While the Great War was raging across Europe the people back home in Blighty went around their daily business as usual, but scandal was to hit Salford in December 1915 as this court case explains.
Lily Percival and Bella Holland lived in a property on Bute Street in Weaste which was managed by a divorcee Annie Mills.
Both their husbands were serving with the British Army, no doubt fighting bitter battles on the Western Front to halt the advance of German troops.
400 miles away in Salford Lily and Bella were, without their knowledge, under observation by two eagle-eyed police officers.
Salford Magistrates Court heard that PC Howard and PC Whitefield were watching the Bute Street house from a discreet distance.
Bute Street, Weaste © Salford Local History Library
Their suspicions were aroused by a constant stream of male visitors to the house at all hours of the day and night.
More obvious were the loud protestations of Lily Pervical who entered the property one night “worse for wear with drink”, screaming that a certain Mrs White had “taken a Belgian gentleman” away from her.
It was known that Ms Percival had four children living in the house and that same night she was observed to bring a young girl downstairs and thrash her repeatedly. Bella Holland was heard to say, “Leave the —-thing alone, you’re making it worse”.
The police decided that they had seen enough deviant behaviour and at 11.15pm decided to raid the house.
When they entered the kitchen they were met with the sad sight of four young children lying fully dressed on an old mattress which was saturated and stunk to high heaven.
The poor kids were only covered by a small blanket and a thin sheet, remember this was in December and I should imagine the house was freezing.
In the main living room Bella Holland was found sat on a man’s knee while Annie Mills lounged on a couch, and upstairs Lily Percival was found in a state of undress with a second man.
The women were taken to Pendleton Police Station for questioning. Percival told a policeman there that “she was expecting this and hoped that the police would do their best for her”.
The two women, Percival and Holland, were charged with keeping a brothel at Bute Street while Annie Mills was charged with assisting in its management.
At Salford Magistrates Court, Sergeant Cheetham told the court that Lily Percival was married to a Regimental Sergeant Major and had on her 34 shillings and sixpence, money she claimed that her husband had sent her.
Annie Mills was receiving nine shillings a week from her estranged husband, their is no mention of money that Bella Holland was receiving or had in her possesion.
The women hardly helped their case in court by stating that that they had only met the men in the house that night, while Bella Holland said that the man she was with was a friend of her husband’s and too much of a gentleman to do anything!
The Stipendary Magistrate retorted, “I think the less said about your husband the better,” hardly surprising seeing as he was fighting on the Western Front.
The final nail in Holland’s coffin came when P. Howard told the court that Bella had several convictions and had been ejected from several public houses for her behaviour in the past.
The Magistrate then handed out sentences to the fallen women.
Bella Holland was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour, Lily Percival was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment with hard labour, and Annie Mills who was said to be suffering from rheumatism was given a seven-day jail sentence.
I wonder what the husbands of these women must have thought when they heard the news whilst they were fighting for King and Country in a foriegn land, less than amused I would have thought.
Main image: Bute Street, Weaste © Salford Local History Library
