Read all about it……. Echoes of our past NEWS
What was in the local
news this weekend in 1888?
MAIN NEWS –
*Sad case of Kate Lyons –
Kate Lyons lived at New Whittington with her three
children, one of them a baby. She was a
poor lady whose husband was in gaol for having assaulted her. Kate was described as a “poorly clad woman”. Life must have been very, very difficult for
Kate and it was to become even more so on 13th February 1888 when
she was visited my Mr Limb and Mr Allen.
Mr John Limb was a rent and debt collector who lived on
St Helens Street in Chesterfield. He
took his “bum bailiff” (as described my Kate) Mr Allen, to the evict Kate from
her home in New Whittington. Kate was
now appearing at the Chesterfield Police Court accusing Mr Limb of assaulting
her during the process.
She agreed that she was aware that she was in arrears
with the rent, but that she had not received any notice of eviction so she was
not prepared when Mr Limb called on the Monday.
He entered the house and said “now Kate clear out” at which point he
showed her the warrant for her removal.
Kate and the children were not dressed for leaving the house and so she
refused to leave until she had collected her things together and got herself
and the children ready. Mr Allen did
take the baby from Kate to enable her to get ready but Mr Limb was having none
of that and made Mr Allen pass the baby back and go upstairs to “pull the bed
to pieces”. Mr Limb threatened Kate “you’d
better go as quiet as you can”.
Mr Limb put some of Kate’s things together into a bundle
and then he took hold of Kate by the neck and threw her out into the snow,
where she fell on her knees. She begged
him to let her stay but Mr Limb was not interested. Poor Kate and her three children were
homeless on a cold snowy day, but luckily for her a neighbour did take her in.
It appears that the situation was all agreed by Mr Lyons,
the husband of Kate. When
the debt had been noticed Mr Limb had visited Mr Lyons in gaol. Mr Lyons had
told Mr Limb to take the furniture from the house and sell it. The money could then be used to pay off the
debt and any surplus would be saved for Mr Lyons release from
gaol. Obviously Kate knew nothing of
this up until now. It was not clear
whether Mr Lyons had actually agreed to Kate being evicted.
Two witnesses were called; Mrs Day and Mrs Mary Jane Hill
–
Mrs Day told how she lived nearby and had heard Mr Limb
telling Kate that she must get out of the house, but Kate had held back as she
wanted to gather up her belongings. At
this Mr Limb had said “now are you ready?” and had taken her neck and thrown
her out into the road, where Kate fell into the snow. Mrs Day told the sorry story how Kate was out
in the snow with her three children; she had put her hands together and begged
to be allowed to stay in the house.
Mrs Mary Jane Hill said she lived next door to Kate and
so she could not see what was happening inside the house, but Kate did appear
out of the door “in a hurry” and then beg as Mrs Day had already described.
When Mr James Allen, the bailiff was called to gives his
account of the events he, as expected sided with Mr Limb. He said that Mr Limb did not touch Kate. His version of events were put into question
however, after he agreed that he was sent upstairs to pull down the bed. If he was upstairs, then how could he say
whether Mr Limb did nor did not touch Kate?
The Bench decided that there was no doubt that an assault
on Mrs Kate Lyons had been committed. Mr
Limb was fined £1 or 14 days hard labour.
Mr Limb stated that he would pay the fine.
OTHER ITEMS –
*Health –
The fortnightly report taken by Dr Mackintosh gave the
number of deaths in the area as 14. This
was broken down to –
·
2 > small pox (at Tupton and Eckington)
·
2> scarlet fever
·
1 > whopping cough
·
2 > accidental
·
1 >suicide at Ashover
·
4 > old age
This does only add up to 13 deaths, no other death is documented.
During the fortnight more cases of small pox had occurred;
two at Eckington, two at Killamarsh, one at Hasland, one at Heath and one at
Brimington. Three of the cases were in houses
that were already infected with the disease. The case at Heath was of an old
woman aged 73 years old. She lived in a
public house and had not left the house for many years. It was suspected that the disease had been carried
by a passing tramp. The public house was
now closed to business. The case in
Eckington was causing concern as it was very close to the school and the authorities
had now decided to ask Eckington School Board to close the school for the time being
to prevent spread of the disease.
His report also gave details about the weather. The temperature during the fortnight had been
a minimum 24 degrees and maximum 52 degrees.
Snowfall was measured to “2/10 of an inch of water”. The wind was blowing from an easterly
direction.
*Fire on South Street –
A Mr Todd alerted the Chesterfield Police Station of a
fire at the premises of Mr Holmes a tailor on South Street at around 11.30 pm. The fire brigade were on the scene within
minutes under the charge of Sergeant Nicholls.
They came equipped with the horse cart and chemical extinguisher and
were able to gain water from the hydrant near to Mr Millson’s shop.
It took about 30 minutes to put the fire out and by this
time the shop and all its fixtures and fittings were beyond salvage. Luckily though minimal damage was caused to
other nearby shops, only windows broke and paintwork was scorched at the premises
next door belonging to Mr Phillips the jeweller.
The cause of the fire was not known, but it was thought
it had started in the corner of the room, which was where the gas meter was
situated. Mr Holmes stated that he had
turned off the gas himself as he closed the shop that evening. He was insured at a Sheffield Office.
MARRIAGES –
*Mr Foye to Mary Ann Linskey on 27th February
at the Catholic Chapel, Spencer Street
*Mr Matthew Furness to Elizabeth Bland (youngest daughter
of William Bland) on 23rd February at Eyam Parish Church
DEATHS –
*Thomas Lucius Jervis Arthur aged 40 years at Glenomera,
Co Clare, Ireland on 18th February.
The eldest son of Rev Lucius Arthur of Glenomera and now Matlock,
Derbyshire
*Colonel Edward Thomas Coke aged 82 years on 26th
February at Debdale Hall. Mansfield
*Mary Ann Holmes at Queen Street on 2nd March,
relict of the late James Holmes
*Gertrude Bradshaw aged 22 months on 24th
February at Upper Moor, Brampton
*Clara Burton aged 8 years at Greenhill Lane of 25th
February
*Elizabeth Dennis aged 44 years at Marsden’s Place on 24th
February
*Florence Johnson aged 2 years at Mountcastle Street,
Newbold on 24th February
*Mary Johnson aged 77 years at Grassmoor on 23rd
February
AND FINALLY…
Need to get a birthday card?
The Derbyshire Times office was proudly announcing their
stock of “new and beautiful designs” at all prices.
The Derbyshire Times Office was in the Market Hall in the
centre of Chesterfield.
[1]
Erysipelas is a skin infection caused by streptococcus bacteria. The patient would suffer from blisters on the
cheeks and nose and fever and the condition was very painful. The skin would normally peel and then heal,
but it was possible for the bacteria to enter the blood stream which could lead
to infections in the heart valves, joints and bones.
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