150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 27 JULY - 2 AUGUST 1876
This week's many stories include the grand swimming gala held in St Helens, Sutton Cricket Club hold their annual athletics sports day, the porter badly injured at St Helens railway station while preparing a train, the drowning at Carr Mill Dam, the St Helens YMCA Rambling Club visit Billinge Hill and the miner from Broad Oak who was charged with killing his wife.
The cricket clubs in the St Helens district promoted annual athletics meetings as fundraising ventures. On the 29th Sutton Cricket Club held their athletics sports day with prizes totalling £100. What was described as the Sutton Popular Brass Band performed at the sports, as well as 300 competitors, and a very large attendance of spectators was reported.
During the 1870s, the St Helens Public Baths were situated in Warrington Old Road. They had been opened in 1861 by chemicals boss Andrew Kurtz and were sited next to his alkali works. Four years after opening the St Helens Standard newspaper wrote: "The public do not appreciate the baths…[Bathing] has always been the luxury of rich and educated men and will be. Working men …seldom bathe and women scarcely ever."
And in 1868 the St Helens Newspaper had reported that fewer than 500 people per week used the baths, even in the heat of summer. And that was at a time when taking a bath at home was a convoluted business. Few public events appear to have been held at the baths. However, on July 31st a grand swimming gala did take place and prizes were awarded for diving, swimming, floating etc. Prior to the event all the prizes were on view in the shop window of Barton's of Church Street.
I wonder what ornamental swimming involves? I ask that question as during the course of the evening, a chap called French from Rainhill presented an exhibition of ornamental swimming. And, as the Newspaper put it, Mr French gave "other feats capable of being acquired by the art of natation." The latter, apparently, simply means swimming.
The Newspaper on the 29th described how the St Helens YMCA Rambling Club had visited Billinge Hill and had enjoyed themselves despite great summer heat. The paper said the walk to Billinge and back had been a thoroughly enjoyable one and their outward journey had been broken by a call at a small farm where "the doings of a number of 'busy bees' was eagerly scanned by the ramblers."
With no parks in St Helens and very few gardens, bees were likely to have kept their distance from the industrial town that suffered from considerable atmospheric pollution and it may well have been a novelty for some of the ramblers to witness them.
There were two serious accidents on the railway this week that the Newspaper described. Early one morning while preparing a train for an excursion to Windermere from St Helens Station, porter Henry Grayson had been badly injured. The Newspaper wrote that as a result, the man's life had been placed in jeopardy. Then at 8:30am that same morning, Hugh Connelly of Sutton Street in Peasley Cross was crossing the railway line at the canal bridge when an engine knocked him down and one of his feet was severely crushed.
It was stated that Connelly could easily have got out of the way of the engine, as it was going very slowly but he had deliberately walked in front of it. That suggests that it was either a suicide attempt or that the man was simply stupefied – to use a common term of the time – by the sight of the approaching engine.
The hot weather was responsible for another drowning this week – this time at Carr Mill Dam (pictured above). Joseph Carr had been in the water with several young men and boys and was suddenly seized by cramp. A young man who was standing at the side of the pool saw Joseph struggling and rushed into the water to help him. However, the 17-year-old from Rawson Street in Prescot made such a tight hold on his would-be rescuer that he was dragging him down with him.
So the young man pleaded with Joseph to let him go, which he did and the youth went straight down into the water never to surface again. The unnamed young man who had attempted to save Joseph only reached the side of the pool with difficulty and in an exhausted condition. The incident had occurred at 10:30 am but Joseph's body could not be found until 4 pm.
The omens had not looked good for James Chadwick from Parr at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions this week. During the 19th century courts did not spend weeks like today hearing serious criminal cases. Justice was instead dispensed rapidly and a number of such cases were dealt with in a single day. And so when the judge in Liverpool donned his black cap to pass a sentence of death on Richard Thompson, James Chadwick must have feared the worst.
Thompson had been the subject of the previous case to his and had been found guilty of murdering a man with a knife. Although Chadwick would not have been in the courtroom when Thompson's verdict was brought in, it's quite likely that when the sentenced man was taken down to the cells and Chadwick was brought up, the latter witnessed Thompson sobbing his heart out at the prospect of getting hung.
James Chadwick had like Richard Thompson been responsible for a death – but he had a greater chance of escaping the noose. That was because it was debatable whether the 30-year-old miner from Broad Oak in Parr had been responsible for the murder or manslaughter of his wife Mary.
The couple had only been married nine weeks before and had quarrelled after Mary had returned home late, leading to her husband striking her face with the back of his hand. She was said to have returned the blow and James had then retaliated by pushing Mary down onto their stone floor.
As she was getting up, her clogs-wearing husband had kicked Mary in the small of her back and then Chadwick ordered a young man and woman who happened to be in the house at the time to go outside. The couple said they heard quarrelling and shortly afterwards Chadwick came out and said that his wife was dying. That proved to be correct as Mary died of a fractured skull thirty minutes later. Her husband claimed Mary had fallen over a basket and "knocked her neck out".
Although many sentences of death were not actually carried out, juries were reluctant to bring in a verdict of murder that might potentially result in a hanging unless they felt the crime was clear-cut. And so essentially, Chadwick was given the benefit of the doubt. A verdict of manslaughter was brought in but the jury strongly recommended him to mercy and he was only sentenced to 15 months in prison.
In another case heard in the Quarter Sessions, Elizabeth Clark pleaded guilty to having bigamously married Peter Greenough at Prescot when her first husband was still alive. She was sentenced to one month's imprisonment with hard labour. In those days hard labour was backbreaking work on a treadmill.
Just whether it was made any easier for females than males I can't be sure. But at least Elizabeth only had to perform it for a month. In a separate case, George Shepherd was given a year's hard labour after pleading guilty to breaking into a house in Sutton and stealing two coats.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the clown cricketers in St Helens, the Parr assault that began with a dispute over a clothes-line, the dentist seeking to set up a surgery in a Church Street shop and the boys illegally bathing in a Sutton Glass Works reservoir.
The cricket clubs in the St Helens district promoted annual athletics meetings as fundraising ventures. On the 29th Sutton Cricket Club held their athletics sports day with prizes totalling £100. What was described as the Sutton Popular Brass Band performed at the sports, as well as 300 competitors, and a very large attendance of spectators was reported.
During the 1870s, the St Helens Public Baths were situated in Warrington Old Road. They had been opened in 1861 by chemicals boss Andrew Kurtz and were sited next to his alkali works. Four years after opening the St Helens Standard newspaper wrote: "The public do not appreciate the baths…[Bathing] has always been the luxury of rich and educated men and will be. Working men …seldom bathe and women scarcely ever."
And in 1868 the St Helens Newspaper had reported that fewer than 500 people per week used the baths, even in the heat of summer. And that was at a time when taking a bath at home was a convoluted business. Few public events appear to have been held at the baths. However, on July 31st a grand swimming gala did take place and prizes were awarded for diving, swimming, floating etc. Prior to the event all the prizes were on view in the shop window of Barton's of Church Street.
I wonder what ornamental swimming involves? I ask that question as during the course of the evening, a chap called French from Rainhill presented an exhibition of ornamental swimming. And, as the Newspaper put it, Mr French gave "other feats capable of being acquired by the art of natation." The latter, apparently, simply means swimming.
The Newspaper on the 29th described how the St Helens YMCA Rambling Club had visited Billinge Hill and had enjoyed themselves despite great summer heat. The paper said the walk to Billinge and back had been a thoroughly enjoyable one and their outward journey had been broken by a call at a small farm where "the doings of a number of 'busy bees' was eagerly scanned by the ramblers."
With no parks in St Helens and very few gardens, bees were likely to have kept their distance from the industrial town that suffered from considerable atmospheric pollution and it may well have been a novelty for some of the ramblers to witness them.
There were two serious accidents on the railway this week that the Newspaper described. Early one morning while preparing a train for an excursion to Windermere from St Helens Station, porter Henry Grayson had been badly injured. The Newspaper wrote that as a result, the man's life had been placed in jeopardy. Then at 8:30am that same morning, Hugh Connelly of Sutton Street in Peasley Cross was crossing the railway line at the canal bridge when an engine knocked him down and one of his feet was severely crushed.
It was stated that Connelly could easily have got out of the way of the engine, as it was going very slowly but he had deliberately walked in front of it. That suggests that it was either a suicide attempt or that the man was simply stupefied – to use a common term of the time – by the sight of the approaching engine.
So the young man pleaded with Joseph to let him go, which he did and the youth went straight down into the water never to surface again. The unnamed young man who had attempted to save Joseph only reached the side of the pool with difficulty and in an exhausted condition. The incident had occurred at 10:30 am but Joseph's body could not be found until 4 pm.
The omens had not looked good for James Chadwick from Parr at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions this week. During the 19th century courts did not spend weeks like today hearing serious criminal cases. Justice was instead dispensed rapidly and a number of such cases were dealt with in a single day. And so when the judge in Liverpool donned his black cap to pass a sentence of death on Richard Thompson, James Chadwick must have feared the worst.
Thompson had been the subject of the previous case to his and had been found guilty of murdering a man with a knife. Although Chadwick would not have been in the courtroom when Thompson's verdict was brought in, it's quite likely that when the sentenced man was taken down to the cells and Chadwick was brought up, the latter witnessed Thompson sobbing his heart out at the prospect of getting hung.
James Chadwick had like Richard Thompson been responsible for a death – but he had a greater chance of escaping the noose. That was because it was debatable whether the 30-year-old miner from Broad Oak in Parr had been responsible for the murder or manslaughter of his wife Mary.
The couple had only been married nine weeks before and had quarrelled after Mary had returned home late, leading to her husband striking her face with the back of his hand. She was said to have returned the blow and James had then retaliated by pushing Mary down onto their stone floor.
As she was getting up, her clogs-wearing husband had kicked Mary in the small of her back and then Chadwick ordered a young man and woman who happened to be in the house at the time to go outside. The couple said they heard quarrelling and shortly afterwards Chadwick came out and said that his wife was dying. That proved to be correct as Mary died of a fractured skull thirty minutes later. Her husband claimed Mary had fallen over a basket and "knocked her neck out".
Although many sentences of death were not actually carried out, juries were reluctant to bring in a verdict of murder that might potentially result in a hanging unless they felt the crime was clear-cut. And so essentially, Chadwick was given the benefit of the doubt. A verdict of manslaughter was brought in but the jury strongly recommended him to mercy and he was only sentenced to 15 months in prison.
In another case heard in the Quarter Sessions, Elizabeth Clark pleaded guilty to having bigamously married Peter Greenough at Prescot when her first husband was still alive. She was sentenced to one month's imprisonment with hard labour. In those days hard labour was backbreaking work on a treadmill.
Just whether it was made any easier for females than males I can't be sure. But at least Elizabeth only had to perform it for a month. In a separate case, George Shepherd was given a year's hard labour after pleading guilty to breaking into a house in Sutton and stealing two coats.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the clown cricketers in St Helens, the Parr assault that began with a dispute over a clothes-line, the dentist seeking to set up a surgery in a Church Street shop and the boys illegally bathing in a Sutton Glass Works reservoir.
This week's many stories include the grand swimming gala held in St Helens, Sutton Cricket Club hold their annual athletics sports day, the porter badly injured at St Helens railway station while preparing a train, the drowning at Carr Mill Dam, the St Helens YMCA Rambling Club visit Billinge Hill and the miner from Broad Oak who was charged with killing his wife.
The cricket clubs in the St Helens district promoted annual athletics meetings as fundraising ventures.
On the 29th Sutton Cricket Club held their athletics sports day with prizes totalling £100.
What was described as the Sutton Popular Brass Band performed at the sports, as well as 300 competitors, and a very large attendance of spectators was reported.
During the 1870s, the St Helens Public Baths were situated in Warrington Old Road. They had been opened in 1861 by chemicals boss Andrew Kurtz and were sited next to his alkali works.
Four years after opening the St Helens Standard newspaper wrote:
"The public do not appreciate the baths…[Bathing] has always been the luxury of rich and educated men and will be. Working men …seldom bathe and women scarcely ever."
And in 1868 the St Helens Newspaper had reported that fewer than 500 people per week used the baths, even in the heat of summer.
And that was at a time when taking a bath at home was a convoluted business.
Few public events appear to have been held at the baths. However, on July 31st a grand swimming gala did take place and prizes were awarded for diving, swimming, floating etc.
Prior to the event all the prizes were on view in the shop window of Barton's of Church Street.
I wonder what ornamental swimming involves? I ask that question as during the course of the evening, a chap called French from Rainhill presented an exhibition of ornamental swimming.
And, as the Newspaper put it, Mr French gave "other feats capable of being acquired by the art of natation." The latter, apparently, simply means swimming.
The Newspaper on the 29th described how the St Helens YMCA Rambling Club had visited Billinge Hill and had enjoyed themselves despite great summer heat.
The paper said the walk to Billinge and back had been a thoroughly enjoyable one and their outward journey had been broken by a call at a small farm where "the doings of a number of 'busy bees' was eagerly scanned by the ramblers."
With no parks in St Helens and very few gardens, bees were likely to have kept their distance from the industrial town that suffered from considerable atmospheric pollution and it may well have been a novelty for some of the ramblers to witness them.
There were two serious accidents on the railway this week that the Newspaper described.
Early one morning while preparing a train for an excursion to Windermere from St Helens Station, porter Henry Grayson had been badly injured.
The Newspaper wrote that as a result, the man's life had been placed in jeopardy.
Then at 8:30am that same morning, Hugh Connelly of Sutton Street in Peasley Cross was crossing the railway line at the canal bridge when an engine knocked him down and one of his feet was severely crushed.
It was stated that Connelly could easily have got out of the way of the engine, as it was going very slowly but he had deliberately walked in front of it.
That suggests that it was either a suicide attempt or that the man was simply stupefied – to use a common term of the time – by the sight of the approaching engine.
The hot weather was responsible for another drowning this week – this time at Carr Mill Dam (pictured above).
Joseph Carr had been in the water with several young men and boys and was suddenly seized by cramp.
A young man who was standing at the side of the pool saw Joseph struggling and rushed into the water to help him.
However, the 17-year-old from Rawson Street in Prescot made such a tight hold on his would-be rescuer that he was dragging him down with him.
So the young man pleaded with Joseph to let him go, which he did and the youth went straight down into the water never to surface again.
The unnamed young man who had attempted to save Joseph only reached the side of the pool with difficulty and in an exhausted condition.
The incident had occurred at 10:30 am but Joseph's body could not be found until 4 pm.
The omens had not looked good for James Chadwick from Parr at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions this week.
During the 19th century courts did not spend weeks like today hearing serious criminal cases.
Justice was instead dispensed rapidly and a number of such cases were dealt with in a single day.
And so when the judge in Liverpool donned his black cap to pass a sentence of death on Richard Thompson, James Chadwick must have feared the worst.
Thompson had been the subject of the previous case to his and had been found guilty of murdering a man with a knife.
Although Chadwick would not have been in the courtroom when Thompson's verdict was brought in, it's quite likely that when the sentenced man was taken down to the cells and Chadwick was brought up, the latter witnessed Thompson sobbing his heart out at the prospect of getting hung.
James Chadwick had like Richard Thompson been responsible for a death – but he had a greater chance of escaping the noose.
That was because it was debatable whether the 30-year-old miner from Broad Oak in Parr had been responsible for the murder or manslaughter of his wife Mary.
The couple had only been married nine weeks before and had quarrelled after Mary had returned home late, leading to her husband striking her face with the back of his hand.
She was said to have returned the blow and James had then retaliated by pushing Mary down onto their stone floor.
As she was getting up, her clogs-wearing husband had kicked Mary in the small of her back and then Chadwick ordered a young man and woman who happened to be in the house at the time to go outside.
The couple said they heard quarrelling and shortly afterwards Chadwick came out and said that his wife was dying.
That proved to be correct as Mary died of a fractured skull thirty minutes later.
Her husband claimed Mary had fallen over a basket and "knocked her neck out".
Although many sentences of death were not actually carried out, juries were reluctant to bring in a verdict of murder that might potentially result in a hanging unless they felt the crime was clear-cut.
And so essentially, Chadwick was given the benefit of the doubt. A verdict of manslaughter was brought in but the jury strongly recommended him to mercy and he was only sentenced to 15 months in prison.
In another case heard in the Quarter Sessions, Elizabeth Clark pleaded guilty to having bigamously married Peter Greenough at Prescot when her first husband was still alive.
She was sentenced to one month's imprisonment with hard labour.
In those days hard labour was backbreaking work on a treadmill. Just whether it was made any easier for females than males I can't be sure. But at least Elizabeth only had to perform it for a month.
In a separate case, George Shepherd was given a year's hard labour after pleading guilty to breaking into a house in Sutton and stealing two coats.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the clown cricketers in St Helens, the Parr assault that began with a dispute over a clothes-line, the dentist seeking to set up a surgery in a Church Street shop and the boys illegally bathing in a Sutton Glass Works reservoir.
The cricket clubs in the St Helens district promoted annual athletics meetings as fundraising ventures.
On the 29th Sutton Cricket Club held their athletics sports day with prizes totalling £100.
What was described as the Sutton Popular Brass Band performed at the sports, as well as 300 competitors, and a very large attendance of spectators was reported.
During the 1870s, the St Helens Public Baths were situated in Warrington Old Road. They had been opened in 1861 by chemicals boss Andrew Kurtz and were sited next to his alkali works.
Four years after opening the St Helens Standard newspaper wrote:
"The public do not appreciate the baths…[Bathing] has always been the luxury of rich and educated men and will be. Working men …seldom bathe and women scarcely ever."
And in 1868 the St Helens Newspaper had reported that fewer than 500 people per week used the baths, even in the heat of summer.
And that was at a time when taking a bath at home was a convoluted business.
Few public events appear to have been held at the baths. However, on July 31st a grand swimming gala did take place and prizes were awarded for diving, swimming, floating etc.
Prior to the event all the prizes were on view in the shop window of Barton's of Church Street.
I wonder what ornamental swimming involves? I ask that question as during the course of the evening, a chap called French from Rainhill presented an exhibition of ornamental swimming.
And, as the Newspaper put it, Mr French gave "other feats capable of being acquired by the art of natation." The latter, apparently, simply means swimming.
The Newspaper on the 29th described how the St Helens YMCA Rambling Club had visited Billinge Hill and had enjoyed themselves despite great summer heat.
The paper said the walk to Billinge and back had been a thoroughly enjoyable one and their outward journey had been broken by a call at a small farm where "the doings of a number of 'busy bees' was eagerly scanned by the ramblers."
With no parks in St Helens and very few gardens, bees were likely to have kept their distance from the industrial town that suffered from considerable atmospheric pollution and it may well have been a novelty for some of the ramblers to witness them.
There were two serious accidents on the railway this week that the Newspaper described.
Early one morning while preparing a train for an excursion to Windermere from St Helens Station, porter Henry Grayson had been badly injured.
The Newspaper wrote that as a result, the man's life had been placed in jeopardy.
Then at 8:30am that same morning, Hugh Connelly of Sutton Street in Peasley Cross was crossing the railway line at the canal bridge when an engine knocked him down and one of his feet was severely crushed.
It was stated that Connelly could easily have got out of the way of the engine, as it was going very slowly but he had deliberately walked in front of it.
That suggests that it was either a suicide attempt or that the man was simply stupefied – to use a common term of the time – by the sight of the approaching engine.
Joseph Carr had been in the water with several young men and boys and was suddenly seized by cramp.
A young man who was standing at the side of the pool saw Joseph struggling and rushed into the water to help him.
However, the 17-year-old from Rawson Street in Prescot made such a tight hold on his would-be rescuer that he was dragging him down with him.
So the young man pleaded with Joseph to let him go, which he did and the youth went straight down into the water never to surface again.
The unnamed young man who had attempted to save Joseph only reached the side of the pool with difficulty and in an exhausted condition.
The incident had occurred at 10:30 am but Joseph's body could not be found until 4 pm.
The omens had not looked good for James Chadwick from Parr at the Kirkdale Quarter Sessions this week.
During the 19th century courts did not spend weeks like today hearing serious criminal cases.
Justice was instead dispensed rapidly and a number of such cases were dealt with in a single day.
And so when the judge in Liverpool donned his black cap to pass a sentence of death on Richard Thompson, James Chadwick must have feared the worst.
Thompson had been the subject of the previous case to his and had been found guilty of murdering a man with a knife.
Although Chadwick would not have been in the courtroom when Thompson's verdict was brought in, it's quite likely that when the sentenced man was taken down to the cells and Chadwick was brought up, the latter witnessed Thompson sobbing his heart out at the prospect of getting hung.
James Chadwick had like Richard Thompson been responsible for a death – but he had a greater chance of escaping the noose.
That was because it was debatable whether the 30-year-old miner from Broad Oak in Parr had been responsible for the murder or manslaughter of his wife Mary.
The couple had only been married nine weeks before and had quarrelled after Mary had returned home late, leading to her husband striking her face with the back of his hand.
She was said to have returned the blow and James had then retaliated by pushing Mary down onto their stone floor.
As she was getting up, her clogs-wearing husband had kicked Mary in the small of her back and then Chadwick ordered a young man and woman who happened to be in the house at the time to go outside.
The couple said they heard quarrelling and shortly afterwards Chadwick came out and said that his wife was dying.
That proved to be correct as Mary died of a fractured skull thirty minutes later.
Her husband claimed Mary had fallen over a basket and "knocked her neck out".
Although many sentences of death were not actually carried out, juries were reluctant to bring in a verdict of murder that might potentially result in a hanging unless they felt the crime was clear-cut.
And so essentially, Chadwick was given the benefit of the doubt. A verdict of manslaughter was brought in but the jury strongly recommended him to mercy and he was only sentenced to 15 months in prison.
In another case heard in the Quarter Sessions, Elizabeth Clark pleaded guilty to having bigamously married Peter Greenough at Prescot when her first husband was still alive.
She was sentenced to one month's imprisonment with hard labour.
In those days hard labour was backbreaking work on a treadmill. Just whether it was made any easier for females than males I can't be sure. But at least Elizabeth only had to perform it for a month.
In a separate case, George Shepherd was given a year's hard labour after pleading guilty to breaking into a house in Sutton and stealing two coats.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the clown cricketers in St Helens, the Parr assault that began with a dispute over a clothes-line, the dentist seeking to set up a surgery in a Church Street shop and the boys illegally bathing in a Sutton Glass Works reservoir.