150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (28th Jan. - 3rd Feb. 1869)
This week's stories include the Eccleston gun suicide, a forcible ejectment in Duke Street, the 12-year-old girl who had never been to school, the unlucky Pilkington's shirt thief, the opinionated market stall holder, the row at Crank railway station and a meeting of miners takes place in the Town Hall to demand improved safety.
We begin with Alpine House in Church Road in Rainford, which today is described as a business centre (pictured above). However for much of the 20th centre the old property adjacent to the Golden Lion was the home and surgery of Dr Francis Prosser and then by his son Dr Oswald Prosser.
One hundred and fifty years ago it was a private school in what was then known as Chapel Lane. It was called the 'Misses Phillips Seminary for Young Ladies' and run by Hannah and Caroline Phillips. The sisters had an advert in the Liverpool Daily Post on the 29th in which they were touting for business. "Terms moderate. Prospectuses forwarded on application", the ad said.
A little after one o'clock on the 29th a young woman named Elizabeth Nevitt was walking up the avenue from Eccleston Hall. Her attention was drawn to a young man who was stood on a small path and leaning against a tree.
He was Robert Lyttle and he looked into Elizabeth's face with an expression that so alarmed her that she quickened her steps. She also noticed that he appeared to be holding a gun. The woman had not gone more than sixty yards when she heard a loud report. Turning round she saw the man fall onto the grass, just as someone came running from Eccleston Hall after having witnessed the suicide.
Robert Lyttle was only 28 years of age and had been in the employment of Bishop's glassworks for two years but had recently decided to leave his job. Why he had decided to kill himself was a mystery.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 30th reported on an unusual case of eviction that concerned the daughter of the tenant of the Clarence beerhouse in Duke Street. The seeds of the dispute dated back several months when brewer Joseph Maxfield had taken the house's landlady to court for non-payment of rent.
A so-called distraint order was issued against Martha Simpkin that allowed her landlord to seize and sell her goods in lieu of the arrears. However the woman tried to avoid the confiscation by moving her possessions out of the house and for that she was sent to prison for six months.
Despite this her daughter Mary remained inside the property, much to the annoyance of Maxfield. On January 12th a three-month notice to quit was issued to Mary Unsworth but her landlord decided that he could not wait until April. So he sent his brother to forcibly eject the woman and after taking her by the shoulders he threw her out of the Clarence onto the street. Mary then took out a summons against George Maxfield charging him with assault.
However in court the man's counsel produced a tenancy agreement that said the landlord had every right to take possession of his property by forcible ejectment if the rent was in arrears. So the case was simply dismissed.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on February 1st, Sarah Lyon was charged with stealing coal from Ravenhead Colliery. The girl's aunt begged the magistrates to do something with the twelve-year-old, as she claimed her father did nothing for her. She said her niece was going to ruin and had never been sent to school. The Chairman of the Bench said they had decided to send Sarah to an industrial school for four years and he trusted that there she would learn to conduct herself properly.
Industrial schools were created to deal with juvenile delinquency and to teach a trade to youngsters that had yet to commit a serious crime. They were quite harsh places and it was unfortunate that an order was not made against the father that forced him to send his daughter to an ordinary school in St Helens. After all there was every likelihood that it had been Sarah's parents that had told her to steal the coal in the first place.
Miners were obliged to buy their own tools and in court Nathaniel Westhead from Liverpool Street accused Joseph Kay and Thomas Meadowcroft of stealing his pick from Alexandra Colliery. Westhead had left the pick outside the smithy door for it to be sharpened and he did not see it again until it he saw it in a store a fortnight later. Both men were committed to prison for one month.
Sarah Smith appeared in court charged with stealing 2lbs of sugar and two bottles of wine from Mr Mills' grocer's shop in the Market Place. Shop assistant Nathaniel Peyton told the magistrates that the woman had asked him for some biscuits and after he had got them for her he noticed that some wine had disappeared.
He accused Sarah of taking two bottles, which she admitted and upon searching her basket Nathaniel also discovered a bag of stolen sugar. The woman was fined 20 shillings and 12s. 6d. costs or 21 days in prison.
Three members of the Laffey family were also in court charged with causing a disturbance in the market where they kept stalls. The 58-year-old father from Cross Street sounded like quite a character, with the St Helens Newspaper saying:
"Patrick has a happy knack of delivering himself of his opinions of any of his neighbours, with an eloquence and elegance of phraseology that have made him famous within the circle in which he moves. To be sure, his observations have frequently been unfeelingly considered to be what is called slanderous and abusive language."
On this occasion it was Patrick's daughters that started rowing – or as the Newspaper sarcastically put it – began "bestowing phrases full of strong affection upon each other, and they indulged in that species of innocent amusement to their heart's content."
Soon the father chipped in with his own opinions and before long "the trio began to embrace each other in the most affectionate manner" – which was the paper's witty way of describing a family at war. They then described the man's behaviour at the court hearing: "While in court, the exuberant Patrick could not restrain his indignation that he should be interfered with by the police, and he gave free expression to his wounded feelings."
His solicitor asked the Irishman to quieten down but was told to mind his own business. The magistrates decided to let the threesome off after receiving a promise that they would behave themselves and were no doubt glad to see the back of them!
A row in a railway station was also described in the courtroom that was then situated within the old Town Hall in New Market Place. William Harrison, the stationmaster at Crank, summoned passenger Andrew Diamond for obstructing him in his duty and the latter cross-summoned for assault. As usual both parties gave completely different versions of what had occurred.
The 23-year-old Diamond claimed that the stationmaster had knocked him down after he had tried to retrieve some of his property. Robert Ashall from Billinge gave corroborative evidence of his friend's story. However the 34-year-old stationmaster claimed that Diamond was drunk and had initially refused to surrender his train ticket after arriving at Crank. William Harrison also said the young man had been abusive and had assaulted him.
He had his own witnesses to back up his story, including the testimony of a police sergeant. So the magistrates fined Diamond and dismissed his counter-suit against the stationmaster for assault.
Denis McKehoe appeared in the court charged with stealing a flannel shirt from one of Pilkington's warehouses. The man had been extremely unlucky. Three days after lifting the shirt off a nail in the warehouse, he decided to wear his new top during a visit to Isaac Grace's pub in Bridge Street. Also enjoying a drink in the hostelry was Michael Murphy – the owner of the shirt! Murphy had the thief arrested and McKehoe was sent to prison for seven days.
On the 2nd at a public meeting of miners in the Town Hall there was a call for improved ventilation in coalmines. It was said that if the money given to the widows of the recent disasters at Haydock, Rainford, Hindley Green and Pemberton had been spent on increased ventilation, the men that had died might still be alive.
Although explosions down coalmines with multiple deaths were the accidents that made the news, miners died every day from other causes. Earlier on the 2nd Robert Charlesworth from Ormskirk Road in Rainford was fatally injured by a fall of the pit roof. The 19-year-old was struck down in the No. 5 pit of the Rainford Colliery Company. It was believed that the roof had been loosened by an explosive shot that the man had fired a short time before.
Next week's stories will include the Thatto Heath tramp's unprovoked attack on a policeman, the "disgusting savage" of Pocket Nook, a double tragedy in Scholes Lane, the printer that fled from the police and ran straight into the canal and the fever-struck common lodging house in Prescot.
One hundred and fifty years ago it was a private school in what was then known as Chapel Lane. It was called the 'Misses Phillips Seminary for Young Ladies' and run by Hannah and Caroline Phillips. The sisters had an advert in the Liverpool Daily Post on the 29th in which they were touting for business. "Terms moderate. Prospectuses forwarded on application", the ad said.
A little after one o'clock on the 29th a young woman named Elizabeth Nevitt was walking up the avenue from Eccleston Hall. Her attention was drawn to a young man who was stood on a small path and leaning against a tree.
He was Robert Lyttle and he looked into Elizabeth's face with an expression that so alarmed her that she quickened her steps. She also noticed that he appeared to be holding a gun. The woman had not gone more than sixty yards when she heard a loud report. Turning round she saw the man fall onto the grass, just as someone came running from Eccleston Hall after having witnessed the suicide.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 30th reported on an unusual case of eviction that concerned the daughter of the tenant of the Clarence beerhouse in Duke Street. The seeds of the dispute dated back several months when brewer Joseph Maxfield had taken the house's landlady to court for non-payment of rent.
A so-called distraint order was issued against Martha Simpkin that allowed her landlord to seize and sell her goods in lieu of the arrears. However the woman tried to avoid the confiscation by moving her possessions out of the house and for that she was sent to prison for six months.
Despite this her daughter Mary remained inside the property, much to the annoyance of Maxfield. On January 12th a three-month notice to quit was issued to Mary Unsworth but her landlord decided that he could not wait until April. So he sent his brother to forcibly eject the woman and after taking her by the shoulders he threw her out of the Clarence onto the street. Mary then took out a summons against George Maxfield charging him with assault.
However in court the man's counsel produced a tenancy agreement that said the landlord had every right to take possession of his property by forcible ejectment if the rent was in arrears. So the case was simply dismissed.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on February 1st, Sarah Lyon was charged with stealing coal from Ravenhead Colliery. The girl's aunt begged the magistrates to do something with the twelve-year-old, as she claimed her father did nothing for her. She said her niece was going to ruin and had never been sent to school. The Chairman of the Bench said they had decided to send Sarah to an industrial school for four years and he trusted that there she would learn to conduct herself properly.
Industrial schools were created to deal with juvenile delinquency and to teach a trade to youngsters that had yet to commit a serious crime. They were quite harsh places and it was unfortunate that an order was not made against the father that forced him to send his daughter to an ordinary school in St Helens. After all there was every likelihood that it had been Sarah's parents that had told her to steal the coal in the first place.
Miners were obliged to buy their own tools and in court Nathaniel Westhead from Liverpool Street accused Joseph Kay and Thomas Meadowcroft of stealing his pick from Alexandra Colliery. Westhead had left the pick outside the smithy door for it to be sharpened and he did not see it again until it he saw it in a store a fortnight later. Both men were committed to prison for one month.
Sarah Smith appeared in court charged with stealing 2lbs of sugar and two bottles of wine from Mr Mills' grocer's shop in the Market Place. Shop assistant Nathaniel Peyton told the magistrates that the woman had asked him for some biscuits and after he had got them for her he noticed that some wine had disappeared.
He accused Sarah of taking two bottles, which she admitted and upon searching her basket Nathaniel also discovered a bag of stolen sugar. The woman was fined 20 shillings and 12s. 6d. costs or 21 days in prison.
Three members of the Laffey family were also in court charged with causing a disturbance in the market where they kept stalls. The 58-year-old father from Cross Street sounded like quite a character, with the St Helens Newspaper saying:
"Patrick has a happy knack of delivering himself of his opinions of any of his neighbours, with an eloquence and elegance of phraseology that have made him famous within the circle in which he moves. To be sure, his observations have frequently been unfeelingly considered to be what is called slanderous and abusive language."
On this occasion it was Patrick's daughters that started rowing – or as the Newspaper sarcastically put it – began "bestowing phrases full of strong affection upon each other, and they indulged in that species of innocent amusement to their heart's content."
Soon the father chipped in with his own opinions and before long "the trio began to embrace each other in the most affectionate manner" – which was the paper's witty way of describing a family at war. They then described the man's behaviour at the court hearing: "While in court, the exuberant Patrick could not restrain his indignation that he should be interfered with by the police, and he gave free expression to his wounded feelings."
His solicitor asked the Irishman to quieten down but was told to mind his own business. The magistrates decided to let the threesome off after receiving a promise that they would behave themselves and were no doubt glad to see the back of them!
A row in a railway station was also described in the courtroom that was then situated within the old Town Hall in New Market Place. William Harrison, the stationmaster at Crank, summoned passenger Andrew Diamond for obstructing him in his duty and the latter cross-summoned for assault. As usual both parties gave completely different versions of what had occurred.
The 23-year-old Diamond claimed that the stationmaster had knocked him down after he had tried to retrieve some of his property. Robert Ashall from Billinge gave corroborative evidence of his friend's story. However the 34-year-old stationmaster claimed that Diamond was drunk and had initially refused to surrender his train ticket after arriving at Crank. William Harrison also said the young man had been abusive and had assaulted him.
He had his own witnesses to back up his story, including the testimony of a police sergeant. So the magistrates fined Diamond and dismissed his counter-suit against the stationmaster for assault.
Denis McKehoe appeared in the court charged with stealing a flannel shirt from one of Pilkington's warehouses. The man had been extremely unlucky. Three days after lifting the shirt off a nail in the warehouse, he decided to wear his new top during a visit to Isaac Grace's pub in Bridge Street. Also enjoying a drink in the hostelry was Michael Murphy – the owner of the shirt! Murphy had the thief arrested and McKehoe was sent to prison for seven days.
On the 2nd at a public meeting of miners in the Town Hall there was a call for improved ventilation in coalmines. It was said that if the money given to the widows of the recent disasters at Haydock, Rainford, Hindley Green and Pemberton had been spent on increased ventilation, the men that had died might still be alive.
Although explosions down coalmines with multiple deaths were the accidents that made the news, miners died every day from other causes. Earlier on the 2nd Robert Charlesworth from Ormskirk Road in Rainford was fatally injured by a fall of the pit roof. The 19-year-old was struck down in the No. 5 pit of the Rainford Colliery Company. It was believed that the roof had been loosened by an explosive shot that the man had fired a short time before.
Next week's stories will include the Thatto Heath tramp's unprovoked attack on a policeman, the "disgusting savage" of Pocket Nook, a double tragedy in Scholes Lane, the printer that fled from the police and ran straight into the canal and the fever-struck common lodging house in Prescot.