150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 31 AUG - 6 SEPT 1876
This week's many stories include the little girls who were sent to steal coal at Ravenhead, the claim of a penny's worth of damage done to a reservoir, the case of cruelty to a market hen, the brainless delivery man that worked for a Church Street grocer and why the Red Cat Inn in Crank was not allowed to serve alcohol.
We begin with James Connor's appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises, assaulting PC Long and wilfully damaging his helmet. The constable stated that at 9:40pm on the previous Friday he had been called to John Grimes' beerhouse in Mount Street in Greenbank where he found Connor drunk and disorderly. The man was stripped and wanting to fight any man in the pub.
PC Long said he remonstrated with Connor and ordered him to desist. But instead the man knocked him down and using his clogs kicked him several times about his head and body. The constable said he needed the assistance of PCs Doig and McDonald to get his prisoner to the station, as he was very violent all the way.
For the drunkenness James Connor was fined 5 shillings or 7 days and for the assault £2 and costs, which included 9s 6d as the price of a new helmet. If in default of payment, he would have to go to prison for two months, which almost certainly was what occurred.
It is, I think, surprising that in the light of the violent times, how many animal cruelty cases ended up in court during the 1870s. Two public-spirited citizens called George Wilkinson and Sidney Macfarlane brought their own prosecution against James Howard of Rainhill in which they accused the poultry dealer of cruelty to a hen by plucking its feathers while still alive.
The pair had been walking through St Helens Marketplace (pictured above) early one morning when they saw the plucking taking place and gave evidence that the hen had been suffering. While they remonstrated with Howard, the man continued to pluck the hen, which struggled and partially succeeded in getting away.
However, the defendant James Howard denied the claim and brought a witness to court to say that he had wrung the hen's neck five minutes before plucking it and both denied that it had struggled in the manner described. With the evidence being conflicting, the magistrates gave the defendant the benefit of the doubt and acquitted him of the charge.
Three boys called Arthur Gornall, Frederick Leyland and James Houghton appeared in court charged with causing a penny's worth of damage to the reservoir belonging to the St Helens Colliery Company. The latter said they did not wish to press for a heavy fine, the only object being to put a stop to the practice of boys bathing in their reservoir and "disturbing the water" which was used by the engine boilers.
Just how you could do a penny's damage to water, I do not know! But it was clearly a notional claim, in the same way that persons tramping across a farmer's field were often accused of doing a penny's damage to the grass. All three boys pleaded guilty and were each fined 6d and costs, which no doubt included the penny for disturbing the water.
There were more children in the dock in another case when three little girls called Jane and Elizabeth Connor and Jane Morris were summoned for trespassing on the railway line at Ravenhead. The girls had clearly been sent out by their mothers to steal coal. PC Daniel Callister gave evidence that he had found the children on the railway line with Jane Morris having taken one cwt of coal from a wagon.
But the railway company told the court that they did not wish to press the case of coal stealing as they considered that their mothers were to blame but they asked for a small penalty for trespassing. Jane Morris was fined 2s 6d and the Connor sisters 1 shilling each, plus costs.
I have often commented on the brainlessness of some people who committed crimes during the 1870s but were easy to identify as being the culprit. And I've wondered if the underlying cause of their behaviour, which inevitably ended in a harsh prison sentence, was lack of education. Just how John Vernon thought he would get away with his crimes, I have no idea.
The young man worked for grocer James Lewis of Church Street in St Helens with his duty being to deliver goods to customers and, where possible, receive payment for them. In May and June he had delivered three parcels of goods to Mrs Rawlinson of Knowsley Farm, which amounted to almost £2.
Although John Vernon had been paid for each parcel, he pocketed the cash instead of passing it onto his employer. Presumably, Vernon told the grocer that his customer would pay later after receiving her bill. But, of course, after chasing up the amounts, Mrs Rawlinson insisted that she had paid Vernon.
And so he did a runner but was arrested in Preston by PC Archer of St Helens who had been sent there to bring him back. In the meantime Mr Lewis, the shop owner, had been checking his books and found that in total he had lost about £7. In addition, several parcels of tea and other items had never arrived at their intended destinations. The magistrates said they considered it to be a very bad case and sentenced the brainless John Vernon to four months imprisonment with hard labour.
The St Helens Newspaper on September 2nd described the recent pub licensing hearing for St Helens in which it was revealed that the town had 171 fully licensed public houses and 167 beerhouses. In total there were 338 licensed houses, with an average population of 155 persons to each house. Superintendent James Ludlam was in charge of St Helens police and said in the past year they had arrested 1,306 persons for drunkenness against 1,059 in the previous year.
The Red Cat in Crank was either closed or was only serving soft drinks, after having lost its licence three years ago. That was when a man called Roughley had been convicted of selling alcoholic drink to drunken persons in the presence of a policeman. John Wainwright appeared at the hearing to apply for a new licence for the Red Cat.
His solicitor told the magistrates that it would be cruel and harsh on the property owners and Greenalls brewery to continue to refuse a licence, particularly as Mr Wainwright was a most respectable man. However, the Bench did exactly that and rejected the application and, as usual, did not appear to offer any explanation.
There were many deaths 150 years ago from falling down the stairs. Most houses in St Helens did not have a bannister or rail to grasp and, of course, there was no electric light switch to turn on before starting a journey. Many would instead grip a lighted candle or some lamp, which made their trip up or down the stairs even more risky.
John Mills lived at Hill Top in Rainford and at 11:30pm last Saturday night he had gone up his stairs to bed. He had been drinking during the evening and only got as far as about the fourth step when he suddenly fell backwards, striking the back of his head with what was described as great violence against the floor. The 46-year-old was picked up unconscious and taken to his bed.
A doctor was not called until the following day, as in the days when you had to pay for medical help it was common practice for people to see if the patient would get well on their own. But there was nothing the doctor could do and John Mills died just before 5pm having never recovered consciousness. And as usual in the newspaper report – and probably at the inquest too – there was no mention of whether there had been a banister or stair carpet etc.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the tough sentences for pummelling the police, the curious prosecution of the Nelson Inn in Bridge Street, the incorrigible drunkard returns to court and the Parr attack on a bobby using an iron bar.
We begin with James Connor's appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises, assaulting PC Long and wilfully damaging his helmet. The constable stated that at 9:40pm on the previous Friday he had been called to John Grimes' beerhouse in Mount Street in Greenbank where he found Connor drunk and disorderly. The man was stripped and wanting to fight any man in the pub.
PC Long said he remonstrated with Connor and ordered him to desist. But instead the man knocked him down and using his clogs kicked him several times about his head and body. The constable said he needed the assistance of PCs Doig and McDonald to get his prisoner to the station, as he was very violent all the way.
For the drunkenness James Connor was fined 5 shillings or 7 days and for the assault £2 and costs, which included 9s 6d as the price of a new helmet. If in default of payment, he would have to go to prison for two months, which almost certainly was what occurred.
It is, I think, surprising that in the light of the violent times, how many animal cruelty cases ended up in court during the 1870s. Two public-spirited citizens called George Wilkinson and Sidney Macfarlane brought their own prosecution against James Howard of Rainhill in which they accused the poultry dealer of cruelty to a hen by plucking its feathers while still alive.
However, the defendant James Howard denied the claim and brought a witness to court to say that he had wrung the hen's neck five minutes before plucking it and both denied that it had struggled in the manner described. With the evidence being conflicting, the magistrates gave the defendant the benefit of the doubt and acquitted him of the charge.
Three boys called Arthur Gornall, Frederick Leyland and James Houghton appeared in court charged with causing a penny's worth of damage to the reservoir belonging to the St Helens Colliery Company. The latter said they did not wish to press for a heavy fine, the only object being to put a stop to the practice of boys bathing in their reservoir and "disturbing the water" which was used by the engine boilers.
Just how you could do a penny's damage to water, I do not know! But it was clearly a notional claim, in the same way that persons tramping across a farmer's field were often accused of doing a penny's damage to the grass. All three boys pleaded guilty and were each fined 6d and costs, which no doubt included the penny for disturbing the water.
There were more children in the dock in another case when three little girls called Jane and Elizabeth Connor and Jane Morris were summoned for trespassing on the railway line at Ravenhead. The girls had clearly been sent out by their mothers to steal coal. PC Daniel Callister gave evidence that he had found the children on the railway line with Jane Morris having taken one cwt of coal from a wagon.
But the railway company told the court that they did not wish to press the case of coal stealing as they considered that their mothers were to blame but they asked for a small penalty for trespassing. Jane Morris was fined 2s 6d and the Connor sisters 1 shilling each, plus costs.
I have often commented on the brainlessness of some people who committed crimes during the 1870s but were easy to identify as being the culprit. And I've wondered if the underlying cause of their behaviour, which inevitably ended in a harsh prison sentence, was lack of education. Just how John Vernon thought he would get away with his crimes, I have no idea.
The young man worked for grocer James Lewis of Church Street in St Helens with his duty being to deliver goods to customers and, where possible, receive payment for them. In May and June he had delivered three parcels of goods to Mrs Rawlinson of Knowsley Farm, which amounted to almost £2.
Although John Vernon had been paid for each parcel, he pocketed the cash instead of passing it onto his employer. Presumably, Vernon told the grocer that his customer would pay later after receiving her bill. But, of course, after chasing up the amounts, Mrs Rawlinson insisted that she had paid Vernon.
And so he did a runner but was arrested in Preston by PC Archer of St Helens who had been sent there to bring him back. In the meantime Mr Lewis, the shop owner, had been checking his books and found that in total he had lost about £7. In addition, several parcels of tea and other items had never arrived at their intended destinations. The magistrates said they considered it to be a very bad case and sentenced the brainless John Vernon to four months imprisonment with hard labour.
The St Helens Newspaper on September 2nd described the recent pub licensing hearing for St Helens in which it was revealed that the town had 171 fully licensed public houses and 167 beerhouses. In total there were 338 licensed houses, with an average population of 155 persons to each house. Superintendent James Ludlam was in charge of St Helens police and said in the past year they had arrested 1,306 persons for drunkenness against 1,059 in the previous year.
The Red Cat in Crank was either closed or was only serving soft drinks, after having lost its licence three years ago. That was when a man called Roughley had been convicted of selling alcoholic drink to drunken persons in the presence of a policeman. John Wainwright appeared at the hearing to apply for a new licence for the Red Cat.
His solicitor told the magistrates that it would be cruel and harsh on the property owners and Greenalls brewery to continue to refuse a licence, particularly as Mr Wainwright was a most respectable man. However, the Bench did exactly that and rejected the application and, as usual, did not appear to offer any explanation.
There were many deaths 150 years ago from falling down the stairs. Most houses in St Helens did not have a bannister or rail to grasp and, of course, there was no electric light switch to turn on before starting a journey. Many would instead grip a lighted candle or some lamp, which made their trip up or down the stairs even more risky.
John Mills lived at Hill Top in Rainford and at 11:30pm last Saturday night he had gone up his stairs to bed. He had been drinking during the evening and only got as far as about the fourth step when he suddenly fell backwards, striking the back of his head with what was described as great violence against the floor. The 46-year-old was picked up unconscious and taken to his bed.
A doctor was not called until the following day, as in the days when you had to pay for medical help it was common practice for people to see if the patient would get well on their own. But there was nothing the doctor could do and John Mills died just before 5pm having never recovered consciousness. And as usual in the newspaper report – and probably at the inquest too – there was no mention of whether there had been a banister or stair carpet etc.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the tough sentences for pummelling the police, the curious prosecution of the Nelson Inn in Bridge Street, the incorrigible drunkard returns to court and the Parr attack on a bobby using an iron bar.
This week's many stories include the little girls who were sent to steal coal at Ravenhead, the claim of a penny's worth of damage done to a reservoir, the case of cruelty to a market hen, the brainless delivery man that worked for a Church Street grocer and why the Red Cat Inn in Crank was not allowed to serve alcohol.
We begin with James Connor's appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises, assaulting PC Long and wilfully damaging his helmet.
The constable stated that at 9:40pm on the previous Friday he had been called to John Grimes' beerhouse in Mount Street in Greenbank where he found Connor drunk and disorderly.
The man was stripped and wanting to fight any man in the pub.
PC Long said he remonstrated with Connor and ordered him to desist.
But instead the man knocked him down and using his clogs kicked him several times about his head and body.
The constable said he needed the assistance of PCs Doig and McDonald to get his prisoner to the station, as he was very violent all the way.
For the drunkenness James Connor was fined 5 shillings or 7 days and for the assault £2 and costs, which included 9s 6d as the price of a new helmet.
If in default of payment, he would have to go to prison for two months, which almost certainly was what occurred.
It is, I think, surprising that in the light of the violent times, how many animal cruelty cases ended up in court during the 1870s.
Two public-spirited citizens called George Wilkinson and Sidney Macfarlane brought their own prosecution against James Howard of Rainhill in which they accused the poultry dealer of cruelty to a hen by plucking its feathers while still alive.
The pair had been walking through St Helens Marketplace (pictured above) early one morning when they saw the plucking taking place and gave evidence that the hen had been suffering.
While they remonstrated with Howard, the man continued to pluck the hen, which struggled and partially succeeded in getting away.
However, the defendant James Howard denied the claim and brought a witness to court to say that he had wrung the hen's neck five minutes before plucking it and both denied that it had struggled in the manner described.
With the evidence being conflicting, the magistrates gave the defendant the benefit of the doubt and acquitted him of the charge.
Three boys called Arthur Gornall, Frederick Leyland and James Houghton appeared in court charged with causing a penny's worth of damage to the reservoir belonging to the St Helens Colliery Company.
The latter said they did not wish to press for a heavy fine, the only object being to put a stop to the practice of boys bathing in their reservoir and "disturbing the water" which was used by the engine boilers.
Just how you could do a penny's damage to water, I do not know!
But it was clearly a notional claim, in the same way that persons tramping across a farmer's field were often accused of doing a penny's damage to the grass.
All three boys pleaded guilty and were each fined 6d and costs, which no doubt included the penny for disturbing the water.
There were more children in the dock in another case when three little girls called Jane and Elizabeth Connor and Jane Morris were summoned for trespassing on the railway line at Ravenhead.
The girls had clearly been sent out by their mothers to steal coal.
PC Daniel Callister gave evidence that he had found the children on the railway line with Jane Morris having taken one cwt of coal from a wagon.
But the railway company told the court that they did not wish to press the case of coal stealing as they considered that their mothers were to blame but they asked for a small penalty for trespassing.
Jane Morris was fined 2s 6d and the Connor sisters 1 shilling each, plus costs.
I have often commented on the brainlessness of some people who committed crimes during the 1870s but were easy to identify as being the culprit.
And I've wondered if the underlying cause of their behaviour, which inevitably ended in a harsh prison sentence, was lack of education.
Just how John Vernon thought he would get away with his crimes, I have no idea.
The young man worked for grocer James Lewis of Church Street in St Helens with his duty being to deliver goods to customers and, where possible, receive payment for them.
In May and June he had delivered three parcels of goods to Mrs Rawlinson of Knowsley Farm, which amounted to almost £2.
Although John Vernon had been paid for each parcel, he pocketed the cash instead of passing it onto his employer.
Presumably, Vernon told the grocer that his customer would pay later after receiving her bill.
But, of course, after chasing up the amounts, Mrs Rawlinson insisted that she had paid Vernon.
And so he did a runner but was arrested in Preston by PC Archer of St Helens who had been sent there to bring him back.
In the meantime Mr Lewis, the shop owner, had been checking his books and found that in total he had lost about £7.
In addition, several parcels of tea and other items had never arrived at their intended destinations.
The magistrates said they considered it to be a very bad case and sentenced the brainless John Vernon to four months imprisonment with hard labour.
The St Helens Newspaper on September 2nd described the recent pub licensing hearing for St Helens in which it was revealed that the town had 171 fully licensed public houses and 167 beerhouses.
In total there were 338 licensed houses, with an average population of 155 persons to each house.
Superintendent James Ludlam was in charge of St Helens police and said in the past year they had arrested 1,306 persons for drunkenness against 1,059 in the previous year.
The Red Cat in Crank was either closed or was only serving soft drinks, after having lost its licence three years ago.
That was when a man called Roughley had been convicted of selling alcoholic drink to drunken persons in the presence of a policeman.
John Wainwright appeared at the hearing to apply for a new licence for the Red Cat.
His solicitor told the magistrates that it would be cruel and harsh on the property owners and Greenalls brewery to continue to refuse a licence, particularly as Mr Wainwright was a most respectable man.
However, the Bench did exactly that and rejected the application and, as usual, did not appear to offer any explanation.
There were many deaths 150 years ago from falling down the stairs. Most houses in St Helens did not have a bannister or rail to grasp and, of course, there was no electric light switch to turn on before starting a journey.
Many would instead grip a lighted candle or some lamp, which made their trip up or down the stairs even more risky.
John Mills lived at Hill Top in Rainford and at 11:30pm last Saturday night he had gone up his stairs to bed.
He had been drinking during the evening and only got as far as about the fourth step when he suddenly fell backwards, striking the back of his head with what was described as great violence against the floor.
The 46-year-old was picked up unconscious and taken to his bed.
A doctor was not called until the following day, as in the days when you had to pay for medical help it was common practice for people to see if the patient would get well on their own.
But there was nothing the doctor could do and John Mills died just before 5pm having never recovered consciousness.
And as usual in the newspaper report – and probably at the inquest too – there was no mention of whether there had been a banister or stair carpet etc.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the tough sentences for pummelling the police, the curious prosecution of the Nelson Inn in Bridge Street, the incorrigible drunkard returns to court and the Parr attack on a bobby using an iron bar.
We begin with James Connor's appearance in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with being drunk and disorderly on licensed premises, assaulting PC Long and wilfully damaging his helmet.
The constable stated that at 9:40pm on the previous Friday he had been called to John Grimes' beerhouse in Mount Street in Greenbank where he found Connor drunk and disorderly.
The man was stripped and wanting to fight any man in the pub.
PC Long said he remonstrated with Connor and ordered him to desist.
But instead the man knocked him down and using his clogs kicked him several times about his head and body.
The constable said he needed the assistance of PCs Doig and McDonald to get his prisoner to the station, as he was very violent all the way.
For the drunkenness James Connor was fined 5 shillings or 7 days and for the assault £2 and costs, which included 9s 6d as the price of a new helmet.
If in default of payment, he would have to go to prison for two months, which almost certainly was what occurred.
It is, I think, surprising that in the light of the violent times, how many animal cruelty cases ended up in court during the 1870s.
Two public-spirited citizens called George Wilkinson and Sidney Macfarlane brought their own prosecution against James Howard of Rainhill in which they accused the poultry dealer of cruelty to a hen by plucking its feathers while still alive.
While they remonstrated with Howard, the man continued to pluck the hen, which struggled and partially succeeded in getting away.
However, the defendant James Howard denied the claim and brought a witness to court to say that he had wrung the hen's neck five minutes before plucking it and both denied that it had struggled in the manner described.
With the evidence being conflicting, the magistrates gave the defendant the benefit of the doubt and acquitted him of the charge.
Three boys called Arthur Gornall, Frederick Leyland and James Houghton appeared in court charged with causing a penny's worth of damage to the reservoir belonging to the St Helens Colliery Company.
The latter said they did not wish to press for a heavy fine, the only object being to put a stop to the practice of boys bathing in their reservoir and "disturbing the water" which was used by the engine boilers.
Just how you could do a penny's damage to water, I do not know!
But it was clearly a notional claim, in the same way that persons tramping across a farmer's field were often accused of doing a penny's damage to the grass.
All three boys pleaded guilty and were each fined 6d and costs, which no doubt included the penny for disturbing the water.
There were more children in the dock in another case when three little girls called Jane and Elizabeth Connor and Jane Morris were summoned for trespassing on the railway line at Ravenhead.
The girls had clearly been sent out by their mothers to steal coal.
PC Daniel Callister gave evidence that he had found the children on the railway line with Jane Morris having taken one cwt of coal from a wagon.
But the railway company told the court that they did not wish to press the case of coal stealing as they considered that their mothers were to blame but they asked for a small penalty for trespassing.
Jane Morris was fined 2s 6d and the Connor sisters 1 shilling each, plus costs.
I have often commented on the brainlessness of some people who committed crimes during the 1870s but were easy to identify as being the culprit.
And I've wondered if the underlying cause of their behaviour, which inevitably ended in a harsh prison sentence, was lack of education.
Just how John Vernon thought he would get away with his crimes, I have no idea.
The young man worked for grocer James Lewis of Church Street in St Helens with his duty being to deliver goods to customers and, where possible, receive payment for them.
In May and June he had delivered three parcels of goods to Mrs Rawlinson of Knowsley Farm, which amounted to almost £2.
Although John Vernon had been paid for each parcel, he pocketed the cash instead of passing it onto his employer.
Presumably, Vernon told the grocer that his customer would pay later after receiving her bill.
But, of course, after chasing up the amounts, Mrs Rawlinson insisted that she had paid Vernon.
And so he did a runner but was arrested in Preston by PC Archer of St Helens who had been sent there to bring him back.
In the meantime Mr Lewis, the shop owner, had been checking his books and found that in total he had lost about £7.
In addition, several parcels of tea and other items had never arrived at their intended destinations.
The magistrates said they considered it to be a very bad case and sentenced the brainless John Vernon to four months imprisonment with hard labour.
The St Helens Newspaper on September 2nd described the recent pub licensing hearing for St Helens in which it was revealed that the town had 171 fully licensed public houses and 167 beerhouses.
In total there were 338 licensed houses, with an average population of 155 persons to each house.
Superintendent James Ludlam was in charge of St Helens police and said in the past year they had arrested 1,306 persons for drunkenness against 1,059 in the previous year.
The Red Cat in Crank was either closed or was only serving soft drinks, after having lost its licence three years ago.
That was when a man called Roughley had been convicted of selling alcoholic drink to drunken persons in the presence of a policeman.
John Wainwright appeared at the hearing to apply for a new licence for the Red Cat.
His solicitor told the magistrates that it would be cruel and harsh on the property owners and Greenalls brewery to continue to refuse a licence, particularly as Mr Wainwright was a most respectable man.
However, the Bench did exactly that and rejected the application and, as usual, did not appear to offer any explanation.
There were many deaths 150 years ago from falling down the stairs. Most houses in St Helens did not have a bannister or rail to grasp and, of course, there was no electric light switch to turn on before starting a journey.
Many would instead grip a lighted candle or some lamp, which made their trip up or down the stairs even more risky.
John Mills lived at Hill Top in Rainford and at 11:30pm last Saturday night he had gone up his stairs to bed.
He had been drinking during the evening and only got as far as about the fourth step when he suddenly fell backwards, striking the back of his head with what was described as great violence against the floor.
The 46-year-old was picked up unconscious and taken to his bed.
A doctor was not called until the following day, as in the days when you had to pay for medical help it was common practice for people to see if the patient would get well on their own.
But there was nothing the doctor could do and John Mills died just before 5pm having never recovered consciousness.
And as usual in the newspaper report – and probably at the inquest too – there was no mention of whether there had been a banister or stair carpet etc.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the tough sentences for pummelling the police, the curious prosecution of the Nelson Inn in Bridge Street, the incorrigible drunkard returns to court and the Parr attack on a bobby using an iron bar.