AFTER the success of his much-acclaimed first two volumes of 'The Hidden History of St Helens', social historian Stephen Wainwright has published his long-awaited follow-up.
Volume 3 of 'Hidden History' features many more amazing stories uncovered from the local newspaper archives at Eccleston Library.
The 268-page book includes 90 images and contains 14 chapters.
This third book is "more of the same" of the previous two volumes with more fascinating stories that Stephen has uncovered from their hiding places deep within the local newspaper archives.
Stephen, 68, from Sutton, who is a regular contributor of features to the Star, is an avid newspaper researcher.
He said: "I have spent twenty years trawling through newspaper archives and am constantly amazed by what I uncover – often by accident when researching other subjects."
Cruelty figures quite a lot in this third volume.
There is a history of the work of the NSPCC in St Helens between 1895 and 1931 and the husbands brought to court accused of persistent cruelty to their wives.
One chapter is devoted to Stephen's research on the slavery survivors that came to St Helens to tell their shocking accounts. One was Benjamin W. Brown who with his Coloured Singing Pilgrims from the USA performed at the United Methodist Free Chapel in Ormskirk Street in 1883.
As well as a concert, B. W. Brown gave a lecture in which he explained how he had been enslaved for 19 years. But after making a failed attempt at escape, he was put up for sale at a slave auction.
Brown's vivid description of the savage treatment of slaves so upset the Prescot Reporter that it virtually denounced Brown as a fraud. However, American researchers have since verified that what Brown alleged did take place in slave markets.
However, there are many lighter moments in the book, such as in the opening and closing chapters which are devoted to the court appearances of some odd St Helens characters.
One was Catherine Cosgrove who after indulging too much in New Year celebrations in 1869, appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with being drunk.
When the Clerk to the court asked the woman whether she was guilty or not guilty, Catherine replied: "I am, love". The Clerk then said to the magistrate: "Then, she pleads guilty". To those remarks 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 elderly woman on her way.
You may also find yourself smiling at the compilation of stories from the St Helens Newspaper's beat group column from the early 1960s that went by the name of Teen Topics.
Do you recall Cadillac and the Playboys, The Incas, Chris and the Autocrats, The Screaming Skulls, The Hellions, The Cordelles or Lennie and the Team Mates? Inspired by the success of the Beatles, a plethora of local talent sprang up, with some groups making their own guitars in school woodwork lessons!
There are also comic aspects to the chapter on curious bigamous marriages that were often based on ignorance. Such as the Parr man who sold his willing wife to another for a quart of beer worth sixpence!
Stephen donated £1,000 from sales of his previous book, The Hidden History of St Helens Volume 2, to the Alzheimer's Society, via the Soroptimist St Helens' charity appeal for 2022-23
'The Hidden History of St Helens Vol 3' is available from the St Helens Book Stop at 11 Bridge Street. The book can also be ordered online via eBay and from Amazon (both free delivery). Price £12.
This is the full chapter list:
• The St Helens Characters That Enlivened Court Hearings – A chapter devoted to many examples of characters – including the comics, constant talkers, confusers, weepers and abusers of the Bench.
• The Freed Slaves In St Helens and Other Slavery Stories – Focusing on the slavery survivors that came to the town to relate their shocking accounts of life in bondage.
• The Adoption of Lynch Law In St Helens – Examples of when communities became vigilantes to rally against perceived offenders, sometimes with quite comical results.
• The Story Of The St Helens Circus – For around ten years in the late 19th century, St Helens had its own dedicated circus building in North Road.
• Conmen and Imposters In St Helens – The liars, imposters and swindlers who enjoyed conning the innocent people of St Helens.
• John Shaw Menzies - The Violent St Helens Vet – The owner of a veterinary infirmary in Ormskirk Street (where the Scala cinema would later be built) that regularly brutalised his wife.
• The St Helens Newspaper's Beat Group Column – For just over a year from November 1963 a weekly column in the St Helens Newspaper called 'Teen Topics'
described the local beat scene.
• “Dear Sir” - A Collection Of Curious Correspondence Part 2 – More amusing, revealing and disturbing letters that were sent to the town's newspapers during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Four Curious Cases Of Bigamy – Including the St Helens man who sold his willing wife to another for a quart of beer worth sixpence! Some people's ignorance of the law in the 19th century was astonishing.
• The Public Hanging of a St Helens Painter / The Death of a Waterloo Hero – The contrasting lives of two St Helens men with very similar surnames who lived during the first half of the 19th century.
• The Women Who Accused Their Husbands Of Persistent Cruelty – Examples of women who applied to the courts for separation orders.
• When St Helens Was Only A Village – This chapter is devoted to recollections of the early years of the 19th century before industry developed in St Helens on a large scale.
• The Champions Of Child Cruelty Cases In St Helens – A history of the NSPCC from 1895 to 1931. From their Croppers Hill office, NSPCC inspectors (nicknamed the "cruelty men") protected children from abuse and neglect in spite of some hostility against them.
• Unusual Things Said In Court – Many examples of mainly comical sayings that defendants made in court – or which the police or prosecutors stated had been said at the time of the prisoner's arrest.
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