150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 30 SEPT - 6 OCT 1874
This week's many stories include the man called Crook in Church Street who punched a policeman on the nose, the miners' strike in St Helens, the claim that dying patients were being dumped on Whiston Workhouse, the road rage incident in Naylor Street, the expanding St Helens Cottage Hospital and the Beetle brothers beat up a woman in Parr.
We begin on September 30th when the majority of miners within St Helens and Haydock went on strike. Most strikes in the mining industry during the 1870s were not caused by miners demanding more money – but instead they wanted a reduction in the pay cut that their employers were planning to impose on them.
When the price of coal went down on world markets the colliery bosses (aka masters) would announce that they were slashing what they paid to their men. The workforce would usually accept that some reduction in their wages needed to be made but not the amount that their masters proposed.
Several weeks ago the bosses had announced a wage reduction of 15% and as usual they had stubbornly refused to negotiate with their miners. The union had given a fortnight's notice of their intention to strike during which time discussions could have taken place. But although industrial action served no-one's interests, the masters knew that the men could not stay out for long before severe poverty would drive them back to the pits and so they tended to wait rather than negotiate.
During the evening of the 30th a crowded meeting of the miners was held in the Baptist schoolroom in Parr where delegates were appointed to attend a conference to be held in Wigan on the following day. At that gathering it was decided to call for the issue to go to arbitration, although the chances of their bosses agreeing were low.
The St Helens delegates then returned to Parr to report back on the decision made in Wigan, as the St Helens Newspaper described: "A great and enthusiastic meeting was held on Thursday evening in the Baptist schoolroom to hear the report of the delegates, which, when communicated, was cheered to the echo, and a vote of confidence passed by acclamation. The feeling of the thousand men present was expressed in the words of the agent, Mr. Lewis, when he said they “had now declared battle and would abide by the result.”"
On October 1st a meeting of the Prescot Board of Guardians took place. The latest stats revealed 359 persons living in Whiston Workhouse, of which 123 were children. During the last week 1,162 extremely poor persons resident within the St Helens district had received parish relief, aka out-relief. These were persons considered paupers living outside the workhouse but all they received in total during the whole week was £96 – and so on average less than two shillings each.
There had recently been two cases in which patients sent to the workhouse hospital had died within hours of admission, with the journey thought to have accelerated their demise. As a result the two doctors that had ordered their removals were asked to attend the meeting to explain their reasons. The Chairman told them that it was the Guardians' opinion that medical officers should not send them patients in a dying state, "but rather let the townships to which they belonged, bear the odium of their deaths".
There was a feeling that that the local authorities were dumping the dying on the workhouse in order to lower their own mortality rates. That was completely denied by the doctors who said their main problem was that the afflicted tended to be lodgers and the persons they lived with did not want an infectious individual residing in their midst or were not in a position to care for them.
It was stated that if a nurse was available to attend to patients in their own homes they would be less likely to have to be sent to Whiston. St Helens did not then have an infectious diseases hospital and the Cottage Hospital in Peasley Cross not only charged a shilling a day but would not accept contagious patients suffering from fever.
James Unsworth from Church Street had previously advertised his services in the St Helens Newspaper as a teacher of the "organ, harmonium, and piano-forte". In this week's edition of the paper published on the 3rd, Unsworth was advertising his St Helens Music Warehouse from which he was selling: "Pianofortes, harmoniums, American organs, English and German concertinas, violins, flutes, guitars, banjos, tambourines, &c." No prices were stated in the advert but I expect they would have been well out of reach of the vast majority of the people of St Helens.
And a retailer called M. Ford had an advert in the paper that said she or he had just opened up new premises in New Market Place in which they were offering an "entirely new and choice stock of fashionable millinery, in the newest styles for the coming season. A good stock of mourning bonnets and hats."
This very short piece was also published in the Newspaper: "A poor woman ran about Rainhill one night last week in an almost distracted condition seeking her lost child, the little fellow being ultimately found asleep in bed."
When the St Helens Cottage Hospital had opened in Peasley Cross in January 1873 there were only three furnished bedrooms accommodating a total of nine beds. Only half of the house could then be used but chemical manufacturer Andrew Kurtz had earlier in 1874 purchased the rest of the house and 3½ acres of adjacent grounds and donated the lot to the people of St Helens. The hospital was now able to expand and the Newspaper revealed that as a result 16 beds were presently in the infirmary, which in the last year had treated 52 patients.
The Newspaper also wrote that last Monday Liverpool had begun a "week of ecstasies" when the Duke of Edinburgh had begun a visit to the city. He was Alfred, the fourth child of the Queen and Prince Albert, who in January had wed the Grand Duchess Marie. The prince was opening an orphanage for the children of seamen and laying the foundation stone for the Walker Art Gallery, which would open in 1877.
The newspaper wrote that the stone had been "laid with unparalleled eclat, the prince being presented with a trowel of exquisite design, emblematic of the genius and character of Liverpool." Apparently, éclat means showy or ostentatious – but I expect you knew that! The Mayor of St Helens, James Radley, was one of the guests at a lunch that was held in honour of the Duke.
John and James Beetle appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions this week accused of assaulting Alice McGowan. The Newspaper headlined their report on the hearing "Much Ado About Little". As the woman claimed that John Beetle had knocked her down and then held her down so that his sister could beat her and that his brother James had also committed an assault, the headline seemed an understatement.
Mrs McGowan's solicitor made this speech to the magistrates at the start of the hearing: "This case is connected with Parr, and I am sorry that there should be such a township in the borough in which I live. It is very painful that women should have to make complaints against men for assaulting them."
The defence case was that on the day in question John Beetle had given evidence in court against some friends of Mrs McGowan. When he came across her in the evening she had accused him of perjury, which Beetle had denied and she had then used a number of foul expressions towards him. There was a direct denial of the assault having been committed and a witness stated that Mrs McGowan was an "ill conducted and violent woman" and so the charge against the Beetle brothers was dismissed.
An incident of road rage was also heard in the courts this week when Richard Harrison accused John Thompson and William Walker of assault. Harrison was a pub landlord and he said he was driving his trap round the corner of Naylor Street with his brother when they met a cab containing Thompson and Walker that was being driven on the wrong side of the road.
After stopping to let their vehicle pass, he said he had told the pair that they ought to keep to their own side. Mr Harrison then claimed that one of the men had struck him on his face with a whip and so he immediately turned his trap round to follow them. When the cab stopped at the corner of the street, Harrison got out of his vehicle and went across to Thompson and Walker to discuss the matter.
But he said he was immediately assaulted and some persons that were passing had to interfere to save him from further violence. The two defendants offered no justification for their conduct and were each ordered to pay 36s 6d.
This report was also published in the Newspaper: "Luke Crook, a dealer, was charged with assaulting a police constable, while in custody for drunkenness. Police Constable 283 found the defendant drunk in Church street on Saturday night, and took him into possession. Crook, whose disposition is in keeping with his name, was unable to view his condition in the same light as the officer – which was natural enough – and being strongly of opinion that he was quite sober, he declined to become a captive.
"283 insisted, and Crook resisted. Then [PC] 876 came up to lend his aid. Crook was by no means convinced even then, and he argued his disbelief by giving 876 a thud on the nose which brought an immediate discharge of vital fluid, and made the officer wonder for a moment why all the lights were dancing.
"After this all parleying ceased; the question became one of physical force; and Crook was taken straight to the station. He now denied the drunkenness, the assault, everything – and as a triumphant proof of his innocence, challenged the policeman to show the blood which had come from his nose. Their worships overruled the point, and fined him 25s and costs."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the offer to provide a chain of office for St Helens mayors, the defamation in Rainford, the apathy towards the St Helens miners strike and a serious accident occurs on the railway at Ravenhead.
We begin on September 30th when the majority of miners within St Helens and Haydock went on strike. Most strikes in the mining industry during the 1870s were not caused by miners demanding more money – but instead they wanted a reduction in the pay cut that their employers were planning to impose on them.
When the price of coal went down on world markets the colliery bosses (aka masters) would announce that they were slashing what they paid to their men. The workforce would usually accept that some reduction in their wages needed to be made but not the amount that their masters proposed.
Several weeks ago the bosses had announced a wage reduction of 15% and as usual they had stubbornly refused to negotiate with their miners. The union had given a fortnight's notice of their intention to strike during which time discussions could have taken place. But although industrial action served no-one's interests, the masters knew that the men could not stay out for long before severe poverty would drive them back to the pits and so they tended to wait rather than negotiate.
During the evening of the 30th a crowded meeting of the miners was held in the Baptist schoolroom in Parr where delegates were appointed to attend a conference to be held in Wigan on the following day. At that gathering it was decided to call for the issue to go to arbitration, although the chances of their bosses agreeing were low.
The St Helens delegates then returned to Parr to report back on the decision made in Wigan, as the St Helens Newspaper described: "A great and enthusiastic meeting was held on Thursday evening in the Baptist schoolroom to hear the report of the delegates, which, when communicated, was cheered to the echo, and a vote of confidence passed by acclamation. The feeling of the thousand men present was expressed in the words of the agent, Mr. Lewis, when he said they “had now declared battle and would abide by the result.”"
On October 1st a meeting of the Prescot Board of Guardians took place. The latest stats revealed 359 persons living in Whiston Workhouse, of which 123 were children. During the last week 1,162 extremely poor persons resident within the St Helens district had received parish relief, aka out-relief. These were persons considered paupers living outside the workhouse but all they received in total during the whole week was £96 – and so on average less than two shillings each.
There had recently been two cases in which patients sent to the workhouse hospital had died within hours of admission, with the journey thought to have accelerated their demise. As a result the two doctors that had ordered their removals were asked to attend the meeting to explain their reasons. The Chairman told them that it was the Guardians' opinion that medical officers should not send them patients in a dying state, "but rather let the townships to which they belonged, bear the odium of their deaths".
There was a feeling that that the local authorities were dumping the dying on the workhouse in order to lower their own mortality rates. That was completely denied by the doctors who said their main problem was that the afflicted tended to be lodgers and the persons they lived with did not want an infectious individual residing in their midst or were not in a position to care for them.
It was stated that if a nurse was available to attend to patients in their own homes they would be less likely to have to be sent to Whiston. St Helens did not then have an infectious diseases hospital and the Cottage Hospital in Peasley Cross not only charged a shilling a day but would not accept contagious patients suffering from fever.
And a retailer called M. Ford had an advert in the paper that said she or he had just opened up new premises in New Market Place in which they were offering an "entirely new and choice stock of fashionable millinery, in the newest styles for the coming season. A good stock of mourning bonnets and hats."
This very short piece was also published in the Newspaper: "A poor woman ran about Rainhill one night last week in an almost distracted condition seeking her lost child, the little fellow being ultimately found asleep in bed."
When the St Helens Cottage Hospital had opened in Peasley Cross in January 1873 there were only three furnished bedrooms accommodating a total of nine beds. Only half of the house could then be used but chemical manufacturer Andrew Kurtz had earlier in 1874 purchased the rest of the house and 3½ acres of adjacent grounds and donated the lot to the people of St Helens. The hospital was now able to expand and the Newspaper revealed that as a result 16 beds were presently in the infirmary, which in the last year had treated 52 patients.
The Newspaper also wrote that last Monday Liverpool had begun a "week of ecstasies" when the Duke of Edinburgh had begun a visit to the city. He was Alfred, the fourth child of the Queen and Prince Albert, who in January had wed the Grand Duchess Marie. The prince was opening an orphanage for the children of seamen and laying the foundation stone for the Walker Art Gallery, which would open in 1877.
The newspaper wrote that the stone had been "laid with unparalleled eclat, the prince being presented with a trowel of exquisite design, emblematic of the genius and character of Liverpool." Apparently, éclat means showy or ostentatious – but I expect you knew that! The Mayor of St Helens, James Radley, was one of the guests at a lunch that was held in honour of the Duke.
John and James Beetle appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions this week accused of assaulting Alice McGowan. The Newspaper headlined their report on the hearing "Much Ado About Little". As the woman claimed that John Beetle had knocked her down and then held her down so that his sister could beat her and that his brother James had also committed an assault, the headline seemed an understatement.
Mrs McGowan's solicitor made this speech to the magistrates at the start of the hearing: "This case is connected with Parr, and I am sorry that there should be such a township in the borough in which I live. It is very painful that women should have to make complaints against men for assaulting them."
The defence case was that on the day in question John Beetle had given evidence in court against some friends of Mrs McGowan. When he came across her in the evening she had accused him of perjury, which Beetle had denied and she had then used a number of foul expressions towards him. There was a direct denial of the assault having been committed and a witness stated that Mrs McGowan was an "ill conducted and violent woman" and so the charge against the Beetle brothers was dismissed.
An incident of road rage was also heard in the courts this week when Richard Harrison accused John Thompson and William Walker of assault. Harrison was a pub landlord and he said he was driving his trap round the corner of Naylor Street with his brother when they met a cab containing Thompson and Walker that was being driven on the wrong side of the road.
After stopping to let their vehicle pass, he said he had told the pair that they ought to keep to their own side. Mr Harrison then claimed that one of the men had struck him on his face with a whip and so he immediately turned his trap round to follow them. When the cab stopped at the corner of the street, Harrison got out of his vehicle and went across to Thompson and Walker to discuss the matter.
But he said he was immediately assaulted and some persons that were passing had to interfere to save him from further violence. The two defendants offered no justification for their conduct and were each ordered to pay 36s 6d.
This report was also published in the Newspaper: "Luke Crook, a dealer, was charged with assaulting a police constable, while in custody for drunkenness. Police Constable 283 found the defendant drunk in Church street on Saturday night, and took him into possession. Crook, whose disposition is in keeping with his name, was unable to view his condition in the same light as the officer – which was natural enough – and being strongly of opinion that he was quite sober, he declined to become a captive.
"283 insisted, and Crook resisted. Then [PC] 876 came up to lend his aid. Crook was by no means convinced even then, and he argued his disbelief by giving 876 a thud on the nose which brought an immediate discharge of vital fluid, and made the officer wonder for a moment why all the lights were dancing.
"After this all parleying ceased; the question became one of physical force; and Crook was taken straight to the station. He now denied the drunkenness, the assault, everything – and as a triumphant proof of his innocence, challenged the policeman to show the blood which had come from his nose. Their worships overruled the point, and fined him 25s and costs."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the offer to provide a chain of office for St Helens mayors, the defamation in Rainford, the apathy towards the St Helens miners strike and a serious accident occurs on the railway at Ravenhead.
This week's many stories include the man called Crook in Church Street who punched a policeman on the nose, the miners' strike in St Helens, the claim that dying patients were being dumped on Whiston Workhouse, the road rage incident in Naylor Street, the expanding St Helens Cottage Hospital and the Beetle brothers beat up a woman in Parr.
We begin on September 30th when the majority of miners within St Helens and Haydock went on strike.
Most strikes in the mining industry during the 1870s were not caused by miners demanding more money – but instead they wanted a reduction in the pay cut that their employers were planning to impose on them.
When the price of coal went down on world markets the colliery bosses (aka masters) would announce that they were slashing what they paid to their men.
The workforce would usually accept that some reduction in their wages needed to be made but not the amount that their masters proposed.
Several weeks ago the bosses had announced a wage reduction of 15% and as usual they had stubbornly refused to negotiate with their miners.
The union had given a fortnight's notice of their intention to strike during which time discussions could have taken place.
But although industrial action served no-one's interests, the masters knew that the men could not stay out for long before severe poverty would drive them back to the pits and so they tended to wait rather than negotiate.
During the evening of the 30th a crowded meeting of the miners was held in the Baptist schoolroom in Parr where delegates were appointed to attend a conference to be held in Wigan on the following day.
At that gathering it was decided to call for the issue to go to arbitration, although the chances of their bosses agreeing were low.
The St Helens delegates then returned to Parr to report back on the decision made in Wigan, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"A great and enthusiastic meeting was held on Thursday evening in the Baptist schoolroom to hear the report of the delegates, which, when communicated, was cheered to the echo, and a vote of confidence passed by acclamation.
"The feeling of the thousand men present was expressed in the words of the agent, Mr. Lewis, when he said they “had now declared battle and would abide by the result.”"
On October 1st a meeting of the Prescot Board of Guardians took place. The latest stats revealed 359 persons living in Whiston Workhouse, of which 123 were children.
During the last week 1,162 extremely poor persons resident within the St Helens district had received parish relief, aka out-relief.
These were persons considered paupers living outside the workhouse but all they received in total during the whole week was £96 – and so on average less than two shillings each.
There had recently been two cases in which patients sent to the workhouse hospital had died within hours of admission, with the journey thought to have accelerated their demise.
As a result the two doctors that had ordered their removals were asked to attend the meeting to explain their reasons.
The Chairman told them that it was the Guardians' opinion that medical officers should not send them patients in a dying state, "but rather let the townships to which they belonged, bear the odium of their deaths".
There was a feeling that that the local authorities were dumping the dying on the workhouse in order to lower their own mortality rates.
That was completely denied by the doctors who said their main problem was that the afflicted tended to be lodgers and the persons they lived with did not want an infectious individual residing in their midst or were not in a position to care for them.
It was stated that if a nurse was available to attend to patients in their own homes they would be less likely to have to be sent to Whiston.
St Helens did not then have an infectious diseases hospital and the Cottage Hospital in Peasley Cross not only charged a shilling a day but would not accept contagious patients suffering from fever.
James Unsworth from Church Street had previously advertised his services in the St Helens Newspaper as a teacher of the "organ, harmonium, and piano-forte".
In this week's edition of the paper published on the 3rd, Unsworth was advertising his St Helens Music Warehouse from which he was selling:
"Pianofortes, harmoniums, American organs, English and German concertinas, violins, flutes, guitars, banjos, tambourines, &c."
No prices were stated in the advert but I expect they would have been well out of reach of the vast majority of the people of St Helens.
And a retailer called M. Ford had an advert in the paper that said she or he had just opened up new premises in New Market Place in which they were offering an "entirely new and choice stock of fashionable millinery, in the newest styles for the coming season. A good stock of mourning bonnets and hats."
This very short piece was also published in the Newspaper:
"A poor woman ran about Rainhill one night last week in an almost distracted condition seeking her lost child, the little fellow being ultimately found asleep in bed."
When the St Helens Cottage Hospital had opened in Peasley Cross in January 1873 there were only three furnished bedrooms accommodating a total of nine beds.
Only half of the house could then be used but chemical manufacturer Andrew Kurtz had earlier in 1874 purchased the rest of the house and 3½ acres of adjacent grounds and donated the lot to the people of St Helens.
The hospital was now able to expand and the Newspaper revealed that as a result 16 beds were presently in the infirmary, which in the last year had treated 52 patients.
The Newspaper also wrote that last Monday Liverpool had begun a "week of ecstasies" when the Duke of Edinburgh had begun a visit to the city.
He was Alfred, the fourth child of the Queen and Prince Albert, who in January had wed the Grand Duchess Marie.
The prince was opening an orphanage for the children of seamen and laying the foundation stone for the Walker Art Gallery, which would open in 1877.
The newspaper wrote that the stone had been "laid with unparalleled eclat, the prince being presented with a trowel of exquisite design, emblematic of the genius and character of Liverpool."
Apparently, éclat means showy or ostentatious – but I expect you knew that!
The Mayor of St Helens, James Radley, was one of the guests at a lunch that was held in honour of the Duke.
John and James Beetle appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions this week accused of assaulting Alice McGowan. The Newspaper headlined their report on the hearing "Much Ado About Little".
As the woman claimed that John Beetle had knocked her down and then held her down so that his sister could beat her and that his brother James had also committed an assault, the headline seemed an understatement.
Mrs McGowan's solicitor made this speech to the magistrates at the start of the hearing:
"This case is connected with Parr, and I am sorry that there should be such a township in the borough in which I live. It is very painful that women should have to make complaints against men for assaulting them."
The defence case was that on the day in question John Beetle had given evidence in court against some friends of Mrs McGowan.
When he came across her in the evening she had accused him of perjury, which Beetle had denied and she had then used a number of foul expressions towards him.
There was a direct denial of the assault having been committed and a witness stated that Mrs McGowan was an "ill conducted and violent woman" and so the charge against the Beetle brothers was dismissed.
An incident of road rage was also heard in the courts this week when Richard Harrison accused John Thompson and William Walker of assault.
Harrison was a pub landlord and he said he was driving his trap round the corner of Naylor Street with his brother when they met a cab containing Thompson and Walker that was being driven on the wrong side of the road.
After stopping to let their vehicle pass, he said he had told the pair that they ought to keep to their own side.
Mr Harrison then claimed that one of the men had struck him on his face with a whip and so he immediately turned his trap round to follow them.
When the cab stopped at the corner of the street, Harrison got out of his vehicle and went across to Thompson and Walker to discuss the matter.
But he said he was immediately assaulted and some persons that were passing had to interfere to save him from further violence.
The two defendants offered no justification for their conduct and were each ordered to pay 36s 6d.
This report was also published in the Newspaper:
"Luke Crook, a dealer, was charged with assaulting a police constable, while in custody for drunkenness. Police Constable 283 found the defendant drunk in Church street on Saturday night, and took him into possession.
"Crook, whose disposition is in keeping with his name, was unable to view his condition in the same light as the officer – which was natural enough – and being strongly of opinion that he was quite sober, he declined to become a captive.
"283 insisted, and Crook resisted. Then [PC] 876 came up to lend his aid. Crook was by no means convinced even then, and he argued his disbelief by giving 876 a thud on the nose which brought an immediate discharge of vital fluid, and made the officer wonder for a moment why all the lights were dancing.
"After this all parleying ceased; the question became one of physical force; and Crook was taken straight to the station.
"He now denied the drunkenness, the assault, everything – and as a triumphant proof of his innocence, challenged the policeman to show the blood which had come from his nose. Their worships overruled the point, and fined him 25s and costs."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the offer to provide a chain of office for St Helens mayors, the defamation in Rainford, the apathy towards the St Helens miners strike and a serious accident occurs on the railway at Ravenhead.
We begin on September 30th when the majority of miners within St Helens and Haydock went on strike.
Most strikes in the mining industry during the 1870s were not caused by miners demanding more money – but instead they wanted a reduction in the pay cut that their employers were planning to impose on them.
When the price of coal went down on world markets the colliery bosses (aka masters) would announce that they were slashing what they paid to their men.
The workforce would usually accept that some reduction in their wages needed to be made but not the amount that their masters proposed.
Several weeks ago the bosses had announced a wage reduction of 15% and as usual they had stubbornly refused to negotiate with their miners.
The union had given a fortnight's notice of their intention to strike during which time discussions could have taken place.
But although industrial action served no-one's interests, the masters knew that the men could not stay out for long before severe poverty would drive them back to the pits and so they tended to wait rather than negotiate.
During the evening of the 30th a crowded meeting of the miners was held in the Baptist schoolroom in Parr where delegates were appointed to attend a conference to be held in Wigan on the following day.
At that gathering it was decided to call for the issue to go to arbitration, although the chances of their bosses agreeing were low.
The St Helens delegates then returned to Parr to report back on the decision made in Wigan, as the St Helens Newspaper described:
"A great and enthusiastic meeting was held on Thursday evening in the Baptist schoolroom to hear the report of the delegates, which, when communicated, was cheered to the echo, and a vote of confidence passed by acclamation.
"The feeling of the thousand men present was expressed in the words of the agent, Mr. Lewis, when he said they “had now declared battle and would abide by the result.”"
On October 1st a meeting of the Prescot Board of Guardians took place. The latest stats revealed 359 persons living in Whiston Workhouse, of which 123 were children.
During the last week 1,162 extremely poor persons resident within the St Helens district had received parish relief, aka out-relief.
These were persons considered paupers living outside the workhouse but all they received in total during the whole week was £96 – and so on average less than two shillings each.
There had recently been two cases in which patients sent to the workhouse hospital had died within hours of admission, with the journey thought to have accelerated their demise.
As a result the two doctors that had ordered their removals were asked to attend the meeting to explain their reasons.
The Chairman told them that it was the Guardians' opinion that medical officers should not send them patients in a dying state, "but rather let the townships to which they belonged, bear the odium of their deaths".
There was a feeling that that the local authorities were dumping the dying on the workhouse in order to lower their own mortality rates.
That was completely denied by the doctors who said their main problem was that the afflicted tended to be lodgers and the persons they lived with did not want an infectious individual residing in their midst or were not in a position to care for them.
It was stated that if a nurse was available to attend to patients in their own homes they would be less likely to have to be sent to Whiston.
St Helens did not then have an infectious diseases hospital and the Cottage Hospital in Peasley Cross not only charged a shilling a day but would not accept contagious patients suffering from fever.
In this week's edition of the paper published on the 3rd, Unsworth was advertising his St Helens Music Warehouse from which he was selling:
"Pianofortes, harmoniums, American organs, English and German concertinas, violins, flutes, guitars, banjos, tambourines, &c."
No prices were stated in the advert but I expect they would have been well out of reach of the vast majority of the people of St Helens.
And a retailer called M. Ford had an advert in the paper that said she or he had just opened up new premises in New Market Place in which they were offering an "entirely new and choice stock of fashionable millinery, in the newest styles for the coming season. A good stock of mourning bonnets and hats."
This very short piece was also published in the Newspaper:
"A poor woman ran about Rainhill one night last week in an almost distracted condition seeking her lost child, the little fellow being ultimately found asleep in bed."
When the St Helens Cottage Hospital had opened in Peasley Cross in January 1873 there were only three furnished bedrooms accommodating a total of nine beds.
Only half of the house could then be used but chemical manufacturer Andrew Kurtz had earlier in 1874 purchased the rest of the house and 3½ acres of adjacent grounds and donated the lot to the people of St Helens.
The hospital was now able to expand and the Newspaper revealed that as a result 16 beds were presently in the infirmary, which in the last year had treated 52 patients.
The Newspaper also wrote that last Monday Liverpool had begun a "week of ecstasies" when the Duke of Edinburgh had begun a visit to the city.
He was Alfred, the fourth child of the Queen and Prince Albert, who in January had wed the Grand Duchess Marie.
The prince was opening an orphanage for the children of seamen and laying the foundation stone for the Walker Art Gallery, which would open in 1877.
The newspaper wrote that the stone had been "laid with unparalleled eclat, the prince being presented with a trowel of exquisite design, emblematic of the genius and character of Liverpool."
Apparently, éclat means showy or ostentatious – but I expect you knew that!
The Mayor of St Helens, James Radley, was one of the guests at a lunch that was held in honour of the Duke.
John and James Beetle appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions this week accused of assaulting Alice McGowan. The Newspaper headlined their report on the hearing "Much Ado About Little".
As the woman claimed that John Beetle had knocked her down and then held her down so that his sister could beat her and that his brother James had also committed an assault, the headline seemed an understatement.
Mrs McGowan's solicitor made this speech to the magistrates at the start of the hearing:
"This case is connected with Parr, and I am sorry that there should be such a township in the borough in which I live. It is very painful that women should have to make complaints against men for assaulting them."
The defence case was that on the day in question John Beetle had given evidence in court against some friends of Mrs McGowan.
When he came across her in the evening she had accused him of perjury, which Beetle had denied and she had then used a number of foul expressions towards him.
There was a direct denial of the assault having been committed and a witness stated that Mrs McGowan was an "ill conducted and violent woman" and so the charge against the Beetle brothers was dismissed.
An incident of road rage was also heard in the courts this week when Richard Harrison accused John Thompson and William Walker of assault.
Harrison was a pub landlord and he said he was driving his trap round the corner of Naylor Street with his brother when they met a cab containing Thompson and Walker that was being driven on the wrong side of the road.
After stopping to let their vehicle pass, he said he had told the pair that they ought to keep to their own side.
Mr Harrison then claimed that one of the men had struck him on his face with a whip and so he immediately turned his trap round to follow them.
When the cab stopped at the corner of the street, Harrison got out of his vehicle and went across to Thompson and Walker to discuss the matter.
But he said he was immediately assaulted and some persons that were passing had to interfere to save him from further violence.
The two defendants offered no justification for their conduct and were each ordered to pay 36s 6d.
This report was also published in the Newspaper:
"Luke Crook, a dealer, was charged with assaulting a police constable, while in custody for drunkenness. Police Constable 283 found the defendant drunk in Church street on Saturday night, and took him into possession.
"Crook, whose disposition is in keeping with his name, was unable to view his condition in the same light as the officer – which was natural enough – and being strongly of opinion that he was quite sober, he declined to become a captive.
"283 insisted, and Crook resisted. Then [PC] 876 came up to lend his aid. Crook was by no means convinced even then, and he argued his disbelief by giving 876 a thud on the nose which brought an immediate discharge of vital fluid, and made the officer wonder for a moment why all the lights were dancing.
"After this all parleying ceased; the question became one of physical force; and Crook was taken straight to the station.
"He now denied the drunkenness, the assault, everything – and as a triumphant proof of his innocence, challenged the policeman to show the blood which had come from his nose. Their worships overruled the point, and fined him 25s and costs."
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the offer to provide a chain of office for St Helens mayors, the defamation in Rainford, the apathy towards the St Helens miners strike and a serious accident occurs on the railway at Ravenhead.