January
In January 1891 George Booth and Sons give their workmen an excellent dinner at the Castle Inn and The Denaby Co-operative Society announced a 24% dividend
Denaby Main are still leading tonnage in the South Yorkshire Collieries and water is still a major problem in digging the new shaft at Cadeby
Relief is being provided for distressed families and a young 18 year old meets a sad death when he tries to Skate
We include an extract from the 1891 census of Conisborough’s Church Street and a review of local trade in 1890
Conisborough Parish Church hold their annual Tea and Denaby Main is now an ecclesiastical parish
There’s lively proceedings over the new burial ground at Conisborough and scavenging and sewers form a topic in the Doncaster sanitary report
February
There is an horrific incident in February 1891 when a man saturates his wife with paraffin and lights it with a red-hot poker
Conisborough’s veterinary surgeon has a serious accident whilst riding with the Fitzwilliam hounds
The burial question is resolved and a new medical Officer is agreed, from a list of one
Drunkenness is a weekly topic for the Doncaster court and a man falsified his son’s age to go to work at 12
A court states a wife’s defence is her tongue whilst her husband uses his fists
March
In March 1891 a detailed report of a visit to the Denaby mine appears in the “Times” featuring a narrow escape, “Careful Dick”, pit ponies, mice and the Cupolo shaft
The Conisborough Flour Mills were up for sale, A youth is fined a week’s wages for taking matches into the mine and court cases over drunk and disorderly reveals local colloquialisms of the time
The national census is about to be carried out with expected increases in population
A policeman wife has an intrigue and eloped with a villager, who has been given a number of ‘good thrashings’ by sympathisers
There’s a proposal to form a Local Government Board and the scarcity of water at Conisborough is exciting attention
April
There’s an alarming cage accident at Denaby Main in April 1891 and an important case for injured miners
There’s a Chapter of accidents at Mexborough Cottage Hospital and Two omnibuses collide in Doncaster Road and St John’s ambulance class is examined with plaudits for its success
The new pit at Cadeby is making slow progress and there’s an outbreak of influenza with deaths at Wath and Swinton
The Co-operative Society declares a 23% dividend and an orphan boy sustains a fracture of the ankle
A resident refuses to pay a fine, because the newspaper said it had been dismissed and there’s an hard swearing case at Conisborough
May
In May 1891 there was another prize fight by Denaby colliers, this time at old Denaby
A well-known Irishman & a Mexborough miner were the two combatants
In a strange incident a disobedient young colliery was prosecuted
Callum Kilner becomes waywarden, with optimism for future footpaths
A new Wesleyan chapel is to be built at Denaby, with support by Mr Andrew Montagu
A labourer tells the story of a delay in the Bishop’s Palace at Wakefield, caused a visit to Barnsley, Mexborough and the cells at Conisborough
The Court hear cases of a drunken Carter, a disorderly wedding guest, gamblers playing “Nap” and a barge man who received money for coal and ends up in court over it
June
In June 1891 the Prince and Princess of Wales pass through Conisborough
Some 900 botanists descended on Conisborough Crags and there is serious flooding in the Don and Dearne valleys
We include articles on Cadeby “Rattles” and Conisborough Gas Works
Two men are sent to the Assizes after a murderous assault on a Salvation Army member
A Denaby miner goes on a spree, taking a cardigan jacket and a pocket handkerchief
And there’s another case of locals pretending to live outside the area and obtaining beer by felonious representation
The sports story of the month is of a young Conisborough youth batting through an innings without scoring a single run!
July
In July 1891 stories of Children’s deaths headed the newspapers
With a six week old baby dying of Asphyxia, a Conisbrough traction engine running over a young boy
and a 17 year old found dead in Orgreave Colliery, while an older miner succumbs to injuries received.
The court sees more cases of colliery rules broken,
including throwing a Beesom, and dispute over Peggy Marks and a dispute over a wall
The hospital Sunday success at Conisbrough and we include a detailed itinerary of the march and demonstration
August
There’s a desperate prize fight at Denaby Main in August 1891 as two combatants fight for 63 rounds
Foundations are laid for a new Wesleyan chapel at Denaby Main and a Primitive Methodist preaches in “gamblers corner”
More accidental deaths occur when an eight-year-old is drowned while bathing in the Don, a two-year-old is run over by a cart
and a married woman is found dead in Kearsley’s brook with a “Jack” of gin at her side
Serious charges are levied against a Conisborough gentleman and a travelling photographer
September
In September 1891 days there is an alarming bus incident
A 9 Year Old plays truant from Sunday school and drowns
A visit of geologists to the Cadeby colliery provides us with an news from the new pit,
Conisbrough’s request for self-government brings an appeal to the Highway Board’s
We visit Denaby Church for a Sunday School Festival and Motty theft is subject of a court summons
A 13 year old receives 12 strokes of the birch rod for stealing a watch & a 14 year old a jail sentence for a month for stealing a pair of boots
October
There was a fire, obscured by dense fog, at Ferry farm in October 1891
A runaway wagonette bus, controlled by a youth, had a narrow escape, as wild horses careered From Mexborough to Denaby
Co-operators gather for a co-operative conference at Denaby ,with the chairman calling Denaby “a little Switzerland”
There are calls for a local Board to govern Conisborough and also to preserve the Wapentake and Strafford Sands
The courts hear cases of stray horses, a biting dog and the conduct of reckless youths on the railway earns them six strokes of the birch rod each
Misappropriation of coal from the “Mary Emmeline” causes fines for the culprits and the barge captain
November
In November 1891 there was another burning fatality of a young childYou
The Cadeby Colliery Sinking was going apace as the water obstacles have been surpassed
Hundreds of new colliery cottages were being built and Kilner Bros were extending their glass works
Conisborough’s quest for local government had begun and the Chrysanthemum Society held its seventh annual exhibition
The Court heard more cases of assault and breaches of Colliery Rules and a Conisbrough innkeeper is in trouble for supplying two pennyworth of spirits to a drunken man
and a traction owner fined for not having a man walking in front of his traction engine
December
There is a major inquest in December 1891 when a 21 years old man begins work at the Flameless Explosives Company and dies from suffocation after exposure in the mixing room
The courts hear more cases of gambling, drunkenness and breach of colliery rules
Then, after a heavy drunken ‘Freak’ Christmas eve, Denaby men were prosecuted for stealing and killing two ducks
A young Conisbrough Farm labourer was summoned and fined for being absent from work, through a heavy bag of corn and Conisbrough Town put Hexthorpe Wanderers to the sword – 9-1