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In support of St Peter's

Harold Cunliffe
14/ 8/2008

LAST month we had a fantastic response following the publication of a 1960s school photo sent in by John Flynn from Lincoln.

We are informed that past pupils of St Peter’s School left messages on an internet site which unite friends. John Flynn has been contacted by old school pals, and a number of readers inspected John's class photograph in Middleton Library.

The school was founded in 1874, this was following the opening of the town’s first Catholic church on 8 December 1867. A friend of mine, Danny Hardman, has been researching the Little Park area and also Larkhill. It is our belief that it was the Irish labourers, nicknamed 'navvys', who came to this area during the Irish potato famine of the 1860s, brought an increase in the Catholic community. It was during the famine thousands of starving people emigrated to this country and America. Standing on the platform of a railway station in Limerick an elderly Irishwoman waves goodbye to her son. As the train slowly departs she whispers: "May the hand of the blessed God be upon you my son, my son." Knowing that she would never see him again.

The Catholic school which was located at the rear of the Taylor Street church was so popular that it became too small and cramped by 1891. Action had to be taken after the H M Inspector of Schools gave a report. It stated: "The building is inconveniently small for the rising importance of the school."

It was estimated that a sum of around £900 would be required to enlarge the school and teachers’ house. The total expenditure of the school within the first seventeen years of its life was £2,944. Income received during the same period cam from government grants, £1,412, and from donations and private sources, £1,524. Public or donated money was greater than the government grant, so it was up to the congregation to find a way to raise the finance to cover the work required at the school.

This newspaper published a report in January 1891 which stated: "Members of St Peter’s congregation have been working most earnestly and zealously in organising a grand bazaar at the Co-operative Hall in which they hope to make the event a success. Early and late they have been ‘on the job’ and if they are half rewarded for their labours, then they will realise the object they are aiming at."

At 2.30pm on 29 January 1891 the bazaar was officially opened by the Mayor and Mayoress, Alderman T B Wood and Mrs Wood. In his opening speech the Mayor highlighted the importance of raising funds for the school. He had read the school inspectors report and paid tribute to the staff of teachers in their devotion. He said: "The elementary work is now excellent in quality."

Representatives from Catholic churches came from the surrounding towns to lend their support along with the Right Hon J T Hibbert, the chairman of Lancashire County Council. In his opening address he stated that he had travelled from his home in Grange-over-Sands at great personal inconvenience, but would join in with other well wishers, many of which did not belong to the Catholic persuasion. He was happy to think that times had changed and people had come together, even though they did not hold the same religious opinions – lending a helping hand to each other in times of need. He said: "Not very long ago, say 200 or 300 years ago, Catholics and Protestants seemed to amuse themselves by burning each other."

As visitors entered the hall they were met with a picturesque scene of the Emerald Isle. The magnificent picture of Irish scenery was erected at the platform end of the hall. All of the interior decorations, which included flags, banners and a model which represented a Donnybrook Fair comprising of Irish cottages were supplied by Messrs Womersley and Co, decorators and bazaar fitters form Leeds. At the end of the first day Father J Wigman said that a grand total of £200 had been raised.

Teachers at the school had the delicate job of explaining to the inquisitive young pupils the reason behind one of the nearby houses having had all of its windows broken. It was well known that Mr John Slack who lived in Albert Street had a ‘reputation’. When William Hines, also of Albert Street, discovered that Slack had, ‘Got his wife drunk, and wanted to make her go wrong’ he broke his windows.

In court, Slack, who was a night watchman at Moston, arrived home to find his windows broken, pointing to Hines he said: "That gentleman did it."

In his defence, William Hines admitted the offence and had paid for all the damage, but would not pay the additional five shillings demanded by Slack for expenses. He explained: "He did the same thing next door, only he got the husband drunk and then took the wife for a stroll."

The case was dismissed, Slack was told that he would not receive payment for his inconvenience because he had brought a certain amount on himself.

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