150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (29th JUNE - 5th JULY 1870)
This week's stories include the amateur pedestrian accused of exposing his person in North Road, a miner is fatally injured at St Helens Station, the potato engine obstruction nuisance in Bridge Street and damage to the race ground at the Dog and Rabbit in Parr.
We begin on June 30th when the Prescot Union Board of Guardians met in the boardroom of Whiston Workhouse. The men who supervised the implementation of the Poor Law in the St Helens' district discussed boarding out some of the pauper children – rather like fostering, as we would call it. The outspoken guardian John Laverock was opposed to the idea and said only "an old woman" could have thought of it.
After a discussion it was decided to order a dozen copies of a book on the subject by a Colonel Grant for the guardians to study. Referring to the book's author, Mr Laverock caused laughter by saying: "Where does that old woman live? I should like to have an audience with him." Laverock was aged 74 and had a 31-year-old wife. In fact the retired farmer's mother-in-law lived with the couple and she was seven years younger than him!
On July 2nd Zachariah Cunliffe from Platt Bridge near Wigan attempted to board a train at St Helens Station while it was in motion. The 28-year-old miner slipped between the carriage and the platform, dislocating a foot and crushing an arm, injuries that would be unlikely to cause death today. However Zachariah was conveyed to the Royal Infirmary at Liverpool where the St Helens Newspaper said he lay in a rather dangerous state. Checking death records, the young man did die in Liverpool during the third quarter of the year.
On the same day employees of the Union Plate Glass Works in Pocket Nook (pictured above in 1854) and their "wives and sweethearts" went on their "annual pleasure excursion". This year the destination was Windermere and the party of 400 had an early start, leaving St Helens Station at ten minutes past six for a four-hour journey to the Lake District.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "The excursionists, en route to their destination, also obtained a view of the handsome, almost palatial, new building now being erected near Lancaster as an Asylum for Imbeciles which is pleasantly situated on the gentle slope of a hill, surrounded with umbrageous woods."
"Umbrageous" is this week's word of the week and apparently means shady or shaded. St Helens College's Technology Campus now occupies the site of the Union Plate Glass Works. The annual excursion of 700 workers and their wives from the historic British Plate Glassworks at Ravenhead also took place on the 2nd and they travelled to Blackpool. However there was no tower for the party to gawp at. That wasn't built until 1891.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 4th Frank Cane was charged with playing pitch and toss with a group of men in Victoria Street in Gerards Bridge. Cane claimed the constable that had brought the charge had been drinking in a College Street beerhouse a fortnight earlier. He said he'd told the officer that it looked bad for a bobby to be drinking on duty and claimed the constable had subsequently threatened to "mark" him. The Chairman of the Bench – Lt. Col. David Gamble – told Cane that what he had alleged was a very serious charge against the officer and fined him 5 shillings.
Mary Connolly was charged with sleeping in a petty in Union Street (off College Street). This, I believe, was a small outhouse that could be used as a toilet. The woman told the court that she was returning home from the pawnshop when some men assaulted her and attempted to steal her shawl. Mary said a policeman had put her into the petty to get her out of the way of the men and told her to stay there until morning. However another officer came along and took her into custody. The Bench accepted Mary's explanation and dismissed the case.
A potato engine was a large, portable, steam-driven device for selling hot potatoes in the street. They were very popular during the second half of the 19th century but were not great for the environment. This letter appeared in the Liverpool Mercury in February 1869 complaining about public nuisances in the city:
"…I would draw particular attention to the corners of Warwick-street. Three of them are almost daily occupied by some of the most disgusting and filthy of the class of traders…and in the evening there is the additional “nuisance” of a hot potato engine, vomiting forth clouds of smoke, soiling and damaging the goods of the already sufficiently burdened shopkeepers round about."
The engines were placed on a cart and towed by a horse or – in the case of George Harrison – a donkey. He appeared in the Petty Sessions charged with obstruction by allowing his potato engine to stand in Hall Street and Bridge Street. A constable gave evidence that he had warned the defendant several times that he must not obstruct the street. Superintendent Myers said the proceedings had been brought as a result of complaints having been made to the police.
Col. Gamble on the Bench said this was the first such case to have been heard in the court but he was aware of complaints about potato engines. George Harrison was told he was liable to a fine of 40 shillings and costs on each of the two charges. However the Bench had a history of imposing only nominal penalties when a new charge came to court and so Harrison was only fined two shillings.
Until its closure in 1911, the Dog and Rabbit was a popular pub in Ashcroft Street in Parr and it had its own race-ground. John Grundy, George Dingsdale and William Tresham were charged in the Petty Sessions with damaging a fence outside the pub. The three men were part of a larger group that had got onto the fence to watch a foot race.
William Smith – the son of the licensee – told the court that: "Great damage had been done repeatedly by similar conduct, persons being in the habit, when races were going on, [of] clambering upon the fence and breaking it." Four other persons had agreed to pay compensation and Grundy, Dingsdale and Tresham were each ordered to pay 2/6 damages, plus a 1 shilling fine and costs.
Trespassing in a field was a common offence and I'm quite sure that the farmers or landowners made up the amount of damage that they claimed had been caused to their grass or crop. In the case of the field belonging to William Lawrenson of Ravenhead Farm, he reckoned John Thompson, John Brown, John Roscoe and William Ormisher had each caused a penny worth of damage to his grass. A police constable said he had seen the four defendants walking across the field and had decided to bring charges as trespassing at that place had become commonplace – mainly by miners taking a short cut to work. They were each fined 6d and told to pay the damages of one penny, along with court costs – totalling 6s 6d.
Richard Hay summoned John Glover to court for boxing his ears in a garden at Rainford. The lad complained that he had been throwing stones at another boy when Glover came up and assaulted him. The magistrates were unimpressed and dismissed the case.
The sport of pedestrianism was hugely popular in the nineteenth century and some fast walkers were professionals. Many foot races were held at fairs and much gambling took place. It's understandable that boys would want to emulate those making money by simply putting one foot in front of another – although it landed James Scully in court. The lad was charged with "exposing his person" in North Road after a man called Mr Burnard – who described himself as a "gentleman" – had made a complaint.
He described how he had been in company with his wife and a female friend when they saw Scully – who at first appeared to be naked but had in fact "small strips of cloth around his loins". Mr Burnard chased the boy but was unable to capture him but reported the lad to the police. A policeman went to James Scully's home but the lad insisted that he had been wearing a shirt and "drawers" while on the street.
The St Helens Newspaper described the court case: "The drawers were produced and were found to be similar to those worn by the “peds”. A lad was called, who said he saw the defendant putting on his shirt while a gentleman was chaising [sic] him. He had drawers on similar to those produced, and while he ran he attempted to put on his breeches, but failed in the attempt. Superintendent Myers said he believed the lads were practising."
North Road was described by the Newspaper as "a place evidently of great resort by amateur pedestrians." James Scully was told that he was liable to a fine of 40 shillings but would only be fined 1 shilling and costs on this occasion.
On the 5th in London, Lord Derby married Mary Catherine, Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury, who was a widow. All the staff at Knowsley Hall were given a rare day off to mark the occasion.
And finally people were still coming to terms with the death of Charles Dickens. On the 5th the St Helens Newspaper stated that a "first-class portrait" of the great man was "gratis" with that day's edition of the Preston Guardian, which could be purchased from Dromgoole's stationers in Hardshaw Street.
Next week's stories will include an abominable sentence for an abominable crime, road rage in Eccleston, the lack of water in Parr, the Prescot Floral & Horticultural Society's annual exhibition and a theft by an ungrateful man in the Gerard Arms.
We begin on June 30th when the Prescot Union Board of Guardians met in the boardroom of Whiston Workhouse. The men who supervised the implementation of the Poor Law in the St Helens' district discussed boarding out some of the pauper children – rather like fostering, as we would call it. The outspoken guardian John Laverock was opposed to the idea and said only "an old woman" could have thought of it.
After a discussion it was decided to order a dozen copies of a book on the subject by a Colonel Grant for the guardians to study. Referring to the book's author, Mr Laverock caused laughter by saying: "Where does that old woman live? I should like to have an audience with him." Laverock was aged 74 and had a 31-year-old wife. In fact the retired farmer's mother-in-law lived with the couple and she was seven years younger than him!
On July 2nd Zachariah Cunliffe from Platt Bridge near Wigan attempted to board a train at St Helens Station while it was in motion. The 28-year-old miner slipped between the carriage and the platform, dislocating a foot and crushing an arm, injuries that would be unlikely to cause death today. However Zachariah was conveyed to the Royal Infirmary at Liverpool where the St Helens Newspaper said he lay in a rather dangerous state. Checking death records, the young man did die in Liverpool during the third quarter of the year.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote: "The excursionists, en route to their destination, also obtained a view of the handsome, almost palatial, new building now being erected near Lancaster as an Asylum for Imbeciles which is pleasantly situated on the gentle slope of a hill, surrounded with umbrageous woods."
"Umbrageous" is this week's word of the week and apparently means shady or shaded. St Helens College's Technology Campus now occupies the site of the Union Plate Glass Works. The annual excursion of 700 workers and their wives from the historic British Plate Glassworks at Ravenhead also took place on the 2nd and they travelled to Blackpool. However there was no tower for the party to gawp at. That wasn't built until 1891.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 4th Frank Cane was charged with playing pitch and toss with a group of men in Victoria Street in Gerards Bridge. Cane claimed the constable that had brought the charge had been drinking in a College Street beerhouse a fortnight earlier. He said he'd told the officer that it looked bad for a bobby to be drinking on duty and claimed the constable had subsequently threatened to "mark" him. The Chairman of the Bench – Lt. Col. David Gamble – told Cane that what he had alleged was a very serious charge against the officer and fined him 5 shillings.
Mary Connolly was charged with sleeping in a petty in Union Street (off College Street). This, I believe, was a small outhouse that could be used as a toilet. The woman told the court that she was returning home from the pawnshop when some men assaulted her and attempted to steal her shawl. Mary said a policeman had put her into the petty to get her out of the way of the men and told her to stay there until morning. However another officer came along and took her into custody. The Bench accepted Mary's explanation and dismissed the case.
A potato engine was a large, portable, steam-driven device for selling hot potatoes in the street. They were very popular during the second half of the 19th century but were not great for the environment. This letter appeared in the Liverpool Mercury in February 1869 complaining about public nuisances in the city:
"…I would draw particular attention to the corners of Warwick-street. Three of them are almost daily occupied by some of the most disgusting and filthy of the class of traders…and in the evening there is the additional “nuisance” of a hot potato engine, vomiting forth clouds of smoke, soiling and damaging the goods of the already sufficiently burdened shopkeepers round about."
The engines were placed on a cart and towed by a horse or – in the case of George Harrison – a donkey. He appeared in the Petty Sessions charged with obstruction by allowing his potato engine to stand in Hall Street and Bridge Street. A constable gave evidence that he had warned the defendant several times that he must not obstruct the street. Superintendent Myers said the proceedings had been brought as a result of complaints having been made to the police.
Col. Gamble on the Bench said this was the first such case to have been heard in the court but he was aware of complaints about potato engines. George Harrison was told he was liable to a fine of 40 shillings and costs on each of the two charges. However the Bench had a history of imposing only nominal penalties when a new charge came to court and so Harrison was only fined two shillings.
Until its closure in 1911, the Dog and Rabbit was a popular pub in Ashcroft Street in Parr and it had its own race-ground. John Grundy, George Dingsdale and William Tresham were charged in the Petty Sessions with damaging a fence outside the pub. The three men were part of a larger group that had got onto the fence to watch a foot race.
William Smith – the son of the licensee – told the court that: "Great damage had been done repeatedly by similar conduct, persons being in the habit, when races were going on, [of] clambering upon the fence and breaking it." Four other persons had agreed to pay compensation and Grundy, Dingsdale and Tresham were each ordered to pay 2/6 damages, plus a 1 shilling fine and costs.
Trespassing in a field was a common offence and I'm quite sure that the farmers or landowners made up the amount of damage that they claimed had been caused to their grass or crop. In the case of the field belonging to William Lawrenson of Ravenhead Farm, he reckoned John Thompson, John Brown, John Roscoe and William Ormisher had each caused a penny worth of damage to his grass. A police constable said he had seen the four defendants walking across the field and had decided to bring charges as trespassing at that place had become commonplace – mainly by miners taking a short cut to work. They were each fined 6d and told to pay the damages of one penny, along with court costs – totalling 6s 6d.
Richard Hay summoned John Glover to court for boxing his ears in a garden at Rainford. The lad complained that he had been throwing stones at another boy when Glover came up and assaulted him. The magistrates were unimpressed and dismissed the case.
The sport of pedestrianism was hugely popular in the nineteenth century and some fast walkers were professionals. Many foot races were held at fairs and much gambling took place. It's understandable that boys would want to emulate those making money by simply putting one foot in front of another – although it landed James Scully in court. The lad was charged with "exposing his person" in North Road after a man called Mr Burnard – who described himself as a "gentleman" – had made a complaint.
He described how he had been in company with his wife and a female friend when they saw Scully – who at first appeared to be naked but had in fact "small strips of cloth around his loins". Mr Burnard chased the boy but was unable to capture him but reported the lad to the police. A policeman went to James Scully's home but the lad insisted that he had been wearing a shirt and "drawers" while on the street.
The St Helens Newspaper described the court case: "The drawers were produced and were found to be similar to those worn by the “peds”. A lad was called, who said he saw the defendant putting on his shirt while a gentleman was chaising [sic] him. He had drawers on similar to those produced, and while he ran he attempted to put on his breeches, but failed in the attempt. Superintendent Myers said he believed the lads were practising."
North Road was described by the Newspaper as "a place evidently of great resort by amateur pedestrians." James Scully was told that he was liable to a fine of 40 shillings but would only be fined 1 shilling and costs on this occasion.
On the 5th in London, Lord Derby married Mary Catherine, Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury, who was a widow. All the staff at Knowsley Hall were given a rare day off to mark the occasion.
And finally people were still coming to terms with the death of Charles Dickens. On the 5th the St Helens Newspaper stated that a "first-class portrait" of the great man was "gratis" with that day's edition of the Preston Guardian, which could be purchased from Dromgoole's stationers in Hardshaw Street.
Next week's stories will include an abominable sentence for an abominable crime, road rage in Eccleston, the lack of water in Parr, the Prescot Floral & Horticultural Society's annual exhibition and a theft by an ungrateful man in the Gerard Arms.
This week's stories include the amateur pedestrian accused of exposing his person in North Road, a miner is fatally injured at St Helens Station, the potato engine obstruction nuisance in Bridge Street and damage to the race ground at the Dog and Rabbit in Parr.
We begin on June 30th when the Prescot Union Board of Guardians met in the boardroom of Whiston Workhouse.
The men who supervised the implementation of the Poor Law in the St Helens' district discussed boarding out some of the pauper children – rather like fostering, as we would call it.
The outspoken guardian John Laverock was opposed to the idea and said only "an old woman" could have thought of it.
After a discussion it was decided to order a dozen copies of a book on the subject by a Colonel Grant for the guardians to study.
Referring to the book's author, Mr Laverock caused laughter by saying: "Where does that old woman live? I should like to have an audience with him."
Laverock was aged 74 and had a 31-year-old wife. In fact the retired farmer's mother-in-law lived with the couple and she was seven years younger than him!
On July 2nd Zachariah Cunliffe from Platt Bridge near Wigan attempted to board a train at St Helens Station while it was in motion.
The 28-year-old miner slipped between the carriage and the platform, dislocating a foot and crushing an arm, injuries that would be unlikely to cause death today.
However Zachariah was conveyed to the Royal Infirmary at Liverpool where the St Helens Newspaper said he lay in a rather dangerous state.
Checking death records, the young man did die in Liverpool during the third quarter of the year.
On the same day employees of the Union Plate Glass Works in Pocket Nook (pictured above in 1854) and their "wives and sweethearts" went on their "annual pleasure excursion".
This year the destination was Windermere and the party of 400 had an early start, leaving St Helens Station at ten minutes past six for a four-hour journey to the Lake District. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"The excursionists, en route to their destination, also obtained a view of the handsome, almost palatial, new building now being erected near Lancaster as an Asylum for Imbeciles which is pleasantly situated on the gentle slope of a hill, surrounded with umbrageous woods."
"Umbrageous" is this week's word of the week and apparently means shady or shaded. St Helens College's Technology Campus now occupies the site of the Union Plate Glass Works.
The annual excursion of 700 workers and their wives from the historic British Plate Glassworks at Ravenhead also took place on the 2nd and they travelled to Blackpool.
However there was no tower for the party to gawp at. That wasn't built until 1891.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 4th Frank Cane was charged with playing pitch and toss with a group of men in Victoria Street in Gerards Bridge.
Cane claimed the constable that had brought the charge had been drinking in a College Street beerhouse a fortnight earlier.
He said he'd told the officer that it looked bad for a bobby to be drinking on duty and claimed the constable had subsequently threatened to "mark" him.
The Chairman of the Bench – Lt. Col. David Gamble – told Cane that what he had alleged was a very serious charge against the officer and fined him 5 shillings.
Mary Connolly was charged with sleeping in a petty in Union Street (off College Street).
This, I believe, was a small outhouse that could be used as a toilet.
The woman told the court that she was returning home from the pawnshop when some men assaulted her and attempted to steal her shawl.
Mary said a policeman had put her into the petty to get her out of the way of the men and told her to stay there until morning.
However another officer came along and took her into custody. The Bench accepted Mary's explanation and dismissed the case.
A potato engine was a large, portable, steam-driven device for selling hot potatoes in the street.
They were very popular during the second half of the 19th century but were not great for the environment.
This letter appeared in the Liverpool Mercury in February 1869 complaining about public nuisances in the city:
"…I would draw particular attention to the corners of Warwick-street. Three of them are almost daily occupied by some of the most disgusting and filthy of the class of traders…and in the evening there is the additional “nuisance” of a hot potato engine, vomiting forth clouds of smoke, soiling and damaging the goods of the already sufficiently burdened shopkeepers round about."
The engines were placed on a cart and towed by a horse or – in the case of George Harrison – a donkey.
He appeared in the Petty Sessions charged with obstruction by allowing his potato engine to stand in Hall Street and Bridge Street.
A constable gave evidence that he had warned the defendant several times that he must not obstruct the street.
Superintendent Myers said the proceedings had been brought as a result of complaints having been made to the police.
Col. Gamble on the Bench said this was the first such case to have been heard in the court but he was aware of complaints about potato engines.
George Harrison was told he was liable to a fine of 40 shillings and costs on each of the two charges.
However the Bench had a history of imposing only nominal penalties when a new charge came to court and so Harrison was only fined two shillings.
Until its closure in 1911, the Dog and Rabbit was a popular pub in Ashcroft Street in Parr and it had its own race-ground.
John Grundy, George Dingsdale and William Tresham were charged in the Petty Sessions with damaging a fence outside the pub.
The three men were part of a larger group that had got onto the fence to watch a foot race. William Smith – the son of the licensee – told the court that:
"Great damage had been done repeatedly by similar conduct, persons being in the habit, when races were going on, [of] clambering upon the fence and breaking it."
Four other persons had agreed to pay compensation and Grundy, Dingsdale and Tresham were each ordered to pay 2/6 damages, plus a 1 shilling fine and costs.
Trespassing in a field was a common offence and I'm quite sure that the farmers or landowners made up the amount of damage that they claimed had been caused to their grass or crop.
In the case of the field belonging to William Lawrenson of Ravenhead Farm, he reckoned John Thompson, John Brown, John Roscoe and William Ormisher had each caused a penny worth of damage to his grass.
A police constable said he had seen the four defendants walking across the field and had decided to bring charges as trespassing at that place had become commonplace – mainly by miners taking a short cut to work.
They were each fined 6d and told to pay the damages of one penny, along with court costs – totalling 6s 6d.
Richard Hay summoned John Glover to court for boxing his ears in a garden at Rainford.
The lad complained that he had been throwing stones at another boy when Glover came up and assaulted him. The magistrates were unimpressed and dismissed the case.
The sport of pedestrianism was hugely popular in the nineteenth century and some fast walkers were professionals.
Many foot races were held at fairs and much gambling took place.
It's understandable that boys would want to emulate those making money by simply putting one foot in front of another – although it landed James Scully in court.
The lad was charged with "exposing his person" in North Road after a man called Mr Burnard – who described himself as a "gentleman" – had made a complaint.
He described how he had been in company with his wife and a female friend when they saw Scully – who at first appeared to be naked but had in fact "small strips of cloth around his loins".
Mr Burnard chased the boy but was unable to capture him but reported the lad to the police.
A policeman went to James Scully's home but the lad insisted that he had been wearing a shirt and "drawers" while on the street. The St Helens Newspaper described the court case:
"The drawers were produced and were found to be similar to those worn by the “peds”. A lad was called, who said he saw the defendant putting on his shirt while a gentleman was chaising [sic] him.
"He had drawers on similar to those produced, and while he ran he attempted to put on his breeches, but failed in the attempt. Superintendent Myers said he believed the lads were practising."
North Road was described by the Newspaper as "a place evidently of great resort by amateur pedestrians."
James Scully was told that he was liable to a fine of 40 shillings but would only be fined 1 shilling and costs on this occasion.
On the 5th in London, Lord Derby married Mary Catherine, Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury, who was a widow.
All the staff at Knowsley Hall were given a rare day off to mark the occasion.
And finally people were still coming to terms with the death of Charles Dickens.
On the 5th the St Helens Newspaper stated that a "first-class portrait" of the great man was "gratis" with that day's edition of the Preston Guardian, which could be purchased from Dromgoole's stationers in Hardshaw Street.
Next week's stories will include an abominable sentence for an abominable crime, road rage in Eccleston, the lack of water in Parr, the Prescot Floral & Horticultural Society's annual exhibition and a theft by an ungrateful man in the Gerard Arms.
We begin on June 30th when the Prescot Union Board of Guardians met in the boardroom of Whiston Workhouse.
The men who supervised the implementation of the Poor Law in the St Helens' district discussed boarding out some of the pauper children – rather like fostering, as we would call it.
The outspoken guardian John Laverock was opposed to the idea and said only "an old woman" could have thought of it.
After a discussion it was decided to order a dozen copies of a book on the subject by a Colonel Grant for the guardians to study.
Referring to the book's author, Mr Laverock caused laughter by saying: "Where does that old woman live? I should like to have an audience with him."
Laverock was aged 74 and had a 31-year-old wife. In fact the retired farmer's mother-in-law lived with the couple and she was seven years younger than him!
On July 2nd Zachariah Cunliffe from Platt Bridge near Wigan attempted to board a train at St Helens Station while it was in motion.
The 28-year-old miner slipped between the carriage and the platform, dislocating a foot and crushing an arm, injuries that would be unlikely to cause death today.
However Zachariah was conveyed to the Royal Infirmary at Liverpool where the St Helens Newspaper said he lay in a rather dangerous state.
Checking death records, the young man did die in Liverpool during the third quarter of the year.
This year the destination was Windermere and the party of 400 had an early start, leaving St Helens Station at ten minutes past six for a four-hour journey to the Lake District. The St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"The excursionists, en route to their destination, also obtained a view of the handsome, almost palatial, new building now being erected near Lancaster as an Asylum for Imbeciles which is pleasantly situated on the gentle slope of a hill, surrounded with umbrageous woods."
"Umbrageous" is this week's word of the week and apparently means shady or shaded. St Helens College's Technology Campus now occupies the site of the Union Plate Glass Works.
The annual excursion of 700 workers and their wives from the historic British Plate Glassworks at Ravenhead also took place on the 2nd and they travelled to Blackpool.
However there was no tower for the party to gawp at. That wasn't built until 1891.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 4th Frank Cane was charged with playing pitch and toss with a group of men in Victoria Street in Gerards Bridge.
Cane claimed the constable that had brought the charge had been drinking in a College Street beerhouse a fortnight earlier.
He said he'd told the officer that it looked bad for a bobby to be drinking on duty and claimed the constable had subsequently threatened to "mark" him.
The Chairman of the Bench – Lt. Col. David Gamble – told Cane that what he had alleged was a very serious charge against the officer and fined him 5 shillings.
Mary Connolly was charged with sleeping in a petty in Union Street (off College Street).
This, I believe, was a small outhouse that could be used as a toilet.
The woman told the court that she was returning home from the pawnshop when some men assaulted her and attempted to steal her shawl.
Mary said a policeman had put her into the petty to get her out of the way of the men and told her to stay there until morning.
However another officer came along and took her into custody. The Bench accepted Mary's explanation and dismissed the case.
A potato engine was a large, portable, steam-driven device for selling hot potatoes in the street.
They were very popular during the second half of the 19th century but were not great for the environment.
This letter appeared in the Liverpool Mercury in February 1869 complaining about public nuisances in the city:
"…I would draw particular attention to the corners of Warwick-street. Three of them are almost daily occupied by some of the most disgusting and filthy of the class of traders…and in the evening there is the additional “nuisance” of a hot potato engine, vomiting forth clouds of smoke, soiling and damaging the goods of the already sufficiently burdened shopkeepers round about."
The engines were placed on a cart and towed by a horse or – in the case of George Harrison – a donkey.
He appeared in the Petty Sessions charged with obstruction by allowing his potato engine to stand in Hall Street and Bridge Street.
A constable gave evidence that he had warned the defendant several times that he must not obstruct the street.
Superintendent Myers said the proceedings had been brought as a result of complaints having been made to the police.
Col. Gamble on the Bench said this was the first such case to have been heard in the court but he was aware of complaints about potato engines.
George Harrison was told he was liable to a fine of 40 shillings and costs on each of the two charges.
However the Bench had a history of imposing only nominal penalties when a new charge came to court and so Harrison was only fined two shillings.
Until its closure in 1911, the Dog and Rabbit was a popular pub in Ashcroft Street in Parr and it had its own race-ground.
John Grundy, George Dingsdale and William Tresham were charged in the Petty Sessions with damaging a fence outside the pub.
The three men were part of a larger group that had got onto the fence to watch a foot race. William Smith – the son of the licensee – told the court that:
"Great damage had been done repeatedly by similar conduct, persons being in the habit, when races were going on, [of] clambering upon the fence and breaking it."
Four other persons had agreed to pay compensation and Grundy, Dingsdale and Tresham were each ordered to pay 2/6 damages, plus a 1 shilling fine and costs.
Trespassing in a field was a common offence and I'm quite sure that the farmers or landowners made up the amount of damage that they claimed had been caused to their grass or crop.
In the case of the field belonging to William Lawrenson of Ravenhead Farm, he reckoned John Thompson, John Brown, John Roscoe and William Ormisher had each caused a penny worth of damage to his grass.
A police constable said he had seen the four defendants walking across the field and had decided to bring charges as trespassing at that place had become commonplace – mainly by miners taking a short cut to work.
They were each fined 6d and told to pay the damages of one penny, along with court costs – totalling 6s 6d.
Richard Hay summoned John Glover to court for boxing his ears in a garden at Rainford.
The lad complained that he had been throwing stones at another boy when Glover came up and assaulted him. The magistrates were unimpressed and dismissed the case.
The sport of pedestrianism was hugely popular in the nineteenth century and some fast walkers were professionals.
Many foot races were held at fairs and much gambling took place.
It's understandable that boys would want to emulate those making money by simply putting one foot in front of another – although it landed James Scully in court.
The lad was charged with "exposing his person" in North Road after a man called Mr Burnard – who described himself as a "gentleman" – had made a complaint.
He described how he had been in company with his wife and a female friend when they saw Scully – who at first appeared to be naked but had in fact "small strips of cloth around his loins".
Mr Burnard chased the boy but was unable to capture him but reported the lad to the police.
A policeman went to James Scully's home but the lad insisted that he had been wearing a shirt and "drawers" while on the street. The St Helens Newspaper described the court case:
"The drawers were produced and were found to be similar to those worn by the “peds”. A lad was called, who said he saw the defendant putting on his shirt while a gentleman was chaising [sic] him.
"He had drawers on similar to those produced, and while he ran he attempted to put on his breeches, but failed in the attempt. Superintendent Myers said he believed the lads were practising."
North Road was described by the Newspaper as "a place evidently of great resort by amateur pedestrians."
James Scully was told that he was liable to a fine of 40 shillings but would only be fined 1 shilling and costs on this occasion.
On the 5th in London, Lord Derby married Mary Catherine, Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury, who was a widow.
All the staff at Knowsley Hall were given a rare day off to mark the occasion.
And finally people were still coming to terms with the death of Charles Dickens.
On the 5th the St Helens Newspaper stated that a "first-class portrait" of the great man was "gratis" with that day's edition of the Preston Guardian, which could be purchased from Dromgoole's stationers in Hardshaw Street.
Next week's stories will include an abominable sentence for an abominable crime, road rage in Eccleston, the lack of water in Parr, the Prescot Floral & Horticultural Society's annual exhibition and a theft by an ungrateful man in the Gerard Arms.