South Yorkshire Times, May 10, 1958
800 In Club
When “Housey-Housey Raid Was Made at Conisbro
When police raided Conisbrough Northcliffe Working Men’s Club on March 6th, there were at least 800 people on the premises, nearly everybody was playing housey-housey and nearly all had intoxicating drinks, Chief Inspector B. E. Vaughan told Doncaster West Riding magistrates on Tuesday. Because of housey-housev games at the club, said the Inspector, bar-takings on Thursdays had risen from £20 to £40 to between £120 to £140.
Police Supervision
An application to strike the club off the register was adjourned for two years, the police to keep supervision during that time and to submit a quarterly report to the magistrates on condition that he correct books were kept and the Small Lotteries Act be strictly observed.
Eighteen club committee members were each fined £10 for unlawfully having the care and management of a common gaming house.
They were Harry Farmer (51), miner, Robert Cook (63), miner, Amos Marr (51), miner, Abraham Holland (69), retired, Frank Moxon (56), unemployed, John Carmody (36), miner. Thomas Paton (49), miner, all of Balby Street, Denaby, John Holland (39), miner, Thomas Jones (42), miner, both Marr Street, Denaby, Reginald Haywood (35) miner, Cusworth Street, Thomas Bright (48), miner. Clifton Street, William Maden (53). weighman, Strafforth Terrace, John Hudson (59), distiller William Street, George Parry (63) . miner, Firbeck Street. William Guest (60), unemployed, Sprotbro’ Joseph Streets (48), miner, Blythe Street, all of Denaby, Wilfred Rigby , (46), fuser, Clayfield Road, Mexborough and Charles Bond (43), miner, Chestnut Grove, Conisbrough.
There was a guilty plea to all the summonses.
The Chairman (Mr. F. S. Newborn) said “The Bench are very concerned with the slack way in which this club is being run.”
Mr. M. D. Shaffner, said there were two grounds of complaint against the club. First that it had been used as a common gaming house and secondly illegal sales of liquor had taken place there. Games of housey-housey, he said were allowed subject to certain provisions, one being that prizes must not exceed £20. In this case. he said, people who were not club members had been allowed to visit the cIub. and buy liquor and take part in games of housey-housey.
Police observations, said Mr. Shaffner, had been kept on the club as long ago as last October, when two police officers were able to walk into the club without being challenged like several other people, who were able to go straight to the bar and buy intoxicating drinks.
Big Prizes
Prizes for the housey-housey games were distributed after each game and on October 11th the total amount was over £57, on February 13th, prize money totalled £64/5/-. and on February 20th,, £57/15/-, said Mr. Shaffner.
A great number of women were playing, he added, and subsequent enquiries revealed that they were not members but had simply gone to play housey-housey.
As many as 800 people were present when these games were being played. On March 6th, he said, a busload of people arrived at the club, and police officers counted 129 People who had been admitted after paying a penny at the door
It was later discovered, said Mr. Shaffner, that 285 visitors had been admitted on that day and that none of them had been properly signed in.