150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (31st Dec. 1868 - 6th Jan. 1869)
This week's stories include "Gompertz's Great Original Spectrescope", the old woman who called the magistrate "darling", the Duke Street swindler, the "jolly good dinner" for the poor of Parr, the Sutton Glassworks sandpit tragedy and the uncooperative man that the police had to carry horizontally out of a Market Street shop.
I'm afraid I can't tell you much about the New Year celebrations, as little information was provided in the local newspapers. However the St Helens Newspaper commented on how genial the weather had been on December 31st in the woods at Knowsley and Prescot. The air had been "as soft as in the middle of spring" and thrush were heard "singing cheerfully".
Christmas gifts were often given at New Year during the 1860s and at Whiston Workhouse (pictured above) a Christmas tree was installed on January 1st. This had been provided by the Countess of Derby and a number of ladies from Rainhill. During the afternoon presents were taken from the tree and handed out to the workhouse children.
A passenger train from Widnes to St Helens ran into the rear of a coal train near Clock Face Station during the evening of New Year's Day. The coal train had been slowed down by an incline and was probably overloaded, with the collision throwing several of its carriages off the line. A number of passengers were reported as being considerably shaken and frightened but there were no serious injuries.
For a fortnight from New Year's Day, 'Gompertz's Great Original Spectrescope' was exhibited at the Volunteer Hall in Mill Street. Gompertz was an illusionist who created animated effects such as a raging storm, although his representations mainly concentrated on apparitions and spirits – hence the spectre in the name of his machine. The man's publicity blurb said:
"The phantoms raised by means of this extraordinary scientific appliance appear in every respect similar to living beings, except that they accomplish what to human beings would be impossible, viz., float in mid air, posture, walk on ceilings, run up walls, appear at pleasure, and to be multiplied to any extent – the living being becomes instantly spectral, and the spectral assumes the appearance of the living."
On January 2nd those who had indulged too much in the New Year celebrations appeared in the St Helens Police Court. They included an "old woman" called Catherine Cosgrove who was charged with being drunk in the streets. When the Clerk to the court asked her whether she was guilty or not guilty, Catherine replied: "I am, love".
The Clerk said to the magistrate: "Then, she pleads guilty", to which Catherine responded: "Oh, yes, darling. I had a sup too much. Oh, your honour, darling, I will never come before you again." The sole magistrate was William Pilkington who saw the funny side and sent the woman on her way.
Bernard Garrity was fined 5 shillings in the Police Court after going into a shop in Market Street in a drunken condition. The shopkeeper ordered him to leave but Garrity refused and after a constable arrived, he lay down on the floor in order to make his removal as hard as possible. A second officer turned up and the pair of bobbies then carried him off to the police station.
On the 3rd the body of a young man called Robert Wallace was discovered in a sandpit near Sutton Oak Railway Station. This was attached to the Sutton Glassworks in Lancots Lane, where Robert had been employed as a clerk. It was believed that he had suffered a dreadful death having accidentally fallen into the pit and not been able to extricate himself. Where Robert fell was described as a quagmire – or quicksand as we might call it – and the man had been slowly asphyxiated as he tried to get out.
They certainly liked their tea parties 150 years ago. Sometimes they were followed by dances or concerts, as on the 4th when St Anne's in Sutton held such an event in their school. Tickets for their Tea Party & Concert cost 1s 6d, with the proceeds going to the building of new school buildings, that their adverts said were "so much needed in this neighbourhood".
The Passionist Fathers that ran the school had been warned by a Government inspector that they had to expand by June 1869 or lose their grant. It was a fast growing district and only half the children in the parish could currently be accommodated at the school.
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 4th in which one person was sent to prison for a month for begging in the street. In another case Mary Donoghue summoned grocer Peter Mathews to the Sessions claiming assault. The woman had gone into his College Street shop to buy some items but already owed him money for goods that she'd previously bought.
A row developed and the shopkeeper went round his counter intending to seize Mary and take the owed money from her. However in the struggle that ensued both of them fell to the floor. The magistrates felt that Peter Mathews' conduct was no better than highway robbery and ordered him to pay a fine or go to prison for a month.
Sisters Betsy and Mary Ann Barnes were charged with stealing coal from a wagon in Pocket Nook. Mary Ann was described as a "mere infant" and Superintendent Ludlam suggested to the magistrates that they discharge her because of her age. As Ludlam was in charge of St Helens Police and responsible for all prosecutions, the question might be asked as to why the little girl had been brought into court in the first place.
Mary's big sister Betsy was not so fortunate and she was sent to Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for seven days. She would no doubt have been conveyed to the prison with 14-year-old Jane Leather, who was sentenced to 14 days for stealing a brooch and belt from the Stanley Arms in Eccleston.
A New Year's Eve ball had taken place at the pub and the bedroom of the landlord's daughter was used as a cloakroom. Jane had attended the ball and while in the bedroom had seen the brooch and belt and helped herself to them.
Phoebe Owen from Duke Street was also in court charged with obtaining goods by false pretences. The woman had swindled a dozen shopkeepers in St Helens by claiming to represent a number of well-known persons. For example Phoebe had gone into Isaac Fletcher's draper's in Church Street and taken away some silk handkerchiefs supposedly for Joseph Bold to approve before buying them.
However the Bridge Street grocer did not know the woman and neither did Dr Lyon's wife. She had supposedly asked Phoebe to obtain three pairs of boots for her from Scales and Salter's premises in Church Street. In fact the woman had duped a dozen shopkeepers in St Helens, as well as her own husband of just three weeks.
Thomas Own had been arrested for receiving the goods but in court Superintendent Ludlam conceded that the boilermaker at St Helens Foundry was completely innocent. He was discharged from the court in a somewhat distressed state. Phoebe, however, was committed for trial to the next quarter sessions at Kirkdale where she could expect a stiff prison sentence.
On the 5th this advert appeared in the Tuesday edition of the St Helens Newspaper: "All poor persons now living in Parr, of 60 years old and upwards, are invited by Mr. Joseph Greenough to a jolly good dinner of Roast Beef, Plum Pudding, and Beer, at Jonathan Johnson's Bulls Head, Parr Stocks, on Monday 25th instant, at one o’clock precisely, by their applying for ticket to the landlord three days previous, so that he may know how many to provide for. Sutton 4th Jan, 1869."
Greenough was the man who had offered £1,000 towards building an infirmary for St Helens but fell from grace in 1877 after trying to evict tenants on Parr Moss by destroying their house! He was sent to prison but died within weeks.
Reading old newspaper reports it often appeared quite easy for St Helens Police to solve crimes in a town with a small population. On the 5th an officer identified as PC 91 told St Helens Police Court that he'd learnt that some cigars had been stolen from Mary Harrison's tobacconist's shop in Raven Street.
So when he saw four lads walking down Hardshaw Street puffing away on cigars he became suspicious and went over to question them. They all immediately ran away, apart from Thomas Farrell, who he took into custody. Farrell named five others who had been involved in the cigar thefts, as well as the stealing of some new purses.
Surprisingly the parties involved declined to prosecute, as it was the first time that some of the defendants had been in trouble. It was their lucky day and the magistrate discharged them all with a caution. Also fortunate was Mary Copley, who was charged with stealing a pair of boots, two pairs of socks and other articles from George Barrow's house during the short time that she had been in service there.
Mrs Barrow told the magistrate that she had decided not to prosecute the case and had only had Mary arrested as she'd been impertinent to her when asked about the thefts. The fact that prison was a common sentence for stealing clothes might well have induced this leniency.
Next week's '150 Years Ago' stories will include the Peasley Cross cock stealers, a dreadful double mining tragedy in Rainford, the drowning of a drunkard in Pocket Nook, the Mayoress is presented with a silver cradle, a 12-year-old boy sues a stallholder in St Helens Market and a Masonic ball is held in Prescot.
I'm afraid I can't tell you much about the New Year celebrations, as little information was provided in the local newspapers. However the St Helens Newspaper commented on how genial the weather had been on December 31st in the woods at Knowsley and Prescot. The air had been "as soft as in the middle of spring" and thrush were heard "singing cheerfully".
A passenger train from Widnes to St Helens ran into the rear of a coal train near Clock Face Station during the evening of New Year's Day. The coal train had been slowed down by an incline and was probably overloaded, with the collision throwing several of its carriages off the line. A number of passengers were reported as being considerably shaken and frightened but there were no serious injuries.
For a fortnight from New Year's Day, 'Gompertz's Great Original Spectrescope' was exhibited at the Volunteer Hall in Mill Street. Gompertz was an illusionist who created animated effects such as a raging storm, although his representations mainly concentrated on apparitions and spirits – hence the spectre in the name of his machine. The man's publicity blurb said:
"The phantoms raised by means of this extraordinary scientific appliance appear in every respect similar to living beings, except that they accomplish what to human beings would be impossible, viz., float in mid air, posture, walk on ceilings, run up walls, appear at pleasure, and to be multiplied to any extent – the living being becomes instantly spectral, and the spectral assumes the appearance of the living."
On January 2nd those who had indulged too much in the New Year celebrations appeared in the St Helens Police Court. They included an "old woman" called Catherine Cosgrove who was charged with being drunk in the streets. When the Clerk to the court asked her whether she was guilty or not guilty, Catherine replied: "I am, love".
The Clerk said to the magistrate: "Then, she pleads guilty", to which Catherine responded: "Oh, yes, darling. I had a sup too much. Oh, your honour, darling, I will never come before you again." The sole magistrate was William Pilkington who saw the funny side and sent the woman on her way.
Bernard Garrity was fined 5 shillings in the Police Court after going into a shop in Market Street in a drunken condition. The shopkeeper ordered him to leave but Garrity refused and after a constable arrived, he lay down on the floor in order to make his removal as hard as possible. A second officer turned up and the pair of bobbies then carried him off to the police station.
On the 3rd the body of a young man called Robert Wallace was discovered in a sandpit near Sutton Oak Railway Station. This was attached to the Sutton Glassworks in Lancots Lane, where Robert had been employed as a clerk. It was believed that he had suffered a dreadful death having accidentally fallen into the pit and not been able to extricate himself. Where Robert fell was described as a quagmire – or quicksand as we might call it – and the man had been slowly asphyxiated as he tried to get out.
They certainly liked their tea parties 150 years ago. Sometimes they were followed by dances or concerts, as on the 4th when St Anne's in Sutton held such an event in their school. Tickets for their Tea Party & Concert cost 1s 6d, with the proceeds going to the building of new school buildings, that their adverts said were "so much needed in this neighbourhood".
The Passionist Fathers that ran the school had been warned by a Government inspector that they had to expand by June 1869 or lose their grant. It was a fast growing district and only half the children in the parish could currently be accommodated at the school.
The St Helens Petty Sessions were held on the 4th in which one person was sent to prison for a month for begging in the street. In another case Mary Donoghue summoned grocer Peter Mathews to the Sessions claiming assault. The woman had gone into his College Street shop to buy some items but already owed him money for goods that she'd previously bought.
A row developed and the shopkeeper went round his counter intending to seize Mary and take the owed money from her. However in the struggle that ensued both of them fell to the floor. The magistrates felt that Peter Mathews' conduct was no better than highway robbery and ordered him to pay a fine or go to prison for a month.
Sisters Betsy and Mary Ann Barnes were charged with stealing coal from a wagon in Pocket Nook. Mary Ann was described as a "mere infant" and Superintendent Ludlam suggested to the magistrates that they discharge her because of her age. As Ludlam was in charge of St Helens Police and responsible for all prosecutions, the question might be asked as to why the little girl had been brought into court in the first place.
Mary's big sister Betsy was not so fortunate and she was sent to Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for seven days. She would no doubt have been conveyed to the prison with 14-year-old Jane Leather, who was sentenced to 14 days for stealing a brooch and belt from the Stanley Arms in Eccleston.
A New Year's Eve ball had taken place at the pub and the bedroom of the landlord's daughter was used as a cloakroom. Jane had attended the ball and while in the bedroom had seen the brooch and belt and helped herself to them.
Phoebe Owen from Duke Street was also in court charged with obtaining goods by false pretences. The woman had swindled a dozen shopkeepers in St Helens by claiming to represent a number of well-known persons. For example Phoebe had gone into Isaac Fletcher's draper's in Church Street and taken away some silk handkerchiefs supposedly for Joseph Bold to approve before buying them.
However the Bridge Street grocer did not know the woman and neither did Dr Lyon's wife. She had supposedly asked Phoebe to obtain three pairs of boots for her from Scales and Salter's premises in Church Street. In fact the woman had duped a dozen shopkeepers in St Helens, as well as her own husband of just three weeks.
Thomas Own had been arrested for receiving the goods but in court Superintendent Ludlam conceded that the boilermaker at St Helens Foundry was completely innocent. He was discharged from the court in a somewhat distressed state. Phoebe, however, was committed for trial to the next quarter sessions at Kirkdale where she could expect a stiff prison sentence.
On the 5th this advert appeared in the Tuesday edition of the St Helens Newspaper: "All poor persons now living in Parr, of 60 years old and upwards, are invited by Mr. Joseph Greenough to a jolly good dinner of Roast Beef, Plum Pudding, and Beer, at Jonathan Johnson's Bulls Head, Parr Stocks, on Monday 25th instant, at one o’clock precisely, by their applying for ticket to the landlord three days previous, so that he may know how many to provide for. Sutton 4th Jan, 1869."
Greenough was the man who had offered £1,000 towards building an infirmary for St Helens but fell from grace in 1877 after trying to evict tenants on Parr Moss by destroying their house! He was sent to prison but died within weeks.
Reading old newspaper reports it often appeared quite easy for St Helens Police to solve crimes in a town with a small population. On the 5th an officer identified as PC 91 told St Helens Police Court that he'd learnt that some cigars had been stolen from Mary Harrison's tobacconist's shop in Raven Street.
So when he saw four lads walking down Hardshaw Street puffing away on cigars he became suspicious and went over to question them. They all immediately ran away, apart from Thomas Farrell, who he took into custody. Farrell named five others who had been involved in the cigar thefts, as well as the stealing of some new purses.
Surprisingly the parties involved declined to prosecute, as it was the first time that some of the defendants had been in trouble. It was their lucky day and the magistrate discharged them all with a caution. Also fortunate was Mary Copley, who was charged with stealing a pair of boots, two pairs of socks and other articles from George Barrow's house during the short time that she had been in service there.
Mrs Barrow told the magistrate that she had decided not to prosecute the case and had only had Mary arrested as she'd been impertinent to her when asked about the thefts. The fact that prison was a common sentence for stealing clothes might well have induced this leniency.
Next week's '150 Years Ago' stories will include the Peasley Cross cock stealers, a dreadful double mining tragedy in Rainford, the drowning of a drunkard in Pocket Nook, the Mayoress is presented with a silver cradle, a 12-year-old boy sues a stallholder in St Helens Market and a Masonic ball is held in Prescot.