150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (22nd - 28th MARCH 1871)
This week's stories include the attempt to strangle a policeman in Sutton, the end of the road for Laffak Colliery, the Eccleston woman who said she’d stolen a shawl as a joke and the deadly chemical works in St Helens.
I think I'm going to have to upgrade the status of Thomas Fay from "notorious character" to "highly dangerous criminal". The man had been before the magistrates in St Helens and Prescot on over 30 occasions mainly for drink and minor theft-related offences. The moniker "notorious character" was what the St Helens Newspaper had given Fay – and which I have used on several occasions in describing his exploits. The last time I mentioned Fay was in November when he got off a charge of wife desertion. The St Helens Newspaper then wrote:
"A bald-headed individual named Thomas Fay was summoned to give cause why he was not responsible for the support of his wife and child, who were inmates of the workhouse. The defendant denied that he was married. Mary Hill deposed that he and the woman had lodged with her, and passed as man and wife. They lived in the house for three months, and he behaved like a rascal to her, the poor woman having pledged all she had to supply him with money.
"The defendant stated that he was a job-gardener and the woman, who was stated to be his wife, had entered the workhouse at her own suggestion, he being at the time out of work. The bench said they should dismiss the case from want of evidence of marriage. Defendant – Thank your worships. Mr. Daglish [magistrate] – You are guilty, however, of most abominable conduct."
Fay had got out of that charge but he couldn't extricate himself from ones accusing him of stealing and attacking a police constable. The theft concerned a pair of garden shears belonging to Charles Whittle who ran the Engine Inn and the adjacent Victoria Gardens in Thatto Heath. This week on the 24th, PC Richard Calvert collared Fay for the theft but only after a tremendous struggle – as described by the Wigan Observer under the headline "Attempt To Strangle a Policeman":
"At the St Helens petty sessions, on Wednesday, a man named Thomas Fay was sent for trial for stealing a pair of garden shears and assaulting a police constable. It appeared that Police-constable Calvert found Fay in the garden of James Critchley, at Sutton, and arrested him for theft. The fellow resisted fiercely, and captor and captive closed in a determined struggle.
"They wrestled until they were close to a greenhouse, and then the officer was thrown with considerable force, his head going through the glass, and fixing him in an almost helpless position. He cried out for help as loudly as he could, and Critchley came to his assistance in time to save him from strangulation, as Fay had his throat in his grasp like a vice. Some other persons arrived immediately afterwards, and the desperado was properly secured with handcuffs. The officer was under medical care for four days, and the prisoner sustained a fracture of the ribs."
I have previously written that in the 1871 census Fay is listed as an inmate of Whiston Workhouse, "probably because no one would employ him". Well that clearly wasn't the case. I now realise that he was in the workhouse hospital recovering from his rib injury when the census was taken. And the workhouse was little better than a prison and so would be a good place for the authorities to place such persons as Thomas Fay. On April 18th at Liverpool Assizes, the 49-year-old gardener was sentenced to four months imprisonment on two charges of theft and assault.
Stealing clothing almost inevitably resulted in a prison sentence. So doing it supposedly as a joke was a very risky thing to do. At St Helens Petty Sessions on the 24th a woman named Ellen Lyon, who resided at Eccleston, was sent for trial on a charge of stealing a shawl belonging to George Forbes.
The 28-year-old charwoman had entered his house when unoccupied and removed the shawl – but told the magistrates she had only taken it "for a lark", in order to frighten the owner. On April 18th at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions, Ellen Lyon was sentenced to six months in prison. Ellen did have a previous conviction for theft (stealing whisky and a counterpane) and so her story had little chance of being believed.
Also on the 24th fourteen petitions from St Helens were presented in the House of Commons demanding a complete ban on Sunday drinking. The hours at lunchtime on Sundays were presently 12:30pm to 3pm and, I think, 7pm to 10pm, much less than on the other six days of the week. The Government was considering a new licensing law that was set to bring in sweeping changes – but it would not ban supping on the Sabbath.
It was the end of the road for Laffak Colliery with the publication this week of notices advertising the sale of its buildings and equipment. The mine was thought to date back to the 18th century and was situated in modern-day Newlyn Grove and Bodmin Grove. The Laffak pit certainly suffered its share of accidents. In 1849 three married men and two boys were killed in what some papers called a "fearful explosion" and others a "frightful" one. Twenty-two others were reported as having been seriously injured, which would have led inevitably to more deaths.
The equipment and plant up for sale at the forthcoming auction included all sorts of winding, pumping and donkey engines (winches), railway coal wagons, coal tubs, horses, carts, three stacks of hay, stables, engine and boiler houses etc. etc.
The Bolton Chronicle wrote on the 25th: "After two or three years of depression, the chemical trade of St. Helens and Widnes is again reviving, and at many of the large works there is a scarcity of labour. Hands are being taken on almost as fast they apply, at good rates of wages." Scarcities of labour could also be down to the disgusting conditions in the dozen or so chemical works in St Helens that saw off many a worker.
Those particularly at the sharp end were the saltcake men who worked with hydrochloric acid gas, lost their teeth within a year, lived on "pobs" (bread and milk) and gulped down massive quantities of beer as they worked. One St Helens salt-cake man told an undercover journalist in 1896 that he worked seven days a week for just 24 shillings pay. He had to stand for eight-hour shifts in front of a fiery furnace "melting with heat" drawing, shoving and turning the salt with an iron bar that weighed 56 pounds.
The chemical works also did enormous damage to crops. This week at Liverpool Assizes, a famer called Birchall from Eccleston sued the Union Chemical Works of Pocket Nook. He wanted £6 10s compensation but proving where the noxious fumes that damaged his crops had come from – with so much filth in the atmosphere from many other works – was not easy and so Birchall's claim was dismissed.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 27th, Margaret Hepburn – described as a "respectably-dressed young woman belonging to Liverpool" – was charged with stealing and pawning a sheet from John Dempsey's lodging house in Tontine Street (pictured above). The court was told that Margaret had come to St Helens with a young man belonging to Liverpool, who had deserted her almost immediately afterwards. As stated, any theft was then considered a serious matter and she was sent to prison for a fortnight.
Also in court were George Heyes (17), James Miller (14) and James Kilshaw (13) who were charged with wounding Daniel Melding at Parr on Sunday evening. Heyes of Coal Pit Lane in Parr had used a stone to knock Melding down and while on the ground, the three lads had "united to illuse him". Violence was considered less serious than theft and the trio were each ordered to pay 30 shillings, including costs – although they would go to prison for a month if they could not find the cash.
And finally as a bonus item, I've read a number of 19th century stories about women who dressed as men in order to get work – and in many cases they'd have been much better paid too! This week in the Liverpool Mercury this article was published:
"Yesterday, at the Manchester county police court, two men were brought up in custody, charged with being drunk and disorderly. Mr. Superintendent Bent said one of the two men in the dock was a woman. (Laughter.) When arrested on Sunday morning both prisoners were respectably attired in male costume. While they were at the station he was struck with the appearance of the smaller of the two, and said, “Why, you are a woman.”
"“No, I am not,” the prisoner indignantly replied; but shortly afterwards, on an examination being threatened, she admitted the fact, and stated that 16 years ago she and her husband were schoolmaster and schoolmistress in a national school in Gloucester. Her husband lost his situation through drinking, and subsequently they both learned the art of house painting. Her husband made her cut off her hair and sell it, dress herself as a man, and go about the country with him. She had worked with men on high buildings in London without fear of detection. She had been separated from her husband for some years. The other prisoner was her nephew, and she had always passed as his uncle. (Laughter.) The usual penalty of 5s. and costs was inflicted. The prisoner left the court in her male attire."
Next week's stories will include a most brutal assault on a Parr beerhouse keeper, the St Helens mayor sues for libel, the 1871 census is taken and the violent Haydock mother-in-law who was armed with a poker.
I think I'm going to have to upgrade the status of Thomas Fay from "notorious character" to "highly dangerous criminal". The man had been before the magistrates in St Helens and Prescot on over 30 occasions mainly for drink and minor theft-related offences. The moniker "notorious character" was what the St Helens Newspaper had given Fay – and which I have used on several occasions in describing his exploits. The last time I mentioned Fay was in November when he got off a charge of wife desertion. The St Helens Newspaper then wrote:
"A bald-headed individual named Thomas Fay was summoned to give cause why he was not responsible for the support of his wife and child, who were inmates of the workhouse. The defendant denied that he was married. Mary Hill deposed that he and the woman had lodged with her, and passed as man and wife. They lived in the house for three months, and he behaved like a rascal to her, the poor woman having pledged all she had to supply him with money.
"The defendant stated that he was a job-gardener and the woman, who was stated to be his wife, had entered the workhouse at her own suggestion, he being at the time out of work. The bench said they should dismiss the case from want of evidence of marriage. Defendant – Thank your worships. Mr. Daglish [magistrate] – You are guilty, however, of most abominable conduct."
Fay had got out of that charge but he couldn't extricate himself from ones accusing him of stealing and attacking a police constable. The theft concerned a pair of garden shears belonging to Charles Whittle who ran the Engine Inn and the adjacent Victoria Gardens in Thatto Heath. This week on the 24th, PC Richard Calvert collared Fay for the theft but only after a tremendous struggle – as described by the Wigan Observer under the headline "Attempt To Strangle a Policeman":
"At the St Helens petty sessions, on Wednesday, a man named Thomas Fay was sent for trial for stealing a pair of garden shears and assaulting a police constable. It appeared that Police-constable Calvert found Fay in the garden of James Critchley, at Sutton, and arrested him for theft. The fellow resisted fiercely, and captor and captive closed in a determined struggle.
"They wrestled until they were close to a greenhouse, and then the officer was thrown with considerable force, his head going through the glass, and fixing him in an almost helpless position. He cried out for help as loudly as he could, and Critchley came to his assistance in time to save him from strangulation, as Fay had his throat in his grasp like a vice. Some other persons arrived immediately afterwards, and the desperado was properly secured with handcuffs. The officer was under medical care for four days, and the prisoner sustained a fracture of the ribs."
I have previously written that in the 1871 census Fay is listed as an inmate of Whiston Workhouse, "probably because no one would employ him". Well that clearly wasn't the case. I now realise that he was in the workhouse hospital recovering from his rib injury when the census was taken. And the workhouse was little better than a prison and so would be a good place for the authorities to place such persons as Thomas Fay. On April 18th at Liverpool Assizes, the 49-year-old gardener was sentenced to four months imprisonment on two charges of theft and assault.
Stealing clothing almost inevitably resulted in a prison sentence. So doing it supposedly as a joke was a very risky thing to do. At St Helens Petty Sessions on the 24th a woman named Ellen Lyon, who resided at Eccleston, was sent for trial on a charge of stealing a shawl belonging to George Forbes.
The 28-year-old charwoman had entered his house when unoccupied and removed the shawl – but told the magistrates she had only taken it "for a lark", in order to frighten the owner. On April 18th at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions, Ellen Lyon was sentenced to six months in prison. Ellen did have a previous conviction for theft (stealing whisky and a counterpane) and so her story had little chance of being believed.
Also on the 24th fourteen petitions from St Helens were presented in the House of Commons demanding a complete ban on Sunday drinking. The hours at lunchtime on Sundays were presently 12:30pm to 3pm and, I think, 7pm to 10pm, much less than on the other six days of the week. The Government was considering a new licensing law that was set to bring in sweeping changes – but it would not ban supping on the Sabbath.
It was the end of the road for Laffak Colliery with the publication this week of notices advertising the sale of its buildings and equipment. The mine was thought to date back to the 18th century and was situated in modern-day Newlyn Grove and Bodmin Grove. The Laffak pit certainly suffered its share of accidents. In 1849 three married men and two boys were killed in what some papers called a "fearful explosion" and others a "frightful" one. Twenty-two others were reported as having been seriously injured, which would have led inevitably to more deaths.
The equipment and plant up for sale at the forthcoming auction included all sorts of winding, pumping and donkey engines (winches), railway coal wagons, coal tubs, horses, carts, three stacks of hay, stables, engine and boiler houses etc. etc.
The Bolton Chronicle wrote on the 25th: "After two or three years of depression, the chemical trade of St. Helens and Widnes is again reviving, and at many of the large works there is a scarcity of labour. Hands are being taken on almost as fast they apply, at good rates of wages." Scarcities of labour could also be down to the disgusting conditions in the dozen or so chemical works in St Helens that saw off many a worker.
Those particularly at the sharp end were the saltcake men who worked with hydrochloric acid gas, lost their teeth within a year, lived on "pobs" (bread and milk) and gulped down massive quantities of beer as they worked. One St Helens salt-cake man told an undercover journalist in 1896 that he worked seven days a week for just 24 shillings pay. He had to stand for eight-hour shifts in front of a fiery furnace "melting with heat" drawing, shoving and turning the salt with an iron bar that weighed 56 pounds.
The chemical works also did enormous damage to crops. This week at Liverpool Assizes, a famer called Birchall from Eccleston sued the Union Chemical Works of Pocket Nook. He wanted £6 10s compensation but proving where the noxious fumes that damaged his crops had come from – with so much filth in the atmosphere from many other works – was not easy and so Birchall's claim was dismissed.
Also in court were George Heyes (17), James Miller (14) and James Kilshaw (13) who were charged with wounding Daniel Melding at Parr on Sunday evening. Heyes of Coal Pit Lane in Parr had used a stone to knock Melding down and while on the ground, the three lads had "united to illuse him". Violence was considered less serious than theft and the trio were each ordered to pay 30 shillings, including costs – although they would go to prison for a month if they could not find the cash.
And finally as a bonus item, I've read a number of 19th century stories about women who dressed as men in order to get work – and in many cases they'd have been much better paid too! This week in the Liverpool Mercury this article was published:
"Yesterday, at the Manchester county police court, two men were brought up in custody, charged with being drunk and disorderly. Mr. Superintendent Bent said one of the two men in the dock was a woman. (Laughter.) When arrested on Sunday morning both prisoners were respectably attired in male costume. While they were at the station he was struck with the appearance of the smaller of the two, and said, “Why, you are a woman.”
"“No, I am not,” the prisoner indignantly replied; but shortly afterwards, on an examination being threatened, she admitted the fact, and stated that 16 years ago she and her husband were schoolmaster and schoolmistress in a national school in Gloucester. Her husband lost his situation through drinking, and subsequently they both learned the art of house painting. Her husband made her cut off her hair and sell it, dress herself as a man, and go about the country with him. She had worked with men on high buildings in London without fear of detection. She had been separated from her husband for some years. The other prisoner was her nephew, and she had always passed as his uncle. (Laughter.) The usual penalty of 5s. and costs was inflicted. The prisoner left the court in her male attire."
Next week's stories will include a most brutal assault on a Parr beerhouse keeper, the St Helens mayor sues for libel, the 1871 census is taken and the violent Haydock mother-in-law who was armed with a poker.
This week's stories include the attempt to strangle a policeman in Sutton, the end of the road for Laffak Colliery, the Eccleston woman who said she’d stolen a shawl as a joke and the deadly chemical works in St Helens.
I think I'm going to have to upgrade the status of Thomas Fay from "notorious character" to "highly dangerous criminal".
The man had been before the magistrates in St Helens and Prescot on over 30 occasions mainly for drink and minor theft-related offences.
The moniker "notorious character" was what the St Helens Newspaper had given Fay – and which I have used on several occasions in describing his exploits.
The last time I mentioned Fay was in November when he got off a charge of wife desertion. The St Helens Newspaper then wrote:
"A bald-headed individual named Thomas Fay was summoned to give cause why he was not responsible for the support of his wife and child, who were inmates of the workhouse. The defendant denied that he was married.
"Mary Hill deposed that he and the woman had lodged with her, and passed as man and wife. They lived in the house for three months, and he behaved like a rascal to her, the poor woman having pledged all she had to supply him with money.
"The defendant stated that he was a job-gardener and the woman, who was stated to be his wife, had entered the workhouse at her own suggestion, he being at the time out of work.
"The bench said they should dismiss the case from want of evidence of marriage. Defendant – Thank your worships. Mr. Daglish [magistrate] – You are guilty, however, of most abominable conduct."
Fay had got out of that charge but he couldn't extricate himself from ones accusing him of stealing and attacking a police constable.
The theft concerned a pair of garden shears belonging to Charles Whittle who ran the Engine Inn and the adjacent Victoria Gardens in Thatto Heath.
This week on the 24th, PC Richard Calvert collared Fay for the theft but only after a tremendous struggle – as described by the Wigan Observer under the headline "Attempt To Strangle a Policeman":
"At the St Helens petty sessions, on Wednesday, a man named Thomas Fay was sent for trial for stealing a pair of garden shears and assaulting a police constable.
"It appeared that Police-constable Calvert found Fay in the garden of James Critchley, at Sutton, and arrested him for theft.
"The fellow resisted fiercely, and captor and captive closed in a determined struggle.
"They wrestled until they were close to a greenhouse, and then the officer was thrown with considerable force, his head going through the glass, and fixing him in an almost helpless position.
"He cried out for help as loudly as he could, and Critchley came to his assistance in time to save him from strangulation, as Fay had his throat in his grasp like a vice.
"Some other persons arrived immediately afterwards, and the desperado was properly secured with handcuffs.
"The officer was under medical care for four days, and the prisoner sustained a fracture of the ribs."
I have previously written that in the 1871 census Fay is listed as an inmate of Whiston Workhouse, "probably because no one would employ him".
Well that clearly wasn't the case. I now realise that he was in the workhouse hospital recovering from his rib injury when the census was taken.
And the workhouse was little better than a prison and so would be a good place for the authorities to place such persons as Thomas Fay.
On April 18th at Liverpool Assizes, the 49-year-old gardener was sentenced to four months imprisonment on two charges of theft and assault.
Stealing clothing almost inevitably resulted in a prison sentence. So doing it supposedly as a joke was a very risky thing to do.
At St Helens Petty Sessions on the 24th a woman named Ellen Lyon, who resided at Eccleston, was sent for trial on a charge of stealing a shawl belonging to George Forbes.
The 28-year-old charwoman had entered his house when unoccupied and removed the shawl – but told the magistrates she had only taken it "for a lark", in order to frighten the owner.
On April 18th at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions, Ellen Lyon was sentenced to six months in prison.
Ellen did have a previous conviction for theft (stealing whisky and a counterpane) and so her story had little chance of being believed.
Also on the 24th fourteen petitions from St Helens were presented in the House of Commons demanding a complete ban on Sunday drinking.
The hours at lunchtime on Sundays were presently 12:30pm to 3pm and, I think, 7pm to 10pm, much less than on the other six days of the week.
The Government was considering a new licensing law that was set to bring in sweeping changes – but it would not ban supping on the Sabbath.
It was the end of the road for Laffak Colliery with the publication this week of notices advertising the sale of its buildings and equipment.
The mine was thought to date back to the 18th century and was situated in modern-day Newlyn Grove and Bodmin Grove.
The Laffak pit certainly suffered its share of accidents. In 1849 three married men and two boys were killed in what some papers called a "fearful explosion" and others a "frightful" one.
Twenty-two others were reported as having been seriously injured, which would have led inevitably to more deaths.
The equipment and plant up for sale at the forthcoming auction included all sorts of winding, pumping and donkey engines (winches), railway coal wagons, coal tubs, horses, carts, three stacks of hay, stables, engine and boiler houses etc. etc.
The Bolton Chronicle wrote on the 25th: "After two or three years of depression, the chemical trade of St. Helens and Widnes is again reviving, and at many of the large works there is a scarcity of labour. Hands are being taken on almost as fast they apply, at good rates of wages."
Scarcities of labour could also be down to the disgusting conditions in the dozen or so chemical works in St Helens that saw off many a worker.
Those particularly at the sharp end were the saltcake men who worked with hydrochloric acid gas, lost their teeth within a year, lived on "pobs" (bread and milk) and gulped down massive quantities of beer as they worked.
One St Helens salt-cake man told an undercover journalist in 1896 that he worked seven days a week for just 24 shillings pay.
He had to stand for eight-hour shifts in front of a fiery furnace "melting with heat" drawing, shoving and turning the salt with an iron bar that weighed 56 pounds.
The chemical works also did enormous damage to crops. This week at Liverpool Assizes, a famer called Birchall from Eccleston sued the Union Chemical Works of Pocket Nook.
He wanted £6 10s compensation but proving where the noxious fumes that damaged his crops had come from – with so much filth in the atmosphere from many other works – was not easy and so Birchall's claim was dismissed.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 27th, Margaret Hepburn – described as a "respectably-dressed young woman belonging to Liverpool" – was charged with stealing and pawning a sheet from John Dempsey's lodging house in Tontine Street (pictured above).
The court was told that Margaret had come to St Helens with a young man belonging to Liverpool, who had deserted her almost immediately afterwards.
As stated, any theft was then considered a serious matter and she was sent to prison for a fortnight.
Also in court were George Heyes (17), James Miller (14) and James Kilshaw (13) who were charged with wounding Daniel Melding at Parr on Sunday evening.
Heyes of Coal Pit Lane in Parr had used a stone to knock Melding down and while on the ground, the three lads had "united to illuse him".
Violence was considered less serious than theft and the trio were each ordered to pay 30 shillings, including costs – although they would go to prison for a month if they could not find the cash.
And finally as a bonus item, I've read a number of 19th century stories about women who dressed as men in order to get work – and in many cases they'd have been much better paid too! This week in the Liverpool Mercury this article was published:
"Yesterday, at the Manchester county police court, two men were brought up in custody, charged with being drunk and disorderly.
"Mr. Superintendent Bent said one of the two men in the dock was a woman. (Laughter.)
"When arrested on Sunday morning both prisoners were respectably attired in male costume.
"While they were at the station he was struck with the appearance of the smaller of the two, and said, “Why, you are a woman.”
"“No, I am not,” the prisoner indignantly replied; but shortly afterwards, on an examination being threatened, she admitted the fact, and stated that 16 years ago she and her husband were schoolmaster and schoolmistress in a national school in Gloucester.
"Her husband lost his situation through drinking, and subsequently they both learned the art of house painting.
"Her husband made her cut off her hair and sell it, dress herself as a man, and go about the country with him.
"She had worked with men on high buildings in London without fear of detection. She had been separated from her husband for some years.
"The other prisoner was her nephew, and she had always passed as his uncle. (Laughter.)
"The usual penalty of 5s. and costs was inflicted. The prisoner left the court in her male attire."
Next week's stories will include a most brutal assault on a Parr beerhouse keeper, the St Helens mayor sues for libel, the 1871 census is taken and the violent Haydock mother-in-law who was armed with a poker.
I think I'm going to have to upgrade the status of Thomas Fay from "notorious character" to "highly dangerous criminal".
The man had been before the magistrates in St Helens and Prescot on over 30 occasions mainly for drink and minor theft-related offences.
The moniker "notorious character" was what the St Helens Newspaper had given Fay – and which I have used on several occasions in describing his exploits.
The last time I mentioned Fay was in November when he got off a charge of wife desertion. The St Helens Newspaper then wrote:
"A bald-headed individual named Thomas Fay was summoned to give cause why he was not responsible for the support of his wife and child, who were inmates of the workhouse. The defendant denied that he was married.
"Mary Hill deposed that he and the woman had lodged with her, and passed as man and wife. They lived in the house for three months, and he behaved like a rascal to her, the poor woman having pledged all she had to supply him with money.
"The defendant stated that he was a job-gardener and the woman, who was stated to be his wife, had entered the workhouse at her own suggestion, he being at the time out of work.
"The bench said they should dismiss the case from want of evidence of marriage. Defendant – Thank your worships. Mr. Daglish [magistrate] – You are guilty, however, of most abominable conduct."
Fay had got out of that charge but he couldn't extricate himself from ones accusing him of stealing and attacking a police constable.
The theft concerned a pair of garden shears belonging to Charles Whittle who ran the Engine Inn and the adjacent Victoria Gardens in Thatto Heath.
This week on the 24th, PC Richard Calvert collared Fay for the theft but only after a tremendous struggle – as described by the Wigan Observer under the headline "Attempt To Strangle a Policeman":
"At the St Helens petty sessions, on Wednesday, a man named Thomas Fay was sent for trial for stealing a pair of garden shears and assaulting a police constable.
"It appeared that Police-constable Calvert found Fay in the garden of James Critchley, at Sutton, and arrested him for theft.
"The fellow resisted fiercely, and captor and captive closed in a determined struggle.
"They wrestled until they were close to a greenhouse, and then the officer was thrown with considerable force, his head going through the glass, and fixing him in an almost helpless position.
"He cried out for help as loudly as he could, and Critchley came to his assistance in time to save him from strangulation, as Fay had his throat in his grasp like a vice.
"Some other persons arrived immediately afterwards, and the desperado was properly secured with handcuffs.
"The officer was under medical care for four days, and the prisoner sustained a fracture of the ribs."
I have previously written that in the 1871 census Fay is listed as an inmate of Whiston Workhouse, "probably because no one would employ him".
Well that clearly wasn't the case. I now realise that he was in the workhouse hospital recovering from his rib injury when the census was taken.
And the workhouse was little better than a prison and so would be a good place for the authorities to place such persons as Thomas Fay.
On April 18th at Liverpool Assizes, the 49-year-old gardener was sentenced to four months imprisonment on two charges of theft and assault.
Stealing clothing almost inevitably resulted in a prison sentence. So doing it supposedly as a joke was a very risky thing to do.
At St Helens Petty Sessions on the 24th a woman named Ellen Lyon, who resided at Eccleston, was sent for trial on a charge of stealing a shawl belonging to George Forbes.
The 28-year-old charwoman had entered his house when unoccupied and removed the shawl – but told the magistrates she had only taken it "for a lark", in order to frighten the owner.
On April 18th at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions, Ellen Lyon was sentenced to six months in prison.
Ellen did have a previous conviction for theft (stealing whisky and a counterpane) and so her story had little chance of being believed.
Also on the 24th fourteen petitions from St Helens were presented in the House of Commons demanding a complete ban on Sunday drinking.
The hours at lunchtime on Sundays were presently 12:30pm to 3pm and, I think, 7pm to 10pm, much less than on the other six days of the week.
The Government was considering a new licensing law that was set to bring in sweeping changes – but it would not ban supping on the Sabbath.
It was the end of the road for Laffak Colliery with the publication this week of notices advertising the sale of its buildings and equipment.
The mine was thought to date back to the 18th century and was situated in modern-day Newlyn Grove and Bodmin Grove.
The Laffak pit certainly suffered its share of accidents. In 1849 three married men and two boys were killed in what some papers called a "fearful explosion" and others a "frightful" one.
Twenty-two others were reported as having been seriously injured, which would have led inevitably to more deaths.
The equipment and plant up for sale at the forthcoming auction included all sorts of winding, pumping and donkey engines (winches), railway coal wagons, coal tubs, horses, carts, three stacks of hay, stables, engine and boiler houses etc. etc.
The Bolton Chronicle wrote on the 25th: "After two or three years of depression, the chemical trade of St. Helens and Widnes is again reviving, and at many of the large works there is a scarcity of labour. Hands are being taken on almost as fast they apply, at good rates of wages."
Scarcities of labour could also be down to the disgusting conditions in the dozen or so chemical works in St Helens that saw off many a worker.
Those particularly at the sharp end were the saltcake men who worked with hydrochloric acid gas, lost their teeth within a year, lived on "pobs" (bread and milk) and gulped down massive quantities of beer as they worked.
One St Helens salt-cake man told an undercover journalist in 1896 that he worked seven days a week for just 24 shillings pay.
He had to stand for eight-hour shifts in front of a fiery furnace "melting with heat" drawing, shoving and turning the salt with an iron bar that weighed 56 pounds.
The chemical works also did enormous damage to crops. This week at Liverpool Assizes, a famer called Birchall from Eccleston sued the Union Chemical Works of Pocket Nook.
He wanted £6 10s compensation but proving where the noxious fumes that damaged his crops had come from – with so much filth in the atmosphere from many other works – was not easy and so Birchall's claim was dismissed.
The court was told that Margaret had come to St Helens with a young man belonging to Liverpool, who had deserted her almost immediately afterwards.
As stated, any theft was then considered a serious matter and she was sent to prison for a fortnight.
Also in court were George Heyes (17), James Miller (14) and James Kilshaw (13) who were charged with wounding Daniel Melding at Parr on Sunday evening.
Heyes of Coal Pit Lane in Parr had used a stone to knock Melding down and while on the ground, the three lads had "united to illuse him".
Violence was considered less serious than theft and the trio were each ordered to pay 30 shillings, including costs – although they would go to prison for a month if they could not find the cash.
And finally as a bonus item, I've read a number of 19th century stories about women who dressed as men in order to get work – and in many cases they'd have been much better paid too! This week in the Liverpool Mercury this article was published:
"Yesterday, at the Manchester county police court, two men were brought up in custody, charged with being drunk and disorderly.
"Mr. Superintendent Bent said one of the two men in the dock was a woman. (Laughter.)
"When arrested on Sunday morning both prisoners were respectably attired in male costume.
"While they were at the station he was struck with the appearance of the smaller of the two, and said, “Why, you are a woman.”
"“No, I am not,” the prisoner indignantly replied; but shortly afterwards, on an examination being threatened, she admitted the fact, and stated that 16 years ago she and her husband were schoolmaster and schoolmistress in a national school in Gloucester.
"Her husband lost his situation through drinking, and subsequently they both learned the art of house painting.
"Her husband made her cut off her hair and sell it, dress herself as a man, and go about the country with him.
"She had worked with men on high buildings in London without fear of detection. She had been separated from her husband for some years.
"The other prisoner was her nephew, and she had always passed as his uncle. (Laughter.)
"The usual penalty of 5s. and costs was inflicted. The prisoner left the court in her male attire."
Next week's stories will include a most brutal assault on a Parr beerhouse keeper, the St Helens mayor sues for libel, the 1871 census is taken and the violent Haydock mother-in-law who was armed with a poker.