150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 25 - 31 MARCH 1874
This week's many stories include the verdict in the St Helens Newspaper's libel case, a worker is killed at a chemical works after falling into a well of muriatic acid, the Haydock murder charge against a husband, the creative beggar in Bridge Street, two violent assaults take place in Rainford and the extraordinary dispute between the new St Helens Town Crier and the manager of the Theatre Royal.
We begin on the 25th with the libel case in which tailor Thomas Thomson had sued Bernard Dromgoole, the editor and proprietor of the St Helens Newspaper. When the annual local elections had taken place last November, the paper had claimed that Thomson had received a suspect payment of £24. The Water Street tailor had been working for one of the candidates and the hint was that the money had been a bribe.
That word was not actually used within the report but still Thomson was furious with the implication of corruption. But he lost his action at the Liverpool Spring Assizes with the Liverpool Mail summing up the hearing by saying: "The case was of a very paltry character, arising out of local election squabbles, and after hearing the evidence, the jury found for the defendant." As might be expected the triumphant St Helens Newspaper had far more to say with an editorial stating:
"…the fomentors of corrupt practices at our municipal elections have been taught a lesson – one which we hope they will remember; namely, that an editor of a newspaper is not only privileged to criticise the corrupt and questionable proceedings of bribed Orangemen and their more guilty associates, professing Liberals, but that an editor would be neglecting his duty to the public if he did not expose such practices as took place in St. Helens at the last municipal election.
"Newspaper editors may take heart from the result of Wednesday's proceedings, and especially from the words of the learned judge, that an “editor is not to be expected to prove the truth of every word or line that appears in his paper if he can show that substantially his remarks are true;” and there is further consolation, that a jury of his countrymen will, if he goes manfully before them, acquit him and will shield him from his unjust and vindictive oppressors."
Violence, as I've often said, was not treated very seriously in the 1870s. It had to be severe to warrant a prison sentence, unlike theft. The violent acts committed by James Hunter in a Rainford lodging house seemed pretty bad to me but they only resulted in a fine when he appeared in court this week. It was another case of "purring" where a man was knocked to the ground and then kicked repeatedly in the head.
Alfred Buck told the court that his beating and kicking by Hunter had left him unconscious for half-an-hour and Henry Lee said he had received the same treatment. The wife of the lodging-house keeper complained that she had been knocked down as well. James Hunter denied it all but he was convicted, although only fined 30 shillings and costs.
A Rainford blacksmith called James Harper also appeared in court to accuse George Shuttleworth of assaulting him in the Bridge Inn. That was by grabbing Harper by the throat, dragging him into a corner and kicking him severely. Shuttleworth was listed in the 1871 census as a 26-year-old coal miner living in Old Lane and he told the court that he had been provoked.
But he had also been 15 times previously before the court and Supt. James Ludlam described Shuttleworth as: "…one of the worst men in Rainford and a terror to the neighbourhood". Despite his record and fiery reputation, Shuttleworth was only fined ten shillings and 19s 6d costs.
Last August one of the best-known men in St Helens had died at the age of 61. That was James Berry of George Street who for many years had been the Town Crier of St Helens. His official duties had been few and his main business was as a billposter and distributor of circulars and handbills. These, his newspaper adverts used to say, were "delivered with promptitude dispatch, and on the most reasonable terms".
Berry's successor as Town Crier was William McBretney and one of his bill-posting clients was the Theatre Royal, then located in the premises we know as the Citadel. But he'd fallen out with its manager, George Charles, initially over the amount he was being paid and consequently had stopped posting the theatre's events' notices. So Charles decided to do the job himself but was accused of sticking his posters on hoardings that McBretney had paid for.
That led to a row in the street in which the theatre manager was accused of pointing to McBretney and saying: "That is the man who robbed and killed the old woman." By that remark Charles was accusing McBretney of cheating James Berry's widow when acquiring the role of Town Crier. And so McBretney issued a summons against the theatre manager accusing him of using false and defamatory language towards him – but the magistrates ultimately dismissed the case.
Bridget Dalton was also in court where the police accused her of being a "professional mendicant". As beggars went Bridget was quite creative, as she had sat herself down in Bridge Street surrounded by her children. Each of them had held a candle to "illuminate the scene and create an effect", as the Newspaper put it. The woman was sent to prison for 14 days. Just what happened to her candle-holding children was not stated in the report but they were probably placed in Whiston Workhouse.
On the 26th there was another reminder of the dangers of chemical works when a worker was killed at the Greenbank Alkali Company in St Helens and two other men had lucky escapes. The men had been sent down into a well used for the temporary storage of unwanted muriatic acid in order to clear out sediment.
As usual there were no safety measures in place and they were simply standing on a plank when carbonic acid gas struck them down. William Richardson and Thomas Cassidy managed to fall back out of the direct line of the fumes but Thomas Dugan fainted and fell into the liquor and was drowned. Richardson quickly came round but it was several hours before Cassidy recovered consciousness.
Also on the 26th, 250 miners working at Pilkingtons' St Helens Colliery went on strike. That was the day a 15% reduction in their wages began after the employers' organisation, known as the West Lancashire Coal Association, had given a fortnight's notice of their intention to make the cut. The bosses' decision had been blamed on a fall in the market price of coal and other mines in St Helens were expected to soon follow suit.
Strikes always created a lot of unpleasantness. In court this week John Barker was charged with threatening Edwin Schofield, who was a colliery underlooker at the St Helens Colliery. Schofield had been told to put up notices informing the miners of the 15% reduction in their wages. Doing so annoyed Barker who was alleged to have asked Schofield if he had his coffin ready.
And on another day Barker had picked up a plank and threatened to knock Schofield's head off with it. As a result Barker was sacked and later Schofield said he'd come across the man in the street and would have been assaulted but for the intervention of the police. The magistrates ordered John Barker to find two £10 sureties to guarantee his good behaviour – which was a stiff ask for any man, particularly one who was unemployed.
The Ship Inn used to be at the top of Church Street – or Raven Street, as that section was then known – adjacent to a swing bridge over the canal (pictured above). The pub was serving customers from at least 1805 and it continued in business until 1934. In the St Helens Newspaper on the 28th T. R. Reid – who described himself as the "original old boots" – stated that he had now taken over the reins of the Ship Inn "with a choice stock of wines and spirits, and of course “Greenall's Sparkling.” He hopes to see all his old friends, and as many new ones with them."
On the 30th James Grimes appeared in Liverpool Spring Assizes charged with murdering his wife Ellen at Haydock. The couple lived at Owls Nest in Haydock – which, according to the 1871 census, contained a row of three cottages – and on December 9th 1873 they had spent an evening drinking together at the Hare and Hounds.
The Grimes's had a bit too much to drink and Ellen paid a man called William Latham threepence to escort them part of their way home to ensure they safely passed a dangerous, dark spot known as the Park pits. This, Latham said he did, adding that he had left them in good spirits. That did not, apparently, last for long as some women reported hearing the couple in "violent altercation" with shouts of "murder" from Ellen.
The husband claimed that he and his wife had fallen into a ditch in the dark but he had managed to scramble out and go for help. Ellen was found dead in the ditch on the following day with several marks of violence upon her. At the assizes the Grand Jury threw out the charge of murder and 68-year-old Grimes was instead tried on a charge of manslaughter for which he was found guilty and sentenced to nine months in prison.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the breach of promise of marriage case, a policeman suffers a severe kicking in Parr Street, the dog that saved a Bridge Street family from fire and the vested interests of St Helens councillors.
We begin on the 25th with the libel case in which tailor Thomas Thomson had sued Bernard Dromgoole, the editor and proprietor of the St Helens Newspaper. When the annual local elections had taken place last November, the paper had claimed that Thomson had received a suspect payment of £24. The Water Street tailor had been working for one of the candidates and the hint was that the money had been a bribe.
That word was not actually used within the report but still Thomson was furious with the implication of corruption. But he lost his action at the Liverpool Spring Assizes with the Liverpool Mail summing up the hearing by saying: "The case was of a very paltry character, arising out of local election squabbles, and after hearing the evidence, the jury found for the defendant." As might be expected the triumphant St Helens Newspaper had far more to say with an editorial stating:
"…the fomentors of corrupt practices at our municipal elections have been taught a lesson – one which we hope they will remember; namely, that an editor of a newspaper is not only privileged to criticise the corrupt and questionable proceedings of bribed Orangemen and their more guilty associates, professing Liberals, but that an editor would be neglecting his duty to the public if he did not expose such practices as took place in St. Helens at the last municipal election.
"Newspaper editors may take heart from the result of Wednesday's proceedings, and especially from the words of the learned judge, that an “editor is not to be expected to prove the truth of every word or line that appears in his paper if he can show that substantially his remarks are true;” and there is further consolation, that a jury of his countrymen will, if he goes manfully before them, acquit him and will shield him from his unjust and vindictive oppressors."
Violence, as I've often said, was not treated very seriously in the 1870s. It had to be severe to warrant a prison sentence, unlike theft. The violent acts committed by James Hunter in a Rainford lodging house seemed pretty bad to me but they only resulted in a fine when he appeared in court this week. It was another case of "purring" where a man was knocked to the ground and then kicked repeatedly in the head.
Alfred Buck told the court that his beating and kicking by Hunter had left him unconscious for half-an-hour and Henry Lee said he had received the same treatment. The wife of the lodging-house keeper complained that she had been knocked down as well. James Hunter denied it all but he was convicted, although only fined 30 shillings and costs.
A Rainford blacksmith called James Harper also appeared in court to accuse George Shuttleworth of assaulting him in the Bridge Inn. That was by grabbing Harper by the throat, dragging him into a corner and kicking him severely. Shuttleworth was listed in the 1871 census as a 26-year-old coal miner living in Old Lane and he told the court that he had been provoked.
But he had also been 15 times previously before the court and Supt. James Ludlam described Shuttleworth as: "…one of the worst men in Rainford and a terror to the neighbourhood". Despite his record and fiery reputation, Shuttleworth was only fined ten shillings and 19s 6d costs.
Last August one of the best-known men in St Helens had died at the age of 61. That was James Berry of George Street who for many years had been the Town Crier of St Helens. His official duties had been few and his main business was as a billposter and distributor of circulars and handbills. These, his newspaper adverts used to say, were "delivered with promptitude dispatch, and on the most reasonable terms".
Berry's successor as Town Crier was William McBretney and one of his bill-posting clients was the Theatre Royal, then located in the premises we know as the Citadel. But he'd fallen out with its manager, George Charles, initially over the amount he was being paid and consequently had stopped posting the theatre's events' notices. So Charles decided to do the job himself but was accused of sticking his posters on hoardings that McBretney had paid for.
That led to a row in the street in which the theatre manager was accused of pointing to McBretney and saying: "That is the man who robbed and killed the old woman." By that remark Charles was accusing McBretney of cheating James Berry's widow when acquiring the role of Town Crier. And so McBretney issued a summons against the theatre manager accusing him of using false and defamatory language towards him – but the magistrates ultimately dismissed the case.
Bridget Dalton was also in court where the police accused her of being a "professional mendicant". As beggars went Bridget was quite creative, as she had sat herself down in Bridge Street surrounded by her children. Each of them had held a candle to "illuminate the scene and create an effect", as the Newspaper put it. The woman was sent to prison for 14 days. Just what happened to her candle-holding children was not stated in the report but they were probably placed in Whiston Workhouse.
On the 26th there was another reminder of the dangers of chemical works when a worker was killed at the Greenbank Alkali Company in St Helens and two other men had lucky escapes. The men had been sent down into a well used for the temporary storage of unwanted muriatic acid in order to clear out sediment.
As usual there were no safety measures in place and they were simply standing on a plank when carbonic acid gas struck them down. William Richardson and Thomas Cassidy managed to fall back out of the direct line of the fumes but Thomas Dugan fainted and fell into the liquor and was drowned. Richardson quickly came round but it was several hours before Cassidy recovered consciousness.
Also on the 26th, 250 miners working at Pilkingtons' St Helens Colliery went on strike. That was the day a 15% reduction in their wages began after the employers' organisation, known as the West Lancashire Coal Association, had given a fortnight's notice of their intention to make the cut. The bosses' decision had been blamed on a fall in the market price of coal and other mines in St Helens were expected to soon follow suit.
Strikes always created a lot of unpleasantness. In court this week John Barker was charged with threatening Edwin Schofield, who was a colliery underlooker at the St Helens Colliery. Schofield had been told to put up notices informing the miners of the 15% reduction in their wages. Doing so annoyed Barker who was alleged to have asked Schofield if he had his coffin ready.
And on another day Barker had picked up a plank and threatened to knock Schofield's head off with it. As a result Barker was sacked and later Schofield said he'd come across the man in the street and would have been assaulted but for the intervention of the police. The magistrates ordered John Barker to find two £10 sureties to guarantee his good behaviour – which was a stiff ask for any man, particularly one who was unemployed.
On the 30th James Grimes appeared in Liverpool Spring Assizes charged with murdering his wife Ellen at Haydock. The couple lived at Owls Nest in Haydock – which, according to the 1871 census, contained a row of three cottages – and on December 9th 1873 they had spent an evening drinking together at the Hare and Hounds.
The Grimes's had a bit too much to drink and Ellen paid a man called William Latham threepence to escort them part of their way home to ensure they safely passed a dangerous, dark spot known as the Park pits. This, Latham said he did, adding that he had left them in good spirits. That did not, apparently, last for long as some women reported hearing the couple in "violent altercation" with shouts of "murder" from Ellen.
The husband claimed that he and his wife had fallen into a ditch in the dark but he had managed to scramble out and go for help. Ellen was found dead in the ditch on the following day with several marks of violence upon her. At the assizes the Grand Jury threw out the charge of murder and 68-year-old Grimes was instead tried on a charge of manslaughter for which he was found guilty and sentenced to nine months in prison.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the breach of promise of marriage case, a policeman suffers a severe kicking in Parr Street, the dog that saved a Bridge Street family from fire and the vested interests of St Helens councillors.
This week's many stories include the verdict in the St Helens Newspaper's libel case, a worker is killed at a chemical works after falling into a well of muriatic acid, the Haydock murder charge against a husband, the creative beggar in Bridge Street, two violent assaults take place in Rainford and the extraordinary dispute between the new St Helens Town Crier and the manager of the Theatre Royal.
We begin on the 25th with the libel case in which tailor Thomas Thomson had sued Bernard Dromgoole, the editor and proprietor of the St Helens Newspaper.
When the annual local elections had taken place last November, the paper had claimed that Thomson had received a suspect payment of £24.
The Water Street tailor had been working for one of the candidates and the hint was that the money had been a bribe.
That word was not actually used within the report but still Thomson was furious with the implication of corruption.
But he lost his action at the Liverpool Spring Assizes with the Liverpool Mail summing up the hearing by saying:
"The case was of a very paltry character, arising out of local election squabbles, and after hearing the evidence, the jury found for the defendant."
As might be expected the triumphant St Helens Newspaper had far more to say with an editorial stating:
"…the fomentors of corrupt practices at our municipal elections have been taught a lesson – one which we hope they will remember; namely, that an editor of a newspaper is not only privileged to criticise the corrupt and questionable proceedings of bribed Orangemen and their more guilty associates, professing Liberals, but that an editor would be neglecting his duty to the public if he did not expose such practices as took place in St. Helens at the last municipal election.
"Newspaper editors may take heart from the result of Wednesday's proceedings, and especially from the words of the learned judge, that an “editor is not to be expected to prove the truth of every word or line that appears in his paper if he can show that substantially his remarks are true;” and there is further consolation, that a jury of his countrymen will, if he goes manfully before them, acquit him and will shield him from his unjust and vindictive oppressors."
Violence, as I've often said, was not treated very seriously in the 1870s. It had to be severe to warrant a prison sentence, unlike theft.
The violent acts committed by James Hunter in a Rainford lodging house seemed pretty bad to me but they only resulted in a fine when he appeared in court this week.
It was another case of "purring" where a man was knocked to the ground and then kicked repeatedly in the head.
Alfred Buck told the court that his beating and kicking by Hunter had left him unconscious for half-an-hour and Henry Lee said he had received the same treatment.
The wife of the lodging-house keeper complained that she had been knocked down as well.
James Hunter denied it all but he was convicted, although only fined 30 shillings and costs.
A Rainford blacksmith called James Harper also appeared in court to accuse George Shuttleworth of assaulting him in the Bridge Inn.
That was by grabbing Harper by the throat, dragging him into a corner and kicking him severely.
Shuttleworth was listed in the 1871 census as a 26-year-old coal miner living in Old Lane and he told the court that he had been provoked.
But he had also been 15 times previously before the court and Supt. James Ludlam described Shuttleworth as:
"…one of the worst men in Rainford and a terror to the neighbourhood". Despite his record and fiery reputation, Shuttleworth was only fined ten shillings and 19s 6d costs.
Last August one of the best-known men in St Helens had died at the age of 61. That was James Berry of George Street who for many years had been the Town Crier of St Helens.
His official duties had been few and his main business was as a billposter and distributor of circulars and handbills.
These, his newspaper adverts used to say, were "delivered with promptitude dispatch, and on the most reasonable terms".
Berry's successor as Town Crier was William McBretney and one of his bill-posting clients was the Theatre Royal, then located in the premises we know as the Citadel.
But he'd fallen out with its manager, George Charles, initially over the amount he was being paid and consequently had stopped posting the theatre's events' notices.
So Charles decided to do the job himself but was accused of sticking his posters on hoardings that McBretney had paid for.
That led to a row in the street in which the theatre manager was accused of pointing to McBretney and saying: "That is the man who robbed and killed the old woman."
By that remark Charles was accusing McBretney of cheating James Berry's widow when acquiring the role of Town Crier.
And so McBretney issued a summons against the theatre manager accusing him of using false and defamatory language towards him – but the magistrates ultimately dismissed the case.
Bridget Dalton was also in court where the police accused her of being a "professional mendicant".
As beggars went Bridget was quite creative, as she had sat herself down in Bridge Street surrounded by her children.
Each of them had held a candle to "illuminate the scene and create an effect", as the Newspaper put it.
The woman was sent to prison for 14 days. Just what happened to her candle-holding children was not stated in the report but they were probably placed in Whiston Workhouse.
On the 26th there was another reminder of the dangers of chemical works when a worker was killed at the Greenbank Alkali Company in St Helens and two other men had lucky escapes.
The men had been sent down into a well used for the temporary storage of unwanted muriatic acid in order to clear out sediment.
As usual there were no safety measures in place and they were simply standing on a plank when carbonic acid gas struck them down.
William Richardson and Thomas Cassidy managed to fall back out of the direct line of the fumes but Thomas Dugan fainted and fell into the liquor and was drowned.
Richardson quickly came round but it was several hours before Cassidy recovered consciousness.
Also on the 26th, 250 miners working at Pilkingtons' St Helens Colliery went on strike.
That was the day a 15% reduction in their wages began after the employers' organisation, known as the West Lancashire Coal Association, had given a fortnight's notice of their intention to make the cut.
The bosses' decision had been blamed on a fall in the market price of coal and other mines in St Helens were expected to soon follow suit.
Strikes always created a lot of unpleasantness. In court this week John Barker was charged with threatening Edwin Schofield, who was a colliery underlooker at the St Helens Colliery.
Schofield had been told to put up notices informing the miners of the 15% reduction in their wages.
Doing so annoyed Barker who was alleged to have asked Schofield if he had his coffin ready.
And on another day Barker had picked up a plank and threatened to knock Schofield's head off with it.
As a result Barker was sacked and later Schofield said he'd come across the man in the street and would have been assaulted but for the intervention of the police.
The magistrates ordered John Barker to find two £10 sureties to guarantee his good behaviour – which was a stiff ask for any man, particularly one who was unemployed.
The Ship Inn used to be at the top of Church Street – or Raven Street, as that section was then known – adjacent to a swing bridge over the canal (pictured above).
The pub was serving customers from at least 1805 and it continued in business until 1934.
In the St Helens Newspaper on the 28th T. R. Reid – who described himself as the "original old boots" – stated that he had now taken over the reins of the Ship Inn "with a choice stock of wines and spirits, and of course “Greenall's Sparkling.” He hopes to see all his old friends, and as many new ones with them."
On the 30th James Grimes appeared in Liverpool Spring Assizes charged with murdering his wife Ellen at Haydock.
The couple lived at Owls Nest in Haydock – which, according to the 1871 census, contained a row of three cottages – and on December 9th 1873 they had spent an evening drinking together at the Hare and Hounds.
The Grimes's had a bit too much to drink and Ellen paid a man called William Latham threepence to escort them part of their way home to ensure they safely passed a dangerous, dark spot known as the Park pits.
This, Latham said he did, adding that he had left them in good spirits. That did not, apparently, last for long as some women reported hearing the couple in "violent altercation" with shouts of "murder" from Ellen.
The husband claimed that he and his wife had fallen into a ditch in the dark but he had managed to scramble out and go for help.
Ellen was found dead in the ditch on the following day with several marks of violence upon her.
At the assizes the Grand Jury threw out the charge of murder and 68-year-old Grimes was instead tried on a charge of manslaughter for which he was found guilty and sentenced to nine months in prison.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the breach of promise of marriage case, a policeman suffers a severe kicking in Parr Street, the dog that saved a Bridge Street family from fire and the vested interests of St Helens councillors.
We begin on the 25th with the libel case in which tailor Thomas Thomson had sued Bernard Dromgoole, the editor and proprietor of the St Helens Newspaper.
When the annual local elections had taken place last November, the paper had claimed that Thomson had received a suspect payment of £24.
The Water Street tailor had been working for one of the candidates and the hint was that the money had been a bribe.
That word was not actually used within the report but still Thomson was furious with the implication of corruption.
But he lost his action at the Liverpool Spring Assizes with the Liverpool Mail summing up the hearing by saying:
"The case was of a very paltry character, arising out of local election squabbles, and after hearing the evidence, the jury found for the defendant."
As might be expected the triumphant St Helens Newspaper had far more to say with an editorial stating:
"…the fomentors of corrupt practices at our municipal elections have been taught a lesson – one which we hope they will remember; namely, that an editor of a newspaper is not only privileged to criticise the corrupt and questionable proceedings of bribed Orangemen and their more guilty associates, professing Liberals, but that an editor would be neglecting his duty to the public if he did not expose such practices as took place in St. Helens at the last municipal election.
"Newspaper editors may take heart from the result of Wednesday's proceedings, and especially from the words of the learned judge, that an “editor is not to be expected to prove the truth of every word or line that appears in his paper if he can show that substantially his remarks are true;” and there is further consolation, that a jury of his countrymen will, if he goes manfully before them, acquit him and will shield him from his unjust and vindictive oppressors."
Violence, as I've often said, was not treated very seriously in the 1870s. It had to be severe to warrant a prison sentence, unlike theft.
The violent acts committed by James Hunter in a Rainford lodging house seemed pretty bad to me but they only resulted in a fine when he appeared in court this week.
It was another case of "purring" where a man was knocked to the ground and then kicked repeatedly in the head.
Alfred Buck told the court that his beating and kicking by Hunter had left him unconscious for half-an-hour and Henry Lee said he had received the same treatment.
The wife of the lodging-house keeper complained that she had been knocked down as well.
James Hunter denied it all but he was convicted, although only fined 30 shillings and costs.
A Rainford blacksmith called James Harper also appeared in court to accuse George Shuttleworth of assaulting him in the Bridge Inn.
That was by grabbing Harper by the throat, dragging him into a corner and kicking him severely.
Shuttleworth was listed in the 1871 census as a 26-year-old coal miner living in Old Lane and he told the court that he had been provoked.
But he had also been 15 times previously before the court and Supt. James Ludlam described Shuttleworth as:
"…one of the worst men in Rainford and a terror to the neighbourhood". Despite his record and fiery reputation, Shuttleworth was only fined ten shillings and 19s 6d costs.
Last August one of the best-known men in St Helens had died at the age of 61. That was James Berry of George Street who for many years had been the Town Crier of St Helens.
His official duties had been few and his main business was as a billposter and distributor of circulars and handbills.
These, his newspaper adverts used to say, were "delivered with promptitude dispatch, and on the most reasonable terms".
Berry's successor as Town Crier was William McBretney and one of his bill-posting clients was the Theatre Royal, then located in the premises we know as the Citadel.
But he'd fallen out with its manager, George Charles, initially over the amount he was being paid and consequently had stopped posting the theatre's events' notices.
So Charles decided to do the job himself but was accused of sticking his posters on hoardings that McBretney had paid for.
That led to a row in the street in which the theatre manager was accused of pointing to McBretney and saying: "That is the man who robbed and killed the old woman."
By that remark Charles was accusing McBretney of cheating James Berry's widow when acquiring the role of Town Crier.
And so McBretney issued a summons against the theatre manager accusing him of using false and defamatory language towards him – but the magistrates ultimately dismissed the case.
Bridget Dalton was also in court where the police accused her of being a "professional mendicant".
As beggars went Bridget was quite creative, as she had sat herself down in Bridge Street surrounded by her children.
Each of them had held a candle to "illuminate the scene and create an effect", as the Newspaper put it.
The woman was sent to prison for 14 days. Just what happened to her candle-holding children was not stated in the report but they were probably placed in Whiston Workhouse.
On the 26th there was another reminder of the dangers of chemical works when a worker was killed at the Greenbank Alkali Company in St Helens and two other men had lucky escapes.
The men had been sent down into a well used for the temporary storage of unwanted muriatic acid in order to clear out sediment.
As usual there were no safety measures in place and they were simply standing on a plank when carbonic acid gas struck them down.
William Richardson and Thomas Cassidy managed to fall back out of the direct line of the fumes but Thomas Dugan fainted and fell into the liquor and was drowned.
Richardson quickly came round but it was several hours before Cassidy recovered consciousness.
Also on the 26th, 250 miners working at Pilkingtons' St Helens Colliery went on strike.
That was the day a 15% reduction in their wages began after the employers' organisation, known as the West Lancashire Coal Association, had given a fortnight's notice of their intention to make the cut.
The bosses' decision had been blamed on a fall in the market price of coal and other mines in St Helens were expected to soon follow suit.
Strikes always created a lot of unpleasantness. In court this week John Barker was charged with threatening Edwin Schofield, who was a colliery underlooker at the St Helens Colliery.
Schofield had been told to put up notices informing the miners of the 15% reduction in their wages.
Doing so annoyed Barker who was alleged to have asked Schofield if he had his coffin ready.
And on another day Barker had picked up a plank and threatened to knock Schofield's head off with it.
As a result Barker was sacked and later Schofield said he'd come across the man in the street and would have been assaulted but for the intervention of the police.
The magistrates ordered John Barker to find two £10 sureties to guarantee his good behaviour – which was a stiff ask for any man, particularly one who was unemployed.
The pub was serving customers from at least 1805 and it continued in business until 1934.
In the St Helens Newspaper on the 28th T. R. Reid – who described himself as the "original old boots" – stated that he had now taken over the reins of the Ship Inn "with a choice stock of wines and spirits, and of course “Greenall's Sparkling.” He hopes to see all his old friends, and as many new ones with them."
On the 30th James Grimes appeared in Liverpool Spring Assizes charged with murdering his wife Ellen at Haydock.
The couple lived at Owls Nest in Haydock – which, according to the 1871 census, contained a row of three cottages – and on December 9th 1873 they had spent an evening drinking together at the Hare and Hounds.
The Grimes's had a bit too much to drink and Ellen paid a man called William Latham threepence to escort them part of their way home to ensure they safely passed a dangerous, dark spot known as the Park pits.
This, Latham said he did, adding that he had left them in good spirits. That did not, apparently, last for long as some women reported hearing the couple in "violent altercation" with shouts of "murder" from Ellen.
The husband claimed that he and his wife had fallen into a ditch in the dark but he had managed to scramble out and go for help.
Ellen was found dead in the ditch on the following day with several marks of violence upon her.
At the assizes the Grand Jury threw out the charge of murder and 68-year-old Grimes was instead tried on a charge of manslaughter for which he was found guilty and sentenced to nine months in prison.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the breach of promise of marriage case, a policeman suffers a severe kicking in Parr Street, the dog that saved a Bridge Street family from fire and the vested interests of St Helens councillors.