150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (28th DEC. 1870 - 3rd JAN.1871)
This week's stories include the "greatest novelties in negro minstrelsy" at the Volunteer Hall, the lack of an illuminated public clock in St Helens, the mayor's annual Christmas dinner for the aged poor and a major inquiry is held into the Prescot watch industry.
We begin in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 28th when the Bench decided to show leniency to John Daly. This was despite the 17-year-old from Pocket Nook having struck Catherine Tierney from Bolton Street. The dog belonging to the 58-year-old woman had bitten Daly on the arm. Violence was much more tolerated than today and so the lad was only fined 1 shilling because of the mitigating circumstance.
James Critchley from Sutton was accused of stealing two pigeons from William Hill of Leach Lane. The birds were produced in court and the labourer explained how they had gone missing from his cote. One was discovered in the possession of Critchley and the other eventually flew home. The man claimed that he had bought the pigeon off a woman from Smithy Brow. However she gave evidence that that was untrue and the police found a key on Critchley that fitted the lock of the cote. And so James Critchley was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.
With the roads being so narrow, obstructions could easily be caused. So the police would only allow a brief time for the loading or unloading of vehicles parked in the street. That created the problem of what to do with carts when they were not being worked. James Burgess had left three of his carts parked all night outside his home in Brook Street and PC Wilkinson had booked him for breaking the law. Burgess hired a lawyer to argue that the place where the carts had been left was not a highway and so no offence was committed.
However Superintendent Ludlam told the Bench that the road was a continuation of Brook Street and led to a bridge that the Corporation had recently built. The solicitor reiterated that it was not a highway and so the magistrates felt there was only one thing to do. Suspend the hearing and go and take a look for themselves. So they went and inspected the spot and returned to court to declare that the ground in question was indeed a highway and fined Burgess 1 shilling and costs. I wonder if they would have gone on an inspection if the defendant had been a very poor person and not a businessman?
The 2nd Engineer Volunteers Tea Party and Ball was held on the 29th in their drill hall (shown above) in what was then often called Combshop Brow – we know it as Croppers Hill. As the name suggests it was given that moniker because it had been the main site in St Helens where combs were produced. These were made of ivory, linking the town with the slave trade.
Another disreputable business was the blacking up of performers. Also on the 29th what was now being called the 'Queen's Minstrels' performed at the Volunteer Hall. Previously known as the 'Royal and Original Christy's Minstrels', the group had changed its name to reinforce their Royal connection after appearing before Queen Victoria at Balmoral "by special command" two years earlier. That was quite common. Indeed the Raven Hotel in St Helens became the Royal Raven after a soldier son of Victoria had stayed there one night.
It was one of several blackface troupes that claimed to be the original Christy's Minstrels, with each having one or two former members of the old troupe within their ranks. The lengthy advert for the concert in the Newspaper said the company was more than a few blacked up singers, as they also contained:
"… a grand double quartette of superbly trained voices, great and original humourists, comic vocalists, grotesque and eccentric dancers, and an efficient and skilled band of solo instrumentalists, forming the largest, most perfect, and artistic company of minstrels in the United Kingdom, who, through the refined excellence of their entertainment, which abounds in sparkling wit, dry humour, unlimited mirth, and good music.
"No vulgar absurdities, but a high-class sentimental and comic concert, by gentlemany entertainers, with blackened faces, greeted everywhere with roars of laughter, and salvoes of applause. An inexhaustible, varied, and attractive repertoire of the most original, the latest and greatest novelties in negro minstrelsy."
With the time of day available to us now in a vast variety of forms – including cheap watches, mobile phones and even microwaves – there is no great necessity to have a traditional clock in the house. And the public ones on display in St Helens tend to have stopped but nobody seems to mind!
However it was very different in 1870 when many people did not own a timepiece and only a handful of places, like some churches, had clocks. And during the dark nights in St Helens these would be impossible to see. On the 31st this letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper from someone calling themselves "A. Ratepayer":
"Sir, It is very much to be regretted that St. Helens does not possess a public illuminated clock. The want of it has been long and deservedly noticed, and I am sure that the majority of the ratepayers would approve of such an undertaking. Is it not a standing disgrace to the town and corporation of St. Helens that the town should be so utterly without an illuminated clock?
"Other towns of no greater importance – such towns, for instance, as Wigan, Warrington, and Runcorn are in possession of illuminated clocks, and even Widnes stands before us in this matter. Then, I ask again, is it not a perfect disgrace to a town of the size and importance of St. Helens that it should be so far behind in this respect? Those who know St Helens are aware how inconvenient it is to those who are not in possession of a good watch to ascertain the correct time at night."
Talking of time, two Truck Commissioners came to Prescot on the 31st to conduct an inquiry into the watch industry. The various Truck Acts that had been passed were designed to stop abuses in which employers paid workers their wages in goods (either wholly or in part) instead of in cash. This saved the masters' money, as they would buy the items at a cheaper price. Last July a petition had been sent to Government complaining about the widespread use of the truck system in Prescot and so the commissioners were sent to investigate.
It is very well known that Prescot used to be an important watch-making centre. However what is often not realised is that finished timepieces were not made in the town – just the watch movements. And it took about 25 men to make each one! Then the completed movement was sent off to such places as London, Coventry and Birmingham for finishing and that involved a further 25 men. So in total the work of fifty men were involved in making a single watch – no wonder they weren't cheap! In fact at the inquiry there were a number of reference to £5 watches – which would have been about four weeks' wages for many.
Although Prescot was considered the centre of the watch movement-making industry in England, there were actually more workers just outside the town than inside. About 500 men were employed within Prescot but a further 700 worked in St Helens, Widnes and in other neighbouring places.
The inquiry heard many accounts from the movement-makers of them being paid either in food or in watches that they were forced to sell at a loss. William Chesworth – who lived off Kemble Street – made the pinion gear wheels that allowed watches to be wound. The 41-year-old told the inquiry that he worked for a number of employers and was often paid in meat. One master had even opened a grocer's shop, seemingly to pay his bills in produce.
Luke Healy worked at Prescot but lived in St Helens and claimed that it was a common thing for the watchmakers to be paid in provisions or watches – although a "good many masters" did pay cash. The 32-year-old from Kirkland Street told the inquiry that "the watchmaking class are a poverty-stricken class". The movement men, he added, could not earn as much generally as a common labouring man and could not get their wages as often.
As for the bosses they blamed each other. Those who paid in provisions blamed those who paid in watches and vice versa, with both calling each other the "curse of the trade". The commissioners completed their inquiry and would subsequently report to Parliament on the matter.
During the evening the Rainhill Asylum Choir gave a performance of Handel's 'Messiah' at the institution. I don't think the choristers were inmates; simply individuals who from time to time got together to entertain them.
On the 2nd the Mayor of St Helens, Llewellyn Evans, hosted the annual Christmas dinner for the "aged poor of St Helens". Ninety-seven persons with the average age of 71 enjoyed roast beef, plum pudding and ale in the girls' schoolroom of the Parish Church. It was the custom at these events to present the men with tobacco and the women with a packet of tea to take home. The tea always seems an odd un-feminine choice to me but I expect was appreciated and all the guests also received a shilling.
The severe frost was continuing in St Helens, which was good for skaters but not so good for drunks. They found staying on their feet hard enough in the best of times and the police arrested many who went horizontal. During the evening of the 3rd, PC Alexander found John Simpkin lying on the ground in Exchange Street in a very drunken state.
However rousing the man and getting him to his feet turned out to be a more difficult task than he imagined because Simpkin had slipped on the icy footpath and broken a leg. As he had no fixed residence, the man was taken to the workhouse hospital in Whiston.
Next week's stories will include the annual dinner for the aged poor of Parr, the hen-pecked Ashton bigamist is back in court, a dreadful mining accident takes place and the Parr Street man who died after lighting his pipe.
We begin in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 28th when the Bench decided to show leniency to John Daly. This was despite the 17-year-old from Pocket Nook having struck Catherine Tierney from Bolton Street. The dog belonging to the 58-year-old woman had bitten Daly on the arm. Violence was much more tolerated than today and so the lad was only fined 1 shilling because of the mitigating circumstance.
James Critchley from Sutton was accused of stealing two pigeons from William Hill of Leach Lane. The birds were produced in court and the labourer explained how they had gone missing from his cote. One was discovered in the possession of Critchley and the other eventually flew home. The man claimed that he had bought the pigeon off a woman from Smithy Brow. However she gave evidence that that was untrue and the police found a key on Critchley that fitted the lock of the cote. And so James Critchley was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.
With the roads being so narrow, obstructions could easily be caused. So the police would only allow a brief time for the loading or unloading of vehicles parked in the street. That created the problem of what to do with carts when they were not being worked. James Burgess had left three of his carts parked all night outside his home in Brook Street and PC Wilkinson had booked him for breaking the law. Burgess hired a lawyer to argue that the place where the carts had been left was not a highway and so no offence was committed.
However Superintendent Ludlam told the Bench that the road was a continuation of Brook Street and led to a bridge that the Corporation had recently built. The solicitor reiterated that it was not a highway and so the magistrates felt there was only one thing to do. Suspend the hearing and go and take a look for themselves. So they went and inspected the spot and returned to court to declare that the ground in question was indeed a highway and fined Burgess 1 shilling and costs. I wonder if they would have gone on an inspection if the defendant had been a very poor person and not a businessman?
Another disreputable business was the blacking up of performers. Also on the 29th what was now being called the 'Queen's Minstrels' performed at the Volunteer Hall. Previously known as the 'Royal and Original Christy's Minstrels', the group had changed its name to reinforce their Royal connection after appearing before Queen Victoria at Balmoral "by special command" two years earlier. That was quite common. Indeed the Raven Hotel in St Helens became the Royal Raven after a soldier son of Victoria had stayed there one night.
It was one of several blackface troupes that claimed to be the original Christy's Minstrels, with each having one or two former members of the old troupe within their ranks. The lengthy advert for the concert in the Newspaper said the company was more than a few blacked up singers, as they also contained:
"… a grand double quartette of superbly trained voices, great and original humourists, comic vocalists, grotesque and eccentric dancers, and an efficient and skilled band of solo instrumentalists, forming the largest, most perfect, and artistic company of minstrels in the United Kingdom, who, through the refined excellence of their entertainment, which abounds in sparkling wit, dry humour, unlimited mirth, and good music.
"No vulgar absurdities, but a high-class sentimental and comic concert, by gentlemany entertainers, with blackened faces, greeted everywhere with roars of laughter, and salvoes of applause. An inexhaustible, varied, and attractive repertoire of the most original, the latest and greatest novelties in negro minstrelsy."
With the time of day available to us now in a vast variety of forms – including cheap watches, mobile phones and even microwaves – there is no great necessity to have a traditional clock in the house. And the public ones on display in St Helens tend to have stopped but nobody seems to mind!
However it was very different in 1870 when many people did not own a timepiece and only a handful of places, like some churches, had clocks. And during the dark nights in St Helens these would be impossible to see. On the 31st this letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper from someone calling themselves "A. Ratepayer":
"Sir, It is very much to be regretted that St. Helens does not possess a public illuminated clock. The want of it has been long and deservedly noticed, and I am sure that the majority of the ratepayers would approve of such an undertaking. Is it not a standing disgrace to the town and corporation of St. Helens that the town should be so utterly without an illuminated clock?
"Other towns of no greater importance – such towns, for instance, as Wigan, Warrington, and Runcorn are in possession of illuminated clocks, and even Widnes stands before us in this matter. Then, I ask again, is it not a perfect disgrace to a town of the size and importance of St. Helens that it should be so far behind in this respect? Those who know St Helens are aware how inconvenient it is to those who are not in possession of a good watch to ascertain the correct time at night."
Talking of time, two Truck Commissioners came to Prescot on the 31st to conduct an inquiry into the watch industry. The various Truck Acts that had been passed were designed to stop abuses in which employers paid workers their wages in goods (either wholly or in part) instead of in cash. This saved the masters' money, as they would buy the items at a cheaper price. Last July a petition had been sent to Government complaining about the widespread use of the truck system in Prescot and so the commissioners were sent to investigate.
It is very well known that Prescot used to be an important watch-making centre. However what is often not realised is that finished timepieces were not made in the town – just the watch movements. And it took about 25 men to make each one! Then the completed movement was sent off to such places as London, Coventry and Birmingham for finishing and that involved a further 25 men. So in total the work of fifty men were involved in making a single watch – no wonder they weren't cheap! In fact at the inquiry there were a number of reference to £5 watches – which would have been about four weeks' wages for many.
Although Prescot was considered the centre of the watch movement-making industry in England, there were actually more workers just outside the town than inside. About 500 men were employed within Prescot but a further 700 worked in St Helens, Widnes and in other neighbouring places.
The inquiry heard many accounts from the movement-makers of them being paid either in food or in watches that they were forced to sell at a loss. William Chesworth – who lived off Kemble Street – made the pinion gear wheels that allowed watches to be wound. The 41-year-old told the inquiry that he worked for a number of employers and was often paid in meat. One master had even opened a grocer's shop, seemingly to pay his bills in produce.
Luke Healy worked at Prescot but lived in St Helens and claimed that it was a common thing for the watchmakers to be paid in provisions or watches – although a "good many masters" did pay cash. The 32-year-old from Kirkland Street told the inquiry that "the watchmaking class are a poverty-stricken class". The movement men, he added, could not earn as much generally as a common labouring man and could not get their wages as often.
As for the bosses they blamed each other. Those who paid in provisions blamed those who paid in watches and vice versa, with both calling each other the "curse of the trade". The commissioners completed their inquiry and would subsequently report to Parliament on the matter.
During the evening the Rainhill Asylum Choir gave a performance of Handel's 'Messiah' at the institution. I don't think the choristers were inmates; simply individuals who from time to time got together to entertain them.
On the 2nd the Mayor of St Helens, Llewellyn Evans, hosted the annual Christmas dinner for the "aged poor of St Helens". Ninety-seven persons with the average age of 71 enjoyed roast beef, plum pudding and ale in the girls' schoolroom of the Parish Church. It was the custom at these events to present the men with tobacco and the women with a packet of tea to take home. The tea always seems an odd un-feminine choice to me but I expect was appreciated and all the guests also received a shilling.
The severe frost was continuing in St Helens, which was good for skaters but not so good for drunks. They found staying on their feet hard enough in the best of times and the police arrested many who went horizontal. During the evening of the 3rd, PC Alexander found John Simpkin lying on the ground in Exchange Street in a very drunken state.
However rousing the man and getting him to his feet turned out to be a more difficult task than he imagined because Simpkin had slipped on the icy footpath and broken a leg. As he had no fixed residence, the man was taken to the workhouse hospital in Whiston.
Next week's stories will include the annual dinner for the aged poor of Parr, the hen-pecked Ashton bigamist is back in court, a dreadful mining accident takes place and the Parr Street man who died after lighting his pipe.
This week's stories include the "greatest novelties in negro minstrelsy" at the Volunteer Hall, the lack of an illuminated public clock in St Helens, the mayor's annual Christmas dinner for the aged poor and a major inquiry is held into the Prescot watch industry.
We begin in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 28th when the Bench decided to show leniency to John Daly.
This was despite the 17-year-old from Pocket Nook having struck Catherine Tierney from Bolton Street.
The dog belonging to the 58-year-old woman had bitten Daly on the arm.
Violence was much more tolerated than today and so the lad was only fined 1 shilling because of the mitigating circumstance.
James Critchley from Sutton was accused of stealing two pigeons from William Hill of Leach Lane.
The birds were produced in court and the labourer explained how they had gone missing from his cote.
One was discovered in the possession of Critchley and the other eventually flew home.
The man claimed that he had bought the pigeon off a woman from Smithy Brow.
However she gave evidence that that was untrue and the police found a key on Critchley that fitted the lock of the cote. And so James Critchley was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.
With the roads being so narrow, obstructions could easily be caused.
So the police would only allow a brief time for the loading or unloading of vehicles parked in the street.
That created the problem of what to do with carts when they were not being worked.
James Burgess had left three of his carts parked all night outside his home in Brook Street and PC Wilkinson had booked him for breaking the law.
Burgess hired a lawyer to argue that the place where the carts had been left was not a highway and so no offence was committed.
However Superintendent Ludlam told the Bench that the road was a continuation of Brook Street and led to a bridge that the Corporation had recently built.
The solicitor reiterated that it was not a highway and so the magistrates felt there was only one thing to do. Suspend the hearing and go and take a look for themselves.
So they went and inspected the spot and returned to court to declare that the ground in question was indeed a highway and fined Burgess 1 shilling and costs.
I wonder if they would have gone on an inspection if the defendant had been a very poor person and not a businessman?
The 2nd Engineer Volunteers Tea Party and Ball was held on the 29th in their drill hall (shown above) in what was then often called Combshop Brow – we know it as Croppers Hill.
As the name suggests it was given that moniker because it had been the main site in St Helens where combs were produced.
These were made of ivory, linking the town with the slave trade.
Another disreputable business was the blacking up of performers.
Also on the 29th what was now being called the 'Queen's Minstrels' performed at the Volunteer Hall.
Previously known as the 'Royal and Original Christy's Minstrels', the group had changed its name to reinforce their Royal connection after appearing before Queen Victoria at Balmoral "by special command" two years earlier.
That was quite common. Indeed the Raven Hotel in St Helens became the Royal Raven after a soldier son of Victoria had stayed there one night.
It was one of several blackface troupes that claimed to be the original Christy's Minstrels, with each having one or two former members of the old troupe within their ranks.
The lengthy advert for the concert in the Newspaper said the company was more than a few blacked up singers, as they also contained:
"… a grand double quartette of superbly trained voices, great and original humourists, comic vocalists, grotesque and eccentric dancers, and an efficient and skilled band of solo instrumentalists, forming the largest, most perfect, and artistic company of minstrels in the United Kingdom, who, through the refined excellence of their entertainment, which abounds in sparkling wit, dry humour, unlimited mirth, and good music.
"No vulgar absurdities, but a high-class sentimental and comic concert, by gentlemany entertainers, with blackened faces, greeted everywhere with roars of laughter, and salvoes of applause. An inexhaustible, varied, and attractive repertoire of the most original, the latest and greatest novelties in negro minstrelsy."
With the time of day available to us now in a vast variety of forms – including cheap watches, mobile phones and even microwaves – there is no great necessity to have a traditional clock in the house.
And the public ones on display in St Helens tend to have stopped but nobody seems to mind!
However it was very different in 1870 when many people did not own a timepiece and only a handful of places, like some churches, had clocks.
And during the dark nights in St Helens these would be impossible to see.
On the 31st this letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper from someone calling themselves "A. Ratepayer":
"Sir, It is very much to be regretted that St. Helens does not possess a public illuminated clock. The want of it has been long and deservedly noticed, and I am sure that the majority of the ratepayers would approve of such an undertaking.
"Is it not a standing disgrace to the town and corporation of St. Helens that the town should be so utterly without an illuminated clock?
"Other towns of no greater importance – such towns, for instance, as Wigan, Warrington, and Runcorn are in possession of illuminated clocks, and even Widnes stands before us in this matter.
"Then, I ask again, is it not a perfect disgrace to a town of the size and importance of St. Helens that it should be so far behind in this respect?
"Those who know St Helens are aware how inconvenient it is to those who are not in possession of a good watch to ascertain the correct time at night."
Talking of time, two Truck Commissioners came to Prescot on the 31st to conduct an inquiry into the watch industry.
The various Truck Acts that had been passed were designed to stop abuses in which employers paid workers their wages in goods (either wholly or in part) instead of in cash.
This saved the masters' money, as they would buy the items at a cheaper price.
Last July a petition had been sent to Government complaining about the widespread use of the truck system in Prescot and so the commissioners were sent to investigate.
It is very well known that Prescot used to be an important watch-making centre.
However what is often not realised is that finished timepieces were not made in the town – just the watch movements. And it took about 25 men to make each one!
Then the completed movement was sent off to such places as London, Coventry and Birmingham for finishing and that involved a further 25 men.
So in total the work of fifty men were involved in making a single watch – no wonder they weren't cheap!
In fact at the inquiry there were a number of reference to £5 watches – which would have been about four weeks' wages for many.
Although Prescot was considered the centre of the watch movement-making industry in England, there were actually more workers just outside the town than inside.
About 500 men were employed within Prescot but a further 700 worked in St Helens, Widnes and in other neighbouring places.
The inquiry heard many accounts from the movement-makers of them being paid either in food or in watches that they were forced to sell at a loss.
William Chesworth – who lived off Kemble Street – made the pinion gear wheels that allowed watches to be wound.
The 41-year-old told the inquiry that he worked for a number of employers and was often paid in meat.
One master had even opened a grocer's shop, seemingly to pay his bills in produce.
Luke Healy worked at Prescot but lived in St Helens and claimed that it was a common thing for the watchmakers to be paid in provisions or watches – although a "good many masters" did pay cash.
The 32-year-old from Kirkland Street told the inquiry that "the watchmaking class are a poverty-stricken class".
The movement men, he added, could not earn as much generally as a common labouring man and could not get their wages as often.
As for the bosses they blamed each other. Those who paid in provisions blamed those who paid in watches and vice versa, with both calling each other the "curse of the trade".
The commissioners completed their inquiry and would subsequently report to Parliament on the matter.
During the evening the Rainhill Asylum Choir gave a performance of Handel's 'Messiah' at the institution.
I don't think the choristers were inmates; simply individuals who from time to time got together to entertain them.
On the 2nd the Mayor of St Helens, Llewellyn Evans, hosted the annual Christmas dinner for the "aged poor of St Helens".
Ninety-seven persons with the average age of 71 enjoyed roast beef, plum pudding and ale in the girls' schoolroom of the Parish Church.
It was the custom at these events to present the men with tobacco and the women with a packet of tea to take home.
The tea always seems an odd un-feminine choice to me but I expect was appreciated and all the guests also received a shilling.
The severe frost was continuing in St Helens, which was good for skaters but not so good for drunks.
They found staying on their feet hard enough in the best of times and the police arrested many who went horizontal.
During the evening of the 3rd, PC Alexander found John Simpkin lying on the ground in Exchange Street in a very drunken state.
However rousing the man and getting him to his feet turned out to be a more difficult task than he imagined because Simpkin had slipped on the icy footpath and broken a leg.
As he had no fixed residence, the man was taken to the workhouse hospital in Whiston.
Next week's stories will include the annual dinner for the aged poor of Parr, the hen-pecked Ashton bigamist is back in court, a dreadful mining accident takes place and the Parr Street man who died after lighting his pipe.
We begin in the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 28th when the Bench decided to show leniency to John Daly.
This was despite the 17-year-old from Pocket Nook having struck Catherine Tierney from Bolton Street.
The dog belonging to the 58-year-old woman had bitten Daly on the arm.
Violence was much more tolerated than today and so the lad was only fined 1 shilling because of the mitigating circumstance.
James Critchley from Sutton was accused of stealing two pigeons from William Hill of Leach Lane.
The birds were produced in court and the labourer explained how they had gone missing from his cote.
One was discovered in the possession of Critchley and the other eventually flew home.
The man claimed that he had bought the pigeon off a woman from Smithy Brow.
However she gave evidence that that was untrue and the police found a key on Critchley that fitted the lock of the cote. And so James Critchley was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.
With the roads being so narrow, obstructions could easily be caused.
So the police would only allow a brief time for the loading or unloading of vehicles parked in the street.
That created the problem of what to do with carts when they were not being worked.
James Burgess had left three of his carts parked all night outside his home in Brook Street and PC Wilkinson had booked him for breaking the law.
Burgess hired a lawyer to argue that the place where the carts had been left was not a highway and so no offence was committed.
However Superintendent Ludlam told the Bench that the road was a continuation of Brook Street and led to a bridge that the Corporation had recently built.
The solicitor reiterated that it was not a highway and so the magistrates felt there was only one thing to do. Suspend the hearing and go and take a look for themselves.
So they went and inspected the spot and returned to court to declare that the ground in question was indeed a highway and fined Burgess 1 shilling and costs.
I wonder if they would have gone on an inspection if the defendant had been a very poor person and not a businessman?
As the name suggests it was given that moniker because it had been the main site in St Helens where combs were produced.
These were made of ivory, linking the town with the slave trade.
Another disreputable business was the blacking up of performers.
Also on the 29th what was now being called the 'Queen's Minstrels' performed at the Volunteer Hall.
Previously known as the 'Royal and Original Christy's Minstrels', the group had changed its name to reinforce their Royal connection after appearing before Queen Victoria at Balmoral "by special command" two years earlier.
That was quite common. Indeed the Raven Hotel in St Helens became the Royal Raven after a soldier son of Victoria had stayed there one night.
It was one of several blackface troupes that claimed to be the original Christy's Minstrels, with each having one or two former members of the old troupe within their ranks.
The lengthy advert for the concert in the Newspaper said the company was more than a few blacked up singers, as they also contained:
"… a grand double quartette of superbly trained voices, great and original humourists, comic vocalists, grotesque and eccentric dancers, and an efficient and skilled band of solo instrumentalists, forming the largest, most perfect, and artistic company of minstrels in the United Kingdom, who, through the refined excellence of their entertainment, which abounds in sparkling wit, dry humour, unlimited mirth, and good music.
"No vulgar absurdities, but a high-class sentimental and comic concert, by gentlemany entertainers, with blackened faces, greeted everywhere with roars of laughter, and salvoes of applause. An inexhaustible, varied, and attractive repertoire of the most original, the latest and greatest novelties in negro minstrelsy."
With the time of day available to us now in a vast variety of forms – including cheap watches, mobile phones and even microwaves – there is no great necessity to have a traditional clock in the house.
And the public ones on display in St Helens tend to have stopped but nobody seems to mind!
However it was very different in 1870 when many people did not own a timepiece and only a handful of places, like some churches, had clocks.
And during the dark nights in St Helens these would be impossible to see.
On the 31st this letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper from someone calling themselves "A. Ratepayer":
"Sir, It is very much to be regretted that St. Helens does not possess a public illuminated clock. The want of it has been long and deservedly noticed, and I am sure that the majority of the ratepayers would approve of such an undertaking.
"Is it not a standing disgrace to the town and corporation of St. Helens that the town should be so utterly without an illuminated clock?
"Other towns of no greater importance – such towns, for instance, as Wigan, Warrington, and Runcorn are in possession of illuminated clocks, and even Widnes stands before us in this matter.
"Then, I ask again, is it not a perfect disgrace to a town of the size and importance of St. Helens that it should be so far behind in this respect?
"Those who know St Helens are aware how inconvenient it is to those who are not in possession of a good watch to ascertain the correct time at night."
Talking of time, two Truck Commissioners came to Prescot on the 31st to conduct an inquiry into the watch industry.
The various Truck Acts that had been passed were designed to stop abuses in which employers paid workers their wages in goods (either wholly or in part) instead of in cash.
This saved the masters' money, as they would buy the items at a cheaper price.
Last July a petition had been sent to Government complaining about the widespread use of the truck system in Prescot and so the commissioners were sent to investigate.
It is very well known that Prescot used to be an important watch-making centre.
However what is often not realised is that finished timepieces were not made in the town – just the watch movements. And it took about 25 men to make each one!
Then the completed movement was sent off to such places as London, Coventry and Birmingham for finishing and that involved a further 25 men.
So in total the work of fifty men were involved in making a single watch – no wonder they weren't cheap!
In fact at the inquiry there were a number of reference to £5 watches – which would have been about four weeks' wages for many.
Although Prescot was considered the centre of the watch movement-making industry in England, there were actually more workers just outside the town than inside.
About 500 men were employed within Prescot but a further 700 worked in St Helens, Widnes and in other neighbouring places.
The inquiry heard many accounts from the movement-makers of them being paid either in food or in watches that they were forced to sell at a loss.
William Chesworth – who lived off Kemble Street – made the pinion gear wheels that allowed watches to be wound.
The 41-year-old told the inquiry that he worked for a number of employers and was often paid in meat.
One master had even opened a grocer's shop, seemingly to pay his bills in produce.
Luke Healy worked at Prescot but lived in St Helens and claimed that it was a common thing for the watchmakers to be paid in provisions or watches – although a "good many masters" did pay cash.
The 32-year-old from Kirkland Street told the inquiry that "the watchmaking class are a poverty-stricken class".
The movement men, he added, could not earn as much generally as a common labouring man and could not get their wages as often.
As for the bosses they blamed each other. Those who paid in provisions blamed those who paid in watches and vice versa, with both calling each other the "curse of the trade".
The commissioners completed their inquiry and would subsequently report to Parliament on the matter.
During the evening the Rainhill Asylum Choir gave a performance of Handel's 'Messiah' at the institution.
I don't think the choristers were inmates; simply individuals who from time to time got together to entertain them.
On the 2nd the Mayor of St Helens, Llewellyn Evans, hosted the annual Christmas dinner for the "aged poor of St Helens".
Ninety-seven persons with the average age of 71 enjoyed roast beef, plum pudding and ale in the girls' schoolroom of the Parish Church.
It was the custom at these events to present the men with tobacco and the women with a packet of tea to take home.
The tea always seems an odd un-feminine choice to me but I expect was appreciated and all the guests also received a shilling.
The severe frost was continuing in St Helens, which was good for skaters but not so good for drunks.
They found staying on their feet hard enough in the best of times and the police arrested many who went horizontal.
During the evening of the 3rd, PC Alexander found John Simpkin lying on the ground in Exchange Street in a very drunken state.
However rousing the man and getting him to his feet turned out to be a more difficult task than he imagined because Simpkin had slipped on the icy footpath and broken a leg.
As he had no fixed residence, the man was taken to the workhouse hospital in Whiston.
Next week's stories will include the annual dinner for the aged poor of Parr, the hen-pecked Ashton bigamist is back in court, a dreadful mining accident takes place and the Parr Street man who died after lighting his pipe.