Accrington Railways - Robert Kenyon

102 July In the Accrington Observer of the 7 th , the following curious case was reported - A man, who had travelled with a 3rd Class ticket between Blackburn and Accrington in a 2nd Cd leaf sr as u dc oi nmg p tahret mLeanntc, a swhai rse s&u mY omr ok ns hs ei rde Rt oa i l awpapye aCro mi np a tnhye. Ml orc aDl a nMi ealg iTs ht roamt eass’ oCfo uB roto t ahc cSut rs ee edt ionf Ai ncccorri nr egct to nt i cwk eats wsheeenn eaxliitgi hn tgi nt hg r of ruogmh tah ec ob ma rpr iaerrt. mUennf ot r at ul onnagt e lwy i ftohr ah i mf e mL ua lkee, Ga anrdr i thtayd, t hoef f Fe or er de mt ah ne PC oo rl lteecrt, ohra, dwohba st ehrev ehda dh i sme eanl i. gThht ienyg hf ar od mp ut hr seuLeidv et rhpeodoel fterna di na na nt dw ihnof ohramd egdi vHeonwhai sr dn Ma mo rer ai sn, dt haedTdirceksest. HS tor we eet v. eWr, htehne vwi soi tme da nl a at ec rc, oRmu pt ha nByi ri ndga dh immi t theadd t hg iavtesnh ea wf aal ss et hnea wmoe mbaunt ihne qr uceosrtri eo cnt, ba ud td rt he sa st si nh eBhoal dd purchased the correct 2nd Class ticket. Some weeks later Garritty had received a letter demanding the payment of 1 penny, the dr ei fcfeeirpetn. cNeobwe thwe ewe na st hi ne tthweodfoa cr ke sa, cacnuds ehda do fs fernatu ad pa on sdt at hg ee Bs teanmc hp ht oa dt htaot dveacl ui deeewv ehne trheec re itvhi en gR ba ial wc ka ya Company had actually condoned his actions by accepting the difference. For the defence Mr Daniels contended that since the debt had been paid, no offence had been cBol amc mk bi ut trend ,S at antdi o tnh aa tt ht hi se cvlei er ny t l ahsatdmbieneunt eu. sHhee rset da t ei ndt ot htahte t h2 en dH iCglha sCs ocuormt hp aa dr t mg i ev ne nt bayr ua l ipnogr ttehra to na cr eocnovvi cetriionng af ofra rter aavf teel lriwn ga r dwsi.t hHoeuwt atsh ea l scoo rrreemc ti n tdi ec kdetth adti di n nhoi st qpureesvtei no nt i na g roafi lMw ai sys Bc oi rmd ,pha en ys hfor uo ml d bear in mind she was not accused of any offence. To this the Mayor (in the Chair) pointed out that this case was the opposite way around. The ft ahree Lh &a dYb’ se eP no l ri ce ec oDveepr ea dr t amnedn tt hset na t ae dp, rhoes ehcaudt i po rnohs ea cdubt ee de nc absreosu og hf tt .hIi ns kr ei npdl y f toor tahl mi s oMs rt fSohrat yr py, eCahr ise. fHoef went on to say, “Under no circumstances are staff allowed to accept any money in lieu of fares”. The Clerk of the Court said in his twenty-five years he had not witnessed a case where a pberoesneccoumtiomnithteadd ubpeetno tbhreoupgohinttaoftferreacofvaerreyh. ad been recovered, but it was the case that a fraud had Garritty stated he had explained the circumstances leading to this mistake, and had been employed on the railway for forty years as a Platelayer, so had no intentions of defrauding them. The Mayor said, “It looks as though the Railway Company were prepared to accept the dt hi fef eLr ae wn c emiany t hbee , f at hr ees Ma sa gs iestttrl ae tme se nbtefloi er vtehdi s tdheabt ti”n. Asgeani dni nt hge tChlies r lke ti nt et re rtvoe nGeadr rbi tyt ya dadpipnlgy,i n“ Wg hf oart etvhei sr ptharyomwennot uatn. d then accepting it, they should never have brought this case to Court”. It was duly However, in the case of John William Holden, a weaver of Church Street in Hapton, he was fcohuanl lde n gg ue di l thye ohfa du soifnf egr ead tpol apt af oyr tmh e tfiacrkee, t b ut ot t ht rias vwe la sbreetfwu es ee dn aBs l wa caksbtuhren e da ni cdt gAi vcecnr i nt og ttohne. s tWa fhf eonf the L & Y. He pleaded guilty and was fined 10 shillings with costs, or, fourteen days imprisonment. es hn ec ocuhroasgeenmaesnet c, l aundde dt hpaatr th oe rf tchhea trraacitne ri ns wh ohui cl dh bt oe ttraakveenl ? i“nEt voe cnotnhsoi du eg hr a ht iios nc l ii ne nt thsedi ri dt rni ao lt. dWe nh yy thhaadt soof mt heet hg ii rnlg”, hhaeds at ai dk.eCnl aprl ak ce ew, iat shnaodt breeepnr et sheenrteesdual tnodf we na cs orue rf ua sgeedmtehnet ,r ai gl lhutr teoaonfdf ewr ai t hs t taht ee mf uel nl ct oonnshe enrt own behalf. The Magistrates, having retired to consider the facts, sentenced both men to either a month’s imprisonment by default of a 20 shillings fine plus costs. As representations on these issues had fallen upon deaf ears at the Lancashire & Yorkshire and Midland Railway concerns and had failed to gain any satisfaction, the Lancashire Federation of Trade Councils were to amalgamate with the local trades councils to form “The Workmen’s Trains Combination”, in order to obtain cheaper fares and to reduce overcrowding on these trains. Having first gathered sufficient statistical information they were to approach the railway companies again, and if they did not obtain some concessions would take their case to Parliament.