James & Ellen Tickle
During the 1880s the business of Tickle Brothers, Farriers, prospered. Liverpool was booming and they were kept busy looking after the feet and shoes of some of the quarter of a million horses working in the city.
Then, tragedy struck the family once again …
James Tickle, the oldest brother, died from chronic bronchitis in 1888, at the age of 48. In the 19th century, bronchitis was one of the main causes of death in urban areas. It was particularly common in damp, smoky, industrialised towns and cities, such as Liverpool, where overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions allowed the virus to spread readily.
James’ widow, Ellen, was left as the head of the family. Like her mother-in-law before her, Ellen had to seek work to support herself and her children. The 1891 census shows her occupation as a Bath Attendant. She would have worked at a Public Baths, which are significant in Liverpool’s history.
Liverpool had the UK’s first publicly owned baths. St George’s. They were opened in 1829 and owned by Liverpool Corporation, but the price of admission was beyond the reach of the working classes.
Then, in 1832, cholera broke out in the city. During four months of that year, 4,977 cases of cholera were reported, of which 1,523 proved fatal. At that time, almost half of the manual workers in Liverpool lived in courts or cellar dwellings, such as those inhabited earlier by the Tickles. Many were slums or semi-slums, with no running water or facilities in which to wash themselves or their clothes. An Irish immigrant, Kitty Wilkinson, had the only boiler in her neighbourhood at the time of the epidemic. She offered the use of it to those with infected clothes or linen for a charge of a penny a week. Boiling killed the cholera bacteria, thus saving many lives. Kitty was convinced of the importance of cleanliness in combating disease, and she pushed for the establishment of public baths for the poor.
Ten years later, her efforts resulted in the opening of Britain’s first combined public baths and wash house at Frederick Street, Liverpool. This was in one of the poorest districts of Liverpool, and was specifically for the use of the working classes. There were facilities for taking baths and for washing clothes. As well as being an important health measure, there was a general feeling at the time that cleaning up the working-classes would lead to their moral improvement.
Bathers could choose 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class facilities at the public baths. According to an 1846 description, baths in the third class were filled with water by an attendant, although pipes conveyed both hot and cold water to the baths. First and second class bathers were allowed to admit hot and cold water themselves. The baths were priced accordingly: Id. and 2d. for third class cold and warm baths respectively; 3d. and 6d. for second class cold and warm baths; and 6d. and Is. for first class cold and warm baths.
By working in the baths, Ellen was able to bring an income into the household. By 1891, her sons were also working. Matthew, the oldest, was 21 and a horse farrier/smith, probably working in the family business. His two brothers had followed different paths. John, was a brass finisher, and Robert, at 14, an assistant butcher. The family had a 20-year old boarder, William McAird, who was also a blacksmith. He could perhaps have been employed by Tickle Bros.
Meanwhile, their uncle, Matthew Tickle, James’ middle brother, was in his late 40s by the time of the 1891 census. He continued to work hard and the business prospered.
