150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 25 - 31 MAY 1876
This week's many stories include the ailing woman who was given beer and turps, the furious riding in Rainford, the unknown body found in the canal, the woman beaten by her husband for not getting him beer and the violent man at St Helens railway station who needed to be carried to the police station.
Merchant and broker Frederick Rigg of Brook House in Walkers Lane – in what became known as Sutton Manor – was a wealthy and seemingly generous man as each year he presented a Christmas dole to the "aged poor" of the district. Around 70 persons living within the Lea Green, Bold and Rainhill districts received beef, tea and small sums of money.
Rigg also had a nice garden, which was where PC Smith found John Costello at quarter past midnight on one Sunday morning. The man was standing in the garden looking through the house window and when asked what he was doing there the Newspaper wrote that the constable had received a "saucy answer"! When the officer said he would have to take him to see Mr Rigg, Costello struck him and then ran off as PC Smith attempted to arrest him.
As the man got onto the road he threw two stones at the constable, one of which knocked his helmet off and the other hit him on his shoulder. Although Costello succeeded in getting away, on the following Tuesday he went to see Mr Rigg and admitted his offence and then gave himself up to the police. That was most unusual behaviour and in court this week Costello was fined 10 shillings and costs for the assault on PC Smith.
It could be quite a problem for the police in conveying their prisoners to the police station, if the arrested person did not want to go. Even if placed in handcuffs, they could kick and bite the constables and make the journey very difficult. In the case of Thomas Scott, PCs Kelly and Robinson had to carry the drunken man to the station after he had given them both a kicking and then refused to walk with them.
Scott had initially been seen drunk and disorderly opposite the White Hart Inn in Church Street and had been ordered away. But he went to the railway station and began assaulting passengers there, which led to him being taken into custody. In court Scott was fined 5 shillings and costs for the drunkenness and 20 shillings and costs for the assaults.
Apparently some people used to consume turpentine when ill. That practice is mentioned in the newspaper report on the landlord of the Crooked Billet beerhouse. Joseph Davies appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions accused of serving alcohol after hours in his Bridge Street pub. That was a common prosecution and landlords, if they admitted having served the beer, had several stock excuses.
Two of the most common was that the individual purchasing the drink had been a traveller, who were legally allowed to buy beer at any time – or that the alcohol was for medicinal purposes. Joseph Davies claimed the latter excuse, saying the beer had been bought for his own mother at 11:10pm as she was very ill and needed brandy and turpentine.
Beer was also bought as it was expected that they would have to sit up with the old woman all night. It all seemed a bit dubious but the magistrates accepted the explanation and only fined Joseph Davies a nominal penalty of one shilling and costs. Whether the booze and turps did the old lady any good or killed her off, was not, however, revealed!
Beating a wife because she would not go and fetch beer for her husband was quite common. This week the wife of Richard Malone was brave enough to bring a charge against her husband accusing him of assaulting her because she would not go and get him more beer. That was because she thought he had drunk enough. As a result Malone had knocked her down and kicked her. The brute was ordered to be bound over himself in a £10 surety and obtain two sureties from others of £5 each – or go to prison for 14 days. They were large sums of money and so, almost certainly, imprisonment occurred.
And John Haskayne was summoned to court for driving furiously in Rainford. The complainant was Charles Boole who was a colliery owner and said that at 5 o’clock in the afternoon his trap had met him at Rainford Junction Station and as he was being driven along the road, they saw Haskayne in a light spring cart in front of them.
They shouted to him to make room for them to pass but instead of doing so, Haskayne set his horse into a furious gallop, which had the effect of frightening Mr Boole's horse, which bolted along the road. The animal would not stop until Haskayne eventually pulled up at the Wheatsheaf Inn (pictured above). The magistrates said they considered the case to be a very bad one and fined John Haskayne a total of £1 8s 6d, including costs. Or, if in default, he would have to serve a month in prison.
There was another case this week of an unknown man being found drowned in the canal. A glassmaker called James Connelley had discovered the body floating in the water 100 yards from Smithy Brow Bridge. The man was aged about 40 and thought to have been in the canal for about a week. His inquest was held in the George and Dragon Inn in Smithy Brow two days later.
But as there was no evidence to show how the deceased had got into the water, the jury returned the usual open verdict of "found drowned". People then rarely carried any form of identification on them and quite likely the man – who may have come to St Helens looking for work – would never be known.
The St Helens Newspaper in an editorial on the 27th wrote: "For some time past, nay, we may almost say, during the whole of this year, so far as it has gone, the one topic of conversation in the town has been as to when the Town Hall would be finished and when opened."
The paper was full of praise for the building, which was going to be ceremonially opened on Whit Monday in what they considered to be Cotham Street. They said the building was not being sacrificed to mere ornamentation, unlike many other town halls in other places that were of a "gingerbread character". These were described as looking good but having neither room nor accommodation in which to carry on the public business of the town. The piece then described how the excitement for the big day was building:
"The various schools and organisations in the town are up and doing, with the full intention of turning out on that day in their hundreds and thousands with all their gay banners, bands of music, &c., which will make altogether a sight worthy to behold. It may be safely calculated that nearly the whole population of the town will, so far as practicable, take part in this, either in the ranks of the processionists or as spectators."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the opening of the new St Helens Town Hall, the telescope stealing on Cowley Hill and the violence in a Pocket Nook beerhouse that had been triggered by the playing of dominoes.
Merchant and broker Frederick Rigg of Brook House in Walkers Lane – in what became known as Sutton Manor – was a wealthy and seemingly generous man as each year he presented a Christmas dole to the "aged poor" of the district. Around 70 persons living within the Lea Green, Bold and Rainhill districts received beef, tea and small sums of money.
Rigg also had a nice garden, which was where PC Smith found John Costello at quarter past midnight on one Sunday morning. The man was standing in the garden looking through the house window and when asked what he was doing there the Newspaper wrote that the constable had received a "saucy answer"! When the officer said he would have to take him to see Mr Rigg, Costello struck him and then ran off as PC Smith attempted to arrest him.
As the man got onto the road he threw two stones at the constable, one of which knocked his helmet off and the other hit him on his shoulder. Although Costello succeeded in getting away, on the following Tuesday he went to see Mr Rigg and admitted his offence and then gave himself up to the police. That was most unusual behaviour and in court this week Costello was fined 10 shillings and costs for the assault on PC Smith.
It could be quite a problem for the police in conveying their prisoners to the police station, if the arrested person did not want to go. Even if placed in handcuffs, they could kick and bite the constables and make the journey very difficult. In the case of Thomas Scott, PCs Kelly and Robinson had to carry the drunken man to the station after he had given them both a kicking and then refused to walk with them.
Scott had initially been seen drunk and disorderly opposite the White Hart Inn in Church Street and had been ordered away. But he went to the railway station and began assaulting passengers there, which led to him being taken into custody. In court Scott was fined 5 shillings and costs for the drunkenness and 20 shillings and costs for the assaults.
Apparently some people used to consume turpentine when ill. That practice is mentioned in the newspaper report on the landlord of the Crooked Billet beerhouse. Joseph Davies appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions accused of serving alcohol after hours in his Bridge Street pub. That was a common prosecution and landlords, if they admitted having served the beer, had several stock excuses.
Two of the most common was that the individual purchasing the drink had been a traveller, who were legally allowed to buy beer at any time – or that the alcohol was for medicinal purposes. Joseph Davies claimed the latter excuse, saying the beer had been bought for his own mother at 11:10pm as she was very ill and needed brandy and turpentine.
Beer was also bought as it was expected that they would have to sit up with the old woman all night. It all seemed a bit dubious but the magistrates accepted the explanation and only fined Joseph Davies a nominal penalty of one shilling and costs. Whether the booze and turps did the old lady any good or killed her off, was not, however, revealed!
Beating a wife because she would not go and fetch beer for her husband was quite common. This week the wife of Richard Malone was brave enough to bring a charge against her husband accusing him of assaulting her because she would not go and get him more beer. That was because she thought he had drunk enough. As a result Malone had knocked her down and kicked her. The brute was ordered to be bound over himself in a £10 surety and obtain two sureties from others of £5 each – or go to prison for 14 days. They were large sums of money and so, almost certainly, imprisonment occurred.
And John Haskayne was summoned to court for driving furiously in Rainford. The complainant was Charles Boole who was a colliery owner and said that at 5 o’clock in the afternoon his trap had met him at Rainford Junction Station and as he was being driven along the road, they saw Haskayne in a light spring cart in front of them.
There was another case this week of an unknown man being found drowned in the canal. A glassmaker called James Connelley had discovered the body floating in the water 100 yards from Smithy Brow Bridge. The man was aged about 40 and thought to have been in the canal for about a week. His inquest was held in the George and Dragon Inn in Smithy Brow two days later.
But as there was no evidence to show how the deceased had got into the water, the jury returned the usual open verdict of "found drowned". People then rarely carried any form of identification on them and quite likely the man – who may have come to St Helens looking for work – would never be known.
The St Helens Newspaper in an editorial on the 27th wrote: "For some time past, nay, we may almost say, during the whole of this year, so far as it has gone, the one topic of conversation in the town has been as to when the Town Hall would be finished and when opened."
The paper was full of praise for the building, which was going to be ceremonially opened on Whit Monday in what they considered to be Cotham Street. They said the building was not being sacrificed to mere ornamentation, unlike many other town halls in other places that were of a "gingerbread character". These were described as looking good but having neither room nor accommodation in which to carry on the public business of the town. The piece then described how the excitement for the big day was building:
"The various schools and organisations in the town are up and doing, with the full intention of turning out on that day in their hundreds and thousands with all their gay banners, bands of music, &c., which will make altogether a sight worthy to behold. It may be safely calculated that nearly the whole population of the town will, so far as practicable, take part in this, either in the ranks of the processionists or as spectators."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the opening of the new St Helens Town Hall, the telescope stealing on Cowley Hill and the violence in a Pocket Nook beerhouse that had been triggered by the playing of dominoes.
This week's many stories include the ailing woman who was given beer and turps, the furious riding in Rainford, the unknown body found in the canal, the woman beaten by her husband for not getting him beer and the violent man at St Helens railway station who needed to be carried to the police station.
Merchant and broker Frederick Rigg of Brook House in Walkers Lane – in what became known as Sutton Manor – was a wealthy and seemingly generous man as each year he presented a Christmas dole to the "aged poor" of the district.
Around 70 persons living within the Lea Green, Bold and Rainhill districts received beef, tea and small sums of money.
Rigg also had a nice garden, which was where PC Smith found John Costello at quarter past midnight on one Sunday morning.
The man was standing in the garden looking through the house window and when asked what he was doing there the Newspaper wrote that the constable had received a "saucy answer"!
When the officer said he would have to take him to see Mr Rigg, Costello struck him and then ran off as PC Smith attempted to arrest him.
As the man got onto the road he threw two stones at the constable, one of which knocked his helmet off and the other hit him on his shoulder.
Although Costello succeeded in getting away, on the following Tuesday he went to see Mr Rigg and admitted his offence and then gave himself up to the police.
That was most unusual behaviour and in court this week Costello was fined 10 shillings and costs for the assault on PC Smith.
It could be quite a problem for the police in conveying their prisoners to the police station, if the arrested person did not want to go.
Even if placed in handcuffs, they could kick and bite the constables and make the journey very difficult.
In the case of Thomas Scott, PCs Kelly and Robinson had to carry the drunken man to the station after he had given them both a kicking and then refused to walk with them.
Scott had initially been seen drunk and disorderly opposite the White Hart Inn in Church Street and had been ordered away.
But he went to the railway station and began assaulting passengers there, which led to him being taken into custody.
In court Scott was fined 5 shillings and costs for the drunkenness and 20 shillings and costs for the assaults.
Apparently some people used to consume turpentine when ill. That practice is mentioned in the newspaper report on the landlord of the Crooked Billet beerhouse.
Joseph Davies appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions accused of serving alcohol after hours in his Bridge Street pub.
That was a common prosecution and landlords, if they admitted having served the beer, had several stock excuses.
Two of the most common was that the individual purchasing the drink had been a traveller, who were legally allowed to buy beer at any time – or that the alcohol was for medicinal purposes.
Joseph Davies claimed the latter excuse, saying the beer had been bought for his own mother at 11:10pm as she was very ill and needed brandy and turpentine.
Beer was also bought as it was expected that they would have to sit up with the old woman all night.
It all seemed a bit dubious but the magistrates accepted the explanation and only fined Joseph Davies a nominal penalty of one shilling and costs.
Whether the booze and turps did the old lady any good or killed her off, was not, however, revealed!
Beating a wife because she would not go and fetch beer for her husband was quite common.
This week the wife of Richard Malone was brave enough to bring a charge against her husband accusing him of assaulting her because she would not go and get him more beer.
That was because she thought he had drunk enough. As a result Malone had knocked her down and kicked her.
The brute was ordered to be bound over himself in a £10 surety and obtain two sureties from others of £5 each – or go to prison for 14 days. They were large sums of money and so, almost certainly, imprisonment occurred.
And John Haskayne was summoned to court for driving furiously in Rainford.
The complainant was Charles Boole who was a colliery owner and said that at 5 o’clock in the afternoon his trap had met him at Rainford Junction Station and as he was being driven along the road, they saw Haskayne in a light spring cart in front of them.
They shouted to him to make room for them to pass but instead of doing so, Haskayne set his horse into a furious gallop, which had the effect of frightening Mr Boole's horse, which bolted along the road.
The animal would not stop until Haskayne eventually pulled up at the Wheatsheaf Inn (pictured above).
The magistrates said they considered the case to be a very bad one and fined John Haskayne a total of £1 8s 6d, including costs. Or, if in default, he would have to serve a month in prison.
There was another case this week of an unknown man being found drowned in the canal.
A glassmaker called James Connelley had discovered the body floating in the water 100 yards from Smithy Brow Bridge.
The man was aged about 40 and thought to have been in the canal for about a week.
His inquest was held in the George and Dragon Inn in Smithy Brow two days later.
But as there was no evidence to show how the deceased had got into the water, the jury returned the usual open verdict of "found drowned".
People then rarely carried any form of identification on them and quite likely the man – who may have come to St Helens looking for work – would never be known.
The St Helens Newspaper in an editorial on the 27th wrote:
"For some time past, nay, we may almost say, during the whole of this year, so far as it has gone, the one topic of conversation in the town has been as to when the Town Hall would be finished and when opened."
The paper was full of praise for the building, which was going to be ceremonially opened on Whit Monday in what they considered to be Cotham Street.
They said the building was not being sacrificed to mere ornamentation, unlike many other town halls in other places that were of a "gingerbread character".
These were described as looking good but having neither room nor accommodation in which to carry on the public business of the town. The piece then described how the excitement for the big day was building:
"The various schools and organisations in the town are up and doing, with the full intention of turning out on that day in their hundreds and thousands with all their gay banners, bands of music, &c., which will make altogether a sight worthy to behold.
"It may be safely calculated that nearly the whole population of the town will, so far as practicable, take part in this, either in the ranks of the processionists or as spectators."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the opening of the new St Helens Town Hall, the telescope stealing on Cowley Hill and the violence in a Pocket Nook beerhouse that had been triggered by the playing of dominoes.
Merchant and broker Frederick Rigg of Brook House in Walkers Lane – in what became known as Sutton Manor – was a wealthy and seemingly generous man as each year he presented a Christmas dole to the "aged poor" of the district.
Around 70 persons living within the Lea Green, Bold and Rainhill districts received beef, tea and small sums of money.
Rigg also had a nice garden, which was where PC Smith found John Costello at quarter past midnight on one Sunday morning.
The man was standing in the garden looking through the house window and when asked what he was doing there the Newspaper wrote that the constable had received a "saucy answer"!
When the officer said he would have to take him to see Mr Rigg, Costello struck him and then ran off as PC Smith attempted to arrest him.
As the man got onto the road he threw two stones at the constable, one of which knocked his helmet off and the other hit him on his shoulder.
Although Costello succeeded in getting away, on the following Tuesday he went to see Mr Rigg and admitted his offence and then gave himself up to the police.
That was most unusual behaviour and in court this week Costello was fined 10 shillings and costs for the assault on PC Smith.
It could be quite a problem for the police in conveying their prisoners to the police station, if the arrested person did not want to go.
Even if placed in handcuffs, they could kick and bite the constables and make the journey very difficult.
In the case of Thomas Scott, PCs Kelly and Robinson had to carry the drunken man to the station after he had given them both a kicking and then refused to walk with them.
Scott had initially been seen drunk and disorderly opposite the White Hart Inn in Church Street and had been ordered away.
But he went to the railway station and began assaulting passengers there, which led to him being taken into custody.
In court Scott was fined 5 shillings and costs for the drunkenness and 20 shillings and costs for the assaults.
Apparently some people used to consume turpentine when ill. That practice is mentioned in the newspaper report on the landlord of the Crooked Billet beerhouse.
Joseph Davies appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions accused of serving alcohol after hours in his Bridge Street pub.
That was a common prosecution and landlords, if they admitted having served the beer, had several stock excuses.
Two of the most common was that the individual purchasing the drink had been a traveller, who were legally allowed to buy beer at any time – or that the alcohol was for medicinal purposes.
Joseph Davies claimed the latter excuse, saying the beer had been bought for his own mother at 11:10pm as she was very ill and needed brandy and turpentine.
Beer was also bought as it was expected that they would have to sit up with the old woman all night.
It all seemed a bit dubious but the magistrates accepted the explanation and only fined Joseph Davies a nominal penalty of one shilling and costs.
Whether the booze and turps did the old lady any good or killed her off, was not, however, revealed!
Beating a wife because she would not go and fetch beer for her husband was quite common.
This week the wife of Richard Malone was brave enough to bring a charge against her husband accusing him of assaulting her because she would not go and get him more beer.
That was because she thought he had drunk enough. As a result Malone had knocked her down and kicked her.
The brute was ordered to be bound over himself in a £10 surety and obtain two sureties from others of £5 each – or go to prison for 14 days. They were large sums of money and so, almost certainly, imprisonment occurred.
And John Haskayne was summoned to court for driving furiously in Rainford.
The complainant was Charles Boole who was a colliery owner and said that at 5 o’clock in the afternoon his trap had met him at Rainford Junction Station and as he was being driven along the road, they saw Haskayne in a light spring cart in front of them.
They shouted to him to make room for them to pass but instead of doing so, Haskayne set his horse into a furious gallop, which had the effect of frightening Mr Boole's horse, which bolted along the road.
The magistrates said they considered the case to be a very bad one and fined John Haskayne a total of £1 8s 6d, including costs. Or, if in default, he would have to serve a month in prison.
There was another case this week of an unknown man being found drowned in the canal.
A glassmaker called James Connelley had discovered the body floating in the water 100 yards from Smithy Brow Bridge.
The man was aged about 40 and thought to have been in the canal for about a week.
His inquest was held in the George and Dragon Inn in Smithy Brow two days later.
But as there was no evidence to show how the deceased had got into the water, the jury returned the usual open verdict of "found drowned".
People then rarely carried any form of identification on them and quite likely the man – who may have come to St Helens looking for work – would never be known.
The St Helens Newspaper in an editorial on the 27th wrote:
"For some time past, nay, we may almost say, during the whole of this year, so far as it has gone, the one topic of conversation in the town has been as to when the Town Hall would be finished and when opened."
The paper was full of praise for the building, which was going to be ceremonially opened on Whit Monday in what they considered to be Cotham Street.
They said the building was not being sacrificed to mere ornamentation, unlike many other town halls in other places that were of a "gingerbread character".
These were described as looking good but having neither room nor accommodation in which to carry on the public business of the town. The piece then described how the excitement for the big day was building:
"The various schools and organisations in the town are up and doing, with the full intention of turning out on that day in their hundreds and thousands with all their gay banners, bands of music, &c., which will make altogether a sight worthy to behold.
"It may be safely calculated that nearly the whole population of the town will, so far as practicable, take part in this, either in the ranks of the processionists or as spectators."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the opening of the new St Helens Town Hall, the telescope stealing on Cowley Hill and the violence in a Pocket Nook beerhouse that had been triggered by the playing of dominoes.