THIS year marks the 120th anniversary of the passing of the Act of Parliament that authorised St Helens Corporation to generate and distribute electricity, writes Stephen Wainwright.

So it’s surprising some households only obtained their first mains supplies after World War II, motivated by the onset of television.

My father Tom Wainwright was an engineer for Rothery Radio during the 1950s and recalls a workmate sent to install a TV in a Prescot house.

The confused engineer asked why there were no mains sockets, only to be told: “We’re not having the electric put in "til next week”.

Electric light was believed to have been first generated for a few homes in St Helens as early as 1883.

They were charging 6d. per unit when most people earned just a pound a week, so there were few takers.

Then in 1892 St Helens Council installed a generator that lit up 338 lamps in the town hall and its adjacent buildings.

The council felt electric light would prove healthier for their staff and preserve the books in the town hall library that were suffering from the heat given off by gas lamps.

It was so successful that they quickly applied for a Provisional Order and then Act of Parliament to exclusively make electric light publicly available. This was designed to stop four private companies from setting up their own operations.

That seems odd today when competition is encouraged but in Victorian times a municipal monopoly was the thing.

In fact the council had in 1878 bought out the local gas works, so now wanted complete control of the town’s energy supply.

The first electricity power station in St Helens was opened in Warrington Road in December 1896.

Not knowing whether there would be demand, only a small 145 kilowatt plant was installed.

During the first year just 63 customers were connected, out of a population of 86,500, mainly because it was so expensive.

In 1897 the council took over St Helens Tramways and decided to work them using electric instead of steam. This required a more powerful plant, so a new station opened at Croppers Hill.

The new generators were four times as powerful as the Warrington Road plant and the site was combined with a refuse destructor. The demand for ‘leccy’ rose rapidly and more powerful generators were added.

By the 1930s electricity was much more affordable and even fashionable with more than 14,000 households connected.

In 1932 the Electricity Showrooms on Bridge Street were opened.

Their two-fold purpose was to persuade St Helens folk of the merits of electric power and then flog them fires and lamps.

Public demonstrations were given each week within their large, lavish rooms. Its brightly illuminated front window containing many modern appliances must have looked very impressive at night and bore a large ‘Made in England’ sign. How times have changed!

St Helens Council lost its electricity supply business in1948 when the industry was nationalised.

A total of 625 electricity companies were replaced by 12 area boards, including Manweb, and these were privatised in 1990.

We now take electricity for granted with countless uses. But it must have been a novelty when first introduced and a great boon to housewives.

Stephen Wainwright publishes the websites Sutton Beauty & Heritage, George Groves The Movie Sound Pioneer & Herbert Mundin the Hollywood Scene Stealer.