150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 26 AUGUST - 1 SEPT 1874
This week's many stories include the fathers ordered to birch their sons under the supervision of the police, the Water Street female sweet seller accused of providing extra services to men, criticism of the lack of an art school in St Helens, the shocking starvation cases in London and the lucky escape of the man who tried to board a moving train at St Helens Station.
Birching sentences that were doled out by magistrates were usually carried out by police officers inside their station. But in the case of Thomas Gleave and Robert Wilson that was heard in St Helens Petty Sessions this week, their fathers were told to inflict the painful punishments on their sons under the watchful eye of the police.
These days, of course, the two dads would be arrested and charged with assault. But in the 1870s if the magistrates ordered a father to birch his boy, the police would supervise the flogging. That was to ensure the requisite number of strokes of the birch rod were inflicted on the miscreants and that they were hit sufficiently hard.
Thomas and Robert had stolen some cash from the till of Mrs Moore's shop but they did not show up to the first hearing of the case held a few days before. As a result an arrest warrant had to be issued for the boys. William and Thomas Roberts had also been charged with the theft but the two brothers turned up to court on both occasions.
At the second hearing they heard that the shopkeeper did not want to press the charges against the foursome and, as a result, the Roberts brothers were discharged from the court. But Thomas Gleave and Robert Wilson had caused a lot of trouble through their initial no-show and so both were ordered to be "well birched" by their dads. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "Their fathers carried out the sentence in the police-station to the satisfaction of the police."
In the days when it was possible to board a moving train there were a number of deaths and serious injuries as prospective passengers became trapped between the carriage and the platform. As a result those persons that had unsuccessfully attempted to board a train that was leaving the station but had survived their experience would be prosecuted.
George Beck had been inside a waiting room at St Helens Station when he realised that his train for Rainford Junction was making tracks. And so he dashed towards it but clearly opening a moving carriage door is more difficult than it might sound. I've come across a number of similar examples when passengers in attempting to open such a door ended up briefly clinging to the train before dropping to their death or receiving a serious injury.
However, Mr Beck was more fortunate despite falling off the train after it had travelled 30 yards and one of his hands having touched a rail over which the train was running. The stationmaster was convinced the man's hand would be cut off but by a stroke of luck he landed in between the train's wheels.
Beck was brought back to the station where he attempted to run away but was caught. The man was summoned to appear in court this week charged with attempting to board a moving train. But he did not turn up and in his absence George Beck was fined 20 shillings and costs.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 29th complained that the town did not have a school of art despite "its wealth and boasted progress". They said its sons had to seek "opportunities and inducements to cultivate their faculties" elsewhere and highlighted the case of Mr J. A. Sherlock who was doing well as a student of painting at the Warrington School of Art. The Newspaper added:
"Something ought to be done to amend this state of things, and to provide all those facilities in St. Helens which have a tendency to elevate and refine the manners of the age." According to the 1871 census John Arthur Sherlock was a 19-year-old house painter living in New Market Square in St Helens and so was now taking his paint brush in a different direction.
The Newspaper also published a disturbing article that stated that during 1873 there had been 107 deaths from "starvation, or diseases induced by privation". That number was up from 80 in the previous year and they had been limited to the "metropolitan district", i.e. greater London. Sixty-four of the starvation fatalities had been children, 24 were adults and 19 had been of elderly persons.
There appeared to be a variety of causes, including ignorance of what to do with an illegitimate new-born child. That led to some of the deaths being babies only a few days old that had perished from "want of proper food". One 88-year-old had died of hunger after refusing to enter the workhouse and an alleged tight-fisted 68-year-old had died through "want of sufficient food through penurious habits" despite having been well off.
There was always at least one female fight described in the St Helens Petty Sessions with this week's battle between Alice Greenough and Martha Whisker. The latter explained to the magistrates that she sold sweets in the market and lived in Water Street. Mrs Whisker said she had met Alice Greenough's husband upon returning from Warrington and he had wanted to purchase some sweets from her.
She told the court that she had replied that she had none with her and wasn't sure if she had any sweets in her home. But Mr Greenough had said he would accompany her to her house in order to make sure. While inside she claimed Alice Greenough had "rushed in like a fury" and assaulted her and then attacked her own husband.
However, there clearly had been much more than sweets on offer in Water Street, as the Newspaper intimated in its report when describing what had occurred when the husband decamped from the scene:
"…[Mr Greenough] had to run the gauntlet of a host of women in the street who had got wind of the transaction. Mrs. Greenough did not leave without despoiling Mrs. Whisker of some of her charms. A neighbour named Dixon was called [into court] to give the complainant and her house a [bad] character. She also let out that it was she who had gone to the market place for the defendant, thinking it right she should know the company into which her husband had fallen. The charge was dismissed."
Apprentices, as well as being poorly paid and forced to work very long hours, could be sent to prison for taking a day or two off work. In 1872 Charles Anders was prosecuted for leaving his employment at Pilkington's glassworks without permission. When the then 16-year-old from Lyon Street had arrived at work he had been told by his manager he was going to be fined for some minor offence committed several days before.
Upon hearing the news Charles decided to go home but later claimed that he had been ill. The boy had only been off work for a day or two but the magistrates ordered him to pay 17s 6d or go to prison for 14 days. This week Charles returned to court after again being accused of neglecting his job.
The prosecution said the firm did not know what to do with him as the youth was proving incorrigible having on several occasions failed to attend his work. It was stated that it might be better for both parties if they went their separate ways but doing that would set a bad example to other apprentices. Instead Charles would have to pay a fine of £2 plus costs or go to prison for two months.
And finally, Lowe House Church (pictured above) held a solemn high mass on the 30th to mark the opening of what they described as their "grand new organ". The St Helens Newspaper said there was "much uniformity of sweetness and power in the instrument". New church organs were not purchased "off the shelf" so to speak but were built to order and John Roberts of Liverpool had been awarded the commission.
In June Lowe House had been advertising their old organ in the classified section of the Newspaper at a price of 200 guineas, "to be removed at the expense and risk of the purchaser".
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the claim of murder in Parr Flat, there's stinging criticism of the court system in St Helens, the rejected applications to sell spirits and the exiled German Fathers perform at Lowe House.
Birching sentences that were doled out by magistrates were usually carried out by police officers inside their station. But in the case of Thomas Gleave and Robert Wilson that was heard in St Helens Petty Sessions this week, their fathers were told to inflict the painful punishments on their sons under the watchful eye of the police.
These days, of course, the two dads would be arrested and charged with assault. But in the 1870s if the magistrates ordered a father to birch his boy, the police would supervise the flogging. That was to ensure the requisite number of strokes of the birch rod were inflicted on the miscreants and that they were hit sufficiently hard.
Thomas and Robert had stolen some cash from the till of Mrs Moore's shop but they did not show up to the first hearing of the case held a few days before. As a result an arrest warrant had to be issued for the boys. William and Thomas Roberts had also been charged with the theft but the two brothers turned up to court on both occasions.
At the second hearing they heard that the shopkeeper did not want to press the charges against the foursome and, as a result, the Roberts brothers were discharged from the court. But Thomas Gleave and Robert Wilson had caused a lot of trouble through their initial no-show and so both were ordered to be "well birched" by their dads. The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "Their fathers carried out the sentence in the police-station to the satisfaction of the police."
In the days when it was possible to board a moving train there were a number of deaths and serious injuries as prospective passengers became trapped between the carriage and the platform. As a result those persons that had unsuccessfully attempted to board a train that was leaving the station but had survived their experience would be prosecuted.
George Beck had been inside a waiting room at St Helens Station when he realised that his train for Rainford Junction was making tracks. And so he dashed towards it but clearly opening a moving carriage door is more difficult than it might sound. I've come across a number of similar examples when passengers in attempting to open such a door ended up briefly clinging to the train before dropping to their death or receiving a serious injury.
However, Mr Beck was more fortunate despite falling off the train after it had travelled 30 yards and one of his hands having touched a rail over which the train was running. The stationmaster was convinced the man's hand would be cut off but by a stroke of luck he landed in between the train's wheels.
Beck was brought back to the station where he attempted to run away but was caught. The man was summoned to appear in court this week charged with attempting to board a moving train. But he did not turn up and in his absence George Beck was fined 20 shillings and costs.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 29th complained that the town did not have a school of art despite "its wealth and boasted progress". They said its sons had to seek "opportunities and inducements to cultivate their faculties" elsewhere and highlighted the case of Mr J. A. Sherlock who was doing well as a student of painting at the Warrington School of Art. The Newspaper added:
"Something ought to be done to amend this state of things, and to provide all those facilities in St. Helens which have a tendency to elevate and refine the manners of the age." According to the 1871 census John Arthur Sherlock was a 19-year-old house painter living in New Market Square in St Helens and so was now taking his paint brush in a different direction.
The Newspaper also published a disturbing article that stated that during 1873 there had been 107 deaths from "starvation, or diseases induced by privation". That number was up from 80 in the previous year and they had been limited to the "metropolitan district", i.e. greater London. Sixty-four of the starvation fatalities had been children, 24 were adults and 19 had been of elderly persons.
There appeared to be a variety of causes, including ignorance of what to do with an illegitimate new-born child. That led to some of the deaths being babies only a few days old that had perished from "want of proper food". One 88-year-old had died of hunger after refusing to enter the workhouse and an alleged tight-fisted 68-year-old had died through "want of sufficient food through penurious habits" despite having been well off.
There was always at least one female fight described in the St Helens Petty Sessions with this week's battle between Alice Greenough and Martha Whisker. The latter explained to the magistrates that she sold sweets in the market and lived in Water Street. Mrs Whisker said she had met Alice Greenough's husband upon returning from Warrington and he had wanted to purchase some sweets from her.
She told the court that she had replied that she had none with her and wasn't sure if she had any sweets in her home. But Mr Greenough had said he would accompany her to her house in order to make sure. While inside she claimed Alice Greenough had "rushed in like a fury" and assaulted her and then attacked her own husband.
However, there clearly had been much more than sweets on offer in Water Street, as the Newspaper intimated in its report when describing what had occurred when the husband decamped from the scene:
"…[Mr Greenough] had to run the gauntlet of a host of women in the street who had got wind of the transaction. Mrs. Greenough did not leave without despoiling Mrs. Whisker of some of her charms. A neighbour named Dixon was called [into court] to give the complainant and her house a [bad] character. She also let out that it was she who had gone to the market place for the defendant, thinking it right she should know the company into which her husband had fallen. The charge was dismissed."
Apprentices, as well as being poorly paid and forced to work very long hours, could be sent to prison for taking a day or two off work. In 1872 Charles Anders was prosecuted for leaving his employment at Pilkington's glassworks without permission. When the then 16-year-old from Lyon Street had arrived at work he had been told by his manager he was going to be fined for some minor offence committed several days before.
Upon hearing the news Charles decided to go home but later claimed that he had been ill. The boy had only been off work for a day or two but the magistrates ordered him to pay 17s 6d or go to prison for 14 days. This week Charles returned to court after again being accused of neglecting his job.
The prosecution said the firm did not know what to do with him as the youth was proving incorrigible having on several occasions failed to attend his work. It was stated that it might be better for both parties if they went their separate ways but doing that would set a bad example to other apprentices. Instead Charles would have to pay a fine of £2 plus costs or go to prison for two months.
In June Lowe House had been advertising their old organ in the classified section of the Newspaper at a price of 200 guineas, "to be removed at the expense and risk of the purchaser".
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the claim of murder in Parr Flat, there's stinging criticism of the court system in St Helens, the rejected applications to sell spirits and the exiled German Fathers perform at Lowe House.
This week's many stories include the fathers ordered to birch their sons under the supervision of the police, the Water Street female sweet seller accused of providing extra services to men, criticism of the lack of an art school in St Helens, the shocking starvation cases in London and the lucky escape of the man who tried to board a moving train at St Helens Station.
Birching sentences that were doled out by magistrates were usually carried out by police officers inside their station.
But in the case of Thomas Gleave and Robert Wilson that was heard in St Helens Petty Sessions this week, their fathers were told to inflict the painful punishments on their sons under the watchful eye of the police.
These days, of course, the two dads would be arrested and charged with assault.
But in the 1870s if the magistrates ordered a father to birch his boy, the police would supervise the flogging.
That was to ensure the requisite number of strokes of the birch rod were inflicted on the miscreants and that they were hit sufficiently hard.
Thomas and Robert had stolen some cash from the till of Mrs Moore's shop but they did not show up to the first hearing of the case held a few days before. As a result an arrest warrant had to be issued for the boys.
William and Thomas Roberts had also been charged with the theft but the two brothers turned up to court on both occasions.
At the second hearing they heard that the shopkeeper did not want to press the charges against the foursome and, as a result, the Roberts brothers were discharged from the court.
But Thomas Gleave and Robert Wilson had caused a lot of trouble through their initial no-show and so both were ordered to be "well birched" by their dads.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "Their fathers carried out the sentence in the police-station to the satisfaction of the police."
In the days when it was possible to board a moving train there were a number of deaths and serious injuries as prospective passengers became trapped between the carriage and the platform.
As a result those persons that had unsuccessfully attempted to board a train that was leaving the station but had survived their experience would be prosecuted.
George Beck had been inside a waiting room at St Helens Station when he realised that his train for Rainford Junction was making tracks.
And so he dashed towards it but clearly opening a moving carriage door is more difficult than it might sound.
I've come across a number of similar examples when passengers in attempting to open such a door ended up briefly clinging to the train before dropping to their death or receiving a serious injury.
However, Mr Beck was more fortunate despite falling off the train after it had travelled 30 yards and one of his hands having touched a rail over which the train was running.
The stationmaster was convinced the man's hand would be cut off but by a stroke of luck he landed in between the train's wheels.
Beck was brought back to the station where he attempted to run away but was caught.
The man was summoned to appear in court this week charged with attempting to board a moving train.
But he did not turn up and in his absence George Beck was fined 20 shillings and costs.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 29th complained that the town did not have a school of art despite "its wealth and boasted progress".
They said its sons had to seek "opportunities and inducements to cultivate their faculties" elsewhere and highlighted the case of Mr J. A. Sherlock who was doing well as a student of painting at the Warrington School of Art. The Newspaper added:
"Something ought to be done to amend this state of things, and to provide all those facilities in St. Helens which have a tendency to elevate and refine the manners of the age."
According to the 1871 census John Arthur Sherlock was a 19-year-old house painter living in New Market Square in St Helens and so was now taking his paint brush in a different direction.
The Newspaper also published a disturbing article that stated that during 1873 there had been 107 deaths from "starvation, or diseases induced by privation".
That number was up from 80 in the previous year and they had been limited to the "metropolitan district", i.e. greater London.
Sixty-four of the starvation fatalities had been children, 24 were adults and 19 had been of elderly persons.
There appeared to be a variety of causes, including ignorance of what to do with an illegitimate new-born child.
That led to some of the deaths being babies only a few days old that had perished from "want of proper food".
One 88-year-old had died of hunger after refusing to enter the workhouse and an alleged tight-fisted 68-year-old had died through "want of sufficient food through penurious habits" despite having been well off.
There was always at least one female fight described in the St Helens Petty Sessions with this week's battle between Alice Greenough and Martha Whisker.
The latter explained to the magistrates that she sold sweets in the market and lived in Water Street.
Mrs Whisker said she had met Alice Greenough's husband upon returning from Warrington and he had wanted to purchase some sweets from her.
She told the court that she had replied that she had none with her and wasn't sure if she had any sweets in her home. But Mr Greenough had said he would accompany her to her house in order to make sure.
While inside she claimed Alice Greenough had "rushed in like a fury" and assaulted her and then attacked her own husband.
However, there clearly had been much more than sweets on offer in Water Street, as the Newspaper intimated in its report when describing what had occurred when the husband decamped from the scene:
"…[Mr Greenough] had to run the gauntlet of a host of women in the street who had got wind of the transaction. Mrs. Greenough did not leave without despoiling Mrs. Whisker of some of her charms.
"A neighbour named Dixon was called [into court] to give the complainant and her house a [bad] character.
"She also let out that it was she who had gone to the market place for the defendant, thinking it right she should know the company into which her husband had fallen. The charge was dismissed."
Apprentices, as well as being poorly paid and forced to work very long hours, could be sent to prison for taking a day or two off work.
In 1872 Charles Anders was prosecuted for leaving his employment at Pilkington's glassworks without permission.
When the then 16-year-old from Lyon Street had arrived at work he had been told by his manager he was going to be fined for some minor offence committed several days before.
Upon hearing the news Charles decided to go home but later claimed that he had been ill.
The boy had only been off work for a day or two but the magistrates ordered him to pay 17s 6d or go to prison for 14 days.
This week Charles returned to court after again being accused of neglecting his job. The prosecution said the firm did not know what to do with him as the youth was proving incorrigible having on several occasions failed to attend his work.
It was stated that it might be better for both parties if they went their separate ways but doing that would set a bad example to other apprentices.
Instead Charles would have to pay a fine of £2 plus costs or go to prison for two months.
And finally, Lowe House Church (pictured above) held a solemn high mass on the 30th to mark the opening of what they described as their "grand new organ".
The St Helens Newspaper said there was "much uniformity of sweetness and power in the instrument".
New church organs were not purchased "off the shelf" so to speak but were built to order and John Roberts of Liverpool had been awarded the commission.
In June Lowe House had been advertising their old organ in the classified section of the Newspaper at a price of 200 guineas, "to be removed at the expense and risk of the purchaser".
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the claim of murder in Parr Flat, there's stinging criticism of the court system in St Helens, the rejected applications to sell spirits and the exiled German Fathers perform at Lowe House.
Birching sentences that were doled out by magistrates were usually carried out by police officers inside their station.
But in the case of Thomas Gleave and Robert Wilson that was heard in St Helens Petty Sessions this week, their fathers were told to inflict the painful punishments on their sons under the watchful eye of the police.
These days, of course, the two dads would be arrested and charged with assault.
But in the 1870s if the magistrates ordered a father to birch his boy, the police would supervise the flogging.
That was to ensure the requisite number of strokes of the birch rod were inflicted on the miscreants and that they were hit sufficiently hard.
Thomas and Robert had stolen some cash from the till of Mrs Moore's shop but they did not show up to the first hearing of the case held a few days before. As a result an arrest warrant had to be issued for the boys.
William and Thomas Roberts had also been charged with the theft but the two brothers turned up to court on both occasions.
At the second hearing they heard that the shopkeeper did not want to press the charges against the foursome and, as a result, the Roberts brothers were discharged from the court.
But Thomas Gleave and Robert Wilson had caused a lot of trouble through their initial no-show and so both were ordered to be "well birched" by their dads.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "Their fathers carried out the sentence in the police-station to the satisfaction of the police."
In the days when it was possible to board a moving train there were a number of deaths and serious injuries as prospective passengers became trapped between the carriage and the platform.
As a result those persons that had unsuccessfully attempted to board a train that was leaving the station but had survived their experience would be prosecuted.
George Beck had been inside a waiting room at St Helens Station when he realised that his train for Rainford Junction was making tracks.
And so he dashed towards it but clearly opening a moving carriage door is more difficult than it might sound.
I've come across a number of similar examples when passengers in attempting to open such a door ended up briefly clinging to the train before dropping to their death or receiving a serious injury.
However, Mr Beck was more fortunate despite falling off the train after it had travelled 30 yards and one of his hands having touched a rail over which the train was running.
The stationmaster was convinced the man's hand would be cut off but by a stroke of luck he landed in between the train's wheels.
Beck was brought back to the station where he attempted to run away but was caught.
The man was summoned to appear in court this week charged with attempting to board a moving train.
But he did not turn up and in his absence George Beck was fined 20 shillings and costs.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 29th complained that the town did not have a school of art despite "its wealth and boasted progress".
They said its sons had to seek "opportunities and inducements to cultivate their faculties" elsewhere and highlighted the case of Mr J. A. Sherlock who was doing well as a student of painting at the Warrington School of Art. The Newspaper added:
"Something ought to be done to amend this state of things, and to provide all those facilities in St. Helens which have a tendency to elevate and refine the manners of the age."
According to the 1871 census John Arthur Sherlock was a 19-year-old house painter living in New Market Square in St Helens and so was now taking his paint brush in a different direction.
The Newspaper also published a disturbing article that stated that during 1873 there had been 107 deaths from "starvation, or diseases induced by privation".
That number was up from 80 in the previous year and they had been limited to the "metropolitan district", i.e. greater London.
Sixty-four of the starvation fatalities had been children, 24 were adults and 19 had been of elderly persons.
There appeared to be a variety of causes, including ignorance of what to do with an illegitimate new-born child.
That led to some of the deaths being babies only a few days old that had perished from "want of proper food".
One 88-year-old had died of hunger after refusing to enter the workhouse and an alleged tight-fisted 68-year-old had died through "want of sufficient food through penurious habits" despite having been well off.
There was always at least one female fight described in the St Helens Petty Sessions with this week's battle between Alice Greenough and Martha Whisker.
The latter explained to the magistrates that she sold sweets in the market and lived in Water Street.
Mrs Whisker said she had met Alice Greenough's husband upon returning from Warrington and he had wanted to purchase some sweets from her.
She told the court that she had replied that she had none with her and wasn't sure if she had any sweets in her home. But Mr Greenough had said he would accompany her to her house in order to make sure.
While inside she claimed Alice Greenough had "rushed in like a fury" and assaulted her and then attacked her own husband.
However, there clearly had been much more than sweets on offer in Water Street, as the Newspaper intimated in its report when describing what had occurred when the husband decamped from the scene:
"…[Mr Greenough] had to run the gauntlet of a host of women in the street who had got wind of the transaction. Mrs. Greenough did not leave without despoiling Mrs. Whisker of some of her charms.
"A neighbour named Dixon was called [into court] to give the complainant and her house a [bad] character.
"She also let out that it was she who had gone to the market place for the defendant, thinking it right she should know the company into which her husband had fallen. The charge was dismissed."
Apprentices, as well as being poorly paid and forced to work very long hours, could be sent to prison for taking a day or two off work.
In 1872 Charles Anders was prosecuted for leaving his employment at Pilkington's glassworks without permission.
When the then 16-year-old from Lyon Street had arrived at work he had been told by his manager he was going to be fined for some minor offence committed several days before.
Upon hearing the news Charles decided to go home but later claimed that he had been ill.
The boy had only been off work for a day or two but the magistrates ordered him to pay 17s 6d or go to prison for 14 days.
This week Charles returned to court after again being accused of neglecting his job. The prosecution said the firm did not know what to do with him as the youth was proving incorrigible having on several occasions failed to attend his work.
It was stated that it might be better for both parties if they went their separate ways but doing that would set a bad example to other apprentices.
Instead Charles would have to pay a fine of £2 plus costs or go to prison for two months.
The St Helens Newspaper said there was "much uniformity of sweetness and power in the instrument".
New church organs were not purchased "off the shelf" so to speak but were built to order and John Roberts of Liverpool had been awarded the commission.
In June Lowe House had been advertising their old organ in the classified section of the Newspaper at a price of 200 guineas, "to be removed at the expense and risk of the purchaser".
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the claim of murder in Parr Flat, there's stinging criticism of the court system in St Helens, the rejected applications to sell spirits and the exiled German Fathers perform at Lowe House.