150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (20th - 26th APRIL 1870)
This week's stories include the drunken cook in Whiston Workhouse, the Pilkington glass strike, the deadly joke played on a tramp at Haydock, the lodgers in the old Baldwin Street workhouse and the man who blamed being "beerified" for thieving from Rainford's Bridge Inn.
We begin on the 20th in St Helens Town Hall (illustrated above) when the annual distribution of the Windle Dole took place. No details of the amounts received and the beneficiaries were published. However in 1882 there were 200 individuals – described as aged poor – who each received 4 shillings. Thomas Taylor bequeathed the money in 1684 and consequently the Windle Dole was also known as "Taylor's Charity".
A Grand Miscellaneous Concert was held at Sutton National School on the 20th in aid of the Church Choir Fund. The Prescot Harmonic Society also performed on that evening in the Courtroom in Prescot along with special guest vocalists.
The Prescot Union Guardians met on the 21st and considered what to do with the workhouse cook who had got herself drunk again! Mrs Roby had been given a short leave of absence but then returned to the house late and intoxicated. One member suggested making an example of the woman. The Chairman of the Guardians, Edmund Ward, said he could not see how an example could be made, as Mrs Roby was as "callous as a rhinoceros's hide".
The woman was only paid £9 a year, although she received free room and board. A popular suggestion from the Guardians was to cut her salary so she would have less cash to spend on drink. One member suggested reducing her money to £5 a year; another suggested a one-third reduction and another a 50% cut. Eventually it was decided that she effectively be put on probation for three months. If during that time she had not been completely sober, the woman's salary would be reduced to £5 and she would be put on pauper rations.
In other words she would be made to eat the food that she cooked for the inmates! The St Helens Newspaper's headline to its report was "Cooking the Cook's Goose". The master of the workhouse also informed the Guardians that presently there were not enough able-bodied female inmates to do all the work that needed doing. That said 298 people were currently in the workhouse, 185 adults and 113 children.
The Guardians also oversaw the weekly relief of "out-door paupers", in other words the very poor within their own homes in the St Helens district. However they received very little cash. It was revealed at the meeting that during the past six months the cost per head had been 20s 4d. That is the equivalent of £2 per year, when the average weekly wage was a little over £1. However some relief would only have been on a temporary basis.
There was a bad fire on land at Eccleston on the 21st, which was blamed on arson, as the police discovered a matchbox and burnt paper at the point of ignition. A neighbouring wood belonging to Thomas Johnson of Catchdale Moss was almost set ablaze but men and boys were brought in to beat out the fire, which was accomplished after an hour.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 23rd updated readers on the strike at Pilkingtons, which had begun five days earlier. The number of men at the glass factory that had "turned out" (i.e. gone on strike) was not as high as had initially been thought. Around 200 hands, mainly glass blowers, were striking after being told that the company planned to cut their wages by between 10 and 20%.
This was through competition from French and Belgian competitors who were undercutting Pilkingtons. The company said they needed to make glass more economically in order to compete and had decided that cutting wages was the best way.
I do like a good wandering cow story! The Newspaper also wrote this: "On Thursday a cow belonging to John Peak, of Widnes, was allowed to go at large, after a lengthened confinement in a shippon [cowshed]. As soon as she found herself at liberty she felt disposed for an airing, and galloped about in various directions, to the vast delight of a crowd of juveniles, who quickened her paces by cheering and shouting.
"The noise so frightened her that she became frantic and ran a muck through the town, overturning several persons who were luckless enough to come in her way. It was some hours before she was finally caught and taken home. No person, fortunately, received any serious hurt through her antics."
On the 24th the body of a female tramp was discovered in the canal at Haydock. The unknown woman was only 26 and her remains were taken to the Waggon and Horses to await an inquest. A man called James Wain was alleged to have told a drinking companion that he had pushed the woman into the water. However he claimed he'd done it as a joke – although Wain admitted it had been a "bad job". The police later arrested the man but he denied any knowledge of what had happened.
The Prescot Reporter described the woman as "evidently of loose character" and said three of her companions had also been taken into police custody. The woman had been walking from Prescot to Wigan but her identity was unknown and there was no evidence of what had happened.
A fire broke out at Greenall's on the 24th, which caused much alarm but did little damage. The brewery chimney was being repaired and they were using wooden scaffolding to gain access to the top. This was set alight by the flue but using their own engine the workmen were able to put out the blaze.
One hundred and fifty years ago it was quite permissible for children as young as eight to be employed in workshops. However the Workshops' Regulations Act of 1867 had restricted 8 to 13-year-olds to half-time working and stipulated that child employees attended school for 10 hours a week. Under sixteen's were also not allowed to work after 9pm, which led to William Rigby's appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th.
The man was a clogger who had been found by an inspector employing boys after nine o’clock. Rigby told the court that his place was a retail shop and not a workshop and so the law did not apply to him. However the Bench found Rigby liable but only fined him one shilling.
Did you know that the Co-operative Stores in Baldwin Street was built on the site of an old workhouse? This had been built in the 1790s as a joint scheme by the Windle and Eccleston townships to care for their paupers. Since its closure in the 1840s the building had been leased to John Anderton for use as a lodging house. He was summoned to the Sessions for having insufficient toilet accommodation for the 42 lodgers in his house. Anderton failed to turn up at the hearing but had previously given an assurance that improvements would be made within 14 days.
John Walsh was charged with stealing a coat from the Bridge Inn in Rainford, which was run by James Roughley. The latter had left his coat in his snug at eleven o’clock at night but it then disappeared. Walsh was working further down Ormskirk Road at Dairy Farm and the police found the coat amongst the labourer's possessions on the farm.
In court Walsh said he had been "beerified" at the time of the theft and put forward his previous good character as extenuation. Stealing clothing was a serious offence but Walsh was sent to prison for just ten days. Before leaving the dock he thanked their "reverences" for their leniency.
Two boys were charged with stealing a pound of black puddings from Henry Massey's shop in Market Street. James McCabe and John Murphy were accused of nicking the puddings after going into the shop to buy some figs. Murphy was acquitted but McCabe was sent to prison for 7 days.
London-born Samuel Gurney kept a drapers shop in London House in Church Street. In the St Helens Newspaper on the 26th he wrote: "Summer Fashions. On Wednesday, May 4th and following days, S. Gurney respectfully announces that he will make a grand display of the latest novelties in millinery and trimmed bonnets, straw hats, &c. He will also show a choice assortment of shawls, mantles, fancy dresses, skirts, parasols, &c." Apparently a mantle is a loose-fitting outer garment similar to a cape.
There was also a letter in the paper from the 'Glass Makers of St. Helens', which was addressed to 'The Gentry and Public of St Helens'. The strikers denied that their wages were being cut by between 10% and 20%, saying the planned reduction by Pilkingtons was actually more than 20%. They also contradicted reports that they had been offered short-time as an alternative to a wage cut and claimed they were already being paid 15% less than another English glassmaker.
Next week's stories will include the freaks of nature at the St Helens Fair, the Rainford miner's family in complete destitution, the May Day horse and cart parade, the Rainhill drunk who thought Yorkshire was another country and the fearfully cold man in a police cell who found a fork and spoon on an Eccleston road.
A Grand Miscellaneous Concert was held at Sutton National School on the 20th in aid of the Church Choir Fund. The Prescot Harmonic Society also performed on that evening in the Courtroom in Prescot along with special guest vocalists.
The Prescot Union Guardians met on the 21st and considered what to do with the workhouse cook who had got herself drunk again! Mrs Roby had been given a short leave of absence but then returned to the house late and intoxicated. One member suggested making an example of the woman. The Chairman of the Guardians, Edmund Ward, said he could not see how an example could be made, as Mrs Roby was as "callous as a rhinoceros's hide".
The woman was only paid £9 a year, although she received free room and board. A popular suggestion from the Guardians was to cut her salary so she would have less cash to spend on drink. One member suggested reducing her money to £5 a year; another suggested a one-third reduction and another a 50% cut. Eventually it was decided that she effectively be put on probation for three months. If during that time she had not been completely sober, the woman's salary would be reduced to £5 and she would be put on pauper rations.
In other words she would be made to eat the food that she cooked for the inmates! The St Helens Newspaper's headline to its report was "Cooking the Cook's Goose". The master of the workhouse also informed the Guardians that presently there were not enough able-bodied female inmates to do all the work that needed doing. That said 298 people were currently in the workhouse, 185 adults and 113 children.
The Guardians also oversaw the weekly relief of "out-door paupers", in other words the very poor within their own homes in the St Helens district. However they received very little cash. It was revealed at the meeting that during the past six months the cost per head had been 20s 4d. That is the equivalent of £2 per year, when the average weekly wage was a little over £1. However some relief would only have been on a temporary basis.
There was a bad fire on land at Eccleston on the 21st, which was blamed on arson, as the police discovered a matchbox and burnt paper at the point of ignition. A neighbouring wood belonging to Thomas Johnson of Catchdale Moss was almost set ablaze but men and boys were brought in to beat out the fire, which was accomplished after an hour.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 23rd updated readers on the strike at Pilkingtons, which had begun five days earlier. The number of men at the glass factory that had "turned out" (i.e. gone on strike) was not as high as had initially been thought. Around 200 hands, mainly glass blowers, were striking after being told that the company planned to cut their wages by between 10 and 20%.
This was through competition from French and Belgian competitors who were undercutting Pilkingtons. The company said they needed to make glass more economically in order to compete and had decided that cutting wages was the best way.
I do like a good wandering cow story! The Newspaper also wrote this: "On Thursday a cow belonging to John Peak, of Widnes, was allowed to go at large, after a lengthened confinement in a shippon [cowshed]. As soon as she found herself at liberty she felt disposed for an airing, and galloped about in various directions, to the vast delight of a crowd of juveniles, who quickened her paces by cheering and shouting.
"The noise so frightened her that she became frantic and ran a muck through the town, overturning several persons who were luckless enough to come in her way. It was some hours before she was finally caught and taken home. No person, fortunately, received any serious hurt through her antics."
On the 24th the body of a female tramp was discovered in the canal at Haydock. The unknown woman was only 26 and her remains were taken to the Waggon and Horses to await an inquest. A man called James Wain was alleged to have told a drinking companion that he had pushed the woman into the water. However he claimed he'd done it as a joke – although Wain admitted it had been a "bad job". The police later arrested the man but he denied any knowledge of what had happened.
The Prescot Reporter described the woman as "evidently of loose character" and said three of her companions had also been taken into police custody. The woman had been walking from Prescot to Wigan but her identity was unknown and there was no evidence of what had happened.
A fire broke out at Greenall's on the 24th, which caused much alarm but did little damage. The brewery chimney was being repaired and they were using wooden scaffolding to gain access to the top. This was set alight by the flue but using their own engine the workmen were able to put out the blaze.
One hundred and fifty years ago it was quite permissible for children as young as eight to be employed in workshops. However the Workshops' Regulations Act of 1867 had restricted 8 to 13-year-olds to half-time working and stipulated that child employees attended school for 10 hours a week. Under sixteen's were also not allowed to work after 9pm, which led to William Rigby's appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th.
The man was a clogger who had been found by an inspector employing boys after nine o’clock. Rigby told the court that his place was a retail shop and not a workshop and so the law did not apply to him. However the Bench found Rigby liable but only fined him one shilling.
Did you know that the Co-operative Stores in Baldwin Street was built on the site of an old workhouse? This had been built in the 1790s as a joint scheme by the Windle and Eccleston townships to care for their paupers. Since its closure in the 1840s the building had been leased to John Anderton for use as a lodging house. He was summoned to the Sessions for having insufficient toilet accommodation for the 42 lodgers in his house. Anderton failed to turn up at the hearing but had previously given an assurance that improvements would be made within 14 days.
John Walsh was charged with stealing a coat from the Bridge Inn in Rainford, which was run by James Roughley. The latter had left his coat in his snug at eleven o’clock at night but it then disappeared. Walsh was working further down Ormskirk Road at Dairy Farm and the police found the coat amongst the labourer's possessions on the farm.
In court Walsh said he had been "beerified" at the time of the theft and put forward his previous good character as extenuation. Stealing clothing was a serious offence but Walsh was sent to prison for just ten days. Before leaving the dock he thanked their "reverences" for their leniency.
Two boys were charged with stealing a pound of black puddings from Henry Massey's shop in Market Street. James McCabe and John Murphy were accused of nicking the puddings after going into the shop to buy some figs. Murphy was acquitted but McCabe was sent to prison for 7 days.
London-born Samuel Gurney kept a drapers shop in London House in Church Street. In the St Helens Newspaper on the 26th he wrote: "Summer Fashions. On Wednesday, May 4th and following days, S. Gurney respectfully announces that he will make a grand display of the latest novelties in millinery and trimmed bonnets, straw hats, &c. He will also show a choice assortment of shawls, mantles, fancy dresses, skirts, parasols, &c." Apparently a mantle is a loose-fitting outer garment similar to a cape.
There was also a letter in the paper from the 'Glass Makers of St. Helens', which was addressed to 'The Gentry and Public of St Helens'. The strikers denied that their wages were being cut by between 10% and 20%, saying the planned reduction by Pilkingtons was actually more than 20%. They also contradicted reports that they had been offered short-time as an alternative to a wage cut and claimed they were already being paid 15% less than another English glassmaker.
Next week's stories will include the freaks of nature at the St Helens Fair, the Rainford miner's family in complete destitution, the May Day horse and cart parade, the Rainhill drunk who thought Yorkshire was another country and the fearfully cold man in a police cell who found a fork and spoon on an Eccleston road.
This week's stories include the drunken cook in Whiston Workhouse, the Pilkington glass strike, the deadly joke played on a tramp at Haydock, the lodgers in the old Baldwin Street workhouse and the man who blamed being "beerified" for thieving from Rainford's Bridge Inn.
We begin on the 20th in St Helens Town Hall (illustrated above) when the annual distribution of the Windle Dole took place.
No details of the amounts received and the beneficiaries were published. However in 1882 there were 200 individuals – described as aged poor – who each received 4 shillings.
Thomas Taylor bequeathed the money in 1684 and consequently the Windle Dole was also known as "Taylor's Charity".
A Grand Miscellaneous Concert was held at Sutton National School on the 20th in aid of the Church Choir Fund.
The Prescot Harmonic Society also performed on that evening in the Courtroom in Prescot along with special guest vocalists.
The Prescot Union Guardians met on the 21st and considered what to do with the workhouse cook who had got herself drunk again!
Mrs Roby had been given a short leave of absence but then returned to the house late and intoxicated. One member suggested making an example of the woman.
The Chairman of the Guardians, Edmund Ward, said he could not see how an example could be made, as Mrs Roby was as "callous as a rhinoceros's hide".
The woman was only paid £9 a year, although she received free room and board.
A popular suggestion from the Guardians was to cut her salary so she would have less cash to spend on drink.
One member suggested reducing her money to £5 a year; another suggested a one-third reduction and another a 50% cut.
Eventually it was decided that she effectively be put on probation for three months.
If during that time she had not been completely sober, the woman's salary would be reduced to £5 and she would be put on pauper rations.
In other words she would be made to eat the food that she cooked for the inmates!
The St Helens Newspaper's headline to its report was "Cooking the Cook's Goose".
The master of the workhouse also informed the Guardians that presently there were not enough able-bodied female inmates to do all the work that needed doing.
That said 298 people were currently in the workhouse, 185 adults and 113 children.
The Guardians also oversaw the weekly relief of "out-door paupers", in other words the very poor within their own homes in the St Helens district.
However they received very little cash. It was revealed at the meeting that during the past six months the cost per head had been 20s 4d.
That is the equivalent of £2 per year, when the average weekly wage was a little over £1. However some relief would only have been on a temporary basis.
There was a bad fire on land at Eccleston on the 21st, which was blamed on arson, as the police discovered a matchbox and burnt paper at the point of ignition.
A neighbouring wood belonging to Thomas Johnson of Catchdale Moss was almost set ablaze but men and boys were brought in to beat out the fire, which was accomplished after an hour.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 23rd updated readers on the strike at Pilkingtons, which had begun five days earlier.
The number of men at the glass factory that had "turned out" (i.e. gone on strike) was not as high as had initially been thought.
Around 200 hands, mainly glass blowers, were striking after being told that the company planned to cut their wages by between 10 and 20%.
This was through competition from French and Belgian competitors who were undercutting Pilkingtons.
The company said they needed to make glass more economically in order to compete and had decided that cutting wages was the best way.
I do like a good wandering cow story! The Newspaper also wrote this:
"On Thursday a cow belonging to John Peak, of Widnes, was allowed to go at large, after a lengthened confinement in a shippon [cowshed].
“As soon as she found herself at liberty she felt disposed for an airing, and galloped about in various directions, to the vast delight of a crowd of juveniles, who quickened her paces by cheering and shouting.
"The noise so frightened her that she became frantic and ran a muck through the town, overturning several persons who were luckless enough to come in her way.
"It was some hours before she was finally caught and taken home. No person, fortunately, received any serious hurt through her antics."
On the 24th the body of a female tramp was discovered in the canal at Haydock.
The unknown woman was only 26 and her remains were taken to the Waggon and Horses to await an inquest.
A man called James Wain was alleged to have told a drinking companion that he had pushed the woman into the water.
However he claimed he'd done it as a joke – although Wain admitted it had been a "bad job".
The police later arrested the man but he denied any knowledge of what had happened.
The Prescot Reporter described the woman as "evidently of loose character" and said three of her companions had also been taken into police custody.
The woman had been walking from Prescot to Wigan but her identity was unknown and there was no evidence of what had happened.
A fire broke out at Greenall's on the 24th, which caused much alarm but did little damage.
The brewery chimney was being repaired and they were using wooden scaffolding to gain access to the top.
This was set alight by the flue but using their own engine the workmen were able to put out the blaze.
One hundred and fifty years ago it was quite permissible for children as young as eight to be employed in workshops.
However the Workshops' Regulations Act of 1867 had restricted 8 to 13-year-olds to half-time working and stipulated that child employees attended school for 10 hours a week.
Under sixteen's were also not allowed to work after 9pm, which led to William Rigby's appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th.
The man was a clogger who had been found by an inspector employing boys after nine o’clock.
Rigby told the court that his place was a retail shop and not a workshop and so the law did not apply to him.
However the Bench found Rigby liable but only fined him one shilling.
Did you know that the Co-operative Stores in Baldwin Street was built on the site of an old workhouse?
This had been built in the 1790s as a joint scheme by the Windle and Eccleston townships to care for their paupers.
Since its closure in the 1840s the building had been leased to John Anderton for use as a lodging house.
He was summoned to the Sessions for having insufficient toilet accommodation for the 42 lodgers in his house.
Anderton failed to turn up at the hearing but had previously given an assurance that improvements would be made within 14 days.
John Walsh was charged with stealing a coat from the Bridge Inn in Rainford, which was run by James Roughley.
The latter had left his coat in his snug at eleven o’clock at night but it then disappeared.
Walsh was working further down Ormskirk Road at Dairy Farm and the police found the coat amongst the labourer's possessions on the farm.
In court Walsh said he had been "beerified" at the time of the theft and put forward his previous good character as extenuation.
Stealing clothing was a serious offence but Walsh was sent to prison for just ten days. Before leaving the dock he thanked their "reverences" for their leniency.
Two boys were charged with stealing a pound of black puddings from Henry Massey's shop in Market Street.
James McCabe and John Murphy were accused of nicking the puddings after going into the shop to buy some figs.
Murphy was acquitted but McCabe was sent to prison for seven days.
London-born Samuel Gurney kept a drapers shop in London House in Church Street. In the St Helens Newspaper on the 26th he wrote:
"Summer Fashions. On Wednesday, May 4th and following days, S. Gurney respectfully announces that he will make a grand display of the latest novelties in millinery and trimmed bonnets, straw hats, &c.
“He will also show a choice assortment of shawls, mantles, fancy dresses, skirts, parasols, &c." Apparently a mantle is a loose-fitting outer garment similar to a cape.
There was also a letter in the paper from the 'Glass Makers of St. Helens', which was addressed to 'The Gentry and Public of St Helens'.
The strikers denied that their wages were being cut by between 10% and 20%, saying the planned reduction by Pilkingtons was actually more than 20%.
They also contradicted reports that they had been offered short-time as an alternative to a wage cut and claimed they were already being paid 15% less than another English glassmaker.
Next week's stories will include the freaks of nature at the St Helens Fair, the Rainford miner's family in complete destitution, the May Day horse and cart parade, the Rainhill drunk who thought Yorkshire was another country and the fearfully cold man in a police cell who found a fork and spoon on an Eccleston road.
No details of the amounts received and the beneficiaries were published. However in 1882 there were 200 individuals – described as aged poor – who each received 4 shillings.
Thomas Taylor bequeathed the money in 1684 and consequently the Windle Dole was also known as "Taylor's Charity".
A Grand Miscellaneous Concert was held at Sutton National School on the 20th in aid of the Church Choir Fund.
The Prescot Harmonic Society also performed on that evening in the Courtroom in Prescot along with special guest vocalists.
The Prescot Union Guardians met on the 21st and considered what to do with the workhouse cook who had got herself drunk again!
Mrs Roby had been given a short leave of absence but then returned to the house late and intoxicated. One member suggested making an example of the woman.
The Chairman of the Guardians, Edmund Ward, said he could not see how an example could be made, as Mrs Roby was as "callous as a rhinoceros's hide".
The woman was only paid £9 a year, although she received free room and board.
A popular suggestion from the Guardians was to cut her salary so she would have less cash to spend on drink.
One member suggested reducing her money to £5 a year; another suggested a one-third reduction and another a 50% cut.
Eventually it was decided that she effectively be put on probation for three months.
If during that time she had not been completely sober, the woman's salary would be reduced to £5 and she would be put on pauper rations.
In other words she would be made to eat the food that she cooked for the inmates!
The St Helens Newspaper's headline to its report was "Cooking the Cook's Goose".
The master of the workhouse also informed the Guardians that presently there were not enough able-bodied female inmates to do all the work that needed doing.
That said 298 people were currently in the workhouse, 185 adults and 113 children.
The Guardians also oversaw the weekly relief of "out-door paupers", in other words the very poor within their own homes in the St Helens district.
However they received very little cash. It was revealed at the meeting that during the past six months the cost per head had been 20s 4d.
That is the equivalent of £2 per year, when the average weekly wage was a little over £1. However some relief would only have been on a temporary basis.
There was a bad fire on land at Eccleston on the 21st, which was blamed on arson, as the police discovered a matchbox and burnt paper at the point of ignition.
A neighbouring wood belonging to Thomas Johnson of Catchdale Moss was almost set ablaze but men and boys were brought in to beat out the fire, which was accomplished after an hour.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 23rd updated readers on the strike at Pilkingtons, which had begun five days earlier.
The number of men at the glass factory that had "turned out" (i.e. gone on strike) was not as high as had initially been thought.
Around 200 hands, mainly glass blowers, were striking after being told that the company planned to cut their wages by between 10 and 20%.
This was through competition from French and Belgian competitors who were undercutting Pilkingtons.
The company said they needed to make glass more economically in order to compete and had decided that cutting wages was the best way.
I do like a good wandering cow story! The Newspaper also wrote this:
"On Thursday a cow belonging to John Peak, of Widnes, was allowed to go at large, after a lengthened confinement in a shippon [cowshed].
“As soon as she found herself at liberty she felt disposed for an airing, and galloped about in various directions, to the vast delight of a crowd of juveniles, who quickened her paces by cheering and shouting.
"The noise so frightened her that she became frantic and ran a muck through the town, overturning several persons who were luckless enough to come in her way.
"It was some hours before she was finally caught and taken home. No person, fortunately, received any serious hurt through her antics."
On the 24th the body of a female tramp was discovered in the canal at Haydock.
The unknown woman was only 26 and her remains were taken to the Waggon and Horses to await an inquest.
A man called James Wain was alleged to have told a drinking companion that he had pushed the woman into the water.
However he claimed he'd done it as a joke – although Wain admitted it had been a "bad job".
The police later arrested the man but he denied any knowledge of what had happened.
The Prescot Reporter described the woman as "evidently of loose character" and said three of her companions had also been taken into police custody.
The woman had been walking from Prescot to Wigan but her identity was unknown and there was no evidence of what had happened.
A fire broke out at Greenall's on the 24th, which caused much alarm but did little damage.
The brewery chimney was being repaired and they were using wooden scaffolding to gain access to the top.
This was set alight by the flue but using their own engine the workmen were able to put out the blaze.
One hundred and fifty years ago it was quite permissible for children as young as eight to be employed in workshops.
However the Workshops' Regulations Act of 1867 had restricted 8 to 13-year-olds to half-time working and stipulated that child employees attended school for 10 hours a week.
Under sixteen's were also not allowed to work after 9pm, which led to William Rigby's appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions on the 25th.
The man was a clogger who had been found by an inspector employing boys after nine o’clock.
Rigby told the court that his place was a retail shop and not a workshop and so the law did not apply to him.
However the Bench found Rigby liable but only fined him one shilling.
Did you know that the Co-operative Stores in Baldwin Street was built on the site of an old workhouse?
This had been built in the 1790s as a joint scheme by the Windle and Eccleston townships to care for their paupers.
Since its closure in the 1840s the building had been leased to John Anderton for use as a lodging house.
He was summoned to the Sessions for having insufficient toilet accommodation for the 42 lodgers in his house.
Anderton failed to turn up at the hearing but had previously given an assurance that improvements would be made within 14 days.
John Walsh was charged with stealing a coat from the Bridge Inn in Rainford, which was run by James Roughley.
The latter had left his coat in his snug at eleven o’clock at night but it then disappeared.
Walsh was working further down Ormskirk Road at Dairy Farm and the police found the coat amongst the labourer's possessions on the farm.
In court Walsh said he had been "beerified" at the time of the theft and put forward his previous good character as extenuation.
Stealing clothing was a serious offence but Walsh was sent to prison for just ten days. Before leaving the dock he thanked their "reverences" for their leniency.
Two boys were charged with stealing a pound of black puddings from Henry Massey's shop in Market Street.
James McCabe and John Murphy were accused of nicking the puddings after going into the shop to buy some figs.
Murphy was acquitted but McCabe was sent to prison for seven days.
London-born Samuel Gurney kept a drapers shop in London House in Church Street. In the St Helens Newspaper on the 26th he wrote:
"Summer Fashions. On Wednesday, May 4th and following days, S. Gurney respectfully announces that he will make a grand display of the latest novelties in millinery and trimmed bonnets, straw hats, &c.
“He will also show a choice assortment of shawls, mantles, fancy dresses, skirts, parasols, &c." Apparently a mantle is a loose-fitting outer garment similar to a cape.
There was also a letter in the paper from the 'Glass Makers of St. Helens', which was addressed to 'The Gentry and Public of St Helens'.
The strikers denied that their wages were being cut by between 10% and 20%, saying the planned reduction by Pilkingtons was actually more than 20%.
They also contradicted reports that they had been offered short-time as an alternative to a wage cut and claimed they were already being paid 15% less than another English glassmaker.
Next week's stories will include the freaks of nature at the St Helens Fair, the Rainford miner's family in complete destitution, the May Day horse and cart parade, the Rainhill drunk who thought Yorkshire was another country and the fearfully cold man in a police cell who found a fork and spoon on an Eccleston road.