Violence in the home is sadly nothing new, but as this court case from July 1915 shows, so-called ‘ladies’ from Swinton were not averse to knocking lumps out of one another.
The offending weapon in this case was not a simple fist or shoe, however, this was a metal poker.
On 6 July 1915 PC Gledhill from Swinton Police received a call to attend a domestic dispute at Earl Street in Swinton.
On arrival he found Elizabeth Price, who lived in Earl Street, lying on the floor with a series of deep cuts to her head.
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She told the officer that a neighbour, 40-year-old Mary Ann Reynolds, had struck her several times with a poker after an argument.
PC Gledhill too both women to Swinton Police Station where Elizabeth Price was examined by a doctor and had her wounds bandaged.
Mrs Reynolds faced a charge of grievous bodily harm but argued that the fight had not been one-sided: “What price her leathering me?” she objected. “I did not hit her with a poker.”
The charge was dropped to assault so the case could be heard that same day by Mr J Beardoe, the Chairman of the Bench at Strangeways Magistrates Court.
He told Mrs Reynolds that this was a very serious offence and he was considering sending her to prison for three months.
But after witness statements and arguments on both sides Mr Beardoe settled on a fine of 40 shillings or one-month in prison with hard labour.
Sadly history does not record Mrs Reynold’s decision; one would hope she paid the fine as hard labour could be actively dangerous to the health.
This could include backbreaking work such as oakum picking; threading large bales of rope by hand for up to 12 hours a day. The luckier ones would hand-stitch prison clothing or endlessly scrub the floors and cells.
Hopefully the days of neighbours brawling with pokers is a thing of the past, but we shall see.
