150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 20 - 26 MAY 1874
This week's many stories include the filthy lodging houses of Prescot, how a wet Whit Monday was celebrated in St Helens, the ticket-of-leave man that attacked a policeman in Salisbury Street, the abusive beggar in Sutton and the battered wife that asked the Bench to be lenient with her husband.
We begin on the 23rd with a meeting of St Helens Highways Committee in which a claim by a man named Barnett for the breaking of his child's leg was considered. A Corporation flag that had been leaning against a wall for use by workmen undertaking street work had fallen on the boy. But you didn't get compensation very easily from St Helens Council and the committee ruled that the heavy flag would not have fallen on its own accord and so rejected the claim.
The committee also gave instructions to their surveyor to install sewers along the whole of Peasley Cross Lane and to charge the property owners for the cost. They were entitled to do that under the existing law. But plans to rebuild Merton Bank bridge were put on hold as the committee decided that the structure was capable of lasting a few more years.
There was no such thing as paid holidays in the 1870s and so giving staff a day off was a mixed blessing for them as they lost a day's income. But shop workers in particular worked very long hours and so, no doubt, welcomed some rare time off to themselves. On the 23rd the St Helens Newspaper had this to say about the forthcoming Whit Monday, which was not an official Bank Holiday:
"In accordance with a custom which is becoming more extensively observed every year, a number of the tradesmen and employers of labour in St. Helens will close their establishments next Monday, in order to give those in their employment the opportunity of enjoying a holiday. It is to be regretted that the closing will not be more general, and Whit-Monday treated with at least as much respect as Race Friday; but we are glad to see that it promises ere long to become one of the most popular play-days of the year.
"Temperance demonstrations are arranged, and they will afford thousands of children an opportunity of enjoying the afternoon in a very pleasant manner, should the weather prove favourable. The Parish Church children go to Thatto Heath, the children of the Band of Hope Union to Sherdley Park, and Father Turner's juvenile disciples to Denton's Green."
Most people in the 1870s had short lives – but there were always exceptions. The Prescot Reporter on the 23rd described how John Rosebury, a 105-year-old hawker had applied to have his pedlar's certificate renewed. The paper said Mr Rosebury had been born in Whitby in 1769 and had lived in Leeds since 1793. In addition to his father and wife, he had buried 17 sons and five daughters. "He has a surprising memory," continued the Reporter. "He never travels by coach or rail, but walks all his journeys."
In another national story the Prescot Reporter described how Victorian cricket star W. G. Grace had scored 259 runs in one innings this week, "off his own bat, and [he] showed tremendous hitting powers; and his sixes and fours out of bounds were greatly cheered."
The Reporter also continued its campaign against the shocking state of many properties in Prescot with its main target this week being lodging houses. A number of keepers had recently been fined between 2 and 10 shillings for allowing their properties to be in a filthy condition. The paper called for such inspections to be more frequent, writing:
"The houses must be inspected frequently and no leniency be shown to those who prefer filth to cleanliness. People cannot live in bad-smelling, damp, unhealthy houses, and yet lead exemplary moral and religious lives. Uncomfortable homes make men and women lead uncomfortable lives, and discomfort leads to the home being neglected, and habits acquired and indulged which are alike prejudicial to both health and happiness.
"The preacher may moralize and the journalist may write, until the tongue fails, or the pen is worn out, but neither will prove successful in improving the sobriety and morals of people who have to live under conditions which make them feel little better than dumb animals. The moral and religious improvement of the working-classes in this town will commence with clean, healthy, comfortable homes."
The term "ticket-of-leave" was given to those persons allowed to leave prison before the completion of their sentence – what we would call "on licence". Such individuals had to carry their permit (aka ticket) with them at all times and fulfil certain conditions. These were:
1. The Holder shall preserve his Licence and produce it when called upon to do so by a Magistrate or Police Officer. 2. He shall abstain from any Violation of the Law. 3. He shall not habitually associate with notorious bad Characters, such as reputed Thieves and Prostitutes. 4. He shall not lead an idle and dissolute Life without visible means of obtaining an honest Livelihood.
John Sloan was a ticket-of-leave man and he appeared in the Petty Sessions this week charged with assaulting the police. The St Helens Newspaper described Sloan as a "very unattractive looking character" as they explained how a fight had taken place in Salisbury Street. A policeman had made an arrest but as he was trying to get his man to the station, he was pushed, struck and kicked by Sloan.
Superintendent James Ludlam was in charge of St Helens police and he described Sloan to the magistrates as one of the "very worst characters" in St Helens. As a ticket-of-leave man, he said, Sloan had often had to return to prison and the magistrates decided to given him a further six months.
The annual Grand Gala took place at the Victoria Pleasure Gardens in Thatto Heath on the 25th. That was also Whit Monday and a military band played, with admission costing sixpence. Charles Whittle owned the gardens, whose location was close to present day Whittle Street.
On the following day the Liverpool Mercury wrote: "Whit-Monday, which a few years ago was hardly noticed in St. Helens, is now pretty generally observed as a holiday. Unfortunately, yesterday the weather was so unfavourable as to discourage out door pleasuring, and therefore the trains carried away less than their usual freights of excursionists."
Several hundred did go to Manchester and "great numbers" to Liverpool and other places. Other activities took place in St Helens but they were limited because of the rain. However, 5,000 persons, mainly children, did take part in the temperance processions that the St Helens Newspaper had mentioned earlier in this article. The Wigan Observer in its report said:
"The Church of England [Temperance] Society, defying the weather, went to a field at Thatto Heath, accompanied by several bands, including that of the Kirkdale Refuge, and a band contest took place during the afternoon. The processions through the town, with their myriad flags, nearly a score of bands, and endless array of children, were a remarkably striking scene."
The chances of survival from serious injuries were low in the 1870s, with little hospital treatment available to support the body in coping with severe shock. On the 26th Joseph Waring from Parr Stocks died from the burns he had received a week earlier at Peasley Cross Colliery. An explosion caused by an ignition of gas had severely burnt Joseph on his head, breast and sides. On the same day William Critchley lost his life at Pilkingtons glassworks (pictured above) in a bizarre accident in which he had been trapped in an 11-inch gap between two flattening tables.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 26th there was another example of a brutal husband blaming his wife for his vicious attack upon her. Thomas Garrity was charged with a serious assault on his wife but claimed she had been drunk when he came home for his dinner and so had decided to give her a "dowse or two". The man was remanded in custody until his wife could be brought forward as a witness. That occurred on the following day when Mrs Garrity asked the Bench to withdraw the prosecution.
That was on the grounds that she had several young children to look after and her husband had promised to sign the pledge and become a teetotaller. It was the pragmatic approach taken by many battered women at that time. They calculated that they would be better off having a working husband living with them and bringing in a regular wage, even if there was a strong possibility of a relapse of violence. The Chairman of the Bench said they could not allow brutes of husbands to abuse their wives but in this case they would let Garrity off on payment of 6s 6d.
Two men who had come from Glasgow to work in the St Helens bottlemaking industry were this week told by the Bench to go back home. That was after John Diamond and Richard Hassan had drunkenly assaulted the wonderfully named PC Sheriff in Kirkland Street in St Helens.
Another constable told the court that as many as four officers had considerable difficulty in arresting the two men. The Chairman of the Bench told Diamond and Hassan that if the pair was of the class they seemed – in other words drunken louts – they should return to Glasgow. Hassan was fined 10 shillings and Diamond 15 shillings, plus the usual costs.
And when Phillip McCabe appeared in the Petty Sessions this week to face a charge of begging in Sutton, the St Helens Newspaper described him as having a "disreputable and lazy look about him". McCabe had gone to one house and asked for assistance from the woman who answered the door.
Upon being refused any money he became very abusive to her. When she attempted to close the door upon him, he pushed it back against her with such force that she was almost thrown down. McCabe then went to the next house and was exceedingly abusive to the occupier there. The magistrates sent Phillip McCabe to prison for a month with hard labour.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the highway robbery in a Croppers Hill railway tunnel, more wife beating in St Helens, the strange stabbing case in Gerards Bridge and the St Helens Newspaper predicts that cremation will never become popular.
We begin on the 23rd with a meeting of St Helens Highways Committee in which a claim by a man named Barnett for the breaking of his child's leg was considered. A Corporation flag that had been leaning against a wall for use by workmen undertaking street work had fallen on the boy. But you didn't get compensation very easily from St Helens Council and the committee ruled that the heavy flag would not have fallen on its own accord and so rejected the claim.
The committee also gave instructions to their surveyor to install sewers along the whole of Peasley Cross Lane and to charge the property owners for the cost. They were entitled to do that under the existing law. But plans to rebuild Merton Bank bridge were put on hold as the committee decided that the structure was capable of lasting a few more years.
There was no such thing as paid holidays in the 1870s and so giving staff a day off was a mixed blessing for them as they lost a day's income. But shop workers in particular worked very long hours and so, no doubt, welcomed some rare time off to themselves. On the 23rd the St Helens Newspaper had this to say about the forthcoming Whit Monday, which was not an official Bank Holiday:
"In accordance with a custom which is becoming more extensively observed every year, a number of the tradesmen and employers of labour in St. Helens will close their establishments next Monday, in order to give those in their employment the opportunity of enjoying a holiday. It is to be regretted that the closing will not be more general, and Whit-Monday treated with at least as much respect as Race Friday; but we are glad to see that it promises ere long to become one of the most popular play-days of the year.
"Temperance demonstrations are arranged, and they will afford thousands of children an opportunity of enjoying the afternoon in a very pleasant manner, should the weather prove favourable. The Parish Church children go to Thatto Heath, the children of the Band of Hope Union to Sherdley Park, and Father Turner's juvenile disciples to Denton's Green."
Most people in the 1870s had short lives – but there were always exceptions. The Prescot Reporter on the 23rd described how John Rosebury, a 105-year-old hawker had applied to have his pedlar's certificate renewed. The paper said Mr Rosebury had been born in Whitby in 1769 and had lived in Leeds since 1793. In addition to his father and wife, he had buried 17 sons and five daughters. "He has a surprising memory," continued the Reporter. "He never travels by coach or rail, but walks all his journeys."
In another national story the Prescot Reporter described how Victorian cricket star W. G. Grace had scored 259 runs in one innings this week, "off his own bat, and [he] showed tremendous hitting powers; and his sixes and fours out of bounds were greatly cheered."
The Reporter also continued its campaign against the shocking state of many properties in Prescot with its main target this week being lodging houses. A number of keepers had recently been fined between 2 and 10 shillings for allowing their properties to be in a filthy condition. The paper called for such inspections to be more frequent, writing:
"The houses must be inspected frequently and no leniency be shown to those who prefer filth to cleanliness. People cannot live in bad-smelling, damp, unhealthy houses, and yet lead exemplary moral and religious lives. Uncomfortable homes make men and women lead uncomfortable lives, and discomfort leads to the home being neglected, and habits acquired and indulged which are alike prejudicial to both health and happiness.
"The preacher may moralize and the journalist may write, until the tongue fails, or the pen is worn out, but neither will prove successful in improving the sobriety and morals of people who have to live under conditions which make them feel little better than dumb animals. The moral and religious improvement of the working-classes in this town will commence with clean, healthy, comfortable homes."
The term "ticket-of-leave" was given to those persons allowed to leave prison before the completion of their sentence – what we would call "on licence". Such individuals had to carry their permit (aka ticket) with them at all times and fulfil certain conditions. These were:
1. The Holder shall preserve his Licence and produce it when called upon to do so by a Magistrate or Police Officer. 2. He shall abstain from any Violation of the Law. 3. He shall not habitually associate with notorious bad Characters, such as reputed Thieves and Prostitutes. 4. He shall not lead an idle and dissolute Life without visible means of obtaining an honest Livelihood.
John Sloan was a ticket-of-leave man and he appeared in the Petty Sessions this week charged with assaulting the police. The St Helens Newspaper described Sloan as a "very unattractive looking character" as they explained how a fight had taken place in Salisbury Street. A policeman had made an arrest but as he was trying to get his man to the station, he was pushed, struck and kicked by Sloan.
Superintendent James Ludlam was in charge of St Helens police and he described Sloan to the magistrates as one of the "very worst characters" in St Helens. As a ticket-of-leave man, he said, Sloan had often had to return to prison and the magistrates decided to given him a further six months.
The annual Grand Gala took place at the Victoria Pleasure Gardens in Thatto Heath on the 25th. That was also Whit Monday and a military band played, with admission costing sixpence. Charles Whittle owned the gardens, whose location was close to present day Whittle Street.
On the following day the Liverpool Mercury wrote: "Whit-Monday, which a few years ago was hardly noticed in St. Helens, is now pretty generally observed as a holiday. Unfortunately, yesterday the weather was so unfavourable as to discourage out door pleasuring, and therefore the trains carried away less than their usual freights of excursionists."
Several hundred did go to Manchester and "great numbers" to Liverpool and other places. Other activities took place in St Helens but they were limited because of the rain. However, 5,000 persons, mainly children, did take part in the temperance processions that the St Helens Newspaper had mentioned earlier in this article. The Wigan Observer in its report said:
"The Church of England [Temperance] Society, defying the weather, went to a field at Thatto Heath, accompanied by several bands, including that of the Kirkdale Refuge, and a band contest took place during the afternoon. The processions through the town, with their myriad flags, nearly a score of bands, and endless array of children, were a remarkably striking scene."
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 26th there was another example of a brutal husband blaming his wife for his vicious attack upon her. Thomas Garrity was charged with a serious assault on his wife but claimed she had been drunk when he came home for his dinner and so had decided to give her a "dowse or two". The man was remanded in custody until his wife could be brought forward as a witness. That occurred on the following day when Mrs Garrity asked the Bench to withdraw the prosecution.
That was on the grounds that she had several young children to look after and her husband had promised to sign the pledge and become a teetotaller. It was the pragmatic approach taken by many battered women at that time. They calculated that they would be better off having a working husband living with them and bringing in a regular wage, even if there was a strong possibility of a relapse of violence. The Chairman of the Bench said they could not allow brutes of husbands to abuse their wives but in this case they would let Garrity off on payment of 6s 6d.
Two men who had come from Glasgow to work in the St Helens bottlemaking industry were this week told by the Bench to go back home. That was after John Diamond and Richard Hassan had drunkenly assaulted the wonderfully named PC Sheriff in Kirkland Street in St Helens.
Another constable told the court that as many as four officers had considerable difficulty in arresting the two men. The Chairman of the Bench told Diamond and Hassan that if the pair was of the class they seemed – in other words drunken louts – they should return to Glasgow. Hassan was fined 10 shillings and Diamond 15 shillings, plus the usual costs.
And when Phillip McCabe appeared in the Petty Sessions this week to face a charge of begging in Sutton, the St Helens Newspaper described him as having a "disreputable and lazy look about him". McCabe had gone to one house and asked for assistance from the woman who answered the door.
Upon being refused any money he became very abusive to her. When she attempted to close the door upon him, he pushed it back against her with such force that she was almost thrown down. McCabe then went to the next house and was exceedingly abusive to the occupier there. The magistrates sent Phillip McCabe to prison for a month with hard labour.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the highway robbery in a Croppers Hill railway tunnel, more wife beating in St Helens, the strange stabbing case in Gerards Bridge and the St Helens Newspaper predicts that cremation will never become popular.
This week's many stories include the filthy lodging houses of Prescot, how a wet Whit Monday was celebrated in St Helens, the ticket-of-leave man that attacked a policeman in Salisbury Street, the abusive beggar in Sutton and the battered wife that asked the Bench to be lenient with her husband.
We begin on the 23rd with a meeting of St Helens Highways Committee in which a claim by a man named Barnett for the breaking of his child's leg was considered.
A Corporation flag that had been leaning against a wall for use by workmen undertaking street work had fallen on the boy.
But you didn't get compensation very easily from St Helens Council and the committee ruled that the heavy flag would not have fallen on its own accord and so rejected the claim.
The committee also gave instructions to their surveyor to install sewers along the whole of Peasley Cross Lane and to charge the property owners for the cost. They were entitled to do that under the existing law.
But plans to rebuild Merton Bank bridge were put on hold as the committee decided that the structure was capable of lasting a few more years.
There was no such thing as paid holidays in the 1870s and so giving staff a day off was a mixed blessing for them as they lost a day's income.
But shop workers in particular worked very long hours and so, no doubt, welcomed some rare time off to themselves.
On the 23rd the St Helens Newspaper had this to say about the forthcoming Whit Monday, which was not an official Bank Holiday:
"In accordance with a custom which is becoming more extensively observed every year, a number of the tradesmen and employers of labour in St. Helens will close their establishments next Monday, in order to give those in their employment the opportunity of enjoying a holiday.
"It is to be regretted that the closing will not be more general, and Whit-Monday treated with at least as much respect as Race Friday; but we are glad to see that it promises ere long to become one of the most popular play-days of the year.
"Temperance demonstrations are arranged, and they will afford thousands of children an opportunity of enjoying the afternoon in a very pleasant manner, should the weather prove favourable.
"The Parish Church children go to Thatto Heath, the children of the Band of Hope Union to Sherdley Park, and Father Turner's juvenile disciples to Denton's Green."
Most people in the 1870s had short lives – but there were always exceptions.
The Prescot Reporter on the 23rd described how John Rosebury, a 105-year-old hawker had applied to have his pedlar's certificate renewed.
The paper said Mr Rosebury had been born in Whitby in 1769 and had lived in Leeds since 1793.
In addition to his father and wife, he had buried 17 sons and five daughters. "He has a surprising memory," continued the Reporter. "He never travels by coach or rail, but walks all his journeys."
In another national story the Prescot Reporter described how Victorian cricket star W. G. Grace had scored 259 runs in one innings this week, "off his own bat, and [he] showed tremendous hitting powers; and his sixes and fours out of bounds were greatly cheered."
The Reporter also continued its campaign against the shocking state of many properties in Prescot with its main target this week being lodging houses.
A number of keepers had recently been fined between 2 and 10 shillings for allowing their properties to be in a filthy condition. The paper called for such inspections to be more frequent, writing:
"The houses must be inspected frequently and no leniency be shown to those who prefer filth to cleanliness.
"People cannot live in bad-smelling, damp, unhealthy houses, and yet lead exemplary moral and religious lives.
"Uncomfortable homes make men and women lead uncomfortable lives, and discomfort leads to the home being neglected, and habits acquired and indulged which are alike prejudicial to both health and happiness.
"The preacher may moralize and the journalist may write, until the tongue fails, or the pen is worn out, but neither will prove successful in improving the sobriety and morals of people who have to live under conditions which make them feel little better than dumb animals.
"The moral and religious improvement of the working-classes in this town will commence with clean, healthy, comfortable homes."
The term "ticket-of-leave" was given to those persons allowed to leave prison before the completion of their sentence – what we would call "on licence".
Such individuals had to carry their permit (aka ticket) with them at all times and fulfil certain conditions. These were:
1. The Holder shall preserve his Licence and produce it when called upon to do so by a Magistrate or Police Officer. 2. He shall abstain from any Violation of the Law. 3. He shall not habitually associate with notorious bad Characters, such as reputed Thieves and Prostitutes. 4. He shall not lead an idle and dissolute Life without visible means of obtaining an honest Livelihood.
John Sloan was a ticket-of-leave man and he appeared in the Petty Sessions this week charged with assaulting the police.
The St Helens Newspaper described Sloan as a "very unattractive looking character" as they explained how a fight had taken place in Salisbury Street.
A policeman had made an arrest but as he was trying to get his man to the station, he was pushed, struck and kicked by Sloan.
Superintendent James Ludlam was in charge of St Helens police and he described Sloan to the magistrates as one of the "very worst characters" in St Helens.
As a ticket-of-leave man, he said, Sloan had often had to return to prison and the magistrates decided to given him a further six months.
The annual Grand Gala took place at the Victoria Pleasure Gardens in Thatto Heath on the 25th.
That was also Whit Monday and a military band played, with admission costing sixpence.
Charles Whittle owned the gardens, whose location was close to present day Whittle Street.
On the following day the Liverpool Mercury wrote:
"Whit-Monday, which a few years ago was hardly noticed in St. Helens, is now pretty generally observed as a holiday.
"Unfortunately, yesterday the weather was so unfavourable as to discourage out door pleasuring, and therefore the trains carried away less than their usual freights of excursionists."
Several hundred did go to Manchester and "great numbers" to Liverpool and other places.
Other activities took place in St Helens but they were limited because of the rain.
However, 5,000 persons, mainly children, did take part in the temperance processions that the St Helens Newspaper had mentioned earlier in this article. The Wigan Observer in its report said:
"The Church of England [Temperance] Society, defying the weather, went to a field at Thatto Heath, accompanied by several bands, including that of the Kirkdale Refuge, and a band contest took place during the afternoon.
"The processions through the town, with their myriad flags, nearly a score of bands, and endless array of children, were a remarkably striking scene."
The chances of survival from serious injuries were low in the 1870s, with little hospital treatment available to support the body in coping with severe shock.
On the 26th Joseph Waring from Parr Stocks died from the burns he had received a week earlier at Peasley Cross Colliery.
An explosion caused by an ignition of gas had severely burnt Joseph on his head, breast and sides.
On the same day William Critchley lost his life at Pilkingtons glassworks (pictured above) in a bizarre accident in which he had been trapped in an 11-inch gap between two flattening tables.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 26th there was another example of a brutal husband blaming his wife for his vicious attack upon her.
Thomas Garrity was charged with a serious assault on his wife but claimed she had been drunk when he came home for his dinner and so had decided to give her a "dowse or two".
The man was remanded in custody until his wife could be brought forward as a witness.
That occurred on the following day when Mrs Garrity asked the Bench to withdraw the prosecution.
That was on the grounds that she had several young children to look after and her husband had promised to sign the pledge and become a teetotaller.
It was the pragmatic approach taken by many battered women at that time.
They calculated that they would be better off having a working husband living with them and bringing in a regular wage, even if there was a strong possibility of a relapse of violence.
The Chairman of the Bench said they could not allow brutes of husbands to abuse their wives but in this case they would let Garrity off on payment of 6s 6d.
Two men who had come from Glasgow to work in the St Helens bottlemaking industry were this week told by the Bench to go back home.
That was after John Diamond and Richard Hassan had drunkenly assaulted the wonderfully named PC Sheriff in Kirkland Street in St Helens.
Another constable told the court that as many as four officers had considerable difficulty in arresting the two men.
The Chairman of the Bench told Diamond and Hassan that if the pair was of the class they seemed – in other words drunken louts – they should return to Glasgow.
Hassan was fined 10 shillings and Diamond 15 shillings, plus the usual costs.
And when Phillip McCabe appeared in the Petty Sessions this week to face a charge of begging in Sutton, the St Helens Newspaper described him as having a "disreputable and lazy look about him".
McCabe had gone to one house and asked for assistance from the woman who answered the door.
Upon being refused any money he became very abusive to her. When she attempted to close the door upon him, he pushed it back against her with such force that she was almost thrown down.
McCabe then went to the next house and was exceedingly abusive to the occupier there.
The magistrates sent Phillip McCabe to prison for a month with hard labour.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the highway robbery in a Croppers Hill railway tunnel, more wife beating in St Helens, the strange stabbing case in Gerards Bridge and the St Helens Newspaper predicts that cremation will never become popular.
We begin on the 23rd with a meeting of St Helens Highways Committee in which a claim by a man named Barnett for the breaking of his child's leg was considered.
A Corporation flag that had been leaning against a wall for use by workmen undertaking street work had fallen on the boy.
But you didn't get compensation very easily from St Helens Council and the committee ruled that the heavy flag would not have fallen on its own accord and so rejected the claim.
The committee also gave instructions to their surveyor to install sewers along the whole of Peasley Cross Lane and to charge the property owners for the cost. They were entitled to do that under the existing law.
But plans to rebuild Merton Bank bridge were put on hold as the committee decided that the structure was capable of lasting a few more years.
There was no such thing as paid holidays in the 1870s and so giving staff a day off was a mixed blessing for them as they lost a day's income.
But shop workers in particular worked very long hours and so, no doubt, welcomed some rare time off to themselves.
On the 23rd the St Helens Newspaper had this to say about the forthcoming Whit Monday, which was not an official Bank Holiday:
"In accordance with a custom which is becoming more extensively observed every year, a number of the tradesmen and employers of labour in St. Helens will close their establishments next Monday, in order to give those in their employment the opportunity of enjoying a holiday.
"It is to be regretted that the closing will not be more general, and Whit-Monday treated with at least as much respect as Race Friday; but we are glad to see that it promises ere long to become one of the most popular play-days of the year.
"Temperance demonstrations are arranged, and they will afford thousands of children an opportunity of enjoying the afternoon in a very pleasant manner, should the weather prove favourable.
"The Parish Church children go to Thatto Heath, the children of the Band of Hope Union to Sherdley Park, and Father Turner's juvenile disciples to Denton's Green."
Most people in the 1870s had short lives – but there were always exceptions.
The Prescot Reporter on the 23rd described how John Rosebury, a 105-year-old hawker had applied to have his pedlar's certificate renewed.
The paper said Mr Rosebury had been born in Whitby in 1769 and had lived in Leeds since 1793.
In addition to his father and wife, he had buried 17 sons and five daughters. "He has a surprising memory," continued the Reporter. "He never travels by coach or rail, but walks all his journeys."
In another national story the Prescot Reporter described how Victorian cricket star W. G. Grace had scored 259 runs in one innings this week, "off his own bat, and [he] showed tremendous hitting powers; and his sixes and fours out of bounds were greatly cheered."
The Reporter also continued its campaign against the shocking state of many properties in Prescot with its main target this week being lodging houses.
A number of keepers had recently been fined between 2 and 10 shillings for allowing their properties to be in a filthy condition. The paper called for such inspections to be more frequent, writing:
"The houses must be inspected frequently and no leniency be shown to those who prefer filth to cleanliness.
"People cannot live in bad-smelling, damp, unhealthy houses, and yet lead exemplary moral and religious lives.
"Uncomfortable homes make men and women lead uncomfortable lives, and discomfort leads to the home being neglected, and habits acquired and indulged which are alike prejudicial to both health and happiness.
"The preacher may moralize and the journalist may write, until the tongue fails, or the pen is worn out, but neither will prove successful in improving the sobriety and morals of people who have to live under conditions which make them feel little better than dumb animals.
"The moral and religious improvement of the working-classes in this town will commence with clean, healthy, comfortable homes."
The term "ticket-of-leave" was given to those persons allowed to leave prison before the completion of their sentence – what we would call "on licence".
Such individuals had to carry their permit (aka ticket) with them at all times and fulfil certain conditions. These were:
1. The Holder shall preserve his Licence and produce it when called upon to do so by a Magistrate or Police Officer. 2. He shall abstain from any Violation of the Law. 3. He shall not habitually associate with notorious bad Characters, such as reputed Thieves and Prostitutes. 4. He shall not lead an idle and dissolute Life without visible means of obtaining an honest Livelihood.
John Sloan was a ticket-of-leave man and he appeared in the Petty Sessions this week charged with assaulting the police.
The St Helens Newspaper described Sloan as a "very unattractive looking character" as they explained how a fight had taken place in Salisbury Street.
A policeman had made an arrest but as he was trying to get his man to the station, he was pushed, struck and kicked by Sloan.
Superintendent James Ludlam was in charge of St Helens police and he described Sloan to the magistrates as one of the "very worst characters" in St Helens.
As a ticket-of-leave man, he said, Sloan had often had to return to prison and the magistrates decided to given him a further six months.
The annual Grand Gala took place at the Victoria Pleasure Gardens in Thatto Heath on the 25th.
That was also Whit Monday and a military band played, with admission costing sixpence.
Charles Whittle owned the gardens, whose location was close to present day Whittle Street.
On the following day the Liverpool Mercury wrote:
"Whit-Monday, which a few years ago was hardly noticed in St. Helens, is now pretty generally observed as a holiday.
"Unfortunately, yesterday the weather was so unfavourable as to discourage out door pleasuring, and therefore the trains carried away less than their usual freights of excursionists."
Several hundred did go to Manchester and "great numbers" to Liverpool and other places.
Other activities took place in St Helens but they were limited because of the rain.
However, 5,000 persons, mainly children, did take part in the temperance processions that the St Helens Newspaper had mentioned earlier in this article. The Wigan Observer in its report said:
"The Church of England [Temperance] Society, defying the weather, went to a field at Thatto Heath, accompanied by several bands, including that of the Kirkdale Refuge, and a band contest took place during the afternoon.
"The processions through the town, with their myriad flags, nearly a score of bands, and endless array of children, were a remarkably striking scene."
The chances of survival from serious injuries were low in the 1870s, with little hospital treatment available to support the body in coping with severe shock.
On the 26th Joseph Waring from Parr Stocks died from the burns he had received a week earlier at Peasley Cross Colliery.
An explosion caused by an ignition of gas had severely burnt Joseph on his head, breast and sides.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 26th there was another example of a brutal husband blaming his wife for his vicious attack upon her.
Thomas Garrity was charged with a serious assault on his wife but claimed she had been drunk when he came home for his dinner and so had decided to give her a "dowse or two".
The man was remanded in custody until his wife could be brought forward as a witness.
That occurred on the following day when Mrs Garrity asked the Bench to withdraw the prosecution.
That was on the grounds that she had several young children to look after and her husband had promised to sign the pledge and become a teetotaller.
It was the pragmatic approach taken by many battered women at that time.
They calculated that they would be better off having a working husband living with them and bringing in a regular wage, even if there was a strong possibility of a relapse of violence.
The Chairman of the Bench said they could not allow brutes of husbands to abuse their wives but in this case they would let Garrity off on payment of 6s 6d.
Two men who had come from Glasgow to work in the St Helens bottlemaking industry were this week told by the Bench to go back home.
That was after John Diamond and Richard Hassan had drunkenly assaulted the wonderfully named PC Sheriff in Kirkland Street in St Helens.
Another constable told the court that as many as four officers had considerable difficulty in arresting the two men.
The Chairman of the Bench told Diamond and Hassan that if the pair was of the class they seemed – in other words drunken louts – they should return to Glasgow.
Hassan was fined 10 shillings and Diamond 15 shillings, plus the usual costs.
And when Phillip McCabe appeared in the Petty Sessions this week to face a charge of begging in Sutton, the St Helens Newspaper described him as having a "disreputable and lazy look about him".
McCabe had gone to one house and asked for assistance from the woman who answered the door.
Upon being refused any money he became very abusive to her. When she attempted to close the door upon him, he pushed it back against her with such force that she was almost thrown down.
McCabe then went to the next house and was exceedingly abusive to the occupier there.
The magistrates sent Phillip McCabe to prison for a month with hard labour.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the highway robbery in a Croppers Hill railway tunnel, more wife beating in St Helens, the strange stabbing case in Gerards Bridge and the St Helens Newspaper predicts that cremation will never become popular.