150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 23 FEBRUARY - 1 MARCH 1876
This week's many stories include the mad dog at large in the town centre, the playing of guinea cat at Pilks, the rejection of a chemical company's appeal, the Tea Party and Concert in Rainford, AJ Young's new coaching service in Bickerstaffe Street and the curious case of the stolen spade.
We begin on the 23rd when Holy Cross School's Tea Party and Ball was held in the Volunteer Hall in St Helens. Usually around 800 persons would be in attendance at the annual event. Its newspaper advert promised that an "efficient" band would be in attendance. Although sounding a bit odd to us, the word was often used then to describe good musicians. Tickets cost 2 shillings in advance.
On the 24th a meeting was held in the People's Hall in Hardshaw Street (illustrated above) to consider forming a St Helens Jurymen's Association. There was a relatively small pool of men who were regularly ordered to serve on inquest juries. They were forced to take time off work, received no pay and could be fined if they failed to turn up.
And so the purpose of the new association was to pay jurymen some compensation for the time they had to take off work. The sum of 2s 6d was suggested. It was stated at the meeting that during 1875, ninety coroner's inquests had been held within the police district of St Helens.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 26th wrote that on the previous Monday afternoon, the "alarming sight of a mad and infuriated dog rushing through the streets, and seizing everything that came in its way" had startled the inhabitants of the town. The dog was first seen in Parr Street where it bit a young lad and then it ran into Hardshaw Street where the animal seized a large sheep dog.
And Charles Stubbs, who was staying with his uncle in Hardshaw Street and standing at the front door, was severely bitten. The 5-year-old was immediately taken to Dr McNicholl's surgery for treatment, while what the Newspaper described as a "posse of constables" chased after the dog, which had dashed in the direction of the new Town Hall.
The animal made its way down Corporation Street in the direction of College Street and at the junction of the two roads, a man standing at the door of the Lamb Hotel was bitten severely on his leg. The chase continued down Duke Street but by this time darkness had set in and the animal made its escape, although not before biting another man.
The demented dog was last seen in a very exhausted state and it was assumed it had fled to some place of concealment where it died. Meanwhile, those that had been bitten would have a nervous wait lasting several weeks to see if they developed rabies.
The Newspaper in an editorial welcomed the rejection of the St Helens Chemical Company of Pocket Nook's appeal against its conviction for polluting a sewer. The paper wrote: "For some years many of the sewers of the town have very improperly been used by owners of chemical works for the purpose of getting rid of certain acids and other deleterious matters.
"Some months ago the Corporation, on the representations of the sanitary officers, took proceedings against the St. Helens Chemical Company for fouling the sewer in Old Atlas Street. This sewer had been a crying evil for years and the noxious gases arising from it in the neighbourhood of the St. Helens Chemical Company's works had even been destructive of life.
"The information was laid before the Justices in Local [St Helens] Petty Sessions so far back as January last year, and an order made to abate the nuisance. This order was appealed against, and the case has been drawing its long slow length along for the past fifteen months."
The Newspaper explained how during that period further action against other chemical companies in St Helens for fouling sewers had been put on hold. But now the appeal had been rejected, it was expected that they too would be prosecuted and no longer be allowed to "jeopardise the health and comfort of the inhabitants".
In 1869 what appears to have been the first bus service operating within the town began running. The St Helens Newspaper wrote at the time: "From an advertisement in another column, it will be seen that a gentleman has at length been found with sufficient public spirit to start an omnibus in St. Helens."
That man was John Young of the Raven Hotel and his horse-driven bus travelled from the railway station through the town to the better off St Ann's district of Eccleston with five services running each day. There was already an omnibus service that ran from Bridge Street in St Helens to Prescot – but Young's bus appears to have been the first to operate within the town itself.
John Young was a man of many parts as the 1871 Census states that he was also a coal engineer, as well as hotel manager. In 1874 Young died at the age of 45 and his wife Ann took over the business, advertising herself as A J Young. In this week's Newspaper, A J Young had a large advert which described how she was no longer running the Fleece and so operating her coaching / posting service from another location:
"A. J. Young in retiring from the business lately carried on by her at the RAVEN HOTEL, begs to thank the gentry and public generally of St Helens and the neighbourhood for the patronage and support she has hitherto received, and at the same time she has to inform them that she purposes continuing the POSTING BRANCH of that Establishment, on premises purchased by her from the Representatives of the late John Phythian, Esq, in BICKERSTAFFE STREET, adjoining the Royal Alfred Hotel, and within a few yards of the Railway Station, and she hopes by strict and punctual attention to all orders given to her, to deserve and obtain the continued support of the public of St Helens. Cabs, Hansoms, and Broughhams, Marriage Equipages Supplied. Funerals Furnished In Any Style."
William Harrison and Henry Newitt appeared in court this week charged with throwing stones in Watson Street. It was common in the 19th century for a police officer to be stationed at the larger factories and outside coalmines in St Helens. PC Foster explained to the magistrates that he had been on duty in the lodge of Pilkingtons glassworks when he heard a noise outside and saw a number of men playing guinea cat.
That involved a piece of wood, such as an old axe handle, being used to club a projectile as near as possible to the designated "cat". The game was usually indulged in by boys rather than men and was not only dangerous to the individual acting as the target but also to others who might inadvertently get in the way.
PC Foster said that upon going outside the men had all run away and he had chased Harrison and Newitt up Watson Street. Afterwards they both threw stones through what the Newspaper described as "the glass-house window frame, which, however, was not glazed" – which sounds a bit of a contradiction in terms! The pair were fined 2s 6d each.
William Roughley was also in court in St Helens this week by virtue of a coincidence with a stolen spade. The St Helens police knew that many thieves took their ill-gotten gains straight to a pawnshop. And so if they were informed quickly enough of a theft, they could warn pawnbrokers to keep a lookout.
When ironmonger's RG Brook told the police that they had lost two spades that had been on display at their shop door, the town's brokers were rapidly warned. And so when William Roughley subsequently walked into Robert Dagnall's premises in Liverpool Road carrying a spade, the proprietor made some excuse and told the man to call back.
When Roughley returned he had a surprise as he found a policeman waiting to arrest him. But the police had a surprise too, as it was subsequently learned that the spade had not been purloined from Brook's ironmongers – but instead stolen from Sophia Partington's shop in Liverpool Road.
That was the mentality of some thieves; steal an item and take it to a pawnshop only yards down the road instead of some distance away. And all Roughley had wanted for the stolen spade was 1s 6d and for that paltry amount he was playing a very dangerous game.
That was because he had previously served a 7-year prison sentence for clothes stealing and by continuing to offend was risking another long term. And seven more years was what Roughley received in April after his case had been referred from the St Helens Petty Sessions to the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions, with his trial jury finding him guilty of larceny after having a previous conviction for felony.
What today is known as Corpus Christi School in Rainford had opened in 1874, although for some years it identified itself as the Rainford Catholic Schools – the plural being used because separate classes were held within the single building for boys and girls.
On the 28th a Tea Party and Concert was held there "in aid of the funds for the spread of education". Such events were a very common means of fundraising for schools, although often a dance was held instead of a concert. Tea was served at 6:30pm and the concert began at 8 o’clock, with tickets costing two shillings.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include an update on the plans to build a new parish church in Rainford, the tragic suicide in St Helens Canal, the Liverpool Road lodging house shawl theft, the duck stealing in Parr and poker bashing in Gerards Bridge.
We begin on the 23rd when Holy Cross School's Tea Party and Ball was held in the Volunteer Hall in St Helens. Usually around 800 persons would be in attendance at the annual event. Its newspaper advert promised that an "efficient" band would be in attendance. Although sounding a bit odd to us, the word was often used then to describe good musicians. Tickets cost 2 shillings in advance.
And so the purpose of the new association was to pay jurymen some compensation for the time they had to take off work. The sum of 2s 6d was suggested. It was stated at the meeting that during 1875, ninety coroner's inquests had been held within the police district of St Helens.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 26th wrote that on the previous Monday afternoon, the "alarming sight of a mad and infuriated dog rushing through the streets, and seizing everything that came in its way" had startled the inhabitants of the town. The dog was first seen in Parr Street where it bit a young lad and then it ran into Hardshaw Street where the animal seized a large sheep dog.
And Charles Stubbs, who was staying with his uncle in Hardshaw Street and standing at the front door, was severely bitten. The 5-year-old was immediately taken to Dr McNicholl's surgery for treatment, while what the Newspaper described as a "posse of constables" chased after the dog, which had dashed in the direction of the new Town Hall.
The animal made its way down Corporation Street in the direction of College Street and at the junction of the two roads, a man standing at the door of the Lamb Hotel was bitten severely on his leg. The chase continued down Duke Street but by this time darkness had set in and the animal made its escape, although not before biting another man.
The demented dog was last seen in a very exhausted state and it was assumed it had fled to some place of concealment where it died. Meanwhile, those that had been bitten would have a nervous wait lasting several weeks to see if they developed rabies.
The Newspaper in an editorial welcomed the rejection of the St Helens Chemical Company of Pocket Nook's appeal against its conviction for polluting a sewer. The paper wrote: "For some years many of the sewers of the town have very improperly been used by owners of chemical works for the purpose of getting rid of certain acids and other deleterious matters.
"Some months ago the Corporation, on the representations of the sanitary officers, took proceedings against the St. Helens Chemical Company for fouling the sewer in Old Atlas Street. This sewer had been a crying evil for years and the noxious gases arising from it in the neighbourhood of the St. Helens Chemical Company's works had even been destructive of life.
"The information was laid before the Justices in Local [St Helens] Petty Sessions so far back as January last year, and an order made to abate the nuisance. This order was appealed against, and the case has been drawing its long slow length along for the past fifteen months."
The Newspaper explained how during that period further action against other chemical companies in St Helens for fouling sewers had been put on hold. But now the appeal had been rejected, it was expected that they too would be prosecuted and no longer be allowed to "jeopardise the health and comfort of the inhabitants".
In 1869 what appears to have been the first bus service operating within the town began running. The St Helens Newspaper wrote at the time: "From an advertisement in another column, it will be seen that a gentleman has at length been found with sufficient public spirit to start an omnibus in St. Helens."
That man was John Young of the Raven Hotel and his horse-driven bus travelled from the railway station through the town to the better off St Ann's district of Eccleston with five services running each day. There was already an omnibus service that ran from Bridge Street in St Helens to Prescot – but Young's bus appears to have been the first to operate within the town itself.
John Young was a man of many parts as the 1871 Census states that he was also a coal engineer, as well as hotel manager. In 1874 Young died at the age of 45 and his wife Ann took over the business, advertising herself as A J Young. In this week's Newspaper, A J Young had a large advert which described how she was no longer running the Fleece and so operating her coaching / posting service from another location:
"A. J. Young in retiring from the business lately carried on by her at the RAVEN HOTEL, begs to thank the gentry and public generally of St Helens and the neighbourhood for the patronage and support she has hitherto received, and at the same time she has to inform them that she purposes continuing the POSTING BRANCH of that Establishment, on premises purchased by her from the Representatives of the late John Phythian, Esq, in BICKERSTAFFE STREET, adjoining the Royal Alfred Hotel, and within a few yards of the Railway Station, and she hopes by strict and punctual attention to all orders given to her, to deserve and obtain the continued support of the public of St Helens. Cabs, Hansoms, and Broughhams, Marriage Equipages Supplied. Funerals Furnished In Any Style."
William Harrison and Henry Newitt appeared in court this week charged with throwing stones in Watson Street. It was common in the 19th century for a police officer to be stationed at the larger factories and outside coalmines in St Helens. PC Foster explained to the magistrates that he had been on duty in the lodge of Pilkingtons glassworks when he heard a noise outside and saw a number of men playing guinea cat.
That involved a piece of wood, such as an old axe handle, being used to club a projectile as near as possible to the designated "cat". The game was usually indulged in by boys rather than men and was not only dangerous to the individual acting as the target but also to others who might inadvertently get in the way.
PC Foster said that upon going outside the men had all run away and he had chased Harrison and Newitt up Watson Street. Afterwards they both threw stones through what the Newspaper described as "the glass-house window frame, which, however, was not glazed" – which sounds a bit of a contradiction in terms! The pair were fined 2s 6d each.
William Roughley was also in court in St Helens this week by virtue of a coincidence with a stolen spade. The St Helens police knew that many thieves took their ill-gotten gains straight to a pawnshop. And so if they were informed quickly enough of a theft, they could warn pawnbrokers to keep a lookout.
When ironmonger's RG Brook told the police that they had lost two spades that had been on display at their shop door, the town's brokers were rapidly warned. And so when William Roughley subsequently walked into Robert Dagnall's premises in Liverpool Road carrying a spade, the proprietor made some excuse and told the man to call back.
When Roughley returned he had a surprise as he found a policeman waiting to arrest him. But the police had a surprise too, as it was subsequently learned that the spade had not been purloined from Brook's ironmongers – but instead stolen from Sophia Partington's shop in Liverpool Road.
That was the mentality of some thieves; steal an item and take it to a pawnshop only yards down the road instead of some distance away. And all Roughley had wanted for the stolen spade was 1s 6d and for that paltry amount he was playing a very dangerous game.
That was because he had previously served a 7-year prison sentence for clothes stealing and by continuing to offend was risking another long term. And seven more years was what Roughley received in April after his case had been referred from the St Helens Petty Sessions to the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions, with his trial jury finding him guilty of larceny after having a previous conviction for felony.
What today is known as Corpus Christi School in Rainford had opened in 1874, although for some years it identified itself as the Rainford Catholic Schools – the plural being used because separate classes were held within the single building for boys and girls.
On the 28th a Tea Party and Concert was held there "in aid of the funds for the spread of education". Such events were a very common means of fundraising for schools, although often a dance was held instead of a concert. Tea was served at 6:30pm and the concert began at 8 o’clock, with tickets costing two shillings.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include an update on the plans to build a new parish church in Rainford, the tragic suicide in St Helens Canal, the Liverpool Road lodging house shawl theft, the duck stealing in Parr and poker bashing in Gerards Bridge.
This week's many stories include the mad dog at large in the town centre, the playing of guinea cat at Pilks, the rejection of a chemical company's appeal, the Tea Party and Concert in Rainford, AJ Young's new coaching service in Bickerstaffe Street and the curious case of the stolen spade.
We begin on the 23rd when Holy Cross School's Tea Party and Ball was held in the Volunteer Hall in St Helens. Usually around 800 persons would be in attendance at the annual event.
Its newspaper advert promised that an "efficient" band would be in attendance. Although sounding a bit odd to us, the word was often used then to describe good musicians. Tickets cost 2 shillings in advance.
On the 24th a meeting was held in the People's Hall in Hardshaw Street (illustrated above) to consider forming a St Helens Jurymen's Association.
There was a relatively small pool of men who were regularly ordered to serve on inquest juries. They were forced to take time off work, received no pay and could be fined if they failed to turn up.
And so the purpose of the new association was to pay jurymen some compensation for the time they had to take off work. The sum of 2s 6d was suggested.
It was stated at the meeting that during 1875, ninety coroner's inquests had been held within the police district of St Helens.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 26th wrote that on the previous Monday afternoon, the "alarming sight of a mad and infuriated dog rushing through the streets, and seizing everything that came in its way" had startled the inhabitants of the town.
The dog was first seen in Parr Street where it bit a young lad and then it ran into Hardshaw Street where the animal seized a large sheep dog.
And Charles Stubbs, who was staying with his uncle in Hardshaw Street and standing at the front door, was severely bitten.
The 5-year-old was immediately taken to Dr McNicholl's surgery for treatment, while what the Newspaper described as a "posse of constables" chased after the dog, which had dashed in the direction of the new Town Hall.
The animal made its way down Corporation Street in the direction of College Street and at the junction of the two roads, a man standing at the door of the Lamb Hotel was bitten severely on his leg.
The chase continued down Duke Street but by this time darkness had set in and the animal made its escape, although not before biting another man.
The demented dog was last seen in a very exhausted state and it was assumed it had fled to some place of concealment where it died.
Meanwhile, those that had been bitten would have a nervous wait lasting several weeks to see if they developed rabies.
The Newspaper in an editorial welcomed the rejection of the St Helens Chemical Company of Pocket Nook's appeal against its conviction for polluting a sewer.
The paper wrote: "For some years many of the sewers of the town have very improperly been used by owners of chemical works for the purpose of getting rid of certain acids and other deleterious matters.
"Some months ago the Corporation, on the representations of the sanitary officers, took proceedings against the St. Helens Chemical Company for fouling the sewer in Old Atlas Street.
"This sewer had been a crying evil for years and the noxious gases arising from it in the neighbourhood of the St. Helens Chemical Company's works had even been destructive of life.
"The information was laid before the Justices in Local [St Helens] Petty Sessions so far back as January last year, and an order made to abate the nuisance.
"This order was appealed against, and the case has been drawing its long slow length along for the past fifteen months."
The Newspaper explained how during that period further action against other chemical companies in St Helens for fouling sewers had been put on hold.
But now the appeal had been rejected, it was expected that they too would be prosecuted and no longer be allowed to "jeopardise the health and comfort of the inhabitants".
In 1869 what appears to have been the first bus service operating within the town began running. The St Helens Newspaper wrote at the time:
"From an advertisement in another column, it will be seen that a gentleman has at length been found with sufficient public spirit to start an omnibus in St. Helens."
That man was John Young of the Raven Hotel and his horse-driven bus travelled from the railway station through the town to the better off St Ann's district of Eccleston with five services running each day.
There was already an omnibus service that ran from Bridge Street in St Helens to Prescot – but Young's bus appears to have been the first to operate within the town itself.
John Young was a man of many parts as the 1871 Census states that he was also a coal engineer, as well as hotel manager.
In 1874 Young died at the age of 45 and his wife Ann took over the business, advertising herself as A J Young.
In this week's Newspaper, A J Young had a large advert which described how she was no longer running the Fleece and so operating her coaching / posting service from another location:
"A. J. Young in retiring from the business lately carried on by her at the RAVEN HOTEL, begs to thank the gentry and public generally of St Helens and the neighbourhood for the patronage and support she has hitherto received, and at the same time she has to inform them that she purposes continuing the POSTING BRANCH of that Establishment, on premises purchased by her from the Representatives of the late John Phythian, Esq, in BICKERSTAFFE STREET, adjoining the Royal Alfred Hotel, and within a few yards of the Railway Station, and she hopes by strict and punctual attention to all orders given to her, to deserve and obtain the continued support of the public of St Helens.
"Cabs, Hansoms, and Broughhams, Marriage Equipages Supplied. Funerals Furnished In Any Style."
William Harrison and Henry Newitt appeared in court this week charged with throwing stones in Watson Street.
It was common in the 19th century for a police officer to be stationed at the larger factories and outside coalmines in St Helens.
PC Foster explained to the magistrates that he had been on duty in the lodge of Pilkingtons glassworks when he heard a noise outside and saw a number of men playing guinea cat.
That involved a piece of wood, such as an old axe handle, being used to club a projectile as near as possible to the designated "cat".
The game was usually indulged in by boys rather than men and was not only dangerous to the individual acting as the target but also to others who might inadvertently get in the way.
PC Foster said that upon going outside the men had all run away and he had chased Harrison and Newitt up Watson Street.
Afterwards they both threw stones through what the Newspaper described as "the glass-house window frame, which, however, was not glazed" – which sounds a bit of a contradiction in terms! The pair were fined 2s 6d each.
William Roughley was also in court in St Helens this week by virtue of a coincidence with a stolen spade.
The St Helens police knew that many thieves took their ill-gotten gains straight to a pawnshop.
And so if they were informed quickly enough of a theft, they could warn pawnbrokers to keep a lookout.
When ironmonger's RG Brook told the police that they had lost two spades that had been on display at their shop door, the town's brokers were rapidly warned.
And so when William Roughley subsequently walked into Robert Dagnall's premises in Liverpool Road carrying a spade, the proprietor made some excuse and told the man to call back.
When Roughley returned he had a surprise as he found a policeman waiting to arrest him.
But the police had a surprise too, as it was subsequently learned that the spade had not been purloined from Brook's ironmongers – but instead stolen from Sophia Partington's shop in Liverpool Road.
That was the mentality of some thieves; steal an item and take it to a pawnshop only yards down the road instead of some distance away.
And all Roughley had wanted for the stolen spade was 1s 6d and for that paltry amount he was playing a very dangerous game.
That was because he had previously served a 7-year prison sentence for clothes stealing and by continuing to offend was risking another long term.
And seven more years was what Roughley received in April after his case had been referred from the St Helens Petty Sessions to the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions, with his trial jury finding him guilty of larceny after having a previous conviction for felony.
What today is known as Corpus Christi School in Rainford had opened in 1874, although for some years it identified itself as the Rainford Catholic Schools – the plural being used because separate classes were held within the single building for boys and girls.
On the 28th a Tea Party and Concert was held there "in aid of the funds for the spread of education".
Such events were a very common means of fundraising for schools, although often a dance was held instead of a concert.
Tea was served at 6:30pm and the concert began at 8 o’clock, with tickets costing two shillings.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include an update on the plans to build a new parish church in Rainford, the tragic suicide in St Helens Canal, the Liverpool Road lodging house shawl theft, the duck stealing in Parr and poker bashing in Gerards Bridge.
We begin on the 23rd when Holy Cross School's Tea Party and Ball was held in the Volunteer Hall in St Helens. Usually around 800 persons would be in attendance at the annual event.
Its newspaper advert promised that an "efficient" band would be in attendance. Although sounding a bit odd to us, the word was often used then to describe good musicians. Tickets cost 2 shillings in advance.
There was a relatively small pool of men who were regularly ordered to serve on inquest juries. They were forced to take time off work, received no pay and could be fined if they failed to turn up.
And so the purpose of the new association was to pay jurymen some compensation for the time they had to take off work. The sum of 2s 6d was suggested.
It was stated at the meeting that during 1875, ninety coroner's inquests had been held within the police district of St Helens.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 26th wrote that on the previous Monday afternoon, the "alarming sight of a mad and infuriated dog rushing through the streets, and seizing everything that came in its way" had startled the inhabitants of the town.
The dog was first seen in Parr Street where it bit a young lad and then it ran into Hardshaw Street where the animal seized a large sheep dog.
And Charles Stubbs, who was staying with his uncle in Hardshaw Street and standing at the front door, was severely bitten.
The 5-year-old was immediately taken to Dr McNicholl's surgery for treatment, while what the Newspaper described as a "posse of constables" chased after the dog, which had dashed in the direction of the new Town Hall.
The animal made its way down Corporation Street in the direction of College Street and at the junction of the two roads, a man standing at the door of the Lamb Hotel was bitten severely on his leg.
The chase continued down Duke Street but by this time darkness had set in and the animal made its escape, although not before biting another man.
The demented dog was last seen in a very exhausted state and it was assumed it had fled to some place of concealment where it died.
Meanwhile, those that had been bitten would have a nervous wait lasting several weeks to see if they developed rabies.
The Newspaper in an editorial welcomed the rejection of the St Helens Chemical Company of Pocket Nook's appeal against its conviction for polluting a sewer.
The paper wrote: "For some years many of the sewers of the town have very improperly been used by owners of chemical works for the purpose of getting rid of certain acids and other deleterious matters.
"Some months ago the Corporation, on the representations of the sanitary officers, took proceedings against the St. Helens Chemical Company for fouling the sewer in Old Atlas Street.
"This sewer had been a crying evil for years and the noxious gases arising from it in the neighbourhood of the St. Helens Chemical Company's works had even been destructive of life.
"The information was laid before the Justices in Local [St Helens] Petty Sessions so far back as January last year, and an order made to abate the nuisance.
"This order was appealed against, and the case has been drawing its long slow length along for the past fifteen months."
The Newspaper explained how during that period further action against other chemical companies in St Helens for fouling sewers had been put on hold.
But now the appeal had been rejected, it was expected that they too would be prosecuted and no longer be allowed to "jeopardise the health and comfort of the inhabitants".
In 1869 what appears to have been the first bus service operating within the town began running. The St Helens Newspaper wrote at the time:
"From an advertisement in another column, it will be seen that a gentleman has at length been found with sufficient public spirit to start an omnibus in St. Helens."
That man was John Young of the Raven Hotel and his horse-driven bus travelled from the railway station through the town to the better off St Ann's district of Eccleston with five services running each day.
There was already an omnibus service that ran from Bridge Street in St Helens to Prescot – but Young's bus appears to have been the first to operate within the town itself.
John Young was a man of many parts as the 1871 Census states that he was also a coal engineer, as well as hotel manager.
In 1874 Young died at the age of 45 and his wife Ann took over the business, advertising herself as A J Young.
In this week's Newspaper, A J Young had a large advert which described how she was no longer running the Fleece and so operating her coaching / posting service from another location:
"A. J. Young in retiring from the business lately carried on by her at the RAVEN HOTEL, begs to thank the gentry and public generally of St Helens and the neighbourhood for the patronage and support she has hitherto received, and at the same time she has to inform them that she purposes continuing the POSTING BRANCH of that Establishment, on premises purchased by her from the Representatives of the late John Phythian, Esq, in BICKERSTAFFE STREET, adjoining the Royal Alfred Hotel, and within a few yards of the Railway Station, and she hopes by strict and punctual attention to all orders given to her, to deserve and obtain the continued support of the public of St Helens.
"Cabs, Hansoms, and Broughhams, Marriage Equipages Supplied. Funerals Furnished In Any Style."
William Harrison and Henry Newitt appeared in court this week charged with throwing stones in Watson Street.
It was common in the 19th century for a police officer to be stationed at the larger factories and outside coalmines in St Helens.
PC Foster explained to the magistrates that he had been on duty in the lodge of Pilkingtons glassworks when he heard a noise outside and saw a number of men playing guinea cat.
That involved a piece of wood, such as an old axe handle, being used to club a projectile as near as possible to the designated "cat".
The game was usually indulged in by boys rather than men and was not only dangerous to the individual acting as the target but also to others who might inadvertently get in the way.
PC Foster said that upon going outside the men had all run away and he had chased Harrison and Newitt up Watson Street.
Afterwards they both threw stones through what the Newspaper described as "the glass-house window frame, which, however, was not glazed" – which sounds a bit of a contradiction in terms! The pair were fined 2s 6d each.
William Roughley was also in court in St Helens this week by virtue of a coincidence with a stolen spade.
The St Helens police knew that many thieves took their ill-gotten gains straight to a pawnshop.
And so if they were informed quickly enough of a theft, they could warn pawnbrokers to keep a lookout.
When ironmonger's RG Brook told the police that they had lost two spades that had been on display at their shop door, the town's brokers were rapidly warned.
And so when William Roughley subsequently walked into Robert Dagnall's premises in Liverpool Road carrying a spade, the proprietor made some excuse and told the man to call back.
When Roughley returned he had a surprise as he found a policeman waiting to arrest him.
But the police had a surprise too, as it was subsequently learned that the spade had not been purloined from Brook's ironmongers – but instead stolen from Sophia Partington's shop in Liverpool Road.
That was the mentality of some thieves; steal an item and take it to a pawnshop only yards down the road instead of some distance away.
And all Roughley had wanted for the stolen spade was 1s 6d and for that paltry amount he was playing a very dangerous game.
That was because he had previously served a 7-year prison sentence for clothes stealing and by continuing to offend was risking another long term.
And seven more years was what Roughley received in April after his case had been referred from the St Helens Petty Sessions to the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions, with his trial jury finding him guilty of larceny after having a previous conviction for felony.
What today is known as Corpus Christi School in Rainford had opened in 1874, although for some years it identified itself as the Rainford Catholic Schools – the plural being used because separate classes were held within the single building for boys and girls.
On the 28th a Tea Party and Concert was held there "in aid of the funds for the spread of education".
Such events were a very common means of fundraising for schools, although often a dance was held instead of a concert.
Tea was served at 6:30pm and the concert began at 8 o’clock, with tickets costing two shillings.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include an update on the plans to build a new parish church in Rainford, the tragic suicide in St Helens Canal, the Liverpool Road lodging house shawl theft, the duck stealing in Parr and poker bashing in Gerards Bridge.