150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (25th Feb. - 3rd March 1869)
This week's stories include a battle of butchers in the Bird i'th Hand, a billycock theft in Bridge Street, more on the vicious assault on a Rainford woman, the man fined five shillings for grinning in court, two suicides by drowning, the disadvantage of being the wife of a St Helens policeman and the Prescot apprentice prosecuted for not going to work.
We begin during the evening of the 26th when a nail maker called Eaves jumped into the Eccleston Mill Dam and drowned. He had formerly worked for Pilkington's but six weeks earlier had opened a small forge of his own. For some days Eaves had been in low spirits and somewhat eccentric in his conduct, although nothing much was thought of it at the time. His inquest was held on the following day at the Griffin Inn and he left a wife and six children.
On the 27th an inquest was held at the Eagle and Child Inn in Knowsley on the death of Joseph Mellish. The 50-year-old labourer had been living with his brother in Prescot but had not been well for several days.
During the morning of the 22nd Mellish had left the house, supposedly to go to his work in Knowsley. However as he was closing the door he called out: "You will not see me again". Nobody thought anything of the remark but that was the last seen of him. Three days later a large pool of water in Knowsley Lane was dragged and Mellish's body found.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on March 1st, Esther Greenall was fined 1 shilling for obstructing the footpath in Traverse Street in Parr by wheeling coal. Superintendent James Ludlam said the offence frequently occurred and he had asked his constables to look out it.
The magistrates also fined Robert Rotheram five shillings for smiling! Grinning had not been made a criminal offence but the man chose to smirk when the Bench gave him a 5-bob fine for working his horse in an unfit state. This so irked the Chairman that he doubled the fine, no doubt wiping the smile off the man's face!
A stiff fine was probably what Rotheram deserved. When Sergeant Bee had stopped his horse in Thatto Heath he found the animal so heavily laden that it was in considerable pain.
Isaac Kilshaw, a regular in court, was charged with stealing a billycock – a type of bowler hat. The man had walked into James Bates' barber's shop in Bridge Street for a shave. The barber was absent and so his mother went to get him. When she returned Isaac was missing and so was the billycock. Kilshaw was described as a notorious poacher and was sent to prison for 14 days.
Beggar Charles Prescott was sent to prison for a month after choosing the wrong house to go asking for cash. The man had gone knocking on the door of Superintendent Ludlam by Victoria Passage (near Bridge Street) who was in charge of St Helens Police.
However Martha Gilligan discovered in court that being a policeman's wife had a disadvantage. The 29-year-old from Victoria Street near North Road had summoned Ann and John Frodsham after they had made threats to assault her. This was connected to a row over a shuttlecock that Mrs Gilligan had had with the couple's daughter, Polly. This had led to the 12-year-old striking the bobby's wife with a bat!
However the magistrates dismissed the charge of threatening to assault as they felt that Constable Charles Gilligan should be able to protect his own wife. The Bench also dismissed a charge of assault against the child as they considered it trivial.
Hannah Southward pleaded guilty to trespassing in Mattias Harvey's wheat field and causing a pennyworth of damage. Upon promising not to repeat the offence she was let off upon payment of a shilling and costs.
Two butchers called John Leyland and Richard Webster appeared in court charged with assaulting another butcher called Robert Wainwright from Cotham Street. They had all been to Prescot Fair and had called in the Bird i'th Hand in Prescot Road. A conversation ensued about the stall decorations at Christmas and 22-year-old Wainwright said it had been more like a flower show than a meat show.
An innocuous remark, however, it appeared to cause some offence and shortly afterwards the man was knocked unconscious after being struck down against the fireplace by Leyland. Sophia Partington, the landlady of the Bird i'th Hand, corroborated Wainwright's account and told the court that that the man had bled very much and become insensible.
The Chairman told Leyland that he had committed "wanton and grievous abuse" without any provocation and for that assault and for attacking a man who had tried to come to Wainwright's aid, the butcher was fined £4 13s 6d and Webster £2 13s.
Robert Rigby returned to court charged with having violently assaulting Agnes McKee in Rainford just before Christmas. The young woman had been so badly beaten by Rigby that she had not able appear before the magistrates until now.
The St Helens Newspaper described how an "intimacy of a very close, if not improper kind" had existed between the pair for some months. However on two or three recent occasions Rigby and Agnes had met and "exchanged not only hard words, but blows, and some stone-throwing." It does appear that 150 years ago women were far more inclined to have a punch up with men than today!
During the evening of December 20th the couple had met and had another row. This turned into a brutal assault by Rigby who left Agnes unconscious until a passer-by came across her and took her home.
These days an ambulance would be called and the patient treated in hospital. However in the 1860s it was normal for injured people to be taken home and for their local doctor to attend to them. In Agnes's case it wasn't until the following morning that she received medical assistance and for some time her life was in danger.
As a witness to the crime had yet to be persuaded to come to court, the magistrates decided to adjourn the hearing until the next Sessions. However Robert Rigby's solicitor objected to the adjournment and it was decided to see whether the two parties could come to an agreement in order to settle the case.
This they did and the magistrates were told that an amicable settlement between Agnes and Robert had been reached. And we shall never know what it was, although I would expect it would have included the payment of the doctor's bill and a pound or two compensation for Agnes. Of course the brute Rigby should have been put behind bars but Agnes needed to be pragmatic, having lost money while off work.
Rainhill miller James Tasker appeared in Liverpool County Court on the 1st as part of bankruptcy hearings but the proceedings were adjourned due to lack of accounts. Tasker Terrace in Rainhill appears to have been named after him.
It appears that the term "headbutt" was not in common use in 1869. The Prescot Petty Sessions met on the 2nd and heard a case of assault in which John Lunt was accused of blackening the eye of James Orret in Whiston. The St Helens Newspaper wrote that the man had "ran his head against the complainant's".
However it was an era where violence was tolerated much more than today, as shown in the case of Agnes McKee above. The magistrates felt the painful assault was trivial and suggested the two parties agree a settlement, which they did.
Ellen Kidney appeared in court charged with committing a breach of the peace by shouting and committing a great noise in Eccleston Street in Prescot. The Newspaper described Ellen as a "decently dressed young girl". They weren't suggesting that she might have come into court dressed indecently!
It was simply a reference to her smart attire, which suggested that she was a respectable person. That counted for a lot in court and Ellen was simply bound over to keep the peace.
Horses often ferried their masters home from alehouses while they slept in their cart. However Thomas Fisher's nag appeared to have lost its sense of direction while travelling in Knowsley, as the animal decided to veer off the road and go up a path.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote that although this change of route over rough ground had "jolted the cart most unmercifully, the sleeping occupant remained undisturbed until rudely shaken by a constable."
When the bobby asked Fisher if he knew where he was, the man replied: "Yes", but then covered his bets by saying "somewhere in Lancashire". And he wasn't wrong! Thomas Fisher appeared in the Prescot Petty Sessions charged with being asleep in his cart and was ordered to pay 2/6 as well as court costs.
During the 19th century there were many prosecutions of people who failed to turn up for work. Often these were bound apprentices who were contractually tied to a firm from the age of 14 until they turned 21 and obtained their indentures.
It was a harsh agreement for very low pay. If youths tried to leave their employment or didn't go to work, they would receive warnings from their employer. If that didn't work then they would be put in front of the magistrates and warned again. The final sanction would be to return to court and be given a short prison sentence of around 7 to 14 days.
Clogger's apprentice James Thompson worked in Prescot for James Powell and he was making his first court appearance having been absent from work for 6½ days over the last year. The boy's mother told the court that she had been unable to improve her son's conduct and his boss said he had done all he could to make the boy "steady and industrious".
Realising he was in danger of going to jail, James promised to be diligent in future and was "let off", as it was reported, "the master undertaking to stop the [court] costs out of his wages".
Next week's stories will include a dramatic leap from a train near St Helens Junction, window smashing in Liverpool Road, the inmate of Whiston Workhouse who died through "overgorging" on pork, a Town Hall meeting to raise funds for families of miners killed in disasters and an Oddfellows charity concert in the Volunteer Hall.
We begin during the evening of the 26th when a nail maker called Eaves jumped into the Eccleston Mill Dam and drowned. He had formerly worked for Pilkington's but six weeks earlier had opened a small forge of his own. For some days Eaves had been in low spirits and somewhat eccentric in his conduct, although nothing much was thought of it at the time. His inquest was held on the following day at the Griffin Inn and he left a wife and six children.
On the 27th an inquest was held at the Eagle and Child Inn in Knowsley on the death of Joseph Mellish. The 50-year-old labourer had been living with his brother in Prescot but had not been well for several days.
During the morning of the 22nd Mellish had left the house, supposedly to go to his work in Knowsley. However as he was closing the door he called out: "You will not see me again". Nobody thought anything of the remark but that was the last seen of him. Three days later a large pool of water in Knowsley Lane was dragged and Mellish's body found.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on March 1st, Esther Greenall was fined 1 shilling for obstructing the footpath in Traverse Street in Parr by wheeling coal. Superintendent James Ludlam said the offence frequently occurred and he had asked his constables to look out it.
The magistrates also fined Robert Rotheram five shillings for smiling! Grinning had not been made a criminal offence but the man chose to smirk when the Bench gave him a 5-bob fine for working his horse in an unfit state. This so irked the Chairman that he doubled the fine, no doubt wiping the smile off the man's face!
A stiff fine was probably what Rotheram deserved. When Sergeant Bee had stopped his horse in Thatto Heath he found the animal so heavily laden that it was in considerable pain.
Isaac Kilshaw, a regular in court, was charged with stealing a billycock – a type of bowler hat. The man had walked into James Bates' barber's shop in Bridge Street for a shave. The barber was absent and so his mother went to get him. When she returned Isaac was missing and so was the billycock. Kilshaw was described as a notorious poacher and was sent to prison for 14 days.
Beggar Charles Prescott was sent to prison for a month after choosing the wrong house to go asking for cash. The man had gone knocking on the door of Superintendent Ludlam by Victoria Passage (near Bridge Street) who was in charge of St Helens Police.
However Martha Gilligan discovered in court that being a policeman's wife had a disadvantage. The 29-year-old from Victoria Street near North Road had summoned Ann and John Frodsham after they had made threats to assault her. This was connected to a row over a shuttlecock that Mrs Gilligan had had with the couple's daughter, Polly. This had led to the 12-year-old striking the bobby's wife with a bat!
However the magistrates dismissed the charge of threatening to assault as they felt that Constable Charles Gilligan should be able to protect his own wife. The Bench also dismissed a charge of assault against the child as they considered it trivial.
Hannah Southward pleaded guilty to trespassing in Mattias Harvey's wheat field and causing a pennyworth of damage. Upon promising not to repeat the offence she was let off upon payment of a shilling and costs.
Two butchers called John Leyland and Richard Webster appeared in court charged with assaulting another butcher called Robert Wainwright from Cotham Street. They had all been to Prescot Fair and had called in the Bird i'th Hand in Prescot Road. A conversation ensued about the stall decorations at Christmas and 22-year-old Wainwright said it had been more like a flower show than a meat show.
An innocuous remark, however, it appeared to cause some offence and shortly afterwards the man was knocked unconscious after being struck down against the fireplace by Leyland. Sophia Partington, the landlady of the Bird i'th Hand, corroborated Wainwright's account and told the court that that the man had bled very much and become insensible.
The Chairman told Leyland that he had committed "wanton and grievous abuse" without any provocation and for that assault and for attacking a man who had tried to come to Wainwright's aid, the butcher was fined £4 13s 6d and Webster £2 13s.
Robert Rigby returned to court charged with having violently assaulting Agnes McKee in Rainford just before Christmas. The young woman had been so badly beaten by Rigby that she had not able appear before the magistrates until now.
During the evening of December 20th the couple had met and had another row. This turned into a brutal assault by Rigby who left Agnes unconscious until a passer-by came across her and took her home.
These days an ambulance would be called and the patient treated in hospital. However in the 1860s it was normal for injured people to be taken home and for their local doctor to attend to them. In Agnes's case it wasn't until the following morning that she received medical assistance and for some time her life was in danger.
As a witness to the crime had yet to be persuaded to come to court, the magistrates decided to adjourn the hearing until the next Sessions. However Robert Rigby's solicitor objected to the adjournment and it was decided to see whether the two parties could come to an agreement in order to settle the case.
This they did and the magistrates were told that an amicable settlement between Agnes and Robert had been reached. And we shall never know what it was, although I would expect it would have included the payment of the doctor's bill and a pound or two compensation for Agnes. Of course the brute Rigby should have been put behind bars but Agnes needed to be pragmatic, having lost money while off work.
Rainhill miller James Tasker appeared in Liverpool County Court on the 1st as part of bankruptcy hearings but the proceedings were adjourned due to lack of accounts. Tasker Terrace in Rainhill appears to have been named after him.
It appears that the term "headbutt" was not in common use in 1869. The Prescot Petty Sessions met on the 2nd and heard a case of assault in which John Lunt was accused of blackening the eye of James Orret in Whiston. The St Helens Newspaper wrote that the man had "ran his head against the complainant's".
However it was an era where violence was tolerated much more than today, as shown in the case of Agnes McKee above. The magistrates felt the painful assault was trivial and suggested the two parties agree a settlement, which they did.
Ellen Kidney appeared in court charged with committing a breach of the peace by shouting and committing a great noise in Eccleston Street in Prescot. The Newspaper described Ellen as a "decently dressed young girl". They weren't suggesting that she might have come into court dressed indecently!
It was simply a reference to her smart attire, which suggested that she was a respectable person. That counted for a lot in court and Ellen was simply bound over to keep the peace.
Horses often ferried their masters home from alehouses while they slept in their cart. However Thomas Fisher's nag appeared to have lost its sense of direction while travelling in Knowsley, as the animal decided to veer off the road and go up a path.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote that although this change of route over rough ground had "jolted the cart most unmercifully, the sleeping occupant remained undisturbed until rudely shaken by a constable."
When the bobby asked Fisher if he knew where he was, the man replied: "Yes", but then covered his bets by saying "somewhere in Lancashire". And he wasn't wrong! Thomas Fisher appeared in the Prescot Petty Sessions charged with being asleep in his cart and was ordered to pay 2/6 as well as court costs.
During the 19th century there were many prosecutions of people who failed to turn up for work. Often these were bound apprentices who were contractually tied to a firm from the age of 14 until they turned 21 and obtained their indentures.
It was a harsh agreement for very low pay. If youths tried to leave their employment or didn't go to work, they would receive warnings from their employer. If that didn't work then they would be put in front of the magistrates and warned again. The final sanction would be to return to court and be given a short prison sentence of around 7 to 14 days.
Clogger's apprentice James Thompson worked in Prescot for James Powell and he was making his first court appearance having been absent from work for 6½ days over the last year. The boy's mother told the court that she had been unable to improve her son's conduct and his boss said he had done all he could to make the boy "steady and industrious".
Realising he was in danger of going to jail, James promised to be diligent in future and was "let off", as it was reported, "the master undertaking to stop the [court] costs out of his wages".
Next week's stories will include a dramatic leap from a train near St Helens Junction, window smashing in Liverpool Road, the inmate of Whiston Workhouse who died through "overgorging" on pork, a Town Hall meeting to raise funds for families of miners killed in disasters and an Oddfellows charity concert in the Volunteer Hall.