A History of St. Helens

Beware of Imitations...

Historians delving into old records often have to accept the content of such records at face value but occasionally it is revealed that this confidence is misplaced.

In 1896 James Brockbank produced a book of the above title. On reading through its pages the first thing to strike the reader is the number of typographical errors. These may be of incorrect letters, omitted letters or wrongly sequenced letters but they can change the meaning of the text if the reader is not already familiar with the topic under discussion.

These errors may well be the result of cost cutting at the production stage and could be excused but others are not. It is clear from Mr.Brockbank's text that he is not writing from first hand experience but is relying upon secondary sources for his information. Consequently his research is at fault. In one instance he states that the first steam train to leave Salisbury Street Station, St. Helens, on its completion was the Comet or the Director. Since he was clearly not present on the occasion he leaves it to the reader to decide upon the correct piece of information to choose. Not the most reliable of historical sources.

In another section of the book he demonstrates his complete confusion about our own canal, the only waterway in the town about which he is supposedly writing a History. In his discussion on the increase in trade, he suggests that it is the result of "improved mode of travelling by stage coach, more speedy transit and delivery of letters, together with the magnificent enterprise of the Duke of Bridgewater accomplished by the transcendent genius of his engineer Brindley, in the construction of the Sankey and St. Helens Canal". He has everything wrong, including the name of the canal, and omits altogether the tremendous contribution of the railway system in the area. He later goes on to say how the quicksands which formed 'Meddling Meg' gave Mr. Brindley so much trouble to conquer.

He has evidently spoken to some local source, but he has also intermingled other information with the local knowledge resulting in an inaccurate and confused representation of the truth. The problem is that, once an author is seen to have offered inaccurate data in one part of his work, the reader will naturally suspect that there are errors in other parts, leading to a lack of confidence in any of the author's work.

In these days of computer technology, the practicality of producing books is much simpler but the need for accurate and conscientious research is just as important. More recent histories of the town should also be approached with caution and not be taken at face value. An incorrect caption for a photograph, an incorrect fact within the text, a missing word changing the meaning of the text, are all factors which label the work as unreliable. You have been warned.

Peter Keen

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