swift defended. The complainant said that on Sunday week, the defendant came to her house, inquiring if her husband would oblige him by coming outside to have his guts kicked out. She said her husband was at work, and that if he did not go off at once she would “civilise him with the law” on the following day. He retorted that he intended to smash her husband, and would begin with her as a sort of preliminary. Mary Connor said that she heard Flynn honouring the 17th of March by making more or less of a row in the street all day, and in the evening he made the attack upon the complainant already described. The magistrates dismissed the case."
There used to be two Globe Hotels in St Helens – one in Hardshaw Street and the other in Ormskirk Street. In one of these houses (I don't know which), James Smith had committed what the St Helens Newspaper called "an expensive drunken freak". Witnesses told the Petty Sessions that the man had, without any provocation, thrown a glass through a window of the pub, which broke a pane costing £5.
Smith offered no defence beyond saying that he remembered nothing about it, adding he would sooner break his own arm than do "anything of the sort in my sound senses". He was ordered to pay £6 2s 6d, or go to prison for two months. The man's occupation was not stated in the report – but that amount was likely to have been around five weeks' wages. So Kirkdale Prison was his almost certain destination and he would likely lose his job as well.
It wasn't just the fathers and husbands who were expected to financially support their family. Any male – from grandson to grandfather – could be considered liable to pay for the keep of a family member in need. Also appearing in the Petty Sessions was Richard Rogerson, who didn't appear to know his exact age – something that was quite common. His own solicitor told the magistrates that his client was aged between 70 and 80, and during his lifetime had charge of 21 children, of whom 14 were his own.
Rogerson's granddaughter was receiving what was called outdoor relief from the Prescot Union under the Poor Law – and as the elderly man was still working, they wanted their money repaid. However, his wife had been an invalid and had died in February leaving Rogerson with a heavy medical bill, which he was paying off in small weekly instalments. The man's solicitor, Thomas Swift, said that a court order to force his client to pay for his granddaughter's keep would devastate him, adding: "It would only precipitate his journey to the grave or the workhouse". The case was dismissed.
On the same day a hairdresser called Ambrose Mercer was killed as he got off the Prescot omnibus in Liverpool Road in St Helens. The horse-driven vehicle moved off while the 50-year-old was in the act of stepping to the ground and Mercer was knocked down and run over. Most passengers would disembark at the rear of the bus but the hairdresser slipped out at the front without the conductor noticing. There was no "ding ding" yet to signal the driver to move off. Instead the conductor – or guard as he was called – conveyed the information by blowing a whistle.
Next week's stories will include an update on the rape of a 16-year-old girl on the streets of Eccleston, the fatal fight between lodgers in Parr Street and the drunken Frenchman who got his wish to meet a Pilkington's boss in an unusual way.
This week's stories include the Sunday pandemonium in Greenbank, the new Parr knacker's yard, the expensive drunken freak in the Globe Hotel, the smallpox mix-up at Whiston Workhouse, a fatal bus accident in Liverpool Road and Foottit's Circus comes to St Helens.
The Prescot Union Guardians met on the 21st and heard that there were presently 345 inmates in Whiston Workhouse – including 129 children.
Permission had now been received from the Local Government Board to build a new infectious diseases hospital on the site, with one caveat.
They insisted that a wall had to be built, separating the new premises from the block where the so-called imbeciles were kept.
I would have thought that was unnecessary. They might have been labelled imbeciles – but I doubt they were daft enough to go anywhere near folk carrying smallpox and other contagious diseases!
The Guardians were also told that there had been a mix-up over the burial of a smallpox victim.
A cabman had brought two unconscious men called Hasset and Lacey into the workhouse hospital.
Both were suffering from smallpox and the former died and the latter survived.
It wasn't that they had buried the one that was alive – but their names had got mixed up and Lacey's relatives were wrongly informed that he was dead and vice-versa.
The workhouse doctor reported to the meeting that a number of pauper patients in his hospital were suffering from "disordered stomachs and feverish attacks" caused by sanitary defects in the house.
The doctor said the Master of the workhouse was doing what he could – but accepted that it would be an "endless job" for the drains to be kept in order.
The Guardians had recently appointed a new schoolmaster to teach the workhouse kids and it was mentioned at the meeting that there had been 59 applications for the job.
In the St Helens Newspaper on the 23rd this advert for a slaughterhouse in Parr was published:
"Peter Spencer begs to inform the public of St. Helens and the surrounding neighbourhood that he has opened a knacker's yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, and close to Mr. Joseph Pilkington's brick works.
"The premises are extensive and highly suitable for the business, and Mr. Spencer is prepared to conduct it on reasonable terms, and to execute with promptitude all orders entrusted to him.
"Works: Parr Mill Dam. All business communications to be addressed to Mr. P. Spencer, Claughton Street, St. Helens."
The newspaper also wrote: "FOOTTIT'S CIRCUS – This monster exhibition will visit St. Helens on Monday next, and give two performances.
"These equestrian entertainments, which were once exceedingly popular, fell somewhat in public estimation during later years, doubtless from a falling off in the enterprise of the proprietors.
"Foottit's circus is open to no such reflection, for the establishment has been increased to vast proportions to meet the varied tastes of its patrons.
"The best evidence of its merit is the extraordinary success which attended its recent lengthened visit to Liverpool, and the universal commendation bestowed on the performances."
The Newspaper also contained a highly critical letter describing the "desecration" of Sundays in the mainly Irish district of Greenbank, around Liverpool Road.
The author, adopting the pseudonym Rectitude, complained that children could be heard uttering phrases not found in any prayer book and declaring:
"Compulsory education in this benighted neighbourhood would be the greatest boon under the canopy of heaven."
The adults were considered worse than the kids – and anyone venturing on the streets of Greenbank during Sunday evenings would be a brave soul.
"If a truly Christian man spent one Sabbath here he would imagine he was near the gates of pandemonium," he added.
As if to underline the writer's complaints, the magistrates sitting in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th heard of a row in Bold Street in Greenbank. This is how the Newspaper reported the case:
"James Flynn was summoned by Julia Walsh for threatening her, with a view to his being bound over. Mr. Swift defended.
"The complainant said that on Sunday week, the defendant came to her house, inquiring if her husband would oblige him by coming outside to have his guts kicked out.
"She said her husband was at work, and that if he did not go off at once she would “civilise him with the law” on the following day.
"He retorted that he intended to smash her husband, and would begin with her as a sort of preliminary.
"Mary Connor said that she heard Flynn honouring the 17th of March by making more or less of a row in the street all day, and in the evening he made the attack upon the complainant already described. The magistrates dismissed the case."
There used to be two Globe Hotels in St Helens – one in Hardshaw Street and the other in Ormskirk Street.
In one of these houses (I don't know which), James Smith had committed what the St Helens Newspaper called "an expensive drunken freak".
Witnesses told the Petty Sessions that the man had, without any provocation, thrown a glass through a window of the pub, which broke a pane costing £5.
Smith offered no defence beyond saying that he remembered nothing about it, adding he would sooner break his own arm than do "anything of the sort in my sound senses".
He was ordered to pay £6 2s 6d, or go to prison for two months.
The man's occupation was not stated in the report – but that amount was likely to have been around five weeks' wages.
So Kirkdale Prison was his almost certain destination and he would likely lose his job as well.
It wasn't just the fathers and husbands who were expected to financially support their family.
Any male – from grandson to grandfather – could be considered liable to pay for the keep of a family member in need.
Also appearing in the Petty Sessions was Richard Rogerson, who didn't appear to know his exact age – something that was quite common.
His own solicitor told the magistrates that his client was aged between 70 and 80, and during his lifetime had charge of 21 children, of whom 14 were his own.
Rogerson's granddaughter was receiving what was called outdoor relief from the Prescot Union under the Poor Law – and as the elderly man was still working, they wanted their money repaid.
However, his wife had been an invalid and had died in February leaving Rogerson with a heavy medical bill, which he was paying off in small weekly instalments.
The man's solicitor, Thomas Swift, said that a court order to force his client to pay for his granddaughter's keep would devastate him, adding:
"It would only precipitate his journey to the grave or the workhouse". The case was dismissed.
On the 25th two employees of the St Helens Gas Works (pictured above) were severely scalded while working on an engine.
37-year-old James Ashley from Ashcroft Street died from his burns on the following day.
At the man's inquest at the Royal Arms, the manager of the gasworks said they were unable to explain why such a huge volume of steam should have escaped.
On the same day a hairdresser called Ambrose Mercer was killed as he got off the Prescot omnibus in Liverpool Road in St Helens.
The horse-driven vehicle moved off while the 50-year-old was in the act of stepping to the ground and Mercer was knocked down and run over.
Most passengers would disembark at the rear of the bus but the hairdresser slipped out at the front without the conductor noticing.
There was no "ding ding" yet to signal the driver to move off. Instead the conductor – or guard as he was called – conveyed the information by blowing a whistle.
Next week's stories will include an update on the rape of a 16-year-old girl on the streets of Eccleston, the fatal fight between lodgers in Parr Street and the drunken Frenchman who got his wish to meet a Pilkington's boss in an unusual way.
The Prescot Union Guardians met on the 21st and heard that there were presently 345 inmates in Whiston Workhouse – including 129 children.
Permission had now been received from the Local Government Board to build a new infectious diseases hospital on the site, with one caveat.
They insisted that a wall had to be built, separating the new premises from the block where the so-called imbeciles were kept.
I would have thought that was unnecessary. They might have been labelled imbeciles – but I doubt they were daft enough to go anywhere near folk carrying smallpox and other contagious diseases!
The Guardians were also told that there had been a mix-up over the burial of a smallpox victim.
A cabman had brought two unconscious men called Hasset and Lacey into the workhouse hospital.
Both were suffering from smallpox and the former died and the latter survived.
It wasn't that they had buried the one that was alive – but their names had got mixed up and Lacey's relatives were wrongly informed that he was dead and vice-versa.
The workhouse doctor reported to the meeting that a number of pauper patients in his hospital were suffering from "disordered stomachs and feverish attacks" caused by sanitary defects in the house.
The doctor said the Master of the workhouse was doing what he could – but accepted that it would be an "endless job" for the drains to be kept in order.
The Guardians had recently appointed a new schoolmaster to teach the workhouse kids and it was mentioned at the meeting that there had been 59 applications for the job.
In the St Helens Newspaper on the 23rd this advert for a slaughterhouse in Parr was published:
"Peter Spencer begs to inform the public of St. Helens and the surrounding neighbourhood that he has opened a knacker's yard at Parr Mill Dam, near Merton Bank, and close to Mr. Joseph Pilkington's brick works.
"The premises are extensive and highly suitable for the business, and Mr. Spencer is prepared to conduct it on reasonable terms, and to execute with promptitude all orders entrusted to him.
"Works: Parr Mill Dam. All business communications to be addressed to Mr. P. Spencer, Claughton Street, St. Helens."
The newspaper also wrote: "FOOTTIT'S CIRCUS – This monster exhibition will visit St. Helens on Monday next, and give two performances.
"These equestrian entertainments, which were once exceedingly popular, fell somewhat in public estimation during later years, doubtless from a falling off in the enterprise of the proprietors.
"Foottit's circus is open to no such reflection, for the establishment has been increased to vast proportions to meet the varied tastes of its patrons.
"The best evidence of its merit is the extraordinary success which attended its recent lengthened visit to Liverpool, and the universal commendation bestowed on the performances."
The Newspaper also contained a highly critical letter describing the "desecration" of Sundays in the mainly Irish district of Greenbank, around Liverpool Road.
The author, adopting the pseudonym Rectitude, complained that children could be heard uttering phrases not found in any prayer book and declaring:
"Compulsory education in this benighted neighbourhood would be the greatest boon under the canopy of heaven."
The adults were considered worse than the kids – and anyone venturing on the streets of Greenbank during Sunday evenings would be a brave soul.
"If a truly Christian man spent one Sabbath here he would imagine he was near the gates of pandemonium," he added.
As if to underline the writer's complaints, the magistrates sitting in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th heard of a row in Bold Street in Greenbank. This is how the Newspaper reported the case:
"James Flynn was summoned by Julia Walsh for threatening her, with a view to his being bound over. Mr. Swift defended.
"The complainant said that on Sunday week, the defendant came to her house, inquiring if her husband would oblige him by coming outside to have his guts kicked out.
"She said her husband was at work, and that if he did not go off at once she would “civilise him with the law” on the following day.
"He retorted that he intended to smash her husband, and would begin with her as a sort of preliminary.
"Mary Connor said that she heard Flynn honouring the 17th of March by making more or less of a row in the street all day, and in the evening he made the attack upon the complainant already described. The magistrates dismissed the case."
There used to be two Globe Hotels in St Helens – one in Hardshaw Street and the other in Ormskirk Street.
In one of these houses (I don't know which), James Smith had committed what the St Helens Newspaper called "an expensive drunken freak".
Witnesses told the Petty Sessions that the man had, without any provocation, thrown a glass through a window of the pub, which broke a pane costing £5.
Smith offered no defence beyond saying that he remembered nothing about it, adding he would sooner break his own arm than do "anything of the sort in my sound senses".
He was ordered to pay £6 2s 6d, or go to prison for two months.
The man's occupation was not stated in the report – but that amount was likely to have been around five weeks' wages.
So Kirkdale Prison was his almost certain destination and he would likely lose his job as well.
It wasn't just the fathers and husbands who were expected to financially support their family.
Any male – from grandson to grandfather – could be considered liable to pay for the keep of a family member in need.
Also appearing in the Petty Sessions was Richard Rogerson, who didn't appear to know his exact age – something that was quite common.
His own solicitor told the magistrates that his client was aged between 70 and 80, and during his lifetime had charge of 21 children, of whom 14 were his own.
Rogerson's granddaughter was receiving what was called outdoor relief from the Prescot Union under the Poor Law – and as the elderly man was still working, they wanted their money repaid.
However, his wife had been an invalid and had died in February leaving Rogerson with a heavy medical bill, which he was paying off in small weekly instalments.
The man's solicitor, Thomas Swift, said that a court order to force his client to pay for his granddaughter's keep would devastate him, adding:
"It would only precipitate his journey to the grave or the workhouse". The case was dismissed.
37-year-old James Ashley from Ashcroft Street died from his burns on the following day.
At the man's inquest at the Royal Arms, the manager of the gasworks said they were unable to explain why such a huge volume of steam should have escaped.
On the same day a hairdresser called Ambrose Mercer was killed as he got off the Prescot omnibus in Liverpool Road in St Helens.
The horse-driven vehicle moved off while the 50-year-old was in the act of stepping to the ground and Mercer was knocked down and run over.
Most passengers would disembark at the rear of the bus but the hairdresser slipped out at the front without the conductor noticing.
There was no "ding ding" yet to signal the driver to move off. Instead the conductor – or guard as he was called – conveyed the information by blowing a whistle.
Next week's stories will include an update on the rape of a 16-year-old girl on the streets of Eccleston, the fatal fight between lodgers in Parr Street and the drunken Frenchman who got his wish to meet a Pilkington's boss in an unusual way.